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Soft & Quiet 2022 ★★
The real time principle may work for shows like 24, where there's always something going on. Here, however, it inevitably makes the movie lag. If you want to show how quickly this type of situation can escalate, time stamps do the trick just as well.
Right from the beginning, you get a sense that this mom group does not consist of nice people and once the meeting starts, you really get hit over the head with where these “ladies” stand with their views on society. The only silver lining being that they have to hide in this type of secret, little groups and that a softie priest suffices to send them packing.
The break in scene, the escalation and everything that came after was pretty predictable, albeit pretty bleak. Until the last shot, that is (Or will they?). The only “surprise” being the at first mousy, shy type taking charge and being very agressive about it. For some reason, I expected a Mister Orange-like twist, but no delivery there either.
The Roundup 2022 ★★˝
Ma Deong-Seok (the zombie punching badass from Train To Busan) stars in an action that emulates the eighties flicks with Stallone and Schwarzenegger and basically everything leading up to The Expendables.
The story flows nicely, the action works and Ma Deong-Seok proves he is a decent lead. Only downside is that the dub took away from the delivery. I hope I can later (re)watch a non dubbed version.
Whiplash 2014 ★★★★˝
Calling it a coming of age would be a bit cheap, as the character already gained some maturity. Though at the start of the story, he still has a bit of the shyness of a kid.
This was essentially a 2 hour duo performance, with a few background characters sprinkled in solely for the development of the main character(s). And I could not keep my eyes off of them.
Completely gorged up by the intense dynamic that they develop over the runtime. Floating back and forth between mutual respect for the respective pros (and their determination to be the best they can at what they do) and on the other hand disdain and downright hatred for the other when, in his eyes, he lets him down.
JK Simmons deserves all the praise he gets for an awesome performance as the charismatic Terence Fletcher. But Miles Teller is great as well in how he portrays the growth Andrew goes through: from a somwhat shy kid (think of the scene where he asks out Nicole) to a determined and sometimes even arrogant and/or pretentious artist, even evolving into a kind of a copy of his master.
People complain on the sadistic, abusive nature of Terence Fletcher, but, interestingly, the dinner scene and the breakup scene with Nicole also show that Andrew might have more in common with Fletcher than you, as a viewer, might (want to) see.
Four and a half stars well deserved. If you have not sene this one, do.
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