Dead Man's Wire (2025)

Based on a true story, a man falling behind on his payments decides to take his mortgage broker hostage until his demands are met, placing him in a makeshift "dead man's line" by attaching the trigger of a shotgun to the hostage's neck by a wire to prevent means of escape. It's designed to feel much like a 1970s throwback thriller (where the events are set), similar to Dog Day Afternoon, complete with Al Pacino. While the premise is very straightforward, and Bill Skarsgård inhabits the role, the half-baked plot is unfocused, meandering and less than exciting. Feels like they're running out of true events to adapt.

2½ cubes of ice in milk out of 5

Chacun son Cinéma (2007)

(Eng: To Each His Own Cinema)

An anthology that contains over thirty short films by as many different directors, commissioned to celebrate six decades of the Cannes Film Festival. Each work is approximately three minutes in length and was supposed to represent the director's "state of mind [...] as inspired by the motion picture theatre." As usual with this kind of thing, I'll put the full list in comments.
My 'Admit One' was for Kitano and Cronenberg, neither of which were essential. The ones that moved me most were Alejandro Iñárritu's 'Anna' and Abbas Kiarostami's 'Where Is My Romeo?', both of which had more emotion than the others combined. Also, I really liked Chen Kaige's 'Zhanxiou Village'.
A lot of them take place inside a theatre with crucial scenes from actual films being projected onscreen, so expect some spoilers.

3 light shows out of 5

GOOD WILL HUNTING [1997]

Director Gus Van Sant puts aside his usual artistic quirkiness and lets then unknown actors Ben Affleck & Matt Damon's script shine in the broad-minded character piece, Good Will Hunting.
A troubled janitor turns out to be a mathematical genius, who'd rather drink & fight and has a smart-ass answer to everything but the purpose of his own life.  Here he meets a mild-mannered yet eccentric community college psychologist that seems to be the only person that truly understands him.  The film is about experience being more than knowledge, insecurities, finding one-self growing-up, class differences and just about everything else Van Sant poetically explored in My Own Private Idaho and Drugstore Cowboy.  There's some beautifully crafted character moments between Damon & Robin Williams which will enthrall by the performances alone.
A wonderfully crafted film that tugs at the heart-strings in all the right places that'll make you think about the choices you've made.

4 apples out of 5

LAST DAYS [2005]

Director Gus Van Sant's final film in his Death trilogy, Last Days is inspired by the final days of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
Already a ghost in his own home, the drug-addled rocker, eerily played by Michael Pitt, wanders around aimlessly searching for some sort of peace that seems to allude him by mere moments..  The film is slow, haunting and dreadfully quiet with the exception of few moments when Pitt picks up his guitar and breaths life into linear narrativ..
All in all, Last Days is paced way too slowly to keep interest and it's characters are all too distant to really grasp onto any sort of emotion beyond confused and cold.  Maybe that's the point but it sure isn't that enjoyable or interesting but Van Sant's direction keeps the viewer hypnotized until the bizarre finale.

3 figures in red out of 5

ELEPHANT [2003]

Director Gus Van Sant's second part of his Death trilogy, Elephant is inspired by the events Columbine High School Massacre.
Utilizing the low-key minimalist style that he revisited in Gerry, Van Sant manages to make a powerful impact with the smaller moments in life that playout in long tracking shots, very little dialogue and his trademark cloud images.  By hiring real highschool kids with little or no cinema acting credentials gives the surreal world a sense of realism that is frightening, sad and silently haunting.
It never tells us why such horrible acts would occur but forces the viewer to question it instead without heavy-handed melodrama which most film-makers would be tempted to overplay.

3½ Gerry video games out of 5

GERRY [2002]

Director Gus Van Sant creates a haunting experience with the indie-minimalist drama, Gerry.  The first part of his so-called Death trilogy, a series of films inspired by real life events depicting youth & death, Gerry tells the story to two close friends who lose their way in the desert, loosely based on an incident in New Mexico.
Van Sant makes great use of this trademark extended tracking shots and wide frame landscapes that seem so vast compared to the tiny dots that are Matt Damon and Casey Affleck.  As the story progresses the dialogue, sound effects and musical score become more sparse which effectively adds to the dread, panic and hopelessness of the dire circumstances.  It's not a film I particularly enjoyed but definitely one I quite admired for it's brilliant style and technique.

3½ mirages out of 5

PSYCHO [1998]

Director Gus Van Sant collects together an impressive cast for the near shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classic Psycho.
Being a huge fan of the original film I wanted to hate this film more than I did (and I did for many years) but rewatching it, I found there's a few elements I admire but can't really back up the idea of the whole project.  Van Sant updates a few minor bits to make the story feel a little more modern but the shots, pacing and dialogue all still feel completely outdated feeling like an awkward dream you've had before.  It really is as pointless as you might think but interesting in the sort of way like listening to a faithful yet lesser cover version of your favorite song for nearly 2 hours.

2 newly renovated motels out of 5

THE CANYONS [2013]

Director Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver) and screenwriter Brett Easton Ellis (American Psycho) toss together this erotic Hollywood thriller.
The wonky pacing and distracting editing of this film completely throws off anything that could have saved it.  Ellis is usually quite good at writing sharp dialogue for filthy rich, highly unlikable empty characters but here it's completely lifeless and dull.  Lindsay Lohan brings a spark to the script but is surrounded by a bunch of waiters & waitresses doing a bad job at acting like they're rich and ultimately brings it down.  The cheap clothing, rented houses & cars give it all away within seconds and that takes away from the atmosphere the film-makers are trying to create.  In the end, it feels like too many people had a different idea what they wanted the film to be and it just ended up one huge mess.

1  uncomfortable dinner date out of 5

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

An exploration of friendship and self-discovery that’s occasionally surreal, funny, purposefully Shakespearean and thoughtfully poetic. It’s centred around two male street hustlers who are both drifting through life but for very different reasons. One is desperate to attain something that the other takes for granted. It gave River Phoenix the best role of his short life, one which he embraces and excels in, and arguably the best performance that Keanu Reeves has delivered outside of The Matrix (1999).

4 unregulated sleep-wake cycles out of 5

RESTLESS [2011]

Gus Van Sant's 2011 romantic drama, Restless, follows the story of a snotty, small town social misfit who enjoys going to stranger's funerals where he meets a terminally ill girl whom he becomes close to.
It's a life assuring film that drags you down simultaneously. Shot with soft colors and a beautiful, yet chilling atmosphere, it gives off a feeling of distance yet remaining intimate. Mia Wasikowska gives a wonderful performance, while Henry Hooper is off and on. It starts off nicely but once you realize it's going nowhere you have nothing but Wasikowska's performance to keep you watching.

3 Gassenhauer's out of 5