THE DOUBLE [2013]

I was in film-nerd hog heaven with Richard Ayoade's sophomore effort, The Double, a modernized adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's doppelgänger novella of the same name.
Engulfed in suffocating moody shadows and minimal color scheme, the film seems like it could very well be Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Eraserhead with it's wickedly dark oddball sense of humor and timing.  Jesse Eisenberg is superb as he bounces back between skittish and suave while maintaining a steady balance of menacing tragedy that the source material gives off.
It will remind many of the works of Welles, Gilliam, Lynch and more but it never comes off as a wannabe copy with it's imagination, wit and uniquely hilarious & disturbing aesthetic.

4 dead pigeons out of 5

SEXY BEAST [2000]

Director Jonathan Glazer's feature length debut comes in the form of Sexy Beast, a profanity riddled crime drama where you know graphic violence is going to erupt at any given moment.
It follows the story of a retired thief who is bullied into doing one last job by a frightening gangster that won't take no as an answer.
The first half of this surprisingly short film is actually quite intriguing, mostly due to Ben Kingsley's absolutely phenomenal performance, that's executed with graceful viciousness and intimidating hilarity.  However the intrigue completely deflates in the second half as it falls into complete predictability and tries way to hard to set itself up as a run-of-the-mill crime drama reeking of Guy Richie.

3 heart-breaking boulders out of 5