The Killer

"The Killer" is David Fincher's newest film and it stars Michael Fassbender as The Killer - a hitman that follows a self imposed set of rules so he doesn't get caught. He is a man of cold precision and finesse. He doesn't allow emotion into plans, he sticks to them. Until one day, he doesn't. Okay, let's a take a pause here for a second. This sounds like a plot to your average Liam Neeson film, something pedestrian, the plot of an action thiller we have seen so many times before. Do we really need to see this story again? I'm convinced after watching "The Killer" that David Fincher could make watching paint dry a riveting experience. In fact, Liam Neeson could have done this role, well maybe 20 year ago, so Fassbender is an excellent choice. And I'm saying nothing disparaging about either actor - I love them both. What I'm trying to say is, Fincher has elevated the source material from B thriller to an A+ Hitchcock masterpiece by simply being a superior director. Take his 2002 thriller, "Panic Room" for example. This is a B home invasion plot but Fincher elevates it to make it cinematic art the way Hitchcock or De Palma or Scorsese have. "The Killer" had me glued for it's entire two hour run time - felt like 90 minutes or less. I haven't had so much fun since I watched "The Accountant." "The Killer" is simply killer. Catch it in theatres now or streaming on Netflix in November.  

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

"Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person" - The title alone is great. This is Quebec writer/director Ariane Louis-Seize first feature length film and it's lovely. The film has a sensibility of somewhere between Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive" and Ana Lily Amirpour's "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night." What's it all about? It's about a vampire family, the youngest of which is Sasah. She has empathy towards humans. As a result, she can't seem to muster up the fangs to kill anyone. Her parents give her IV bags of blood to suck on and she wanders about drinking them like they were juice boxes. When she hits her vampire teenage years (something like 68 years old) her parents cut her off. They send Sasah (Sara Montpetit) off to live with her aunt - it's about time Sasah learned to hunt on her own. A chance encounter with suicidal teen Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) leads to something of a teen romance. I found myself captivated by this film, charmed by it. And it's French Canadian, so there are great shots of people eating poutine. I smiled, with fangs, from beginning to end. Catch this one in your local rep cinema or on streaming services when it becomes available. 

Fair Play

I was glued to it. It had the sensibility of "Fatal Attraction," and "Wall Street;" an adult thriller, the kind they made in the 1980s. What's it all about?  Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are lovers, secretly, for they are also coworkers as market analysts in an investment firm (run by Campbell and play by the Eddie Marsan (Ray Donavan)). Campbell promotes Emily to portfolio manager over Luke and then their relationship begins to take a turn. The performances of Dvnevor and Ehrenreich are outstanding. I would love to see either of them get a nomination for this. But it wasn't just their acting, it was the twists and turns of the script - it went places I didn't expect it to go. The story is about power relations, sexual relations, work relations; it's about money, ambition, and self worth. It's polished and riveting - sex, booze, and money; sign me up. It's a wild ride and you can catch it now streaming on Netflix. 

The Creator

When "Blade Runner" hit theatres back in 1982, the reviews weren't great. Roger Ebert gave it three stars. I feel like the lukewarm reception critics have given "The Creator" is very similar. I'm here to tell you, this is a five star film. It will be landing on my top ten list of the year. I don't think I've seen a science fiction vision as interesting since Neill Blomkamp's  "District 9" or his underrated "Chappie," George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road," or last year's overlooked film, "Vesper." Get your ass out to the theatre and see this on the big screen before it's gone. What's it all about? Artificial Intelligence has nuked L.A. and A.I. is now banned in the U.S. America is now involved in hunting down A.I.'s latest weapon produced somewhere in Asia. It's also a love story, a philosophical exploration on what it means to be a thinking and feeling being, an action film, and one of the most visually stunning sci-fi films I've seen in the last twenty years. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the man who gave us "Rouge One" and 2014's "Godzilla." He has created a masterpiece and I suspect "The Creator" will, like "Blade Runner" only be recognized in the future as one of the great science fiction films of our time. Catch this in theatres now.