Moving on. Editorial first, review later. Or you can just skip down to the review if you want. I don't give a shit. I wrote this at like 3am, so it's probably a bit disjointed.
I go to film school. Film students are a bit of a strange bunch... we're all strange, but some are just plain fucking annoying and pretentious. Being in this kind of environment, I've seen tons of student directed short films, and I've talked with lots of other students.
The one thing that always drives me up a wall is when it comes to cameras. Everyone loves expensive cameras, and I'm no exception. Expensive fancy cameras are great! They take beautiful images, there's no denying that. But suddenly, it just comes down to ONLY cameras with these people. "I have a 5D," "Oh yeah? Well I have a 7D!" I have no idea what the fucking difference is. What do I have? An iPod Touch. That's right, a fucking iPod, and I'm happy with it. It isn't perfect, but it's a great camera and I can carry it with me wherever I go. I can shoot shorts on it and the image quality is pretty good. Sure, it isn't as good as a 5D or 7D, but fuck that. I have no intention of shelling out thousands of dollars for an expensive camera, at least not now. In the distant future, why not?
What's important to me is the story. I spend more time writing than I do filming because I'm such a perfectionist. I spend hours and hours rewriting scenes even before I even have a completed rough draft. The story and dialogue has to be just right. And I'll shoot with any camera as long as I can see what I'm doing through the lens.
People need to get it through their thick skulls that just because a movie looks good doesn't mean that it is good, and having an expensive camera doesn't make you a better filmmaker.
There, my rant is done. Now check out this article that can basically says exactly the same thing but from a professional's standpoint.
On that note, enjoy my review of Killing Them Softly.
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Killing Them Softly
1 hour 37 minutes
Crime, 2012
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Starring
Brad Pitt
Richard Jenkins
James Gandolfini
Ray Liotta
Scoot McNairy
Ben Mendelsohn
"America's not a country. It's a business. Now fucking pay me."
Killing Them Softly is a bit of a conundrum to me. When I say that, I don't mean that it's an overly complex film by any stretch, but I'm a little torn on if I really liked it or not. While the movie has some interesting characters and a decent plot, the presentation leaves a little something to be desired.
When I say presentation, I mostly mean its pacing. While it's a short movie that feels like it's over fairly quickly, almost every scene feels a bit... dragged on. I'm not saying that I'm against dialogue driven films, but often times, the conversations just feel like they could have ended a bit sooner than they did. They aren't intercut with one another and they don't move that quickly. Names get jumbled in the dialogue, which tripped me up a few times more than I'd care to admit.
At the same time, the film has a bit of a cool sense of style. At one point, two of the characters shoot some heroin. The following conversation has this strange in-and-out style, taking you out for brief moments then taking you back in, which kind of gives the effect of what I assume is what it's like to actually shoot heroin... Strange, but somehow effective. It's actually a pretty cool scene.
But the plot itself pretty simple. A couple of guys get hired to rob a gang organized poker game. Brad Pitt gets called in to take them out. That's in a nutshell. There's some strange political subtext about America that got a little bit lost, but then again, I don't think I was really paying that close attention to it. Brad Pitt is... Brad Pitt, I guess. The movie has a pretty good supporting cast. Ray Liotta and Richard Jenkins aren't bad, with James Gandolfini as a very entertaining hitman and friend to Pitt.
While the film has its apparent flaws, some good acting and a surprisingly humorous script make for an alright time at the movies. I don't think it's for everyone, but for some, it should be fairly satisfying.
Score - 7/10
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