I should probably start off by mentioning that I am not a fan of the Russo Brothers in the slightest, and even consider their respective Marvel joints to be among the lower end of the franchise. Their work on Community (which is somehow far more cinematic than any of the films they’ve done) aside, they completely lack any personality or presence as directors, let alone struggle at basic things such as blocking, framing, staging, and visual composition as a whole…

Sam Levinson directly to jail.

It’s painfully obvious from the getgo that Levinson got ridiculously offended by one negative review for Assassination Nation (a film that, despite its many flaws, I found to be a relatively enjoyable work of genre schlock), so much that he made a student film with dialogue that feels like it were written by an Aaron Sorkin-wannabe and made John David Washingnton’s character a stand-in for himself, and that alone creates the problem of thinking he is…

I liked CHRISTINE more than a fair amount, but this is something major. Almost like No Country for Old Men meets THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES. Antonio Campos has such a strong eye for atmosphere, mood, pace, tension, and tone; the filmmaking is top notch, the characters and narrative are *super engrossing,* and the structure *beautifully* ties everything together into a tremendous finale with a perfect final shot. The performances are strong across the board, with Robert Pattinson being the…