EvilPhoEniX

How did this anticipated Korean thriller turn out? Solid! I liked it better than the recent Hijack 1971. Run Away was one of the anticipated South Korean films, it's quite a substantial and unconventional theme that I was looking forward to, and it's gripping, suspenseful and quite clever. The main character is a smart North Korean army sergeant who is even hailed as a hero, but he wants to make a shocking decision: to escape to the south for a better life! And so every day he secretly gets out of the base and maps out his surroundings, surveys the minefield, makes the perfect escape plan, but as it happens in such films, nothing goes according to plan and the main character goes from one crazy situation to another, and when you start thinking “this is hell, he's not getting out of this one”, there's a twist! The film has a brisk pace, the shorter running time of 90 minutes makes it really move along nicely, the main character is entertaining, all the situations are nicely suspenseful and clever, and the villain played by Koo Gyo-Hwan, a ruthless Major, is also great. The final half hour is more or less a duel between two men, with one risking his life to cross the line and the other doing everything he can to stop him. The highlight for me was the scene in the car, it was so intense! And the Korean Nomads were a delight! 7/10.

Apple has once again pulled out the stops and delivers an excellent crime drama driven by courtroom procedure and it's a blast! Jake Gyllenhaal, as a lawyer, is accused of murdering his colleague/lover and his colleague Peter Sarsgaard is hell bent on his neck. The first half of the series is a bit slower, but once we move into the courtroom, it's quite a ride. I haven't seen such a tense court atmosphere with perfect performances and great verbal shootouts in a long time (Anatomy of a Fall could learn something), and the final two episodes are great, there is twist after twist and the final one, well, that one blew me away. Gyllenhaal's speech in the finale is downright awesome, and there was no shortage of emotions either. The second season will be a different cast and a different case I suppose?? 8/10.

While the international acclaim and impressive trailers promised the event of the year and a film with a cult status in the style of Se7en and The Silence of the Lambs, the result is different and it shows in the final rating, which isn't around 80%. I for one have to say that I haven't enjoyed a crime film like Longlegs in a long time. There's more or less everything I love about the genre, the horror label is only there because of the satanic overtones and the supernatural, otherwise it's a proper crime thriller, with an increasingly better Maika Monroe on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering families. Nicolas Cage doesn't appear until halfway through the film, but his devilishly creepy performance deserves praise. The atmosphere is suffocating and unpleasant, the audio-visuals are perfect (the sounds were very creepy), the acting is top notch, there were some nasty shots, though we don't get to see outright gore. I'm also happy with the ending, it gives the crime genre a completely fresh and original touch. I almost didn't breathe for most of the film despite the slower pace (I also praise the well written dialogues!). Good film. 8/10.