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firedornlightbringer
Reviews
12 Kilometers (2016)
Beautifully Shot, Superbly Atmospheric
This short horror (thriller, more like) movie is first and foremost visually stunning. Photography and lighting are real, real good, and they create the perfect atmosphere for what's going on. Thick, deep shadows, warm and cold tones highlighting people and equipment as needed, solid use of DOF as well, every still from this movie could be framed as a picture in its own right.
On top of that, some great transitions and macro sped-up shots, great sound design, and a simple-yet-clever plot that makes the tension rise steadiy until the breaking point, rendering jumpscares pointless (and in fact, there are none: thankfully so, as they're the cheapest and dumbest means of forcing emotions unto an audience).
If I were to nitpick, I found the acting a bit hit&miss, but because of the way this short was written, that actually had very little impact on the outcome: a gripping, tense (think Tarantino's Hans Landa scenes), carefully crafted romp in the shadows.
Well done, Mike.
Rien à foutre (2021)
Good directing, great acting, but nothing else.
The movie is but an exercise in directing. And a great one at that. Photography is excellent, as well.
What really stands out is Adèle Exarchopoulos' absolutely stunning performance which, sadly, is still not enough to elevate this mess to actually being a "movie": in truth, it feels more like a collection of scenes that didn't make the cut.
With even a shred of half-baked writing, this could've been a great movie: unfortunately, it has none.
Last, like many others have mentioned, this NOT a comedy in the slightest.