filmpurgatory

Action movies are often filled with formulaic tropes, and although Bullet Train's plot is rather convoluted, its cinematography was the one element that caught my eye. The cinematography combines cyberpunk elements with both traditional and kawaii Japanese culture. The shots involving the White Death felt like they were ripped straight from Ghost of Tsushima with its setting in traditional Japanese temples and households. Meanwhile, the shots of Tokyo in the opening sequence showed off Japan's modern technological cityscape and had a very cyberpunk feel to them. During the train ride, we see more of the modern-day kawaii culture of Japan mostly with the mascots for their most popular anime.

To complement the cinematography, the acting was extremely entertaining. I especially liked Brad Pitt's comedic timing and banter with both Sandra Bullock and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Pitt's on screen chemistry with Bullock is so good that I kept referring to this film as The Lost City in Tokyo way too many times. But besides Pitt and Bullock, I really enjoyed Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry's chemistry. The two really feel like brothers and I wished I saw more of their insane adventures as assassins. Additionally, I also liked Joey King as The Prince. This is the second film that I saw Joey King in since Ramona and Beezus. And I have to say, she surprised me with how well she can hold her own among the likes of Pitt and Taylor-Johnson.

Besides the cinematography and acting, the action sequences are absolutely insane! The action is tight in both hand to hand combat in addition to some really over-the-top Fast and Furious style set pieces. This should come off as no surprise as David Leitch has loads of experience in the action genre, creating exhilarating and jaw-dropping scenes whether it's in hand to hand combat, car chases or fights on moving vehicles. One aspect of Leitch's filmmaking that I really like is his use of slow motion. Leitch uses slow motion to not only emphasize certain scenes but also allows for audiences to catch their breath and truly absorb the madness unfolding in front of them before the scene snaps back into real time.

Despite the insane action, the plot does feel overly cluttered. Coming in at a bit over two hours, the film does feel a bit too long for my taste especially with the multitude of backstories and characters. Speaking of which, I do feel there were too many characters crammed in. I understand that the film was based off a book, but books have the luxury of telling multiple backstories through hundreds of pages, unlike a film. Some characters were just introduced and given a backstory despite only being in the film for a few minutes.

Although the film does suffer from a messy plot and too long of a runtime, I still think it's worth checking out for the action, cinematography and humor alone. Bullet Train is more like a Fast and Furious movie than anything else. Treat it as such and you won't be disappointed as you brace yourself for a fun, chaotic ride through The Land of the Rising Sun.

Throughout the film, I kept finding similarities with both Requiem for a Dream and Euphoria. When Travis and Zoe hit up heroin for the first time, the colors, atmosphere and cinematography coupled with Travis's inner monologue strongly reminded me of Euphoria, particularly during the first season when Rue began doing drugs with Jules. Additionally, whenever Travis or Zoe shoot themselves up with heroin, the camera cuts to the pupil of their eye dilating. This scene alone parallels Requiem for a Dream during the scene where the characters shoot up heroin and briefly brought back horrifying memories. I'm just glad we didn't have to hear the horrifying score from Darren Aronofsky's classic.

Perhaps River Road's greatest strength is its cinematography. What really stuck out to me were the shots of Travis at the docks during the sunset. Something about the contrast of the background and shadowed trees added an extremely artistic touch to the film's overall aesthetic. Speaking of aesthetics, the synth music was also a good choice to establish distortion. While our lead is a guitar player we oddly don't get much guitar playing, outside of the first and early second act.

Character-wise, I found both leads to be a bit unlikable. While both Cody Kearsley and Lexi Redman were amazing at portraying a dysfunctional drug-addicted couple, I didn't particularly feel any sort of attachment to either character. This isn't a bad thing, as I think it was the point of the film. However, what did throw me off was how poorly-shot the chase scene in the third act is, in addition to the lackluster dialogue for one of the major antagonists. The chase scene suffered from too much shaky-cam and fast cuts to the point where I had no idea what was going on. Meanwhile, some of the major antagonist's lines felt like a fourteen year old trying to sound tough over Fortnite or Call of Duty.

Does this make the film bad? No. Despite the film's flaws, it's still a solid watch if you want to explore the dangers and consequences of drug addiction. Where River Road easily stands out is in its cinematography, music and overall story. Instead of those outdated drug PSAs schools force you to watch, they should instead show kids more realistic depictions of addiction and I think River Road should be one of those films.

Greg Sestero is perhaps best known for his first starring role in Tommy Wiseau's 2003 film The Room. However, he has moved on since then and has written a book, The Disaster Artist, in addition to being in a number of films, including the upcoming film, Infrared, which is now available for streaming this year. While most may write the film off due to Greg's association with The Room, this film shouldn't be ignored.

I really enjoyed the performances of Greg Sestero and Jesse Janzen. Jesse gave a vibrant performance as Wes and energized every scene he's in. He perfectly portrayed the host of an amateur paranormal investigation show. However, the true star of the film is Greg Sestero as Geoff. He perfectly played the affable nature of a school teacher and Greg himself has so much natural charisma that I wanted to see more of him. Compared to his acting in The Room, this is a major improvement. Finally, Leah Finity, while not as outgoing as the other three, was also very likeable as Izzy and acted as a good foil to Wes.

My biggest gripe with the film was its pacing. The film's runtime added up to about an hour and a half, however, the beginning moved at a snail's pace. I understand it was introducing characters and setting up the stage of what's to happen, however, I felt it could've been done in a bit more of an interesting manner. Additionally, there are several scenes that could've been shortened down, for example, the séance conducted by Izzy. Another small nitpick I had with the film was Sarah's demonic voice near the film's beginning. It sounded too robotic and voice changer-esque.

With that said, the film excelled at building tension and intrigue. The film, similar to The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, and many other great horror films, is a slow burn where you would have incredible difficulty pinpointing when the film's tension starts. And it manages to do this with very few jump scares, which were well-integrated into the film. The tension was further helped by the characters being both engaging and charismatic. With this, I actually had some investment in where the story went, something that many other found-footage films fail to do, including both Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity.

Overall, Infrared is an engaging film that breathes new life into not only the horror genre, but also the found-footage subgenre. With great performances by Greg Sestero, Jesse Janzen and Leah Finity, along with an amazing buildup of tension, Infrared is a must-see film for horror fans!