Short Attention Span Review - Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

Short Attention Span Review - Dragged Across Concrete (2018)

Some might bill Dragged Across Concrete as a dark thriller, but I'm not so sure.  Yes, it is punctuated by shocking acts of violence, and yes it centers on some cops and robbers interplay of a sort that we often see portrayed on the big screen.  However, its more about the characters and their circumstances than their actions.  Dragged Across Concrete struck me as a hard-boiled drama, a stark departure from a garden variety police procedural or a guns blazing shoot 'em up.  More to the point, everything is painted in murky shades of gray, and the picture is bereft of any classical good guys.  The standard rules don't apply either, and this gives the picture a few jolts that most movies in the same vein are lacking.  This is a movie about desperate people making desperate choices and hoping to survive in the wake of these fateful decisions.  The pace is methodical; a stakeout is explored with incredible attention to detail, and though shots are fired and bodies are shredded, Dragged Across Concrete is always more concerned with what its characters are doing between these outbursts of carnage and death.  This is Craig S. Zahler's third film, and it's clearly his most deliberate effort to date.  It is both a throwback and a subversion of the genre, and it will excite many viewers for the very same reasons that it will bore others.  Zahler also pushes a lot of buttons, with a lot of social issues coming into play, though he doesn't seek to preach or provide answers as much as he allows his characters to offer up pointed questions while grappling with life as they know it.  Stars Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn fully embrace the material, and they invest such gravity into their performances that both disappear into parts that don't cater to their usual strengths.  Gibson simmers where he usually boils over, while Vaughn is more subdued and inquisitive than showy or declarative.  Tory Kittles upstages everyone as the unofficial third lead, an equally complex ex-con with a fluid knack for survival that serves him better than brutality or strategy serve his counterparts.  From the onset, we like all of these players in spite of their flaws, which are many, just as we recognize that this is not a happy ending kind of show.  While the gritty drama steadily nears a gruesome conclusion, we are continually surprised by the all too familiar yet oh so foreign plot.  It's not quite a masterpiece, but Dragged Across Concrete is really fresh, really intricate, and thereby really damn good.

Final Grade: A-

Vaughn and Gibson make an excellent pair in this gritty drama masquerading as a thriller, a grim saga where nothing comes easy and no one is safe.

Short Attention Span Review: Brawl in Cell Block 99

Short Attention Span Review: Brawl in Cell Block 99

Fucking wow.  I'm totally blown away.  Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a delirious nightmare masquerading as an action film.  A slow boil that ultimately explodes with some truly bone-crunching* action, this is a real find.  Hot on the heels of Bone Tomahawk, this picture clearly marks director Craig Zahler as a force to be reckoned with.  Well-plotted and deftly captured, this grim descent into carnage propelled by bad decisions born of good intentions is nothing if not relentless.  Star Vince Vaughn utterly disappears in the lead role, bringing a subdued version of his trademark wit to bear in a few well-placed moments that wind up being as bleak as they are comical.  The brutality and the sheer physicality that he brings to the part surely paint this as a transformational showcase, and Vince is money throughout.  True story: he's an ultimate badass in this one.  By the end, you may just find yourself thinking that he could kick the shit out of Conan the Barbarian if he had to--and that's not a statement this Robert E. Howard devotee would make lightly.  Brawl in Cell Block 99 is not for the squeamish, but if you don't count yourself among the squeamish and you're looking for a badass thrill ride, you need to watch this shit now.

*No, seriously: bone-crunching.  The phrase "bone-crunching" gets thrown around a lot in regards to action movies, but this is different.  Bones are crunched.  A lot.  In ways you've never seen before.  Totally gnarly, peeps.


Final Grade: A

Vince Vaughn slays it in the uber-violent and thoroughly malevolent version of Get Hard.

Halloween in the Land of Way - Short Attention Span Review: Bone Tomahawk (2015)

First off, I recognize that a movie like Bone Tomahawk isn't for everyone.  Secondly, I'm about to do some serious raving about this wicked western/horror hybrid, because it's almost as though this one was tailor-made for me.  Some will not like the deliberate pace that grounds the first two acts, which (after a brief but suitably gruesome opening sequence) are surely classic western fare.  Some will be totally disgusted by the third act, when the riveting character study becomes a no-holds-barred descent into pure terror that houses what may be the most gruesome death ever depicted on film.  Still others won't like the Tarantino-esque dialogue or the minimalist score.  Yet novelist S. Craig Zahler scored a direct hit with each of these choices in my book, and the end result is an involving and even moving tale that allows you to bond with a quartet of prickly leads before they march into a hellish fate with the best of intentions.   The plot concerns a posse's efforts to rescue a female doctor and a deputy from a mysterious clan of cannibalistic monstrosities masquerading as men.  Kurt Russell is both the sheriff and the star of the picture, and to say that he is stellar here isn't quite enough.  He's pretty damn sublime, operating as the heart of the picture while frequently giving way to his fellow performers with the knowledge that the audience will be fully invested in his performance regardless.  Patrick Wilson is great as a rugged cowboy who just so happens to be the female doctor's husband.  He's also saddled with a broken leg and an iron will that won't allow him to sit this one out, and his struggles with his injury lead to some of the most brutal moments in the picture.  Matthew Fox is the dandy of the bunch, a slick killer in fancy duds who is quick with a gun and supremely arrogant.  Yet he's also a man with a purpose, and like everyone else involved, he shines in the part.  Finally, there's Richard Jenkins as Chicory, Russell's trusted deputy.  This is definitely one of those "last but not least" scenarios, as Jenkins brings incredible timing to his rich part and is directly responsible for most of the laughs and the warmth in Bone Tomahawk.  We come to know and love these characters as they ride toward their fate, and the horrendous conclusion that awaits them elevates a potent picture into something more.  No, it's certainly not for everyone, but I think that Bone Tomahawk is a powerful film with tremendous impact.  As someone who loves westerns, horror movies, and Kurt Russell, I can honestly say that I enjoyed this grim shocker as much as any film that I have seen in 2015.

Final Grade: A+

Kurt Russell has a great time hitting the trail and meeting new people in Bone Tomahawk.