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Killer Joe (2011)
A bit hard to watch but you must watch it!
I liked this film a lot but be warned - some of it is a bit hard to take violence-wise. It is, however, a fascinating take on dysfunctional America and extremely funny.
Matthew McConaughey is a revelation in a film full of standout performances, particularly Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church. People may disagree but I thought all the characters were believable and had some human, almost endearing characteristics, even Killer Joe, who in a sense played very fair according to the rules he set out to people; and clearly had a (rather twisted!) hankering for family meals and babies! This is a little tongue in cheek here obviously because God help the babies and family if they didn't live up to his controlling psychopathic expectations.
The nicest character (which isn't saying much) is the wife, Sharla, she genuinely seemed to care the most about Dottie (who certainly lived up to her name but what can you expect brought up in that family?). Thomas Haden Church gave a great performance - he went from perhaps the most sympathetic character at the beginning to the least when he had absolutely no qualms about selling his daughter and finally, enthusiastically helping to kill his son.
The in-your-face nudity of Sharla right at the beginning of the film seemed a tad unnecessary but I suppose it was an extremely effective way of conveying her only way of operating in the world, using her body. The well-publicised fried chicken scene was really too much for me until it became clear that Killer Joe didn't need real oral sex to get off - just complete domination and power.
I must also admit that I went from total horror at the overkill of bashing someone's brains out with a tin to some amusement that it was a tin of Pumpkin Pie - it summed up the whole dysfunctional aspects of a society that one of its quintessential cultural/patriotic dishes (that you would think couldn't possibly be fitted into something the size and shape of a large can of baked beans) can come in a tin.
Also, I'm a bit slow so it took me a while to realize that the slightly odd portion of blood-spattered fried chicken in the film poster is in the shape of Texas - very apt.
Comrades (1986)
There's no accounting for taste!
The earlier review "A Horrid Experience" prompted me to join this forum in order to offer a somewhat different view.
This film shows the struggle of the Tolpuddle Martyrs to try to gain just non-starvation level wages for their work. What they went through at the beginning of the trade union movement in the UK has benefited everyone since; and their struggle should be an inspiration to anyone with the slightest interest in social justice. I don't agree that it is boring. Yes it is a long film (3hrs) and is not packed with action sequences and special effects. It was made by Bill Douglas, who has a matchless reputation for excellent films that slowly build up a superb evocation of time and place. Even if it was deadly boring, the discomfort of sitting to watch it a little bit longer surely can't match the discomfort meted out to the Tolpuddle men and their families?