“Velvet Buzzsaw” Movie Review

    Sometimes it can be hard to decide what to watch before bed, especially if you want to watch something you haven’t seen before.  Fortunately, Netflix makes life a little easier in that regards.  Unfortunately for me, Netflix usually doesn’t have the highest quality of films.  That being said, I remembered Netflix ‘released’ a film earlier this year that looked interesting and I just had to remember the name.  After a few minutes and some exploring, I happened to find the film I was looking for, “Velvet Buzzsaw”.  With a name like that, it had to be interesting, right?

    The film follows art critic Morf Vanderwalt as he rekindles a relationship with Josephina.  Josephina works for an art gallery owned by Rhodora Haze before she is terminated for being late after discovering the dead body of her neighbor Vetril Dease.  As it turns out, Dease had an apartment full of his paintings he asked to be destroyed after his death.  Josephina steals the paintings and when the art community sees them, they go crazy for them.  Morf agrees to write a book about Dease to gather the art more attention in exchange for a few pieces.  Strange happenings begin to happen to people associated with the art and it turns out there may be something supernatural to the paintings.

    Let me start by saying I am torn by how I feel about this film.  The film is interesting and does sort of pull you in but, for the most part, the characters are unlikeable and I wasn’t invested in their fates (though the actors really do a fabulous job despite not playing emotionally accessible characters).  I know the movie is a bit of a satire of the art community and how pretentious artists and critics can be, but it is hard to relate to the characters as a result.

    The cast was solid and they were all convincing in their roles, perhaps too convincing at times.  Jake Gyllenhaal delivered a great performance and his character was the most likable in the film.  Gyllenhaal gave a delightfully unhinged performance he hasn’t given since “Donnie Darko”.  It was also nice to see Rene Russo deliver a solid performance in a lead role.  Russo is a talented actress and this film proves she is still an awards worthy performer.  My only complaint is that the great John Malkovich was severely underused in this movie.

    Writer and director Dan Gilroy developed this film years ago while working on Tim Burton’s “Superman Lives” (which you can actually see him do an interview on that subject in the movie “The Death of Superman Lives”).  I enjoyed the film’s successful transition from a look into the current art scene into a supernatural suspense thriller.  In some respects, this film very much reminds me of “Eyes of Laura Mars” in both subject matter (art) and genre (horror/thriller).  I wonder if Gilroy was a fan of that film or if it just happens to be a coincidence.

    “Velvet Buzzsaw” is an interesting experience and a film I recommend watching around Halloween.  The film is a step up for Netflix in my opinion.  While I wish the film’s characters were more likable, the film is fascinating enough on it’s own to make for an enjoyable viewing experience.

Grade: B-

“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” Movie Review

    With “Avengers: Endgame” continuing to break almost every box office record known to man and being shown on almost every screen theaters have, most studios wisely decided not to release many new titles against the box office juggernaut that is the last Avengers movie (with the original Avengers at least).  So with that being said, there wasn’t many options in the theaters this week so my girlfriend and I decided to sit this week out and just watch something at home.  Instead of hitting up my film library, we both remembered that Netflix just released the new movie about Ted Bundy starring Zac Efron.  Everyone seems to be talking about this movie on social media so I will share my thoughts on “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”.

    The film follows Ted Bundy as he is arrested and sent to trial for murder because he matched the description of a serial killer the police had been searching for.  Most of the film is told through his time on trial and it only briefly reflects on his life outside of prison and court.  For the moments depicted outside of court and prison, Ted Bundy’s relationship with Elizabeth Kendall is explored and shows Bundy as actually loving Liz.  Rarely are any of the crimes depicted (except for one at the very end) and the film almost tries to present Ted Bundy from the view point a jury might have seen him through, where his guilt rests on the trial as opposed to the audience being shown he is the murderer.

    The movie was directed by Joe Berlinger who is famous for his documentary films.  In fact, the popular Ted Bundy documentary “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” was also directed by Berlinger and this films serves as a sort of companion piece.  Much of what was discussed in the documentary was depicted in the movie.

    The film was decent but wasn’t as captivating as I thought it would be.  A movie focused on one of the most prolific serial killers of our time should depict more than court drama and family life in my opinion.  I appreciated the approach but sometimes movies follow formulas for a reason and you have to do something captivating if you are going to change it up but making the film boring at times isn’t the best route.

    For a Netflix movie, this was probably a cut above most (no pun intended), but it’s still a rather average film as a whole.  I would say the one thing that actually elevates this film is it’s cast.  Zac Efron actually delivers an uncharacteristic performance as the charming but off Ted Bundy.  I am not a big Zac Efron fan but he actually delivered a killer performance (okay, pun intended there).  The film has a pretty solid supporting cast with the biggest highlight being John Malkovich as the judge who ultimately delivers his execution sentence.  The same praise can not be given to Lily Collins as Bundy’s girlfriend Liz.  Collins just doesn’t seem to click in this film and her acting, while serviceable to the film, also doesn’t add much.  Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory” also shows up as the prosecutor in the state of Florida.  I personally felt Parsons was a bit distracting in the role but my girlfriend felt he did a good job.

    The film was based on the book “The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy” written by Ted Bundy’s ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall which detailed Liz’s relationship with the serial killer.  It is a classic case of the truth being stranger than fiction.

    The film does have some charm apart from it’s cast.  At times, the film does manage to derive some humor surrounding the gruesome situation.  It also briefly manages to tackle the absurdity surrounding so many women being attracted to Ted Bundy even after finding out he was a murderer.  The movie is also blessed with a fantastic soundtrack featuring many classic oldies.

    “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” isn’t a perfect film and it is easy to see why it found a home on Netflix as opposed to the multiplex.  The film is worth watching for Zac Efron’s performance alone.  Sadly, there isn’t much else to set this film apart from other average movies.

Grade: C+