The Age of Commercialism

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

For those who don't know, the Blacklist is a list of the best unproduced scripts in Hollywood.I saw where it had potential, although was telegraphing that it wasn't so good at the beginning. My guess is that the director, Matt Shakman (TV director, heavily with It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) got in over his head or had less and less resources, as it apparently was made over two years.My first impression of the set-up was asking why the shooter didn't notice Hemmesworth and his girlfriend so close. Thus, that brought me out of the movie. It made up for it somewhat as I then guessed the whole scam when Hemmesworth was reading the very obvious and large sign in the Post Office about murdering postal employees. In a town that never has murders.But then made me think that it was engineered as stupid as most of things like that require a conviction of the perpetrator. Thus, a very forced plot device.But okay, I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Besides, it had a very good cast (except for the pedestrian Hemmesworth and Teresa Palmer). But did have some poor production values. And in the end it just felt sloppy. Malcovich had somewhat amusing character traits but then the epilogue of him not escaping the town years before was vague.Maybe there was something interesting there with the psyco played by Michael Stuhlbarg, but apparently they never shot it or cut it out. I could see if he was so proficient in killing and fighting on a regular basis, but it seemed like this was new for him and he was magically very good. But Stuhlberg still made something interesting out of what he had. Thus, quite a bit was missed. Maybe there's a much better 2 hour version somewhere vs. the 1 1/2 hours I saw.In the end, it was a few dumbasses with a dumbass (badly researched) plan that got way out of hand.

A decent psychological/crime thriller that takes place in Cut Bank, Montana. Cut Bank is supposed to be a small town, although we don't see any of it except a post office and outlying junkyards. Montana generally has a bad rep, I suppose because of the good survivalists who have taken to the mountains to be "off the grid" and because of an outburst of anti-Semitism some twenty years ago.It's a mismanaged image. I spent some months working with Cheyenne and Blackfeet Indians in Lame Deer, Browning, and Billings and it's a civilized state once you get past the cowboy hats. Really. The anti-Semitic scrawls on the walls of Billings were followed by a sympathetic community response in which angry and dismissive letters were sent to the Rocky Mountain News and in some windows menorahs miraculously appeared. You can buy the NY Times at your whim.Thank you for your kind attention. And now, are there any other questions? An ambitious young man, Liam Hemsworth, is shooting a video of his pretty girl friend who is running in the Miss Cut Bank. That would be Teresa Palmer. I'd vote for her. In the background, by accident, he films two men on a highway some hundred yards away. One masked man shoots a mailman, piles the body into the mail truck and drives away. The two unseen witnesses are aghast.But the writers have gotten too clever and tried to trick the audience. Apparently both Hemsley and his girl friend are part of a staged murder and robbery. The general idea -- which is pretty turgid -- is that the mailman (the hulking, bony, aged, bitter Bruce Dern) and a mute Indian giant are all part of a plot to stage the crime and then sell the video to the media for a fortune.They might have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for the sluggish but decent Sheriff Vogel (Malkovitch) and an Ed-Gein-like recluse (Michael Stuhlbarg) who is determined to get the parcel he's been eagerly waiting for. He smells bad. He's rarely seen in public. He doesn't speak much and never blinks behind those eyeglasses, so thick that belong in the tower of a lighthouse.One by one he tracks down the criminals who are holding his parcel and -- well, he gets the information he wants. What does the parcel contain, you ask? A child's lunch box. That's all.The plot has scenes that lack any credibility. The filthy psychotic Stuhlbarg has confronted Dern in a remote house. He quietly demands his parcel. He's holding a crowbar. So what does Dern do? He starts insulting Stuhlbarg, ridiculing him. That's just one instance.The production owes something to the Coen brothers' "Fargo" and there are scenes that evoke memories of Jamie Gumm's basement in "The Silence of the Lambs." But "The Silence of the Lambs" made your hair stand on end and puckered your sphincters, and "Fargo" was an ironic delight. "Cut Bank" is not boring, and it's somewhat atmospheric, but it lacks poetry and the characterization is clumsy. What is Billy Bob Thornton's problem, for instance? The performances are uniformly good except for Liam Hemsley, who is tall and bulky and can't act. His girl friend can, and so can the other principals so that his flattened affect stands out prominently.

After reading the reviews here I was not expecting much with Cut Bank. But at the end of the movie I have to admit that I truly enjoyed this movie. I first was a little bit annoyed by the "parcel" at the end but the next day I suddenly figured it out and then I was even more satisfied with this movie. The stars in this movie are Michael Stuhlbarg, Billy Bob Thorton and John Malkovic. Liam Hemsworth was okay but he shouldn't have had the major role. The other actors were all good as well and made this movie better then the reviews want you to believe. It all starts slowly, but the more you get in the story the better it gets. I saw better movies for sure but I saw also a load of worse movies then Cut Bank. Certainly worth a watch.

I thought this reminded me a bit of Fargo but my more observant companion correctly and more accurately though it was a bit of a tribute to Blood Simple. If the movie had a weakness it was that Liam Hemsworth seemed a bit flat or lost compared to the others. The story was good, few puzzles still remain unexplained regarding the background of Derby Milton, the character whose singular unravels the plans of the main character and unleashes chaos. The women all play peripheral roles and more or less stand around and look worried.The story felt fresh and although there was a resolution of sorts it was not too cliché.