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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Brawl in Cell Block 99
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Sun Oct 15, 2017 9:02 pm |
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Dil
Forum General
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:48 pm Posts: 8942 Location: Houston, Texas
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
It took a while, but I started to enjoy this quite a bit when it actually got to the prison part of the film. The trailer didn't really make it apparent that this is pretty much a 70's Grindhouse film and while it took me some time to get use to it in the end it definitely delivers. Vince Vaughn is great in this and very convincing in terms of his physicality, although I never had a problem with him taking on serious roles before. The unapologetically, over the top violence is easily my favorite thing about this film though.
Just like with Bone Tomahawk. S. Craig Zahler shows he has major chops when it comes to directing action sequences and I would love to see what this guy could do with a straight up martial arts movie with the guys from The Raid or something. Seriously, all the fight scenes are incredibly well staged and brutal as fuck.
B
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Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:27 pm |
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David
Pure Phase
Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am Posts: 34865 Location: Maryland
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
This is an impressive and tough film. The borderline glacial pace will be a challenge for several viewers—writer and director S. Craig Zahler blends art-house and exploitation-genre elements so intensely, he will repulse many patricians and bore many mainstream action fans and end up with a fairly small audience for his film—but it drew me in. It allows us to closely study the protagonist's tightly coiled emotional journey (expertly portrayed by Vince Vaughn) and the alien, dehumanizing prison milieu. And when fists fly and blood sprays and bones crunch, it is a wild, unforgiving, hard-to-forget spectacle.
B+
_________________1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game
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Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:49 pm |
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stuffp
Keeping it Light
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 8:06 am Posts: 11247 Location: Bright Falls
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
This is pretty good. Vince Vaughn is great, and while being a bit of a crazy story it's very enjoyable to watch. It's not a dramatic as that other prison film I saw this year, Shot Caller, but Brawl in Cell Block 99 doubles down on it's grittiness. It's a pretty plain and basic film, but it excels in it, the cinematography and production design are very good. The film does have a B-film layer quality to it at times, aside from Vaughn the rest of the principal cast doesn't really help, and that holds it back a bit for me. But the violence is great, and the film overall is just more commendable than not. It's a quite a long film, but the length really works, I had a very good time from start to finish.
B+
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Fri Oct 27, 2017 2:02 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67153
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Brawl in Cell Block 99
A tedious and annoying prison film. It takes 1 hour and 7 minutes for its plot to kick into gear, making the first half of the film pointless because it fails to develop these characters or build a relationship between Bradley and his wife that we can root for once the ultimatum breathes life into the film. This also makes the final scene awkward and perplexing, which is not as intended but the groundwork just was not there for any other response. Apart from that, the film's choreography is stilted, and the prosthetic-infused finale feels cheap. Vaughn is cast as a tough guy and an honorable, loving husband, but neither trait is convincing. Instead he is stiff and feels out-of-place.
This was disappointing as S. Craig Zahler's feature to follow the brilliant Bone Tomahawk. It did keep a simmering interest, but unfortunately it did not pay off. The highlight of Brawl in Cell Block 99 for me was seeing Larry David's New York-based therapist, Dr. Thurgood (played by the brilliant Fred Melamed), as the unhelpful officer collecting prisoner's personal possessions at the medium-security detention centre.
C-
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Sat Nov 04, 2017 5:32 am |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67153
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
This would have worked better as a six-part mini series. The scene where Vaughn beats the car is hilarious. His ham-fisted blows to the body are proof that Vaughn's range in serious roles is limited to men in suits. I am still looking forward to Dragged Across Concrete. This film hasn't affected my anticipation for the Mel-Vince-Craig thriller.
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Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:38 pm |
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Algren
now we know
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:31 pm Posts: 67153
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
I also have a little issue with it being called Brawl in Cell Block 99 when the "brawl" doesn't happen until the final 20 minutes, and it's not even a brawl. Just Vaughn beating up a few guys. And the title does not roll off the tongue. I keep wanting to say Prisoner of Cell Block H.
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Sat Nov 04, 2017 9:53 pm |
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Jmart
Superman: The Movie
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 8:47 am Posts: 21165 Location: Massachusetts
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Re: Brawl in Cell Block 99
That last bullet was so powerful it turned head into papier-mache! And that's kind of my problem with the film. On one hand it wants to be brutal. On the other hand (the last third) it wants to be exploitation. They don't gel, or at least not as well as Zahler thinks/hopes it does. What I don't get, is that Zahler had to have known his film would've got an NC-17. Why not make the violence at least a little realistic? I know the budget on this had to have been microscopic, maybe save a little money and not hire Don Johnson or Jennifer Carpenter? Nothing against them, but maybe the face stomping/peeling and the decapitation in the cell drain wouldn't have been/looked stupid. A simple arm break of a prison guard before he gets to "99" is a lot more effective. Vaughn smashing that guy's head into the cell door towards the end was effective. But after we've seen a pregnant wife being threatened with an abortionist cutting off her baby's arms while still in the womb, are we supposed to turn around and laugh with the last shot of the movie? "That's clearly not his head being blown apart, ha-ha. That was fun! Who wants dinner?" Yet the movie is still compelling. It is a slow-burn, but Vaughn's performance kept me invested. And while I couldn't say that I was invested in Vaughn/Carpenter's relationship, there was at least a little wrinkle thrown in to keep things interesting. I just wish the violence had a tone to it. Either go absurd or realistic. Don't give me a mash of both. You're not Paul Verhoven. B-And what's the point of having a cell full of broken glass on the floor if you're going to have him (conveniently) keep his shoes on? Did they expect the belt-zapper would make him lunge to the floor every time?
_________________My DVD Collection Marty McGee (1989-2005)
If I’m not here, I’m on Letterboxd.
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Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:33 am |
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