A Real Pain 28 Days Later
Issue #7
Do you know where your passport is, FilmRunners? Coincidentally, I just got mine renewed, but I had one of those moments not too long ago. This week, we have Abhinav hitting us with his reviews from last week’s picks, and Pia from Cinephile in Black and White joining us. I think Pia and I are the only two FilmStackers I know of who are data nerds during the day. Here’s a small bio straight from the source.
I am a data analyst by day and a full-time cinephile by night. Really, you can find me in one of my local theatres multiple times a week. My own Substack, Cinephile in Black and White, was born out of desire to share more in-depth thoughts on the films I watch – primarily new releases with the occasional ramblings on my Old Hollywood favourites – but I also share my thoughts on various other cinema related topics and love reporting from festivals.
A Real Pain (2024)
Picked By
Pia
Synopsis
Mismatched cousins reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother, but their old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. IMDB
Director
Starring
Kieran Culkin, Jesse Eisenberg, Olha Bosova
Runtime
1 hour and 30 minutes.
Trailer
Why
It’s my first 5-star film of the year! I wish there was a deeper reason behind it but I really just wanted to share my love for it with the world – and hopefully get at least one person to go watch it. Of course, it is also an Oscar contender in two categories so it feels more than relevant to discuss it now!
28 Days Later (2002)
Picked By
Jake
Synopsis
Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.
Director
Starring
Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston
Runtime
1 hour and 53 minutes.
Trailer
Why
I’m picking this in anticipation of 28 Years Later coming out soon. Back in university, I was a huge zombie movie fan. I even hosted a couple of zombie movie nights at the campus bar (I was a bartender there), and this movie is what started it all for me. I’d probably describe it as one of five formative films I watched in my mid-to-late teens.
I don’t know how accurate this is, but to me, the genre felt stale at the time, and this was a breath of fresh air, all while staying true to its roots. 28 Days Later explores survival against both other people and the environment, and it did so on an $8 million budget (about $14 million adjusted for inflation). I didn’t know who Alex Garland was at the time, but he wrote the screenplay, and he’s one of my favorite directors/writers. I’ve loved every film he’s directed, and it’s no surprise in hindsight that he had a hand in this.
🎥 Reviews of Last Week's Picks
Caution, there may be spoilers.
Two For the Road (1967)
Picked By
Synopsis
A couple in the south of France non-sequentially spin down the highways of infidelity in their troubled ten-year marriage. IMDB
Director
Runtime
1 hour and 51 minutes.
Starring
Audrey Hepburn, Albert Finney, Eleanor Bron
Trailer
Abhinav’s Review
Two for the Road, directed by studio stalwart Stanley Donen and written by British New Wave screenwriter Frederic Raphael, stands at a crossroads (excuse the pun) between two eras in Hollywood—an interesting footnote in film history. Inspired by road trips he and his wife took over a decade, Raphael took an experimental approach to the couple’s road trip movie. Donen, a Hollywood mainstay, immediately sent the script to Audrey Hepburn, an actress whose brand was synonymous with demure elegance. For the first time, Hepburn chose a project that challenged her largely chaste image and widespread appeal, as Raphael’s screenplay is littered with partial nudity, pre-marital sex, adultery, and other unpleasantries unfit for a capital-S star. But Hepburn took the risk and decided to get dirty.
Balancing poise and authenticity, Hepburn delivers her best post-’50s performance. There’s a depth of emotion and maturity here that she had never tapped into before. She transitions from innocence to womanhood so gracefully, while Donen masterfully conveys a real sense of time as the relationship matures. Capturing both the joys and agonies of love, the chemistry between Hepburn and Albert Finney feels raw and free. Finney’s presence allows Hepburn’s typically tight-lipped persona to roam, giving us, for the first time, a major Hollywood star acting out a real domestic drama—a battle of the sexes—rather than the idealized romantic dreams the industry so often sold.
The film’s duality extends beyond the "Two" in its title. Donen contrasts a glitzy, bright, humorous exterior with a serious, adult comedy chronicling the collapse of Hollywood’s romantic facades. The film oscillates between slapstick and French New Wave on a dime. Balancing “mere entertainment” with arthouse sensibilities, Donen and editors Madeleine Gug and Richard Madden craft a rhythmically unique film with a lyricism all its own. Two for the Road is a landmark, caught at the precipice of Hollywood’s shifting landscape in 1967, giving us a dramedy where time feels real—and an all-timer performance by the legendary Audrey Hepburn.
Jake’s Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was a great movie, but oof, what a toxic relationship. Audrey Hepburn as Joanna Wallace was stunning in her role. This is the second film I’ve watched starring her, and her charisma is just off the charts. I feel like this was written for her. On the flip side, I hated Albert Finney’s character, Mark Wallace. I can’t decide if his character was intended to be that much of an asshole or if it was just a product of the times. Regardless, he irritated me. It felt like Mark Wallace was written to have no redeeming qualities, other than to make money.
Negatives aside, the writing was great. The dialogue snapped, and the shots in France are wonderful. I am always a fan of non-linear storytelling, and tying this in with road trips at different stages of their lives really worked. If you’re looking for something that’s a snapshot in time, check this one out.
Thief (1981)
Picked By
Jake
Synopsis
After years in prison, ace safe-cracker Frank owns a car dealership and a cocktail lounge, which are fronts for high-stakes jewelry heists. He wants to complete one last big heist for the Mob before he goes straight. IMDB
Director
Starring
James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson
Runtime
2 hours and 3 minutes.
Trailer
Abhinav’s Review
Frankly, I haven’t seen Thief in a long time. It’s been over four years so my recollection of plot is very thin. However, since then I’ve seen all of Michael Mann’s feature-length films so I have a firm understanding of Mann’s oeuvre. And Thief has had a long-lasting impact on my film taste and aspirations in my filmmaking career. It doesn’t get more inspiring than Mann’s debut that’s as fleshed-out as an entry in cinema can be. This does not feel or look like the work of a beginner but rather a master of the craft who has a tight hold on his vision. Similar to Two for the Road, Thief also presents a crossroad for the style of Hollywood filmmaking. After a decade of auteur-driven 70s cinema that prioritized realism over the artifice of the golden-age, the industry was entering the era of “the look”. Audiences flocked toward films like Star Wars that promised safe entertainment that visually appealed. Mann found himself in between these two eras. Thief borrows heavily from the street-level aesthetics of those New York films that defined the 70s like The French Connection or Mean Streets, which prided themselves in staying true to the tenets of street photography and documentary filmmaking as a reproach to classic Hollywood styles. Mann took a different look at the streets, finding a colorful, neon beauty to grim realities and characters stuck in hopeless circumstances, prioritizing photographic aesthetic over bare reality.
While Mann defined the “style decade” that others like Ridley Scott, Walter Hill, and Tony Scott, his films still discover truths about the human condition with characters who transcend mere conduits for grand images and plots. In Thief, Mann borrows from french-noir, especially Jean-Pierre Melville as James Caan’s rendition of jewel thief Frank has a taciturn quality but like many American Noirs wants to get out of the rat race. Dreaming of a normal life, Thief follows Frank’s quest for a normal life, amassing enough wealth in one last heist to start an idealized life he could only dream of. These human aspirations and relationships make Thief stand out from the many stylish crime films to come. Mann combines high-tension stakes and filmmaking bravura with character. A rarity in today’s cinema. Scenes where characters talk to each other, like the data he has with the wonderful Tuesday Weld are just as exciting as the heists. Mann has just as good an eye for images as he does an ear to dialogue, finding romanticism in a gloomy city. All of the scenes in Thief and in most of Mann’s films don’t merely serve a purpose but exist entirely on their own.
Thief was the beginning of a completely new aesthetic, where Michael Mann etched himself out as the “king of cool”. Michael Mann made a striking entrance with his iconic shots of a car hood gliding through rain-slicked streets, reflecting a dazzling array of city lights. Casting real cops and thieves, casting them interchangeably, Thief also marks the beginning of Mann’s obsession between Good versus Evil in the classic Cop and Robber story. In Mann’s world, good is not quite good and bad is never quite bad, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. There’s so much more to say about Michael Mann. But, all I know is that Thief is a brilliant debut I can’t wait to catch again.
Jake’s Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
I think I liked this more than Heat (1995). There’s a lot to talk about here. Michael Mann, true to form, really paid attention to the details. I have no way of judging its true accuracy, but it came across as very convincing. The heists, in particular, felt grounded and believable.
This is a film with no outright good people. Every character is flawed, and their imperfections make them feel genuinely human. I know I warn about spoilers in the review, but I don’t know how to talk about this without giving away too much of the sauce. Apologies in advance if the rest seems overly vague. Frank, as a character, is extremely flawed and utterly fascinating. His plans are meticulous and cautious, but at times, his short-sightedness and refusal to play within the system cause him a great deal of pain. In fact, much of the film’s conflict is the push of Frank’s autonomy against the pull of established systems trying to exploit him.
How this conflict is resolved creates one of the strongest endings I think I’ve ever seen in a heist film. For that reason, if you didn’t watch this when we picked it last issue, I highly recommend it.
🖋 Closing Note
Thanks for reading!
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