Paul Schrader's The Card Counter (Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Willem Dafoe)

[Kane52630]

 

[Doctor Jones]

Well... it doesn't look like First Reformed quality, but I'll watch it when it goes on streaming. What this movie won't have any shortage in is interesting ideas and a message.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I didn't care for Schraders last film but this looks really intriguing.

 

[Persona]

First Reformed is my favorite movie of the past decade so I don't expect this to top it. But this has been my most anticipated movie since I heard it was getting made.

Kind of a mess of a trailer but it leaves me no less excited for the thing. It's just the trailer editing is a wreck. Awful music, too.

Isaac and Haddish seem like they have good chemistry. Dafoe will be perfect as this scumbag. If there's a weak link I can perceive in the footage itself it's maaaybe Sheridan but hard to tell when the trailer is chopping all performance to hell.

 

[CaptainWagner]

This looks shockingly different from First Reformed, but trailers can be deceiving. Especially ones this choppy. I'm hyped. Hopefully Isaac has better luck than Hawke did.

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Persona]

As far as basic headshot posters go, I kind of like it.

 

[Persona]

new original song

 

[Persona]

Some clips are out there. Great bit from Oscar here:

 

[Pennywise]

 

[Persona]

Reactions out of Venice have been pretty good!

 

[Hurm...]

Great reactions so far

 

[Persona]

Some people will find this slow or awkward or boring. But man, I loved it.

It is very much a combination of many Schrader movies and obsessions while still feeling like something I have never seen before. I was entranced by it.

Oscar Isaac is so good. One scene I was crying just from the sheer force of what he was portraying. I think I've seen most of his notable performances and this was pretty easily his best.

I actually really liked Tiffany Haddish and Tye Sheridan in their roles, too. Both had some stiff moments but came through big when they needed to. Willem Dafoe is barely in it, but used well. Great soundtrack, too, by Robert Levon Been of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

There are quite a few things you could nitpick and it did feel like a couple scenes or some connective tissue was missing in the third act, which I still liked a lot and actually found quite powerful in its own odd, slightly incomplete way.

My favorite movie of the year so far.

 

[weezerspider]

Yeah this movie was great. What a terrible trailer. Luckily I know to trust Schrader, but that trailer is advertising a different movie.

 

[Mysteryman]

So, how would you describe it?

 

[weezerspider]

So, how would you describe it?

A VERY interesting film to be released the weekend of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

It’s about PTSD and guilt.

If you’ve seen Schrader’s films, you know what you’re going to get. It’s a lot like Light Sleeper. Almost a mixture of Schrader’s Light Sleeper and PTA’s Hard Eight.

Similar to the Schrader penned Raging Bull being about a boxer, but not boxing, this is about a card counter, but not about cards.

 

[Kane52630]

My review

At the Movies with Kane and BN

A VERY interesting film to be released the weekend of the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

I said the exact same thing when that sh** got revealed.

 

[Kane52630]

That score/soundtrack was incredible.

 

[Persona]

Yeah, really great soundtrack that was used in a really interesting and effective way. I'm trying to think of another time where a director has had a pop/rock artist do a bunch of original songs specifically for the movie, but uses those songs at first as a brooding ambient soundscape that gradually evolves into more fully formed and lyrical expressions of Tell's internal state.

The scene in the movie with the "Arise Sun" song posted above could have almost felt like a Hallmark moment, but because of the execution of the scene and the context around it and the way the story and the score EARNED that song at that point in the movie, man, it hits different.

 

[Persona]

Haven't stopped thinking about this movie. Things that initially seemed awkward have really clicked into place after more thought.

If you like any of the past films that Schrader has written and/or directed, I urge you to go see this one if you can. I actually thought the theater experience added a lot, especially for one scene.

With the exception of maybe Cumberbatch in Power of the Dog, I will be surprised if a more intense and interesting character study drops this year.

 

[Prison Mike]

Really good movie. There was some good suspense in there too. The music was fantastic.

 

[Kane52630]