#paul raci

[neon-impressions]

Those moments of stillness? That place, that’s the kingdom of God. And that place will never abandon you.

Sound of Metal (2019)

[moviesiveseenandwanttoremember]

Darius Marder’s “Sound of Metal” November 20, 2019.

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Episode**

Perry Mason (2020)

Season 2, Episode 7: “Chapter Fifteen” (2023) Director: Nina Lopez-Corrado Cinematographer: John Grillo

[moviemosaics]

Sing Sing

directed by Greg Kwedar, 2023

[chinchillasorchildren]

Films of 2024: Sing Sing (dir. Greg Kwedar)

(1/5)

[thechanelmuse]

My lil movie review

"..have you had any moments of stillness?"

Sound of Metal is a terrifyingly beautiful journey through a heavy metal drummer's (lack of) hearing. The clash of sound, the void in silence, and trying to find one's place in between. It concludes exactly how I pictured.

If you’ve ever seen the documentary, Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements, this movie captures that similar frustration of a musician chasing to reach their perception of what they deem as “normal” rather than resting in a new normal. Think of it as going through the 5 stages of grief.

Just as Joe notes in Sound of Metal: “As you know, everybody here shares in the belief that being deaf is not a handicap. Not something to fix. It's pretty important around here. All these kids... all of us, need to be reminded of it every day.”

SN: The movie’s well-thought-out title can be perceived as Sound as (Heavy) Metal or the sound of distortion. 

[ratleyland]

I was getting serious cliché 90s action movie vibes from this.

A simple plot/storyline

High speed chases

Lots of guns and action

...but it was still very enjoyable to watch.

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Sound of Metal

Rating: R

Director: Darius Marder

Cast: Riz Ahmed, Paul Raci, Olivia Cooke, Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric, Tom Kemp, Chris Perfetti, Hillary Baack, Shaheem Sanchez

Release year: 2019

Genres: drama, music

Blurb: A drummer begins to lose his hearing, and has to come to grips with a future that will be filled with silence.

[geekcavepodcast]

Butcher's Crossing Trailer *Graphic*

Will Andrews leaves Harvard in order to find adventure out west. He teams up will a frontiersman named Miller who plans on hunting an unprecedented number of buffalo in a secluded valley. "Their crew must survive an arduous journey where the harsh elements will test everyone’s resolve, leaving their sanity on a knife’s edge." (Sony Pictures)

Butcher's Crossing stars Nicolas Cage, Fred Hechinger, Xander Berkeley, Tachel Keller, Jeremy Bobb, and Paul Raci. Gabe Polsky directs from a screenplay by Polsky and Liam Satre Meloy.

Butcher's Crossing releases to select theaters on October 20, 2023.

[letterboxd-loggd]

Sound of Metal (2019) Darius Marder

January 2nd 2023

[theoscarchallenge]

This is one of those films that I never really heard anyone talk about. But it’s actually really good! When having all your senses, I think sometimes we take them for granted. Love how this was edited and just enjoyed the performances. Sound of Metal received two Oscars, Best Sound and Best Film Editing.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Mother (2023)

The best thing about The Mother is that it gives Jennifer Lopez the chance to play a diffent character than we're used to seeing from her. Turns out she can handle the action thriller stuff pretty well. The film itself is unfortunately more or less what we’ve come to expect from a streaming platform original. It’s well made but ultimately, generic and unmemorable. More content than passion project.

An unnamed U.S. military operative (Jennifer Lopez, whose character is only credited as “The Mother”) gives up her newborn daughter after becoming an informant for the FBI. Initially she was happy to work - and become romantically engaged with - Ex-SAS Captain Adrian Lovell (Joseph Fiennes) and arms dealer Hector Álvarez (Gael García Bernal) but once she found out they were involved in child trafficking, she double-crossed them. Now, they want her dead and no one is safe. Twelve years later, “The Mother” is a recluse living in Alaska when Special agent William Cruise (Omari Hardwick) approaches her. Zoe (Lucy Paez) has been captured by Álvarez's men to draw out their real target. It's a trap, but "The Mother" has no choice.

I can see why the film chose not to give Lopez’s character a name. “The Mother” cares about Zoe but she has no idea how to show it; she’s cold and the only parenting she manages to do is teach the girl extreme survival skills like shooting, trapping, and carving up game once it becomes clear Zoe will have to defend herself from the bad men. "The Mother" was the kind of person who pursued romance once upon a time but now, that’s all gone. Even to her friends, she’s distant. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what's the cause. Giving up her daughter, maybe? Anyway, in execution, the choice not to give her a name makes for some clunky, carefully phrased dialogue. It’s not the only awkward choice. Omari Hardwick’s character is critical to the plot, until about halfway through when he gets dropped and essentially replaced by Zoe. While it’s an unpredictable turn, it minimizes the human connections between our protagonist who, unfortunately, you have a hard time becoming endeared towards. She came to the authorities and said something when she found a shipping container full of children. Cool. Before then, she was selling mines and guns to the kind of people that would round up said children though, so it’s not like she's fully redeemed yourself in our eyes. Even when “The Mother” goes after the men who kidnapped Zoe, it feels like she’s doing it for selfish reasons because she is so unemotional during the whole thing.

On the upside, you hate the villains and seeing them get taken out is satisfying. The “boss battles” are fun - in a nasty sort of way - and varied enough so that seeing "The Mother" and Special agent Cruise take baddies out never gets old. There’s plenty of tension throughout, particularly during the climax. The story moves at a good pace and it's never boring.

The price you're paying for admission to see The Mother - which is essentially nothing since you're already subscribed to the streaming service - is perfect. It's not a bad movie. It's just not memorable. As an action thriller you can throw on the TV to pass some time, it will keep you entertained. I mean that in a good way. (June 10, 2023)

[vintagewarhol]

[boardchairman-blog]

**Shots of the Episode**

Perry Mason (2020)

Season 2, Episode 3: “Chapter Eleven” (2023) Director: Jessica Lowrey Cinematographer: Darran Tiernan

[moviemosaics]

The Mother

directed by Niki Caro, 2023

[loveboatinsanity]