Tusk (2014) Movie Review by Aaroh Palkar

Tusk directed by Kevin Smith with Justin Long, Michael Parks, Haley Joel Osment and Genesis Rodriguez.

 

Summary :

Podcaster Wallace Bryton ends up being held captive by old-time seafarer Howard Howe who has his own plans for Wallace.

So Tusk is a horror/comedy movie by Kevin Smith the director of Clerks, Mallrats, Dogma and many other movies. I love movies by Kevin Smith. My first Kevin Smith movie was Clerks and I was blown away it was so good. The movie is completely dialogue driven and I never for once got tired of it. But, moving on to Tusk

The plot of Tusk actually was inspired from this one very weird Gumtree advertisement which Kevin Smith read on his podcast with his friend/producer Scott Mosier which inspired Smith to make it into a full-length feature film.

So, I was kind of trying to not see anything regarding about this movie on the internet before watching it and I’m really satisfied with this movie. I know not everyone likes this movie but I was actually hooked on it till the end. Yes, some parts in between were like “Huh ?” but I enjoyed this movie to the fullest.

So, my in depth thoughts on this movie are as follows :

1.) The plot of Tusk is unique. This whole movie is unique. It starts of as a comedy then slowly progresses into the mystery genre and then becomes something really uncomfortable to watch but I loved every bit of it.

Don’t be fooled by the gimmicky part of this movie. There is a good amount of character background. As the movie progresses which at times goes back and forth between the past and present, we learn things about these characters especially the lead Wallace Bryton played by Justin Long has these secrets about him.

Genesis Rodriguez gave a very good performance and that monologue she had was really good and felt genuine. There is this small cameo by a certain famous Hollywood actor which I won’t spoil but I liked his bit except with a certain flashback the character tells about. That scene was just boring.

2.) Michael Parks deserves his own point because he was that good. I loved his role as this crazy handicapped guy with this weird obsession. The way he speaks the dialogues in such a smooth way was really nice.

3.) The movie was very funny in the first half and then very good as a mystery but I hated it when even this one scary scene where something happens to Justin Long and this really calm music is playing in the background. I mean I just didn’t find that tune in-sync with the scene. Then there is this bit by Michael Parks right near the end which was so weird. This whole movie is weird but good weird.

4.) The ultimate reveal was really good. I was so shocked when I saw it. That “WTF !” moment was so good. The ending of the movie is not what you would expect.

My only gripe with this movie is that maybe it should’ve been a proper horror movie which would’ve made it even more popular. And I read this on the internet that this movie is the first movie in a trilogy called the True North Trilogy.

I would recommend you to check out this movie because of a really weird story but amazing performances by all the cast and for the special cameo appearance because always go “Full Walrus”.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

 

Brick (2005) Movie Review by Aaroh Palkar

Brick directed by Rian Johnson with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas and Noah Fleiss.

Summary :

Brendan Frye investigates the death of his ex-girlfriend after she dies under mysterious circumstances.

So, Brick is a detective movie about this weird but smart kid trying to find the killer/killers of his ex-girlfriend. This is a good movie but it has its flaws. The dialogues in this movie are filled with slang which actually make the dialogue difficult to understand at first. If you actually sit through the first half an hour you slowly start getting the hang of the slang.

Then comes the plot. So,the plot becomes a bit difficult to understand because of two things :

a.) The movie’s pace is really fast. I mean this is not a “I-can-watch-this -while-texting-flick.” You really need to pay attention to the film to keep up. Every scene has something important happening in it. I actually had to go back some scenes just to get a hang of what happened then.

b.) As the plot moves quickly and because of the slang filled dialogue you actually get confused as to who is who and why is this particular thing happening. This movie will definitely require another viewing.

What I think here the thing is that this movie is maybe for the more “serious” cinema goers. The ones who watch a movie again and again to analyze every shot and dialogue. I highly doubt any casual movie fan can enjoy this without getting a little confused and irritated. And by no means do I think I am an artsy fart who thinks can enjoy any sort of movie. I myself got confused while watching this movie and was about to give up but then I thought of completing it anyway.

My thoughts on this movie are as follows :-

1.) Even though I complained about the dialogue being confusing, if you actually start understanding the terms then you really start loving the dialogues as they don’t give away too much. And it really is fun to just hear things like,”She copped the junk” and “He wants cash on the nail.” etc.

2.) The score is really good which helps in creating this tense environment. Guitars and these bells you hear are really soft on the ears and help in creating a sense of tension.

3.) This is one of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s earlier work and it really shows how dynamic he really is. I really couldn’t believe this was the guy who later down the years will become Jon in Don Jon or Blake in The Dark Knight Rise or Arthur in Inception. This guy is really an amazing actor.

50/50 is a comedy film about a guy having cancer and this guy’s performance as the said cancer patient actually made me tear up in some scenes. We are truly lucky to have such an actor working in the industry.

4.) The other thing with this movie is that sometimes I actually found it funny. The reason being I found it a bit weird that these high school kids are doing such things and the parents don’t even care. But, that’s my opinion so I don’t know maybe it will lay out differently for you.

So guys Brick is a really good detective movie which requires all of your attention but it pays off really well in the end. I would recommend you to check this out if not for anything then Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as Brendan Frye.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day.