Tag Archives: Phil Hay

Destroyer (2018)

Posted on by
Reply

Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Tatiana Maslany, Sebastian Stan, Scoot McNairy, Bradley Whitford, Toby Huss
Seen on: 1.9.2021

Plot:
Erin (Nicole Kidman) is a police officer, only barely holding herself together. When a body turns up with markings that connect it to an undercover case from the very beginning of Erin’s career, she re-opens the investigation, she knows that her past has finally caught up with her – and that she may finally set things right.

Destroyer very cleverly cast Nicole Kidman against type, but I often felt that it relies to hard on that cleverness, on Kidman’s sallow looks. It is a decent crime movie, but it could have been a little more.

The film poster showing a close-up of half of Erin's (Nicole Kidman) face with deep shadows under her eyes in blue and red light.
Continue reading →

The Invitation (2015)

Posted on by
Reply

The Invitation
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Tammy Blanchard, Michiel Huisman, John Carroll Lynch, Lindsay Burdge, Mike Doyle, Karl Yune, Michelle Krusiec, Marieh Delfino, Jordi Vilasuso, Danielle Camastra, Jay Larson, Toby Huss
Part of: /slash Filmfestival
Seen on: 17.9.2015
[Reviews by cornholio and Maynard.]

Plot:
Will (Logan Marshall-Green) and Edie (Tammy Blanchard) used to be happy. But after their son died, their relationship fell apart. Edie began dating David (Michiel Huisman) and then disappeared for two years. But now Edie and David are back and have invited all of their old friends to a dinner party, including Will and his new girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi). It’s weird coming back together like that, but there is something even weirder going on with Edie and David and the young woman (Lindsay Burdge) who seems to live with them now.

The Invitation doesn’t exactly tell a revolutionary, unforeseeable story. But it is so beautifully executed that I didn’t mind that for a single second. In fact, the old plot just emphasizes how good the rest of the film is.

invitation

Continue reading →

R.I.P.D. (2013)

Posted on by
Reply

R.I.P.D.
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Based on: Peter M. Lenkov‘s comic
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak, James Hong, Marisa Miller, Robert Knepper, Mike O’Malley

Plot:
Police officer Nick (Ryan Reynolds) has a good life with his wife Julia (Stephanie Szostak) but he worries that he’s not providing enough for her. So when he and his partner Hayes (Kevin Bacon) get the opportunity to steal some gold from a crime scene, they do. But Nick regrets it. Before he can do anything about that regret though, he is killed – by Hayes. To pay for his dishonesty, Nick is drafted into the R.I.P.D. – the Rest in Peace Department – in the afterlife. Together with his partner Roy (Jeff Bridges) they are supposed to bring wandering souls in. But something bigger is happening.

R.I.P.D. was pretty much exactly like I imagined it (dumb popcorn cinema) and yet pretty boring with it. If they had embraced their own dumbness a bit more, it might have been more entertaining.

RIPD

[SPOILERS]

Continue reading →