Red Sparrow is a 2018 spy-thriller film directed by Francis Lawrence who worked with Jennifer Lawrence (the star here) on a couple of the Hunger Games movies, but this is a very different beast. Jennifer Lawrence plays Dominika Egorova (in, it has to be said, a not entirely convincing Russian accent), and Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenarts and Charlotte Rampling star as the film's secondary characters. This one is a pretty big departure from what Lawrence has done in the past, although it has to be said that she's making some pretty bold career choices. I'm not the first one to say that, and for a good reason: it's true. After last year's Mother! it appeared as if she was trying purposefully trying to appear in more "mature" films, and believe me, it doesn't get much more mature than Red Sparrow. The film plays out like one of those schlocky exploitation from the seventies, in that there's sexual violence, sex, violence, torture, and all manner o
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a 2017 grindhouse film which was written and directed by S. Craig Zahler. It stars Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Carpenter as a married couple. At the start of the film, Vaughn's Bradley Thomas finds out that his wife has been cheating on him with another man. However, the two remain together and years later, Thomas becomes a drug dealer. Unfortunately he gets arrested for killing two colleagues while trying to escape the police. While in there, for reasons out of his control, Thomas is forced to take a trip down to Cell Block 99, a prison block reserved for only the worst of criminals.
This film was given a limited theatrical release, and was also released to stream on Amazon Video. Honestly, I'm not surprised that this has kind of slipped away from a mainstream release, because Brawl in Cell Block 99 is aimed at a very niche audience. If you're a fan of films like Death Proof and Machete, then this is the one for you. It's pretty violent and exploitative like those, but there are differences between the older grindhouse films and this one.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a very slow, nuanced film which really takes its time to show you the ins and outs of Bradley Thomas. There are lots of moments where he sits, thinks, has conversations with people, and in fact there's practically no fighting until around the ninety minute mark, which is where the film fully merits its 18 certificate.
Honestly, in terms of homages to once-popular genres, it doesn't really get better than this. It takes all of the grindhouse conventions and makes them better. What was always missing from those films was any sense of depth or character development. They existed solely as a vehicle for violence and exploitation (which was often far more offensive than anything in this.) Brawl in Cell Block 99 isn't exactly a left-winger's dream, but it didn't actively annoy me after it was over.
In fact, it's incredibly entertaining, and I know that pretty much everyone has said this, but it's because it's true - this is one of the best performances of Vince Vaughn's career. On top of that, the writing in this film is absolutely stellar. If the Academy Awards were more open to non-mainstream films, I'd have this penned for a best script nomination, at least.
To say more than I have would be an injustice to the film. All I'll say is that this is an absolute essential for action film fans or fans of the grindhouse genre. I know it's not December yet, but this will most likely be in my best of the year list. If Vince Vaugh does more work like and less work like the atrocity that was the Psycho remake, I'll be very happy.
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