Review: Velvet Buzzsaw

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Critique is so limiting.

Josephina (Zawe Ashton) is an assistant to a high profile art dealer, Rhodora. (Rene Russo) She wants to make a name for herself too, so when her neighbor passes away, she wanders into his apartment and finds hundreds of his paintings that immediately catch everyone's attention, including critic Morf. (Jake Gyllenhaal) but viewing these paintings comes with a high price.

Director Dan Gilroy thought the world of high art would make an interesting setting for a horror movie, and he's right. Though I wouldn't go into this movie expecting it to be heavy on the horror, it does keep a fairly creepy tone while littered with dry humor.

I know this is getting mixed reviews, but I dug Velvet Buzzsaw. Sure, it doesn't actually bother to explain its main entity but that felt fitting in the world of art. We can interpret paintings, sculptures, anything in so many different ways and they can mean completely different things to different people. 

Jake Gyllenhaal is hilarious as the pretentious art critic, Morf. So many things he said were just so funny. This film belongs to him and Ashton, who was also very good. I haven't seen her in many things but she's wonderfully ambitious here. Toni Collette, John Malkovich, Daveed Diggs, and Natalie Dyer all have smaller roles too. They aren't used nearly as much as our main three but I enjoyed their moments. Though admittedly, Malkovich's character didn't serve much of a purpose.

I loved the costumes and art direction here. I swear every time I watch these upscale movies I get the urge to go on a shopping spree for clothes I don't need. It mixes well with the little bit of gore they throw in there.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "Do you think there's a market for it?" - Josephina (Zawe Ashton)

Comments

  1. Candice FrederickFebruary 5, 2019 at 8:32 AM

    yeah, it's the performances that really make this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Often Off TopicFebruary 5, 2019 at 8:57 AM

    Well said! I was disappointed at first I think because I was expecting some kind of twist but if you can accept it for what it is, it's so entertaining. Jake Gyllenhaal is an absolute treasure!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 5, 2019 at 8:16 PM

      He was, everything that came out of his mouth was gold.

      Delete
  3. thevoid99February 5, 2019 at 2:35 PM

    I think I might want to see this as I think the film's polarizing reaction has me intrigued. I heard it's fucking bonkers but I like bonkers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 5, 2019 at 8:15 PM

      It is bonkers and that's absolutely fine. I like it too.

      Delete
  4. BirgitFebruary 5, 2019 at 3:57 PM

    I love art and going to museums so I would like to see this film. Mind you I don't think a red dot in the centre of a white canvas classifies as art. Knowing how cut throat the art world is, I can see it being a horrific. I love watching this show from the BBC where 2 main people in the art world help a person who owns a , possibly, famous art piece, find out if the art piece is genuine. it is quite like a detective show. The end is having them always go and submit it to the main art place in Paris to determine if it is real. Often it comes up true but there was this one case where everything was determined to come from this famous artist but because the father of the head of this art place in Paris stated 40 yrs before that it wasn't, they said it wasn't. Just like that the piece has no vindication-talk about power and the misuse of!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 5, 2019 at 8:15 PM

      That sounds interesting, I've never seen that show.

      Delete
  5. WigglemaniaFebruary 5, 2019 at 7:20 PM

    Looking forward to Deadpool 3?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Carson Maitland - SmithFebruary 5, 2019 at 11:30 PM

    💛💜❤️💙🎂 My brother Lincoln and I are turning 21 next Thursday 🎂💛💜❤️💙

    ReplyDelete
  7. s.February 6, 2019 at 11:57 AM

    I liked all the performances but the script, especially the horror aspect of it, was so lazy. Gyllenhaal can;t catch a break!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 6, 2019 at 2:17 PM

      Maybe he's doing this on purpose in retaliation from his Nightcrawler snub? lol.

      The script was definitely lazy about the horror part, but I still liked it.

      Delete
  8. GeektellerFebruary 8, 2019 at 10:13 AM

    I've heard mostly disappointing reviews, so I'll probably skip this, especially since it's horror and I don't watch horror films, but I am intrigued by the idea of seeing Jake Gylenhaal's performance....but, yeah, I'm not gonna do it :))

    ReplyDelete

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