It has been taking me so long to get reviews done that it has managed to throw my plans out of whack. There is a movie at the theater that I want to watch and review, but I also want to get on with watching other movies as well. It is time for Dawn, Terry, and me to do our monthly review. We didn't actually set a date for it, but I have some plans coming up the next few weekends, so I wanted to get Dawn's selection of Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) done and out of the way. Plus, it is also time for a Netflix instant watch, so it all works out for me. I hope to get reviews out in a more timely manner but I'm not holding my breath either.
Morf (Jake Gyllenhaal) is something of a God in the art world. He is a well-known art critic who can make or break an artist. He works closely with Rhodora (Rene Russo), an art dealer who is always looking for the next hot artist. Josephina (Zawe Ashton) works for Rhodora and can't seem to catch a break. In fact, she is close to losing her job. When an older man in Josephina's apartment building dies, she is the one that finds his body. She learns that his place is full of paintings and drawings that this guy has done over the years. No one has ever heard of him before and he left instructions that everything is thrown out. Josephina takes some of the art and shows it to Morf who wants to know more about the man behind the art. Seeing a way to make some money, Josephina takes what she can from the apartment and makes a deal with Rhodora to move the art. The bad thing is, those who profit from the art seem to disappear or end up dead.
Velvet Buzzsaw was written and directed by Dan Gilroy. A lot of people was looking forward to this movie because it reunited Jake Gyllenhaal and Dan Gilroy. They teamed up for the movie Nightcrawler, which a lot of people loved. I remember watching that movie and not getting it as much as everyone else. I plan to visit it again sometime though, so hopefully, I will like it better the second time around. I felt much the same way about Velvet Buzzsaw. I felt very mixed about it after watching it. While I did like it in general, I also didn't like it all that much in general as well. Those that know about the art world say that the story comes pretty close to what the real world is like. Some felt that the story would have worked better as a dark comedy or satire. This is all well and good, but I have no idea what the real art world is like since I'm not into art. I will just take their word for it and move on. I did end up liking the story. It kept me interested but I kept waiting for it to pick up. It kind of does towards the end of the movie, but I never got into the story as much as I would have liked. The story flirts with the horror side of things, but never goes fully into it. I got the feeling that the story wanted to be dark in nature, but never fully goes dark. We learn just a little bit about the guy who dies and leaves behind all kinds of art that he did. I don't blame Gilroy for not delving too deep into this guys history, after all, the less we know the more we want to know. Gilroy hints about this mysterious guy and his life now and then. We learn that his co-workers didn't want to mess with him after one of them was killed. The paintings themselves have a secret about them that we learn about. We see one painting appear to bleed after a fleck of paint is removed. This was more in the direction I wish Velvet Buzzsaw had gone in. I can see this dead guy being able to somehow control his art from beyond the grave, but he was also able to bend reality at times and use other art for his purpose. Like I said, I don't blame Gilroy for not telling us about these things but at the same time, I found it all a tad confusing because it wasn't being explained.
Velvet Buzzsaw does manage to get a little gory, for one scene at least. I was a little disappointed with the death scenes. Often times we know a person more than likely died, but we don't see much of what happens. Like one person gets pulled into a painting, I'm assuming anyway, but the film just leaves it at that. The one scene that stood out to me was one person losing their arm thanks to some art. This scene gets pretty gory but that isn't what I liked about it. It was the story after that happened, how the body was discovered, that stood out so much. That was the direction I wished the entire film had gone in. The acting was very good here. I thought that Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo knocked it out of the park with their roles. I also really liked Zawe Ashton in her role as well. It wasn't just these main three that stood out. The entire cast did an excellent job with each of their roles.
The story wants us to believe that the artist is getting revenge on those who are trying to profit off of his work after he wanted it all destroyed. I was starting to wonder if that was actually the case by the end of the film though. Why just kill those who sell the paintings and not those who are buying them as well? While we see people are selling his art die, personally I think he was just enjoying killing people. Velvet Buzzsaw is getting a lot of mixed reviews. Some love it, some think it was just okay, and some hate it. I didn't hate this movie, but I did feel it could have been a lot better at the same time. I wasn't sure what to rate it after I finished it, but my gut was telling me to give it a low rating so I did. I don't want to discourage anyone from giving it a try though. If it sounds like something you might really get into, then go for it and I hope you do end up liking it way more than I did.
2 out of 5 Good thing I don't have any tattoos
Morf (Jake Gyllenhaal) is something of a God in the art world. He is a well-known art critic who can make or break an artist. He works closely with Rhodora (Rene Russo), an art dealer who is always looking for the next hot artist. Josephina (Zawe Ashton) works for Rhodora and can't seem to catch a break. In fact, she is close to losing her job. When an older man in Josephina's apartment building dies, she is the one that finds his body. She learns that his place is full of paintings and drawings that this guy has done over the years. No one has ever heard of him before and he left instructions that everything is thrown out. Josephina takes some of the art and shows it to Morf who wants to know more about the man behind the art. Seeing a way to make some money, Josephina takes what she can from the apartment and makes a deal with Rhodora to move the art. The bad thing is, those who profit from the art seem to disappear or end up dead.
Velvet Buzzsaw was written and directed by Dan Gilroy. A lot of people was looking forward to this movie because it reunited Jake Gyllenhaal and Dan Gilroy. They teamed up for the movie Nightcrawler, which a lot of people loved. I remember watching that movie and not getting it as much as everyone else. I plan to visit it again sometime though, so hopefully, I will like it better the second time around. I felt much the same way about Velvet Buzzsaw. I felt very mixed about it after watching it. While I did like it in general, I also didn't like it all that much in general as well. Those that know about the art world say that the story comes pretty close to what the real world is like. Some felt that the story would have worked better as a dark comedy or satire. This is all well and good, but I have no idea what the real art world is like since I'm not into art. I will just take their word for it and move on. I did end up liking the story. It kept me interested but I kept waiting for it to pick up. It kind of does towards the end of the movie, but I never got into the story as much as I would have liked. The story flirts with the horror side of things, but never goes fully into it. I got the feeling that the story wanted to be dark in nature, but never fully goes dark. We learn just a little bit about the guy who dies and leaves behind all kinds of art that he did. I don't blame Gilroy for not delving too deep into this guys history, after all, the less we know the more we want to know. Gilroy hints about this mysterious guy and his life now and then. We learn that his co-workers didn't want to mess with him after one of them was killed. The paintings themselves have a secret about them that we learn about. We see one painting appear to bleed after a fleck of paint is removed. This was more in the direction I wish Velvet Buzzsaw had gone in. I can see this dead guy being able to somehow control his art from beyond the grave, but he was also able to bend reality at times and use other art for his purpose. Like I said, I don't blame Gilroy for not telling us about these things but at the same time, I found it all a tad confusing because it wasn't being explained.
Velvet Buzzsaw does manage to get a little gory, for one scene at least. I was a little disappointed with the death scenes. Often times we know a person more than likely died, but we don't see much of what happens. Like one person gets pulled into a painting, I'm assuming anyway, but the film just leaves it at that. The one scene that stood out to me was one person losing their arm thanks to some art. This scene gets pretty gory but that isn't what I liked about it. It was the story after that happened, how the body was discovered, that stood out so much. That was the direction I wished the entire film had gone in. The acting was very good here. I thought that Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo knocked it out of the park with their roles. I also really liked Zawe Ashton in her role as well. It wasn't just these main three that stood out. The entire cast did an excellent job with each of their roles.
The story wants us to believe that the artist is getting revenge on those who are trying to profit off of his work after he wanted it all destroyed. I was starting to wonder if that was actually the case by the end of the film though. Why just kill those who sell the paintings and not those who are buying them as well? While we see people are selling his art die, personally I think he was just enjoying killing people. Velvet Buzzsaw is getting a lot of mixed reviews. Some love it, some think it was just okay, and some hate it. I didn't hate this movie, but I did feel it could have been a lot better at the same time. I wasn't sure what to rate it after I finished it, but my gut was telling me to give it a low rating so I did. I don't want to discourage anyone from giving it a try though. If it sounds like something you might really get into, then go for it and I hope you do end up liking it way more than I did.
2 out of 5 Good thing I don't have any tattoos
