A dirty, grimy movie with Warren Oates portraying a self-destructive expat playing song requests on piano in a dingy bar in Mexico City, escaping whatever demons he left behind back home in America. An opportunity comes his way to make some money by taking the titular Head of Alfredo Garcia to a Mexican crime boss, and he sees a chance for a path to a better life. Instead, as expected, everything goes to hell.
His suit gets dirtier and bloodier…
The music in this is incredible, but in particular that musical sequence around the halfway point is one of the most exhilarating moments I can experiencing in the cinema in quite some time.
Remmick is such a fascinating and nuanced villain. Formerly colonized by the English and forced to assimilate to a conquering power some 1000 years or so earlier, he himself now seeks to usurp the musical powers of another culture in order to make with his own ancestors. The oppressed becomes the oppressor.
Seeing it on the big screen in a packed movie theater is a hell of an experience, and I believe this is the first film I've seen projected in 70 mm. This is one of those movies that grows on me more and more every time I see it. A few things that jumped out at me on this watch:
--While it is a very quiet film, there are moments when the sound really ramps up unexpectedly and it's quite…
Saw this at BMFI with lead actor and producer Evan Jonigkeit in attendance, in what turned out to be the film's world premiere.
Henry Johnson (the character, not the film) has a fatal flaw: He's just too damn trusting. He'll go along with anyone's hair-brained scheme if you just talk to him long enough about it. Maybe it's due to a deep-seated feeling of inadequacy. He needs to feel important, included, involved. The consequences of those actions don't often …
