Diary entries forThe Card Counter
The Card Counter
Cold and clinical would be the best way to describe The Card Counter. It’s a unique world, filled with an array of intriguing characters, with motivations that really pushed the film into interesting territory. It’s a clean film, with little room for interpretation, laying the facts out on the floor and letting you watch. Paul Schrader is such an interesting filmmaker, someone who I have grown very fond of within the last few years. This is yet another great film from him, and I cannot wait to see what else he has in store. The Card Counter is a powerhouse of a film, with a great cast working at their full caliber, with a director who knows exactly what he wants. It’s a marvel of a film, and one that I very much want to give another go to in the future.
The Card Counter
Well done for what it was, but was left feeling that I wanted more from the film.
The Card Counter
Seems like Schrader Fest 2024 is starting early… Yeah, I really dig this one. It’s grown on me each time I’ve watched it. Cinematic Stockholm Syndrome? Perhaps. But I really enjoy what Schrader is doing here, even if it’s glaringly unsubtle. Schrader Ranked (https://boxd.it/n9PFU)
The Card Counter
This one hit a lot better for me this time. Maybe it’s that I’ve become more familiar with Schrader throughout this year, maybe it’s just knowing what the movie is and having different expectations. Either way, this worked a lot better for me this time. Oscar Isaac is fantastic here. Cirk is still truly one of the most insane names I’ve ever seen in a movie. Schrader truly is goated with the sauce.
The Card Counter
There are a few good things swimming around in the muck here which kind of evens the whole thing out into a decent enough movie. Oscar Isaac is just deadlifting this thing from bad to fine. Him and Willem Dafoe (sorely underutilized) are the two bright spots. Dialogue feels so clunky, and it just feels like it drags on and on and on. Tye Sheridan, I felt, was not good in this at all. But Tiffany Haddish makes Tye Sheridan look like Orson Welles by comparison. Haddish might give my least favorite performance in a movie since Nat Wolff in Death Note. Neither her nor Sheridan come across at all believable or even particularly serious in this one bit. But like I said, Isaac is good. Dafoe is good. They share some screen time and I love that. I wish this was all that and less of this. But it’s well shot, the story does get VERY interesting in the last 30 minutes. Overall, it’s fine I guess.
The Card Counter
paul schrader has one guy he keeps putting in different scenarios. i have to respect it.
The Card Counter
“The feeling of being forgiven by another and forgiving oneself are so much alike, there's no point in trying to keep them distinct“ Director Paul Schrader returns to his particularly unique and aggressively nihilistic vision with The Card Counter. Starring the wonderfully talented Oscar Isaac as William Tell, an ex-convict burdened by his past, this is a film very similar in tone to Paul’s last feature film, First Reformed. Ripping at the American façade, The Card Counter tells a tale of regrets, revenge, and the role this nation plays in it all. Somewhat of a slow burn, but never overdone, The Card Counter is a meticulously directed and paced film. The backdrop of listless casinos full of sad people trying to win in a game that’s always rigged against them is ironic, and the lack of color in the picture makes it feel all that more oppressive. My main issue is Tiffany Hadish’s casting, as I think she just doesn’t work very well for this type of film, but everything else works pretty well. - 2021 Ranked (https://boxd.it/ejw82)
The Card Counter
Oscar issac se roba la película por completo el centro de atención en su interpretación se vuelve el punto más enriquecedora de esta continuación al análisis de la moralidad humana , Paul Schrader va con contundencia y sin rodeos acompañado de una atmósfera completamente tensionante en el que las interpretaciones no dejan de sorprender, otra ficha clave de Robert Bresson para la influencia de Schrader en su filmografía.
The Card Counter
Tiene un tema sobre el que desenvolverse mucho más interesante que el de First Reformedpero no consigue sacarle el jugo. A partir del segundo acto se desinfla mal. El final, para qué? Ha sido muy divertida y los escenarios me han encantado. Abogo por más pelis así, pero con más idea de hacia dónde llevarlas.
The Card Counter
Yuck. 0.2
