Oh John & Lynne & Lynne & Jose...

Kill the Day(dir. Lynne Ramsay)
It tried to be compelling in it's vagueness, but it was more dull than mysterious. A junkie character can be interesting, but since he barely does anything remotely interesting, he's not interesting. The most interesting aspect about the character is the guilt-ridden memories he has from childhood. The film was still interesting in it's elliptical way. I recommend.
*** out of ****
Small Deaths(dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Pretty much perfect. It's amazing that this short film was made in the same year as the one above since this is much more accomplished artistically. I never understood why short films always have to be some gimmicky piece of shit or a condensed feature-length film. This shows that a truly great short film is one that is extremely simple yet mysterious. I loved how you see this girl's childhood and it all of a sudden jumps to her much bleaker present life. Highly recommended.
**** out of ****
Gasman(dir. Lynne Ramsay)
This is probably more technically accomplished than the previous film, but the previous film is still better. The concept of a child meeting her father's other family seems strangely intriguing and scary. The bit with the rock near the end seemed to be a little heavy-handed. It's as if it was trying to show the young character has learned to accept her previously unknown half-sister, but it felt like a cheap attempt at suspense. Other that that, it was really good.
***1/2 out of ****
Whirlpool(dir. Otto Preminger)
It felt fairly routine until the murder plot/case came around. Jose Ferrer is an intriguing villain. So charismatic that he has to be evil. He's easily the most compelling character in the picture. Without him, this would have only been decent. Gene Tierney's housewife is a little too housewife-y and Richard Conte's dedicated and respectable husband is a little too dedicated and respectable husband-y. Jose Ferrer's character brings a cynically Social Darwinistic outlook to the film that it really needs. This world needs a little corruption, without it, it might as well be Leave It to Beaver with kleptomania as it's subject of the week. Obviously, I have never seen an episode of Leave It to Beaver, but I've seen this. I highly recommend.
***1/2 out of ****