Oh the Sun, England, and the Old West...

Sunshine(dir. Danny Boyle)
This film was a beautiful-looking yet empty experience. The film's narrative inched at a crawl through most of the running time and once the film ends, you realize that you didn't give a shit about what happened to any of these characters because of a serious lack of character development. Several of the actors were sketchy at best and once the characters started to get picked off one by one, you were kind of glad that you don't have to watch some of these actors try to act anymore. I'm probably the only person out there that thought the narrative's turn to slasher territory was for the better because of the immediacy it created that was severely lacking in the narrative up until that point. The special effects were incredible to look at, but the film as a whole was a disposable experience.
** out of ****
Control(dir. Anton Corbijn)
A by-the-numbers account of Ian Curtis's short life with Joy Division, his wife, and his mistress. The only things differentiating this from other music biopics is it's gorgeous black and white cinematography and it's pacing. The pace of the film is hypnotic at first as it took on the aimless rhythm of a young Curtis's life, but once everything is set up for his downward spiral, it became tedious. Samantha Morton gives an incredible performance as Curtis's wife who disappointingly ends up being relegated to the background for most of the running time. Sam Riley is fine as Curtis even if his performance is perhaps too elusive and acts more like a marker for Curtis instead of an embodiment of him. It's worth seeing, but if you're expecting to learn anything about Curtis and Joy Division, you're definitely going to be underwhelmed.
**1/2 out of ****
Unforgiven(dir. Clint Eastwood)
The film's anti-violence slant would have be fine if it didn't indulge itself with an act of vengeance with it's finale. It would be one thing if Eastwood directed this act as something that would alienate the audience say with it's grotesqueness, but it just comes off as a heroic act that undermines everything that the film has been preaching on about up to that point. Clint is fine in the role that he plays in pretty much every film he's in and Morgan Freeman doesn't really fit into this picture with his portrayal of the same character he always plays, Morgan Freeman. The character of The Kid was basically a screenwriter's construct to shoehorn this underlying message that violence is bad and his turn, while for the better, was totally expected. Gene Hackman's portrayal of the gruff sheriff was definitely the most entertaining and interesting part of the film and the long period of the running time that the film focused on his character was definitely the best portion of the film. It's anti-violence message would have been fine if the film didn't come off as so preachy and hypocritical and the fact that The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance handled similar themes in a much more elegant and subtle fashion 30 years before it tells you something. I definitely would not call this film a masterpiece of modern western cinema, but it's still a film to check out.
*** out of ****