The Killer Inside Me

 

I could try to be cute and claim that I didn't know Casey Affleck was Ben Affleck's brother. Of course I knew, although I'd never seen him acting before. As a small town psychopath, Lou Ford, who relaxes of an evening playing classical piano, reading great literature, and listening to Donazetti on his late father's Victrola, Affleck will curdle your blood and turn your bowels to water before you finish your popcorn.

Enjoying Una Furtiva Lagrima

This movie is about as noir as noir gets, but the sunlight in 1952 Texas is so bright it will make your eyes hurt, the characters are always sweaty and grimy, and Texas swing plays endlessly on car radios. If you want dark alleys and moody black and white cinematography, you probably should skip this.

Apparently, there was much controversy about violence against women in this movie when it came out. I've seen more than my share of murder and mayhem on the big screen, and I'm not sure I have much light or heat to add to the debate. I will comment that if your story includes people beating other people to death you should probably make it pretty violent, and not in a Quentin Tarantino way.