Killer Joe

I've heard really good, if guarded, things about this movie...which largely boil down to "Wow, it's messed up." It got a limited release over here, but no media buzz at all...

How'd you get the UK BD so early, dvdmike? And, out of curiosity, is it region-free?

Ah, okay. And drat on the region lock, though as a blessing that means at least an additional month and change before this goes into my backlog from hell...

Watched "Killer Joe" on blu-ray tonight (US release). Reminded me a lot as far as off-center characters and slow but deliberate pacing of an early Tarantino or "Fargo" era Coen Bros. flick. Worth checking out just for the four major characters in the flick who are all dumb and amoral as it gets (especially Ansel). There's a few scenes that definitely earn the NC-17/unrated label and it's certainly Matthew McConaughey's most twisted role I've seen him play. It's funny, I immediately recognized the actress with the big... um, bush as "Crystal" in the laughably bad movie "Showgirls" a decade or two ago.

The a/v quality is surprisingly good. The cinematography by Caleb Deschanel is excellent with a lot of fine detail right down to one scene in particular where two characters are walking along a railroad track with a single strand of a spiderweb caught in the sunlight in the foreground that eventually gets caught in one character's hair as she walks through it.

Friedkin can be very hit or miss these days and this movie isn't perfect by any stretch. There are a few long, dialog-driven bits that may tax some viewer's patience but the acting, the characters will keep one involved to the final payoff in the end (which may have one of the most frustrating cut-endings in recent memory). But despite the caveats, I can still highly recommend this one as at least a rental.

It's warped, that's for sure.

Good ole' Lionsgate rentals, still pushing their inferior lossy crap on the rental outlets with no warning.

Watched this one today on a calibrated X55 that I have for review. Video quality is incredible, though slightly videoish in appearance due to the Arri camera and prime lenses. Fine detail is incredible though and contrast is superb. Definitely a show off disc for picture quality despite the subject matter.

My rental copy (from Blockbuster-by-Mail) had the DTS-MA track. (it also featured all the extras).

So did mine. It was the directors cut! I get the feeling that there was a shortage of rental copies so they dug into their retail store inventory.




Ian
Edited by mailiang - 12/24/12 at 3:37pm

Redbox got first dibs apparently.

Lucky me!


Ian

I won't be so quick to grab the drumstick out of the bucket after watching this one.

It's out for rental here I might have to give it a look.

Man. That was certainly something.

This movie is soo funny. It sure is red neck trailer trash. I love this movie. Every time i eat fried chicken, I sure will think of this movie.

Yeah, this one is a bit twisted.  When the Chris character came home after the chicken leg scene and picked it up, I thought in horror he was going to eat it. 

This was a terrific movie with a perfect ending.