Here on Thoughts on Film we are big fans of his work and the recent films made by Peter Jackson. Tolkien before he became the literary giant that he is today.

One of the yearвЂ™s best films.ДЎ0th May, 2019 is when Tolkien will be released to the world, an autobiographical film that will revolve around the early days of legendary author J.R.R. Dominik has now solidified himself as a true talent of modern day filmmaking, able to bring something exciting to whatever material he chooses. Unashamedly throwing its audience into the deep end of things with dense conversations that go on longer than your average film of its type, this is an uncompromising and handsomely made modern day crime tale that puts a fresh spin on a familiar set-up. What may seem like just another generic crime thriller on the surface is elevated to a level of its own thanks to impressive technical filmmaking, a smart script and brilliant performances. The political aspect is a tad on-the-nose but thereвЂ™s something to be admired about a film going all out in that respect, as bold in its social commentary as it is in its visceral, gut-wrenching scenes of violence.

The film is set before President Obama was elected and is not exactly subtle with its social commentary about modern day America and how the idea of being вЂњone peopleвЂќ is nonsense. Across the board the casting is top-notch and the performances terrific. We also have Gandolfini, fantastic as the world-weary вЂњNew York MickeyвЂќ who seems more interested in getting drunk and sleeping around than doing what he was paid to do, as well as Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy (who some may recognise from low-budget alien flick Monsters) and Ben Mendelsohn. Pitt, reuniting with his Jesse James director Dominik, is on absolute top form as Jackie Cogan, effortlessly cool with his slicked back hair, goatee, leather jacket and calm demeanour as he goes about the business of sorting out the mess thatвЂ™s been forced upon him. The cast is worth the price of admission alone.

In the same way as Nicolas Winding Refn did with last yearвЂ™s masterful Drive, Dominik achieves just the right tone while sidestepping the trappings of crassness. He also manages to somehow make the film very funny too, in that Pulp Fiction-esque way where the cleaning up of a body is more a problem than the fact someone has just been killed. The super slow-motion and striking music utilized liberally in some of the more violent (and I stress the word violent) sequences should feel at odds with the extended conversations but under the assured, confident direction of Andrew Dominik вЂ“ who also made the masterpiece The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and brilliant Chopper вЂ“ it works rather exquisitely. Higgins, Killing Them Softly (formerly titled CoganвЂ™s Trade) follows mob enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) who is called in to find out who was responsible for the robbery of a mob card game and to вЂњtake care of them,вЂќ with the help of an extra hitman, Mickey (James Gandolfini), brought in from New York.Д®voking some of the great crime films from that stand-out вЂ70s era, Killing Them Softly is a bold, dense film thatвЂ™s more talky than you might expect but the writing is so good and the performances so pitch-perfect that the tense dialogue-heavy scenes sore, utterly gripping with every word, whether it be a tangential conversation about the nefarious afternoon plans of one of the robbers or weighty discussions about American ideals.

Killing them softly screenplay pdf