The third movie’s the charm:
The Public
An overly-plotted, plodding puppet-show that unconvincingly doubles as a translucently-veiled repository of writer/director/star/puppeteer Emilio Estevez’s crudely-expressed thoughts on a wide variety of today’s sociopolitical issues (you can’t spell Republic without Public!).
Thespian Thought 1: I’m here for this Christian Slater comeback.
Thespian Thought 2: It’s kind of crazy that Gabrielle Union isn’t a massive movie star.
These two thoughts may be related…
Suburban Birds
There’s a soccer sequence inexplicably directed like latter-day Terrence Malick, scored by Reznor & Ross (a composing-duo moniker that sounds a hell of a lot more old-fashioned than their sound). As for the rest: a somber, more esoteric Moonrise Kingdom? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Slut in a Good Way
Why didn’t the whole movie go with the subtitle design used in the trailer?
It would’ve fit and enhanced the tonal personality, especially if it mixed in conventional subtitles — white, bottom of the screen, in straight horizontal lines — to reflect when the characters feel the weight of conforming to the confines of societal taboos.
