Movies…with a little bit of obscure culture and sports mixed in
“A world-weary detective is hired to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel […]
“A world-weary detective is hired to investigate the murder of a West Point cadet. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case – a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.”
Director: Scott Cooper
Writers: Louis Bayard (novel), Scott Cooper
Staring: Christian Bale, Gillian Anderson, Harry Melling
Rated: R
Release Date: January 6, 2023
The newest, and probably last trailer for The Pale Blue Eye (2023) dropped a couple of weeks ago. We are roughly three weeks away from the movie’s release on Netflix and this movie is going to be the first appointment viewing of the new year for your boy.
“With enough patience, a suspect will often interrogate himself.”
A line like that said above by Augustus Landor (Christian Bale) is enough to get me in the door. The rest of this trailer has me buying all the concession stand items and then some merchandise out the back.
The score and feel of The Pale Blue Eye is infusing my bones with feelings of David Fincher’s Se7en (1995). There is a dread that permeates everything, and Augustus seems to have the same retired grizzled veteran vibe that Somerset (Morgan Freeman) had when he was diagnosing the seven deadly sins. The new up and comer who is eager to prove himself is Cadet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling), who plays the part of Mills (Brad Pitt).
You are giving me Se7en style film making set in the 1830s under the helm of Scott Cooper, who loves swimming with sorrow and pessimism? Yes please, and thank you.
Augustus and Poe are combining forces to try and solve grizzly murders of cadets and their investigation leads to supernatural, demonic and satanic results. The carving out of hearts and ravaging of bodies are all apparently part of an elaborate plan to cheat death. To become immortal.
“Man will do most anything to cheat death”
Will The Pale Blue Eyes go fully into the supernatural and make it a reality within this universe, or is this the basis for a mad man just trying to make sense of his own world? Regardless of what the truth is, I have the hypothesis that the character of Edgar Allen Poe is going to be able to see through the eyes of the killer in a very disturbing way. Much like William Graham (Hugh Dancy) in the much underrated NBC show Hannibal.
Such a state of mind will raise suspicion about Poe and it will irritate Augustus because he wants to delve in facts while Poe will want to rely on gut. Regardless these two in the dower never-smiling demeanors will have to come to a conclusion together. The audience will be left wondering if the end justifies the means.
As I mentioned before in my first trailer reaction, this is the third time that Christian Bale is teaming up with director and writer Scott Cooper. The two made Out Of The Furnace (2013), and then a western drama (that is fantastic) in 2017 with Hostiles. Here is too hoping that In The Pale Blue Eye completes a fantastically entertaining trilogy for Bale and Cooper.
The casting of Harry Melling is an interesting one. It is generating a lot of conversation as many see him as a rising star. Melling is on a down-and-dire stretch, but his moody film choices have all been strong selections. Well as long as we start after The Old Guard (2020). The Devil All The Time (2020) was a Netflix original release that did not get a ton of pub, but it is filled with characters easily memorable. It was a departure for Tom Holland in the moment, but Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Bill Skarsgård, Jason Clarke and more make this movie deserving of more acclaim. Last year Melling was in The Tragedy Of Macbeth (2021) playing the character Malcolm. If you get yourself in a Coen brother nominated movie, then you are doing well. Hope Melling stays striding with The Pale Blue Eyes.
Also Gillian Anderson. She is the perfect encapsulation of beauty and danger. She can scare me with her eyes. She is perfect for this. I have mentioned this before and I do not care. I have a crush.
The Pale Blue Eyes releases on Netflix on January 6, 2023.
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