As you might've gleaned by now, Andrew Dominik's "Killing Them Softly" is not your average movie about low lifes and gangsters. When we caught the film at Cannes, we called it "breathtakingly brilliant and admirably ambitious" as as well as "angry" with the filmmaker painting not just a story about about the fate of some hoods who knock off a mob-protected poker game, but a portrait of America itself as it rots from the inside.
Yes, "Killing Them Softly" wears a cynical and weary (in a good way) perspective on the social and political climate like a badge of honor and this new international poster brings those elements to the fore with Pitt brandishing a shotgun and an American flag waving while we get a peek at the supporting cast that includes James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins and Ray Liotta. At any rate, it's much better than the U.S. version that dropped just last week. Played against the backdrop of the 2008 election and the economic crises, the film is an anti-thriller in the best way possible, also subverting expectations while going thematically deeper than you ever imagine a movie like this would. In fact the tagline: "In America You're On Your Own" pretty much says it all about where this movie is coming from.
Co-starring Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard and more, "Killing Them Softly" opens on October 19th. [Cinema Teaser]
Meanwhile, moving in the opposite direction we have three new one sheets for Joe Wright's sumptuous "Anna Karenina" focusing on the love triangle that forms the basis of the story.
Starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Johnson, you should already known the film is adaptation Leo Tolstoy's classic novel with the titular woman married to an aristocrat, but who has feelings for soldier. But what makes this outing unique is that Wright has shot the movie almost entirely on a single soundstage with interlocking sets, which should add a visual pizazz heretofore unseen in this kind of setting. We can't say too much else at the moment except to keep your eyes peeled next week for our further thoughts on the film.
Co-starring Kelly Macdonald, Olivia Williams, Ruth Wilson, Holliday Grainger and more, the film opens in the U.S. on November 9th. [IMPA]