“orgasmic brilliance in deepest space with Robert Pattinson” Charles Bramesco, The Guardian

Below is our review roundup and/or reactions to Rob’s performance in High Life.  If a review doesn’t mention Rob’s performance (which surprisingly happens at times), then I will post what they thought about the film overall.  I have also created a new category WTF Did I Just Watch – this will contain both good and bad.  I will try to avoid spoilers, although I have a feeling it will be pretty much next to impossible with this film given initial reactions at TIFF which you can read HERE.  This post will cover all future releases and I will collate together under each festival or country of release and will of course will be updated frequently.  Here’s the first batch from TIFF…

The Cool

Screen Daily (TIFF18)

“[Pattinson] is the most engaging human element in an intriguing, playfully provocative Denis piece that has us in search of a depth and meaning that simply may not be there.”

The Playlist (TIFF18)

(this, by the way, is yet another scorching Pattinson performance; he plays the character’s menace and rebellion with brio, but look at his face the first time he sees the baby).

 Comprehensive roundup of Damsel reviews from film festivals and releases

He’s now pulled a 180 with a hilariously oddball performance in the western comedy “Damsel,” The New York Post

Pattinson quickly (and firmly) establishes himself as the star of the movie., Geek Girl Authority

“Pattinson is a stand-out”, Mr Will Wong

Below will be a roundup of media reviews which will focus on Rob’s performance in Damsel.  In the event that the reviewer fails to mention Rob (because surprisingly that sometimes happens), I will provide an extract of their opinion of the film.  Let’s get started with what to me seems like a positive reaction to Rob’s portrayal of Samuel Alabaster at Damsel’s Sundance world premiere.  Note:  This post will update as the film premieres at film festivals, special screenings and worldwide releases.  I will try my best to denote SPOILERS so I apologise in advance if I inadvertently miss letting you know.  

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL (JANUARY 2018)

If you want to check out initial reactions at Sundance click HERE

VARIETY (SPOILER WARNING)

The movie that surrounds them unfolds with an invisible wink, yet the pace is so stately and deliberate that at moments one is tempted to call it glacial. The rhythm is no accident; the Zellners know just what they’re doing. (They must be fans of Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man.”) Yet “Damsel,” if I’m going to be honest about it, is droll and touching and amusing and a little boring, all at the same time. …

Yet they know how to use a star cast. Robert Pattinson, with a gold tooth where his right incisor should be, hits the perfect drawling note of flaked-out cheer as Samuel Alabaster … Pattinson’s performance is clever enough that we have no problem accepting him as the shambling-dude version of a classic good guy, and then, when the film’s plot turns around on him, that same friendly cracker-barrel face suddenly looks like the image of a man who may have a screw loose.

Sean P Means @moviecricket

#Sundance18 review: “Damsel” (Premieres) ⭐⭐⭐ – The Zellner brothers’ offbeat Western starts in one direction, with Robert Pattinson’s city slicker trying to save his love (Mia Wasikowska), but jumps into something far crazier. The tone shifts are jarring, but rewarding.

SCREEN DAILY

His performance in Damsel isn’t as striking as the ones he delivered in Good Time or Cosmopolis, but he clearly enjoys himself playing a gallant pioneer who may not have the mettle required to thrive in the Old West. Pattinson is very smart playing a not-very-bright guy, never letting the portrayal become one-note.

Robert Pattinson and his Films Make 2017 Best of Lists “growing more confident in his abilities and potent in his screen presence”

Robert, Good Time and The Lost City of Z are included and/or topping quite a few “Best of 2017” lists, so I thought I would collate so that we can keep track of what’s being said about Rob and/or his films.

FILM COMMENT “Best Films of 2017”

1 Good Time

After spending their early films exulting in freedom from employment, buoying and buoyed by a kind of boho-anarcho amorality, the Safdies made a film dunked in the gasoline of white privilege, and they lit a match” Eric Hynes, “Urban Legends” cover story for July/August 2017 issue

9 The Lost City of Z

“Rather than depict Fawcett’s journey as devolving into a kind of Herzogian madness, Gray and leading man Charlie Hunnam take a matter-of-fact, internalized approach to the character, treating his obsession with the possibly mythical Z a an almost practical means of emotional escape.” Michael Koresky, “The Search” feature and interview from March/April 2017

THE NEW YORKER “The Best Movies of 2017”

3. “Good Time” (Josh and Benny Safdie)

“Good Time,” starring Robert Pattinson, streaks and smears and shreds the screen with a sense of furious subjectivity.

31. “The Lost City of Z” (James Gray)

The story of a search that doesn’t come to fruition, a series of missions that don’t achieve their goals, and that nonetheless reverberate powerfully and enduringly.

Robert Pattinson – mover and shaker in Cannes

Thierry Frémaux, Cannes Artistic Director, was in Argentina to attend the Cannes Film Festival Week at Gaumont (Rivadavia 1635) (Good Time is screening on 30 November 2017) and Pablo O Scholz from Clarin had a chance to interview him.   Thierry shared the following story about Rob convincing him to be bolder and include Good Time in competition:

A call that can be a discovery

The selection process of the six films of this week of Cannes is, as always, varied. “It depends, for example: The Square that won the Palme d’Or, had already been released. Good Time , from the Safdie brothers, I did not choose it because they are two brothers and I like the brothers in the history of cinema … For me, it was a midnight film for Cannes. But Robert Pattinson called me, his protagonist. “Please, you have to be bolder.” I said, “Are you sure?” “Yes, yes, and I’m going to be in Cannes.” “Well, we do it.” He went well in the competition for the Palm, and now Scorsese is going to produce his next film. That is Cannes. Tradition and discoveries. “

(via Google translate)

Thanks @Sunny_H for the heads up

Robert Pattinson stars in Bom Comportamento #GoodTime

 

From Google translate:

Neo-noir film has tension and psychological outlines

Connie (Robert Pattinson) is a slippery character who takes his mentally challenged brother (Nick, played by co-director Benny Safdie) and tells him to do something stupid: robbing a bank. The brother fell behind; for Connie, it becomes a matter of honor to fix folly. When he discovers that Nick has been beaten in prison and is in a hospital, he improvises a plan to enter the room and kidnap him. The film takes place during the 24 hours of a day, with growing tension, a style of the brothers Safdie (Love, Drugs and New York). Their cinema is prodigious in portraying a universe of lost people entangled in strange and dangerous circumstances, which are both naturalistic and surreal. It is intriguing how filmmakers transform New York into a labyrinth as wild and tortuous as the protagonist’s mind.   4 stars

Thanks Posh.

Robert Pattinson is in the center of the action in Good Time

Good Time is featured in Ray magazine this month.  To our German speaking followers, is this a so-so review or has Google not translated it well?

Updated: It’s not so so they disliked the film.  Thanks @Nicole2Dogs for the confirmation.

Google translate:

Connie Nikas, a young man who somehow struggles to live in the metropolis of New York, needs money. More specifically, $65,000, which has something to do with his family running the risk of losing their Virginia farm. So Connie decides to rob a bank. It’s not really a good idea, however, as his accomplice he involves his mentally challenged brother Nick. The simple plan fails of course, across the board, Connie can barely escape, but Nick is arrested and finds himself in the famous prison Rikers Island. First of all, Connie wants his brother bailed out, so he persuades his girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to lend him the money. But when her credit card is declined, Connie finds it necessary to resort to drastic and desperate measures to help free his brother. And before him is a turbulent night, which brings him more problems.

Robert Pattinson must perform a tour de force in the role of chaotic petty-crime Connie. Almost always he is in the center of the action, his trip through the New York night is evidently more akin to a chase that hardly leaves the protagonist – and the spectator – any respite. A condition that Good Time also takes into account formally. A nervously guided handheld camera, which prefers to provide close-up shots, corresponds visually with the prevailing hectic pace. The problem is that Good Time does not understand how to generate narrative credibility or even authenticity at any stage. The stations of Connie’s tour appear like a questionable dramatic construct that does not want to fit any end. That may be because the directors Joshua and Ben Safdie, who are considered as pronounced arthouse and festival favorites in their previous work (and this is justified at least for their documentary Lenny Cooke, who highlights a failed professional basketball career), must continue down this track . However, Good Time recalls that when it comes to plot, characters, and formal resolution, it’s just too intrusive its status as such a favorite, a rigor that gives the film a slightly strange feel. And to skip the great Jennifer Jason Leigh with a clichéed short appearance, is not at all.

Thanks Posh.