August: Osage County

When watching August: Osage County you will know right away that this was first a play. It has that dependency on great acting to get the story across in an entertaining way because the scenery is very limited and mostly confined to inside a house.

The actors in this are of the highest order. Every single one of them brilliant in their roles and, really, it's a shame not one of them was awarded an Oscar. If Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine beat Meryl Streep's Violet to it, my expectation for that performance are sky high.

And it is Meryl Streep together with Julia Roberts that carry the film, supported by the rest of the stellar cast.

The family gathers for, first, the disappearance and, then, the funeral of Beverly Weston and as the three daughters and Violet's sister descend upon the house with their families, wounds - both old and new - soon break open and every conversation turns into an argument.

All relations are cracked to begin with but some will be broken beyond any hope of repair after a few days, when Violet is left alone with her housekeeper because everyone gets away after yet another explosive scene.

Brilliant.

9/10

Killing them Soflty

When a illegal poker game gets robbed for the second time, a hitman by the name of Cogan is brought in to kill the guys that did it. Everybody knows that Markie, the man that runs the poker game, orchestrated the first robbery and even though now everyone is convinced he had nothing to do with the second robbery, Cogan shoots him anyway to restore order and faith in the Mob protected games.

The small time crooks that actually did it suffer similar fates, because one of them - a heroin addict - cannot keep his mouth shut and brags to his would-be drug runner about it. All of this gets complicated by another hitman brought in who causes trouble to Cogan because he is a drunk and constantly soliciting hookers.

Yes, the story is confusing with longish conversations and somewhat hard to follow. But it is pretty to watch and has quiet the noir feeling about it (all that rain).

Here is an example of a rather beautiful, if brutal, scene. Markie gets shot:

6/10