Two films this weekend

Watched two films this weekend. One quite good. The other monotonously weird.

The first I chose because it was a film noir mystery from the early 40s and it was a newer release from the Criterion Collection. The second because it was a David Cronenberg film, where he also wrote the screenplay.

Ministry of Fear:

Fritz Lang was the director of Ministry of Fear; an adaptation of Graham Greene's novel - written just a year or two earlier. Although not a classic film noir selection, I'd still recommend it to get an idea of a film noir piece placed within the context of World War II and Nazi spies. 

Cosmopolis:

"All wealth has become wealth for its own sake." This is a quote from one of the characters in the film during the first third of the film.  Maybe the film is the same way. It's too self indulgent and slick for its own sake. I think the self-indulgence is too much dialogue and the ostensibly, invariable ploddingly slow pace of the movie. I also believe the talk is too monotone with dialogue that just doesn't propel whatever plot there is to begin with at the start of the movie. Regardless, it still has some the telltale signatures of a Cronenberg film: general weirdness, plenty of violence, and examinations of fringe characters that may not represent mainstream society.

It's nothing if not a concept film

Ministry of Fear: B to B+

Cosmopolis: D+  to C