Tag: high and low

Animals (2026) | REVIEW

Gillian Anderson as 'Dayle' in Ben Affleck's ANIMALS -- PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).
Gillian Anderson as ‘Dayle’ in Ben Affleck’s ANIMALS — PHOTO: NETFLIX (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Ben Affleck — Screenplay by Connor O. McIntyre, Billy Ray, and Ben Affleck.

Earlier this year, I reviewed Joe Carnahan’s The Rip, an occasionally quite exciting action-thriller with Ben Affleck in a prominent role. Although I liked that film, I was even more excited about his next Netflix project: Ben Affleck’s sixth directorial feature, Animals. Affleck has long proven himself a genuinely terrific director of unforgettable films such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo. I also had a good time with his previous directorial feature, Air, in 2023. Another kidnapping thriller from the director of Gone Baby Gone sounded like such a good project. Unfortunately, although there are good elements found in Animals, it is a considerably inferior kidnapping flick. Honestly, I was surprised by how this just felt like another remake of Akira Kurosawa’s High & Low.

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Highest 2 Lowest (2025) | REVIEW

Denzel Washington in “HIGHEST 2 LOWEST,” available to stream now on Apple TV+.

Directed by Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) — Screenplay by Alan Fox.

With Apple TV+’s Highest 2 Lowest, American filmmaker Spike Lee has made his second remake, or reinterpretation, of an East Asian classic in the last twelve years. The last time Lee did this was with 2013‘s Oldboy, a remake of the Park Chan-wook South Korean action thriller classic. Lee’s 2013 film was largely dismissed and criticized as an inferior work, but, at least initially, his second go-around in recent years with an East Asian classic, Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, has been met more warmly by critics, even if it isn’t perceived as a slam dunk or an improvement. In my opinion, though, Spike Lee’s attempt at a Kurosawa remake is a disappointment. Although I love several of the master American filmmaker’s earlier works, I found his latest film to be difficult to connect with, largely due to quirks and performances that work against the film.

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