Looking Glass (feat. Nicolas Cage)

Directed by Tim Hunter (of great tv shows like Breaking Bad), I had high expectations for this atmospheric thriller. But do thrillers need to be good aside from their grim aesthetic? I do get the impression that fans of scary movies care mostly about mood, cinematography, and directorial vision; putting little value on the substance of characters and story.

But for any other kind of film, these aspects matter. So I've had mixed feelings about Looking Glass. It's the story of a couple who buy a motel in a little desert town. The motel has a dark past, leaving viewers wondering exactly what happened while our heroes try to keep it together in the suspicious town. So there's an element of mystery.

However, the mystery wasn't clever or creative, or any of the things you might have kept hoping for while waiting for the movie to get good. But still, it was an immersive experience, requiring you to pay attention in order to know what was going on. But it didn't really matter in the end. Just like life, there's no way of knowing what's going to happen until it does, and sometimes it's bad. And in the case of Looking Glass, I never felt a sense of fear on behalf of any of it's flawed, and unsympathetic characters. Still, I'm sure some people really like this kind of movie. Not me.

1. Raising Arizona
2. Leaving Las Vegas
3. Red Rock West
4. Adaptation
5. Birdy
6. Wild at Heart
7. Joe
8. Dog Eat Dog
9. Color Out of Space
10. Mom and Dad
11. Peggy Sue Got Married
12. Zandalee
13. City of Angels
14. Bangkok Dangerous
15. Drive Angry
16. Lord of War
17. Gone in 60 Seconds
18. Matchstick Men
19. Vampire's Kiss
20. Con Air
21. Face/Off
22. The Boy in Blue
23. Honeymoon in Vegas
24. Amos and Andrew
25. Moonstruck
26. The Sorcerer's Apprentice
27. Bringing Out the Dead
28. The Family Man
29. Knowing
30. It Could Happen to You
31. 8mm
32. Looking Glass
33. Between Worlds
34. Ghost Rider
35. The Humanity Bureau
36. Next
37. The Weather Man
38. 211
39. The Croods