Las Vegas film critic Josh Bell is back with his opinion on new movies.
His top pick this week is the meditative revenge drama Pig, now playing in theaters. Nicolas Cage has become sort of a punchline thanks to the many terrible low-budget thrillers he stars in every year, but he's still a talented actor who can excel given the right material. The plot of Pig sounds like it could be one of those awful B-movies, with Cage as a reclusive truffle hunter who tracks down the people responsible for stealing his beloved truffle pig. But filmmaker Michael Sarnoski is more interested in philosophical ideas about what defines success and how people find meaning in their lives. There's some violence and a few twists and turns in the plot, but Pig is more fascinating as a character study than as a suspense thriller. Nicolas Cage gives a subdued, thoughtful performance as a man who gave up material wealth to maintain his integrity. That's Pig, now in theaters.
For more conventional thrills, check out Gunpowder Milkshake, now streaming on Netflix. Karen Gillan stars as an assassin targeted for elimination by the organization she works for in this energetic and entertaining action movie. The filmmakers borrow from a lot of recognizable sources, including John Wick and Kill Bill, and the movie sometimes feels like it's overloading on style. But Karen Gillan makes for a great action hero, and the fight sequences are exciting and inventively staged, with creative set design and camera wor
