The Overlook: THE CARD COUNTER (2021) - THE CAVES OF NIGHT by John Christopher - THE LOST CITY (2005)

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(C) Focus Pictures.

The Card Counter (2021): Paul Schrader is a brilliant filmmaker, when he wants to be. American Gigolo, Forever Mine, and First Reformed are great films. But when he loses control of his talent, like in Dog Eat Dog, for example, look out. The Card Counter is not as bad as that, but it’s not very good, either. It’s an example of a filmmaker more interested in his message, in teaching his audience, than in making a good movie. The performances feel unpolished, the characters are uninteresting, and the story just isn't compelling in any way. A disappointing misfire from a singular filmmaker.

The Caves of Night by John Christopher: John Christopher’s short 

(c) Simon and Schuster

suspense novel has a deceptively simple and by now cliched setup: a group of people  get trapped inside a seemingly endless cave in the Austrian Frohnberg caves, and friction between them ensues. But Christopher, a prolific author and an intellectual, uses this premise as a starting point for an examination of what makes someone human, what makes life worth living, and the true nature of love between life partners. It’s a terrific survival tale, and a thought-provoking meditation on the allure of fascism and nihilism, which Christopher convincingly argues are two sides of the same coin. A smart, compelling, and concisely told tale.

(c) Lions Gate.

The Lost City (2005): Andy Garcia’s love letter to pre-Castro Havana is a forgotten, flawed-gem of a movie waiting to be rediscovered. Garcia, who stars, directs, and scores the picture, puts his heart and soul into the film, and his passion for Cuban Jazz, Cuban culture, and Cuban family values, is nothing less than infectious. This is a soft-spoken film, which valiantly tries to tell the story of pre-revolutionary Cuba, warts and all, and compare it to post-Castro communist Cuba, also warts and all. It’s a story of a city that was once a flawed but beautiful place, whose soul was destroyed by communism and revolutionary politics. Although the film suffers from being too romantic, too staid, and too self-indulgent (Bill Murray’s character is wholly unnecessary), for its own good at times, it still is an enjoyable, touching, and surprisingly inspirational piece of work, and one which is ripe for rediscovery. Highly recommended.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer