Killer Joe Thread

This is one of my most anticipated this year up there with Django Unchained and The Master. Cannot wait to see it. McConaughey has been slowly proving himself a good actor after spending the bulk of the 2000's in romcom hell.  

Couple of great Friedkin interviews right here...I could listen to this man talk for days.

 

 

As someone that loves Bug, I'm really eager to see this. Everything I've read about the film mentions a horrible scene involving fried chicken. It must be an indelible moment.

Personally, Joe and Dottie's "date" creeped me the fuck out even more than the fried chicken scene.

 

Although I am gobsmacked that KFC actually allowed their name to remain in the film. I know there's a lot of movies I haven't seen, but I'm pretty sure it's the least flattering product placement ever.

A sick, deranged film. Loved every second of it.

 

Interesting you mention McConaughey as a Frank Booth-type in this, since I saw him more as a psychosexual Robert Mitchum. It's a demented, hilarious turn, and I love how he somehow comes acorss as the voice of reason, manipulating all those poor idiot suckers.

 

I liked Emile Hirsch, but man... Thomas Haden Church in this movie. He takes "stupid" to another galaxy. It's rare you see such on-point depictions of realistic, 3D dimwits. And let's give Gina Gershon a medal for that last scene. Jesus christ, man.

This is the funniest goddamn movie I've seen in months. This is the darkest (and I mean DARKEST) sneak comedy I can remember. I was guffawing while leaving the theater. Jesus, its brilliant.

 

EDIT: Do yourself a favor, and learn nothing about this movie. I went in cold and am pretty grateful.

"He lit his genitals on fire."

So this is my favorite movie of the year so far. For serious.

This hits our new Alamo Drafthouse this week. The most I know is what I've seen from the trailer, that it's NC-17 for some reason and involved fried chicken (a dish they'll be serving along with the movie). Can't wait!

I don't know what the deal is, but the crowd I saw this with was like 60% senior citizens.  I have never been so uncomfortable in a theater as during the finale.  Only one walkout, though, so credit to them for being troopers.

Which Alamo Drafthouse? The one in NYC?

Kansas City, Ali.

Currently playing at the Little here in Rochester. FUCKING. STOKED.

Just saw this tonight, really enjoyed it. I counted four walkouts, but only after the chicken scene was over.

 

The entire cast is superb, but I do think that the casting of McConaughey shifts the tone of the script a bit.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

Imagine how much more twisted and disturbing this would be with an actual Mitchum type in the role.

Edited by Hammerhead - 9/2/12 at 12:47am

Temple, who is incredible in this by the by, isn't supposed to be 12 in the movie.  That line is about the mental space she's going to in that scene, not a literal statement of her age.

Huh, you're right-- script notes say she's 20. Weird moment.

Possibly my favorite movie of the summer.   I will say I was bracing for something a bit more extreme than what I got.   The chicken scene, as bad as it was, didn't seem like it quite merited the NC-17 rating the movie got.   A few years ago, without any cuts, this movie would have gotten an R.   It would have been a hard R but it would have made it.   One thing I wasn't expecting was how funny this movie was at times especially...

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

You're a sick one, dynamtov.  I haven't seen anything as depraved and unsettling as the final act of this movie since...I don't even know.  I'd probably have to go to something by Haneke or Miike to match it.

This has also been my favorite film of the summer. It's pretty incredible to think Friedkin is pushing 80 and still has bigger balls than most filmmakers.

 

*Note on the fried chicken scene. They never actually say "KFC" nor show any Col. Sanders logo. Gina Gershon says she picked up some "K Fried Chicken." Obviously KFC, but never said.

Not much to add, brilliant and I think I need a shower. I will say though that as good as everyone was, what really impressed me about McConaughey was that so much of the role was just a darker take on his usual charming schtick that when he takes the hard swings (and then the really fucking hard swing) into depravity it's even more disturbing than if he had been an obvious gonzo from the get-go. That role could have easily swung into overwrought but he keeps it at just the right place to be constantly, deeply disturbing.

 

I'm 99% sure I saw the logo. Maybe I'm wrong.

I think you can sometimes get away with showing a portion of a logo.

Whatever, I kinda want some KFC. If it's good enough for a bloody Gina Gershon, it's good enough for me.

What the fried chicken fuck.

Yeah, I would guess there's some loophole or something because they were definitely drinking Busch beer. Then again, maybe Busch just doesn't give a fuck.

Not much to add besides what's already been said.  Dark, twisted, brilliant with a showstopper ending...as good as the cast was, McConaughey was incredible.

Wow...just wow. Everyone knocked it out of the park. Not a weak link in the main cast. 

 

Joe did seem like the sanest most capable person, however. After all, he does have a real job. There's no doubt Dottie would have a much better life with him, rather than staying with Ansel or leaving with Chris. But damn, were the beatings in this movie brutal. One quick rabbit punch and Gina Gershon's face was completely covered in blood.

 

I did notice that Joe called the dinner, "Delicious K fried C" which is now my new name for Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

 

I also think I'd rather suck a dick than a drumstick - all I could think about during that scene was how terrible the seasoning must taste when sucked on for minutes at a time. 

I'm not one to agree with the MPAA, but this was some sick, Joe-Bob-At-The-Drive-Through type shit.

 

I still have to give the edge to To Live and Die in LA as my favorite Friedkin, but, yeah, this was probably my favorite grown-up movie in the last few years along with "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Drive".

Good god, this is something else. I was absolutely riveted throughout this film. It helps that Friedkin is a real favourite director of mine and this is probably my favourite film of his since RAMPAGE (although I do have a real soft spot for BUG). Just everything about this film feels off, but in the best way possible. It feels lived in, despite being kind of oddball and offbeat. If I didn't know better I'd say it was based off of an Elmore Leonard story, because it's got the same kind of dumbass schemers and slightly askew logic of his work. I'd be fascinated to see how the stage play this is based on plays out. You can kind of feel the stage routes at times as the majority of the action takes place in one location and in fact can be broken down into three major set-pieces (the introduction, the date, the finale) which all take place within the front room of the Smith's front room.

 

I love the way that Friedkin films this, and the weight he gives everything. The way that the beatdowns just look and feel so brutal (as noted above that punch to Sharla's face has to be one of the most jarring and awful bits of violence I've seen in a movie in a long time), and the general sense of unease in the entire story really help give weight to a film that has a fairly small plot. I think the thing I love most about Friedkin is his way of using innocous details and framing them in a way that is just terrifying. He's amazing at building a real sense of revulsion just through the way he uses his camera and blocks things. There's a moment later on involving fried chicken which is kind of nothing conceptually, but is possibly one of the most viscerally unpleasant things I've seen in a film. It's just something about Friedkin, his best films can just put you on edge just by their presence (THE EXORCIST and BUG are kind of built on how effectively Friedkin can make your skin crawl) and that skill is used to amazing effect here. There's just a persistent, skeevy, feel to the entire film which makes it amazingly memorable.

 

The cast are all great. In fact the only person who falters for me is Hirsch. I think Hirsch is a great actor, he managed to make me like the absolutely repellant McCandless in INTO THE WILD, but he has very little to do here. The rest of the cast all get juicy moments and characters to play with, whilst Hirsch feels like he's forced to stay in first gear the entire time. McConaughey is dynamite here, just wonderfully calm and perverse and I think his interactions with Juno Temple (who does fantastic work) are the best thing in the film. Haden-Church is delightfully lunk headed as Ansel and Gershon just owns most of the scene's shes in. But the real star is definitely Friedkin's assured direction. There are very few directors who can do what he can do, especially in the sixth decade of their career.

I liked it. Reminded me of "The Devil's Rejects", which I loved, though it wasn't as frequently funny as that one. There were a few effective moments of humour, but I would have liked more. Off the top of my head, I think my favourite funny bit was Thomas Haden Chruch's suit ripping. I've become increasingly bored with gratuitous violence on film. I think if it's going to be done, the way it's done in this picture is the best way for my tastes.

 

Much of the violence was so excessive and over-the-top that it became funny. The beatdown on Emile Hirsch by the guys who he owed money was the only violence that I found just straight up disturbing and nothing else. The rest was more entertaining to me just because it was so insane. Especially that of Matthew McConaughey, who unleashed such an unnecessary amount of violence on Hirsch at the end with the can.

 

Speaking of McConaughey, I have to echo all the praise for his acting in this. I'm fairly familiar with his work, though I haven't seen him in a picture since 2003, after "How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days" (one of the worst movies of all time, in my opinion...just painfully unfunny and morally reprehensible) made me never want to see him in anything ever again.

 

This had by far the best performance I've ever seen from him, and I like that he's been compared to Robert Mitchum. As a huge fan of the man ("Night of the Hunter" and "Cape Fear" especially), I think that's one of the greatest compliments you can give an actor, and McConaughey totally earned it.

 

The much-hyped chicken scene lived up to the hype. I feel like I've been hearing about it forever, and curiosity about it is one of the main reasons I watched this. That scene was very original and memorable. I know I'll never forget it. McConaughey's performance in the scene really raised my estimation of him as an actor. I was already a fan of Gina Gershon, but I just have more respect for her after she agreed to do something so harrowing. I agree with what was said about her earlier. Give that woman a medal. 

I really disliked Bug but I've been hearing good buzz on this and the trailer was very solid. I'm looking forward to checking it out, though I had no idea it was NC-17.

It earns it.  It will probably be a bit much for the more sensitive souls among us (DH).  

 

The movie definitely sticks with you, and it is acted to the goddamn nines, but I've never come around to loving it.  I just wasn't seeing what point the nastiness was making, beyond something vague about the basic venality of man, and I think I'd rather let Coens entertain me with that stuff than Killer Joe skeeve me out with it.

I am not particularly sensitive. I actually saw my first NC-17 movie in theaters back when I was 14. It's not going to turn me away if this film is a bit nasty with it's violence and sex, but I'm probably going to wait till I'm in the right mood for it rather than interupt the comfort food DS9 marathon I've been on in order to check Killer Joe out. I've always like McConaughey when he's well cast (like in Reign of Fire) so I'm curious to see this. I enjoyed reading the responses in this thread though, and wondering what on earth the "fried chicken scene" could be!

Fucked, is what it is.

I say go for it, Harford. If it's any comfort, the "Fried Chicken" scene is actually a dodge from something that could have been truly disturbing and genuinely NC-17.

 

I don't know, I'd say that scene was plenty disturbing as is.

Oh it is, but as visceral as a

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Maybe the fried chicken scene isn't "truly NC-17", but it IS truly disturbing. Even if we've seen worse in terms of content, the tone of the scene is just so ugly. I expected it to be grosser, but less purely fucking mean. And I'm sure that is a button Friedkin was trying to press (and press, and press), but even still... Jesus.

I'll concede that the advantage is in the way it pushes through to "What kind of person would think of doing THAT" territory.

Oddly enough, I'm more disturbed by Haden Church in that scene. As in "what kind of person would watch that, and feel NOTHING?" At least Joes working on fucked up righteous anger.

Yeah, I think Friedkin and Letts want us to think about both aspects.  The desire to watch such things, but also the passivity with which we tend to view them. (But I'd still never begin a sentence with "At least Joe...")

 

Agreed. The ending was pretty horrifying due to how it was done and what happened to lead into it, but as I had no idea what to expect on the "date", very creepy indeed.

 

 

Understandable but maybe that was the point.

 

 

Yes indeed. On paper it wouldn't sound so bad; how it's done and the performances, though, makes it frightening.

 

I finally rented the Blu-Ray of this tonight. Despite me being legit annoyed by the Dottie character and not in a good way (I realize why she was "childlike", i.e. possibly mentally retarded, as I can read between the lines and put together the ramifications of what happened to her in her childhood; and that does not reflect on Temple's performance of the character) I still really enjoyed this in an incredibly perverse way. It's well-done for sure and I certainly am fine watching sleazy stories where most if not all of the characters are just scumbags. I am glad the Chris character got what was coming to him, as what a stupid idiot and an asshole. But Matthew M. was amazing as the titular character; I usually could not care less about him; in this case, though, that was quite the performance. I did laugh at the pitch-black humor, too.

 

And, not only talk about a memorable introduction to Gershon's character, but I'll never think of the song Strokin' the same ever again.

Late to the party. Not going to say much right now, but it's been a good long while since I've squirmed so much. I really could not watch the chicken scene, it was tortuous, especially since I'd previously only heard about it out of context and in the vaguest of terms.

I knew Friedkin was building to this nihilistic crescendo, but it goes so bonkers in its final assault that it felt like a full bore invasive procedure without a drop of anesthetia.

There is no justification for anything, there is no "deserve", it's just horror on top of horror. It's a good film, I'm glad I saw it, but I am so not happy to go to sleep with it on my mind