I wish a new Yorgos Lanthimos movie brought the same excitement to me that it does for so many others. But no matter how hard I try, I have rarely been able to get onboard with what he’s doing. I often find myself resistant to many of his obsessions and even repelled by his more glaring overindulgences. There’s no doubt he’s immensely talented behind the camera. But he gets in own way when it comes to storytelling, especially now that he doesn’t have a leash.

To its credit, Lanthimos’ latest film “Kinds of Kindness” isn’t as excessively numbing as last year’s “Poor Things”. But it does grow more frustrating over time. And like much of his work, it fits snugly within what some have dubbed cinema’s “Greek Weird Wave”. As usual for a Lanthimos film, “Kinds of Kindness” is visually arresting, and his genius with the camera ensures there is always something interesting to look at. But it also sees the filmmaker once again too invested in his own offbeat preoccupations to focus on making a more bearable movie.

“Kinds of Kindness” is 164 minutes of misanthropy and cynicism framed as a biting satirical triptych from a director who seems to revel in cruelty. The film tells three distinct stories, all featuring the same cast playing different characters. It’s a pitch-black and bone-dry dark comedy that is too amused by its own weirdness to generate any actual humor. But its biggest problem is the utter lack of a human pulse.

The first story is entitled “The Death of R.M.F.” and it follows a man named Robert Fletcher (Jesse Plemons). Neurotic and gauche, Robert allows himself to be controlled by his domineering boss, Raymond (Willem Dafoe). He’s told what to do, what to wear, how much to eat, and even when he and his wife Sarah (Hong Chau) are intimate. But when Robert is ordered to crash his car into a man known only by the initials R.M.F., his absurd world takes an even wackier turn.

Things get even more outrageous with the next story, “R.M.F. is Flying”. Here Plemons plays Daniel, a police officer whose wife Liz (Emma Stone) disappeared while out at sea. He’s stunned when Liz unexpectedly returns without a scratch following a miraculous rescue. Daniel is thrilled to have his wife back but not everything adds up. He begins noticing strange things that makes him suspect she’s not the real Liz. His best friend Neil (Mamoudou Athie) tries telling him he’s overreacting but Daniel isn’t convinced. What follows is twisted, grisly and mostly pointless.

And finally there’s the nonsensical “R.M.F. Eats a Sandwich”. In it, Emily (Stone) and Andrew (Plemons) are members of a bizarre oceanside sex cult led by Omi (Dafoe) and his wife Aka (Chau). They’re out looking for a special woman who can bring the dead back to life. Why? It has something to do with a prophecy, but truthfully details don’t matter. Emily secretly slips away to leave gifts for her daughter who she ran out on. This leads to a scene featuring the only genuine sign of emotion in the entire film. But it’s brief and soon Lanthimos is back torturing his characters and his audience.

All three stories share many of the same problems, the biggest being that no one onscreen resembles a real human being. They’re emotionally hollow husks who lack any real sense of purpose other than to be ground up in the Lanthimos meat grinder. Not even the talented and all-in cast can survive Lanthimos’ near masochistic zeal. There are some good ideas tossed around. But they’re lost as the stories get progressively worse and the mildly interesting movie turns into an alienating slog

VERDICT – 1.5 STARS

Not to be confused with David Fincher’s 2023 thriller of the same name, the latest film called “The Killer” is cut from a different clothe. It comes from the legendary filmmaker John Woo which automatically makes it a movie worth talking about. “The Killer” is a remake of Woo’s own seminal 1989 Hong Kong action classic which has been heralded as one of the most influential action films ever made and paved the way for Woo’s eventual move to Hollywood.

This new version of “The Killer” features a reimagined story written by Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell, and Matt Stuecken. They take the general framework of the 1989 film and add their own spin. They move the location to Paris, rework key characters, and add several new layers to the narrative. Woo handles the rest, directing the film with his usual verve while including all of his signatures: slow-motion, split-screens, religious imagery, duel-wielding pistols, white doves. It’s all here.

A well-cast Nathalie Emmanuel plays Zee, a beautiful yet lethal Paris-based assassin who works under her mentor and handler, Finn (Sam Worthington). Zee is a proficient contract killer, and like most assassins she operates by a strict code. Hers is quite simple – no civilian targets. That code is put to the test after Finn gives Zee her next assignment. She’s to slip into an upstairs office at a popular night club and kill a group of gangsters. “No one leaves that room alive,” Finn instructs her. Sounds easy enough. What could go wrong?

As it turns out, a lot. Zee disposes of her targets in glorious John Woo fashion but spares the life of one person in the room – an unarmed American singer named Jenn (Diana Silvers) who loses her eyesight during the clash. As you can probably guess, that one act of mercy doesn’t sit well with Finn who knows that his client, a crime lord named Jules Gobert (Eric Cantona), won’t be happy. He immediately encourages Zee to track down Jenn and finish the job.

Meanwhile a street savvy but frustrated Paris police detective named Sey (Omar Sy) is assigned to the night club case. His investigation leads him to a pampered Saudi Prince (Saïd Taghmaoui), $350 million in stolen heroin, and a hospitalized Jenn who suddenly finds herself targeted by some mysterious men she doesn’t know. In an unexpected turn of events, it’s Zee who comes to Jenn’s rescue which immediately puts her on Sey’s radar.

The script doesn’t bring much new to the assassin movie formula, but it throws us some fun twists and creates characters who keep us locked into the story. Chief among them is a really good Nathalie Emmanuel who brings a certain charm as well as an illusive innocence to Zee. But she also shows off the kind of physicality that a John Woo film demands. Meanwhile the always sturdy Sy is a strong complement, both to Emmanuel and to Woo’s style.

But as with any John Woo film, the action is the centerpiece. He treats us to several good chase sequences, a thrilling hospital shootout, and an electric final showdown in and around a decommissioned church. They are all fiercely shot and choreographed while being laced with most of Woo’s easy to recognize trademarks. And that’s exactly what we fans expect.

Interestingly, while “The Killer” has clear similarities to the 1989 film, Woo doesn’t attempt to recreate what many consider to be his masterpiece. Instead, the changes to characters, setting, and even tone allow him to explore his previous work in a new light. It also adds enough freshness to keep this from being a retread. And it provides Woo with new inspiration to do what he does best – create proudly violent and stylishly over-the-top action that leaves fans like me giddy. “The Killer” is streaming on Peacock.

VERDICT – 4 STARS