The plan is that the money will go to Chris' sister Dottie. Erin Durkin and Anna Gronewold's must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Yorkers. Killer Joe is probably my favorite Tracy Letts play. Let us break down the mystifying ending of Dave Franco's horror-thriller The Rental, starring Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Jeremy Allen White, and Sheila Vand. Well, we’re not 5 dudes in a room talking about our passion for Fight Club and Braveheart. All the characters in Killer Joe are desperate and a little deluded, but Chris is the worst off: He's a dupe, so needy that he doesn't even see what's fundamentally wrong with his plan to collect on his mother's life insurance. It's a site about discovering good movies... one bad movie at a time. Killer Joe is set in a trailer park in West Dallas, Texas, in present day. The screenplay by Tracy Letts is based on his 1993 play of the same name. This conversation — ahead of the author’s appearance during the virtual Texas Book Festival on Saturday — has been edited for length and clarity. What makes Alternate Ending different from other film sites and podcasts? Bug's a close second, but Killer Joe is definitely tops. Today, several lawmakers called upon outgoing Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the amendment and remove Donald Trump from office. Still, many viewers seemed to believe he is a psychopath. Original federal and state policy documents, 'Killer Joe' is unnerving, and not just because of the fried chicken, Who is ‘essential’? The real explanation of the ending is the identical explanation of what Mona Lisa was thinking and why she was painted exactly as she was. Friedkin doesn't compromise or skimp in any way when it comes to embellishing Letts' story with his instantly recognizable sense of black humor. Chris, like Joe, willfully forgets anything he can't immediately control. The symbology of having Joe dressed in all black and the cinematography overall (especially all the low-light shots inside the trailer home) made for an intensely bipolar suspense film. Delivered daily by 6 a.m., New York Real Estate is your guide to the day’s top real estate news and policy in Albany and around the Empire State. The 25th amendment allows for the removal of a President when he can no longer perform his duties. Joe is menacing and violent. Alternate Ending was formed when three friends realized they all shared a passion for movies. Juno Temple killed her brother so that his debt would no longer burden her, and went with Joe as they were with child. In William Friedkin's Killer Joe, Gina Gershon's character Sharla is forced to give head to a chicken leg, a penis stand-in held at the crotch of Matthew McConaughey's anti-hero Killer Joe Cooper. The film stars Matthew McConaughey in the title role, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon and Thomas Haden Church. The script was so graphic and violent, however, that no theatre company would agree to produce it. Delivered daily by 6 a.m., City Hall Morning Newsletter examines the latest politics, policy and news happening in the Empire State. Within the film's first 20 minutes, viewers see full frontal nudity from both Temple and Sharla Smith (Gina Gershon), Ansel's white-trash wife. It is the identical explanation of the song "Billy Joe McAllister" If you get what I am saying then there you have it. But alhough Joe talks down to everyone in a measured, condescending drawl, he is just as disturbed as Chris and all of the other Smiths are. At TIFF 2011, Matt reviews William Friedkin's Killer Joe starring Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, and Thomas Haden Church. Delivered daily by 6 a.m., New York Health Care is your guide to the day’s top health care news and policy in Albany and around the Empire State. Join us for our weekly review of movies worth seeing, worth avoiding and our Top 5 lists – and don’t forget to play along at, Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church. Mark Kermode reviews Killer Joe. Delivered monthly, New York CEO Report gives you a high-level outlook on policy issues driving the agenda in the Empire State. Playwright Tracy Letts adapted the film's screenplay from his own play, but Killer Joe belongs to Friedkin, who has always done a great job of representing the apathy and corruption inherent in all of his films' seedy settings. Killer Joe (2011) Full Cast & Crew. When they cannot pay him upfront, they reach an unusual deal on how to retain his services. Too many film sites cater to the same kind of audience, with one overwhelming voice in the writing, but what we treasure at Alternate Ending is diversity: diversity of opinion, diversity in belief about what film should do and how it should do it. Killer Joe is a film about a dysfunctional white trash family who hire a cop who is also an assassin to kill their mother, who we never get to meet until after the killing. It's a place that believes that every great movie is a wonderful new treasure, whether you see it the night of its premiere or fifty years later. He needs a lesson that will be unforgettable. Ansel then involves his 2nd wife, Sharla (Gina Gershon) and, due to her finding out about the plan, his daughter, Chris' sister, Dottie (Juno Temple). He knew exactly how hard he wanted to push the envelope with his latest film, and he got a result that is expertly unnerving. Joe and the people around him lack perspective, almost completely. For a moment Dottie sits there, then she gets up and turns. Why the family came to Joe's aid is tougher to explain. Aside from Gina Gershon, who says Friedkin made her feel pretty worthless during the filming of "Killer Joe" in order, he later explained, to get a better performance out of her, most of the commentary is laudatory, sometimes worshipful, in the manner of a biographical video preceding the bestowing of a lifetime achievement award. Personally I ain't telling, because if I … We’ll let him explain. Delivered daily by 6 a.m., New York & New Jersey Energy is your guide to the day’s top energy news and policy in Albany and around the Empire State. A scene in which Chris is reminded of why he needs to collect on his own mother's life insurance policy is fittingly jarring. This is a place for people who can't get to the theater until the third week a film is out; a place for people who just want to find something great to stream online after the kids have gone to sleep, a place for people whose favorite pastime is to grab a bunch of classic films on DVD from the library and watch them all weekend. Joe, the titular antihero (played by a winningly vicious Matthew McConnaughey), can't really be called a villain, if only because of how sleazy everyone else around him is, too. Friedkin does a fantastic job of keeping the story's pacing tight, and the narrative's focus on how the characters are products of their scuzzy environment. At one point, Joe tells a shaggy-dog of a story about the a river that bordered his childhood home. It's a simple situation: twentysomething Chris Smith (Emile Hirsch) is in deep with some thugs, and needs money fast; he proposes to his father, Ansel (Thomas Haden Church) and step-mother Sharla (Gina Gershon) that they higher a local police detective and contract murderer "Killer Joe" Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), and killer Chris's mother Adele, a person whose death, it would seem, would bother … Delivered daily by 6 a.m., New York Education is your guide to the day’s top education news and policy in Albany and around the Empire State. Killer Joe will likely leave many people in shock, confusion, and in need of a thorough shower by the time it's done, but those uncomfortable feelings don't prevent the film from also being a memorably odd experience that is likely to stick in your brain - and possibly affect your eating habits - for a … Basically the boy was worth more to his family dead, even if his intentions for his sister had been good. By this point in the film, Joe has allowed himself to become so involved with the Smiths' problems that even he inevitably loses his cool in a big and disgusting way. Chris is in dire financial straits, and the only option seems to be killing his mother for the insurance money. Based on a 1995 play by award winning playwright Tracy Letts, KILLER JOE is an abhorrent, sickening, nasty, depressing piece of work. Once the job is done they don’t have the means to pay off Killer Joe, so he takes the youngest female, Dottie, for collateral. The family fear for their lives when Chris cannot pay Joe his initial payment, but Joe agrees to take Dottie as payment until the insurance money is paid. It's Dottie . It's a severe beatdown, scored with "Strokin'," Clarence Carter's paean to the joys of onanism. The real villain of this entire movie isn't Joe. Punk in the Trunk: Chris is babbling about wanting to back out of the murder deal when Joe opens up his trunk and reveals Adele's corpse inside. Our morning email with must-read analysis and breaking news on state news and politics. This isn't a site for people who just want to talk about the latest hot new movies in theaters right this minute. Carrie, our casual movie-goer, reminds us all that cinema is in fact supposed to be fun and entertaining and that sometimes, just sometimes, happy endings are good. Killer Joe, based on a play about a corrupt cop in Texas trailer-park country, is a remarkable, and disgusting, movie adaptation. According to Sharla, neither she nor Dottie ever thought to cover up. Killer Joe, based on a play about a corrupt cop in Texas trailer-park country, is a remarkable, and disgusting, movie adaptation. It's a little like losing your front porch, he explains. We’re two dudes, and a lady, of which our tastes are quite varied. KILLER JOE contains graphic scenes of violence, brutality, sex, and nudity. Everyone who knows what's going on, from the relatively innocent Dottie (Juno Temple), Chris's sister, to Ansel (the characteristically excellent Thomas Haden Church), an alcoholic divorcee and Chris's redneck dad, is OK with Chris's plan to collect on his mom's life insurance policy. Other articles where Killer Joe is discussed: Tracy Letts: …1991 Letts wrote the play Killer Joe, about a Texas family that enlists the titular murderer-for-hire to kill a relative with a sizable life insurance policy. Killer Joe allows the actor to go full-bore psycho but in way that puts his romantic charms to sinister use. POLITICO New York Pro’s high-level outlook on the policy issues driving the month in New York State. Friedkin makes a point of not showing us Joe's face during this introductory sequence. Killer Joe is a 2011 American crime Thriller film directed by William Friedkin. Chris and Ansel have to scramble just to come up with the money to pay Joe to carry out their ill-conceived scheme. Killer Joe could only properly end with a spectacle as ugly as the already-infamous fried chicken scene. Juno Temple On Nudity, Looking For Prince Charming In 'Killer Joe' & The Influence Of 'Badlands' ... but then she makes the choice when he says come to me and she does it,” she explained. A weekly round-up of legislation in City Council for politics and policy professionals. He, his father, and his father's step-mother, hire Killer Joe… Instead of being an unassailable paragon of virtue, this man is represented as a schizoid paragon of sleaze: He's literally shown to be a man of unequal parts. Directed by (1) Writing credits (2) Cast (19) Produced by (13) Music by (1) Cinematography by (1) Film Editing by (1) Casting By (1) Production Design by (1) Set Decoration by (1) Costume Design by (1) Makeup Department (5) Production Management (4) Joe is hired to kill the mother of a young drug dealer, Chris, with Chris's father Ansel as an accomplice. Rob, the film-school dropout, has seen an absurd amount of movies, and if we’re being honest, rounds out our Fight Club fan-base. He's hired by Chris Smith (Emile Smith), a young, bumbling schemer, to kill Chris's mother. It follows the story of police detective and hit-man Joe Cooper. Ansel says at one point, "I'm never aware," a line that could have been spoken by any one of the film's main characters. But according to mental health experts, Goldberg's mental health is more complicated, especially since the term psychopath doesn't hold much meaning, clinically speaking. Professional Killer: Joe doubtless makes far more money doing that than he does as a policeman, as he charges $20,000 per hit. A morning email with must-read analysis and breaking news on city news and politics. The scene is spectacularly brutal, but not, technically, gratuitous: It, like the beating itself, is meant to convey just how serious to consequences of Chris' actions are going to be. In the hyper-violent, amoral context of Joe's world, that perverse explanation makes perfect sense. Joe is the community's deranged knight in tarnished armor. Friedkin and Letts had also collaborated on the 2006 film Bug. Joe is a corrupt police officer who moonlights as a contract killer. The film's characters have sublimated everything to the point where they can't discern their own motives, let alone the motives of the people around them. Questionable Consent: Dottie and Joe's sex scene. We want to celebrate our different opinions, and celebrate yours as well. They hire a professional killer (who happens to also be a cop), "Killer Joe" Cooper (Matthew McConaughey). 'Killer Joe' is a seedy, Southern noir stocked with repulsive, selfish, often dim-witted characters. Looking to watch Killer Joe? Tim Brayton, our seasoned film critic, shares a more critical view of film, an appreciation for vintage cinema and perhaps limited-release movies that we might otherwise miss. Our goal is to save you time and money by sharing our thoughts and recommendations on which movies to race to theaters for, which to watch at home and those to actively avoid. Delivered daily by 6 a.m., POLITICO New York Pro examines the latest news in New York state politics and policy. Find out where Killer Joe is streaming, if Killer Joe is on Netflix, and get news and updates, on Decider. The plan almost fails when Joe demands all of the money in advance, but Chris and Ansel are broke. http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live Fridays at 2pm on BBC 5 live. Directed by the 77 year-old William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection), Killer Joe never once feels stagey. The violence in Killer Joe is gleefully twisted. By the time Joe finishes telling this story, it's apparent he's more lost than when he began. Getting together with his father, the ex-husband of Chris' mother, they decide to hire Joe Cooper (a contract killer) who also happens to be a police detective. When season 1 of "You" aired, fans took to Twitter to discuss Goldberg's mental health, though he's never diagnosed with a particular condition in either season. Food and farm workers left in limbo in vaccine priorities, Democrats ready immigration push for Biden’s early days, Candidate spending tempers rosy mayoral fundraising numbers, Trump's regulators OK 'partnership' that could squeeze air passengers in D.C. and NYC, Ivanka’s political future comes into sharper focus. It’s a perverse black comedy with an extremely perverse ending. His services are mentioned to Chris Smith ( Emile Hirsch ), a witless young man who desperately needs to find money to pay drug dealers before they kill him. Two years later Letts and a few… He can't quite put his finger on it but there's something seriously unnerving to him about the fact that the Oklahomans on the other side eventually were able to claim the river. Killer Joe is known as a cop who sometimes hires out as a contract killer. 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