The Neon Demon (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2016)

5/10
I'll gamely defend Only God Forgives, it's not a masterpiece on the level of Drive but it's still got enough going for it that it deserves better than it got from a critical point of view. Not so for The Neon Demon. Nicholas Winding Refn's now signature style is firmly in place - mind-boggling costumes, make-up and, well, neon lighting with a great score once again by Cliff Martinez. It's a little more chatty than OGF or Drive, but not by a whole lot. What's disappointing is all this aesthetic is wasted on such a by-the-numbers plotline - the virginal blonde heading to Los Angeles to make it in the cut-throat model industry. It's a little more stimulating than Cronenberg's dive into similar predictable territory a couple years ago with Maps to the Stars, but barely. Refn wrote the movie himself, I just can't figure out what he was trying to get across that hasn't been done a bunch already before. The movie has a cool, totally over the top grand guignol finale that I enjoyed a lot, and I wish the rest of the movie was equally unchained. As it is, it's pretty forgettable aside from some nice visuals.

Only God Forgives (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2013)

8/10
I think when I reviewed Drive I called it a triumph of style over substance (which I probably stole from some other reviewer at some point so I'm not patting myself on the back). It seems Nicholas Winding Refn took that idea and pushed it even further out there. It's hard to not see this as a response/reaction to Drive (or a response to the reaction Drive got), and it's not exactly a pleasant one. I have to believe Refn was conscious of exaggerating or subverting everything that was so successful in his previous film, and I wonder how much of it was in his mind when making this one...from Drive's pop pink and blue palette to OGF's harsh reds and yellows, to the 180 done by the characters Ryan Gosling portrays - superficially similar but complete opposites.
I feel like this is a very dumb movie, and very clever in its own way. When I say "dumb" I just mean there's no deep meaning or hidden symbolism to look for - it's all laid out there and the joke is on the viewer who, rejecting what's unfolding before him/her, looks in vain for something more. It's aggressively, enjoyably stupid.
As for the actual film, I was hypnotized by it - the movie practically throbs from beginning to end, pushed along by sharp visuals, an amazing score, and a glacial pace that seats it somewhere between film and experimental video art. It's the kind of movie I enjoyed a lot, but can't blame anyone else for hating. Actually, it made me think of Lars von Trier's Antichrist in a lot of ways - both in how I felt towards it (and how audiences feel towards it), and in its approach: an interloping European auteur using Hollywood's own weapons against it. Interestingly, both movies feature somewhat absurd dedications before their closing credits (Antichrist to Tarkovsky, OGF to Jodorowsky).
I am half-seriously hoping Refn's next film will be a 90-minute wordless feature composed of shots of Gosling in a white shirt surrounded by amorphous green blobs, backed by maybe an Italian disco soundtrack. Just to take this thing to its logical conclusion.

Valhalla Rising (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2009)

8/10
Finally got around to this one from Refn...it was good, exceptionally stylish (becoming a trend it seems) and very reminiscent of Herzog's Aguirre so of course I liked it. Mads Mikkelsen was also pretty great in a non-speaking role and I'm looking forward to seeing him in The Hunt where he won Best Actor at Cannes. The cinematography is beautiful, making me kind of wish I watched it on Blu-Ray instead of Netflix and the sound design is sharp too.

Drive (Nicolas Winding Refn, 2011)

9.5/10
Between this and The Tree of Life, this might be the year of stylistic overload. Drive isn't eye (and ear) candy - it's borderline pornography. And I mean that in a very complimentary way. Every frame in this movie is so slick and stylized, it's pushed almost to the point of absurdity. But there are some self-aware moments too, like when Ryan Gosling offers the kid a toothpick like the one he's chewing on. It's perfect because, when you saw those too-cool celebrities of old days (that Gosling's character is clearly meant to channel) chewing on toothpicks, didn't you always wonder if they kept a stash of them in their breast pocket, or what?
Everything else in this movie is pretty close to perfect too - the soundtrack is stunning, the action breathtaking, the violence gripping, and the acting top notch. The only part of the movie that gnawed on me was the relationship between Gosling and Carey Mulligan's characters - for the sake of the film Gosling needs to be as anonymous as possible, but it seems like a stretch for us to believe that meeting Mulligan and her son was "the best thing that ever happened to them". Especially when their relationship as we see it on screen doesn't appear to be anything extraordinary. But style wins out over substance in the end like it's clearly meant to, and there's enough here to cement it in my mind as one of the year's best to this point.