Even when I don’t like his films (which is rare), I’m always glad writer-director Nicolas Winding Refn is out there in the world making movies. He’s something of a button pusher, sometimes a little too obviously so, but going back to his PUSHER trilogy, BRONSON, VALHALLA RISING, and his breakthrough work DRIVE, Refn remains as solid a visual artist as anyone working today. I consider him a modern day Stanley Kubrick, even if his themes of violence amid a certain amount of serenity don’t always hold together. Again, the fact that a filmmaker is even thinking in these terms and challenging the norm (of both big-budget and indie films) is just a sight to behold.