When I think of cinema as art, something that transcends entertainment and lingers in that unquantifiable air, a pure form of expression and experience, Leone, and specifically his collaborations with Morricone are at the front of the pack. Whatever's happening there is beyond language, the synergy and harmony of their work is transportive, gripping and powerful unlike anything else I've encountered. It's an experience that simply defies a need to be understood, a consuming burst of enraptured feelings, a rare…
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Duel 1971
Unflinching, tense and shrouded in sweaty paranoia. A straightforward barebones story elevated to the next level by exciting direction, Spielberg brings out all the stylistic mayhem with exhilarating camerawork. He manages to make an ominous, imposing villain out of nothing but a big rusty truck--simply through editing, framing and withholding information. So many smart decisions were made here, keeping this raw and minimal without ever indulging in exposition, the unseen, motiveless driver is a perfect force for confusion and instinctual terror. A brilliant showcase for the effectiveness of simplicity.
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What We Do in the Shadows 2014
What We Do in the Shadows is a rather simple film that gets the most out of its premise through eccentric characters and phenomenal cast chemistry. Playing with the tropes and mythology of vampire's while bringing them to a contemporary setting, placing them in mundane everyday scenarios makes for comedy gold. The causal, dry humor works because it takes an absurd, foreign yet familiar concept and makes it relatable. There's something that feels so simultaneously outlandish and grounded about everything…
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Speak No Evil 2022
Very uncomfortable and deeply unpleasant, but it arrives at those feelings without having anything compelling to say, all while being too heavy-handed to sustain an air of mystery, and too predictable to function as a thriller. Feels more like an exercise in testing the audiences ability to tolerate bad decision making and tedious, awkward social interactions. It attempts to create escalating tension from our desire to rationalize what discomforts us, to remain amicable in spite of concerning behavior. But the…
