Reluctant optimist. Hopeful cynic. I dunno what I am. In any case, I balk at the idea of rating art, yet here I am.
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Klute 1971
Listen; I can die happy now that I have feasted on Gordon Willis's sumptuous cinematography. I can't recall the last time the table was lain out with such an abundance of riches. Gorgeous, but intriguing composition. Grime and gristle. Colour and cool. Creepy wide shots and split diopters. Cutting off two-thirds of the screen to crowd out Fonda's Bree.
In concert with Willis's cinematography, Pakula largely allows Klute to unfurl languidly and patiently--except when he doesn't. Bree checking her watch…
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Enemy of the State 1998
There's nothing like an anti-surveillance state, conspiracy thriller to lift my mood.
Enemy of the State, which is one of the first 'grown up' films I remember seeing, should be credited with sparking my <s>paranoia</s> reasonable, logically-founded fears and concerns. An introduction to mature awareness of potential for abuse of state power. I used to fantasise about having to destroy all traces of my life, disappear, go underground, because of an errant phone call.
It's tremendous fun. Tony Scott's pacing…
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Leave No Trace 2018
Brutal and sensitive. Underpinned by Thomasin McKenzie's central performance of glorious tenderness, innocence, and deep emotional strength. Ben Foster moves mountains. Directed such that it unfolds gently and naturally, but never flagging, always giving us something to think about, something to feel, something to wonder, people to sit with, a landscape to marvel at, contradictions to absorb. I haven't been moved in this way since I saw The Florida Project. I have more thoughts, but I'm just going to let this one sit with me for the moment.