Directed by Michael Haneke Something is amiss in the picturesque village of The White Ribbon. You can almost imagine Nicolas Cage or Jake Gittes riding in, called upon to investigate the (possible) supernatural at play. But here there is no one riding in. We are insulated in this village, seeing it through the eyes of … Continue reading The White Ribbon (2009)
Run Sweetheart Run (2022)//Story Structure
Directed by Shana Feste Written by Shana Feste, Keith Josef Adkins, Kellee Terrell ACT 1: 00:00-30:00 Sequence 1 = 00:00-18:39 Office: CHERIE's report of overheard harassment is ignored-->Bus: Phone call with boss (James)--He says she double-booked him, tells her to take client meeting in his place//harassed by man on bus-->Home: establish her daughter, friend comes … Continue reading Run Sweetheart Run (2022)//Story Structure
Is ‘Beast’ the best movie of 2022?
No but it's pretty great. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur Beast is a survival movie, a cat and mouse movie. It's a B-movie, in other words, with modest ambition and thrills that aren't quite as cheap as you might initially expect them to be. It's a story about a doctor (Idris Elba) and his two teenaged … Continue reading Is ‘Beast’ the best movie of 2022?
To Leslie (2022)
Directed by Michael Morris Look Around you/look down the bar room/at the faces that you see/are you sure this is where you want to be? Leslie: "Is that a joke?" -- Leslie (Andrea Riseborough) sits alone in a bar, slouched and smoking a limp cigarette. The camera dollies towards her while those lyrics play from … Continue reading To Leslie (2022)
Don’t Breathe (2016)//Story Structure
Written by Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues Act 1: 0:00-31:00 Sequence 1 = 0:00-10:21 COLD OPEN-->Routine Burglary-->Car/Alex's father's office (exposition)-->Money's new Lead//Cafeteria (Exposition & INCITING INCIDENT)-->Alex in his room (Rocky's appeal over text)//Rocky's troubled home life//Alex says he's in. We meet ROCKY, MONEY & ALEX. They are young, they rob houses in Detroit, and their goal … Continue reading Don’t Breathe (2016)//Story Structure
Don’t Breathe (2016)
Directed by Fede Alvarez Actual Story Structure Analysis The film, as told through select subtitles: [heavy breathing] [gunshot] [body being dragged across the floor] [whimpering] Alex: Let's go. [drill whirring] [sniffing] Blind Man: Hmm. [beeps and blips] [door creaks] x100 [muffled moans] Alex: We need to get the fuck out of here. [slight gasps] [both … Continue reading Don’t Breathe (2016)
Drive My Car (2021)
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi The credits in Drive My Car take place over 40 minutes into the three hour movie, following a prologue about a man and his wife, until she dies suddenly, quietly. So suddenly, in fact, that it's like she simply vanished. Her absence looms large over the remainder of the film, particularly … Continue reading Drive My Car (2021)
Scattered thoughts on Clay Pigeons (1998)
Directed by David Dobkin Clay Pigeons plays out like a noir until the protagonist is let off the hook and forced to do battle with an unbelievable villain. Clay (Joaquin Phoenix) is put in an unfortunate position when his best friend, having discovered that Clay and his wife were conducting an affair, kills himself and … Continue reading Scattered thoughts on Clay Pigeons (1998)
An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Directed by Hu Bo I'm inclined to write about An Elephant Sitting Still just so that I don't forget about it. It's a long movie, nearly 4 hours, and within its tempered approach to storytelling it's easy to forget what really happens. And that's putting aside whether it even matters. It's a journey, as most good … Continue reading An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Invisible Life (2019)
Directed by Karim Aïnouz When Invisible Life leans into the melodrama it becomes otherworldly. The story of two sisters separated sometime around age 18 is inherently melodramatic, based solely on the justification for their separation, but it's not until the second half that the film sheds any semblance of realism and becomes almost magical, albeit in a … Continue reading Invisible Life (2019)
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