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*floorjaw*
Jun. 12th, 2008 01:09 pmI admit it: I'm a bad, bad movie fan. I just got Atonement from Netflix, in an effort to "try and get caught up," and sometime soon I hope to be able to watch it from the beginning, as intended. And I know that jumping ahead is a quick and sure way to wallop oneself with unwanted spoilers.
I didn't care. I jumped ahead. I had to see That Tracking Shot.
For those who don't get all snob-wangsty about noticing such things, every review of Atonement I read last year, positive or negative, went something like, "Joe Wright's new film (blah blah) adaptaion of Ian McEwan's (blah blah) fine performances by (blah blah) cinematography (blah blah) HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN THAT TRACKING SHOT ON THE BEACH I IZ A DED CRITIK." Now, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for long, uninterrupted takes and shots that track from here to Timbuktu, and I've seen some truly astonishing scenes on both counts, both in feature films (e.g. Touch of Evil, Boogie Nights, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, even Once) and music videos. So I absolutely had to see this one; it was a sizable portion of the reason why the movie was on my Netflix queue to begin with. I was sure it was very good, perhaps even great, but in comparison to the work that Welles et al did before, it couldn't be that good. Could it?
Holy flaming fuckbutter, yes. Yes it could.
I was going to use this space to give a detailed description, but I can't; any attempts to do so would fall short by a country mile. I don't care if it's not strictly necessary. I don't care if it's directorial showboating. All I know is that I've only just now succeeded in putting my eyeballs back in my skull. Like I said, I'll be watching the whole film in the next few days, I hope. That one shot, though? Probably enough to make me cough up to buy the thing.
I didn't care. I jumped ahead. I had to see That Tracking Shot.
For those who don't get all snob-wangsty about noticing such things, every review of Atonement I read last year, positive or negative, went something like, "Joe Wright's new film (blah blah) adaptaion of Ian McEwan's (blah blah) fine performances by (blah blah) cinematography (blah blah) HOLY GOD IN HEAVEN THAT TRACKING SHOT ON THE BEACH I IZ A DED CRITIK." Now, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for long, uninterrupted takes and shots that track from here to Timbuktu, and I've seen some truly astonishing scenes on both counts, both in feature films (e.g. Touch of Evil, Boogie Nights, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, even Once) and music videos. So I absolutely had to see this one; it was a sizable portion of the reason why the movie was on my Netflix queue to begin with. I was sure it was very good, perhaps even great, but in comparison to the work that Welles et al did before, it couldn't be that good. Could it?
Holy flaming fuckbutter, yes. Yes it could.
I was going to use this space to give a detailed description, but I can't; any attempts to do so would fall short by a country mile. I don't care if it's not strictly necessary. I don't care if it's directorial showboating. All I know is that I've only just now succeeded in putting my eyeballs back in my skull. Like I said, I'll be watching the whole film in the next few days, I hope. That one shot, though? Probably enough to make me cough up to buy the thing.
