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Okay, here we go y'all!
I finally got started on this Coen-come-together director's dissection deliciousness that sean and raul so kindly welcomed me into... And before I even mention the movie, I gotta say how liberating it was to FINALLY dive head-long into the Coen brothers' compact compilation of quality movies here... starting with,
BLOOD SIMPLE.
I finally got started on this Coen-come-together director's dissection deliciousness that sean and raul so kindly welcomed me into... And before I even mention the movie, I gotta say how liberating it was to FINALLY dive head-long into the Coen brothers' compact compilation of quality movies here... starting with,
BLOOD SIMPLE.
Okay, so it opens kind of low-budgety, with dark cinematography, minimal setting, era-based hair-styling and appearances and a heavily accented voice-over, which was some mumble-ish mess, which I feared might be a problem later, since a lot of characters seemed to speak that way and the sound quality seemed slightly muddled as well, not really helping either. Anyways, all that changed later on and I also got more into the movie and the characters so I could understand the dialogue better...
About the dialogue, I really liked it, as it was simple yet very delicate and the noir-feel was obvious and really completed the style for the rest of the cinematic elements - all of which really had this noir-feel to it as well - a clear homage yet also very much its own with the neon lights and all, making it a modern noir throwback thriller of sorts... Neo-noir is the correct term, yes, but it was very much true to its own as well.
I would lie if I said I can't see certain elements that tells me that this is a debut feature, but I would also lie if I said that this isn't a damn near exemplary execution with an elegance and confidence that really sells the occasional on-the-nose storytelling, editing, cinematography or the likes. The inventive editing transitions, the smooth camera movements, the lingering storytelling technique, everything really makes this a great experience. I loved the look of some of the scenes, especially in the bar, and the sound design created a great sense of paranoia and really cemented the genre of the movie as well.
I thought this was very solid almost all the way through, but it was especially the end that really gave it that extra notch, as raul also said,
And as he also said, the acting was good and I also really love seeing Francis McDormand on screen in all the movies I see with her in it.
But unlike raul, I gotta give it a slightly lower rating this time, which is purely because I'd rather want it to rise than fall with a rewatch. I actually did give it a 4/5 at first, but went in and changed it. I can definitely see this growing to a 4 in the future...
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About the dialogue, I really liked it, as it was simple yet very delicate and the noir-feel was obvious and really completed the style for the rest of the cinematic elements - all of which really had this noir-feel to it as well - a clear homage yet also very much its own with the neon lights and all, making it a modern noir throwback thriller of sorts... Neo-noir is the correct term, yes, but it was very much true to its own as well.
I would lie if I said I can't see certain elements that tells me that this is a debut feature, but I would also lie if I said that this isn't a damn near exemplary execution with an elegance and confidence that really sells the occasional on-the-nose storytelling, editing, cinematography or the likes. The inventive editing transitions, the smooth camera movements, the lingering storytelling technique, everything really makes this a great experience. I loved the look of some of the scenes, especially in the bar, and the sound design created a great sense of paranoia and really cemented the genre of the movie as well.
I thought this was very solid almost all the way through, but it was especially the end that really gave it that extra notch, as raul also said,
Big fan of the ending, which ultimately elevated the films total rating for me as well.
But unlike raul, I gotta give it a slightly lower rating this time, which is purely because I'd rather want it to rise than fall with a rewatch. I actually did give it a 4/5 at first, but went in and changed it. I can definitely see this growing to a 4 in the future...
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