Alien, Fire in the Sky, Independence Day, Men in Black, Starship Troopers, Cloverfield, Signs, Prometheus. These are some of the many movies that have successfully explored contact in some form with extra-terrestrial beings in some form. And then you have movies like E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cocoon, Contact, Solaris, District 9, Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian that are also movies about either extra-terrestrial encounters or innovative space exploration that deal more with the human component or relationship building than they do action, adventure, and/or a post-apocalyptic future. Add Denis Villeneuve’s (Sicario, Prisoners) Arrival as the latest movie to try to get itself on this impressive list. The critics (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (82%) have both enjoyed this movie. I wouldn’t say that I disliked this movie, but I don’t have the same praise as many others. If you haven’t seen Villeneuve’s Sicario, please see this movie. It was one of the five best movies of 2015. I haven’t met many people who have seen this movie and didn’t like it. It’s an incredible movie. I hoped Villeneuve could recapture that same success with this follow-up, but, ultimately, it was a movie that I found interest in. Still, one that was a little all over the place and not one that I could ultimately relate to or, to an extent, even understand its purpose.
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Category Archives: Denis Villeneuve
Sicario (2015)
With three months left to go in 2015, we have a new contender for the best movie of the year, and the name of that movie is Sicario. This movie is a fantastic ride that will keep you thoroughly engrossed and guessing the entire time. Like many great movies over the last couple of years, the less you know about the movie going in, the more I think you’ll like this movie. For me, this has been the case recently with films like Ex-Machina, The Drop, The Gift, and Chef. All of these were surprises, and each is a movie that I plan on watching again in the future. The same can be said about Sicario. Once you know how the movie ends, you’ll want to watch it again to try and see it again through a new set of lenses. It’s intense. It’s filled with drama. It will leave you with your mouth hung ajar. That is if you let it. This is a movie where you need to pay attention. If you doze off for even a couple of minutes, you might miss something important. If you miss something important, you might feel lost. If you feel lost, you might get frustrated. But if you are willing to work as hard as the movie does, you’ll be rewarded with one of the most exciting, well-crafted, and original movies that you are likely to find this year (or any year for that matter).
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