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Moonlight - Barney's Incorrect Five Second Reviews

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09 Oct 2017 18:35 #255398 by Frohike
I just watched this without any context, aside from seeing it on my Amazon feed.

What a stunning, deeply affecting film for me.

Then I read all of the critical kerfuffle around it and shook my head. It's less than two hours long, so I don't understand the complaints about pacing. It does just as much with that time as any Terrence Malick film but with more character depth, in my opinion. The direction doesn't rely on melodrama in the dialog to invest the viewer but instead seems to meet us half way, expecting us to inhabit these silent, resolute spaces in character's scenes with our own realization of the full social context, or even spiritual context in some places. It replaces the dramatic arc with a contemplative arc, something I don't see very often in contemporary film, unless it's narrated with a loosely parallel voice-over such as Malick or Wenders are prone to do.

Anyway, great film and great review. I've rewatched it now and my opinion stands. This fully deserved its nomination & awards.
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09 Oct 2017 20:38 - 09 Oct 2017 20:38 #255407 by Black Barney
I think if the film hadn't won or even hadn't been nominated, I think it would have been much better received by the masses.

Anyway what an amazing movie, glad you liked it.
Last edit: 09 Oct 2017 20:38 by Black Barney.
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09 Oct 2017 23:51 #255409 by Jackwraith
The best acting moment of the year was in that film. When Little reveals to Juan what his home life is like and Mahershala Ali, as Juan, shows that impact settle in on his face as he realizes that his business is the cause of Little's pain, it's absolutely shattering. What a brilliant, subtle, refined piece of acting. I know that some of the pushback on Moonlight was because people felt the pacing was aimed at being Oscarbait and also didn't like the obligation that people say exists to praise the "black" film of the year, but it was really a phenomenal film in its own right, regardless of political perceptions (or snark.) While I didn't think it was the best film of the year (I would have voted for Manchester by the Sea), it was a great one and Ali absolutely deserved the Best Supporting nod.
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10 Oct 2017 00:14 #255410 by Frohike

Jackwraith wrote: The best acting moment of the year was in that film. When Little reveals to Juan what his home life is like and Mahershala Ali, as Juan, shows that impact settle in on his face as he realizes that his business is the cause of Little's pain, it's absolutely shattering. What a brilliant, subtle, refined piece of acting. I know that some of the pushback on Moonlight was because people felt the pacing was aimed at being Oscarbait and also didn't like the obligation that people say exists to praise the "black" film of the year, but it was really a phenomenal film in its own right, regardless of political perceptions (or snark.) While I didn't think it was the best film of the year (I would have voted for Manchester by the Sea), it was a great one and Ali absolutely deserved the Best Supporting nod.


That's such a crushing moment, especially upon second viewing when you realize it's the last time he appears in the story, and much like the rest of the film it's just allowed a quiet place to develop for a few seconds. Then it cuts. It's hard to describe the style, but I really wish more films were like this, where the significance isn't telegraphed or framed with dramatic beats or crescendos but just allowed its own unspoken development. It almost feels like some version of Chiron would have directed this.
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10 Oct 2017 12:39 #255445 by Jackwraith

Frohike wrote: It's hard to describe the style, but I really wish more films were like this, where the significance isn't telegraphed or framed with dramatic beats or crescendos but just allowed its own unspoken development.


Exactly. I usually call that style "good writing and/or directing." You don't need an orchestral crash to highlight a dramatic moment. Just let the actors and the camera do their work. One of the best that most around here would be aware of is in Blade Runner, when Deckard casually dismisses Rachel's story with the fact that those aren't her memories, but are Tyrell's niece's that she's been programmed with. You see the anxious Rachel's eyes just crumble while she still is held up by the cautious attitude of being a replicant (all of these feelings are still new to them, historical programming or no) and then you see Deckard's realization that takes him from being annoyed that he has to explain the situation to this object, only to have it click that this is a person with feelings whose world he just shattered. It all takes place in a few seconds. There's no closeup. The score doesn't change. These are just two people having their respective worlds rocked while trying to pretend that they're not. That's storytelling.

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10 Oct 2017 14:02 #255453 by Matt Thrower
Moonlight didn't do that much for me. I found the first act difficult in terms of finding emotional hooks into the narrative. That "best acting" moment of realisation? Fell flat when I watched it. Just didn't care for any of the characters at all.

The second and third bits were much better. And as others have said it was visually and musically impressive. But as a whole it didn't hang together, and felt more like a fragmentary narrative than a whole.

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