I was concerned that showing handheld digital camera footage on a big screen would be a blurry mess. I was also concerned that Anno’s experimental camera placements would be alienating and disorienting. Instead, the total package - the immediacy of the digital footage, the odd camera placements, particularly the use of first person perspective, the story of teenage ennui in turn of the millennium Japan - just worked for me. It was traumatizing and uncomfortable as a story about high…

Appearances can be deceiving, and sometimes thoughtful creators can turn the expectations born from appearances and first impressions against the audience. One might think that a western about a man seeking revenge for wrongs inflicted upon his family that plumbs western tropes down to the villain in the black hat directed by an aging actor would roll around in the trope pit to create a shallow vanity project. Instead, writer and director Viggo Mortensen created a contemplative and deliberately paced…