Knives Out (2019)
★★★½
This review may contain spoilers.
wow I forget how great this movie is, it truly is a star studded affair, with clever twists here and there, great framing device in the beginning along with some great cinematography
the writing in this film is actually really great, while a bit cheesy which I feel is the point this film has some pretty great setup and payoffs that take place super late in the film, I love how the dialogue builds to the point of the scene, I like how the film doesn't treat it's audience as stupid in a few scenes there are points that we are suppose to get that aren't out right said and I really appreciate that you are just suppose to get it or you find out threw context clues, or you can just wait for the pay off and it all clicks into place I.E. the divorce subplot, the reveal makes sense and actually clicks some things into place which is very nicely done.
I really like the set dec for the film, there are some great things to look at some cool little things you will notice if you are paying attention I wonder if this was a real place and how much freedom they had in removing and adding furniture to the set, or maybe they just wrote characters based on the set they had either way it's great with hints at a book that Christopher Plummers actor had written that we hadn't read but we could get the sense of the story's bigger plot points from just what is around his house.
the cinematography is pretty great in this film, it really goes for some really great shots like the one in her house when she sits on the couch next to her mom, or the lighting on the scene on the phone, shots like these are easy to do but add so much depth to the world allowing us to understand the character a bit more. as mention as well the light here is great.
the acting in this film is star studded so many great and recognizable names and faces, so many actors doing such a great job it would just be me listing the entire cast of names the bigger names and the smaller names like Rikki Lindhome who doesn't get a lot of on screen stuff but gets a lot of background stuff that is nice, even Jaeden Martell and Katherine Langford are really great here playing there characters kind of perfect.
I do feel that while the original score was great in some areas there are times when I wanted more from it here, go bold and go brash and it is those things in select locations but only in those select locations, the same from the sound design there are little things here and there that are cool or nice to listen to but I wish there was more of a focus on it, like the rain in scenes I wish we could hear more of it in the mix or the sound of the piano the first time it played it disrupted the scene and tension it should have felt like that every time.
who done it? I don't know probably me or something.
notes below
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- good opening scene, the music and blocking for this scene is really great.
- Hi Walt. Hi Marta it's Walt. lol.
- I like how this story is framed, it's pretty interesting, probably he best way to do a modern murder mystery
- also I like the close ups that the film chooses to use.
- also I like how Daniel Craig is hidden in the background and not mentioned at all not even established until the piano note.
- so they are all being nice to Marta because she was closest to Harlan and there for probably had an impact on his choice on weather to include them into the Will.
- I like how Benoit is playing chess in the film -- using people against each other -- almost cat and mousing them into the information he needs.
- I like the choice to cut to the photo of Ransom and his family when he is mentioned, pretty cool.
- also cool pink shirt.
- this movie is the anthesis of the Hitchcock quote about suspense and the bomb under the table, it's too long of a quote to include but each scene introduces and idea has some questions about the idea then cuts to a flashback of why this scene is so tense for the character in question then cuts back to the scene with new found tension in that scene, some great writing.
- also I like how the movie doesn't spell out that he is cheating, it shows the photos and then hopes you'll peace it together.
- weak sauce should enter my vocab.
- I like the sound design of the rainfall in the background.
- good monologue from the detective recapping the time of death.
- this movie is really good at stakes, you could learn a lot studying it, each scene raises the scenes stakes and moves forward.
- I like how he talks about his life in the terms of his novel's.
- Ana de Armas does such a fantastic job in this film.
- pulling down on her crying while he is telling Joni to go to be is such a great addition to a scene from earlier, what a way to introduce a metaphorical bomb to the movie.
- I like that his voice over changes here it's pretty good.
- and it's clearly been 10 minutes he didn't die -- his greatest novel is his life.
- now that we know the story we enter the scene with some new found tension.
- like the subtle detail of the flame in the letters.
- who outvoted who about the funeral?
- I like how this porch scene is lit, Benoit in the shadows.
- the fact that he refers to her as Watson.
- I like that this movie knows what it is, it knows it's a silly goofy murder mystery taking itself to seriously.
- I loved how the camera slowly pan down wards as she sat on the couch next to her mom.
- can't tell the difference between a real knife and a fake one.
- I love that this scene is not score wiht music, it's so quiet, great choice.
- the music swelling upwards as it zooms in on her shoe with blood on it.
- I love the costume design on the film
- I like how ransom avoided the dogs, he like coward.
- I like the blocking in this shot of them in the living room before the will reading.
- how about some more cookies hugh.
- I like that in theory you would have to put together all his stories to solve his own murder, his ultimate story.
- love the choice to go handheld here.
- I like how smart everyone is in this film.
- the assistant asleep in the background. me.
- good camera movement forward on Benoit.
- Ransoms focus on Go here is great. -- does everything for his character
- I like how the shadows surround her on the phone call.
- I like the sound design on the cane, the focus on it in this scene is great -- on this note this film is pretty good at pay off, everything in the film is used to some great extreme, like the cane something that would be dismissed as purely a character's way of walking comes back as something used in the scene.
- also what a sick freaking house Ransom has.
- the way he yells Elliot.
- the way this film uses shadows is amazing.
- he is just singing lol.
- the film revolves around a hole -- the detective behind Benoit sighing at the donut hole.
- the infamous knives chair is so cool.
- Chirs's outfits are so nice, I aspire to be the outfits, so cozy.
- Damn. love the detective.
- something so amusing when someone untangles a thread that you have been picking at for like 2 hours.
- damn Chirs Evens and Ana de Armas killed this last scene.
- I like how much has changed, how much this feels like a journey.
