In a current moviemaking climate where thrillers keep getting bigger, louder, and more involved, “Blue Ruin” provides a welcome change of pace. Rather than rev his film’s engine to see how hard he can push it, writer/director Jeremy Saulnier holds his movie back with immense restraint. It’s a fascinatingly controlled slow burn that’s executed with the utmost precision, resulting in a chillingly minimalist piece to watch.
At times, Saulnier’s extreme exactitude does come off a little cold. We never really connect to the characters, nor do we really understand the psychology motivating them. But that seems to be Saulnier’s modus operandi with the film, and it works just fine because he commits to it fully.
It’s not about this specific story but rather about what compels people in general to seek violent retribution. (When they’re both available for home viewing, “Blue Ruin” would make a fascinating double bill with summer 2014’s “The Rover.”) Saulnier provides precious little backstory on what’s compelling the film’s main character, Macon Blair’s Dwight, to seek revenge at all costs. We keep thinking some giant explanation is coming, but it never does.
Normally, such vagueness in a film is equivalent to noncommittal or pure lack of imagination. In “Blue Ruin,” though, it means exactly the opposite. Rarely has so little meant so much. B+ / 
Ari Folman’s “
With flaring tensions between Israel and Palestine back on the front page, perhaps there is no better time to Dror Moreh’s Oscar-nominated documentary “The Gatekeepers.” This selection for the “F.I.L.M. of the Week” is a rather unique look at the conflict from 1967 onwards, told through the eyes of six former heads of the Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet.
When I was 6 years old, I visited my grandparents’ house while they were riveted to CSPAN coverage of the growing scandal embroiling then-President Bill Clinton. Curious about what could possibly be so interesting, I asked everyone I came across who Monica Lewinsky was and what Clinton had done.
Just last weekend, I curled up in bed with my laptop to watch “
Zach Braff’s “
Writer/director Alexander Payne has said of cinema’s advent, “I think that mankind had been looking for this magnificently verisimilar art form which really mirrors life.” And like an answer to an unspoken prayer, “
The dominant attitude that seems to prevail when making sequels is to give people more of the same. If it functioned well enough the first time to justify a second helping, something had to be working, right?
Film critic Roger Ebert inspired many people and touched countless lives, ranging from saving Martin Scorsese from self-implosion to many much smaller-scale interactions. One such example is
Cannes Film Festival – Director’s Fortnight, 2013


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