My Own Little World

If A Quiet Place has taught me anything, it is the importance of good sound design. This is a highly effective horror film for a lot of reasons, but the way it uses sound to its advantage creates such a tense atmosphere that I won’t be forgetting soon. It is almost entirely silent with few portions of spoken dialogue. The production team tried to make very little noise so that every on-camera sound could be amplified in post-production, and it paid off. Because the suddenly loud noises are so loud and because we know that the creatures in the film are only attracted by these kinds of sudden noises, every time those sounds occur the tension instantly goes up. It is a perfect setup for a lot of good jump scares, but it also lends itself to the character development. One of the children of the family focused on is deaf, and when the film is from her perspective all the on-set sound goes away, giving us some very suspenseful and even emotional moments. In fact, A Quiet Place ...

Over the summer, I decided to finally watch The Office , one of the most beloved sitcoms of my generation. I watched it for two reasons: first, so I could understand all the references my friends made to the show; second, so I could relate better to a girl I was very interested in (update: it worked). To be honest, though, I really did not like the show at all that first time through. I found a lot of the characters very grating and a lot of the comedy racy at best and offensive at worst. Yet, for some reason, whenever I thought back to the show, those weren't my gut reactions. Instead, I thought of the great prank war between Dwight and Jim. I thought of the wonderful romance between Jim and Pam. I thought of the character arc that Michael has and how transformed he was by his time at Dunder-Mifflin. Those kind of thoughts don't come for shows I liked better "on paper" than The Office , so I decided to take another crack at it to see if I liked it better. And y...

In closing the door on 2016, I realize that there are a lot of films that I have seen that unfortunately I was unable to review for one reason or another. That doesn't mean, however, that I don't want you guys to know what I think of most of these films, so just like the last couple of years I will be doing a few posts over the next month or so wrapping up all of the films I got a chance to see from this past year. This time, I've got one of this year's most prominent sci-fi releases and a non-Transformers Michael Bay film... Arrival  - Buy it.  Arrival is one of the most thought-provoking sci-fi films I've ever seen. The direction from Denis Villeneuve is ridiculously visually rich and very artistic with its long takes and steady shots. Amy Adams turns in the best performance of her career, and the way the film reveals her character's true nature in the third act is stellar. The design of the aliens and their language is beautiful, and I love the film...

It's been a little while since I've updated you on my binge-watching, so yesterday when I finished my most recent show, I decided to write a little bit about it. I didn't think I'd have a whole lot of good to say about this show, especially because of what my opinion of it was early on in its run. I don't think I've ever had a show where I've hated the central character so much. Well, what's the show and main character I'm talking about here? The American version of The Office  starring Steve Carell as Michael Scott. (And if it weren't for me having to put a title on each post, this would have been a great reveal. Oh well.) I went through an intense love/hate relationship with Michael for the first four seasons of The Office , mostly because he is a character that has no boundaries, or even an awareness that he should have any in the first place. He is offensive, idiotic, and downright stupid. Yes, I do understand that that's the entire...