 |
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Friday, August 06, 2004
Awhile back I wondered if my long-building anticipation for Garden State would end up in disappointment. I've been excited from the moment I finished watching the first trailer (a work of art on it's own) so many months ago. I'd been counting down the days, checking out director/writer/star Zach Braff's blog, waiting to find out when it would open in Boston.
Well, today's the day, but I was lucky enough to catch a preview earlier this week. I'm so, so glad to say that it lived up to, and blew away, the high expectations. My favorite film of the year, by a Jersey mile. There wasn't anything about this movie I didn't love... the cast, their dialogue, the soundtrack, the cinematography & set design. I especially dug the use of symmetry in so many of the initial scene shots, and the distant perspectives at the end of others. Perfect use of close-ups and pull-backs, speed-ups and slow-motion... I noticed so many little details that added up to one big, beautiful film. Braff's use of humor to offset tragic moments was just so wonderfully and tastefully applied. There was so much truth, so many pointed, insightful lines and exchanges... what a remarkable piece of work. It's more than a coming-of-age story, more than one man's quarter-life-crisis (as Braff has called it), it's a freakin' inspiration. It sits high on a short list of films that have resonated deeply, have touched me personally. I cannot wait to see it again. Needless to say, I'll be paying close attention to what ever Zach chooses to do next. Look's like he's adapting "Andrew Henry's Meadow", which sounds good to me. P.S. Micki, you'll be happy to know that I finally had my Shins breakthrough moment a couple months ago... while I was sitting alone in River Gods, sipping a beer and reading a book. The bartender put on Chutes as I sat there, and I finally got it. In the biggest, best way. So, yeah, you were totally right. :)  |
 neil halstead live in cambridge, ma on november 14th, 2008 previously: joy formidable - boston 2011 recent posts on the 'nac... on the nightstand boston-area music bloggers
boston music media 
|
