To put it as simply as possible Cartel Land is perfect. Bottom line. It's a swift, beautifully shot, kick in the ass of a documentary that will have you gasping at the fact that it's a documentary. The film follows two upstart vigilante groups that were created to fight cartels, yet mostly focusses on one called the Autodefensas. The job of the Autodefensas is to liberate towns in Mexico from the cartels. And this is all real. This is no western film, or Akira Kurosawa creation. This is real. The cameramen are running around with this group. Running through gunfights, through meth labs, through bloody torture sessions, and the film has a narrative to back it up. It's a documentary that has a more interesting story then almost anything I have ever seen. It's more intense then almost anything I have ever seen, and that's because it's real. It's visceral, people are dying on camera, and the audience is experiencing all of it. Atrocious crimes are described, and then criminals are caught. The vigilante group changes as the power players change. This film is electrifying, intense, and all that combined with the fact that it's all real helps the film feel extremely smooth. The fact that the cinematography is so engaging helps too. This film is beautifully shot with everything looking very vibrant for a documentary, and with all the gun battles being captured perfectly. Guys I cannot think of a better documentary that I have seen other then this. Cartel Land will have you thinking for a very long time, and is so exhilaratingly rich you will not believe what you are seeing. This is the first perfect film I've seen from 2015 (the other perfect ratings were films that came out in 2014 but open in my area in 2015), and I can't recommend it enough. I give Cartel Land a 10 out of 10. PS: Cartel Land is now playing at the Tivoli in St.Louis. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek.
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Did you guys ever play in the yard as if you were running through some crazy natural disaster or Godzilla like event? Cause I used to. Didn't you wonder about the excitement that would come if you were actually in a situation like that. Haven't you ever wished the monsters were there? That's what watching Cloverfield was like for me. It was taking all this thrill seeking fun I had as a child, and putting it up on a screen. It does use found footage as a crutch, but I never found this technique to be really that vomit inducing or useless. The close to the action thrills that this movie creates are incredible. I watched this movie on a screen that is barley 8 inches wide, and I was still marveling at how much of a thrill ride it was. Running through the streets with a few of your friends, getting closer and closer to the monster, and having to fight off the smaller ones. Running across collapsed parts of buildings miles high in the air. It's definitely not new stuff, but honestly the found footage kept it consistently engaging. It doesn't fight the screenplay or seem like a crutch. Director Matt Reeves (who made the excellent Rise of the Planet of the Apes) does a fantastic job with creating a scary film, and Drew Godard's (The Cabin in the Woods, and Netflix's Daredevil) screenplay builds some excellent dramatic tension. If there's one thing I could say is wrong here it's the fact that it all seem pretty minor, and the ending is a disappointment. However with all that said this is definitely a film to check out. I give Cloverfield an 8 out of 10. |
AuthorI am a 17 year old film enthusiast that is happy to be sharing my opinions on this site. Archives
March 2016
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