Buried.

This is the first of what will be many movie reviews/blogs, though I intend to lean toward the blog aspect of things as opposed to a simple review.  There are a lot of critics out there and everyone has an opinion on why you should or should not see a film.  And while I may express why I may or may not like a film, I urge everyone who loves movies as much as I do to always see them for yourself to make your own judgements.  Hopefully this will just bring certain films to the attention of those who may otherwise not experience them.

That said, my first blog is about the movie Buried starring Ryan Reynolds.  I'll try to do this without giving as much as possible away, but I have to start this blog by saying that this is one of those movies that's incredibly frustrating to watch.  That's not to say this is a bad film.  In fact, the more I reflect on it, the more I think this was actually a very sound storyline.

This movie shows that you don't need a big budget or a huge cast to make a successful movie. (Whether Buried was considered successful or not might be debatable, but still ...)  Really, all you need is an interesting story and an actor who can pull off the lead role.  Good cinemetography helps too, but sometimes it can take a backseat if everything else is able to stand on its own well enough.

As for the frustration; this stems from the way this movie flows and leads into every new part of the storyline, as well as the way everything tends to play out.  It's one of those movies where it gives you hope and then lets you down and gives you more and lets you down, rinse, cycle, repeat.

By the end of the movie, you're left feeling a bit wound up with mixed emotions like a whirlwind just sent you on the ride of your life and spun you around so that you don't know what direction to go from there.

That, in fact, is where I reflected and began to really give this movie more credit.  Because to me, the best movies are the ones that evoke not only emotion, but thought as well.  Something that's going to make you take the time to think about what just happened and analyze what you saw, is something that ends up worth talking about.  Which is exactly what prompted me to do this blog.

On top of that, I really felt than Ryan Reynolds did a stellar job acting out this role.  He evokes every emotion that he needs to, is able to make a little humor (albeit very little) amidst the chaos, and you really do care whether or not he lives or dies by the end.  And when all is said and done, the movie poses a lot of questions as to what its deeper meaning was or if it really even has one.  Maybe the writer just wants you to feel trapped in a box or ask yourself what you would do in such a situation or why it even happens to begin with.

Whatever the case may be, movies like this make you ask questions.  They make you think.  And sometimes, they even make you write a blog.