film-making at its most marvelous

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2020)

1) i am so mad at myself for not watching this in theaters. i'm generally not a fan of war movies. if i knew, i may have watched it twice in IMAX
2) i generally prefer not to take myself out of the movie by thinking about the film-making, at least not the first time i watch something. but in this movie, i was doing that half the time. and i loved it. i marveled at it. i was baffled by it. i even yelled at the screen a couple times. how did they do that? what am i watching? i don't understand. it's amazing. reminded me of how i felt about the revenant, altho that focused more on the cinematography and atmosphere whereas this was weighed heavier on the directing techniques. both movies were great in all of those areas
3) we've seen the "simulated" one-shot used in other movies, namely birdman. but i don't think it's ever been this good. i couldn't tell half the time. or other times i would catch it and still not understand how they were able to do it. even without the tricks, the takes were SO long. some of the stuff they were able to pull off is nothing short of remarkable.
4) basically everything else in this movie was great. the acting was fantastic (can't believe that was tommen from GoT). the music was amazing. the emotional weight you feel. the cinematography... wow. and of course, the direction. well done on all counts (1 viewing, 4/9/2020)