a short review for a very good movie you all should see

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2016)

1) I wonder what China will make of this movie.
2) I hope that cinematographer Bradford Young (A Most Violent Year and Selma) takes it as a high compliment that I thought the whole time watching this "damn, Roger Deakins, you're outdoing yourself here!" (thinking this was his 3rd collaboration with Villeneuve)
3) Amy Adams is incredible, some of her best work yet, even if so much of it is based around her giant blue eyes. Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker also give strong supporting work (and hey, Michael Stuhlbarg too while we're at it, and even a particular Chinese actor gets a great scene), so a well-rounded cast surrounds her.
4) I went in expecting Close Encounters and got a... reverse version Solaris I guess (and I mean Soberberh's Solaris). This is a welcome surprise and one I suspect a lot of viewers will embrace, though some may leave confused.
This is very good stuff, bordering on great, and it warrants a rewatch, though the one mark I'd say against is that it's more effective intellectually than emotionally. The ending is wonderful, but it's so much slipping around in time that you lose the thread emotionally. But Arrival is ultimately made as a film as a rebuke to the countless "sci-fi" spectacles that are an excuse for showing off militarism and destruction. If anything this is a really strong movie to watch considering this election week: here's what happens when communication is actually engaged, and when governments engaging in aggressive action without trying to see the 'other', literally, and it's a sobering message right now.