"Ford V Ferrari" and the Power of Good Editing

Scene from Ford v Ferrari

On the surface, director James Mangold's work on Ford v Ferrari doesn't seem that impressive. After all, how many times has a camera zoomed in on Vin Diesel pulling the hammer down as he prepares to start a drag race? It has to be a few dozen at this point. People love watching cars go fast, and that only begins to explain why Mangold's latest has gotten where it is. True, it has some fun performances by Matt Damon and Christian Bale, but what it does in its third act is one of the most magnificent uses of editing and sound design by any film in 2019. So what if it's a period piece grounded in realism and not Furious 7 jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper? It still has a lot to achieve, and it does so over the course of one of the most daunting 40 minutes of cinema of the past year.

Review: "Ford V Ferrari" Gears Up for a Good Time

Scene from Ford V Ferrari

In recent years, no film has captured American ingenuity quite like director James Mangold's Ford V Ferrari: a true story of the Ford Motor Company's attempt to beat Ferrari in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. There is that dream of being the best, the fastest, pushing the boundaries of what's capable, and no film has felt as accomplished as this one. To watch Ken Miles (Christian Bale) take a corner while spouting comical Cockney slang like he's in an episode of Wacky Races is to see filmmaking at its most confident. The film almost doesn't need an audience's approval. The editing, sound design, and floating camera angles serve as an incredible feat of style as smooth as the car's paint job. If this isn't the best film in decades about why people get behind the wheel, then it still serves as a drama about the human spirit's desire to compete. No feeling can match the joy of its third act, and thankfully it all zooms along like a finely oiled machine.

Review: "Widows" is the Best Kind of Heist Film Imaginable

Scene from Widows

In 2013, director Steve McQueen released 12 Years a Slave. It was a film so vital and important that it could be considered one of the rare essential American films of the 21st century so far. With stark honesty, he captured an uncomfortable piece of U.S. history and helped to reshape the history, and all with lingering shots of brutality that forces the viewer to soak in the discomfort. So, how does McQueen follow up the film? Fives years later he has returned with Widows, which in the first 30 seconds features a brash edit so explosive that it rattles the audience in a new way. This is McQueen not as the methodical filmmaker he has been known as, but as someone who places urgency in every frame, artistry in every angle, and enough memorable bits to make this one of the best films of 2018. It's a heist movie with one of the year's greatest ensembles and an even more electric script by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl). It's a film that will grab you in your seat and not let go for the entire two hours. It's perfect evidence that McQueen doesn't only make good art films, but just good films in geneal.

Theory Thursday: An Appreciation Post on Jon Bernthal

Jon Bernthal in The Punisher

Welcome to a weekly column called Theory Thursdays, which will be released every Thursday and discuss my "controversial opinion" related to something relative to the week of release. Sometimes it will be birthdays while others is current events or a new film release. Whatever the case may be, this is a personal defense for why I disagree with the general opinion and hope to convince you of the same. While I don't expect you to be on my side, I do hope for a rational argument. After all, film is a subjective medium and this is merely just a theory that can be proven either way.