Sling Blade (1996)

A master class in directing, acting, cinematography, writing- and truly one man's vision, one man's story. I have not properly seen this film in over 20 years, but I watched it tonight. I was floored. Absolutely on the edge of my seat with the writing, characterization, character development, the cinematography, the myriad of unbroken takes on a single master shot....Billy Bob Thornton. All credit due to him. Holy shit.I just.... films like this are rarely pulled off perfectly and rare in general. This film is a testament to the power of cinema combined with slice of life storytelling.I watched this when I was a kid and I was purely scared. Scared of Billy Bob Thornton's character. Scared of Dwight Yoakam. Uncomfortable with John Ritter (RIP). The whole experience made me so uncomfortable. But I understood in ways I couldn't express at the time that it was a good film, that it was a special film.Watching Sling Blade today, I honestly can't think of a movie quite like it before or since, let alone anything in the vicinity of the subject or style that comes close to pulling it off nicely, let alone this artistically.Every shot, every scene, every moment is beautiful.J.T. Walsh is a revelation and the writing and direction of his scene is award worthy in an of itself and he's just a random sex offender in a single scene that has very little to no bearing on the actual story.The casting of the smaller supporting cast is spot on accurate to the area.I get pure joy from the flawless execution of the story, of the script, of the locale.I just wanted to express my appreciation for the film somewhere it was remotely appropriate.A few film makers have made their careers on singular cinematic achievements and then gone on to do anything but what made them successful and Billy Bob Thornton is certainly one of them.Not to take away from Geoffrey Rush's turn in Shine, let alone the others winners, but I think the mark was missed on not giving Billy Bob Thornton Best Actor, Director and Picture for the 1997 Oscars. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/3vBZThU