What do Edge of Tomorrow, Whiplash, and Under the Skin have in common?
Everyone watches movies designed to entertain us. From the top grossing pop culture phenomenon to a violent cult hit, they’ve become ingrained in our culture so fundamentally it’s virtually impossible to meet someone who hasn’t seen at least one of them. There are, however, two other types of films that tend to be discussed less but as just as important: dramas and art films.
Often people approach the other two types of film as they would an entertainment piece, but in actuality dramas and art house cinema have very different goals in mind with their narratives. Those goals often clash with the sensibilities people come to expect, creating some very divisive opinions about some works. However, that doesn’t need to be the case.
In a fantastic video essay for a new youtube channel called “The Long Take,” Rafael Hernan Gamboa breaks down how Edge of Tomorrow, Whiplash, and Under the Skin are paragons of their respective type of film and what that means to the viewer. Check it out:
Is it essential that we’ve seen all three movies to enjoy the video?
Not at all, though we highly recommend you watch all three at some point. Gamboa gives you a good sense of each movie so that you’ll never feel lost when he’s breaking them down.
This is the first in a series?
Yup. It’s an entire channel. He seems he’ll also be doing a video on Terrence Malick in the future, though we’re sure what other topics he plans on covering. We’re excited to find out.
Will he be doing any reviews in the future?
The channel doesn’t seem to be about reviews as much as it wants to promote discussion on film form and style. So, we think a review would be unlikely as opposed to a breakdown of a film or a discussion about its style.
When will the next video come out?
We’re not sure, but you can subscribe to the channel to get updates on when he posts a new essay.
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