Buried

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Screening Suggestions

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So here's the thing about 'Buried'. One has to be willing to accept, before going into this movie, that visually, you're gonna be looking at Ryan Reynolds in a box for an hour and a half. That's quite literally the movie, in a nutshell, made to feast on the fears of the worst claustrophobes.

Paul (Reynolds) is an American truck driver, working in Iraq, who gets attacked by Iraquis. He wakes up inside a wooden box with nothing but a cell phone and a lighter, and the premise of the movie is essentially him trying to get the hell out of this predicament.

This film serves as a primary example of a great movie with a great story, using very little for a budget. In fact, I'm willing to bet that most of it's budget went towards getting Ryan Reynolds to play the lead role.

So, if it's just Ryan Reynolds in a box of an hour and a half, how can this possibly be good in any way? Well, as the story unfolds, the tension builds, and we really start to feel the panic in Paul's mind. The movie sort of tosses things back and forth, giving us relief one minute, followed by hopelessness the next. It does a fantastic job at playing with our fears. I don't particularly consider myself to be claustrophobic, but the way this movie is filmed did cause a certain sense of dread in me. I can honestly say that it came damn close to making it so - in which case I should probably say that if you ARE claustrophobic, proceed with caution if you wanna check this one out.

If nothing else though, as mentioned before, it's a testament to unique film making, using very little budget. It's basically, in my eyes, living proof that story over substance is far more important. There's a great amount if intensity throughout the film, and it really shows off Reynold's acting skills, for which he was nominated a Saturn that year.

So, if for some reason you're looking for a unique film that inspires dread and disturbance in your core, 'Buried' is a title I'd highly recommend. I know it makes me feel very uneasy, yet positively engaged all at the same time. It's almost the perfect thriller. That is, of course, if you can handle the thriller being Ryan Reynolds in a box for an hour and a half.

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