My Weekly Take: Silence, Pulse, and More...

Short reviews Martin Scorsese's masterpiece, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's new action thriller and his 2001 psychological thriller...

Here in My Weekly Take, I write brief evaluations for each film to discuss why they are worth watching. Some may be ones I didn't enjoy, and I'll try to squeeze those in as well. These can be films that I've already seen and recently rewatched, as well as films that have just been released in theaters.

Silence / 2016 / Dir. Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese has made many great films, and he is widely regarded as one of the finest directors of all time, an honor that he has well earned. I watched Silence on the big screen when it originally came out in 2016, then bought it on Blu-ray. Since then, I've been cherishing this great piece of cinema. I watched it again this weekend, and it blew me away just as much as the first time. It's Scorsese's crowning effort as a filmmaker and unquestionably one of his greatest masterpieces.

Pulse / 2001 / Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse shook me to the core. The film contains no blood or gore because Kurosawa expertly focuses on psychologically shocking the audience. There are no cheap scare techniques or loud noises either. The film is my type of horror or psychological thriller. Kurosawa demonstrates that everything revolves around good writing, directing, editing, and steering the actors in the right direction.

Cloud / 2024 / Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa

The pacing, editing, cinematography, and acting are as good as Kiyoshi's previous works. He never falls short of expectations. There is no CGI or any other technique used to keep you engaged. Films like Cloud simply show how a captivating plot, clever writing, and direction can blow your mind. I loved every second of it.

Kingdom of Heaven / 2005 / Dir. Ridley Scott

I watched the Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut, which is over 3 hours long, in 4K a few nights back and was just awestruck at how great it is. Even wrote about it a little here. Don't get me wrong: I adore the theatrical version as well and own it. But I'd been waiting years for the director's cut, and now that I've seen it again (twice), I can't stop thinking about how different the film is. It's easily one of Ridley Scott's greatest works, and it's on par with, if not greater than, Lawrence of Arabia.