post-transition rewatch notes:
-the first thing that always jumps out to me is how good the lighting and the framing is in the Entire movie. real "on-and-off the court, straight fundamentals" stuff
-watching this with zoe and she was like "oh yeah, this is where Hotline Miami got its whole Thing from", and Yeah. this movie kinda got Fight Club'd (or Pulp Fiction, etc.) over the years in being memed to death by sub-classes of individuals. in these cases, the movies themselves are usually like... pretty good? they're kinda neat or whatever? but they proliferated throughout culture so much that people already were sick of hearing about it before actually engaging with it. an Undertale of a movie
-the way refn frames action sequences like horror scenes, as long suspenseful sequences into brief explosive hyperviolent moments, works in service of painting the driver as a Lawful Good retributive paladin whose god is some lady he met down the hall
-the moments of silence between irene and the driver go on so much longer than i remember! the fact that being quiet is a literal character trait for both of them is so great. they lowkey talk like a ps2 ffx cutscene to each other bc their autisms are so in sync, so it makes it extra jarring when standard shows up and talks like a normal person in between them in the hallway
-on that note, i remember a lot of scenes in this movie very well (more than i expected) and i think it's because a fair amount of the movie is just kind of Vibes. lots of longer driving sequences, shots hanging on a long time, letting moments breathe, it makes the larger bursts of activity stand out more
-this movie's cast is fucking stacked, dude. they keep bringing in other characters and i'm like "oh wow, Another now-recognized and prestigious actor, there's probably a reason this movie has good acting despite how pulpy it is"
-this movie is kinda just like a ronin story but for a 1950s james dean looking dude in an 80s pastiche, kind of like a soup
-okay the movie's over now and that One song is playing, you know the one. the music in this movie is very good (love the Brighter Day choice, spirited inclusion) and i kind of left liking it more than i did the last time. it really is a movie full of small Did You Notice? youtube-bait details that have probably been talked to death elsewhere, but it's fun to come to those conclusions on your own (similar to The Big Lebowski i watched earlier this year), meaning YES: both released in 2011, Drive truly IS the Dark Souls of bro movies
