I just watched Drive, and was fairly blown away by the style, feel and cinematic vision of the film. I was especially intrigued to see that the Danish director of the Pusher series and the oblique, "metaphysical" viking drama 'Valhalla Rising' had stepped into the Hollywood scene. After watching it, I fully realized that there were probably a ton of people who hated the movie, esp. since it's marketing probably attracted a crowd of 'Fast & Furious' fans. Going to Amazon pretty much confirms this, with a 60/40 split of 5 star and 1 star reviews. I was also pretty impressed with 'Taking Shelter', a film I had been looking forward to checking out. It may have been a touch long, but the performances and slow-burn sense of menace were pretty great. I was also intrigued enough by the critical acclaim (and polarizing viewpoints) to check out 'Uncle Boonmee who can Recall His Past Lives', and have to report that it simply did not resonate with me at all. I appreciate the directors sensibility, and actually took away a good impression of his 'Syndromes and a Century' film, but this one just came off as a bit too obtuse and it seemed that there were some deeply ingrained cultural references that were being missed out on. If you are not afraid of VERY slow films, I still recommend checking it out as his films are a very unique experience.
