{"id":20561,"date":"2020-05-28T13:12:47","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T20:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20561"},"modified":"2020-05-28T13:12:47","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T20:12:47","slug":"the-vast-of-night-has-mood-and-atmosphere-to-spare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20561","title":{"rendered":"THE VAST OF NIGHT Has Mood and Atmosphere to Spare"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/24_0009_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14439\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The following feature film debuts on Amazon Prime on\nFriday, May 29th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With the release of so many studio movies in limbo, this has\nbeen a great time to discover and catch up on some smaller pictures. Independent\nefforts have been getting more attention lately than they would have otherwise,\nand this week, there\u2019s another new title being released via Amazon Prime. <em>The\nVast of Night<\/em> is an eerie little period effort. Made in Texas, it details strange\ngoings on over the course of an evening in a small New Mexico town. The film\ndoesn\u2019t have stars or a large budget money behind it, but it manages to create a\nwonderful sense of mood and atmosphere. This is an excellent debut feature and\none that shows great promise and potential for those involved.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Vast-of-Night-interview-1024x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20563\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Set in the 1950s, the story begins almost an entire town heading\nto a local high school basketball game. Radio personality Everett (Jake\nHorowitz) arrives to set up a recording of the event for future broadcast\nbefore heading back to the station for his DJ shift. While there, teenager and\nlocal switchboard operator Fay (Sierra McCormick) shows him her new\nreel-to-reel tape recorder and asks for career advice. The friendly announcer\ncoaches her as they wander back to their job posts and start their evening\nshifts. Things get tense when a strange noise begins interrupting the radio broadcast\nsignal and switchboard calls are cut off. As the two try to identify the source\nof the sound, a couple of callers (Bruce Davis and Gail Cronauer), begin\nsharing disturbing stories that might explain what is happening. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Vast-of-Night-at-switchboard-02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20564\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story itself is quite simple and intimate, focused\nexclusively on the two leads and their reactions to some wild tales. It takes a\nhighly unusual approach and focused on the characters listening and taking in\npieces of information, rather than showing things outright. The technique may\nhave to do in part with having a limited budget, but it actually ends up\nserving the story. Long takes (with some digital augmentation to further extend\nvisuals) are used extensively, either holding on the characters in conversation\nor hovering low over the pavement as the leads walk around the dark and empty town.\nThe nighttime photography is a little dark, but this actually adds a foreboding\nfeel to the events and, as mentioned, allows the filmmakers to focus on\ncharacters. This understated approach adds a palpable sense of mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Vast-of-Night-at-switchboard-1024x577.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20565\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And as a result of holding on the performers, the leads are\nbetter developed than in other genre flicks. Of course, the focus on Everett,\nFay and the callers means that part of the success of the film depends on the\nperformances. Thankfully, everyone featured is exceptional. The camera hangs\nstill on their stories for minutes on end, and they manage to maintain\nattention throughout. That\u2019s a lot to ask of the actors and it\u2019s all the more\nremarkable that the performers do it so well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Viewers should know that the movie has a relaxed pace and takes a long time to set up the main thrust of its story. And at certain points, an old television monitor and <em>Twilight Zone<\/em>-like program is integrated into the proceedings. I\u2019m not entirely certain this aspect is a necessary addition to the film. Additionally, the primary focus here isn\u2019t on spectacle, but instead to create eerie mood and atmosphere. Yet, it\u2019s remarkable just how effective it all ends up being. <em>The Vast of Night<\/em> is an engaging, well-acted and fun little film that feels akin to sitting at a campfire and listening to creepy tales about strange and mysterious figures lurking in the dark\u2026 who may be waiting to take us or exert their sinister influence from beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following feature film debuts on Amazon Prime on Friday, May 29th. With the release of so many studio movies in limbo, this has been a great time to discover and catch up on some smaller pictures. Independent efforts have been getting more attention lately than they would have otherwise, and this week, there\u2019s another [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,6751,9319,10181,15922,17772,17776,18386,22519,22520,22521,22522],"class_list":["post-20561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-eerie","tag-horror","tag-jake-horowitz","tag-period","tag-sci-fi","tag-science-fiction-2","tag-sierra-mccormick","tag-the-vast-of-night","tag-the-vast-of-night-film-review","tag-the-vast-of-night-movie-review","tag-the-vast-of-night-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}