it's such a beautiful day

Time to gush about a movie I love.

So because today was such a boring day to blog about, I wanted to make another blog covering something else, so I decided to review my favorite movie of all time; "It's Such A Beautiful Day" by Don Hertzfeldt. (I will try to avoid spoilers, because I really want you to watch this movie.)

I really love this movie. So much. It's about a man named Bill, and it goes through his life as we watch him slowly lose his memory through the course of the film.

What I admire about the movie is it's unique style, it 100% carries the movie. The movie only shows you what Bill can see/remember, and the narrator gives you the slightest information to let you know find out is going on. Because you can only see what Bill sees and is going through, you empathize with him when he's going through this awful shit

You also empathize for the narrator too, not only because he is the only voice that lets us know more about Bill (and provides a tongue in cheek narration for the majority of the movie), but it's almost like he views his life with the audience, and is simply describing it to us. This is most relevant towards the end of the movie when (KINDA SPOILERS) he breaks character and freaks out after he realizes what happens to Bill.

I love the art style too! It's simple, sure, but it carries across so much emotion and detail that I can't help but love it. For example, the majority of the film is in black and white, but (MORE SPOILERS) once Bill is given news that changes his life, he starts to see things in color, and fully appreciate life for what it is. It is beautifully done, and I love it so much.

The music choice is great too! It only plays when necessary, which I absolutely love. I hate the mentality that you need to have music going 24/7 in a movie... sometimes you just need to let the moment happen, take in what's happening without an obnoxious track playing in the background, and that is what this movie does so well. But when the music is needed, it hits HARD. Referring to earlier, when Bill realizes how much detail life has, "Prelude in C-Sharp Minor" plays, and it goes all the way with the moment. It is a beautiful scene, if not one of my favorite scenes of all time.

My one and only gripe with the film is finding a way to watch it... apparently it used to be on Netflix, but it got taken down. It's unavailable on Amazon Prime Video, too (if you don't have a VPN). It is available on Blu-Ray, as well as Vimeo On-Demand, but pretty much nobody uses those. 

Luckily there is a DVD release, but it isn't being sold anymore, and it's not a dedicated release of the film to my understanding (it's a collection of his other work, and It's Such A Beautiful Day is just thrown on there). It's really weird too, because Don released the first two parts on DVD, and they are still being sold, so I don't understand why It's Such A Beautiful Day didn't get the same treatment.

It's honestly just a nitpick though, and has nothing to do with the actual quality of the film itself. This is probably my favorite movie of all time, it is so creative and I just can't help but watch it over and over. I really didn't do it justice to avoid spoilers, so I highly recommend watching it. The first part of  the movie is uploaded on YouTube for everyone to see, so you can decide whether or not it's worth watching the whole thing (or at least peaks your interest a little bit).

I hope you liked my review, I might do more just so I have an excuse to gush over my favorite movies, this was really fun.

-Jonah G.