In the comment thread under yesterday’s “Best 2024 Films at Half–Time” piece, “Correcting Jeff” said Steven Zaillian’s Ripley “doesn’t count because it’s television.” The obvious reply is “cinema is cinema, regardless of the platform.” My actual reply expanded upon this:
“Ripley is awesomely moody, eye-bath cinema…a silky monochrome Caravaggio to have and hold or at least stream…an old-world Italian dream trip that’s pure swoon…an ice-cold sociopath creates his own world by way of bashing two fellows to death, and gradually gets even the most discerning doubters to go along with his audacious lifestyle change…one of the most immersive and succulent black-and-white films eyes have ever beheld. Netflix schmetflix…I can’t list 2024’s pick-of-the-litter so far and not include it.”
