Scream

Scream. I’d forgotten how sharp this was. I love the no-BS opening, just straight to a phone call. Lots of good visual storytelling hints early on – the phone, the windows, the knife block, etc. And some good meta touches, like the first phone call, and the TV in the opening scene is prepped for a movie. Also does a good job of introducing characters and suspicions simultaneously, briskly outlining the relationships and why you might want to worry about them. Love the silly touches like the conversation between the two cops, the older one smoking a cigarette, the junior one licking an ice cream cone. A gold mine for movie trivia, and I love the casual spoilers, too. Like many comedies, it stumbles to an ending, and especially struggles when the meta-commentary becomes more and more explicit, and the thing starts narrating itself. Still holds up pretty well, though.