about cinema

The Little Mermaid

2010-03-23T01:27:00.000+02:00

When this movie was released in the late 1980s, it was a real delight; because it was proof that the animated feature film was still alive and well. The movie is the Little Mermaid, a beautifully drawn story about a mermaid named Ariel who wants to become human and marry the prince of her dreams.

Objecting to his daughter’s desires to turn human is King Triton, who manages to crack the crab, Sebastian for information about his daughter. The source of evil in this film is the magnificently drawn sea witch, Ursula; who persuades Ariel to make a deal to become human for a while and engage the prince, but only at the price of losing her voice to the evil Ursula.

This whole film is a delight. I have nothing but compliments for the Little Mermaid. The art work is rich and colorful, especially with all those underwater scenes. When I see all those bubbles, I’m glad they took the time and money to animate every individual bubble.

The tightly told story is credited to directors Ron Clements and John Musker. Animated film directors usually don’t get noticed until they’re either retired or dead. Let’s start giving the credit a little early this time.

The film is chockfull of good songs that carry the movie forward, and they’re fun to listen to. The music in this movie is fantastically superior than most modern musicals. The music brings back memories of great Hollywood musicals like Singing in the Rain, Me and My Gal or other Walt Disney classics like the Jungle Book. A lot of the time, the music in modern animated musicals sounds like MUSAK with words; but the music in this film is terrific, especially that calypso number, Under the Sea; which is sung by a cast of sea creatures, and fronted by Sebastian the crab who thinks that life under the sea is just fine. In fact, Under the Sea is the best number of the film and recalls some of the great Disney music of the past like When You Wish Upon a Star and Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da.

I also think that this movie created a classic animated character with Sebastian the crab, similar to Jiminy Cricket. And Ursula the witch is right up there with some of the great villains of the past. Name any classic Disney villain, from the wicked step-mother to Captain Hook, and Ursula is in that category.

Best of all (this is my favorite part); this is a film for people of all ages. Young children will beyond a doubt love this movie; and it is witty witty witty for the adults.

I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. I enjoyed everything about it, including the music.

This movie bares comparison to some of the great Disney Classics. This really is a contemporary animated film which is as good as those great films from 40, 50, and 60 years ago. Little Mermaid is a return to the great tradition of animated feature films.

The Little Mermaid is a very good film.

[Via http://mustseeornot.wordpress.com]

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - A Film Review

2010-03-23T00:00:00.000+02:00

In Swedish, the film is known as Men Who Hate Women. In English, the title refers to the work’s unconventional female protagonist. In reality, though, it is just a predictable bore peppered with some surprisingly nasty moments. Indeed, as with the conspiracy genre that was bemoaned here some weeks ago, it has become very hard to find good and original detective dramas anymore. Such works have always been heavily character-driven. However, a skinny Goth who combines a photographic memory with deep-rooted mental traumas and who has become obsessed with a paunchy middle-aged journalist is either someone’s private fantasy come to life or a test of where the boundary now lies between plausibility and parody. In any event, is there not already an American police show that features a very bright Goth who sleeps in a coffin?

Anyway, the weird and the wacky aside, this adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name is based around two central plotlines. The first is the privately commissioned investigation by journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) into the mysterious disappearance of the niece of a wealthy industrialist (Sven-Bertil Taube) forty years previously. The second is that Blomkvist has become the subject of some obsessive cyber-snooping by our aforementioned skinny Goth, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace). Sullen and misanthropic, she appears to have more piercings than personality. On the one hand, this makes her decidedly vulnerable to various malevolent characters that pop up. On the other hand, she does make for an intriguing, albeit unlikely, guardian angel for Blomkvist.

However, what starts out as a dark, brooding, and multi-stranded tale from director Niels Arden Oplev soon turns into a much more straightforward sleuths-following-clues drama with enough bangs and wallops along the way to make sure that no one has entirely dozed off in the audience. The mystery itself concentrates on a secretive and feud-ridden family who have nothing to do with their time except be rich and nasty. Moreover, the case is so cold by the time that Blomkvist picks it up, and the related characters so under-developed, that frankly you are more likely to be interested in which of them flosses at night than in which of them did what dastardly deed to the other and when.

Worse, this is seemingly the first in a trilogy of such films. As such, it probably explains why there were so many loose ends and orphaned references in the script. On the other hand, a less generous opinion of the film would be that it has simply been disappointingly scripted and edited. Moreover, there is something terribly superficial about both of the central characters. Therefore, whilst the wonderfully-transformed Ms. Rapace is agreeably volatile in her depiction of her moody character and Mr. Nyqvist plays the dull but amiable Blomkvist in a credible enough manner, the thought of sitting through any more of their adventures together is enough to make spending a bitter Swedish winter alone in an isolated and draughty cabin seem like the far more enthralling prospect.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Celebrating Asian American Cinema (2)

2010-03-21T02:15:00.000+02:00

Toyota proudly supports Asian American Cinema across the country. Visit www.thedirectorschairsite.com to see photos, reviews, buzz and upcoming events. On Oct 15-29, Toyota is the official vehicle sponsor of the 10th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF ‘09). With more than 200 films from 20 countries, parties, celebrities, and a live hip hop showcase featuring Lyrics Born, the San Diego Asian Film Festival is the place to be. Text “SDAFF” to 53137 to be a Festival Insider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsaeTMPN39s&hl=en

[Via http://alltoyotareviews.wordpress.com]

Brooklyn's Finest

2010-03-21T00:27:00.000+02:00

This Is Decidedly Not It

Good God. If you’ve Never, Ever seen another movie, this movie might have a shot at impressing you. That’s about all the hope this dog of a film has got going for it because this thing is terrible. I grumble about films like ‘Revolutionary Road’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’ but this thing is a travesty.

What’s Good About It

Uuh… Not much. It has Don Cheadle and Wesley Snipes in it. Which already makes it a kind of a parody rather than anything tangibly held to ‘realism’. None of the cast ever look like they inhabit the world they’re portraying. Ethan Hawke was rehashing his ‘Training Day’ looks and Richard Gere was sort of re-running his pained look from ‘The Flock’. God knows what the rest of them thought they were doing.

At one point as we were watching and anti-cineaste Rob Morgan said, “oh look, the background in that shot is beautiful.” – If a film making novice is noticing stuff like that, you get the idea how disengaging this film is.

So what is good about it? You don’t know what’s going on so it makes you keep watching in the hope that you find out. Then you’re bitterly disappointed.

What’s Bad About It

Where do you start with a pile of dog shit this high?

The whole film is like 17 cliche setups in search of a story. We’ve seen ALL of these elements before – some, in the case of Richard Gere, he only did it last year when he played another dude days from retirement, rescuing people from abuse. Ethan Hawke’s cop struggling with money, playing poker with his cop buddies is like a bad re-make of Stallone’s ‘Copland’, and Don Cheadle’s undercover storyline is like a bad rendition of ‘Donnie Brasco’ except in a black neighbourhood, drug gang setting. By the time Ellen Barkin graces the screen, you’re grimacing going, “what? this is Basher and the Cougar from “Ocean’s 13!”

So many good actors cast so badly to play such boring, ordinary roles. It’s a travesty this thing got made. Really, it’s that bad.

Whatever they were aiming for, it wasn’t working because everybody in it was carrying too much luggage from their previous body of work, none of them were particularly likeable and there’s no real unifying story. It’s like ‘Babel’-In-Brooklyn. Or just more plain babble. It has nothing to say about human nature or existence or love or hate or ambition or betrayal or any of that, even though it talks about it and around it. It’s pathetic. You’d think the writer decided to do the “full retard”.

What’s Interesting About It

I rarely say this, but this has nothing interesting about it. Avoid it like the plague. It’s not even “so-bad-it’s-funny-good”. There is nothing redeeming about this picture and it’s all the director’s fault. This is the worst film I’ve seen in a very long time.

Okay, Wesley Snipes with cornrows kinda looked ‘interesting’, but he’s still Wesley Snipes.

[Via http://artneuro.wordpress.com]

Le jeu de la mort?

2010-03-20T02:33:00.000+02:00

Il paraît qu’il est passé sur France 2 hier soir. Bruce Lee en prime time sur une chaîne nationale? C’est une bonne chose, même si le choix du film est totalement à côté de la plaque.

Plus sérieusement, j’ai vu quelques minutes de l’émission; coup de bol, je tombe tout de suite sur la partie qui nous intéresse tous: le joueur/cobaye est confronté aux cris du type qui se fait électrocuter (“Aaah, arrêtez, j’abandonne”), aux ordres du présentateur qui lui intime de poursuivre la torture, et enfin aux enjeux financiers (un prix d’un million d’euros si je ne m’abuse).

N’ayant vu qu’un court passage du programme, je m’abstiendrai d’un commentaire plus poussé. Une phrase, prononcée par une des candidates, a cependant retenu mon attention: “Je suis désolée, mais je suis au chômage, il faut que je le fasse.” Signe révélateur d’un malaise social en France? Sans aucun doute.

Question: comment vit-on dans une société où le chômage massif et structurel n’existe pas? Avec une Delorean il suffirait de remonter dans le temps, pour observer la France des années 60-70. Mai 68, le yéyé, les rouflaquettes, les cols pelle à tarte, le maoisme et autres doctrines extrémistes… Ca donne envie, non?

Sinon, on peut prendre un avion et aller aux antipodes sur l’île de Norfolk, en Océanie, qui détient le taux record de 0% de chômage (pour 1345 actifs…). Plus significativement, la Norvège jouit (j’aime pas ce mot, “jouir”, mais faute de mieux, je vais le garder) d’un taux de 2,5%.

Voilà, c’est tout pour ce soir. Prochain article: Le jeu de la mort, le film de/avec Bruce Lee! (la cohérence thématique de ce blog est à son meilleur: TV française, puis chômage, puis film de king fu).

[Via http://moumantai.wordpress.com]

Movie: The Emperor's New Groove

2010-03-20T02:31:00.000+02:00

The Emperor’s New Groove, 2000, Disney

The Emperor’s New Groove is a Disney movie, and as such I didn’t exactly have high hopes for accuracy, remembering all too well how badly Indiana Jones went. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how heavily influenced by the Incas the movie was. The story itself could have been set anywhere, but the background art was very clearly Inca in style, although to an untrained eye it may not look that way.

The story is about a young Emperor named Cuzco, who gets turned into a llama by his evil advisor. He must enlist the help of a peasant, Pacha, to get himself turned back into a human and back into the palace. It’s a cute movie that really doesn’t have a lot to do with Peru other than the background artwork and the setting, but it is funny and a bit different from most other animated Disney movies. For starters, it’s not a musical. It is, however, definitely worth watching!

Here is a comparison between artwork from the movie and actual Inca artwork:

[Via http://aliinperu.wordpress.com]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...CAPTAIN AMERICA!

2010-03-20T01:57:00.000+02:00

…Kind of. There has been much contention over who would become the mightiest of all Avengers over the last few months. Rumors have been swirling that run the gamut from John Krasinski (Jim of The Office) all the way to Channing Tatum (G.I. Joe). Very little headway has been made and it all has felt like a great, big round-robin of sorts with the casting. Collider was where I first heard the news today, however, that Chris Evans (The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four franchise) has been offered the role as The First Avenger by Marvel Mouse. Interestingly, Evans has yet to accept the offer, and may even hesitate to do so. The agreement locks the actor who will portray Cap down to a three picture deal ON TOP OF an Avengers flick, as well as multiple possible appearances in smaller Marvel vehicles, as well. This is a fairly overwhelming amount of commitment for a role that has been rumored to only be worth $300,000, initially. And while the argument that $300,000 is a lot for playing a dress-up IS well-heard on this blogsite, allow me to remind you that Marvel looks to make GANGBUSTERS on this franchise. This flick, if done right, could easily put up Spider-Man numbers and Marvel is fully aware. So the concept of being locked down for the next five to ten years of your life for a less than standard sum may not be all that glamourous to Mr. Evans. (Granted, this writer would actually PAY to play one of his super hero childhood heroes, but I digress). With Hugo Weaving attached as The Red Skull, I can’t say at all that I’m disappointed with this casting news. As a matter of fact, I have quite a bit of faith in Evans over the other pile of names that have been slung around over the past month. This, of course, is because I was taught a lesson after bitching incessantly for months about Heath Ledger being cast as The Joker. And we all saw how that worked out.

[Via http://alexhluch.wordpress.com]

Bitch-Fest Wednesday: Moviefone's Top 25 Funniest People Working in Hollywood (Right Now)

2010-03-18T01:30:00.000+02:00

I’ve got problems with this list, BIG problems. That being said, however, what this list does at least do is compile an overarching docket of comedians who are currently winning at Hollywooding. I’ll let you follow the link to see the list for yourself, but some of my gripes are:

*Spoilers ahead (if you actually care about spoiling a Top 25 list)*

Mostly they have to do with placement rather than actually being put ON this list. I understand the rationale behind LISTING all of these actors, but the stack-ranking involved has left me baffled. For Instance, I have no idea why Elizabeth Banks is #14 on this list, ahead of Russell Brand, Ricky Gervais, and Ken Jeong. Granted, she was in Role Models and Zack and Miri, and has played a couple of laughs for the Apatow gang in the past, but can ANYONE give me a reason that she should be ahead of the incredibly talented and devoted people behind her who have been creating and performing in comedy for years? To further bitch, how is Anna Faris even farther up the list at #11? Funny in the Scary Movies, yes, and pretty good in Observe and Report, but how far have we ACTUALLY seen her stretch? She has adequately portrayed slapstick-ditzy and train-wreck-of-humanity, to great laughs. That’s basically it. And now that I mention it, I think I’m going to copyright both of those…

In addition to ranking wrong, I feel that this list is labelled wrong, as well. This list is compiled of strictly Film and Television actors, nowhere on this list can producers, stand-ups, or late-night personalities be found, all of which, I would argue, constitute “Funny People Working in Hollywood.” My notable ommissions would include Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Judd Apatow, Eddie Izzard, Craig Ferguson, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Chelsea Handler, Jo Koy, Loni Love, Josh Wolf, Guy Branum, Whitney Cummings, The It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Gang of writers, producers, and actors, and the list could go ON AND ON AND ON AND ON…

To wrap up, I feel that the most egregious error comes with placing Paul Rudd at #1. I’m certain that there are some die-hards out there that will greatly take offense to that, but let’s face it, Rudd is our generation’s leading straight-man. An important position for comedy, sure, but his range is CERTAINLY no greater than that of Bill Murray, Sacha Baron Cohen, Steve Carrell, and Tina Fey, just to name some of the accompanying members of the list.

Moviefone’s Top 25 Funniest People Working in Hollywood (Right Now)

[Via http://alexhluch.wordpress.com]

Exit Through the Gift Shop – A Film Review

2010-03-18T00:00:00.000+02:00

In the dazzling kaleidoscope of artistic nomenclature, it is unlikely that there is anything that even comes within an aerosol can of encapsulating the raw, unbridled cinematic talent that is Banksy. Indeed, it can only be a matter of time before this thrillingly inventive auteur produces the sort of spray-on masterpiece that will eschew the need for actors, scripts, lights, support crew, and even cameras. Indeed, this stunning advancement in film-making techniques will leave avant garde audiences staring in devoted wonderment at a screen that lesser mortals would probably just think is blank. However, the pop culture elite have forgotten more than this slovenly heathen will ever know. Therefore, by the end of such a magnum opus, they will have proclaimed Banksy to be a living deity and worship him accordingly.

Yes, in this tongue-welded-onto-cheek documentary about how a French ex-pat goes from selling alternative clothing in Los Angeles to recording the lives of the world’s best known street artists and beyond, the audience is being asked to live up to all of their prejudices about modern art having about as much value as a bowlful of other people’s nail clippings. As the enigmatic Banksy would have us believe, he decided to turn the camera on would-be documenter Thierry Guetta when he discovered that the latter had no more film-making talent than one of his wall murals did. However, it is not as if a degree of peer criticism was ever going to faze this seemingly irrepressible Frenchman. Rather, if ever there was a man to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, it is he. As a consequence, the audience just about manages to cling on to Guetta’s ridiculous mutton chops, as his providential trajectory takes him ever upwards.

As for the rest, well, you can expect pretty much everything from André the Giant to Leonard Nimoy to anarchic rodents to put in an appearance, as a humorous smorgasbord of paranoid warnings and lefty sloganeering get daubed on walls across the planet. Narrated by actor Rhys Ifans and with cuts to Banksy whenever a scarcely plausible explanation for how things kept on progressing from one thing to the next is needed (monkeys with typewriters do not stop trying just yet), one would want to believe in the tooth fairy as much as Shepard Fairey for this pseudo-documentary to seem remotely credible.

In any event, when it comes to Thierry Guetta, we have the most ludicrous of Gallic head-the-balls since the guy who once freaked out an entire generation of football scribes with his pronouncements on seagulls, trawlers, and sardines. From cheap gags such as spilling pink paint all over the back of his station wagon to haranguing bemused employees as he trundles about on a tricycle, this modern-day Pierrot is the perfect foil for this mischievous send-up. Equally, there are some fine glimpses into the shadowy world of these street artists, including a fine montage early on that is fittingly scored by Richard Hawley’s Tonight The Streets Are Ours. While the whole thing may feel a little like The Simpsons taking the mick out of Fox at times, art knobs are a sufficiently plump and juicy target that we will all want to chuckle along just the same!

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

2 More New Wallpapers for 'Remember Me'

2010-03-16T01:24:00.000+02:00

More wallpapers made by @saymmmkay for Rob’s movie, Remember Me!

Go see it if you haven’t already!!!

[Via http://thepattinsonproject.wordpress.com]

Martin Scorsese

2010-03-16T00:21:00.000+02:00

Acaba de sair no Brasil o novo filme de Martin Scorsese, um dos mais importantes realizadores dos últimos 40 anos.

Apesar do reconhecimento monumental de hoje, sua trajetória foi mais difícil do que se imagina. Seu primeiro grande sucesso comercial veio apenas nos anos 90 com Cabo do Medo e, mesmo com todo a aclamação crítica que recebia desde os anos 70, Scorsese teve dificuldades para tocar seus projetos na década de 80.

Martin Scorsese faz parte da primeira geração de cineastas americanos oriundos de cursos de cinema em universidades. O cinema clássico já tinha pedido as contas, todos grandes aposentados ou em fim de carreira. Enquanto isso, o cinema europeu estava no auge com as cinematografias nacionais e as experimentações de linguagem.

Esta dupla influência é fundamental para entender o cinema da geração da virada dos anos 60 para os 70 que reergueu Hollywood, principalmente no caso de Scorsese, talvez aquele que materializou com mais intensidade a influência européia dentro do cinema americano.

O grande eixo de sua obra seja talvez a violência latente de seus personagens. Marcados por solidão e frustrações, a energia de vida dos personagens é deflagrada pela violência, seja no outro (Taxi Driver, Cabo do Medo, Caminhos Perigosos, Os Bons Companheiros, O Rei da Comédia), neles mesmos (A Última Tentação de Cristo, Vivendo no Limite) ou mesmo nos dois (Touro Indomável).

Robert DeNiro se tornou a grande encarnação da personagem de Scorsese. O misto de fragilidade com aspereza de sua fisionomia foi importante para que os flagelos da solidão do diretor pudessem aflorar. O ponto alto da parceria acontece em Touro Indomável onde a fragilidade violenta de DeNiro explode na tela e só amansa quando faz o movimento inverso, autoflagelando-se quando LaMotta engorda e tenta uma fracassada carreira como comediante.

O catolicismo e o submundo – principalmente a máfia – permeiam diversos de seus filmes em diferentes momentos da carreira. Muda o registro, que vai do metafórico, simbólico e chega ao mais mundano e inconseqüente nos anos 90. A máfia alcança seu ponto máximo na obra de Scorsese em Os Bons Companheiros, quando perde o glamour e vira motivo de piada escancarando a boçalidade desse tipo de criminoso. Nesse sentido, é o anti-Poderoso Chefão, ainda que sirva como complemento de representação a ele.

Outro fator importante de sua obra é a cinefilia. Scorsese talvez seja a pedra fundamental dos cineastas-cinéfilos e em menor ou maior grau, a história do cinema representa papel importante. Ela serve muitas vezes como recheio de uma segunda camada ou até uma terceira, é a instrumentalização fundamental em Scorsese, já que ele está sempre se reportando ao passado cinematográfico. Não que ele seja um pós-modernista. Contudo, Scorsese sempre mantém a história do cinema em uma das mãos como guia de referência para seu trabalho. A partir de Os Bons Companheiros, com seu final que retoma The Great Train Robbery, esse caráter cinéfilo ganha mais força e culmina, até o momento, em Os Infiltrados e no curta A Key to Reserva.

No longa com Leonardo DiCaprio, Scorsese parece mover-se de encontro às grandes histórias clássicas do cinema policial, principalmente o cinema B dos anos 40 e 50, mas com grandeza da Hollywood canônica de Hawks, Ford, Wyler, Vidor, Walsh. É seu filme mais perto de John Ford, onde todos os planos são feitos para significar muito além da composição e das plásticas, são centrados, recheados, grandiosos, completos. A arte do diretor disfarçada de história codificada sob o gênero policial. Nesse sentido é seu filme que mais deve ao cinema clássico. A Key to Reserva, nessa direção, é seu filme mais de emulação, uma brincadeira com a arte do cinema clássico e com o ofício do diretor. É o cinéfilo que fala cada vez mais alto.

Checklist Martin Scorsese

Esse é apenas uma referência (até para mim mesmo) filme a filme da obra do diertor americano, indo de * a *****

Quem Bate à Minha Porta (Who’s That Knocking at my Door? – 1967) – *

Street Scenes (1970) – Não vi

Boxcar Bertha (1972) – **

Caminhos Perigosos (Mean Streets – 1973) – ****

Italianamerican (1974) – Não vi

Alice Não Mora Mais Aqui (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore – 1974) – **

Taxi Driver (1976) – *****

New York, New York (1977) – ***

O Último Concerto de Rock (The Last Waltz – 1978) – Não vi

American Boy – A Profile of Steven Prince (1978) – Não vi

Touro Indomável (Raging Bull – 1980) – *****

O Rei da Comédia (The King of Comedy – 1982) – ****

Depois de Horas (After Hours – 1985) – ****

A Cor do Dinheiro (The Color of Money – 1986) – ****

A Última Tentação de Cristo (The Last Temptation of Christ – 1988) – *****

Life Lessons (Episódio de Contos de Nova York – 1989) – ***

Os Bons Companheiros (Goodfellas – 1990) – *****

Cabo do Medo (Cape Fear – 1991) – ***

A Época de Inocência (The Age of Innocence – 1992) – Não vi

Cassino (Casino – 1995) – ****

Kundun (1997) – *

Il Mio Viaggio in Italia (1999) – Não vi

Vivendo no Limite (Bringing out the Dead – 1999) – ***

Gangues de Nova York (Gangs of New York – 2002) – ****

O Aviador (The Aviator – 2004) – **

No Direction Home (2005) – **

Os Infiltrados (The Departed – 2006) – ****

Shine a Light (2008) – Não vi

[Via http://raulla.wordpress.com]

Be Kind Rewind (2008)

2010-03-14T01:44:00.000+02:00

While not the greatest movie in the world, Be Kind Rewind is a cute heart-warming film which if suffering from anything has a little too many big name actors involved. The film tells the story of two friends Jerry (Jack Black) and Mike (Mos Def) who accidentally erase all the video tapes at the failing Be Kind Rewind Video store while the owner Mr Fletcher (Danny Glover) is away at a Fats Waller memorial service. In their desperation to hide the mistake from Mr Fletcher and satisfy the few but loyal customers Jerry and Mike attempt to remake some of the classic films the store holds. It all begins with Ghostbusters and from there business builds up as their mini-movies are a hit in the neighbourhood.

While at times Jack Black’s acting is a little like attacking, the rest of the film makes up for it. A novel concept and some solid performances from outstanding actors like Mia Farrow, Sigourney Weaver as well as the lead actors. The cringe moments in the movie were luckily few and far between. I did love the ending with the Fats Waller film and the community coming together which warmed my heart.

[Via http://skittlesaremydrug.wordpress.com]

Green Zone

2010-03-14T00:54:00.000+02:00

There’s a politically potent scene towards the end of the film Green Zone (‘inspired’ by Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald City’) which shows an aerial view of Iraqi oil refineries. Apt and a telling ending to a film that demolishes any belief in WMD. The film has also been dubbed, ‘Bourne in Baghdad’ (based on the Bourne series) as this is another collaboration between Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass. It is a high octane action-packed political thriller fictionalised account (and as they say the difference between documentary and fiction is with fiction you have to tell the truth) that is set at the start of the invasion of Iraq (early 2003) where US military soldier, chief warrant officer Miller, (Damon) is given the task with his unit to find WMDs. Miller discovers that he has been sent on a wild goose chase (the ‘intelligence’ just doesn’t ‘add up’) and wants to know why. Miller goes ‘rogue’ to uncover the truth about WMDs where he is continually obstructed and comes up against the lies and deceit perpetuated by Pentagon and Washington officials, one corrupt official called Poundstone (this reminded me of ‘Operation Treadstone’ in the Bourne films). Miller comes up against a weary and out-of-the-political-loop CIA agent who doesn’t believe there’s any WMDs, a duped journalist, a macho special-ops ‘baddie’ American soldier (played by Brit Jason Isaacs) and disabled war weary Iraqi ‘Freddy’ who acts as Miller’s translator. With the eventual meeting with one Saddam’s generals which is highly dramatic and fast paced, and the whole charade of WMDs unfolds and where the reality dawns of Miller.

Unlike the Hurt Locker which is a more in-depth slow-paced psychological portrait of soldiers engaged in combat in Iraq and obviously with its political colours nailed to the establishment pro-war friendly mast and therefore a safe Oscars shoo-in (Bigelow in her acceptance Oscar speech dedicated it to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq). In saying all that, I still believe it is a well crafted film and believable characterisations of modern-day shell-shocked soldiers. While Green Zone is clearly partisan in its anti-war message, where the lacks in character development it makes up for it stating loud and clear that the Iraq war was based on a lie, with its shaky edgy hand-held camera docu-drama about it. There is another powerful scene where ‘Freddy’ eloquently states to Miller, ‘you have no right to decide what is best for us’. We witness the horrors of torture as Miller enters a camp where Iraqis are being held, abused hooded frightened men forced to their knees while soldiers stand around with barking dogs. Again, Miller faces up to the reality of the so-called ‘liberation’ of Iraq. It also brought to mind Karl Rove’s latest defence of the indefensible… waterboarding.

The battle scenes are dramatic and cinematography breath-taking (Barry Ackroyd was the cinematographer for The Hurt Locker). The acting is good especially Khalid Abdalla who plays ‘Freddy’ is very impressive and comes across as realistic in his portrayal. Greengrass is known for his social realism and bold political commentary films such as ‘The Murder of Stephen Lawrence’, ‘Bloody Sunday’, and ‘United 93′…

It is undeniably an anti-war film that honestly confronts what really happened in Iraq, which wasn’t about liberation but enslavement and expropriation though some how I doubt it will win any Oscars.

[Via http://harpymarx.wordpress.com]

Wild Things

2010-03-13T03:36:00.000+02:00

I just finished watching Where the Wild Things Are, which is easily one of the best movies that I have seen over the past year.

It is not a perfect film, but it has moments that capture an exuberant, kinetic and pure joy of a kind I’ve very rarely experienced since childhood. There are moments in the film that reach inside to your own wild thing, that make you want to move along to the wild rumpus on screen. Moments that capture an essence of youth on film both boisterously and delicately, leaving it intact so that energy can leap back out into the audience. I spent most of the film with Max where the wild things were, and the tiniest bits of it with old friends during recess at the Crow Island Woods. Even as I write this, I am remembering in first grade when we tunneled under the fence to escape the playground, how we managed to keep the project secret for what seemed like years but was really days (I would have said that it seemed like millennia, but we barely had conception of months).

But Wild Things is not content with that vivacity. It also explores the casual but harsh cruelty of childhood, the breed of fractiousness and fear that comprise an all too real aspect of early life. It’s easy to build a great fort, but it’s hard to get everyone to be inside it together; as the wild rumpus starts the sun is dying and the world is slowly grinding from rock to sand to dust. Smiles and tears are both integral to the movie, but neither overpowers the other. Wild Things is neither schmaltzy nor sad. It is beautiful, a movie about childhood that was, in the end, not really made for real children, but for inner ones.

Here is the trailer:

[Via http://dragicmagic.wordpress.com]

Remember Me

2010-03-13T00:28:00.000+02:00

Hoje estreiou o novo filme de Robert Pattinson, “Remember Me” ou , aqui no Brasil, “Lembranças” e eu lógicamente fui assistir. A história é realmente emocionante/dramática, principalmente se você tem algum tipo de conflito familiar para se identificar com os personagens apesar do filme em si não ser lá um merecedor de Oscar e afins, mas vale super apena assistir e chorar um pouquinho (haha), além de que o personagem de Robert ( Tyler) valhe cada centavo do ingresso.

Assistir se você:

- Gosta de dramas.

- É fãn de Robert Pattinso.

- Não liga em chorar no meio do cinema.

[Via http://alfieandchloe.wordpress.com]

2012 if i have to see this film again all end the world.

2010-03-11T01:50:00.000+02:00

so the plot is a bit like watching a toddler wreck a sand castle. But the plot is not important. I mean if you’ve seen a trailer for it or even a freeze frame you have seen the film. Basically the earth doesn’t make it. But that’s not why you go see this film. You go to watch LA slip into the ocean. You go to watch grandmothers drive into walls that jut out of the pavement. You go to watch a plane fly through a collapsing Las Vegas. If you have several hours of your life to kill and some spare change, go see this for the graphics alone. Oh and Woody Harrelson who is amazing.

[Via http://workingsushi.wordpress.com]

Hattie McDaniels Oscar Speech

2010-03-11T00:07:00.000+02:00

Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1895 – October 26, 1952) was an American actress and the first African American to win anAcademy Award of any kind. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind(1939).

McDaniel was also a professional singer-songwriter, comedienne, stage actress, radio performer, and television star. Hattie McDaniel was in fact the first black woman to sing on the radio in America.Over the course of her career, McDaniel appeared in over 300 films, although she received screen credits for only about 80. She gained the respect of the African American show business community with her generosity, elegance, and charm.

McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one for her contributions to radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for motion pictures at 1719 Vine Street. In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and in 2006 became the first black Oscar winner honored with a US postage stamp.

[Via http://3rdeyedrops.wordpress.com]

To The End Of Time: A look at Derek Jarman's "Blue"

2010-03-09T03:56:00.000+02:00

In 1993, Derek Jarman was dying of AIDS. He had serious complications from his treatments for the disease—eventually going blind—but even in the midst of it, he still managed to create his most personal film.

His final film, “Blue,” is the ultimate statement about death. Jarman’s regular troupe of Tilda Swinton, Nigel Terry, and John Quentin contribute to his final project. The most striking element of the film being the entire visual element. It is a deep shade of Yves Klein blue. This acts as an entrance into Jarman’s mind as he speaks frankly about his life, his illness, and his impending death.

It was a very difficult film for me watch physically;the endless blue tone has that effect. But I was utterly entranced once the voice of Jarman entered the film. He spoke very frankly about his disease, his pains, his blindness, and his desire to keep going. It was, at its core, like watching a person die.

What has always impressed me about Jarman is his lack of need for a traditional narrative structure. In “Blue”, with the visual element essentially gone, we are left to interpret every emotion and every experience along with Jarman. The fact that Jarman throws away the entire visual dimension in a visual medium is truly incredible. What he does in this new presentation is allow the film to become something it could never be. We actually feel his pain: he is dying, and we have to follow right along with it. When I can say that a film is a truly new experience, it amazes me. Derek Jarman’s film “Blue” does just that. Never do I think we will see a film so psychologically engaging and emotionally gut-wrenching.

I can wonder what Jarman would be doing if he were still alive. Even in death, he still had more to say than most other filmmakers could ever hope to have in an entire career.

[Via http://headlinedpasttimes.wordpress.com]

The Dancer And The Thief - A Film Review

2010-03-09T00:00:00.000+02:00

A medley of love, crime, art, politics, revenge, humour, and western, with a condor on top, this two-hour long adaptation of Antonio Skármeta’s novel of the same name by well regarded Spanish director Fernando Trueba has it all and suffers for it. Set in Santiago following the fall of the Pinochet regime, a nationwide prisoners’ amnesty has been granted. Amongst those to benefit from early release are the ageing master safecracker Nico Vergara Grey (Ricardo Darín) and the seemingly simple-minded but enthusiastic petty thief Angel (Abel Ayala). Vergara Grey now wants nothing more than to find his wife and son and live out a quiet trouble-free life. By way of contrast, though, Angel is hopelessly enthusiastic about his future and has several major plans that he wants to set in motion.

In possibly the film’s most charming few moments, though, Angel firstly runs into Victoria (Miranda Bodenhöfer), a mute and poorly-dressed girl, who has been standing outside of an adult cinema. Gaining her attention initially with a babbling mixture of bluff and bluster, she casts a spell over him by her magical dancing ability. From then on, Angel is utterly smitten, whilst the serious-looking Victoria is clearly beginning to reciprocate his feelings for her. However, she has a troubled past and her impoverished background makes it seemingly impossible for her to become a professional dancer. Meanwhile, Angel hopes to persuade Vergara Grey to do this one big job with him that will allow them all to realize their dreams.

Frankly speaking, there is no need to adjust the resolution on your monitor – you have, indeed, heard all of this somewhere else before now and this film adds little that is new to such familiar themes. Moreover, despite its length, there are several badly underdeveloped subplots here – from Angel’s beef with the sleazy prison warden (Julio Jung) to the relationship between Vergara Grey and his wife (Ariadna Gil) to the decidedly hammy robbery scene. When taken together, they make for a contrived and hackneyed series of scenes that are loosely linked together by Angel’s relationship with the other two main characters. Moreover, what he is doing wearing a Trilby and riding a racehorse around central Santiago is anyone’s guess!

Yet, for all that, there is a warm and pleasant tone to this film that does offset some of the harsher criticisms of it. In part, this is due to the many splendidly composed and photographed scenes that can be enjoyed here. In particular, the final few images make for a very beautiful and evocative ending. Moreover, there are some interesting and undeniably dark undertones to this film that allude to the country’s terrible recent history. They seem to say that as much as Chile is a country reborn and its citizens have all manner of new opportunities and freedoms available to them, there are still the tentacles of an appalling past wrapped around the legs of so many people. Still, as symbolized by the permanence and splendour of the Andes, all of these things will pass in time, even if this can never be soon enough for some.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

The Excellently Picture Perfect Polaroids of Philip-Lorca diCorcia at David Zwirner Gallery

2010-03-07T00:50:00.000+02:00

Presenting the Excellent and elegantly installed solo exhibition of 100 never-before-seen unique and picture perfect Polaroids by photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia, culled from diCorcia’s archive/collection, spanning the past 25 years, at the David Zwirner Gallery booth during the Armory Show 2010. Price per Polaroid:$,4ooo.00.

100 Polaroids by Philip-Lorca diCorcia, taken by the photographer over the last 25 years and culled from his archive, shown at the David Zwirner Gallery booth during the Armory Show 2010. Image by The Excellent People, 3:14 p.m., Friday, March 5, 2010.

[Via http://theexcellentpeople.wordpress.com]

LCD TV - Cinema at Home For a Budget Price

2010-03-06T23:51:00.000+02:00

I have been saving for almost a year now to buy a LCD TV along with a home theatre system. My idea of relaxing and de-stressing is watching a good movie. Nothing can be better than watching a movie of your choice comfortably at home on your favorite couch.

A year back when I really wanted to buy a LCD TV the price was well beyond my budget and a luxury for someone who had just started working. But in a last couple of months when my hunt for a good bargain with a renowned brand name and affordable price started again, I realized that the prices seem to have come down considerably. With reduced prices LCD TV has been giving tough competition to plasma TV and has even overtaken them in many international markets.

The LCD stands for liquid crystal display. There are liquid crystals pressed between two glasses, which is electrically charged to form an image. The plasma TV picture may be slightly better than LCD because they can render black better than LCD therefore, providing good contrast.

Though minute details are better seen on LCD because of more pixels on the screen, they were available only in smaller sizes earlier giving plasma TV an edge over them. They are now available in all sizes, even in sizes bigger than forty inches and are as good or better than plasma TV performance wise.

LCD`s are used as computer monitors extensively. They are not only flat and light weight but also consume up to thirty percent less energy. Another interesting factor that caught my attention was 60,000 hours stuck on the LCD`s. This is the number of hours that the LCD can be viewed with optimum picture quality. A slight negative is that LCD TV is not very clearly visible from acute angles.

Since more and more individuals are getting hooked to television and computer monitors are becoming a necessity for individuals all over the world the manufacturers are investing billions of dollars in research. The leading brands in this category are Samsung, Phillips, Sony, LG and Sharp. By 2011 the production of number of LCD TV is expected to go up to sixty one million from about twelve million in 2006. The LCD TV market is expected to be worth 25 million dollars by 2011.

Some leading manufacturers even employ the Original Design Manufacturers (ODM`s) and Electronic Manufacturing Services Providers(EMS), to meet the growing demand. The competition between the brands on the size, quality of the picture and cost has benefited the consumer the most.

Apart from the prices there are a whole lot of features to be compared between the leading brands. I have technically become very aware of the features of the LCD TV after my research on them for a few weeks now. I just wanted this buy of mine to be perfect. For me watching television is not just about moving images but about an experience that has to be perfect.

After a whole lot of research in electronic malls and on internet I finally bought LCD TV that is a best buy for me, well within my budget. I placed my prized possession just beside my home theater converting one small room into a mini comfortable theater.

There are bean bags thrown around with a carpet and an air conditioner. Now, my friends cannot really resist my cozy room and invite themselves over almost every weekend. Many land up with the movie of their choice that sometimes is very annoying to me.

There are some friends who stay back at night after late night show and some who come in with food. Although, I love to spend time with them my effort now is to convince them to have their own LCD TV so that I can get my new LCD TV all to myself. Some seem to be convinced while others are happy to treat my LCD TV as theirs.

Visit : Cheap Store Online

[Via http://cheaplcd2u.wordpress.com]

Anybody can write a John Cusack movie

2010-03-06T02:03:00.000+02:00

John Cusack is at a store picking out a turtleneck and he’s stammering his way through trying to pick which colour to buy. The shy, cute sales girl is trying to help him but seems to be mesmerized by his lack of confidence. A minute later, Jack Black walks by, points to the blue one so John picks the gray one instead then returns a minute later to exchange the gray for the blue. See, anybody can write a John Cusack movie.

[Via http://whatigotsofar.wordpress.com]

Ou no original: "a broom that sweeps the cobwebs away"

2010-03-06T00:08:00.000+02:00

Scottie está internado numa unidade de psiquiatria. Midge coloca um disco de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart no gira-discos.

- Tive uma longa conversa com a senhora da terapia musical. Ela diz que Mozart é o indicado para ti, é a vassoura que varre as teias de aranha. Foi o que ela disse.

[Via http://dancafantasmas.wordpress.com]

The Repertoire of Sir Benjamin Barnes.

2010-03-04T04:33:00.000+02:00

So, one of my favorite new actors is Ben Barnes. Hailed from Britain, he’s the beady-eyed, long brown haired actor who has a short resume of films. He made a brief cameo in the Fantasy film Stardust and was the titular character in Narnia: Prince Caspian. So far, his most recent films have not been released in the United States, but thanks to the Internet, I’ve watched three them all. Here are my reviews for them:

Dorian Gray (2009)

I had such high hopes for this film. It’s Victorian gothic literature of a man selling his soul for eternal youth and beauty leading to a journey into hedonism. It’s quite poetic, but the execution was an abomination to the Oscar Wilde’s original work. Ben Barnes is good to look at and his journey is riveting; but cheesy effects, crappy editing, and below average acting did not save this movie. I think I made my mind up when Ben Barnes unsuccessfully kills his mentor with a bow tie and ends his life with a fiery “Tales of the Crypt” death scene. No thank you!

My Rating: C

Easy Virtue (2009)

Easy Virtue is mostly a star vehicle for Jessica Biel but Ben Barnes looks quite dashing in the background. He’s coiffed with 1920s attire as he plays the son of an English family who brings his new bride to meet the family. It’s pretty engaging, but I get the feeling that this film doesn’t cater to American audiences, as much of it is British humor with a touch of 1920s vaudevillian humor. Nonetheless, it’s still a good film to catch Ben Barnes in as he sings a few songs.

My Rating: C+

Bigga Than Ben (2008)

A departure from his typical movies, Bigga Than Ben has Ben Barnes play a Russian refugee who deals with criminal activities. It’s a very independent movie with documentary style angles as it focuses on the underground international lifestyle. Not in a period piece, but it is interesting to see Ben Barnes play a character different from his other films as his character has a Russian accent and dressed like a dirty vagabond. It’s worth a look since a majority of his films are all period pieces.

My Rating: C+

Ben Barnes has much potential and looks great as a great period-era actor, but needs to step up his movie roles. With a background in theatre, he has leading man potential. I’ll wait for his time, but again, he’s very debonair.

[Via http://lewritersblock.wordpress.com]

Predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)

2010-03-04T02:32:00.000+02:00

The nominees have been announced, the studios all campaigning wildly, and the film critics and pundits all making their annual predictions as to who will take home the revered statues come the evening of March 7, 2010. As I do every year, I try to come to grips with those who have been snubbed of well-deserved recognition (see my previous posting on this blog) and those who are nominated for reasons I cannot yet fathom. In addition, this year brings the new anxiety of trying to brace myself of having to sit and watch Alec Baldwin co-host the ceremonies….I feel it does not bode well for the millions of viewers across the globe. As I stated earlier, it hasn’t been the strongest film for film this year. Even the nominees were somewhat of a bore…a bit anti-climatic. Not many great races to speak of as well, with a few categories already being viewed as semi-locks. I am hoping that this is not an omen of a 4-hour snoozefest on Oscar night, but the realist in me says that this is most likely what we will get.

So here are my predictions for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards in all of the major categories — complete with a listing of “Who Will Win,” “Who Should Win” and finally, “Who Should Have Been in the Running.” Enjoy — and please feel free to post your comments in agreement or heated disagreement!!! I welcome it all….

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon (Invictus)

Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)

Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)

Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

This one is a slam dunk. As soon as I left the theatre, I vividly remember thinking, “This guy has the Oscar wrapped up.” Many months later, that same sentiment holds true. This “guy”? Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans Landa in Quentin Tarantino’s very strong “Inglourious Basterds.” He’s already won numerous accolades for his performance and I don’t see what is to stop him from receiving the grandest accolade of all – especially when I don’t think the film has a legit shot at Picture or Director here. The only competition comes from the wonderful Christopher Plummer, portraying the celebrated author and idealist Tolstoy. He was (as always) truly a marvel to watch – and has never received an Oscar in his prolific career. But in the end, I don’t believe enough people saw the film. Same goes for the other nominees – not many at all saw “Invictus” or “The Messenger” and both Woody Harrelson and Matt Damon are deserving of their nominations here. As for Stanley Tucci, I confess, I did not see the film, but have heard he was one of the very few bright spots in Peter Jackson’s critically (and publically) roasted failure. He nearly ruined King Kong…might as well hurt Alice Sebold’s prose while he’s at it, right?

Who Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Who Should Win: Christoph Waltz

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Burghart Klaubner (The White Ribbon)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penelope Cruz (Nine)

Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air)

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)

Anna Kendrik (Up in the Air)

Mo’Nique (Precious)

I’m in an odd position here and I’ll readily admit this – that based on all that I have read and heard, the winner may very well be the only performance I have missed (“Precious” being the only film of the nominated 10 that I unfortunately missed). But I cannot believe that Maggie Gyllenhaal would win (Lord help us) as I don’t feel a nomination was warranted. And what’s with Penelope Cruz? Why do voters have a fixation with everything she does? Her best work is in Almodovar films – yet she wins for a Woody Allen film when clearly, Amy Adams or Marisa Tomei should have won last year. Go figure. Anyway, she plays the same unbalanced lover here in the subpar “Nine” so I don’t see her winning in back-to-back years. The race comes down to Vera Farmiga and the heavily favored Mo’Nique. Mo’Nique has won just about every “Supporting Actress” award this year and there was some bad press over the fact of whether she would do press for the film or wouldn’t she. That’s all been cleared by now. I liked what Ms. Farmiga did in the Jason Reitman’s wonderful “Up in the Air.” Sadly, I think the film will,, for the most part, be going home empty on Oscar night – and the two actresses nominated here may also split the votes. I can’t speak to Mo’Nique’s performance, but because none of the other four “wowed” me and the glowing press so far received, I have to believe that she will take home the Golden statue.

Who Will Win: Mo’Nique

Who Should Win: since I didn’t see ‘Precious’ I can’t say with authority

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Kate del Castillo (Julia) or

Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avatar

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The White Ribbon

An interesting list of nominees this year in an all-important category. As impressive as “Avatar” and “Inglourious Basterds” is from a photography standpoint, I would think that the beautifully shot black-and-white film, “The White Ribbon” will steal this one. It’s got a couple of strikes against it in that (a) it’s a foreign film so hence (b) not many have seen the film. I’m certainly not picking it simply because it’s a B&W film. I was just overly impressed with the film as a whole, cinematography included. In addition, the film did just win the A.S.C. award, so it has a little steam going in.

Who Will Win: The White Ribbon

Who Should Win: The White Ribbon

Who Should Have Been Nominated: The Road

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Coraline

Fantastic Mr. Fox

The Princess and the Frog

The Secret of Kells

Up

One of the few locks of the evening for sure. The fact that “Up” happens to be nominated for the actual “Best Picture” award tells you all you need to know. I thought “Up” was sweet…a strong 3-star film and not much more. The highlight of the film was the very moving montage between Carl and the love of his life Ellie – without dialogue. Quite beautiful. A sweet film, no doubt, but not one of Pixar’s best. I didn’t get into “Coraline” at all and if you can sit there and tell me that you saw “The Secret of Kells” playing at a theatre near you, I’ll call you a liar right now. “Up” is the sure winner here, but “Fantastic Mr. Fox” was the stronger work and greater achievement in film. I was hoping “Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs” would get a nomination as I did find that film to be great fun.

Who Will Win: Up

Who Should Win: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Almost There” (Princess & the Frog)

“Down in New Orleans” (Princess & the Frog)

“Loin de Paname” (Paris 36)

“Take it All” (Nine)

“The Weary Kind” (Crazy Heart)

This is a two-horse race, but I really don’t see “The Weary Kind” (by T-Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham) losing. The two selections by Randy Newman are, let’s face it, Randy Newman songs. No knock on Mr. Newman, but there’s not much new here. A “Best Song” should capture the essence of a character or a specific scene or the film as a whole – or all three. No song has done that better in recent years than the marvelous “Falling Slowly” featured in the little indie-that-could “Once.” Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” (from “8 Mile”) back in 2002 also is a great example. There have been some wonderful songs featured in this category over the years. Sadly, the producers of this year’s telecast have chosen NOT to showcase each song individually and have the artists sing it. This was a great disappointment as some of the most memorable moments in Oscar’s history have come from the musical artist performing the piece live for us. The only competition that “The Weary Kind” may have is “Taken it All” from the musical “Nine.” This is a wonderful song written specially for the film – and is performed with raw passion by Marion Cotillard. It encapsulates her character and everything she has gone through in her failure-of-a-marriage to her ingenious husband. “The Weary Kind” however, is near perfect and will take home the gold. Bingham’s raspy, old vet voice fits splendidly. The lyrics and music perfectly complement the feel of the film (“Crazy Heart”) and depicts the man that is Bad Blake – (“Your body aches/Playing your guitar and sweating out the hate”….” this ain’t no place to fall behind/Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try.”) I only wish we were given the opportunity to watch it sung for us live on Oscar night.

Who Will Win: “The Weary Kind”

Who Should Win: “The Weary Kind”

Listen to the song here:

BEST ACTOR

Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)

George Clooney (“Up in the Air”)

Colin Firth (“A Single Man”)

Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”)

Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”)

Lock. L-O-C-K! And well deserved, I might add. Mr. Bridges is 0 for 4 as an Oscar nominee, but America’s most under-rated actor (can we now say that anymore?) will be winning come Sunday night. It’s a vulnerable, gritty, honest and seemingly effortless performance and his Bad Blake is truly a character to remember. We sympathize with Bad, we root for him, we want him to succeed and get well. That’s what Mr. Bridges brings to the table here. Also, he’s got a nice set of pipes on him! He looked the part and looked quite the natural in all of his vocal scenes. Perfect casting and it is always such a pleasure to watch him work in indie films such as this one – and the bigger blockbusters that he sometimes does. I’m still trying to get over the fact that nominating Jeremy Renner is an utter waste of a perfectly fine 5th slot here. Colin Firth was terrific and the one shining star in what I found to be an unremarkable film. George Clooney is the tricky one here. He was wonderful in a great movie. However, if I am truly honest about it – it was George doing what George does best…the kind of role he can do in his sleep. He is charming, witty, charismatic and at times, susceptible. I enjoyed his performance, but could never think of him beating out the work that Jeff Bridges turned out this past year – it will be a pleasure to watch his acceptance speech. The Dude prevails….

Who Will Win: Jeff Bridges

Who Should Win: Jeff Bridges

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”)

BEST ACTRESS

Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”)

Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”)

Carey Mulligan (“An Education”)

Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”)

Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”)

What a weak category this year. W-E-A-K! It also illustrates a year where there were not very good roles for leading women in cinema. As written in my previous blog, I have no idea why Tilda Swinton was completely forgotten and not nominated for giving the year’s best performance in the very powerful, but little known film “Julia.” Having said that, if Sandra Bullock wins, I will weep. I like Sandra Bullock. I have nothing against Sandra Bullock. She was fine here…gave a good performance. But Oscar worthy?! Please! Years from now we’re going to look back at this film and see an actress truly shine? Hardly. She is here because voters approve of the fact that we’re not seeing her in another piece of crap – plain and simple. That, plus the poor roles for leading women in 2009. But sadly, she does have a legit shot. The movie raked in millions and America loves her. Despite my animosity towards the nomination, her chances are very good…scary, right? The winner, I’m afraid will be Ms. Streep in the very mediocre “Julia & Julia.” I adore Meryl Streep – love her in just about everything she does. With more nominations than anyone in Oscar history now, she surely is one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen – period! Having said that, this is NOT the film she deserves to win for. Not after Oscar has shot her down in much better films in which she has given outstanding performances in like “Doubt,” “Adaptation,” “One True Thing,” and “Out of Africa” to name a few. So why will she win this year? Hollywood adores her (as they should) and she hasn’t won since 1982 – it’s been a while! She’s always there; each year, smiling gracefully each time she is defeated. I feel she will be rewarded for that this year at the expense of Ms. Mulligan who turns in a multi-layered, well-crafted performance in a film that few went out to see. I love Helen Mirren and she is great in “The Last Station,” but she won just a few years back and nobody saw this under-rated film about Tolstoy and his wife in their latter years. It’s a battle for the two undeserving this year. Bullock vs. Streep. It will be nice to see Ms. Streep walk up to accept, and I guess I can swallow that after years of hoping that she would win…however, this year, I know better. You just watch – she’ll give a breathtaking performance in another film this year or next – and will lose out once again.

Who Will Win: Meryl Streep

Who Should Win: Carey Mulligan

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Tilda Swinton (“Julia”)

BEST DIRECTOR

James Cameron (Avatar)

Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)

Lee Daniels (Precious)

Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

This seems to be a very competitive two (wo)man race – between James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow. Those two seem to be the darlings of past awards presentations over the past couple of months. In my opinion, both simply do not deserve it. Of the five nominees, I would say that Tarantino’s work is the most deserving – and I don’t even care for the man. I hate listening to him speak in that self-important, supercilious way that he does. In truth, I can’t stand watching him, but I can be objective here and say that the man can make a fine film from time to time (“Jackie Brown” and “Kill Bill: Volume I” as examples). I thoroughly enjoyed “Inglourious Basterds” and put it in my Top 10 of the Year. Though he is deserving, he won’t win. It’s between the couple that once was. Not many people like James Cameron – especially after he made a bit of a spectacle of himself when he won for the over-glorified “Titanic” and just a few weeks ago when he dissed Meryl Streep. NOBODY disses Meryl Streep and gets away with it! Not in Hollywood, at least. My feeling is that this year, the “Best Picture” and “Best Director” awards will be split – and history will be made with the first female director ever taking home the Oscar. This does not mean she actually deserves this distinction though – but voters like to congratulate themselves for this kind of thing. You can make a strong argument that Lina Wertmuller deserved to be the first back in 1976 (“Seven Beauties”), but it will instead be for the very over-rated, much ballyhooed “The Hurt Locker.”

Who Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Who Should Win: Quintin Tarantino

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”)

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF 2009

So “Avatar” took home a zillion dollars, or something like that and was, for all intents and purposes, cutting-edge as far as film achievement goes. It was a wonder to watch in the theatre. I cannot deny the remarkable triumph in that regard. It will continue its phenomenal success by taking home the “Best Picture” Oscar and raking up more zillions in the theatre, in merchandise and in Blue-Ray sales. Having said that, it is not the best film of the year. Think about why it didn’t even garner a screenwriting nomination. The story was not very good at all – highly predictable and took for so many other films in years past. You couldn’t sit through “Avatar” and not be reminded of a film here and another film there (“Dances with Wolves” in particular). Glorious to watch, for sure…but I wouldn’t put it in my Top 10 or Top 15 of the year. It will win though – there are years when Oscar likes to go to the big blockbuster (“Titanic,” “LOTR: Return of the King,” and “Gladiator” to name a few). This will reward the millions watching at home who actually saw one of the nominees and rooting hard for it.

I already made my feelings known about “The Hurt Locker.” Though a critical darling and on many Top 10 lists around the country, I simply do not see it. I feel it is overvalued. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I was in a cranky mood when I saw it. I have no idea. I simply know that when it was over, I thought, “Hmph, that was it?”

“District 9” deserves the win, but has no chance at all, especially when the director is not nominated here – and I don’t see another “Driving Miss Daisy” year coming. Of the ten, it was the strongest and most powerful piece of original filmmaking. I’m not a sci-fi guy by any stretch, but the film works as a marvelous parable to our world today. It is riveting, haunting and at times, quite touching. I’ll be rooting hard for it, but to no avail, I’m afraid.

“Up” has its own category all to itself – way to waste a place Oscar voters! That’s why the “Best Animated Feature” was created to begin with – to prevent this!

I loved Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air.” What a fine filmmaker with this work following the wonderful dark comedy, “Thank You for Smoking” (I felt “Juno” was the weakest of the three by far). “Up in the Air” is probably the most topical film of 2009 and makes a profound statement on our economy and the job market during a historical recession. Great performances across the board and a sharp, clever, thoughtful screenplay. This would be my personal #2 choice. An outside shot at best – if “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” split the votes, this could creep in and surprise everyone. Let’s hope it does!

“A Serious Man” (besides “Intolerable Cruelty” the Coen Brothers have not made a bad film!) is along for the ride here – but I was thrilled to see it not forgotten and in the running for the evening’s grand prize – kudos to the voters for including this insightful, funny and splendid film.

Who Will Win: Avatar

Who Should Win: District 9

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Watchmen or (500) Days of Summer

OTHER PICKS:

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Who Will Win: Inglourious Basterds

Who Should Win: A Serious Man

Who Should Have Been Nominated: (500) Days of Summer

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Who Will Win: Up in the Air

Who Should Win: Up in the Air

Who Should Have Been Nominated: Julia (or Where the Wild Things Are)

BEST FILM EDITING

Who Will Win: The Hurt Locker

Who Should Win: District 9

BEST ART DIRECTION

Who Will Win: Avatar

Who Should Win: Avatar

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Who Will Win: Avatar

Who Should Win: Avatar

BEST MAKE-UP

Who Will Win: Star Trek

Who Should Win: Star Trek

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Who Will Win: The Young Victoria

Who Should Win: (did not see 2 of the films nominated)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Who Will Win: The Cove (if you haven’t seen it – rent it!)

I felt “Food Inc.”, as informative as it was could have been more “viewer-friendly” if that makes any sense. Michael Moore – pay attention…this is what documentaries are supposed to be….they are not editorials.

So those are my picks – for better or for worse. I hope I am wrong about a number of them. I’ve been watching the Academy Awards each year without fail since I was about eight or nine years old. Too young to even care, I suppose. My friends and family have always joked with me, calling Oscar night my Christmas. In many ways, it is. I love film just about more than anything. It is what I do…I watch movies. I watch too many movies – but there are very few things that give me greater pleasure than going to a theatre, sitting in the darkened room and watching a work of art on the screen. And film is art – there is no question about that. And that art is celebrated each year in grand fashion at the Kodak Theatre. I could care less about the Red Carpet – I never even watch that. I could care less about the dresses. I watch no other Awards show prior to the Oscars (could never be bothered with the SAG awards or the over-hyped Golden Globes). It’s all about the little golden guy they have called Oscar since 1928. No matter what films are nominated, which films or actors win or lose, I am glued to the television – and they become a part of motion picture history. The past few ceremonies have been somewhat boring, true. Here’s hoping that this year will be a pleasant surprise – and that the best artists in each category win!

Again, I welcome any and all comments here. Feel free to share your own picks on this page. That would be great. I’m hoping some are even reading this blog and that I’m not writing for my own sake. That would just be sad.

Most of all – to each of you – enjoy your Oscar Night!!!

(Next Posting Coming Soon — Best & Worst Films of 2009)

[Via http://magiclanternfilm.wordpress.com]

Alice In Wonderland [2010]

2010-03-04T02:02:00.000+02:00

www.disney.co.uk/AliceInWonderland

Certificate – PG; 108mins

Released – March 5th 2010 (UK)

Directed – Tim Burton

Starring – Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Matt Lucas, Alan Rickman

Every seasoned cinema-goer is no doubt fully aware of such idiosyncrasy and succinct casting by one Tim Burton. Every child is raised with some knowledge, however extensive, of Lewis Carroll’s dark tales of Alice and her adventures in Wonderland.

Whilst Alice In Wonderland is undeniably Burton-esque, the seeping, monotonous, drivel churned out by the corporate drudge of Disney unashamedly puts a dampener on what should theoretically be one of the greatest 3D experiences of 2010. Instead of tempting an audience to the edge of their seats in sheer delight, they are dragged into a false sense of hope that, at any moment, something wonderful and ethereal is going to happen, which will make the effort worth their while.

What fails Burton in lieu of the expectant over-Disneyfied bunkum, is Linda Woolverton’s re-imagining and revisiting of Wonderland when Alice (newcomer Mia Wasikowska) is in her teens. Ultimately, the illustrious title gives far too much in the way of expectation and wholesomely fails to outline that this is not Alice In Wonderland, it is emblematic of what younger generations believe it to be. In being so, we find it to be a lazy, vapid take on a childhood classic that most of us have known and loved.

This crowded, muddy interpretation has sullied a routinely stellar project by a lauded, quirky, visionary and has already found even the greatest of fans leave with their heads bowed in an awkward shame. So too have the otherwise faultless performances from such a popular cast been overshadowed by a heavy, almost pointless venture.

Though it pains to say all this, even setting out with low expectations, it is difficult to understand just how appallingly tragic the film feels. For all it’s comedy, big names and great performances as well signature, picture-perfect special effects and Danny Elfman’s soundful delights, it feels flat. The ambiguity of some of the original characters, partucularly the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry) have been cast aside in favour of quick lines to tie up the narrative knots, but are blatant to those who know the original story.

For all it’s failings, a few things beyond performance shone through; The costumes (particularly Alice’s) were stylish and didactic and worked well in contrast to the artistic conception of the sets. In true Burton style, the atmosphere was generally dark with his trademark feel-good factor licking at core. Everyone has come to expect good things from our peculiar auteur and credit where it’s due, he has achieved another notch on his unorthodox belt, however, the bitter pill appears to be in the shape of a giant, curvy, letter ‘D’ and it’s not that easy to swallow.

[Via http://cinecymru.wordpress.com]

Photos: 10 pics from 'Remember Me' Premiere - NYC [Tagged]

2010-03-02T01:54:00.000+02:00

Source.

[Via http://thepattinsonproject.wordpress.com]

Hadewijch - A Film Review

2010-03-02T00:00:00.000+02:00

Hadewijch was a 13th century Christian mystic who’s writings made no distinctions whatsoever between God and love. In this latest film from the ever intense and challenging writer/director Bruno Dumont, a young theological student called Céline (Julie Sokolowski) adopts this name in the convent where she is living. However, when her unswerving and self-mortifying devotion to Jesus proves too much for the firm-but-empathic Mother Superior (Brigitte Mayeux-Clerget), she is asked to leave the monastery in order to try and find her way to Christ in the real world instead. The daughter of a government minister, whose home is a huge, gilded, and ornate apartment on the Île Saint-Louis, in the very heart of Paris, Céline finds herself at a loss, though. As a result, she ends up dividing her time between looking after the family pet and praying intensely.

However, things start to change when she meets Yassine (Yassine Salime). As an unemployed Muslim from a far-flung working-class suburb of Paris, he is from an entirely different universe to Céline. Even when her unwavering devotion to Christ means that she rejects any prospect of a sexual union with him, Yassine still doggedly pursues her. This brings Céline into contact with his brother Nassir (Karl Sarafidis) who is a strong adherent of Islam. Moreover, Nassir’s ability to comprehend and manipulate Céline’s susceptibility and fervour is to have a hugely significant affect on her, even though the detailed manner in which this improbable outcome is achieved is left to the audience to try and justify.

Told using both minimal dialogue and an utterly languorous plot development, the successful manner in which the frail and vulnerable-looking Ms. Sokolowski is able to portray this single-minded Christian zealot is paramount to how the film’s stretched credibility can still fascinate. Indeed, the decision of Mr. Dumont to show the significant amount of common ground that can lie between two ardent believers in faiths that have traditionally only displayed animosity towards each other is a highly provocative one. Even more so here, as it also acts as a way of easily eliminating any differences between the two characters based on either social inequality or cultural inheritance.

Indeed, if the intention is to fire some sort of warning shot across the bows of an increasingly non-secular and non-practising Western society, then the casual blurring of the lines between pious devotion and extremist activism leaves the film open to the charge that it is pandering to simplified and even vilifying characterisations. Equally, the minor sub-plot that involves intermittent near-silent shots of an enigmatic character played by David Dewaele is kept frustratingly opaque. On the other hand, there are two fine musical interludes during this superbly photographed film. These combine to provide some much-needed relief from the starched and uncompromising approach that Mr. Dumont otherwise takes to a work that looks to lay down an interesting challenge to its audiences as to its meaning.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Tickets: AvA, Crazy Heart

2010-02-28T02:08:00.000+02:00

Tickets went on sale today for the May 6 Angels & Airwaves show at the 930 Club, and I bought one. In these situations, I normally buy two tickets, on the thinking that I’ll find someone who’ll be interested in attending the gig with me. For Angels, though, I had trouble thinking of anyone who’d be especially into it.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the show. I bet the live act is polished. One thing I’m not sure of is the crowd. What will the median age be? I’m guessing 30. My sense is that Blink’s popularity peaked in at the turn of the century, and I bet the median age of their fan base back then was about 20.

I also got a movie ticket today: Crazy Heart. I can’t remember the last time I went to the movies.

[Via http://gilli.es]

Alice in Wonderland !!!!

2010-02-28T00:39:00.000+02:00

Im counting the days till the 5th of March , Were on 6 days today !!! i have been waiting to see this film since last year and cant wait to see Tim Burtons original and sinister take on the Alice and wonderland storey we all love, im much in antispation to see the amazing Johnny Depp performance as the Mad Hatter as well as the amazing visual effects of the strange world Alice has returned too ….and all of this in 3d !!!! I may even go all out and pay extra for directors booth with popcorn and ice cream for this one who’s with me ?? !!!

: D !!!

[Via http://2sugarsplease.wordpress.com]

invitation: SOMETHING ELSE Screening and Networking Mixer @ EAST/WEST LOUNGE in WEST HOLLYWOOD on Saturday, Feburary 27th @ 4pm!

2010-02-27T03:23:00.000+02:00

Date: Saturday, February 27, 2010 Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm Location: East/West Lounge/ 8851 Santa Monica Blvd/ West Hollywood, CA 90069-4519 Description

Join Pierce Productions first short film SOMETHING ELSE, written and directed by Ernest Pierce, on February 27th, 2010 at 4pm. The screening will be held at the fantastic EAST/WEST LOUNGE at 801 LARRABEE STREET (alternate address) in the HIP and TRENDY West Hollywood area in Los Angeles. (Must be 21 years of age to attend.)

FILM SYNOPSIS (Dramedy)

29-year-old Corporate Affiliate, Cordell Davis leads a white-collar life with his successful wife LAURA. What happens, when he faces a challenge with possibilities of losing everything in one night? Join us to find out what happens to him…

[Via http://lamyaholley.wordpress.com]

Truly madly Depply

2010-02-27T00:54:00.000+02:00

Alice in Wonderland has opened to mixed reviews, with words from “magical” to “formulaic” being used and even the great Johnny Depp being described as having “too much of the Willy Wonka lingering about him”. It has been variously described as a “3D epic for the next generation” and “only a must see for young girls who like fairy tales and teenage stoners”.

A completely new take on Lewis Carroll’s story, it features a stellar cast portraying Wonderland later in Alice’s life (she is 19) when things have taken a turn for the worse.

Kind of a shame to take someone like Johnny and dress him up as the Mad Hatter but Tim Burton knows what he is doing....

With Tim Burton in charge it’s highly unlikely to be less than spectacular, and his affectionate partnership with Johnny Depp (anyone see Friday night with Jonathan Ross this evening?) seems set to continue to produce weird and wonderful epics in the vein of “Edward Scissorhands” which shot Depp to fame in 1990.

Tim Burton went beyond weird in Edward Scissorhands

When asked, tongue in cheek, about the possibility of doing a romantic comedy, he was both amused and horrified at the suggestion saying mildly that it’s “not his thing”. Amongst many other things, it’s that resistance of the temptation to be one of the Matthew McConaugheys of the world, cashing in purely on near perfect looks, that makes him such a phenomenon.

[Via http://bitoffluff68.wordpress.com]

Lipsmacking

2010-02-25T05:05:00.000+02:00

From People who eat in cinemas 5 Jan 1957 Letters to ST

I for one object to having to the crunch and crack of melon seeds, potato crisps, pea nuts and pop corns. Even the roar of sterophonic sound is made indistinct by the chomping of jaws and the smacking of lips.

Ed: Today nothing could be a worse evil than a kid in a cinema eating, talking and playing with a PSP/handphone at the same time.

[Via http://everythingalsocomplain.wordpress.com]

Enter the Void - A Film Review

2010-02-25T00:00:00.000+02:00

Ever since watching Babel, I have been of the opinion that the gaudy Tokyo nightscape would make for a brilliant backdrop to some very whacked-out movie or other. As a result, either Gaspar Noé or I should be unnerved by that fact that the controversial director seems to have had much the same idea. In this seemingly unending work, he tells a squalid tale of sex, drugs, and grieving from the first-person perspective of its dead protagonist – a young American named Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) who has been paying for his increasing drug addiction with some small-time dealing in the clubs and bars of Tokyo. With no effort being made to disguise the plot, the audience is treated early on to Oscar’s friend Alex (a one-to-watch in Cyril Roy) providing an overview of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Before we know it, Oscar has met with his sudden and dramatic end in a filthy barroom toilet and the audience is invited to spend the next two hours in the bardo with their rather gormless protagonist.

In essence, the bardo is a transitional state between one incarnation and the next. Hence, Oscar’s spirit remains on Earth and is able to relive seminal moments from his former life and to observe what happens next to the people that he knew, as he waits and waits and waits some more in this incorporeal limbo. If this sounds a little tame, then that is to do the film a disservice, as several of the scenes are decidedly and provocatively discomfiting. In certain instances, Oscar flits in some psychosexual manner from the sight of his sister’s or lover’s breast to that of his mother when he was an infant. Elsewhere, he witnesses his sister Lisa (a once more rarely-clothed Paz de la Huerta) in highly personal moments – one of which is particularly unpleasant – or returns to a deeply traumatic time when they were both still quite young. However, as his time spent hovering over events past and present drags on, the sense is that Oscar and, by extension, the audience are helpless to do anything other than wait for events outside of their control to take their course.

Of course, another possible interpretation of this film is to see it as an intense visual dream. Many of the experiences that Oscar experience would have already been firmly implanted in his subconscious memory, e.g. the appalling experience of how his parents died, being jealousy of his sister’s lover, having been reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the fluorescent mock-up of Tokyo in Alex’s apartment, or once being told by Alex that his favourite experience was the time when he was sucking on his mother’s teat. In one instance, Lisa refers to having nightmarish dreams about Oscar. In another, she mentally and physically dismisses his cremated ashes as not being her brother. Are these jokey little hints and, if so, having been brought through a lengthy sequence early on where Oscar imagines that he is seeing willowy tendrils and vivid fractals bursting forth from the ceiling of his appartment, does the audience ever leave Oscar’s psychedelic-addled brain as he sprawls back on that untidy bed? One thing for sure is that the action only takes place at night – a time when the dead walk and the living sleep!

In one amusing irony, the film begins with the strobe-filled end credits being played at breakneck speed only for the actual work to turn out to be hugely drawn-out and repetitive. On the one hand, it would make for an interesting sensory experiment to watch this cross between Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Atom Egoyan’s Exotica whilst properly jacked up. On the other hand, having nothing more stimulating than caffeine in the system does turn the work’s impressive initial intrigue into a leaden and despairing affair by the end. Yet, even then, there remains something remarkably beguiling about the cinematography of Benoît Debie as the camera incessantly hovers, swoops, and soars in ghost-like manner around a seedy and vividly photographed Tokyo. When coupled to some stunning visual effects and an impressive soundscape, Mr. Noé’s audacious film makes for an undoubtedly intense and unique cinematic experience. Unfortunately, though, the overall work cannot match these aspects of it and the mind ends up doing some wandering of its own.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Sherlock Holmes

2010-02-23T01:15:00.000+02:00

Summary

I’d really like to say that I LOVE Guy Ritchie movies. But I can’t honestly make that claim. Why? Well, because I really do LOVE Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and Revolver. That’s not exactly his entire career. But those three movies are a decent lens into the style of film-making that Mr. Ritchie has subscribed to. So despite that potential inaccuracy, I’m more or less willing to make that statement. Guy’s movies tend to be disjointed, chaotic, violent, humorous and clever. The idea is that there is always something deeper than what he is showing you. Like jazz, it’s not about the obvious cues, it’s about what lies right behind them. He loves the off notes and the ethereal. Not in a ghostly sense, but in the way that what he wants the viewer to understand is perpetually outside their scope of vision at the time. His striated brand of story-telling is not for everyone, granted, but it appeals to me and that’s what matters here on MY blog.

When I discovered that the new ‘Sherlock Holmes’ was a Guy Ritchie film, there was immediately a two-fold reaction. Plenty of excitement and a considerably amount of apprehension as well. For me, Ritchie’s films succeed because they fall outside of the palette of many viewers. I mean, if you take a look at any of the 3 films I listed above, I’m sure plenty of people would tell you that they either didn’t understand them (the humor, wit or story) or didn’t like them. And to be fair, they aren’t exactly simple narratives carried on the shoulders of simple characters. There’s a lot going on in his films at any given time and missing one small scene could mean a complete lack of context for successive scenes. Once you understand what’s going on though, it’s a ride not to be missed. I could (and do) watch his movies over and over. So for ‘Sherlock Holmes’ I knew he was going to have to tone that down. A movie of this caliber (production-wise) simply couldn’t possess his true style of crafting and I knew that. Nonetheless, he had a lot to work with and Downey Jr., Law and McAdams are three actors I actually enjoy greatly. So we’re off to a decent start.

The movie mostly follows sort of standard blockbuster convention. This sounds like a bad thing, I think but really, in this case, it works really, really well. It does this because it hits on all the highs that I would expect from a high production title, but maintains a core of uniqueness that allows it to be both palatable and well… really good. Certainly entertaining. The title of the film should be an obvious indication of the focus and since we’re talking about Robert Downey Jr., it’s marvelous. The man may have his share of demons, but I’ll be damned if he isn’t one charming, hilarious and gifted actor. From start to finish, he carries the movie and it’s a romping good time. This will seem strange to say, I suppose, but… oh, the hell with it: Holmes is ridiculously badass in this movie. Yeah. Badass. And you know what? It’s awesome. I liked it. I did. I really did. The humor is very familiar, but for me, it’s not stale. Jude Law is an actor I have respected and enjoyed for quite some time now and he doesn’t disappoint here. The character is bit on the cliche side, but suffers only slightly from it. With the character that Sherlock embodies on-screen, there just isn’t much more room for flash or eccentricity.

I heart McAdams and her role was so-so. Fine.

The story is fascinating enough, revolving around the ever elusive Lord Blackwood and Holmes’ attempts to track him down and unravel the threads of his schemes. The occult-ish themes caught my attention certainly, but by the end, I have to admit that I found the story to lack the real substance I was hoping for. I think this is where the film shows it’s “blockbuster” traits, since I think that more could’ve been done considering the captain at the helm here. Nonetheless, the story is more than adequate to drive the movie forward. The ending was a little trite but simultaneously satisfying and creates an effective desire to re-watch the film.

One area that was Mr. Ritchie made his presence known in was his all-so-familiar cinematography. Love or hate it, it was there. Personally, I LOVE it. I’m not one of those self-righteous assholes who sees an effect or shot once then puts my nose up in the air everytime I see it afterwards. Sure, effects or lens tricks can certainly be overused, but if the context of either the style or ambiance in the movie allows for them, I see no problem with getting silly with visuals. Guy loves his slo-mo, always has, and from what I can tell, always will. It’s honestly fine by me because I always enjoy the method in which he employs it. Frames are intentional and the cut is focused on a particular action. He’s not just slowing things down for the hell of it, he wants to show you something. He wants you to understand that the man on screen isn’t just being punched; he is being hurt, a lot. It’s effective and sounds and looks great IMO.

The film takes full advantage of the rather vintage and raw portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from the novels of yore as well as some graphic novels. For some reason, the whole public over thinks that the character Holmes has always been a pacifist. Weird, considering that both he and Watson are indeed rough and tumble at times, with Holmes being an ex-boxer and Watson resorting to the fist a good amount of times in some of the older books and certainly in the graphic novels. In any event, it’s solid entertainment from start to finish, with plenty of action to boot. The trailers don’t betray the movie either. This is a shameless adventure film, with plenty of fighting and violence, so if you don’t appreciate that brand of Sherlock Holmes or find it to be a translation fallacy, then don’t even bother. I’m sure your philosophy books can keep you busy in the meantime.

A last nuance to note was the film score. None other than the brilliant Hans Zimmer is the creator of the music in ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and it’s just wonderful stuff. That’s right. Wonderful. As always, the score brings a stronger sense of vitality to the screen and the foggy London-town feeling is further enhanced with the melodious strings compositions with swells of crescendo and sudden staccato. It all works well together.

‘Sherlock Holmes’ was a fine movie. A damn fine movie. It’s good, solid entertainment across the board. It has action, humor, romance and mystery. You know what it is? It’s fun. A lot of fun. So go see it and keep an open mind. I really do think you’ll have a pretty good time.

Overall Score (out of 10): 9.0

Summary

Story/Writing: The narrative is a bit vanilla but certainly not bad. If not for the strong characters, this would’ve been a fairly weak aspect. Writing is clever, however, with a healthy injection of charisma and wit.

Acting/Cast: Both are good. Robert Downey Jr. is simply incredible and Jude Law follows very closely behind, despite a considerable disadvantage in character writing. McAdams is, very unfortunately, the weak leg on the tripod. Her role is rather flimsy and you get the sense that she could’ve been replaced. Not a terrible performance though.

Camera/Cinematography: Classic Guy Ritchie. The London-town dreariness is present and the film texture is somewhat gritty, much like the characters. There’s plenty of slo-mo, but for me, it plays out well and is purposeful.

Sound/Music: Ideally, you want good sound to accompany a blockbuster and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ isn’t lacking in this area. The explosions, punches and ambiance are all well done and appropriate. It might seem a bit much at times, and well, it is. The music is incredible, indicative of Zimmer’s ability to create a aural dimension that effectively supplements the film.

Website: http://sherlock-holmes-movie.warnerbros.com/

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/

[Via http://elysianundyinglands.wordpress.com]

The perfect Martini

2010-02-23T00:24:00.000+02:00

In the film The Philadelphia Story, Jimmy Stewart describes whisky as a slap on the back and champagne as heavy mist before the eyes. I’ve always thought of a good Martini as having your socks pulled up. From your inside.

But, a good Martini can be hard to find. A good Martini in congenial surroundings even more so. Simpsons- in-the-Strand’s Knights Bar can provide the former and does so in bath size measures. I’m hoping the new Martini trolley service at the Connaught will provide the latter but if that’s a let down there is always the option of making the perfect Martini at home.

And for that you need the perfect recipe.

I went to a book launch at the legendary Colony Room in Soho a year ago and was lucky enough to find celebrity bartender Dick Bradsell in residence. We fell to chatting about vintage cocktail books as he mixed me an Old Fashioned and he asserted there is only one book you really need which is The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks by David Embury.

The Colony Room bar

This explained a lot. I’d been trying to get hold of a secondhand copy as it was out of print but the prices were astronomical (1970’s editions on ebay fetch over £100…). Fortunately an American publisher is now reprinting it, so my copy is on order but in the meantime the lovely wikipedia has a helpful condensing of its contents, including an excellent recipe for a Martini.

This is now my foolproof method, though depending on the gin I may omit the vermouth, or simply swill some round a glass before pouring away. What gin or vermouth you use is a matter of individual taste but I tend to stick to Noilly Prat and Tanquerey as I like the kick these provide. I will sometimes plump for Plymouth gin to give a more rounded drink but anything more expensive tends to be either too soft (Tanquerey 10 for instance is overpowered by vermouth) or too flavoursome (eg the floral notes of Hendricks) for my taste.

David Embury’s Martini

7 parts English gin
1 part French (dry) vermouth

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass [see the image on this post for the perfect size glass – small enough so your drink stays cold to the end and you can consume two or three without endangering your liver -LCG], twist lemon peel over the top and serve garnished with an olive, preferably one stuffed with any kind of nut.

Personally I would leave the lemon and the nut out of it but otherwise his ratios are bang on for a lethally dry sock pulling.

[Via http://londoncocktailguide.wordpress.com]

Confirmado o Capitão América?

2010-02-21T01:14:00.000+02:00

De acordo com o site Comic Book Movie, aparentemente, o posto de Capitão América no longa do herói já foi ocupado. E o dono é Robert Buckley.

O ator de 29 anos trabalha, atualmente, na série da CW One Tree Hill e já fez parte do elenco de Lipstick Jungle, da NBC.

Essa informação ainda é um rumor, não exista nada confirmado pelo estúdio e a informação, muito provavelmente, só será liberada em meados da próxima semana, mas a fonte que liberou a informação é conhecida por ser certeiro quantos as informações da Marvel Comics.

“É, tipo, como uma perfeita tempestade de nerdisse, que me encontra bem no meio de um tempo disponível. E logo quando eu meio que redescobri quadrinhos, agora que eu encontrei Amazon.com. Eu fui fora de controle. Se você me perguntar quais são meus livros favoritos, seria como pedir a uma mãe de escolher o filho favorito. Quero dizer, com certeza, ela pode, mas ela nunca poderia vai isso publicamente, porque isso iria apenas fazer com que todos se sentem mal. Mas, sério, eu sou um grande fã do Capitão América e … vamos ver aqui. Não posso simplesmente listar os títulos da Marvel dos quais gosto, porque vai parecer que eu estou sendo apenas um exibido, eu poderia apenas citar BATMAN: HUSH ou FABLES…” comentou o ator, sem confirmar ou não se fará o papel do herói patriota.

Alguns pontos a se considerar sobre o ator:

-Ele se encaixa perfeitamente quanto a altura, tipo físico e idade do herói;

-É relativamente desconhecido, o que é exatamente o que o diretor Joe Johnston procurava;

-E o cara é, definitivamente, fã de quadrinhos… Quem você conhece que curta BATMAN: HUSH ou FABLES?

Caio realmente acha que essa é uma excelente idéia!

[Via http://comicrandomic.wordpress.com]

100 Noughtie Films: The Year 2005

2010-02-21T00:00:00.000+02:00

The Beat that My Heart Skipped

The Death of Mr Lazarescu

L’enfant

Father and Son

Grizzly Man

Hidden

Lady Vengeance

Romanzo Criminale

Twelve and Holding

13 Tzameti

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

SCANDOUSLY EXCELLENT: TIGER WOODS, CONTROL FREAK

2010-02-20T00:58:00.000+02:00

Presenting a clip from disgraced golf legend Tiger Woods‘ robotic, self-flagellating, arguably long overdue, mea culpa, to humiliated wife Erin Nordegren, and the world, during his Outstandingly Excellent and masterfully micromanaged, no-questions-allowed, “press conference,” broadcast live on major networks and attended by a small, highly select group of friends, colleagues and close associates—along with six hand-selected reporters—held at 11 a.m. Friday, February 19. 2010 at the Tournament Players Club (“Home of the Players”) Sawgrass Clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

[Via http://theexcellentpeople.wordpress.com]

SCENIC EXCELLENCE: ALBRECHT KONRAD and BERNHARD HENRICH for ROMAN POLANSKI's THE GHOST WRITER

2010-02-20T00:09:00.000+02:00

Applauding the Outstandingly Excellent and sleek production design, courtesy Albrecht Konrad, and the modernist monochromatic set decoration, by Bernhard Henrich, with art direction by David Scheunemann, for His Excellency Roman Polanski’s new thriller, The Ghost Writer, based on the novel The Ghost by co-screenwriter Robert Harris, starring, among others, His Excellency Ewan McGregor.

Excellent decor: His Excellency Ewan McGregor in a scene from His Excallency Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer. Image by Guy Ferrandis for Summit Entertainment.

[Via http://theexcellentpeople.wordpress.com]

All about Marion

2010-02-18T01:23:00.000+02:00

Eu AMO a Marion Cottilard e amo mais agora depois de ter visto o filme Piaff (demorei pra ver, eu sei).

Agora ela simplesmente ganhou todos os pontos do universo com essa capa e editorial para a Elle francesa de março.

Olha a maquiagem dessa mulher, pelamor.

[Via http://parameninas.wordpress.com]

O Amor Segundo B. Schianberg

2010-02-18T00:38:00.000+02:00

Nunca vi história de um casal narrada de maneira tão boçal quanto esta do novo filme de Beto Brant (tirado de sua série televisiva homônima).

O que salta aos olhos é a precariedade das coisas. Isso desvia o olhar das precariedades de idéias: as elipses sem propósito, as palavras escritas na tela sem propósito, os diálogos discursivos sem propósito, a filosofia pseudo-alguma-coisa – olha só – sem propósito. Não é um filme amador na imagem (isso parece o único aspecto realmente bem pensado do filme); é amador de pretensões.

Brant parece almejar a alta cultura desde Crime Delicado. Em alguns momentos é bem efetivo e interessante; aqui é risível. É o típico caso do cineasta que pensa ser capaz de encenar a vida através de conceitos (psicanalíticos e/ou filosóficos e/ou artísticos-estéticos). O problema é que a vida é o parâmetro para os conceitos e, portanto, não pode ser esquadrinhada por eles. A arte nunca será maior que a vida.

Pode-se discutir que Brant tenta escancarar este aspecto arte/vida e a incapacidade da primeira em reproduzir a segunda. Isso é dado recalcado; Brant quer se enquadrar na Alta Arte e não atinge nem arte nem pulsão de vida.

***

O filme levanta outra questão: por que alguns realizadores acham que as experiências de artistas para com a vida são mais intensas que a dos meros mortais?

Em …Schianberg temos uma videoartista e um ator. Contudo, não estamos no terreno da metalinguagem. Eles são pessoas comuns; mas não são: são artistas.

Como se ser artista colocasse alguém num nível de possibilidades maior que um padeiro, uma lavadeira, uma escriturária.

Isso é o que é discutível no filme: ele valora as experiências pessoais entre sensibilidades por requisitos imprecisos. Os protagonistas-artistas estão em um “plano de sensibilidade” maior para com a vida. Por qual razão? A única explicação é que são artistas e tem um sentido mais aguçado para isso. Tem mesmo?

***

Mas a pergunta que não quer calar é: onde está o Beto Brant de Ação entre amigos, Os matadores e, principalmente, O invasor?

[Via http://raulla.wordpress.com]

Extraordinary Measures - Review

2010-02-16T01:11:00.000+02:00

The movie Extraordinary Measures is an inspirational movie about a father and his quest to find the right medication for his two children that are suffering from Pompe disease.

This is a genetic disease that affects children that disables the heart and muscles. Because of the underdevelopment of the muscles it leaves them confined to a wheelchair. Children with this disease normally die at around age nine, at that stage the organs enlarge. You can imagine the shock and the despair John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) and Aileen Crowley (Keri Russell) parents of the children feel when they are told their young children have less than a year to live.

The family leads a pretty normal life, a working dad, stay at home mom with three children to care for. The father, a leading corporate executive is faced with a dilemma; to stay at his job and enjoy the perks of promotions – increased benefits, meeting deadlines and to watch his kids die from a disease that will rob them of a future before they are teenagers or leave the job and find the cure.

Directed by Tom Vaughan, the movie’s cinematography is not only good but shows his experience. The scenes in the movie are amazing; they will grip you from the beginning to end. The characters all have personalities that make you connect more with them. The daughter Megan is full of personality, a typical 8 year old who desires a future. She likes pink and loves to play.

John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) decides to fight the battle with his kids and leaves the state to the University of Nebraska where he meets Dr. Stonehill (Harrison Ford). Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford) is a scientist who has explored the area of Pompe and has developed what he thinks is the cure. Leaving his wife behind with the children, John Crowley meets with Dr. Stonehill after chasing him down in the wee hours of the morning from his university office to a bar. At the bar, a relationship develops between the two. It leads to a business relationship, with both men partnering to find a cure to help the children, Megan Crowley (Meredith Droeger) and Patrick Crowley (Diego Velazquez).

To make John Crowley’s dream a reality of not only benefiting his own children they meet with executives from drug manufacturers. With this new partnership there are other issues that arise which make the movie even more exciting to watch. Extraordinary Measures is a true story and is an adaptation of the novel The Cure by Geeta Anand.

The movie also explores at length the politics, tribalism, materialistic goals of drug companies. I understand this is a moral dilemma for them and the company executives from the drug company kept emphasizing the importance of objectivity. Because, dealing with drugs, medicines and treating people if you are caught up with the Utilitarian Principle (doing good for the greatest number of people) you may not have a successful company at the end of the day. Drug companies are in business to make a profit and not primarily to save patients at the end of the day.

In the movie John Crowley, the father of the children is caught up emotionally with finding a cure that there is a huge disagreement between him and the company executives. When the company had completed the process and it was time to test the medication, it caused a major conflict of interest. There was a conflict of interest because John Crowley had a vested interest in the company and he also had an interest in the success of the product. Of course he wanted his children to have the medication first. To solve the issue, he was fired from the company. It was sad to see him go but the drug company maintained their strict adherence to policy.

His children did receive the needed medication. The testing worked and they responded well. The movie ends on a good note. Extraordinary Measures will not have you crying but its emotional journey will have you supporting these parents that placed everything on the line – their relationship and jobs to fight for a cure to save their ailing children. You will be cheering on these parents.

I only wish that you will get a hold of this movie and see it. It is worth your time. I yearn for the will that I might have the same fervour and strength these parents had in their darkest moment. The strength to fight on till the desired end is attained.

This post is dedicated to a blogger and a friend of this site who revealed that he has cancer. All of us here wish him the very best and a speedy recovery. I trust that he will not only have the audacity of hope but the certainty of faith that he will get better. Read his updates on his blog. http://jammer5spolyrant.wordpress.com/

[Via http://corvedacosta.wordpress.com]

THE EXQUISITE EXCELLENCE OF MARIOS SCHWAB for HALSTON

2010-02-16T00:29:00.000+02:00

Applauding the Excellently exquisite premiere Fall/Winter 2010 collection of 34-year-old Austrian-born, London-based designer Marios Schwab for Halston. Eyes of Laura Mars-inspired set by Gideon Ponte.

Exquisitely Excellent looks from Marios Schwab's Fall/Winter 2010 collection for Halston. Image via Imran Amed's Business of Fashion via Twitpic.

Excellently exquisite looks from Marios Schwab's Fall/Winter 2010 collection for Halston. Image via Imran Amed's Business of Fashion via Twitpic.

[Via http://theexcellentpeople.wordpress.com]

"I'm Gonna Make Him A Sequel He Can't Refuse"

2010-02-14T02:47:00.000+02:00

2010 seems to be a good year all around. There’s the Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup, if you’re a football fan. But most importantly, it seems to be a solid year for the cinema industry. With films like Avatar to start the year off, it’s no wonder directors are feeling confident about themselves. So far this year, there is strangely large number of sequels being greenlit, here’s a rundown of a few of them. There are more, which I will list at a later date, I’ll bring you some more information, don’t worry.

[Via http://matthewceo.wordpress.com]

100 Noughtie Films: The Year 2004

2010-02-14T00:00:00.000+02:00

Bad Education

The Consequences of Love

L’intrus

Kings & Queen

The Sea Inside

Sideways

Tropical Malady

Turtles Can Fly

Vera Drake

3-Iron

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Manhunter (1986)

2010-02-13T04:02:00.000+02:00

I get it, Manhunter directed by Michael Mann. Funny. However that’s probably the only funny thing about this serious crime thriller—unless, like me, you find psychotic killers hilariously funny. It’s strange to think how far Mann has evolved in terms in style in only a few years. By 1986 he’s got himself a hold of some meaty material with a Hannibal Lecter story—which isn’t about Hannibal Lecter at all.

Instead it’s about Will Graham (William Petersen), a young, retired FBI agent who gets pulled out of retirement when another serial killer begins killing off entire families. Will methodically, explores each scene, looks at every angle but still can’t get much of a lead. So he turns to Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox)—and yes, it’s spelled Lecktor instead of Lecter for some silly reason—a brilliant psychologist turn killer that Will caught a few years back. But he gets more when he bargains for when he comes face to face with the ugly truth.

The film presupposes something I’ve always expected about these kinds of films: If you are the best at hunting down and finding psychotic crazies that kill people it’s probably because you are likely just as disturbed and messed up as the killer. Throughout the film Will places himself in the shoes of the killer with ease. As he retraces the steps of the killer we see he easily has the methodical mind and disturbing though process that could make him just as raving mad as the killer. The constant tension, that mental fraying, makes the Will Graham a character whose internal conflicts are just as fascinating as his external ones.

Therefore, it’s a somewhat jarring transition when the film changes gears late on to put us in the shoes of the killer, a Francis Dollarhyde (Tom Noonan). His conflict while gripping feels a lot more base and crass than the mental battleground of Will’s sanity. Where Will battles in the realm of the Ego, Francis is almost entirely taken up by the id. From the first moment we meet him, we can figure out what he’s going to do and the only suspense comes in when he will strike. The film does give his character a nice arc but it’s all for naught by the end.

It doesn’t help here that the inevitable clash of violence at end is handled in a deliberate heavy-handed manner. Mann’s usage of heavy cuts, slow motion and freeze frames try to punctuate each act of violence, but all it does it take away the immediacy and shock of what is being done. The ideas might have looked good on paper but in practice they just remind us that there’s someone manipulating and piecing together these moments and here those moments would work best without the manipulations.

What Mann does do well, alongside Cinematographer Dante Spinotti, is create consistently compelling visual style. From the simple balance of composition in the first conversation of the film to the colorful and lush nighttime sequences, each scene has an inherit beauty in it, even in the most grizzly and thrilling of moments.

But beyond all the elements of the film the real credit must be given to how well the film maintains this sense of unease and constantly presses the tension on. When Will sits down to talk to Lecktor we can feel the tension in the room from the composition of the frame, the surgical white set and the performances by Brian Cox and William Petersen. Likewise, when Francis feels those urges once more when a blind girl named Reba McClane (Joan Allen) enters his personal life there’s this constant suspense as we can see in his every movement what she cannot.

It’s those moments throughout that make Manhunter a compelling work. Like any good thriller it constantly deals in conflict and the film knows just where and when to pull out each one. The film lacks the kind of emotional resonance it’s going for by the end and I don’t think I buy some of the sentimentality it wraps itself up in, especially when the film brings everything to a close with a noisy action sequence. These small blights keep the film from being impeccable but it still remains a compelling picture by the end.

[Via http://cinemasights.wordpress.com]

It's too late, Elaine!

2010-02-13T03:53:00.000+02:00

The climactic scene in The Graduate, as everyone knows, is when crashes the “arranged” wedding of his inamorata, Elaine, stands on the glassed-in balcony over the aisle watching them kiss before the minister, starts shaking the glass, and wails, “Elaaainnne!!”

The older generation goes berzerk, Elaine responds with “Bennnn!”, and the two young people fight their way to the door of the church. Elaine’s mother, Mrs. Robinson, grabs her and shouts, “It’s too late, Elaine!” to which she retorts, “Not for me, Mother!” Ben flails about with a cross and locks the crowd in the sanctuary by ramming it into the door and they make off in a yellow bus to the consternation of the other riders.

That short exchange is what the movie is all about. The dried up, lifeless, loveless, older generation tries to ruin the lives of their children, as theirs were ruined, but love is stronger, the vitality of youth breaks free, life has a chance. The older generation sends the kids off to war in Vietnam, but the kids protest, and fight back. They want her to marry a cookie-cut medical student – she wants to marry Ben, who doesn’t know what he wants to do.

They sit in the back of the bus, giddy, a little sobered by what they’ve done. Ben is inwardly bubbling at the thought that he’s finally done something he really wants to do. Elaine may be wondering what she’s getting herself into with this guy. The problems of real adult life come later. For now, the fairy tale carries the day wonderfully.

[Via http://iamyouasheisme.wordpress.com]

EXCELLENCY FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: HEXA BY KUHO

2010-02-13T03:44:00.000+02:00

Presenting the Fall/Winter 2010 collection of Kuho Jung for Hexa by Kuho. Film by Nick Knight for SHOWstudio, featuring model Ranya Mordanova. The collection is called ‘Talpi’, in Korean, “which translates as ‘ecdysis’”, according to one critic’s report. In Excellently simpler terms, it means “the moulting of skin in reptiles and amphibians, although the term can be used ‘to represent attempts to shed our outer skins and reemerge as spiritually more perfect.”

[Via http://theexcellentpeople.wordpress.com]

MMIF 2010 Officieel Persbericht

2010-02-11T02:35:00.000+02:00

[ MMIF 2010 English Pressrelease version here ] update 20100211 03:30

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Avatars zijn de sterren op mondiaal film festival MMIF 2010

MaMachinima International Festival

Zaterdag 20 februari , 2010

MMIF sims (SL™) + Planetart, Amsterdam (NL)

‘MMIF 2010′ is de tweede editie van een jaarlijks film festival in 3D cyberspace, welke rechtstreeks vertoont wordt in een fysieke zaal (‘RL’). Een zeven uur durende film marathon, met daarna een virtuele afterparty. MMIF 2010 kan ook gevolgd worden via live streams op het web.

Het MMIF is een feest van ‘Machinima’: een nieuwe cinematografische kunstvorm, gecreëerd met behulp van virtuele werelden en computerspellen. Op 3D Internet platformen zoals bijvoorbeeld Second Life®, kunnen allerlei soorten filmsets worden gebouwd, voor een laag budget. Het MMIF heeft onder meer als doel machinima onder de aandacht te brengen bij een breder publiek, zowel online als offline. Machinima regisseurs en avatar acteurs vanuit de hele wereld zullen live aanwezig zijn in het virtuele MMIF theater. Zij presenteren meer dan vijftig korte films en voeren gesprekken met andere ‘machinimatografen’ voor een internationaal publiek.

Het Amsterdamse publiek kan het MMIF evenement live volgen op groot projectiescherm in de Planetart Medialab Artspace. Men kan eigen laptops meenemen voor interactie met het witte doek. Gratis draadloos Internet en stroom is aanwezig. Gratis entree bij Planetart, echter toegangskaarten zijn wel vereist: Tickets kunnen alleen besteld worden via email, zie http://MMIF.org

Het MMIF is een door vrijwilligers gerunde niet-commerciele organisatie, een samenwerking van MaMachinima met Planetart, UrbanResort, Meta.Live.Nu, Pop Art Lab, VMax, Ystreams.TV, Metaworld Broadcasting, MetaMeets, Gallery Fermate, en vele andere vrijwilligers. MMIF 2010 wordt geheel gefinancierd door middel van donaties en giften. Virtueel land wordt gesponsord door Linden Lab®. Initiator van het MMIF is de Nederlandse Filmmaakster Chantal Harvey.

MMIF 2010 info, promo video, volledig programma, live streams, contact en het laatste nieuws en wijzigingen: http://MMIF.org

MMIF 2010 ARTISTS:

Gala Charron – Ogogoro - Lainy Voom – Draxtor Despres – Bryn Oh - Rohan Fermi – Toxic Menges – Tara Yeats – Phaylen Fairchild – Pooky Amsterdam & Russell (Rosco) Boyd – Poid Mahovlich – CodeWarrior Carling – Evie Fairchild – Graham Miami – Kronos Kirkorian – Osprey Therian – Chaffro Schoonmaker - SaveMe Oh - Dulci Parx – Chatnoir Studios – Paisley Beebe – Rysan Fall – Sol Bartz (phil Rice) – Rocksea Renegade – Cisko Vandeverre – Nitwacket (Pyewacket Bellman) – Chantal Harvey – Lowe Runo – Pia Klaar – Al Peretz – Halden Beaumont – Kolor Fall – Binary Quandry – spyVspy Aeon – Animatechnica – Miles Eleventhauer – Lizsolo Mathilde – Delgado Cinquetti – L1aura Loire – Iono Allen – Pyewacket Kazyanenko – Fort Knight – Luca Lisci – Larkworthy Antfarm – Beans Canning – Gtoon Jun – Tutsy Navarathna - Hadji Ling – Colemarie Soleil – Xineohp Guisse – Lorin Tone – Ian Friar – Suzy Yue – Claus Uriza / Emily Hifeng – Meta Lord, and others.

MMIF 2010 TIJDEN:

Zaterdag 20 februari

19:00 CET (= SL 10 am PST) – DEUREN OPEN

20:00 CET (= SL 11 am PST) – Openings ceremonie + Machinima film programma

03:00 CET (= SL 6 pm PST) – THE END + Afterparty online in SL

FYSIEKE LOKATIE:

Planetart Medialab Artspace

Wibautstraat 150

1091 GR Amsterdam (NL)

VIRTUELE LOCATIE:

MMIF 1, 2, 3, 4

Second Life®

Teleport links via http://MMIF.org

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[Via http://mmif.wordpress.com]

Adoration - A Film Review

2010-02-11T00:00:00.000+02:00

For some, Jesus is God incarnate. For others, he is revered, rather, as a prophet. For more again, he is remembered as a blasphemer and a subversive who was put to death two millennia ago. In other words, the figure of Jesus can be viewed as a symbol of the powerful and unremitting tensions that have existed between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism right down through history. At the same time, of course, if only all of the problems that exist here could be reduced down to something as relatively straightforward as a dispute over the significance of a historical figure.

In religious terms, then, adoration is the act of paying homage to a god. Moreover, writer/director Atom Egoyan looks to explore this concept here both through the media of violence, art, and social relationships and by focusing directly on the life experiences of a small group of individuals. The result is a non-linear film that initially teases the audience with the assorted pieces to its puzzle before settling down into a chewier and more clear-cut discussion about what it all might mean.

In other words, Canadian teenager Simon (Devon Bostick) comes up with an unconventional take on an equally unusual choice of translation exercise in school. However, upon reading his script , his French teacher (Arsinée Khanjian) encourages Simon to further develop his ideas into a dramatic monologue. However, when the latter decides unilaterally to take the project one step further again, his words provoke great debate and controversy in online chat rooms. Equally, in undertaking this exercise, Simon is re-opening old family wounds in terms of what happened to his parents. This, too, will go on to have major ramifications for all concerned.

Not unsurprisingly, perhaps, the resulting film is a decidedly contrived affair. Occasionally blurring the lines between reality and imagination, it is essentially a work that studies the unforeseeable consequences of intolerance, upbringing, and the manner in which the world has become so interconnected. In effect, a seemingly familiar line gets drawn from the Crusades straight through to the Holocaust, and on to the conflict in the Middle East and a failed terrorist plot, before finishing, though, with the fractured lives of a family who have experienced a seemingly unrelated tragedy.

In this respect, the film can be compared with Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Babel. However, unlike the earlier work, Adoration is more preoccupied with breaking the generational cycle of these terrible events than it is with putting our inability to communicate with each other under the microscope. As a result, it depicts the Internet as a place of open communication and it emphasises how art can be a way to break down barriers and engender unity, e.g. the gift to play the violin well or to make terrible events faraway seem incredibly immediate and relevant. At the same time, Mr. Egoyan is also wise enough to sound a cautious note in terms of how art, for example, can be used as a tool to maintain divisions too.

Finally, the fact that this film is aided in no small part by a tense and weighty score by Mr. Egoyan’s habitual composer Mychael Danna cannot be overlooked. In particular, this music helps to maintain an air of poignancy and gravitas despite the plot beginning to cough and splutter a little from the midpoint on. Equally, other than Ms. Khanjian being decidedly unnerving at times, there is nothing particularly remarkable about the acting on offer either. Yet, despite such criticisms, this film is definitely a worthwhile watch, especially as there is a satisfactory challenge on offer here to try and decode what Mr. Egoyan wishes to say. There are also some memorable scenes to look out for, not least those where Ms. Khanjian’s character literally visits Simon’s home in undercover fashion!

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

Redbelt

2010-02-09T01:34:00.000+02:00

Vital Stats: The Official Site. Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 68%

The Hype: I’ve long been a Mamet fan, and I absolutely loved Spartan. I was looking forward to seeing Redbelt but never got around to it until now. My brother constantly hounded me to watch it, so I figured it had to be pretty good.

The Logline: An American samurai film set in the L.A. fight world about a Jiu-Jitsu master who turned his back on prizefighting to operate a self-defense studio, but is conned by a cabal of celebs and fight promoters to enter the ring in order to regain his honor. (thanks to Variety)

The Verdict: With Spartan, and now with Redbelt, Mamet takes a well-used, often mindless film genre and treats them seriously, giving them more than one level to work on. In Redbelt, we follow Mike Terry, the head of a a failing jiu-jitsu school as the big bad world forces its way inside his pure dojo.

As the real world intrudes, things get messy. The confusion is intentional as you struggle along with Terry to recalibrate your moral compass and find north. The film works best when you feel his dilemma, when you don’t know what choice is left. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t really resolve itself well. The performances, from the bit players through to the hero, Terry, are all really strong, as you’d expect from a Mamet film. The problem though is that several of the characters roles aren’t clear and in the climax they seem to be unmotivated servants of the plot. Emily Mortimer’s character is fantastic and her sub-plot was at least as – if not more – interesting than the main plot. The last few scenes she appears in her actions don’t make a lot of sense and you get the feeling that there are parts of her story missing. The failure to tie her story into the heroes is a glaring problem with the film and there are similar problems with the wife and the movie star (although Tim Allen is surprisingly decent in a straight role – maybe we can convince him to stop ruining comedy?).

This isn’t a must-see. It’s definitely worth watching, and it works as a fight movie – with a little more intelligence than is typical, and it has some great performances in it – but the film is let down a little by an unconvincing conclusion.

The Rating: 3 1/2 stars

[Via http://popcornadventures.wordpress.com]

Let's start the week off right!

2010-02-09T00:46:00.000+02:00

I really am trying to get back into a routine of posting. I am sure that I will reach one soon. To start off the week I would like to update my “blog intentions.” I first started this blog as a countdown to studying in Japan next fall quarter. The blog was going to update my progress as well as posting other interesting bits of information. However, even though going to Japan is still a goal that I have, right now it is not exactly something that I see happening in the near future. Even though I have only been at University for a year, I have already declared my major and need to focus on taking core classes for that major so that I will be able to graduate next spring　

Summary: I still would like to go to Japan, but right now I need to focus on other important items　

In the meantime, as my major is Cinema Studies, I have been watching lots of different films and TV shows, as well as reading interesting film articles. I watched an Japanese TV show last quarter that had a very well edited opening and it got even better when I realized that the opening for the show changed several times. And it got even better when I realized that there was a second season of the show too.

So, starting today I would like to share the different openings in order, starting with season 1, which is called Ef: A Tale of Memories.

Opening 1:

Along with this video, here is a link to the Chanel Spring-Summer 2010 collection.

http://www.chanel.com/fashion/8#8-spring-summer-2010-haute-couture-chanel-fashion-show-16,1

I promise that it will be worth your time scanning through the outfits. For me they seem to be giving off an “Alice in Wonderland” sort of look. I also found these shoes at Nordstrom. If only I had $300 to just casually spend　

Well, I hope that this post helped start your week off right. I will update again tomorrow　

[Via http://rjapan.wordpress.com]

.laura and scott..the exchange.

2010-02-07T04:29:00.000+02:00

many of our couples really enjoy the thought of giving each other a gift the day of their wedding. when the opportunity arrives for us to be able to document this, we always want to shoot it in a creative way. this day, we filmed the journey that the gifts took to get to their destination. we really hope that films like this encourage more of our couples to exchange gifts the day of their wedding. enjoy.

[Via http://endlesswaveblog.com]

2001: a Space Odyssey: staying on-message...

2010-02-07T00:30:00.000+02:00

SO, today in Dublin watched once again that phantasmagorical epic 2001: a Space Odyssey, in – Lo! - its original 70mm (so, genuine widescreen). Made in 1968 and directed by the reclusive but iconic Stanley Kubrick, the film has all the hallmarks of a ’60s project – Hardy Amies fashion, idealism, psychedelia etc. – but (as always with intelligent science fiction) foreshadows many things to come, including a not so distant relative of the iPad. On its release 2001 attracted mixed reviews, partly due to an opaque plot, but also its Great Length (even the trimmed version is 141 minutes; the original weighed in at a restroom-beckoning 160). Now, 2001 is widely acknowledged as one of the best 100 films ever made.

And no wonder; WHAT a film! Divided into three parts, 2001 traces the development of humankind, from our earliest ape-like ancestors 4 million years ago, through our first attempts at space exploration, and finally our (well, the protagonist’s anyway) transformation into a gigantic Star Child, hovering between our Earth and the moon, and ready to shepherd our species into an uncertain future. Overseeing all of this are some nameless aliens, represented by a mysterious monolith (looking strangely like the UN building in New York – well, this is the ’60s).

The plot? Well, first the monolith rescues the apes from near-extinction, ‘training’ them to use bones as clubs so turning them from herbivores into hunter-gatherers, and paving the way for evolution to produce homo-sapiens. Then, in the 20thC, we find another monolith on the moon, which subsequently signals Alien HQ on Jupiter that “the humans are here and they’re not grunting anymore”.

Finally, a monolith the size of Venus takes the hero David Bowman from his spaceship (called ‘Discovery’, and sent to see where the signal actually went), through a star-gate to metamorphose into humanity’s next stage of development – Super Being. The star of the show is HAL, the spaceship’s mixed up super-computer, who gradually descends to a level of existential angst making Hamlet look, well, cheerful. HAL, sadly, believes the mission is under threat because Bowman and his colleague start to doubt his abilities. So, he enters cyber-psychosis, and kills all the crew except Bowman (including three in suspended animation). Bowman is forced to pull HAL’s plug.

When I first saw the film in 1971, it terrified and awed me. Its a startlingly original project, released at a time when most other films were bonnet dramas, war films, really silly Hammer Horrors, or risqué comedies like Carry on up the Khyber (though that was a fun film). The visual effects in 2001 – such as Bowman being taken through the star-gate – won Kubrick an Oscar, but it was Bowman’s sheer loneliness, being 100 million miles from earth orbiting Jupiter, isolated in the deafening silence of space, that got to me as a teen-ager.

That and the eerie music. Much of the soundtrack is from the music of Hungarian György Ligeti, a fiercely contemporary composer (he died only in 2006). Through an extensive use of microtones (those spaces between the notes on a piano), Ligeti creates a musical landscape that really does seem ‘not of this world’ – the effect Kubrick of course wanted (check out Lux Aeterna when you have time; and keep the light on).

I came out of the theatre today stunned (and looking for a restroom). As an adult, I couldn’t help seeing the film in a different light to my first viewing (good grief) 39 years ago. Its message is as strong as 40 years ago…but what do I think now in 2010? Well, first, 2001’s technological prescience. Credit cards to make phone/video calls! Space travel to the moon! A space station orbiting the Earth! Digital newspapers! Personal screens for in-flight entertainment! Computers that talk! Flat screen monitors! (yes, they were unknown in 1968).

Second, the film also reminded me that now, at the beginning of the third millennium, our arrogance as a species knows no bounds – see the mess we’re making of our planet – so superior beings may be just the thing to bring us into line (!). Its also a shame that when the apes learn to use clubs for killing animals for food, their NEXT target is the other ape-tribe down the valley. Whilst I have no truck with Golden-Ageists (see a previous post), it did remind me of human development’s Janus-face.

And the death of HAL still feels odd. ‘He’ was a machine of course, just programmed to be a ‘person’, but ‘killing’ HAL did seem uncomfortably close to ending the life of a living being that didn’t want to die. HAL was just a little mixed up, and his deteriorating mental health was (as revealed later) a by-product of internal conflict. HAL knew something Bowman didn’t – that the true reason for the mission was to find the aliens. HAL killing the crew was just cyber-teleology (the end – a successful mission – justifies the means – killing the crew). During the scene where Bowman slowly removes HAL’s processors to stop him doing more damage, the computer’s regression to ‘childhood’ then silicon death still feels genuinely unsettling. What defines a person? Is HAL different to a human? Why?

Kubrick kept the dialogue in 2001 intentionally sparse or bland (much to the chagrin of writer Arthur C Clarke, on whose short story The Sentinel the film is based), so as to give the audience free reign to construct their own interpretations of what is going on. So, go see the film next time it shows (the DVD doesn’t really do the cinematography any justice).

What do YOU think it all means?

[Via http://ianhodgson.wordpress.com]

The 10 movies you shouldn't watch from 2009

2010-02-06T02:44:00.000+02:00

We live in a world of entertainment and, in my opinion, it is more then normal that, thanks to the advanced tecniques, 3D graphics and WHAT THEY CHARGE US to see, rent or buy a film, that the movies industry should give us some real good stuff to entertain our free time! I know I have high expectations and maybe too high standards but sometimes I really find myself in my video store, after i’ve whatched all the good ones, to get DVDs that I don’t know and I haven’t read about online.. Well, most of the time, after I spent those 90 minutes in front of the TV with my wife, we ask oursevels: WHY HAVEN’T WE DONE SOMETHING BETTER???.. So, before I start planning for a better hobby, maybe like playing Monopoly or Scrabble against our PCs, once the “good movies are out”, please allow me to give you this piece of advice… DON’T WASTE YOU TIME WATCHING…:

Entertainment rate Movie My Review My Wife comments - 20

The Final Destination

I was quite a fan of the first 3 movies and actually this wasn’t that bad.. but once it ended I felt sorry for the time I wasted watching this. I agree - 250

This Is It

I refused to watch this but I really think that is too cheap to speculate on Jacko… let’s remember him for the good he has done.. Thriller! I agree -500

Dragonball: Evolution

All I have to say about this is.. WHY? ok with the effect and the karate… but.. Ok Anna, give me the remote, better Myth busters! I erased this completely from my memory! - 1000

Angels & Demons

NO NO NO!!! I almost liked the Da vinci Code… but this??? a pure waste of my time! Is it so easy to pick on the Vatican… Better download some more episodes of Family guy from Rapid share! Watched it all… got bored! - 1500

The Pink Panther 2

I am a huge fan of the first original Pink Panther series, the one with Peter Sellers. WHY DO WE HAVE TO SUFFER LIKE THIS!!! Why don’t we tell Steve Martin that he ain’ t funny at ALL! I refused to watch it - 3000

Alien Trespass

I watched it all.. one late night when I had nothing better to do.. I could have come up with something better! I refused to watch it - 7259

Year One

I am a big Jack Black fan… what has he done here? WHY THIS MOVIE? If he was in the need of money I could have pay a couple of Big Mac for him. Jack.. please let’s go back to the school of Rock!! I last 3 minutes.. then I went to sleep - 10000

Brüno

I saw it was lame from the trailers but there was nothing better to rent that day… didn’t finish it, not funny, what else can I say? I refused to watch it - 11250

Super Capers

Couldn’t finish it.. too lame. I wonder who paid to see this “thing” at the theater.. actually who paid to make this???? after 35 seconds I refused to watch it - 125000

2012: Supernova

An incredibly lame Z movie.. one hour and some of pure boredom. If your friends invite you to see this movie surely he/she is upset with you or is a nut case! I spent most of the time in the kitchen

[Via http://lordivanet.wordpress.com]

Grindhouse Classics : "The Black Connection"

2010-02-06T00:48:00.000+02:00

"The Black Connection" Movie Poster

Grimy.

If I had to sum up the 1974 Harry Novak-produced blaxploitation crime thriller “The Black Connection” in one word, that would be it. This movie is just plain grimy.

But there’s more to it than that, of course. From start to finish, this flick exudes an oppressive air of impending doom even at its most lighthearted (relatively speaking) moments. It’s beyond redemption from the get-go, and it’s taking you down with it.

I guess we might as well deal with its notorious alternate title right off the mark : as you can plainly see from the poster shown above, this film was also marketed under the title “Run Nigger Run,” which is offensive, to be sure, but in its defense — flimsy as that defense may be — this wasn’t the only 1970s-era film marketed to a black audience with the unfortunate “N word” in its title. “Boss Nigger” and “The Legend of Nigger Charlie” spring immediately to mind. So while I’m certainly not in any way, shape, or form condoning the use of said racial slur, it was a product of its time, and the times weren’t pretty.

And with that out of the way, we may as well take a look at the story itself, which, to be perfectly honest, takes a hell of a long time to get going. The first quarter (at least) of the movie features a lot of stock mobster-type characters coming and going, only some of whom really have anything to do with the actual thrust of the narrative itself. If you’re looking for a good example of plot discipline, look elsewhere.

Once things do get going, however, the story is a rather involving little crime yarn. John Harrison, a.k.a. The Graveyard Tramp, has described it as being a fusion of “Across 110th Street” and (the original) “Get Carter,” and that’s essentially an accurate summation.

Las Vegas hood Miles Carter (the wooden and uncharismatic Bobby Stevens — but we won’t hold that against him, all the acting in this flick is atrocious) is in it deep with the Italian mob over a hefty amount of missing cocaine. Hes’ tried every legit angle to get the money they want before they whack him, but when even his bank manager turns him down for an extension on the loan he owes them, he knows he’s going to have to resort to — ummm — less conventional methods of settling his scores with both the mob and the bank.

Carter’s girlfriend, Magda (Martha Washington) isn’t too keen on whatever course of action her man is taking, the white junkie chick he keeps on the side is jonesing for a fix, and his aforementioned bank manager has hired a notorious hitman named “Fats” Miller to take Carter out over the not-so-small-matter of his debt. All in all, our guy Carter looks like he’s fucked, and Vegas is getting to be a pretty hot place for him.

Then a chance encounter with Juanita, the widow of a former rival known only as “The Cuban,” offers a timely possibility — she can help him get his hands on a large quantity of premium-grade heroin, all they need to do is get down to Albuquerque to secure the smack. Carter has bigger plans, though — plans that involve setting up one last big deal to unload the heroin and then get the hell down to Mexico with Magda, leaving both his bank and the Mafia holding the bag. All is he has to do is stay alive long enough to get the smack, get it sold, and get across the border. With “Fats” hot on his trail, though, that easier said than done —

There’s nothing flashy or stylish about “The Black Connection,” to say the least. It was shot on the ultra-cheap and looks it. What’s even more important, though, is that it feels as cheap as it looks. The opening credits are simple title cards. The music, by an outfit you’ve never heard of before or since called The Checkmates, Ltd. is groovy enough, but definitely sub-standard soul fare. Thje acting, as mentioned earlier, is almost disoncertingly bland and straightforward. The Las Vegas and and New Mexico locations are cool (as one commenter on the IMDB remarked, one of the most fun things to do when watching this film is to play “name the imploded hotel” in the scenes shot along the Vegas strip), but shot with no pretense toward giving them anything like a panoramic or even involving presentation by director Michael J. Finn ( by the way, this remains, understandably, his only directing credit). To refer once again to The Graveyard Tramp’s review of the film (featured on the back of the case for the DVD-R release of this movie from Something Weird Video) : “the film looks and even feels like one of those ugly, dirty XXX featurettes from the early 1970s which, much like a car wreck, you can’t help but be fascinated by.” I can’t put it much better than that, so I won’t even try.

As I mentioned in the previous review for “Massacre Mafia Style,” this movie makes a great double-bill with that Duke Mitchell classic. They each present a different side to a 1970s blacks-vs.-Italians crime story, both are dirty-ass cheap, and each offers a unique atmosphere all its own, with “Massacre Mafia Style” centered around, and anchored by, Mitchell’s charismatically unhinged performance and the possibility of positively anarchic violence thretening to erupt at any moment, and “The Black Connection” positively reeking of the kind of malevolent and oppressive sleaze that only the lowest of budgets can convey with any sense of autheticity. Watch them back to back and have yourself one heck of a fun night scraping the absolute bottom of the xploitation movie barrel.

“The Black Connection” is available from several online DVD-R dealers, but your host recommends the previously-mentioned Something Weird release. It’s a direct-from- VHS transfer struck from a ratherage-worn (but perfectly watchable) 35mm print, but seeing this thing remastered with a crisper, clearer picture would seriously defeat the whole purpose. In addition, the SWV release also includes the original theatrical trailer at the end, and given that they’re the licensed purveyors of the entire Harry Novak back catalogue, that makes this as close to an “official” DVD release as this movie is ever going to get — or, for that matter, should get. And that’s the beauty of it.

[Via http://trashfilmguru.wordpress.com]

Nuit Blanche

2010-02-04T01:10:00.000+02:00

Nuit Blanche explores a fleeting moment between two strangers, revealing their brief connection in a hyper real fantasy.

Directed by: Arev Manoukian

The making of the award winning “Nuit Blanche”

Directed by: Arev Manoukian Produced by: Stephanie Swedlove & Arev Manoukian VFX by: Marc-Andre Gray Music by: Samuel Bisson Starring: Michael Coughlan & Megan Lindley Cinematographer: Arev ManoukianCasting: Jeff Marshall Assistant Director: Andrew Cividino Production Designer: Arev Manoukian & Marc-Andre Gray Art Director / Costumes – Dan Levy Camera Operator: Jay Pavao Camera Assistant: Max Armstrong Gaffer: Alan Poon Editor: Arev Manoukian Compositor / Animator: Marc-Andre Gray Effects Supervisors: Marc-Andre Gray & Arev Manoukian Additional Compositing: Arev Manoukian Matte Painter: Pat Lau Colourist: Andre Chlebak

http://www.spyfilms.com

[Via http://peaceinvisible.com]

Grindhouse Classics : "Massacre Mafia Style" (a.k.a. "The Executioner")

2010-02-04T00:37:00.000+02:00

"The Executioner" Movie Poster

Wow. That’s the first word that comes to mind when discussing quasi-legendary nightclub singer/comedian/all-around entertainer Duke Mitchell’s 1978 no-budget “Godfather” rip-off, “Massacre Mafia Style,” also released both theatrically and on VHS under the alternate titles “The Executioner” and “Like Father, Like Son.” And while it’s tempting to just leave the review at that and let you discover the perverse mayhem of this nearly-forgotten Z-grade masterpiece on your own, I’ve truthfully never been that good at shutting up, so at least a few words are in order—

Mitchell, who also wrote, directed, and produced this 79-minute homage to pure cinematic chaos on a frayed-shoestring budget, strars as Mimi (more often pronounced as M’mi, rather than Me-Me, but it depends on who’s doing the talking), the son of a highly-regarded mafia figure who left America for Sicily at the age of 16 when his father was deported.

Now (whenever that “now” may be) a widower (he lost his Sicilian wife to incurable cancer) with a 6-year-old son, Mimi asks and receives his elderly dad’s permission to return, alone, to the US in order to take over the LA-area prostitution and numbers-running operations and earn a better future for his son.

A basic enough premise, to be sure, but once Mimi hooks up with childhood friend Jolly (Vic Caeasr) in order to help him with his conquest of the underworld, it’s sheer, frenetic, balls-to-the-walls anarcy from start to finish. Even the slow, “talky” scenes take on an aura of unpredictable WTF-ness thanks to Mitchell’s frenetic, amazingly singular perfomance. He’s capable of anything at any time, and the viewer quite literally doesn’t know what the hell could happen from one second to the next, as director Mitchell bobs and weaves between straight-forward conventionality and completely-out-of-the-blue experimentalism (the scene where a black pimp is crucified has to be seen to be believed), and actor Mitchell goes from mild-mannered soliloqy-deliverer to insane mafia hitman without a conscience at less than the drop of a hat. You’ve never seen a performance like Mitchell delivers here, and his manic instability and complete incongruousness from one moment to the next is the glue that holds the film together even though, by all respects, he’s quite literally tearing things apart. I can’t explain it, the guy is just a force of (warped, admittedly) nature.

Mimi’s hardscrabble climb to the top is a long, slow slog in terms of time elapsed in the script, but it’s covered at a breakneck pace. Over a decade goes by in Mimi’s life, but as mentioned earlier, the total running time of the film is 79 minutes. In other words, things don’t let up much.

Stills of Mimi (Duke Mitchell) in action from "Massacre Mafia Style"

Like most grindhouse fans, my only exposure to “Massacre Mafia Style” came from the trailer included on most Grindhouse Releasing discs from the late 90s onward. Come to find out, in the best low-budget fashion, the trailer is essentially nothing more the film’s opening scene, cut off at a brilliantly tense point — Mimi and Jolly wipe out what appears to be more or less everyone in an entire office building in brutal fashion, and on their way out, a young boy gets into the elevator and we see Mimi patting his head. The entire scene has no dialogue and is overlaid with a faux-”authentic” Dean Martin-style Itlian musical number. Now knowing what’s being said, we’re left to wonder — does Mimi kill the kid in order to ensure that there are no living witnesses who might finger he and his partner for the crime?

I won’t give it away, but suffice to say, “Massacre Mafia Style” is a movie that certainly FEELS, from the outset, like the kid could be shot, regardless of whether or not Mimi actually DOES it.

Now, though, I can proudly say I’ve seen the whole thing, and a whole lot more. That’s because Mitchel’’s son, Jeffrey, has released a seriously limited edition (as in 500 copies) three-disc “Family Edition” of his old man’s masterpiece. I don’t know if Grinhouse Releasing will ever get around to putting outtheir own version (along with Mitchell;s other film they apparently have some sort of claim on, the truly bizarre looking “Gone With The Pope”), but at this point I have to say I don’t really care, because this package gives you so much more than you could ever ask for.

"Massacre Mafia Style" DVD

Disc One contains the feature film itself, and while the transfer is quite obviously direct-from-VHS (and presented in mono), it still looks and sounds decent enough. Added to that, though, we get no less than three feature-length commentary tracks from Jeffrey Mitchell and family friends Frankie Ray (frequent writing collaborator with Duke and, believe it or not, Lenny Bruce) and George Jacobs (long-time personal assistant to and valet for Frank Sinatra). While actual discussion of the film itself on these tracks is a bit spotty, they spin one entertaining yarn after another about the elder Mitchell’s life and career, and obviously know more than just a bit about the intersected worlds of Hollywood and the mob that the story takes its inspiration from.

Rounding out the disc, we have the aforementioned theatrical trailer, some rare radio spots narrated by Duke, and a preview for another upcoming Jeffrey Mitchell private-issue DVD releasse of his father’s nightclubact titled “An Impressionistic Tribute To Jimmy Durante.”

And folks, that’s just the first disc.

On Disc Two, we get a brand new documentary feature on the lives and careers of both Mitchells entitled “Like Father, Like Son,” extended interviews with both Frankie Ray and George Jacobs, audio recordings of one of Duke Mitchell’s final live performances, a seriously extensive gallery of still covering not only “Massacre Mafia Style,” but Duke’s entire life and career, and various stages of the film’s script — early treatments, a rough draft, and the final shooting script — available in PDF format.

Finally, a third “bonus disc” is being offered to online customers right now that features 30 more minutes of archival footage, interview outtakes with (Jeffrey) Mitchell, Ray and Jacobs, and additional commentary from all three.

So — yeah. This is one comprehensive package, to say the least, and a true labor of love, all packaged together with a nice inlay card that features “The Executioner” poster from the top of this review on front with a copy of Duke’s scrawled “Italian cheat sheet” on the back. And while it’s not my style to pimp this openly for a product, the only way you’re going to see this thing, unless you’re a friend who wants to come over to my place to watch it, is to order it directly from http://www. massacremafiastyle.com. Like I mentioned earlier, only 500 copies were made, so if you want it, get it while you can.

I’m not really sure what other movie I can compare this to. In a way, it reminds me of a mirror image of “The Black Connection” (which wouldn’t be a bad choice for my next review, actually) given that they’re both ultra-low-budget late-70s gangster flicks that depict an underworld war between Italians and African-Americans (albeit from opposite sides), and they’re both equally discombobulated, but “Massacre Mafa Style” is a whole lot bloodier, nastier, funnier (yes, you read that right), and has a LOT more music (again, yes, you read that right). And there has NEVER been a performance like the one Duke Mitchell delivers in this film, before or since.

I’d give it my highest possible recommendation, but even that seems praise to faint. In short, get off your ass and see it now.

[Via http://trashfilmguru.wordpress.com]

Kramer vs Kramer

2010-02-02T01:52:00.000+02:00

“Ted Kramer is a career man for whom his work comes before his family. His wife Joanna cannot take this anymore, so she decides to leave him. Ted is now faced with the tasks of housekeeping and taking care of himself and their young son Billy. When he has learned to adjust his life to these new responsibilities, Joanna resurfaces and wants Billy back. Ted however refuses to give him up, so they go to court to fight for the custody of their son” idbm

A drama of a man and his child been suddenly left by their “wife\mom”, turns out to be a really sweet and brilliant comedy. This is a story of a man who never gives up, afterall, even if he would expected to find a job in 24hr. A son who come through the abandoning, helping and supporting the father in their new life, with an incredible consciousness. And a desperate unhappy mother who has been living his marriage under the shadow of the husband; she decides to leave the family as the only way to find herself again. But she can’t live without her son so long….

This film is absolutely…..

…..Terrific!

[Via http://yandx.wordpress.com]

Edge Of Seats For Edge Of Darkness

2010-02-02T00:43:00.000+02:00

Welcome back Mr Gibson, and what a great come back it is. His first major acting performance since 2002, Gibson plays Detective Thomas Craven a veteran Boston homicide cop, who is also a single Father to 24 year old Daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic), his only child. Emma returns home for an apparent vacation from her job, where she soon develops odd symptoms of vomiting blood, before totally freaking out and screaming at her Dad to take her to a Doctor, and also declaring that ‘There’s something I should have told you!‘. The ungrateful cow then gets blown away in a drive by shooting on her Father’s doorstep without even telling him what it was he needed to be told (evidently the plot would have ended here but it would have been nice!) Initially the shooting was thought to have been intended for Detective Thomas Craven himself, but as he drops into detective mode he starts to uncover Emma’s secret life as an activist and begins his decent into a deep dark cavern of a government conspiracy!

Cue the help of a man working for the government, solely for the purpose of covering things up so this conspiracy doesn’t rear it’s seedy little head. This man is called Jedburgh, and he’s played by returning cockney hard-man Ray Winstone! But I’m afraid that from his first appearance in the film I couldn’t help but see him in the Bet365 adverts and was half expecting him to go into his spiel: “Bet365.com is all about the inplay, it’s all about The Next Person Killed, The Number Of Suspects, The Time It Takes You To Solve The Mystery, The Number Of Bullets Fired, The Final Prediction Of The Plot-line!” It was however quite nice to see him back on the big screen doing things other than his sell out adverts, and his character was everything you would expect. Just Ray, in his black suit/white shirt combo, being really cockney! But being serious for just a moment, Winstone gives a pretty good performance, once you see past the adverts, and by the end of the movie you’ll find yourself really warming to the character.

Mel Gibson plays the part of Thomas Craven absolutely superb, showing that he hasn’t just rehashed previous characters from past movies and has infact proven why he is still considered as a talented actor. Thomas Craven as a character is one that I really took a shine to, and I would even say that he’s been my favourite character in a movie for quite some time. It was a shame that he would only be making one outing in ‘Edge Of Darkness‘ (Warner Brother’s, is it too much to ask for you to do a couple of prequels, so we, or at least I can see Thomas Cravens back story? Please!) It would also seem that Thomas Craven has done for Ginger Ale what James Bond did for Martini, asking for one whenever the opportunity presented itself. The only downside to Mel Gibson’s performance is that his Boston accent sometimes slipped into Family Guy’s Peter Griffin, but it did present opportunity for another Family Guy feature length movie spoof so I’ll let it slip!

Little do people know is that the movie is actually a remake of a television series of the same name from the 80’s, made here in old Blighty for the BBC (God Save The Queen!) It’s a series that I haven’t actually seen yet, however the roller coaster ride of a storyline in the film, and a mild love affair with the character of Thomas Craven has driven me to purchase the original series, and that’s something I don’t do very often!

Overall, although I know we’re hardly into it, Edge Of Darkness has put itself firmly in my best films of 2010 list and I would recommend you all to get your asses to the cinema to see it, if not for the excuse to watch a decent thriller at least to see what you think of Mel Gibson’s superb Peter Griffin impression! So stick it to the jews and get yourself to the nearest cinema to watch Gibson in action… Go now, what you waiting for!

Mojo

(As usual, here’s the trailer!)

[Via http://mojocapers.wordpress.com]

Cinema's Multilingual Future

2010-01-31T02:08:00.000+02:00

Un prophète or A Prophet won the Grand Prix award at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Jacques Audiard’s interesting prison drama takes place in a global, multilingual world. The film’s polyglot use of French, Arabic and Corsican accurately portrays multicultural chaos and the multilingual matrix that exists in most global cities.

Slumdog Millionaire started the current multilingual cinematic revolution, by using Hindi to convey the story during signifcant portions of the film. More recently, Quentin Tarantino’s Inlourious Basterds’ juggled German, English and French.

Using technology (Mojolingual) and tools from Mojofiti and other companies, we can expect to see more multilingual creative works and eventually, live multilingual performances.

[Via http://mojosimon.wordpress.com]

Photos: 350+ Screencaps from 'Little Ashes'

2010-01-31T00:50:00.000+02:00

Holy screencaps, Dali! LOL

Enjoy!

Attention US RobFans, you can now purchase the DVD & check it out yourself!

Click here for more information regarding the Little Ashes film.

[Via http://thepattinsonproject.wordpress.com]

"Make Milwaukee": Week 1 | Film Noir, MAM, and Street Seen

2010-01-30T00:37:00.000+02:00

Listen: Never done a piece quite like this before…

Towards the top of Rick’s list of exciting, dynamic happenings in Milwaukee’s creative community, I found the film noir series being presented as part of the Street Seen photography exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Sounded good. Two of those screenings are going to be accompanied by a guest lecturer from UWM, so we even had an obvious interview built into the concept. Even better!

Unfortunately, when you’re working on a tight deadline, sometimes you can’t get every interview. I called and called and called with no response, so we had to come up with a Plan B. We had to think, what can we do to somehow present the film noir series? How can we convince 88Nine listeners and the general public that it’s worth checking out?

We found our solution, whether it’s effective or not, on www.youtube.com and in our own amateur voice acting abilities:

The clips of dialogue are all from films being screened during the upcoming series: Murder My Sweet, The Big Sleep, Out Of The Past, Killer’s Kiss, and Double Indemnity.

Scene from Out Of The Past. Wouldn't you like to see that picture move?

To learn more about the Milwaukee Art Museum’s awesome Street Scene Exhibit, follow this link. Also, the first movie in their Film Noir series is showing tomorrow! Get down there!

Produced by: Adam Carr

[Via http://unifiedmilwaukee2.wordpress.com]

Diário de uma Mostra - Parte V - A(s) Língua(s)

2010-01-28T02:19:00.000+02:00

- Aqui, bom festival procê também.

Assim que a atendente da lotérica, que fica aqui do lado do hotel, se despediu de mim. Ela achou muito engraçado o fato de eu ter um livro na bolsa, achou isso um habito “de paulista”. Nem precisei falar da onde era para as pessoas da fila, quando o casal começou a falar comigo, a mulher logo falou com toda a sua lógica “vc é de são paulo, não?” num tipo de pergunta que mais tinha tom de constatação que outra coisa. Resignei-me ao fato de que meu sotaque me denuncia.

Nunca tinha pensado na maneira de falar paulista como algo tão marcado, mas, segundo outro mineiro com quem conversei (um diretor de curtas), paulista tem um ritmo meio cantado. Estranho, sempre achei isso dos mineiros. É, deve ser algo de meu ouvido! Ou não…

Aqui na Mostra o que é mais comum é se encontrar pessoas dos mais variados sotaques do país conversando juntas em alguma mesa dos restaurantezinhos. Na área de imprensa então, parece a torre de babel. Misturam-se cearenses, pernambucanos, bahianos, mineiros, paulistas, cariocas [e fluminenses], paranaenses, goianos e gaúchos. Além disso, temos ainda uns sotaques de franceses falando em ingles, ou em um francês tão rápido que, mesmo se soubesse a língua, não saberia decodificar. Um desses franceses me concedeu uma entrevista (Fabien Gaffez, faz parte de um dos olheiros da semana da crítica, do Festival de Cannes, a entrevista tá aqui), a chuva caía muito forte na parte de fora, foi um caos para entender o inglês dele com sotaque gravado no meu mp4.

Em uma das entrevistas coletivas, um desenhista de som – sim, existe essa profissão – foi para a frente falar sobre Terras, o documentário que tinha ajudado a produzir [junto de Maya Da Rin, outra pessoa com quem falei, veja aqui]. Ele começou a falar do universo sonoro do documentário, e de como tinha sido a pesquisa para tornar o filme o mais natural possível, e como ele mexeu com universos sonoros desconhecidos para desenhar os ritmos do filme. Pois bem, Tiradentes é assim para mim.

Podem falar como quiserem, e não entender algumas de minhas gírias. Eu mesma posso não entender muitas outras gírias, ou achar estranha a maneira como o ritmo mineiro desenha ondulações no ar. Mas, aqui, por aqui, é como se todos falassem uma língua só, o cinema. E ela consegue conectar a todos.

[Via http://paullistania.wordpress.com]

The Tooth Fairy

2010-01-28T01:43:00.000+02:00

I’ve been a bit slack with this one… I saw The Tooth Fairy maybe two weeks ago.

I don’t know, I was kind of expecting The Tooth Fairy to be incredibly awful, you know, like one of those Disney-type G-rated movies the teachers get you to watch at primary school when it’s the day before the holidays and they’re sick of teaching. The movies everybody cringes at and talks over the top of. And I guess it was a bit like that. It had the same kind of message as those movies – dreams are good, you can do exactly what you want in life, everybody can be somebody, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Not that they’re bad messages, just a little cliche. But The Tooth Fairy was… different.

It was funnier than most of those films. Like, it had that geeky guy from the English The Office who’s also in Pirates of the Caribbean - you know, the wooden eyeball guy – and he was quite hilarious. There was one bit where he and the main character were discussing Facebook, and if they could ‘poke’ one-another, and it was so funny.

And the acting wasn’t fantastic, like in those school-movies, but it did have some great actors, like Julie Andrews. I have no idea how they managed to get her to do this movie.

And all in all, even though it was a little predictable, and a little cliche, The Tooth Fairy was lots and lots of fun to see. 3/5.

Short review today, guys. Sorry!

[Via http://kidsgomoo.wordpress.com]

Review: Avatar!

2010-01-28T01:09:00.000+02:00

Alas, it’s been an exceedingly long time since I’ve written something, that I am not happy about. But last week, the first week in which Avatar was not sold out, unlike the four previous to it, I was able to see it.. In 3D!

The cinematic spectacle Avatar, directed by James Cameron, topped the box office charts the best-selling film of all time this week, knocking Titanic (also of Cameron’s work) off the pedestal, and it shows no signs of stopping now! But what made the film so worthy of praise?

When Cameron and co got the green light for production, they were given a $200 million budget, and surprisingly, that’s not the largest budget for a film to date. The $200 million was well invested in ground breaking cinematic technology which has set a cornerstone for the film industry. Cameron was inspired by on-screen characters such as Gollum, King Kong and Davy Jones, which gave him an unsettling but surprising confidence in the creation of the Na’vi.

Cameron's 'Hammerhead Titanothere'

The film took just over two years to make, but it seems the time and money, was well invested. Cameron didn’t create just another film, he created an entire diverse and stunning universe. Using not only relatively new technology for facial recognition, but lighting technology for Pandora, which is prominently seen in its radiating flora and forestry.

Despite the distracting scenery however, performances from Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, The Great Raid, Dirty Deeds), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Guess Who, Pirates of The Caribbean: Curse of The Black Pearl), Michelle Rodriguez (Resident Evil, Fast And Furious, Lost), Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Holes, Ghostbusters) and Joel David Moore (Dodgeball, Grandma’s Boy, The Shaggy Dog), made the film. With good, but not exceedingly so performances from Stephen Lang (Gods And Generals, Public Enemies, The Men Who Stare At Goats) and Giovanni Ribisi (Public Enemies, Saving Private Ryan, Lost In Translation). Throughout, Worthington and Weaver seem to perfectly bounce off of each other’s roles with wit and sarcasm, whilst on the other hand, Worthington and Saldana have been dubbed the ‘Jack and Rose of Space.’

Despite scepticism in regards the lack of a plot line, or even the idea in which the inter-racial battle between the Humans and Na’vi is a reflection on Modern Americans VS Native Americans, the plot was surprisingly pleasing. It was a refreshing and unexpected take on the typical ‘boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy uses advanced futuristic technology to switch race‘ genre, but with all seriousness, Avatar comprises of a rich, luxurious visual utopia, an arguably original plot spanning over three hours (unlike The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), and a fantastic cinematic experience, enhanced by the new 3D technology which has come to light, or possibly seeing it in IMAX. Fans of Avatar may be glad to know that Avatar 2 will be coming in 2011-2012 as a sequel, and possibly Avatar 3 as either a sequel or prequel. Avatar is a must see.

[Via http://matthewceo.wordpress.com]

Movie: The Fall of Fujimori

2010-01-26T04:09:00.000+02:00

The Fall of Fujimori, 2005, documentary, directed by Ellen Perry, originally in English

Alberto Fujimori was the very controversial president of Peru from 1990 to 2000. He was controversial because although he built many roads and schools, ended the terrorist threats of the Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, he also suspended parliament, created very harsh anti-terrorism laws, severely restricted human rights in Peru, and headed a government accused of corruption and far worse. Currently, he is sitting in a prison in Peru for crimes against humanity.

Who is Fujimori really? He portrayed himself as the funny little “Chinaman” who was always friendly and looking out for the people. His wife reported on camera that he was a better actor than the professionals in Hollywood. His right-hand man, Vladimiro Montesinos, is undoubtedly a bad guy – who is certainly responsible for death squads, embezzlement, drug trafficking, assassinations, bribery, and arms running. It could be argued that Fujimori was willfully ignorant of Montesinos’ activities; one testimony said that when Montesinos reported to Fujimori about these illicit activities, Fujimori responded that he “didn’t want to know.” It could also be argued that Montesinos had to run everything by Fujimori, or it could be said that Montesinos had complete free reign and even Fujimori didn’t know what he was up to.

This documentary is a very thought-provoking account of what happened in the 1990s in Peru. What the climate was when Fujimori stepped into office, his reaction to terrorism, the emergence of scandals, and the evolution of his presidency are all laid out in a fairly neutral manner that really leaves the viewer to form their own opinions about what is and what can never be, justified. An excellent movie, although a bit graphic at times.

[Via http://aliinperu.wordpress.com]

Up In The Air - A Film Review

2010-01-26T00:00:00.000+02:00

Around a year ago, a well-known Irish recruitment agency began advertising its latest service – how to offload staff in an effective and legally acceptable manner. Now, they put it in a much nicer way than that, of course. However, the subtext was only too clear. In a similar manner, lawyers and accountants make a fortune putting big deals together and then are able to make even more money when those deals go sour a few years later on. In other words, capitalism has proven to be a highly resilient beast for one very good reason. It will always have its acolytes who do not vacillate about the morality of how they make their money.

Therefore, if Daniel Plainview and Gordon Gekko represent the unashamedly greedy faces of capitalism, then Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) aspires to being its perfectly perfunctory one instead. Indeed, this polished business executive is the ideal instrument of his trade – an unemotional, smooth, and assertive loner who is in absolute thrall to the perks of his job and who can also relish what many would consider to be its spirit-crushing lows. In other words, Bingham can happily spend his days informing people that they are being made redundant and his evenings in the blessed anonymity of airports, airplanes, and hotels. His only problem in life is the forty-odd days of the year that he has to spend back home in his depersonalised apartment in Omaha. That said, a psychiatrist might also like to chat to him about his highly questionable philosophy on life…

Now, on paper, there was the potential here for this to be an interesting examination of the sort of person prepared to do a job that demands great personal sacrifices. Equally, this film from director and co-writer Jason Reitman does begin in promising enough fashion. One can even be tolerant of the fact that it turns some people’s reactions to the trauma of being made redundant into light comedy sketches…

More troubling, though, are moments such as when a person gets ignored when she has just calmly expressed her intention to kill herself or when the likes of Bingham can get away with dishing out ridiculous advice to people who have just been made redundant about how the world is now their oyster again and how this can be a moment of “rebirth” for them. As Bingham himself admits, not only will he never meet these people again, he is definitely not going to be following up on what becomes of them either. He has a quick and dirty job to do and, once it is done, he washes his hands of it.

Nevertheless, this film is able to dedicate plenty of time to examining the emotional impact that such encounters have on the people who are showing these employees the door. Hence, a middle-aged man can wander off a lonely, broken, and sobbing figure, whilst Bingham instead busies himself with making sure that his young colleague (Anna Kendrick) is okay following her “ordeal”. Indeed, it is testimony to her compassion for others that she does require several seconds afterwards to regain her composure before crossing the man’s name off of her list! In taking this approach, the film thus reduces the many ordinary victims of this recession down to being little more than bells and whistles on just another stylish yet cock-eyed Hollywood romantic comedy with a good-looking cast and an unconventional lead character.

For sure, Mr. Clooney is both charismatic and convincing as Bingham. On the other hand, a one-note performance is all that is demanded of him. Indeed, this entire offering comes across as being a glossy mediocrity of a film – something that is really just a couple of notches better than the usual insipid fare that this genre has to offer. It also trumpets no-brainer lessons in life, whilst saying nothing about how unfettered capitalism has destroyed the lives of so many ordinary Americans…

Lightly entertaining, if you do not think too hard about it; something of a monstrosity when you do.

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

What Am I Watching Now?

2010-01-24T07:53:00.000+02:00

Nearly being finished with Cinemageddon’s list of over 40 dystopian films, (some amazing like Le Darnier Combat, The Lathe of Heaven, and The Handmaid’s Tale and some completely awful, like Nirvana and Casshern.) I’ve been thinking about what to watch next. Last night I got around to a couple films I’d been meaning to watch for a while.

If you were around in the early 90’s, you probably remember the pinnacle of Robbie Van Winkle, A.K.A. Vanilla Ice’s career in which they let him make a movie called Cool As Ice (1991), as if he was Elvis or some shit like that. And while Vanilla Ice did share the ability to steal black music for white audiences, much like Elvis, he could not make a movie a success merely by merit of him being in it. The scenes of him and his “homeboys” relaxing at a bizarre bike repair depot/house are not only dated, I have to say most people probably found them ridiculous even 19 years ago when this movie first came out. Ice moves through all the bizarre colors and badly written music acting like a complete douche in the first half of the film and a stoic hero for the latter half. He carries off the douche part way better, since his acting acumen for the rest of the film falls neatly into the “Keanu Reeves” as neo slot. Robby should have really played a villain and played up the douche angle more. Andrew Dice Clay could have taught him a few lessons, I think.

On a much more fun note, I watched Dark Star (1974), another film I’d been meaning to get to for a while. I’d both read about it and had many people mention it to me as a great space comedy. Dark Star is indeed everything I expected and more. It’s basically a cross between a cartoon and Dr. Strangelove in space.

However, this film isn’t just a great comedy. Anyone looking to make a movie about space and convey a sense of isolation and claustrophobia should watch this film and take some serious notes. Almost immediately upon the start of the film I got a little anxious due to the cramped feeling of the control room. If you can make your viewers really feel the sensation you want to convey like that, you’ve definitely met with huge success. Dark Star is wonderful.

What now? Well I have a few things I want to watch in the meantime. I started Jason and the Argonauts (1963) before falling asleep last night. I think I got through about a third of it. It’s a pretty neat movie so far.

I think next I’m going to watch all the movies which got four “slime drops” on badmovies.org. Badmovies.org is one of my favorite review sites and the four slime ratings are all “must see” films, according to the site proprieter Andrew Borntreger. I’ve seen a few of them, but not nearly enough. Here’s the list I’ve compiled from badmovies.org of the four slime rated films. (* after the film means I’ve seen it. % means I’ve seen part of it.)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

Bad Taste

The Brain That Wouldn’t Die

The Champions of Justice

The Crippled Masters

Dawn of the Dead%

Dead Alive

Death Race 2000*

Destroy All Monsters

Dolemite

Drunken Wu Tang

The Educational Archives: Driver’s Ed

El Topo

Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn%

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

Fiend Without a Face

Fist of the North Star

Flash Gordon*

The Fly*

Forbidden Zone%

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Gamera vs Guiron*

The Giant Claw*

Godzilla vs. Monster Zero

Greaser’s Palace

Gymkata

Hawk the Slayer

Hundra

Infra-Man

Killer Klowns from Outer Space*

The Killer Shrews%

Maniac

Master of the Flying Guillotine

Meet the Feebles

Planet of the Apes*

Plan 9 from Outer Space*

Raiders of Wu Tang

Reptilicus

The Resurrected

Return of the Living Dead

Robot Monster*

The Rocky Horror Picture Show*

Rodan

Rollerball*

Santa Claus%

Slither

Starcrash*

Story of Ricky

Streets of Fire

Terror Beneath the Sea

The Terror of Tiny Town

There’s Nothing Out There

Uninvited

Wizards

So that’s over 40 movies for me to watch. Yee haw. I’ll update you on what I think of them as I watch. If you haven’t checked out badmovies.org, I highly recommend you do so. If you worry about spoilers, don’t read reviews of movies you haven’t seen, because he’s not worried about spoilers at all. Andrew is hilarious and I like poking through there for some of my favorite bad films to see his take on them.

[Via http://inyourwater.wordpress.com]

AVATAR

2010-01-24T02:55:00.000+02:00

アバター。言わずと知れたジェームズ・キャメロン作品ですね。あの映像を作り出す技術はすごいなぁと思いましたが、ストーリー設定は今更？っ感じでした。技術が追いついてくるのを待っていた分、設定が陳腐化してしまいましたね。緑のなくなった地球なんて設定は最近では聞き飽きています。そして自分勝手な地球人も。AVATARって単語使わなくても同様に本体とは別の何かを使うのは以前もあったし、触覚？でのコミュニケーションも目新しくないし。3Dの迫力ある映像をお楽しみください、かな。ちなみに3Dは3種類あります。RealD < XpanD < Dolby3D、劇場によって違います。できれば事前に劇場に問い合わせて、Dolby3Dでの鑑賞がよろしいかと。

そうそう、iPhone/iPodアプリもすでにでています。

[Via http://blog.windofk.com]

"Daybreakers" : A Bloody Surprising Little Gem

2010-01-24T00:55:00.000+02:00

"Daybreakers" Movie Poster

I know, I know — I need to try a little harder, don’t I? Not just to post more often(my apologies for the absence the last few weeks, busy times here at TFG “headquarters”), but to come up with some better titles when I do get around to it. Putting “bloody” in the title of a review about a vampire movie is just too damn obvious. Why, you might even say it’s too bloody obvious. In which case, you’re just as guilty of stark unoriginality as I am, and I suddenly feel a whole lot better. Even if the “you” in this case is wholly metaphorical and I am, in reality, having an imaginary conversation with myself here. In which case I shouldn’t be worrying about my lack of creativity, but rather my sanity, which some — like the imaginary “you” I’m talking to here — might argue is a much more serious concern. But I don’t think so. Being unoriginal requires no effort, while insanity — well, folks, that takes real work. And wouldn’t you — whether “you” are real or imagined — rather be crazy than dull?

But back to our actual order of business here. I went out and caught “Daybreakers” today, which I actually meant to get around to last weekend, but didn’t get the chance. Incidentally, did you know that there are movies other than “Avatar” playing right now? I swear to God there are, it’s just that no one is seeing them. And less than nobody is seeing “Daybreakers,” apparently. It’s absolutely tanked at the box office. Which is a shame, because it’s really pretty damn good.

First off, I should confess to an editorial bias here — I’m tired of all these romanticized portrayals of vampires we’ve been getting ever since the heyday of Ann Rice. She really set the table for that genre, but crap like the “Twilight” series and HBO’s “True Blood” have piled it up on us like a Vegas buffet. I’m not sure what makes so many people thinksomebody who wants to kill you and drink all your blood is sexy, but it definitely fits in with my overall view that society as a whole has a serious goddamn death wish. Sorry, but vampires were better when they were scary. Just ask Bela Lugosi. And they were way better when they didn’t live in the South. Louisiana and Alabama really aren’t good for much of anything at all, much less as settings for vampire stories. Sorry, but that’s just a fact.

To be fair, there have been a handful of movies in recent years that have tried to combat this sorry trend and give us a new angle on genuinely scary vampires. John Carpenter’s “Vampires” and 2008’s “30 Days Of Night” spring immediately to mind. But to date this reviewer thinks “Daybreakers” does the best job of reintroducing the audience to the classic, frightening vampire in a new and unexpected context.

The year is 2019. A plague of vampirism has consumed almost the entire human race. Sure, people you always suspected were vampires anyway — cops, bosses, politicians — have succumbed, but most everyone else has, too. What few humans do remain are hunted and stored to be drained of their blood, which has become the most precious commodity on Earth (okay, so basically what we’ve got here for a premise is “28 Days Later” with vampires instead of zombies, but hey, it works). Unfortunately, all us regular folks have been reduced to near-extinct levels, and that spells trouble for both the few of us who do remain as well as our vampire overlords, being that they, you know, need us to survive and all that.

Wait. Vampires are undead. So can we really call whatthey do “survival?” I guess so, we just can’t call it “living.” But I digress.

Anyway, the powers that be figure that inventing a synthetic blood substitute is the best way to keep on (un)living, so to that end research scientist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) is busy trying to come up with just such a concoction for his boss, ultra-wealthy vampire industrialist Charles Bromley (Sam Neill).

Which brings us, rather directly, at least in a thematic if not linear fashion(can something be both direct and nonlinear at the same time?), to the film’s one glaring weak point : while things start off in a very promising fashion, with the opening scene portraying a young girl of about 10 or 12 years old who has decided to committ suicide by going out and facing the sunrise, thus ensuring that she burns to a crisp, after that the movie resorts to some pretty bulky and clumsy expository info-dump dialogue, not too terribly dissimilar to the kind of plot recap you just read above, in order to fill in as many of the “blank spots” in terms of its backstory as possible.But since we’re not quite done with the plot recapping yet —

Dalton isn’t all that thrilled about his vampirism and falls in with a human resistance group due to an accidental set of circumstances that results in him meeting one of the few remaining regular people out there, one Audrey Bennett (played by Claudia Karvan). Soon the two of them are on the run from the entire vampire military-industrial complex, and along the way pick up another human rebel, Lionel “Elvis” Cormac (Willem Dafoe, essentially playing the exact same type of character he did in David Cronenberg’s “eXistenZ”), who it turns out actually used to be a vampire but was able to regain his humanity through a set of circumstances I really shouldn’t (and therefore won’t) give away, and the three of them hook up with the rest of Audrey’s little “insurgent cell,” who have holed up at what used to be her parents’ winery.

Once (semi-) safely ensconced there, Dalton, now knowing that vampirism can be reversed, sets about the task of not only curing his own condition, but mass-relicating said cure for the public at large. It won’t be an easy task, though, not with thousands of troops, lead by his own brother, heading for them like — well, like thousands of troops tend to.

So we’ve got pretty solid tension, an interesting enough plot premise, certainly solid if unspectacular performances from the leads (although Sam Neill stands out as the evil vampire version of Daddy Warbucks), and really some pretty cool visual effects throughout, as well. The movie was directed by Australia’s Spierig Brothers (and filmed Down Under, as well, even though the setting is obviously supposed to be the US), who last gave us 2003’s criminally underappreciated zombie flick “Undead,” and seem to be doing their level best to resurrect the Ozsploitation genre, all wrapped up visually arresting muted hues.

"We're the guys with the crossbows."

If that’s all not enough, we’ve got crossbows penetrating vampires through the heart and making them explose. We’ve got humans being devoured raw. We’ve got lots of gore and viscera and, most importantly, lots and lots — and lots — of blood. And we’ve got vampired who are in no way sexy, dangerous rogues, and are, instead, bloodthirsty monters. As they fucking well should be.

Sure, “Daybreakers” has its flaws in terms of some clumsy, wooden, overly-expository dialogue, and the pace lags in some spots where it shouldn’t, so while it doesn’t rise to the level of a new genre masterpiece, it definitely helps balance the scales with all the lovey-dovey, misty-eyes portrayals of vampirism that are polluting the cinematic landscape, and it’s an effectively atmospheric, damn solid little piece of work.

Oh, and it’s a hell of a lot better than “Avatar,” too.

[Via http://trashfilmguru.wordpress.com]

E Como Anda A Vida?

2010-01-23T01:52:00.000+02:00

Há quanto tempo! Eu queria voltar antes, mas foi um começo de ano muito atribulado e com muito trabalho chato para fazer Ainda bem que tenho meus colabs e frilas para distrair. Inclusive é sobre uma colaboração em especial que estou curtindo muito em fazer e quero falar. Quer dizer, não posso falar muito mas é a tradução de algumas histórias em quadrinhos. Histórias curtas, cinco páginas no máximo. Eu já faço algumas traduções junto com o Gus Lanzetta principalmente. Tradução, transcrição, enfim. Como nerd que sou amo HQ’s e ajudar na tradução e por vezes adaptação da história é incrível! Uma experiência ótima. Quem sabe não me especializo e ganho dinheiro com isso \o/

Ainda não consegui assistir Avatar, que quero ver no IMAX, claro. Mas acho que só conseguirei parar para ir ao cinema na próxima semana. O que é péssimo porque também NECESSITO assistir Onde Vivem Os Monstros! Mas esse assunto de cinema fica para o Direto do Cinema.

Quero recomendar dois podcasts que conheci nessas semanas. O Blablaismo, do Wagner. É um podcast sobre música e se você realmente gosta de música essa é uma ótima dica pois eles trazem muita informação sobre o tema. informação e descontração na medida certa. O outro é o Comicpod, podcast de quadrinhos muito bom que conheci ontem #ficadica.

Eu ia escrever rápido sobre Lost mas ficou enorme, então vai aí um outro post em seqüência

[Via http://taai.wordpress.com]

Laura Veirs - July Flame

2010-01-22T23:54:00.000+02:00

“July Flame” is: A destructive force, lamplight on a cold night, Oregon peach variety, intense summer love, fireworks, war, sunlight trapped in wood, renewal, spooky will-o-the-wisps, desire, pain, ephemera.

♦ The video has 1,804 individual images in it.

♦ The fireworks were made from over 180 individual peaches.

♦ The puppets are painted paper glued to a backing.

♦The puppets/set took 3 weeks to design and build. Shooting took 2 weeks.

♦ Watch for cameo performances from the Phantom Mountain chicken and paper clip.

[Via http://peaceinvisible.com]

In the Loop / The Hurt Locker (2009): Gears of war

2010-01-21T01:50:00.000+02:00

It is both serendipitous and unfortunate that In the Loop and The Hurt Locker, two of the best films of 2009, were released on DVD and Blu-ray the same week. Serendipitous because the two movies exist under the umbrella of the Iraq war (though they focus on different facets and feature wildly disparate tones); unfortunate because they were released amid a post-holiday flood of films.

Due to their subject matter, The Hurt Locker and In the Loop already faced an uphill battle despite widespread critical acclaim (filmgoers in general have not been kind to movies dealing with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). Modestly budgeted and lacking a big-studio push, the two also had limited theatrical releases.

But in their own distinctive ways, these movies—one a rapid-fire political satire of the prelude to war, the other a pinpoint-precise action-thriller about an Army bomb squad working the literally explosive streets of Baghdad—are rousing affairs that deserve a larger audience.

In the Loop

An exhilarating symphony of profanity and a brutal skewering of political mores, In the Loop focuses on the backroom dealings of largely second-tier British and American officials as the threat of war in the Middle East looms (the film slyly never refers to Iraq or Afghanistan specifically, always “the Middle East”).

Tensions and verbal conflict between British and U.S. politicians arise when the bumbling Minister for International Development Simon Foster (the fine Tom Hollander, perhaps best known stateside for his roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) says in a radio interview that “war is unforeseeable.”

This launches the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker (a tightly wound Peter Capaldi, eyes bulging, veins throbbing and mouth carpet-f-bombing) into an apoplectic fit. Not only were Foster’s words ill-advised as they did not follow the party line, but they were ill-timed as a veritable armada of Washington, D.C., big-wigs is in London when the soundbite breaks.

“We’ve got enough Pentagon goons here to stage a fucking coup d’etat,” Tucker rages at Foster.

Foster digs a deeper hole when he tells a TV crew after the meeting with D.C. elite that: “To walk the road of peace, sometimes we need to be ready to climb the mountain of conflict.”

This further irks Tucker (who tells Foster he sounds “like a fucking Nazi Julie Andrews”), and it positions Foster as a pawn between war-mongering U.S. Assistant Policy Secretary Linton Barwick (the invaluable David Rasche) and Assistant Secretary of State Karen Clark (veteran character actor Mimi Kennedy), who is trying to avoid armed conflict.

Meanwhile, the overwhelmed Foster laments, “I really hope there is no war. It’s going to be a nightmare. It’s bad enough having to cope with the fucking Olympics.” Foster, who continually tries to talk his way out of trouble (at one point saying he’s “on the verge of taking a stand”) brings to mind that great line from The Lady Vanishes in which British foreign policy is described thusly: “Never climb a fence when you can sit on it.”

As the situation unravels amid the endlessly quotable (well, depending on the company) war of words, director and cowriter Armando Iannucci aims his crosshairs at the U.S.-U.K. culture clash (Americans insist on referring to the British as “English”), governmental obsession with acronyms (the film’s MacGuffin, a report outlining the cons of war, is known as PWIP-PIP, though no one can recall what it actually stands for), Washington’s power-hungry youth (“It’s like Bugsy Malone, but with real guns,” observes a British aide) and the very real fears of politicians (while in D.C., Foster is desperate to get out of the hotel “rather than just sitting in my room trying to spank one out over a shark documentary ’cause I’m scared if I watch a porno it’ll end up in the Registry of Members’ Interests”).

Note: The DVD and Blu-ray feature a brilliant slate of deleted scenes, including more of my favorite character, Chad (the trouser-wettingly funny Zach Woods), a squash racquet-toting aide desperately trying to thrust himself into the orbit of Barwick. This is one of the rare instances in which the deleted scenes are not only worth watching, but as entertaining as what made the final cut.

The Hurt Locker

Although The Hurt Locker opens with a quote from former New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges that states, in part, “… war is a drug” and takes place in Baghdad just a year after the U.S. invasion, it is a war movie only indirectly.

There are no sociopolitical soliloquies, no implied guilt or jingoism.

The movie is almost microscopically focused on the three soldiers who comprise an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal squad and whose job it is to disarm or safely detonate improvised explosive devices. It’s a task that requires surgical precision in the best circumstances.

The conditions faced by these soldiers are far from ideal. They are operating with limited time and little to no back-up in unforgiving heat while surrounded by people, not all of whom are sympathetic to their plight.

The suspense is as unforgiving as the IEDs, and it is amplified by the film illustrating the effects of a blast; the soldiers know what the relative safety radius is, how the explosion’s shockwave will move up or down a street, and the distance and direction shrapnel will spray. Much of this is depicted in the white-knuckle opening sequence in which director Kathryn Bigelow slows down a blast, lingering on gravel and rubble rising from the street, rust and dirt blowing off abandoned cars, and finally the resulting physical toll on a human who is too close.

The film itself is almost plotless, its narrative propelled by the natural intensity of following three men whose typical workday happens to revolve around things that blow up.

One of the common complaints about movies that depict combat is that they glorify violence, they make war look exciting. How the men at the heart of The Hurt Locker respond to that inherent sense of exhilaration (one might even say intoxication) is the primary theme Bigelow and writer Mark Boal (himself a former journalist) explore.

For Staff Sgt. William James (the underappreciated Jeremy Renner), the leader and chief bomb tech of the trio of main characters, war itself may not be a drug, but his job certainly is. Instead of using a remote-control robot to first investigate IEDs, James delves in head-first, at times without the protection of a blast suit, getting a charge by removing a charge.

To the chagrin of his fellow soldiers, the by-the-book Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and the on-edge Spc. Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), James on multiple occasions chooses to spend dangerous amounts of time disarming bombs rather than detonating them once citizens have been cleared from the scene. He follows the successful completion of his work with a cigarette, and saves the triggering mechanisms, keeping them in a box under his bed.

And when James is finally shown safe at home with his wife and infant son, he is suffering from withdrawal.

[Via http://passionofjoanjettofarc.wordpress.com]

New Releases for the Week of January 22, 2010

2010-01-21T00:48:00.000+02:00

Someone’s got to do something about that overbite. LEGION

(Screen Gems) Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson, Charles S. Dutton, Adrianne Palicki, Jon Tenney, Lucas Black, Kate Walsh. Directed by Scott Stewart

God has lost faith in mankind again and who can blame him? The last time he got annoyed at his kids, he sent a flood – the Biblical equivalent of a time-out. Now, he’s really pissed and he’s sending out his angels to kick booty and take names. Except these aren’t the slightly effeminate harp-playing pansies you’re thinking about, oh no. These angels are bad mother fu (shut your mouth!)…you get my drift. However, mankind has one last hope; in the unborn son of a waitress in a diner in the middle of nowhere. One angel who thinks God is full of it decides to take it upon himself to save mankind. And that’s when things get really weird…

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, and language)

Extraordinary Measures

(CBS) Harrison Ford, Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, Courtney B. Vance. The inspiring true story about John Crowley, a man who defied the odds and conventional medical wisdom to save his children who were suffering from a rare, fatal and incurable disease. He enlisted the aid of Robert Stonehill, a brilliant but underappreciated scientist whose unorthodox methods had brought him the scorn of his colleagues. Given a challenge by Crowley, he would race against time to find the cure. They would battle the pharmaceutical industry, the medical profession, time – and each other – to find a cure.

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Rating: PG (for thematic material, language and a mild suggestive moment)

Tooth Fairy

(20th Century Fox) Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd, Julie Andrews, Stephen Merchant. The dirtiest hockey player in the league has a penchant for causing an immediate and urgent need for dental work among opposing players, and he enjoys the work. However, he takes it a step too far when he dashes the hopes of a child – it’s apparently okay to cause pain and suffering in adults, but make a kid feel bad and it’s a BIG NO-NO!!!! He is sentenced to act as a tooth fairy, complete with tutu and fairy wings, until he sees the error of his ways. Me, I think The Rock’s agent should be sentenced to something nasty.

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Rating: PG (for mild language, some rude humor and sports action)

To Save a Life

(Goldwyn) Randy Wayne, Deja Kreutzberg, Joshua Weigel, Steven Crowder. Jake Taylor has it all from a high school perspective. A star basketball player, he’s been offered a scholarship to a prestigious school, he has the love and admiration of the students and all the cheerleaders fawning over him like he’s starring in the next installment of the Twilight series. Then, when his best friend from childhood commits an unspeakable act, he is forced to re-examine his values and his life choices.

See the trailer and clips here.

For more on the movie this is the website.

Rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic elements involving teen suicide, teen drinking, some drug content, disturbing images and sexuality)

[Via http://carlosdev.wordpress.com]

'Now present here, the future takes its time' *

2010-01-19T01:25:00.000+02:00

I was invited by Danny at the end of last year to contribute a single image and accompanying sentence to The Auteurs‘ fun, exquisite corpse-like end-of-decade-in-images activity; arranged by Ryland, the final set of images and words were published a few weeks ago. Due to the impact that Wang Bing’s Tiexiqu had on me when I first watched it––which, if I had to describe it, felt like being overwhelmed by another’s clarity of our world––selecting the one film was straightforward. I had to equivocate over the single image, though, and its nine-hour duration didn’t help in this respect. Shared here are some of the out takes and rationales.

I first thought about this:

The frame grips such a sizable hunk of the terrain, as elevated master-shots do, and delivers a good impression of scale over the colossal smelting plants. But it also seemed too remote and distanced from the subject matter.

…

Then I thought about this:

Which, in its subdued cold blue hue, seemed to materialize the sensation of how I felt gazing upon it: a synesthesia of lucidity in its desolation. But, then, I did not want to further emphasize the film’s already over-egged association with industrial decay.

…

I thought about this too:

The blinding shafts of light seemed to suggest something transcendent about the subject matter, not to mention the physical space in ruins. But I did not want to impose a dishonest sense of faux-spirituality that was never intended by Wang in his observations.

…

I then considered this:

This image of the solitary man pensively surveying the view seemed perfect, almost iconic, in representing all those tarrying with Shenyang’s ever-changing landscape. But I decided that, on its own, it looks too melancholy and defeated.

…

Were I allowed, I would have probably submitted these three as a triptych:

The trains and railways are as central to the documentary as its factories and plants, and I think its connotations with time are helpful (“locomotives of history”). I always seem to find some mystery––however token––in the nocturnal sight of vapors and mists, and the faceless figure caught in headlights only serves to heighten this effect.

…

I was close to submitting this:

The railway worker stood with his arms aloft before the oncoming train is the image’s punctum, of course. His presence and position manages to disrupt the rails’ power too, but, it he is too small, and looks like his to be overpowered.

…

Eventually, I chose this:

This particular worker performs only one visible task: operating the mechanisms that dictate the rails’ direction from the ground. He works alone, and relies entirely on the moonlight––which he tells the camera that he admires for its beauty––to see. For the film, this darkly lit figure condenses all of its others, boldly forming something generic of the the film’s humanity. Visually, it speaks its own materiality, suggesting in its appearance an idea that Badiou retrieved from Beckett: that the figure in its naked existence is a ’stain upon silence and nothingness.’ I felt this notion was at the meta/physical heart of Wang’s epic documentary (and his other films, perhaps most explicitly in The Man with No Name). This image, with the rails conforming to the figure’s lead, quite serendipitously manages to convey this.

All video stills: Tiexiqu (West of the Tracks, Wang Bing, 2003) | * Paul Valery, Graveyard By the Sea, 1920

[Via http://ntbd.wordpress.com]

Treeless Mountain - A Film Review

2010-01-19T00:00:00.000+02:00

The expression “being knee-high to a grasshopper” takes on a fresh significance in this touching tale of two young sisters who are sent to live with their alcoholic aunt while their mother mysteriously heads off in search of their absentee and seemingly good-for-nothing father. Scrupulously avoiding any hint of mawkishness in a film that was ripe with such temptations, American director So Yong Kim instead relies on her ability to get the best out of her two diminutive-looking protagonists. To her credit, she does achieve two heart-wrenchingly good, understated, and naturalist performances from the unrelated Kim Hee-yeon (Jin) and Kim Song-hee (Bin). Her accomplishment is made all the more impressive again for the fact that neither girl had received any formal training prior to making this neorealist film.

Moreover, with the cameras unobtrusively positioned no more than three feet off the ground, it is a work that looks to portray the world from the perspective of Jin and Bin alone. As a result, there are large gaps in the plot because no adult is ever going to explain things in a detailed manner to either a six year-old or a toddler. Instead, their mother (Lee Soo-ah) gives the girls a plastic piggy bank and tells them that she will have come back by the time that they have filled it up with coins. Needless to say, they take her literally and innocently start concocting ways to expedite her return to them. Throughout it all, the audience is able to witness the differing thoughtful expressions on the faces of these two surprisingly well-behaved and solemn children.

At the same time, the audience is still able to interpret the information that it is being given in a far better way than the two children can. Consequently, it is with a mixture of pathos and dread that they watch the girls cope with both their sense of dislocation and their distress at being separated from their mother. In addition, the film takes its name from an earth mound that the children stand on so that they can see the bus stop. Here, they have “planted” a tree branch in the stony earth. It may not have been Ms. Kim’s intended allegory, but this image is reminiscent of the gospel story where some seed fell on stony ground and did not grow. Indeed, the denouement can also be explored through the context of this parable.

Inspired, though, by the director’s own experiences of growing up in South Korea, this film is also notable for its minimalist approach to both plot and dialogue. For the first two acts, this works well. However, the heart did sink a little at the start of the third act when the manner in which Ms. Kim wished to bring this film to its conclusion became unclear. Instead, it unbearably looked like the audience was going to be asked to observe even more misery being heaped on these children’s heads. In hindsight, though, a simple, thoughtful, and mildly optimistic resolution was not that far off. Accordingly, keep the faith with this film and it will reward you!

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

आख़री रास्ता ... The Last Option

2010-01-17T01:16:00.000+02:00

One of the Indian Cinema best movies of all times.. A 1986 production that made me stare into my laptop screen throughout it’s 164 mins, amazed with the marvelous performance of Amitabh Bachchan in a Drama movie plotting the war between beliefs and duty …sympathizing the Father willing to help him take his revenge and proud of the son who is trying to do his work faithfully.

David (Amitabh Bachchan) spent 24 years in prison, for no reason except corruption. A Parliament member, a police inspector and a Doctor conspired on him after the first rapped David’s wife leading her to commit suicide ,burnt the only evidence for this – a letter she wrote before hanging herself- and witnessed that he tried to kill the parliament member. He is now out of prison, and seeking revenge because law never gave him his right. Insp. Vijay Sandaliya (Amitabh Bachchan) is David’s only son and he doesn’t know the truth, he as been raised as the son of Mahesh Sandaliya – David’s closest friend – and in love with his boss’s daughter Vinita Bhatnagar (Sri Devi), happens to be the police officer responsible for David’s case.The movie ends with the father taking the mother’s revenge and the son keeping his duty as his first concern even after he knew the truth, but proud with what his father did.

Amitabh Bachchan credited as “your favorite Star” on the movie opening titles and one of Bollywood’s most recognizable faces in the last two decades, had a hard mission of performing both the father & the son that turned into a stunning performance. I loved him being the old man who loves his wife and willing to take her revenge and believed him being the young enthusiastic police officer trying to apply justice.

I couldn’t hold my tears in two parts, when the young Amitab knew the truth and in the final scene. Unlike any other Indian movie i saw, it wasn’t easy to predict the end …

The war between beliefs and duty has been explained when the father stood against the son and Drew no. 9 on his hand then he showed it to him to appear as no. 6 … both the 6 and the 9 are right depending on from where do you look.

The idea is easy to be addressed in a movie but in real life -in my opinion- one, in some cases, gets emotional or do what he really beliefs in, no matter how his work duty says. The reaction of the son – deceiving the man who raised him to know the truth, saving the Parliament member life and chasing his father till the end – can never be achieved, although as i said in the beginning i was proud of him doing it, may be because i am sure it’s 100% correct if i am looking from his point of view. However, when i put myself in his place, even if i could chase my father or deceive the man, at least i won’t save the life of the man who lead to my mother’s death.

Nevertheless, the movie is a a MUST see if you are interested in the Indian Cinema.

[Via http://thoughtsofmarconsi.wordpress.com]

100 Noughtie Films: The Year 2000

2010-01-17T00:00:00.000+02:00

Amores Perros

At the Height of Summer

Battle Royale

Before Night Falls

Dancer in the Dark

Faithless

In the Mood for Love

The Princess and the Warrior

Requiem for a Dream

Werckmeister Harmonies

[Via http://noordinaryfool.com]

DVD review: The Grocer's Son

2010-01-16T01:19:00.000+02:00

dir. Eric Guirado 99m. Subtitles.

Nicolas Cazale, Clotilde Hesme, Stephan Guerin-Tillie, Sforza Jeanna Goupil, Daniel Duval, Paul Crauchet, Liliane Rovere.

Le fils de l’épicier est un film français avec du charme qui…oh, hang on, I’d better continue this review in English in case some readers think I’ve gone all pretentious, moi?

If you’re looking for a fairly undemanding, yet pleasant little film then THE GROCER’S SON well and truly fits the bill.

Working as a waiter in Paris Antoine (Nicolas Cazale) is reunited with his estranged father after dad suffers a health scare, and he’s persuaded to move back to the delightful Provence countryside to take care of the family grocery store. Reluctantly he drives the family’s mobile grocery van around the picturesque area, regularly stopping to replenish the larders of the mainly aging population, most of whom are played by real people, not professional actors, and who rely on the van for their weekly food supplies.

With sometime girlfriend Claire (Clotilde Hesme) in tow he gradually loosens up, paints the van, befriends a feisty battleaxe, mends a local’s chicken coop, and discovers some home truths on the way to becoming a better person. And yes, he reconciles with his dad.

OK, no surprises here, but the journey is enjoyable, and apart from a sub plot involving his brother’s marriage break up, it’s a fairly light and frothy trip.

C’est un film agreeable!

MIKE CHILDS

DVD Extras: The subtitled Madman DVD release contains deleted scenes (with an illuminating commentary from director Eric Guirado on the reasons, mainly pacing, on why they were removed from the finished film), a few boring out-takes, and the original theatrical trailer.

—> Paul Byrnes review in the Sydney Morning Herald (****) {link}

—> Margerat Pomeranz and David Stratton review on ABC (*** & ***1/2) {link}

—> Australian distributors Madman (Contains trailer which, bizarelly, is blocked on youtube by Film Movement – Why would you do that?) link

[Via http://australianfilmreview.wordpress.com]

"je voulais les monstres vivants, qu'on puisse les sentir"

2010-01-16T00:48:00.000+02:00

one of the best films in 2009.

yes, it looks like a film for children. it is, indeed. it’s a film for the child in you and it teaches, a lot. and i know that there is a book, but i really like the film.

pictures taken from: LeParisien

[Via http://pauliekugel.wordpress.com]

Choose Life.

2010-01-14T04:26:00.000+02:00

Move to Europe, Get a free education in film, Create a stunning masterpiece of cinema, Garner wealth, Create something unique and bizarre, Attend a workshop lecture by David Lynch, Become inspired, Do some inspired writing, Meet Chuck Palahniuk, Meet Chuck Klosterman, Meet David Bowie, Meet Peter Murphy, Do Some Blow, Never touch blow again, Fuck a hot bitch (then tell her she is ugly, kick her to the curb), Move back to Alt girls (because they are actually hot), Don’t get anyone pregnant, Travel the globe, Make some great cinema in between all this, Disappear from the public eye, Return to the public eye older and much wiser, Create Happiness, Die Happy.

I hope to acheive most of this, however becoming a successful filmmaker is at the top of the list.

[Via http://b1narys0l0.wordpress.com]

Chung King Express

2010-01-14T00:06:00.000+02:00

(1994, Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong)

Chung Hing sam lam

Two different stories about the complexities of love in 90s Hong Kong but dealing with themes that are universal and timeless.

As somebody accused of often having my head in the clouds, California Dreamin’ by the mamas and the papas is a song that particularly resonates with me with its promise of a land that can make everything seem ok. Similar to the character of Faye from this movie, I would often play it whilst working to take my mind off the frustrations of a menial day job. At this point in time I had not seen or even heard of Chunk King Express but a Chinese co-worker suggested I see it due to the similarities of our characters. I tracked it down and reignited a passion for Hong Kong cinema that I thought had died in my teenage years after I grew out of those Shaw Brothers martial arts films. It introduced me to a very stylish school of film making, populated by elusive but intriguing characters and a backdrop that begs you to visit this part of the world and be consumed by its exotic charm.

There are two different stories of Chung King Express, not intertwining, just one after the after although both involve police officers whose paths briefly cross, they centre around failed relationships and the very different women that they fall for.

First up we have the hopeless romantic, officer 223, a man that runs every day until he sweats out as much liquid as his body can spare just to minimise his chances of crying. He is trying to deal with the fact that he was dumped by his girlfriend. Despite the fact that he is a clear thinking, level headed, officer of the law, when it comes to matters of the heart, 223 subjects himself to bizarre rituals such as this as well as his daily consumption of a tin of pineapples that expire on the date that he was dumped, believing that this will lead to him either reconciling with his former partner or that their love will expire like the pineapples. The pineapple theme seems to be recurring metaphor in Wong Kar Wai’s work as in hiss 1995 film Fallen Angels, the same actor plays He Ziwu, a mute that lost his voice after eating a tin of out of date pineapples.

In his quest for romance, 223 drunkenly makes moves on a mysterious woman in a blonde wig (Bridgette Lin). After some not too smooth lines he ends up in her hotel room where the only action the sheets see are here wasted frame passing out in a drunken stupor while he lies awake beside her watching movies.

The next day on his routine jog, a surprise message from the mystery woman wishing him a happy birthday appears to be his first step on the road to moving on. If only he knew this thoughtful blonde was a violent, vengeful, drug trafficker.

Story number two sees Tony Leung as 663. He is also trying to handle life after a relationship breakdown and although he appears to deal with it better than 223, he is still far from happy.

This depression is noted by Faye, an aloof fantasist played by pop star Faye Wong, she works at a snack bar and plays California Dreamin’ over and over add nauseum. Faye quietly falls for 663 from afar and concocts ludicrous ways to be a part of his life by breaking in to his apartment and adding her own little touches to his home that she thinks will make him happy.

With time, 663 develops feelings for Faye but his hopes are dashed when she decides last minute to stand him up so she can finally give her dreams a shot and boards a plane for California.

Her departure however, does not necessarily spell the end for these two as she returns a year later to find that he has bought the snack bar, as the movie ends, it is left to our own imaginations as to what the future may have in store for them.

Chung King Express is quite a touching film but not overly sentimental, it juxtaposes different emotional states such as the madness of love and loss with the human condition to just get on with things and persevere. On top of this it is a very stylish film but not at the expense of its ability to affect the audience. It has been described as a love letter to Hong Kong but manages to have a distinctly European feel at times, these all add up to becoming a charming movie that you’ll want to return to again and again as you develop a genuine interest and affection for the lead characters.

[Via http://richiesodapop.wordpress.com]

R.I.P. Éric Rohmer, 1920-2010

2010-01-12T02:42:00.000+02:00

Le genou de Claire, Eric Rohmer

法國新浪潮導演Éric Rohmer今天過世了。

記得剛開始每年瘋金馬影展大拜拜時，侯麥是我們那一代金馬影癡的大師。

總是記得侯麥的電影裡頭男男女女對愛情的追尋，以一種很法國式的優雅、輕柔、隨遇而安的姿態，常常在海邊，常常在渡假，常常在鄉間的草地上。就像《綠光》裡面那個想要愛情的龜毛女子，出去夏季旅行卻嫌東嫌西，搞得整路都不愉快，侯麥片中的男女總是對白很多的大談對人生對愛情對道德的看法，充滿哲學的趣味。那時後一部都不想放過的貪婪的看著侯麥的片子，《夏天的故事》、《海灘上的寶琳》、《冬天的故事》、《我女朋友的男朋友》、《克萊兒之膝》……。

其實對剛滿20歲的小女孩，哪裡懂得人生哲學，侯麥電影裡面的愛情都是一個未知卻又美好的境界。

[Via http://inbetweenislands.wordpress.com]

mintys marathon movie medley - ii

2010-01-12T00:22:00.000+02:00

Can you tell this was originally a 3D film? Hitch in another of his experimental phases:

It was the phone as a link, obviously. Shame to hear about Eric Rohmer, if I’m an honest I wasn’t a fan, the three or four films of his I’ve seen were impenetrably dull but to be fair I haven’t seen any of his better regarded work. Still, any key member of the nouvelle vague should be mourned.

[Via http://mintyblonde.wordpress.com]

Cinema Paradiso

2010-01-10T02:17:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time, a king gave a feast. And there came the most beautiful princesses of the realm. Now, a soldier, who was standing guard, saw the king’s daughter go by. She was the most beautiful one, and he immediately fell in love with her. But what could a poor soldier do when it came to the daughter of the king?

Well, finally, one day, he managed to meet her, and he told her that he could no longer live without her. The princess was so impressed by his strong feelings that she said to the soldier: “If you can wait 100 days and 100 nights under my balcony, then at the end of it, I shall be yours.” Damn! The soldier immediately went there and waited one day. And two days. And ten. And then twenty. And every evening, the princess looked out of her window, but he never moved. During rain, during wind, during snow, he was always there. The bird shat on his head, and the bees stung him, but he didn’t budge. After ninety nights, he had become all dried up, all white, and the tears streamed from his eyes. He couldn’t hold them back. He no longer had the strength to sleep. All that time, the princess watched him. And on the 99th night, the soldier stood up, took his chair, and went away.

[Via http://thoughtsofmarconsi.wordpress.com]

Movie batch #4

2010-01-10T02:05:00.000+02:00

A few of the movies watched in November… And I got lots more on my list in December (damn, this will never end).

Braveheart

Ouch!

A mystery solved : they have underwear under their kilts! Thanks, Mr Gibson.

Happy Together by Wong Kar Wai

Dusk, train, red hotel sign… These elements also appear in 2046

Hong Kong upside down.

Police Story 2

Jackie Chan gets dumped pretty harshly in the loo

A master of disguise.

As usual in Jackie Chan’s films, the ending credits show the failed stunts; that one must have hurt.

Point Break

Johnny Utah buys lemonades while a gang carries on a heist.

[Via http://moumantai.wordpress.com]

News That's Fit To Punt - 10/01/10

2010-01-10T01:41:00.000+02:00

China Inc.

This article was on Yahoo’s front page for all of 30minutes before it got pulled, which is not what normally happens to Yahoo front page articles.

James S. Chanos built one of the largest fortunes on Wall Street by foreseeing the collapse of Enron and other highflying companies whose stories were too good to be true.

Now Mr. Chanos, a wealthy hedge fund investor, is working to bust the myth of the biggest conglomerate of all: China Inc.

As most of the world bets on China to help lift the global economy out of recession, Mr. Chanos is warning that China’s hyperstimulated economy is headed for a crash, rather than the sustained boom that most economists predict. Its surging real estate sector, buoyed by a flood of speculative capital, looks like “Dubai times 1,000 — or worse,” he frets. He even suspects that Beijing is cooking its books, faking, among other things, its eye-popping growth rates of more than 8 percent.

“Bubbles are best identified by credit excesses, not valuation excesses,” he said in a recent appearance on CNBC. “And there’s no bigger credit excess than in China.” He is planning a speech later this month at the University of Oxford to drive home his point.

As America’s pre-eminent short-seller — he bets big money that companies’ strategies will fail — Mr. Chanos’s narrative runs counter to the prevailing wisdom on China. Most economists and governments expect Chinese growth momentum to continue this year, buoyed by what remains of a $586 billion government stimulus program that began last year, meant to lift exports and consumption among Chinese consumers.

Still, betting against China will not be easy. Because foreigners are restricted from investing in stocks listed inside China, Mr. Chanos has said he is searching for other ways to make his bets, including focusing on construction- and infrastructure-related companies that sell cement, coal, steel and iron ore.

Mr. Chanos, 51, whose hedge fund, Kynikos Associates, based in New York, has $6 billion under management, is hardly the only skeptic on China. But he is certainly the most prominent and vocal.

Did that get your attention? It got mine. If China is showing signs that it is like Enron, we’re all in for a world of hurt. And I mean a whole world of hurt.

Raiders Of The Lost Amazon Civilization

Here’s one from Pleiades.

It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. The combination of land cleared of its rainforest for grazing and satellite survey have revealed a sophisticated pre-Columbian monument-building society in the upper Amazon Basin on the east side of the Andes. This hitherto unknown people constructed earthworks of precise geometric plan connected by straight orthogonal roads. Introducing us to this new civilisation, the authors show that the ‘geoglyph culture’ stretches over a region more than 250km across, and exploits both the floodplains and the uplands. They also suggest that we have so far seen no more than a tenth of it.

There’s a .pdf file that’s here for a download. A quick google revealed this news article.

“The combination of land cleared of its rain forest for grazing and satellite survey have revealed a sophisticated pre-Columbian monument-building society in the upper Amazon basin on the east side of the Andes. This hitherto unknown people constructed earthworks of precise geometric plan connected by straight orthogonal roads,” the researchers wrote in the journal.

David Grann, author of the book “The Lost City of Z,” points out that the existence of the ruins overturns the previously held belief that this portion of the Amazon basin had always been a pristine wilderness, even though legends of a lost Amazonian city still lingered by the time the Spanish arrived on the continent.

“Although the early conquistadores had heard from the Indians about a fabulously rich Amazonian civilization, which they named El Dorado, the searches for it invariably ended in disaster,” Grann wrote on The New Yorker’s Web site. “Thousands were wiped out by disease and starvation. And after a toll of death and suffering worthy of Joseph Conrad, most scholars concluded that El Dorado was no more than an illusion.”

According to Martti Parssinen, Denise Schaan and Alceu Ranzi, the authors of the study, the community likely had a population of more than 60,000 people. The researchers said they have only uncovered roughly 10 percent of the existing structures, which may date as far back as A.D. 800.

As Grann describes in his book, British explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett claimed he had found evidence of an ancient civilization, which he called the City of Z, in the same area. He disappeared in the jungle on a 1925 expedition undertaken with his son and a companion.

Which is cool because parts of Indian Jones’ persona and Doyle’s Professor Challenger were an homage to Percy Harrison Fawcett. Cue the Indy Jones theme music!

[Via http://artneuro.wordpress.com]

Gângsteres do cinema

2010-01-09T01:15:00.000+02:00

Virginia e Cagney: uma relação de amor, ódio, poder e dinheiro

Sou fã de filmes antigos, em especial os policiais de gênero noir e também os que retratam histórias de gângsteres. Ontem assisti no TCM a Fúria Sanguinária (White Heat), um clássico de Raoul Walsh, rodado em 1949, com o impressionante ator James Cagney no papel do gângster Cody Jarrett, um bandido demente, obcecado por dinheiro e poder. A obra tem ainda no elenco a divina Virgina Mayo, atriz maravilhosa e de uma beleza transcendental.

O enredo é muito simples: Cody é um homem sem escrúpulos, que lidera um bando de criminosos e promove grandes assaltos, tendo a figura de sua mãe (Margaret Wycherly) como referência central, alguém que dá sentido à sua vida e é, também, sua parceira de crimes. Depois de um bem-sucedido assalto a um trem pagador, Cody desaparece com seus homens, sua mãe e sua mulher. O fruto do roubo, US$ 300 mil, tem que ser “lavado” para despistar a polícia, porque as notas apresentam numeração sequencial. O interesse da polícia, além de prender Cody, é descobrir quem é o responsável pela “lavagem” da grana.

E aí está o grande mote do filme, que inclusive o torna muito atual, em razão dos episódios nebulosos que envolvem alguns gângsteres da política brasileira: como esconder o dinheiro, como “esquentá-lo” e como continuar cometendo crimes sem ser (teoricamente) descoberto.

A obra de Walsh, um mestre do cinema, tem sequências impressionantes e antológicas, perseguições de automóveis, efeitos especiais incríveis para a época e o uso de algumas tecnologias interessantes, como uma espécie de avô do GPS. A frase final de Cody, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” (“Eu consegui, mãe! Estou no topo do mundo!”) é considerada uma das mais importantes citações do cinema no século 20.

No site Melhores Filmes os leitores-cinéfilos escolheram Fúria Sanguinária como o melhor filme da carreira de Walsh.

[Via http://carlosdamiao.wordpress.com]

Cracks

2010-01-09T00:04:00.000+02:00

1. Straining

2. Splitting

3. Cracking

I put the radio on at 0615. Snow. Ice. Chaos. By 0655 Son 1 aged 5y 3m’s school was on the long closure list. He was still asleep. Son 2 aged 2y 3m was up, eating his breakfast, eating my breakfast, deciding to go upstairs: “I go see Son Son orl right.” Son 1 got up, looking pinched and blue in his thin pyjamas. “Can we go outside and make a snowman?” The Man, excused running Son 1 into School, had helped himself to a lie in. When he got up he distracted Son 1 with the promise of taking the Christmas tree down.

One Wednesday Friend is snowed in, the other took her Son 2 and husband to the Museum. I got the boys out of the house and on to the ice to meet them for coffee. Talk about setting myself up for trouble. We left late, and I wanted to get there in time to meet up before they had to pick up a child they were looking after. Son 1 wanted to slide on the ice, and make snowballs, and take the snow off cars, and scrape the snow away to get to the pavement… and that was before he’d gone 10 yards. What is it about a wintry scene that makes a mother’s voice screaming murderously echo up and down the houses? We got there by piling him into his Big Pram seat and pushing madly through the falling snow. In the Museum cafe, Son 2 let out a Maximum-Volume-Both-Lung-Barrels-Shriek. A woman behind the counter winced and curled her lip. “You want to try living with it,” I said, mildly. “He can get much louder than that.” She hadn’t realised I was the Proud Mother, and was satisfyingly mortified. We had a good time at the Museum, came back, and then Son 1 decided he wanted to watch Peter Pan. We have about 5 Peter Pan DVDs, and he picked “Hook.” Mesmerised. And then, after a glorious two week period of Lego and Hot Wheels and Playmobil Knights, he got his pirate toys out and played happily.

We had the boys in bed for 1930, and I had a text from the Wednesday Mum saying she was going to the cinema with one of her friends. No idea what we were seeing, didn’t care. off I went. We’d planned to meet for a drink before, but the nearest bar is shut till next week. We watched “Cracks.” Never heard of it, although I just Googled “Cracks Film”, and it has 8,000,000 entries. Fashion, you are a Creature for People With Time. It was pretty and predictable, but ok. We went to a bar after. Empty. We bought drinks, sat down, and discussed Important Themes Related To The Film. Like could you ever be that thin if you never ate again, or is it just good genes? The bar suddenly filled up. Then a woman came round with laminated Karaoke songlists. Oh dear, we thought, they must have thought we’d come in to sing. Reader, after the first blast of Green Green Grass Of Home, we drank up and left.

[Via http://smileandwaveboys.wordpress.com]

Tarantino Interview on Tavis Smiley

2010-01-07T02:47:00.000+02:00

While Tarantino is discussing cinema – being a director and all – I believe his statements on the idea of storytelling are important for all storytellers, namely my writing audience here. He describes this method of storytelling as ‘novelistic’ – yet I believe I see his problems with modern Hollywood in the rush of published literature as well. The books that have been coming off the presses are either simplistic to the point of bore, or rely off a twist that trudges you through 500 meaningless pages before anything exciting or unpredictable happens. I encourage you all to watch this clip (starting at 4:45) and perhaps the entire interview, as he discusses his use of dialogue and the pain of defeat (in reference to Grindhouse). Also, Tarantino is enough of a BAMF that he is now getting a tag. Enjoy the clip, and I hope you’re all enjoying 2010!

[Via http://ophiucha.wordpress.com]

Life rendered (Iranian Cinema Essay Part 1)

2010-01-07T00:48:00.000+02:00

This is the first 900+ words of an essay I wrote about Iranian cinema in June of 2000. It’s odd to look back at this essay written a decade ago, especially in light of current events. Though I am not interested in the politics of other countries, but the art and humanity. We must not forget that all countries possess their share of humanity, the arts and the human spirit. Cinema is a universal language and speaks directly to the heart.

Life Rendered

When Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s film Gabbeh screened at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1997, a line of festival attendees circled the block in hopes of gaining admission into a sold-out screening. At the time, I did not understand what the frenzy was about, but a few months later when I attended a public screening of Gabbeh with friends, I became a devout fan of Iran’s contemplative and lyrical cinema. Makhmalbaf won me over with his fable about a young rug maker who laments her father’s interference with her intended marriage to a stranger who follows her nomadic family across a desert.

Gabbeh impressed me as its story unwound at a leisurely pace while the camera eye focused on the painterly tableau of the natural world. Unlike fast-pace American films, Makhmalbaf’s film crept from one gorgeous moment to the next, revealing the exotic locals filled with goats, sheep and nomadic people who still wove rugs to tell stories. And then the innovative Iranian director blended the stories revealed in the rugs with the story of the young maiden Gabbeh and her quest for marriage. Free from histrionics and a complicated plot, this simple film expressed one woman’s angst as she dealt with her father’s law and a disappearing way of life.

I saw this film at a time when the high tech industry in the Seattle area begun heating up. Seattle had transformed from a laid back city of musicians, artists, students and middle class families to a metropolis of software millionaires. Soon the airwaves were jammed with cell phones and laptop computers and the freeway was jammed with sport utility vehicles and Jaguars. A city of reasonable rent saw the housing market shoot through the roof. A home that sold for $100,000 in the 1980’s now sold for $300,000 and the studio apartment that once rented for $400.00 a month now rented for $800.00. A line between the haves and the have-nots had been drawn in a dramatic fashion and a new kingdom of lords and surfs had been created. The Seattle sold its soul and joined the rat race leading its inhabitants into a shallow world based on stock prices and mass consumerism. A new Silicon Valley had been produced and the natural world replaced by a highly sought after plastic one based on virtual reality.

Fortunately, Seattle boasts several landmark theatres and two art houses where the city’s remaining artists, intellects and students could escape the stress of paying the rent by watching contemplative cinema from around the world. It is within this dichotomy that I discovered Iran’s poetic and colorful cinema. The worlds of filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Iranian actor-turned-director Majid Majidi exposed themselves to me at a time when I had forgotten how to live in the moment and reflect on the beauty of the natural world. More than ever I desired a simple story told in an eloquent style and I found that desire fulfilled when watching sun-drenched Iranian films.

Two years later I watched another amazingly simple story unfold in Majid Majidi’s The Children of Heaven. Majidi told a story of two impoverished Iranian children and a pair of lost shoes. The Iranian director did not pander to sentimentalism when telling a story through children’s eyes and the gifted actor turned director managed to extract impressive performances from his non-professional actors. Again, I found myself attracted to the exotic Tehran locale, the film’s simple story line and exquisite photography.

Of course Majidi’s film plot possessed suspense and unusual twists leading viewers on an unexpected path. Boy picks up little sister’s only pair of shoes then boy loses shoes thus upsetting his little sister. Boy comes up with an unusual solution of sharing his only pair of shoes with his sister until they find the lost shoes, but all does not go well. The story then takes an unexpected turn in which the boy enters a foot race and unlike an American hero type film, the boy is unhappy with winning first prize. The ending of the film also ends on an ironic note free of tearful embraces and familial happiness

The irony that I discovered tranquillity in films from a country that the US considers overly aggressive does not escape me. I recall seeing news footage of the Shah’s regime growing up and I am aware of the paranoia regarding Moslem terrorist from Arab countries that resides in the US. And while I do not promote the mistreatment of women in Arab countries or the Iranian government’s censorship policies in regard to Iranian films, I do acknowledge a different view of Iran told to me by Iranian filmmakers. The directors for the most part tell stories through children’s eyes and through the eyes of the innocent bystander, I have seen life’s little dramas mirror the world’s larger tragedies and triumphs.

In fact, the films of Abbas Kiarostami, Majidi and Makhmalbaf have been my saving grace and I know that I am not alone in saying this. The writer/director’s extraordinary talent for stripping unnecessary plot points and over wrought drama from their films leads viewer to the core of the characters’ stories. The stories, but not always are told through the eyes of children, perhaps to keep things simple or to take our adult consciousness back to childhood innocence. Children know how to live in the moment; they see beauty in ordinary objects that adults choose to ignore and their seemingly insignificant problems mirror adult politics as well as, social interactions. Often the adults (with the exception of teachers) ignore the children’s problems or refuse to listen to what the children have to say forcing the children to live in a world made-up of other children and child-like adults (This tends to be universal in scope).

Part 2 coming up

[Via http://pnwauthor.wordpress.com]

On fascism and Von Trier

2010-01-05T05:13:00.000+02:00

Sometimes conversations on Facebook are too interesting not to share with all. This one started in a response to a Mr Steve Baker’s viewing of Lars Von Trier’s new film AntiChrist. Enjoy! Richard Wolstencroft Antichrist is a film about misogyny. Its message sits there in broad daylight out in the open. Von Trier had been accused of misogyny in the past, unfairly in most cases, I’d say. But, this time I think he went for it. He had a misogyny adviser on set, even! Sort of daring, I thought. Though not his best film. To me Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville and Manderlay are four stone cold masterpieces. This was as good as The Boss of it All, his fun take on hierarchies and authority. Von Trier is an interesting new variety of right wing reactionary that confuses all the post modern wankers out there, hence, naturally, I love his work. Steve Baker A misogyny advisor?! Wow… I must admit, it was not the story I cared about. The strange atmos and bold artistry of it all just swept me up. The film felt like staring at a beautiful painting that slapped me in the face from time to time. I have immense respect for Von Trier, simply cause he does whatever he wants to do. You gotta love that. …However his rather lame sense of melodrama is what lets his films down at times, at least in my opinion. If you’re going to be melodramatic, learn from the master – Lynch. And Dogme! Please… The day I follow 10 idiotic rules to make a film is the day I shoot myself… Other than that, he’s amazing! Richard Wolstencroft Well the melodrama in Breaking The Waves is to make a theological point. In say Dancer in the Dark its an exercise in sadism… people often mistake what Van Trier does to his characters in that film as being in some empathetic. It is not. He tortures Bjork’s character in a sadistic manner, again most likely to make a theological point on the nature of God. The Dogme rules are a great reaction to the CGI shit cinema that is Legion these days. Of course, they are another one of his pranks, attempting to make people seek certificates and obey rules, but I feel the message behind the prank of getting cinema back to basics and parring it down is sincere. One doesn’t need his certificate or approval, but his ideas are fascinating. That’s why he is (…or could be) as he says he is ‘the world’s greatest living director’. The scary thing about that statement, obviously, is he may be right…?

Steve Baker That is interesting – if I think about his films without the empathy, then they completely different. Almost nasty… I totally get the sincerity behind dogme, and also that it was sort of a prank. It just didn’t feel like a very smart one. It felt like some kids paying in the backyard. If he had put some actual intelligent thought into making a movement or stand against studio cgi etc, then perhaps he could have created something special… At the end of the day he’s just as interested in self promotion as he is creating art. Hey have you seen Martyrs? Holyshit! For the first time in my life I almost wussed out and couldn’t finish a film, but I’m so glad I did. The 2nd half blew me away. It took the idea of true horror in cinema to a whole new level. I was even strangely moved by the notion of what these people were doing. Stephen Lance He is an interesting visual stylist and mood creator. But he’s just disappointed me with what has to say in films since Breaking the Waves. He’s got a nasty little sadistic point of view, particularly with women, which he was blatant about in Antichrist. His scripts are terrible and his point of view juvenile. I think the amount of medication he took for his depression really impacted on Antichrist. A misogyny advisor? Why is that interesting? I think dogme actually is his most interesting contribution and has had an incredible effect on the democratising the movie business. It was a reaction to studio films…and some great works came out of it. Festen, Open Hearts, etc. Richard Wolstencroft Almost nasty. They are nasty. Von Trier deconstructs narrative and replaces it with sadism, cruelty and violence for its own sake. Martyrs is full on, it even had me stop it two thirds of the way in for a break, but I soldiered on and the ending was great. Still a sick, sick film. I do not think Von Trier’s scripts are terrible. Dogville is superb for example like a play. Dogme is cool and transgressive and not done just for self promotion. Stephen Lance But the essence of what he’s saying in his films seems so purile and reductive that i don’t get it. yes the forms interesting, and i’ll give you that about dogville and dancer. but the story of a woman who’s persecuted by a small town with a chain around her neck seeks revenge in a massacre. what’s so insightful about that? i guess i’m not that into his nasty content because he dresses it up in art house form. in fact, i really don’t like him because of it. i absolutely agree about dogme though…it totally was transgressive and cool, and helped create some awesome cinema. Richard Wolstencroft I do not think its purile, I think his positions are very dark and daring. He is a true pessimist and misanthrope. I think Von Trier is also a sort of fascist filmmaker, and he arrives there from his previous attributes mentioned above. The “Von” is effected, by the way, so he sounds more Germanic. His real name is Lars Trier. His goal is to take exploitative subject matter and turn it into high subversive fascist art, which he does. I think he makes interesting right wing statements on religion and martyrdom (Breaking the Waves), misanthropy and control (Dancer in the Dark), the desire to exterminate the awfulness of most of humanity (Dogville), the pointlessness of freeing any type of slave, as they are even worse than than their masters when free (Manderlay), the hidden evil and absurd comedy of democratic and social power (Boss of it All) and the evil destructive essence of women (AntiChrist). The biggest joke is people don’t see his vast reactionary agenda, and treat him as some kind of post modern god… Stephen Lance Mmmm…I guess I just don’t like the way he exploits the medium and his actors for such fascist desires. I don’t like ring wing agendas and the idea of embracing a film about the evil destructive essence of women seems ridiculous, to the point of hilarity. it’s just too reductive for me. but thank god you’re out there for him. Steve Baker…perhaps one thing we could all agree on – he would love us debating over him??? Therefore he wins!? Richard Wolstencroft Well I don’t think he is saying that all women are that way. Its more a personal pessimistic musing on the nature of women. He is making politico-theological statements on the human condition, as he sees it. He may not even recommend any political platform, or position from this. The breadth of his nihilism is impressive, though. Whether you agree with him sometimes, or no, his positions provoke… as they do ring true on occasion. Are not people often miserable and worthless? Is not nature and humanity vastly cruel? Is democratic Western government not a sham that hides the powerful and privileged pulling the levers? Though I think his AntiChrist is the weakest statement, and hardest to swallow. Women hardly like to allow their children to be killed as portrayed in that film. Unless one talks about the unconscious and dark desires within, which I think he is to some extent…the dark feminine unconscious of which Freud spoke, etc…

[Via http://ideafix7.wordpress.com]

Donnie Darko (2001)

2010-01-05T00:36:00.000+02:00

The faint light of dawn is not enough to make out much as the camera follows the winding road down. It’s uncertain where we are going, or what we’ll see until a lump appears on the road, our protagonist, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), is as lost and confused as the audience is likely to be by the end of the rod. Much like the opening shot the film is unclear, obscure and idyllic. Where it’s taking us, what’s going on and more importantly when it is going to get around to explaining all this is not something the film is interested in letting us know.

On the surface the film is the tale of an out of place teenager who has got some mental issues. But his imaginary friend Frank (James Duval), a man in a disturbing bunny suit, suggests there’s more going on, that there’s something wrong with this world and that it will soon come to an end. Is this the tale of a troubled teen who is compensating for the crummy state of the world around him or an enlightened being becoming fully aware of an entirely new dimension.

Part of the beauty of the film is that the character has space for either possibility. There’s time when his rebellion seems more like ramblings of a child suffering Tourette syndrome but other times he’s got some truly enlightening, if inappropriately hilarious, points to make. Either way he’s a disturbed and haunted individual who is either a delusional fool or a man burdened by the truth in a world full of lies. The way that the film allows space for both interpretations while distinctly defining him as a character is one of the film’s many subtle, brilliant strokes.

However, the plot itself does make one conclusion certain. I’ve always struggled with the end. A strong part of me wants a film that allows the audience to draw their own conclusion, make what they will of this Donnie Darko. Yet without the definitiveness of the ending the film would quickly run out of narrative and meander into a serious of disjointed and unrelated sequences. Upon repeat viewings it becomes apparent how intricate and complex the film is and how there’s all these elements at work.

It’s a puzzle putting it altogether and trying to make the film work in a logical sense. I hesitate to spoil anything but let me just say that the pieces are a bit scrambled. In fact, trying to make it all fit together presents these two extremes for me. Either I’m investing far too much attention in every scene trying to ascribe meaning to every last shred of possibility or I’m simply not paying enough attention. Like most opposing extremes the solution is probably somewhere between the two but there’s stretches where I’d swear nothing important is happening and other stretches where it seems every last line has some double meaning.

Some people will never get to such a meta-level with the film as they’ll be put off by a lot of things along the way. The film can be rather crass at times as the protagonist has a blunt, profane way of putting a lot of things. More than a few F-bombs have been launched by the end and there’s not a lot held as sexually taboo. It’s hilariously inappropriate at times and at other times unnecessarily foul. But the film is only as disturbed and offensive as its protagonist.

And the language might not be as near off putting to some as that disturbing rabbit suit. The film has got a good taste for the surreal and bizarre in the stylistic vein of David Lynch. It’s not quite the deliberate mental screw over that Lynch delights in but the film has its share of under lit, creepy rabbit action going on. On that level alone it works as this distinctly obscuring film with a number of scenes that made me wonder if someone fiddled with the brightness level on my television.

And like the style the film is just deliberately obtuse. Some might say it goes out of its way to alienate audience members and that it is deliberately trying to be a cult classic. Make something, bizarre, obscure and offensive enough and people will love it. But such though circumvents trying to engage the film on another level and understand that Donnie Darko exists in a dimension that few films even acknowledge. I’m still not sure if it’s a dimension I particularly want to be aware of but it makes for an interesting mind puzzle and a distinct experience.

[Via http://cinemasights.wordpress.com]

Word up: The return of the 'Sex and the City' nameplate necklace

2010-01-03T02:56:00.000+02:00

From the Los Angeles Times:

Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Carrie” necklace in HBO’s “Sex and the City” helped bring urban chic into high fashion — and was one of the only constant pieces in her character’s ever-evolving wardrobe.

When the show became a hit, we all ran out to get a nameplate necklace (my “Emili” necklace is suitably rough-hewn, hand-crafted by an East L.A. high-schooler). But the flames cooled on the trend rather quickly; and we all moved on to diamond solitaire pendants, bib-style statement necklaces, etc.

But lately, I’ve been noticing the return of wordy necklaces — sometimes spelling out names, but more often calling out locales and phrases.

And hip fashion companies are getting on board with the resurgence, too. Topshop’s U.S. website, for example, has an array of phrase-y necklaces on display, spelling out “Essex,” “I Love London

,” “Ooh-La-La” and “Cockney,” among other sentiments.

But in the end, I’m still a fan of the original ghetto-gold name necklace (I even like the diamond-encrusted ones); the more frilly the script, the better. SoulJewelry.com has fab ones that will last forever, ranging from $100 to $200.

[Via http://nealbinnyc.wordpress.com]

My favorite films of '09

2010-01-03T00:10:00.000+02:00

Personally I was disappointed with 2009’s offering of cinema. Most people thought ‘08 had a bad turn out, but that year’s films were so much better than last year’s. Whereas in ‘08 I saw many new films the day or week they came out, in ‘09 I wasn’t particularly impressed with anything enough to watch it right when it was released. I either waited a few weeks, or just watched it once it came out on DVD or Blu-Ray. Because of this I watched many, many more older and non-American films, which was well worth their mostly long running times. This isn’t to say I totally avoided all new American films, or to infer I wasn’t excited about some films enough to catch them on their release date in theaters. I was particularly excited about Inglourious Basterds and Star Trek when they came out, for example, and I watched both on their opening day. Though I much more prefer a film with more substance than explosions, I don’t write-off a movie completely just because of its blockbuster status. The only exception to this was New Moon. I have better things to do than watch sparkly virgin vampires doing their thing.

My favorite films of ‘09: (in alphabetical order)

– Michael Moore, Capitalism: A Love Story

– Henry Selick, Coraline

– Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox

– Matteo Garrone, Gomorrah

– Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker

– Steven Soderbergh, The Informant!

– Duncan Jones, Moon

– Cary Fukunaga, Sin Nombre

– Cyrus Nowrasteh, The Stoning of Soraya M.

– Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, Up

If there are any two films I would recommend as a must see, it’d be The Hurt Locker and Sin Nombre. The power of both films makes me glad to see good filmmakers making good films still.

Honorable Mentions:

– Marc Webb, (500) Days of Summer

– Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

– Lee Daniels, Precious

– J.J. Abrams, Star Trek

– Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

My least favorite films of ‘09: (in ascending order of suckiness)

– Zack Snyder, Watchmen

– McG, Terminator Salvation

– Gavin Hood, X-Men Origins: Wolverine

– Stephen Sommers, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

– Shawn Levy, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

– Nicholas Jasenovic, Paper Heart

– Oren Peli, Paranormal Activity

Avoid the last two like the plague.

I’m sad to say I didn’t see many new foreign films, particularly almost no new Filipino films at all. So, just for giggles, here are my favorite non-new release foreign films I saw in ‘09: (in alphabetical order)

– Francois Truffaut, The 400 Blows

– Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Blissfully Yours

– Auraeus Solito, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros

– Akira Kurosawa, The Hidden Fortress

– Hayao Miyazaki, Howl’s Moving Castle

– Masaki Kobayashi, Kwaidan

– Tomas Alfredson, Let the Right One In

– Ishmael Bernal, City After Dark/Manila by Night

– Lino Brocka, Maynila: Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag

– Ingmar Bergman, Scenes from a Marriage

– Brillante Mendoza, Serbis

[Via http://filmrevisited.wordpress.com]

Meryl Streep:Vanity Fair profile

2010-01-02T02:55:00.000+02:00

Photo by Brigitte Lacombe from Vanity Fair

Great photo of Meryl Streep from an excellent profile at Vanity Fair by Leslie Bennetts – the article leadin is below:-

Since she turned 38, Meryl Streep has been waiting for her career to crater. Instead, at 60, she is more of a box-office powerhouse than ever—and coming off her indelible performance in Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, she’s being pursued by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin this month in the romantic comedy It’s Complicated. The author talks to the (un-Botoxed) face of a Hollywood revolution, while photographer Brigitte Lacombe provides a montage of Streep throughout her reign. Plus: VF.com’s exclusive restrospective slide show of Meryl’s work and candid moments on set

[Via http://adamsmith.wordpress.com]

San, seas, Sita and overpopulation: what I've been watching.

2010-01-02T02:39:00.000+02:00

Hello, blogosphere. Happy 2010. Happy new decade. I spent half my life in that decade. Last night for an hour, my lover and I were in different decades. Time is a weird construct. Anyway. I’ve been very sick since Sunday; it sucks on many levels but the good thing about it is that I’ve been watching lots and lots of movies. And I want to talk a little about them and the thoughts I’ve been having. The night before last I watched two animated films from 2009 that were on Roger Ebert’s ‘Best of the Year’ list, Ponyo and Sita Sings the Blues, and last night I watched Coraline, Beauty and the Beast (I needed the nostalgic comfort) and Princess Mononoke.

Princess Mononoke and Ponyo are both by Hayao Miyazaki who is…pretty much a fucking animation god. He also did Spirited Away (2001), Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), etc. If you’re someone who’s into anime at all, you’ve most likely seen one or more of his works. I saw Princess Mononoke a few times when I was younger and really liked it though I didn’t understand it very well. Watching it again, especially hot off the heels of seeing the huge, clumsy, visually-refined-to-death, monster that is Avatar (in brain-burning 3D no less) was very refreshing. Where Avatar is very manipulative about who you’re supposed to like (because all the military people are assholes and all the Na’vi are nature-loving, good people) and what you’re supposed to feel about everything, Princess Mononoke presents all the characters as very real, rounded characters who have lives and motives outside of “I’m the opposition so I act this way!”. Even Lady Eboshi, the film’s main antagonist. She’s not hateful or very evil, you don’t like what she does and it’s frustrating and upsetting to see it but you don’t really hate her or want her to die. Avatar and Princess Mononoke have a similar core conflict: humans vs. nature. Avatar also has about a million other messages it’s trying to weakly get across (just tossing an idea into a movie without any development behind it does not a powerful message make) but that’s the main point.

Princess Mononoke and Avatar are two wildly different examples of how to present the same idea. Where Avatar is heavy-handed and full of cliche characters and situations and a horribly predictable storyline, Princess Mononoke morphs an old idea into something more original. Not just man coming and destroying nature. Man’s industrialization of the land corrupting the very bodies and souls of the gods of the forest. You would think a film with a premise like that would come across heavy-handed but again all our characters are interesting and have personalities outside of being mere plot devices and it gives more depth to the film and more opportunity to think. Because although Avatar has a wealth of heavy subject matters it’s playing with, you don’t have to think to know what it’s saying. They spell it out for you. You don’t have to think about which side is good or bad because each side acts as a homogeneous entity, expressing the same ideas and beliefs. You don’t have to think about what you think should happen because the movies tells you what you think should happen: the military should take its ass away from beautiful Pandora.

With Princess Mononoke we care about and are invested in characters from both sides and the story being told is told eloquently and beautifully. And there are more personal biases, such as my natural tendency towards traditional animation. I have always been drawn to and more impressed by traditional forms of animation than I have CGI (Princess Mononoke has about five minutes that include some computer generated images and the rest is all hand drawn); people have been creating awe-inspiring worlds like Pandora for years and years and years, with ink, paints, clays, etc. And so while I didn’t intend to turn this into a comparison of the two films that’s what ended up happening and as far as I’m concerned Princess Mononoke wins.

On a much (much, much, much) lighter note: Ponyo! Ponyo just….made my fucking day. If you are sick, watch this movie. If you are sad, watch it. If you are happy, watch it. If you are a alive and breathing watch this movie. It is so wonderful. Just…delightful. In my opinion, it’s very hard to pull off films that have little to no real conflict; it’s why a huge majority of children’s G-rated films are so mind-numbingly boring, stupid and patronizing. But Miyazaki has a knack for films like this. Much like My Neighbor Totoro (which you should also watch if you are alive), most of the film centers around childhood and how children perceive things. Ponyo is Miyazaki’s take on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid.

When little Ponyo mischievously wanders off one day and ends up in the bucket of a little boy named Sosuke, she decides that she wants to be a little girl too. Despite her father’s attempts to stop her she uses her powers to transform herself into a cute, hyperactive little girl and proceeds to use her powers to reunite with Ponyo. During all this, she manages to flood the entire town. Ponyo is especially delightful to me because all of it is hand-drawn, every last bit. And that’s really important to me. For traditional artists the idea that animation could be (or is being) replaced with computers is incredibly unnerving. And so it’s important for amazing animators like Miyazaki to maintain that balance between how much computer animation is used compared to hand-drawn.

Ponyo’s American distributor is Disney and they dubbed it with appropriately moronic leads: Noah Cyrus, younger sister of Miley and the younger sibling of the Jonas Brother’s, Frankie (it balances out a little though; Tina Fey plays the mother). I don’t really have a problem with Disney distributing this film, it makes sense that they’re the American distributor (even though this movie is better than most things they’ve put out lately) but I am kind of irked by the American poster for Ponyo:

Am I the only one who sees the similarities? If so, feel free to tell me I’m crazy but seriously. Just cause they both have a fish and water doesn’t mean they’re similar. But anyway, the point is you should watch Ponyo. Like seriously, go watch it right now. It doesn’t matter if you’re a little kid or a teenager or an adult or really old: this movie is great and you need it in your life.

All of the movies I’ve watched over the last two days have been animated, most of them traditionally animated but what I’m going to talk about next was made on a computer, mostly in Flash animation in fact. I know that might sound weird coming hot off the heels of me claiming my undying love for traditional animation but my love for traditional forms of animation doesn’t mean that I hate all forms of computer generated art. There is a lot of very wonderful, beautiful, meaningful computer generated art and I understand and respect that computers are now just another tool for artists to use if they choose to. And the following film would not exist or even be able to be SEEN without computers and that is just very sad to think about. The movie I’m talking about is Sita Sings the Blues.

It is very hard to even describe this movie, it’s so wildly original and creative. That basic story is that of an episode of The Ramayana, focusing on the story of Rama and Sita, with the perspective on what it was like for Sita and all she had to go through. The film makes use of four different styles to bring together parallel narratives: one which tells the story of Sita and Rama, with painted figures and minimal movement, another in which three traditional shadow puppets (voiced by Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally, and Manish Acharya) casually discuss the story and what it means from a modern viewpoint; a contemporary parallel done in Squigglevision which is actually the story of the writer/director/animator Nina Paley’s own divorce (which is how this whole movie came into being) and a brightly colored, cartoony episodes wherein Sita sings the songs of ’20s jazz singer Annette Hanshaw (who has top billing).

The use of the Annette Hanshaw songs is where things get interesting. Sita Sings the Blues has a fascinating, inspiring story behind it involving freedom of culture, copyright and Nina Paley’s desire to share her art. I won’t get into too much detail about it here because it’s pretty complex and you can read all about it here but basically the use of the Annette Hanshaw songs meant that she couldn’t distribute Sita legally; after managing to bargain down the price for the songs, this woman went into debt to make this movie legal. It became a festival favorite while it’s creator was dead broke. It’s a perfect example of just how broken the copyright system is and how ridiculous it is to try and own culture. Happily though, Sita got a limited DVD pressing and is under a Creative Commons license which means that you can go and watch it, download it, copy it and share it. You should go watch it right now on Youtube. In the words of Nina Paley’s website:

I hereby give Sita Sings the Blues to you. Like all culture, it belongs to you already, but I am making it explicit with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Please distribute, copy, share, archive, and show Sita Sings the Blues. From the shared culture it came, and back into the shared culture it goes.

The story behind Sita Sings the Blues is about as amazing to me as the film itself. And as a result I’ve become incredibly interested in Nina Paley; she’s absolutely fucking awesome and I love her. I discovered that she is childfree (what’s up!) due to her concerns with overpopulation and I found this short film that she made. It is so interesting and fun to watch.

And it actually got me thinking a lot about my own views on breeding. I don’t want to breed, I’m happily child free and I have no maternal feelings or fantasies about being a mother or having babies. I don’t like children and I have about a million reasons why I wouldn’t make a good mother, despite what people who barely know me have to say about it. But this video cemented the idea I’ve had that if somewhere along the line I decided I wanted a child I would adopt. Why should I bring another human being into this world when there are so many children without parents? It doesn’t make any logical sense to me so I won’t have any part in it.

So that’s a little window into what I’ve been up to lately; forgive me if any of it is incoherent or just plain weird, as I’m still sick and not very clear-headed. I hope to start posting regularly again soon after I get better. I’m going to go watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which will make four Miyazaki films in the last two or so days. I’m awesome.

[Via http://mendthiscrack.wordpress.com]

Inimigo Público - Duas Versões Perfeitas

2010-01-02T01:48:00.000+02:00

Não, isso não é fanatismo (só um pouquinho!), mas vou falar de outro filme do meu querido Johnny Deep. Desta vez o motivo não é “só” ele. A história é a seguinte:

Como sou apaixonada pelo Johnny (só para os íntimos ok?) sempre estou esperando por seus lançamentos. Quando ouvi os rumores sobre o lançamento de Inimigo Público pensei: “O Johnny é um ótimo ator que, geralmente, escolhe ótimos roteiros. Além dele, o Christian Bale (outra paixão fulminante) também estará no filme, então acho que será fantástico! Quando vi sobre o que se tratava, tive certeza absoluta de que seria um ótimo filme. Neste filme, Jonhhy vive o papel de Jonh Dillinger, um famoso ladrão de bancos, anti-herói americano. Ou seja: Rebeldes, cenas de ação, mafiosos, Chicago, Nova Yourk, depressão, filme datado com figurino fantástico. A ideia de interpretar outro “rebelde” nas telas, fez com que Johnny Deep aceitasse de imediato o papel (ainda bem!). Na época do lançamento do filme, o ator declarou que é fã de Dillinger desde criança, acrescentando que seu avô tinha uma destilaria ilegal nos fundos de casa e que seu padrasto passou uma temporada na cadeia.

Um tempo depois, estava eu na biblioteca da faculdade procurando alguma coisa boa para assistir quando me deparei com um filme chamado “Inimigos Públicos”. Na hora pensei que fosse uma versão antiga (e original) do filme de Johnny Deep, mas bastou assistir para perceber que se tratava de outro filme, mas com o mesmo tema. Neste filme, o grande James Cagney interpreta Tom Powers, que começa a fazer pequenos furtos quando ainda era criança junto com seu amigo Matt Doyle (interpretado por Edward Woods) e que se torna um famoso ladrão. Outro filme que retrata a depressão e a lei seca nos Estados Unidos, a máfia, a busca pela boa vida, cheia de glamour que é conseguida através do roubo. Ah, detalhe importantíssimo: A musa Jean Harlow é um das estrelas do filme, interpretando Gwen Allen. Linda e sedutora como sempre!!!

A ideia não é fazer comparações entre os dois filmes, os dois são fantásticos e merecem atenção, cada um de um jeito único e diferente.

Os dois filmes são ótimas pedidas para quem, assim como eu, ama filmes de mafiosos, de anti-heróis, que se passam nas décadas de 20 a 50, geralmente em Chicago e Nova York, que trazem ótimas trilhas sonoras, lindos figurinos e, principalmente, que tratam de problemas sociais. Filmes super retrôs!

[Via http://misslittlecherry.wordpress.com]