I'm pretty psyched about this blog of mine, so I think I'm going to do another post...
Let's start with a little recommendation/a bit about me, if you know me well, you know that I carry around a bag with a few of my art supplies and writing notebooks, I also generally have a few movies on me (for when life can't wait eh? *wink wink nudge nudge*)... but I think these movies deserve a viewing so I'll tell you what I have on me now. First off, two movies I mentioned in my last post, Black Swan and The Big Lebowski, two amazing (and very different) movies, and then I have Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Synecdoche, New York. All four movies are amazing, two are twisted dramas and the other two are comedy... but I would recommend any and all of them (and may touch on them later).
That's all besides the point though...
Let's start this off with a director... who is that director you ask? David Lynch is that director... I haven't seen too many Lynch films but my interest in him has been heightened by my gorgeous girlfriend Samantha who seems to also be intrigued by his work. I bought a copy of Eraserhead for her a while back and I must say that it is a very... unique debut.
For those of you who have not seen Eraserhead... well, prepare yourself for one of the strangest films you MAY encounter. It's done completely in black and white (as all great film school debuts should be, am I right?) and had a budget of $10000. The film includes such hard hitting topics as, a person's head falling off and his brain used as erasers, a women in a radiators singing, mutant babies, white noise, old men pulling levers in the Moon, and mini chickens leaking black fluid... and that's only the half of it. This is the movie that started our interest in Lynch (however it's not the first Lynch movie I've seen).
Here's the IMDB synopsis... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/plotsummary
My first Lynch film (because I know you were all asking when you read that) was Blue Velvet, which, in my personal opinion is a very fucked up film... what could you expect from it? a disembodied ear, Dennis Hopper inhaling gas and screaming into a woman's vagina, fellatio at knifepoint, drugs, an androgynous man singing the song "Blue Velvet" and voyeurism. This movie actually disturbed me slightly when I first saw it and made me question whether I wanted to watch Lynch (until I eventually saw Eraserhead). http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090756/plotsummary
I'm a fan of surrealism (sorry to those of you who aren't), it may be pretentious and far reaching at times but it's intriguing and generally artistic (at times too artistic). The problem with surrealism is the occasional forfeit of plot... Many surreal paintings and films deal with dream imagery, and if there's one thing about dream imagery it's the fact that it's often changing, non-linear and confusing with little explanation (and films that include this, like Lynch's Mulholland Drive, use non-linear, confusing and only slightly connecting dream logic), it makes the movies ever changing, interesting and great for people with A.D.D. and a twisted mind... but hard to follow at times.
(Plot summary of Mulholland Drive for good measure... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166924/synopsis)
If you don't know much about surrealism, it's a artistic and cultural movement that started in the 1920s, evolving from Dadaism (which actually influenced many other major art and cultural movements). Not many films were made during the 1920s surrealist movement, however, the few films that were made were fairly influential... one of these was Un chien andalou, (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020530/plotsummary) which is a 16 minute short film by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí. This film includes many odd happenings and actually does some surprising (or I suppose they're not surprising since it IS surrealism) things for the 20s, such as show nudity and a man groping a woman and chasing her with the intention of rape. Luis Bañuel went on to create other influential surreal films and Dalí, as you probably know, was a very influential surrealist painter.
Well, I'm going to wrap this one up for now, I may come back with more on surrealism at a later date (hopefully I'll know more about it by then), but there are two surrealist directors to get you started, one old, one newer... Also to help you out I'll post the filmography of both!
Louis Bañuel:
Un chien andalou (1929)
L'Age d'Or (1930)
Las Hurdes: Tierra Sin Pan (1933)
Gran Casino (1947)
El Gran Calavera (1949)
Los olvidados (1950)
Susana (1951)
La hija del engaño (1951)
Subida al cielo (1952)
Una mujer sin amor (1952)
El bruto (1953)
Él (1953)
La ilusión viaja en tranvia (1954)
Abismos de pasión (1954)
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1954)
Ensayo de un crimen (1955)
El rio y la muerte (1955)
Cela s'appelle l'aurore (1956)
La mort en ce jardin (1956)
Nazarin (1959)
La fièvre monte à El Pao (1959)
The Young One (1960)
Viridiana (1961)
El ángel exterminador (1962)
Le journal d'une femme de chambre (1964)
Simón del desierto (1965)
Belle de jour (1967)
La Voie Lactée (1969)
Tristana (1970)
Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie (1972)
Le fantôme de la liberté (1974)
Cet obscur objet du désir (1977)
PHEW! now that THAT'S over...
David Lynch:
Eraserhead (1977)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Dune (1984)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Lost Highway (1997)
The Straight Story (1999)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Inand Empire (2006)
Lynch also has a ton of short films, a few music videos, a few TV shows and some online series' and has worked with Sparklehorse and Dangermouse on the album Dark Night of the Soul and even has his own album called BlueBob.
Also, I'm not going to delve into it yet, but I feel like it'd be wrong not to at least mention a certain director in a surreal post... I'll most likely discuss him later... Federico Fellini, who combined fantasy and modern real images and what is considered "baroque"
ANYWAY... that's all I have for you now, sorry for being so short but if you want more film bloggage check out this self proclaimed "movie douche"... http://musingsofamoviedouche.blogspot.com/
especially if you want some of that fringe horror shit!
See you later
Friday, April 1, 2011
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The First Movement-- Talking about a few Academy Award nominees
So, I've messed with blogs before but I decided to create my own to discuss film (and to a lesser extent a bit of music)... I don't feel like I know nearly enough about film, but it's a passion of mine and I am an aspiring film student, so I feel if I discuss film (and hopefully SOMEONE will respond and there will actually be discussions) then maybe I can know a bit more...
ANYWAY, in the words of Arcade Fire, now I'm ready to start...
Let's start with a review of sorts, I know it's a bit late but still appropriate but Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky just came out on DVD and I have purchased it a few days ago. I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me, you're all entitled to your own opinion, but I really enjoy this film.
For those of you who know anything about the film, it IS about New York ballet... but for those of you that think this would be a retarded chick flick about ballet are horribly wrong (of course that this point you've probably seen the movie or at least know that it's more than that). The movie becomes a trip into obsession, paranoia, rivalry and madness. Natalie Portman's character eventually loses her mind and begins to hallucinate as she become obsessed with her ballet role.
Here's a more detailed synopsis... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/plotsummary
I can't say that I know a lot about Aronofsy (I haven't seen all of his movies), but what I have seen have been good movies... movies like Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan have been good, well told stories that have a good amount of a mind fuck, so to say... The Wrestler and The Fountain were also decent (however, not my favorites). I personally think Aronofsy is a good director, he tells intriguing stories and does them very well...
As I'm sure, you also know, the film was nominated for the Academy Award (it didn't not win), however, it DID deserve the recognition it got. Two other Academy Award nominees this year (neither of which won), that I feel deserve to be mentioned are 127 Hours and True Grit.
Many of you are aware, I'm sure that True Grit by Joel and Ethan Coen is a remake of the 1969 John Wayne film of the same name (which in turn is an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis). I've heard many fans of the John Wayne film did not like this remake. I personally can't imagine this, like most Coen Brothers films, True Grit is an excellent film and another example of the Coen Brothers' ability to tackle any genre and make it their own... The film is a very well done, very good looking typical modern western, one thing I wish this movie did was get into a deeper story or a deeper moral ideal. It literally is a standard western... here's a synopsis... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/plotsummary
The film touches on some subjects that I wish it had the time to dive into further... such as the young girl's romanticized view of the "trail" and there are many events that don't totally seem necessary, such as the "bear man"and it would have been nice for them to explain the importance of Lucky Ned Pepper as the main enemy a bit more (he just seemed to come out of nowhere and be a bigger enemy than Tom Chaney, who they set up as a major enemy at the beginning of the film). Overall, the movie is excellent but, in my opinion, didn't deserve to win the oscar for best picture. Jeff Bridges on the other hand, could have easily won for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn. Jeff Bridges is an excellent actor in my opinion and I love seeing him as the aging badass cowboy that he portrays in this film... Jeff Bridges and the Coen Brothers, as they've shown in The Big Lebowski, are just an excellent combination.
Finally 127 Hours by Danny Boyle, is an amazing movie about human struggle against nature, the will to survive and answering for one's mistakes. Here's the plot... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/plotsummary
What's more amazing is the fact that this movie is a true story, this movie has a lot of depth, it goes deeper than just the story of a trapped man, it dives into what he's thinking and does an excellent job to depicting his regret and need to survive and his near surrender to his plight. I saw Slumdog Millionaire which is also by Boyle and was not totally impressed (even though it won the Academy Award for best picture in 2008), this movie is exponentially better than that one, 127 Hours is a movie that actually makes you feel for the character and internalize his struggle. It makes you think about what you'd do in the same situation and who your possible final thoughts would be of. It's a powerful movie.
I would recommend any of these movies (I can talk about the best picture winner, cuz I have yet to see it haha), but it's good to see worth while movies get recognized on a wide scale in a year when the popular movies were very lacking... I'm sorry 2010, you weren't the best year for movies...
ANYWAY... that's my piece, please comment cuz I'd love to have discussions with people that truly enjoy cinema, if you think I'm retarded or wrong, let me know, everyone has their opinion...
have fun...
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3985807385/
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1984862489/
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi768149785/
Good Night and Good Luck
ANYWAY, in the words of Arcade Fire, now I'm ready to start...
Let's start with a review of sorts, I know it's a bit late but still appropriate but Black Swan by Darren Aronofsky just came out on DVD and I have purchased it a few days ago. I'm not expecting everyone to agree with me, you're all entitled to your own opinion, but I really enjoy this film.
For those of you who know anything about the film, it IS about New York ballet... but for those of you that think this would be a retarded chick flick about ballet are horribly wrong (of course that this point you've probably seen the movie or at least know that it's more than that). The movie becomes a trip into obsession, paranoia, rivalry and madness. Natalie Portman's character eventually loses her mind and begins to hallucinate as she become obsessed with her ballet role.
Here's a more detailed synopsis... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/plotsummary
I can't say that I know a lot about Aronofsy (I haven't seen all of his movies), but what I have seen have been good movies... movies like Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan have been good, well told stories that have a good amount of a mind fuck, so to say... The Wrestler and The Fountain were also decent (however, not my favorites). I personally think Aronofsy is a good director, he tells intriguing stories and does them very well...
As I'm sure, you also know, the film was nominated for the Academy Award (it didn't not win), however, it DID deserve the recognition it got. Two other Academy Award nominees this year (neither of which won), that I feel deserve to be mentioned are 127 Hours and True Grit.
Many of you are aware, I'm sure that True Grit by Joel and Ethan Coen is a remake of the 1969 John Wayne film of the same name (which in turn is an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis). I've heard many fans of the John Wayne film did not like this remake. I personally can't imagine this, like most Coen Brothers films, True Grit is an excellent film and another example of the Coen Brothers' ability to tackle any genre and make it their own... The film is a very well done, very good looking typical modern western, one thing I wish this movie did was get into a deeper story or a deeper moral ideal. It literally is a standard western... here's a synopsis... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/plotsummary
The film touches on some subjects that I wish it had the time to dive into further... such as the young girl's romanticized view of the "trail" and there are many events that don't totally seem necessary, such as the "bear man"and it would have been nice for them to explain the importance of Lucky Ned Pepper as the main enemy a bit more (he just seemed to come out of nowhere and be a bigger enemy than Tom Chaney, who they set up as a major enemy at the beginning of the film). Overall, the movie is excellent but, in my opinion, didn't deserve to win the oscar for best picture. Jeff Bridges on the other hand, could have easily won for his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn. Jeff Bridges is an excellent actor in my opinion and I love seeing him as the aging badass cowboy that he portrays in this film... Jeff Bridges and the Coen Brothers, as they've shown in The Big Lebowski, are just an excellent combination.
Finally 127 Hours by Danny Boyle, is an amazing movie about human struggle against nature, the will to survive and answering for one's mistakes. Here's the plot... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/plotsummary
What's more amazing is the fact that this movie is a true story, this movie has a lot of depth, it goes deeper than just the story of a trapped man, it dives into what he's thinking and does an excellent job to depicting his regret and need to survive and his near surrender to his plight. I saw Slumdog Millionaire which is also by Boyle and was not totally impressed (even though it won the Academy Award for best picture in 2008), this movie is exponentially better than that one, 127 Hours is a movie that actually makes you feel for the character and internalize his struggle. It makes you think about what you'd do in the same situation and who your possible final thoughts would be of. It's a powerful movie.
I would recommend any of these movies (I can talk about the best picture winner, cuz I have yet to see it haha), but it's good to see worth while movies get recognized on a wide scale in a year when the popular movies were very lacking... I'm sorry 2010, you weren't the best year for movies...
ANYWAY... that's my piece, please comment cuz I'd love to have discussions with people that truly enjoy cinema, if you think I'm retarded or wrong, let me know, everyone has their opinion...
have fun...
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3985807385/
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1984862489/
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi768149785/
Good Night and Good Luck
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