This is a list of good movies to watch while high on Pot that I decided to compile, after smoking a little Pot. I started it and got quite most of it done and then pawned the rest off on a couple of buddies! These are in no particular order, and this list isn’t "The Best Movies to Watch High on Pot," just some good movies to watch while enjoying the green.

• Any Monty Python Movie (but especially Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

  • ADDED LATE: At first for got to add any Monty Python, mostly due to smoking pot and getting distracted by shiny things!  Anyway, anything by Monty Python fits the bill for good watching while high…anything. I especially like Monty Python and the Holy Grail, though, as I believe it just may be the pinnacle of humour!
• The Big Lebowski
  • Just an all round cool movie with cool characters. Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Lebowski (aka "The Dude") is amazing, and John Goodman as The Dudes friend Walter Sobchak is a performance you won’t soon forget. A mix up around two people with the same name that leads to an epic battle to get the Dude’s carpet replaced or cleaned after a thug pissed on it… Never mind that, just take a few puffs and watch the damn thing!
• Caddyshack
  • One of the best Summer comedies of all time! Trouble’s brewing at an upscale private golf course/country club when a crass, fun loving loudmouthed millionaire plans on joining the quiet and normally reserved club. Bill Murray puts in one of the funniest performances ever captured on film (in my opinion, at least), as the messed up, pot smokin’, gopher hunting groundskeeper Carl Spackler. Great performances from Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield (his best performance!) and Ted Night make this one a gem.
• Spaceballs
  • Mel Brooks takes on Star Wars. Brooks comedic genius combined with alumni of the great Canadian Second City Television (SCTV) Rick Moranis and the late John Candy makes this a winning sci-fi cheesefest.
• Evil Dead 2
  • A Sam Raimi masterpiece. I know it’s it’s Evil Dead 2, but it’s not necessary to watch the first. Evil Dead 2 is written as if the first didn’t take place, despite both staring the great Bruce Campbell and taking place in the same old scary cabin. It’s just that I find the second movie superior. Even so, I still suggest watching the original Evil Dead.
• A Scanner Darkly
  • An award winning book by Philip K. Dick, translated into an animation meets reality festival for the eyes with a story that draws you deep into itself. A twisted tale of a deep undercover vice cop trying to find the source of the drug "Substance D," a drug that he himself has become addicted to. A myriad of twisted characters and plot drive this movie. A great cast of actors including Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson certainly doesn’t hurt either. Try to make sure you smoke your good, heavy mental stuff for this movie.
• Pink Floyd The Wall
  • An over the top, self indulgent whiny story about how shitty life would be if you were a fabulously filthy rich monster rock star made of equal parts Syd Barret and Roger Waters. Oh, and it totally freakin’ rocks. Pink Floyd’s monster Rock Opera concept album, The Wall fuels this warped, cool stylistic animations mixed with live action. A feast for the ears, eyes and mind. Puff away!!!
• Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
  • A truly funny, stupid movie about two stoned buddies trying to score some White Castle burgers. Neil Patrick Harris (as himself) steals their car, and the dubious duo end up riding on the back of a cheetah so you know this is a good movie!
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters 
• One of the most disjointed plot-lines I’ve ever seen with a bizarre collection of animated characters including a floating, super-powerful "fries", a milkshake with tiny hands, a suggested omniscient watermelon and his side-kick, Rush’s Niel Peart. The "Let’s All Grab a Snack" retro intro is classic.  "Don’t talk, watch! Don’t talk, watch! You came here, watch it! You don’t like it, walk out!

• Heavy metal

  • An awesome movie to watch after smoking a little something,something. It is animated, there is great music and boobs, it took forever to get on vhs , just waiting for a blu-ray copy of it.

• The Kentucky Fried Movie
  • The very first movie from John Landis (He even has a cameo). This collection of skits, satire, and parodies from 1977 stands also as one of the first efforts from the creative team of Jim Abrahams  and the Zucker Brothers of Airplane! and The Naked Gun fame. It sports a "movie within-a-movie" called "A fist Full of Yen" which is a spoof of Enter the Dragon. Classic. Any movie that starts off with a news anchor stating "The popcorn you are eating has been pissed in…film at 11" receives high accolades.  

As you probably know, a list like this could go on and on… but it won’t!

That’s it for now, folk. Hope you enjoy!

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I was thinking about film today, as I do pretty often, wondering what I’d pick if I tried to come up with a combo list of slightly strange sci-fi movies including some post apocalyptic stuff.  Films I liked.  Films that had an impact on me… couldn’t forget scenes from them, made me think a bit… that sort of thing.  This is what I came up with…. in no particular order.

2001: A Space Odyssey (68)

2010 (84)

A Boy and his Dog (75)

A Scanner Darkly (06)

Bicentennial Man (99)

Blade Runner (82)

Brave New World (80)

Capricorn One (77)

Cherry 2000 (87)

Damnation Alley (77)

Dark City (98)

Demolition Man (93)

Dreamscape (84)

Escape from New York (81)

Gattaca (97)

Handmaid’s Tale (90)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78)

Jacob’s Ladder (90)

Liquid Sky (82)

Logan’s Run (76)

Mad Max Movies (79-85)

Matrix Trilogy (99-03)

Metropolis (27)

Minority Report (02)

Mission to Mars (00)

Omega Man (71)

On The Beach (59)

Planet of the Apes Films (68-73)

Quatermass and the Pit (68)

Scanners (81)

Red Planet (00)

Silent Running (72)

Soylent Green (73)

Stargate (94)

Tank Girl (95)

The Running Man (87)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (51)

The Island (05)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (77)

The Andromeda Strain (71)

The Time Machine (60)

They Live (88)

The Thing (82)

V for Vendetta (05)

Total Recall (90)

Videodrome (83)

The Warriors (79)

Waterworld (95)

Westworld (73)

Zardoz (74)

There is nothing I love more than introducing people to the Hollywood gems that they somehow missed while growing up. Today, it was Heathers (1989). As I basked in the artistic genius of Winona Ryder I realized that her once over exposed face has been missing from tabloids and from mainstream movies for years.

Sure, this could be because studios are still cautious about hiring a shoplifter to promote their work, but bitch please that was way back in 2001. The world was a different place and she was still young and impressionable. It’s hard to pay for things when you are used to getting them for free.

Winona has been in the public eye since her early teens in the late ‘80s with movies like Lucas (1986) and Edward Scissorhands (1990); typically playing angsty teens, wannabe nuns, and sexually deviant liars. For the best of Winona I suggest you witness her genius in Mermaids (1990) with Christina Ricci and the great Cher. In Mermaids, Ryder wants to be a nun in order to depress her mother, unfortunately she is Jewish and fighting a colossal infatuation for Michael Schoeffling, better known to girls as Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles(1984).

Currently Ryder is planning a comeback. She is scheduled to star in Black Swan (2009) currently in pre-production. Lord knows A Scanner Darkly (2006) did nothing but bury her career even deeper into its grave.

Winona, I miss the way you read your diary entries out loud, how you constantly critique “the Man” and your use of the five finger discount.

Winona Ryder, I miss your face- Shassie

Also ich find ja Keanu Reeves ne coole Type. Er hat in sovielen Lieblingsfilmen von mir mitgespielt: Bill und Ted, Matrix, Johnny Menomic, A Scanner Darkly, Constantine usw. Seine Band Dogstar war auch ganz gut unterwegs (Keanu spielte Bass):

und nun ist es offiziell. Dieser Schauspieler und Basser hat seine Erfahrungen nicht aus einem Leben, sondern aus mehreren, gezogen. Der Bub ist nämlich unsterblich…ja ist wirklich wahr. Hier der Beweis:

Knaller,oder?

Übrigens…Wer von meiner Filmaufzählung am Anfang mit dem Namen ‘Johnny Mnenomic’ nichts anfangen konnte. Der Film kam 1995 raus und beweist, daß Keanu’s Rolle in Matrix vorprogrammiert war. Er hatte nämlich schon eine höllische Erfahrung auf den Datenautobahnen. Hier der Spitzen Retro-Trailer:

A Scanner Darkly is a surrealistic trip into the mind of Phillip K. Dick. Inspired by Dick’s own experience with drugs and the numerous deaths of his own friends, the book has been brought to the big screen in excellent fashion. Using the rotoscope technique, the filmed actors have been digitally transformed into a visually stunning water-colored palette of tripped out imagery. For those not familiar, rotoscoping is where animators trace an entire movie, frame by frame, giving it an animated silhouette like feel. The result is entrancing .

The story is genuinely complex in narrative and theme. It is set in the future, taking place 7 years from now in Orange County, California. A new drug, Substance D, has nearly taken over drug addiction and enslaved much of the population. Armed police officers guard every corner. Screeners monitor every phone conversation and watch every satellite feed to battle the war on drugs. Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves) is an undercover narcotics officer who has become secretly addicted to Substance D. It is so addictive that after trying it once, you are hooked. Undercover officers (Scanners) of the future have special uniforms called ‘scramble suits’. They are bio-electric camouflage suits that hide the identity of the wearer by generating over a million possible faces, ears, eyes, hands, etc. The suit also provides alternate sounding voices. It gives the wearer a different identity every second which makes distinguishing someone impossible. His name to the undercover agency is Fred, as they assign him to spy on Bob Arctor, himself. His deep cover prevents the agency from knowing his true identity (since he is in a scramble suit) but they inform him through process of elimination they will find out eventually who he is.

His insanely crazy friends James Barris (Robert Downey Jr.), Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson), and Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane) are all addicts. Barris and Luckman both live with Arctor in a shitty house that has been transformed into a drug den. The story begins with Freck, in a severely uncomfortable scene where hundreds of tiny insects infest his apartment. He does everything from shower to spray himself down with bug killer, but to no avail they reappear. Only later we learn that his is a side effect of Substance D. Then there is Donna (Winona Ryder) a miserable junkie who’s grip on reality seems to be slipping away ever so slowly. She been proclaimed as Arctor’s girlfriend, yet they are not intimate. The banter between Barris and Luckman is brilliantly written. Barris is truly a unique character that should have been given more screen time. He’s a huge addict who enjoys scaring addicts worse off then himself. As the story progresses, problems arise with Arctor, who seems to be seeing and experiencing things he shouldn’t be. Whenever Fred/Arctor sheds the scramble suits, he is monitored by the agency via satellite. After being assigned to spy in on his own house, depression begins to set in. He must knowingly be recorded in order to throw the agency off about his own identity. The resulting climax is gripping, and unpredictable with an ending that will resonate with you even after you leave the theater.

The acting performances were outstanding all around. Yes, that does include Keanu Reeves who gives arguably his best one to date. Robert Downey Jr. is incredible as James Barris. Woody Harrelson is superb in this, with great comedic timing, he creates quite the character.  I also could go on forever about the visuals of the film. You almost need to see this twice to let everything soak in. From the bizarre design of the scramble suits, to the visions the characters have, the animation really gives this film a key sense of visual depth that really wouldn’t be there without the rotoscoping. I can’t imagine this being a live-action film.

A great aspect of this story is that it creates discussion. Although it is not totally open-ended where it could invoke endless interpretations, it is possible for people to decipher this in numerous ways. It is a harrowing story about drug addiction that should leave its mark on every viewer that watches and throws a political wrench as well which can’t be ignored.

Sou completamente a favor de uma comunicação P2P (Peer to Peer) que vise à um desenvolvimento intelectual e, por este motivo decidi postar alguns filmes que considero extremamente interessantes para que seja maior a aproximação com certas formas de linguagem audiovisual que resultem incomuns para a maioria das pessoas.

Meu primeiro contato com essas idéias a respeito do uso desta específica forma de troca de arquivos – sob tal  finalidade – se deu quando, em uma de minhas várias buscas por documentários que pudessem ser associados à aulas futuras, topei com o sítio virtual www.mvgroup.org.

Este site e, na verdade um interessante fórum, com finalidade de dividir e debater diversos documentários que possam ser interessantes para se apresentar. Administrado por um grupo que, após a morte de seu idealizador Merrin (1976 – 2008), buscou manter sua idéia de uma “educação em P2P” em movimento.

Desde então, encontrei sites que seguem essa mesma “engine” e procuram oferecer interessantes idéias e arquivos para serem trabalhados, mas falarei sobre eles outra hora. O mais importante agora é que vocês (possíveis leitores) devem ter um programa de troca de arquivos como o Utorren ou o Azureus para baixar o arquivo que estou “postanto” aqui .

Sobre como baixar e instalar é muito fácil encontrar tutoriais que expliquem isto passo-a-passo, por este motivo, não considero necessário explicar isto de novo. Afinal, o desenvolvimento implica pesquisa, não?!

O site oficial do filme é http://wwws.br.warnerbros.com/ascannerdarkly/

Informações sobre o filme (e até mesmo outra opção de download):

Áudio:Inglês / Português
Legenda:Sem Legendas
Tamanho: 725 Mb
Formato: AVI
Qualidade: DVDRip
Qualidade de Audio: 10
Qualidade de Vídeo: 10

INFORMAÇÕES DO FILME
Ano de Lançamento: 2006
Gênero: Ação, Animação
Duração: 1h40min
Servidor: 2Shared

Sinopse:Usando técnicas de animação parecidas com Waking Life, este é o novo projeto do mesmo diretor, Richard Linklater. Situado em um mundo futurista, no qual os EUA definitivamente perdeu a guerra contra as drogas, um policial disfarçado (voz de Keanu Reeves) é um dos muitos agentes viciados na popular droga Substância D que, dentre muitas outras coisas, causa dupla personalidade nos usuários. Assim, Fred também desenvolve a personalidade de Bob, um notório traficante de drogas. Resta saber o que pode acontecer quando Fred resolve capturar Bob.

Trailer:

E aqui estou dispondo um torrent que está bem que peguei no site do isohunt.

A qualidade está boa, mas tem que procurar a legenda…

Baixe o torrent aqui

A legenda pode ser encontrada no site  Legendas.tv

Abraços e boa diversão

Sherlock Holmes! Woo!

You have to admit, I do have nice hair.

The super sleuth, one Sherlock Holmes, a private eye detective created by the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been represented countless times within the last hundred years in many a film and television production. I would happily say that this were the case in regards to the latest addition to the Holmes family tree. I would that is, if it wasn’t set to be the biggest and best yet, will it possibly become the most famous of them all?

The 2009 remake, starring one of Hollywood’s increasingly popular actors, Robert Downey Jr. (A Scanner Darkly, Iron Man, Tropic Thunder) is set in 1891, where him and his lovable assistant Dr. Watson, played by Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Artificial Intelligence: AI, Alfie) attempt to stop a conspiracy to destroy Britain. The film is directed by Guy Ritchie, whose popular works include that of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, Revolver and RocknRolla. Other cast include the beautiful Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, The Time Traveler’s Wife), Mark Strong (Syriana, Sunshine, Stardust) and William Hope (Aliens, Triple X, 9/11: The Twin Towers) and with a $80 million budget, it’s bound to be a heck of a film.

You need not worry, not only is the film critically acclaimed to be a huge success over Christmas day (it’s release date… Obviously) and Boxing day, Warner have also already greenlit a sequel. Mr Downey Jr. also seems to have some very nice hair and that is NOT debatable.

Philip K Dick

Books by Philip K Dick:
Neuromancer*:
- Not specific predictions
- General themes of paranoia
- Fragile Reality
- Need for empathy

The Cosmic Puppets**:
- Deliberate manipulate of consensual reality

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
- an immense disaster followed by a continuing struggle against the android menace (A good metaphor for the story of the 21st Century West since 9/11 with the initial horror of the WTC attack followed by a continuing, slow burning campaign against terrorism.)

Film, Released. Source Work(Original Date)
Blade Runner, 1982. Do Androids Dream of Sheep (1968).
Total Recall, 1990. We Can Remember it for you Wholesale (1966).
Confessions d’un Barjo, 1992. Confessions of a Crap Artist (1975).
Screamers, 1995. Second Variety (1953).
Minority Report, 2002. The Minority Report (1956).
Impostor, 2002. Impostor (1962).
Paycheck, 2003. Paycheck (1953).
A Scanner Darkly, 2006. A Scanner Darkly (1977).
Next, 2007. The Golden Man (1954).

The Golden Man/Next:
The story is set in a post-apocalyptic future, where the existence of potentially powerful mutants has become a reality. The mutants are seen as dangerous and have been hunted to death by human beings for years. A golden-skinned mutant called Cris is captured by the government, which attempts to execute him. However, his appearance and abilities to see into the future allow him to escape. The end of the story implies that this golden mutant race will replace humanity.

Dick wrote the story during a time when mutants were being depicted in science fiction as benign and in charge – the future leaders of humanity. The movie Next, released in April 2007, was very loosely based on this story. The movie was directed by Lee Tamahori, with Nicolas Cage as a fully sapient, non-feral Cris, Jessica Biel as his love interest, and Julianne Moore as the government agent that is tracking him.

Information was taken from Wikipedia and BBC Focus Magazine, 174 March 2007.
“The Death of the Sun”

ADDED
*
Literary and cultural importance

Neuromancer is considered “the archetypal cyberpunk work,” and its winning the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick Awards legitimized cyberpunk as a mainstream branch of science fiction literature. It is among the most-honored works of science fiction in recent history, and appeared on Time magazine’s list of 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. The novel was also nominated for a British Science Fiction Award in 1984.

The novel has had significant linguistic influence, popularizing such terms as cyberspace and ICE (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics). Gibson himself coined the term “cyberspace” in his novelette “Burning Chrome,” published in 1982 by Omni magazine. It was only through its use in Neuromancer, however, that the term Cyberspace gained enough recognition to become the de facto term for the World Wide Web during the 1990s. The portion of Neuromancer usually cited in this respect is:
“ The matrix has its roots in primitive arcade games. … Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts. … A graphic representation of data abstracted from banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights, receding. (Gibson 69.) ”

In his afterword to the 2000 re-issue of Neuromancer, fellow author Jack Womack goes as far as to suggest that Gibson’s vision of cyberspace may have inspired the way in which the Internet developed, (particularly the World Wide Web) after the publication of Neuromancer in 1984. He asks “[w]hat if the act of writing it down, in fact, brought it about?” (269).

Norman Spinrad, in his 1986 essay “The Neuromantics” which appears in his non-fiction collection Science Fiction in the Real World, saw the book’s title as a triple pun: “neuro” referring to the nervous system; “necromancer”; and “new romancer.” The cyberpunk genre, the authors of which he suggested be called “neuromantics,” was “a fusion of the romantic impulse with science and technology,” according to Spinrad.

**
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cosmic_Puppets

 Did the Schwarzenator have a soul? Does the current movie business have one?

 Robots gone wrong. Clones without a soul. Removable and sale-able souls. Avatars and virtual stand-ins. Replicants. Real Life and other Massive Multiplayer Role Playing Games.

All these removable or duplicate minds and souls, at the movies and in modern culture. Will we ever tire of separating our “selves” from ourselves, maybe to re-create a better self, so we can sit in a movie theater and cathartically watch our artificial selves make a mess of our “real” selves’ lives (theoretically causing us to value those real lives and authentic experiences, when we walk out of the theater and into real life)? Will we ever be just happy with who we are?

Reading bad reviews of Paul Giamatti’s new artsy Cold Souls film & the big-budget (but sinking box-office) Bruce Willis vehicle Surrogates  got me thinking last week.

What I was thinking was this: haven’t I seen this before? Oh yeah, it was called The Matrix Trilogy! And before that, Being John Malkovich (soul intrusion… where the puppetry theme also made me think of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 Pinnochio… the original robot gone bad). 

Of course, before all of the above movies we had Bladerunner . With its bio-mechanical “replicants” who were really trying to acquire a soul and to feel, this film was probably the best of the bunch. And that was in 1982, so maybe the peak for this subgenre of sci-fi happened long ago. Plus, perhaps the source of all of these stories is in some ways Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and her doc-playing-God’s inability to put a soul back into a re-animated body. But now I’m probably at risk of boring you like an English teacher, so let’s get back to the movies…

For instance, since the numerous Surrogates billboard ads seemed mostly to be selling sex, we gotta reach back even before 1982 to the “make your own perfect woman” model, as seen in such non-classics as The Stepford Wives (both old and new), and John Hughes’ silly 1985 teen version, Weird Science. So now we need to talk about Ovid’s ancient Greek/Cypriot mythic figure Pygmalion (man loves a female statue he’s made), and G.B. Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion. These were just a few of the original “build a better mate” stories — which also led to some cool movie versions like My Fair Lady, and in a very different way, Bride of Frankenstein.

Then there are the “robot with a heart of gold” movies, from Robocop to Bicentenial Man (not as bad as critics said… but schmaltzy) to A.I. (note Spielberg and Kubrick’s involvement here), and then some, including several really bad comedies. These movies explore the positive or perhaps teachable and programmable aspects of human emotion and consciousness — unlike Kubrick and Clarke’s HAL computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, who was both a killjoy and a literal killer.

Oh, and did I mention practically every existing action-packed Schwarzenfillum?!  Starting with Terminator (robots) and also including  The 6th Day (clones), and Total Recall (virtuals). Arnold was a specialist in the “Who is the real me?” action movie.  One might even say that his religio-apocalyptic hack-job in End of Days subsitutes demonic possession for a more technical form of soul removal and transferrance. (Not a good flick, but I like Gabriel Byrne as Lucifer, as I like almost anything Byrne’s ever done.) Those Arnold films have their place, but I would only call the first two Terminator movies great, the second better than the first, which almost never happens in Hollywood. However, Total Recall  also lets us talk about this virtual cops and/or robot robbers thing, as done in such films as Denzel Washington’s somewhat underrated Virtuosity, plus a few others.

Then there’s the rest of the Philip K. Dick film-adapted oevre  (Bladerunner and Total Recall were both based on this pioneering sci-fi writer’s stories). Most of  Dick’s novels and short stories explore what happens when we depend too much on our digital, cloned or mechanical stand-ins, when we try to re-create what is “real” and thus de-authenticate it. A semi-famous quote from Dick puts it this way: “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” 

Notably, Dick was not all about science gone haywire either, but also about soul and the nature of consciousness. Maybe this was because he was a twin, whose sister died a few weeks after they were born. Also notable: Dick had a so-called visitation from God in 1974 which he was never certain was real, or a schizophrenic episode.  And he had a drug problem. And was married five times. And, and, and… in other words, this guy literally lived out there on the edges, with one foot in the tragically real world and the other who knows where.

So Mr. Dick , all by himself, causes us to consider such surrogate or fraudulent-copy movies as  Minority Report (Spielberg again), and Gary Sinise’s Impostor, plus a number of other movie adaptations (most recently Nic Cage’s Next). And there are no less than FOUR Dick-adaptation movies currently in production. Too bad this guy died before he was “discovered”. Tragically, he died at age 53, just a few weeks before Bladerunner, the first movie adaptation, premiered. Not funny, God.

Meanwhile, dark comedy is more the angle Cold Souls is trying to take, though with an existential streak that is more gimmicky promise than satirical reality, if I’m to believe the reviews. As for philosophical, art-house comedy, this stuff has been tackled better before as well. Start with the above-mentioned Malkovich , and then move on to almost all of Oscar-winner Charlie Kaufman’s  other top-flight scripts afterward (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation, etc.) . Charlie often explores surreal or absurdist ideas about loss of reality, duplicate or false selves, misuse of tech and creativity, and/or the selling of our souls.

Hey wait, lookit this! Mr. Dick’s novel A Scanner Darkly was made into a movie by another of my favorites: director Richard Linklater (Slacker, Before Sunrise, School of Rock) . Gotta go pick that one up immediately, as I have not seen it yet. Furthermore, Charlie Kaufman says he is very influenced by Philip K. Dick, and Kaufman even did his own adaptation of Scanner  (which went unproduced, but can be read by going to that link there). Who knew?

Meanwhile, for sheer light comedy, Multiplicity, with Michael Keaton (times five), was up-and-down in its writing and acting quality, but had some very funny moments. And I suspect there are plenty of good clone/twin/avatar comedy projects from tv floating around all over the place… I know X-Files worked well with this concept several times, and a recent South Park featuring World of Warcraft was hilarious. 

Bottom line: these two themes (What is the essence of human consciousness? and Will tech lead us where we should not go?) have been done much better in print and movies dozens of times before. The themes often go together, too… so we might say they’re twins (ack! bad joke alert…)

So while both the current movies may be okay, nevertheless, save your $12 (or whatever a flick costs these days… I go so seldom anymore). Instead, rent one of the above classics (or classically bad camp-fests) on DVD.

…or read a book, for cryin’ out loud! Maybe start with a Philip K. Dick short story or two, quicker hits with a whole lotta punch.

Nachdem es jetzt mit den ‘Motion Comics’ ein neues Medium gibt, ist mir ein Film eingefallen, den ich vor 3 Jahren auf dem Fantasy Film Fest gesehen habe. ‘A Scanner Darkly’ von Richard Linklater, basierend auf einem Roman von ‘Philip K. Dick, dem wir Vorlagen für Filme wie Matrix und eXistenZ und auch die Originalbücher von Blade Runner, Total Recall und Minority Report verdanken. Dieser Film nutzt das Verfahren der Rotoskopie (einfach gesagt, das Abzeichnen von Realaufnahmen, um den Look eines Animationsfilm zu erhalten) und wirkt dadurch wie ein realer Comicstrip. Nicht nur die weiter entwickelte Technik von Bob Sabiston, das sogenannte Programm ‘Rotoshop’, nein, auch die beängstigende,reale Zukunftsvision (das Buch erschien 1977 und spielt in den ‘90ern) hat diesem Film einen Kultstatus vermittelt, der nur noch durch die Schauspielkunst von Robert Downey Jr. und Woody Harrelson getopt wird. Sogar der folgende Trailer wurde mit dem ‘Golden Trailer Award’ ausgezeichnet.

Schaut ihn euch an, es lohnt sich.

Well today on FilmWipe365 we’re going to do something a little different.  We are going to celebrate the worst that cinema has to offer.  Instead of reeling of bad performances from the archives we will keep it nice and fresh focusing only on the actors who have been awful in the last 10 years.  This list is purely subjective but is backed up by anyone who has watched their horrible films.

Keanu Reeves

Does his name really surprise anyone?  The creepiest man in Hollywood deserves the rating that we have given him.  His performance have been terrible in hundreds of films.   Apart from the original Matrix (he has stolen the character of Neo and played him in every  role since) he has not been good in any film.  The man who makes the word versatility seem like the hardest one in the English language.  It is not hard Keanu.  Happy = Smiley face.  Sad = Unahppy face.  Many directors have seen carefully scripted characters turn into monosyllabic depressives who only wear black and look continually like they are going to kill themselves.    Neo in the Matrix, Donnie Barksdale in The Gift, Bob Arcter in A Scanner Darkly and Alex Wyler The Lake House are examples of how he is the same character in every film.  I had hoped his career would have finished after the Matrix and he would have disappeared without a trace.  However, instead he has reappeared time and again looking more and more depressed.  Think of us Keanu.  We are depressed as well.  Watching you makes sticking rusty nails into my eyes seem like a barrel of laughs.

Sandra Bullock

I won’t say too much about Sandra because she tries, and she is in my guilty pleasure film.  For those two  reasons she deserve to be mentioned but not assassinated.  However, she is another performer who plays the same role time and again.  Apart from Crash, which for all of its excellent reviews I am not a fan of the film or her performance, Bullock plays the same quirky and supposedly adorable female character in every film.  From Miss Congeniality to Two Weeks Notice she is a variation of the same character.  Unfortunately as she ages the character becomes less and less believable as you’re thinking she should be developing now.  Yet she is playing the same role she played 15 years ago.  She is talented but has created the flickchick versions of Van Damme straight to DVD classics.  The only difference being is her’s get released in the cinema.

Kira Kngihtley

She is the worst actor i have ever had the misfortune to watch.  Anyone who has seen Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will remember her infamous fit on the beach.  It is awful.  It is the worst scene in movie history.  Gore Verbinski (the films director) must have been physically restrained from trying to kill himself when he saw that on his monitor.  After he was drugged and the scene edited into the final version he must have been pained to see her performance in The Duchess which surely led to another suicide attempt.  Hollywood studios must be hoping for world wide Harikari as she is rumoured to be in the forthcoming My Fair Lady remake. This is such a grave prospect cinemas will be providing free medical care as well as 3d glasses for anyone who enters the cinema.  Apart from Joe Wrights Atonement (and I think we can thank Mr Wright for getting blood from a stone when he got a decent performance out of her) she has been awful in everything.  Her career is like a box of rotten apples that went out of date 5 years ago.

Orlando Bloom

This is a tricky one.  He can’t act.  But he is likeable.  His performances make pinocchio seem like he was a real boy all along.  Forgetting Pirates of the Caribbean which he is terrible in.  He has been ok in several films.  But he is just a bit dull.  Elizabethtown is case in point.  He tries so hard to make it work.  But you sit there thinking “This is Orlando Bloom pretending to have feelings and be American”.  I can tell you now he fails in both.  Even though this is true I don’t hate him as an actor.  But he isn’t good.  I think he needs to get his teeth stuck into some stage work to really up his skills.  Appearing in such large franchise films has blunted his talent and has left an actor as useful as a wet leaf.

Ben Barnes

Followers of FilmWipe365 will know Ben Barnes’ crimes to acting well by now.    He is the Daily Sport of actors.  Cheap and shallow.  He has no depth.  Emotions are a concept he looked at briefly and then decided he would be better placed brooding through films.  While this might work when your in your 20s it will not in your 40s.  Youth is on his side.  Instead of developing his meagre talents he took cash and went for it.  Hopefully he will be dropped from all future films and then pushed off Brighton Pier never to be seen again.

Para Marshall McLuhan, cada novo meio possui nele matrizes e raízes do meio anterior, incorporando de certo modo a velha linguagem no novo meio.  Para ter uma idéia, a televisão não seria hoje como nos conhecemos se não fosse pelo cinema, que também não seria o que é caso não existisse o teatro, que também não seria o mesmo se a fala e escrita nunca tivessem sido criado e assim por diante.  É por isto que ao criar algo para o novo meio temos que pensar sobre o velho.

No atual momento da humanidade temos a sorte de viver em um tempo onde podemos achar a grande maioria dos meios, em uma só hipermídia.  A hipermídia se caracteriza por ser um meio que utiliza o computador para arquivar, recuperar e distribuir informações; No entanto, ela não se restringe a ser somente um espaço, mas sim uma nova linguagem de forma não linear. Ela possui o hipertexto, que é o conteúdo desenvolvido a partir da linguagem hipermídiatica e que não se reduz somente à escrita, mas sim todo conteúdo dentro da hipermídia.  O hipertexto, segundo George P. Landow, “inclui uma infindável gama de informações não verbais, além do que é possível no meio impresso”.

A cultura digital, da qual fazemos parte, se caracteriza justamente pela possibilidade de hibridismo entre os meios, o que causa uma fusão de linguagens que posteriormente poderia se dá em uma nova.

Um bom exemplo do hibridismo possível entre varias linguagens pode ser o filme “A Scanner Darkly” (‘O Homem Duplo’) do diretor Richard

Linklater. O filme fala sobre um policial em disfarce  no futuro próximo que começa a perder a sua própria identidade ao se envolver com uma

nova droga perigosa.  O filme chama atenção pelo fato de ser um desenho animado cujos personagens parecem com o ator que o interpreta, como no caso do protagonista interpretado por Keanu Reeves (Matrix).  O filme possui uma mistura da linguagem dos quadrinhos, com a

linguagem gráfica e também elementos das linguagens visuais, sonoras e verbais clássicas do cinema (além da linguagem escrita propriamente dita devido ao fato do filme ser baseado em um livro do mesmo nome).  Este é só um exemplo entre muitos de como hoje, na cultura digital, os meios e linguagens vão se fundindo para formar outros.  Os filmes de super-herói possuem uma mistura da linguagem dos quadrinhos com

linguagem visual cinematográfica, as musicas modernas de hoje nada mais são do que junção entre outras linguagens musicais, e assim por diante. Então se lembre de não utiliza sempre a mesma linguagem, não copia os que os outros já fizeram. Inventa! Da uma nova função para uma linguagem velha, Junta duas ou mais linguagens; Foge do padrão!

Before she became Winona Ryder – the first American actress since Natalie Wood to successfully maintain a career from adolescence to adulthood – she was Winona Laura Horowitz, and similar to Wood, the grand daughter of Russian immigrants who fled to American shores at Ellis Island. Her talent, according to her Buddhist mother had been foretold when she was only three days old and photographed in the same position as the Buddha, although Winona would tell you that her mom ‘probably positioned me like that.

Winona Ryder: The Biography, by Nigel Goodall

That line is from a movie called “A Scanner Darkly”… I love this movie! It’s a complete mind fuck!

The film tells the story of identity and deception in a near-future dystopia constantly monitored by intensive high-technology police surveillance in the midst of a drug addiction epidemic. To give the film its distinct look, the movie was filmed digitally and then animated using interpolated rotoscope over the original footage – very cool effect!

It stars Keanu Reeves (Bob Arctor), Winona Ryder (Donna Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Ernie Luckman) and Robert Downey Jr (as Jim Barris, in one of his best ever performances!) Downey Jr has some of the best lines and scenes in the movie… just like this one!

Barris: YOU are a bug bite squared.
Luckman: What kind of bug?
Barris: ‘Bout to get fucked up bitch beetle.

Barris: You are constitutionally incapable of not shuttingthefuckup!
Luckman: Bring it!
Barris: Shutthefuckup!

]]> http://remingtons.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/ten-you-missed/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:14:38 +0000 Remington http://remingtons.wordpress.com/2009/08/01/ten-you-missed/

We are a rather fortunate bunch. Our grandparents only had two chances to see a film: either when it came out in theatres or if it popped up on television, which is what made the annual television screenings of The Wizard of Oz such a big deal. It was not until VHS revolutionized the industry and films could be watched whenever we desired. Combine this with the communication powers of the internet and a film that never got past screenings in New York can suddenly make a ton of cash and notoriety.

With such fortunes, I find it our job as film enthusiasts to promote our favorite smaller films as a counter-weight to the advertising juggernauts that rumble across our cultural plains.

After my previous blog entry on blockbusters I figured the natural companion would be a list of ten great independent films that may have missed your radar.

This is not a definitive list by any means. These are merely some of the best independent films that I have seen over the last decade. I would love responses with your own list as I’m always wanting to add to my own.

Tideland (2005)

I was hooked from the beginning to Terry Gilliam’s crazy tale about a little girl’s adventures with his bold, balls of brass introduction of awesomeness to the film.

Most of Gilliam’s work is polarizing and this is definitely another of those. One would immediately use words like “creepy” and “messed up” to describe the film. However, this comes from the film’s ability to walk in both the worlds of adults and children.

While watching the film you’re childlike, until the adult bursts into your brain carrying the fear of a danger that never comes. Gilliam plays our adult brains like fools, shooing us away while saying, “Go away mom, we’re just playing!” It’s what really makes the film.

The Machinist (2004)

It’s hard to talk about The Machinist without mentioning that it stars Christian Bale and he lost 62 pounds for the film, stopping at 120 pounds even though he wanted to drop to 100 (he then gained all the original weight back, plus 40 more for Batman Begins).

That type of dedication helps the film, as Bale’s emaciated zombie-body blends with the film’s moody atmosphere about a guy who says he hasn’t slept in a year. Better call Guinness about that.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Before Forest Whitaker gained notoriety for Last King of Scotland, one of his best performances came from a little known film by Jim Jarmusch.

Ghost Dog is a hitman for the mob who uses the Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai as his handbook, but things go awry when the mob turns on Ghost Dog when he leaves a witness after a job.

This is a very simple, quiet film, paced by readings of the Hagakure and the RZA soundtrack. The themes of tradition being overlapped by new upstarts and duty to others make this a wonderful little film that doesn’t sacrifice itself on the altar of “CRAZY ACTION will make them buy tickets, right?”

*See also Leon: The Professional

Waking Life (2001)

There’s a lot to be said for Waking Life, but it really does speak for itself. Following Richard Linklater’s stories of conversations (see Before Sunrise), this film is all talk, with the main character becoming engrossed with on philosophical conversation after another. Combine the mental head trip with the crazy rotoscoping visuals and you’ve got a lot to think about for the day.

On a personal note, I found that watching it all the way through can make you miss things in the latter half simply because you’re overworked. After you’ve seen it once, re-watch it from the middle and get your enlightenment on.

*See also A Scanner Darkly

Mister Brooks (2007)

Since Kevin Costner practically did two apocalyptic films back to back (and both tanked), we haven’t seen a lot of him except for the random throw away comedy. His turn in Mr. Brooks as a serial killer tortured by his addiction brings him back into our favor.

Also re-surfacing is Demi Moore as the detective on his tail, reminding us why she was heralded as such an asset to presentations of women in cinema (that is until she did Striptease).

And finally, William Hurt, who continues to randomly pop up in great supporting roles (see A History of Violence) appears as the little devil on Brooks’ shoulder.

Combine all three of these great veteran actors and this film comes to life like Robin Williams in the 1970s (yes, that was a drug reference). Costner does the role justice and offers meditation on all types of addiction. Though everything is a little more interesting when people are being killed.

Brick (2005)

Every year Hollywood churns out another crop of comedies, some trying to cash in on high school experiences, never reaching the level of John Hughes intelligence and wit – that is until Brick.

Though not a “comedy”, this neo-noir set in the world of high school is funny, serious, endearing and overall fantastic. The film keeps the interest via the writing, which is dripping with cool and firing off like a tommy gun. When’s the last time writing kept you engaged with a film? It’s also hard to believe that the star of the show was that long haired kid on 30 Rock From the Sun.

The Fountain (2006)

This is probably one of the most polarizing films in the last ten years, one upped only recently by Synecdoche, New York. I would wager that this distinction is what either draws or pushes away prospective viewers. However, I would encourage everyone to try it.

Even if the quiet (and confusing) commentary on death and acceptance may not be your cup of tea, the amazing visuals (no CGI here folks) and haunting score by Clint Mansell will make you feel something. Each will walk away feeling differently.

*See also Sunshine and Pi

The Descent (2005)

At this point I think a lot of my friends see me as a prophet for this film. I happened to catch it on late night cable, was blown away, and continue giving people my copy to watch.

The film focuses on a group of girls who go spelunking, only to wind up lost and trapped with some vicious inhabitants.

Now from this synopsis you’re automatically thinking, “Oh yeah, dumb girls find themselves in peril and scream throughout rest of film. End.” Amazingly, that’s incorrect! The creatures don’t monopolize the film’s creepies, but the ways in which the characters react and change to the situation provide the real goods.

This is one of the few horror films in which women are portrayed strong, smart, and by people with acting chops, not just good looks. Also, be sure to watch the international version, as the ending is different for the US (surprise, surprise).

*See also Aliens for strong female characters

Children of Men (2006)

True, this film had a rather large budget for me to title it as an “indie.” However, it never got a great showing around town and most have still not heard of it.

Set in a future in which women can no longer give birth, the world is crumbling as the populations grows older and extinction seems closer. When a young girl is discovered pregnant it becomes the task of Theo to escort her to the Human Project, which urban legend has it, is a group of scientists who have been trying to cure the infertility problem.

I saw this on the big screen three times and it’s no wonder: Alfonso Cuaron’s limited use of CGI, immersive sets, and mesmerizing long takes make you feel the world in your bones. The film’s apocalyptic landscapes put the recent Hollywood attempts to shame (I Am Legend, Terminator Salvation) both visually and narratively.

This may just be the best dystopian film ever made (if anything compares, please tell me) and I consider this my absolute favorite film, right next to Fight Club. If you’ve seen Blade Runner and enjoyed The Road, you’re sure to love this film.

*See also Blade Runner, 28 Days Later, and Blindness

Half Nelson (2006)

When I think of indie films that beat the shit out of any summer blockbuster with a 200 million dollar production budget, I think of Half Nelson – because all the CGI in the world can’t get me as glued to the screen as damn fine acting with a well written script.

Sure, a lot of people know Ryan Gosling for The Notebook, but fans also remember him in The Believer (playing a Jewish Nazi….yeah, that’s not hard on the parents) and The United States of Leland. Gosling as drug addicted high school teacher, Ryan Dunn, spins between being the cool teacher you knew in high school, to being kind of a dick or just pitiful. Kind of like all of us when you think about it.

The film could just be another cautionary tales about drugs, but it lets Requiem for a Dream keep that position and focuses on the relationship between Dunn and Drey, who is also struggling to keep away from drug dealing after her brother’s sent up to jail for such a crime.

I will pretty much swear by this: there is not ONE thing wrong with this film. Camera work is personal, the music counts where it needs to, and the film’s ability to highlight the type of love and help these characters require remind us of our own frailties. You HAVE to see this movie.

Mentions:
A History of Violence/Eastern Promises
Both made by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen. Fantastic stories about relationships and the damages of violence.

Collateral
Don’t bother with Public Enemies, just re-watch Mann’s best since Heat

Gone Baby Gone
Casey Affleck as a legit badass.

The United States of Leland
Another Gosling film with a ton of other great actors. If you liked The Perks of Being a Wallflower, you may like this coming of age film.

Do you love gigantic, shape-shifting metallic aliens from beyond the stars? Excellent! In that case, you’ll love our review of The House Bunny!

Oh, we also talk about this one movie you might have heard of… Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It’s doing OK at the box office. I guess.

At any rate, you should totally listen to the latest episode of the audio-orgy known as You Shall Not Cast; available now at the link below.

YSNC – Episode 4A

Pat, Alex and Drew also talk about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Moon, The Brothers Bloom, a shitload of movies available on Netflix Watch Instantly, and a bizarre robo-human relationship with Robin Williams. Then Pat and Drew derail the podcast, and Alex makes light of it by quoting Dane Cook.

We also talk about last week’s Box Office Breakdown, movie news (including who the Green Lantern will be, Spider-Man 4’s third writer, a feature-length Thanksgiving film, and the third installment in a spectre-fighting franchise), and movies we’re looking forward to.

And that’s not all! We need YOUR HELP!

Listeners! We also have a couple of questions we need answered. Please answer in the comments section below:

1) If you have to be stranded alone with a robot voiced by Robin Williams, would you a) enjoy it, or b) want to kill yourself? And if you would want to kill yourself, who would be the better substitute?

2) What show is Alex talking about where some girl loses her memory?

(Ed. Note: since the recording of this podcast, the following facts have been confirmed:

1) Ryan Renyolds will play Green Lantern in the upcoming Warner Brothers film.

2) The Hangover’s budget was roughly $35 mil, and has grossed over $300 mil worldwide. Hot. Shit.)

The song used at the intro and outro of this podcast is “Hysteria” by Muse, off the album Absolution, which you can find on Amazon.com.