Lataa Ohjelma (MP3)

Eeppisen mittaisessa juhlajaksossamme esitellään uusi tunnari, palkitaan kommentoijia ja ennen kaikkea käydään läpi panelistien Top 10 suosikkielokuvat kautta aikojen. Mittaa jaksolle tosiaan venähti melkein kolme ja puoli tuntia, mutta älkää säikähtäkö. Annamme tämän kuunteluun kuuntelijoille muutaman viikon kuunteluaikaa ennen uusia jaksoja ja podcastia voi kuunnella vapaavalintaisissa osioissa.

Juhan Top 10 elokuvat:
- Modern Times
- Amélie
- Seven
- Pulp Fiction
- Á Bout de Souffle
- Apocalypse Now
- Dr. Strangelove
- Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä
- Annie Hall
- Requiem for a Dream

Henrikin Top 10 elokuvat:
- WALL-E
- The Great Dictator
- Metropolis
- The Incredibles
- Galaxy Quest
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Manhattan Murder Mystery
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Finding Nemo

Voto: 9 (su 10) 

Up. Su, nel cielo. Vola ancora alto, altissimo, la magica Pixar. La nuova Disney, lo studio che ormai è l’anima della Disney, scarta il suo ultimo regalo, il suo decimo gioiello. E ci si abbandona allo stupore, allo spettacolo, come bambini.

E non c’è critica che tenga. Stavolta quelli della Pixar ci raccontano la storia di un uomo anziano, Carl, che è rimasto vedovo, e sogna di raggiungere il Sud America per vedere quelle cascate che avrebbe tanto voluto visitare con la moglie quando questa era in vita. Mentre i palazzinari stanno costruendo dei grattacieli intorno alla sua casetta, e vorrebbero tanto disfarsene, Carl decide di spiccare il volo.

Letteralmente: grazie a migliaia di palloncini solleva la sua casetta, e veleggia verso Sud. Solo che con lui c’è un ospite non previsto. Il boy scout Russell, che pensa a Carl come alla sua prossima buona azione…

Up. Alza ancora il tiro, la Pixar. Perché stavolta, in un film al solito delicato e indicato per i più piccoli, parla addirittura della morte. Dopo che, con Wall-E, aveva parlato di ecologia e della morte del nostro pianeta. Fa addirittura morire un personaggio,

Ellie, la moglie di Carl, nel commovente prologo, che è un piccolo film nel film.

Non  ha paura di fare discorsi seri, la Pixar. Il cui segreto, ancor più dell’inconfutabile aspetto tecnico-visivo, sta nella fantasia con cui creano le loro storie: lo ripetono sempre i suoi artisti, da John Lasseter a Andrew Stanton, a Pete Docter, regista di Up.

Le loro storie sono originali sia quando raccontano mondi mai visti (Monsters & Co), che quando si rifanno all’immaginario di generi come i supereroi (Gli incredibili) o la fantascienza (Wall-E).

Up si rifà a un cinema ben preciso, quel cinema d’avventura degli anni Trenta e Quaranta, anni in cui non ancora tutti gli angoli del mondo erano noti, e si poteva fantasticare sulla natura selvaggia e su creature fantastiche e mai viste, e credere alla loro esistenza. Un po’ quello che accadeva con l’isola di King Kong. Up si rifà a questo genere di pellicola, liberando una seconda parte sfrenata, dopo una prima parte chiusa e controllata.

Ma anche rileggendo un genere riesce a creare qualcosa di originale, che stupisce a ogni inquadratura. Con alcune idee geniali, come lo stratagemma creato per far parlare i cani in modo che siano capiti dagli umani.

In Up non mancano i riferimenti alla storia del cinema, come le fattezze di Carl, ispirate ad attori storici come Spencer Tracy e Walter Matthau (in fondo, l’incontro tra Carl e Russell dà vita a un buddy movie, genere in cui Matthau eccelleva).

E il sogno di Carl, il suo andare da solo, o quasi, contro tutti, ha qualcosa del Don Chisciotte di Cervantes.

Ma la Pixar, come abbiamo capito da tempo, riesce a inserire tutto in un racconto fluido e naturale, senza appesantirlo, come si usa oggi nell’animazione, con tutte quelle citazioni forzate che altro non sono se ammiccamenti a un pubblico adulto.

Non ne hanno bisogno, alla Pixar. Così come non hanno bisogno di oggetti che escono dallo schermo fino ad arrivarci sul naso per farci apprezzare un film in 3D.

Come tutto quello che fanno, anche la loro via al cinema 3D è sobria, semplice, funzionale alla storia. È solo un’altra matita in più.

È un mezzo espressivo e non un fine. Forse solo un gradino sotto il capolavoro Wall-E, Up è un film maturo e intenso, adatto a tutti (non manca un messaggio sulla famiglia e sul valore del tempo) e commovente.

Un’opera che ci parla di morte in modo così delicato da farci amare terribilmente la vita.

Da vedere perché: Pixar. Basta la parola.

(Pubblicato su Effettonotte on line)

Once upon a time we all lived together,

and then lived separate lives;

Now we’re connected more than ever,

but miles and minds apart.

It’s the irony of technology, the grand price of the grand prix: how we live some more yet die a little; or come together yet make no more than a superficial connection.

Find it in the themes of recent doomsday and futuristic movies. Even in tearjerkers set in the oh-so-familiar present, with their many-angled takes on the classic carpe diem (Latin, “seize the day”).

They all warn: the price of our progress is the pending harm not only of our planet, but more tragically, of ourselves.

This warning unfolds in the Bruce Willis action film “Surrogates”. In its very-near-future setting, society looks, acts, and feels like our own. But no one’s really there. Instead, it’s virtual reality come alive.

The catch? Almost everyone you see is a physically perfect robotic stand-in (read: surrogate) controlled by the real person lying at home. A situation that can deceive.

Like old Bruce Willis (right) controls younger Bruce Willis (center). Or even female partner (left).

In that age, the practice is accepted for its benefits. If your surrogate turns road-kill, relax. You’re unscathed. Just remove the headset and buy a new robot. By that time, getting one is a must and even affordable.

But you lose touch with reality, because everything is a fantasy come true with few consequences. While you can do and be anything you want, you enjoy it all in isolation. Touch is merely an electric s(t)imulation. And tears are only shed at home.

Social interaction changes. When conversation turns sour, just “freeze” and log off. Get the hang of it, and no one will know the real you.

If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, yes, it does sound familiar. Think chat rooms, PEX, and Friendster. Or comments-slash-flames on YouTube and PEP.ph.

Only when it all shuts down do you blink and realize what you’ve missed all along.

In the utra-futuristic animated movie WALL-E, people in a space colony had grown fat and stagnant through centuries of zero gravity, movement, and genuine human contact.

It had to take robots to disrupt and reanimate life too relied on the artificial.

The contrast was too apparent: a love story centered on robots Wall-E and EVE. None more emotional scene than the janitorial robot who mixed concern and curiosity with his mechanical work. All in talkless scenes nearly half the film.

"What really interested me was the idea of the most human thing in the universe being a machine because it has more interest in finding out what the point of living is than actual people." --Wall-E director Andrew Stanton

Some do say the Internet–and the routine, monotonous life it feeds–is mainly making us lose it. In fact, the original graphic novel “Surrogates” stems from that premise: People detaching from life as they’re absorbed into the alternative, more accepting world of cyberspace.

Undeniably, the change comes with new forms of media. Take it from media patron saint Marshall McLuhan.

To him, media are extensions of ourselves. But even as we use them to experience our world, they too change us. With each new medium, we people either come together or move apart.

And he thought that decades before Web 1.0.

This also has shades in late postmodernist Jean Baudrillard. He sees our society as “hyperreal,” where technology and entertainment give us experiences that seem more real than what’s real.

Since media, amusement parks, and malls simulate more ideal, more exciting realms, people “flee” everyday life for those experiences.

Any solution? Maybe a reconnection to what’s real and important. Like relationships, love, and experiencing life with others.

None can escape the pull of the virtual. It is, after all, human nature to aim for and experience what seems impossible.

But so is it to stick together.

Let WALL-E’s Stanton have the final word:

“The greatest commandment Christ gives us is to love, but that’s not always our priority…[In the movie] irrational love defeats the world’s programming. You’ve got these two robots that are trying to go above their basest directives, literally their programming, to experience love.

“…Our programming is the routines and habits that distract us to the point that we’re not really making connections to the people next to us. We’re not engaging in relationships, which are the point of living—relationship with God and relationship with other people.”

————————

*With apologies to this band I know of the same name.

WALL•E è un film del 2008, il nono lungometraggio d’animazione realizzato da Pixar Animation Studios in coproduzione con Walt Disney Pictures, diretto da Andrew Stanton (già regista per la Pixar di Alla ricerca di Nemo, con il quale vinse il premio Oscar come miglior film d’animazione).Il protagonista del film è il robot WALL-E, unico abitante di un pianeta Terra inquinato, pieno di immondizie e di conseguenza abbandonato dall’umanità. Il compito di WALL-E è proprio quello di ripulire il pianeta, compito a cui adempie diligentemente per più di settecento anni, finché un giorno non scende dal cielo una robot di nome EVE che lo farà innamorare, e in nome di questo amore vivranno un’avventura che cambierà il loro destino e quello dell’umanità.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Animazione | Fantascienza | Avventura | Commedia | Andrew Stanton | Ben Burtt | Elissa Knight | Jeff Garlin

Halloween movie night, part 1 of 2

Data
Title: Monsters, Inc.
Year: 2001
Length: 92 minutes
Directors: Pete Docter, David Silverman & Lee Unkrich
Writers: Andrew Stanton & Daniel Gerson, with Robert L. Baird, Rhett Reese & Jonathan Roberts, story by Pete Docter, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon & Ralph Eggleston
Starring: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn
Music: Randy Newman
Distinctions: Oscar for Best Song (“If I Didn’t Have You”); currently #242 on IMDb’s Top 250

My reaction
Synopsis: a human toddler sneaks through her closet into the monster world
How I saw it: in the theater, 2001; on video many times (have on DVD), most recently yesterday
Concept: Indifferent.
Story: Great.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Great.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good. Okay from the voices, great from the animators.
Music: Good.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites). It’s remarkable how re-watchable this remains after all these years.
Objective Rating: 9/10 (Very good).

Filming is due to start in January on the adaption of John Carter of Mars. Willem Dafoe is set to play Tars Tarkas, a many-limbed green Martian warrior who befriends Carter (Taylor Kitsch) after he gets mysteriously transported from Civil War-era America to the Red Planet.

“I’ve seen renderings,” said Willem when talking about the look of his character. “This is Disney, anyway, but it’s Andrew Stanton. And, I’ve seen a lot of the designs and things, and I’ve just started to do prep work now. I’m doing a play in New York, so I’m kind of preoccupied by that, but I’m starting doing scans and things like that, but it’s going to be a real full-on… Well, I’m nine feet tall with four arms, but, just from the scheduling, I’m going to do the stuff.”

As Stanton himself told us earlier this year, “John Carter” will be the “perfect definition of a hybrid movie,” integrating live-action and computer-based animation. Co-star Lynn Collins (Wolverine), who will play humanoid Martian princess Dejah Thoris, has already started hair and makeup tests and told us her look will be akin to the “best-tan-you-can-ever-imagine.”

How will Dafoe and the CGI be integrated?

“Well, we hope. And, also, they’ll use my face, but they’ll enhance it in a way–both after and before–in a way that I may not be recognizable. But, I’m good with that. It’s particularly cool, because he’s a creature, but he’s got this huge range of character. And, he does cool things in the movies.”

He then went on to talk about the language and culture of the Martians.

“There’s a whole period where we’re going to work with the language and the movement, and find out how I’m going to be nine feet tall, and all that stuff…like, a long period of time where we’re going to go to Thark school, you know what I mean? We’re going to create our culture. So, it’s going to be very cool. These guys know how to do this, and they’ve got great people. And, the designs and things are just mind-blowing.”

“It’s got some stuff to it,” he said in deep contemplation. “It’s got a point of view.”

“I don’t want to say it’s political,” he hinted, “but in the same way that ‘Tarzan’ isn’t just about a man in a loincloth…”

Sounds like this could be quite a deep film with a very cool look.

Source: AICN & MTV

WALL-E

“Evaaa”

Por fin ha sucedido, los humanos han contaminado tanto el planeta con sus desechos que ahora solo hay una opcion, salir del planeta mientras los “Waste Allocation Load Lifer Earth-Class” limpian. Pero ya han pasado 700 años y en todo el planeta solo queda uno de esos pequeños robots, hasta que por obra del destino Wall-e conoce a Eva, de quien se enamora a primera vista, pero lo que el no sabe es que a Eva solo le importa una cosa “Directiva”. Asi que Wall-e tendra que hacer cosas inimaginables para conquistar a Eva. No importa si tiene que viajar por todo el universo o si esta apunto de convertirse en chatarra, el no se rendira y mucho menos dejara que su amada este en peligro. Juntos inicaran una nueva era para los humanos.

FICHA TECNICA

Director: Andrew Stanton

Protagonista: Wall-e

Fecha: 27 | Junio | 2008

Pais: Estados Unidos

Wall-e wallpaper

“Ciertamente pense que despues de “Buscando a Nemo” habria sido el fin de el dueto de oro, pero me he quedado sorprendido al terminar de ver esta pelicula y me dije “Lo han vuelto a hacer” y no solo yo, Wall-e ha sido del agrado de millones de personas y logrando reivindicar el buen nombre de Pixar-Disney. No cabe duda que viendo esta pelicula lograras pasar uno de los mejores momentos de pelicula, vas a reir y llorar con la aventura que esta viviendo un pequeño robot que se ha enamorado de una cruel y fria robota que no le hace caso hasta que es demasiado tarde. Toda una historia futurista de amor que refleja perfectamente la cruel realidad hasta que por fin se logra encender esa chispa que hace magia, no obstante lo que uno hace por amor no tiene limites. Como dije al principio yo he disfrutado mucho ver esta pelicula y aunque el pequeño no sabe decir nada mas que Directiva, Eva y Wall-e, he reido muchisimo aunque ese sabor amargo de no sabes lo que tienes hasta que lo vez perdido esta ahi, la pelicula es una obra de arte y yo pienso que es Muy buena.”

A Walt Disney 3D Pixar should appeal to nearly everyone – great reviews at Cannes. About a man in a house that flies like a balloon.
Go on, spoil yourselves and have a great night at the cinema – can’t go wrong for you. If cinema has 3D – great! Worth seeing.

Production companies: Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Pete Docter
Cast: Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Delroy Lindo
Co-director: Bob Peterson
Screenwriters: Bob Peterson, Peter Docter
Producer: Jonas Rivera
Production designer: Ricky Nierva
Music: Michael Giacchino
Editor: Kevin Nolting
Executive producers: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton