D700

by Andrew Bowcock

Richard Kelly is partially responsible for my obsession with film, as his 2001 cult phenomenon, Donnie Darko, altered my expectations of what films can do.  Ever since I first saw Darko in 2002 I’ve had a difficult time watching films the same way, as I’ve almost always been under the impression that there’s more going on than we simply see on the screen or have told by the characters.  It seemed like a long dry spell before Kelly came out with his follow up film, Southland Tales, an ambitious film that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and was met with almost universally poor reception.  Since I was such a big Darko fan, I had a hard time believing the same guy could release something else that wasn’t anything less than brilliant and crafted with incredible precision…but even I initially didn’t know what to make of Southland Tales. After now seeing it several times and having read the preceding graphic novel that Kelly created to accompany the film’s plot, I’ve grown in fondness for the whacked-out, absurd, colorful and entertaining satirical version of the Book of Revelation (though it still has nothing on his first effort).

When I heard that Richard Kelly was going to adapt a short story by the mighty Richard Matheson, I was very intrigued.  When I heard that Cameron Diaz was one of the stars, I was a bit less excited…but figured it still might be not be a disaster when considering that somehow Kelly made the ridiculously bizarre, spotty cast of Southland Tales work to fit its own eccentric mood.

The tale of The Box (based on Matheson’s Button, Button) is about a young married couple in the 1970’s struggling to make ends meet during some personal and financial struggles.  The husband, Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) is a scientist that works for NASA, one who has aspirations to be an astronaut but somehow fails the psychological exam, while his wife, Norma Lewis (Cameron Diaz) is a schoolteacher who has been informed that she’ll soon be laid off.  One fateful day a mysterious box arrives on their porch – its contents are simply a small black box with a big red button.  The next day a well-dressed man with formidable and prominent facial scars, Mr. Steward (Frank Langella) appears at their front door explaining the box’s purpose – if the red button is pressed, the couple will receive one million dollars…but the catch is a killer (literally): the pressing of the button will also result in the death of some person somewhere in the world whom they do not know.  They have one day to decide before the box will be picked up by this “Mr. Steward,” reprogrammed, and sent to somebody else who they do not know.

After squabbling over whether or not this whole thing could be real and thinning the list of options, the couple decides to push the button…if anything, out of curiosity.  Mr. Steward returns as he promised, reinforcing what he said before and giving them the money.  However from this point forward Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are met with some bizarre challenges as they try to uncover the truth about Mr. Steward and the purpose of his provisions.  Also, each decision they make seems to be accompanied with counterproductive results, making the pushing of the red button easily one of the worst decisions they’ve ever made.

Just like Kelly’s Southland Tales, The Box has been receiving mixed to poor reviews from critics and it’s understandable why.  Though this film has a somewhat intriguing premise, it feels a bit undercooked by the end.  The mood is a bit reminiscent of Donnie Darko as it has elements of atmospheric horror threaded in with the film’s philosophical quips and sci-fi flavored suspense, but unfortunately the true struggle in The Box doesn’t lie in the choice of whether or not Mr. and Mrs. Lewis will push the button, but whether or not Richard Kelly is actually making a generic film.  The first 20 minutes or so of this film feel pretty lazy…just like they were directed to appeal to as general of a public as you can get.  However, once the film’s plot starts to move, it feels a bit messy…kind of like the rest of the film wanted to stay put whereas the director is trying to pull it in a direction it doesn’t want to go.

There are some minor twists as the film progresses and there are a couple of sequences that I might even deem as “great,” but by the end it almost feels like a good deal of fuss for very little.  However, before I try to beat this film with a criticism stick like most reviewers seem to be doing, I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say that I actually enjoyed this movie…flaws and all.  Maybe it’s partially because I’m a Richard Kelly enthusiast, but I prefer to weigh it in context, so let’s do that:

For me, Donnie Darko was pretty close to being a perfectly constructed film.  It truly just works in just about every aspect whether or not you have a full grasp of what’s going on, so I would call Kelly a great director based just on that one film.  When doing Southland Tales he took on the ambitious feat of creating a film that tried to do everything Darko did but on a much larger scale…and thus (many would argue) he got into trouble trying to make broad strokes while retaining a multi-faceted plot.  With The Box it feels like Kelly’s trying to pull back the reigns a bit, but unfortunately his ambitions for constructing a complex mystery seem a bit misplaced when plugged into this little story.  Though I like some of the things he did with this film visually and conceptually (a key scene set in a library near the last third of the film, in my opinion, was especially amazing, and one sequence near the end stabbed my emotions rather effectively). I feel like his style and imagination are just more fitting when they work by themselves and not in accordance with another story.  When watching The Box it kind of felt like two films – one was Matheson’s story bleeding through while the other was Richard Kelly trying to tell his version of what was going on.  If you appreciate Kelly enough as an artist and philosopher, you might find it enjoyable…if not, it will most likely prod or annoy you.

Is it one of the best films of the year?  Is it Kelly’s best work?  A big no on both accounts, but there is enough for a viewer to enjoy if they’re looking for a simple science-fiction-mystery that’s attempting to be something more, whether or not it succeeds on all cylinders.  I’ll tell you one thing, it’s much more enjoyable than the horribly conceived version The Twilight Zone did of Matheson’s story in the 1980’s.

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photo sources:

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/
http://alexhluch.files.wordpress.com/
http://justpressplay.today.com/

other resources:

http://www.imdb.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/
http://metacritic.com/

“They told me I didn’t have one hit on my album”

“What?”

*she looks over* – best face ever.ha.ha.ha

“I guess they were kinda right…I had 5″

Beyoncé performing “Crazy In Love” during her I Am… Yours: An Intimate Performance at the Wynn Las Vegas. Shot at the Encore Theatre, LV, the footage will be aired on ABC on November 26, 2009.

Today I’ve been bumping a tune off of Adam Lambert’s new album. It really reminds me of the Michael Andrews version of “Mad World” (below), it’s just got that feel and vibe…. Nice track Lambert, nice track.

BROKEN OPEN

MAD WORLD

PS If you haven’t seen DONNIE DARKO, you definitely should!!!

Sleeping issues are currently being experienced. Over the last 72 hours I have had approximately 8 hours of intermittent sleep. I feel like a bag of shit, basically. Monday was spent trying to numb tooth pain and visiting the dentist for the first time since I was 16 years old. Dentists terrify me, but I wasn’t about to ignore the fact that I was in desperate need of medical attention any longer. I had to answer a question on the form they gave me asking me what kind of patient I figured I was. I had three options: Calm, Slightly Nervous, or Very Apprehensive. Guess which one I chose!

One side of my face is swollen and I am experiencing a lot of pain. After half an hour of X-Rays, pouting and waiting, I was finally told that I have 2 abscessed teeth that need to be extracted as soon as possible. I thought it was only one. So, hearing that is was two was quite shocking. Unfortunately, because of the swelling (a.k.a. my looking like I just got punched in the face eleventy-five times), the first extraction will be taking place on December 3rd. I have to remain on 300mg every six hours of something called Novo-Clindamycin (antibiotic) and try to numb the pain with T3’s and Advil. Relief from the pain is very sporadic and doesn’t last. I’m extremely dopey and feeling quite high. My stomach hurts from the antibiotics, and my mouth tastes as it would if I were a robot. And, of course, I look like a chipmunk.

As of now, the swelling is not going down. It looks as though it’s getting worse. I have been warned that if it gets bad enough that it starts to affect my vision I must be shipped off to the hospital immediately to have the antibiotic administered to me intravenously. Gross. My boyfriend is currently on call for this possible burden we both may have to endure. I am hoping that this is not the case. I’ll be waking myself up around 3am to take my prescription and check on the swelling, if it’s any worse – I’ll be making that phone call. I’ll be lucky if I can simply get to sleep even just for those three hours.

I’ll be attempting to go back to work tomorrow (if above mentioned phone call does not take place). I am not looking forward to this.

On a brighter note, I watched Donnie Darko four times today in my stoned state. I’ll admit that this was incredibly entertaining. Seriously.

- Why do you wear that stupid bunny suit?

- Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?

Last night I watched Ink, a intriquing new fantasy by Jamin Winans which was recently released on dvd and brought to mind films like Donnie Darko, Brazil and Dark City. I really wasn’t sure what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by it’s truely unique story and visuals.

The basic premise of Ink is that when we sleep at night there are two forces that may visit us, the one who bring us good dreams and of course the ones who deliver nightmares. These forces are often at odds with each other and are ultimately trying to influence our every move in life. Both sides when entering our world are invisible to us and one character, Ink is on a mission for the dark ones to steal the soul of a young girl  to gain acceptance into their ranks. The forces of good known as the Storytellers  fight to stop this from happening while trying to wake her dead beat dad from his meaningless & mundane daily conciousness to save his daughters soul on the other side.

This movie’s powerful plot, excellent visuals and haunting score  keep you in a state constant melancholy. At times there are even some impressive action sequences as well. One particularly is the first big battle in the little girl’s house which brilliantly shows how these beings exist in the real waking world. Almost every scene is this film is hazy and emotional on some level as if the whole experience is in fact a dream itself. The acting unfortunately varies a bit, though there are still some strong perfomances here. However at times the good acting can make the bad look a whole lot worse. Particularly from a character named Jacob, a pathfinder who can alter real life events and wears electrical tape over his eyes (though he does cause a pretty magnificent chain reaction scene) .

For a $250,000 budget this indie film definately delivers the goods. The CG is used tastefully and the films overall look is impressive. Every now then however some scenes creep into the movie that sadly reflect it’s lower budget. The hugley deformed main character Ink is well done also, even if at times I was certain his gigantic quivering prosthetic nose was going to drop from his face. I think anyone going into this film should not expect The Matrix (even though I did notice a little influence) but more so a heartfelt adult fantasy that will leave you pondering the power of your own dreams…

Award Nominated interview with James Duval.

James Duval is an American actor, probably most famous for his roles in the Gregg Araki trilogy, Totally Fucked Up, The Doom Generation, and Nowhere, in addition to Frank in Donnie Darko, Miguel in Independence Day and Singh in Go. He also plays guitar in his band, Antoneus Maximus & The Nuthouze Band. I met and interviewed James at the MCM Expo at the Excell Centre in London where he was signing autographs and talking about his cult movie experience. This feature was broadcast on the Cult Friction programme on the 24th of May 2009

Ich hätte mit allem gerechnet, jedoch nie mit einer Fortsetzung des Kultstreifens Donnie Darko. Der Film dessen Handlung sicherlich von jedem Zuschauer anderes interpretiert wird, zeichnet sich genau aus diesem Grund zu etwas besonderem aus. Foren überschlugen sich mit den wüstesten Thesen über den Sinn und zu nicht beantworteten Fragen des Films. Dass ein zweiter Teil, vor allem da das gesamte Team ausgetauscht wurde, kaum funktionieren konnte, war von vornherein klar. Dennoch ist man natürlich auf solch eine Fortsetzung gespannt…

Die Geschichte von s.Darko spielt sieben Jahre nach Donnies mysteriösen Tod durch den Aufprall einer Flugzeugturbine. Seine Schwester Samantha, welche versucht ihre Albträume zu bewältigen, befindet sich auf einem Roadtrip mit ihrer besten Freundin. Allmorgendlich findet sie sich aufgrund von Schlafwandeln an einem anderen Ort in dem kleinen Kaff, in dem sie sich niedergelassen haben, wieder. Die Gegend ist äußerst seltsam. Sie begegnet dort einem verstörten Kriegsveteran und es verschwinden Kinder. In ähnlicher Machart wie im Original soll das Leben auf der Erde in ein paar Tagen vorbei sein. Backflashs, Zeitsprünge und einer ganze Menge Kurioses findet statt.
Visuell wird einiges geboten. Geniale Einstellungen werden, wie schon in Donnie Darko, mit der passenden Musik in Verbindung gebracht. Die Hauptdarstellerin verkörpert ihre Sache eigentlich ganz gut, hier kann man nicht meckern. Das Problem von s.Darko ist allerdings die Gradlinigkeit und wie offen mit dem Thema Zeitreise umgegangen wird. Die Erzählweise nimmt einfach zu viel voraus und versucht sich zu oft zu erklären. Vieles muss man einfach nicht wissen, Interpretation erfüllte das Erstlingswerk und gab ihm seine mystische Stimmung.
Hier liegen auch schon die größten Schwächen von s.Darko an seinem Vorgänger gemessen. Hätte der Film einen eigenständigen Titel könnte man ihn sicherlich entspannter betrachten.

s.Darko ist ein gar nicht mal so schlechter Streifen, fungiert als Fortsetzung meiner Meinung nach jedoch nur kaum.

Durchde

Más fragmentos de cine aquí:

http://masextranoquelaficcion.wordpress.com/category/fragmento-cine/

Si recuerdas algún fragmento interesante, no dudes en decirlo y lo subiremos al blog.

A few weeks ago, Cinematical ran a post entitled “Movies that everyone seems to love but you” and that got me thinking.  For years, I’ve had a grocery list of films that I just can’t get into, just don’t understand, or outright dislike.  I have been thinking of these films from time to time but thanks to the post, I (after talking with Rob and Pete) have a great reason to consolidate these films.

There is one common element in each of the films listed below that is a prime contributor making these films “not our cup of tea”, and that’s probably hype.  If people always say, “that film is awesome!!“, and have said so for years, you expect that, after seeing it, you’d have to find your socks as they, true to the phrase, have been “knocked off”.  Sadly none of these films accomplish said metaphorical action.

You can call us all dense for not appreciating the following films, but we at   G-S-T just don’t buy into the hype that makes other people (namely our friends) just love these films.  Lastly, we have tried, really, on repeat viewings to find the elements that make people just love these films, but to no avail.  We may be cinematically impaired to ‘great cinema’ but part of being a film fan is liking what you like and voicing about what you don’t.  So using this wonderful thing they call a blog, allow me to elaborate on our behalf, some films that we at  G-S-T truly hate…well hate is strong isn’t it?  How about films we just don’t get?  That better?  Thought so…

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Blade Runner – Number one on my list for years and I cause quite a stir whenever I bring up my dislike for this film.  I’ve written before that I think some parts are cool, it is visually gorgeous and that I can see how it was visionary when it was made but that’s as far as I’ll go with it.  Part of the movie’s missteps, (for us at least) it that everything you see is rather ambiguous.  Not sure who is telling the truth, what you’re seeing is real or what to expect in the next scene can get a little old as nothing seems to get resolved.  Part of the reason we dislike the story is that just when they start to get somewhere, and attempt a resolution to something resembling interest, the movie just ends.  That just pisses me off.  Again call me dense for wanting something wrapped up in a Hollywood bow, but why make something so apparently “Hollywood” then go for an indie or foreign feel.  We just don’t understand.

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Scarface – Now there’s two firm classes of fans that just love this film:  Wanna-be gangster rappers and high school kids.  Since we fall into neither category, that might explain the disconnect that we experience.  I know some people who still have posters in their garages, and while I don’t fault them I still shake my head at it.  We’ve never liked this movie but still continually feel we are missing something but don’t know what it is, and do not have a desire to endure another viewing to find out what it is.  If it is a cultural phenomenon, then why is it such a small class of people who like the movie?  Want a great Pacino/DePalma flick??  Try Calito’s Way…much better in all respects.  Though I’ve got to hand it to Tony Montana, how you can get a grown man to wear a Scarface t-shirt is beyond us.

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Donnie Darko – I think a resolution in this film is the most important non-element.  The only saving grace for this film (and I may be really alone on this) is the soundtrack, namely the Tears for Fear song “Head over Heels” but that’s just me.  For something with such a cool concept, interesting characters and something that could have been very impressive and expanded further, it just fell flat.  Now we’ve tried since college to get into this movie but we can’t.  Time travel, alternate realities and Patrick Swayze should have been waaay cooler…it just wasn’t.  Best thing to come out of the movie was the cover of “Mad World”.

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The Nightmare Before Christmas – Something about mixing Christmas with Halloween using a huge Tim Burton spoon just seems off putting.  To top it off, it was more of a musical than a motion picture and the songs were hit or miss.  While the visuals were incredible, we kept asking “what is the point here?”  It was a ballsy concept and there were some parts that were entertaining but overall this film was just kind of a mess.  Now to us, Tim Burton is an acquired taste and being fans we (oddly enough) don’t like all his films.  We love Batman but not Mars Attacks!.  We like Sleepy Hollow but not Big Fish.  Strangely, Nightmare is loved by people of all ages…just not us.  Also as big a hit as it is here, it is just HUGE in Japan.  Rob lives there now and he still doesn’t understand the appeal.  Well I guess there’s no accounting for taste and we just can’t buy into this film.

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Unforgiven – What I really am starting to see with more recent Eastwood films is a pattern.  It goes like this: the film is slow, very slow and sometimes, so slow you fall asleep then wonder how you’re still watching the same movie.  That can be said of other films that we actually do like very much (i.e. Dances With Wolves) but Clint’s ‘lil Oscar winner doesn’t do anything for us.  To be fair, his films really are great, and I love Million Dollar Baby (though it’s not what you would call a “feel good” movie) but I see Clint’s style constantly replicated in each succeeding film and think he got way better after this one.  Admittedly, this came out when the Western was as dead as it could be and tried to make a character film rather than a guns blazing film about cowboys. Freeman and Eastwood’s performances didn’t really inspire and it felt a little hollow for people who are supposed to be friends in real life.  This film started as nothing special, rolled along like a tumbleweed and then just kind of rolled out of sight without any resonance.  ”Unremarkable” is what I would have called it.

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Dis-Honorable Mention:

Sideways – Paul Giamatti is an amazing actor but this film’s wit (and point, really) just eluded all three of us…pity.  Trailer made it look so charming.

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Well film fans, what say you??  Did we stir up a hornet’s nest or hit a nerve with any of you??  Opinions are subjective, but do you think we’re out of line or truly just don’t get “great” cinema??  Love to hear your thoughts…

To recap, about 2 weeks ago, a popular high school English teacher named Greg Van Voorhis was suspended for handing out copies of Chuck Palahniuk’s ground-breaking short story Guts out to his 11th grade students.   According to the Gothamist:

That didn’t go over so well with school administrators at the Bronx School of Law and Finance in Marble Hill, where the seven-year veteran was quickly reassigned from his classroom duties while the Department of Education investigates.

Now, isn’t this just stupid? The man is trying to educate them and what does the school board do? They fire him.  What would they have 11graders read?  Sleeping Beauty? It’s literature, it’s art. Chuck Palahniuk is a great writer and the story isn’t the way they portrayed it.  It’s not awful but it gives a view on what’s wrong with some people these days. I’ve read it and i’ve read things that are more disgusting than this so i don’t really get what the whole fuss is about. The fact that they would fire him is an attack on people’s rights and an obvious attempt at censorship. If you ever saw the movie Donnie Darko (which is great by the way) you would see the same situation happening there, the teacher in the movie is being investigated (and later fired) because she presented her students a short story called The Destructors by Graham Greene. Though in the movie it seemed to have had an influence on the one who tried to destroy the school, in this case, the teacher did nothing else than, somewhat, give those students a life lesson. Not to mention that the “kids” are supporting their teacher and have even started a group on facebook. So if you want to rally for this cause and join the group here is the link:

Save Mr V group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159270906478

also if you want to read the story here it is:

http://chuckpalahniuk.net/features/shorts/guts

Tutti ricordano la colonna sonora del film di Donnie Darko, Mad World. Pochi sanno però che questa canzone è uno dei successi dei Tears for Fears, pubblicata nel 1982 come terzo singolo dell’album di debutto del gruppo, The Hurting. Ad essere passata alla storia è infatti la sua cover firmata da Michael Andrews e cantata da Gary Jules che è diventata colonna sonora di importanti film e serial come Csi, E.R. – Medici in prima linea – Cold Case, Nip/Tuck, Smallville e anche per la pubblicità del videogioco Gears of War per XBox 360. Quando la nuova Mad World venne trasmessa lo stile vocale di Jules fu paragonato a quello di Michael Stipe, voce dei R.E.M.

Al di là della melodia, dolce ma ossessivamente ripetitiva, c’è un passaggio nel testo che rende Mad World fondamentale per qualsiasi compliation malinconico/evocativa: And I find it kind of funny/I find it kind of sad/The dreams in which I’m dying/Are the best I’ve ever had/I find it hard to tell you/I find it hard to take/When people run in circles/It’s a very very/Mad world/Mad world. E trovo un pò buffo/e trovo un pò triste/che i sogni nei quali sto morendo/ siano i migliori che abbia mai fatto/E trovo difficile da dirti/E trovo difficile da sopportare/Quando la gente corre in circolo/E’ davvero/Un mondo folle/Un mondo folle.
Una strofa che fotografa quell’ironia un po’ cinica della vita che realizza i nostri pensieri peggiori e ci lascia a bocca asciutta di fronte a quelli migliori, quelli più sinceri. Quelli che non realizzerà mai. Continuando a illuderci che parole, sentimenti e idee possono cambiare le cose. Il Conte direbbe: «Aprite il libro dei ricordi e versatevi un bicchiere di rum: questa è Mad World, lui è Gary Jules e vi farà male, molto male. Ma questa è la vita ragazzi e non esiste avventura più bella che viverla. E una volta che l’avrete capito il mondo sarà vostro».

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4

Yesterday I watched Donnie Darko for the first time and this movie stuck me! It’s the perfect Halloween movie IMHO. Really scary but not “splatter cheap”… just like “The Ring”. Somehow I can’t stop thinking about this Donnie Darko story – even today – one day after watching it. It doesn’t happen very often to me that I can’t forget a movie… but this time it’s different. The soundtrack is also very nice BTW.

Trailer:

Complete movie on YouTube

Soundtrack:

That’s “The Ring” … one of my favorite movies:

I’m not sure exactly how many films I’ve seen in my lifetime.

It is probably over a thousand, the list below barely scratches the surface of all the films I’ve seen and it was surprisingly easy to come up with. Rather than systematically list films by era or genre I got my brother’s girlfriend Dawn to call out any films she could think of.

I thought of this idea about five minutes before I began typing and Dawn rattled off films as they came to her while I typed out brief verdicts for each one. I initially intended to create a system for rating but found it too restrictive so I just wrote a brief instinctual verdict for each one.

I have included a link to Rotten Tomatoes and the score of each film, I haven’t seen some of these movies in a very long time…

NOTE: The percentages at the end are not my scores but the percentage of positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

1. Men in Black (1997) – meh (91% – seriously?!)
2. Fight Club (1999) – brilliant (80%)
3. Unforgiven (1992) – immense (96%)
4. Shaun of the Dead (2004) – decent (gets worse every time I watch it)
5. Memento (2001) – pretty good (93%)
6. The Departed (2006) – good (92%)
7. Aliens (1986) – the best sequel ever made (100%)
8. Reservoir Dogs (1992) – great characters and dialogue (95%)
9. American Beauty (1999) – uplifting, brilliant (the stupid bag scene apart) (89%)
10. Goodfellas (1990) – excellent (96%)
11. Predator (1987) – one of Arnie’s best (76%)
12. 12 Angry Men (1957) – captivating (100%)
13. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) – meh (78%)
14. Shawshank Redemption (1994) – really, really good (88%)
15. Little Miss Sunshine (2006) – better than I expected (90%)
16. Sin City (2005) – flashy trash (78%)
17. Toy Story 2 (1999) – yep, it’s good (100%)
18. Bambi (1942) – I remember it being good (much to the amusement of Dawn and Sean, many gay jokes followed) (89%)
19. Final Destination (2000) -guff (30%)
20. Edward Scissorhands (1990) – pretentious crap (90%)
21. Stranger than Fiction (2006) – Surprisingly good (72%)
22. Shallow Grave (1995) – okay (71%)
23. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1996) – facepalm (49%)
24. Man on Fire (2004) – underwhelming (39%)
25. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) – meh (81%)
26. 28 Days Later (2003) – meh (88%)
27. Casino Royale (2006) – surprisingly really good (94%)
28. Psycho (1960) – I was expecting it to be better (98%)
29. The Flintstones (1994) – Jesus wept (18%)
30. Aladdin (1992) – good (92%)
31. Jackass: The Movie (2002) – hard to class as a film really, hit and miss(48%)
32. E.T (1982) – good (98%)
33. Independence Day (1996) – a glorified B movie (61%)
34. Titanic (1997)  – Good (81%)
35. Ring (2002) – fairly decent (71%)
36. Pulp Fiction (1994) – Tarantino’s best film by a long way (97%)
37. Hot Fuzz (2007) – fun (90%)
38. Monty Python: Holy Grail (1975) – classic (94%)
39. Good Will Hunting (1997) – good (97%)
40. Heat (1995) – pretty good, not great (89%)
41. Zodiac (2007) – boring (87%)
42. Little Mermaid (1989) – decent (90%)
43. Ghost (1987) – crap (80%)
44. Dirty Dancing (1987) – utter shit – that women like this film makes me wonder if they actually deserve equal rights (67%)
45. The Terminator (1984) – the best Terminator (100%)
46. Bean (1998) – a test of mental endurance, awful (41%)
47. The Mask (1994) – rubbish (76%)
48. Frailty (2002) – ridiculous (74%)
49. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) – shite
50. Donnie Darko (2001) – overrated pish (84%)
51. Apollo 13 (1995)– crap (96%)
52. Deep Impact (1998)– more crap (46%)
53. Volcano (1997) – even more crap (40%)
54. I know what you did last summer (1997)– yet more crap (36%)
55. The Matrix (1999) – first half decent rest shite (86%)
56. Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (2002)– boring (96%)
57. Addams Family Values (1994) – some good moments (74%)
58. Nightmare before Christmas (1993) – overrated, largely guff (97%)
59. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) – (see earlier blog) (75%)
60. Three Men and a Baby (1987) – sickening  (78%)
61. Transformers: The Movie (1986) – decent (haven’t seen it in 10 years) (50%)
62. Cruel Intentions (1999) – trash (47%)
63. Lock Stock and Two Smoking barrels (1998) – good if a little overrated (71%)
64. Clerks II (2006) – absolutely fucking diabolical (62%, seriously what the fuck?)
65. Baby’s Day Out (1994) – horrific (23%)
66. Home Alone 2 (1992) – decent (17% – that seems harsh!)
67. Liar Liar (1997) – pretty bad (84%)
68. Babe (1995) – Jesus wept (98%)
69. The Simpsons Movie (2007) – unfunny crap from a show that is a pale shadow of what it used to be (90%)
70. Mr Nanny (1993) – a holocaust of a film (7%)
71. The Thing (1980) – really tense, really good (80%)
72. Blair Witch Project (1999) – doing something different doesn’t make it good (85%)
73. Run Lola Run (1999) – see above (92%)
74. The Santa Clause (1994) – crap (Dawn: “What’s the film with Tim Allen dressed as Santa Claus?”) (79%)
75. Silence of the Lambs (1990) – they really should have just stopped at this one, a fine film (96%)
76. Matilda (1996) – another crap Dahl adaptation (89%)
77. A Bridge too Far (1977) – the quintessential war movie (67%)
78. Rocky V (1990) – laughable (21%)
79. The Sting (1973) – really good (91%)
80. The Sword in the Stone (1963) – good (73%)
81. The Witches (1990) – crap (100%, what the fuck?)
82. Starship Troopers (1997) – entertaining trash (60%)
83. Love Actually(2003)  – hated it (63%)
84. White men can’t jump (1992) – I liked it despite itself (78%)
85. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1999)– a pointless sequel (48%)
86. A Bug’s Life (1998) – meh (91%)
87. Hollow man (2000)– hollow is an appropriate adjective (but I like Bacon’s character) (27%)
88. Jaws (1975) – good but overrated (100%)
89. Jerry Maguire (1996)– oh Christ (84%)
90. Dawn of the Dead (1978)– awesome (95%)
91. Drop Dead Fred (1991)– mindless crap (still haunted by my little sister’s repeat viewing of this monstrosity) (9%)
92. Braveheart (1995) – good (it’s a movie, not a history lesson) (76%)
93. Saw II (2005) – crap (35%)
94. Mouse Hunt (1997)– hated it (really wanted the mouse to die) (44%)
95. The Mummy (1999)– didn’t like it (54%)
96. George of the Jungle (1997)– crap (53%)
97. Leon (1994) – ludicrous garbage (74%)
98. Death becomes her (1993)– had its moments (56%)
99. Meet Joe Black (1998) – meh (49%)
100. Dog Soldiers (2002) – entertaining (79%)
101. Cool Hand Luke (1967) – the best film ever (100%)

That’s work will do to you . . . and Family Movie Night (a Dunning family tradition).

Movies watched this week:

• Walk the Line
• Up
• Star Trek (the new one)
• Donnie Darko

There’s nothing like a giant evil bunny rabbit to brighten your day . . . like this guy says.

Jordan’s planning a mini-death march for Saturday.  Maybe 50 miles.  Since I’m really tired of blowing up on these rides, I’m taking six times the amount of food & water I would normally take.  Cliff bars, gel, water, Perpetuem or Heed, and then more of all that.  I’ll pack a box of cereal and some milk if I can find room.

Meanwhile, all bike stuff has been moved from the basement to the former TV room at the back of the house.  In place of damp and crickets I’ve got a cable-ready TV and a pair of confused cats a little wary of that fast-spinning wheel.  (That’s good for them.)

Lacking the motivation for any kind of serious training, I’ve invented the lamest indoor workout possible.  The Ipod Workout.  Two songs Zone 2, one song lower Zone 3/upper Zone 4.  Do at least four songs at the hard pace.  Put the Ipod on shuffle and hope for the best.  It’s just like an unfamiliar road: you’ll never know what’s around the corner.  Yesterday I got Bruce Springsteen “Tunnel of Love” (grueling at the end), Prince “1999″ (good), Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to do With It” (okay), and Scandel “Warrior” (homerun).  Depending on the length of the songs and the warmup & cooldown, the entire workout takes about 50 to 60 minutes.

The Box is a movie based on the 1970’s short story button button by Richard Matheson adapted for film by Writer – Director Richard Kelly. Richard Kelly is known for complex, multi-faceted and cryptic movies, example: Donnie Darko. The Box is definitely no exception, there are so many twists and turns throughout, as well as small details that, if missed, could affect how someone interprets the film.

The Box stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as Arthur and Norma Lewis, a married couple living in Virginia. They are living a little beyond their means as illustrated by the big house they live in and their fancy car. Just as their fi nancial life begins to crumble they are approached by Arlington Steward, a disfi gured, yet oddly charming man with an interesting and fateful proposition.

He presents them with a box, which has a button. If the button is pushed they will received one million dollars, but someone in the world whom they don’t know will die. They are given 24 hours to make their decision. Obviously they push the button, and consequences follow. Like I said earlier, Richard Kelly is known for complex movies, so if you’re looking for a morality love story quickie, then this movie isn’t for you. It’s a complicated storyline with morality, love story, science-fi ction and a murder mystery all woven together held together in a non linear storyline surrounding this box.

The movie really raises more questions than it answers, even after it’s all over. I’d call it a rental, not because it isn’t good enough to see in theatres, but because you might want to watch it again the next day to try and make better sense of it.

-Dylan Leard (Broadcast Journalism)

Alla sammanfattar 00-talet just nu, jag är inget undantag. Det kom en hel hög bra filmer under decenniet, från hyperrealistiska dramadokumentärer till högklassig fantasy och underbara animerade filmer.

Här är de tio bästa:

10. Donnie Darko
Den här filmen hade inte behövt alla tidstypiska poplåtar för att placera sig omisskännligt i 80-talet. Stämningarna som byggs upp och skildringen av Donnies accelererande psykos gör den till det mästerverk den är.

9. Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex
Kritiken mot den här filmen är befogad, lika lite som boken den bygger på förklarar den på något begripligt vis Röda arméfraktionens drivkrafter, förutom att det ser väldigt häftigt ut att sno bilar, spränga saker och skjuta folk. Å andra sidan lyckas filmen verkligen med den uppgiften, stadsgerilla har aldrig varit sexigare.

8. Der Untergang
I Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex spelar Bruno Ganz terroristbekämparen Horst Herold, mannen som skaffade sig ett eget datoriserat furstendöme på BKA i Wiesbaden. I Der Untergang är han der Führer själv. En paranoid, nervsjuk gammal man i ett rike i totalt sönderfall. Den definitiva Hitlerfilmen.

7. Morvern Callar
Samantha Morton är lysande som missanpassad snabbköpskassörska i en film som är lika vacker när den skildrar skotsk vinter som spansk sommar.

6. Bloody Sunday
Brittiska soldaters massmord på fjorton obeväpnade demonstranter i stadsdelen Bogside i Derry, Nordirland 30 januari 1972 skildras utdraget och obarmhärtigt realistiskt. Som film om terrorns orsaker är den raka motsatsen till Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex. Konkretare och mer lättbegripligt kan det knappast bli.

5. This is England
Britterna har en alldeles särskild känsla för realism, och en kärlek till sina subkulturer som av någon anledning saknas helt i Sverige. En kärleksförklaring till skinheads som går rätt in i hjärtat.

4. Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazakis verkliga genombrottsfilm i västvärlden är en helt fantastisk sagoberättelse och något av det bästa tecknade jag sett på film.

3. Lord of the Rings-trilogin
JRR Tolkien skrev de ultimata fantasyromanerna, och Peter Jackson har gjort den ultimata fantasyfilmen. Ses helst i de förlängda DVD-versionerna, i en följd.

2. The Virgin Suicides
USA-premiär 1999, Sverigepremiär 2000. Därmed kvalar Sofia Coppolas hyllning till Peter Weirs Picnic at Hanging Rock in på den här listan. Så fantastiskt vacker.

1. Fight Club
Ja, den kom verkligen 1999, men överskuggar 00-talet så fullständigt att den självklart toppar en sådan här lista. Ett mästerverk och en av de där filmerna som faktiskt är bättre än boken.

Strax utanför: Old Boy (korridorscenen!), No Country for Old Men (garagerockfrisyren!), Battle Royale (Takeshi!), Pans labyrint (fascism och fantasy!), The Football Factory (kläderna!), Inglourious Basterds (uniformerna!), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (sagokänslan!), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp!), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (galenskapen!), Watchmen (allt!)

Mer om 00-talet, filmer, Old Boy, No Country for Old Men, Inglourious Basterds, Battle Royale, Pans labyrint, Football Factory, Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Watchmen, Fight Club, The Virgin Suicides, Lord of the Rings, Spirited Away, This is England, Bloody Sunday, Morvern Callar, Donnie Darko, Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex, Der Untergang,

HEART è il nome del nuovo lavoro di Elisa, che arriva dopo ben 5 anni dal suo ultimo album d’inediti (Pearl Days) e dopo 3 dalla fortunatissima raccolta Soundtrack ‘96-’06.

14 brani, di cui un paio in italiano, una cover e due con ospiti illustri, che rappresentano un nuovo punto di partenza per la cantautrice di Monfalcone, pur rimanendo fedele al sound e alle influenze artistiche che hanno caratterizzato la sua lunga carriera.

L’album si apre con la coinvolgente Vortexes, un pop rock sostenuto dove la voce di Elisa regala i primi brividi svettando fra violini e suggestioni elettroniche. Segue l’ottima And All I Need e Anche Se Non Trovi Le Parole, uno dei brani in italiano più riusciti della cantante e sicuro tormentone radiofonico.

L’album prosegue, poi, alternando episodi rock che ci restituiscono una Elisa grintosa, come in This Knot e Your Manifesto (decisamente più riuscita la prima della seconda), ad altri – più numerosi – caratterizati da sound più delicati e sognanti, come Someone To Love e Poems By God.

Fra i brani migliori, l’intensa Mad World, cover dei Tears For Fears (qui riproposta in una versione più vicina a quella presente nella colonna sonora di “Donnie Darko”) che la cantautrice aveva già eseguito nello show Mechanical Dream e l’onirica The Big Dipper, dove Elisa riporta in primo piano l’amore per l’elettronica e le atmosfere alla Björk.

La vetta dell’album è però, senza dubbio, Forgiveness: emozionante duetto con Antony Hegarty (degli Antony and the Johnsons) dove le due voci, così diverse nel loro essere soul, si fondono cantando il grande tema del perdono.

Non tutto funziona in questo album: c’è qualche lungaggine di troppo (sia nella scaletta che nella durata di alcune canzoni, come ad esempio Lisert che resta soffocata dagli oltri 6 minuti di durata), l’orrendo episodio di Ti Vorrei Sollevare (primo singolo con Giuliano Sangiorgi dei Negramaro di cui vi ho parlato QUI)  e il progetto non sembra essere pienamente focalizzato nella sua interezza.

Tuttavia, questo Heart è un album solido e coerente: la conferma, se ce ne fosse stato ancora bisogno, delle grandi capacità di Elisa come compositrice ed interprete.  Un termine, quello scelto come titolo, davvero azzeccatissimo: qui il cuore c’è davvero. E palpita forte.

Tracklist: Vortexes – And All I Need – Anche Se Non Trovi Le Parole – This Knot – Mad World – Ti Vorrei Sollevare (con Giuliano Sangiorgi) – Your Manifesto – The Big Dipper – Someone To Love – Poems By God – Coincidences – Lisert – Forgiveness (feat. Antony) – Dot In The Universe

Website: http://www.elisatoffoli.com/

]]> http://jackbenage.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/film-cliches-donnie-darko/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:44:04 +0000 Jack http://jackbenage.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/film-cliches-donnie-darko/

Hey Gang,

Hope you had a marvelous Monday (alliteration and all).

I accidentally clicked the Stumble button on my StumbleUpon toolbar (which is one of the most fantastic things available on the grand interweb as well as one of the largest ways to realize four hours has gone by and you’ve accomplished next to nothing) and found this link to common film cliches.

On the topics of films. I just finished rewatching Donnie Darko for the fourth time or so. I finally am able to piece a lot of it together. I read the director’s interpretation on wikipedia (which, by the way, makes me an expert) and finally feel like I can understand a lot of what’s happening.

From the quote that Rotten Tomatoes provided from Richard Kelly one can start to see why certain references might have been made:

“Maybe it’s the story of Holden Caulfield, resurrected in 1988 by the spirit of Phillip K. Dick, who was always spinning yarns about schizophrenia and drug abuse breaking the barriers of space and time. Or it’s a black comedy foreshadowing the impact of the 1988 presidential election, which is really the best way to explain it. But first and foremost, I wanted the film to be a piece of social satire that needs to be experienced and digested several times.”

And experience and digest it several times I have. Most films I do not like to view a second time and it is even more unusual for me to want to watch a film four or five or six times. Donnie Darko is an exception. I thoroughly enjoy this film and believe that it gets better every time you watch it.

On a side note I feel bound to inform anyone who will listen that the supposed sequel to Donnie Darko (in which visionary author of Donnie Darko, Richard Kelley, had no say or creative input) is a pitiful waste of time. If you’re a die-hard cult fan of Donnie Darko, you’ll rent it anyways, but it’s truly not worth your time.

Back to the topic of cliches. It’s how we deal in film. While some deviation from the normal “cliched” shots is necessary (or maybe isn’t) to keep an audience engaged, without the standard plethora of shots we already understand and can take almost instant meaning to it would be harder to convey certain emotional moments or tensions. We have become so used to situations such as this one from the website:

“Two people will often converse while one stares out the window, with their back to the other. When an emotional point is made, the first person will turn around.”

Many people turn up their noses at cliched scenes and motifs, however with the number of films being created every day (especially with the dawn of new content delivery systems such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Vimeo) it becomes more and more difficult, if not impossible, to create unique genuine emotional moments. Let’s face it, if a writer knows they can evoke a certain emotion by using a convention you’ve already been trained to acknowledge, they’re just speaking in your visual language. The only problem becomes then, obviously, if cliches are so pronounced, forced, or strong that they achieve the opposite effect than intended and distract from the immersion of the audience and any possible suspension of disbelief. An overused cliche can be a bit like noticing a boom-mike sneak in to view on the edge of the screen. The fictional world we are convinced is real becomes fake again and our interest drops significantly.

Anyways. Just thoughts of the evening.

Cheers,

-Jack

I used to think that I hated Drew Barrymore because of Charlie’s Angels,  her stupid palsy face, and for doing stuff like this:

I still kind of hate her, but after having a recent discussion with my friends, I’ve come to the startling realization that I may like Drew Barrymore. I know, it makes me cringe too, but let me explain:

1. I loved “Ever After.” It’s a beautiful dream-like movie that I used to watch over and over when I was younger.
2. I may be the only person in world who actually watched, let alone liked the movie “Never Been Kissed.”
3. I absolutely love “The Wedding Singer.” It is one of my favorite pseudo ’80s movies of all time. It’s one of those movies that, if it’s on, I’ll drop everything to watch.
4. “Donnie Darko”
5. “Whip It” was actually not that bad either. If you can get over the awfulness of Ellen Page (which some people can’t) it’s worth it. Maybe I just liked it because of the roller derby factor, who knows?

In any account, I felt it was necessary to share my feelings on the subject.