so last year, Dune became one of my favorite comfort movies. im not sure how a film necessarily gets “comfort” status, i guess from watching it a million times, you know it, its easy to watch…and Dunes got camp and mystery and action and cute dudes and its not too slow or steamy, just good. a favorite. apparantly the director David Lynch is completely embarassed of it though. shrug.
anyway, in these cold and (for me) confusing past months, i found myself craving this film, and remembering that i wrote a blog post on 3/17/08 for ten tigers upon first discovering this movie. there were ten tigers quickly became a primarily art/baltimore blog, and anyway i dont think anyone read this post of mine, so i’m reposting it! ha!
and may i just say, i dont think anybody can pull off “buff-twink” better than Kyle Maclachlan.
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Fave film of moment: DUNE
First off, just finished watching this for the second time and am definitely in love with David Lynch’s golden boy, Kyle Maclachlan.
siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
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But it’s like he and Bruce Campell went to the same Sore Thumb School of Over-Acting. The Harryhausen-esque/early 80’s bluescreen FX don’t help either (see below). But certainly all that can be excused as charming camp.
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And then!, the Baron Harkonnen is a completely creepy, incestuous, letch of a villain. He cultivates diseases on his face and carries out ludicrous tortures: “We’ve brought you a little cat, Thufir. You must care for it if you wish to live. A poison has been introduced into you, Thufir Hawat. By milking this smooth little cat body each day you receive your antidote.”
chillinggg…….
See also: awesome trippy dream sequences, crazy mutant monster people, and a totally believable yet fantastic future-setting…think Fifth Element meets Blade Runner.
Which! totally makes sense anyway because Ridley Scott was slated to direct but dropped out to do Blade Runner instead (also interesting because Sean Young plays Kyle Maclachlan’s alien love interest).
…………………………
And now that I mention Sean Young…the fact that MALE sci-fi geek is this film’s demographic is absolutely palpable. Sure, yes, all of the women characters are either Sean Young, a tough and capable yet beautiful and vulnerable warrior, or else belong to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, which is a group of perfect beings who can mind read and use “the voice” to control people…which is cool…but basically they are witches and have been waiting for Paul (Kyle Machlachlan) to come, have prophetic dreams, become the messiah of the universe and go where “women are afraid to go…where [they] cannot see”….see the movie, you’ll get it….
Anyway, Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica, is a Bene Gesserit and is the only other female character one can identify with…but she’s certainly no Ripley. Lets just say that Glenn Close turned down the role because she didn’t want to play “the girl who is always running and falling down behind the men”.
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Double anyway, totally love it, will watch it a third time and probably read the book [havent read the book]…also, how bad-ass is this treatment proposed by Alejandro Jodorowsky!…

“Jodorowsky had originally planned on filming Dune in the early-’70s, and had enlisted the help of Jean Giraud and H.R. Giger to create the movie’s visual style. Salvador Dali was enlisted to play the part of the Emperor, and Jodorowsky also intended to cast his own son as Paul, David Carradine as Duke Leto, Orson Welles as the Baron, and Gloria Swanson as the Benne Geserit Reverend Mother. The soundtrack was to be done by Pink Floyd. According to Jodorowsky, “The project was sabotaged in Hollywood. It was French and not American. The message was ‘not Hollywood enough’.” – IMDB

Oh, PS: Sting’s in it too….and is a hyper babe…

Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles, including Sting, Jose Ferrer, Sean Young, Virginia Madsen, Linda Hunt, Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow, Siân Phillips and Jürgen Prochnow, among others. It was filmed at the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City and included a soundtrack by the band Toto. As in the novel, the central plot concerns a young man foretold in prophecy as the “Kwisatz Haderach” who will protect the titular desert planet from the malevolent House Harkonnen and save the universe from evil.

After the success of the novel, attempts to adapt Dune for a film began as early as 1971. A lengthy process of development hell followed throughout the 1970s, during which Arthur P. Jacobs, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Ridley Scott, all tried to bring their vision to the screen. In 1981, David Lynch was hired as director by executive producer Dino De Laurentiis.

The film was not well received by critics and performed poorly at the American box office at the time. Upon its release, director David Lynch distanced himself from the project, stating that pressure from both producers and financiers restrained his artistic control and denied him final cut.

Fans of the Dune series are polarized by the movie, although the film has become a cult favorite, and at least three different versions have been released worldwide. In some cuts of the film Lynch’s name is replaced in the credits with the name of a fictional director Alan Smithee, a pseudonym used by directors who wish not to be associated with a film for which they would normally be credited.

Trivia:

• Ridley Scott worked on bringing the film to the screen, but was unsuccessful. H.R. Giger (who worked with Scott on Alien (1979)) was hired as a production designer.
• The inspiration for the design of the stillsuits was the medical textbook “Gray’s Anatomy”.
• Two hundred workers spent two months hand-clearing three square miles of Mexican desert for location shooting.
• One scene called for Duke Leto (Jürgen Prochnow) to be strapped to a black stretcher and drugged. During one take, a high-powered bulb positioned above Prochnow exploded due to heat, raining down molten glass. Remarkably, Prochnow was able to free himself from the stretcher, moments before glass fused itself to the place he had been strapped. During the filming of the dream sequence, the Baron (Kenneth McMillan) approached Leto, who had special apparatus attached to his face so that green smoke would emerge from his cheek when the Baron scratched it. Although thoroughly tested, the smoke gave Prochnow first and second degree burns on his cheek. This sequence appears on film in the released version.
• The tendons visible when Paul hooks the worm were made from condoms.
• Some special effects scenes were filmed with over a million watts of lighting, drawing 11,000 amps.
• Some scenes were filmed in the same location and at the same time as scenes from Conan the Destroyer (1984).
• Number of production crew came to a total of 1,700. Dune required 80 sets built upon 16 sound stages. More than 6 years in the making, it required David Lynch’s work for three and a half years.
• David Lynch disowned the television cut.
• Director David Lynch and producer Raffaella De Laurentiis arranged a screen test in New York with Sean Young for the role of Chani. Young’s agent never told Young about the meeting, and she was in fact booked on a flight that evening to Los Angeles. Lynch and De Laurentiis missed their flight back to Los Angeles, and ended up catching the same plane as Young. During the flight, De Laurentiis noticed Young and told Lynch, “I bet that girl’s an actress.” A stewardess told the pair that her name was “Sean Young”, and De Laurentiis confronted Young about standing him and Lynch up. The misunderstanding sorted out, the three ended up drinking champagne and reading the script together upon returning to Los Angeles.
• John Hurt was offered the part of Dr Yueh.
• The name “Judas Booth” that appears as the screenwriter in the extended TV cut, is a combination of Judas, the apostle that betrayed Jesus Christ, and John Wilkes Booth, Abraham Lincoln’s killer. With this in-joke, David Lynch meant that the studio betrayed him and killed the film. The director’s credit is the usual in these cases Alan Smithee.
• Patrick Stewart replaced Aldo Ray.
• It took two weeks to film Max von Sydow’s role.
• During the film’s original release, “cheatsheets” explaining much of the movie’s setting and its more obscure vocabulary were handed out to moviegoers at some theatres.
• The first movie to feature a computer-generated human form, for the bodyshields.
• The theatrical version of this film is the only version of Dune, including the novel and the miniseries, where Thufir Hawat survives. A scene of Thufir’s death was filmed, but was cut.
• Original director Ridley Scott left the production after his older brother suddenly passed away. Scott wanted to start working as soon as possible, but Dune would take far to long to reach production. Scott decided to leave the project in favor of Blade Runner (1982), which was ready to start production immediately.
• Feyd-Rautha and The Beast Rabban are men of very few words: as the latter, Paul L. Smith speaks only 34 of them during the entire movie; as the former, ‘Sting’ says a mere 90. And that’s in the three-hour version of the film.
• Glenn Close turned down the role of Lady Jessica, not wanting to play “the girl who is always running and falling down behind the men”.
• David Lynch was originally signed to do two sequels to this film. The box office failure insured that the plans never came to fruition.
• Patrick Stewart said the stillsuit was the most uncomfortable costume he had ever worn.
• David Lynch has said he considers this film the only real failure of his career. To this day, he refuses to talk about the production in great detail, and has refused numerous offers to work on a special edition DVD. Lynch claims revisiting the film would be too painful an experience to endure.
• Cameo: [Michael Bolton] One of the drummers shown during Paul and Feyd’s duel.
• David Lynch turned down the chance to direct Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) to direct Dune (1984).
• Alejandro Jodorowsky had originally planned on filming Dune in the early-’70s, and had enlisted the help of Jean Giraud and H.R. Giger to create the movie’s visual style. Salvador Dalí was enlisted to play the part of the Emperor, and Jodorowsky also intended to cast his own son Brontis Jodorowsky as Paul, David Carradine as Duke Leto, Orson Welles as the Baron, and Gloria Swanson as the Benne Geserit Reverend Mother. The soundtrack was to be done by Pink Floyd. According to Jodorowsky, “The project was sabotaged in Hollywood. It was French and not American. Their message was ‘not Hollywood enough’. There was intrigue, plunder. The storyboard was circulated among all the big studios. Later, the visual aspect of Star Wars (1977) strangely resembled our style. To make Alien (1979), they called Moebius [Giraud], Foss, Giger, O’Bannon, etc. The project signaled to Americans the possibility of making a big show of science-fiction films, outside of the scientific rigor of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The project of Dune changed our lives.” Jodorowsky also planned on making numerous changes to the source material, including making Duke Leto a eunuch and the spice a blue sponge. Author Frank Herbert openly despised these concepts.
• Director Cameo: [David Lynch] A radio operator on the mining ship that Paul and Duke Leto Atreides rescue from a sandworm.
• The musical instrument played by Patrick Stewart, the “baliset”, is actually a Chapman Stick, an electric guitar and bass created in the ’70s by ‘Emmett Chapman’, who plays the music we hear.
• While shooting on location in Mexico, filming came to a near-halt when most of the cast and crew came down with “Montezuma’s Revenge.” The studio had to build a full cafeteria large enough to accommodate the entire cast and crew for every meal, as well as import all the food from the United States to keep the film on schedule.
• Virginia Madsen replaced Anne-Louise Lambert.
• According to the biography ‘Five Easy Decades’, Jack Nicholson at one point in the late 1970s considered directing Dune, but decided that it would be too much of an undertaking.
• It was first intended to the shoot all the studio material in the UK. But all of the three big studios were totally full.
• Patrick Stewart played Claudius in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980) (TV), a role that Kyle MacLachlan played in Hamlet (2000). Francesca Annis played Hamlet’s mother Gertrude in a theatrical production. Appropriately, she was cast as Jessica in this film when the role was declined by Glenn Close, who played Gertrude in Hamlet (1990/I).
• Gurney Halleck gives two quotations that are from the Old Testament of the Bible- Job 24:5 and Habbakkuk 1:9 – The first “Behold, as a wild ass in the desert go I forth to my work” – which he says as they arrive on Arrakis, Job 24:5. And “They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup as the east wind. And they shall gather the captivity of the sand.” – Habbakkuk 1:9.
• The movie alludes strongly to bible stories; such as, most strongly, the story of Moses.
• Jodie Foster auditioned for the role of Princess Irulan.
• Kim Basinger, Melanie Griffith, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Ryan, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kristy McNichol, Tatum O’Neal, Bridget Fonda and Sarah Jessica Parker all were considered to play Princess Irulan.
• Brooke Shields tested for the role of Princess Irulan but failed the audition.
• Christopher Reeve auditioned for the role of Paul Atreides.
• Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Gurney Halleck, but turned it down.
• Dexter Fletcher was very seriously considered for Paul .
• The cast of this film includes many connections to Star Trek. Dean Stockwell has appeared on “Enterprise” (2001), Brad Dourif on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987), and of course Patrick Stewart played Cpt. Jean-Luc Picard. José Ferrer’s son Miguel Ferrer played a helmsman in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984). Star Trek: First Contact (1996) also featured Alice Krige, who played Jessica in “Children of Dune” (2003).
• Patrick Stewart has said in interviews that every cast member lost two scenes to cut made in editing.
• David Lynch (13 January 2006) : “Dune I didn’t have final cut on. It’s the only film I’ve made where I didn’t have, I didn’t technically have final cut on The Elephant Man (1980) but Mel Brooks gave it to me, and on Dune the film, I started selling out even in the script phase knowing I didn’t have final cut, and I sold out, so it was a slow dying- the-death and a terrible terrible experience. I don’t know how it happened, I trusted that it would work out but it was very naive and, the wrong move. In those days the maximum length they figured I could have is two hours and seventeen minutes, and that’s what the film is, so they wouldn’t lose a screening a day, so once again it’s money talking and not for the film at all and so it was like compacted and it hurt it, it hurt it. There is no other version. There’s more stuff, but even that is putrefied.”

Damn that Nan and her grooviness! Trina, you are just a doormat. Of course, it is possible to go too far in the other direction…

Whoa, Twink — how ’bout you crawl out of Jill’s butt about this? What a lady does behind closed bedroom/car/McDonalds’ restroom doors is her business.

So. Which one would you choose? And remember that things are not always what they seem; Trina could be a doormat because she has been raised according to a view of fundamentally-Biblical, sublimated femininity that also extends to keeping it on clampdown ’til after marriage, and even then, just every third Saturday and only if neither one of you enjoys it! Do you really want a lifetime of hot meals but frigid nights?

Still from Blue Velvet (1986), l to r: Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini, and unbelievably gorgeous slice of ’80s man meat Kyle MacLachlan — three guesses who the next Hot Man Bein’ Hot of the Day is going to be.

Meanwhile, that alleged whore Jill might actually be acting out because she has been abused, and, like a kicked cat who has not been loved well enough, will just as easily cut you with a broken bottle as blow you.* She may even be one of those chicks who downs a bottle of bourbon and sleeps with your dad so you’ll beat her up, just so she can feel anything.

Ups and downs, blondes and brunettes, femmes fatales and ingenues –and which is which??– deconstruction of assumed codifications. Oh! Such a Lynchian conundrum!

Naomi Watts and Laura Harring, Mulholland Drive (2001).

*Your cat blows you, right?…right??

Falar de David Lynch não é tarefa fácil. O diretor é famoso por seus filmes inusitados e únicos, foi várias vezes indicado ao Oscar (Coração Selvagem, Veludo Azul e O Homem Elefante). Depois de dá os primeiros passos (bem firmes) no mundo do cinema, ele resolve tentar algo pra TV, e o resultado disso é Twin Peaks (1990). Criada pela parceria de Lynch e Mark Frost, essa série é uma jóia rara.

Twin Peaks é uma série muito criativa, que envolve mistério, muito suspense e humor negro. A primeira temporada (de duas) conta com sete episódios mais o piloto, que é tão bom que acabou sendo exibido e vendido junto com os demais episódios. A série que a princípio parecia invendável, e que recebeu da ABC apenas 7 horas para exibição, acabou tornando-se um sucesso garantido que rendeu uma segunda temporada de 22 episódios. Essas 22 duas horas extras foram conseguidas como fruto do excelente trabalho de Lynch e Frost.

Ao assistir temos o prazer de desfrutar de uma mistura de talentos. A série é escrita por David Lynch (piloto e episódios 01 e 02), Mark Frost (piloto e episódios 01, 02, 05 e 07), Harley Peyton (episódios 03 e 06) e Robert Engels (episódio 04). E dirigida por David Lynch (piloto e episódio 02), Duwayne Dunham (episódio 01), Tina Rathborne (episódio 03), Tim Hunter (episódio 04), Lesli Linka Glatter (episódio 05), Caleb Deschanel (episódio 06) e Mark Frost (episódio 07). No elenco temos Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, Everett McGill, Richard Beymer, Ray Wise e Mädchen Amick.

A história, bem construída, gira em torno da investigação do assassinato de Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), uma garota muito popular na pequena cidade de Twin Peaks. Para investigar o caso chega à cidade o agente especial do FBI, Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). Com o tempo ele acaba descobrindo que a cidadezinha está repleta de segredos fatais, e mistérios inexplicáveis. Numa trama onde todos são potenciais criminosos, comprova-se pelo caráter de cada personagem, é difícil se chegar ao verdadeiro assassino, e é isso que instiga o telespectador a ver tudo de uma vez, sem parar. Atente para a relação afetiva insinuada e implícita entre Laura Palmer e seu pai.

Deve-se prestar o máximo de atenção se quiser obter o mínimo de informação sobre o que a história realmente trata. Em se tratando de Lynch há uma tempestade de coisas implícitas e subtendidas que permite a cada um sua própria interpretação. Uma análise psicológica profunda, a vida pacata de uma cidade pequena fielmente recriada. Onde todos são traidores dos outros e de si mesmos, onde a corrupção e a hipocrisia caminham lado a lado. Os “ossos do oficio” e temas perturbadores, é de disso tudo que se compõe Twin Peaks. 

A primeira temporada da série foi uma aposta que deu certo da emissora ABC. No final da primeira temporada há o máximo de finais abertos que uma série pode ter, o destino de todos os personagens fica indefinido, e foi justamente isso que fez com que a série conseguisse uma continuação, e aproveitando que na época as emissoras estavam passando por uma greve de roteiristas, Lynch e Frost deram uma tacada certa. Além da segunda temporada há também um longa-metragem (Twin Peaks – Fire Walk With Me, 1992) que encerra a história. No geral é um excelente trabalho que vale muito, mas muito a pena ver.

Trailer:

La chica del zapato rosa

Carrie Bradshaw es una famosa columnista que escribe sobre sexo para el diario de "New York Observer". Sarah Jessica Parker protagoniza a este personaje y tras el éxito cosechado, decide formar parte del grupo de producción de la serie.

Charlotte York, inteligente, refinada y sin duda la más tradicional del grupo. Kristin Davis es quien da vida a este personaje con el que admite tener muchas cosas en común. Tras su paso por la serie, han sido muchas las campañas de publicidad que la actriz ha realizado.

Samantha Jones es sin duda la más alocada de todas. Una madurita Relaciones Públicas que sabe cómo conquistar a los hombres. A pesar de su edad, siempre va la moda. Kim Cattrall es quien encarna a la divertida Samantha, una interpretación que llegó a rechazar en dos ocasiones.

Miranda Hobbes, una abogada de prestigio que ve cómo su vida cambia al enterarse de que está embarazada de su antiguo novio. Cynthia Nixon es quien da vida a Miranda, una repercusión que ha dado lugar a que hayan sido aireadas muchas informaciones de la vida personal de la actriz.

Mr.Big es el amor de Carrie, que tras varios años de relaciones esporádicas y compromisos que parecian no tener futuro, finalmente, la escritora consigue llevarlo al altar. Chris Noth ha participado en otra serie de éxito llamada: Law&Order.

Steve es el antiguo novio de Miranda y padre de su hijo. Mantiene con ella una relación formal por el bien del niño hasta que finalmente retoman su historia y se mudan a Brookling. David Eigenberg ha participado en series de renombre como: "CSI" o "Sin Rastro".

Jerry Smith es un atractivo camarero que cae ante los encantos de Samantha. Ella utiliza sus contactos para lanzarle en su carrera como modelo. A pesar de la diferencia de edad, él está enamorado de la RRPP. Jason Lewis ha colaborado en la mítica serie "Beverly Hills 90210".

Harry es el segundo marido de Charlotte. Él era el abogado de su divorcio con su primer marido, Trey MacDougal. Evan Hadler, actor,escritor, guionista y periodista, cuenta con una larga trayectoria en el mundo de la televisión. Entre sus actuaciones más conocidas se encuentran: "24", "Friends" o "Law&Order".

Stanford Blatch es el mejor amigo de Carrie junto a las chicas. Es un agente homosexual que tiene un sentido de la moda sólo aplicable a Carrie. Wilie Garson cuenta con una trayectoria imparable. Ha participado en series y películas de gran éxito como:"Algo pasa con Mary", "La roca", "Friends", "CSI"y "Melrose Place", entre otras.

Anthony Marentino es un especialista en organización de eventos. Es un amigo homosexual de Charlotte y el encargado de planificar la primera boda de ésta. Mario Cantone es un reconocido actor de teatro que posee una larga trayectoria con innumerables éxitos. Su participación en el mundo del cine y la televisión ha sido bastante reciente.

Aidan Shaw es otro de los grandes hombres en la vida de Carrie. Es un noble y dulce diseñador de muebles con un gran sentido del humor, un factor clave para que Carrie cayera a sus pies. John Corbett obtuvo su primer papel importante en "Aquellos maravillosos años",dando comienzo a una larga trayectoria en series de televisión.

Trey MacDougal es el primer marido de Charlotte. Un reconocido cirujano perteneciente a una acomodada familia que encaja perfectamente en el prototipo de Charlotte. Su matrimonio acabó tras una luna de miel sin sexo debido a su impotencia. Kyle MacLachlan debutó en el cine de la mano del director y amigo Lynch; y gracias a él, consiguio un Globo de oro por su participación en "Twin Peaks".

]]> http://filmglutton.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/maos-last-dancer-2009/ Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:40:41 +0000 filmglutton http://filmglutton.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/maos-last-dancer-2009/

Mao’s Last Dancer is based on the best-selling autobiography by Li Cunxin.

The film opens with Li (Chi Cao) arriving at Houston, Texas, then flashes back to 1972. Here Li is an 11-year-old in the Shandong province of China. The country is floundering under Communism; his family are peasants, and there is hardly enough food to go around. Life is hard when there are seven children to support. His Dia (his father, played by Wang Shuangbao) tells his the parable of a frog stuck in a well who longs to escape to the beautiful world beyond. Li feels as though he, too, is a frog stuck in a well. His life changes when representatives from the Beijing Dance Academy come to his school. The representatives almost leave, but the young teacher points out Li at the last moment. This twist of fate drastically changes his life. He progresses through the try-outs and wins a full scholarship to the school. He has been given an amazing opportunity, and he is a hero in his village, yet young Li doesn’t want to leave his family, especially his beloved Niang (his mother, played by Joan Chen). She helps him see how lucky he is and that this is his great chance to escape the poverty – to escape the well. Li initially hates the academy, and he longs for home. Eventually, though, he finds the enjoyment in ballet.

I don’t want to give away too many plot points, though you will already know the story if you have read the book or seen the trailer (why must they always ruin the movie with the trailer?!) This is an amazing, almost unbelievable story about fate and triumph and family and love – a true rags-to-riches.

The dancing, choreographed by Graham Murphy, is simply spectacular, and it doesn’t completely take over the storyline, which should please more sceptical members of the audience. The actors are all adequate but there are no stand-out performances here. Kyle MacLachlan and Bruce Greenwood are the most recognisable cast members. Mao’s Last Dancer had a seemingly decent budget but it was actually quite small if you take into account the sheer breadth of the story. Beresford’s decision to shoot in Sydney instead of Houston may not bother most members of the crowd but it annoyed me, especially because the building used for Li’s house in Houston is actually in my suburb. The crowd scenes obviously had about 20 extras, and there is one really bad sequence with a warrior shooting an arrow…I laughed out loud, and it wasn’t supposed to be funny. The film is quite clichéd, and the suspenseful moments aren’t particularly suspenseful.

I’ve read the book, so comparisons are unavoidable. I would have to have liked to have seen more screen time dedicated to his early days with his family and also at the dance academy. In the book you really got a chance to know and love the family, but the opening of the film moves extremely quickly. I just felt there was way too much time dedicated to his time in Houston, which is arguably the least interesting part of his life story. The film begins in a non-linear fashion, going back and forward between China and America, but then becomes linear somewhere along the way. This bothered me. Jan Sardi said that they started the film in America because they thought they would alienate audiences if the first 20 minutes of the film was entirely Chinese. I wouldn’t have minded. As it is, the structure of the opening forty minutes or so is quite jarring.

I don’t think this story has been taken to its full potential. This could have and should have been an incredible film, because Li Cunxin’s life has been incredible. Mao’s Last Dancer falls a little flat, which is so unfortunate. However, it is still a really enjoyable film, and the emotion is really there, particularly between Li and his parents. I was so moved by the ending, I absolutely bawled my eyes out in the last few scenes, I seriously did.

The film has taken more than $13 million at the box office in Australia so far, the highest grossing Australian film of the year at the local box office. I think this just shows that Australian films can be successful when they deal with universally themes, rather than stories with very narrow appeal (they are usually either dark drug dramas or stupid comedies). This is a film that the whole family can really enjoy, and the cultural diversity ensures a wide audience. I’d recommend this film to anyone, but you should also read the book afterwards because there is so much more to love about Li Cunxin that isn’t touched on in the movie. I wish this had been an even better film.

My rating:

Lataa Ohjelma (MP3)

Fuskausjaksot jatkuvat, tällä kertaa sukellamme palautteiden ihmeelliseen maailmaan.

“Following a dream I had three years ago, I have become deeply moved by the plight of the Tibetan people and filled with a desire to help them.
I also awoke from the same dream realising that I had subconsciously gained knowledge of a deductive technique involving mind/body co-ordination operating hand-in-hand with the deepest level of intuition…”
– Specal Agent Dale Cooper

We’ve ventured into the weird and wonderful world of Twin Peaks on Classic Clip Friday before, to pay tribute to the strange and difficult path walked by Albert Rosenfield, but it’s well worth at least one more visit.

In this scene, Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) explains and demonstrates his Tibetan-influenced, projectile-based approach to deductive reasoning as he begins his investigation into the murder of Laura Palmer:

Much of LA becomes consumed with the buying and selling of features this week as 8000 gather at the American Film Market which kicks off W 11/4 and runs through W 11/11 concurrently with AFI Fest. Ground zero is the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel where 400 distributors are getting ready to rumble.  As the distributors are there to sell, the first half of AFM belongs mostly to the buyers.  You need a full market badge ($895) for access to the upper floors during this time, but its free to linger to the lobby and lounge by the pool putting together target lists which many do in prep for half badge face time ($345) starting Su 11/8.  Day badges $275.  To see the market in action check out these videos from Film Specific’s Stacey Parks, UpsideDownTV’s Johnny Neurotic and Variety’s Michael Jones.

Here is the list of IFTA members where you can dig deep for contact information, slate and budgets. You can also pick up free in the Loews lobby the AFM directory in the bumper copies of Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Screen International and The Business of Film.

On the Variety & THR list of AFM targets are Akin Gump ($600mm for 60 films), Endgame (3-5@$10-40mm), Exclusive Media ($100mm for 2-3 films), Incentive Filmed Entertainment ($100mm for 10@$15mm each), Liddell (3-4 films@$5-20mm each), Magnet Media (Jeanette Buerling & Magie Monteith), Natural Selection ($100mm for 20 films@ $5mm+ each), Overnight Prods (3@$10-40mm), Sheppard Mullin ($65mm), Social Capital (2-3@$2-20mm each), Stroock Stroock ($5-100mm), Tic Tock (2-3 films@$10mm each), WestEnd Films (Maya Amsellem & Eve Schoukroun), Winchester Capital (3-4 films@$10-40mm each), plus those in bold above.

Some are speaking at the AFM seminars:

F 11/6 9-12:30
AFM Finance Conference
with Media Rights Capital, Hyde Park Entertainment, NatGeo..
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire
2008 Videos

F 11/6 4-5:30
FILMART/HK Co-Production Partners
with Screen International, Distribution Workshop, Imagi Studios
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean
2008 Videos

Sa 11/7 9-12:30
Pitch Me!
Producers for Bee Season, Capote, Nurse Betty
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire

Sa 11/7 9:15-5:30
Distribution U
9:15 Breakfast/Introductions
10:15 Fans, Friends, Followers – Scott Kirsner
11:15, Break
11:30, New World of Distribution I – Peter Broderick
12:30, Lunch with Adam Chapnick, Distribber.com, Thomas Mai, Festival Darlings, Jon Reiss, Thinking Outside of the Box (Office), Adrian Belic, Beyond the Call, Genghis Blues, Justine Jacob, Ready Set Bag
2, New World of Distribution II – Peter Broderick
3, Case Studies/Anvil!, Good Dick
4, Booksigning/Thinking Outside the Box (Office)
4:15-5:30, Pitch Workshop
USC, Davidson Conference Center, 3415 South Figueroa

Sa 11/7 2-5:30
Produce and Sell Your Film with Dov S-S Simens
Topics include: Theatrical Deal Memo Points, 7 Major Revenue Sources, Profit Participation Scenarios, Cable/TV/DVD Licenses, Publicity & Festivals, On-Demand vs PPV, Global Revenues, Foreign Sales, Private Placements, Investor Offerings, Gross vs Net, Split Rights & 50-50 Deals, Production-Distribution Agreements, plus Producer’s Workbook/Directory
Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire

Su 11/8 11-12:30
Changing Indie Distribution Strategies
Ted Mundorff, Landmark Theatres, Jon Reiss, Think Outside the Box (Office)…
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Su 11/8 2-3:30
DIY Distribution Playbook
with Adam Chapnick, Distribber.com, Matt Tyrnauer, Valentino, Sacha Gervasi, Anvil!, Scott Hamilton Kennedy, The Garden, Lisa Smithline, Trouble The Waters
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean
2008 Videos

Su 11/8 4-5:30
SAG/A Filmmaker’s Resource
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 11-12:30pm
WGA/Writing for the Genre World
Mick Garris, Larry Cohen, Juliet Snowden, Stiles White, Stephen Susco
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 2-3:30
DGA/Online Piracy
Brad Beutlich, DtecNet, Darcy Antonellis, Warner, Jonathan Dayton, Little Miss Sunshine, Andrew Horton, Mark Monitor, Alann McNeil, Deluxe’s Web Watch
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

M 11/9 4-5:30
PGA/Package and Finance Indies Oversees
Aurora Productions, Akin Gump, Endgame Entertainment, The Film Department, Paradigm
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 11-12:30
Indie Marketing with Ondi Timoner, We Live In Public…
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 2-3:30
WIF/New Hollywood Movie Studio & Social Networking
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Tu 11/10 4-5:30
ASC/Film or Digital
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

Sa 11/7 – Tu 11/10 9:30-5
Favorite Film Pitch
Le Merigot, 1740 Ocean

For newbies, there are AFM first-timers guides on working the market at:
IFTA , FilmSpecific, and IndieGoGo.

As for AFM Hotels, many were booked by 10/2 but feel free to try:
- Georgian, 1415 Ocean 90401 ($242-384) 310-395-9945
- Ocean View Hotel, 1447 Ocean 90401 ($224-272) 310-458-4888
- Hotel California, 1670 Ocean 90401 ($260,299+) 310-393-2363
- Hotel Shangrila, 1301 Ocean 90401 ($319-489) 310-394-2791
- Le Merigot Marriott, 1740 Ocean 90401 ($365+) 310-395-9700
- Viceroy, 1819 Ocean 90401 ($348+) 310-260-7500
- Fairmont Miramar, 101 Wilshire 90401 ($324+) 310-576-7777
- Hotel Casa del Mar, 1910 Ocean 90405 ($459+) 310-581-5533
- Sheraton Delfina, 530 Pico 90405 ($267-320) 310-399-9344
- Doubletree, 1707 4th 90401 ($270-$282) 310-395-3332
- Holiday Inn, 120 Colorado 90401 ($248-258) 310-451-0676
- Hotel Carmel, 201 Broadway 90401 ($175-232) 310-451-2469
- Ambrose, 1255 20th Street 90404 ($192-227) 310-315-1555
- Best Western, 1920 Santa Monica Blvd 90404 ($170) 310-829-9100
- Shutters, One Pico 90405 ($575+) 310-458-0030
- Huntley, 1111 Second, 90403 ($350) 310-394-5454
*There is a shuttle for the AFM hotels, parking lots and screenings.

Film Catalogue/445 screenings, 73 premieres including:
- American Sunset (Global Universal) – Corey Haim, Frank Molina
- Blue Seduction (Global Universal Pictures) – Estella Warren*
- Bobby Fischer Live (Amadeus)
- Chloe (StudioCanal, budget $10-25mm) – Julianne Moore
- Dorian Gray (Ealing Studios, budget $10-25mm) – Colin Firth
- From Time to Time (Ealing Studios, budget $5-10m) – Maggie Smith
- Get Low (K5) – Bill Murray
- Glorious 39 (The Works International) – Julie Christie
- Harry Brown (HanWay) – Michael Caine
- Hawaii A Voice For Sovereignty (ITN)
- Junkyard Dog (Epic) – Vivica Fox**
- Kill Speed (Epic) – Nick Carter, Tom Arnold**
- Life During Wartime (Fortissimo) – Ally Sheedy & Paul Reubens
- Love & Other Impossible Pursuits (Essential Ent) – Natalie Portman
- Mama I Want to Sing! (Vision Films) – Ciara & Billy Zane
- Mao’s Last Dancer (Celluloid Dreams) – Kyle MacLachlan, Joan Cheng
- Rounds (Global Universal) – Billy Drago, Mark Attenza
- Saint John of Las Vegas (E1) – Sarah Silverman & Steve Buscemi
- Snowmen (MPower) – Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd
- Stay Cool (American Cinema) – Wynona Ryder, Hilary Duff
- The Making of Plus One (New Films) film market wheeling and dealing
- The Meaning of the 21st Century (WWFilmEnt, bud $3-5m) – Michael Douglas
- The Next Three Days (Mandate Intl) – Russell Crowe
*no screening, ** got picked up by Independent Feature Films

And more:
- AFI Fest - free tx to screenings, red carpet events, details here
- IBM/USC Imagine The World in 2050 invite-only event
- TromaDance Film Festival press conference
- 8th Samurai screening at the Consul General of Japan

Events that recap AFM:
- 12/1 Distribution U, San Francisco
- 12/8 DMW/Variety’s Future of Film, Sheraton Delfina

Hallowe’en approche toujours plus vite, et Life nous offre une petite rétrospective de stars costumées.
On y retrouve notamment Kyle MacLachlan, les Hanson, Dakota Fanning, Heidi Klum (dont j’admire le costume de 2007 ), Kim Kardashian et plein d’autres !

>Album Photo<

Jason Biggs est très mignon en Dorothy xD, Kyle avait en 2007 un costume qui pourrait inspirer les scénaristes de Desperate Housewives et Mariah Carey a (étrangement) une tendance à être plutôt décostumée… Oh et Paris Hilton est fidèle à elle-même.

Dune (David Lynch, 1984)

Was having a badly-needed spring clean of the hovel this morning, and I came across a whole stash of free DVDs from newspapers that I’d never got around to watching. One of these was a David Lynch. Eraserhead I found haunting, The Elephant Man a bit too liberals-patting-themselves-on-the-back, but mid-80s Lynch means Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks; i.e. absolute mastery. I’m no sci-fi enthusiast but I was keen to see what David Lynch did within the genre.

What can I say? Dune is bloody awful. Good things are the decor, costumes, some of the visuals, photography from English new wave titan Freddie Francis; even if there’s no fucking chance whatsoever that whatever life forms that are around in 8,000 years time are going to dress like dignitaries of the Hapsburg Empire with lovely blow-dried Nick Rhodes haircuts.

Bad things are… everything else. Here we have a series of epic novels compressed into a two-hour film, and it’s impossible to follow. Characterisation is one-dimensional, lots of ham acting, people are miscast, and worst of all it’s boring. Dog’s dinner of a film. About halfway through I consciously gave up on the film, and from then on I was just waiting for the end.

Apart from everything else, one of the odd tricks employed by the film is to mix up actual dialogue with the articulated thoughts of each character. For example, the Duke’s partner Jessica will ask someone “What happened to your wife?”. Then, her lips not moving, we will hear her say to herself “He’s hiding something from me!”. I can see what they were trying to do- create a multi-faceted world where nobody’s motives can be taken at face value. But the trick is intrusive, very distracting, and doesn’t quite work. Shouldn’t the actors be able to convey their thoughts and feelings through, er, facial expression and body language?

Not knowing what else to say, I’ll try my usual trick of talking you through the film. We start with a head-shot of a pretty girl, dangly earrings and her hair in Princess Leia buns, before an outer space backdrop. In a rambling monologue (“Oh yes, I forgot to tell you…”) she tells us that it’s the year 10191 and she’s the daughter of the Emperor wot runs this universe. More or less everyone depends on the spice of the planet Arakis, which “extends life” and facilitates space travel by allowing people to “fold space”.

Cue neo-classical titles. Gotta love the Albertus font. A robot voice outlines the geo-political situation in 10191 for us; there are four main species on four main planets, each of whom is playing the other three off one another, but they all have unfamiliar sci-fi names and we don’t quite grasp what’s going on. The Emperor supposedly presides over everything, but with the supply of spice under threat he receives a visit from the Spice Guild.

In a lavish, golden room whose decor is a Gaudi-esque imitation of coral reefs, lots of generals in nice uniforms confer. The Emperor (José Ferrer) murmurs to the Reverend Mother (Sian Phillips), a bald lady in Tudor costume, that “I shall want telepathy”. The room empties as the Spice Guild are announced- a lot of chaps in chemical suits surrounding a big black tank. In the tank is a gigantic blob (Geri Halliwell) that exhales red fumes. It resembels a massive brain with eyes, a mouth, and minuscule arms.

Blob tells Emperor that he’s not happy. Emperor reassures Blob that one of the planets was building a secret army to take over the planet wot the spice comes from, but he’s getting their rival planet to occupy Planet Spice. Blob tells Emperor he will be required to kill Paul Atreides, and for God’s sake be discreet about it.

The Atreides live on Caladan, a planet characterised by raging seas hurtling onto ragged rocks. Paul (a young Kyle MacLachlan, as rosy-cheeked as a Tory front-bencher) is sitting in a wood-panelled room, checking an astral map on a laptop, when in walk Patrick Stewart, Dean Stockwell and some bloke in furs with gigantic bushy eyebrows. Without turning he identifies the three by their footsteps. Lt. Gurney (Stewart) puts him through some sparring and we get 80s-tastic graphics, in which their limbs and torsos become encased by blurry, floating rectangles. Paul is going into battle soon and he needs to take his manoeuvres more seriously.

On Arakis, the spice planet, there are worms of up to 500 metres long; that’s where the Atreides lot are headed. Paul is put through his paces against a robot column that comes from the ceiling and has dozens of arms and swords. Lots of ducking and diving from MacLachlan. He steps outside to see his father the Duke. We establish that he’s the Atreides’ best man and much depends on him. “The sleeper must awaken”, urges the Duke.

Paul has a dream/premonition with views of Arakis, Sting laughing and vowing to kill him, and some girl. His mum Jessica lets the Reverend Mother into the palace and gets told off. She was told only to bear daughters to the Duke, so that the Atreides might be linked to their Harkonnen enemies by a political marriage, and she disobeyed. “You were my greatest student and my greatest disappointment”, mutters Phillips. She puts Paul through a test. He has to put his hand into a box that burns his flesh, and if he takes his hand out he will die. Paul passes the test and there’s some vague talk of him maybe being “the one”.

Over to Geidi Prime, home of the Harkonnen. It’s more industrial; scaffolding and lurid green light, rows of stormtroopers in gas masks. Everyone has ginger hair and their leader, the Baron, is a  fat pantomime villain whose face is disfigured by hideous boils (get the feeling that there are goodies and baddies here?). He shouts and storms about like Leo McKern, levitating when he’s particularly excited. His aides are a few fat blokes and Sting, doing a decent pop-eyed Macolm McDowell impression. The Baron wants to control the spice and has a traitor amongst the Atreides who’ll help him.

Paul, his parents and a pug dog are leading a convoy of ships to Arakis. They enter the planet through a baroque golden doorway. Bit of incomprehensible, 2001-ish special effects. The Atreides take charge of the planet and have to contend with all the booby traps and suicide squads left by the Harkonnen. The Duke hears a report about the natives of Arakis, the mysteious Fremen. These are dudes with luminous blue eyes, and there are lots more of them left than they’re letting on and they could be helpful.

Soldiers queue for meagre water rations. Dr Eueh (Stockwell, with a comedy scouser perm and moustache) x-rays captured Harkonnen rebels and has an exhange with Jessica which idenitifies him as unstrustworthy. Paul is attacked by a flying needle that comes out of the wall, and a Fremen housemaid tips him off that there’s a traitor in their midst.

Paul & the Duke meet Doctor Kynes (Max von Sydow, did you really need the money that badly?) who has the blue eyes and shows them ”still suits” for outdoor expeditions; they trap your sweat and breath, purify it and make it drinkable. There is no natural moisture on this planet. They go out in a buggy to see spice mining in action. Dr Kynes detects one of the giant worms that defend the spices nearby, and the Duke orders all the miners out. The worm destroys the mine, Dr Kynes is impressed at the Duke’s compassion.

Walking about the compound, the Duke is shot by Dr Eueh, who is our traitor. He’s disabled all their defences because of a personal vendetta. He has nothing against the Duke, and gives him a poison capsule for the inevitable moment he meets the Baron- it will emit a gas and kill them both. The Harkonnen troops attack, there are lots of explosions and battle scenes. Are we bothered?

The Baron shows up, spits in Jessica’s eye and orders his men to dump her and Paul in the desert, where the big worms will eat them. The Duke is conked out and uses his capsule to kill the Baron’s doctor by mistake. Jessica talks with a lion’s growl that hypnotises the toughs who are taking her and Paul away. They get control of the ship and land at the planet’s south pole. After a boring chase by a giant worm, they meet a colony of Fremen that includes the girl from Paul’s dream. Love at first sight.

To further transcribe this bollocks would be to waste your time and mine. Paul becomes a guerilla leader for the Fremen and they disable all the spice mines (“He who can destroy a thing, controls that thing”; is this an argument for the nuclear deterrent?). Jessica gives birth to Paul’s little sister, a telepathic five-year-old who dresses like a muslim woman. There are interminable shoot-em-up battle scenes, in which the obligatory rewrites of Holst’s Mars, The Bringer of War are spolit by grinding guitar solos being laid over the top.

Paul becomes some sort of Warrior Messiah (MacLachlan may be perfect for the unsure boy prodigy, but Warrior Messiah he is Not) who conquers everything and everyone, culminating with his defeat of Sting’s mockney punk rocker in a duel. It’s all silly, pompous, devoid of any characterisation at all, and with no apparent awareness of how meteorically silly it is. That Lynch was able to follow up this catastrophic, epic folly with Blue Velvet leaves me altogether bewildered.

Perhaps I should leave the last words, as does the film itself, to that telekinetic little sister; “And how can this be? He is the Quidzath Zaggurat!” That’s one thing to call him.

27 x 40 Movie Poster

 

 

The Hidden is a 1987 science fiction/horror film from New Line Cinema. The film was written by Jim Kouf and directed by Jack Sholder. The cast featured Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri and Claudia Christian.

Tagline:  A new breed of criminal.

Buy this Title on DVD

This film received a MPAA rating of R, and was filmed in color with mono sound. The DVD version was remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. At the time it was released it was an independent film and had been produced for less than US$5 million. A sequel, The Hidden II, directed by Seth Pinsker was released in 1994.

Trivia:

The transfer of the alien from DeVries into Jonathan Miller was accomplished by stop-motion photography. During the stops, stage hands would work at stuffing the creature model into the mock head. Actor William Boyett, upon seeing the alien going into “his” mouth, was so disgusted he refused to watch and actually left the room.

Claudia Christian

Als im nordamerikanischen Städtchen Twin Peaks, nahe der kanadischen Grenze, die Leiche eines Mädchens gefunden wird, schaltet sich auch das FBI in die Ermittlungen ein. Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) glaubt, dass Laura Palmer einem Serientäter zum Opfer gefallen ist, der bereits zuvor gemordet hat und es wieder tun wird. Ausgerüstet mit einem Diktiergerät und eher unkonventionellen Ermittlungsmethoden, wird er von der örtlichen Polizei unter Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean) zunächst nur belächelt; nachdem sich Cooper und der Sheriff jedoch zusammenraufen, tritt bald zutage, dass es in Twin Peaks mehr als nur ein dunkles Geheimnis gibt …

Nachdem Elbenno im zweiten 5×2= Podcast dermaßen enthusiastisch von “Twin Peaks” geschwärmt hat, habe ich es mir als Serienjunkie natürlich nicht nehmen lassen, es einmal mit der Serie zu versuchen. Eine Aufzeichnung auf VHS war schnell organisiert, los ging’s also. Meine Erfahrungen mit David Lynch beschränkten sich bis dahin auf “Mulholland Drive”, den ich trotz diverser Internet-Hilfestelungen bis heute nicht verstanden habe, der mich trotzdem aber ziemlich fasziniert hat. Nachdem, wie ich vorab gehört hatte, Lynch gemeinsam mit Mark Frost bei “Twin Peaks” mit der Vermischung von Traum- und Realwelt etwas behutsamer zu Werke gegangen sein soll, hatte ich natürlich große Erwartungen an die Serie, die sich bis jetzt absolut erfüllt haben.

Hauptdarsteller Kyle MacLachlan hat auch zuvor schon mit Lynch zusammengearbeitet, für “Dune” und “Blue Velvet” – mir war er bis dahin aus “Desperate Housewives” bekannt, wo er immer derjenige mit den dunklen Geheimnissen gewesen ist. Nun habe ich parallel zur ersten Season “Twin Peaks” ein weiteres Mal die vierte Staffel der “Housewives” angeschaut, was mitunter ein wenig verwirrend sein konnte, weil ich andauernd damit gerechnet habe, dass MacLachlans Charakter Orson Hodge sein Diktiergerät herausholt und über Laura Palmer zu philosophieren beginnt. Aber das nur am Rande; zurück zum Thema. Im Pilotfilm ist Dale Cooper die letzte der Hauptfiguren, die vorgestellt wird, nachdem sich die Pilotfolge zunächst eindringlich mit dem kollektiven Schock beschäftigt, in den die Bevölkerung der idyllischen Städtchens Twin Peaks nach dem Fund von Laura Palmers Leiche verfällt.

Im Laufe der ersten Staffe stellt sich nach und nach heraus, dass die Verstorbene zu vielen Einwohnern eine Beziehung hatte und selbst ihre engsten Freunde sie nicht wirklich gekannt haben. Dementsprechend schwierig gestaltet sich Coopers Suche nach der Wahrheit. Der bekennende Anhänger fernöstlicher Zen-Philosophie wendet dabei Ermittlungstechniken an, die bestenfalls fragwürdig erscheinen mögen, aber dennoch Resultate zeigen – besonderes Gewicht legt Cooper auf die seltsamen Träume, die ihn von Zeit zu Zeit heimsuchen und die ihm einen Leitfaden für seine Ermittlungen bieten. Währenddessen entschließen sich einige von Lauras Freunden, den Geheimnissen von Twin Peaks selbst auf den Grund zu gehen und Nachforschungen anzustellen.

Heute gilt “Twin Peaks” als Vorläufer von “The X-Files”, lässt sich damit vielleicht sogar als Ursprung vieler heutiger Mystery-Serien wie “Lost” oder “Fringe” bezeichnen. Dabei spielt das Mystery-Element in David Lynchs Serie eine eher untergeordnete Rolle; wie schon angemerkt, hält Lynch sich mit den für ihn typischen surrealen Elementen eher zurück und stellt die verwickelten Beziehungen der Charaktere untereinander in den Mittelpunkt der Serie. Im Mittelpunkt des komplizierten Geflechtes aus Abhängigkeiten, Affären und Intrigen, das Cooper nach und nach zu entwirren hat, steht natürlich die verstorbene Laura Palmer; je mehr Cooper und der Sheriff ihre Beziehungen zu den anderen Stadtbewohnern durchschauen, desto mehr wächst der Kreis der Verdächtigen. Auch der Zuschauer wird dabei weitgehend im Dunkeln gelassen, obgleich er im Gegensatz zu Cooper immerhin die verschiedenen Handlungsstränge überblickt. Fragen werden mehr und mehr aufgeworfen, eher selten beantwortet, und natürlich endet die inklusive Pilotfilm acht Folgen umfassende Staffel auf einen fiesen Cliffhanger.

Woran mich das erinnert? Genau, “Lost” natürlich. Ich halte es für ziemich wahrscheinlich, dass sich J.J. Abrams bei der Erschaffung seines Meisterwerkes von “Twin Peaks” hat inspirieren lassen – obgleich “Lost” in Sachen Versponnenheit und Abgehobenheit “Twin Peaks” noch um einiges übertrifft; wo dort Rauchmonster und Zeitreisen vorherrschen, konzentrieren sich Lynch und Frost bei ihrer Serie eher auf bodenständiges Charakterdrama. Persönlich würde ich “Lost” den Vorzug geben, könnte aber gut nachvollziehen, wenn jemand “Twin Peaks” für die bessere Serie hält. Diese düstere, unterschwellig bedrohliche Atmosphäre, die hinter den Kulissen einer auf den ersten Blick friedlichen und beschaulichen Kleinstadt herrscht und die sich die gesamte Staffel hindurch immer wieder findet, sucht ihresgleichen, wenn sie auch schwer zu beschreiben ist, genauso wie die Faszination, die von ihr ausgeht. Großartig ist “Twin Peaks” in jedem Fall; der Erfolg, den sie zu Beginn der Neunziger hatte, absolut berechtigt. Dass dieser nach Einschnitten in der Handlung durch das Studio rasch nachließ, weshalb die Serie nach der zweiten Staffel eingestellt wurde, ist wirklich bedauerlich. Immerhin habe ich so noch zweiundzwanzig Episoden vor mir, die ich mit Sicherheit genießen werde. Empfehlung!

Wertung: 9 / 10

Siehe auch: Elbenno zu Twin Peaks: Die Serie, die Filme.

Althans, dat is toch wat reclamebureau Mortierbrigade ons voorspiegelt. Om de nieuwe baseline van Canvas – ‘Canvas. Aanbevolen door Canvas.’ – kracht bij te zetten, haalde het bureau een aantal bekende koppen voor de camera. We zien hoe Michael Moore, Kyle MacLachlan (u bekend van Twin Peaks en Desperate Housewives), Sarah Darwin (achterkleindochter van) en Franz Ferdinand (hieronder) elk op een aparte manier de grootsheid en het belang van Canvas verkondigen.

In het geval van Franz Ferdinand zou Canvas de band na jaren spelen eindelijk de ware herkomst van hun groepsnaam hebben bijgebracht. ‘Het was pas toen we naar Canvas keken dat we beseften dat Franz Ferdinand een kunstschilder was’ horen we zanger Alex Kapranos zeggen. Geestig, op één detail na. Canvas heeft de jongens klaarblijkelijk verkeerd ‘ingelicht’.
Een kunstschilder? Er is Frans Ferdinand Blom, een Deense archeoloog. Je hebt ook Ferdinand Frantz, een Duitse operazanger. En tenslotte is er nog Franz Ferdinand, de leeuw uit de tekenfilmserie rond Alfred Jodocus Kwak. Maar dus geen kunstschilder…

Vermoedelijk kregen de rockers nog snel voor hun optreden op Rock Werchter een scenariootje in handen geduwd en een microfoon onder en een camera op de neus. Ze weten immers beter dan wie ook dat hun naam verwijst naar de vermoorde aartshertog Frans Ferdinand van Oostenrijk, wiens dood de aanleiding was voor de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Vooral voor drummer Paul Thomson ging het klaarblijkelijk allemaal net iets té vlug. Je ziet hem fronsend staan toekijken. ‘Euh… wacht eens even…’ wou hij net gaan zeggen. Pech Paul, de camera staat al af!

Misschien ontgaat ons de driedubbele bodem of de nuance die enkel de doorgewinterde Canvas-kijker weet te ontwaren, maar volgens ons slaat Canvas, hand in hand met Mortierbrigade, de bal hier behoorlijk mis.

Ceci n’est pas de l’art, de uitgelezen blog voor meerwaardezoekers (en –vinders).

- Dune – 1984 – ♥♥♥ -

di

David Lynch

In molti lo hanno definito un film squilibrato e non assolutamente all’ altezza delle aspettative che i lettori del romanzo fantascientifico al quale è ispirato (l’ omonima opera dello statunitense Frank Herbert) avevano in serbo. Certo è che a mio giudizio non si vede di certo il miglior Lynch in questa sua opera fantascientifica, anche se la sua impronta originale si intravede e si ha modo di apprezzarla anche qui. Abituati alla fantascienza in Stile Star Wars o Star Trek, di facile comprensione e con un gran numero di battaglie pirotecniche che rendono più vivace e leggero il plot sarò difficile approcciarsi alla complessità farraginosa di Dune. Un genere che da sempre è stato considerato dagli spettatori quasi ludico non può aspettarsi un pubblico che è pronto a prendersi il tempo necessario a comprendere tutti i simbolismi che questo film ha al suo interno. E di sicuro ve ne sono tanti, complessi e spesso incomprensibili. Le più significative sono quelle che vedono molti parallelismi con la società occidentale di quel tempo e anche di quella odierna: uomini che combattono per una fantomatica spezia che si dice dia la saggezza assoluta e che ha le fattezze di un gas. E’ difesa da enormi vermoni che hanno le fattezze di grossi tubi che ricordano quelli usati per gli oleodotti del nostro oro nero. Il merito più grande di Lynch sta nell’ aver donato una dimensione onirica ai personaggi di fantascienza che per la prima volta in un film di questo genere si ritrovano ad affrontare i loro incubi e le loro rappresentazioni mentali. Lo stesso futuro (ricordiamoci che il film è ambientato in un immaginario 10191) non è il tipico governato dall’ ipertecnologia, ma è contraddistinto da un misto di regresso e progresso ( i combattimenti hanno delle corazze “di vetro” ma ancora in taluni casi si ricorre a rudimentali armi come le balestre). L’ ipotesi del futuro di Dune è sicuramente possibile sia per le ambientazioni desertiche e prive di acqua che per i frequenti riferimenti ai popoli arabi (linguaggio e fattezze) come indigeni dei luoghi nei quali vi è la spezia. La scenografia è sicuramente originale caratterizzata da paesaggi desertici e carenti di acqua che fanno pensare alla nostra attuale crisi ecologica e vanta costumi che hanno un misto di rococò e medievale. La fotografia è atipica rispetto a quella dei tipici film di fantascienza nei quali assume spesso tinte accese. In Dune tutto è cupo e scuro come a voler seguire i dialoghi e le tempistiche lente dell’ intero film. La caratterizzazione dei personaggi non è sempre riuscita: l’ attore “feticcio” di Lynch, MacLachlan, è decisamente poco espressivo, mentre al contrario il personaggio del cattivissimo e pustoloso Barone Harkonnen funziona nei suoi deliri. Scene d’enorme impatto visivo a sprazzi e originalità nel trattare la materia fantascientifica ma globalmente resta il rammarico di non poter affermare che il genio di Lynch si esprime pienamente anche in un genere a lui non consueto. Curiosità spiacevole: la produzione DeLaurentis non riuscì nemmeno lontanamente a recuperare il budget di utilizzato per lanciare il film.

( Uno degli immensi vermoni-oleodotti a difesa della spezia)

( Il pustoloso Barone Harkonnen)

VERDICT:
1/10 Translation Abominations

Man, I give myself a pat on the back for making it through this one. This must be what it feels like to be a film critic, forcing yourself to sit through movies that would otherwise make you want to drive your head through the TV screen. What the hell am I getting myself into?

Dune is about a teenager and his regal family that move from their sweet digs on their H2O-rich home world of Caladan to the hot, depressing, desert-covered planet of Arrakis (aka: Dune!). So they arrive, and, as expected, the planet sucks; but it turns out that the said teenager, Paul Atreides, might just be the savior of legend that is said to bring peace to their world, which is pretty nice. There’s a whole lot of political intrigue and double-crossing and whatnot going on at the same time, but without getting overly complicated, the Paul Atreides thing is the main gist of the story.

I figured I’d give this movie a watch after just finishing the book (which was pretty good), and, wow, it’s pretty amazing how much better the source material got after having to sit through over two hours of this shitty mess. I’d heard this was bad going into it, but no amount of self-delusion that Dune was merely a cult classic misunderstood could have prepared me for the reality of the situation.

Since most of this review is going to be me taking a big ol’ crap on this movie, let’s start with how it managed to even get that one measly point out of ten. There’s not much here to salvage, but if there’s any aspect worth noting it’s the scale of the movie. You can tell that some suits out there put a lot of money into this, because the set pieces are all very ornate, the sandworms are impressive to watch for the most part, and there’s something about it that just made believe director David Lynch was really trying to make this a good movie. But that’s about it.

So I don’t know how David Lynch got roped into directing this project, let alone having to write the entire script as well, but the poor guy was doomed from the start. It’s not that Dune is unfilmable, it’s just impossible to do the novel justice within a two-hour time frame. I was thanking my lucky stars that I had read the book beforehand, because I would have been beyond lost within the first ten minutes. The book is just so damn intricate and complex on so many levels that, in retrospect, I shouldn’t have been surprised in the least that so many characters and plot lines ended up being either completely butchered or left out entirely.

Nor does help that a lot of the acting here is nothing short of horrific. Kyle Maclachlan is totally miscast as Paul Atreides, for some reason Sting is in it as villain of sorts who strikes fear into the hearts of others by dressing as a Troll doll, and Patrick Stewart is cast as one of the better characters in the book, but that doesn’t matter either because his whole back story is more or less written out along with everyone else’s.

But the top contender here for worst acting of the ’80s goes to this guy, Kenneth McMillan, as the Atreides family arch-nemesis, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Not only does he look ten times more revolting than I envisioned him, but instead of being the calculating and devious villain he should have been, he’s degraded to one of the most annoying bastards in movie history that specializes in laughing and barking all the time (for reasons unexplained) and spitting on chicks’ faces. Big surprise I’ve never heard of Kenneth McMillan since. Talk about fuckin’ torture.

The special effects are also god awful, but all special effects during the ’80s were pretty awful. No points deducted there. Just more points deducted from the ’80s.

Geez. This movie sucked. I guess the only reason you might want to go seek this out is if you read the book, but trust me, it’s not worth it. I’m all for David Lynch, I think he’s awesome, and I don’t blame him for how this movie turned out. This isn’t a David Lynch movie, this is…I don’t know what this is, actually, and I really don’t care to spend any more time trying to figure it out. All I know is this is no representation of what he does best.

Just read the book and call it a day. Easy peasy Japanesy.

And can anyone tell me what the fuck this thing is? Don’t remember that in the book.

The Newest Residents of Wisteria Lane (photo courtesy of ABC)

There was an overdose of new storyline possibilities on desperate housewives tonight. Too much drama? No way, you can’t have too much drama. The big story this week was trying to decipher whether or not Danny strangled Julie. All the signs clearly point to Danny, but I can’t help but wonder whether there is more to the story – so far the mystery is too easy to solve. As I predicted, Katherine has pretty much lost it. It’s pretty comical. The oddest thing to me this week was Mrs. McCluskey’s new romance. I personally don’t prefer see Mrs. McCluskey is a post sex scene, but I’m glad she has gotten a larger role in the story line because she is just so funny. Minus Bree, the past two weeks have been all about the children of the housewives. I would like to see more about the housewives and less about their kids, unless the kid is Andrew who disappointingly hasn’t been on the show yet. Or Julie, I’m glad she’s back. Will the days ahead be worse? Of course they will because that’s what makes us tune in every week. Watch The Full Episode Here

Wisteria Lane's Newest Detectives (photo courtesy of ABC)

Alim (Mistry) has a good life. He has moved in with Giles, his super-sexy boyfriend and he is very happy. Giles (Holden-Reid) of course has no reservations about being gay, living in London and all. Alim,on the other hand, is from a Muslim family. His family lives far away and has no idea he is not interested in women. When his traditionalist mother comes to visit, meaning to find the perfect girl for his son, Giles has to pretend he is Alim’s straight room-mate. Giles’ sister is introduced as Alim’s loved one and even the idea of a bride from another culture is enough to drive the mother nuts.

Kyle MacLachlan plays Alim2s imaginary companion, Cary Grant’s spirit. He sort of displays the only father figure in Alim’s life. The mother develops a close friendship with Giles; having no idea that he is actually his son’s lover. Alim’s mother is not the only problem. Giles is having difficulty understanding Alim’s reservations. When the truth is revealed, all hell breaks loose for everyone.

The movie is very funny, sweet and emotional. The cultural differences are told in the most poignant way. You go between wanting to hug the mother and punch her and it goes same with Giles. Just sit back and be ready for laughs.

adult Li Cunxin (Chi Cao)

Li Cunxin was born into a very poor peasant family who lived in a rural Chinese province during Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution. In 1972 a team of visiting inspectors selected him to accompany them to Beijing to train as a ballet dancer at Madame Mao’s Dance Academy. Despite not seeming to initially have the necessary qualities that are required to become a great dancer, Li eventually honed his skills with such dedication and discipline that he was sent to the United States to dance for the Houston Ballet. Li, who has since moved to Australia, wrote the very popular and acclaimed autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer in 2003, which has now been adapted into a film by Australian director Bruce Beresford (Black Robe, ‘Breaker’ Morant, The Getting of Wisdom). Unfortunately, despite all its potential, the film version of Mao’s Last Dancer is a very pedestrian affair that is only redeemed by its very powerful conclusion.

The biggest problem with Mao’s Last Dancer is that the contrasting in Li’s autobiography about his life in Communist China compared to his life in Texas during the 1980s, comes across incredibly bluntly in the film. What may have originally been a series of considered personal observations translates cinematically into the sensation of somebody screaming at you, “China equals poor! America equals wealthy! Communism is bad and oppressive! Democracy is good and free!” Hence, Li is repeatedly depicted looking dumbfounded at the wonders of American life while the Chinese officials are all suitably villenous. The representation of ideology in Mao’s Last Dancer is incredibly shallow and crude. The exploration of racial and cultural differences are also very clichéd and reducing Li’s early dialogue to pigeon-English is simply embarrassing.

teenage Li Cunxin (Chengwu Guo)

Mao’s Last Dancer suffers in general from poor plotting and direction to the extent that many scenes resemble daytime soap operas. There is even one moment when a character throws themselves onto a bed in melodramatic anguish. The acting is overall not bad considering the limitations of the adaptation and it is always refreshing to see underrated actors Bruce Greenwood and Kyle MacLachlan on the big screen. Chi Cao, who is a trained ballet dancer, plays the adult Li Cunxin. However, although the heavy use of slow motion and various editing techniques in Mao’s Last Dancer want to give you the impression that you are witnessing great dancing; you are not. Unlike the performances in classic ballet films such as The Red Shoes and the more recent 2003 Robert Altman film The Company, the dancing in Mao’s Last Dancer is only adequate.

Yet despite all its very large flaws Mao’s Last Dancer does end on a triumphant note. The film has two big emotionally cathartic ‘final’ scenes and although you can see the heart-string-tugging mechanics of these scenes a mile off, they are executed brilliantly. Mao’s Last Dancer is a very good example of why you should never leave a film early because to do so in this instance would be to miss 20 minutes of truly impressive filmmaking. If only everything that preceded it wasn’t so mediocre.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2009

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The long-lost FBI agent Phillip Jeffries has been to the land beyond beyond.  He materializes from a dream into a dream; out of thin air with a mind crackling of electricity.  He confounds agents Cooper, Rosenfield, and Chief Gordon Cole with his ravings, but each of them knows down deep that this wreck of a man has experienced something horrifying, something truthful.

“I’ve been to one of their meetings.”

He’s witnessed the inner workings of the Black Lodge.  He’s been witness to their secret worship and seen what lurks behind the masks.  How can any man keep his sanity after such things?

He can’t.