Saturday, January 26, 2013
Movie 10: Escape from Tomorrow
A surreal portrait of a guy losing it on a family trip to Disneyworld
Movie 9: Toy's House
Underwhelming. Bad attempt at an indie movie about becoming a man and the relationship with father and son. Bad emotional development. Felt untrue and just really didn't go anywhere. Lots and lots of montage sequences that felt like they were just taking up space because the movie was underwritten.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Movie 5: A.C.O.D
Adult Children of Divorce
This movie was very well cast and made.
It's about a son dealing with the psychological damage inflicted upon him by his parents divorce and their continuing to act like children throughout his adult life.
What struck me most was how effective each scene was. The guy made things very tight. There was always a strong objective in each scene - a tension. It makes for a very watchable movie.
Movie 4: The Look of Love
Michael Winterbottom directed this movie with Steve Coogan as the star.
I've never seen Steve Coogan play a semi-straight ahead kind of character well. The guy is all schtick. Beyond that this movie never goes anyplace. I thrusts you into a world fairly effectively and then fails to tell you any kind of story, give you any characters to root for have much emotional content what-so-ever.
The boredom of the movie is made tolerable by the amount of bare breasts exposed.
I've never seen Steve Coogan play a semi-straight ahead kind of character well. The guy is all schtick. Beyond that this movie never goes anyplace. I thrusts you into a world fairly effectively and then fails to tell you any kind of story, give you any characters to root for have much emotional content what-so-ever.
The boredom of the movie is made tolerable by the amount of bare breasts exposed.
Movie 3: Running from Crazy
A doc specifically about Mariel Hemingway - but in a larger sense about the depression and suicide that has sewn itself into her family's genetic code.
I didn't think too much of the movie. Mariel Hemingway never knew Ernest and very little of how she lives her life seems to be connected to the great man. And- it would seem- any chances at success that the Hemingway scion have been given are a direct result of Ernest. None of them have succeeded in much.
In the end the movie is about a woman who, though she seems to have reined in the depressive tendencies inherent in her family's line, still seems quite crazy. She's a mess - clinging to a variety of self-help mantras to keep her "cheerful" on a day to day basis.
The movie didn't tell me anything much new and really seemed pretty superficial.
I didn't think too much of the movie. Mariel Hemingway never knew Ernest and very little of how she lives her life seems to be connected to the great man. And- it would seem- any chances at success that the Hemingway scion have been given are a direct result of Ernest. None of them have succeeded in much.
In the end the movie is about a woman who, though she seems to have reined in the depressive tendencies inherent in her family's line, still seems quite crazy. She's a mess - clinging to a variety of self-help mantras to keep her "cheerful" on a day to day basis.
The movie didn't tell me anything much new and really seemed pretty superficial.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Movie 2: Zero Dark Thirty
I enjoyed watching the movie. It was fairly engaging...moderately anyway. Of course - i already know the outcome - so it's the procedure which must really pull me in. It didn't really. Nor was there much of an emotional story for me. I felt as if the movie was trying to be a little bit documentary - a litte bit feature fiction film and got caught in the middle.
This isn't a bad place to be. Nobody can point at the movie and call it overly patriotic or jingoistic. At least not without really going after some of the smaller elements of it. At the same time - it did not remain as detached as I remember United 93 to be. This movie had a main character who, ostensibly, had an emotional arc - though i rarely felt it.
So essentially you're trying to have a movie with no real emotional story-line and with procedural elements that were often difficult to follow and anticipated by the audience. It's a tough row to hoe.
But still - i found it engaging enough to watch. But I thought more about it - then i did feel or enjoy it. I was constantly trying to dissect what was going on and how i felt about the tone of the movie than I was involved in the story.
So in the end - I don't feel particularly moved by the movie - either as an emotional story or a behind the scenes look at how the CIA works.
This isn't a bad place to be. Nobody can point at the movie and call it overly patriotic or jingoistic. At least not without really going after some of the smaller elements of it. At the same time - it did not remain as detached as I remember United 93 to be. This movie had a main character who, ostensibly, had an emotional arc - though i rarely felt it.
So essentially you're trying to have a movie with no real emotional story-line and with procedural elements that were often difficult to follow and anticipated by the audience. It's a tough row to hoe.
But still - i found it engaging enough to watch. But I thought more about it - then i did feel or enjoy it. I was constantly trying to dissect what was going on and how i felt about the tone of the movie than I was involved in the story.
So in the end - I don't feel particularly moved by the movie - either as an emotional story or a behind the scenes look at how the CIA works.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Cool Online Commercials I like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izj5FnN4dz4
http://withleather.uproxx.com/2012/08/this-week-in-youtube-commenter-outrage-vol-2-nikes-find-your-greatness-commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q02Jz4L-nc
Wednesday, January 09, 2013
2013: Movie 1 - Not Fade Away
My first theatre movie of 2013.
I saw it with Samantha.
I didn't hate it - but - kept kinda thinking "what's the point of all this?" It's always fun to watch Gandolfini - that's for sure. Everything in the movie just seemed underdone. The plot, the characters. It was a glimpse into a particular time in NJ - but there wasn't much of a story to go along with it. No real emotional content.
I saw it with Samantha.
I didn't hate it - but - kept kinda thinking "what's the point of all this?" It's always fun to watch Gandolfini - that's for sure. Everything in the movie just seemed underdone. The plot, the characters. It was a glimpse into a particular time in NJ - but there wasn't much of a story to go along with it. No real emotional content.
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
2013 Anticipated movies
The Great Gatsby
Nymphomaniac - Von Trier
Paradise: Hope - Seidl
Saving Mr Banks - John Lee Hancock
Frances Ha - Baumbach
Oblivion - Kosinski
'Like Someone in Love. - Abbas Kiarostami
Pacific Rim - Del Toro
Upstream Color - Shane Caruth
Inside Llewyn Davis - Coen Brothers
Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron
The World's End - Edgar Wright
Only Lover's Left Alive - Jarmusch
Side Effects - Soderburgh
The Place Beyond the Pines - Cianfrance
The Grandmasters - Wong Kar Wai
Hors Satan - Bruno Dumont
To the Wonder - Malick
Nymphomaniac - Von Trier
Paradise: Hope - Seidl
Saving Mr Banks - John Lee Hancock
Frances Ha - Baumbach
Oblivion - Kosinski
'Like Someone in Love. - Abbas Kiarostami
Pacific Rim - Del Toro
Upstream Color - Shane Caruth
Inside Llewyn Davis - Coen Brothers
Gravity - Alfonso Cuaron
The World's End - Edgar Wright
Only Lover's Left Alive - Jarmusch
Side Effects - Soderburgh
The Place Beyond the Pines - Cianfrance
The Grandmasters - Wong Kar Wai
Hors Satan - Bruno Dumont
To the Wonder - Malick
2012 Top Movies
Holy Motors
Lincoln
Elena
Klown
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Killer Joe
Silver Linings Play book
Moonrise Kingdom
Lincoln
Elena
Klown
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Killer Joe
Silver Linings Play book
Moonrise Kingdom
remakes and folklore
"The storytellers of yesteryear were partly sharing their folklore to keep it alive -- it wasn't written down, so they had to keep telling it over and over or lose it forever. But the first 'Total Recall' isn't lost -- I've got a copy of it sitting five feet away from me on my DVD shelf. There's a new Blu-ray available. You can download it onto your computer or PlayStation -- or buy the Philip K. Dick short story and read it on your Kindle. The only things being preserved by modern remake repetition are copyrights and brand value."
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Meandering: 7 Psychopaths
I loved In Brugge. I went into Psychopaths expecting the same combination of character driven comedy and storytelling that In Brugge had. That was not the case.
Psychopaths - if described before hand might sound like a movie I would hate. It felt like an academic endeavor much of the time - far more concerned with its own self-referential qualities than with creating a believable story/character.
None of the characters feel like real people.
Psychopaths - if described before hand might sound like a movie I would hate. It felt like an academic endeavor much of the time - far more concerned with its own self-referential qualities than with creating a believable story/character.
None of the characters feel like real people.
Meandering:Argo
A very enjoyable movie. Rarely am i more interested in the look and feel of a movie than I am in the characters. This, however, was one of those times. In all honesty - there were only a few characters I really found interesting...Bryan Cranston, Kyle Chandler, Alan Arkin. Possibly this is because I enjoy these actors so much - but the main storyline of Affleck and the hostages well...it went through it's motions perfectly well. The hostages are basically just a single character - each lacking in any uniqueness that might set them apart. That's fine.
Affleck's character was so even keeled through the whole thing you might think he'd self medicated somehow. But still - that was fine. This is a plotted movie. There's a steady escalation of tension. There are complications added. It all resolves with them getting out of the country. The resultant emotion results not from us identifying with characters but with
Affleck's character was so even keeled through the whole thing you might think he'd self medicated somehow. But still - that was fine. This is a plotted movie. There's a steady escalation of tension. There are complications added. It all resolves with them getting out of the country. The resultant emotion results not from us identifying with characters but with
Cloud Atlas / Life of Pi: Cinematic attempts at Sprituality
I've recently seen both Cloud Atlas and Life of Pi ( I distinctly noticed there's no "The" before the title, which I find worthy of note) and was struck by their shared goal of imparting some form of spiritual message to the audience. The movies take very different tacks in trying to achieve their mission. Where Cloud Atlas bombards the viewer with seven heavily plotted stories, LOP focuses on the basically one note tale of a boy stuck in a lifeboat with a tiger. Neither film succeeded in enlightening me or lifting my spirit heavenwards I'm sorry to say - but they stirred in me the quesion of whether cinema is the proper medium for such an undertaking and if there have been any movies that have succeeded in doing so.
LOP in particular suffers from a case of egotism. When the adult narrator claims he's going to ~"prove the existence of god" - the gauntlet has been cast. I was dubious from the beginning and, of course, my doubt was born out as I felt more bored watching the kid and the tiger than I did enlightened.
Setting out to prove a point is difficult in any circumstance. I certainly feel naturally disinclined to absorb lessons when presented with a pointed argument beforehand. I wonder if this is a widely shared human reaction of if it's something more specific to my cynical mind. But I've found empowering an audience / a co-worker / a friend to somehow arrive at conclusions themselves is far more effective a technique than trying to force feed them a specific argument.
Most often - this is done effectively through telling a story of character and obstacle. People often want to know from director's "what's the point of the movie" or worse still "what's the moral of the story." Ugh -
LOP in particular suffers from a case of egotism. When the adult narrator claims he's going to ~"prove the existence of god" - the gauntlet has been cast. I was dubious from the beginning and, of course, my doubt was born out as I felt more bored watching the kid and the tiger than I did enlightened.
Setting out to prove a point is difficult in any circumstance. I certainly feel naturally disinclined to absorb lessons when presented with a pointed argument beforehand. I wonder if this is a widely shared human reaction of if it's something more specific to my cynical mind. But I've found empowering an audience / a co-worker / a friend to somehow arrive at conclusions themselves is far more effective a technique than trying to force feed them a specific argument.
Most often - this is done effectively through telling a story of character and obstacle. People often want to know from director's "what's the point of the movie" or worse still "what's the moral of the story." Ugh -
Gatz
I went to see Gatz last night. It's an 8.5 hour long performance of The Great Gatsby in which the actors read every word of the book.
I've been trying to remember the particular interpretations of the book - here's what I came away with.
Gatsby desperately wants to be a member of that wholesome, entitled class of people which surround him. Is it the WASPY types? Those blue bloods who don't need to sully their clean hands in order to make money?
He grew up poor and came to idolize the endowed, blessed group of rich, debutantes around him. Daisy is the emblem of that.
Is Gatz Jewish? I read it as him wanting to be transformed from the position into which he was born - poor and Jewish. He wanted to erase that portion of himself. He comes to believe that in falling in love with Daisy, and she with him, that he has rid himself of all vestiges of his inheritance.
Of course, Tom Buchanan - Daisy's husband is at first intimidated by the relationship which Gatsby and Daisy share. He thinks Gatsby his racial/societal peer. However - once Tom realizes who/what Gatsby truly is - he innately discards Gatsby as a true threat. Gatsby - so seemingly confident of his position falls apart. He does not essentially believe that his actions, his demeanor, his lifestyle can overcome an essential truth - he was not born of this class.
I've been trying to remember the particular interpretations of the book - here's what I came away with.
Gatsby desperately wants to be a member of that wholesome, entitled class of people which surround him. Is it the WASPY types? Those blue bloods who don't need to sully their clean hands in order to make money?
He grew up poor and came to idolize the endowed, blessed group of rich, debutantes around him. Daisy is the emblem of that.
Is Gatz Jewish? I read it as him wanting to be transformed from the position into which he was born - poor and Jewish. He wanted to erase that portion of himself. He comes to believe that in falling in love with Daisy, and she with him, that he has rid himself of all vestiges of his inheritance.
Of course, Tom Buchanan - Daisy's husband is at first intimidated by the relationship which Gatsby and Daisy share. He thinks Gatsby his racial/societal peer. However - once Tom realizes who/what Gatsby truly is - he innately discards Gatsby as a true threat. Gatsby - so seemingly confident of his position falls apart. He does not essentially believe that his actions, his demeanor, his lifestyle can overcome an essential truth - he was not born of this class.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Planned Obsolescence
Though much of this is true - you can't talk about changing generations of computers without talking about Moore's law. Yes - to some degree the public is "dupped" into upgrading more often than they need to. And certainly minimal changes in the design of the products is responsible for that. But try running editing software or even iPhoto on a four year old computer - and you'll see why we're constantly evolving new hardware.
Obviously - not many people are pushing their machine to maximum efficiency by using FCP or Photoshop or, like Samantha Miller, compiling geo-physical data - but it's often the case in technology that the developments useful to those pushing the boundaries filter down to the masses. It's not a bad thing…people just need to be cognizant of it…and perhaps not buy a new phone quite so often.
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