A colleague of mine recently went on somewhat of a diatribe about how the movie industry has gone to crap, that he couldn't remember the last time he had seen a good movie. I suggested that he was only partly correct; that perhaps he was simply looking in the wrong direction and that in actuality it would seem there has never been such an abundance of quality filmmaking coming out of a single era. It simply exists - surprise - outside of the realm of the big budget Hollywood blockbuster. Case in point, here are three very different soon-to-be-released films that look absolutely phenomenal:
The Science of Sleep
Long awaited, The Science of Sleep seems to approach the subject of dreams much in the same way as Gondry's previous work Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind did memory. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane Miroux, a young man whose inability to differentiate between dream and reality wreaks havoc on his romantic interests. The naive stylings of the stop motion work in this film is like nothing else. Visit the official website for an equal bout of absurdity.
Babel
Before this latest effort, Alejandro González Iñárritu has made films that examine wrenchingly heavy subject matter from a personal, almost microcosmic perspective. 21 Grams for example was almost claustrophobic in the way that we were entrenched in the lives of its characters. With Babel, it is as though Iñárritu has maintained the intensity but opened it up to "a range never seen before in his films"; to a global-spanning storyline that links Morocco, Tokyo and the Tijuana border. As stated in the synopsis: "This film brings back the ancient concept of BABEL and questions its modern day implications: the mistaken identities, misunderstandings and missed chances for communication that, though often unseen, drive our modern lives."
Half Nelson
I read a review of this movie in the New York Times this weekend and it immediately caught my interest. Ryan Gosling plays a white Brooklyn schoolteacher named Dan, who shuns the set curriculum to instead engage his students in "dialectics and realpolitik". But before you dismiss this as yet another take on "Dead Poets Society" or "To Sir with Love", it turns out that Dan is struggling outside of the classroom with crack addiction and the demons that come with it. Defined boundaries blur between teacher and student, innocence and experience; out of which an interesting friendship develops in what looks like a powerful and intense ride.
The Science of Sleep
Long awaited, The Science of Sleep seems to approach the subject of dreams much in the same way as Gondry's previous work Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind did memory. Gael Garcia Bernal plays Stephane Miroux, a young man whose inability to differentiate between dream and reality wreaks havoc on his romantic interests. The naive stylings of the stop motion work in this film is like nothing else. Visit the official website for an equal bout of absurdity.
Babel
Before this latest effort, Alejandro González Iñárritu has made films that examine wrenchingly heavy subject matter from a personal, almost microcosmic perspective. 21 Grams for example was almost claustrophobic in the way that we were entrenched in the lives of its characters. With Babel, it is as though Iñárritu has maintained the intensity but opened it up to "a range never seen before in his films"; to a global-spanning storyline that links Morocco, Tokyo and the Tijuana border. As stated in the synopsis: "This film brings back the ancient concept of BABEL and questions its modern day implications: the mistaken identities, misunderstandings and missed chances for communication that, though often unseen, drive our modern lives."
Half Nelson
I read a review of this movie in the New York Times this weekend and it immediately caught my interest. Ryan Gosling plays a white Brooklyn schoolteacher named Dan, who shuns the set curriculum to instead engage his students in "dialectics and realpolitik". But before you dismiss this as yet another take on "Dead Poets Society" or "To Sir with Love", it turns out that Dan is struggling outside of the classroom with crack addiction and the demons that come with it. Defined boundaries blur between teacher and student, innocence and experience; out of which an interesting friendship develops in what looks like a powerful and intense ride.
Labels: Crucial Viewing, Film
Untitled Days: New Work from Jeroen Witvliet
Jeroen dropped me a line today to let me know that he has a new series posted on his site called Untitled Days. As timely and thought provoking as ever.
More info on Jeroen can be found here.
Jeroen dropped me a line today to let me know that he has a new series posted on his site called Untitled Days. As timely and thought provoking as ever.
More info on Jeroen can be found here.
Labels: Art, Artist Series, Collaborators, Jeroen Witvliet, Vancouver Galleries
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Silence has a funny sound
"Something had gentled the rain, taking the madness out of it."
From today's New York Times: the "unmistakable prose" of Micket Spillane (1918-2006).
"Something had gentled the rain, taking the madness out of it."
From today's New York Times: the "unmistakable prose" of Micket Spillane (1918-2006).
Labels: Literature, NY Times
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Feanne's Daily Drawings
Here's a new one for the daily visits: Feanne's Daily Drawings is exactly what the title promises. Well, sort of. It actually seems to be more like once a week or so with a sporadic entry of two or three drawings at a time. But what does get posted is worth checking out. Even more great work can be found on her main site.
Here's a new one for the daily visits: Feanne's Daily Drawings is exactly what the title promises. Well, sort of. It actually seems to be more like once a week or so with a sporadic entry of two or three drawings at a time. But what does get posted is worth checking out. Even more great work can be found on her main site.
Labels: Art
Monday, July 10, 2006
Thom Yorke on the Henry Rollins Show
Apparently Henry Rollins has his own show on IFC. Which is cool. Even cooler still is this performance on the show by Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Yorke's solo album, The Eraser comes out tomorrow - and, of course, there is a strange & dislocating website to go along with it. The art work for the album is from woodcut prints by Stanley Donwood inspired by the floods in Cornwall, England, two years ago.
Apparently Henry Rollins has his own show on IFC. Which is cool. Even cooler still is this performance on the show by Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Yorke's solo album, The Eraser comes out tomorrow - and, of course, there is a strange & dislocating website to go along with it. The art work for the album is from woodcut prints by Stanley Donwood inspired by the floods in Cornwall, England, two years ago.
Labels: Music
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Crucial Viewing: Why We Fight
"[The] conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
These cautionary and prophetic words from Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Speech as President of the United States on January 17, 1961 serve as the starting point for Eugene Jarecki's powerful exploration of the American Military Industrial Complex in Why We Fight. As we learn, the answer to this question is convoluted, misguided and never easy; but rarely does it seem to be for the right reasons.
"[The] conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
These cautionary and prophetic words from Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Speech as President of the United States on January 17, 1961 serve as the starting point for Eugene Jarecki's powerful exploration of the American Military Industrial Complex in Why We Fight. As we learn, the answer to this question is convoluted, misguided and never easy; but rarely does it seem to be for the right reasons.
Labels: Crucial Viewing, Film, World at Large
