"I like where we're going with technology and global integration but the fact that corporations and dollars rule everything in our lives, I don't like it. This isn't the Hollywood I wanted to be part of. This isn't the version of it that I saw when I was a kid..."District 9" and every other movie is treated like fast food. It's promoted relentlessly and then it's gone. Everything is a flamethrower-intensity and milked for everything it can give and then it's just chucked away. Everything is judged instantly, too. You look back at something like "Blade Runner" and wonder how a film like that, which doesn't do well at first, would be treated today."
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Collected Works of Neill Blomkamp
Even the most cursory glance through director Neill Blomkamp's early personal projects and advertising work unearths the visual and thematic roots of his first feature film District 9. In fact, "Alive in Joburg" is literally the short film upon which D9 is based. Dig around some more, through the Tetra Val short, the Nike Crab ad or the 'Yellow' spot for Adidas and it becomes apparent that there is a consistent "world" being explored in all of his work, at once familiar and extraordinary.
In anticipation of D9's official opening tomorrow, I've compiled a YouTube Playlist of Blomkamp's work that includes his Vancouver Film School demo reel and a couple of early music videos that prove that even the most brilliant artists have to start somewhere...
One other short film that is also worth checking out that is not on YouTube is "Tempbot", a lighter, though perhaps equally bleak take on the robot theme that exists throughout Blomkamp's work. Enjoy.
Even the most cursory glance through director Neill Blomkamp's early personal projects and advertising work unearths the visual and thematic roots of his first feature film District 9. In fact, "Alive in Joburg" is literally the short film upon which D9 is based. Dig around some more, through the Tetra Val short, the Nike Crab ad or the 'Yellow' spot for Adidas and it becomes apparent that there is a consistent "world" being explored in all of his work, at once familiar and extraordinary.
In anticipation of D9's official opening tomorrow, I've compiled a YouTube Playlist of Blomkamp's work that includes his Vancouver Film School demo reel and a couple of early music videos that prove that even the most brilliant artists have to start somewhere...
One other short film that is also worth checking out that is not on YouTube is "Tempbot", a lighter, though perhaps equally bleak take on the robot theme that exists throughout Blomkamp's work. Enjoy.
Labels: Film
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Where the Wild Things Are Trailer
It may be the defining position that this book had in my childhood. Or it might be a result of the fact that rumours of this Spike Jonze project have been piquing my interest for what seems like half a decade. Or perhaps I have simply been caught up in the momentum of the Arcade Fire soundtrack. But it took the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are to break me out of my tumbleweed blogging silence. Enjoy.
It may be the defining position that this book had in my childhood. Or it might be a result of the fact that rumours of this Spike Jonze project have been piquing my interest for what seems like half a decade. Or perhaps I have simply been caught up in the momentum of the Arcade Fire soundtrack. But it took the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are to break me out of my tumbleweed blogging silence. Enjoy.
Labels: Film, Literature
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
DK's True Blood Titles
Just started getting into True Blood, Alan Ball's latest HBO series about a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana who falls in love with a vampire. Like Ball's previous project, Six Feet Under, the title sequence was created by the talented team over at Digital Kitchen and presents a perverse montage of imagery that perfectly captures the juxtaposition of sinister and spiritual underlying the American South. Better still is the "True Blood Featurette" that links from the same page which I can only assume is a director's cut of the more twisted material that was collected for the project.
UPDATE: I was showing these clips to my friend Doug today and he directed me to some additional "disturbing deep south fun" from the documentaries Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus (which we both concluded was a primary influence for the DK title sequence, some footage seeming to be directly lifted from this film) and The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia of which I can find very little in terms of footage online but did find a gallery of the photographs on which the film was based. Disturbing fun indeed.
Just started getting into True Blood, Alan Ball's latest HBO series about a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana who falls in love with a vampire. Like Ball's previous project, Six Feet Under, the title sequence was created by the talented team over at Digital Kitchen and presents a perverse montage of imagery that perfectly captures the juxtaposition of sinister and spiritual underlying the American South. Better still is the "True Blood Featurette" that links from the same page which I can only assume is a director's cut of the more twisted material that was collected for the project.
UPDATE: I was showing these clips to my friend Doug today and he directed me to some additional "disturbing deep south fun" from the documentaries Searching for the Wrong Eyed Jesus (which we both concluded was a primary influence for the DK title sequence, some footage seeming to be directly lifted from this film) and The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia of which I can find very little in terms of footage online but did find a gallery of the photographs on which the film was based. Disturbing fun indeed.
Labels: Film, Photography, Television, Title Sequences
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Colour Palettes in Film and TV
A current obsession of mine is the use of strictly defined colour palettes in films and television shows. Ironically this recent interest comes as a result of a late 90's TV drama called "Once and Again" that my wife Jane has been watching repeats of on the PVR while she nurses our daughter. The thing is, I can always tell the show from the distinctly grey colour palette that runs through the majority of the scenes. Lighting, costume, and decor all contribute to this effect that is punctuated by out-of-scene reflections by the characters that are filmed in black and white. I find it all strangely curious especially when I consider that this monochromatic character of the program is what makes it seem boring and unremarkable to me.
Anyway I hope to explore this idea further in future posts. In the meantime, my research into this area has turned up Alan Woo's Pie project which contrasts and compares the colour palettes of movies by running a Processing script that captures each frame of the movie and creates a 'pie chart' of the colours contained within.
A current obsession of mine is the use of strictly defined colour palettes in films and television shows. Ironically this recent interest comes as a result of a late 90's TV drama called "Once and Again" that my wife Jane has been watching repeats of on the PVR while she nurses our daughter. The thing is, I can always tell the show from the distinctly grey colour palette that runs through the majority of the scenes. Lighting, costume, and decor all contribute to this effect that is punctuated by out-of-scene reflections by the characters that are filmed in black and white. I find it all strangely curious especially when I consider that this monochromatic character of the program is what makes it seem boring and unremarkable to me.
Anyway I hope to explore this idea further in future posts. In the meantime, my research into this area has turned up Alan Woo's Pie project which contrasts and compares the colour palettes of movies by running a Processing script that captures each frame of the movie and creates a 'pie chart' of the colours contained within.
Labels: Film, Time and Space
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Synecdoche New York
Brilliant poster for the highly anticipated new film by Charlie Kaufman – writing and directing this time around – Synecdoche New York.
David Ehrenstein had this to say about the film:
"This film is a masterpeice. I am in awe. Charlie Kaufman's previous screenplays indicated a very original and eccentric talent. Now directing his own screnplay for the first time he has upped the ante. It's three times the size of all his other films put together and infinitely more complex. Imagine a jam session between Philp K. Dick and Raul Ruiz. I don't know what this film's chances are in an increasingly -- proudly -- stupid world. Not good, I expect. Therefore -- for the happy few."
Brilliant poster for the highly anticipated new film by Charlie Kaufman – writing and directing this time around – Synecdoche New York.
David Ehrenstein had this to say about the film:
"This film is a masterpeice. I am in awe. Charlie Kaufman's previous screenplays indicated a very original and eccentric talent. Now directing his own screnplay for the first time he has upped the ante. It's three times the size of all his other films put together and infinitely more complex. Imagine a jam session between Philp K. Dick and Raul Ruiz. I don't know what this film's chances are in an increasingly -- proudly -- stupid world. Not good, I expect. Therefore -- for the happy few."
Labels: Film
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
On Brakhage
"Working in the early 1960s with wide strips of cellophane packing tape, Brakhage captured fleeting things — among them, blades of grass, pieces of flower petals, dust, dirt and the diaphanous, decapitated wings from insects. His process revolved around using the tape to produce a series of facsimile filmstrips: wider than the elegant Super-8 that was his hallmark medium (Mothlight, a mere three minutes in length, was actually shot on 16mm) but long and geometric: they're a suite of attenuated rectangular portraits. The idea of using adhesive tape as a photographic medium (which is effectively what it is, capturing something in time on a single surface) represents the kind of visual simplicity — indeed, the sheer brilliance — of one man's indefatigable effort to visualize an idea. It is, in a word, astonishing."
–Jessica Helfand
"Stan Brakhage: Caught on Tape"
View "Mothlight" here.
–Jessica Helfand
"Stan Brakhage: Caught on Tape"
View "Mothlight" here.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Defining the Redux
The word "redux" is Latin meaning "brought back". In cinema this has come to mean a reworking of a previously released film, as in the case of Francis Ford Coppola's 2001 "Apocalypse Now Redux". By creating a "redux" of a film, the director is in essence overwriting the original version, the new cut becoming the definitive cut. It is moreover a second chance to get it right, regardless of whether or not your audience agrees.
This is, of course, different than a "Director's Cut" which is the way that a film would have been made if the director had been granted final cut privileges. Seems simple enough until you consider that Ridley Scott released the Director's Cut of Blade Runner ten years after the original release and then, in 2006 released Blade Runner: The Final Cut (to be fair, the 1992 Director's Cut of the film was completed in a rush and without Scott's full attention and therefore didn't technically fit the criteria. There are, in fact, 7 different versions of Blade Runner in existence).
A redux is apparently also different from what George Lucas did in 2004 to the original 3 Star Wars movies. That treatment, which more or less brought the CGI effects up to par with their more recent prequels, was simply termed a "re-release" even though Lucasfilm would go on to state that the the 2004 Special Edition was now the "canonical" version of the original trilogy.
And so, with all that said, this October, Wong Kar Wai will be releasing "Ashes in Time Redux", his "re-envisioning" of his critically acclaimed 1994 martial arts epic. So why has Kar Wai decided that his film needed to be "brought back"? From what I've read in the fan forums there are hardly any deleted scenes added to this new cut. Indeed, the run time is actually shorter now. The most noticeable difference is the reordering of certain scenes which makes the story tighter, more coherent. As Lee Marshall from Screen Daily states:
From the looks of the trailer, the film looks to be nothing short of spectacular and in line with the other epic battle styled movies that seem to pervade today's mainstream cinema. So perhaps "bringing back" a film has as much to do with timing as it does with how you cut it.
The word "redux" is Latin meaning "brought back". In cinema this has come to mean a reworking of a previously released film, as in the case of Francis Ford Coppola's 2001 "Apocalypse Now Redux". By creating a "redux" of a film, the director is in essence overwriting the original version, the new cut becoming the definitive cut. It is moreover a second chance to get it right, regardless of whether or not your audience agrees.
This is, of course, different than a "Director's Cut" which is the way that a film would have been made if the director had been granted final cut privileges. Seems simple enough until you consider that Ridley Scott released the Director's Cut of Blade Runner ten years after the original release and then, in 2006 released Blade Runner: The Final Cut (to be fair, the 1992 Director's Cut of the film was completed in a rush and without Scott's full attention and therefore didn't technically fit the criteria. There are, in fact, 7 different versions of Blade Runner in existence).
A redux is apparently also different from what George Lucas did in 2004 to the original 3 Star Wars movies. That treatment, which more or less brought the CGI effects up to par with their more recent prequels, was simply termed a "re-release" even though Lucasfilm would go on to state that the the 2004 Special Edition was now the "canonical" version of the original trilogy.
And so, with all that said, this October, Wong Kar Wai will be releasing "Ashes in Time Redux", his "re-envisioning" of his critically acclaimed 1994 martial arts epic. So why has Kar Wai decided that his film needed to be "brought back"? From what I've read in the fan forums there are hardly any deleted scenes added to this new cut. Indeed, the run time is actually shorter now. The most noticeable difference is the reordering of certain scenes which makes the story tighter, more coherent. As Lee Marshall from Screen Daily states:
The first surprise about Wong Kar-wai's revamped, re-edited and rescored version of his 1994 cult wuxia classic Ashes Of Time is just how little has been changed. The second is how much these minor tweaks still have helped clarify the Hong Kong auteur's interpretation of Louis Cha's historical fantasy novel The Eagle-Shooting Hero, confirming that his most poetic, experimental film belongs not in the curiosity cabinet but on the big screen.
From the looks of the trailer, the film looks to be nothing short of spectacular and in line with the other epic battle styled movies that seem to pervade today's mainstream cinema. So perhaps "bringing back" a film has as much to do with timing as it does with how you cut it.
Labels: Film, Wong Kar Wai
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The End Begins...
Monday, June 02, 2008
"Gonzo" Trailer
Trailer for Alex Gibney's (The Smartest Guys in the Room, Who Killed the Electric Car) Gonzo.
Trailer for Alex Gibney's (The Smartest Guys in the Room, Who Killed the Electric Car) Gonzo.
Labels: Film, When the Going Gets Weird
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wong Kar Wai Sells Out..
For Philips Aurea.
For Lacoste.
For BMW (starring Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Adriana Lima and Forest Whitaker).
For Lancome (again starring Clive Owen).
For Dior (starring *cough* Eva Green).
For Softbank (starring Brad Pitt) here, here and here.
For Philips Aurea.
For Lacoste.
For BMW (starring Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Adriana Lima and Forest Whitaker).
For Lancome (again starring Clive Owen).
For Dior (starring *cough* Eva Green).
For Softbank (starring Brad Pitt) here, here and here.
Labels: Asian Cinema, Auteurs on YouTube, Film, Wong Kar Wai
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Criterion's Mishima
I was quite taken tonight by the cover of Criterion's re-issue of Paul Schrader's Mishima. Interestingly, from what I've found online, not everyone approves, my favourite pan being "this thing reminds me of the make-up gun that Homer invented in that Simpsons episode."
The design is by Tadanori Yokoo, a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter who was not just a contemporary of Mishima's but also a friend and collaborator (he actually makes a brief appearance in the movie). All of which makes his contribution of the DVD art appropriate not to mention that his design and art are fantastic. A decent survey of his work can be found with a Flickr search.
I was quite taken tonight by the cover of Criterion's re-issue of Paul Schrader's Mishima. Interestingly, from what I've found online, not everyone approves, my favourite pan being "this thing reminds me of the make-up gun that Homer invented in that Simpsons episode."
The design is by Tadanori Yokoo, a Japanese graphic designer, illustrator, printmaker and painter who was not just a contemporary of Mishima's but also a friend and collaborator (he actually makes a brief appearance in the movie). All of which makes his contribution of the DVD art appropriate not to mention that his design and art are fantastic. A decent survey of his work can be found with a Flickr search.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Upcoming Screening
What: In the Realms of the Unreal
Where: Gallery Gachet
When: March 28th, 7:30pm
What: In the Realms of the Unreal
Where: Gallery Gachet
When: March 28th, 7:30pm
Labels: Art, Film, Vancouver Galleries
Monday, February 11, 2008
"..life with the dull bits cut out.."
This month's Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair features modern day actors, including Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron, photographically recreating classic moments from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Note the Saul Bass influence on the typography. Super cool.
This month's Hollywood Issue of Vanity Fair features modern day actors, including Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron, photographically recreating classic moments from the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Note the Saul Bass influence on the typography. Super cool.
Labels: Film, Photography
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thoughts Are Like Bullets
The video for "Alice", the first release from Moby's forthcoming album 'Last Night', is directed by Andreas Nilsson, whose seemingly prolific, eclectic and often disturbing oeuvre includes work with The Knife, Soundtrack of Our Lives and Love is All.
The video for "Alice", the first release from Moby's forthcoming album 'Last Night', is directed by Andreas Nilsson, whose seemingly prolific, eclectic and often disturbing oeuvre includes work with The Knife, Soundtrack of Our Lives and Love is All.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
The End...Now in Technicolor!
Found on/blatantly stolen from my friend Leigh's site, the description says it all: "taken of the television."
Found on/blatantly stolen from my friend Leigh's site, the description says it all: "taken of the television."
Labels: Film
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ang Lee Takes His Next Chapter From the Book of Wong Kar Wai
Outside our local theatre tonight: a moody noire-like coming soon poster with a war-era Chinese tinge to it and actors Tony Leung and Wei Tang eyeing each other coyly from across the frame. All of which immediately made me think, "Right on, a new Wong Kar Wai flick." But it turns out that it is in fact for Ang Lee's film Lust, Caution.
I am certainly not the first person to have made the WKW connection. Beth Accomando over at KPBS matched up the two images above and writes in her review of the film:
"Focus Features has given the film an ad campaign that makes it look like a moody Wong Kar Wai film. Wong is the Hong Kong director who’s made the rapturously romantic films Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, 2046 and Fallen Angels among others. Lust, Caution even stars one of Wong’s favorite actors, Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Chiu Wai, a man with deliriously sad eyes. But if the ads lure any Wong fans to the film, they will be sadly disappointed. Wong has a sure handle on what he wants his films to be and to do, there’s no artistic caution on his part. But Wong’s films are not interested in sex as much as they are interested in love. He’s interested in that giddy emotion that can consume people. Lee on the other hand, doesn’t know if he’s interested in the sex, the romance or the passion."
"Rapturously romantic"...love that turn of phrase. Interestingly, the romance in Wai's In the Mood for Love is hardly spoken and never consummated; and yet it is one of the most passionate and sexually charged films that you will ever see. Lee's Lust Caution on the other hand has gained notoriety for its NC-17 rating, which suggests that in the latter film there has been far less restraint. In the end, the marketing angle has worked on its intended audience as I am pretty psyched to check this movie out when it finally makes it into our neighbourhood theatre.
Outside our local theatre tonight: a moody noire-like coming soon poster with a war-era Chinese tinge to it and actors Tony Leung and Wei Tang eyeing each other coyly from across the frame. All of which immediately made me think, "Right on, a new Wong Kar Wai flick." But it turns out that it is in fact for Ang Lee's film Lust, Caution.
I am certainly not the first person to have made the WKW connection. Beth Accomando over at KPBS matched up the two images above and writes in her review of the film:
"Focus Features has given the film an ad campaign that makes it look like a moody Wong Kar Wai film. Wong is the Hong Kong director who’s made the rapturously romantic films Chungking Express, In the Mood for Love, 2046 and Fallen Angels among others. Lust, Caution even stars one of Wong’s favorite actors, Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Chiu Wai, a man with deliriously sad eyes. But if the ads lure any Wong fans to the film, they will be sadly disappointed. Wong has a sure handle on what he wants his films to be and to do, there’s no artistic caution on his part. But Wong’s films are not interested in sex as much as they are interested in love. He’s interested in that giddy emotion that can consume people. Lee on the other hand, doesn’t know if he’s interested in the sex, the romance or the passion."
"Rapturously romantic"...love that turn of phrase. Interestingly, the romance in Wai's In the Mood for Love is hardly spoken and never consummated; and yet it is one of the most passionate and sexually charged films that you will ever see. Lee's Lust Caution on the other hand has gained notoriety for its NC-17 rating, which suggests that in the latter film there has been far less restraint. In the end, the marketing angle has worked on its intended audience as I am pretty psyched to check this movie out when it finally makes it into our neighbourhood theatre.
Labels: Asian Cinema, Film, Wong Kar Wai
Monday, October 08, 2007
Dylan is not there
In a recent interview with indieWire, director Todd Haynes states that the notion of a fixed personal identity is a lie; that "it is something that we are always working on and abridging and using outside influences to keep changing." No where is this theory better exemplified than in his new movie, I'm Not There, in which his subject, Bob Dylan is played by six different actors including Cate Blanchett and 13-year-old African-American actor, Marcus Carl Franklin. Ultimately, the movie becomes as much a study of identity for the filmmaker himself -- of all of us for that matter -- as it is of one of America's greatest songwriters. As Robert Sullivan writes in his cover article in yesterday's New York Times' Magazine:
"Todd Haynes’s Dylan film isn’t about Dylan. That’s what’s going to be so difficult for people to understand. That’s what’s going to make “I’m Not There” so trying for the really diehard Dylanists. That’s what might upset the non-Dylanists, who may find it hard to figure out why he bothered to make it at all. And that’s why it took Haynes so long to get it made. Haynes was trying to make a Dylan film that is, instead, what Dylan is all about, as he sees it, which is changing, transforming, killing off one Dylan and moving to the next, shedding his artistic skin to stay alive."
More from Haynes on the making of "I'm Not There" can be found here and here and here.
In a recent interview with indieWire, director Todd Haynes states that the notion of a fixed personal identity is a lie; that "it is something that we are always working on and abridging and using outside influences to keep changing." No where is this theory better exemplified than in his new movie, I'm Not There, in which his subject, Bob Dylan is played by six different actors including Cate Blanchett and 13-year-old African-American actor, Marcus Carl Franklin. Ultimately, the movie becomes as much a study of identity for the filmmaker himself -- of all of us for that matter -- as it is of one of America's greatest songwriters. As Robert Sullivan writes in his cover article in yesterday's New York Times' Magazine:
"Todd Haynes’s Dylan film isn’t about Dylan. That’s what’s going to be so difficult for people to understand. That’s what’s going to make “I’m Not There” so trying for the really diehard Dylanists. That’s what might upset the non-Dylanists, who may find it hard to figure out why he bothered to make it at all. And that’s why it took Haynes so long to get it made. Haynes was trying to make a Dylan film that is, instead, what Dylan is all about, as he sees it, which is changing, transforming, killing off one Dylan and moving to the next, shedding his artistic skin to stay alive."
More from Haynes on the making of "I'm Not There" can be found here and here and here.
Labels: Auteurs on YouTube, Film, Music, NY Times
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Crucial Viewing: Flyerman
Mark Vistorino is Flyerman, a real life superhero who possesses the ability to hand out movie extra flyers in the streets of Toronto with the flair & charisma of a Broadway star. And yet, he can't understand why he is not famous.
From this seemingly absurd premise, directors Jeff Stephenson and Jason Tan follow Vistorino through five years of his life; in the process revealing one of the most engaging and self-destructive personalities that you are ever likely to meet.
Mark Vistorino is Flyerman, a real life superhero who possesses the ability to hand out movie extra flyers in the streets of Toronto with the flair & charisma of a Broadway star. And yet, he can't understand why he is not famous.
From this seemingly absurd premise, directors Jeff Stephenson and Jason Tan follow Vistorino through five years of his life; in the process revealing one of the most engaging and self-destructive personalities that you are ever likely to meet.
Labels: Crucial Viewing, Film
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Heima
One of the most beautiful pieces of film I have seen since...well, probably the last video I saw by Sigur Ros... check out this trailer for Heima, a documentary that follows the band as they play various gigs throughout their home country of Iceland.
One of the most beautiful pieces of film I have seen since...well, probably the last video I saw by Sigur Ros... check out this trailer for Heima, a documentary that follows the band as they play various gigs throughout their home country of Iceland.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Auteurs On YouTube vs. Liam Lacey
In tribute to the deaths of two of cinema's greatest artists, Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni this past week, Liam Lacey compiled an extensive* list for the Globe and Mail, organized by age group, of living filmmakers who could potentially fill their formidable shoes.
Sitting there on the screen as static 'old guard' media, the article begged to be given a little dynamic context. So, as the third installment of Auteurs on YouTube, I have reprinted the text in its entirety with links to related interviews, trailers and clips from YouTube whenever possible.
In tribute to the deaths of two of cinema's greatest artists, Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni this past week, Liam Lacey compiled an extensive* list for the Globe and Mail, organized by age group, of living filmmakers who could potentially fill their formidable shoes.
Sitting there on the screen as static 'old guard' media, the article begged to be given a little dynamic context. So, as the third installment of Auteurs on YouTube, I have reprinted the text in its entirety with links to related interviews, trailers and clips from YouTube whenever possible.
Labels: Auteurs on YouTube, Film
Friday, January 19, 2007
Rosebud Works
The Donald discusses Citizen Kane over at the extremely engrossing site of the great Errol Morris.
The Donald discusses Citizen Kane over at the extremely engrossing site of the great Errol Morris.
Labels: Film
Monday, December 18, 2006
Auteurs on YouTube
- Part 2
Cinematographer extraordinaire, Christoper Doyle talks about his craft on the streets of Bangkok and Hong Kong PLUS a series of commercials by collaborator Wong Kar Wai over at Girl With a Movie Camera.
- Part 2
Cinematographer extraordinaire, Christoper Doyle talks about his craft on the streets of Bangkok and Hong Kong PLUS a series of commercials by collaborator Wong Kar Wai over at Girl With a Movie Camera.
Labels: Asia, Asian Cinema, Auteurs on YouTube, Film, Wong Kar Wai, YouTube
Friday, October 20, 2006
Dr. Strangelove / Dr. Strangelove
After taking a crack at Viking's Stationery Movies Contest (scored 18/20 while playing fair), I was reminded of Kristan Horton's Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove photo project in which he ingeniously replicates stills from the film using everyday objects from around his studio.
After taking a crack at Viking's Stationery Movies Contest (scored 18/20 while playing fair), I was reminded of Kristan Horton's Dr. Strangelove Dr. Strangelove photo project in which he ingeniously replicates stills from the film using everyday objects from around his studio.
Labels: Film, Photography
Friday, September 22, 2006
It is coming...
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Auteurs on YouTube
- Part 1
It is a strange juxtaposition to go hunting for clips of master filmmakers on youTube. But they are there to be found.
In the great democratization of media, a clip from Fellini's 8 1/2 stands on even par with clips as monumental to the history of cinema as Brandon Davis and Paris Hilton's crude comments about Lindsay Lohan's nether regions. That any one of these great film pioneers foresaw this highly compressed small screen fate for their work is asking too much even for such visionaries.
In the end, it makes for an enjoyable evening surfing through these clips. Here are but a few. I invite you to add more via the comments.
The trailer for Godard's Breathless (with Japanese subtitles no less).
The swing scene from Kurosawa's Ikiru.
Two classic 60's rock n roll moments: the Yardbirds in Antonioni's Blow Up and a great early rendition of Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones in Godards' One Plus One.
Film historian, Peter Cowie talking about Bergman's "Winter Light".
The wonderful Saul Bass title sequence and opening scene of Hitchcock's Vertigo.
And finally, one that always gives me chills with the first strains of the violin, the French trailer for Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love.
- Part 1
It is a strange juxtaposition to go hunting for clips of master filmmakers on youTube. But they are there to be found.
In the great democratization of media, a clip from Fellini's 8 1/2 stands on even par with clips as monumental to the history of cinema as Brandon Davis and Paris Hilton's crude comments about Lindsay Lohan's nether regions. That any one of these great film pioneers foresaw this highly compressed small screen fate for their work is asking too much even for such visionaries.
In the end, it makes for an enjoyable evening surfing through these clips. Here are but a few. I invite you to add more via the comments.
The trailer for Godard's Breathless (with Japanese subtitles no less).
The swing scene from Kurosawa's Ikiru.
Two classic 60's rock n roll moments: the Yardbirds in Antonioni's Blow Up and a great early rendition of Sympathy for the Devil by The Rolling Stones in Godards' One Plus One.
Film historian, Peter Cowie talking about Bergman's "Winter Light".
The wonderful Saul Bass title sequence and opening scene of Hitchcock's Vertigo.
And finally, one that always gives me chills with the first strains of the violin, the French trailer for Wong Kar Wai's In the Mood for Love.
Labels: Auteurs on YouTube, Film, Title Sequences, Wong Kar Wai
Sunday, August 13, 2006
That's Great Bass!
The classic movie titles of legendary designer Saul Bass brought to you by my new favourite site, Not Coming to a Theatre Near You.
(Indirectly via Coudal.)
The classic movie titles of legendary designer Saul Bass brought to you by my new favourite site, Not Coming to a Theatre Near You.
(Indirectly via Coudal.)
Labels: Design, Film, Title Sequences
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Everything is the Director's Fault
"This interview began with an email exchange in which Soderbergh outlined the various topics he’d be most interested in talking about. The short list included pornography, Chris Rock, how the Olympics relates to the killer instinct, and the cost of panda bears as compared to the cost of getting off (in the legal sense)."
Scott Indrisek, the New York editor for Anthem interviews Steven Soderbergh for The Believer.
"This interview began with an email exchange in which Soderbergh outlined the various topics he’d be most interested in talking about. The short list included pornography, Chris Rock, how the Olympics relates to the killer instinct, and the cost of panda bears as compared to the cost of getting off (in the legal sense)."
Scott Indrisek, the New York editor for Anthem interviews Steven Soderbergh for The Believer.
Labels: Film
Monday, July 31, 2006
Three for the Screen
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
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
Monday, May 29, 2006
Cache
We saw Michael Haneke's film Cache the other night. It is definitely the type of movie that lingers in your head for days after viewing it leaving more questions than answers in its wake.
Focussing on the deception and guilt that arises when the past of a well known TV intellectual comes back to haunt him, the movie takes for its backdrop the current unsettled divide between Paris' rich and poor giving the viewer a subtle but threatening sense that the tensions could boil over at any moment. Hanneke takes this further by linking the main plot line to an incident from 1961 in which Paris police officers attacked a passive demonstration by 30,000 Algerians, killing up to 200 people by drowning them in the Seine.
The film moves along in a slow, almost menacing manner, forcing the audience to immerse themselves completely in the emotional and complex interaction that is taking place on the screen. Within this calculated pace lie two very unsettling scenes of violence; so much so that the first prompted the couple in front of us to leave the theatre while the other extracted an ear piercing scream that had the rest of us jumping in our seats. It is not often that such genuine emotion is experienced at the movies these days especially without the aid of a sappy Hallmark-card musical score. Cache is strikingly devoid of any music whatsoever.
Cache was awarded Canne's Fipresci Prize and The Ecumenical Jury Prize while Haneke was acknowledged as Best Director. Go see it, let it linger for awhile and then let me know what you think...
We saw Michael Haneke's film Cache the other night. It is definitely the type of movie that lingers in your head for days after viewing it leaving more questions than answers in its wake.
Focussing on the deception and guilt that arises when the past of a well known TV intellectual comes back to haunt him, the movie takes for its backdrop the current unsettled divide between Paris' rich and poor giving the viewer a subtle but threatening sense that the tensions could boil over at any moment. Hanneke takes this further by linking the main plot line to an incident from 1961 in which Paris police officers attacked a passive demonstration by 30,000 Algerians, killing up to 200 people by drowning them in the Seine.
The film moves along in a slow, almost menacing manner, forcing the audience to immerse themselves completely in the emotional and complex interaction that is taking place on the screen. Within this calculated pace lie two very unsettling scenes of violence; so much so that the first prompted the couple in front of us to leave the theatre while the other extracted an ear piercing scream that had the rest of us jumping in our seats. It is not often that such genuine emotion is experienced at the movies these days especially without the aid of a sappy Hallmark-card musical score. Cache is strikingly devoid of any music whatsoever.
Cache was awarded Canne's Fipresci Prize and The Ecumenical Jury Prize while Haneke was acknowledged as Best Director. Go see it, let it linger for awhile and then let me know what you think...
Labels: Film
Monday, May 08, 2006
Sin City of Lights
I hate to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of Sin City. It was a visually stunning and oh-so-cool piece of cinema to be sure. But I lament the moment when post-modern irony became synonymous with gratuitous ultra-violence and storyline fell sway to pure style. I love a good and bloody castration scene as much as anyone, but I want it to lead somewhere further than another good and bloody castration scene.
So perhaps I am setting myself up for a similar end with Christian Volckman's Renaissance. But with a setting of Paris in 2054 and a visual aesthetic that is even more stark than Sin City, this looks absolutely phenomenal, plot or no plot. The website alone is worth a good evening of exploration (especially if you understand a little French). I only hope that this doesn't take too long to get to Vancouver.
22.09.06 UPDATE: The english version of the Renaissance trailer is now up at Apple and the website can be found here. It does indeed appear to be "Coming Soon".
I hate to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of Sin City. It was a visually stunning and oh-so-cool piece of cinema to be sure. But I lament the moment when post-modern irony became synonymous with gratuitous ultra-violence and storyline fell sway to pure style. I love a good and bloody castration scene as much as anyone, but I want it to lead somewhere further than another good and bloody castration scene.
So perhaps I am setting myself up for a similar end with Christian Volckman's Renaissance. But with a setting of Paris in 2054 and a visual aesthetic that is even more stark than Sin City, this looks absolutely phenomenal, plot or no plot. The website alone is worth a good evening of exploration (especially if you understand a little French). I only hope that this doesn't take too long to get to Vancouver.
22.09.06 UPDATE: The english version of the Renaissance trailer is now up at Apple and the website can be found here. It does indeed appear to be "Coming Soon".
Labels: Film
Monday, January 23, 2006
Touch the Sound
In "Touch the Sound" we are challenged to reconsider the way our senses interact with the external world. This relationship is a fundamental component of existence to be sure, and one that few of us take the time to understand. In fact, it is only when one of our senses is lost or damaged that the impact is truly felt.
Evelyn Glennie has mastered the art of listening and also creating sounds. She is a world class percussionist, composer, musician and teacher. She is also almost completely deaf. When people ask her how it is that she can hear she explains to them, with a wisdom that has been gained through years of practice and application, that sound vibrations enter not just the ear but the entire body and she is able to read and decipher them in this way. Ironically, when she then asks the same question back to the person, the answer is little more than "Well, with my ears, of course!". It is apparent immediately in this film that Glennie hears more than most.
The film is centred around an improvised recording session by Glennie and composer/musician Fred Frith in a massive derilect industrial building in Germany. The rest of the segments follow her from New York to Scotland to Japan, meeting and performing with percussionists at each stop.
Visually the filmmakers approach the subject matter brilliantly using patterns and movement as metaphors for the world of vibration that Glennie inhabits. Cars crossing a bridge, pigeons alighting from the rafters, a flag waving in the breeze, stilettos on a marble floor, ice cracking on a pond, these are the rhythms that surround us.
And for Glennie, no object is above or below harnassing for its percussive potential. In one scene in a nightclub in Japan, Glennie shocks her Conservatory-trained accompianists by playing the opening number using chopsticks, an ashtray, wine bottle, dirty plates and a Kirin beer can as her instrument. The resulting performance is magical.
This is an inspiring and lifting movie. I recommend it highly. It is playing at the Vancouver International Film Centre until January 26th. You can view the trailer here.
In "Touch the Sound" we are challenged to reconsider the way our senses interact with the external world. This relationship is a fundamental component of existence to be sure, and one that few of us take the time to understand. In fact, it is only when one of our senses is lost or damaged that the impact is truly felt.
Evelyn Glennie has mastered the art of listening and also creating sounds. She is a world class percussionist, composer, musician and teacher. She is also almost completely deaf. When people ask her how it is that she can hear she explains to them, with a wisdom that has been gained through years of practice and application, that sound vibrations enter not just the ear but the entire body and she is able to read and decipher them in this way. Ironically, when she then asks the same question back to the person, the answer is little more than "Well, with my ears, of course!". It is apparent immediately in this film that Glennie hears more than most.
The film is centred around an improvised recording session by Glennie and composer/musician Fred Frith in a massive derilect industrial building in Germany. The rest of the segments follow her from New York to Scotland to Japan, meeting and performing with percussionists at each stop.
Visually the filmmakers approach the subject matter brilliantly using patterns and movement as metaphors for the world of vibration that Glennie inhabits. Cars crossing a bridge, pigeons alighting from the rafters, a flag waving in the breeze, stilettos on a marble floor, ice cracking on a pond, these are the rhythms that surround us.
And for Glennie, no object is above or below harnassing for its percussive potential. In one scene in a nightclub in Japan, Glennie shocks her Conservatory-trained accompianists by playing the opening number using chopsticks, an ashtray, wine bottle, dirty plates and a Kirin beer can as her instrument. The resulting performance is magical.
This is an inspiring and lifting movie. I recommend it highly. It is playing at the Vancouver International Film Centre until January 26th. You can view the trailer here.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
William Gibson and the Garage Kubrick
"Ingmar Bergman...in 1966 demanded that stills for Persona be taken from the negative – and, moreover, reproduced with their sprocket holes; proof that one was seeing the whole image as he conceived and shot it."
A fascinating essay by John Baxter on William Gibson and the Garage Kubrick. via Coudal's inimitable "Stuff about Kubrick".
"Ingmar Bergman...in 1966 demanded that stills for Persona be taken from the negative – and, moreover, reproduced with their sprocket holes; proof that one was seeing the whole image as he conceived and shot it."
A fascinating essay by John Baxter on William Gibson and the Garage Kubrick. via Coudal's inimitable "Stuff about Kubrick".
Labels: Film, Literature, Tuned to a Dead Channel
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Wong Kar Wai
Sony Classics has posted a new website for Wong Kar Wai's 2046 designed by Klimate out of New York City. I love the kaleidoscopic transitions between the pages.
I rented 2046 the other night and found it to be exquisite, which is not a word that I generally throw out there to describe anything, but in this case it seems appropriate. It is the third in a trilogy that pays homage to Wong Kar Wai's fascination with Hong Kong in the 1960's. I am inadvertently watching these films in reverse order having rented In the Mood for Love this evening. This is an even better movie than 2046, and now having watched them both, it is curious to observe how one subtly suggests the other and yet each perfectly exists on its own.
These movies have style. It is as though the composition of the shot exists as a supporting character in every scene to such a degree that Wong Kar Wai has been accused by his critics of sacrificing substance in style's pursuit. But there are compelling stories to be had in both films. Both are meditations on love and its various incarnations, ITMFL dealing with desire, deceit and moral restraint; while 2046 focuses on memory, regret and the passage of time.
Both are highly recommended. More info on Wong Kar Wai can be found here.
Sony Classics has posted a new website for Wong Kar Wai's 2046 designed by Klimate out of New York City. I love the kaleidoscopic transitions between the pages.
I rented 2046 the other night and found it to be exquisite, which is not a word that I generally throw out there to describe anything, but in this case it seems appropriate. It is the third in a trilogy that pays homage to Wong Kar Wai's fascination with Hong Kong in the 1960's. I am inadvertently watching these films in reverse order having rented In the Mood for Love this evening. This is an even better movie than 2046, and now having watched them both, it is curious to observe how one subtly suggests the other and yet each perfectly exists on its own.
These movies have style. It is as though the composition of the shot exists as a supporting character in every scene to such a degree that Wong Kar Wai has been accused by his critics of sacrificing substance in style's pursuit. But there are compelling stories to be had in both films. Both are meditations on love and its various incarnations, ITMFL dealing with desire, deceit and moral restraint; while 2046 focuses on memory, regret and the passage of time.
Both are highly recommended. More info on Wong Kar Wai can be found here.
Labels: Asia, Asian Cinema, Film, Wong Kar Wai
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Crucial Viewing: The Yes Men
I finally saw The Yes Men over the weekend and I found it to be a thought provoking and important — not to mention hilarious — film. It is even more encouraging to see that the Yes Men are still very much alive and well and taking on the world's harsher injustices.
It is often said that the reason we miss a person's name upon introduction is because we are too focused on how to best project our own persona. Perhaps to a greater scale, this is the defense that can be entered for the financial leaders and decision makers who sit idly by while the Yes Men stand before them purporting completely ludicrous solutions to the world's financial problems.
Not surprisingly, it is only an audience of university students (bless their naive and innocent souls) who - after being told that world starvation can be solved by feeding developing countries McDonald's burgers made out of recycled human fecal matter - actually stand up and call foul.
In their own words, "The Yes Men have impersonated some of the world's most powerful criminals at conferences, on the web, and on television, in order to correct their identities. They currently have hundreds of thousands of job openings".
I recommend this as crucial viewing to activists and corporate buzzards alike.
I finally saw The Yes Men over the weekend and I found it to be a thought provoking and important — not to mention hilarious — film. It is even more encouraging to see that the Yes Men are still very much alive and well and taking on the world's harsher injustices.
It is often said that the reason we miss a person's name upon introduction is because we are too focused on how to best project our own persona. Perhaps to a greater scale, this is the defense that can be entered for the financial leaders and decision makers who sit idly by while the Yes Men stand before them purporting completely ludicrous solutions to the world's financial problems.
Not surprisingly, it is only an audience of university students (bless their naive and innocent souls) who - after being told that world starvation can be solved by feeding developing countries McDonald's burgers made out of recycled human fecal matter - actually stand up and call foul.
In their own words, "The Yes Men have impersonated some of the world's most powerful criminals at conferences, on the web, and on television, in order to correct their identities. They currently have hundreds of thousands of job openings".
I recommend this as crucial viewing to activists and corporate buzzards alike.
Labels: Crucial Viewing, Film
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
#7 – the embassy's south african robocop
South African Robocop QT movie
The #7 listing on the "Top Ten Most Important Websites (to me) of 2004" is not a site at all but rather a viral movie. Vancouver's The Embassy arrived on the scene in 2003 and immediately set about making some of the freshest visual pieces that advertising and the web have seen for some time. Their dancing Citroen Transformer ad created quite a buzz on the viral circuit, but what really caught my eye was the above piece directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Consisting of raw, almost touristy footage of the slums outside of Johannesburg, combined with 3D renderings of a robot policing its streets, this is like nothing I have ever seen. The CG is seamless and the unfamiliar setting immediately pulls viewers out of their comfort zones and forces them to question whether what they are seeing is in fact real. As scary a vision of future policing this might be, it is not that far off of present military strategy.
South African Robocop QT movie
The #7 listing on the "Top Ten Most Important Websites (to me) of 2004" is not a site at all but rather a viral movie. Vancouver's The Embassy arrived on the scene in 2003 and immediately set about making some of the freshest visual pieces that advertising and the web have seen for some time. Their dancing Citroen Transformer ad created quite a buzz on the viral circuit, but what really caught my eye was the above piece directed by Neill Blomkamp.
Consisting of raw, almost touristy footage of the slums outside of Johannesburg, combined with 3D renderings of a robot policing its streets, this is like nothing I have ever seen. The CG is seamless and the unfamiliar setting immediately pulls viewers out of their comfort zones and forces them to question whether what they are seeing is in fact real. As scary a vision of future policing this might be, it is not that far off of present military strategy.
Saturday, January 15, 2005
#4 - imaginary forces
www.imaginaryforces.com
The elegance and subtlety of this site is the perfect frame for a portfolio that includes some of the most groundbreaking motion graphic sequences in the history of film and television. Not only that, they are also founding members of United Architects, a coalition of six innovative firms who share a desire to design new visions for buildings and cities that reflect the way we live today. The orginal focus of this project was on redesigning the World Trade Center in New York City.
www.imaginaryforces.com
The elegance and subtlety of this site is the perfect frame for a portfolio that includes some of the most groundbreaking motion graphic sequences in the history of film and television. Not only that, they are also founding members of United Architects, a coalition of six innovative firms who share a desire to design new visions for buildings and cities that reflect the way we live today. The orginal focus of this project was on redesigning the World Trade Center in New York City.
