A History of Narrative Film, by David A. Cook, is a fantastic resource if you’re interested in a detailed history of the medium. (Given the scope of the text it’s impressive the author manages to get rather in-depth the likes of Birth of a Nation, Citizen Kane, and other heavy hitters.) The only drawback is the exclusion of animation, though the author notes such a topic deserves its own history.
Fellini on Fellini offers semi-autobiographical tangents on his experiences and practices in film. A very entertaining, joy-filled read.
The Film Genre Readers (Barry Keith Grant, ed.) cover a wide and hearty range within film theory.
Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, by Stephen Thrower, is exactly as the title sounds. Hundreds of films are showcased and there is an entire spotlight portion of the book for behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with some of the obscure names associated with underground cinema. The text is also deluged by hundreds of original photographs, posters, stills, and cult ephemera.
Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, by John Canemaker, an award-winning animator himself. It’s patterned after Lives of the Artists and does a bang-up job chronicling not only the biographies but also the working habits, artistic approach, inventions, and influence of the animators most responsible for rocketing the medium of animation to where it exists today. It also properly credits just who did what in the multitude of Disney features, highlighting the animator’s acting talents so often overlooked in today’s live-actor biased world.
The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators, by Richard Williams. I haven’t read it all the way through but I understand it to be one of the — if not the — gold standard for aspiring animators working in the business today. Williams is an animation legend in his own right but he defers a great deal to the Nine Old Men, some of whom he worked and studied with for a great many years, and thus provides a very direct bridge to their wealth of experience. This is the book form of a master class he’s taught for years and there is also a DVD edition which presents the actual animations of all the published illustrations. Even for those not striving to be an animator this work should do very well in opening up the intricacies of the art form.
I think Natural Born Killers fits within the ‘therepist’ framework you mentioned, dealing as it does with the media fixation on violence and our consumption of it.
I stumbled across this article by Winston Churchill a while ago and thought some here might find it of interest. It was published in Colliers magazine, October 1935.
Here are a few excerpts which convey his earnest appeal for the appreciation of silent film:
“No mere clown, however brilliant, could ever have captured so completely the affections of the great public. He owes his unrivaled position as a star to the fact that he is a great actor, who can tug at our heartstrings as surely as he compels laughter… I believe that, had it not been for the coming of the talkies, we would already have seen this great star in a serious role. He is the one figure of the old silent screen to whom the triumph of the spoken word has meant neither speech nor extinction. He relies, as of old, upon a pantomime that is more expressive than talk.”
“I should like to see films without voices being made once more, but this time by producers who are alive to the potentialities of pantomime. Such pictures would be worth making, if only for this reason, that the audience for a talkie is necessarily limited by the factor of language, while the silent film can tell its story to the whole of the human race. Pantomime is the true universal tongue.”
“It is a favorite cliche of film critics in discussing pictures to say that we cannot go back. In effect, they suggest that, because technical progress has given us sound, all films must be talkies and will continue to be so forever. Such statements reveal a radical misconception of the nature of progress and the nature of art. To explore the possibilities of the non-talking film, to make of it a new and individual art form, would not be a retrograde step, but an advance.”
The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur both underwent considerable remodeling.
Of the six or so versions of The Four Feathers the 1939 remake stands out, so I’ve been told.
Huston’s Casino Royale was a colorful travesty in comparison to the stylized Daniel Craig feature, though I wonder if that comparison should be drawn as the original was hardly intentioned as a serious picture (and the meeting in the casino between Peter Sellers and Orson Welles is bloody fantastic).
While I didn’t care too much for Burton’s Willy Wonka I liked it a bit more than the original, Wilder notwithstanding.
And there could be a spat over The Man In the Iron Mask depending on the intensity of your DiCaprio fandom (or animosity).
(Haha, would the Spanish version of Dracula count? It has some very good qualities.)
It’s a bit of an ongoing face off between Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs, Fassbinder’s BRD, and the science/fantasy duo of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Kieslowski is currently leading. If the in-development Toy Story 3 manages to assert itself properly than Pixar’s series could likely supplant anything mentioned here.
I would very much like to get aquainted with the Samurai and Noriko trilogies, by Inagaki and Ozu respectively. Also Fritz Lang’s Mabuse films.
In Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria there is a poignant scene where, as part of hypnotist’s act, a crowd of strangers is made privy to the main character’s innermost thoughts, an event which builds the foundation for the remainder of the film. Thought I’d mention it since the scene and the way events play out is very effective and the film isn’t one we’d normally lump in with Peeping Tom and the others.
It’s been a little while but I remember I very potent, brutal film. If someone plans to watch it I’d say prepare for an extended and intensive viewing, but you’ll likely be well satisfied with the investment.
“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.” Alfred Hitchcock
“It’s far easier to write why something is terrible than why it’s good. If you’re reviewing a film and you decide “This is a movie I don’t like,” basically you can take every element of the film and find the obvious flaw, or argue that it seems ridiculous, or like a parody of itself, or that it’s not as good as something similar that was done in a previous film. What’s hard to do is describe why you like something. Because ultimately, the reason things move people is very amorphous. You can be cerebral about things you hate, but most of the things you like tend to be very emotive." Chuck Klosterman
“Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire – it tells you how to desire.” Slavoj Žižek
“That’s the thing with the young these days, isn’t it? They watch too many happy endings. Everything has to be wrapped up, with a smile and a tear and a wave. Everyone has learned, found love, seen the error of their ways, discovered the joys of monogamy, or fatherhood, or filial duty, or life itself. In my day, people got shot at the end of films, after learning only that life is hollow, dismal, brutish, and short.” Nick Hornby
“Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.” Werner Herzog
“The embarrassing thing is that my salad dressing is out-grossing my films.” Paul Newman
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.” Jim Jarmusch
…from 5 to 7. It was listed as free to view on the site so I kicked back an evening and gave a first try to the work of Agnès Varda.
I had purposely not read up on the film, even to find out exactly what it was about, and I enjoyed how the film took shape in strolls through the park, taxis, sculpture classes, and other here-and-there outings through Paris, as filtered through the gloomy and anxious perception of the titular character. I’ll have to go along with what user Mao mentioned, finding this film more of a poem than a narrative work or even a series of events. From the get-go the “meter” of the film, if I can use that word, seemed to attach itself to the restless Cleo, where even the movement of the camera routinely caught me off-guard in an enjoyable way. I admire the film’s inventive play with the viewer, bracketing with the occasional montage, the rise and fall of the music, and keeping the threat of tragedy never far from view. All told, my time spent with the poor girl proved an engaging closeup.
What are some of your thoughts on the film?
Could that panning long-shot at the beginning have been a small nod over to Renoir?
While not feature films, I think it very likely people from all creeds, religions, ages, nations, and backgrounds can come to one Loony Tunes short or another and find something to enjoy.
“Yeah fuck you funny guy. I’m just saying that I don’t know how to act in a situation like this, ya know? And don’t give me none of that just be natural bullshit cause that shit don’t fly. This isn’t an episode of Friends fucker!” – Breakfast of Imbeciles
“You gotta respect that kind of display of affection, you know what I mean? Sure, it’s crazy, it’s rude, it’s self-absorbed, but, uh, you know, it’s love.” – Chasing Amy
Yes, it’s once of my favorites. The build up in the Germans was pretty fantastic, as was the episode Cooler McCauley mentioned dealing with the smuggled girlfriend and Basil’s merciless hunt the to justice.
Having the show discontinued by Cleese and the other writers after so short a run only enhances what is there, and in some ways I’m glad they opted not to push beyond a point where the relentless onslaught of Basil-ness might have grown tiring. As it is, much like Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes, they quit while they were far, far, far ahead and I think the show is a high watermark in British comedy as a result.
As much as I love the asthetics of the forum, I do wish its mechanics behaved more like the traditional forum now in use throughout the web. Small 50×50 or 75×75 avatars to aid in distinguishing users’ posts (with the usual option for users to disable them if they want), improved search functions, some identifier for posts updated since one’s last visit, a note of who posted last, stricter differentiation between the sub-forums, etc. These changes are not minor to a forum’s structure, but I do think the look of the place would not be disrupted if they or some close aproximation would make an appearance. The sheer usability of the place would certainly skyrocket compared to where it’s at currently.
I enjoyed Powasquatsi more if only for the photography and music, the original’s inventiveness notwithstanding. Well… it also seemed a little less heavy-handed than its predecessor, if memory serves, as well as focusing much closer on the human element, close-ups and lingering pans of faces and activities playing a much larger role. Both are far and beyond the earnest yet horrid Naqoyqatsi. While his intentions for that last piece are valid and the message not one to trifle with, the actual implementation was as if someone had discovered early 90’s video effects filters and simply had to vomit them all over what might have been a superb visual experience. Maybe it’s to my detriment that I can’t jump this hurdle, but that it was 2002 at its release only further extends the visual hurt.
Another film in the same vein as these, Baraka, might outdo even Reggio in the ‘striking imagery’ department. Another I remember is Chronos, though that one didn’t match the excellence of the others mentioned here and served more as a visual curiosity.
I have a liking for that bloated piece of flotsom, Waterworld. So delightfully bad, it’s good. Thinking about Costner acting deathly serious and individualistic cracks me up even now.
I am really excited about Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist. Coming off of Triplets of Belleville and that delightful segment in Paris, je t’aime, what he’ll do with his Tati-inspired characters is something I hope really pushes 2D animation to the forefront again.
When I was young I would get those “fever terrors” when sick with a bad cold or virus. One image that I can still recall was of this floating rose or flower (nearest approximation might be the one in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, only with the clarity of real life). It was suspended above an expansive theatrical stage with a large, faded curtain behind it. An immense cannon was pointed at it. Though just a single cannon, the gun had the effect of being in multiple places simultaneously. Positioned in space alongside this display (and perhaps leading to it) were stairs lined and surrounded by corroded gears, cogs, and dense 19th century machinery, as imagined by some modern Steampunk illustrator.
Running down these stairs was running through the innards of some vast mechanism, with all its moving parts greased and ready to crush and disassemble. However, this was all tolerable. For some reason, confronting the cannon and rose was absolutely terrifying to me. Specifically, the vast “weight” of the scene, partly physical and partly mental. As if the actual scope of what I was seeing was just beyond my mind’s grasping and sent me reeling as a result. Whatever the effect, I had to flee, to just get away from this … “Overpower”. I still don’t know quite what I could call it.
I’ve enjoyed his previous films and this was no different. Engaging visuals, nice composition/characterization/direction, and a suitably mind-mincing story — mainly an excuse for surrealistic adventure but there’s still some heart underneath it all. And not only does it pay great service to anime “requirements”, there are also references to a lot of other films (and a videogame or two) outside the genre. Affection for cinema seemed to color a lot of this film. In small measures it might even be autobiographical. Of course, if you see it just for the so-called “trippy shit” you ought not be disappointed.
Any recommendations on good books about filmmaking/film theory/films in general? about 3 years ago
A History of Narrative Film, by David A. Cook, is a fantastic resource if you’re interested in a detailed history of the medium. (Given the scope of the text it’s impressive the author manages to get rather in-depth the likes of Birth of a Nation, Citizen Kane, and other heavy hitters.) The only drawback is the exclusion of animation, though the author notes such a topic deserves its own history.
Fellini on Fellini offers semi-autobiographical tangents on his experiences and practices in film. A very entertaining, joy-filled read.
The Film Genre Readers (Barry Keith Grant, ed.) cover a wide and hearty range within film theory.
Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents, by Stephen Thrower, is exactly as the title sounds. Hundreds of films are showcased and there is an entire spotlight portion of the book for behind-the-scenes stories and interviews with some of the obscure names associated with underground cinema. The text is also deluged by hundreds of original photographs, posters, stills, and cult ephemera.
Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, by John Canemaker, an award-winning animator himself. It’s patterned after Lives of the Artists and does a bang-up job chronicling not only the biographies but also the working habits, artistic approach, inventions, and influence of the animators most responsible for rocketing the medium of animation to where it exists today. It also properly credits just who did what in the multitude of Disney features, highlighting the animator’s acting talents so often overlooked in today’s live-actor biased world.
The Animator’s Survival Kit: A Manual of Methods, Principles, and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion, and Internet Animators, by Richard Williams. I haven’t read it all the way through but I understand it to be one of the — if not the — gold standard for aspiring animators working in the business today. Williams is an animation legend in his own right but he defers a great deal to the Nine Old Men, some of whom he worked and studied with for a great many years, and thus provides a very direct bridge to their wealth of experience. This is the book form of a master class he’s taught for years and there is also a DVD edition which presents the actual animations of all the published illustrations. Even for those not striving to be an animator this work should do very well in opening up the intricacies of the art form.
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Oliver Stone about 3 years ago
I think Natural Born Killers fits within the ‘therepist’ framework you mentioned, dealing as it does with the media fixation on violence and our consumption of it.
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers about 3 years ago
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Churchill on Chaplin about 3 years ago
I stumbled across this article by Winston Churchill a while ago and thought some here might find it of interest. It was published in Colliers magazine, October 1935.
Here are a few excerpts which convey his earnest appeal for the appreciation of silent film:
“No mere clown, however brilliant, could ever have captured so completely the affections of the great public. He owes his unrivaled position as a star to the fact that he is a great actor, who can tug at our heartstrings as surely as he compels laughter… I believe that, had it not been for the coming of the talkies, we would already have seen this great star in a serious role. He is the one figure of the old silent screen to whom the triumph of the spoken word has meant neither speech nor extinction. He relies, as of old, upon a pantomime that is more expressive than talk.”
“I should like to see films without voices being made once more, but this time by producers who are alive to the potentialities of pantomime. Such pictures would be worth making, if only for this reason, that the audience for a talkie is necessarily limited by the factor of language, while the silent film can tell its story to the whole of the human race. Pantomime is the true universal tongue.”
“It is a favorite cliche of film critics in discussing pictures to say that we cannot go back. In effect, they suggest that, because technical progress has given us sound, all films must be talkies and will continue to be so forever. Such statements reveal a radical misconception of the nature of progress and the nature of art. To explore the possibilities of the non-talking film, to make of it a new and individual art form, would not be a retrograde step, but an advance.”
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Who would do a better remake of The Wizard of Oz: Peter Jackson or Tim Burton? almost 3 years ago
The idea of a modern Oz remake reminded me of this:
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Most depressing film you have ever seen? almost 3 years ago
Suzie Templeton’s animated short film, Dog. Depression of the gut-wrenching variety.
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Best, Guilty Pleasure Film. almost 3 years ago
Russ Meyer films. And it’s amazing he has yet to receive any sort of presence on this site.
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Who would do a better remake of The Wizard of Oz: Peter Jackson or Tim Burton? almost 3 years ago
If a remake must be made, I’d like Terry Gilliam to put it through the ringer.
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Are there any remakes that are better than the original film? almost 3 years ago
The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur both underwent considerable remodeling.
Of the six or so versions of The Four Feathers the 1939 remake stands out, so I’ve been told.
Huston’s Casino Royale was a colorful travesty in comparison to the stylized Daniel Craig feature, though I wonder if that comparison should be drawn as the original was hardly intentioned as a serious picture (and the meeting in the casino between Peter Sellers and Orson Welles is bloody fantastic).
While I didn’t care too much for Burton’s Willy Wonka I liked it a bit more than the original, Wilder notwithstanding.
And there could be a spat over The Man In the Iron Mask depending on the intensity of your DiCaprio fandom (or animosity).
(Haha, would the Spanish version of Dracula count? It has some very good qualities.)
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Best Trilogy (NOT Star Wars) almost 3 years ago
It’s a bit of an ongoing face off between Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs, Fassbinder’s BRD, and the science/fantasy duo of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Kieslowski is currently leading. If the in-development Toy Story 3 manages to assert itself properly than Pixar’s series could likely supplant anything mentioned here.
I would very much like to get aquainted with the Samurai and Noriko trilogies, by Inagaki and Ozu respectively. Also Fritz Lang’s Mabuse films.
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lets have a discusion about Control... almost 3 years ago
As in ALT+DEL? Like this thread?
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Films about Voyeurism? almost 3 years ago
In Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria there is a poignant scene where, as part of hypnotist’s act, a crowd of strangers is made privy to the main character’s innermost thoughts, an event which builds the foundation for the remainder of the film. Thought I’d mention it since the scene and the way events play out is very effective and the film isn’t one we’d normally lump in with Peeping Tom and the others.
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Rewatching 'Ran' -- It Blew My Mind! almost 3 years ago
It’s been a little while but I remember I very potent, brutal film. If someone plans to watch it I’d say prepare for an extended and intensive viewing, but you’ll likely be well satisfied with the investment.
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Random Filmmaker Quotes almost 3 years ago
“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”
Alfred Hitchcock
“It’s far easier to write why something is terrible than why it’s good. If you’re reviewing a film and you decide “This is a movie I don’t like,” basically you can take every element of the film and find the obvious flaw, or argue that it seems ridiculous, or like a parody of itself, or that it’s not as good as something similar that was done in a previous film. What’s hard to do is describe why you like something. Because ultimately, the reason things move people is very amorphous. You can be cerebral about things you hate, but most of the things you like tend to be very emotive."
Chuck Klosterman
“Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire – it tells you how to desire.”
Slavoj Žižek
“That’s the thing with the young these days, isn’t it? They watch too many happy endings. Everything has to be wrapped up, with a smile and a tear and a wave. Everyone has learned, found love, seen the error of their ways, discovered the joys of monogamy, or fatherhood, or filial duty, or life itself. In my day, people got shot at the end of films, after learning only that life is hollow, dismal, brutish, and short.”
Nick Hornby
“Academia is the death of cinema. It is the very opposite of passion. Film is not the art of scholars, but of illiterates.”
Werner Herzog
“The embarrassing thing is that my salad dressing is out-grossing my films.”
Paul Newman
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”
Jim Jarmusch
“Film lovers are sick people.”
François Truffaut
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I just hung out with Cleo... almost 3 years ago
…from 5 to 7. It was listed as free to view on the site so I kicked back an evening and gave a first try to the work of Agnès Varda.
I had purposely not read up on the film, even to find out exactly what it was about, and I enjoyed how the film took shape in strolls through the park, taxis, sculpture classes, and other here-and-there outings through Paris, as filtered through the gloomy and anxious perception of the titular character. I’ll have to go along with what user Mao mentioned, finding this film more of a poem than a narrative work or even a series of events. From the get-go the “meter” of the film, if I can use that word, seemed to attach itself to the restless Cleo, where even the movement of the camera routinely caught me off-guard in an enjoyable way. I admire the film’s inventive play with the viewer, bracketing with the occasional montage, the rise and fall of the music, and keeping the threat of tragedy never far from view. All told, my time spent with the poor girl proved an engaging closeup.
What are some of your thoughts on the film?
Could that panning long-shot at the beginning have been a small nod over to Renoir?
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Fincher, The Auteur almost 3 years ago
I’m very interested to see how he’ll make his influence felt in animation for the upcoming Goon comic adaptation and the new Heavy Metal omnibus.
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In your opinion is there a movie everybody 'has to like'? almost 3 years ago
While not feature films, I think it very likely people from all creeds, religions, ages, nations, and backgrounds can come to one Loony Tunes short or another and find something to enjoy.
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CONVERSATE/COMMUNICATE - USING MOVIE "QUOTES" - I'LL START IT OFF almost 3 years ago
“Yeah fuck you funny guy. I’m just saying that I don’t know how to act in a situation like this, ya know? And don’t give me none of that just be natural bullshit cause that shit don’t fly. This isn’t an episode of Friends fucker!” – Breakfast of Imbeciles
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CONVERSATE/COMMUNICATE - USING MOVIE "QUOTES" - I'LL START IT OFF almost 3 years ago
“Why can’t we work out our differences? Why can’t we work things out? Little people, why can’t we all just get along?” – Mars Attacks
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CONVERSATE/COMMUNICATE - USING MOVIE "QUOTES" - I'LL START IT OFF almost 3 years ago
“You gotta respect that kind of display of affection, you know what I mean? Sure, it’s crazy, it’s rude, it’s self-absorbed, but, uh, you know, it’s love.” – Chasing Amy
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Any Fawlty Towers fans out there? almost 3 years ago
Yes, it’s once of my favorites. The build up in the Germans was pretty fantastic, as was the episode Cooler McCauley mentioned dealing with the smuggled girlfriend and Basil’s merciless hunt the to justice.
Having the show discontinued by Cleese and the other writers after so short a run only enhances what is there, and in some ways I’m glad they opted not to push beyond a point where the relentless onslaught of Basil-ness might have grown tiring. As it is, much like Bill Waterson’s Calvin & Hobbes, they quit while they were far, far, far ahead and I think the show is a high watermark in British comedy as a result.
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Where Would You Like to See the Auteurs Forum Go from Here? What Needs to Be Done or Changed? almost 3 years ago
As much as I love the asthetics of the forum, I do wish its mechanics behaved more like the traditional forum now in use throughout the web. Small 50×50 or 75×75 avatars to aid in distinguishing users’ posts (with the usual option for users to disable them if they want), improved search functions, some identifier for posts updated since one’s last visit, a note of who posted last, stricter differentiation between the sub-forums, etc. These changes are not minor to a forum’s structure, but I do think the look of the place would not be disrupted if they or some close aproximation would make an appearance. The sheer usability of the place would certainly skyrocket compared to where it’s at currently.
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Koyaanisqatsi and other Art Narrative Films almost 3 years ago
I enjoyed Powasquatsi more if only for the photography and music, the original’s inventiveness notwithstanding. Well… it also seemed a little less heavy-handed than its predecessor, if memory serves, as well as focusing much closer on the human element, close-ups and lingering pans of faces and activities playing a much larger role. Both are far and beyond the earnest yet horrid Naqoyqatsi. While his intentions for that last piece are valid and the message not one to trifle with, the actual implementation was as if someone had discovered early 90’s video effects filters and simply had to vomit them all over what might have been a superb visual experience. Maybe it’s to my detriment that I can’t jump this hurdle, but that it was 2002 at its release only further extends the visual hurt.
Another film in the same vein as these, Baraka, might outdo even Reggio in the ‘striking imagery’ department. Another I remember is Chronos, though that one didn’t match the excellence of the others mentioned here and served more as a visual curiosity.
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The Auteurs Confessions almost 3 years ago
I have a liking for that bloated piece of flotsom, Waterworld. So delightfully bad, it’s good. Thinking about Costner acting deathly serious and individualistic cracks me up even now.
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Movies to get Excited about for 2009/2010 almost 3 years ago
I am really excited about Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist. Coming off of Triplets of Belleville and that delightful segment in Paris, je t’aime, what he’ll do with his Tati-inspired characters is something I hope really pushes 2D animation to the forefront again.
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Post Your Dreams! almost 3 years ago
When I was young I would get those “fever terrors” when sick with a bad cold or virus. One image that I can still recall was of this floating rose or flower (nearest approximation might be the one in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, only with the clarity of real life). It was suspended above an expansive theatrical stage with a large, faded curtain behind it. An immense cannon was pointed at it. Though just a single cannon, the gun had the effect of being in multiple places simultaneously. Positioned in space alongside this display (and perhaps leading to it) were stairs lined and surrounded by corroded gears, cogs, and dense 19th century machinery, as imagined by some modern Steampunk illustrator.
Running down these stairs was running through the innards of some vast mechanism, with all its moving parts greased and ready to crush and disassemble. However, this was all tolerable. For some reason, confronting the cannon and rose was absolutely terrifying to me. Specifically, the vast “weight” of the scene, partly physical and partly mental. As if the actual scope of what I was seeing was just beyond my mind’s grasping and sent me reeling as a result. Whatever the effect, I had to flee, to just get away from this … “Overpower”. I still don’t know quite what I could call it.
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CONVERSATE/COMMUNICATE - USING MOVIE "QUOTES" - I'LL START IT OFF almost 3 years ago
“Don’t take it personally, Finn, but I bought you some expensive, fruity soaps. Take them home, try them out.” – Waking Ned Divine
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Paprika: Was I Suppose To Be Disappointed? almost 3 years ago
I’ve enjoyed his previous films and this was no different. Engaging visuals, nice composition/characterization/direction, and a suitably mind-mincing story — mainly an excuse for surrealistic adventure but there’s still some heart underneath it all. And not only does it pay great service to anime “requirements”, there are also references to a lot of other films (and a videogame or two) outside the genre. Affection for cinema seemed to color a lot of this film. In small measures it might even be autobiographical. Of course, if you see it just for the so-called “trippy shit” you ought not be disappointed.
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The Auteurs' Fake Criterion Covers almost 3 years ago
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CONVERSATE/COMMUNICATE - USING MOVIE "QUOTES" - I'LL START IT OFF almost 3 years ago
“I see the heart of darkness… the universe unfolding… taking my breath, my blood, my life… down below, below, below…” – Incubus (1965)
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