Star Wars VII has a writer

It's been officially announced that Michael Arndt, the pen behind "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Toy Story 3," has been attached as the screenwriter for the upcoming Episode VII of Star Wars.

This is probably a good sign that Disney is putting talented people in charge.

The rumor mill for who may direct the next chapter in the Star Wars saga is going wild, and I don't feel like participating in that until we have something more official.  Keep your eyes to the skies on that one.

Review: Skyfall

The latest chapter in the Bond series marks the 50 year anniversary of the franchise.  "Skyfall" has been one of my most anticipated movies in the last little while, and is probably my second most anticipated film of the year, after "The Master."  I have been stoked for this movie for a while.
It did not disappoint.
"Skyfall" is a perfectly executed action film.  I think it is one of the best action films ever.  It kicks off with an incredible chase featuring one of the best train sequences in film (someone should make that list sometime).  The movie progresses with a perfectly paced balance of concise, emotion driven story and big, heart-pumping set piece action.  Every action scene is well choreographed, well executed and well filmed for maximum impact.  High speed chases, tense stealth, fisticuffs, and a variety of shoot outs all impress.  And it's all beautifully filmed by DP Roger Deakins, who is well known for his work with Mendes in the past and as a frequent collaborator with the Coen brothers.
Javier Bardem can add this to his growing list of brilliant performances as he produces what is probably the best James Bond villain ever.  A drastically different character than "No country's" Anton Chigurh, and no less compelling and no less terrifying.  Really stellar performance.

The film explores the conflict between the modern and the traditional as a running theme.  One of the plots main tensions is the gap between relevance and the old fashioned.  The movie is well aware of it's 50 year heritage and uses that history as part of the theme with interesting references to past Bonds while still forging forward in all the contemporary themes and gritty presentation of this chapter in the Bond saga.  That duality frames nearly every aspect of the film and sets it apart from all other James Bond films.  There is an acknowledgement of the history of the franchise and at times a willing suspension of it, which often subverts our expectations.  So somehow it is both a quintessential James Bond film - with beautiful Bond girls, exotic locations, dazzling spectacle, a casino, a classic Aston Martin complete with ejection seat - and at the same time an anti-Bond film in some ways, for example the plot that starts grand and grows more intimate as it progresses.  The films conclusion deliberately sheds the usual world-threatening scheme and ends with what is probably the most personal and emotional stand-off of any film in the series.
There is more that can be said, and more will be said elsewhere, but this is all that needs to be said now for the sake of this review.  "Skyfall" is terrific. 

World War Z trailer released

I don't really want to advertise this as much as spend some time criticizing it. I have two main criticisms.

criticism the first: when did trailers become mini-versions of the film, rather than an advertisement aimed at making me want to watch the movie? It's a compelling trailer, but doesn't convince me the movie will be compelling. The trailer itself has a narrative arc, and it shouldn't (in my opinion, feel free to argue). After watching the trailer I don't think there will be a whole lot else in the movie interesting enough to make me feel like I need to see it.

criticism the second: who cares anymore? Aren't we bored of zombies yet? When the book was written there wasn't much in the terms of zombie fiction (not to mention it uses an interesting format that doesn't translate to film). Even when the movie was first announced, six years ago or so, it would have been an interesting thing. I feel like the market is flooded with exhaustingly unoriginal zombie stuff right now. That hurts me to say because I love zombie stuff, and have my whole life. Honestly though the last thing I care about right now is some new zombie thing.

Thoughts on that? Am I the only one who thinks that?   If you haven't seen it, here is /film's coverage.

Best Horror Lines

Now that we're reflecting on Halloween with it just behind us, let's think about horror films.  How many of these have you seen/did you watch this spooky movie season?

News: Disney buys the Lucasfilm

Disney has purchased Lucasfilm for just over $4 billion, and with it the rights to produce new Star Wars films.  So far their plans are to release episode 7 in 2015 as the start of a new trilogy, and from there they intend to release a new Star Wars film every few years until we destroy the planet with an excess of pollution.

Fox's breaking of the story here

Now obviously this story is going to spark a lot of hyperbole and rage across the internet among Star Wars fans, but I'm going to try and avoid that here.  The original films were a part of my childhood and now as an (adult) I understand the context of the films, and the genre fiction the films use as reference points and I appreciate them all that much more.  I am a vocal opponent to the changes Lucas has made so far, including the additional films that I choose to ignore.  As tiring as it is to listen to the nerds whine, for me Han shot first, and Darth Vader silently hurls the Emperor down that random pit in one of the most poignant moments in film history.

Star Wars as a universe has always had the potential to be an enormous franchise, and that hasn't always been a bad thing.  While I don't at this point trust Disney to do it, I could see the Star Wars franchise returning to its pulpy, sci-fi adventure roots.  And that would be great.  For now all we can do is hold our breath, and watch this video:

Trailer: Gangster Squad

Keep kicking ass, mr. Gosling.

Review: "The Master"

Well the day has finally come.  "The Master" has arrived, and it's time to set aside all of my hype as best I can and write a review for what is probably personally my single most anticipated film to ever hit theaters.  Although I think there is a lot of merit to viewing Paul Thomas Anderson's films as a canon, for the sake of this review I will do my best not to do so, and I will review it on it's own terms alone.

The film, which is set in 1950's America, centers around the relationship between the troubled WWII vet Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix's return to film) and Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic philosopher/writer/religion-founder played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman.  Lancaster Dodd, the character being inspired by Scientologies L. Ron Hubbard, is the leader of a growing sect known as "The Cause."  The effects that Quell, Dodd and the Cause have on each other is the focus of this vague, ambiguous, kooky masterpiece.
The craft of the film is unquestionably fantastic, with Anderson showing once again what a poet he is with a camera.  The cinematography is beautiful, admittedly more at certain times than others, but moments of sheer breath-taking cinematic beauty are not uncommon.  Some shots just had me shaking my head in awe, and made me never want to try making a movie ever again.  Really every aspect of the films craft is flawlessly executed: the editing is effective and rhythmic, the production design is perfect in the way it creates the settings and period of the film without ever drawing focus away from the film itself, and Jonny Greenwood turns in another terrific score.  Although his music for "There Will Be Blood" had more punch and was more impacting, the music featured in "The Master" is just as unsettling and shows notable maturation in Greenwood as a composer.
I was not expecting the film that "The Master" is.  It is bizarre, silly at times (not in a bad way), far reaching and yet static.  It contains 200% more fart jokes than I expected, but I loved them both.  I walked out of the film a little dissatisfied, even though I knew I loved it.  I initially used the term "underwhelmed" but I think dissatisfied is more appropriate.  I couldn't place why I felt that way, but when I did I was able to come to terms with the film and I appreciate it more now.  The aforementioned relationship that forms the crux of the film does not progress in any way from beginning to end.  Although some will probably challenge me on this: I felt the relationship between Dodd and Quell is essentially the same in the first scene they meet as it is in the last scene they interact in, even though it churns and manifests itself differently.  I don't count that against the film, I just needed to realize that's how it was in order to view the film as a whole in a way I felt satisfied with.  In this lens the film is in a way about everything and nothing.  It encompasses everything about life, and relationships, and belief, and hope and so on, and yet it never grasps any of these topics or makes any of them concrete, or brings us any closer to answers.  And it doesn't need to.  Most of the time that's how life is.  There is a shot in the film that re-occurs as a sort of motif in which the stirred water in the wake of a ship takes up the entire screen.  The presence of the wake implies forward progress, but you can't see or feel any.  There is movement but it is just unsettled, swirling.  That is the way the entire film operates
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Probably what will get the most attention about the film is the acting.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix turn in powerhouse performances.  Both actors have a history of powerful performances, and both turn in what may be the best in their careers.  When you think about the implications of that statement it really carries a lot of weight.  Joaquin Phoenix's physical commitment to his character are unmatched by anything I have seen before.  His posture, movement and face are not his own for the entire duration of the film.  He is physical, and chaotic, and bestial in everything he does.  One of his best scenes is when he and Dodd are locked in adjacent jail cells.  While Dodd stands, poised, leaning on the cells cot, Quell thrashes about violently for several minutes.  Phoenix said his motivation for that scene came from watching the way caged animals behave: they thrash about desperately, not aware even that they are hurting themselves.  In the midst of thrashing about he smashes a porcelain toilet with his foot, which wasn't planned.  It wasn't a prop toilet.  It wasn't supposed to break.  It was a real toilet, and he really smashed it.  Also I found Phillip Seymour Hoffman's nuanced performance of Dodd to be just as compelling and powerful, if not more.  Hoffman may well be the best actor currently in films, and this performance is not only further proof of this, but is now the definitive proof of it.

There is more to be said about the film, because it can be viewed in so many ways, but I'll begin the conclusion of the review now.  "The Master" is not a film everybody will love, but if I have developed a readership at all based on the other things I've written about, than if you are reading this you probably will love "The Master," and you've probably already seen it.  Paul Thomas Anderson has once again established himself as the greatest living film maker with what is undoubtedly an artistic masterpiece.  It is not his magnum opus, as I expected it to be, but it is refreshingly unique.  It reminded me he has a sense of humor, it further developed his unique style as a director and it pushed into new narrative and stylistic territory where his films have never before gone.  Every aspect of the film is perfect in its own form.
More will be said about this film by me, people around me, critics and scholars in the coming months and years.  This film will get oscar attention, but probably not as much as it should, as is usually the way of things.

I'd like to keep this one open for discussion.  Please feel encouraged to post responses and thoughts in the comments section below.

News: Rumblings about PTA's next

I had heard whispers about Paul Thomas Anderson's next piece a few months back, and it seems the idea persists.  Rumor has it that the follow up to "The Master" will be an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's "Inherent Vice," a west coast noir story as only Pynchon can deliver.  Robert Downey Jr.'s name is attached to the role of the main character supposedly.

Asked “what’s next?” by Screen Daily, Anderson responded,

I’m hoping we can get Inherent Vice going soon. That’s what I’m writing now. It’s taking my mind of this, actually. It’s a lot of fun. It’s such a different piece, though. It’s nice to have a collaborator, as it were, through working on the book.

PTA's films have traditionally had an affinity for the west, especially Californian settings, so in a way it would be old turf for him.  However it would be in a lot of ways a very different endeavor for him, which I think would be great to see.  His repertoire is already notably diverse.

It will probably be a while until this is really something worth keeping an eye on, but I guess keep instead an ear to the ground.

It will be a sad time when there is less PTA related news for me to talk about.

News: cynics worldwide rejoice as "The Redemption of Cain" gives more things to be cynical about!

The short skinny of this story is that Will Smith is involved in a film version of the story of Cain and Able from international best seller "The Bible."  Unlike the original story, written by Moses, or something, this version will feature vampires.

As usual, the AV clubs coverage of this absurdity is so good that my trying to also cover it would be pointless and superfluous.  Feel free to read it here

I'm also on the look out for good news.  Keep your eyes open for a review of "The Master" shortly after the films wide release, coming in a few weeks.

Heads Up: Killer Joe (2011)

Usually when I write about something this current I write a review, as opposed to heads up, but for some reason with this film it doesn't seem appropriate to write a review.  For whatever reason I think knowing as little about the narrative and style of this film as possible going into it makes for an optimal viewing experience.  I watched the trailer only after having seen the movie, and I think having seen the trailer beforehand would have really lessened the impact of the film.

Here is what I will say though: whatever you think now, "Killer Joe" is a must see film for anybody with the stomach for it, who considers themselves a so-called "film person."  The film stars Matthew McConaughey at his charming and terrifying best, and is directed by William Friedkin, who I'm now learning directed tons of really well known movies, but I've somehow never really retained his name.  He is probably most well known for "The French Connection" but also did "The Exorcist," among others.
Anyway, the film is NC-17.  It blends a lot of styles very interestingly, and is in general well crafted, and very well acted.  Every character turns in a great performance.  I don't think there is really a weak moment of acting in the whole deal.  I don't really want to say anything else, because I think the film more than speaks for itself, and it should just be watched and mulled over.  The emotional marathon of a concluding scene will likely go down as an iconic moment in cinema of this era.  Know that I had pretty low expectations for the film going in, and was really shocked and impacted.  Also know that the poster featuring a blood splattered chicken nugget shaped like Texas is shitty, and the movie shouldn't be discounted just because it has a super shitty poster with some dumb tag line on it.
This film impacted me heavily, and I'm still thinking about it.  If you can handle films that leave you feeling a bit sick inside, and especially if you like or at least appreciate such films, "Killer Joe" should be at the top of your must-see list.  I urge you.

News: Another thing about "The Master"

I am thinking about trimming the focus of the blog to only being about Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming film "The Master."

Anyway, I guess some lucky audiences were treated to a surprise early screening of the film, and everyone says it's great.  The film will come out in September, and we should all go see it.

Here's an article about it.

Heads Up: The American (2010)

            

            George Clooney is one of the biggest names in Hollywood and his films always draw buzz.  Still for being such a huge super star he tends to be in quality films for the most part, which I think deserves credit.  I recently watched “The American” which for whatever reason didn’t seem to get all that much talk (maybe I just missed it).  It deserves talk though.  I think that “The American” is in many ways a modern classic, and I hope it endures to be regarded as such as time goes on.

            The plot follows a paranoid American named either Jack, Edward or “Mr. Butterfly,” played by Mr. Clooney, who builds and sells guns on the black market, but is trying to get away from his violent past.  The film kicks off with an incredible opening scene and as the movie progresses with its little dialogue and minimalistic story telling the tension rarely lets up.  The film is really modern noir masterpiece.  It is a story of mixed morality, questionable loyalty, and sparsely scattered but intense shoot outs.  The entire film is beautifully shot, with each composition and camera move being carefully selected and set up.  The locations, too, are wonderfully chosen.  The film opens in Sweden with crisp black trees against the stark white snow, and the rest of the film takes place in small towns in the mountains of Italy.  The town’s labyrinthine alleys and stairs and doors create a fascinating environment for a twisted tale to unfold.  This is the time I feel to mention that if you have the option of watching the movie in high definition, take it.  The beautiful compositions and locations are full of rich texture and the crisp resolution of a blu-ray really brings these out.  It is a movie that reminds me the difference high definition makes.

            In this movie we really get inside the head of Clooney’s character, both through his performance and through the cinematography.  There are very few characters, and aside from them there are also very few extra’s in most of the scenes.  It is filmed in a way that makes the audience suspicious of every other person on screen, each passerby being a potential threat.  Scenes take their time and linger on open spaces, making every second tense, making us worry about what is out there, or who that person in the café is working for.  It’s really great the way camera work and staging are used to really force the audience to see the world through “Jack’s” paranoid eyes.  Music was done by Herbert Grönemeyer, which is weird.  Grönemeyer is sort of like the German version of Phil Colins, but even lamer.  Somehow, though, he turns in a terrific score that is very under spoken but beautiful.

            I do think a couple weak points keep the movie from really soaring.  With so few characters, every relationship is very important, and I think Jack’s relationship with the local priest is both a little hackneyed and stereotypical, and also not particularly well written.  The relationship holds a key spot in the narrative, but most of the scenes between the two characters tend to drag, and throw off the rhythm of the rest of the film.  There is also a symbolic butterfly motif surrounding Jack (or Mr. Butterfly) that I really like.  I like all of the references to the motif, except for the butterfly tattoo that he has, which I find a bit silly.

            The main featurette that came on the blu-ray I watched discussed at some length how the film was made partially as an homage to Sergio Leone and the spaghetti western mode.  Aspects of this are clear, but I see it as much more of a noir than a western.  Part of me tends to count that against the film in a way, because I don’t feel the film makers succeeded in doing what they set out to do.  Still when I just watch the film on its own terms, rather than through the lens of film maker intention, it is an impeccably crafted piece of story telling. 

            I really do think this film is in a lot of ways a triumph.  It tells the story of a man fruitlessly seeking redemption from his sordid criminal past.  It is a well paced and exciting story.  Cinematography is consistently breathtakingly beautiful.  Acting is generally quite good, with Clooney in top form turning in a very dark and brooding performance as the title character.  The film evokes a lot of the best aspects of classic noir films that have come to be regarded as among the best films ever made, and I think that with time this film, too, deserves to be studied and regarded as a classic.

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

I haven’t really done much in terms of reviews for new films on this blog, and especially such a large mainstream film.  But Chris Nolan makes quite a splash and is in general worthy of discussion, though probably not as much as he already gets.  He has been noted as a film maker who makes solid artistic films that are also flashy, appealing, accessible movies, with varying balances of the two modes.  His latest, The Dark Knight Rises is obviously one of the biggest hype machines this year (which is saying something).  I had the recent pleasure of seeing it in imax and thought I’d throw my thoughts into the mix.  I am sick and tired of hearing about Chris Nolan, and have heard more than enough about his virtues as a director.  I’m not a fan of Christian Bale, and although I like Tom Hardy, I’ve never been all that interested in Bane as a character, and was doubtful Tom Hardy could pull anything out of the character behind the mask.  I entered the film very skeptical, and expecting it to be mediocre at best.  I ended up, though, feeling pleasantly surprised.

            To begin, I’ll just say that the film is very, very good.  I have a lot of thoughts about the film, but I will try, and likely fail, to be concise.  Since seeing the film I have thought about it quite a bit, and can’t think about anything else but seeing it again, which is a sign of how compelling it is.  In fact if the film is nothing it is incredibly compelling.  Basically from start to finish it is a pulse inducing thrill ride.  Chris Nolan has clearly honed his talents as a director of action films and this movie benefits from it.  It truly is an intense journey.  However it is often those moments that seem to be thrown in just to appease the films lust to be a Hollywood actioneer that it loses integrity as a good film.  Silly formulaic one-liners, a police officers hat blowing off, Jim Gordon dramatically putting his glasses on etc.

            One of the films biggest struggles was obviously following up Heath Ledgers Joker of the previous film.  While from a literary or symbolic stand point The Joker is a much more substantial character than the likes of Bane, Joker has no humanity.  Bane is presented with an interesting amount of moral ambiguity that for me make him a much more interesting person to have as a villain.  His dialogue is consistently the strongest in the film (the only good dialogue in the film in my opinion, more on that later).  Bane’s wardrobe was great.  And I was not prepared for how fantastic Tom Hardy’s portrayal of the character would be.  He absolutely blew me away.  The voice was great and the physical presence was unbeatable.  I count Bane as being among the strongest elements of the film.  However Chris Nolan continues his trend of not being able to finish characters.  There is a turn at the end that rather sully’s Bane as a character and a villain.  Still I think that Bane is all in all a more compelling character than Joker was, and I think production designers, screenwriters and Tom Hardy should all be lauded for the terrific presentation of the character.

            The turn I mentioned is a twist that shows up in act 3, and I won’t say anymore other than that it is an interesting and well crafted twist, that I didn’t see coming.  I just wish it hadn’t lessened Bane in a way that it didn’t need to.  The story is a compelling one, and is well timed.  Some elements are a bit confusing and forced, and I’m disappointed that its motivations are so similar (ie identical) to “Batman Begins.”  Still it works well.  Batman is presented as an aging and somewhat pathetic character unable to move on, and this is done well.  Christian Bale’s Batman voice is as silly as ever, and will continue to be joked about on the internet, but his turn as Bruce Wayne is as interesting as it has been since the first film.  I feel this is the pargraph to mention Catwoman, but I have little to say.  Anne Hathaway does a good enough job with her.  I’ve heard opinions running the spectrum, and I seem to land in the middle.

            As much fun as I had with the film, and as good as I thought it was, I’m certainly not without complaints, a few having already been mentioned.  The dialogue in general is pretty weak.  It’s full of formulaic clichés, clunky exposition and overly manipulative emotion.  The music is hackneyed and overly present, as is Hans Zimmer’s modus operandi (again with Bane being the strongest point, as his theme is great).  The plot, while generally well crafted, does make a few serious missteps, and the ending (while satisfying) had elements that were not very well executed.  I think, as with Nolan’s other Batman films, this film is very good but makes enough substantial mistakes to hold it back from being something much better than it is, even though it comes so close.

            Thematically “Rises” takes on a lot of current themes with a bit more grace than “Dark Knight’s” misplaced statement about the patriot act, though not much.  There are irrelevant references to current occupy rhetoric from Catwoman and Bane seems to represent utopian anarchist views, as he reclaims power and places it in the hands of the people, views that in the end are represented as violent and chaotic.  In a final symbolic war our heroes are a fascist police force exhibiting some police brutality on the “terrorists” who may or may not just represent those repressed by an over reaching legal structure.  The fact that the film raises questions about political structures speaks to its credit, but I find it odd that a story about a vigilante hero would turn into a seemingly pro-fascist political statement.  It’s not as simple as that, and I’ve got more thinking to do, but that was my initial take on things.

            So let’s wrap up before things get out of hand.  This is a film of such clout that you’ve probably already seen it.  For those of you who may still be on the fence about it I can report, as someone who was also very skeptical, that it is in fact a very good movie and it is very much worth watching (especially in imax if possible).  It is full of mistakes, but not enough to keep it from being very good.  It may well be my favorite of the Nolan Batman franchise.  Those are my thoughts.  I’m interested in yours, please feel free to comment.

Album of the Month (?): The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963)

I know the internet doesn't care much for excuses, so instead of rambling about why it's been a month or two since my last post, I'll give a quick double post.

Rochester's Jazz Festival recently came and went, bringing people to the streets, and cars to the 20 dollar parking.  Most of the acts were really bad, and could hardly be called jazz (here's looking at you Dweezil Zappa), but the atmosphere was exciting and fresh.  There was a jazz trio playing in Java's downtown that had the subversive fire that makes Jazz great.  As I always say: Jazz is the Rock and Roll of the music world.  In the '40s, '50s and '60s jazz was dangerous and scary to the safe white mainstream.  It was music that broke the rules.  It was wild, it was drug fueled, and it was a lively, rebellious counter culture.  The beat writers weren't trying to sound like Buddy Holly after all (not that I don't love Buddy Holly), they were listening to Miles Davis.  Sitting in there and listening to the jazz music in the dank, humid coffee shop made me want to write subversive literature.  It ignited a passion for Jazz that has been burning wildly since.

So I've spent the last several weeks listening to hardly anything but jazz.  Two clear favorites emerged for me: the wild free Jazz of Ornette Coleman that exploded onto the scene in the late 50's and music of Charles Mingus.

"Ah Um" has always been one of my favorite records, but I decided to start digging into Mingus' library a bit more.  I came upon the 1963 album "The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady" and it instantly blew my mind.  This is a land mark of jazz, and of music in general.  It is a bold record that shows Mingus' chops as a composer and band leader.  The album runs just under 40 minutes and is essentially one long piece divided into 4 tracks.  Mingus leads an 11 piece band through his composition and himself plays double bass and at times piano.  His tendency as a perfectionist evidently led to heavy use of over dubbing to get everything just right.  This obviously sets itself from a lot of other jazz, which often relies on the raw energy of improvisation and live performance.  That energy of performance isn't lost in the theater though, thanks to the sharp production but especially to the passion felt in the musicians through their instruments, and of course the brilliance of the piece and Mingus' devotion to it.

The album ebbs and flows through idea's and moods, progressing the way a symphony or a piece of theater would.  No wonder that it was partially written as a ballet.  The music needs nothing else though.  It feels like more than an album.  It feels like you are being taken on a journey.  It feels like theater, entering through your ears and resonating in every bone.  The music is pure life.

It is one of the best albums I have ever heard, and I have nothing else to say about it.  When I listened to it, it was combined with "Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus" another great album from later that year.  This is a reminder of the fire of rebellion that burns in great jazz music.  I think that jazz at its best is the peak of music and even art.  It requires technical mastery, and mastery of craft, but also it eschews rules and structure, constantly forging new idea's and paths, and constantly challenging accepted norms and standards.  Jazz has become a heady, studied game for white people, and has lost most of its rebellious spirit.  Albums like this remind me what Jazz once was, and what it still can mean.  This music comes straight out of the cosmos, enters my body and resides in my brain.  This album is a master work.

Trailer: The Master

It has been an eternity since I've posted, and I feel bad about that.  I've been moving, and now I have no internet.  I'm sitting in the local Coffee Shop taking care of some business, and I figured it would be best if I posted to let you know I'm still alive and I still think about movies and music.

So I'll repost this trailer for PTA's upcoming film "The Master" that was released a few weeks ago.  If you only see one film this year, make it this one.

Heads Up: Ran (1985)

It's been far too long since I've written a Heads Up for you.  So here goes.  Akira Kurosawa's 1985 film "Ran."
If you think you ought to see "Ran," you probably already know you want to see it.  I'll just confirm: yes, you should see it.  Like most of Kurosawa's films this is an epic, and truly an epic, and an artistic masterpiece.  It was the biggest budget Japanese film ever to have been released when it came out.  It isn't hard to see why.  The film boasts incredible production design, thousands of extras, huge sweeping shots of grand locations and enormous armies.  There is a ton going on here.  It truly is a spectacle to behold.
The story is based on Shakespeare's "King Lear."  I had heard that before seeing the movie, but expected it to be based on Shakespeare the way "Forbidden Planet" is based on Shakespeare (that is to say, hardly at all).  This really is just the story of "King Lear" though, with a few minor adaptations made in order to make it fit in Feudal age Japan.  I love "King Lear," and I find Feudal age Japan terribly interesting, so this film is really a recipe for greatness, especially with the genius of Kurosawa behind the wheel.
Still I didn't find the film as engaging as other Kurosawa classics such as "Rashoman" and "Seven Samurai."  This was the first color film I've seen of his, and Kurosawa uses color to the fullest advantage in creating a vibrant, distinct and vast atmosphere for the story to reside in.  Visually the film is absolutely arresting.  It is full of beautifully composed shots, staged with stunning accuracy.  I remember in particular a shot of several mounted warriors standing in the foreground watching a mountain ridge miles away as two armies move into place on the horizon.  It's a stunningly framed shot, and I can't imagine what planning it took to time and frame up subjects who were many miles away from each other.  As a quick scan of the wikipedia article about the film will tell you, Kurosawa spent 10 years prior to filming painting every shot of the film for story boarding.  What an eccentric artistic genius thing to do, right?  Out of control.
This is truly an artistic achievement, and certainly a masterpiece.  I felt it suffered from some pacing issues that caused the story to drag at points when it did not need to.  This does keep it from being as great a film as it could have been.
In the end though we still have one of the grandest and most impressive films ever made.  It has great sets and locations, huge battle scenes, terrifying stunts (I'm thinking specifically of the numerous shots showing soldiers being shot off their horses while at full gallop with an army of other horses riding past them, someone had to have gotten hurt) and stunning production value.  Everything facet of the film is executed deliberately with artistic consideration; every costume, every frame, every actors blocking.  This is a calculated and beautiful piece of classic world cinema.  If that's what you dig, next time you have about 3 hours, this film is worthy of your time.  In fact a more valid question to ask yourself isn't if the film is worth your time, but if you are worth its....

In that case.  Excelsior.

From the Feed: Movie Miniatures.

I found this cool blog about movie miniatures.  I love miniatures.  I think they're super cool, I think they're a very cool convention of film making, especially now, when they are so underutilized.  Movies with good practical effects and miniatures always catch my eye.

This blog just has lots of cool pictures.  I liked it, thought I'd pass it on.

http://movieminiatures.blogspot.com/

News: Part 3 in the Blood and Ice Cream trilogy may really exist someday.

No longer than a week ago I was riding my bike home from having watched "Hot Fuzz" with some buddies and I was thinking to myself how there probably wouldn't be a conclusion to the so-called "Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy."  It has been quite some time since "Hot Fuzz" came out, and everyone involved has gone on in different directions to do other things of varying quality; from Edgar Wright's turn directing "Scott Pilgram" towards the positive end to most movies Simon Pegg has been in at the other end (here's looking at you "Run Fatboy Run").  This lead me to doubt that we would ever find out what film would feature Simon Pegg eating mint flavored (or flavoured, in this case) Cornetto's brand ice cream.

Well, I guess my doubts were at least partially unfounded.  Simon Pegg has posted a picture of the cover page of a script written by he and Wright titled "The World's End."  So, yeah.  I guess we have that to look forward to.  I'm pretty excited.  You should also be.

If you don't trust me, feel free to read about it at slashfilm here.

And as a reminder, if you haven't already seen "Attack the Block," I encourage you to do so.

The Tops: Music Videos - "This Ain't No Picnic"

Minutemen are one of my favorite bands.  There is really no one else like them.  Their blending of punk energy and diy aesthetic with funky rhythms and a whole slew of other styles make them one of the coolest bands of the early 80's.  Their masterpiece "Double Nickels on the Dime," released in 1984, is one of my favorite ever albums.
One of the many stand out tracks from the over 40 track album is the song "This ain't No Picnic," a great punk tune with an ample amount of funk and a driving drum line.  At about two minutes this is one of the longest tracks on the whole record.  The video begins with footage of Ronald Reagan flying an airplane from some public domain war film he was in, and then intersperses this with the band playing, and people working.  The band is filmed to match the other footage to make it seamless.  Sometimes with the worlds interact as the plane shoots at the Minutemen and D. Boon playing amidst the smoke and dust kicked up around him.  The video is fun and cool, and a perfect relic of its time and of this band.  That's why I chose it in my top 5 favorite music videos.  Hope you dig it.

The Tops: Music Videos - "Can't keep Johnny Down"

I've been pretty busy with the semester ending and all, so I haven't had time for movies, but I assume soon we will get a pretty steady stream of Heads Up's.  Till then, we have our weekly list of my favorite music videos to keep us going.

They Might Be Giants is a band I grew up with as my brother had their cassette.  "Triangle Man" and "Birdhouse in your Soul" have been a part of my life almost as long as I can remember, and the album "Flood" remains one of my very favorite albums ever, and not just because of nostalgia, but because it is a great album.  Now, They Might Be Giants have had a few weak albums here and there, but they have been one of the most consistently interesting and consistently fun bands since they have been around.  There is really no one else doing what they are doing.  Always evolving, and still always being distinctly them.  Last year they released the album "Join Us" which is a super solid album, and plays almost like a best of; showcasing a variety of styles they have explored throughout there 20-some-odd year career.
The lead of track from this album is the catchiest and most memorable, and quickly has become one of my favorite They Might Be Giants songs.  They made their own video for it, but I haven't even seen it yet.  They had a contest for users to submit their own videos for the song, and this video was the winner of the contest.  It is one of the best realized music videos I have ever seen.  Conceptually, it's not really doing anything all that new, but it just does it better than any video I have seen before.  It captures the tone and feeling of the song, and the band in general, perfectly.  As a warning, the video does feature a hairy topless man running.  Without further ado, please enjoy the winning video for "Can't Keep Johnny Down."





All of the dicks in this big town can't keep Johnny down. And may it be the same for you today, too.

"It gets better at BYU"

I'm very proud of BYU that this exists.  I have nothing else to say, but that I think this is beautiful.

The Tops: Music Videos - "Once in a Lifetime"

Let's invent a new segment here just to confuse everyone!  This is something I recently thought about, and I thought this might be a fun little exercise.  I was recently trying to decide my 5 favorite music video's.  I haven't thought of all of them yet.  I'll do one every Thursday for the next 5 weeks until I have my full list.  Maybe I'll write about them clumsily.  Maybe not.

First things first though.  Let's lay one on you.  I came up with the idea to make this list while watching the music video for "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads.  "Once in a Lifetime" is one of their best known songs, and was the big hit from their 1980 album "Remain in Light," which is one of my all time favorite albums.
This music video is just so delightfully kooky.  Only David Byrne could do this.  It's so weird and fun.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to watch this video back in 1980.  It has some interesting visual effects, that probably would have been pretty crazy at the time.  A lot of the time the music video can change your view of a song, or can distract you from the song (like the music video for "Blonde Fire," an awesome video for a mediocre song).  However this music video just feels like a perfect extension of the song itself.

If you haven't seen this music video, feel free to take the time to do so now.

News: PT Anderson's next coming, with dates.

Probably the movie I am following the most right now, Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" will officially be getting it's limited release on October 12 of this year.  It will then fan out from there.  This is Anderson's first film since 2007's "There Will Be Blood," which was also scored by Johnny Greenwood, as "The Master" will be.
"The Master" stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, and is about a man returning from the war who decides to start an organized religion.  Everyone at this point makes a tongue and cheek comment about how the movie is not about Scientology, while hinting that it really is.  I'm not gonna do that, because I think that's dumb.
This is currently the biggest blip on my radar in terms of movies for this year.  PT Anderson is my favorite (living) film maker, and this film deserves an eye kept on it.

Slashfilm's coverage of this news here.
As always, live long and Excelsior.

Heads Up: Songs from the Second Floor

It has been too long since I have done a "heads up."  I've been trying to think of an interesting film to talk about, and although I've been seeing some pretty cool ones lately, none of them seemed like they were the type that would warrant a heads up.  In terms of out there films you might not normally run across, "Songs from the Second Floor" is precisely the kind of movie I want to discuss on this blog.
It is a Swedish film that came out in 2000.  The structure of the film moves through a series of slowly moving, loosely connected vignettes.  It has a few running characters, and a vague running plot, but this film is one of the most absurd things I have ever had the pleasure of watching.  Now I know there are probably people who upon reading that sentence become turned off of this film.  If you are one of those people, there is nothing I can do that would make you want to watch this movie.  "Songs from the Second Floor" has a very specific type of humor, and I don't think it's for everyone.  Not everybody would dig this movie.  But if you do like absurdist humor you owe it to yourself to track down this film.
This is, namely, the most absurd film I have ever seen.  I loved it.  It is full of bizarre scene set ups, and the scenes hold just long enough for some even more bizarre turn.  You never know what to expect, and so consistently you almost come to expect to be surprised.  There are, however, running themes that cover a wide variety of very broad issues and social problems, and some of the comments made can be startlingly poignant.  The whole film has a rather post-apocalyptic feel to it, with it's utter lack of color, unexplained traffic jams, and processions of business people flagellating themselves.
Each vignette is just one shot, and each scene plays out without any cuts.  It really plays a bit like a theater production in this way.  We are very distant from the characters physically, and this translates into the emotional disconnect we feel.  One thing I found remarkable was what an undertaking the film was, and how many people are in it.  This movie just has an immense amount of extras.  As scenes play out, there are often 30, 50, or hundreds of people in the background; present, but not participating.  This presence of masses, who don't contribute to the vignettes, makes the things going on seem all the more absurd.
So if you are interested in bizarre beyond bizarre absurdist humor, I'm giving you herewith a homework assignment: find this movie, whatever the cost.  It is hilarious.  It is a well crafted film, that in its abstract format is able to really sink its teeth into some enormous, universe sized themes.  And it's just weird and funny.

News: TMNT next on the list of things to be ruined, and I guess "Cabin in the Woods" is something

Here's a two parter.  Neither are really news I guess, but both are worth knowing about.

First off, I guess Michael Bay is directing a gritty reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise.  Because that's what we all would like to see.  Deciding that the teenage aspect muddles the concept, Bay has instead opted to make them aliens.  My treatment of this story would be unnecessary next to the AV clubs, so I encourage you to read that here.

News number two, "Cabin in the Woods."  This year will be thickening Joss Whedon's wallet even more, because on top of the 220 million dollar "Avenger's" film which will feature CG renditions of famous actors, the long-time-coming "Cabin in the Woods" has a trailer, and will come out, or something.  There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the script that was co-penned by Mr. Whedon, and nobody really knows what's going on.  I like Joss Whedon a lot, so it's something I'll keep an eye on, but the trailer doesn't look interesting to me at this point.  Not that a thriller/horror/whatever film about teens going to a mysterious isolated place doesn't show promise, but it really doesn't.  We'll see.  Keep your eyes to the skies on that one I suppose.
Trailer here.  They also talk about it with a few words and the like.

Till next time.

Words from Kin: Talking about Prometheus

I'm pretty stoked about "Prometheus" myself, despite not being a big fan of Ridley Scott.
If you haven't checked out the trailers I recommend doing so, if you have here is a fun little discussion of them on my buddies blog.
Either way it's worth taking a look at here








Well, friends, all I can say is: Excelsior!

AotM: "Country Songs, Old and New"

I was getting pretty burnt out on Punk a little while back, so I turned to folk music, which naturally lead me directly into a blue grass fling.  In the midst of that kick I found a group called The Country Gentlemen who got together in the mid 50's, a decade or so before the folk revival was a popular thing.  Their 1960 album "Country Songs, Old and New" is exactly what I would ever hope for from a blue grass album, and is, in my limited experience, the best blue grass I have ever listened to.
The group plays a great mix of toe tapping blue grass songs.  It starts of with the upbeat "Roving Gambler," a traditional blue grass tune.  The rest of the album has a few other standards but is mostly original songs.  Charlie Waller is the groups leader (on this album and throughout their career), and plays guitar.  The whole group does vocals, and they sing in beautiful tight harmonies that melt the heart and are enough to make me miss a time and place I have never been.  Banjo and bass contribute wonderfully to the sound while my favorite is consistently the dynamic mandolin playing by John Duffey, who brings a wide range of influence to his style.  The Country Gentlemen lineup went through lots of changes in their history, but this group laid the groundwork here on this first studio album.  It is traditional in all the right places, but pushes boundaries in ways that keep the sound relevant. 
It's tough to pick favorites, as there isn't a weak track in the lot.  "Drifting too Far" is a lovely ballad with gorgeous harmonies, while "Tomorrow is my Wedding Day" is super fun and zips through at hyper speed.  And they're both just within the first 5 tracks.  The album is that strong from start to finish.
This is a beautiful piece of America, and it is one of my favorite albums right now.  Find it, sit on the porch with some sweet tea, and enjoy life.

Heads Up: Attack the Block

I first heard about this movie when a buddy of mine showed me the first trailer for it.  He was excited for it because, as he told me, it was by the people who had made "Hot Fuzz."  Of course after brief investigation I learned that there was actual very little involvement with anyone who had been behind "Hot Fuzz," other than the small roll that Nick Frost plays (and  few other connections).
I really was not expecting much from this movie.  The trailer didn't make it look that interesting to me.  I liked the idea of London youth in the ghetto fighting aliens, but there was nothing particularly intriguing to me about anything else.  Well, I just watched it last night, and, boy, was I surprised.  There are a lot of things going on in this movie, and it does a lot of things very right.
What first struck me was the very classic nature of the films structure.  It is very informed of classic sci-fi (even the title card).  That being said, it brings totally new ideas and settings to the table that I have never been used in science fiction.  Carrying the tagline "Inner city vs outer space," everything is set in a seedy London neighborhood, and revolves around the hoodlums that society has abandoned.  Their apartment house is filmed in a way that makes it look like an alien environment at times with some interesting camera moves.
Thematically, "Attack the Block" covers a lot of ground.  Most up front it explores the theme of class differences, and aspects of London youth culture etc.  It is very interestingly presented, and at times pretty profound.  It's a concept that ran the risk of being heavy handed or didactic, but I didn't feel it ever was.
The aliens themselves are super cool.  They made extensive use of very cool practical effects and costume work.  Computer graphics are used with subtlety and are very effective.  The aliens are original, look great and are utterly terrifying.  The movie is full of well executed scares and moments that make you jump.  There is some graphic moments that give the whole film a very appropriate gritty feel.
All in all I feel like this was a very good science fiction film, and a movie that is definitely worth your time.  It tackles a lot of things, and nails them on the head.  It is a great science fiction, set in an original setting, and tackles some serious societal issues in ways sci-fi usually does not do. 

Heads Up: The Stranger

"The Stranger" is a public domain film that I have had on dvd for years, but for some reason only recently got around to watching it.  It came out in 1946, and is directed by and features the great Orson Welles.
The story is about a detective on the trail of a nazi who was one of the masterminds behind concentration camps and then disappeared without a trace after the war.  It is an interesting yarn, and a good noir story.  It puts a bit of a spin on classic noir form, in that it takes place in a small suburban town in New England, and is set against the back drop of political intrigue, as opposed to traditional noir's urban crime drama.
It is filmed in Welles' typical dynamic style; full of stunning lighting and really stylish compositions.  There are some really brilliant camera moves.  While watching it, I wondered how film can so often use Welles' style as a starting point, and yet carry none of his stylish technique.
The acting of the main character, the detective, is regrettably bland.  I wasn't aware that he was the main character until a good ways into the movie, because he just seemed like a supporting role.  Especially when competing with Welles on screen, who delivers a tremendously compelling performance.
This is a very stylish and well put together noir.  For anybody interested in Orson Welles it would be worth your while to track down this movie.  As it is currently public domain, you should be able to find it on the internet without too much hassle.  Till then, Excelsior, I suppose.

News: something to be aware of.

Many websites such as wikipedia are blacked out to protest censorship.  SOPA and PIPA are laws being discussed in congress that would restrict free speech and unfairly censor the internet.  I don't know a ton about the topic, but as it stands support them in their protest.  I'm not for piracy, but all signs point to this law being the wrong way of going about it, and limit the freedom of the last free media front.  What do you think? 

googles description of the topic, and what can be done.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
wikipedia co-founder discusses why this bill is a problem.
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2012/01/17/erin-wales-wikipedia-sopa.cnn#/video/bestoftv/2012/01/17/erin-wales-wikipedia-sopa.cnn

Heads Up: Eyes Wide Shut

I'm a big Stanley Kubrick fan.  I usually cite him as being my favorite director.  "Eyes Wide Shut" was his final film, and was completed only shortly before he died, and then released posthumously.
It is not a movie I can recommend to everyone.  If you don't know already whether or not you are the type of person to whom I would recommend it, hopefully you will by the end of this heads up.
This movie is about sex.  In the best, most intelligent and mature way possible.  Sex as a theme is explored in a variety of really interesting ways throughout the films odyssey like proceedings.  It begins by addressing ideas of fidelity, and discussing the topic of human sexuality in various ways film as a medium rarely touches.  I was already on board at this point, when the film takes a drastic turn and evolves into something much bigger.  This turn is handled in such a well crafted way that I didn't even realize the turn had been taken until reflecting on the film as a whole afterwords.  The film begins focused on Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's characters, and their relationship.  It expands those ideas to encompass something more epic in scope, and yet still focusing on the concept and relationship established in the opening scenes.
Although not abundantly apparent at the films offset, stylistically "Eyes Wide Shut" is thoroughly a Kubrick film.  Especially by the time we get to the surreal, ritualistic worship sequence it is clear that the brilliant hand of Kubrick is crafting a masterpiece.  The film takes place in opposing environments; either lush, luxurious, baroque settings, or filthy urban settings.  Both are as exquisitely chosen and filmed as you would expect from this famed perfectionist.  The composition, too, is as just as brilliant as any Kubrick film, consistently creating stunningly beautiful, and haunting images.  The music, and overall sound design also deserves a mention, as it wonderfully supports the story and the images.  In every way a film can be, this film is truly an artistic accomplishment.
I was a bit surprised at how engaging the story was in addition to that.  I wasn't expecting such a dramatic and intense film, but I was really drawn in to the story.  Performances are great all around, and the casting was clearly very deliberate (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman being as close to statuesque perfect human forms as there could have been).

So in the end we have a film that is really stunningly beautiful as a piece of art, thorough in its exploration of extremely delicate themes, and even tells a thrilling story.  So from that end, it is recommendable for just about every reason you would want to watch a movie.  If you are up for it, don't deprive yourself, but if a unabashed, graphic film about human sexuality is not your idea of a good time, go ahead and pass this one, and jump back to my heads up about "The Killing".

Heads Up: Forbidden Planet

Hoorah!  Another heads up.  It would have been nice to get a few suggestions to you for the holidays, but I was back home, and the internet isn't provided in Fangorn forest where my parents live.  I hope you all watched the Star Wars Holiday Special for Christmas, or for Life Day, if you don't like to shave.

Anyway.  Today I wanted to give you a heads up about the 1956 science fiction film "Forbidden Planet."  This film is based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest," kind of, and tells the story of a crew sent on a mission to a far away planet to investigate the disappearance of the last ship that went there.  The story is really quite interesting and builds to a thrilling conclusion.
Enough with the pleasantries, though.  This movie is great because of how it looks.  It came out in 1956, and I haven't come across a better looking sci-fi that came out until Star Wars, two decades later.  This movie looks incredible.  I really like the style of 50's and 60's sci-fi effects, so it only takes a good space ship model or matte painting of an alien planet to get me giddy anyway, but this movie presents so many more cool images in ways that are still completely riveting.  This movie broke ground in ideas for animation, music and included the first substantial robot since Metropolis.  It deserves mentioning that the robot's name was "Robbie the Robot," and his career really tanked after this movie; appearing in some really low quality b films.  Back to point: this movie simply looks incredible.  Even now in 2012, which as far as we know might be the last year films are ever made by mankind if the Mayans and Roland Emmerich are right, this film has incredible visuals.  From start to finish the special effects are creative and varied and brilliantly implemented to create a wonderfully engaging sci-fi world including ancient ruins of an advanced civilization, ray guns vaporizing tigers, and giant invisible monsters.  It's great stuff.
The music is also really noteworthy.  composed by Louis and Bebe Barron, it is the first all electronic score, and predates the invention of the MOOG synthesizer by almost a decade.  They essentially invented synthesizers for this movie, because nothing like that existed yet.  The score creates a nervous, foreign and completely alien atmosphere, and I love it.
Oh yeah, and the movie stars Leslie Nielsen, before he started doing comedy.  That's interesting.
So, in the end, you should watch this movie, probably.  It is a super cool science fiction story wrapped up in an incredible science fiction film.  Still, all these decades later, completely mind blowing, so much so that Robbie just can't help but give himself an oil-job when he thinks about it.

Album of the Month: Cartography (2008)

I decided I wasn't probably going to get in more than one film related post a week, and because I want to focus more on film than music, I loosened up the music posts to be Albums of the Month as opposed to weekly.  All in favor?  Good.

So this month I'll talk about Arve Henriksen.  He is a classically trained Norwegian trumpet player who, highly influenced by the Japanese shakuhachi flute (i have to look up the name ever time, I promise I'm not making it up), has an incredibly unique tone quality.  His trumpet is ethereal, and he often uses the instruments sounds, such as breathing and valve sounds, for a sound completely unique to him.
The album I specifically want to talk about is 2008's "Cartography," which is, as far as I am aware, his most current album of four (all of which I enjoyed).  "Cartography" is simply one of the most beautifully constructed albums I have ever listened to.  It is tends to be mellow, drawing on ideas of ambient music, so it's good for reading or homework.  When I first listened to it, though, I would often have to pause to marvel at the shear beauty of the sound, and I'm not exaggerating for melodramatic effect.
On display here is a blend of Henriksen's complete arsenal.  Obviously his mastery of the trumpet takes center stage, but his angelic falsetto comes through at times, while smart electronic manipulations subtly give the musical landscape borders so immense they feel like they never end.  The Album itself is constructed like a novel, or like Jewish scripture, and features a sort of chiasmus that helps each song flow naturally, like a receding wave or a naturally orbiting moon.
The second and the penultimate track contain spoken word pieces by David Sylvian, of Japan, and are fascinating even in their seemlessly doubled presentation (I can't explain it, just listen).  My favorite track is probably halfway point "Recording Angel" but every track can be a highlight.
This album is simply gorgeous.  It's a beautiful piece of truth through music.  It's bold and unique, but still enjoyable and accessible.  It has been said about Brian Eno's ambient work that it is like an exquisite painting, in that in enhances the beauty of a room whether or not you pay attention to it, but when you carefully study it more depth and craft becomes aware.  So it is with this album.
Again I would recommend all of Arve Henriksen's albums, I find him fascinating.