Symphonic Cinema

Monday, August 19, 2013

Moving and streamlining

Hi Everybody! I'm moving my movie blog over into my regular blog, here. I'm trying to make things easier on myself. So, if you follow this blog you might want to move over to the other blog.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

My Favorite anti-utopian revolt movies

In Time
I'm prompted to blog because I've just finished watching In time. I watched a preview some time ago and added it to my netflix queue and forgot about it. It arrived and I love it. The premise is simple, everyone is genetically engineered to live 25 years and at that age you are stuck looking like your 25 year old self. You can then add time to your life, but you won't look any older. From the IMDB:

In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

It's a fun and thought provoking film. (Where were the cellphones people? I mean that was my only real problem with the film, no cells, I'm so attached to my new iphone I can't even watch a movie and not wonder where the cellphones are..)It has left me thinking more about the importance of time.
I suspect I'll find myself pondering this film for some time to come. The concepts behind this film are fascinating for me. It's crazy to watch people pay for coffee with 5 minutes worth of time. Time off their life. Paying bills with minutes, hours, or weeks off of your lifetime. It is a horrifying thought. I really enjoyed this, though I spent a good 20 minutes trying to place the Timekeeper, he was the Scarecrow in the first Batman movie. I also should add, this movie surprised me a few times. Things were done that I'd never seen happen in a film, which is saying something. Oh, one last note, I really like Timberlake's performance. It is the 2nd or 3rd of his movies I have seen. He's always been a basic guy.He isn't distracting and he doesn't chew up the scenery. I like that. He puts in a really solid performance in this film. I really liked it. I recommend it.
Okay, because In Time was movie about an anti-utopian time with major acts of revolt in it I have now had to come up with a list.

Children of men

A fabulous film that is now one of my all time favorites. I love Clive Owen in this, and I love Pam Ferris and Michael Caine and Julianne Moore. It is a violent, brutal but touching film. Not a world I'd want to live in, but a story that should be told. The idea of humans facing their own eventual extinction, and having no way of stopping it, and the idea of babies as miracles really touched me. I felt all the acting was superb. I highly recommend it.

Fight Club
I'm hesitant about this being an dystopian film. I would, however call it a movie about rebellion. And, like in time, it is rebellion of a sorts against capitalism. Here's one of my favorite moments, partially because I love that they used a Pixies song, I won't lie, I love that. Also, the destruction is fantastic.

I had made notes here to myself to mention, since I'm talking about dystopian films and rebellion, why not mention A Clockwork Orange. Here's why: I hate the film. Loathe it. Can't stand it. Find it a violation of the work of writing itself on a primevel level. It is loathesome and horrid and blasphemy. I also am not a fan of the edited novel. I find that, in my universe to be an agregious sin. Anthony Burgess, the author of A Clockwork Orange had a full 21 chapters in his novel. It was published for years with only 20 chapters. The entire last chapter was cut. It changed the entire meaning of the novel. Because Kubrik used the American version as his model for the film, it is inaccurate. It doesn't represent Burgess' novel. I loved Burgess' novel.
You can see here what Anthony Burgess wrote about it here.

Dark City
I couldn't tell you now what this film is about, needless to say, all I remember is that it was pretty and reminds me of Seattle, no sunshine whatsoever. Oh, and it had a crazy looking Kiefer Sutherland (another good Kiefer movie - Flatliners, if they're going to re-make anything, why not have Darren Aronofsky get his hands on that film). It is dark and pretty.

Ghost in the Shell
Actually, this is a lie, I love Ghost in The Shell 2nd Gig more than the movie, by a long shot. It's lovely and it's a TV series, not a movie. Still, that is closer to a world I want to live in. I would be cyberized. I would also want a Tachikoma of my own.

Bladerunner

Pretty, dark, sad. I like both versions. There, I said it. I like the narrated version and the quiet version. I just like it all the way around.

Tank Girl

I adore Lori Petty, and really liked Naomi Watts in this. This came out ages ago, and was a blast then, and I can still dig it now. It's fun, there are tanks and Malcolm McDowell plays (gasp!) a bad guy. There are also kangaroo men and Devo songs. What's not to love here? However, much like Dune, water is a shortage but this is a funnier sillier dytopia. I love it, and still don't want to live in that universe either.

These are my picks. What would you pick?

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Frida

So, I loved this movie, I was apprehensive when I heard it was being released, there were rumours of j-lo's involvement, which was largely untrue, Salma Hayek and Julie Taymor were a large part of the film being produced.
I normally cannot stand Taymor's work. I loathed Titus. However, I mostly enjoyed Across the Universe, though like all of her work, with the exception of Frida seems overblown to me. Too big, too grandiose.
Frida Kahlo was larger than life. To me at least. The first time I heard of Friday Kahlo I was in my junior year of high school and I'd gone to Tucson with my step-mom and sister to toodle. Usually our toodles included some vintage clothes stores, lunch at Furr's, some coffee and sweets somewhere, and maybe a visit to a museum or park. That day we went to the Ted De Grazia musuem The Gallery of the Sun. I think I'd been there before earlier in my life, but I still remember this day. It had been rainy and we walked in to the museum and it was the Pasion por Frida exhibit. Nothing could have prepared me. I'd never seen someone expose themselves so completely on canvas before. Frida's work always shows everything, she seemed to throw open the quiet spaces in her life and dust off the cobwebs. Her paintings showed her pain, her fears, her loves, everything. She was a remarkable painter and one of my inspirations. The Ted De Grazia exhibit was Pasion por Frida in Jan-March of 1993 I think.
I didn't know about the controversy then, and I don't remember going to that museum prior to that visit. I don't remember any penises, but I do remember it being quite graphic. Although Frida's art itself wasn't shown, representations of it abounded. Strangely when I was looking for the actual dates of the exhibit I could only find reference to it by one article. It's strange now to find those kind of limits on information on the Internet. At least, I found it a bit odd. I remember it was in high school, I couldn't tell you when for sure though.

Frida the movie, is quite a good one. I enjoy it immensly, I think the performances were solid and the switch from paintings to reality or dreams are beautifully done, and it may be my favorite of Taymor's films. It is certainly the only one I enjoy. Frida was an amazing woman and this film doesn't stray from the controversies in her life. I would however, recommend doing your reading up on her afterwards, her diaries and art speak so much for her also.
Frida was ballsy and direct and she came through so clearly in her paintings.She gives me hope that the world can accept women like me and her, artistic, passionate, colorful women.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

My Favorite Virus films

These are movies about infectious diseases that don't turn you into zombie. Which is why you won't find Resident Evil or 24 Days Later on here. I'm mainly going for disease fear here.

Outbreak
Pontypool ( I think of this as a very unique virus movie more than a zombie film, this is up for debate)
Blindness
The Crazies
The Plague
The Stand

Friday, September 16, 2011

home movies...and whatnot

This is a link to Walter's film No Laughing Matter...view it and show others.

I hope at some point to post more links when more of his films are available and once he starts making more movies (hopefully this will be sooner than later).

Hopefully, up here in the PNW he can meet more movie people.

You can read his own thoughts here.

Upcoming movies I want to see

We go out pretty regularly, and by "we" I mean Walter and I, with friends to watch movies and lately I've been asked what I want to see and I've come up blank.
However, I did get a chance to peruse Hulu's trailers and found a few movies coming up that I'd like to see.

Here goes:
the last circus - Walter & I agreed that this was disturbed enough to go watch in the theater, it could be really really bad, or not that bad. We'll see. Either way, movie or rental I suspect I'll end up seeing this.

special treatment - it's French, it's about a high end prostitute going through a mid-life crisis. Could be interesting. I'll likely end up renting this one through Netflix.

chasing madoff - Again, because it's a documentary and will likely bore everyone I know this will be a "me" film. A renter, but one I'm hoping to find informative.

circumstance - forbidden love in Iran, I'm all there. Both women looked beautiful and it looked like it could be a powerful film. I'm all over it.

the interrupters a documentary about inner city schools and keeping kids in school, it also looked powerful and informative. I'm all over these sorts of docs.

3 - It just looked interesting, what can I say. The trailer sucked me in.

the ides of march - a political drama that looks tasty and it has George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei in it.

Fireflies in the garden - another sappy film, this time with Ryan Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Willem Dafoe and Emily Watson. It could be great. I like Ryan Reynolds and love Willem Dafoe. It's an unusual cast but could be quite extraordinary. I suspect though, it's going to be considered a "chick flick" by my compatriots and I will be renting this also. We shall see though, it does have Willem Dafoe who is not known for his "chick flicks" unlike Ms. Roberts.

red state - I've seen most of Kevin Smith's work so this will be another I will give a try. We'll see.

hugo - It looked beautiful and enchanting.

the descendants - Another Clooney film, but it looks like something he hasn't tried before. A man trying to get to know his daughters. I like the cast, Matthew Lillard ( a fav since SLC Punk) Judy Greer who I love off of Archer & Arrested Development. It could be a solid film. Again, likely a rental.

another earth - It just looked like fun.