R.I.P Chris Marker

     Today filmaker, writer, photographer, and pioneer of the essay film, Chris Marker has passed. This is indeed a sad thing to hear. I remember watching La Jetee for the first time and being awe struck. The dedication to executing such an endeavor is one I haven't seen matched in filmmaking to this day. There is something deeply profound and poetic to his work that I'm not sure, even to this day, I grasp fully.  He died on his 91st birthday, may he rest in peace. Watch some of his films and prepare to be changed forever.

'Dost my ears deceive me?' Beatty Says Dick Tracy Sequel May Happen.

/Film just posted that Warren Beatty is considering doing a Dick Tracy sequel. Pardon?

See the post here.

“I’m gonna make another one.” he said at a Q&A, after a screening of the film yesterday, at the Hero Complex Film Festival in Los Angeles. Ummm sorry what sir? Let's try this again. Dick Tracy? One of the best comic adaptations to date in American Cinema. A sequel? With whom I might add? You going to get Al to come out of hiding? And where is Charlie Korsmo after 1999? Not sure it will be quite like it was. There is a genius blend of the 2D world in that film that only the 90s aesthetic provided. Think you're even going to get close to the same essence?

How are you going to do this again?

*please disregard the cheesetastic trailer V.O....It's Disney. It's the 90s.

/Film also reported that Beatty didn't say much else as he's a doesn't like to talk about films before they're made. He comes from old Hollywood, he knows better. Great form I say! But what to do? What to do?.....My nostalgia meters is going off. But think it's hitting red. I worry. Really unless you're going to get some of the genius' working in Japanese anime right now to help you with this and get some no namers to bring the characters a fresh breath then I think you're going down a lonesome road. But my interests are peeked. Beatty out of waiting and for Dick Tracy nonetheless. Well I am in. Just hope it come out s'wonderfully.

Otherwise, if you haven't seen Dick Tracy please get on that. I'll reiterate, especially with all the comic adaptations going on these days, that it is indeed one of the best you'll see and it came before the year 1999. Oh dear! Say it again so! Trust. Beatty is good. Member, Reds? (he directed this and Dick Tracy) and Shampoo? Ahhhh The Parallax View!? Watch these too. Happy moviegoing folks!

Managing to Amaze Beyond the Grave, a True Artist: Stanley Kubrick

/Film just posted this really amazing animated video of Kubrick's filmography (see below) and it reminded me of something I must recall. I only graduated about a month ago from a film production program.  And one day in my final course my teacher said to an innocent film student passer by and in the most mater of fact fashion "Hey! Do you want to watch one of the greatest movies ever made?" He was of course referring to Kurbrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey,  which we watched in one the purest of forms, 35mm, and with the volume up nice and high! Sure to say this made my entire day and I watched 2001 in the happiest mood I've ever screened it in. 

To honor such feeling only Kubrick can instill. I am posting this little beve of photos that were sent to me that I'd yet to figure out how to present, until now. These were taken in 1949, in Chicago, by Kurbrick on an assignment from Look Magazine. Marvel. Just Marvel. Here are just a select few:

 Full post is here. The assignment was called. "Chicago City of Contrasts." How this man amazes me and it isn't even from old thrills from his past flicks, but from shit I've never seen before. Just can't help but smile. Always a good day when Kubrick is involved.


Here's the video:

Stanley Kubrick - a filmography - from mwoutisseth on Vimeo.


Happy moviegoing folks!

The Brave Little Toaster

When I can't remember the last time I watched a film.... it's time for a refresher. Due to recent mention of this movie and with the hard reality of my robotic response "Oh my gosh! I love that movie!" slapping me in the face I figured I needed to dust off the old VHS again and figure out why I like it so much. Yes I have a VHS copy and yes it still works. I know. I just watched it. Either way, I watched the film and these are my notes based on chronology of plot and not personal importance. 


Fuck I love this animation! - It reminded me of the opening credits of The Land Before Time. Another childhood but recently viewed favorite of mine.


The frightening adventure aspect - I figured the reasons I was so enamored with it when I was a child  was because of this main plot point, it was an animated adventure but with these odd frightening moments that kept my child ass seated for 90mins.

Appliances left in an old cottage set to find their "master" - the genius of this story - After my post viewing research did I find out that the film is based on a book by Thomas M. Disch with the tagline "a bedtime story for small appliances" HA! How wonderful! Time to get the book!


Is the Air Condition voiced by  Jack Nicholson? - I found later on IMDB it isn't, but is voiced by Phil Hartman. Who frequently voices on The Simpson as Troy McClure.


The songs is this movie are priceless hilarity - I didn't know it back then cause to me they were just catchy tunes that I would hum and sing part of the lyrics to, but these songs are crazy! When they are singing about finding ways to get back to the master after the For Sale sign is hammered into the front lawn, they sing: "Master is a man of great reflection." Now I know why my parents refused to watch it with me. These weren't catchy Disney tunes but odd off Broadway animation wonders! And then they were followed by weird moments of action like when Blanket is being stuff into a mouse hole by a bunch of mice after the, what I'd like to call, "music of the forest sesh." Yes you could only imagine, what beauties only 80s animation can bring.

The hardware store - This is a prime explain of singing moments that are frightening yet ever so leaning on the edge of creepy I was talking about above. I'll mention again this isn't frightening in a Disney Snow White's running through the woods kinda way but actually kinda creepy and I don't understand why I child would like this. Maybe cause I didn't know what was happening with my small child brain. But anyhow the appliances make it to the city but are found by a little plump man who looks innocent enough. Once at the store the appliances are bombarded by the "city" lamps and forgotten appliances in a pawn shop which are piece and ripped to shreds at the plump mans desires. It's weird and hard to explain. Just take a look below and see for yourself.



Because yes, this movie is grade B film. But it made me happy once and  despite being more aware of the little odds and ends, I still enjoyed watching it now. Just now it's one of those little creepy diamonds in the rough I hold onto dearly in the cinema vault.

P.s. if you are a TBLT fan here's a little goodie for ya! A printable and then fold-able paper Brave Little Toaster!

Happy moviegoing folks!

What the F***? Iranian Flmmaker Jafar Panahi is jailed for trying to make a movie.

I cannot even believe this. Is the world really still in the barbaric mode? It's the holiday's!

I was reading David Bordwell's blog yesterday and saw this: "One of the finest of Iranian filmmakers, has been sentenced to six years in prison." What???? I said aloud...just what? Filmmaker Jafar Panahi is apparently being imprisoned for preparing a film. The Iranian government believes that he's making an anti-government peice and even though he was filming in his home they seized all the footage and equipment and jailed him and his colleague Rasoulof. This is so sad to hear. Censorship is still alive an well folks and we should really do something about it!  Check out the full Bordwell post here!

R.I.P. Irvin Kershner

It is a sad day indeed. At 87 that man who was handpicked by George Lucas to direct The Empire Strikes Back has passed away. Take a moment and watch it if you can....thoughts to his loved ones. 

Observations on Film Art: One of the Best Film Blogs on the Net

I subscribe to a lot of blogs. Some photo, some journal, some funny, some film. One of my favorite film blogs, though it is written mainly by David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson, is David Bordwell's Observations on film art. These two glorious people were the folk that wrote Film Art: An Introduction, which was my intro to film bible in my first year of Cinema Studies. This morning I came to the newest post, written by Bordwell, named Seduced by structure, and the beginning read:


"If you’re hungry to learn about the ways films can tell stories, a festival provides a feast.  A huge array of narrative strategies is spread out for your delectation. You won’t like every movie you see, but thinking about the mechanics of each one can deepen your experience of it, as well as your appreciation for just how wide cinema’s resources can be. You also get to see how more unusual approaches to storytelling are often imaginative revisions of more traditional strategies." 


*sigh* Sometimes I miss writing papers and doing research. This minor portion of the full post is just so reminiscent of when my days were filled with film theories, discussions and all things wonderfully scholarly about film. I just hope that you have read the above and this has incited your imagination enough to click this link and understand just why David Bordwell's Observations on film art is a must see for any film lover. Definitely one of the happiest moviegoing blogs out there. Check it out here!


Happy moviegoing!

Requeim For A Dream

Hoping to generate some type of discussion with my peers about it, I feel like this needs to be posted. Thing is I am at a loss on how to assess my verdict for the film (for this particular viewing) because I couldn't finish the last ten minutes. I fast forwarded through in addition to shielding my eyes. I have to confess that this reaction was mainly due to the snippets of Ellen Burstyn being electrocuted but that's besides the point. How does one assess or make final conclusions on a film that they couldn't see through? Normally I wouldn't think twice about it and merely pass it by. But the film is just too good to pass up a chance to talk about it.

I started the film and was amazed that this has slipped through the cracks in my years of continuous movie watching. The split screens, fish bowl lenses, the music, the score, cinematography. Holy shit the acting. Ellen Burstyn is absolutely amazing! She is a marvel unto herself. Scenes where there is split screen, stand out for me, like when Harry and Marion are right beside each other, just stunning. What's so impressive, in my book, is how each formal aspect of the film supports one another, they all play into each other, while simultaneously highlighting specifics where necessary. In addition I think, these formal features become a performance within it self. They further externalize either a state of mind or feeling, emphasizing the fragile or fractured state of mind each character may be in. I thought it was just impeccable!

But how to conclude? Questions arise obviously. Does this film still obtain it's potency when you don't finish it properly? Does it still carry the same legitimacy as a text when it makes an audience stop viewing it? Not sure. But I will say this...that this film is scary. Scary but fucken incredible. I recommend the viewing to anyone who want to see great quality within cinema. But with warning.

Happy moviegoing folks!

Le Samourai Remake??? Please No!

What the hell is going on here??? /film reports that John Woo wants to remake Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samouraï. My response is simply NO. Stop this nonsense. Think of something else.

For those of you who don't know, Le Samouraï (1967) is a film starring Alain Delon, in one of his most memorable roles, as a contract killer with the distinction and poise of a samurai warrior. I own this on criterion and its one of my favorites. Criterion describes the film quite perfectly as: "A razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture..." It's too plain to say but this film is just cool. It's just too perfectly cool. Alain Delon defines a history of assassins on film in this feature and does so in a performance met by no other. And despite the comment below the film is gorgeous, subtle, simple, but gorgeous, without even trying, which makes it brilliant.

Let me give you some words from the director himself. Melville said about Le Samouraï: “I don’t want to situate my heroes in time; I don’t want the action of a film to be recognizable as something that happens in 1968. That’s why in Le samouraï, for example, the women aren’t wearing miniskirts, while the men are wearing hats—something, unfortunately, that no one does anymore. I’m not interested in realism. All my films hinge on the fantastic. I’m not a documentarian; a film is first and foremost a dream, and it’s absurd to copy life in an attempt to produce an exact re-creation of it. Transposition is more or less a reflex with me: I move from realism to fantasy without the spectator ever noticing.”

Now please tell me how Mr. Woo plans on achieving anything quite like this? Has he seen his own films? I think not. Either way I urge seasoned filmmakers to take the time to sit down, read something, or maybe even just stare at some nature, but please don't make films you cannot live up to. Let's leave em where they stood. You want to honor it and bring it to the new generation? Fine. But do it in another fashion. Re-release, or do a lil party to commemorate. You want it to inspire your work? Fine. Let it, enjoy, nothing is truly authentic anymore. But please don't think that you can take on the task of remaking something that cannot ever be duplicated. Don't do it. I hope this never transpires.

Spielberg to remake Harvey...really? are we doing this?

I'm sorry but this is crazy now. What does this mean we're going to go back and remake A Philadelphia Story too; Starring Hugh Jackman, Greg Kenner, and Lindsay Lohan? Steven we love you and all but jeeze man. I really hope that this is done with the utmost respect and precision and only honors the old one as opposed to changing anything about it. Please read my review on the original Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart. I hope you agree that this is not the best idea.

San Diego "Hot" News

So I wont usually do this, but I thought this was necessary considering the circumstances. I was in San Diego this weekend to enjoy a Killers concert and amidst the rendezvous of record shopping my roomie and I were informed of this...The San Diego Union Tribune, "Hot" News reads:

"Tony Curtis walked down Memory Lane here yesterday - in high heels. In a 50-year anniversary observance of the cross-dressing classic Some Like It Hot, filmed, in part, at the Hotel del Coronado, Curtis reminisced with reporters about wearing heels. The hardest part of walking in them, he said, was making sure one foot was firmly planted before the other was lifted. As for what it was like, in his role as Josephine, to have a bosom, Curtis quipped: "I couldn't see my wrist watch." He has returned to Hotel del Coronado this weekend for a series of commemorative events..."

Oh yes folks! Oh yes! Now I can't say I saw the glorious Curtis himself, but we definitely made a B line to the Hotel del Coronado and saw just how great this place is. Also there was a collection of paintings done by Curtis himself. Now I couldn't take pictures, but I managed to snap some on my phone so they are a bit blurry. If you notice in the corner Tony Curtis has signed all of them. Ahhhh! Oh yes ladies and gents, Tony Curtis, actor, author, and painter. In addition the Hotel was absoluetly stunning and if I could afford the $340.00 ticket I would have saw Curtis that night at his Q&A about him, his book, and the making of Some Like It Hot.

Happy Anniversary to one of the greatest movies of all time! AFI ranks this at the top of their list of best Comedies of the century. If this doesn't sway you to watch it, then how bout Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag. And if that doesn't sway you, how bout Marilyn Monroe singing, or Monroe herself. How bout one of the greatest writers Hollywood has ever seen? Wilder anyone?. Either way Billy Wilder is one of the greatest screenwriters/directors of all time. A good portion of his films are some of the most quoted in Hollywood history. His skills are key to creating some of the most memorable moments in American cinema history. "All right, Mr. Deville, I'm ready for my close-ip" anybody...anybody...? Oh yes folks, I cannot doubt that you wont be roaring with laughter from this film, it's so superbly executed and so well done. It's a gem!

Billy Wilder is a genius and if you haven't seen this film I suggest you do so straigth away...straigth away! Other examples of Wilder genius include but not limited to: Double Indemnity, Sunset Blvd., Sabrina, The Seven Year Itch, and The Apartment.

Enjoy folks & happy moviegoing!

Le Notte di Cabiria

Per l’amore di Dio. Fellini does this to me every time; every single time. He’s proven to me again why he’ll forever be my favorite director.

So I haven’t posted in a while and I thought to myself which film should I watch to review for the blog after almost two months absence? What would prove to be so emotionally bountiful that it would have me writing for an entire afternoon? Eureka! Fellini I tell myself. Put some Fellini on. Since I have collected a plethora of used Criterion Collection Fellini picks I put one of them on. One I haven’t seen. Le Notte Di Cabiria.

Unsure of it’s premise—as I refused to read the backs of DVD’s anymore—it begins. My notes for the beginning of this film consist of, mentioning the music as it’s pure Nino Rota magic. *Side note: Something needs to be written about the collaboration with these two men because it’s one of legend. Anyways, back to my notes on Cabiria. So I mention the music, Gieulietta Masina’s height (as she’s ever so tiny and lovely I might add), her eyebrows, which are a marvel unto themselves in this film, and small aesthetic things, like the lighting, the compositions, and such(which I’ve added pictures for as examples of how brilliantly this is executed). But really by the forty-minute mark, I wasn’t quite sure if I had picked the emotional opus I was hoping for. Let me say one thing, and this is why I never walk out of movies, this impatience I had throughout the whole film ended up kicking my ass into a blubbering fool by the end. I was in ruins by the end of this film, crying and sobbing like a child. Giulietta Masina is phenomenal and she will melt your heart with one look. Really her and Fellini, (and I’ll repeat it) had me in ruins by the end of the movie.

I just realized that this is the first Fellini movie I’ve written about since I started this blog. I don’t think I am out of line to say that this movie is remarkable and I can see why it is considered one of Fellini’s very best. It's a black and white marvel. If you have the chance to go out and watch this film please do. It will definitely leave you a bit shaken. Watch it and make up your own mind. One thing is for sure though, there nothing else out there like it. And above all else what better reason should one have to watch movies than that?

Elderly Man: Where's Harvey? Jimmy Stewart: Harvey has a cold and is back at home.

At the request of a dear friend, Ms. Shaw, for more reviews I am taking this one out of the wood works. I watched Harvey a while ago and kept it in my notebook for this precise purpose. I will focus on Jimmy Stewart’s character, Elwood P. Dowd, and just my reaction to him in general.

Stewart has an introduction before the film begins where he informs the viewer about his time working on Harvey and his experiences with the processes from stage to screen. As Harvey was a stage play before it was a film, Jimmy had the pleasure of playing Elwood P. Dowd on both mediums. He said that once he was doing a matinee show and there was little boy in the first few rows and as the play progressed he watched the child grow increasingly antsy. By the middle of the second act the child stood up from his seat and yelled at Jimmy, “Where’s the rabbit?” When I heard Jimmy saying this I was slightly baffled about why people wouldn’t just accept that Harvey existed as long as he exists for Elwood P. Dowd. But to my surprise I found out that more then one person feel this way about Harvey and get frustrated as they can’t get their heads around that you can’t see the rabbit throughout the whole film.

Now I’ve never had an imaginary friend, although I know people who have, mostly as children but have had one nonetheless. And I what I can’t get my head around is just why people wont tolerate this occurrence in someone’s personality. Now my tune my change if I had to deal with it directly, I am sure, but for now I will just entertain this idea as a third party. If I would be dealing with Elwood P. Dowd, not as character in a film but as one in my life I would be confused as to why anyone would want to rob him of something that makes him as pleasant as he is. Elwood P. Dowd is one of the most genuinely nice characters I’ve ever encountered in cinema and I think this should be measured against him as a person not the fact he has a imaginary friend.

Aside from this Jimmy Stewart is just a gem per usual. It’s stunning how well this man can charm the viewer even when playing a thirty-year old plus man with an imaginary seven foot rabbit for a friend. It’s incredible that despite the babbling man most people parody Stewart for, he has a bumbling magnificence that not one actor can duplicate in cinemas history and this is demonstrated in Harvey. This film was just a joy to watch and if you are a long time fan of Stewart or just getting to know him this film satisfies fully.

'Klute'

So I’ve just finished it, ‘Klute’, that is. Directed in 1971 by one Alan J. Pakula, and what an outstanding film. My notes on the film, as a look over them now, don’t even comprise one page as I was completely enthralled the whole time. This is a film that when you’re watching it you think to yourself there is no possible way that this can be duplicated. As this film oozes with eroticism and suspense and just emotes far too unique a feeling to ever expect to hear from it again. It’s rather quite brilliant and just spectacularly put together, visually stunning, utterly suspenseful in the most withholding manner, and I wont even get started on Donald Sutherland.

Despite all this, what I did manage to jot down though, besides the obvious acting commendation was how impeccable the cinematography and music was. And my commentary will focus solely on those two attributes because they're impeccable. Either way to no word of a lie in my notes and quote directly I wrote: “some of the cinematography reminds me of The Parallax View.” I wrote about The Parallax View, a film about a reporter who gets in way over his head while investigating a senator’s assassination, for a film course I took a few years ago that focused on American Cinema from 1970s onwards. Now to my joyous surprise I found out that Pakula does not only direct both these films but also shares the same cinematographer, Gordon Willis, and original music by Michael Small.

The music is the most eerie thing ever in this film. Despite watching the film in mid daylight I was surprisingly really spooked by the it and the music was key in providing that atmosphere. I am going to try and find a snippet of it to express just how well done it is…. It’s the opening credits; sorry I couldn’t help myself they’re just great. The sound recording isn’t too good, but you’ll get the point of what I mean once you’ve heard it. Begin clip at 3:37:

Hopefully you felt it to, cause I get the creeps just thinking about.

On to cinematography, which is stunning in this film. If you can’t already see by the pictures posted. I am going to post one of my personal favorite scenes from the film. The sound is better on this one but the picture is something else. Listen out for the music also in this scene; cause it just shows how versatile Small is and how fitting the music is for this scene in comparison to the eerier sounds in the rest of the film. This is also telling of how well the music is used. Just watch:

Look how well the light is utilized in each frame, illuminating only some parts of the frame and its properties. It displays such a lulled atmosphere and physically focuses our sight to the characters solely. And we wont even get started on how eroticism operates in this film and how well it used in this scene.

Overall the film is rather flawless and I haven’t seen one of such quality in a while so it’s nice, keeps my spirits up. Everything has a place, a purpose and is maxed out in quality. Everything from story to plot, to lighting and composition, to music and sound has a strict place and it used rather precisely and never haphazardly which can happen a lot in films that employ suspense like this one. Both of the two clips I’ve posted demonstrate I think to an extent just how well things are put together in this film and how precisely everything is set up.

In the end the film demonstrates an enormous quality. Just how well the formal attributes of film style and film story can be used to comprise not something over the top but just right shows a precise genius in being withholding. The film is top notch and if your going to rent this one I suggest you rent The Parallax View while your at it, Warren Beatty and killer cinematography makes for a hell of a good time. Enjoy!

My Halloween Post - Capra's Arsenic and Old Lace

I’ve been meaning to watch this film for a while, not for any specific reason but just been meaning to, just never had a real urge to. But now since I am catching up on some long overdue film viewing I finally got the chance to watch this 1944 Frank Capra film and boy did it pleasantly surprise me. The film stars Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, and Jean Adair and is based on a stage play of the same name by Joseph Kesselring. The film concerns the Brewster family and the insanity that ensues on one glorious Hallows Eve.

As the prologue says this is a “Halloween tale of Brooklyn where anything can happen and it usually does.” So by the point one should guess I was pretty damn excited I needed something fun to write about for my favorite holiday of the year and in Capra and Grant I found exactly what I wanted. A film about two remaining matriarchs of a well to do family and their very bad habit of ending the lives of lonely bachelors by serving them wine spiked with arsenic, strychnine and “just a pinch of cyanide.” One would also expect that the film that follows is hardly normal, it’s hardly anything ordinary at all, and it wouldn’t be quite fitting that such a story be told on any other evening of the year since I don’t think it would be quite as enchanting as this one.

Now accompanying this oddball story is the perfected comedic garnish throughout the film. I haven’t seem many Capra film’s and I am a fan, and this film doesn’t disappoint either it’s just not the sap happy Capra I am used to. The film is sheer screwball perfection and Cary Grant is the master. Honestly as I look over my notes I’ve mentioned how magnificent Grant is every five points or so. I am used to Cary Grant the romantic, the charming, tall, dark and handsome man from North by Northwest and Talk of the Town. And the rest of the supporting cast is just stunning. Josephine Hull and Jean Adair are spectacular and work the biddy old lady bit to its sweet end. You just want them to give you candy and tell you stories. Also Peter Lorre is always a pleasant surprise when you see him and he plays the perfect socio side-kick to Raymond Massey, who plays Grant’s sociopath brother Jonathon, who I must say at points in this film just gives me chills. Everyone just seemed to have worked so well together, and it just looks like they must have had a marvelous time making the film.

I feel like if I had watched this on Halloween night I would have enjoyed it even more. I miss black and white, and it’s utilized so well in this film in terms of lighting and compositions. Sol Polito, the director of photography for the film, used every possible chance he could get in the story to use the darkness to his advantage and not just have this be your everyday screwball comedy. This film is frightening at points and I think the lighting and photography aids us in enjoying it in that way. The film is delightfully frightening, don’t get me wrong, it’s funny. But as Aunt Abby says, “they ought not to be allowed to make such pictures just to frighten people” and as the tagline says “You’ll die laughing.” So I say this Halloween forget about Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm St. don’t just put some Capra into your Christmas put him into your Halloween this year and you wont be disappointed.

I’ll leave you with a little taste from the movie, both to display how marvelous Grant is and how exactly the film mixes the comedic with the horrific. Happy Halloween Folks! All the best! And may the magic that is immersed in this holiday never be forgotten. Enjoy!

In Honor of My Brother

In honor of my brother Austin’s upcoming birthday, the 30th of October, I was going to write a review of the movie that inspired his marvelous name, Green Card. Unfortunately after viewing it I came to the conclusion that a review of that film would not do anyone any good or add to their life in any way, and most importantly wouldn’t honor my brother in the way that I hoped it would. Instead, I am going to write about another film that I picked up at the same time I got Green Card from the library. An animated film, that I’ve been meaning to see for a long time since my love affair with Hayao Miyazaki started, called Porco Rosso. Which I think my brother would have enjoyed more and would appreciate more then the 500 words about how painful Andie McDowell is and how much I like how Gérard Depardieu says “parcels.”

So initially I am going to say that this post will include a few more pictures then usual because, quite obviously, this medium is a visual one and just some of this stuff needs to be seen.

Okay, down to business. What gets me the most about flicks like this is I can’t possible even imagine what it would be like to be Hayao Miyazaki for a day. To be in that guys brain would be the most magical thing ever, Disney has nothing on this man, nothing. The imagination on this man is absolutely incredible, absolutely amazing. I can’t help but be in awe when I watch this stuff because I can’t possible source where this his material comes from.

The story is about a cynic, Bogartesque, sea plane pilot, and bounty hunter, who’s a pig, actually a pig. I would have no problem saying that this film is like the Casablanca of anime both in story type and status. I really don’t want to get much into the storyline I think the above should entice you enough to go rent it ASAP. I particularly enjoyed the portion of the film set in Italy, just the depiction of it, is rather fun. Despite that I may have enjoyed this part cause I am a bit home sick right now, its still quite something to see and rather amusing to say the least. Porco is a crass hero, who most importantly has honor, which, and sometimes not to the best of people’s nature, is something important to both the Japanese and the Italians, or at least is held in high regard.

More to my point, it’s hard for me to understand how people don’t enjoy animated features or just dismiss them as child’s play. Especially when stuff like Porco Rosso and even more so Grave of the Fireflies (Isao Takahata, 1988) exists. I think that people should appreciated it all a little more and more importantly expose more adults to it also. It’s not to say that this stuff isn’t appropriate for kids because it is, I just think that the general adult public should have a little more appreciation for it. I remember when Howl’s Moving Castle, another film by Miyazaki, came out and how excited I was that is was playing at my local theatre. I went with a friend on the first day it played and unfortunately there was not a single person there beside me and my friend, no one, not a soul. It was disheartening.

In the end people need to just let go and enjoy this stuff a bit more and by a bit more I mean a whole lot more. In the spirit of hope that everyone who reads this goes out and rents Porco Rosso and any of the other films I’ve mentioned I am going to mention another one. Coming out as of this October 31st, if I am not mistaken, called Fear(s) of the Dark which is a compilation of animated shorts done by some of the greatest graphic artists of our time. Go give it a look and give it some love. Fin.

“It’s a man’s right to ask and a women’s duty to refuse”: Pietro Germi and a Brand of Comedy We Don’t see Anymore.

So as I began to watch Pietro Germi’s Seduced and Abandoned I quickly became deterred to write anything about the film because I figured it’s significance was too specific to time and place. But as I continued the film I began to realize that it wasn’t and that Germi’s film still has some resonance today. Firstly I’ll give a bit of a background about what the film gives its commentary to, because I do believe any discussion of the film needs it. And eventually get to how it’s unfortunate that this type of film seems so scarce in the filmmaking of today.

So let’s begin. Simply the film speaks of forced marriages. Basically there was law in Sicily, that was later repealed, that stated that a rapist could go free if the victim married him. It’s said that Germi never did comedy for comedy sake and that behind the irony and the laughter there had to be something of substance, a balance between that which is wildly entertaining and powerfully grotesque.

The film deals with as I stated above, a law that allowed a rapist to go free if his victim married him. The plot: A 16-year old girl is seduced by her sister’s fiancé. She becomes pregnant and when her family finds out they confront the man with marriage. He refuses to marry her because he says he wants a virgin for a wife. One of the best lines in the film is when the culprit’s father responds to this by saying: “It’s a man’s right to ask [for sex before marriage] and a women’s duty to refuse.”

What this film ultimately shows is how society is based on an unstated principle that everyone shares: that there’s a huge difference between private and public and that the latter should never fully know about the former. But in those instances when the private is publicized those involved and subsequently their families feel that it’s necessary to make sure that their "names" are never shamed or dishonored. Now I am sure we all know that one can talk all day about why, at the root of the problem, this is to be considered shameful or dishonorable. And despite how much I am tempted to discuss this I want to speak more importantly about why films like Germi’s are ever so sparingly made today.

Now I don’t mean films that just criticize social mores, because we’ve got lots of those and they’re garish. What I mean is what happened to a film that critically observes society, with bitterness, and skepticism, and desperation? Films that take a “scalpel to society and samples its utterly senseless, absurd and grotesque aspects.”* Furthermore, I would like to add that I think that comedy and it’s counterparts in irony, satire, and parody are part of the highest forms of art because of the commentary they can achieve and subsequently deliver towards the general public. I would hope that somehow people begin to appreciate what these types of films are doing and hopefully be inspired. I really just would like to begin to see, at least, people taking chances in today’s cinematic endeavors to achieve such possibilities. This type of smart cinema is a bit lost today and I hope that it somehow finds it's way back, cause I really miss it.

*Sesti, Mario. "Commedia Al'Italiana: Germi Style." Interview with Criterion Collection. Commedia Al'Italiana: Germi Style.

Le Notti Bianchi and How Luchino Visconti Ripped My Heart Out and Made Me Love It

Holy cow. I can’t believe what I just watched. Luchino Visconti bases Le Notti Bianchi, a 1957 film, on a story written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky called “White Nights.” The story only last four nights, but by the end of this short tale I unknowingly had my heart shattered. At the beginning of the film, I was astonished by how stunningly the movie is filmed. Criterion labels the film as a black-and-white dream, and rightly so. You travel each corner and crevice of this small-unnamed town until you seem to know each one just as well as those who inhabit it. I have read that Visconti exchanged sadness for sentimentality from the original text and I think this it what it most becoming about it the film.

Mario (Marcello Mastroianni) and Natalia (Maria Schell) are two lonely and restless souls who happen to meet each other at the right place but the wrong time. The right place is a small bridge connecting the older parts of town to the neon lit streets of the main corso. It’s pretty that is why it’s right, no other reason. Natalia is on the bridge weeping, as we find out later, because she is waiting for a lover who promised to come back to her after a year had passed. Mario is there because, as we find out later, he enjoys walking alone with his thoughts. It’s quite sappy, yes. Yet the two cross paths and so ensues the gentle shattering of my heart. As each night goes by I was sure Natalia's lover would come. I waited for him to appear way in the back of the frame, but Natalia’s lover never shows. Three nights go by and with ninety minutes passed in a 101-minute film I am now assured that nope the dude is not going to show. Furthermore Mario and Natalia have become close and one would think love is blossoming.

Honestly I am sitting there literally five minutes left in the movie and Visconti rips my heart from my chest. I was getting a bit annoyed at that point because I wanted something more from the movie. I didn’t know what it was about and I didn’t know anything of the nature of the film before I watched it. I was getting to the point that I was going to chalk it up to just something just stunning and I was fine with that. And then reality sets back in and just slaps me right out, I didn't realize how invested I was in the story until I just began sobbing at the last moment. Its amazing what a grip I was in without even knowing it. But Visconti slapped me in the face, ripped my heart out and made me love it. The movie is just brilliant.

P.S. Despite all this, even if you're not into the whole carpet being ripped from underneath you stuff the movie is utterly stunning and has a most fantastic dance scene and should be watched solely on that bases also.