Happy Birthday Hitchy.

Camp.

Bad points:

- Hideous lead portrayl from Daniel Letterle as Vlad. Surely vomit inducing.
- Weak writing in some spots. The writing is like a roller coaster, going up and looking good, then suddenly crashing down.

Good points:

- All right, past those. 'Camp' is full of warming humor all throughout the film and is very very entertaining.
- The supporting performances are really quite good. My personal favorites were Sasha Allen as Dee, (With a completely KNOCKOUT voice.) Anna Kendrick as Fritzi (maniacal and the funniest of the movie) and Tiffany Taylor as Jenna (funny at the beginning and astounding at the end.)
- The musical numbers shine easily in this film. It's nice that they're already in the context of summer camp so they can sing at will. And, the musical numbers are done greatly, whether they're redone ("The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company or "And I Am Telling You" from Dreamgirls) or original. (Standouts are "Century Plant" and the best song "Here's Where I Stand", below.)

Overall, a great time. If you can find it, check it out. 8/10.

'Det Sjunde inseglet.'

Det Sjunde inseglet (1957)
Directed by: Ingmar Bergman
Country of Origin: Sweden
Genre: Drama/Foreign

This past Monday, it was announced that legendary film director Ingmar Bergman had passed away, leaving behind him nearly 4 decades of films from Sweden that helped shape international cinema into what it is today.

Upon discovering this, I was saddened. I also realized that despite the raves I've heard of his classics, I had yet to see a single film by his.

I shared the news with my brother later:
Me: Ingmar Bergman died today.
Brother: . . . .
Me: You do know who he is, right?
Brother: (hestitantly) Yeah...
Me: Name some films he's done then.
Brother: ...... Casablanca?

As it turns out, literally no one in my family had heard of Bergman. There seems to be two type of people in this situation: those who know Bergman and have seen his movies, and those who have never heard of him and will probably never venture out of their way to see some "weird Swedish movie."

I found myself in a rare situation: I had heard of Bergman, and his films, but I had never seen them. I figured it was time to place myself out of this small group and into the first by watching the film that mostly made him famous The Seventh Seal, or rather, Det Sjunde inseglet.

(Of course, it did take a while to find a rental place in my town that had films pre-1960, let alone a foreign film from pre-1960. God forbid. Yeesh.)
I don't quite know what to say about this piece of cinema. I can certainly say it's unlike anything I've ever seen-- well, true, it's Swedish, but it has a flair to it that's unique. I give Bergman my 100% respect on masterfully blending many different elements of particular genres into one film- romantic relationships, playful jests, disturbing rituals, religious outputs-- philosophies on life even. It's often I'd find myself laughing at one moment and staring in horror at the next, then simply sitting in awe at how powerful the film is.

Det Sjunde inseglet is the story of Antonious Block and his squire, Jons returning back home to Sweden after fighting with the Crusades. Upon arrival, though, it seems Death is lingering everywhere with the Black Plague... and how literal this is, as a pale-faced Bengt Ekerot dons a cloak and lolls about as Death. The beginning scene crashes on screen with a complex coral number and stunning photography to reveal Block and Jons lying on a beach. When Block (Max von Sydow, masterfully played) wanders off on his own, he comes across Death. "Are you ready?" Death asks. "My body is ready," replies Antonious, "but I am not."

Antonious decides that he will literally play for his life in a game of chess with Death. If Death wins, he keeps Antonious and if Antonious wins he is freed. The game continues throughout until the end. This is absolutely the film's most well known moment, spoofed often and rightfully so. The imagery lingers well after the film of the solemn figure of Death calmly sitting opposite a knight with a chessboard between them.

The writing is clever as Antonious and Jons (and of course Death) move across Sweden, forming a "troop" if you will of many a-folk: a band of artists who perform shows, a smith and his promiscous wife, and even a tottering baby meant to symbolize Jesus. The complex additions and subtractions only make the film more enjoyable as it moves around.

There are two moments in the film that absolutely leave in imprint in my mind. The first is the encounter between a Witch and the God-doubting Antonious. The Witch, a young woman believed to be possessed by the Devil is to be burned at the stake that evening, but Antonious is curious to questioning the Devil himself about the reality of God. Upon asking the Witch, she replies, "What do you see?" "Nothing but terror," says Antonious. The conclusion of the scene draws Jons to correct Antonious by saying that all that is within her is "emptiness." The mournful look as the girl looks out and the absolute meltdown Antonious gives is both harrowing and haunting.

And last (also last in the film), is what is known as "The Dance of Death." I won't spoil the film for you, but that little monologue the actor gives along with the ghostly image of the seven people holding hands and dancing across a mountain echoes across my mind constantly. It is with amazing ease that Bergman ends his film this way, not only leaving a sense of closure but also a sense of pride and of bewilderment.

To those that have not seen this widely well-regarded piece of film, I would strongly suggest that you bother to search for this epic piece. I belive it's essential for anyone who wants to call themselves a film fan.

10/10.

Must... go get.... Harry Potter...

However, I can't at the moment. :(

So, here's my 2004 lineup:



I'm aware it's not very good. (Particularly Best Actress.... X_X) I just haven't seen some of the better nominated movies from that year yet (e.g. Kinsey, Vera Drake, Collateral, etc.) But, I do think that it's pretty dang good where it's at right now.

If any one cares (and I'm also freakishly bored,) here are the rest from that year:

Best Director
1. Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Alexander Payne, Sideways
3. Yimou Zhang, Shi mian mai fu
4. Mike Nichols, Closer
5. Terry George, Hotel Rwanda

Best Original Screenplay
1. Charlie Kaufman, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Brad Bird, The Incredibles
3. Zach Braff, Garden State
4. Feng Li; Bin Wang; Yimou Zhang, Shi mian mai fu
5. Keir Pierson; Terry George, Hotel Rwanda

Best Adapted Screenplay
1. Alexander Payne; Jim Taylor, Sideways
2. Patrick Marber, Closer
3. Tina Fey, Mean Girls
4. Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby
5. David Magee, Finding Neverland

Best Cinematography
1. Xiaoding Zhao, Shi mian mai fu
2. Ellen Kuras, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
3. Robert Richardson, The Aviator
4. John Mathieson, The Phantom of the Opera
5. Stephen Goldblatt, Closer

Best Editing
1. Valdis Oskarsdottir, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Joel Cox, Million Dollar Baby
3. Long Cheng, Shi mian mai fu
4. Thelma Schoonmaker, The Aviator
5. Terry Rawlings, The Phantom of the Opera

Best Art Direction
1. The Phantom of the Opera
2. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. Shi mian mai fu
5. The Aviator

Best Costume Design
1. The Aviator
2. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
3. Shi mian mai fu
4. The Phantom of the Opera
5. Finding Neverland

Best Original Score
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Finding Neverland
3. The Incredibles
4. Hauru no ugoku shiro
5. Million Dollar Baby

Best Sound (Mixing and Editing)
1. The Incredibles
2. Shi mian mai fu
3. Spider-Man 2
4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
5. Million Dollar Baby

Best Visual Effects
1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Spider-Man 2
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Best Makeup
1. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
2. Shi mian mai fu
3. The Aviator

Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture
1. CLOSER: Jude Law, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts
2. SIDEWAYS: Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh
3. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: Jim Carrey, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson, Kate Winslet, Elijah Wood
4. HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN: Robbie Coltrane, Michael Gambon, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Daniel Radcliffe, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Emma Watson, Mark Williams
5. RAY: Curtis Armstrong, Denise Dowse, Aunjanue Ellis, Jamie Foxx, Terrence Howard, Regina King, Clifton Powell, Kerry Washington, Sharon Warren, Bokeem Woodbine

Best Limited Performance (Note: This is for any gender, however, all of my nominees coincidentally are females this year.)
1. Emma Thompson, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ("Professor Trelawney")
2. Jessica Hecht, Sideways ("Victoria")
3. Deirdre O'Connell, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ("Hollis")
4. Kelly Macdonald, Finding Neverland (" 'Peter Pan' ")
5. Stefanie Drummond, Mean Girls ("Bethany Byrd")

Best Adapted Score
1. Garden State
2. Ray
3. Closer
4. The Phantom of the Opera
5. Shrek 2

John Travolta: Divine 2?

I don't know what to think of the upcoming Hairspray.

I rather enjoyed John Waters original movie in 1988 starring famous tranny Divine as Edna Turnblad, the mom of Tracy a young 60's girl determined to become famous. The role, you could tell was tailor-made for such an eccentric personality.

In 2002, a musical adaptation was made. I've never seen it, but the soundtrack is very catchy and Harvey Fierstein is perfect as the musical version of Edna Turnblad... mostly because of he's an openly gay man.

However, will ol' Danny Zukko translate well as a plus-sized woman? He is married with children, and it's definitely a different role for him. He's got the singing chops, but will a straight man be able to play a role made famous by two gay men?
I dunno, I bet he'll either be great, or terrible.

The movie on the whole does look quite all right, with its colorful techs. And plus, who can resist Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, and Chris Walken? And with all of them singing?



It looks cheesey, but purposefully cheesey!

This definitely is a puzzler, however, its release tomorrow will announce if it's hot stuff or not.

Staunton.

"You know, I really hate children."

'Les Triplettes de Belleville.'

Les Triplettes de Belleville (2003)

Directed by: Sylvain Chomet
Country of Origin: France
Genre: Animated/Comedy/Foreign

"Is that it, then? Is it over, do you think? What have you got to say to Grandma?"

And with that, we’re off on a grand adventure with stout Madame Souza, her grandson adequately named Champion and their faithful, though noisy companion Bruno…and also, of course, the titular trio who just so happen to be singers from the jazz era.

Sylvain Chomet breathes wonderful creativity into this satirical and humorous animated film, straight from France after winning rave reviews and strong approval from Toronto & Copenhagen amongst other film festivals.

At the start of the film, we see "archive footage" of the Triplets from their own era doing a show and crooning out their catchy Oscar-nominated song "Belleville Rendezvous." We realize that we’re watching a rerun on television of this production. This also is watched by little Champion and his grandmother Madame Souza who utters the line above – one of only a few that can be distinctly understood in the English version, considering the overall lack of dialogue and the consistent French ramblings that provide background noise in certain scenes.

Souza notices her grandchild starting to show signs of depression, considering he’s no longer living with his parents (for reasons unknown). Souza decides to get him a puppy (Bruno) but this doesn’t cheer him up as much as she expected. It isn’t until she sneaks a peek at his journal that she realizes where Champion’s interest lies in: bicycle racing.

After we learn this, we cut forward several years to Souza training Champion gruelingly in the rain. It is awkward to see how dramatically Champion has changed: as a matter of fact, he is caricaturely grotesque: his nose longer than his entire head, his waist as thin as the spine of a book and his legs gigantic from his constant cycling (they’re massive to the point of almost looking cancerous, actually.) Bruno too is different, but mostly because he’s just gotten heavier as most dogs do, but our canine friend somehow seems...blown out of porportion.

Chomet does this for nearly every character in the story, bringing an original new idea and a bizarre feel at the same time. When Champion is kidnapped by the French Mafia during his attempt to compete at the Tour de France, the henchmen lurk with squared shoulders, literally, looking nearly like giant floating punctuation marks. And when the Mafia gets on a boat to Belleville (a not-so-hidden parody of America, with Madame Souza and Bruno in the chase), the citizens there are comically obese, some nearly four times the size of regular characters. (One large woman even stands after a long sit, looking for her husband unawares that he is firmly stuck on her gargantuan behind.) These crude comparisons only add into the comedy of the film.

Madame Souza and Bruno seem to be at the end of their ropes due to their lack of money, but it is the Triplets who save them and give them a home to stay in. They possibly are the oddest of all, eating whole frogs for supper and refusing to let Madame Souza basically do anything in their home, from vacuuming to reading the paper. However, the reasoning why they won’t is possibly one of the greatest parts of the film, and a true spark of ingenuity and creativity.

Anyway, this film is a great entertaining ride all the way through. The minimalist dialogue actually adds to the picture, because it really is unnecessary (which ultimately redirects my mind to old cartoons from the 20’s and 30’s with little or no speaking and a reliant score.) It is full of humor, action sequences and very gorgeous music and animation. (Hand-drawn animation really seems a lot better than CGI.)

If you can find this one at your rental store, I’d highly suggest renting it. 9/10.

"I think that's probably it. It's over, Grandma."

The Lion King

You have to go see this.


Right now.

21st Century Cinema Collage

If anyone can name all of the films on here, they will easily win a cookie.

[Edit] I didn't realize that the picture wouldn't magnify well, so here it is in three smaller (bigger!) sections. [[Right click and select 'view image' to see the entire picture.]]








Comments?

I dunno what to post about now.

Image of the day:
I have a huge urge to watch Moulin Rouge! I really wanted to at my friend's house because he just got an HDTV (omgholyshitthatwould'vebeenthebestthingever) but he didn't want to watch it. (-_-) Well, anyway, this movie's absolutely amazing and if you haven't seen it you should.

And....drumroll please...... Performance #1

1. KATE WINSLET (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)



Where to begin? Winslet is absolutely stellar in this performance as Clementine Kruczynski. There isn't an instant where we see Kate Winslet or start to think about Kate, rather we focus on Clementine and solely her when she's onscreen.


Clementine is pretty much as hectic a character you can get that you can still feel for. She constantly changes her hair color and loves to curse at people in public. However, it's the youthful and innocent feel she gives off whenever she's onscreen that makes you long for more. As we go backwards through Joel's memory, it's almost sad because we don't want Clementine to leave, and neither does Joel.



Below are 5 scenes that stand out in Kate's performance.

Be pretty.

One of many scenes that's great. This is one of the few times we see Clementine actually show her emotions and be...normal. And haven't we all felt this way? Haven't we all thought we're ugly, and wished for something else? I wish I could go lie out on the frozen Charles.

Lalala, he’s not listening!

Cute scene. It's very transcendent towards somebody helping you out when there's a problem. Not to mention the clever editing and score highlight this scene. It's great! :D

You had the whole human race pegged.

Utter Clementine. A fine scene, where we definitely know what drives her character. The dissapearing books is haunting.

Meet me in Montauk. (Spoilers)

All right, where is there to begin for this scene alone? This is single-handedly one of the best scenes in all of cinema here. Everything about it: Kate + Jim, the score, cinematography, sound, editing, writing... it's all so very moving. Kate is exceptional, of course, truly defining her character in her "last" (First. Last?) encounter with Joel. Everything about her in this scene- the way she eats chicken, the way she squeals when she breaks into a house- are all very characterized and heartwarming. And that line: "Meet me in Montauk." Don't even get me started. What a brilliant scene.

“OK” “OK” (Spoilers)

A perfect ending. Joel knows that he and Clem are meant to be together. She'll get bored of him, that's true, but there's always next time isn't there? "OK." "OK!" The loop of them running down a snow filled beach still echoes around in my head.



Anyway, I'd also like to state that not only is this my #1 performance, but it also is the performance that changed my life. Somebody mentions "Kate Winslet" and what do you think of? Polite, proper Kate. Maybe in Sense and Sensibility or Titanic. English accent. The essence of class. After you watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind it's hard to believe that Clementine is the same actress. The vivacity and free-spirited air changes Kate into a character unlike any she's played before and then this performance becomes the one to base her off of. Somebody mentions "Kate Winslet," and I think "Oh my darlin, Oh my darlin, oh my darlin Clementine."


Clementine has inspired me to live. She may not always be the most agreed upon and she'll definitely yell at you some point a long the way, but she is a confident and strong-willed human being. If we all lived like Clementine Krucyznski, I think we'd definitely have a more conservative and open-minded world. I think she's just trying to tell you to open up. Joel is more of in a "closed-mouth" type of person (as she says in the film) but if we're all... what, "open-mouthed" then I think we'd all communicate better. We'd all live a happier life.

Kate, this is for you. Happy 7/7/07

The Top 5: Performance #2

2. MERYL STREEP (The Hours)



And so, the final leading lady of The Hours is revealed, crowning Miss Streep as the best performer in that movie. (Although it is very close to call, indeed.)


Streep plays Clarissa Vaughn, a bisexual woman struggling with keeping herself under control as her party plans run amok and she questions the state of her good friend Richard (Ed Harris) whom she's planning the party for. It is nothing short of graceful to see Clarissa crack open on camera and the flood of feeling she emits is astonishing.

Oh, Mrs. Dalloway.



Near the beginning you see her foundation start to shake as Richard drills at her in his apartment. Her facial expressions and body language are wildly expressive, keeping Meryl in her character 100% of the time.

So, this is the beginning of happiness.


The life Clarissa leads with her daughter (Claire Danes) also has its own bumps, but there's an instant where she sits down and literally spews forth poetry. This is probably one of my favorite lines from the film.

Bad hostess.



But the scene that literally brings Clarissa crashing down is the breakdown she has in front of a former colleague and friend (Jeff Daniels.) She is utter divinity in this scene. As a commentor on YouTube said, "Meryl Streep's acting is more real than real life." I couldn't agree more.



Well, folks, we're almost there. The countdown's been going on forever, and we've seen many performances along the way: a cowardly lion to a suicidal poet; a pudgy beauty pageant participant to a boy with scissors for hands. But, if you've been paying attention we're missing a performance every list needs. Let's just say she earned an Oscar nomination and totally deserved to win it. Stayed tuned tomorrow for my #1 most impressive performance!