New York Film Festival has always been exhausting. Even more so than Cannes, probably. Its selection of films is always vast. And the choices for the judges just to nominate have to be very tough.
This year's selection will be regretably even more tough
In alphabetical order:
About Time directed by Richard Curtis time travel comedy
Abuse of Weakness directed by Catherine Breillat
Alan Partridge starring Steve Coogan
All is Lost directed by JC Chandor: a wordless performance by the great Robert Redford
Bastards (Les Salauds) directed by Claire Denis
Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d'Adele) directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Burning Bush (Honci Kei) directed by Agnieszka Holland
Child of God directed by James Franco, adapted from Cormac McCarthy's 1973 novel
Her directed by Spike Jonze
The Immigrant, a period tragedy in sepia toned 1920s with a Polish immigrant played by Marion Cotillard being controlled by Joaquin Phoenix
Inside Llewyn Davis directed by the Coen Brothers
The Invisible Woman directed by Ralph Fiennes about Charles Dickens
Jealousy (La Jalousie) directed by Phillippe Garrel an autobiographical tale about his son Louis and his fellow actress and co-star and lover Anna Mouglalis
The Last of the Unjust (Le Dernier de injustes) directed by Claude Lanzmann, the director of Shoah
Nebraska directed by Alexander Payne
Nobody's Daughter Haewon (Nugu-ui ttal-do anin Haewon) directed by Hong Sang-soo
Norte, the End of History (Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan) directed by Lav Diaz, a careful rethinking of Crime and Punishment.
Only Lovers Left Alive directed by Jim Jarmusch
The Square (Tahrir) directed by Jehane Noujaim
Stray Dogs (Jiao You) directed by Tsai Ming-liang
A Touch of Sin (Tian Zhu Ding) directed b Jia Zhangke About oppressed citizens
When evening falls on Bucharest or Metabolism directed by Corneliu Proumboiu
The Wind Rises (Kaze Tachinu) directed by Hayao Miyazaki, about poetic humanity
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Spring Breakers: Misconceptions of character writing with philosophical realizations
My initial impression of Spring Breakers was that it did not have as much urban depth as Harmony Korine's scribed Kids. Then again, I do not know much of the concerns of suburban life like when critics connected with Perks of a Wallflower.
Like one of the anti-"heroine" protagonists of the film stated, "just pretend it’s a video game." Does that make it a film about the concerns of the video game violence debate? Or is it really subtly about the mental illness and guns debate? Something about that makes you think about the film a la Elephant and an art film depicting this kind of violence and negative side of society with guns can definitely spark the same amount of talk and controversy.
Emma Seligman of the Huffington Post described it as “Scarface meets Britney Spears.” Probably because they saw Scarface and heard Britney Spears music in the film. The film is not as much of a character fascination like with Scarface as it is a philosophical film.
A lot of times you get that white trashy MTV feeling watching the film. Stereotypes are to the exponent in this film. Obnoxious naked rude teenagers dismissing critical plot points that audiences can observe about "the Second Reconstruction and Caucasians inability to care" and World War II. It’s against type for Hudgens and Gomez, but it’s also a bit monotonous and uninteresting. However, that is the point. The monotony is supposed to mask the real personality of the characters a la Alex’s droogs or propaganda and brainwashing people into doing things. Heck, they even wear ski masks to show how monotonous they are in the final scene in converse to the first robbery scene where they actually hid their identity.
With the Selena Gomez character, unsubtly named Faith, as mentioned by Alien, her character is an example of the characters being misunderstood as stereotypes. She is the only brunette non-blonde. She goes to classes discussing religion and characters in the film do discuss the nihilistic aspect of the human spirit. Later on in the film, Alien describes and as his soulmates. Faith did not like being pushed around? Is that a literal sense concerning the concept opposed to the person?
James Franco's character does not have much depth, but he does his job right and is a leading candidate for Best Supporting Actor in my book. You cannot tell he is a movie star. You can barely recognize him and his stoner look during Pineapple Express and the Academy Awards oozing Scarface-ish charisma in his role. He deserves a nomination again. They probably could try for a female (ensemble) acting award as well.
The script does seem a little thin at times. And again, it is supposed to be. Not for entertainment reasons, but for art reasons since the characters do such horrible things, yet only care about stopping what they are doing because of their own selfishness- worrying about their own lives instead of the crime the criminals commit against other human beings, or again the issues of US crime since the Second Reconstruction as mentioned before. Faith not wanting to do things because of her attendance at evangelical church services is another example of a flawed reasoning that the characters use to justify their actions, about "freezing life" and "the human spirit."The quote, “I can’t believe how beautiful it is here" also shows a flaw, indicating how materialistic the characters are.
Overall, my initial impression of the film, maybe more so than Kids was flawed, but probably due to my own misunderstandings of the film. As I sit back and ponder the film again, I realize it is sort of like Scarface as it is about characters in current situations with college girls discussing overhyped and misguided premises for Spring Break to the point of robbing a store more crazed than a My Little Pony fanatic. The parallels between that and how Tony Montana wanted to make it rich in America after surviving Fidel Castro's rebellion are indirect, and inference is what made powerful films such as the filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky legendary. I still await how viral the film gets, but the film does look like it will become a cult classic.
Like one of the anti-"heroine" protagonists of the film stated, "just pretend it’s a video game." Does that make it a film about the concerns of the video game violence debate? Or is it really subtly about the mental illness and guns debate? Something about that makes you think about the film a la Elephant and an art film depicting this kind of violence and negative side of society with guns can definitely spark the same amount of talk and controversy.
Emma Seligman of the Huffington Post described it as “Scarface meets Britney Spears.” Probably because they saw Scarface and heard Britney Spears music in the film. The film is not as much of a character fascination like with Scarface as it is a philosophical film.
A lot of times you get that white trashy MTV feeling watching the film. Stereotypes are to the exponent in this film. Obnoxious naked rude teenagers dismissing critical plot points that audiences can observe about "the Second Reconstruction and Caucasians inability to care" and World War II. It’s against type for Hudgens and Gomez, but it’s also a bit monotonous and uninteresting. However, that is the point. The monotony is supposed to mask the real personality of the characters a la Alex’s droogs or propaganda and brainwashing people into doing things. Heck, they even wear ski masks to show how monotonous they are in the final scene in converse to the first robbery scene where they actually hid their identity.
With the Selena Gomez character, unsubtly named Faith, as mentioned by Alien, her character is an example of the characters being misunderstood as stereotypes. She is the only brunette non-blonde. She goes to classes discussing religion and characters in the film do discuss the nihilistic aspect of the human spirit. Later on in the film, Alien describes and as his soulmates. Faith did not like being pushed around? Is that a literal sense concerning the concept opposed to the person?
James Franco's character does not have much depth, but he does his job right and is a leading candidate for Best Supporting Actor in my book. You cannot tell he is a movie star. You can barely recognize him and his stoner look during Pineapple Express and the Academy Awards oozing Scarface-ish charisma in his role. He deserves a nomination again. They probably could try for a female (ensemble) acting award as well.
The script does seem a little thin at times. And again, it is supposed to be. Not for entertainment reasons, but for art reasons since the characters do such horrible things, yet only care about stopping what they are doing because of their own selfishness- worrying about their own lives instead of the crime the criminals commit against other human beings, or again the issues of US crime since the Second Reconstruction as mentioned before. Faith not wanting to do things because of her attendance at evangelical church services is another example of a flawed reasoning that the characters use to justify their actions, about "freezing life" and "the human spirit."The quote, “I can’t believe how beautiful it is here" also shows a flaw, indicating how materialistic the characters are.
Overall, my initial impression of the film, maybe more so than Kids was flawed, but probably due to my own misunderstandings of the film. As I sit back and ponder the film again, I realize it is sort of like Scarface as it is about characters in current situations with college girls discussing overhyped and misguided premises for Spring Break to the point of robbing a store more crazed than a My Little Pony fanatic. The parallels between that and how Tony Montana wanted to make it rich in America after surviving Fidel Castro's rebellion are indirect, and inference is what made powerful films such as the filmography of Andrei Tarkovsky legendary. I still await how viral the film gets, but the film does look like it will become a cult classic.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Best Jodie Foster roles
In homage to the release of Elysium, here are my top 9 favorite Jodie Foster roles.
- The Accused: her most crucial Oscar
- Silence of the Lambs: her most infamous Oscar
- Taxi Driver: her debuting Oscar
- Panic Room: a protective mother and avenger
- Anna and the King: a grand human in backwards circumstances
- Nell: An award role
- Bugsy Malone: An award role
- Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: With Martin Scorsese
- Shadows and Fog: I liked the film more than other people did
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