1) Saraband, 2) Broken Flowers, 3) A History of Violence, 4) The World, 5) 2046, 6) Land of the Dead, 7) Good Night, and Good Luck, 8) Capote, 9) Mysterious Skin, 10) The New World.
Merry Winter Holiday Season to one and all!
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/22/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Here are the latest DVDs that I've had time to write up:
And a year-end list:
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/22/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/22/2005 | Comments (1) Links to this post |
:: posted by Matt, 12/22/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/20/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Monday, December 19, 2005
I'm a sucker for movies that create a world - one with dimensions and shadows and light and everything in between. Even if the story is particularly compelling, I can be drawn in on the strength of a fully realized milieu. Sin City is one of those movies where the world is larger than the characters - larger, even, than the story. That's one of the reasons why I found it such a fascinating, beguiling piece of filmmaking and the best reason to get this new "Recut and Extended Edition" DVD.
Based on the famous comic book by the legendary Frank Miller, the film takes us through four stories from this dark city. Director Robert Rodriguez wisely employed Miller himself early on in pre-production and film has a patina that not only does justice to the book, it deepens and enriches an already deep and rich world. Sin City is a heightened, stylized mythic place, right out of American popular culture, combining elements of film noir and German expressionism with a daring, violent sexuality not seen since A Clockwork Orange. It's always raining or snowing in Sin City, always replete with long shadows and deep angles.
Full Review >>:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/19/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Sunday, December 18, 2005
:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/18/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Friday, December 16, 2005
On the late great Anderson -- about whom most Americans still know too little -- Frears had this to say: "He was a bugger. He was a wonderful man, but he was quite fierce. He'd give you a bollicking as soon as look at you. He was wonderful. Very funny."
And there you have it. What more can you say?
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/16/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
:: posted by Matt, 12/16/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
"I'm always very gratified when anyone likes a movie I've done but I can't take the credit -- it's a triumph for the cast."
Match Point is one of my favorite films this year. It opens in New York and L.A. on Christmas Day and goes wider in January.
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/14/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
And here's the review.
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/14/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain
Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
Best Supporting Actor: Kevin Costner, The Upside of Anger
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug
Best Screenplay: George Clooney & Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Foreign Language Film: Cache (Hidden) (France, et al)
Best Documentary: Grizzly Man
Marlon Riggs Award: Jenni Olson, The Joy of Life
Note: I loved Cache, but it won't open here in San Francisco until January 20, so I haven't written my review yet.
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/13/2005 | Comments (1) Links to this post |
Friday, December 09, 2005
In new DVDs, Warner Home Video's gorgeous King Kong is surely one of the year's biggest events, not to mention Milestone's release of Kong's predecessors, Grass and Chang. I checked out some classics by three great directors of the studio era, Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (Fox), Preston Sturges's The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (Paramount) and Fritz Lang's amazing Rancho Notorious (currently available only on a British import DVD). Finally, I had one Halloween slasher-flick leftover, The Janitor (Elite), and Miramax's hit 1991 documentary Paris Is Burning.
:: posted by Jeffrey M. Anderson, 12/09/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Thursday, December 08, 2005
:: posted by Matt, 12/08/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Then I made the mistake of showing a rough cut to another filmmaker - and wasn't prepared for the negative feedback. I felt a bit like George Lucas who, after showing Star Wars to Brian DePalma, was met with the immortal comment "What's all this crap about the force?" Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do. So, here are my new filmmaking lessons:
7. There's no right way to edit. It's kind of like playing music - you have to listen to it so many times that you just go on feel.
8. Every idea is worth trying. Especially in the world of non-destructive, non-linear editing, if you have an idea, it's easy to try it out without destroying the whole structure of the piece. Some of the best ideas come from this.
9. Be prepared to listen to your friends. I suppose the addendum to that would be "whatever they have to say", because after I calmed down and re-read my friend's email, he actually had some good suggestions about how I could make the film better. Friends tend be honest. That's the problem.
10. You must kill all your children. That was something an old writing teacher of mine once said, and it's especially true of film editing. Anything you thought when writing the script would be good - be prepared to delete it. You have to approach a film with fresh eyes. That's probably why the real filmmakers use professional editors who aren't so wedded to the material. If you've lived with the project for a while, written it, directed it, acted in it, etc., it's a lot harder to trash those scenes that you slaved over, however necessary it might be.
Next time, I'll report from the land of re-shoots, digital color correction and scoring. Stay tuned.
:: posted by Ian Dawe, 12/06/2005 | Comments (3) Links to this post |
Monday, December 05, 2005
:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/05/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
:: posted by Matt, 12/05/2005 | Comments (0) Links to this post |
:: posted by Donald Melanson, 12/05/2005 | Comments (1) Links to this post |
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