A Day at the Movies

saw three (no four!) movies yesterday. my friend elizabeth and i went to kips bay and movie hopped through Kill Bill, Lost in Translation, and Matrix Revolution. Later that evening i also watched Blade Runner again, after having just finished the novel it was based on by Philip Dick.

i found Kill Bill relatively empty and annoyingly unfinished, albeit with some nice camera angles and interesting stylized details. Lost in Translation was airy, moody, and slow, but very enjoyable as a brief vicarious sojourn to Tokyo. and surprisingly, i really enjoyed Matrix, even after getting a 30/100 on rotten tomatoes. although it wasn't breaking any new ground, transcending the level of discourse previously achieved, or offering any real tangible existential answers, i felt it was still a relatively fitting end to the trilogy. which makes me wonder why the reviews were so visceral in their criticism. anyway, i'd see it again. i definitely will.

A Franchise Fantasy

A Franchise Fantasy
By LAURA M. HOLSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/movies/09PROCESS.html

My Precious

First-class passengers on Air New Zealand's Friday afternoon flight from Wellington to Los Angeles may have seen a bleary-eyed, anxious-looking American and wondered, perhaps with some trepidation, what he was up to. Upon sliding into an aisle seat, the man slipped a videotape into a backpack, strapped the pack to his chest and draped an airline blanket over his torso, tucking the ends under his thighs for good measure before tightening the seat belt across his lap. Throughout the 14-hour flight, he frequently peered into the bundle on his chest, as if assuring himself that the tape was still there.

The man was Mark Ordesky, an executive at New Line Cinema, and the videotape he guarded contained working footage of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy. On more than a dozen trips from Wellington to Los Angeles to New York and back again, starting in 2000 and continuing throughout the films' production, Ordesky played courier between the director, Peter Jackson, who was hunkered down at his New Zealand compound, and New Line's co-chief executives, Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne.

One Director to Be Paid Like a Top Movie Star

One Director to Be Paid Like a Top Movie Star
By ANNE THOMPSON
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/movies/28JACK.html

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27 — When Universal Pictures ushered the "Lord of the Rings" auteur Peter Jackson and his team into Hollywood's elite 20/20 club — $20 million in guaranteed up-front salary against 20 percent of the gross receipts — the action underscored a major Hollywood shift: event-movie directors are becoming as valuable as stars like Tom Cruise and Mel Gibson.

Mr. Jackson, whose first two parts of the "Rings" trilogy grossed a total of $1.8 billion worldwide, suddenly jumped far ahead of his fellow A-list directors with his deal to produce and direct another remake of "King Kong." Mr. Jackson's take on the last two "Rings" films is roughly 10 percent of the gross, a person close to the production said. The third film is to open in December.

Morning Sun

[another film in the Long Bow tradition by the husband and wife team of carma hinton and richard gordon. can
t wait to see it!]

The Loss of Relationships Under Mao's Rough Revolutionary Hand
By ELVIS MITCHELL
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/movies/22SUN.html

The documentary "Morning Sun" does a thoughtful job of streamlining the bloody realities — both literal and psychological — of China's Cultural Revolution into roughly two hours of film. The movie, which opens today at the Film Forum, begins with clips from a 1964 "musical extravaganza" — as the narrator, Margot Adler, puts it — called "The East Is Red."

Together

last evening went to see a special showing of Chen Kaige's new film, Together. the film was pretty in parts, but i felt a little manipulated with its almost forced storyline and sentimentality. that being said, it was still a pretty film, despite one woman a few rows back who sobbed through the last third of the film. (actually, she was not alone, as probably more than a dozen people were sniffling right up through the end.)

nevertheless, the music was the real attraction in the film and did what the script couldn't in holding the film together. in addition, the father in the film was more than excellent in his portrayal, and i also liked the alltogether feisty but tender character of the young girl who becomes the young boy's friend. unfortunately for me though, Temptress Moon still remains one of the most beautiful and my most favorite of Chen's films.

Afterwards, there was a reception at Carnegie Hall where Chuanyun Li, one of the violinists featured in the film, played a short recital. the food (and drinks) were surprisingly delicious. but my real treat and surprise was getting to meet an old violin hero of mine -- Annie Akiko Meyers, whose recording of the Strauss and Franck violin sonatas i used to listen to repeatedly.

Philosophers Draw on the Film 'Matrix'

Philosophers Draw on the Film 'Matrix'
EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/24/arts/24MATR.html

Hundreds of millions of dollars ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a hacker named Neo reached into his bookcase and pulled out a leatherbound volume with the title "Simulacra and Simulation" — a collection of essays by the French postmodernist philosopher Jean Baudrillard. But when Neo opened it to the chapter "On Nihilism," it turned out to be just a simulacrum of a book, hollowed out to hold computer disks.

It resembled, then, the rest of the real world in the 1999 film "The Matrix" — the first of a trilogy directed and written by Larry and Andy Wachowski. That world, with its office buildings and restaurants and teeming populace, was, like its book, a hollowed-out illusion, a virtual universe filled with computer code, a simulacrum of ordinary life, which Neo, a master hacker, is gradually taught to see for what it is: the Matrix.

Matrix Reloaded

just got back from errands and seeing Matrix Reloaded. went to line up at 7am for a free screening this morning that was at 9am. they even had free coffee and danishes. too bad my friend elizabeth and i had already hit McDs before.

overall, the movie was good. the first thirty minutes or so were unfortunately pretty weak, but the movie built well to the end. also, other than the first third of the movie, the second biggest drawback was that at the end, you are denied a real finish, and instead given a cliffhanger! so unfair!

but at least the last two thirds of the film were pretty strong in concept and execution, definitely living up to the high standard set by the first film. will have to write more later...

oh, and when leaving the theater, we bumped into a classmate of mine from MIT that i hadn't seen in years. she had driven up from Philly with another MIT friend just to see the movie!! nerds! [ahh.. oh yeah, i did wake up at 6am too, after going to bed at 3:30am!]

Better Luck Tomorrow

thankfully, due to curiosity and the determination of andrey, finally saw better luck tomorrow last night. with all the asian hype, i was a little doubtful if the film was really going to deliver, or just be another mediocre movie with asian actors replacing mediocre white actors. (and plenty of those i've already seen on DVD from HK.)

i'm all about supporting asian causes, but i also hate seeing bad movies. from the lack of intelligent reviews (i had seen thus far), i had been hoping to hear more personal accounts (which i didn't) before i went. nevertheless, i was not disappointed. despite the hype, i was very pleased that this was actually a very intelligent and well made film.

just like a slippery slope, or a frog in water brought to a slow boil, what made the film work so well for me was a relatively well formed foundation conscientiously built of so many little "truths" that were in themselves credible -- making the ending come without seeming extraordinarily unreasonable or odd, and actually making the actors' pained looks in the film's climactic scene seem almost surreal.

Angel Dust / Rebels

was so excited this weekend to find a japanese movie i'd been looking for for the last few years! i had seen it about six years ago on video back when i had lived in soho and went to the two Kims Videos in the central (bleeker&laguardia) and way-west village (bleeker&charles), now both long since closed. for some reason, it came back into my mind over the last few years, but i couldn't remember the title or director, and browsing repeatedly through the japanese sections at various video rentals were unsuccessful. so this weekend, i was at Kims on avenue A, going through their voluminous new DVD acquisitions section, and the new DVD release struck my eye. i immediately knew it was the one. but was only finally convinced as i watched the first five minutes back at home.

the film, Angel Dust (1994) (rotten tomatoes / yesasia), is a surreal film of a female psychologist that is helping the police track down a serial killer on the Yamanote Line commuter trains that ring Tokyo. i think what i most liked about the film was its contrasting views of tokyo -- crowded and anonymous city streets and subways and minimal corporate buildings on one hand, and floatation tanks, geodesic domes, and a japanese natural aesthetic on the other. added to that was this surreal time-halted sense of the killer, the prey, and the chase, and the psychologist on the verge of her own mental sanity. its not a perfect film, but definitely one worth seeing. and much much better than Insomnia (2002).

also saw Tsai Ming-Liang's Rebels of the Neon God (1992) this weekend. was almost not gonna rent it, as i had seen his more recent film What Time Is It There? (2002), and thought it quite boring and uneventful (which i presume was its intention). but my curiousity got the better of me, and i'm glad i did. in contrast, this earlier film had so much more presence, authenticity, and mood. the film was very documentary in feel, following three young men as they go about their lives in taipei, as one plots revenge against one of the others for a violent act against his father, with whom he doesn't seem to get along. anyway, it was great to be in taipei for an evening.

Reality Movies?

[interesting article from art aesthete and filmmaker greg allen's site greg.org. and a few interesting new sites to visit as well. (thanks greg for the plug!)]

Ready for a Reality Movie?
By RICK LYMAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/movies/21CANC.html

LOS ANGELES, April 19 — Reality, the trend that ate television, now hopes to make a meal out of the multiplex.

On Friday New Line Cinema will release in more than 2,000 theaters a movie called "The Real Cancún," the first attempt by a Hollywood studio to transfer the reality television phenomenon to the movie screen. Sixteen hand-picked young men and women were transplanted to an upscale Yucatán hotel for an all-expenses-paid spring break week and were then filmed by eight cameras, 24 hours a day, while they ate, drank, swam, danced, paired off and stripped.

How Rona Jaffe Found the Best of Everything

[author of one of my favorite films -- The Best of Everything]

How Rona Jaffe Found the Best of Everything
By TRISH HALL
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/13/realestate/13HABI.html

WHEN Rona Jaffe tells people that she lives in the building where her parents used to live, they smile and say, "How nice," murmuring how lovely it is when a family sticks together.

Well, not exactly.

Ms. Jaffe, the author of 15 novels and one children's book, cheerfully admits that she spent many years running away from her "super-controlling mother."

Mysterious Object / The Blue Kite

with all the other stuff i did this weekend, still managed to see two very interesting asian films -- young Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Mysterious Object at Noon and banned Chinese director Tian Zhuanghuang's The Blue Kite.

Despite its surreal strangeness and disjointed feeling, Mysterious Object at Noon (2002) is an interesting documentary view of one reality of everyday rural Thai people. the film, almost entirely overexposed (which just makes it seem that much more surreal), was created by the filmmakers soliciting story lines from random people they met, each adding their own few lines to a continuing constructed tale. by documenting the created narratives and a local theater troup that performs the narrative as they progress, Weerasethakul really documents his subjects and a small frame of their environs. i felt like i was back in thailand, riding dusty dirt roads on the back of a motorbike, and visiting little villages along the way. unfortunately, overall, the film kind of loses energy and becomes almost aimless before ending abruptly.

The Blue Kite (1993), in contrast, is a more traditional and beautifully filmed account of life in china from the 1950s through the cultural revolution. as expected, the film was banned, and its director Tian Zhuanghuang was banned from *ever* filming again in china (i guess better than being put in jail?). the film tells its story from the perspective of one extended family in the beijing hutongs, who one by one become victims to the social and political events around them. what is most interesting about the film is that its criticism of the government is not as overt or judgmental as one might expect, but subtle and almost accepting of the tragedies that come from circumstance, human nature, and political mistakes. in any case, it was still banned, despite providing a beautiful and poignant view of what the realities of life in china really meant for many after the revolution.

From China to the American Dream

From China to the American Dream
By DWIGHT GARNER
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/25/arts/television/25GARN.html

Bill Moyers is probably the most earnest man, and the most prolific television journalist, on the planet. His documentaries and specials roll off the PBS schedule as if from an assembly line, each stamped with the virtues he embodies: they're thoughtful, upright and high-minded and glow with a kind of secular piety. They're both fortifying and numbing, the television version of eating your spinach. He's television's Al Gore.

Like everyone else who spends a lot of time in front of the camera, Mr. Moyers tends to be as strong as the producers and writers who back him up. In the case of "Becoming American: The Chinese Experience," which will be shown on PBS tonight, tomorrow and Thursday in 90-minute installments, Mr. Moyers (who narrates the program and is credited as a writer) is clearly working with first-rate talent. This is a model documentary that gets almost everything right: it crams nearly two centuries of tangled Chinese-American history into a few engrossing hours while remaining surprisingly light on its feet.

all about lily chou chou

i'm so excited!! this weekend when i was in chinatown looking for DVDs, i found a store that had the new VCD release of All About Lily Chou Chou. i hadn't even known it was out yet in a HK/western version (the japanese version released last year had no english subtitles).

when i asked, the staff said that they had it on DVD as well, but unfortunately, they had sold out. they told me to try again in a week. (of course i then tried a dozen other DVD stores that i frequent as well, but to no avail. nobody else was even carrying the VCD.)

so today, three days later! and feeling restless on a dark and rainy wednesday evening, i took a little walk down to chinatown to see if any DVD shipments had come in yet. i was in luck! and proceeded to buy the *one* they had just received and placed in the window.

now i am so tempted to watch it instead of the PBS Chinese American special that i'm watching (and taping) as i type!

[btw, as gg notes, you can also get the film from yesasia; they're cheaper than Poker, but not sure if their version tests ok in region1. my guess is that it works, as the one i bought was also from panorama and said region3 but worked.]

update: 02:15 EST Thursday

so just finished watching it (in bed on my 8 foot screen!). and, as expected, it was just beautiful -- all 140 minutes worth!

sex and lucia

saw Sex and Lucia tonight on DVD. i had meant to see it during its theater run, but never got around to it. despite the normal sensuality of european films, the title was really a misnomer. but the music by alberto iglesias, and the long gentle camera shots of the spanish and southern mediterranean scenery made the film so ethereal and beautiful in parts. [there were also a lot of overexposed outdoor mediterrean scenes that made me wonder if it was intentional or a huge mistake!]

i was thinking that the music and ethereal and sensual lushness of the film reminded me a little of Talk to Her. (i especially enjoyed the gentle piano tracks and light tangos and waltzes.) and no wonder. after a little checking on the IMDB, i saw that alberto iglesias had done the music on both films. [as a note, two other films that also come to mind as film as beautiful marriages of images and music -- The Mystery of Rampo and The Loss of Sexual Innocence.]

unfortunately the film was not as good as Almodovar's Talk To Her. but it was just what i had been craving for -- a little mediterranean escape. and after this film, Talk to Her, and Y Tu Mama Tambien, i am really falling in love with the casual sensuality of the Spanish and latin aesthetic. often i find the french have too much angst, and the italians too much forcefulness, with their sensuality. so i'm beginning to wonder if the spanish have it just right.