Hello. I drooled my way through the Oscars tonight just so i could see Martin Scorsese win his Oscar. The Oscars are generally pretty predicatble but this year it seems like their could've been a few surprises and a few laughs via Ellen DeGeneres. There was. I came to this conclusion that poor Jennifer Hudson was given the sympathy card for her perforamce in Dreamgirls. (I am sure it was out of sight) But, sadly, the best Supporting Actress curse will likely befall this Idol loser. Clooney gave her a nice pat on the back as if saying," Too bad this will be the only films you are ever cast in. Your fifteen minutes are up."
I also have to note that they did show a slide for james Doohan (Scotty on Star Trek) in the Oscar Obituaries. Deforest Kelley did not receive one and it seems the Academy has wised up. I'm still pretty lipid that Oscar Nominee Elliott Smith didn't get a slide in '04. It's not that important but still worth noting.
Anyway! Congrats to Scorsese and The Departed! One of my favorite filmmakers and favorite films of '06. Finally the man gets some recognition. heh. (he already gets a lot of recognition, he has lots of awards and doesn't need an oscar.) the man is brilliant. Did anyone hear Ellen refer to The Departed as a "Scorsese film with a plot?" i did. Kind of silly if you ask me.
I really want everyone to know how good this movie is. "I'm going to inject the male perspective... the what?" I saw Andrew Bujalksi's first film "Funny HA HA" a few months ago and it was good. Very real and recognizable. Its like watching a film about people that I know. "Mutual Appreciation" is styled in the same vein, B/W, personal conversations and just common human interaction that never teeters on pretension. The characters are likable and remind me a lot of myself and my friends and situations I've been in. It kind of made me wonder what life would be like right now If I stopped watching television and started just hanging out and playing music and all sorts of stuff. Bujalski is a true independent. I hope he continues to make great small films and doesn't ever get Hollywoodized. Be sure to check out Mutual Appreciation and Funny HAHA. You will like them. They are great.
This is not a music blog. Possibly maybe i should start one. But, i feel the need to express my interest in the new DEARS record. A few years ago I purchased 'No cities left' the debut from the Dears. Its good. Straight forward melodic simple rock pop. I downloaded the new cd 'Gang of Losers' from emusic. Wow. It's good. This year we'll have new Arcade fire and new radiohead and thats all I will listen to for awhile. But this CD hasn't been ejected from cars stereo all week. The Dears singer has a unique quality. Sort of Johnny cash meets Lou Reed and MUSE. Stand out tracks are "There goes my outfit" and 'whites only." I'm really impressed. Also check out 'Of Montreal.' they've been around for awhile but I've just discovered them. looks like American rock is dead.
okay... mondays episode (2/19) was actually pretty damn cool. It had no focus, but somebody did fly and WOW it was pretty riveting. Not Spiderman riveting but like, ER riveting. I think Claire needs a hug. A super hug.
For some reason this brilliant film did not make it to my quaint little uncultured community. This film is sort of a sequel to one of my favorite films of the last few years 'Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind.' Both films are vehicles for Michel Gondry's elaborate and vivid imagination. This time around Gondry has thrown out a collaboration with Charlie Kaufman and written a film himself. The film follows Stephan whose vivid and strange dreams seem to intersect his real life and force out his insecurities while pursuing romance with pretty french neighbor Stephanie. The real question is why do we even make a distinction between real life and dreams when sometimes dream lives are so much more fulfilling? Gondry has done music videos for the white stripes, radiohead and bjork. You can see this influence being used effectively in the film. Gael Bernal (Stephan) is brilliant as usual. Go ahead and line up your netflix with his other great movies (Motorcycle Diaries, Amores Perros, Bad Education) The animation and sheer brilliance of this film is unmatched. Gondry is a true original voice and should be watched closely. Fans of 'sunshine' or David Lynch will like this movie. A few of the people I watched it with didn't like that the story didn't over explain its storytelling and they lost interest. So, if you don't like movies spoon fed to you then you should check this out.
I started watching "HEROES" on NBC out of pure boredom the night the show premiered. I had been living with only 4 channels of cable and watched a lot of reality TV and local news. Heroes seeemed to fill the void of no new "LOST" episodes for awhile. So far heroes is a strange show. I like it. But, there's a little part of me thats says that this show is actually really bad. Unlike LOST Heroes solves its mysteries rather quickly. The fans of the show don't have to deal with frustration of 'suspense.' Heroes fails in a way where Lost succeeds. LOST focuses on one character at a time. Each episode details a specific characters story. Lost has focus. Heroes on the other hand, jumps all over the place. I think that Heroes would be a whole lot better and a lot less contrived if it had a little more focus. Each episode should follow one storyline. For some reason I'm still drawn to HEROES. Maybe its the continuing saga of HIRO and ANDO, on their heroes journey. or maybe its Claire's utter sadness and tragedy trying to figure out who she is. Its definitely not the Nikki/Jessica (Ali Larter) story or her magic (annoying) son, Micah, and his father who can walk through walls. That storyline is boring and I think the acting is awful. That turns me off. And why is the 'Nathan Petrelli' such a prick? Why does he cast his little brother aside. Why can't they just get along and embrace their differences like the likeable 'Hiro.'? I think I may actually be addicted to the show. I don't like everything about it. Actually, i think I like about 30% of it. " Someone dies, someone flies?" Give me a break!
This film has inspired the MPAA to release the names or 'demographics' of the people who screen the films. The exciting thing is that filmmakers are now allowed to use other 'instances' of MPAA ratings during the appeals process. For example, Chloe Sevigny's prolonged orgasm warranted "Boys Don't Cry' to receive an NC-17. But another film like Basic Instinct which shows everyhting but penetration in its sex scenes gets an R rating. Before this a filmmaker basically had no defense when appealing an unwarranted rating. Looks good for the independent filmmaker! pretty cool.
Alfonso Cuaron has made one of the years best movies, maybe even one of the decades best movies. A bleak unrelentless look into what our future could be like if we don't start making changes. Cuaron has never ceased to amaze me with his versatile and compelling movie making. A long time ago i took my sister to see 'Little Princess,' a childrens film about a girl who imagines her father is a hero and takes care of other war-orphans. (its been awhile, i might be wrong) Anyway... from there he goes on to make 'Y tu Mama Tambien. A very adult film but very likeable and real. Children of Men didn't overexplain itself, showoff any fancy future, it just existed in its time period. There was no 'check out this cool futuristic idea like other sci-fi films. (ehem...star trek) It's take on the near-future reminded me a lot of Minority Report or A.I.. A feasible future where objects we know still exist. For example, in one scene Clive Owen wears a fleece jacket with a faded Olympics 2010 Chicago logo. Despite the little things I noticed the films story (which i won't give anything away, no synopsis from me) starts and doesn't slow down until the end. I think the last 20 minutes might of even been one long continuous shot. If you have to go to one movie this week, make sure its this one. (as long as the cold cold weather doesn't break the projector.) Here are some other suggestions along the same line:
In the latest brightly covered Almodovar film Penelope Cruz shows her cleavage. Did she change it? Was she always that well endowed? This and many other questions are answered in the film 'VOLVER.' Apparently according to Laura the title is a reference to part of the female anatomy. I thought we were going to see a film about guns. The story is simple. Cruz plays Raimunda. This is Cruz's best work. The only other Spanish language film i saw her in was "Open your Eyes" (later re-made into 'Vanilla Sky') She seems a bit more comfortable in her own skin. This is a good movie. I told my date that it was a 'chick flick' and an ART film so we would both be happy. I have only seen one other Almodovar film so I'm not too familiar with his work. I know he famously uses distinct and symbolic art design with lavish colors and vivid photography. You will never see any other film that will look and feel like an Almodovar film. I enjoyed this film very much.
2008? Apparently the film is a pre-quel to the original series. It follows Spock and Kirk as they meet at the Starfleet academy. Apparently Spock will kidknap Baby Picard and Kirk will have to save Picard with the help of his girlfriend Uhura and a nerdy guy named 'McCoy." Hilarium ensues as a funny Irish guy 'Scotty,' teleports into showers, chruches and Klingon battles.
