Friday, March 18, 2011

Limitless with spoilers!

So, I don't think I need to explain the blah blah of the story.

I thought the beginning was a bit overdone. A little bit too much on zooming ins and effects. Loved the animation and use of it.

I swear they used three different types of cameras while filming. One for normal depressed, HD, then maybe even a 3D camera. Or they maybe chose different colorization for each. I don't know exactly what they did, but it worked really well.

I thought it was great because it crossed genres: sci-fi, psychological thriller, corporate competition, mafia, relationship.

It was like a Momento for today, except opposite of mental activity. You see more and remember it all instead of forgetting.

There was a shitload to process at once. You wanted that magic pill so you could.

Robert DeNiro was great as the big boss. Worked for him.

Can't believe Bradley Cooper looked like a crackhead, business exec, wealthy world traveler, and a senator in the same movie. He was his sexiest after his first pop. But that's just me...

I thought the merger Ray guy, that I think they gave away-- give us our sense of control over it. I understood saw the “he's fragile” and it was inception. My dad noticed it when they said “know one knew of him years ago” … I had a faint realization then, but was still busy processing all the storylines. That pill would come in handy.

Acting was good. Didn't believe Bradley or the actress who played Linds when they were freaking out after the murder/possible murder. It was just there...

Was I the only one to notice that the “fortress” place didn't have bulletproof windows? Or ways for the mafia (who are always Russian, or Italian) not to get into it.

Annnnd-- who's hands were in the safe?? I couldn't remember exactly who? I remember noticing the tattoo, but not the character.

I plan on reading the book it's based off of, because the adaptation was done so well.

But seriously, imagine everyone on the pill. It's excellent. But not worth the fatal effects. Or is it?

God, what this film brings up.

Did anyone also think that they could have turned the pill into a powder? Instead of shooting it up as the alternative instead of popping it.

I thought finally completing the storyline with the stalker guy was needed. He needed to be clearly explained. So many storylines, it was great how they endlessly connected.

I'd love to watch it from different points of views.

The girlfriend being chased-- awesome. Amazing use of suspense.

It's making me think to do everything I ever wanted. My brain is spinning now on how I want to eat, paint, write, watch another movie, and try to remember everything from this film.

Everything worked well together. The animation, effects, acting, characters... it just worked. Not an Oscar film but an entertaining and well-done one at best.

Did anyone think the corporate war was a tease for the second one?

That's all that I can think of right now.

That damn pill. Haha.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

sorry about no new posts

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in months. school was busy, summer i got into more films and music but really didn't write anything. now school has started again-- well college and i've gotten into another type of website that i like a lot more. i can post audio, video, text and links.

it's called Tumblr

i have more art photos, quotes that i like, videos i like, music i like, so follow me :)
it's a bit more social networking but i think that's okay. :)

thanks~!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

American Beauty

I knew nothing about this film before I saw it. It was always on the "Favorites" shelf and I always wanted to watch it, and with my friend constantly telling me it was great, I watched it.
The classic idea of the "American Dream", the big house, white picket fence, perfect wife, job, kid?

Well, Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey) thought he did, working an office job he hates and a wife who has furniture that no one sits in, an teenage daughter that isn't quite understood. As the movie goes on, we realize this seeming normal family isn't quite so normal. We see their impulses, who they really are, except those are not thoughts, they live them out.

The teenager girl's best friend. The new neighbors. Neighbor's kid. Wife's rival at work. Rose petals.

This film is a bit controversial, from when it was created in the early 90's to present day, but that is part of why it is so good. It brings up issues we still have today within society.
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Oh yeah, Lester is shot.

Questions. Probably have many.
So watch it. There are many subtle clues.

*This may be a minimal posting, but if you watch it you may realize the hints subtly given. I knew nothing, but knew it was worth watching. It was.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Stranger than Paradise

A beautiful film. An "indie" classic. Black and white. Directed by Jim Jarmusch in 1984.

This film is hard to describe, but with that it brings the talent of Jim's skill. It is a story of an exiled Hungarian emigrate, who calls himself Willie played by musician, composer, performer John Lurie, along with his friend Eddie played by Richard Edson, and his 16 year old Hungarian cousin Eva who is played by Eszter Baliant who comes to stay with him in the Lower East Side in (where Jim lived) New York City for 10 days. Then she's off to Cleveland to see her aunt.

The initial "chapter" is called "New World", with an illusion to when immigrants moved to New York to find a better life, in a different country. Eva is here, and with her ragged hair and bags with her tape player projecting the sounds of "I Put A Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins while she walks along the New York City streets going to her cousin's apartment. I really want that song on my mp3 player now... reminds me of Howlin' Wolf and Tom Waits. We meet all three characters, Willie, her Americanized cousin, his friend, Eddie, and Eva. A stranger in a strange land. New York City.

One thing that I noticed when watching this film is that I can't pinpoint any direct time period. All I know is that it was in the past, sometime after the 1950's (TV dinners). She is only supposed to stay a night or two, but ends up spending 10 days with her relaxed cousin where she is exposed to American culture for the first time, as with eating TV dinners and watching television until the early morning.

The second "chapter" is called "One Year Later," which is by it's title, actually one year later. One day, while Willie and Eddie are playing poker with some local neighbors they decide to cheat. Take the money and run. And where do they run to when they don't know of anyplace other than New York City? Cleveland. See Eva. Visit with Aunt Lotte. So they go. One of my favorite lines in the film, which are often dry humored and witty, Eddie says while they are seeing the sights "You know, it's funny... you come to someplace new, an'... and everything looks just the same." Oddly enough, I think we all know that's true.


After the dull, dreariness of Cleveland the trio once again leave after playing cards with Aunt Lotte and eating her delicious goulash it transitions to "Paradise." With Willie and Eddie's newly acquired fortune they leave the snow covered land of Cleveland for sunny Florida.





This film is very interesting. Every single scene is broke up with seconds of a black screen, and while most of the scenes are short conversations, glimpses of time into the world of these three intriguing characters. And their journey together. Jim uses unique scenes to make the storyline, they are the "small talk" or "dead space" and he uses it for his advantage instead of just using bits and pieces for times sake. He lets those pieces tell the story. His work also reminds me of Fellini, in the vivid use of black and white film creating cold, stark locations and using the wide variety of locations such as a chemical plant, a snow covered lake, and a white sandy beach. I love his style of directing and writing. This film also did unprecedented things in Hollywood, he created this film with a low-budget, a stage actress and a few crossover actors who are normally musicians. Stranger Than Paradise has received much affection for it's qualities over years appearing on many Greatest Films list, from Empire Magazine, American Film Institute, and Entertainment Weekly. It is known to be one of the greatest independent films. I have to say I agree. I love it. I want to own it and watch it again.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Baraka


First and foremost I have to give credit to a new friend of mine, who gave me this film to watch because we were exchanging movies. Thanks Alex!

Well, this film is amazing. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. There really isn't a plotline. There isn't any dialogue. There are no actors.
There are:.amazing musical scores
..vivid images
...flawless use of stop-motion film
....wide variety of different cultures being shown
I was told about one scene beforehand, I'll try to explain it. First, you see eggs, then you see baby chicks going down a conveyor belt and then it pans over to a major Asian city on the trains of people going through the subway station, sorting, squeezing, filing, moving.This film is told through images, or film clips flawlessly put together to tell a story.

My eyes were glued to the screen. I felt awful turning my head away for 10 seconds to grab my drink. Ron Fricke (director) went to over 142 locations in over 82 countries to film this. We never fully know where they are filming, we may have guesses that may be correct, but we are never fully sure. The first scenes start out with a monkey in the sea, then to an tribal people applying paint to their bodies, and it then moves to more life existing, living. The beautiful buildings, religious rituals, animals in their daily life, daily life for all life, all around the world.
People living their lives.And with that we see connections to everything in this world that we have.
What can I say to that?
Beautiful.

Check out some of the stills. Holy s***.
I'm watching the Bonus Features later on... this film impressed me so much, I think I may watch it again. :)

I watched the behind-the-scenes.
The word "baraka" is a fairly general term. It means "a blessing, or as a breath, or essence of life from which the evolutionary process unfolds," which explains the film pretty well. In it's broad term it is life. Life around the world. All forms of life. Animals, tribal people, religious ceremonies, architecture, natural beauties-- of all kinds. It is completely non-verbal, and that makes it beautiful, stunning, and a WOW of a film. Watch it.

I can't quite describe this film. But one thing I can say is that I stopped eating my dinner when I was watching it, I had to turn my back to get a sip of my drink and I didn't want to turn my head away. Also, I have to own this. I want everyone to see this.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Julie and Julia

This film has always intrigued me, always wanted to watch it. So I did. Being an avid watcher of Food Network and other food shows I did.

Here's the scoop.
Julie Powell (Amy Adams, Doubt, Sunshine Cleaning, Enchanted) is a employee at a 9/11 hotline who has an unpublished novel at her fingertips, and with her interest in making raspberry cream pies from Julia Child's cookbook and with the help of her encouraging husband they decide to start a blog by going through Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. They named the blog The Julie/Julia Project. She decides to go through 524 recipes in one year or 365 days. Sounds like a feat, it was. While Julie goes through the recipes during the hustle and bustle of moving to Queens, NY it shows a parallel to Julia Child's life. The one we never knew about. The struggles that Julia (Meryl Streep) had to get into Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, or the constant revisions of the book that most of this film is based on. In Julie's cooking, she becomes liberated by her work life and sees the "Julia" in her.

I don't know but for me this was an interesting movie. I just chose to watch it because I was interested in the cooking interest. I love to bake and cook. I didn't grow up watching Julia Child, yet I am so intrigued by her. She is known to be the one "who taught America how to cook," I know of her, but never watched her cooking shows. We have Food Network for that now. And it's because of her that we have that. Julia was a inspiration to the chefs who are now on that network.

Now, I don't want to forget about Julie. She also inspired me. With her blog. It showed her receiving gifts and ingredients from her readers, also comments. So because of Julie Powell, I am wanting to have my blog have that kind of exposure and legitimacy. I am researching and re-vamping it over the next couple of months to make it better. Thanks for the push to do so!

This film has also made me want to blog more, and better and I am dying to cook a full meal. That Beef Bourguignon recipe sounds amazing! :)

It is also a book that you can read too!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

A Local Show-- last weekend :)

I finally was able to go to a local show! It was awesome, I was there to see some friends play and hear some new music too. Went with a friend who knew a lot of people there, so it was even better! Thanks Liz! Met some awesome people. And did I forget to mention it was my last day of school also?? Oh yes. That was just the icing on the cake, per say. It was at the Snuggly Mug or The MUG in Bay City. One of my favorite indie venues, especially after making more room moving the counter :)

Well, we got there early for the show, and was hanging out on the couch in the back, I was downing a Monster Mean Bean (I was up @ 5am for a Senior Breakfast) and chilling with the artists before the show started.

First up was Artificial Heroes. A band I've never heard before. They played an acoustic set, which is odd for this group from Bay City, who generally play non-acoustic. And with reading their blog on their myspace, they are going through a member change and they pulled together a great show despite some minor setbacks.

Then We Are! Ghosts set up their equipment, and they were pretty sweet. A band from Bay City, not quite how to describe them: a bit pop, alt, rock... talked to Pete their bass player before the show, and overheard him talking about how this has been a cool pick-up kind of band! Awesome stuff! **hope you don't mind, Pete! haha


Then This April or Zach Burger played his set, playing some older songs and his recent EP, Ups & Downs. He is also mentioned in a post from December, and his EP is reviewed also. Check it out. It was cool to hear it live again after 7 months, and hear some new material. It was awesome. And yes, Zach I payed attention to the lyrics. For being the only solo act, it was great as always. I also liked being able to talk to you for longer than 10 minutes haha. Oh he is also in a metal band, links at bottom.






Brites were next. Chad, Michelle, Tyler, Hannah. The theremin was played, banjo, bass, drums, xylophone. Love their unique sound and their covers are great :) I've heard them at the show before, but they were just as awesome as always...also had fun chilling with Chad and Michelle outside afterwords, bowing, dancing, hugging, chatting... had a blast.
And they just had a CD release, coming soon! :)
Calcaska, a band I've heard about but never heard until this fateful night. Chad made a quick change, then their set started. An alternative, rock, indie band from Flushing area that got their start a few years ago... they played a set full of energy, people started dancing, clapping, it was awesome. Never heard before, but for sure I'll be going to their EP release in late June @ Fischer Hall.



All around a great show to end the year of school on, chilling with friends, making new ones, new music... what more could a girl wish for?

Here are their links:
Artificial Heroes:
http://www.myspace.com/artificialheroesbaycity
We Are! Ghosts:
http://www.myspace.com/weareghostsband
This April/Zach Burger:
http://www.myspace.com/thisapril
Come Find the Lion (metal band)-- also their EP has been written on:
http://www.myspace.com/comefindthelion
Brites:
http://www.myspace.com/britesband
Calcaska:
http://www.myspace.com/calcaska

Links to their EPs are on the sites :)