tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47098219650335153012024-03-12T17:47:10.450-07:00CANNONCannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-16438423524706885882018-04-02T12:54:00.001-07:002018-04-02T12:54:25.177-07:00Player One, Ready or Not: Some Aspects and Impressions.<span lang=""><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3EcCDRkyC_M/WsKEMsscQMI/AAAAAAAABn4/m1qM1hMAPDUxXmAs-X2_miZYbc7a__0SQCLcBGAs/s1600/1789403_jpg-r_1280_720-f_jpg-q_x-xxyxx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3EcCDRkyC_M/WsKEMsscQMI/AAAAAAAABn4/m1qM1hMAPDUxXmAs-X2_miZYbc7a__0SQCLcBGAs/s640/1789403_jpg-r_1280_720-f_jpg-q_x-xxyxx.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is one of the most insubstantial movies made by Steven Spielberg in a long time, or ever. And I mean that in a good way. The best way. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll spare you the plot summary or production development. If bothering to read this, you know what's up. I will posit from the get-go that <strong>Ready Player One</strong> is not a science fiction story, as it offers little in dystopian commentary nor does it ever much hone-in intellectually on the possibilities of multi-media futurism. No, <strong>Ready Player One</strong> is an 'electronic fantasy' for youth, where escapism is in this case a literal premise governed by its own absurdist, internal reason of reference-realms within reference-realms practically ad infinitum, resulting in a fantasy about fantasy itself, as that which can only be navigated by way of the very creative logic that births fantasy in the first place. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By no means the first dramatization of virtual reality nor the first to elevate the video gaming experience (pop-culture in general) as an action aesthetic, Spielberg nonetheless maximizes these concepts to their fullest realization yet. Though, this isn't the first time he's dabbled. <strong>The Adventures of Tintin</strong> might in retrospect be considered a trial run of sorts, with the director let loose amidst a mo-cap world stylized in hyper-real cartoonism, and where he first went full-swing with entirely animated action kinetics. It made for an interesting experiment to see his unprecedented set-piece mechanics afforded total freedom from all things gravity and physical laws yet by the same token proved a bit too lite, almost abstract, the equivalent of merely reading a maestro's notes without ever hearing the music. <strong>The BFG</strong> -- underrated, in my opinion -- would follow next but in this instance testing Spielberg's ability to digitally environ a live actor with the aim of in-camera fidelity (more than he's ever tempted before, anyways) but without sacrificing the fairy tale whimsy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both examples however constitute worlds as singular realities on their own terms whereas <strong>Ready Player One</strong> varies in the obvious in-universe distinction between real and pixelated pretend. It's closest cousin, then, goes further back to 2002 with <strong>Minority Report</strong>. Hell, the relatively playful media technology war of 2045 Columbus, Ohio could almost serve as a 9-year spinoff backstory to the darker PreCrime law enforcement of 2054 Washington, D.C. In both films Spielberg plays set-piece juxtaposition games: Anderton interfacing with Agatha's precog vision as a means of hunting/evading alternate temporalities and -- virtual reality in place of spacetime actuality -- Samantha at once hiding in plain sight among IOI Sixers while, in Art3mis form, inching her way closer to the, ahem, "Orb of Osuvox". </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps appreciating <strong>Ready Player One</strong> in the most ideal context is through its musical score. Alan Silvestri as a substitute for John Williams might at first seem like a missed opportunity in reuniting the longtime Spielberg-Williams collaboration with '80s nostalgia, except Williams has already enjoyed a heyday homecoming in recent years with his two Star Wars sequel trilogy scores while, to boot, it's worth considering if the accumulated nuances of his twilight career are by now to such a degree that actually exceeds the specific kind of artless candor needed here. Rather, interesting things are revealed through Silvestri's work. Not only does his comparative reductiveness better encapsulate a simpler kid-adventure tone with its jaunty and caramelized Saturday-morning sensibilities, it moreover reorientates what would've otherwise been an absolute and, in turn, <em>expected</em> Spielberg movie with the weirdly vague and parallel anonymity of being <em>Spielbergian</em>, like something that made its way into multiplexes through a kind of '80s era collective emergence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QZCgoq_FItc/WsKGNyp-iiI/AAAAAAAABoQ/IuXsoG_Ih1gMs__WuEIatH6J4hACMjxswCLcBGAs/s1600/4-new-photos-for-steven-spielbergs-ready-player-one-new-trailer-coming-on-sunday-social.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QZCgoq_FItc/WsKGNyp-iiI/AAAAAAAABoQ/IuXsoG_Ih1gMs__WuEIatH6J4hACMjxswCLcBGAs/s1600/4-new-photos-for-steven-spielbergs-ready-player-one-new-trailer-coming-on-sunday-social.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, Spielberg is for once standing outside his Amblin enterprise as its master, if only figuratively, by standing in for, say, Robert Zemeckis or Joe Dante; or just in general contributing his own little bit '80s techno-wonderment alongside <strong>Back to the Future</strong>, <strong>Flight of the Navigator</strong>, <strong>Batteries Not Included</strong>, <strong>Explorers</strong>, <strong>Innerspace</strong>, <strong>D.A.R.Y.L.</strong>, <strong>WarGames</strong>, <strong>The Last Starfighter</strong> and <strong>Tron</strong>. Like all those movies are often regarded (merited or not), <strong>Ready Player One</strong> likewise proves a "real gem" of bygone genre entertainment: zero pretensions, putting on no airs, with (seemingly) quaint themes and characters none too particularly deep—utterly enlivened with its premises and sincere to a fault. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though its box office performance so far has been solid for a mid-Spring opener, as the meta-fiction love letter for which it aims, I suspect it may not find lasting purchase with modern fandom, takeaways ranging from indifferent to mildly amused, in that a) it has not the unspoken free pass of an entirely animated "family film" like <strong>Wreck-It Ralph</strong> to be favored at a safe, knowing distance by adults, b) lacks the underground cult-cred of Edgar Wright's <strong>Scott Pilgrim vs. the World</strong> (or the even scappier and more severer <strong>Turbo Kid</strong>) and c) never bows before the altar of self-depreciation, the type that masks cynicism with hipster irreverence à la <strong>Kick-Ass</strong>, <strong>Kingsman</strong>, <strong>Guardians of the Galaxy</strong> or <strong>Deadpool</strong>. Spielberg's Indiana Jones series winked at its audiences without ever smirking at the expense of its own pulp-homage material and here, too, does the filmmaker seem unwilling (or oblivious) to curb his proceedings with smug irony. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no joke or satirical caveat to arch nemesis Nolan Sorrento donning a Mechagodzilla or the DeLorean outracing Kong to a finish line of floating trumpets. All of these reference elements ebb and flow through the storied OASIS in unaffected celebration or with some immediate plot-purpose or character motivation i.e., the Zemeckis Cube, Buckaroo Banzai attire, <strong>The Shining</strong> etc. Easy to understand, then, how such garish and toyetic results can be a shock to the system of anyone anticipating higher aims in clever deconstructionism, and thus quick to dismiss the whole affair as a misfire attempt at speaking to the modern zeitgeist by an aged filmmaker who is no long part if it, at least not beyond any ceremonial sense. But, again ...<strong>The Last Starfighter</strong>. Hearts are firmly on sleeves here, and <strong>Ready Player One</strong> is a mainstream Hollywood production dangling the carrot of pop-nostalgia but that only ever really commits inward, lovingly, as a transparent wonder tale riddled with plucky personalities.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XmCpTIs-9b0/WsKF98hIRYI/AAAAAAAABoI/hqp6mBIRwHsUanK6n7EjxygBOrpKUFASACLcBGAs/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="500" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XmCpTIs-9b0/WsKF98hIRYI/AAAAAAAABoI/hqp6mBIRwHsUanK6n7EjxygBOrpKUFASACLcBGAs/s1600/Untitled.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lead Tye Sheridan inhabits the role of Wade Watts with the same all-purpose 'dreamer' that nearly mirrors actor Jeremy Irvine as the romantic youth in <strong>War Horse</strong>; Watts basically an avatar for audiences as much as OASIS counterpart, Parzival, is for him. In fact, each the two are so nondescript on their own, they're by far the most interchangeable from one real-world scene to the virtual-world next, which I suppose is the point. Paired with Olivia Cooke's intrinsically "old soul" screen presence as IOI insurgent, aforementioned Samantha, the archetype duo are likeable enough whilst adventuring yet meaningfully felt as two real-world awkwards engaging one another with blossoming romance. And noteworthy how Cooke's saucer eyes are of such proportion that they already feel (un)naturally animated alongside those of her Art3mis avatar. Go-to sneerer Ben Mendelsohn all but reprises his Krennic villain from <strong>Rogue One</strong>, but is this time around upended as a mere corporate doofus posturing a sinister facade, an inferiority complex gag moreover exaggerate with the hulking, square-jawed brute he adopts as an avatar, clad in menswear and swaggering around his Castle Anorak on Planet Doom as the quintessential M. Bison-style 'final boss'. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If any performance stirs up the most substance, it's Mark Rylance as the proverbial 'man (or ghost?) behind the curtain' James Halliday, creator of OASIS himself. Rylance attunes his quieted, elliptic demeanor of previous rolls to illustrate here Spielberg's recurring 'Peter Pan syndrome' motif. Halliday is ultimately the story's principle question personified: Nostalgia as an inspiration towards wisdom or a hindrance? And the final moments shared between he and Parzival indeed allays the chaotic third-act climax to a pensive state, even if only to gesture sentimentally instead of answer profoundly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oMgtJpgMmog/WsKFs7l323I/AAAAAAAABoE/umWKbQLDLooCN_ZtXIVIqfXndvz1SOmbQCLcBGAs/s1600/i9fPhDlP_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oMgtJpgMmog/WsKFs7l323I/AAAAAAAABoE/umWKbQLDLooCN_ZtXIVIqfXndvz1SOmbQCLcBGAs/s1600/i9fPhDlP_o.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brass tacks assessment, the movie is just plain fucking bananas. Seriously. When for instance you've gotta ragtag hero team of gaming avatars caricatured from an alchemy of Anime, Tolkien and Ninja Turtles traversing Kubrick's Overlook Hotel -- now replete with glowing green Goosebumps-style zombies -- it's pretty damn evident that Spielberg has opted for monkey business over tact, let alone sacredness. And can we honestly blame him? How many different cocktails of tonal disposition through action-suspense or FX spectacle has the guy already achieved, even made iconic? The aberrant invention of an ogreish Aech stumbling his (her) way into Room 237 lit me up with the same sense of WTF?! giddy as did Indy stumbling into a 1950s mock-suburbia of mannequins and A-bomb sirens—two separate scenes played with equal, even symbiotic, levels of loony and loony-horror. But then, everyone hates <strong>Crystal Skull</strong>, so what I do know, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We tend to think of popular filmmakers as those who must repeat our moviegoing highs instead of continuing down their own organic roads of creativity. Maybe full-bore, self-indulging eccentricity is the only road left for Spielberg to travel. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regardless, the one thing he usually does elementally well is fun through formalism, and if <strong>Ready Player One</strong> appears on the surface to be trivial in frame of mind for daring nothing beyond lessons of wholesome humanism, the through line that gets us there nonetheless gleams with adroitly executed cinematic showmanship that, itself, revels in the audiovisual lexicon of geek culture. And yet it does this so purely as to remove said language from whatever lowbrow association or connotation that typically isolates the "pop" apart from "meaningful" culture, and on its own pours from the story and across the screen virtually unpolluted, like glacial water, every identifiable copyright reference along with whatever generically familiar design reduced to its glyphic essences. Also, Parzival hurls a Chucky doll from a speeding DeLorean while Iron Giant punches Mechagodzilla in the head. </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Probably be the most entertaining movie I see this year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DMaY3_gQPVw/WsKG9uMauQI/AAAAAAAABoU/F0DV4kj0gPsQB6eqKbviND6S60uqHMr9wCLcBGAs/s1600/tumblr_p56k0tA7ZF1qjp0avo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="688" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DMaY3_gQPVw/WsKG9uMauQI/AAAAAAAABoU/F0DV4kj0gPsQB6eqKbviND6S60uqHMr9wCLcBGAs/s640/tumblr_p56k0tA7ZF1qjp0avo1_1280.jpg" width="430" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
</div>
</span><br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-12072863738361350532016-02-01T18:44:00.000-08:002016-02-01T18:46:57.535-08:00Kon-Mari<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A peculiar thing, Japanese thinking. Watch 'Organizing Consultant' and international media success Marie Kondo expound her questionably neurotic yet undeniably whimsical philosophy, <a href="http://tidyingup.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #351c75;">KonMari</span></a>, on the microcosm that is human interaction with household items. Though, "expound" is perhaps not as sufficient a word; more like, some strange interpretive theater piece. Shit gets near quixotic at about the 6:30 min mark on forward, where a pile of clothes assumes some imaginary archipelago-like geography and selection processes begin with concentrated physical contact in attempt to achieve what is coined as "spark joy", a bioelectrical aura reading, or lack thereof, from a given clothing article which then determines its place in one's domestic existence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Whatever is lost in translation remains apparent in the sheer personage of Kondo—poised like an android concierge from some 1980s Japanese Toshiba commercial while dolled-up like Alice on her way to Wonderland, mixing together little girl flights-of-fancy with familiar tropes of Zen garden geomancy into a wholly 'new age' guruism that only the 21st century could every hope to recognize, let alone make sense of. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But who can deny the commitment, and especially the charm?</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L-ARJR-MArA/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L-ARJR-MArA?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-12828717816035247682016-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:002016-01-13T11:29:41.297-08:00In Loving Memory: Brad Fuller / Nicholas Caldwell <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L6lcey64JE4/VpalMgnwfKI/AAAAAAAABl8/BhXpWSyDUUQ/s1600/blog_img_tet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L6lcey64JE4/VpalMgnwfKI/AAAAAAAABl8/BhXpWSyDUUQ/s1600/blog_img_tet1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rough start for January, right? Bowie, Otis Clay, Vilmos Zsigmond, that crazy looking dude from <strong>Phantasm</strong>, to name a few. So much to honor. For my part though I feel compelled to pay a little tribute to a couple of artists who're likely not at the top of any current lexicon. Yet they each respectively brought into this world peculiar brands of musicality, sound invention or just straight-up 'good times' style.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First up, video game composer during the heyday of Atari, Brad Fuller further aided in dramatizing 8-bit gameplay with some pretty funky electronic jams including <strong>Marble Madness</strong>, <strong>Donkey Kong</strong> and <strong>Blaseroids</strong>. But none perhaps more memorable than the Russian folk dance inspired <strong>Tetris</strong>. We've all heard it. We all know it. That shit has been permanently filed in the back warehouse of our pop-culture brains, whether we approve or not. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NmCCQxVBfyM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NmCCQxVBfyM?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second, Nicholas Caldwell. Cofounder of the R&B group The Whispers. And you know what? I'm just gonna let the man himself do the talking, along with his crew. Here they are with their video 'Keep On Lovin' Me', strutting the sunny streets of downtown Los Angeles circa 1983. Button your motherfuckin' blazers, because you're about to be tutored in the ways of <em>cool</em>.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/d6aRvVTSC0I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d6aRvVTSC0I?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-74568990536132772192016-01-05T09:02:00.000-08:002016-01-12T00:32:37.422-08:00Star Warz<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GEYUCQoWT3k/Vos2891zzXI/AAAAAAAABls/2872T-45mac/s1600/tfa_poster_wide_header-1536x864-959818851016%2Bdummy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GEYUCQoWT3k/Vos2891zzXI/AAAAAAAABls/2872T-45mac/s1600/tfa_poster_wide_header-1536x864-959818851016%2Bdummy.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first act is the strongest. Despite what it will later prove
detrimental, Abrams' filmmaking verve puts things into motion with an
outsider's perspective that is admittedly refreshing to the franchise.
There's haunt and lyricism to boot, from the planet-silhouetted Star
Destroyer to the three-fingered blood mark upon a stormtrooper's helmet
to little BB-8 spying a far off explosion in the desert night. In one
instance, Kylo Ren Force-freezes a blaster bolt from Poe Dameron's
rifle. As the latter is captured and dragged before his enemy, a
tracking shot fallows him directly past the static bolt, inches away
(Poe's on the by reaction being one of awe), almost as if that sole
point in space and time within the movie has been editorially paused.
And yet it still lives, quivering and crackling in midair.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Forget for a
moment the larger story; this alone struck me as a promising detail of
world-building invention, and is the kind of thing to which I'm more
immediately sensitive than any issues of writing or plot-logic. We
should feel Star Wars first-and-foremost as a fantasy movie experience
that is alive and imaginative. I felt that here. Early on I recognized
that a certain standard, at the very least respectable to the previous
installments, was being met. If only it lasted.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The setup for <strong>The
Force Awakens</strong> -- opposing galactic powers hinged on tracking the
whereabouts of a mysteriously absent Luke Skywalker -- is both new to
the franchise and compelling in the way it further mythologizes said
central hero of the previous trilogy. The film's actual play-by-play
narrative, however, is (not-so) surprisingly uninspired. In this case,
likewise, does the first act fire off with the most energy. Poe
Dameron's run-in and escape with AWOL stormtrooper Finn paralleled
alongside Jakku scavenger Rey adopting the 'plot ball' that is BB-8
propels the story with a steady balance of gutsy enthusiasm and
contemplative solitude; with lively action shenanigans -- a tethered TIE
fighter -- and revealing wordless behaviors -- Rey with a mouthful of
food sporting an old fighter pilot helmet (even vaguely recalling little
podracer Ani).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abrams has fun throwing our two youths together for the
first time, giving Finn the doofus end of the stick with his stumbling
attempts at chivalry. The First Order attacks,
quickly leading to their boarding a randomly parked Millennium Falcon
for yet another manic getaway. Many seem quick to weigh-down hard on the
dopey logic of these scenes (i.e. the enemy's irrational method of
droid retrieval, a conveniently ready Falcon and Rey's conveniently,
ever-growing prowess) but, all in all, the movie up to this point is
breezy enough. Once our leads reach outer space and (ironically)
encounter Han & Chewie, modest verve gives way to numbing mayhem
and everything is narratively reduced to a patchwork of meagerly
scripted filler and, yes, reskinned story beats from <strong>A New Hope</strong>; the
latter of which were less glaring during the first act's more affecting
surfaces.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Han caught-up in a threeway standoff with disgruntled
smuggler parties might seem logical in-universe, but as a Star Wars
movie experience, the set-piece is so awkwardly out of place, coming
across like a budget-strained, sitcomedic leftover from countless
2nd-rate Star Wars wannabes such as <strong>Guardians of the Galaxy</strong>, <strong>Firefly</strong> or
even friggin' <strong>Ice Pirates</strong>; with some cargo tentacle monsters thrown in
for good measure, it then becomes <strong>Deep Rising</strong> (?!) I kept
thinking, <em>"What the hell is this all the sudden?" </em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm almost willing to
give it some credit for its apparent nod to <strong>Alien</strong>, with terrified Rey
crawling up through grids into steam-filled, emergency-lit corridors,
but even then the whole intention of the sequence feels at once
aimlessly derivative and like something Abrams assumed made for
diverting hijinks amid his clumsy <strong>Star Trek</strong> reboots, so, why not here? I
suppose it's maybe comparable to the trash compacter from <strong>A New Hope</strong>,
but where that scene matched Lucas' skewering sense of farce with
genuine suspense, here the events merely pad the runtime with some noisy
goings-on that feel less the spontaneity of setting/circumstance than
they do an artificial script insert for bridging one act to the next.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still,
at least its very aberrancy counts for something, because from there on
our heroes proceed along a flatly linear course of what easily amounts
to this continuing franchise's most forgettable array of new-worlding.
We go to a forest planet, and then another forest planet that's somehow
even less defined. And then a sow planet. Along the way there's the
sordid speakeasy of alien denizens that, for the first time
in Star Wars, feels less tradition and more obligatory, practical
puppets or no. It's managed by a discount Yoda in the form of Maz
Kanata, who dishes profound wordy wisdom but ultimately has nothing
intriguing to add regarding the Force nor our understanding of the
'hero's journey' template long since acquired by the franchise.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is
Abrams and Co. with their cards firmly on the table, no longer hoisted
by marketing hype or shrouded in any promotional rhetoric about
according OT essences with new and uncharted territories. From this
cantina midway juncture to closing credits, <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> never
entirely sinks into a quicksand of ineffectual rehash, but it certainly
plateaus with nothing left to offer that grants this installment its
pop-mythical distinction/progression from the previous six. It's not just the story
content, though, but the storytelling process. About those generic
planetscapes, they're but part-and-parcel to what are holistically
nondescript cinematic venues.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Lucas milked his narratives
visually, abstractly, down to the last drop. Think about all the
fascinating discursions throughout his six-part saga and how they
emphasized musical movements, evoked audiovisual tone-poems and tapped a
universal human psyche, often in relation to specific character arcs:
the Falcon's refuge inside a giant space slug, the Jedi's express route
through a watery planet core, a sonic speederbike chase through an Ewok
forest, a Harryhausen arena battle, wayward droid life inside a
desert-roaming sandcrawler ...the list goes on.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">None of these were
necessary to their respective plots but were absolutely crucial to
enriching a fantasy universe with all manner of mysterious nook and
cranny; crucial to expressing stories through cognitive imagery teeming
with monsters and strange environs and alien cultures ...or just the raw
power of exotic sound. Even when the plot is in fact pivoting on
a certain set-piece, like Anakin's podrace, such is in favor of
celebrating the sequence as its own mini-movie vignette, for all its big
screen sound and fury. And even much of the PT's infamous political
jargon and starchy romance is nonetheless set amid epic vista
connotations, like a floating senate rotunda, or illustrated through key
gestures in set decor and sophisticated costuming.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The
Force Awakens</strong> appropriates that same universe and realizes what is there
with top-notch production and visual FX artistry, but what is there
bears very little on a conceptual level. This, is a big deal. Nitpicking over finer discrepancies in personal preference can come later (if at all) but this...this is NOT nitpicking. We're getting down to the integrals here. Strip away any lofty notions of pop-mythic resonance or, hell, even the most basic need to entertain with accessible characters and space-faring pulp energy; if nothing else, "Star Wars" remains synonymous with "design". Star Wars <em>is</em> design. It is a fantasy world designed entirely from scratch.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the cinematic medium is the language of Star Wars then conceptual design, I would argue, is the <em>true</em> content of that which is being communicated, beyond dialogue, beyond plot. In turn, whatever criticisms can be laid against the PT for its allegedly poor scripting and two-dimensional performances, or for Lucas' eccentric sensibilities with digital, I can't imagine anyone in their right mind faulting those movies in terms of their world-building conceptual design, or lack thereof, to be specific. The six-part Star Wars saga altogether remains unprecedented in its sheer volume and variety of 'imagination station'.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> drop that ball? Nnnh-no, not quite ...but it marks the first Star Wars movie to fall back so heavily on preexisting design/art direction when every installment before it pushed forward with new sights. This, is a big deal. Question: What new vehicles or starships can you remember from this movie? Moreover, if any, just how memorable were they? Ask the same of, say, <strong>The Phantom Menace</strong> and the response you get is nothing short of encyclopedic. Now, of course I understand the chronology rationale in maintaining a certain degree of design continuity carried over from the OT; don't get me wrong, the reappearance alone of X-wings and TIE fighters and Star Destroyers, along with the fan favorite Millennium Falcon, is by no means unwelcome. But it's a big galaxy, and a new era within its storied timeline. One cannot stress enough how <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> all but bankrupts this space-opera-age of its creative potential long since instituted some 37 years ago.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sinkhole domains of Utapau and the swamps of Dagobah. Stormy Kamino's island cloning complex and Bespin's floating cloud city. Mustafar's rivers of lava and the planet-wide jeweled metropolis that is Coruscant. Naboo with its Renaissance architecture and the forest moon of Endor with its treetop Ewok villages. Each example overwhelms with a sense of locale identity. <strong>A New Hope</strong> made the most of its near-binary settings between Tatooine and the Death Star, establishing the very aforementioned paradigm. If it feels minimal in comparison to the rest of the saga, keep in mind that it was the first, least expensive and most technologically undeveloped installment out of the gate.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Force Awakens</strong> has no such excuses, nor does Abrams' implied aesthetic logic of grittier earthen textures feel like anything more than strained reactionism to the prequels and their (over-exaggerated) array of greenscreen sterility. Again, this is no slant against its own artistry. Rey's wordless introduction inside the carcass of a Star Destroyer, for instance -- her exiting through its stadium-sized thruster and sledding down a sand dune -- is plainly stunning in scale. Most of Jakku for that matter is where the movie works best with its immersion, but even here the imagery-scape isn't above riding coattails of prior iconography rather than erecting its own—I can think of few opportunities more wasted, given this being the introduction to a new trilogy, a whole new generation.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that in a nutshell describes the bigger pie that is this movie's storyline conflict between the Resistance and the First Order. To be clear, it's not that the premise is inherently bogus. One might extrapolate from it certain budding themes of nature's abhorrence to a vacuum, in that fallen tyrannical regimes are oft prone to immediate replacements facsimile in form while possibly even more extreme in conduct. Such is definitely <em>an idea</em>, yes. The question is, was it the <em>inspiration</em> rooted in Abrams and Kasdan's story outline? Proof either way is simply too unfeasible and too obscure. Only can one's perception when watching the movie offer any real insight and, honestly, my gut impressions left me with no other opinion that the filmmakers involved principally opted for marketable fan-servicing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why necessarily is this a bad thing, you may ask? Is appeasing audiences with the fuzzy warmth of familiarity really such a crime? Meh, I deem it a foundation of superficiality. It doesn't ruin the movie from top to bottom, per se, but it's always there, burdening with unoriginality what could-and-should have otherwise been, well, ANYTHING new. I mean, really ...let's step back for a moment consider the clean slate possibilities left in the wake of <strong>Return of the Jedi</strong>. From a revived New Republic they could've taken the story in numerous directions bold and new, or at least curiously distinct. What we get instead doesn't even do much to arouse its own aforesaid thematic potential.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The First Order is bigger, scarier. One professional critic referred to its Starkiller Base as a "Big Gulp" version of the Death Star(s) and I can't help but share similar feelings that everything here is just the product of bigger-is-better repackaging (remember when sized mattered not?) bent on playing it safe with Disney's $4 billion dollar investment. Third Reich allusions are evermore prominent and remain effective in their own right, but likewise imprint upon us nothing we haven't seen before from the franchise. The Resistance meanwhile is even less defined than the Rebellion before it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The plot mechanics that bring our heroes into the fray between these mega factions is shaky at best. In <strong>A New Hope</strong> the Death Star was directly connected to the MacGuffin, being the stolen construction plans hidden inside R2-D2. The superweapon itself was also established early on as a story point that kept the dramatic stakes centered throughout, in turn keeping our wayward heroes on the same page by such circumstances that drew them into the narrative. <strong>Return of the Jedi</strong>, too, incorporates the 2nd Death Star with a distinct game between Rebels and Empire in a manner that gives its second-half narrative a center of gravity, still allowing for original set pieces both on the forest moon and as a whole newly realized space battle experience leading into the Death Star itself.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Force Awakens</strong> vies for two separate story motivations of which the script never bothers to make any narrative sense in connecting or even coinciding. The plot begins with Luke Skywalker as the motivating factor: the missing map inside BB-8, Poe's retrieval of BB-8, wherein Finn gets caught up with the former and Rey with the latter, and with Kylo Ren playing offense, looking to make his interception. All of this is oddly cast aside nearing the end of the second act. First of all, I was never exactly clear as to why Maz Kanata was necessary in further routing BB-8 to General Leia and the Resistance.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Why couldn't Han and the gang just fly there directly? Their detour to forest planet # 1 seemingly served no other purpose than to house some scripted coincidences too lazy even for a Star Wars movie. Wouldn't ya know it, Kanata just happens to have a Skywalker family token lying around the premises for the benefit of Rey's character arc. This same location (amidst an entire <em>galaxy</em> far, far away, no less) just also happens to be within plain '4th of July' sight of some planetary executions carried out by the Starkiller Base—a superweapon that, up until this point, was apparently unknown to everyone and therefore cut into the proceedings with zero narrative credentials.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think of it as the giant Kool-Aid Man crashing through the wall of the movie's anterior plotline. In other words, we now have two plots that all but ignore one another. As a futile third act dramatic devise compared to the better plotted Death Stars from the OT installments, the Starkiller Base is destroyed in imitation -- it's weak spot concluded out of thin air, a frenzied trench run lacking geographic coherence -- and with little fanfare while the riddle of Luke Skywalker's hideaway is mandatorily wrapped up in the last ten minutes or so by an alarm clock R2-D2.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Imagine if <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> hinged its finale on the Resistance taking over the Starkiller Base, usurping its command center from the First Order and thus having championed the superweapon in their favor as the ultimate means of defending the New Republic; cue Episode VIII exploring the moral dilemma of such destructive power in the hands of peace. That was nothing. That was just me, amateur Cannon, spitballing on the spot any possible variation or subversion of the OT formula that might've better justified the Starkiller Base as a story point. Took me about three minutes. Is it too much to ask of seasoned writers, Abrams and Kasdan, that they generate over the course of nine months anything more than a blunt retread for its own sake?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If these criticisms come off too easily contrived or pedantically removed from the movie for obsessive probing, let me be clear that mine is but an attempt to understand how that movie as a fluid piece meant to be enjoyed for its simplest pleasures nonetheless flowed with little depth and in so many instances left me feeling rather numb. I went into it only with a box of Goobers, not a checklist.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It all goes back to the capacity of cinematic narrative. <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> delivers one with
accelerated pacing that, true, never trips over its own feet, but
only because it's running in place, never further mining the Star Wars universe
for all its worth; instead, swapping-out vague backdrops while main
characters stand around indirectly emphasizing through fits and plights
how important they are as main characters, or while others merely
monologue the significance of some larger story arc or heroic journey.
In short, the movie spends a lotta downtime posturing.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In previous
entries, sages and hermits and statesmen alike would share their own
perspectives in ways that sneakily allude to larger story fates at
work, insofar as to compel our heroes in making certain narrative
choices. Yet it was always the narrative itself, clearly assorted, along
with cinematic presentation both vivid and dreamlike that would tell
the story. Here, Abrams and Kasdan deal in inertia but disguise it with
equal parts pretense and commotion, or simply distract away from it
altogether with easy nostalgia. The whole thing's kind of a ruse when
you get down to it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another habit carried over from Abrams in particular
is the proverbial "mystery box". This happens when Rey
wonders into a cantina cellar, discovers the lightsaber of Anakin
Skywalker and, upon touch, glimpses a rapid flashback via the Unifying
Force. At face value I actually thought this an effective scene in how
its jolting, <em>phantom</em> imagery lures us with hidden secrets. Alas, it too is really just a cheap trick—a product of Abrams' TV formula (<strong>Alias</strong>, <strong>Lost</strong>, <strong>Fringe</strong>)
where just enough bones are thrown to the audience to sustain ratings over a 24-episode season. Luke and Anakin's respective Force visions were still
disciplines of good storytelling, yielding key narrative consequences
before the credits rolled. By comparison, what more is Rey's vision than
just a 'tune-in-next-week' hook?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like the two kids. Hard not to. I've never been one to deny the <u>relative</u> inaccessibility of the prequel leads, only that such an attribute at its fullest is not the be-all-end-all of what makes for compelling characters. At any rate, Rey and Finn require no terms or conditions. They're open books.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Interesting to note how Daisy Ridley is the first to play an unsexualized heroine in Star Wars; comely but her character too boyish in semblance and utilitarian in behavior to ever fully illicit any notions of intimacy, while going about seemingly oblivious to Finn's veiled come-ons. In many inner circle criticisms much has been made of her unwavering competence against any challenge (i.e., the "Mary Sue" dilemma) and indeed she proves something of a clown car of opportune skills, to say nothing of her eventual 'instant noodle' Jedi powers. I can't say this bothers me all that much. It's a technically valid criticism but, at the same time, I'm open to the idea of a Force potential <em>re</em>-inForced with fringe-survivalist instincts, and whose gearhead savvy is the result of reverse engineering picked up through years of starship scavenging.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if prepubescent Anakin can pilot podracers at death speeds and later nerve his way through a space battle, I haven't any real issue over twenty-something Rey's ability to perform aerial somersaults with the Millennium Falcon. I came to realize though that her character is at once so outward and so stripped of clause that's she's not even an archetype, as is the franchise norm, but solely an avatar. Her prefab readiness to take the reigns of any situation is there for (female) audience wish fulfillment yet her surface <span style="color: black;">naïveté</span> remains to such a degree that renders her a walking 3D Viewfinder: she looks around a lot, at stuff. It's a weirdly workable contradiction. Thrown into the larger adventure alone, Rey would be kinda boring. Fortunately, she's not alone—enter this movie's most original character...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For whatever reason, FN-2187 -- Finn -- defects from his Stormtrooper indoctrination where the rest proceed impervious to the horrors of war, but I don't need that reason explained. Sometimes the anomaly <em>is</em> the explanation; think Duvall's Thex from <strong>THX 1138</strong> as just another worker bee whose going rogue is but a symptom of a dystopian order coming apart at the seams. What I dig about Finn is his charmingly humble disposition: get the hell outta the galaxy, as far away from anything as possible. I like how such informs his harebrained improvising from one jam to the next coupled with his overeagerness for self-identity approval.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finn's identity in fact undergoes a clever bit of visual motif, first singled-out as a blood-marked Stormtrooper before feigning himself a member of the Resistance courtesy of Poe Dameron's flight jacket, then eventually "taking up the sword" as a would-be Jedi with the very lightsaber wielded by Skywalkers Anakin and Luke. Throughout it all John Boyega animates the role with gusto. Where Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman were mannered as porcelain figurines forever behind glass display, Boyega is damn near Muppet-like in physicality, so often foregrounded for maximum effect, while his loyal Labrador countenance endears him during moments that require dramatic authority.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Poe Dameron makes for a fine, if not stock, Star Wars secondary. With no arc comparable to Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, he's really more of a glorified Wedge, or maybe Biggs Darklighter who doesn't bite it at the end. Watching method actor Oscar Isaac play the role straight and with a touch of 'happy hero' enthusiasm recalls Ewan McGregor's more Errol Flynnesque moments as Obi-Wan. Further peripheral casting is not without its head-scratchers, though. Why bring in legacy thespian Max Von Sydow only to remove him so quickly in the opening minutes? I would've expected something bit more ceremonial.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">General Hux seems like an afterthought, as if they weren't sure whether to go full-Tarkin or reign him in as more of a Piett stoodge. Domhnallal Gleeson gets to snarl a grand speech about destroying the New Republic but elsewhere comes across sniveling (minus any satirical slant) rather than intimidating. Captain Phasma meanwhile is a toy without a character, or even a memorable action sequence; even rabid fans of the film have dismissed her as a bust. Something about Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps I'm seeing too much into it but I can't shake a certain feeling that her casting was to some degree a response to the racial insensitivities supposedly ripe among the PT's Jar Jar, Watto and Neimoidians. It plays like an attempt to right a wrong by allotting a safely indistinct looking alien creature with an exotically "ethnic" actress, where even Nyong'o mugs the vocal performance in as much. I actually prefer Serkis' gravely baritones as Snoke.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With Kylo Ren, I'm still on the fence. On one hand it's actually rather ballsy of Abrams and Kasdan to gamble with yet another incarnation of the mopey, angst-ridden Dark Side inductee. Add to it the specific persona as provide by Adam Driver that, for once, puts into better perspective the much derided histrionics of Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker who, contrary to popular misconception, was never "emo". Lucas' style with the character was too arch for that. Rather, Anakin was plucked from the B-grade category of '50s drive-in teen melodrama, or at least Lucas' further romanticized, space opera version of said subgenre. Kylo Ren, however... Now THAT is emo. Hipster emo. Kylo is the 21st century college campus Anakin. He's the modishly homely, downcast bohemian tucked away in the corner of some used records store, or sitting in the dark in an Off-Off-Broadway theater shouting contemptuously at rehearsals with a crinkled script in hand. He's that guy, with a <strike>lightsaber</strike> Christsaber.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a recycled masked main villain in black, I'm willing to give the very presence of Kyle Ren more latitude because, unlike the Resistance/First Order/Starkiller Base, the notion of Darth Vader's mantle inverted by an angry fanboy acolyte does have some spring in its step as an odd specialty cuisine of the continuing Star Wars lore. What I do find chaffing is the whole 'Ben Solo' equation, namely regarding its narrative conclusion (for this film, anyway), which in turn doubles over to how I feel about Han's reprisal.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I personally always felt that everyone's favorite cocksure scoundrel from the OT was, by the end of those films, arced to completion: iconoclast loner fights for the cause, finds love, earns a brother, sacrifices himself and is rescued-reborn. Sure, you can always write more ...because it's fiction i.e., limitless. But at what value? Now all the sudden Han has been tagged with the 'estranged father' routine. This, too, is logical enough in-universe; given his nature, what other kind of dad would Han likely ever be? Yet the issue has more to do with tone and story movement.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <strong>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</strong> such a theme went down lite as casual merriment with some Hawksian gestures sprinkled in between Indy and Mutt. Here, it's meant to serve Greek tragedy but is awkwardly tacked-on to the proceedings. Or maybe it's not the premise that feels rushed but the end tragedy itself. Han Solo already died, metaphorically speaking. Such was the true weight of his character -- the operatic accumulation -- as that which in part emotionally peaked <strong>The Empire Strikes Back</strong>, closing with Luke & Leia wistfully agaze and redefining the trilogy's convictions going into its final installment. Two movies later (episodically) Abrams and Kasdan do it again, permanently.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would be like killing Spock <em>for realz</em> in <strong>Star Trek V</strong>—been there, done that. And moreover it somewhat trivializes aforesaid drama that came before. I understand over thirty years have passed for audiences, giving one generation over to the next, where Han Solo has long since graduated well beyond a mere recurring sequel character to a pantheon of cinema greats. But that precisely is why his death feels like meta-pandering to a sentimental pop-culture instead of continuing the saga on its own and best terms. If deemed absolutely necessary by the filmmakers, I can appreciate, at least in theory, how it directly informs Kylo Ren's development, but I also think it would've felt more consecutive, more earned, had it been reserved for a later installment of this new trilogy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Admittedly, though, it was kinda cool to see Chewie go Comanche.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for the character himself back on screen, yeah, I enjoyed it. Ford is Ford. Though, at this point his golden years Han Solo performance is virtually indistinguishable from golden years Indiana Jones. But who's complaining, right? Not me. His moments with Leia are nice, if not brief and muted. A tad too much went into stressing their relationship with 'evil kid' pathos, methinks, along a more general writers' sensibility to naturalize banter that, under Lucas' watch, remained in-check with the livelier tones of old Hollywood homage (another point to <strong>Crystal Skull</strong> for reuniting Indy and Marion with buckets of charm). Carrie Fisher makes her franchise dignitary appearance but otherwise seems slightly vacant; I honestly got more form 30 seconds of a wordless Mark Hamill.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The acting/dialogue altogether tonally skirts closer to edgier attitudes and newfangled method nuance evident across the board from popular film to primetime television, while early '80s fantasy movie innocence and radio play candor of previous Star Wars lies dormant just beneath, only occasionally shining through by content default.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie's humor is a mixed bag. Some of it works and doesn't work even within the same scenes. To be fair, there is a lot of rattling back 'n' forth and off-the-cuff liners in <strong>A New Hope</strong>, particularly during the middle act between our three leads aboard the Death Star. I'm therefore not adverse to Abrams wanting to hit a similar cadence of levity here. So much of it comes down to gross proportions and intensity, and this is where it's real easy to go 'armchair' in decrying every little finite joke that exceeds/defers from the previous movies as an affront to the franchise. Whedon-levels of flippancy are nominal, which only makes them stick out that much more. Much of the rest adheres to Abrams' usual tempo where actors appear to have been shot-up with adrenaline as they run over each others dialogue in varying states of hysteria, depending on the surrounding pandemonium.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ford and Boyega make the best of it; their scenes together could almost double as regulars on some golden age sitcom like <strong>F Troop</strong> or <strong>McHale's Navy</strong>. One aspect I actually though needed more comedy was the First Order. I always loved how the keystone Stormtroopers in <strong>A New Hope</strong> gave way to <strong>Brazil</strong>-like black humor depicting Vader's managerial tyranny in <strong>The Empire Strikes Back</strong>. The two Stormtroopers who about-face to avoid Kylo Ren's saber fit was fun, as was Rey duping FN-007. But these still felt like supplementary gags whereas Lucas weaved his absurdism more ubiquitously into all things Empire and Trade Federation. BB-8's thumbs up got the biggest reaction during my two screenings but the part that actually made me laugh out loud, mostly for its delivery and curtailed cutaway, was Nurse Finn desperately struggling with a wounded Wookie: <em>"I need help with this giant hairy thing!"</em></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Speaking of jokes...</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey, J.J., Holland just called. They want all their Dutch angles back.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yep. Time to talk about the man himself, as a director, as the movie is directed on technical matters. Going down the list...</span></div>
<ul>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">zooms</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">whip-pans</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">track-arounds</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rack focusing</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">more whip-pans</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">imitation Spielberg blocking</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a literal marathon of "running" shots</span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">oh, and: <em>whip-pans</em></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ya know, a fraction of this windup toy camerawork spread thin, or selectively, over the 135 minute runtime would go along way. But with Abrams not even more is more...is enough. He's since adopted the same couple three phrase techniques consisting of the above sum but hasn't any discipline nor intuition for a more complete visual grammar. It's like watching an ice skater whose routine consists only of triple axels, over and over and over again; invigorating at first, then robotic, then obnoxious. The intro shot of BB-8 under the night sky is breathless in its sharp POV reveal; umpteen hundred maneuvers later, it's just exhausting—the difference between malleable aesthetic and caked-on cosmetic. By the point when Rey is sneaking around corridors on the Starkiller Base, things start looking like the European influenced <strong>Die Hard</strong>, sans McTiernan's finer variations in articulation. All this in-camera three-ring choreography makes for a virtually frameless enterprise. It's all so busy. As the only alternate, let me say without hyperbole that half of this movie, bare minimal, is confined within the medium to extreme close-up range,</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kzZ8N4L2pWk/VostVqbZcjI/AAAAAAAABlA/PqOtHnXtaKE/s1600/Camera-Assistant-4%2Bdummuy.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kzZ8N4L2pWk/VostVqbZcjI/AAAAAAAABlA/PqOtHnXtaKE/s1600/Camera-Assistant-4%2Bdummuy.bmp" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and more than once or thrice stumbles with some awkward coverage edits. I'm of the mind that, as a generality, close-ups should be treated like natural recourses: they run out. By this I mean the dramatic heft of a close-up depends in part on its very moderation. One too many, or too commonly divvied, and the effect becomes diluted, leaving the movie with an abundance of pedestrian 'talking head' boxes, and rendered all the more desensitized when the given moment is supposed to be one of powerful emoting. Again, this is only a general principle, as one can do wonders progressively.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except, Abrams has not the avant-garde touch for camera intimacy. With him it remains a televisual habit of deadening his actors center frame and blurring-out the backgrounds with shallow focus. Like so many other individual elements, such is not the whole movie (this is the director's most spacious work to date) but it is impedingly prevalent, nor does the ever-conventional 3 to 4 second ASL do any favors. I get that this is the trend now. Nobody wants Lucas' stodgy old composition-works anymore. Hell, most were never conscious of them to begin with. But even with him out of the picture, never has a Star Wars movie been so anamorphically indifferent.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abrams' collaboration with Dan Mindel steers clear of the blue tinted monochrome of <strong>Into Darkness</strong>. The cinematography here is more comparable to that of <strong>John Carter</strong> or <strong>The Amazing Spider Man 2</strong> (also lensed by Mindel) with its rich contrast and more evened color balance. It's also kinda featureless in the same respect. Location shots have the photogenic bloom of travelogue spreads or luxury car commercials but little effort is made to augment or heighten for fantasy's sake. There are too few artifacts of note.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie has nothing equivalent to the gossamer light of the digital prequels or the hot-cold temperates of <strong>The Empire Strikes Back</strong>. It's color palette isn't creamy Baroque like <strong>The Phantom Menace</strong> nor starkly coded like <strong>A New Hope</strong>. <strong>Return of the Jedi</strong> is the most unassuming of the original saga with its traditional, maybe even unremarkable, three-point lighting schemes (not unlike early '80s Bond fare) and yet that very approach still emphasized the movie as a handcrafted and photo-optic, fantasy FX venture, mutually beneficial with its soundstage art direction for the textured look of storybook paintings with images as simple as:</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R0Hi-O-5xjc/Vosr2XUnR5I/AAAAAAAABko/etzMeFYPXU4/s1600/d1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R0Hi-O-5xjc/Vosr2XUnR5I/AAAAAAAABko/etzMeFYPXU4/s1600/d1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyM0dEydeFA/Vosu2pykToI/AAAAAAAABlQ/dNp2SoQX3q4/s1600/d2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lyM0dEydeFA/Vosu2pykToI/AAAAAAAABlQ/dNp2SoQX3q4/s1600/d2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q309RFm5ph4/Vosu6G4JTMI/AAAAAAAABlY/NeQdF3tlpC0/s1600/d3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q309RFm5ph4/Vosu6G4JTMI/AAAAAAAABlY/NeQdF3tlpC0/s1600/d3.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all its 35mm pronouncements, <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> is too clean and color boosted through digital intermediate to ever match or even evoke the above, nor should it necessarily have to be any of those movies outright. This new sequel as a new trilogy starter is no doubt expertly polished, insofar that it's stylistically corrective to slick blockbuster standards and is cut "sexy" like a modern movie trailer. The catch? That's all it is. Kudos to Abrams, however, for following through with his visual voice right down to the closing shot that eschews any tableau frame akin to Lucas. Love it or hate it, I can nary consider a more apropos wipe to credits for the souped-up Star Wars in question than a long-lensed revolving helicopter shot.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From the visual style to the action set piece sensibility, Abrams mildly adjusts himself and does show some improvement from his previous efforts while still unable rise full above the irritating proclivities rampant throughout current action filmmaking at its gaudiest. It doesn't help that one of the previews shown before the movie was <strong>Star Trek Beyond</strong>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is best to think of action set pieces, ideally, as characters in and of themselves. On this I refer again to <strong>Return of the Jedi</strong>. The sequence of lesson is where our heroes escape the clutches of Jabba the Hutt; his sail barge gang, the sarlacc pit and, once and for all, Tatooine as a story point. Journeyman Richard Marquand does nothing transcendent with the principle photography end, the bulk of it staged and shot matter-of-factly. And yet it remains thrilling, in my opinion. Why? First, it is a clear result of accumulated narrative that exists </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in the moment, for duration, as the movie experience.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is really just a longwinded way of saying, it is a legitimate <em>set piece</em>, structured and complete from start to finish; the conflict well-established, the players and their positions identified, the goal set. It transitions, flowing logically not only from one story act to the next, but internally, from one hurdle to the next: the plank, Boba, Lando, Jabba's chain, the deck gun etc. Holistically, in the swing of things, it is patterned lovingly as a swashbuckling pirate adventure piece, hence <em>character</em>. It has form and flavor. And even if he wasn't reinventing the wheel, Marquand for his part still delivered to the franchise some pretty damn memorable details. Who can forget Luke Skywalker coolly signaling R2 for his lightsaber before catching it from a double flip landing, Solo's comical dispatch of a fan-favorite bounty hunter or Jabba's wiggling death throes at the hands of cleavage-ready Leia?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now let's consider the scene in <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> where Rey and Finn flee from a strafing run of TIE fighters. It just sorta happens all the sudden. Lots of instant running around and explosions. I early on described this scene as being breezy, and it is. It's also disposable. There's no pacing for starters; it has but one hurried velocity that further nullifies its only segue from ground to Falcon flight. By contrast, the airspeeder chase through Coruscant in <strong>Attack of the Clones</strong> springs from one element of suspense (poison bugs), then proceeds to shift dynamically from different levels of physical and geographical action before winding taught on yet another element of suspense (nightclub).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like the sarlacc pit sequence, it is a contraption of perils. Abrams, however, burns through his movie wringing as much chaotic spectacle from relatively cursory setups. None of it is nonsensical, to be sure, but it's never particularly inventive either. Half the time bad guys just show up or are conveniently absent/in short supply, as when our leads infiltrate the Starkiller Base to plant explosives.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Abrams never builds anything with his sequences, and seldom even builds up to them except when it's time to simply repeat circumstances from <strong>A New Hope</strong>. One could argue that the droid factory gauntlet, also from Episode II, has little narrative purpose, but it does have imagery purpose. It pillars the movie by juxtaposing the Kamino cloning factory and is delightfully abstract in platform gaming design, with little symbolic gestures of Anakin and Padme, C-3P0 and R2. If nothing else, it stands as its own mini-narrative curiosity; as I've said, you'll find as much throughout the saga on reexamination. Abrams simply doesn't think that way and, as a result, this new Star Wars is never as interesting.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, there are bright spots. I mentioned the tethered TIE fighter, and it was neat to be inside its cockpit for the first time from a hero's angle. I dig how the 'Riot Control' Stormtrooper announces himself by throwing down his shield -- <em>"Traitor!"</em> -- and arming his tonfa shock-baton, then moments later is sent spiraling through midair by a bowcaster with visceral oomph to it. The continuous ground-level POV shot of Poe Dameron dogfighting his way through the enemy enticed from me a measure of giddiness reminiscent of, say, Obi-Wan topping his skid-landing into Grievous' flagship with an aerial saber attack. And perhaps the single cleverest bit of scripting-to-action was Han Solo hyperspacing the Falcon past the Starkiller Base shields to explod through a snow-covered tree line. I just wish these gems were among a treasure of doubloons instead of fool's gold.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The end lightsaber showdown makes good use of its snow forest setting (fresh to the franchise) with faces bathed in strong glows of blue and red matched against the cold gloom, and neat environ effects like surrounding trees felled by wildly swung sabers. The choreography, too, rightly matches the curbed skills of each of the three combatants respectively (eh, Rey's "power-up" notwithstanding). Abrams wants hack 'n' slash brawl in place of fine fencing but his staging and editing is a bit too catchall to ring the conceit for all it's worth. Note how Irvin Kershner would emphasize a similar bout over tricky terrain between novice Luke and handicapped Vader by punctuating his frames and pacing his shot-flow more thoughtfully. I scrutinize here because I deem critical how these saber duels are executed as focal points meant to encapsulate their grand fictions and express subconscious things. I also think this the best melee action Abrams has directed yet. So, there's that as well.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If the sequence has a major weakness, story is to blame. It's no surprise that none of the characters will die here. The same goes for Anakin, Obi-Wan, Yoda and Sidious in the prequels, except Lucas never really banked on the suspense of their survival. Rather, the duels in those movies were each handled in a way as to champion heroes coming into their own or succumbing systematically to darker natures; to revel in the sheer glory (or horror) of unassuming wizards in full throw-down or to pin those wizards against one another in a theater of democratic suicide—<em>with thunderous applause</em>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The finale duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan, for example, has nothing to do with tension. It's a love tragedy between brothers illustrated through Peking Opera and Wagnerian backdrops. What unfolds in this new movie can also be pegged as both characters developed and themes dramatized through combat. The problem is that its all just a little too slight. The duel can only be as affecting as the larger story supporting it and, for reasons argued much throughout this review, the entire story approach to this movie is severely hampered. That leaves us with a bunch of kids the woods "playing Star Wars" until it's time to go home to their predictable sequel trajectories. It's the movie spinning its wheels.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lastly, the music. Reviewing a Star Wars score is like microcosmically reviewing a Star Wars movie. In this case, truancy speaks volumes. But wait... Let me preface the following with a clear acknowledgment that any time John Williams returns to a galaxy far, far away, the outcome dwarfs 99.7% of every other fantasy-action-adventure score from anyone who isn't John Williams, especially those in today's business. He's the Hattori Hanzo of classicalist film music, and at 83 mounts <strong>The Force Awakens</strong> like a burgeoning composer less than half his age. Pulp happenings sparkle with articulation as always, action heroics have never soared higher (approx. 1:00 mark of 'I Can Fly Anything' = awesome).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where the score could be argued as underwhelming concerns its lack of complexity. Rey's theme, or 'The Scavenger', is best of but two to take away from the listening experience. It's beautiful, delicate, <em>feminine</em> but also encouraged and courageous. I just can't decide if it constitutes a full movement strong enough to carry the movie akin to 'Across the Stars' or if it's really only a starter, or minor-theme, stuck doing the heavy lifting. The other of the two is the 'Jedi Steps' heard at the end, and also in one of the trailers. It is very good in a sacramental sense but, as an appendix, comes off more like a sample of what might fallow in the next installment.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Williams has been tasked, or <em>taxed, </em>with going back and reiterating the very idea of Star Wars "Mickey Mousing" circa 1977 by stripping things down to another good guys vs. bad guys dichotomy with a few variations in marching arrangements, familiar cues from the first two OT movies and, of course, the saga's mainstay theme that is The Force. With the PT scores now firmly a part of his oeuvre, a degree of referencing is innate. 'Finn's Confession' nicely incorporates Rey's theme with a texture of numerous elements from <strong>The</strong> <strong>Phantom Menace</strong>, by my ears. The deep throaty chanting that designates Snoke's theme is a blunter, less nuanced rendition of 'Palpatine's Teachings', as is the music heard during the destruction of not-Coruscant-Planet-X, or 'The Starkiller', when compared to that which was composed for 'Anakin's Betrayal' involving the Order 66 montage.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What's missing from all this is the exploration of finer and finer musical motifs that would otherwise serve new world designs/cultures, an original cast of warring power structures, or at least a forward take on the New Republic, and more complete set piece vignettes; missing, for obvious reasons (i.e., the main thesis point of this review). Film composers are like editors, in that they cannot create from what isn't there. I'm of two minds here. While watching the movie it seems that Williams has been shortchanged the opportunity to create and in turn narrate as well, as he has done so much more dominatingly with the previous entries. When the music in your Star Wars movie tips over into to feeling complementary, something's amiss.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet I'm still compelled to scratch these criticisms in favor of a much deeper assessment that justly praises the range and lush harmonies of Williams' orchestrations as one might better register when listening to the soundtrack separately. Maybe Rey's theme is not enough, maybe it is; where the on screen narrative rushes the character Williams gets twice the mileage with her recurring melody. If Kylo Ren's musical presence isn't as instantly memorable as the Imperial theme, there is something nonetheless grandiose to its 5-note simplicity, which harkens the main title from Bernard Harrmann's <strong>Cape Fear</strong>. I just wish Williams was given more to work with. I dunno. I suppose the worst I can say about the music here is that it is masterful scoring without ever amounting to a masterpiece score.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">J.J. Abrams is not a visionary. Calling him a huckster is perhaps a tad harsh as it insinuates some manner of snake oil intent. Quite the contrary, I think Abrams is very genuine in putting his passions into play. Yet he certainly operates with the strategy of a huckster. This latest Star Wars <em>is</em> filmmaking-by-committee; the twist is that, even when left to his own devices, Abrams embodies that exact mindset. It's not that he doesn't write and direct (and produce) to satisfy his inner-most desires, but that his inner-most desires are to facilitate pop-cultural as the authority of cinema rather than the consumer.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nor can I even call this cynical, as I truly believe Abrams makes the kind of movies that he as a member of the audience would want to watch. He's even pretty damn canny at it, is he not? Good for him. And good for Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm and Disney. Everyone involved put in a lot of smart thinking and hard work. And now they've gotta bonanza to show for it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for the movie itself, well, it wasn't made for me. But I can stand beside myself for brief spells to appreciate it for this or that, and maybe get from as much a degree of entertainment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Star Wars: The Force Awakens</span></strong></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6/10. C+ Nearly as good as <strong>Willow</strong>.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I honestly don't know what to expect from Episode VIII. I am thus far ambivalent to Rian Johnson. His resume consists of writers' films; each one clever enough and not without some style, but I don't get from him the makings of a strong aestheticist and visual storyteller. However, I'm always ready to be surprised. Story-wise, the dice have been cast: Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren and Luke. Proceed from them into uncharted waters and let all the overtly recycled plotlines and fan services fade away on their own, the sooner the better.</span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-50759274143088699452015-11-19T11:16:00.000-08:002015-11-19T11:16:05.297-08:00Tuff-as-Red-Nails trailers: Goddamn Extreme Prejudice<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today's movie marketing, on average, postures biblical-levels of significance, hyperbolizing whatever given trailer content with ascending choir bombast and flash-to-black editing assaults. What major studio endeavor these days isn't sold as the next cosmic event? Comparable to those life-affirming Coke ads where drinking a bottle of carbonated corn syrup aligns you with social/familial moments of Hallmark bliss ...it's numbing.</span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="">I like movies as much as the next guy but, Hollywood, let's stop shouting every last one of them from atop Mt. Olympus, for a change. I've nothing against going nuts with a trailer. </span><span lang="">You can be exciting, yes, absolutely; intense, even grandstanding. But skim the profoundness we all know isn't there in favor of something that more openly embraces the lurid, the salty, the absurd. And without any self-mocking winks to the audience. </span></span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter '80s action movie trailers, and there be no better example than Walter Hill's 1987 <strong>Extreme Prejudice</strong>. Brass tacks, holy. shit. <strong>Extreme Prejudice</strong> is awesome. <strong>Extreme Prejudice</strong> just might be the manliest movie ever made. <strong>Extreme Prejudice</strong> makes <strong>The Wild Bunch</strong> look like a slightly less feminine incarnation of <strong>Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants</strong>. Seriously. <br /><br /> Watching this movie is like spending a muggy afternoon held-up in some seedy, cigar smoke-filled, half-dilapidated hotel room in bumfuck Nicaragua, sitting in a chair with a hooker passed out on the bed and a loaded .45 on the table, drinking two-thirds a bottle of whiskey while pouring the rest over a gunshot wound to the shoulder. THAT'S<strong> Extreme Prejudice</strong>. This movie could make Men out of eunuchs! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's very likely that <strong>Extreme Prejudice</strong> fucked your mother. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Done justice to above harsh truth are a couple of trailers -- one teaser, one official -- that get right down to the point of what makes this movie tick. Unapologetically corny, it's as if the both proceed from the very title (barrowed directly from <strong>Apocalypse Now</strong>'s CIA spook when emphasizing Colonel Kurtz' termination—Milius, who also scripts here, thus closing the loop) in promising a no-bullshit narrative of corrupt Black Ops who run head-on into lone hero, Texas Ranger badassdom, as personified by a one pissed off Nick Nolte. You'll hear a Goldsmith cue pulled from <strong>Rambo: First Blood Part II</strong>, which is appropriate given that said composer likewise scored the film in question. I could go on, waxing the rest. Instead, just see for yourself...</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vCqRCutZsGo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCqRCutZsGo?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This next features one of Nolte's best lines, about fear:</span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XwNydRob4pI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XwNydRob4pI?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang=""> </span></span><span lang="EN"> </span>Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-11116569427803081782015-11-11T18:49:00.000-08:002015-11-11T18:49:54.964-08:00Price-Check: The Color Spectrums of Cinema<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A movie's color palette says a lot. Condensed into singular barcodes perhaps says even more, allowing one to scan the piece for its shades, hues, temperates and vivacity; or conversely for the boldness of its monotone unity. Here below are (quite) a few:</span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">(click to enlarge)</span></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Apocalypse Now</em></strong> (1979)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RxRtTxFi4r4/VkPuRRr1SuI/AAAAAAAABfk/3Ha3Th1-iOk/s1600/apocalypse%2Bnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RxRtTxFi4r4/VkPuRRr1SuI/AAAAAAAABfk/3Ha3Th1-iOk/s400/apocalypse%2Bnow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Natural Born Killers</em></strong> (1994)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mUF-9pwZOmI/VkPuxREma4I/AAAAAAAABfs/GJ5bjE3hh8g/s1600/natural%2Bborn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mUF-9pwZOmI/VkPuxREma4I/AAAAAAAABfs/GJ5bjE3hh8g/s400/natural%2Bborn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Enter the Void</em></strong> (2009)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m2bU462cs1A/VkPvA4fIV3I/AAAAAAAABf0/Iw_Zi_h5QMU/s1600/enter%2Bthe%2Bvoide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m2bU462cs1A/VkPvA4fIV3I/AAAAAAAABf0/Iw_Zi_h5QMU/s400/enter%2Bthe%2Bvoide.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Cinderella</em></strong> (1950)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7diYQKu4WXo/VkPvTLg7tmI/AAAAAAAABf8/g_Hxofln6g0/s1600/cinderrela.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7diYQKu4WXo/VkPvTLg7tmI/AAAAAAAABf8/g_Hxofln6g0/s400/cinderrela.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Léon: The Professional</em></strong> (1994)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bK-tnco-qhE/VkPvmvuUWNI/AAAAAAAABgE/GyY-erBT7Vw/s1600/leon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bK-tnco-qhE/VkPvmvuUWNI/AAAAAAAABgE/GyY-erBT7Vw/s400/leon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Playtime</em></strong> (1967)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDJ6AKSzHns/VkPwJOjaD7I/AAAAAAAABgY/nOwasHbGyjg/s1600/playtime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TDJ6AKSzHns/VkPwJOjaD7I/AAAAAAAABgY/nOwasHbGyjg/s400/playtime.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Red Sonja</em></strong> (1985)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RQE7Vihn6jE/VkPwelONgpI/AAAAAAAABgc/44yJbwDry0Y/s1600/red%2Bsonja.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RQE7Vihn6jE/VkPwelONgpI/AAAAAAAABgc/44yJbwDry0Y/s400/red%2Bsonja.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Avatar</em></strong> (2009)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fGysp4Wty88/VkPwtVfBzOI/AAAAAAAABgk/vKVZCHOBiU0/s1600/avatar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fGysp4Wty88/VkPwtVfBzOI/AAAAAAAABgk/vKVZCHOBiU0/s400/avatar.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Eyes Wide Shut</em></strong> (1999)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gSCzwfEP5pw/VkPw7Jo-DKI/AAAAAAAABgs/kp8mOkYxgr4/s1600/eyes%2Bwide%2Bshut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gSCzwfEP5pw/VkPw7Jo-DKI/AAAAAAAABgs/kp8mOkYxgr4/s400/eyes%2Bwide%2Bshut.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Blade Runner</em></strong> (1982)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_BdGMhaNOlo/VkPxGeWJS7I/AAAAAAAABg0/tVWGoy3UXns/s1600/blade%2Brunner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_BdGMhaNOlo/VkPxGeWJS7I/AAAAAAAABg0/tVWGoy3UXns/s400/blade%2Brunner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>No Country for Old Men</em></strong> (2007)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bh1uSfm_iHA/VkPxW4m2J-I/AAAAAAAABg8/t6qf_vc35ec/s1600/no%2Bcountry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bh1uSfm_iHA/VkPxW4m2J-I/AAAAAAAABg8/t6qf_vc35ec/s400/no%2Bcountry.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Singing in the Rain</em></strong> (1952)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46qJCnh665g/VkPxo7IokfI/AAAAAAAABhE/qzCHAEaM_u8/s1600/singing%2Bin%2Bthe%2Brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46qJCnh665g/VkPxo7IokfI/AAAAAAAABhE/qzCHAEaM_u8/s400/singing%2Bin%2Bthe%2Brain.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Alien</em></strong> (1979)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_ONG5ZVJQ8/VkPyCLRM_4I/AAAAAAAABhY/saZfeMEX4oQ/s1600/alien.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B_ONG5ZVJQ8/VkPyCLRM_4I/AAAAAAAABhY/saZfeMEX4oQ/s400/alien.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Speed Racer</em></strong> (2008)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0KJcSO3xpI/VkPx5yoWUlI/AAAAAAAABhQ/7M-c-drl9U8/s1600/speed%2Bracer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e0KJcSO3xpI/VkPx5yoWUlI/AAAAAAAABhQ/7M-c-drl9U8/s400/speed%2Bracer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Dredd</em></strong> (2012)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ao2TBr2Wi68/VkPyeINXE6I/AAAAAAAABhc/Rg48yDcr-3g/s1600/dredd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ao2TBr2Wi68/VkPyeINXE6I/AAAAAAAABhc/Rg48yDcr-3g/s400/dredd.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Dune</em></strong> (1984)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEWk_UPF0Ec/VkPynTdkaPI/AAAAAAAABhk/gbUz_UMNtqo/s1600/dune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zEWk_UPF0Ec/VkPynTdkaPI/AAAAAAAABhk/gbUz_UMNtqo/s400/dune.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>The Jungle Book</em></strong> (1967)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FpAUZtrutCw/VkPywDGJpZI/AAAAAAAABhs/_TX6x4oi-fg/s1600/jungle%2Bbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FpAUZtrutCw/VkPywDGJpZI/AAAAAAAABhs/_TX6x4oi-fg/s400/jungle%2Bbook.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Run Lola Run</em></strong> (1998)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kd4YTF_viA4/VkP0GON0A8I/AAAAAAAABh4/QqdCAIp1hRQ/s1600/run%2Blola.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kd4YTF_viA4/VkP0GON0A8I/AAAAAAAABh4/QqdCAIp1hRQ/s400/run%2Blola.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>West Side Story</em></strong> (1961)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiy_AtHTGLA/VkP0XRQh7jI/AAAAAAAABiA/WoS0xMS1k2I/s1600/west%2Bside%2Bstory.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kiy_AtHTGLA/VkP0XRQh7jI/AAAAAAAABiA/WoS0xMS1k2I/s400/west%2Bside%2Bstory.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Bloodsport</em></strong> (1988)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzhIoT8_AbI/VkP0mUmfZCI/AAAAAAAABiI/2z9GR1yZcW4/s1600/bloodsport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzhIoT8_AbI/VkP0mUmfZCI/AAAAAAAABiI/2z9GR1yZcW4/s400/bloodsport.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Life of Pi</em></strong> (2012)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajgFe9-bWi8/VkP01s5YcUI/AAAAAAAABiQ/x7cs8X1InvU/s1600/life%2Bof%2Bpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ajgFe9-bWi8/VkP01s5YcUI/AAAAAAAABiQ/x7cs8X1InvU/s400/life%2Bof%2Bpi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Lost in Translation</em></strong> (2003)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUr_51z0b28/VkP1EL1F-mI/AAAAAAAABiY/YVSQUtUNzr0/s1600/lost%2Bin%2Btrainslation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jUr_51z0b28/VkP1EL1F-mI/AAAAAAAABiY/YVSQUtUNzr0/s400/lost%2Bin%2Btrainslation.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Sixteen Candles</em></strong> (1984)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1q6N3sJSy1o/VkP1c5CalbI/AAAAAAAABig/ptxKmCOqiJI/s1600/sixteen%2Bcandles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1q6N3sJSy1o/VkP1c5CalbI/AAAAAAAABig/ptxKmCOqiJI/s400/sixteen%2Bcandles.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Jaws</em></strong> (1975)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-anEhT74CMvw/VkP1n1g4AeI/AAAAAAAABio/W0cvOasOJBw/s1600/jaws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-anEhT74CMvw/VkP1n1g4AeI/AAAAAAAABio/W0cvOasOJBw/s400/jaws.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan</em></strong> (1982)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-su2XdV30lNI/VkP1wuKJPVI/AAAAAAAABiw/dw-iGGTVwjk/s1600/wrath%2Bof%2Bkhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-su2XdV30lNI/VkP1wuKJPVI/AAAAAAAABiw/dw-iGGTVwjk/s400/wrath%2Bof%2Bkhan.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Bambi</em></strong> (1942)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ClotRtsVgWs/VkP2H5G8zEI/AAAAAAAABjA/Gka7mvAL8k8/s1600/bambi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ClotRtsVgWs/VkP2H5G8zEI/AAAAAAAABjA/Gka7mvAL8k8/s400/bambi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>From Dusk Till Dawn</em></strong> (1996)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xaZCZ_7IFs/VkPv__AhQKI/AAAAAAAABgQ/9TlhakG3m2s/s1600/from%2Bdusk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xaZCZ_7IFs/VkPv__AhQKI/AAAAAAAABgQ/9TlhakG3m2s/s400/from%2Bdusk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Escape from New York</em></strong> (1981)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K5uvuHHfDjM/VkP1_qqoLVI/AAAAAAAABi8/8bUKx7wi9kw/s1600/escape%2Bnew%2Byork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-K5uvuHHfDjM/VkP1_qqoLVI/AAAAAAAABi8/8bUKx7wi9kw/s400/escape%2Bnew%2Byork.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em></strong> (1969)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f0OWBiYQtpQ/VkP2zOZMFgI/AAAAAAAABjI/vjgqPTovjrA/s1600/2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f0OWBiYQtpQ/VkP2zOZMFgI/AAAAAAAABjI/vjgqPTovjrA/s400/2001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Thunderball</em></strong> (1965)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fxmcfpol68/VkP3FPYqy_I/AAAAAAAABjQ/7RZuV96wZl0/s1600/thunderball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9fxmcfpol68/VkP3FPYqy_I/AAAAAAAABjQ/7RZuV96wZl0/s400/thunderball.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Skyfall</em></strong> (2012)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4JqVSGOurQ/VkP3QSBIgiI/AAAAAAAABjY/tsE13-tCHOE/s1600/skyfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4JqVSGOurQ/VkP3QSBIgiI/AAAAAAAABjY/tsE13-tCHOE/s400/skyfall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Die Hard</em></strong> (1988)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_568k8tE0mg/VkP4zOLRceI/AAAAAAAABj0/J5vhsxXVo3U/s1600/die%2Bhard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_568k8tE0mg/VkP4zOLRceI/AAAAAAAABj0/J5vhsxXVo3U/s400/die%2Bhard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Live Free Die Hard</em></strong> (2007)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h5pM1IaPKbo/VkP4-OXBN1I/AAAAAAAABj8/ok7yzXSRJmA/s1600/live%2Bfree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h5pM1IaPKbo/VkP4-OXBN1I/AAAAAAAABj8/ok7yzXSRJmA/s400/live%2Bfree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring</em></strong> (2001)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-urT7lMTFGrQ/VkP3dZX__XI/AAAAAAAABjg/RCUg7hbeijk/s1600/lord%2Bof%2Bthe%2Brings%2Bfellowship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-urT7lMTFGrQ/VkP3dZX__XI/AAAAAAAABjg/RCUg7hbeijk/s400/lord%2Bof%2Bthe%2Brings%2Bfellowship.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</em></strong> (2012)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hbHpBze5qWs/VkP3wOyDmaI/AAAAAAAABjo/kNjcq3v1ueE/s1600/hobbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hbHpBze5qWs/VkP3wOyDmaI/AAAAAAAABjo/kNjcq3v1ueE/s400/hobbit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>The Empire Strikes Back</em></strong> (1980)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2TlXujd8y-Y/VkP5J5Mp7sI/AAAAAAAABkE/ysWf10KKkLQ/s1600/empire%2Bstrikes%2Bback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2TlXujd8y-Y/VkP5J5Mp7sI/AAAAAAAABkE/ysWf10KKkLQ/s400/empire%2Bstrikes%2Bback.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><strong><em>Attack of the Clones</em></strong> (2002)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G58QyQkMAf8/VkP5Ti7-sRI/AAAAAAAABkM/ye30I8pfwws/s1600/attack%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bclones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G58QyQkMAf8/VkP5Ti7-sRI/AAAAAAAABkM/ye30I8pfwws/s400/attack%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bclones.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="justify" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Check out the rest at </span><a href="http://moviebarcode.tumblr.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">MOVIEBARCODE</span></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-31314026203111748912015-10-26T11:02:00.000-07:002015-10-26T11:02:51.727-07:00Pulp Star Wars<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PKFrtkILrJ0/Vi5p2vT9DfI/AAAAAAAABfA/8BPJSWd29jw/s1600/dummy%2Brey%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PKFrtkILrJ0/Vi5p2vT9DfI/AAAAAAAABfA/8BPJSWd29jw/s1600/dummy%2Brey%2B2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y4T8hYeIE_Y/Vi5pwhU69DI/AAAAAAAABe4/gQeIKnBJY4E/s1600/902649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-y4T8hYeIE_Y/Vi5pwhU69DI/AAAAAAAABe4/gQeIKnBJY4E/s1600/902649.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NJ8lV0nCljI/Vi5p51ysm5I/AAAAAAAABfI/Z4K3WU73r0o/s1600/dummy%2Brey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NJ8lV0nCljI/Vi5p51ysm5I/AAAAAAAABfI/Z4K3WU73r0o/s1600/dummy%2Brey.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iPVYzS8GEeA/Vi5p-E3dR3I/AAAAAAAABfQ/ASMLmhxP8p8/s1600/future%2Bfiction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iPVYzS8GEeA/Vi5p-E3dR3I/AAAAAAAABfQ/ASMLmhxP8p8/s1600/future%2Bfiction.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6MhaqF29DdA/Vi5qCC8UK5I/AAAAAAAABfY/GkY89FbRn7A/s1600/fantastic%2Bdummy%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6MhaqF29DdA/Vi5qCC8UK5I/AAAAAAAABfY/GkY89FbRn7A/s1600/fantastic%2Bdummy%2B1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-77408244203200643062015-09-09T19:13:00.001-07:002015-09-09T19:13:18.435-07:00VH1 Classic: In The Zone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6DD45wBDLNs/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6DD45wBDLNs?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
<br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-8385374770064915542015-08-04T10:54:00.001-07:002015-08-04T11:10:10.338-07:00Ogilvy isn’t even real! - War of the Worlds (2005)<span lang=""></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang=""><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DWtXv8v-AEw/VcD2zBdWwdI/AAAAAAAABb0/tYS2NPTAJJk/s1600/w0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DWtXv8v-AEw/VcD2zBdWwdI/AAAAAAAABb0/tYS2NPTAJJk/s1600/w0.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span lang="">
</span><br />
<div align="center">
<span lang=""><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong> </span></div>
<span lang="">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>A.I. Artificial Intelligence</strong>, <strong>Minority Report</strong>, <strong>Catch Me If You Can</strong>, <strong>Munich</strong>, <strong>War Horse</strong>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some (not all) of Spielberg’s post-millennial endeavors. They came, most went. There was some critical appreciation, no doubt, along with respectable box office business. But, ya ever get the feeling that if any one or more of these titles had been helmed as is by any other, particularly newcomer director, such would probably be regarded now as modern classics? There was a time when Steven Spielberg made a movie, critics and audiences alike all stopped and held their breath. He’d do something authentic with a set piece or moment of suspense, wielding that uncanny showmanship magic of his, and the movie-going masses would glaze over with awe. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In recent years, however, his efforts have been met with a kind of, how shall we say, acceptance; Spielberg as usual. And that’s fine. Nothing escapes the familiar. How many times did Evel Knievel jump his motorbike over used car lots before bursts of cheers and wide-eyed frenzy settled down into dutiful applauses? Hell, people fly through the sky now while interfacing from the palm of their hand across a global digital network, and the typical level of amazement you’re likely to hear is, <em>"Huh, I think that’s Spain down there. Check out this cat video."</em> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Spielberg still makes exceptional films, even when he doesn’t make great ones. Or, the other way around, or...whatever. I do want take this opportunity for a little surface meditation on his 2005 remake of <strong>War of the Worlds</strong>. Fun fact: I prefer it over both <strong>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</strong> and <strong>E.T.</strong>, in part, for the way it inverts them. Obviously, Spielberg's third feature film foray into the premise of aliens is a grim, malevolent tale. Not a look-to-the-skies wonderer but a run-for-your-lives nightmare. And yet, wonder remains in its own darkly way. Numerous scenes from <strong>War of the Worlds</strong> feel recreated from the yesteryear boy-brain fascinations with "death-ray invasion" imagery via 50s sci-fi magazine covers and movie posters.</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang=""><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDIXXJOLZUU/VcD36AeQ6_I/AAAAAAAABdU/nS-VaeDx-u8/s1600/w14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YDIXXJOLZUU/VcD36AeQ6_I/AAAAAAAABdU/nS-VaeDx-u8/s400/w14.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span lang="">
</span><br />
<span lang="">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spielberg's giant Tripod walkers reign down not only immediate terror but a grim atmosphere where cold overcast gives into a perpetual night of luminous purple-blue horizons; auras of such strangess that can only hail from the outers of space. When the Ferrier family wash up on the bank of the Hudson River and view from afar as Tripods snatch up swimmers from a capsized ferry, the scene is framed for lobby card effect and scored only by the surreal sound design of some echoing emergency air horn and distant screams in the night. It's a call back to vintage pop-art splash pages that tantalized readers with the possibilities of modernity wrought into something phantasmagoric.</span></span><br />
<span lang=""></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span lang=""><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gJ3HT82Y2c/VcD3eLylNJI/AAAAAAAABcU/gzmzpAd-EOk/s1600/w4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--gJ3HT82Y2c/VcD3eLylNJI/AAAAAAAABcU/gzmzpAd-EOk/s400/w4.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span lang="">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vertebral to this ominously upended telling is the director's continuation with his broken family unit. Where 70s man-child Roy Neary leaves behind his wife and kids with a free pass of sorts, in the name of 'everyman journey into the unknown', <strong>E.T.</strong> addresses the consequences with a fatherless Elliot whose closer encounter is not a ticket to freedom-escapism, but a companion to restitute the pains of paternal abandonment. Think of Ray Ferrier then as the fallout embodiment that is Roy's absence (one mere first name vowel to another). More potently, Ray is not only a grown up version of Elliot but one as seen through the looking-glass, a mirroring that I can't help but think Spielberg puts to visual.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FTf_9hnKydo/VcD4Kx2ur4I/AAAAAAAABd0/2WUbo3c4VtM/s1600/w20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FTf_9hnKydo/VcD4Kx2ur4I/AAAAAAAABd0/2WUbo3c4VtM/s400/w20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhgscl8q4Os/VcD3Bj1awpI/AAAAAAAABcM/9Bo7cGxN3e8/s1600/w3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yhgscl8q4Os/VcD3Bj1awpI/AAAAAAAABcM/9Bo7cGxN3e8/s400/w3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even weirder is that Ray's kids Robbie and Rachel are practically the same age as Michael and Gertie, as if Elliot slipped through some mad movie paradox to emerge as his irresponsible middle-aged self burdened with parenting the same sibling pair but this time in the form of angst cynicism and smarty precociousness. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone comes down hard on the kid performances -- either one is allegedly too loud and needy or the other too petulant, or both -- but, I dunno, they’re just kids. I’m not sure what "special" alternative scripting for prepubescent/adolescent behavior would be as effective in selling the working class, broken family unit verisimilitude. Seems like it’s the teenage and early twenty-something audience that have the biggest problem with this aspect of the film whereas parents and older adults in general tend to better appreciate, empathetically, such depictions, or are at least unphased by it. I was always fine with it, anyways, and I think the two young actors were plenty convincing in their roles. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also dig the ‘Cruise factor’ in this movie, particularly how the star’s middle aged persona is subverted a bit to reflect a deadbeat dad who hasn’t outgrown fast cars and casual female relationships. It’s quite impressive, really, how Spielberg was able to convey an entire back story through all the various details and performance nuances of a single domestic scene between divorced parents relaying their kids for the weekend: a woman once charmed by leather jackets and bad boy grins who, in the wake of motherhood, ended the marriage for the sake of stable living and material responsibilities (i.e. Tim’s "safe looking SUV") yet still habitually frowns upon her ex’s unkempt apartment and informs him when he’s out of milk; Cruise’s Ferrier quickly closing his bedroom door as she walks by, half-subconsciously hiding from the ever-judgmental his personal "adult space" where occur aforesaid loose relations.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tV1owcjk2_k/VcD232lk14I/AAAAAAAABb8/zOtHoRSTJX4/s1600/w1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tV1owcjk2_k/VcD232lk14I/AAAAAAAABb8/zOtHoRSTJX4/s400/w1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such a degree of everyman characterization breezily established early on is what anchors the film amidst the oncoming otherworldliness which in turn only contrasts that much more hauntingly with Spielberg’s lurid vision of an alien overlord invasion. <strong>War of the Worlds</strong> avoided that innocuous, stock Hollywood drama of the 70s and 90s disaster movies along with its big studio backlot look-and-feel in favor of something lost in rural Northeastern locality that was all too dark and dreamy and id. Sure, there’s the apparent tap into the cultural psyche over post-911 fears -- human dust, downed jetliners, a wall covered in photographs of missing loved ones etc. -- but as the narrative proceeds it takes audiences further and further back in time and down the rabbit hole, reimagining through the Martian presence an alchemy of historical conflicts. The thunder and flash from a hilltop horizon military engagement evokes the night hours of war-torn Europe while refugees fleeing from Tripod searchlights and later herded into cages for human processing caps the milieu with its own bent Holocaust.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrflzV6pBuQ/VcD3hcIKpsI/AAAAAAAABcc/orp-MUs7aVA/s1600/w5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yrflzV6pBuQ/VcD3hcIKpsI/AAAAAAAABcc/orp-MUs7aVA/s400/w5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still deeper lies an imbedded memory spanning from mid-20th century America back to its first Revolution that echoes throughout the Ferrier family trek from Jersey to Boston, along the Hudson and amidst backroad farmlands and rolling hills. Industrial-driven aliens coldly probe the remnants of an abandoned farmhouse basement, murmuring inhuman speech as they scan black and white pictures and prod old bicycle parts—a kind of weird molestation of the Rockwellian. When later scrambling from the house, Cruise looks out over what should be the saturated pastels of some idyllic ‘American Scene painting’ (think Kinkade, at the very least) of a quaint Connecticut countryside only to instead witness the same impressionistic landscape inverted with dark skies and blood red decay, as if the Tripods, not the British, had ravaged the colonial earth those two hundred and thirty years ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dJSgVfgDGIw/VcD4OB5s6GI/AAAAAAAABd8/s3SR952oMog/s1600/w19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dJSgVfgDGIw/VcD4OB5s6GI/AAAAAAAABd8/s3SR952oMog/s400/w19.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYzKshBYo7k/VcD4Rk0ag7I/AAAAAAAABeE/WpQAkRaqt3Y/s1600/w18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oYzKshBYo7k/VcD4Rk0ag7I/AAAAAAAABeE/WpQAkRaqt3Y/s400/w18.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UnyrMjjQpU/VcD4CMLiKfI/AAAAAAAABdk/ZDiMZsAQBJQ/s1600/w15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1UnyrMjjQpU/VcD4CMLiKfI/AAAAAAAABdk/ZDiMZsAQBJQ/s400/w15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>"Occupations always fail!"</em> shouts Tim Robbin’s panic-stricken Ogilvy, and indeed it’s a core theme that dominates the film</span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">. </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">Observe how Spielberg symbolizes this resistance with ashen blood roots that break away in pieces from the Boston statue of a colonial soldier; an illustrative moment that immediately precedes the victorious rocket launcher ground assault and overall spells doom for the invading enemies.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dp6oDsP-5p0/VcD31tTDmgI/AAAAAAAABdM/y_mVra8eVtU/s1600/w12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dp6oDsP-5p0/VcD31tTDmgI/AAAAAAAABdM/y_mVra8eVtU/s400/w12.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Oh, and back to Ogilvy, here’s my dopey little theory: he’s not real.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s go over some factors here. There’s already a schism between the father Ray and his son Robbie, the latter of whom is early on tagged with a homework assignment on the French Occupation of Algeria, his first link with a bunkered Ogilvy whose entire purpose is based on the historically informed claim quoted above. Throughout the movie Robbie is not only determined to join up with any Army convoy that comes his way but is even more deeply transfixed by the very sight of a neighborhood laid to waste and equally obsessed with witnessing up close this war against the unimaginable, and giving himself over to the wave of human resistance, scurrying over a hill into the fray like a moth drawn the flame. His alleged demise then leaves a gaping hole in the father’s identity, soon after supplanted in my opinion with an alternate, warring identity harboring the same streak of rebellion only amplified to a fanatical extreme. In short, Ogilvy is a part of Ray, his regret, who stands in for the son. And the two are more at odds than ever before. This war of the worlds is a war of the psyche. The script even throws in a clever meta-moment where Ogilvy hints the situation for what it is: <em>"You and me, I don’t think we’re on the same page."</em> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-MzrIhkjA4/VcD3n50HgXI/AAAAAAAABcs/wM9sPdqETYs/s1600/w7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u-MzrIhkjA4/VcD3n50HgXI/AAAAAAAABcs/wM9sPdqETYs/s400/w7.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div align="center">
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet, the real tell-tale here is Rachel. Notice that she never once responds to Ogilvy. A moment comes when the two are sitting together on the staircase with Ogilvy assuring that, if anything were to happen to her father, he would take his place as her protector; a moment interupted by Ray who then calls Rachel to his side. In this instance Spielberg frames the daughter responding mechanically as a child might to a situation that, on the surface, is perhaps not what the audience is seeing. Later, when the "two men" are grappling in panic over the barrel of a shotgun, a closeup of Rachel reveals an eerily blank expression; again, a child not able to fully process the behaivor on display. When Ray finally confronts Ogilvy in a fight to the death, this alternate perception of the scenario at its breaking point, even if accepted it only for argument's sake, is given a whole new psychotraumatic meaning for both father and daughter as the latter covers her ears and sings a lullaby in dispair to avoid hearing the horrors of her daddy in the other room, alone, losing his shit. The scene ends with the two sitting together (again) on the staircase in silence, embracing eacher other almost anesthitically, out of sheer emotional exhaustion.</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4G0SPpYCmLo/VcD3sPMgtyI/AAAAAAAABc0/wnGrSBqXGkc/s1600/w8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4G0SPpYCmLo/VcD3sPMgtyI/AAAAAAAABc0/wnGrSBqXGkc/s400/w8.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qbIIyFGL454/VcD3vNOZ2VI/AAAAAAAABc8/WSyCgg8_tEU/s1600/w9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qbIIyFGL454/VcD3vNOZ2VI/AAAAAAAABc8/WSyCgg8_tEU/s400/w9.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuBmzyJYzyI/VcD3yUOxL-I/AAAAAAAABdE/IciQRIKXM0M/s1600/w10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XuBmzyJYzyI/VcD3yUOxL-I/AAAAAAAABdE/IciQRIKXM0M/s400/w10.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even when dismissing from as much a literal interpretation, the metaphorical emphasis remains all the same, as Ogilvy represents for Ray and Rachel a physical manifestation of the family narrative through-line up that juncture. Spielberg is constantly working on such levels, demonstrating widespread societal breakdown matched with communal heroism and a situational mosaic of familial instincts under extreme, world-ending circumstances. He skillfully employs shot designs and coded imagery (figures framed within holes broken through windows/windshields, for example) while positioning surrounding characters in such a way to mirror and/or motivate Cruise’s Ferrier: Robbie the defiant copy whose "Let me go" secession denotes his father’s own transformation, Ogilvy the figurative, counteractive DID manifestation that Cruise must destroy in order to save Rachel, and Rachel herself as the coveted prize, the one costumed splash of color amidst an entire runtime of washed-out cinematography, whose survival determines her father’s redemption and, metaphorically, the very biological deus ex machina that bookends the film; she says early on of the splinter in her finger, <em>"When it’s ready, my body will just push it out."</em> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zqCUdLfCNoc/VcD2-Tx_1-I/AAAAAAAABcE/ZGVx32vn1nQ/s1600/w2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zqCUdLfCNoc/VcD2-Tx_1-I/AAAAAAAABcE/ZGVx32vn1nQ/s400/w2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many criticized the 2005 remake for keepsaking Wells' allegedly outdated and oversimplified interpretation of an advanced alien race thwarted by something as elementary as microscopic bacteria (while younger and/or ignorant naysayers never even considered this aspect as the product of faifthul adaptation). I think the conciet remains strong. Even in modern times mankind, armed with scientific understanding of microorginisms, has nonetheless ventured carelessly into jungles to suffer the consequences of deadly viral infections. Suggested here are alternate variables of technological evolution that might not always result in a harmonious being or lead a race down progressive paths. Interesting to note, in my opinion, that the aliens in the film are not so much evil as they are apathetic. Consider the idea of a race who, perhaps at one time, possessed feelings or held to moral standards in some fashion, yet has since over eons evolved so completely into a state of pure mechanization—industrialization. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These aliens proceed not out of malice or even dominion under any pretense of victory or conquest, but simply to maintain the <em>factory incarnate</em> that now defines their entire existence. They're intelligences that serve the machine, the machine that serves the body politic, as networked together across any given planet with red vines (or veins) of livestock blood. The physical, memetic link between the Tripods and their pilots makes no such distinction as is found between Man and his automobiles, aircrafts or construction vehicles; the self-identity of the former as the very engines that rise from our earth bears a degree of absolution that renders them the coldest of despots. Now consider from this premise how such total disregard for all other life might equate a devolution in common sense towards all other life forms. Technology is not synonomous with wisdom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uvB5cUqHdYk/VcD4FxBZG-I/AAAAAAAABds/8GHAr6gZfjk/s1600/w17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uvB5cUqHdYk/VcD4FxBZG-I/AAAAAAAABds/8GHAr6gZfjk/s400/w17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is <strong>War of the Worlds</strong> perfect? Hardly. The one lasting criticism I agree with is the tacked-on return of Robbie. His left-to-be-assumed demise would have afforded the ending a more authentic balance between bitter and sweet. I can imagine the mother at once holding her daughter with relief and looking around desperately for an absent son, while the father is left with no other choice but to walk away and continue on in a state of irresolution. A point docked, no doubt, yet it hardly ruins the whole movie for me. Altogether, it’s a retelling with its own identity and in turn a masterful work of pop-art science fiction cinema.</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BWs8d8ruPk0/VcD3-Go5-GI/AAAAAAAABdc/MHbzaqOJilc/s1600/w13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BWs8d8ruPk0/VcD3-Go5-GI/AAAAAAAABdc/MHbzaqOJilc/s400/w13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-82529705819514776202015-07-30T18:47:00.001-07:002015-07-30T18:48:45.955-07:00Happy Holidays!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know what you're thinking: <em>"Happy holidays? We're smack dab in the heat of summer." </em>Doesn't matter. Christmas time is <strong><u>every time</u></strong> with Chuck Norris. And, why not July 30?</span> <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KxGEE0WraQg/VbrTV59dlHI/AAAAAAAABbc/7k_uzLOe7io/s1600/106604-desktop-wallpaper-desktop-wallpaper-1280x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KxGEE0WraQg/VbrTV59dlHI/AAAAAAAABbc/7k_uzLOe7io/s640/106604-desktop-wallpaper-desktop-wallpaper-1280x1024.jpg" width="530" /></a></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-42617591794235878442015-07-15T18:42:00.000-07:002015-07-15T18:52:04.871-07:00Voodoo Mambo! The Pest (1997) Intro<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The late 80s on into the 90s saw a string of comedians or comically inclined actors with varying degrees of talent each being afforded the opportunity to exhibit a kind of one-man-show tour de force of schtick personalities and slapstick sight gags, with varying degrees of success (or failure, depending on how you slant it). Examples of such farcical, star-making vehicles include: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Carrot Top, <b>Chairman of the Board</b>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Adam Sandler, <b>Going Overboard</b>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Yahoo Serious, <b>Young Einstein</b>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Rik Mayall, <b>Drop Dead Fred</b>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Chris Elliot, <b>Cabin Boy</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Jim Carrey, <b>Ace Ventura: Pet Detective</b>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the latter entries into this often ill-begotten trend was <b>The Pest</b>. John Leguizamo had in fact already established himself dramatically, as and action movie costar and even in previous comedic outings such as <strong>Two Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar</strong>. Yet this was clearly intended as a reinvention into leading man comedy superstardom à la Jim Carrey. If I've seen the movie in its entirety, I don't remember it; a long ago lackadaisical afternoon viewing on cable TV seems the most likely of circumstance (back when I watched TV). But it's opening credits sequence has nonetheless buoyed itself in the backwaters of my mind along with other inane shit long since jettisoned from pop-culture; to this day I still quote Alexander lines from <b>Robot Jox</b>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Behold the convergence—terribleness and greatness(?) coming together in an amorphous state. I challenge anyone to come down firmly on either side, and furthermore submit that such a 'yay-or-nay' opinion can never be reached. You will hate this. You will find it juvenile and obnoxious. After the 6th or 7th rewatch, you'll spend the following week half-consciously rapping Leguizamo's lyrics while carrying out mundane tasks, or perhaps wholeheartedly in your own shower. At the very least, I can all but guarantee that the insufferably catchy <i>"Voodoo mambo, chili congo!"</i> will be playing on a mental-track loop while you cruise grocery store aisles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pay attention to the numerous artifacts exclusive to that "90s scene" aesthetic: the ponytailed white dude on his skateboard, those animated "Latino party" font credits and the overall sunny bright colors and gaudy fashionwear courtesy of a Miami setting. You gotta hand it to Leguizamo. He leaves nothing on the table here, including his scripted mother with whom he discoes in one of those innocuously PG-13 moments that makes room for the bemused, sitcomedic Puerto Rican family reaction shot. There's also Jeffery Jones on typecast from his Ferris Bueller days as an evil German driving around in a Hummer. This movie actually happened. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mrcjMcUfI3E/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="370" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mrcjMcUfI3E?feature=player_embedded" width="489"></iframe></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-9565294783471382882015-03-24T11:12:00.001-07:002015-03-24T11:12:26.834-07:00Xeno-Alternates<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-akfJOYujA2s/VRGfybPmbZI/AAAAAAAABYY/yG_kK74mhIU/s1600/fe80d573ee3309eb53c0f9ac50a21694.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-akfJOYujA2s/VRGfybPmbZI/AAAAAAAABYY/yG_kK74mhIU/s1600/fe80d573ee3309eb53c0f9ac50a21694.jpg" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ES7REIIHTjQ/VRGmUDLOSMI/AAAAAAAABaI/m4PSpgo-JsU/s1600/tumblr_n16lyhu6qg1tq3rgjo2_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ES7REIIHTjQ/VRGmUDLOSMI/AAAAAAAABaI/m4PSpgo-JsU/s1600/tumblr_n16lyhu6qg1tq3rgjo2_1280.jpg" height="640" width="414" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qHGLlpw3GbA/VRGf1Bzg8MI/AAAAAAAABYg/ip6MhF3x0lU/s1600/alien_resurrection__the_bonus_tracks__by_jaybo21-d6v74r8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qHGLlpw3GbA/VRGf1Bzg8MI/AAAAAAAABYg/ip6MhF3x0lU/s1600/alien_resurrection__the_bonus_tracks__by_jaybo21-d6v74r8.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NCCmsz5nhg8/VRGf5wAYi2I/AAAAAAAABYo/OJmJWHbBsXs/s1600/tumblr_lfnloyAsx31qe2w1uo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NCCmsz5nhg8/VRGf5wAYi2I/AAAAAAAABYo/OJmJWHbBsXs/s1600/tumblr_lfnloyAsx31qe2w1uo1_1280.jpg" height="640" width="452" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L0FmkOOqOiU/VRGmQ6aoFLI/AAAAAAAABaA/cve70Pl15dQ/s1600/alien3bg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L0FmkOOqOiU/VRGmQ6aoFLI/AAAAAAAABaA/cve70Pl15dQ/s1600/alien3bg.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgoG0o5oKdw/VRGgE2YubUI/AAAAAAAABYw/0SeXxiDzdeU/s1600/alien3_poster_by_halo_zero-d3cu8ug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZgoG0o5oKdw/VRGgE2YubUI/AAAAAAAABYw/0SeXxiDzdeU/s1600/alien3_poster_by_halo_zero-d3cu8ug.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06Rrll-C098/VRGgHmy0DDI/AAAAAAAABY4/8maW9St9y7E/s1600/aliens_poster_by_halo_zero-d3cu8gv.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-06Rrll-C098/VRGgHmy0DDI/AAAAAAAABY4/8maW9St9y7E/s1600/aliens_poster_by_halo_zero-d3cu8gv.jpg" height="640" width="426" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eiU7hd-k9v0/VRGgMc7zU-I/AAAAAAAABZA/C4K2SKT3wNk/s1600/aliens_1986600x850_1484293803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eiU7hd-k9v0/VRGgMc7zU-I/AAAAAAAABZA/C4K2SKT3wNk/s1600/aliens_1986600x850_1484293803.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8U9Y2Hu095k/VRGgQlRuPDI/AAAAAAAABZI/S17XbIFY41A/s1600/aliens_1986600x850_1992521724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8U9Y2Hu095k/VRGgQlRuPDI/AAAAAAAABZI/S17XbIFY41A/s1600/aliens_1986600x850_1992521724.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KxIsN4aL1Y/VRGmxnmg-II/AAAAAAAABaQ/BL-cRwHyqeg/s1600/IMG_0987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9KxIsN4aL1Y/VRGmxnmg-II/AAAAAAAABaQ/BL-cRwHyqeg/s1600/IMG_0987.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3TDPFzRSUk/VRGm1Zg5szI/AAAAAAAABaY/XCbIwxJu2Mg/s1600/tumblr_m1td8p8HiO1qkwhg2o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3TDPFzRSUk/VRGm1Zg5szI/AAAAAAAABaY/XCbIwxJu2Mg/s1600/tumblr_m1td8p8HiO1qkwhg2o1_500.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OfrepcomkI/VRGgZMfW0EI/AAAAAAAABZQ/FZtwQm0zbUs/s1600/tumblr_nckoj60jFq1st9p61o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OfrepcomkI/VRGgZMfW0EI/AAAAAAAABZQ/FZtwQm0zbUs/s1600/tumblr_nckoj60jFq1st9p61o1_500.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QUk2VoRq14Q/VRGgiRDnhlI/AAAAAAAABZY/QKJNImCHbLU/s1600/alien-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QUk2VoRq14Q/VRGgiRDnhlI/AAAAAAAABZY/QKJNImCHbLU/s1600/alien-1.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pF1GFAy4pXI/VRGglgjzK6I/AAAAAAAABZg/NnqcZJkV7Tk/s1600/alien_poster_1979_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pF1GFAy4pXI/VRGglgjzK6I/AAAAAAAABZg/NnqcZJkV7Tk/s1600/alien_poster_1979_02.jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ItuMJzGtO_c/VRGgtSLhCRI/AAAAAAAABZo/Bh6-UK7nlro/s1600/Alien-3.jpg" height="640" width="470" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cxwec4fMEDA/VRGgxWpScKI/AAAAAAAABZw/P8G3tNRDHPE/s1600/6e9c51760b7d3cca0463488650b3aaa7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XWJTkhvYKuE/VRGoB2XlKtI/AAAAAAAABak/w3m8KaxZ7Yg/s1600/zzz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aBFGUzOrCnI/VRGonTSCrUI/AAAAAAAABas/koxCdB3Rnhw/s1600/zzz2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aBFGUzOrCnI/VRGonTSCrUI/AAAAAAAABas/koxCdB3Rnhw/s1600/zzz2.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-37600751833480542062015-01-17T20:56:00.001-08:002015-01-17T20:56:39.601-08:00Dance-Off<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='489' height='370' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/t0qH2IaSjEU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-90459691305866746152014-12-28T18:56:00.000-08:002014-12-29T00:03:42.755-08:00Pictorial -- The best of 2014<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2014 closes. Looking back, I've made a rundown of the films that most satisfied my cinematic curiosities or just plain left me the most entertained. Not all of them are perfect, to say the least, but from every feature I found gusto or unique eccentricity; passion and remarkable artistry. There are very few fan favorites or critical darlings, as most of my picks range from forgotten oddities to top-heavy monstrosities to outright renegades<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">—</span>even a couple box office bombs amidst the bunch. Yet, let it not be said the spectrum of my selection was left wanting: surrealism, fantasy, black comedy, pulp-noir, neo-noir, sci-fi western, straight western, urban action and suburban growing pains, slasher revisionism, long journeys, epic landscapes, ultraviolent and the serene, superhuman and the utterly <em>inhuman</em> ...it's all there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the titles below were technically from 2013 by way of some limited film festival release (one of which is actually a carryover from my last year's list) but none were given wide release until 2014, and thus I call fair game. I haven't any quick summary reviews this time around. Just see the movies for yourself and decide. Nor is there any real order or countdown of any kind, with the exception of a one Miss Scarlett Johansson, who bookends the following:</span><br />
<br />
<div align="center">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Virtuoso evolution.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RiBluQmVwaM/VKCv9KKBJWI/AAAAAAAABUU/7qO6eKtV4Jc/s1600/lucy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RiBluQmVwaM/VKCv9KKBJWI/AAAAAAAABUU/7qO6eKtV4Jc/s1600/lucy2.jpg" height="170" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Dark, romantic and French.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AMsx-q5SN4g/VKCwLb6u52I/AAAAAAAABUk/zGgmoBmxdDk/s1600/beast4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AMsx-q5SN4g/VKCwLb6u52I/AAAAAAAABUk/zGgmoBmxdDk/s1600/beast4.jpg" height="165" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0SIMA3RLN28/VKCwG2YJl9I/AAAAAAAABUc/NFUA0kJlSYo/s1600/beast3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0SIMA3RLN28/VKCwG2YJl9I/AAAAAAAABUc/NFUA0kJlSYo/s1600/beast3.png" height="165" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Strange headspace. Lynch meets Gilliam.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o1-vckEwtZQ/VKCwPFL5rSI/AAAAAAAABUs/dWZ0tOwwCeQ/s1600/double.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-o1-vckEwtZQ/VKCwPFL5rSI/AAAAAAAABUs/dWZ0tOwwCeQ/s1600/double.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qb1w4KY4g3A/VKCwXdUJo7I/AAAAAAAABU0/wulWD3VV8H4/s1600/The-Double.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qb1w4KY4g3A/VKCwXdUJo7I/AAAAAAAABU0/wulWD3VV8H4/s1600/The-Double.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The great podcasting experiment.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jWYUI-nwS_Y/VKCxCF64WYI/AAAAAAAABVs/BT6wGSDP9X8/s1600/Tusk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jWYUI-nwS_Y/VKCxCF64WYI/AAAAAAAABVs/BT6wGSDP9X8/s1600/Tusk.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIPtQaknDNA/VKCxFvf7OFI/AAAAAAAABV0/RZcNx7qyeXQ/s1600/tusk2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIPtQaknDNA/VKCxFvf7OFI/AAAAAAAABV0/RZcNx7qyeXQ/s1600/tusk2.jpg" height="167" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Troublemakers. Sex and cigar smoke.</strong></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HG0fiTTzXhw/VKCxMGViV9I/AAAAAAAABV8/9_Ip7Ue8JoI/s1600/sin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HG0fiTTzXhw/VKCxMGViV9I/AAAAAAAABV8/9_Ip7Ue8JoI/s1600/sin1.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUXJSEZwstU/VKCxPD-V_WI/AAAAAAAABWE/npr9U20iQ8s/s1600/sin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUXJSEZwstU/VKCxPD-V_WI/AAAAAAAABWE/npr9U20iQ8s/s1600/sin2.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Terrorism behind the wheel.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cJmeXFxzgSI/VKCwmnS_xlI/AAAAAAAABVM/jjKNTiZiy1M/s1600/moves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cJmeXFxzgSI/VKCwmnS_xlI/AAAAAAAABVM/jjKNTiZiy1M/s1600/moves.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-es5I9Z_2NoQ/VKCwsJ4zugI/AAAAAAAABVU/qZfi6fdMnh8/s1600/moves2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-es5I9Z_2NoQ/VKCwsJ4zugI/AAAAAAAABVU/qZfi6fdMnh8/s1600/moves2.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Heroism behind the wheel.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53PxEuegCec/VKCwhI2SewI/AAAAAAAABVE/R3hScAMkyiA/s1600/locke2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-53PxEuegCec/VKCwhI2SewI/AAAAAAAABVE/R3hScAMkyiA/s1600/locke2.png" height="166" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MxGKz9udoLo/VKCwcVfVAZI/AAAAAAAABU8/iHjWaEOfpm8/s1600/locke1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MxGKz9udoLo/VKCwcVfVAZI/AAAAAAAABU8/iHjWaEOfpm8/s1600/locke1.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Frontiers of the past.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ssP3UoRGh34/VKCx-TZqGwI/AAAAAAAABW8/kuCVVMog94A/s1600/the-homesman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ssP3UoRGh34/VKCx-TZqGwI/AAAAAAAABW8/kuCVVMog94A/s1600/the-homesman.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdUucVVJN_w/VKCyFpacW_I/AAAAAAAABXE/5BeBeq7EJK4/s1600/thehome.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdUucVVJN_w/VKCyFpacW_I/AAAAAAAABXE/5BeBeq7EJK4/s1600/thehome.png" height="275" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Frontiers of the future.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QqnhuIhnfcQ/VKCwzcuwQII/AAAAAAAABVc/8aM85YghKrk/s1600/ones.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QqnhuIhnfcQ/VKCwzcuwQII/AAAAAAAABVc/8aM85YghKrk/s1600/ones.jpg" height="167" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I1atLXgRSOM/VKCw50MDj2I/AAAAAAAABVk/I_SQbuP0UQ4/s1600/ones2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I1atLXgRSOM/VKCw50MDj2I/AAAAAAAABVk/I_SQbuP0UQ4/s1600/ones2.jpg" height="167" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Another Coppola throws her hat into the ring.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmLzdn0zbKc/VKCzPD0ObKI/AAAAAAAABXM/6fYCt7mXn_0/s1600/palo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DmLzdn0zbKc/VKCzPD0ObKI/AAAAAAAABXM/6fYCt7mXn_0/s1600/palo.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TJ4I3-YQV6s/VKCzSC3j4pI/AAAAAAAABXU/qye01W47Iqw/s1600/palo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TJ4I3-YQV6s/VKCzSC3j4pI/AAAAAAAABXU/qye01W47Iqw/s1600/palo2.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Outback introspective.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hP9FhHR4L3w/VKCxd268szI/AAAAAAAABWc/9wFyr-_nwFo/s1600/tracks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hP9FhHR4L3w/VKCxd268szI/AAAAAAAABWc/9wFyr-_nwFo/s1600/tracks.jpg" height="216" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSUJlxtBnBw/VKCxktPyAUI/AAAAAAAABWk/wNv6ts9toTo/s1600/trakcs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DSUJlxtBnBw/VKCxktPyAUI/AAAAAAAABWk/wNv6ts9toTo/s1600/trakcs1.jpg" height="173" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Meta.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb3Wsp3yQR4/VKCxUZgqvNI/AAAAAAAABWM/07wpU1EvFig/s1600/town.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pb3Wsp3yQR4/VKCxUZgqvNI/AAAAAAAABWM/07wpU1EvFig/s1600/town.png" height="165" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZnlO0pdul0/VKCxZCMz6nI/AAAAAAAABWU/N_5lHwe3mOE/s1600/town1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hZnlO0pdul0/VKCxZCMz6nI/AAAAAAAABWU/N_5lHwe3mOE/s1600/town1.png" height="165" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Linear Keanu with a linear purpose = action reborn.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uwG84NBVnx4/VKCxrS2yzRI/AAAAAAAABWs/YfvoLoYz76Q/s1600/wick2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uwG84NBVnx4/VKCxrS2yzRI/AAAAAAAABWs/YfvoLoYz76Q/s1600/wick2.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvpFtatyukc/VKCx2Ze7nJI/AAAAAAAABW0/naRmY-Un03Y/s1600/wick1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvpFtatyukc/VKCx2Ze7nJI/AAAAAAAABW0/naRmY-Un03Y/s1600/wick1.jpg" height="253" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>More world-building from Jackson, warts and all.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2iSCQ1L-CLI/VKCzVg629CI/AAAAAAAABXc/90AFhjGbzDo/s1600/hobbit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2iSCQ1L-CLI/VKCzVg629CI/AAAAAAAABXc/90AFhjGbzDo/s1600/hobbit1.jpg" height="245" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdBDa7kBpEQ/VKCzZoEarjI/AAAAAAAABXk/0khspM538vc/s1600/hobbit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VdBDa7kBpEQ/VKCzZoEarjI/AAAAAAAABXk/0khspM538vc/s1600/hobbit.jpg" height="167" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Not us.</strong></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJeFouevLU/VKC1qXkoc4I/AAAAAAAABXw/7PDl0wk18MY/s1600/skin2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NIJeFouevLU/VKC1qXkoc4I/AAAAAAAABXw/7PDl0wk18MY/s1600/skin2.png" height="287" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-58058931134661234512014-12-01T11:59:00.002-08:002014-12-01T11:59:53.485-08:00Kata Stress<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">Mixed
Martial Arts dominates the landscape, the mentality. It has since become the sole
yardstick. In turn, Traditional Martial Arts is now viewed as a kind of relic
of self-delusion ...silly old ways, which is unfortunate, to say the least. The
very term 'Mixed Martial Arts' is in fact a misnomer (less mixed, more <em>specialized</em>)
but that’s a whole other can of worms. Today is Kata.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"></span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fighters,
trainers and octagon enthusiasts in general tend to laugh at Kata. At best, they
shrug it off as mere performance art. At worst, it is deemed a foolish exercise
in aesthetics and bad habitual muscle memory; not simply a waste of time, but
something that encourages fantasy. <em>"Kata don’t win fights,"</em> they say. <em>"It has
no place in the ring or on the streets!"</em></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">Kata
is not a fighting discipline. It is a mind discipline. The purpose of Kata is
not to confine oneself in a perfect sphere of rehearsed techniques. Rather, in
part and in essence, the purpose of learning Kata is to unlearn it. Variation
and improvisation are meaningless without form. Kata is form. It is also the
art of concentration, the discipline of discipline itself. Kata is deeply
philosophical in that it establishes principles of movement and technique. This
can range from a single theory or an entire library of ideas, yet the
assumption that it further removes one from the realities of functional
techniques is incorrect—incorrect because such is a misunderstanding of the
very intent. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">Kata is not meant to replicate real fighting, but to stimulate it,
as in practice it allows one to execute full force, as opposed to the pulls and
limitations inherent in sparing. It is not so much an attempt to visualize all
that your opponent may or may not do as it is a process of building confidence
in the visualization of your own movements and responses. Kata is also deeply
personal. It is a means of self-examination, even down to an emotional and
psychological level.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">However,
if nothing else, Kata is just plain hard. Below is karateka Rika Usami at the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
WKF World Championships in 2012 during her final rounds of Female Individual
Kata. What begins impressively enough as a courtly display of automated gestures
quickly ignites into a passionate act of self-expression -- a roar of personal
empowerment -- and one of the most extraordinary feats of pinpoint mind-body coordination
one could ever witness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";">Her countenance during which is not merely all business
or 'game face', but a burning resolution to vanquish that which cannot be seen;
the seemingly incalculable; the near infinite possibilities of failure at every
step, shift, turn, leap, extension etc. Afterwards, note her contrasting state of intense
emotional release. This is a girl who, for a lifetime within a few minutes,
pushed herself to the brink of flawless Kata mastery. Rock the fuck on.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='489' height='370' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iiiznDpoapQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol";"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-57838839658938313612014-11-12T19:10:00.000-08:002014-11-14T09:42:58.768-08:00So Chuck Norris walks into a bar...<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday I blogged a review about the 1986 movie <strong>Firewalker</strong>, and by merely referencing one of its few action scenes, I now feel as if I've shortchanged what had become a minor staple of heyday Chuck Norris features: the Chuck Norris bar fight. The logic behind this recurring set-piece is fairly simple, in that Cannon Films seldom had the greenback to produce high-end spectacle at every turn coupled with the fact that martial arts melee offered sustainable action-movie protein at minimal cost. As archaic as it may seem now, there was a time when certain audience demographics wholesale would pay ticket prices simply to watch Chuck Norris do karate. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To understand, food or drinking establishments can be easily acquired by plots to provide a concentration of asshole patrons eager to walk or charge in-turn towards a one-man whirlwind of fist and boot. Therefore a typical Cannon Films factory script would insert said scenario into whatever the Chuck Norris narrative. Seriously. If they had made a movie with Chuck Norris stranded on Mars, the probability nonetheless remains high that he would've manage to stroll into a dingy roadhouse of hick denizens or burly bikers before closing credits. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Firewalker</strong> is no exception.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not that Norris is some kind of bully. He's a nice guy, honest. He, buddy Lou Goss' and their recently obtained lady client are just visiting the local speakeasy to share in some refreshments and maybe pickup a little info that could help find their way through rural Mexico. See? No problem. Perfectly harmless. But then spacetime happens, and Chuck is once again forced to negotiate the non-negotiable the only way he knows how, by administering the proper etiquette:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xYRDKDAyQ9s/VGQUHpEmW-I/AAAAAAAABNk/Or2yHPVWK6Y/s1600/bf.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xYRDKDAyQ9s/VGQUHpEmW-I/AAAAAAAABNk/Or2yHPVWK6Y/s1600/bf.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. Let's go back and assess these chain of events objectively, starting with the point of entry. For reasons I can only surmise involve a collective contempt regarding the local failing farming industry, the three jerk-faces below vent their frustrations by denying Chuck 'n' company access to their bar; a problem Chuck solves rather succinctly using the coin toss technique:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G4gppiw_540/VGQUTELDxrI/AAAAAAAABNs/5KDfXtAhbjk/s1600/bf1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G4gppiw_540/VGQUTELDxrI/AAAAAAAABNs/5KDfXtAhbjk/s1600/bf1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DAEhzEMtt5I/VGQUWu_KhZI/AAAAAAAABN0/vTjnMeSEIb4/s1600/bf2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DAEhzEMtt5I/VGQUWu_KhZI/AAAAAAAABN0/vTjnMeSEIb4/s1600/bf2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iGTVh3koISE/VGQUZyhKpTI/AAAAAAAABN8/hnCxp_s2lxY/s1600/bf3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iGTVh3koISE/VGQUZyhKpTI/AAAAAAAABN8/hnCxp_s2lxY/s1600/bf3.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AWSaY1Nwm0/VGQUd-krurI/AAAAAAAABOE/Q60DROQvoFM/s1600/bf4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AWSaY1Nwm0/VGQUd-krurI/AAAAAAAABOE/Q60DROQvoFM/s1600/bf4.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, so, maybe that was all just a random phenomenon; the rest of the evening to be cordial. And for the first few minutes everything indeed seems fine. Lou Goss' scouts for directions while Chuck and his lady friend make small-talk. When initial querying proves fruitless, Chuck takes things up another level (literally) by standing on his chair and waving some money around for anyone willing to divulge.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJWrxqEgbO4/VGQUiUSFCEI/AAAAAAAABOM/djVOg968rs4/s1600/b1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OJWrxqEgbO4/VGQUiUSFCEI/AAAAAAAABOM/djVOg968rs4/s1600/b1.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BUWoyR1WQGc/VGQUmjr3F1I/AAAAAAAABOU/Kn3Piavayg4/s1600/bf5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BUWoyR1WQGc/VGQUmjr3F1I/AAAAAAAABOU/Kn3Piavayg4/s1600/bf5.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parading cold cash before a barroom of strangers might seem ill-advised but, again, Chuck is a gentle soul who only assumes the best in people. Anyhow, it works and they get the scoop they're looking for.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-POscO4uhCQo/VGQUrOjauxI/AAAAAAAABOc/3o3kDdPd38Q/s1600/b2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-POscO4uhCQo/VGQUrOjauxI/AAAAAAAABOc/3o3kDdPd38Q/s1600/b2.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Smooth sailing, right? Cue stock comical about-face:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vlWIvBIhC6o/VGQWyG_iwGI/AAAAAAAABO4/9nsFyvIllE8/s1600/bf4a.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vlWIvBIhC6o/VGQWyG_iwGI/AAAAAAAABO4/9nsFyvIllE8/s400/bf4a.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6qKXkcQZsc0/VGQXEMPUwWI/AAAAAAAABPA/jcgDrSm1ToY/s1600/bf6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6qKXkcQZsc0/VGQXEMPUwWI/AAAAAAAABPA/jcgDrSm1ToY/s1600/bf6.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lou Goss' intervenes to pacify the situation but, alas, to no avail:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f6DIvcMhJ24/VGQXKmKX-QI/AAAAAAAABPI/o87MQIWpkb4/s1600/bf7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f6DIvcMhJ24/VGQXKmKX-QI/AAAAAAAABPI/o87MQIWpkb4/s1600/bf7.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VPrCcY3NznA/VGQXPBrjdjI/AAAAAAAABPQ/PsQo7ysWJg8/s1600/bf8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VPrCcY3NznA/VGQXPBrjdjI/AAAAAAAABPQ/PsQo7ysWJg8/s1600/bf8.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chuck has to step in to put the big guy to bed.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TXf0-SQjsvk/VGQXS7EZKnI/AAAAAAAABPY/93IC4H3eBS4/s1600/bf9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TXf0-SQjsvk/VGQXS7EZKnI/AAAAAAAABPY/93IC4H3eBS4/s1600/bf9.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FA9LIsgdAyw/VGQYCSEz1XI/AAAAAAAABPg/2Aug2iuFZS0/s1600/bf10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FA9LIsgdAyw/VGQYCSEz1XI/AAAAAAAABPg/2Aug2iuFZS0/s1600/bf10.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But then some goons manhandle Chuck's lady friend and that's when the whole thing turns south.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NVkczF3AcpQ/VGQYHTlkECI/AAAAAAAABPo/wkwth_WcnVU/s1600/b5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NVkczF3AcpQ/VGQYHTlkECI/AAAAAAAABPo/wkwth_WcnVU/s1600/b5.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yQQBTpCrBk/VGQYMEMF48I/AAAAAAAABPw/kT59vX07WMc/s1600/b6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5yQQBTpCrBk/VGQYMEMF48I/AAAAAAAABPw/kT59vX07WMc/s1600/b6.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following is, amongst other things, a visual rundown of balsawood props and sugar glass laid to waste by a mildly aggravated Chuck Norris:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqibW7YnNB4/VGQYwrnQ9oI/AAAAAAAABP4/1wjS1y2xsuw/s1600/bf11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqibW7YnNB4/VGQYwrnQ9oI/AAAAAAAABP4/1wjS1y2xsuw/s1600/bf11.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IpLCaq5Yv28/VGQYzmbqbBI/AAAAAAAABQA/v_hz4GKEHug/s1600/bf12.png" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blurred roundhouse.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBlXv7cnU0k/VGQY3dG_MEI/AAAAAAAABQI/Jx7Yc3IezQ8/s1600/bf13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bBlXv7cnU0k/VGQY3dG_MEI/AAAAAAAABQI/Jx7Yc3IezQ8/s1600/bf13.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxNM12GKlxM/VGQY6uNs1PI/AAAAAAAABQQ/0Y3feLo9YGc/s1600/bf14.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rxNM12GKlxM/VGQY6uNs1PI/AAAAAAAABQQ/0Y3feLo9YGc/s1600/bf14.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of first-person POVs.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-syE_V2AJXVI/VGQY9fKaSDI/AAAAAAAABQY/hqPwiSO4J6s/s1600/bf15.png" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oW0MlqW21no/VGQZAQXmJeI/AAAAAAAABQg/O-9iKu_VFr4/s1600/bf16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oW0MlqW21no/VGQZAQXmJeI/AAAAAAAABQg/O-9iKu_VFr4/s1600/bf16.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7wY1O-4FEzo/VGQZEDr-HcI/AAAAAAAABQo/nZPlRAiYKm4/s1600/bf17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7wY1O-4FEzo/VGQZEDr-HcI/AAAAAAAABQo/nZPlRAiYKm4/s1600/bf17.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gs5ahaXvEYY/VGQZIptCFuI/AAAAAAAABQw/gg-QVvGhjRs/s1600/bf18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gs5ahaXvEYY/VGQZIptCFuI/AAAAAAAABQw/gg-QVvGhjRs/s1600/bf18.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lpBtPEmLsNc/VGQZLYkvCsI/AAAAAAAABQ4/WAYHS1O89bY/s1600/bf19.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lpBtPEmLsNc/VGQZLYkvCsI/AAAAAAAABQ4/WAYHS1O89bY/s1600/bf19.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another blurred kick. Chuck Norris barely registers on film. 48fps required.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g_lxyT2JAws/VGQZOCjdzoI/AAAAAAAABRA/zn5VE9lj4-g/s1600/bf20.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g_lxyT2JAws/VGQZOCjdzoI/AAAAAAAABRA/zn5VE9lj4-g/s1600/bf20.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jEtJnrOYjng/VGQZRC46BJI/AAAAAAAABRI/p4rK1M6ihvE/s1600/bf21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jEtJnrOYjng/VGQZRC46BJI/AAAAAAAABRI/p4rK1M6ihvE/s1600/bf21.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then some vaquero charges in only to be met with a Chuck Norris 'Attack Face'.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e_7MqsGUCHY/VGQZXmumFpI/AAAAAAAABRQ/ytilFfVS2_o/s1600/b7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e_7MqsGUCHY/VGQZXmumFpI/AAAAAAAABRQ/ytilFfVS2_o/s1600/b7.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uq93GWgQoXg/VGQZcFdL3GI/AAAAAAAABRY/YItSePTJsUo/s1600/bf22.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uq93GWgQoXg/VGQZcFdL3GI/AAAAAAAABRY/YItSePTJsUo/s1600/bf22.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ose3THyOZO8/VGQZh1JfbfI/AAAAAAAABRg/1qsGRCA78TY/s1600/bf23.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ose3THyOZO8/VGQZh1JfbfI/AAAAAAAABRg/1qsGRCA78TY/s1600/bf23.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zR4RWgdqLP8/VGQZlHuRe5I/AAAAAAAABRo/lSwVMmQK-3E/s1600/bf24.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zR4RWgdqLP8/VGQZlHuRe5I/AAAAAAAABRo/lSwVMmQK-3E/s1600/bf24.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_q09DOWGWw/VGQZnjeDQVI/AAAAAAAABRw/o5R83HInNUE/s1600/bf25.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_q09DOWGWw/VGQZnjeDQVI/AAAAAAAABRw/o5R83HInNUE/s1600/bf25.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note that said 'Attack Face' is of such magnitude that it warps the film's internal reality, thereby causing severe frame distortion:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWIIqQ5OAgM/VGQZqV1xTSI/AAAAAAAABR4/Swl5K1DdbpA/s1600/bf26.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWIIqQ5OAgM/VGQZqV1xTSI/AAAAAAAABR4/Swl5K1DdbpA/s1600/bf26.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chuck punches one guy into a coma-state whilst kicking another out the window:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d7UhXKrdNiI/VGQZt5kO0yI/AAAAAAAABSA/xNLTuOfyqfA/s1600/bf27.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d7UhXKrdNiI/VGQZt5kO0yI/AAAAAAAABSA/xNLTuOfyqfA/s1600/bf27.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QTHtyVMdpSg/VGQZxiqr2dI/AAAAAAAABSI/QgGOioA1GH0/s1600/bf28.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QTHtyVMdpSg/VGQZxiqr2dI/AAAAAAAABSI/QgGOioA1GH0/s1600/bf28.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pause for coffee break.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Y9ta3_S2tI/VGQZ0rLJ9bI/AAAAAAAABSQ/jri7ExvAg3Y/s1600/bf29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Y9ta3_S2tI/VGQZ0rLJ9bI/AAAAAAAABSQ/jri7ExvAg3Y/s1600/bf29.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoZJXdin6GU/VGQZ63nAsAI/AAAAAAAABSY/DMiAUbLJ8a4/s1600/bf30.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoZJXdin6GU/VGQZ63nAsAI/AAAAAAAABSY/DMiAUbLJ8a4/s1600/bf30.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wSe-jtbivNI/VGQZ_LB38MI/AAAAAAAABSg/Uy-z4eU4Wa8/s1600/bf31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wSe-jtbivNI/VGQZ_LB38MI/AAAAAAAABSg/Uy-z4eU4Wa8/s1600/bf31.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note the flexibility of Chuck's safari jacket. This is important.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGte6LZR46w/VGQaCRBK7-I/AAAAAAAABSo/DEQim7hQ9Ew/s1600/bf32.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iGte6LZR46w/VGQaCRBK7-I/AAAAAAAABSo/DEQim7hQ9Ew/s1600/bf32.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i1SR4e9GGL4/VGQaFc38BBI/AAAAAAAABSw/7aMQ5T4KRdo/s1600/bf33.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i1SR4e9GGL4/VGQaFc38BBI/AAAAAAAABSw/7aMQ5T4KRdo/s1600/bf33.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More economizing. Three birds with one stone.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AwSP2CTyG_s/VGQaIPgO6TI/AAAAAAAABS4/Xt6nbzW7D8w/s1600/bf34.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AwSP2CTyG_s/VGQaIPgO6TI/AAAAAAAABS4/Xt6nbzW7D8w/s1600/bf34.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ylQBe8HCQi4/VGQaLCBrqII/AAAAAAAABTA/JOqVjoWppE0/s1600/bf35.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ylQBe8HCQi4/VGQaLCBrqII/AAAAAAAABTA/JOqVjoWppE0/s1600/bf35.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4QJCP6Vhhc4/VGQaOVVD0XI/AAAAAAAABTI/CGSsy0a_Aso/s1600/bf36.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4QJCP6Vhhc4/VGQaOVVD0XI/AAAAAAAABTI/CGSsy0a_Aso/s1600/bf36.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The eye of the storm.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTiYsjneQY/VGQaRoLgpZI/AAAAAAAABTQ/hnWbFApYkAw/s1600/bf37.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TlTiYsjneQY/VGQaRoLgpZI/AAAAAAAABTQ/hnWbFApYkAw/s1600/bf37.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rSMJkziLhQE/VGQaUqh4ekI/AAAAAAAABTY/Ii0w3tSEKrk/s1600/bf38.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rSMJkziLhQE/VGQaUqh4ekI/AAAAAAAABTY/Ii0w3tSEKrk/s1600/bf38.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little hard to make out, but Chuck is kicking his last victim through a gazebo:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqJoCqwUXHo/VGQaX0_OEvI/AAAAAAAABTg/Ex9yIwQtSko/s1600/bf39.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RqJoCqwUXHo/VGQaX0_OEvI/AAAAAAAABTg/Ex9yIwQtSko/s1600/bf39.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZ8Y6zEm_gI/VGQabtccSfI/AAAAAAAABTo/GfEjjjmCfaM/s1600/bf40.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZ8Y6zEm_gI/VGQabtccSfI/AAAAAAAABTo/GfEjjjmCfaM/s1600/bf40.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once conclude, the band commences and Chuck surveys the damage with satisfaction.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_shDMD6JMCA/VGQafFOn1SI/AAAAAAAABTw/yLzPK5o5_7M/s1600/bf41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_shDMD6JMCA/VGQafFOn1SI/AAAAAAAABTw/yLzPK5o5_7M/s1600/bf41.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bquBKkPNeM/VGQaiTepmAI/AAAAAAAABT4/9ZXp6I_D0MQ/s1600/bf42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bquBKkPNeM/VGQaiTepmAI/AAAAAAAABT4/9ZXp6I_D0MQ/s1600/bf42.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Chuck Norris walks <em>out</em> of a bar...</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w2goXvYLU0U/VGQalQa85kI/AAAAAAAABUA/dFEumD35TXE/s1600/bf43.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w2goXvYLU0U/VGQalQa85kI/AAAAAAAABUA/dFEumD35TXE/s1600/bf43.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-89778875774578823662014-11-11T18:47:00.000-08:002014-11-11T18:47:39.509-08:00Firewalker (1986)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AluaT573CYs/VGLAFaLl31I/AAAAAAAABJ4/ripNLw0pOXA/s1600/firewalker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AluaT573CYs/VGLAFaLl31I/AAAAAAAABJ4/ripNLw0pOXA/s400/firewalker.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A spade a spade: <strong>Firewalker</strong> is a dumb movie. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">I love it.<br />
<br />
It's a certain kind of love. From day one I've been nostalgic beyond my time on this Earth for Republic Serials or whatever the B-movie ilk. Westerns, space-fantasy and especially "jungle pictures". Yeah, Lusasberg came along at one point and reinvented the concept to levels of cinematic excellence. And that's great. Such master-class filmmaking, however, is for me a luxury, not a necessity. <strong>Firewalker</strong> is a lousy B-movie jungle adventure, yes, but one I regard in the same context as lousy pizza or lousy blowjobs ...exactly. You get the idea.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WzxO13TYUeI/VGK_TGwm2WI/AAAAAAAABJo/s1EJRqkL3g0/s1600/Snapshot%2B2%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-47%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WzxO13TYUeI/VGK_TGwm2WI/AAAAAAAABJo/s1EJRqkL3g0/s1600/Snapshot%2B2%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-47%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X-8Cfoh2GmY/VGLDfZbY17I/AAAAAAAABM8/YpfGoCLBMRU/s1600/Snapshot%2B4%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-49%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-X-8Cfoh2GmY/VGLDfZbY17I/AAAAAAAABM8/YpfGoCLBMRU/s1600/Snapshot%2B4%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-49%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pGiZPKWv9qw/VGK_cXkA55I/AAAAAAAABJw/c6ofz8p_zcg/s1600/Snapshot%2B7%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-53%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pGiZPKWv9qw/VGK_cXkA55I/AAAAAAAABJw/c6ofz8p_zcg/s1600/Snapshot%2B7%2B(11-10-2014%2B4-53%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"><br />
Chuck Norris and Louis Gossett, Jr. play Max Donigan and Leo Porter, two hapless gents of fortune with nothing to show for. While idling for some drinks in an Arizona roadside tavern, they meet Patricia Goodwin, a traveling dame in possession of an Aztec/Mayan treasure map that leads to an Indian reservation near the Mexican border. In payment for their services she offers a 50/50 split in whatever booty reaped. From there our trio set off through the deserts of the Southwest then on into Central Mexico. Along the way they meet with an Apache mystic named Tall Eagle who warns them of a menacing tribesman on their tail known as El Coyote, a one-eyed killer seeking the same treasure but in order to achieve shamanistic powers of the fabled "firewalker".</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ly35XYVJ6t0/VGLJYt3YOAI/AAAAAAAABNU/n-BTRkt2uVc/s1600/Snapshot%2B44%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-38%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ly35XYVJ6t0/VGLJYt3YOAI/AAAAAAAABNU/n-BTRkt2uVc/s1600/Snapshot%2B44%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-38%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"><br />
<strong>Firewalker</strong> is a Cannon Films production—the 1980s ringer for Republic Pictures. Its gardener truck narrative hauls characters from one plot-point pickup or hijinks sequence to the next while pacing is virtually abandoned for a kind of catchall for whatever sit-comedic misadventuring the studio’s capped expenditure could afford. In fact, the all-out action amounts to little more than a couple of wonky cave/temple set-pieces, a foot chase through a banana plantation and a Chuck-styled cantina brawl. Very lightweight. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">Yet, its bloodless PG rating also guarantees a family-friendly viewing, or at least it once did for prepubescents of the '80s like myself who took the simplest movie-going pleasures in the very notion of 'dad' type devileers running around the bush in search for lost gold, even with second-rate results; kids today hyped up on CGI superheroes would likely revere the film in question as they would a rusty old tool shed. Or maybe I really am one of but a few who <em>ever</em> enjoyed this humdrum feature. Maybe I'm just a tasteless retard with lowbrow standards, for what is it about <strong>Firewalker</strong> that's so great or even excusable, right?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">Well, there's my aforementioned love for the genre itself, but there's also a kind of magic light surrounding the cast that keeps the runtime enlivened with personality. Even when-and-where attempts at witty banter fall flat (which is almost always), they only do so on the page, with our three leads consistently rising above the material via sheer enthusiasm and the readily observable fact that they're enjoying both each other's company and the vacation-gig production. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">In the role of Patricia, you'll notice Melody Anderson from <strong>Flash Gordon</strong>, and the same plucky likability she brought to that film is on equal display here, proving again the actresses' game-face for playing tagalong ditzy comedy. Resting on his Best Supporting Oscar laurels amidst a decade of paycheck appearances, including his <strong>Iron Eagle</strong> trilogy and <strong>Jaws 3-D</strong>, my man Lou Goss' seems perfectly at ease here as the bickering, reluctant partner. He, too, embraces all the shenanigans with goofy aplomb. The real surprise, however, is the marquee star himself.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbqKYH-CTWE/VGLBZFmnCHI/AAAAAAAABK0/9-T2gWRXXXg/s1600/Snapshot%2B15%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-11%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbqKYH-CTWE/VGLBZFmnCHI/AAAAAAAABK0/9-T2gWRXXXg/s1600/Snapshot%2B15%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-11%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">Let's talk about Chuck Norris for a moment. Schwarzenegger and Stallone are actors; of questionable talent, perhaps, but actors nonetheless. Even Van Damme and Seagal have since made efforts to chew scenery or augment their macho personas with some kind of half-assed colloquial authenticity (note Seagal's 'streets-of-Brooklyn' mannerisms in <strong>Out for Justice</strong>). Norris is not, nor ever was, an actor. He's an inhabitant. A typical Norris role is one where he stands out of the way of acting altogether to merely exist unwaveringly in front of the camera; even beyond the laconicism of Eastwood or Bronson, his particular screen presence is, in some bizarre, paradoxical form, the very absence of screen presence that paradoxically works. Counterintuitive, I know, but this in part is the irreconcilable power -- akin to our inability to reconcile quantum mechanics with general relativity -- of Norris' stardom legacy. Yet <strong>Firewalker</strong> proves a rare exception to the case ...without disrupting that power.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g67JN-VTvW4/VGLBIuLpyzI/AAAAAAAABKk/HneJMqARcek/s1600/Snapshot%2B11%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-00%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g67JN-VTvW4/VGLBIuLpyzI/AAAAAAAABKk/HneJMqARcek/s1600/Snapshot%2B11%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-00%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xM-_NYrMeVE/VGLByIoNdLI/AAAAAAAABLM/b93ATnE_rBM/s1600/Snapshot%2B47%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-44%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xM-_NYrMeVE/VGLByIoNdLI/AAAAAAAABLM/b93ATnE_rBM/s1600/Snapshot%2B47%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-44%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">In short, Norris hams-ups the proceedings, considerably. Does he sell the screwball comedy? Nnnh-no. But then Chuck Norris doesn't "sell" anything. Rather, he partakes in the tomfoolery is if it's one prolonged variety show guest appearance; as a delegate of some other, non-showbiz medium (i.e., martial arts, conservatism, youth programs, frontier traditions, what-have-you) who steps onto the stage with an unassuming disposition, indifferent to any thespian demands, yet sportingly ready to entertain on his own terms. And to further complicate definitions, I'll be damned if there're not one or two brief moments where Norris does, believe it or not, emote some shape of character drama or dramatic pause, if only primitive. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">This brings up what might possibly be pegged as the movie's one, genuinely affecting element. As batty as it may sound to ascribe <strong>Firewalker</strong> any kind of lasting story substance, there is arguably at least one thematic centerpiece contemplating the existential gambit of surviving the world as a thrill-seeker outside the norms of domestic lifestyles. Near the end of the 2nd act finds our trio in the company of a big Texan mercenary named Corky, played by John Rhys-Davies (an obvious attempt at <strong>Raiders</strong> cred), and his local jungle army of rebels.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-el-UCy_O0-A/VGLB5umDI4I/AAAAAAAABLU/wPeg8x7N66Q/s1600/Snapshot%2B57%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-54%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-el-UCy_O0-A/VGLB5umDI4I/AAAAAAAABLU/wPeg8x7N66Q/s1600/Snapshot%2B57%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-54%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">Corky also happens to be an old war buddy of Max, and thus ensues some downtime fiesta where the former regales stories of their glory days, and of the latter's uncanny knack for dodging death: <em>"You've got the charm, boy. Can't nothin' kill ya if you've got the charm."</em> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KKfYSxYWdSo/VGLCIeyWJOI/AAAAAAAABLk/eKHi5vSp-D4/s1600/Snapshot%2B60%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-59%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KKfYSxYWdSo/VGLCIeyWJOI/AAAAAAAABLk/eKHi5vSp-D4/s1600/Snapshot%2B60%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-59%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-nk4q8pNsg/VGLCP1ghUtI/AAAAAAAABLs/qlLiu6t-oCw/s1600/Snapshot%2B59%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-57%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c-nk4q8pNsg/VGLCP1ghUtI/AAAAAAAABLs/qlLiu6t-oCw/s1600/Snapshot%2B59%2B(11-10-2014%2B5-57%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">When called-out by Leo on his risky decision to remain a rogue general, Corky coldly rebuffs any fears of dying and further proves the point in gesture by downing an entire bottle of whisky in one swig: <em>"Ya see? I got the charm, too,"</em> before walking away solemnly. Indeed, it marks a quietly solemn moment in the film where revealed are the consequences of such hazard living, of the toll taken by men too long in the business of danger—a lust for life replaced by emptiness and an apathy towards self-destruction. <em>"You'll never let me go that far, will you, Leo?"</em> asks Max. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the following scene Max bids farewell to Corky and sets off again on his own enterprise with friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKQR4PiJ3CM/VGLCpWkjVRI/AAAAAAAABL0/nDwFQEk2M0E/s1600/Snapshot%2B61%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-01%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKQR4PiJ3CM/VGLCpWkjVRI/AAAAAAAABL0/nDwFQEk2M0E/s1600/Snapshot%2B61%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-01%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3_u-WKZEFlM/VGLC0zMRIcI/AAAAAAAABME/7aGwnfC65lw/s1600/Snapshot%2B63%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-03%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3_u-WKZEFlM/VGLC0zMRIcI/AAAAAAAABME/7aGwnfC65lw/s1600/Snapshot%2B63%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-03%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HZb487BSPbw/VGLCtYnrjZI/AAAAAAAABL8/d2wFojXSaBo/s1600/Snapshot%2B62%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-02%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HZb487BSPbw/VGLCtYnrjZI/AAAAAAAABL8/d2wFojXSaBo/s1600/Snapshot%2B62%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-02%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When driving away, Patricia asks, <em>"Do you think you'll ever see him again?"</em> In that aforesaid glimpse of Norris' sincerity, his character answers quietly, <em>"No."</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FuzcD6EqxoE/VGLC7c60WOI/AAAAAAAABMM/ykleNdDYCzU/s1600/Snapshot%2B66%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-04%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FuzcD6EqxoE/VGLC7c60WOI/AAAAAAAABMM/ykleNdDYCzU/s1600/Snapshot%2B66%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-04%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And in turn we see Corky reflecting the same grim truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pD8kQBsdK7o/VGLDBDX9ibI/AAAAAAAABMU/wkkl_IaE-PQ/s1600/Snapshot%2B67%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-04%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pD8kQBsdK7o/VGLDBDX9ibI/AAAAAAAABMU/wkkl_IaE-PQ/s1600/Snapshot%2B67%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-04%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WSEsQ0RjwZU/VGLDEvEv9qI/AAAAAAAABMc/0e_RgtIozx8/s1600/Snapshot%2B10%2B(11-11-2014%2B4-29%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WSEsQ0RjwZU/VGLDEvEv9qI/AAAAAAAABMc/0e_RgtIozx8/s1600/Snapshot%2B10%2B(11-11-2014%2B4-29%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5k9_hVRNbQI/VGLDQqXRnFI/AAAAAAAABMk/Ms0xRks70oE/s1600/Snapshot%2B68%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5k9_hVRNbQI/VGLDQqXRnFI/AAAAAAAABMk/Ms0xRks70oE/s1600/Snapshot%2B68%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zhMiFv1afko/VGLDV0BZaaI/AAAAAAAABMs/q2DtWYgVxEA/s1600/Snapshot%2B69%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zhMiFv1afko/VGLDV0BZaaI/AAAAAAAABMs/q2DtWYgVxEA/s1600/Snapshot%2B69%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Nh3_y6aMaA/VGLDZG9-_AI/AAAAAAAABM0/3THtKB2dW-I/s1600/Snapshot%2B70%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Nh3_y6aMaA/VGLDZG9-_AI/AAAAAAAABM0/3THtKB2dW-I/s1600/Snapshot%2B70%2B(11-10-2014%2B6-05%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Who the fuck knows how this borderline Hawksian-Hemingwayesque strand found its way into such a silly movie. Call it "emergence", if you will ...a cinematic emergence of manly poeticism. Whatever the cause, I'm glad it did.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Anywho, things fall back into an innocuous tone by the grand finale, with Max and Patricia navigating a temple ruin, rescuing Porter from a soundstage booby trap gag and fending against the dreaded El Coyote, whom I should mention is played by Sonny Landham with an eye-patch. And as usual, Landham just looks psychotic. In the end, of course, it should come as no spoiler that our heroes get the gold.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-645sy6SOt1g/VGLB_vj8dMI/AAAAAAAABLc/BLFpg-X-9Hs/s1600/Snapshot%2B13%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-16%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-645sy6SOt1g/VGLB_vj8dMI/AAAAAAAABLc/BLFpg-X-9Hs/s1600/Snapshot%2B13%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-16%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1SgHsw8xCJY/VGLBizw3zdI/AAAAAAAABK8/2qVwjH-je1s/s1600/Snapshot%2B14%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-25%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1SgHsw8xCJY/VGLBizw3zdI/AAAAAAAABK8/2qVwjH-je1s/s1600/Snapshot%2B14%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-25%2BPM).png" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"><strong>Firewalker</strong> was directed by British journeyman J. Lee Thompson. Eh, perhaps "directed" is not the best word. It was...contracted, as a foreman is to a construction site. Thompson was one of those who didn't so much direct great films as he merely provided great scripts with the workmanlike filmmaking quality they deserved. Therefore, proportionate to cranking out low-rent Indiana Jones knockoffs under Cannon (having previously helmed <strong>King Solomon‘s Mines</strong>) is the kind of movie we get here, one totally devoid of any style or vision or novelty, to say nothing of its apparent offshore budget. Cinematically, it's a movie presented in open-matte form with just enough finesse to keep the actors or action squarely in frame. Total meat 'n' potatoes, is my point, and I like that about it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">There is still that old pro roughness on Thompson’s part that elevates the movie above, say, the awkwardly cobbled cheapness of it’s Cannon Kosugi/<strong>Ninja</strong> brethren. It was filmed on location south of the border amidst backcountry roads and rural towns, blending the standard travelogue treasure hunting with guerrilla-circumstanced, B-Western cliffhanging. There're bar fights and holdups and railway getaways and dicey run-ins with swarthy militiamen; jeeps, pistols, cigar chomping, you name it. A demo-key synth score by composer Gary Chang is so tacky, it might prove impossible for some viewers to overlook. To me it just sounds like stock background music from a Saturday morning cartoon of the same era, perhaps even from Norris' own short-lived <strong>Karate Kommandoes</strong>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN">So, that's it. That's <strong>Firewalker</strong>. There's probably a shelved VHS copy of this at your local thrift store. Or you can just VOD it, I imagine. Or not watch it at all. I understand. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Uaep0yXja4/VGLBpCm1UGI/AAAAAAAABLE/ekcHh9x81FY/s1600/Snapshot%2B16%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-27%2BPM).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Uaep0yXja4/VGLBpCm1UGI/AAAAAAAABLE/ekcHh9x81FY/s1600/Snapshot%2B16%2B(11-11-2014%2B5-27%2BPM).png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span lang="EN"> </span></span></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-25318589041824111032014-11-02T14:15:00.001-08:002014-11-02T14:15:56.069-08:00The Fire Truck Joke<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--_gNYGGYSN0/VFapCLgaHVI/AAAAAAAABJY/pDnvlENI5IA/s1600/firetruck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--_gNYGGYSN0/VFapCLgaHVI/AAAAAAAABJY/pDnvlENI5IA/s1600/firetruck.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ever find yourself in an awkward situation where you're called upon to deliver a joke but have nothing ready on standby? I've got a solution for you: the Fire Truck joke. The Fire Truck joke is full-proof, easy to remember and, best of all, fucking free. No charges apply. It's also full-proof, and hard to forget. And it works. No one likes a jokeless asshole, and you don't wanna be disliked, do you? The Fire Truck joke is your fail-safe. How's it work? Simple. No elaborate setup, no smashing a watermelon with a giant hammer. Just fallow the three steps below and remember to give a slight pause on the punchline for optimal effect. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Ask me if I'm a fire truck.</em></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<em></em> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>Uh, okay. Are you a fire truck?</em></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<em></em> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><em>...No.</em></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then turn and walk away. The Fire Truck joke. </span> </div>
<br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-11258881397745064272014-10-27T11:51:00.000-07:002014-10-28T09:26:07.378-07:00Batman Begins vs. Batman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sC5KPUIptrU/VE6C1xNCb6I/AAAAAAAABFo/PGZWTWBWZ98/s1600/super%2Blogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sC5KPUIptrU/VE6C1xNCb6I/AAAAAAAABFo/PGZWTWBWZ98/s1600/super%2Blogo.jpg" height="140" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winner is: Tim Burton’s 1989 <strong>Batman</strong>. I’ll get right into
it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those who remember, the famous tagline for <strong>Superman</strong> was, "You will believe a man can
fly." Many have since lauded Christopher Nolan’s 2005 <strong>Batman Begins</strong> as the
first big screen interpretation that finally made audiences believe that a man
would be driven to embody a vigilante bat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except, the film does nothing to make me believe such a
concept, instead only managing to posture and intellectualize a stuffy thematic
through-line. This is the main problem I have with <strong>Batman Begins</strong>, along with
its two sequels: Nolan’s take on the character and his world is boringly
literal. Batman is a great work of pop-art psychology, at its best, expressed
in broad strokes through mood, imagery and feeling; through darkness and
obscurity; on levels both operatic and phantasmagorical. Nolan, however,
reduced all of this to an academic thesis, with Bruce Wayne/Batman himself
playing not like a real person at all but rather a mere, tediously belabored
thesis subject. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The exploration of how Bruce Wayne becomes Batman might be
interesting, yes; the themes that define and drive him might fascinate on paper
but, unfortunately, on paper is where Nolan keeps them, check-listing scripted
content and "big ideas" with endless exposition and spoon-feeding
monologues. A laid out origin story that systematically chronicles Bruce
Wayne’s path to becoming Batman is for me a fundamentally limp-dick version of
the source material precisely when the character himself intellectualizes his
own process virtually every step of the way. Platitudes stand in for meaningful
exchanges between characters, coming off less dramatically and more
didactically, and under the pretense of realism that in turn only amounts to a
bland procedural narrative with an equally bland, shoot-one-thing-at-a-time,
televisual report. There’s nothing to sense here. It’s all just stuff—premises
and theory. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oxaLV__z49A/VE6QJoidWeI/AAAAAAAABJI/CjPE88qyxuA/s1600/screenshot-med-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oxaLV__z49A/VE6QJoidWeI/AAAAAAAABJI/CjPE88qyxuA/s1600/screenshot-med-02.jpg" height="224" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_gJ9CWtOs9Y/VE6Joj36SzI/AAAAAAAABF4/nIpGoAJo1oQ/s1600/ducard1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_gJ9CWtOs9Y/VE6Joj36SzI/AAAAAAAABF4/nIpGoAJo1oQ/s1600/ducard1.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On and on we can go about what Bruce Wayne does in <strong>Batman
Begins</strong>, where he comes from and where he goes and what he learns and why it’s
important on a thematic level, but the actual filmgoing experience just doesn’t
work for me because it is lastingly, for all intents and purposes, no less
literal and expository. It’s all just procedural plot stuff that plays more
like an instructional video on how to become Batman. For me it does little to
nothing in actually making the character relatable on a gut level. The best
moment is Bruce standing in a storm of swirling bats, but even then his
reasoning for incorporating said persona feels too cerebral and over-analyzed.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bale via Nolan’s storytelling/direction never convincingly emotes or inhabits
the psyche of a man who might actually do these things. He does them simply by
order of the script. Specifically, everything about our titular hero has to be
explained and make sense; in turn was Bale’s performance, which was so reasoned
and deliberate that his Bruce Wayne treated Batman like a homework assignment.
I therefore never really get an emotional sense of who Batman is. The character
is simply assayed in blueprint form. It’s all very dry and mechanical. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ironically, the more serious the film
takes the idea of an elaborately costumed crime fighter, the less seriously I
take the film itself. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <strong>Batman Begins</strong> we get...topics. A PowerPoint presentation.
It’s a film where any one scene is typically about other scenes -- plotting and
exposition -- or themes being matter-of-factored through dialogue. There’s no
subtext, just text, which amounts to a very ordinary junket. The 'in-the-moment'
moments in Nolan’s world are typically the weakest or most fleeting, either
bulldozed over by audit-pacing demands or neutered on the spot by one character
or another expounding that which is better left to audience interpretation. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jim
Gordon spoon-feeding us the reason why Batman must become the "Dark
Knight" and John Blake explaining to Bruce how he discovered the latter’s
secret identity are but two blatant examples of such clunky storytelling. In
<strong>Batman Begins</strong> Bruce literally has to narrate the experiences of his stint as a
third-world criminal, thus literalizing its meaning; likewise when explaining
the very idea of personifying fear. Such ideas might be interesting in
brainstorm form, when conceptualizing the disciplines and psychological factors
of Batman, but in the film it’s all more or less exposited in part to
compensate for the perfunctory and nondescript nature of the actual narrative
proceedings.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJwDe6Cs2Es/VE6KEKIFNEI/AAAAAAAABGY/rahwYaKkrYc/s1600/screenshot-lrg-11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NJwDe6Cs2Es/VE6KEKIFNEI/AAAAAAAABGY/rahwYaKkrYc/s1600/screenshot-lrg-11.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Show, don’t tell. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s only one of, if not the, most age-old axioms of the
cinematic medium. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that all should be slave
to such modus. If a filmmaker is truly inspired by the dramatic technique of
Shakespearian language and soliloquy, go for it. But this technique by itself
is dishwater, especially in cinema. Nolan is hardly writing in verse and, by
definition -- the act of speaking alone (in)directly to the audience -- his
characters are not soliloquizing, they’re just ham-fistedly narrating story
points and/or monologuing themes right off the page. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How about Nolan’s depiction of the character and world as an
action spectacle? Well, the best thing I can say about his Batman trilogy in
this respect are the vehicular stunt sequences, due mostly to their
necessitated scale and how they benefit from today’s seamless visual effects.
Otherwise, Nolan shoots action almost as if it’s a <em>distraction</em>, in a constant
state of haste and with virtually no grasp of showmanship whatsoever. Somewhere
in Bruce Wayne’s escape from the League of Shadows temple was the potential for
an impressive set piece, only to be visually reduced by Nolan to mere
commotion. Given the mess of fragmented shots that constitutes Batman taking
down Falcone’s thugs at a shipyard, I could just as easily NOT be looking at
the screen while still getting the point, as is the case with numerous other
fights and intended amazing feats that are so haphazard and ineffectively
punctuated, they might as well be taken for granted. </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Batman diving out the high-rise window to rescue a falling
Rachael Dawes is awkwardly curtailed in such a way that how, exactly, he pulls
it off is less convincing than it is assumed, while his and Catwoman’s
back-to-back rooftop melee is botched by amateur coverage and lousy
choreography. Only the first big match between Batman and Bane actually works.
Here, Nolan displays, if only momentarily, at least some refinement in ASL
while at the same time his aforesaid visual approach for once actually
complements the futility of Batman combating a monstrous adversary. It’s the
best the entire trilogy has to offer.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I83DMKndKNs/VE6Ju_LtAiI/AAAAAAAABGA/YpaK2JywyXQ/s1600/screenshot-0-0103292-I.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I83DMKndKNs/VE6Ju_LtAiI/AAAAAAAABGA/YpaK2JywyXQ/s1600/screenshot-0-0103292-I.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe I’m being a tad harsh here. Christopher Nolan took
something with a longstanding history in pop-culture and definitely,
passionately made it his own—his own vision, his own voice. His Batman trilogy
is nothing if not deeply engaged and thoughtful. Yet, for me, it’s just. not.
entertaining. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter Burton’s <strong>Batman</strong>. By no means is it a perfect film. The plot is thin and
the narrative crudely truncated, while the comic book mythos has been downsized
and further jerry-rigged to serve only the most basic, two hour running-time
compatible feature (and the less said about the lame comedic relief that is
Robert Wuhl, the better). This not to say the film downright lacks a story,
only that the story is simpler, which is not synonymous with being poor or
nonexistent.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGfnRRoB-4Q/VE6KP3bCTEI/AAAAAAAABGo/8JwtPiw6nxc/s1600/316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vGfnRRoB-4Q/VE6KP3bCTEI/AAAAAAAABGo/8JwtPiw6nxc/s1600/316.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bruce Wayne is a reclusive billionaire crime fighter born
from childhood tragedy. The Joker begins as a ruthless, ambitious gangster sent
for a psychotic loop after being permanently scarred by toxic chemicals. Vicky
Vale is an obsessed photojournalist. Hygiene products are poisoned with Smilex
Joker venom. There’s your plot. Does it constitute a full-blown dissertation
that must be recounted exhaustively through endless exposition and scenes with
characters monologuing their motivations, why they did what they just did or
what they must do? No, thankfully. It’s a basic outline of the characters; a
crude summary of the scripted content. And it’s a script that in full detail
does in fact allude to concepts of fear, freaks, fetishes, bats, art,
loneliness, duality etc. And, sure, that’s all it really does thematically speaking.
Except I don’t judge the worth of cinematic characters by how well I can
describe them from scripted narratives alone. And you know why? Because when I
go to the cinema, and the lights go down, and the movie starts, what I DON’T
see is just a screenplay up close and center frame with the pages turning at
reading speed. Weird, right? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where Nolan’s film(s) postures lofty story concepts and
sophisticated modernism, Burton’s 1989 original is bursting at the seams with
darkly expressive fantasy. Where Nolan’s characters are placeholders for thesis
points, Burton’s characters are instinctive projections ranging from
silly-madcap to pensive and lonely. Burton’s world of Batman is far wackier in
nature, true, but no less sincere in its rooted psychology; a psychology not
stated, but vividly painted. The stylized atmosphere often dismissed as empty
is in fact a visual/tonal echo chamber for the very competing psyches between
Bruce Wayne and the Joker.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uSFFuaO4SQI/VE6KU3yHUsI/AAAAAAAABG4/DrOmKb2plQ8/s1600/800%203b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uSFFuaO4SQI/VE6KU3yHUsI/AAAAAAAABG4/DrOmKb2plQ8/s1600/800%203b.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wmQSog7QtRw/VE6Kpf-e2EI/AAAAAAAABHg/XJtYkvqojLo/s1600/Batman-1989.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wmQSog7QtRw/VE6Kpf-e2EI/AAAAAAAABHg/XJtYkvqojLo/s1600/Batman-1989.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Batman</strong> is more inclined to operatic domain of a
heightened comic book fantasy and by way of Silent Era film expressionism. To
dismiss this as a cheap substitute for drama is to dismiss wholesale different
styles and genre-approaches to the very art-form. To dismiss said approaches as
a parade of empty aesthetics or mere window dressing that fails to convey
characters is to have no real sense or understanding for anything that isn’t
explicated solely through dialogue-aided narrative. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <strong>Batman</strong> the characters are who they are primarily as they
are exaggerated through illustrations, storyboards, art-design, music, stage
presentation; through absurd violence and heightened set piece mayhem; through
scene stealing and shadow lurking; free rein pantomiming and moody, cryptic
behaviorism. And while they’re not as complex in scripted thematic points as
the characters in Nolan’s films, they’re also not weighed down by such
itinerary to the degree the renders them paper subjects. Instead, they’re
genuine comic book characters ...writ live-action and physically embodied by
offbeat personalities, inherently more autonomous and let loose in granular but
surreal settings. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The film proceeds more from the basic conceit that these
characters are pop-art Jungian archetypes for their own sake, and Burton
proceeds to examine them in a more expressionistic, art-directorial form,
leaving the actors themselves more room to inhabit their roles elementally: Jack
Nicholson dialing it up to 10 or trailing off on his own idiosyncratic
tangents, momentarily taking the movie with him, and Michael Keaton exhibiting
Bruce Wayne’s internalized, contemplative nature matched with Batman’s shadowy
lurks and aggression. When treated as archetypes, monsters from the id are very
much potent motivations for characters, yet they’re not supposed to be deep on some
analytical level, but rather projected vividly on a theatrical one. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So while the actual storyline is rudiment, it is still
centrally rooted in the gothic-romantic aspect of Batman and the idea that he,
the Joker and even to some degree Vicki Vale are freaks or loners—enough on
which Burton could fashion his Silent Era-type interpretation. To reiterate, it
doesn’t make much for an involving hard narrative nor do I consider it the
quintessential, all-purpose rendition of the Batman mythos. But it is very much
alive and stimulated as a movie on its own accord, teeming with all sorts of
mood and innate urges.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5v4F_qaIj9A/VE6KuPhmZCI/AAAAAAAABHo/DmImVXGoSUE/s1600/batman-1989-gotham-city.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5v4F_qaIj9A/VE6KuPhmZCI/AAAAAAAABHo/DmImVXGoSUE/s1600/batman-1989-gotham-city.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also, one hardly requires arcane knowledge in, say, the
actual techniques of German Expressionism or any academic degree in Jungian
concepts -- or even awareness of such things, really -- to simply experience
and further appreciate their combined effect. Whatever the applied film theory
need not be at the forefront of audience understanding in order for it to
blowup big and accentuate what are universal forms of the collective conscious;
for Batman and the Joker to be powerful, affecting characters in how they
invoke such things. Centrally, that is was Burton aimed to do and, in my
opinion, that is where he succeeded quite marvelously. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was <strong>Batman</strong> in many ways a mere vehicle showpiece for Jack
Nicholson’s stunt-casting as the Joker? Perhaps. But considering the very
conceit of the character as a stage-hogging showman, I think appropriate the
carte blanche Nicholson was afforded to not only commit grand theft movie, but
to ham up said crime considerably as well. The best aspects about <strong>The Dark
Knight</strong> Joker (and <strong>The Dark Knight</strong> overall, really) was Heath Ledger’s own
seemingly impromptu touches and mannerism, as if he was getting away with his
very own performance art inside a Hollywood blockbuster. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ledger fared the best
in this respect (and maybe Hardy as well, to a somewhat lesser degree) in that
his acting manages to rise above much of the pedantry, but scripting him with
more paramount and clarified motivations only really goes so far to give his
character a more defined plot purpose. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m more
compelled by who he is, and he’s really the most compelling that Nolan’s
trilogy has to offer, more so for the actor’s aforesaid rock star commitment
than anything else. But the violent display of his character was ultimately
laden with Nolan’s morbid nihilism, whereas Burton/Nicholson’s Joker reveled in
morbid absurdism: homicidally terrifying but also goofy fun. A Joker who was
actually a <em>joker</em>.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_teJnTfK1ew/VE6J9iGb9pI/AAAAAAAABGQ/kkFZm3tY9u0/s1600/screenshot-lrg-08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_teJnTfK1ew/VE6J9iGb9pI/AAAAAAAABGQ/kkFZm3tY9u0/s1600/screenshot-lrg-08.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O08eoMqjotw/VE6K6-SRghI/AAAAAAAABIA/1q_IDCHt6ko/s1600/snapshot20090103185002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O08eoMqjotw/VE6K6-SRghI/AAAAAAAABIA/1q_IDCHt6ko/s1600/snapshot20090103185002.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I agree it’s a Joker lacking the kind of sophisticated
realism and functionality that moves grand story-points into play, but that’s
not the intention of his character either, of any character from <strong>Batman</strong>, or
even the nature of Burton’s storytelling. Here, the Joker and Batman are
mesmeric personifications to be entertained, not studied; each respectively a
part-and-parcel to Burton’s theatrical stage-world. Deconstructing Batman for
motivating ideas is to objectify him, which, frankly, is kind of dull for me as
a filmgoing experience. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all the spotlight Nicholson received in his role, more
crucially for me was the realization of Batman. I’ve always said that any
live-action depiction of this particular DC character requires some conveyance
of the mental bent that would allow a man to dress as a bat and go running the
rooftops at night. In short, I always thought Batman needs to be just a little
bit crazy to be credible. And in Burton’s film all bets are off when, in the
opening scene, Michael Keaton tells a dangling hoodlum with muted intensity,
<em>"I’m Batman!"</em> right away, I believe that guy. Right away am I
convinced of this anti-social weirdo who is disordered enough to mask himself
as some creature-thing that terrorizes criminals before casually walking off
building ledges into nowhere. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And no perfunctory back-story or character
development was necessary. Instead, Burton contextualizes Batman in one swoop
using an origin comparable, back-alley mugging answered first with heightened
images of black-cape silhouettes and then with a near-primal act of crime
fighting enforcement. Perhaps it’s not any kind of groundbreaking character
introduction, but it is fully enlivened filmmaking on the director’s part that
employs action/visuals first-and-foremost to create an effective impression of
what Batman does, how he does it with such intimidation and, in essence, why. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Furthermore was the inspired casting of a contemporary,
small-in-stature Keaton who lends the character of Bruce Wayne a façade of
unassuming normalcy, but where Keaton’s persona houses all kinds of low-key
nuances that suggest a haunted and dangerous Batman lurking within. Unlike
Bale, there’s nothing in Keaton’s performance that suffers from histrionics. He
simply, naturally even quietly inhabits the role of a billionaire recluse whose
alter-ego is practically a walking id. From his very casting to his casual
demeanor, subtle internalization and unburdened inhabitance of Bruce Wayne,
Keaton very much made me feel as if his character was an accessible human
being, and furthermore precisely because he was guarded and enigmatic, as
opposed to the tediously itemized, walking open book of lecture points that was
Bale’s character.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tpaJU2I9bFs/VE6KkcVH4JI/AAAAAAAABHY/M0wJzSDTlnI/s1600/batman16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tpaJU2I9bFs/VE6KkcVH4JI/AAAAAAAABHY/M0wJzSDTlnI/s1600/batman16.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another point of criticism I never had much problem with
concerns the scenes between Bruce and Vicki Vale. Theirs is a relationship
predicated more on casual interludes and quirky irregularities. Moreover, there
is something to be said about Kim Basinger’s inclusion. I find it odd how
Nolan’s Batman world is so completely sexless. I can almost give <strong>Batman Begins</strong>
a free pass for being the first of a reboot series that maybe aimed to distance
itself from the obligatory damsel romance subplots of every previous film. But
even by the time we get to Catwoman in <strong>The Dark Knight Rises</strong>, Nolan still has
no real grasp of the eroticism inherent in the source material. Anne Hathaway
is of course beautiful and does her damndest to vamp up the role, but it all
goes to waste under Nolan’s aforementioned sterile direction. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The casting of Basinger, however, all but implicitly harkens
her Mickey Rourke-rendered sexpot from <strong>9 ½ Weeks</strong>, tagging Vicki Vale with a
fascination for the macabre and a fetish for bats that in turn anchors the film
with a kinky and seductive subtext (to say nothing of the outright S&M that
permeates <strong>Batman Returns</strong>). It is this underlying carnal factor that spurs both
the hero and the villain respectively, thus adding to the film’s lot of
instinctive vibes, whereas Nolan’s world is utterly devoid of any such kink, further
adding to what I consider a ho-hum cerebral tone.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dXssNHh6Wwk/VE6KS9JXv0I/AAAAAAAABGw/SUzZhbALHX0/s1600/800%202b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dXssNHh6Wwk/VE6KS9JXv0I/AAAAAAAABGw/SUzZhbALHX0/s1600/800%202b.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The character of Vale is not
brilliantly written and her discovering Batman’s true identity off-camera was
no doubt a wasted opportunity (yet another note to the sequel to which Burton
consciously responded) but she succeeds as the film’s object of erotic innuendo:
one scene deviously suggests her ravishing or in some way debasement by Batman
while a later moment insinuates her blowing the Joker. As this sexual focal
point Basinger herself did well enough to service the role with her natural
naiveté. In any event, compared to the agamous wet blankets that were Katie
Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve never considered Tim Burton an exemplary action
filmmaker or <strong>Batman</strong> a premier work of action filmmaking. Burton’s art-director
sensibility indeed leaves set pieces a bit on the static side where, for
example, the Axis Chemical plant shootout has all the composure of a 1930s
'cops and gangsters' flick. But at least it’s composed. If the set pieces are
perhaps too stagey, at least they’re stage-like, clear and presentable, and
further fashioned with a style of production design and scaled-models meant to
invoke heightened artifice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyhow, I’m inclined to attribute the film’s high
points to the sharp, editorial punch of Ray Lovejoy (who cut <strong>The Shinning</strong> and
<strong>Aliens</strong>) coupled with 2nd unit-lead Peter MacDonald (with previous experience in
<strong>The Empire Strikes Back</strong> and the <strong>Rambo</strong> series) who zeroes-in with tight camera
control on Batman crashing through a skylight and zip-lining away with Vale,
when clashing against a swordfighter or during his brawl with a super-thug, all
of which feature stunts and choreography that can genuinely be appreciated.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fDMBcNt--Ls/VE6PY1Fx1jI/AAAAAAAABI4/kqEkSufky_w/s1600/snapshot20090103185414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fDMBcNt--Ls/VE6PY1Fx1jI/AAAAAAAABI4/kqEkSufky_w/s1600/snapshot20090103185414.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Burton is at his most concentrated, though, when reigning
the all the grandiosity of the film’s third-act climax into a single bell tower
amphitheater event. This is <strong>Batman</strong> in its purest concert form, with our hero squaring
off against henchmen as the Joker waltzes Vale dementedly around the exterior. It’s
a farce that soon gives way to some legitimate dramatic confrontation between
two men who figuratively created each other—a duality that must be resolved
before Batman’s story (for this film, anyway) can be concluded, and a duality
placed right when-and-where it belongs: at the precipice. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By this point the
film has already narratively revealed how these two characters were
cross-influenced to become duel rivals, establishing the idea through action
and imagery. It didn’t need to alternately philosophize about it as well. There
was no need for Alfred to lecture Bruce (or vice versa) about the fatalism in
question, or for any prior scenes with Batman and Joker themselves butting
heads on the matter. It is a simple yet core theme saved for the end where it
then unfolds in a way that is refreshingly no-nonsense. It is a moment where
all the mayhem and theatrics winds down to just two guys with a bone to pick;
ironically, more raw and real than any showdown of declarations in Nolan’s films,
where even the Joker briefly drops his act in an instant of pithy
self-realization: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"You IDIOT! You MADE me! Remember? You dropped me into
that vat of chemicals. That wasn't easy to get over, and don't think that I
didn't try."</em> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In response: <em>"You killed my parents! ...I made you, you made
me first!"</em> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such is not the most level-headed version of the Caped Crusader. Per
contra, I find this novel grain of schoolyard temper appropriate to Keaton’s
edgier embodiment.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtbL8KweF7w/VE6PWpYHftI/AAAAAAAABIw/vL4qxO-PulE/s1600/wJGcP6MrBK.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-CtbL8KweF7w/VE6PWpYHftI/AAAAAAAABIw/vL4qxO-PulE/s1600/wJGcP6MrBK.png" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xfretRqst8s/VE6PKmqp9dI/AAAAAAAABIg/IhDhUplSiVU/s1600/BatmanReview-pic-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xfretRqst8s/VE6PKmqp9dI/AAAAAAAABIg/IhDhUplSiVU/s1600/BatmanReview-pic-3.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lkif9pukqrE/VE6PPqK5smI/AAAAAAAABIo/UmK5fDqLg9Y/s1600/Btmn_1068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lkif9pukqrE/VE6PPqK5smI/AAAAAAAABIo/UmK5fDqLg9Y/s1600/Btmn_1068.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside and perhaps equal to the comics, <strong>The Animated Series</strong>
will always be my ideal Batman, but also one limited to its inherently
two-dimensional, abstract form. Tim Burton’s live-action incarnation is rife
with signature Tim Burton eccentricities, as the film altogether is rife with
dopey shit like toy helicopters, a Prince pop-song montage, the Joker shooting
down the Batwing with a gag pistol etc. Yet I also consider it an uncanny and
deeply imaginative work. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Again, it’s hardly perfect but it is strange, sexy,
impulsive, introverted, off-kilter and even perverse. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I dig how Anton Furst’s stagey artifice accentuated by
Rodger Pratt’s canvased, open matte framing yields a fittingly heightened, pulp
reality, how Pratt somehow invokes the feeling of what color looks like in a
Silent Era, black-n-white world and I easily prefer Danny Elfman’s part
Wagnerian part Herrmann-esque score (with memorable themes equal to Williams’
Superman) over Zimmer’s joyless and obnoxious bombast. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This film sports the
meanest looking Batmobile that still looks like a Batmobile ...Nicholson gets
away with antics and one-liners that borders on parody ...Batman’s fight with a
sword-wielding henchman is rad ...even when wearing jeans, a turtleneck and
reading glasses while sitting in the Batcave, Keaton still makes it look cool. I would argue that, even when hit-and-miss, <strong>Batman</strong> still pulls off substance through style. At the very least, it offers ample personality and is hugely entertaining.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x5Bq4jLwdAc/VE6KYILAfrI/AAAAAAAABHA/D6oaesXCYBg/s1600/batman_1989_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x5Bq4jLwdAc/VE6KYILAfrI/AAAAAAAABHA/D6oaesXCYBg/s1600/batman_1989_4.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
</div>
</span><br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-60933302783093215872014-10-26T09:49:00.000-07:002014-10-26T09:49:13.715-07:00Thrift Store Score<div align="center">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bVg-4Khp9G4/VE0l6hrqTqI/AAAAAAAABFI/7RCU55qHWmw/s1600/vhs-mad-max-fury-road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bVg-4Khp9G4/VE0l6hrqTqI/AAAAAAAABFI/7RCU55qHWmw/s1600/vhs-mad-max-fury-road.jpg" /></a></div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-82579687575373497602014-08-07T17:54:00.000-07:002014-08-07T17:54:14.185-07:00The Lost Marketing of Jurassic Park (1993)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KvclGkHzxbE/U-QdCKLifaI/AAAAAAAABDI/Xph0Id91stw/s1600/jurassic_park_1-620x793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KvclGkHzxbE/U-QdCKLifaI/AAAAAAAABDI/Xph0Id91stw/s1600/jurassic_park_1-620x793.jpg" height="640" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-47V8oXP2aas/U-QdGgN3WrI/AAAAAAAABDQ/lzW_5SE9oJs/s1600/jurassic_park_3-620x793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-47V8oXP2aas/U-QdGgN3WrI/AAAAAAAABDQ/lzW_5SE9oJs/s1600/jurassic_park_3-620x793.jpg" height="640" width="500" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NggvsOQuJD0/U-QdMgA3Q8I/AAAAAAAABDY/KKdII8YKhYk/s1600/jurassic_park_7-620x810.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NggvsOQuJD0/U-QdMgA3Q8I/AAAAAAAABDY/KKdII8YKhYk/s1600/jurassic_park_7-620x810.jpg" height="640" width="488" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFlEqlBK-Lw/U-QdQ6DgecI/AAAAAAAABDg/AUR1fPp5XX0/s1600/jurassic_park_8-620x806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JFlEqlBK-Lw/U-QdQ6DgecI/AAAAAAAABDg/AUR1fPp5XX0/s1600/jurassic_park_8-620x806.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oCWtHHGEYqE/U-QdWj3BGBI/AAAAAAAABDo/vUy6Id_pl4M/s1600/jurassic_park_12-620x794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oCWtHHGEYqE/U-QdWj3BGBI/AAAAAAAABDo/vUy6Id_pl4M/s1600/jurassic_park_12-620x794.jpg" height="640" width="499" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LE9Jgw1CFIU/U-QdaOU452I/AAAAAAAABDw/XlWJfDmm1WM/s1600/jurassic_park_13-620x872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LE9Jgw1CFIU/U-QdaOU452I/AAAAAAAABDw/XlWJfDmm1WM/s1600/jurassic_park_13-620x872.jpg" height="640" width="455" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-In3_e5T8pCc/U-QdfDX_4QI/AAAAAAAABD4/vNyn5Ec3Wxg/s1600/jurassic_park_15-620x963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-In3_e5T8pCc/U-QdfDX_4QI/AAAAAAAABD4/vNyn5Ec3Wxg/s1600/jurassic_park_15-620x963.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-edtb6B3x-tc/U-Qds-HIKEI/AAAAAAAABEI/JlkW8WXiONg/s1600/jurassic_park_26-620x889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-edtb6B3x-tc/U-Qds-HIKEI/AAAAAAAABEI/JlkW8WXiONg/s1600/jurassic_park_26-620x889.jpg" height="640" width="446" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AnwT3ZcZKU/U-QdzH81-kI/AAAAAAAABEQ/aUp46VgCnQQ/s1600/jurassic_park_24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AnwT3ZcZKU/U-QdzH81-kI/AAAAAAAABEQ/aUp46VgCnQQ/s1600/jurassic_park_24.jpg" height="640" width="472" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PiJ17wxgQYg/U-Qemkc2WuI/AAAAAAAABEo/luKzGoeY7jg/s1600/jurassic_park_asdf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PiJ17wxgQYg/U-Qemkc2WuI/AAAAAAAABEo/luKzGoeY7jg/s1600/jurassic_park_asdf.jpg" height="640" width="446" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mu7O39SlOLc/U-QeSKgkaJI/AAAAAAAABEY/Qq9VC-DYej8/s1600/jurassic_park_22-620x890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mu7O39SlOLc/U-QeSKgkaJI/AAAAAAAABEY/Qq9VC-DYej8/s1600/jurassic_park_22-620x890.jpg" height="640" width="444" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09UdyYGtDD4/U-QeV3pryUI/AAAAAAAABEg/2jlFaR69xLM/s1600/jurassic_park_25-620x889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-09UdyYGtDD4/U-QeV3pryUI/AAAAAAAABEg/2jlFaR69xLM/s1600/jurassic_park_25-620x889.jpg" height="640" width="446" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-32161109284619950422014-08-02T16:28:00.001-07:002014-08-02T16:28:41.873-07:00Tami 'Moonchild' Stronach: Fairy Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K7Z631fP5WY/U91okZEWQII/AAAAAAAABCM/uR2ZipY9hLo/s1600/neverendingstorybdcap6_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K7Z631fP5WY/U91okZEWQII/AAAAAAAABCM/uR2ZipY9hLo/s1600/neverendingstorybdcap6_original.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If not for the advent of Youtube, I might have gone my whole life oblivious to actress Tami Stronach's brief musical pop-stardom circa 1984. There's a folder in the file cabinet of my brain that will not be left wanting, thank the stars. Anyways, I'm not sure how I feel about her winking suggestively to a grown homeless man. I mean, sure, magically transforming him from rags to riches (into what looks like a Prussian count or something) seems innocent enough on her part, but what the hell is a transient doing slumming outside this little girl's window in the first place? Goddamn have-nots. Get off my lawn and stay away from my niece!</span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YY0ols5XLFA" width="459"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7rarJoRvoEo/U91z66PZ4VI/AAAAAAAABC4/3fABT-6SBW8/s1600/bedobear.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7rarJoRvoEo/U91z66PZ4VI/AAAAAAAABC4/3fABT-6SBW8/s1600/bedobear.png" /></a></div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-47197432494286658932014-08-01T15:16:00.000-07:002014-08-08T20:29:41.943-07:00I Loved Lucy (2014)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oHCgXf-pBso/U9wPqbj-ClI/AAAAAAAABBE/m-BP-zAjU8M/s1600/Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oHCgXf-pBso/U9wPqbj-ClI/AAAAAAAABBE/m-BP-zAjU8M/s1600/Lucy.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">I typically have a problem
with high-concept films that exposit to no end where action-driven storytelling
would prove superior, and where lofty themes are self-inflated during stagnated
scenes of weighty dramatic posture featuring characters standing around talking
about what the story is about. Here, however, the continuing lectured academia
concerning the potentially boundless possibilities of the untapped human
cerebral cortex does not slow or interfere with the plot because, after the
initial 'drug mule' setup, there really isn’t much plot at all; once our
titular Lucy begins her chemical induced evolution towards the great beyond,
the rest is merely a loose geographical narrative intent on rendezvousing with
("Hello, I’m") Morgan Freeman as Prof. Norman, a leading expert on the
mysteries of the mind. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">There are some additional details that involve French
cops rounding up the other remaining bags of experimental narcotics, known as
CPH4, trailed by some unhappy Taiwanese mobsters, but the feature film as a
whole is one in a constant state of motion, pouring out of itself as a
hyperkinetic montage-collage of ideas, imagery and monologues. Where other 2014
summer blockbusters like <strong>Days of Future Past</strong>, <strong>Edge of Tomorrow</strong> and <strong>Dawn of the
Planet of the Apes</strong> pride themselves on clever narrative devices and strategic,
chess-move characterization, <strong>Lucy</strong> has no such appetites. It feigns no
sophistication in story structure, credible motivations or even internal logic,
frankly. It’s not that kind of movie. It’s something...else—a cinematic
brainstorm, alive and pulsating and, to be perfectly honest, downright fucking
gonzo.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_z3s0pyCZ9g/U9wP42zYozI/AAAAAAAABBc/etJJhweKyjs/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_z3s0pyCZ9g/U9wP42zYozI/AAAAAAAABBc/etJJhweKyjs/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-2.jpg" height="224" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Equivalent to the film’s female
protagonist, director Luc Besson seems to have (re)ingested his very own kind
of super-crack directorial idiosyncrasies that charted his course throughout
the 90s, of which <strong>Lucy</strong> likewise seems the accumulation. There’s the base
circumstances of seedy, inner-city organized crime <span class="st">à la </span><strong>Le Femme Nikita</strong> and <strong>The
Professional</strong> -- with automatic weaponry and slickly dressed henchmen -- a near
fetishistic array of visual FX spectacle as seen in <strong>The Fifth Element</strong> and, from
<strong>The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc</strong>, the fate of Man finding itself at the
mercy of a commoner Woman redefined by some supernatural awakening. But <strong>Lucy</strong>
also achieves its own identity. Yes, it proceeds from the same general premise
as 2011’s <strong>Limitless</strong>, but that movie by comparison was boring and, ironically,
limited, capping the outcome of human mind powers in attempt to serve a more
formulaic corporate thriller plotline, managing only to transform its
protagonist from one kind of douche into a high rolling other. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Lucy</strong> is a
different creature, one that goes all the way, spiraling more to the ambitions
of <strong>Tree of Life</strong>, <strong>Ghost in the Shell</strong> and <strong>Akira</strong> yet with a notably breezier and
more irreverent tone, where Besson’s eccentric visual timespan of Earth’s
biological eons playfully informs immediate situations; from the opening sequence,
juxtaposing 'wild kingdom' Serengeti footage with Lucy’s panicky misfortune
into a world of drug smuggling. The events thereafter are bent on her
increasing, brain expanding percentile from 20 to the unfathomable 100. And
while she quickly assumes the skills and deadly persona of a femme fatale
assassin, it’s a familiar genre trope that proves rather short-lived; Besson
ultimately isn’t interested in that kind of movie either, which will likely
come to the dismay of audiences who expected as much from the trailer. Moreover,
it never shows much interest in becoming an <strong>X-Men</strong> type superhero adventure or,
to be specific, that Lucy’s ability to defy matter and physics sooner than
later exceed the limits needed in maintaining dramatic conflict, which has
become a major point of criticism from various online article reviews and
audiences in general. She undoubtedly becomes too powerful for anyone to pose
her any significant threat, including the authorities on her tail and vengeful
mob boss played with smug indifference by <strong>Oldboy</strong>’s Choi Min-Sik.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jrlZh5wzq6A/U9wP0BC-vFI/AAAAAAAABBU/UgAA3daQIzY/s1600/lucy_movie_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jrlZh5wzq6A/U9wP0BC-vFI/AAAAAAAABBU/UgAA3daQIzY/s1600/lucy_movie_02.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">It is
important, though, to remember that dramatic conflict is a convention, not a
necessity. Tis true that the film lacks any real tension predicated on opposing
objectives of equal match, let alone any kind of 'against the odds' underdog
arc. But that, in essence, is the point. Lucy isn’t running nor fighting. She
is evolving and her evolution in and of itself is the singular narrative force;
inevitable, unstoppable. This in my opinion achieves a uniquely different kind
of thrill where, in tandem with every other character in the film, the viewer
is likewise swept along helplessly towards some great unknown. Besson even
contorts what would be the more traditional action set-pieces to repeatedly
illustrate this theme, the highlight of which being a brilliantly filmed,
first-person car chase through Paris’ rush hour traffic with a telekinetic Lucy
behind the wheel and her police detective tagalong, Del Rio (Amr Waked, looking
dumbfounded) reduced to a mere passenger; their vehicle whizzing
by-and-in-between countless others at super-fluid speed, thereby rendering the
latter as variables of zero consequence. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well into the third act this story
momentum briefly plateaus for a one-way discourse whereby Lucy expounds before
Norman and his summoned colleagues the film’s central philosophical conceit:
that humankind’s reliance on science and mathematical laws are ultimately its
limitation -- a kind of arbitrary model of an infinitely larger reality -- and
that, in her own words, <em>"Time is the only true unit of measure."</em> Put into
effect, Lucy’s ecumenical view manifests early on as both a total
cellular-sensory awareness of the very Earth’s rotation and the memory of her
own childhood, even down to the infant experience, which she recounts with deep
feeling during a phone call to her mother, thus concluding the last instance of
her recognizably human emotional state, and that by film’s climax grants her
infinite access to all of spacetime. And a particularly gutsy climax it is,
replete with one of Besson’s signature shootout extravaganzas matched (no,
dwarfed) by Lucy’s seated, fourth dimensional journey into prehistory and then
to the very outstretches of the omniverse. I won’t go into visual or conceptual
detail, suffice to say, it all ends with Freeman being given a flash drive made
of stars ...I shit you not!</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXs3Glx0OBc/U9wPwXRfC6I/AAAAAAAABBM/wICK3iYNtew/s1600/lucy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mXs3Glx0OBc/U9wPwXRfC6I/AAAAAAAABBM/wICK3iYNtew/s1600/lucy.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">So is this all just a load of dopey,
pop-pseudo-philosophical nonsense? Maybe, probably, not really, I dunno. What
cannot be denied is the film’s intellectual commitment, zany as it may be.
Zanier the better, in fact. So many sci-fi yarns fostering profound meanings
strive for theoretical authenticity and to be taken seriously whereas <strong>Lucy</strong>
strives only for the sincerity of wonder itself, far less an essay than it is
an anthem, impassioning audiences with an imagination for cosmic data hidden in
the substance of all things before our very eyes. And I applaud Besson (also
the sole writer) for his spirited sense of abandon in how he throws onus to the
wind while likewise having the balls to take the premise to its ultimate
conclusion. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two lead stars punch in and preform dutifully. Freeman’s
casting is no doubt utilitarian as his stock gravitas allows for much of the
aforementioned lecture points to go down like smooth brandy. Still, the actor
conveys genuine awe when needed and it makes for a nice twist to witness his
sagely status humbled in the presence of the all-knowing. For her part, Scarlett
Johansson’s Revlon glamor is in full swing and she sails comfortably in
rounding out the third entry to her unofficial </span><a href="http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/2014/07/cult-movie-review-under-skin-2014.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">meta-human trilogy</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. The male
filmmaker fixation with her sex symbology has marked an interesting mini-arc
personification adjacent to her ongoing Black Widow gig, from Jonze’s husky
gal-pal software voice to Glazer’s alien man-eater, the latter of whom our Lucy
mirrors in gaudy, streetwalking fashion, trading in a fur coat for leopard
print and dying the same hairstyle it’s polar opposite, raven to platinum
blonde. If nothing else, Johansson has grown more surefooted as a marquee name
and never falters in narrowing a flighty Lucy of the first act into the
cerebral sorceress of the final.</span> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nR2453eWVZk/U9wQBr2RzFI/AAAAAAAABBs/lOC74BiujoE/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nR2453eWVZk/U9wQBr2RzFI/AAAAAAAABBs/lOC74BiujoE/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-27.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">On to technical matters, this marks Besson’s
first foray into shooting digital. Reteaming with DP Thierry Arbogast, the duo
once again frames in 2.35:1 but this time trading in their usual anamorphic
scope for the open flat look of a spherical lens. The resulting image sheds the
poetically warped distortion of Besson’s symmetrical, laterally wide
compositions for more titan-rectangular imagery, especially in its many
close-ups. <strong>Lucy</strong> is a sharp, clean lined and colorfully vibrant movie. The crux
of its CGI design whets the psychotropic lightshow of our heroine’s
metamorphosis along with her capacity to accelerate to the farthest realms of
existence. Altogether the production value easily impresses, particularly when
considering its comparatively trim $40 million budget amidst a summer of triple
digit-plus gargantuas. This brings up one last quality I think sets the movie
apart from the general blockbuster fare: it’s not a tent-pole release. There is
no feasible room for a sequel, let alone a franchise, which, for a refreshing
change, spares audiences the tedium filler of half-assed backstory mythology or
bridging new characters or future plotline setups. <strong>Lucy</strong> is a standalone. When
it ends, it <em>ends</em>.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMAUKu2J9IM/U9wQFhF_pXI/AAAAAAAABB0/Dk-JFXnqSP0/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-digital.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RMAUKu2J9IM/U9wQFhF_pXI/AAAAAAAABB0/Dk-JFXnqSP0/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-screenshot-digital.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3ztIJ1tRlk/U9wP9oAIwII/AAAAAAAABBk/zNBFJwe4Asc/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-johansson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R3ztIJ1tRlk/U9wP9oAIwII/AAAAAAAABBk/zNBFJwe4Asc/s1600/lucy-2014-movie-johansson.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Symbol"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-64901660043874013092014-03-31T09:32:00.000-07:002014-03-31T09:32:24.842-07:00Tally Up<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5PPEd3cTwU/UzmXgbJDWPI/AAAAAAAABAY/GMW88adA_Ps/s1600/Crazy4CultposterAug9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M5PPEd3cTwU/UzmXgbJDWPI/AAAAAAAABAY/GMW88adA_Ps/s1600/Crazy4CultposterAug9.jpg" height="640" width="481" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Akira</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ghostbusters</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Taxi Driver</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Blade Runner</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Army of Darkness</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">They Live</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tron</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Alien </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Robocop</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Back to the Future</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Warriors</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Return of the Jedi</span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="center">
</div>
Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4709821965033515301.post-76130011141215202652014-03-24T10:28:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:28:32.181-07:00On My Radar: Sofia Coppola’s The Little Mermaid <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T_4ggrCNoc0/UzBqRh6qhuI/AAAAAAAABAE/ZrrSxuYRat8/s1600/lm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T_4ggrCNoc0/UzBqRh6qhuI/AAAAAAAABAE/ZrrSxuYRat8/s1600/lm.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">One of my
all-time favorite directors <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/03/-em-the-little-mermaid-em-s-twisted-sofia-coppola-esque-origins/284529/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #741b47;">set to take a stab</span></a> at the classic fish-out-of-water
story.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">It should go
without saying -- of course, there are a lot of "shoulds" in this
world -- that The Little Mermaid is not a Disney creation but originally a work
of fairy tale literature from Hans Christian Anderson, and that comparisons
with the 1989 Disney animated film is like comparing Disney’s <strong>The Jungle Book</strong>
with Kipling’s original story: vast differences, to say the least. Anderson’s
telling is hauntingly dark, psychologically rooted, sociologically reflective
(of the times in which it was written) and concludes rather fatalistically.
There are no songs. No Flounder.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I know a lot
of people think very little of Coppola, either dismissing her on claims of
nepotism or her films for being hollow and superficial, or both. Some might
also dismiss this project as yet another cash-in on the current trend of
classic fairy tale adaptations. The latter might be true to some initial
extent, but Coppola is definitely her own auteur filmmaker and bringing her
onboard to direct, in my opinion, indicates a likelier departure from
mainstream genre tropes where a young heroine graduates to warrior princes and
gets caught up in CG set-pieces.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Coppola is
traditionally not a plot-oriented, narrative filmmaker, so I’m interested to
see how, or how much, she might venture into such storytelling, or if at all;
assuming Universal doesn’t let her take the adaptation entirely into her own
realm of fashionized, mood-piece minimalism and observationalism. Another point
of consequence for me is that, to my recollection, all of Coppola’s feature
films have been shot on various locations, whereas the fairy tale material in
question beckons the fanciful artifice that only soundstage filmmaking can
provide. I’m not sure which I find more enticing: the prospect of Coppola
delving for the first time into more overt Hollywood spectacle or that she may nonetheless
opt to render fantasy settings through immersive real world environs to
surrealistic effect. Either way should prove to be a visual splendor. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-61Ag0_ijSgQ/UzBqVOJcoVI/AAAAAAAABAM/riPcBuayboc/s1600/lm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-61Ag0_ijSgQ/UzBqVOJcoVI/AAAAAAAABAM/riPcBuayboc/s1600/lm2.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />Cannonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12886860130286869992noreply@blogger.com0