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Posts Tagged ‘film’

Winter Light and the Light of Christ

Posted in Religion, tagged , , , , , , on May 5, 2013 |

This week I finally saw Ingmar Bergman’s Winter Light.  What a beautiful film, in many ways.  I absolutely loved it.

The most striking part, though, was a scene near the end where a supporting character gets his screen time to talk to our protagonist, a pastor plagued by doubt and melancholy.  The church sexton confesses to the pastor that our apparent understanding of Christ’s suffering is superficial, limited to the cross.

He wonders if the emotional suffering of Gethsemane, and the spiritual elements of the crucifixion might not have been worse.  He describes these scriptural details in a way that deeply intensifies the Lord’s suffering.

I sat up pretty straight during this scene.  His confused reaching for truth brings him so close to a Latter-day Saint knowledge of the Atonement.  I wanted to tap him on the shoulder and talk about the Book of Mormon.  I wanted to show him Jeffrey R. Holland’s Easter talk below.

Sadly, YouTube doesn’t have a clip of just this scene.  It starts around 7:00 in the 7th video in the linked playlist, and runs about 40 seconds into the 8th.

Winter Light YouTube playlist

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“Then He Kissed Me”

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 28, 2013 |

I’ve never seen GoodFellas, but I found this scene on YouTube when looking for this old song by the Crystals.  What a work of art!  Scorcese perfectly uses the period music and adoring, long tracking shot to establish this guy’s bravado, in the service of impressing a girl.

I mean, when a club holds a table for you, you’re powerful, but when they build a new one in front when you show up, that’s serious!

But the technical artistry here is the best part.  Getting that shot must have been tough, but it was worth it.  It’s a joy to watch.

Reminds me of this long tracking shot from Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil:

But, of course, like all kids who grew up in the 80′s, “Then He Kissed Me” mostly reminds me of the opening of Adventures in Babysitting:

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Stanley Kubrick Presents the Complete Works of James Joyce

Posted in Arts, Language and Literature, tagged , , , , , , on January 3, 2013 |

As I recently finished reading a survey of Joyce’s writings, it occurred to me that each of his four majors works could be compared to the four major acts of Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in order.

= Dubliners

A critical care for presenting a realistic story gives us the first stage of the work.  The inhabitants of this place are frustrated and stunted.  The Kubrickian monolith is equivalent to the Joycean epiphany.  Ironically, where the epiphanies of Joyce only instigate paralysis, the monoliths of 2001 catalyze a quantum leap in evolution.

= A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Here we see a truly new style (or, at least, a recent style perfected)–Joyce’s stream of consciousness and Kubrick’s special effects ballet.  Each work is a seamless, totally integrated work of ambitious art, where every facet contributes to the whole united  message.  Each work, thematically and in its plot, is about man moving onward and upward.

(more…)

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2012: My Year in Movies

Posted in Arts, tagged , on January 3, 2013 |

I saw 70 movies in 2012.  Here they are, with the date viewed, and how much I enjoyed each, on a scale of 1-10.  Looks like I gave five movies that I saw for the first time a perfect ten (tens are in italics). It was also a pretty good year for foreign film:

 

1. Tito and Me (Serbian), 1/2–8

2. Eyes Without a Face (French), 1/4–7

3. Cowboys and Aliens, 1/6–7

4. Through a Glass Darkly (Swedish), 1/7–6

5. The Madness of King George, 1/11–10

6. The Secret of Kells, 1/12–8

7. Touch of Evil, 1/14–7

8. Richard III (1956), 1/18–8

9.  Rise of the Planet of the Apes, 1/20–8

10.  Russian Ark (Russian…duh), 1/23–9

(more…)

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Classic Chariots of Fire Scene

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on December 16, 2012 |

I love how this scene illustrates both the free joy and excruciating focus of running.  I wish the clip included the bit of speaking in the chapel at the very start–it’s a great setup to the beach run.  Still, a memorable scene of boundless youthful energy in its prime, set in a pristine, bygone time and place.  Perfect intro to a fantastic film.

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Classic Battleship Potemkin Scene

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on October 8, 2012 |

Saw this film recently: provocative propaganda, with this scene as the most moving.  For an 87 year-old movie, it’s remarkably frank in its depiction of violence.  No modern movie would show the baby carriage keeling over like that.

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Black & White Gives More Color

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on July 23, 2012 | 1 Comment »

As an English teacher, I sometimes show black and white movies in class, which almost always elicits groans and complaints from most of the students.  Something I usually tell them is to notice how well black and white can create sharp contrasts and evocative atmospheres in settings, far more so than color can.

I like to use the first few minutes of Citizen Kane as an example of this–try imagining those exterior shots in color.  It would lose all of its intimidating power.

 

This summer I’ve seen David Lean’s 1948 version of Oliver Twist, and it makes the same point.  Those first few minutes out on the stormy moors wouldn’t be half so gloomy if they were in some glossy, digital HD rainbow.

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Funky Science Fiction!

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , , on April 9, 2012 | 1 Comment »

I recently rewatched one of my favorite movies, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.  I intended to read while it played, and just look up when the “best” parts came on, but I was instantly hooked again.  I had to to gaze, amazed, at every second.  Some parts of act III lag a bit, but it’s still a stunning masterpiece.

Anyway, watching that reminded me of Eumir Deodato’s jazz-infused reinterpretation of Straus’s famous theme used in the film.  Deodato took the 1896 piece of music, which Kubrick used in his 1968 movie about 2001, and remixed it in 1972.  So something from the past that was used to represent our future–which is now also in our past–was updated for a modern setting, which itself is now part of our past as well. And I was introduced to this song by my septuagenarian mother.

Talk about time warps!  Man, that just blew my mind.  It’s like watching 2001 or something.

 

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Best Bond Fight In Best Bond Movie

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on April 2, 2012 |

I say that the best James Bond movie was 1963′s From Russia With Love.  My favorite scene is the fight on the Orient Express.

The trend in film has always been for fights to become more and more stylized, but this fight scene is the perfect balance of choreography and brutal, realistic brawling.  Add to that the fact that the scene is done in a confined space, in the dark, and you’ve really got a classic action achievement here.  Just shy of half a century has passed since this one came out, and it’s still one of the best fight scenes ever shot.

 

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Cast Away

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , on March 5, 2012 | 4 Comments »

I watched this a few weeks ago, and it’s the best movie I’ve seen so far this year.  Not too many actors could have sold the scene of mourning for Wilson so authentically, grieving for a lost volleyball.

 

 

Just as impressive is the quiet speech Hanks gives about the inspiring power of endurance.  In the hands of many actors, it would have come off as melodramatic, but Hanks delivers it with majestic understatement.

 

 

Speaking of majestic understatement, I can’t think of another film where the musical score so perfectly complemented the film in style and substance.  This hauntingly hollow track gives me goosebumps; its sparse spaces are full of depth:

 

 

But before this appreciation gets too full of itself, here’s a classic commercial joke based on the film:

 

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How Modern Russian Cinema Evolved From Orson Welles

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , , , on February 6, 2012 |

Just saw Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil last month.  This impressive opening scene is the best part of the movie.  A lot of technical wizardry must have gone into making this long tracking shot work–not to mention tons of rehearsal.

Even more impressive, though, is the 2002 film Russian Ark, which I also saw last month.  A hypnotic tour of the Hermitage from the point of view of a ghost who slips around in time with no transition other than moving from room to room of the huge art museum / royal residence, the entire film is composed of a single shot.  It’s the only feature film ever done like this, and it’s fascinating.  Especially great for art lovers–hundreds of masterpieces are lovingly showcased throughout. Below is the first 13 minutes, plus part of a “making of” documentary.

 

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2011: My Year In Movies

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , on December 28, 2011 | 1 Comment »

I watched a lot of movies in 2011.  This was the first year that I kept track, and I was surprised just how many there were.  Of course, a lot of these were for my project of seeing all of the non R-rated movies on AFI’s top 100 American films list.  I’ll give more details and reviews on those next week.  For now, here’s my overall 2011 list.  Notice how my rate drops off when the AFI project finished, and when the fall semester started.  Alas.  Keep in mind, the 1-10 scores are how much I enjoyed watching them, and does not somehow measure any objective quality (which explains #18, I hope).  Perfect tens are in italics.

  1. The Philadelphia Story, 1/8–7

  2. The Great Escape, 1/9–9

  3. Amadeus, 1/12–10 (more…)

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Fiddler on the Roof Birthday Pending

Posted in Arts, tagged , , on October 3, 2011 |

One month from today–November 3–will mark the 40th anniversary of the film version of Fiddler on the Roof.  L’Chaim! 

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1939: Film’s Best Year?

Posted in Arts, tagged , , on August 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »

As a companion to today’s music post, it would also be fun to figure out what single year has been the best for movies so far.  I think my vote would be for 1939, which saw the release of The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  Are there others?  Disney didn’t release a film in that year, and Alfred Hitchcock’s 1939 work is not top tier.  Still, just the six I named show groundbreaking excellence in a wide variety of genres. 

Anyone care to suggest that another year was better?

 

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The Dark Knight Reconsidered

Posted in Arts, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 1, 2011 | 5 Comments »

Three years ago, I wrote a critical review of The Dark Knight which earned me a thorough beat down from a whole host of readers.  My review was based on my visceral reaction to the psychological torture and moral shades of gray that I saw in the film at the time. 

However, I finally watched it again last week.  A few things made me want to give it another chance:

  • The teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises hints that this third film will be a redemptive story with a more clear-cut victory, perhaps making this a trilogy in the Star Wars-Empire-Jedi format.  I can appreciate that. 
  • Last year I read Frank Miller’s graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, which obviously influenced Christopher Nolan’s movie.  It was excellent. 
  • Anne Hathaway will be in The Dark Knight Rises, so I pretty much have to see it. 

(more…)

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