Thursday, January 27, 2011

"Life in a Day" Reaction

 As I had hoped I was able to watch "Life in a Day" on my computer at work and was relatively undisturbed for the duration.  I wish I could have watched it at home on my TV (even though the highest quality available was 480p) with my blu-ray player streaming YouTube, but there was no way I was going to get home by 5pm (although the film actually started at 5:30pm).  
 I really enjoyed the film, I thought it was really beautiful and joyful and sad and funny and dark.  It really did a good job of evoking the human condition in a beautiful and interesting way.  It is chronological, proceeding throughout the day starting with early morning, continuing to breakfast, etc, and it's thematic, dealing with different issues that affect us in our everyday lives as human beings.  A few of the participants are threaded throughout the film, but the film does not really follow any particular story lines.  It's just a constant discovery of beauty, humor, pathos, and fear in the world.  While some of the footage is obviously not very high quality, some of it is very well shot.  One of my favorite visual images is the glowing, floating lanterns near the end.
 My lasting reaction to the film is that it was a really cool concept and well executed.  I really felt like I was participating in an event, merely by watching the film.  So kudos to the director and producer as well as Sundance for supporting it.  I want to say good job to YouTube too.  I didn't experience any interruptions throughout the whole film and I'm sure they must have prepared for the insanity of streaming a film live to millions of people.

Youtube + Sundance + Ridley Scott/Kevin MacDonald = Life in a Day

This looks so cool.  I'm tuning in.  It's a feature length doc cut from the 80,000+ submissions (over 4500 hours) of footage filmed of people's days on July 24, 2010.  It starts at 8pm ET/7pm CT/5pm PT.

Here are two shorts cut by some of the people working on the project from the footage.





Thursday, January 20, 2011

Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: Movement 2 (Allegretto)

Here's a good YouTube video of a performance of the piece.

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant: #1 "The Fall"

Tarsem Singh’s The Fall (2006),  presented by David Fincher and Spike Jonze, tells the story of eternally curious and unabashed explorer Alexandria (Catinca Untaru) an immigrant child laborer recovering from a fall in a citrus grove.  In her reconnaissance of the invalid hospital, where she is being treated for a broken arm, she discovers Roy Walker (Lee Pace), a young stuntman, convalescing after a devastating accident that leaves him paralyzed.    To pass the time and entertain her, Roy begins to tell her a fantastic story of adventure, but he soon realizes Alexandria's ability to pass unnoticed throughout the hospital corridors and attempts to manipulate her to aid him in his desperate ploy to secure morphine.  The story is completely engaging even as it shifts between fantasy and reality, blending the two.
The costume design is extravagant yet calculating.  The imagery of the film is a tapestry interweaving the earthy hues of early 20th century California and the jeweled tones of exotic locales such as India and Spain.   It’s a visual feast.  The opening scene is a particularly beautiful high speed sequence scored with one of my favorite pieces of music of all time:  Beethoven's 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement, the Allegretto (incidentally the same piece chosen to score the climatic moment of The King's Speech).  This is one of the most dramatic, emotional, and beautiful compositions ever.

This film is very engrossing and it has a strong emotional core.  Untaru gives one of the best performances by a child actor I have ever seen and the interactions between Untaru and Pace are amazing.  This is certainly a film to go back and watch.  Watch The Fall on Netflix Instant. Stay tuned for more films you might have missed that are available on from Netflix Instant.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Great Films You Might Have Missed on Netflix Instant

I love Netflix.  It is the best.  I do have one or two complaints, as I often do.  One is because of their deals with the studios or whatever it is, they will frequently take down movies that are offered for instant play.  I guess this is to keep DVD sales up?  Not sure.  Two is sometimes the instant streaming quality is not good, not because of the internet connection, which of course can affect it too, but because full HD quality is not available for whatever reason, again I think it has to do with the studios.  The final complaint, that I've heard some people make is that there are no good movies available via instant.  While I agree that lots of good recent film and television shows are only available via DVD or blu-ray (like how else can I catch up on Breaking Bad?), there are actually a ton of great films on Netflix available for streaming.  There is a wealth of documentaries, foreign films, and classics, enough to keep me occupied for years, but there are also all kinds of great films waiting to be found.  As I stumble upon awesome instant films, I will post reviews.  Don't wait too long to check them out, though.  You never know when they might get pulled down.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

"True Grit" vs. "True Grit:" the debate continues

There's a debate?  Apparently.  I was driving home and I heard Terry Gross interviewing the Coen Brothers about True Grit (see below for the link) and she mentioned going back to watch the old film.  She did not like it very much either, and mentioned some of the things I had noticed about it.  The Coen Brothers were polite of course and would not critique it, but the comments after the article on NPR's website do discuss the old vs. new film and some of the comments surprised me.  Some people liked the old version better.  One guy says:

Ultimately, the 1969 film is a classic, while the new film is very good as a differing interpretation of the mood, but fails to capture the charm or the chemistry between the characters and truncates the story eliminating some of its power.  Don't get me wrong- I like the latest "True Grit," but comparing the two films, though inescapable, is like comparing Beethoven's 9th to Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind."

Whoa!  Is this a generational thing?  I feel like he got it completely wrong.  Crap is crap, no matter when it was made.  Are you saying that there were no good movies made in the '60s by today's standards?  This is just goes to show how some people feel about The Duke I guess.  For us young'uns, the Coen Brothers have made some of the best films of our generation, so we're gonna stick by 'em.

The article and link to Terry's interview: http://www.npr.org/2011/01/12/132744499/coen-bros-on-wet-horses-kid-stars-its-a-wild-west.

"True Grit:" When remakes are WAY better

I didn’t realize that I wasn’t a fan of John Wayne.  I hadn’t really ever thought about it, but I’m not.  To some, those words might be blasphemy and I apologize and I might reserve that judgment until I’ve seen more John Wayne movies, but I’m definitely not a fan of the original True Grit.  This weekend I watched the both original and the new Coen Brothers’ version, and contrary to the typical original/remake pattern, this is one remake that is way better.  There’s really no comparison; the acting is better, the cinematography is better, the music is better, the writing is better, the action is better.  I have been informed that the 2010 version follows Charles Portis’ 1968 novel more closely, which makes sense as the plot hangs together much better, and as a final critique of the 1969 John Wayne classic, they couldn’t even film the night scenes at night (I might just be being snobby now, but it’s John Wayne, can’t he get a budget to allow filming at night?)  It’s not even really worth discussing the old film any more, so let’s dispense with it and move on to the Coen Brothers version.  

I tend to enjoy Coen Brothers films, which often to tell the story of a place and an era through strong characters and intriguing plots.  This film was certainly a period piece, though perhaps in following the book closely, they lost some of that coloring in of the place and time, and focused too much on character and more so on plot (When these are the “flaws” of your film, you know you’ve reached a respectable level of film-making).  The film is, of course, beautifully shot and lit (I would have expected nothing less) and some of the classic cowboy riding at dusk shots are no less powerful for their well-used framing.  The overall visuals of the film were pleasing and appropriate, while the music was unremarkable, but compared to the inappropriate tone of the 1969 soundtrack, it was excellent.  Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon play their roles with a touch of subtle emotion and the rugged dignity expected of western heroes.  

The real achievement in the film is the breakout performance by Hailee Steinfield as the stubborn and strong-willed Maddie Ross.  Steinfield’s portrayal of the 14-year old Arkansas farm girl/family bookkeeper who, becoming the de facto head of the family upon her father’s death, takes the execution of family duty with the utmost seriousness.  Maddie Ross takes the train to Ft. Smith to tie up her father’s affairs after his murder.  Fearing that justice will not be exacted from his murderer Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), she takes the matter into her own hands, hiring crusty U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), whose standard approach is to shoot first and ask questions later, to track down Chaney and bring him to justice.  Steinfield is at once childlike and masterful.  She maintains the innocence and bit of naivete present in Ross’ character, while allowing it to be tempered by her quick wit, practicality, and heavy load of responsibilities.  Despite the fact that the young girl is a shrewd business-woman, who will not be gainsaid, on the eve of her departure into the Indian Territories to find Chaney, she cannot but help writing her mother with a touch of excitement of the “great adventure” on which she is about to embark.

Overall, the film is entertaining, and well executed.  I found it to be a satisfying viewing experience.  It is not, however, as good as the Coen Brothers’ previous western film, No Country for Old Men.  But that is another story altogether.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Town Lake Photographic Expedition

During my trip back to Texas for the holidays, I took the opportunity to shoot a few different times.  It's nice to get some fresh locations to spark the imagination.  My uncle has been pursuing fine art photography (check out his site) the last few years and we took an afternoon/early evening to go out and shoot together.  We see things differently, so it was cool to shoot with him and see what he sees.  He likes to shoot on the darker side, so I ended up exposing lots of images darker than usual and I liked the results.
Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography

Hana Ripperger-Suhler Photography