Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with critically acclaimed film director, Mr. Connor Bargar. Bargar himself exploded onto the film scene in 2018, a bit after he finished college, as one of the premiere film critics working in the business. Often called the "Young Ebert", Bargar displayed great consistency and insight to the films he critiqued. Then, in 2027, the young director went down the road of Francois Truffaut, and turned to directing. While Bargar's films always received critical acclaim, he failed to find a significant audience due to his constant genre-switching. However, after the three films released in '27, '28, and '30 he gained the reputation to draw audiences simply to see a "Connor Bargar Film". I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Bargar three questions regarding his newest film, a quickly escalating, 1950s period drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Christian Bale, and, oddly enough, Leonardo DiCaprio. So, to satisfy all your desires, here's the few questions I asked the famed director:
You certainly have a unique film style and aesthetic. You have certainly earned the nickname "The New Kubrick. How did you develop such an original look to your films?
Bargar: Well, I'd say the first thing one needs to look at when regarding to a style, whether literary, musical, or cinematographic is the particular authors, artists, or directors that influenced and fueled them and their passion. I, personally, wanted to capture Sergio Leone's vast epics and the feel of awe at the reach of his films. While keeping that scale, I also wanted the cerebral and somewhat distant feel of Stanley Kubrick's films, so I suppose the nickname fits. Finally, say what you may about his writing and story direction, but I wanted to capture Tarsem Singh's surreal visual style. Overall, I guess you could say that I wanted vast spanning films with slightly surreal visuals and a restricted sense of immersion. I want my viewers to really examine why I make the choices I make in my films.
You recently stated that you will attempt a Horror film next, any expectations of the style to that one?
Bargar: I'm aiming for a The Shining-esque film. The Kubrick film really exemplifies all that I love about the director. It horrifies me, but not in the traditional shock elements of most of the industry. When watched in the right mood, the film creates a sense of impending doom that stresses and frightens the viewer, not unlike the characters in the hotel of the film. Kubrick accomplishes this via his perspective. He heavily foreshadows the attempted axe-murder at the end of the film, so much that even the most blunt viewer realizes the final events of the film, but then he takes his good time building up to it. It creates this "I know something horrible is going to happen, but I don't know when, and it's killing me" feeling amongst the viewer. I want to make something like that.
Finally, Why DiCaprio? He's been out of the business for years, why bring him back now?
Bargar: I see it as a sort of promise to a teacher of mine, back when I was young and impressionable, and that's you're getting out of me.
Well folks, there you have it, and interview with famed director Connor Bargar. Next week we have an interview with internationally recognized "World's Most Hated Person" Chris Gajewski. Until next time!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Seniors Kidnapped Connor!
Many of the stories I had from AP English 11 have now faded due to
time and apathy, but my moment of fame still lives on in my head, the
incident in which the Seniors took me against my will and embarked upon
countless adventures with me as a hostage. Unfortunately, as funny as
some of these stories seemed, I never actually heard them first-hand, as
I missed class that day (due to illness or abduction, you choose). This
instance often comes up when my friends and I discuss the waning days
of our junior years. No matter the focus, it all leads back to "Remember
when the Seniors kidnapped Connor?" and then everyone laughs.
Everyone but me.
I jest, surely. The humorous, fictionalized anecdotes I can still remember do bring a smile to my face, but it all seems like a Truman Show type game where everyone knows about something I do not. As far as I know, everyone in my AP 11 class never invented humorous stories involving my abduction by the elder class. You probably all gathered around in some secret room, probably somewhere hidden in Ms. Serensky's closet, and schemed to make me believe this alternate reality when people talk about me in comical situations. Every one of my classmates decided it would make a good practical joke to pull a fast one on Ol' Connor and make up fake stories about fake stories about him.
I guess I'm just a bit too paranoid about what happens when I'm not in class. I cannot image the mental stresses Anna goes through, I would have gone mad by now in her situation.
Also, if one of you thinks up a clever comment like "Alright guys, who told Connor about the secret?" I wholeheartedly despise your very existence.
Everyone but me.
I jest, surely. The humorous, fictionalized anecdotes I can still remember do bring a smile to my face, but it all seems like a Truman Show type game where everyone knows about something I do not. As far as I know, everyone in my AP 11 class never invented humorous stories involving my abduction by the elder class. You probably all gathered around in some secret room, probably somewhere hidden in Ms. Serensky's closet, and schemed to make me believe this alternate reality when people talk about me in comical situations. Every one of my classmates decided it would make a good practical joke to pull a fast one on Ol' Connor and make up fake stories about fake stories about him.
I guess I'm just a bit too paranoid about what happens when I'm not in class. I cannot image the mental stresses Anna goes through, I would have gone mad by now in her situation.
Also, if one of you thinks up a clever comment like "Alright guys, who told Connor about the secret?" I wholeheartedly despise your very existence.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
It's Better to Help People than Garden Gnomes
At Least Artichokes Have Hearts
I awake with a yarn beard plastered to my face
Making my way to eat, I am confronted with my nemesis-
Lobster Pasta, the most delicious of the crustacean-encompassing Italian foods
We quickly do battle, my beard fighting off the delightful dish's dastardly claws
After some time we both seem bested, the yarn yanked and the dinner devoured
But the food has one last trick. "Two-and-a-half children" it whispers into my ear
I scream as my future frays, my life encircled by white picket fences.
Falling into the abyss I dawn my moniker- "The Darkness that Bears No Children"
I awake at the rustic gates of Valhalla, confused, I ask an old friend why I am here
"It's all in the beard", Wormy replies.
I'd first like to address the very nature of Kelli Wanamakeyoudosomethingcrazy. The nature I speak of? Whimsy. The utter ridiculousness just for the sake of ridiculousness of the poem, and the philosophies Kelli abides by on a day-to-day basis emanates a very jubilant nature. I utilized many allusions to Kelli's personality, such as her pseudonym in, her childhood friend, Wormy, and her complete and utter fear of middle-class suburbia. The food came from her blog from two weeks ago about her brief stint as a Ghostbuster at Abigail's Grill & Wine Bar. Finally, I chose to write my poems with oddly long lines to parody Kelli's multiple uses of "withdrawn" comments during class discussion. The title of both the poem and the blog itself allude to the French film Amelie, in which the titular character acts much in the same way I picture Kelli would act if she lived in France and took on the name of Amelie Poulain.
I awake with a yarn beard plastered to my face
Making my way to eat, I am confronted with my nemesis-
Lobster Pasta, the most delicious of the crustacean-encompassing Italian foods
We quickly do battle, my beard fighting off the delightful dish's dastardly claws
After some time we both seem bested, the yarn yanked and the dinner devoured
But the food has one last trick. "Two-and-a-half children" it whispers into my ear
I scream as my future frays, my life encircled by white picket fences.
Falling into the abyss I dawn my moniker- "The Darkness that Bears No Children"
I awake at the rustic gates of Valhalla, confused, I ask an old friend why I am here
"It's all in the beard", Wormy replies.
I'd first like to address the very nature of Kelli Wanamakeyoudosomethingcrazy. The nature I speak of? Whimsy. The utter ridiculousness just for the sake of ridiculousness of the poem, and the philosophies Kelli abides by on a day-to-day basis emanates a very jubilant nature. I utilized many allusions to Kelli's personality, such as her pseudonym in, her childhood friend, Wormy, and her complete and utter fear of middle-class suburbia. The food came from her blog from two weeks ago about her brief stint as a Ghostbuster at Abigail's Grill & Wine Bar. Finally, I chose to write my poems with oddly long lines to parody Kelli's multiple uses of "withdrawn" comments during class discussion. The title of both the poem and the blog itself allude to the French film Amelie, in which the titular character acts much in the same way I picture Kelli would act if she lived in France and took on the name of Amelie Poulain.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
From the Adventures of Conchobar Greyjoy
What if I just got up and left.
Deserted everything I know.
Completely gone.
I guess everyone has dreamed of leaving everything behind at one point or another. When one's responsibilities crush down upon their world and they look for some sort of escape. It probably ends there for most people, when they realize the complete absurdity of abandoning modern society for a romanticized view of a nomadic lifestyle. However, I am not most people.
I imagine myself leaving in the middle of the night, bags discreetly packed into my car already. I hastily write a note to my parents including all the formalities and 'I love you's, and then just like that I'm gone. At this point I see my fate spiraling into two different paths. The first route leads me to the airport. I walk up to the tired employees, receive an international flight ticket to France and the fly away into the sunset. From there I will join the French Foreign Legion under a pseudonym, Conchobar Greyjoy (because clearly that supersedes any other name that exists) and travel the world in a band of international adventure seekers, misfits, and men looking for a second chance. We'd travel the world, fighting France's battles for them. Clearly I'd make some very close friends that would set me up with job opportunities once I turned civilian after 5 years of fighting. I would proceed to live my life as a successful something-or-another surrounded with grizzled war veterans in France; the perfect life of luxury.
The other possible outcome starts with me making my way to my car when I hear a familiar noise, and turn to find that all my wildest dreams have come true. A dark blue Police Box from 1960s England sits oddly in my lawn. A 900 year old alien steps out of the box, and proceeds to lure me towards him with promises of "fish-fingers and custard" as well as various "cool" clothing accessories. He calls himself "the Doctor" and tells me that I am going to travel with him throughout time and space until I end up either dead, happily married, or in another dimension. Obviously I accept the offer, entering the TARDIS that I can now call home. That's the plan. I'd end up quite happy with my life of adventure, and then, like I never left, I would return to my home. Return the very night I left, only a few months gone by, having thousands of adventures under my belt. I'd unpack my bags and live out the rest of my life in peace, having gotten my fill of excitement.
I really, really just want to travel through all of space and time, with an eccentric ensemble of characters, battling against all the universes horrible creations, in an episodic format, inside a dark blue police box that's bigger on the inside.
Deserted everything I know.
Completely gone.
I guess everyone has dreamed of leaving everything behind at one point or another. When one's responsibilities crush down upon their world and they look for some sort of escape. It probably ends there for most people, when they realize the complete absurdity of abandoning modern society for a romanticized view of a nomadic lifestyle. However, I am not most people.
I imagine myself leaving in the middle of the night, bags discreetly packed into my car already. I hastily write a note to my parents including all the formalities and 'I love you's, and then just like that I'm gone. At this point I see my fate spiraling into two different paths. The first route leads me to the airport. I walk up to the tired employees, receive an international flight ticket to France and the fly away into the sunset. From there I will join the French Foreign Legion under a pseudonym, Conchobar Greyjoy (because clearly that supersedes any other name that exists) and travel the world in a band of international adventure seekers, misfits, and men looking for a second chance. We'd travel the world, fighting France's battles for them. Clearly I'd make some very close friends that would set me up with job opportunities once I turned civilian after 5 years of fighting. I would proceed to live my life as a successful something-or-another surrounded with grizzled war veterans in France; the perfect life of luxury.
The other possible outcome starts with me making my way to my car when I hear a familiar noise, and turn to find that all my wildest dreams have come true. A dark blue Police Box from 1960s England sits oddly in my lawn. A 900 year old alien steps out of the box, and proceeds to lure me towards him with promises of "fish-fingers and custard" as well as various "cool" clothing accessories. He calls himself "the Doctor" and tells me that I am going to travel with him throughout time and space until I end up either dead, happily married, or in another dimension. Obviously I accept the offer, entering the TARDIS that I can now call home. That's the plan. I'd end up quite happy with my life of adventure, and then, like I never left, I would return to my home. Return the very night I left, only a few months gone by, having thousands of adventures under my belt. I'd unpack my bags and live out the rest of my life in peace, having gotten my fill of excitement.
I really, really just want to travel through all of space and time, with an eccentric ensemble of characters, battling against all the universes horrible creations, in an episodic format, inside a dark blue police box that's bigger on the inside.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A Nice Slice of Murder
I often receive stares when I tell them of a certain film that, to no fault, makes me hungry every time I watch it. I am somewhat breaking tradition, as I have already dedicated an entire blog about this film in the past. I could have taken to discussing spaghetti westerns like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and making horrible, horrible puns, instead I chose this.
Every time I watch American Psycho I get very hungry.
I tend to get three reactions from this statement: disgust, confusion, and, very rarely, understanding. Those who have not seen the film tend to jump to the first reaction, basing their reaction of the inferences made from the title- clearly I am revealing that bloodthirsty murder, the subject of the film, gets my appetite going. They have some validity, the film does largely involve bloodthirsty murder (I'll avoid the fact that the movie works to satirize the corporate culture and ultra-conservatism of the 80s), but that aspect does not get my tummy rumbling. Even those who've seen the film tend to drift toward the former two reactions, basing their reactions on the same reasoning of what I just mentioned. The few who understand have noticed a part of the story that never receives much attention from the audience.
The reason I get hungry when I watch American Psycho stems from the fact that about every other scene in the movie takes place in a restaurant or bar. I can count nine scenes off the top of my head, and I'm sure more exist. Heck, one of the three primary motivations for the pivotal and central murder of the entire film stems around a restaurant reservation (the other two motives: a nicer business card and a more successful investor account). The serial killer protagonist, Patrick Bateman, cannot get a reservation at the high class restaurant Dorsia. His rival co-worker, Paul Allen, can so he. He meets Allen at a restaurant, he discusses his disappearence at two other restaurants after that. The title scene even looks like this! (Ignore the spanish, por favor).
I really hope I shed some light on my seemingly sociopathic revelation. I'm sure if you noticed a film or book or T.V. show that's settings primarily consisted of dining establishments you would have a similar reaction, even if the media in question does involve grizzly axe murders.
Every time I watch American Psycho I get very hungry.
I tend to get three reactions from this statement: disgust, confusion, and, very rarely, understanding. Those who have not seen the film tend to jump to the first reaction, basing their reaction of the inferences made from the title- clearly I am revealing that bloodthirsty murder, the subject of the film, gets my appetite going. They have some validity, the film does largely involve bloodthirsty murder (I'll avoid the fact that the movie works to satirize the corporate culture and ultra-conservatism of the 80s), but that aspect does not get my tummy rumbling. Even those who've seen the film tend to drift toward the former two reactions, basing their reactions on the same reasoning of what I just mentioned. The few who understand have noticed a part of the story that never receives much attention from the audience.
The reason I get hungry when I watch American Psycho stems from the fact that about every other scene in the movie takes place in a restaurant or bar. I can count nine scenes off the top of my head, and I'm sure more exist. Heck, one of the three primary motivations for the pivotal and central murder of the entire film stems around a restaurant reservation (the other two motives: a nicer business card and a more successful investor account). The serial killer protagonist, Patrick Bateman, cannot get a reservation at the high class restaurant Dorsia. His rival co-worker, Paul Allen, can so he. He meets Allen at a restaurant, he discusses his disappearence at two other restaurants after that. The title scene even looks like this! (Ignore the spanish, por favor).
I really hope I shed some light on my seemingly sociopathic revelation. I'm sure if you noticed a film or book or T.V. show that's settings primarily consisted of dining establishments you would have a similar reaction, even if the media in question does involve grizzly axe murders.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Here Poor Antoine Tamura: The 400 Blows Inclusion in Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore
Haruki Murakami's 2005 novel Kafka on the Shore utilizes a grand spectrum of allusions to all sorts of things; from art, to music, to historical figures, to films. While Murakami alludes to a few films throughout the course of his book, his multiple references to the French New Wave film The 400 Blows clearly holds the most significance. Murakami says so much in regards to Kafka’s characterization through paralleling his life to The 400 Blows. The first clear parallel and the most obvious one to notice without delving deeper into the film comes from both protagonists’ statuses as runaway children. Kafka claims he first sees the around age eleven, only a year away from the movies protagonist, Antoine Doinel. Kafka describes a scene from the film in the book when Antoine “steals a bottle of milk” that he replicates after viewing the film, demonstrating a clear connection between the two characters (Murakami 420). One gets the sense that Antoine Doinel not only inspires Kafka, but also exists as a parallel existence along the lines of Crow. Finally, the film clearly leaves a distinct mark on Kafka’s world and psyche. The film shows the brutality of the juvenile correctional system for runaways, instilling a fear of police in Kafka. Also, the protagonist ends the film achieving his goal for freedom: seeing the sea. The shot strikingly resembles the painting “Kafka on the Shore”, a twelve year old gazing forward with the beach and sea behind him. Murakami includes the allusion to The 400 Blows in order to push the depths that an allusion can go to, while also emphasizing themes of interconnectivity through parallels between Kafka Tamura and Antoine Doinel.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
My Top Ten Films List (Please act surprised)
Well, this weeks topic seems all too perfect for my little set up I have going here, does it not? When writing out my list prior to writing this piece I noticed something- many of the films I have already discussed also coincide in my top ten list of favorite films (although my top three favorites have yet to get a blog entry of their own). Considering this, I have decided to only include films I have yet to blog about, in order to prevent stagnant discussion. So, here we go, my top ten favorite films I have not yet talked about.
10. This Film is Not Yet Rated. I am starting my countdown with a documentary, a documentary on film making itself, actually. This movie follows Kirby Dick, an Oscar-nominated director as he tries to expose the twelve secret board members of the MPAA with the help of a private investigator. Throughout this journey, Dick also teaches the viewer of the MPAA's biases against sexuality and independence. The film really does make you think about how exactly one sees the films they see, and the censorship that goes on behind closed doors on behalf of the major film studios. In my opinion, this documentary falls under the category of "must-see" more than many other films on this list, just to learn of the great amount of censorship that exists within our film industry. This Film is Not Yet Rated Trailer
9. Reservoir Dogs. Quentin Tarantino's first movie and my first Tarantino movie I ever saw. This film explores Tarantino's signature non sequential plot structure as well as his breaking films into sections. The movie itself is about the before and after of a failed jewelry heist, following many principle characters as they try to find out how to find out which of their six man team is actually an undercover police officer. Reservoir Dogs just screams out Tarantino's style and simply is just a whole lot of fun to watch. The opening scene of Reservoir Dogs
8.Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Look at that title! This film marks Stanley Kubricks venture into comedy, black comedy. Released in 1964, Kubrick's film shows its insane amount of bravery, as the film turns the nature of the Cold War into a very comedic matter (this was released just months after Kennedy's assassination and written just after the Bay of Pigs incident, mind you). Strangelove has the most interesting and unique comedic styles I have ever seen, mixing deadpan, black comedy, and slapstick together into a masterpiece of film making. This scene is my absolute favorite in the film, as actor Peter Sellers completely improvises the entire conversation (this was one of the only times Kubrick ever let anyone improvise, as he was a notorious perfectionist).
7. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father. By talking about this documentary I am breaking one of the primary rules I abide by when recommending this film: do not tell them anything about it. IMDB describes the film as "A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered when his ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son" and that's really the best way to describe it without saying too much. This film has had the greatest emotional impact on me out of any film by a long shot. I am not ashamed to say that have cried for minutes after both times I have viewed it. I recommend it to you all, but advise you to set aside some of your day after watching, you will need it (I'm not including any video for this for obvious reasons).
6. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The first and only foreign language film on the list, this movie is the first of Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance Trilogy", a trilogy of thematically connected films dealing with, obviously, vengeance (I discussed the middle film of this trilogy, Oldboy, in a previous blog, by the way). Korean film really brings out the moral ambiguity of our world, especially in this film as the two protagonists, both deeply flawed seek revenge upon one another for various reasons. I take great joy out of watching this with friends, as they all tend to take different stances on which protagonist deserves to die more than the other. A deeply dark drama, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance really does show the shift towards an international film industry and the extent of what human nature can drive us to. Here's this one's trailer.
5. Children of Men. A dystopian film without any world destroying diseases, bombs, or wars, Children of Men focuses on the future of an earth when humans can suddenly no longer reproduce. The cinematography of this movie completely blows my mind, with expansive long-takes and interesting camera angles. It also explores the word of the ability to hope and forgive (quite relate able to our book). They do not pull any punches on this one and it creates very intense action, emotional drama, and questions the viewers philosophies regarding life, another "must-see", in my opinion. A scene from the film, it does have some minor spoilers (all in one take).
4. Taxi Driver. The film that almost killed President Reagan, Taxi Driver functions as a character study on the elusively sociopathic Travis Bickle, as well as the rotting city that is New York. I first saw this movie around six years ago and can say that it sparked the great passion I have for films today. Scorsese really does put all he has into this film, and one can not help but fall into the dark world he creates within the character's mind. Probably the most famous scene from the film.
3.The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. The essential western film. This Clint Eastwood classic really does, in my opinion, exemplify all of the films in this genre. Lying, stealing, murder, sex, you name it, its here and this movie does it all so well that it really does not need an explanation. Movies like this are American classics and a "must-watch" at some point in every American citizen's life. A fan compilation of the film
2. The Shining. The second and final Kubrickian masterpiece on the list, and my favorite film of my favorite director. When I say this that this movie scared me more than any other I usually get weird stares, as the film rarely tries to scare you in a conventional manner. Kubrick takes the viewer in between a level of immersion and awareness, you become engrossed in the world, yet at the same time are aware the world is fictional. It creates this horrible sense of impending doom that just builds and builds as the film progresses. The Shining does not work as a make-you-scream type of movie, it gets you extremely nervous, you keep repeating "I know something awful is going to happen" but it seemingly never comes. When I first watched it it drove me to the point to where I had to stop the film repeatedly to calm down due to how nervous I was watching it. This scene really shows what I mean, the conversation shifts from simple small talk to "how to murder your wife and child" seamlessly.
1. There Will Be Blood. Finally, my favorite film of all time (this is the one with the famous "I drink your milkshake" scene). I love this movie for its acting (anyone who knows me well enough knows that I have an unhealthy obsession with the lead actor, Daniel Day-Lewis), characters, and message. The film at its most basic level serves a very interesting character study on the "Oil Man" Daniel Plainview. DDL pulls this part off amazingly and rightfully won an Oscar for the performance to just give a brief example. On a deeper lever, There Will Be Blood examines the conflicting relationships between America's love of capitalism and religious family values, as the two leading characters serve as symbols for them, Daniel, the Oil Man, as capitalism, and Eli, the preacher, as religious values. This is absolute "must-see" material in my opinion, so please watch if you have not already. Just a scene from this wonderful film.
Well, that about does it, if I had to pick just three for you to watch (this is for anyone who wants just a general overview) I'd say #10, #5, and #1. Thank you and goodnight, my friends.
10. This Film is Not Yet Rated. I am starting my countdown with a documentary, a documentary on film making itself, actually. This movie follows Kirby Dick, an Oscar-nominated director as he tries to expose the twelve secret board members of the MPAA with the help of a private investigator. Throughout this journey, Dick also teaches the viewer of the MPAA's biases against sexuality and independence. The film really does make you think about how exactly one sees the films they see, and the censorship that goes on behind closed doors on behalf of the major film studios. In my opinion, this documentary falls under the category of "must-see" more than many other films on this list, just to learn of the great amount of censorship that exists within our film industry. This Film is Not Yet Rated Trailer
9. Reservoir Dogs. Quentin Tarantino's first movie and my first Tarantino movie I ever saw. This film explores Tarantino's signature non sequential plot structure as well as his breaking films into sections. The movie itself is about the before and after of a failed jewelry heist, following many principle characters as they try to find out how to find out which of their six man team is actually an undercover police officer. Reservoir Dogs just screams out Tarantino's style and simply is just a whole lot of fun to watch. The opening scene of Reservoir Dogs
8.Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Look at that title! This film marks Stanley Kubricks venture into comedy, black comedy. Released in 1964, Kubrick's film shows its insane amount of bravery, as the film turns the nature of the Cold War into a very comedic matter (this was released just months after Kennedy's assassination and written just after the Bay of Pigs incident, mind you). Strangelove has the most interesting and unique comedic styles I have ever seen, mixing deadpan, black comedy, and slapstick together into a masterpiece of film making. This scene is my absolute favorite in the film, as actor Peter Sellers completely improvises the entire conversation (this was one of the only times Kubrick ever let anyone improvise, as he was a notorious perfectionist).
7. Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About his Father. By talking about this documentary I am breaking one of the primary rules I abide by when recommending this film: do not tell them anything about it. IMDB describes the film as "A filmmaker decides to memorialize a murdered when his ex-girlfriend announces she is expecting his son" and that's really the best way to describe it without saying too much. This film has had the greatest emotional impact on me out of any film by a long shot. I am not ashamed to say that have cried for minutes after both times I have viewed it. I recommend it to you all, but advise you to set aside some of your day after watching, you will need it (I'm not including any video for this for obvious reasons).
6. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. The first and only foreign language film on the list, this movie is the first of Park Chan-Wook's "Vengeance Trilogy", a trilogy of thematically connected films dealing with, obviously, vengeance (I discussed the middle film of this trilogy, Oldboy, in a previous blog, by the way). Korean film really brings out the moral ambiguity of our world, especially in this film as the two protagonists, both deeply flawed seek revenge upon one another for various reasons. I take great joy out of watching this with friends, as they all tend to take different stances on which protagonist deserves to die more than the other. A deeply dark drama, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance really does show the shift towards an international film industry and the extent of what human nature can drive us to. Here's this one's trailer.
5. Children of Men. A dystopian film without any world destroying diseases, bombs, or wars, Children of Men focuses on the future of an earth when humans can suddenly no longer reproduce. The cinematography of this movie completely blows my mind, with expansive long-takes and interesting camera angles. It also explores the word of the ability to hope and forgive (quite relate able to our book). They do not pull any punches on this one and it creates very intense action, emotional drama, and questions the viewers philosophies regarding life, another "must-see", in my opinion. A scene from the film, it does have some minor spoilers (all in one take).
4. Taxi Driver. The film that almost killed President Reagan, Taxi Driver functions as a character study on the elusively sociopathic Travis Bickle, as well as the rotting city that is New York. I first saw this movie around six years ago and can say that it sparked the great passion I have for films today. Scorsese really does put all he has into this film, and one can not help but fall into the dark world he creates within the character's mind. Probably the most famous scene from the film.
3.The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. The essential western film. This Clint Eastwood classic really does, in my opinion, exemplify all of the films in this genre. Lying, stealing, murder, sex, you name it, its here and this movie does it all so well that it really does not need an explanation. Movies like this are American classics and a "must-watch" at some point in every American citizen's life. A fan compilation of the film
2. The Shining. The second and final Kubrickian masterpiece on the list, and my favorite film of my favorite director. When I say this that this movie scared me more than any other I usually get weird stares, as the film rarely tries to scare you in a conventional manner. Kubrick takes the viewer in between a level of immersion and awareness, you become engrossed in the world, yet at the same time are aware the world is fictional. It creates this horrible sense of impending doom that just builds and builds as the film progresses. The Shining does not work as a make-you-scream type of movie, it gets you extremely nervous, you keep repeating "I know something awful is going to happen" but it seemingly never comes. When I first watched it it drove me to the point to where I had to stop the film repeatedly to calm down due to how nervous I was watching it. This scene really shows what I mean, the conversation shifts from simple small talk to "how to murder your wife and child" seamlessly.
1. There Will Be Blood. Finally, my favorite film of all time (this is the one with the famous "I drink your milkshake" scene). I love this movie for its acting (anyone who knows me well enough knows that I have an unhealthy obsession with the lead actor, Daniel Day-Lewis), characters, and message. The film at its most basic level serves a very interesting character study on the "Oil Man" Daniel Plainview. DDL pulls this part off amazingly and rightfully won an Oscar for the performance to just give a brief example. On a deeper lever, There Will Be Blood examines the conflicting relationships between America's love of capitalism and religious family values, as the two leading characters serve as symbols for them, Daniel, the Oil Man, as capitalism, and Eli, the preacher, as religious values. This is absolute "must-see" material in my opinion, so please watch if you have not already. Just a scene from this wonderful film.
Well, that about does it, if I had to pick just three for you to watch (this is for anyone who wants just a general overview) I'd say #10, #5, and #1. Thank you and goodnight, my friends.
Friday, February 17, 2012
"Because She's got a Beard"
I remember when I used to take offense to things. Believe it or not, I used to come off as quite the activist, vocalizing my opinions whenever I felt necessary(usually unnecessarily). When my mind drifts towards the phrase "I remember" I find myself making my way to the topic on subjective memory. It really does fascinate me that when a group of people experience the same event they can take so many different perspectives, opinions, and actions out of it. My writing partner, Dani, and I have brought up this topic occasionally when journaling; we both tend to focus on entirely different premises in our journals, despite having the same originating quote, source, etc. Both of us can take the same basic concept and turn it into something completely different.
I can only imagine your anticipation for the film I will chose this week (in case you've never visited my blog before, or heard of the theme I have going, I talk about movies). The most obvious choice is Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, a film that practically invented the "That's not how I remember it!" trope. The film plays out as a crime mystery, in which four different people, a bandit, a housewife, a samurai, and a woodcutter, tell their sides to the murder-mystery.
However, I will not talk about Rashomon, despite it fitting quite nicely, as both it and Kafka on the Shore both hail from Japan. No, I will be traveling to the UK to talk about one of my favorite comedies, Four Lions. Now, I tend to refrain from recommending comedy movies to others due to the very subjective nature of the genre, just like memory (did you catch that smooth connection?). Four Lions is no exception to this rule; I actually restrain myself more for this film just because of its comedic style. Four Lions is both a British Comedy and a Black Comedy (Black Comedy as in gallows humor, not the Madea series), so obviously it comes of as quite dry. Once again, not for everybody. Remember at the beginning when I talked about how I used to get offended? Can you guess the reasoning for that point? Here's why (an exert of the Netflix description of the film): "[an] outrageous comedy about a group of young Islamic Brits who fancy themselves bloodthirsty jihadis of the first order".
The movie focuses on a group of four Islamic terrorists as they look for a target to suicide bomb. It's basically the Three Stooges, but if they were terrorists.
Four Lions' comedy may come off as offensive to some, unfunny to others, and hilarious to many, but the point I'm trying to make here is that all of these opinions are correct. People's opinions differ, taste is subjective. I may find this film hilarious, I'm sure that others find it repulsive. It does not matter how we react to it though, as long as we do not shove one opinion onto others, claiming its objectivity. While I am recommending this film to those who still have interest after learning more about it (on Netflix instant watch), if you would rather pass it up I will not condemn you, just do not go spouting your opinions off on everyone else who did not conform to you.
A link to the trailer
I can only imagine your anticipation for the film I will chose this week (in case you've never visited my blog before, or heard of the theme I have going, I talk about movies). The most obvious choice is Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, a film that practically invented the "That's not how I remember it!" trope. The film plays out as a crime mystery, in which four different people, a bandit, a housewife, a samurai, and a woodcutter, tell their sides to the murder-mystery.
However, I will not talk about Rashomon, despite it fitting quite nicely, as both it and Kafka on the Shore both hail from Japan. No, I will be traveling to the UK to talk about one of my favorite comedies, Four Lions. Now, I tend to refrain from recommending comedy movies to others due to the very subjective nature of the genre, just like memory (did you catch that smooth connection?). Four Lions is no exception to this rule; I actually restrain myself more for this film just because of its comedic style. Four Lions is both a British Comedy and a Black Comedy (Black Comedy as in gallows humor, not the Madea series), so obviously it comes of as quite dry. Once again, not for everybody. Remember at the beginning when I talked about how I used to get offended? Can you guess the reasoning for that point? Here's why (an exert of the Netflix description of the film): "[an] outrageous comedy about a group of young Islamic Brits who fancy themselves bloodthirsty jihadis of the first order".
The movie focuses on a group of four Islamic terrorists as they look for a target to suicide bomb. It's basically the Three Stooges, but if they were terrorists.
Four Lions' comedy may come off as offensive to some, unfunny to others, and hilarious to many, but the point I'm trying to make here is that all of these opinions are correct. People's opinions differ, taste is subjective. I may find this film hilarious, I'm sure that others find it repulsive. It does not matter how we react to it though, as long as we do not shove one opinion onto others, claiming its objectivity. While I am recommending this film to those who still have interest after learning more about it (on Netflix instant watch), if you would rather pass it up I will not condemn you, just do not go spouting your opinions off on everyone else who did not conform to you.
A link to the trailer
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
What's It Going To Be Then, Eh?
Ittying along with “International Week” I’d thought I would govereet a malanky bit about the odd pieces of culture in my vocabulary. Oh my brothers, if you have trouble ponying what I govereet now, then I hope you can last through my bolnoy display of verbal brilliance. The language, of course, is not actually a language, but a slang eemyad “Nadsat”. It comes from a real horrorshow book, and later a Stanley Kubrick sinny, A Clockwork Orange. The author, Anthony Burgess, thought any slang would drift from the height-of-literary-fashion and thought up a doby new one, a mix of cockney(“Appy Polly Loggies” for apologies), Russian (“Droog” for friend) and Gypsy-speak (“Oh my brothers”, for example). This combination privodeeted him into one of the most iconic slangs ever created, right along with Newspeak from 1984. Anyways, after viddying/reading A Clockwork Orange too many times t, I noticed that a choodesney thing had started to happen to my speech, it started changing. The most used slovos of Nadsat crept into your humble narrator’s rasoodock and stayed there.
I started unknowingly peppering my speech with slovos like “horrorshow”, “viddy”, and “droog” and only until some lewdies brought it to my attention did I actively slooshy and govoreet in Nadsat. I continued to add slovos to my vocabulary until I reached a precipice where my droogs pulled me aside and told me I spoke so much it sounded like chepooka (nonsense, that is). I do admit, I sounded a bit gloopy, and was even unintelligible at times when I govoreeted with a full vocabulary, so I toned it down a malanky bit, only govoreeting at polezny times, when I wanted to show off to my droogs who had not had the pleasure of slooshying it for the first time.
Eventually, like all dialects that you cannot share with others, my Nadsat skills dropped really skarry-like. I smeck at the fact now, but before I got quite upset. I still ended up retaining some of my vocabulary though. I still hold on to droog and horrorshow, though many do not comment on it anymore, it moved from a weird slang I would govoreet in to a small section of my vocabulary, made up of thousands of other slovos. I just needed to find a balance between the overboard, "Oh my word, can anyone understand him?", and nothing at all.
The main thing I want to skazat you, O my brothers and only friends, is that a dark sinny does not have to give off dark messages. Sure, A Clockwork Orange focuses on thugs, ultra-violence, and the oobivating (killing, that is), but I discovered a whole new way of govoreeting. No sinny can be truly baddiwad. A Clockwork Orange contains some of the most Bugatty literary material and social commentary out there, why condemn it to its current infamous existence? The protagonist may act like an oozhasny moodge, but Burgess never wanted people to try and emulate him. He focused on the language, on Nadsat, and created something beautiful.
I went out and learned Nadsat, I'm not skazating you all to go out and do the same me, your humble narrator; replicating my actions would actually work against the messel I made up in my rasoodock for you, O my brothers. Find something new, something strange, something interesting. All I want you, O my brothers, to do lies right in front of you; take something from your sinnys, your books, your warbles, and make it your own. Change yourself, add some flair, have fun. Farewell my little droogies, until we meet again.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
I Love You, No Wait, I Don't.. Or Do I?
To start off, I will first explain that I will have to take a little different approach to the "stanza" rule to make my analysis work for my chosen song. The song I have chosen, "Possum Kingdom" by the Toadies, does not evoke the desired effect through just one stanza, but relies on the combined effect of the completed whole to achieve its message. The song, the Toadies' one-hit-wonder from 1994, plays out like a typical alternate rock(in this case Post-Grunge) love song: a rough-around-the-edges guy meets a nice girl and wants to her to give him a chance to express his love. The speaker asks his crush to "Make up your mind/Decide to walk with me/Around the lake tonight.../By my side" serving as a synecdoche for the social tension between the two characters. The speaker also indirectly characterizes himself as gritty, stating that Behind the boathouse/ I will show you my dark secret". Our protagonist does display quite a soft side though, after the girl decides to take the walk with him, telling the girl he wants her to "be my lover" and his "blushing bride". The gritty man also flatters his potential lover, employing direct characterization when he claims she will "Stay as beautiful.../Forever". He continues to act like a typical love-struck young man, complimenting the girl and furthering continuing her characterization of eternal beauty, asking her to "Do you wanna/ be my angel?". Now's the part that makes me love this song: the last verse. The final verse consists of just one lyric, repeated eight times: "Do you wanna die?". Now the realization sets in; those compliments of eternal beauty and her acting as his "angel" are not sweet comparisons, he literally means what he says. Bodies do not age, by killing the girl, she becomes an angel, and our speaker's dark secret: he's a murderer.
The speed that this song switches tones makes me love it enough to analyze it, I really love anything that can make such a radical and quick switch and retain its audience. Once again, I will return to The Fall as my focal film of the week, as I did not talk about it at all in my first semester farewell. The story within a story structure and tone of this film lends itself to just this sort of thing, especially do to the fact that it is told and partially controlled by a six year old with poor English skills. For example, towards the beginning of the film, the narrator, Roy, changes the protagonist of his story, The Masked Bandit's, voice and physical appearance more than once, all within 2 minutes. Aspects of Roy's story change on a dime in order to please the little girl into doing things for him. These story elements greatly help to further the effects of the tone and characterizations of the two primary characters in the movie: Roy and Alexandria. This quick changing technique, used both by The Fall and "Possum Kingdom" works very effectively to enhance the meaning and effects of both film and song, respectively.
Two links this time: This one to the scene from The Fall, and This to "Possum Kingdom" by the Todies.
The speed that this song switches tones makes me love it enough to analyze it, I really love anything that can make such a radical and quick switch and retain its audience. Once again, I will return to The Fall as my focal film of the week, as I did not talk about it at all in my first semester farewell. The story within a story structure and tone of this film lends itself to just this sort of thing, especially do to the fact that it is told and partially controlled by a six year old with poor English skills. For example, towards the beginning of the film, the narrator, Roy, changes the protagonist of his story, The Masked Bandit's, voice and physical appearance more than once, all within 2 minutes. Aspects of Roy's story change on a dime in order to please the little girl into doing things for him. These story elements greatly help to further the effects of the tone and characterizations of the two primary characters in the movie: Roy and Alexandria. This quick changing technique, used both by The Fall and "Possum Kingdom" works very effectively to enhance the meaning and effects of both film and song, respectively.
Two links this time: This one to the scene from The Fall, and This to "Possum Kingdom" by the Todies.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
How's Life in a Bigger Prison?
Hello friends, it feels nice to get back to blogging, so let us waste no time and get right into the thick of things. The hour I spent phone-less passed with relative ease; no severe panic attacks or massive hemorrhaging and so forth. One thing I did notice about the phone free challenge was that I stressed more over the simple ability not to use my phone rather than my self-induced social isolation. The inability to do something weighs out as more distressing than actually not performing the action for me. This got me to thinking about how the priorities, if switched, would play out. I figured an hour would not suffice, so I increased my theoretical isolation to days, then weeks, and so on. I eventually drifted into years upon years of social isolation, a prison like removal of all social interaction.
At first I had a lot of trouble trying to find a film to connect this to and still have enough to talk about; I didn't want to make some simple connection to a film and say "Oh yeah, Super has a guy who's totally socially isolated and has no friends, also he's played by Dwight from the Office". I had waited for a time to talk about Korean Cinema, and now the time has come, and there is one quintessential film that I must talk about: Oldboy. The premise to the film is that Oh Dae-Su, a new father and a bit of a drunk, gets imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years for no known reason to him, his captors then release him and give him a total of 5 days to discover who locked him up and for what purpose. While the actual screen-time of the imprisonment only lasts around 20 minutes, the experience obviously influences every part of Oh Dae-Su's existence. For example, the saying "Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone" is etched on his hotel room wall, Dae-Su takes this saying to heart, forcing himself to smile during situations of stress and anguish. His isolation also had more than mental effects on the protagonist. The Korean language went through a massive change through the 80s and 90s, dividing into two sects a written, very formal version, and a simple speaking version derived from the former. Oh Dae-Su misses all of this change, however, and speaks in a tongue akin Elizabethan English for Americans. This independent development displayed by the protagonist of Oldboy leads me to my point: the South Korean film industry has grown independent of Hollywood for decades, and they now produce some of the most diverse, intelligent, and amazing films today. Sometimes removal from the mainstream turns into something wonderful, in this case, while still paralleling the mainstream in terms of content. Korean westerns exist, Korean dramas are the best today, Korean horror alienates and disturbs unlike most modern American films of the same genre, and I think you can see where I am going with this. The funny thing about this blog entry is that Oldboy happens to be the film that put this country on the map as a major film producer.
Anyways, I'm making a small amendment to my general structure, so here's a trailer of the film Oldboy
At first I had a lot of trouble trying to find a film to connect this to and still have enough to talk about; I didn't want to make some simple connection to a film and say "Oh yeah, Super has a guy who's totally socially isolated and has no friends, also he's played by Dwight from the Office". I had waited for a time to talk about Korean Cinema, and now the time has come, and there is one quintessential film that I must talk about: Oldboy. The premise to the film is that Oh Dae-Su, a new father and a bit of a drunk, gets imprisoned in a hotel room for 15 years for no known reason to him, his captors then release him and give him a total of 5 days to discover who locked him up and for what purpose. While the actual screen-time of the imprisonment only lasts around 20 minutes, the experience obviously influences every part of Oh Dae-Su's existence. For example, the saying "Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone" is etched on his hotel room wall, Dae-Su takes this saying to heart, forcing himself to smile during situations of stress and anguish. His isolation also had more than mental effects on the protagonist. The Korean language went through a massive change through the 80s and 90s, dividing into two sects a written, very formal version, and a simple speaking version derived from the former. Oh Dae-Su misses all of this change, however, and speaks in a tongue akin Elizabethan English for Americans. This independent development displayed by the protagonist of Oldboy leads me to my point: the South Korean film industry has grown independent of Hollywood for decades, and they now produce some of the most diverse, intelligent, and amazing films today. Sometimes removal from the mainstream turns into something wonderful, in this case, while still paralleling the mainstream in terms of content. Korean westerns exist, Korean dramas are the best today, Korean horror alienates and disturbs unlike most modern American films of the same genre, and I think you can see where I am going with this. The funny thing about this blog entry is that Oldboy happens to be the film that put this country on the map as a major film producer.
Anyways, I'm making a small amendment to my general structure, so here's a trailer of the film Oldboy
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Attack the Blog
Throughout the entire blogging process I have learned so much about my fellow classmates; how they write, their interests and internal personalities, and so on. The most fascinating thing about this entire experience came from reading other students' blogs and gaining insight into the characteristics of their inner monologues. Anyways, writing these blogs have also improved myself when it comes to my writing style and creative drive. I have not written with such few rules for years, the last memorable time coming from Mr. Stuart's Creative Writing course that I took as a sophomore. The freedom of these blogs has really given us, in my opinion, a great insight into human nature and our day-to-day lives. Every week that I noticed multiple reoccurring themes of some kind throughout the entire AP English blogging community it served as a reminder to me that we do share a lot of similarities, despite pressing thoughts of nonconformity and feelings of separateness. We really have grown into a sort of family and I really do appreciate that sense of community that we have together. Blogging has also allowed me to drone on about film without any kind of social norms prohibiting me. Where else can I talk and analyze books, films, and my personal experiences weekly and not receive chastising criticism? If any of my reader could not tell, I really do love the art form, and blogging has served as a very fun outlet for my love for said art form. I am just realizing this now, but it seems as if I also pulled a book ending out for my movie-related blogs; I happened to begin them with discussions of murder and the mental decline of Ignatius J. Reilly, and ended with discussing a mentally disturbed serial killer, Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, in relation to book-to-film adaptations. Of course, this end also comes with a bit of a disappointment; I still have many films I want to discuss, but alas, we have to move on to other things. The ultimate film I leave my audience with is "The Fall", the most aesthetically beautiful film I have ever seen, all done with absolutely minimal special effects (only done to accomplish the impossible, all of the sets exist).
So, to do the film justice, here's the trailer in 720p:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saeavj0b37Y
"So, enough with words, actions speak louder than. Action now. Observe all"
So, to do the film justice, here's the trailer in 720p:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saeavj0b37Y
"So, enough with words, actions speak louder than. Action now. Observe all"
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