Blockbuster had the option to BUY Netflix, but chose not to. From what I’ve heard, its because a large percentage of their revenue came from late fees, and Netflix didn’t have any.
Interesting.
Fantastic Fungi : A Movie Trailer
Stanford Prison Experiment : Official Trailer
GOT : Season 8 Preview
Yeah. I’m pretty stoked. But also radically worried.
Since moving beyond the books in season 6, there has been a subtle yet decisive change in the story. Namely, we finally get what we want.
Lord Boltin, the son, gets an all-so-deserving death, Lord Snow gets the girl, and somehow in the midst of being overrun by thousands of The Dead, none of our favorite characters are killed. The bad guys seem a bit more reachable, the good guys a bit more invincible. Just like the movies we’re used to, which is both satisfying and frustrating.
One of GOT strengths is its unpredictability. Good guys don’t always win. Bad guys don’t always loose. But without the mind of George RR Martin to screw with us, the storyline is becoming a bit more predictable and possibly very, very cheesy.
Two Dragons will be ridden by two Targaryens (Snow and Khaleesi) for one is pretty cheesy, but so too is Greyworm’s goodbye kiss to Missandei from the island of Naath. Jami will “fight for the living”, meaning the North, and will probably be confronted with his sister near the end of the season with possibly the weight of the entire world resting on his shoulders while Jon Snow faces off against the Night King (aka, his brother, Bran). All of which is great fun, but also a bit disappointing. Because it is far from the days of Lord Eddard Stark being beheaded at the whim of a mad king.
But I could be wrong. Either way . . . to the king of the North! . . . and the queen of the South, I suppose. She’s pretty badass.
"Welcome to Marwen" Official Trailer
I’m in.
This could easily be one of the bigger busts of the year, but with Steve Carell and “Academy Award® winner Robert Zemeckis—the groundbreaking filmmaker behind Forrest Gump, Flight and Cast Away" (via), I’m betting not.
How we heal follows no outline or script. It’s unique, just like the pain that caused it, and any film that tries to focus on the healing and forgiveness of that pain rather than the destruction and revenge is worth spending time and money on. If nothing else than to serve as a simple reminder.
So like I said, I’m in.
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Peter Jackson's remake of WWI brings back humanity
I’m pretty stoked about this:
Many documentaries on the war are informative but, frankly, quite dull. In striving for objectivity, they lose sight of humanity. Rather than adopt the voice of god and newsreel look that characterizes the usual fare, Jackson has taken an active role in shaping the narrative for us with cutting-edge blockbuster cinematic techniques. He gives us characters to care about in showing the horror of trench warfare, the confusion and camaraderie of war. Though he uses original footage, it is digitally enhanced and colorized, screened in 3D, with recordings of remembrances from the soldiers themselves dramatically overlaid to create the sense that the figures we see onscreen are speaking to us (via).
"To memorialize these soldiers a hundred years later," he says, "is to try to bring some of their humanity back into the world again, to stop them being a black and white cliché.” In creating this moving memorial, Jackson goes far beyond the mandate of an educational film. He has used all the techniques at his disposal to make good on the promise in Robert Laurence Binyon’s 1914 poem “For the Fallen,” from which the documentary takes its title
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
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Life Itself : Official Trailer
Kidding, starring Jim Carrey
In his first series regular role in over two decades, Jim Carrey stars as Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles, an icon of children’s television, a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds, who also anchors a multimillion-dollar branding empire. But when Jeff’s family begins to implode, he finds no fairy tale or fable or puppet will guide him through the crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: a kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking (via).
Kidding reunites Jim Carrey with Michel Gondry who also directed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - one of my longtime favorites - and is set to premiere on September 9, 2018 on Showtime.
It is also airing, probably somewhat purposefully, a few months after the movie, WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? is released. And I can't wait to watch them both.
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-N- Stuff : Movies : Jim Carrey
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John Williams conducting the opening fanfare for The Last Jedi
Here's John Williams, conducting one of the most iconic musical pieces in movie making history - the opening fanfare for Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Yet, when it's all over, no one seems to notice.
Williams flips the pages and several people cough. One guy scratches his neck and nose, unaware of what just happened. That with just a few cords, goosebumps raised on the arms of children everywhere, that nostalgic memories were instantly recalled and created, and that millions of people, all over the world, were suddenly transported to a galaxy far, far away.
And that's pretty awesome.
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-N- Stuff : Fanfare for the Common Man : Music : Star Wars
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Thank you for your service
I'm not a hero. We're brothers; we look after each other.
But I disagree. You are. And thank you for your service:
Bryan Beard
Jarod Cappon
Brian Wright
and the many, many others.
Thank you.
Phantom Thread and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
Phantom Thread is Daniel Day-Lewis’s final film before retirement, and I can't quiet figure out how I feel about it. Both him retiring, and the film.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, and is the second collaboration between Day-Lewis and Anderson, following 2008’s oil-boom drama There Will Be Blood. As with that film, the music for Phantom Thread has been composed by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.
The simple answer to this movie is, "Yes," even if it looks a bit depressing. Because he's retiring, and because of the film.
This fascinating new documentary from American Movie director Chris Smith does several things at once: it is a portrait of two of the most inspired and original comic performers of the last half-century; an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at an actor's total immersion into an exceedingly challenging role; and a personal, heartfelt homage from one genius mischief-maker to another. Get ready to laugh. And squirm (via).
And I can't wait.
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Movies Inspired by Art
Vugar Efendi has put together "three chapters" that explore the relationship between films that have been inspired by famous paintings.
Some of them are spot on perfect, others are beautiful adaptations, but all show a deep and strong respect for the craft, the artist, and the long held understanding that good artists borrow, but great artists steal.
"An aspiring filmmaker with immense love for film, music and art in general," Vugar Efendi has been acknowledged by the likes of: Entertainment Weekly, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Elle, BBC, Canal +, and Indiewire.
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-N- Stuff : Creativity : Inspiring Art
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Three movies worth watching
I posted a bit ago about a few movies I was looking forward to watching and perhaps brewing coffee for. One of them was The Big Sick, and tonight, Josey and I finally got a chance to sit and watch it. We loved it.
Over the past few years, the role of conflict within literature has been a major focal point in my teaching. More recently, however, it's truths and lessons have jumped from the pages and fled from the classroom, attaching itself to my everyday life and opening my eyes to its simple truth: the purpose of conflict is to reveal truth. For the individual, and for the community.
The best of stories us conflict to reveal something about ourselves.
"Love isn't easy. That's why they call it love"
This movie is brilliant.
I'm terrified to see this movie. The book was so crazy good that, one of the best I've ever read, because the conflict of good and right and innocence and "best for he child" is just so poetic and raw that I found my stomach literally in knots. I think I even threw the book a couple times, I was so angry and sad and frustrated and unable to hold such beautiful and difficult pages. If this movie botches it even slightly, it will ruin the everything. Especially my breakfast.
In a world of "Tiny Homes" and #vanlife, a movie that takes downsizing to the greatest extreme seems brilliant - especially since it will probably (and hopefully) deal with much more than the idea of simply living smaller, because, "sometimes you think you're living in the real world, and then something happens, and you realize, you're not."
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Awaken : A Celebration of the Spirit of Life
"AWAKEN is a feature documentary film from director Tom Lowe exploring humanity's relationship with technology and the natural world. AWAKEN is a celebration of the spirit of life, an exploration of the Earth, and an ode to the Cosmos."
Shot over a 5-year period in more than 30 countries, the film pioneers new time-lapse, time-dilation, underwater, and aerial cinematography techniques to give audiences new eyes with which to see our world. Executive produced by Terrence Malick (Voyage of Time) and Godfrey Reggio (Koyaanisqatsi, etc.).
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-N- Stuff : Short Films : Movies
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Paterson : A favorite of the year
I watched this on the flight back to the US and frigging LOVED it. The slow pace, the dichotomous characters, and the simplistic message of life and love. The beauty of small town living.
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-N- Stuff : Movies : Some (possible) great new movies
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Some movies to consider and perhaps brew coffee for
I'm not really a movie person. In general, they tend to be too long and I'm too tired because we won't start watching till after the kids go to bed, which means play won't even be pressed till around 8/8:30 and, well, with a bedtime around 9:30, it's a struggle.
Also, after watching a trailer and thinking, "Yes, that looks GREAT!" I forget about them and end up never watching them, or watching them too late. After everyone else has moved on.
I think I'm older than I think I am.
Anyway. Here are a few movies I'm either intrigued enough to stay up the extra hour or so for to give it a good hardy try, or I'm going to brew another pot of coffee for because, damn, it looks good and I have to watch it.
Make Coffee: This is either going to be a knock-down, heart wrenching, artistically brilliant, beauty of a movie, or the complete opposite of that. And I'll be ticked because I'll have wasted good coffee. And I love my coffee.
Intrigued: This seems a bit darker than I normally like, but I'm a sucker for anything portraying brothers as bothers should be - loyal. And this one could be one of those.
Make Coffee: When Owen Wilson plays characters that aren't Owen Wilson, often, they're pretty good. Throw in Julia Roberts and a kid being bullied for being different but overcoming and changing the school and surrounding community . . . coffee please. And some Kleenex.
Intrigued, with coffee on hold: Not because I don't think it will be a fully entertaining movie, in the shallowest sense of the world, but because racial movies make me nervous. Movies that attempt to tackle racial tension, especially when they bring light to a difficult and misunderstood moment in history, are golden. But movies that don't can be horrifically damaging. So, I'm nervous. But also intrigued.
Intrigued: Like movies that portray brothers as brothers should be, I'm also a sucker for any movie where old people figure out life, reconcile with family, and head into their final days with their heart at peace. This could be one of those. Or it could be super cheesy and drastically unrealistic. It might be best to watch this one on a Sunday afternoon so I can end the weekend well, either with a feel-good movie, or a great nap.
Make Two Pots of Coffee: Out of them all, this one seems to be the most sure-fire. To the point that I might not even need coffee for the movie, but for the hour or so afterwards where I'll want to sit and talk or think or write about how powerful and funny and beautiful it was. And then I'll watch it again with friends. And then again with family over Christmas or Thanksgiving. And then again, several years from now when I can quote it and laugh at it and cry with it, even before the scenes and lines come. I'm pretty stoked about this one.
If you have any suggestions, write them in the comments. I'd love to hear it!
I look forward to talking about them, over coffee, preferably before 8:30pm.
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-N- Stuff : Movies : Movie Clips
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Lord of the Rings : A Philosophy Lesson
This scene has been in my mind lately, because I resonate with it.
But it's the next line, the, "I need a holiday. A very long holiday. And I don't expect I shall return" that I struggle with. In the scene that follows, he puts on the Ring and walks off and gives up.
Later, when Frodo considers a sort of giving up, he's rebuked.
"I wish none of this had happened."
So who all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that was given to us."
When we're stretched and tired and exhausted, we have a decision: give up, or keep walking, fighting, and trying.
It may seem impossible, or we might be lost and alone, but "there are other forces in this world, besides the forces of evil. . ." Forces that want to help, encourage, and support.
Forces that want to improve and build, not destroy.
"And that is an encouraging thought."
This "thesis statement," that all we have to decide is what to do with the time given us, coupled with the encouragement that there are other forces besides evil, is then supported throughout the story.
With Aragorn:
After he realizes he can no longer help Frodo, Aragorn makes the decision to rescue Sam and Pippen from the orcs. Because the fight is not yet over, and it's the right thing to do.
With Haldir:
History and past wrong doings don't influence Haldir's decision, because what was is not for him to decide. All he has is the time given to him, and the decision to make. To honor an aligence.
With Theoden:
Gondor calls for aid, the same Gondor that has abandoned and seemingly ignored Rohan when they were in need. The same Gondor that incited Teoden to earlier spit, "Where was Gondor when the westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Go-."
But when Gondor calls for aid, when the beacons are lit, Theoden and Rohan answers the call.
With Sam:
This is why Sam is the hero of this journey - because his hope, his resolve, and his courage is what carries Frodo to the end. Even when Frodo abandons him, when he gives up and feels thin, like butter spread over to much bread, Sam carries him. With all that he has, and with whatever he has left, he decides to use it all, to give it all, because he is the other force besides evil.
And that is an encouraging thought.
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-N- Stuff : On Living : Humanity : Movie Clips
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Two great clips that celebrate May 4th
Music can make a movie. Sometimes great soundtracks can live on without the script or the people, but the people can never live on without the music. When it's taken away, when the power and fullness of the music is absent, the movie becomes ridiculously awkward, and boring. The ambiance lost. Like this:
Chewbacca's screams are hilarious though, and I love the coughing in the background. I wonder if the filming was similar to this. If so, respect!
The script is important though. If the dialogue is weak, or the monologues empty and fake, the movie will fall, and fall hard.
Except if it is so terrible, it becomes pure genius.
Star Wars, translated into Chinese, then poorly translated back into English is toes the line. "Most likely, the broken English is the result of being machine translated from the Chinese script. Curiously, the subtitles were translated from a Chinese translation when the original English script could have been used" (via). Not quite genius, but still, fully entertaining (CAUTION: F-word is used).
"Send these troopseses only." Brilliant.
"Put the Gold of the D of two together very dangerous." Shakespearian.
You can see more Backstroke of the West Highlights here.
Happy Star Wars day!!! May the wish power are together with you!
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Charlie Chaplin delivers the greatest speech
I’ve seen this speech several times and have used it often in class. Because it’s brilliant. I love how simple it is. No gimmicks. No pictures. Just words, powerful words. Words bursting with truth, and words that should convict us all.
The film is based on a barber who, wounded during the First World War, returns home after 20 years. “His shop has grown full of cobwebs and dust, but it is the hateful graffiti on his shop window that takes him totally by surprise. Hynkel, the tyrannical dictator, and his henchmen persecute the barber, as well as the rest of the Jewish community” (via).
"The Great Dictator is a 1940 American political satire comedy-drama film written, directed, produced, scored by and starring Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood film-maker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was Chaplin's first true sound film."
The Great Dictator was Chaplin's most commercially successful film. Modern critics have also praised it as a historically significant film and an important work of satire. The Great Dictator was nominated for five Academy Awards - Outstanding Production, Best Actor, Best Writing (Original Screenplay), Best Supporting Actor for Jack Oakie, and Best Music (Original Score) (via).
© Roy Export S.A.S. All Rights Reserved.
"Getting Charlie to speak also meant putting to death this character that had made his creator famous and taking the risk of exposing himself without a mask. Does the declamatory speech at the end of The Great Dictator betray Chaplin’s inability to sustain the aesthetic and comic register all the way through to the end of the film? Chaplin was well aware of these issues, which is why he wrote the words “First picture in which the story is bigger than the Little Tramp." (via).
In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he could not have made the film if he had known about the true extent of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at the time (via).
Here's the speech:
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost….
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. …..
Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!
Final speech from The Great Dictator Copyright © Roy Export S.A.S. All rights reserved
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Merchant of Venice : Do we not bleed?
He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
Not only does Al Pacino knock the shit out of this scene, in all its rawness, it is a transferable truth that crosses all lines of every kind.
Ironically, Mel Gibson reenacted this scene in "Man Without a Face." The tone is radically different, but the message stays the same.