Nicolas Deveaux, “5.80 Metres”

Nicolas Deveaux, “5.80 Metres”; Directed by Nicolas Deveaux: Music by Olivier Milton, Released in Paris 2012

As a writer and director of animation films (3D and relief), Nicolas Deveaux has a very personal world around two passions : image and the animal world. In 2003, fresh out of his degree in computer graphics, he directed “7Tonnes2″, a short-film showing a realistic elephant trampoline champion. Its critical acclaim (Annecy Festival) gave him the opportunity to work on mny projects from documentaries to commercials and even amusement park films .

If you missed seeing “7 tonnes2″, that film by Deveaux is also posted on this blog. Check it out.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Alex Proyas, “Dark City”: Film History Series

“Dark City”: Director’s Cut: 2008; Directed by Alex Proyas

“Dark City” is a 1998 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas. The screenplay was written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer. The film stars Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, and William Hurt. Sewell plays John Murdoch, an amnesiac man who finds himself suspected of murder. Murdoch attempts to discover his true identity and clear his name while on the run from the police and a mysterious group known only as the “Strangers”.

The majority of the film was shot at Fox Studios Australia. It was jointly produced by New Line Cinema and Mystery Clock Cinema. New Line Cinema and New Line Home Video commercially distributed the theatrical release and home media respectively. The film premiered in the United States on February 27, 1998, and was a box office bomb, but received mainly positive reviews. The film was nominated for Hugo and Saturn Awards, and has become a cult classic. A director’s cut was released in 2008, restoring and preserving Proyas’s original artistic vision for the film.

A classic film: science fiction thriller in the style of film-noir. This film is a must see for sci-fi fans; the director’s cut is the version to watch.

Akira: Gif Set Two

Akira: Gif Set Two

Akira: directed by Ruairi Robinson and Katsuhiro Otomo, 2001

One of the best-known examples of contemporary Japanese animation, this cyberpunk adventure takes place in the post-apocalyptic city of Neo-Tokyo. A teen-age boy is exposed to a mysterious energy source and develops telekinetic powers that place him at the center of a conflict that may destroy the world.

A landmark anime feature that paved the way for the medium’s growing popularity outside of Japan and remains a significant influence in the sci-fi genre (this and “Ghost in the Shell” were key influences to the super-popular Matrix trilogy). At times it can be over-shadowed by it’s excessive graphic violence and an exhaustingly drawn-out third act, but this adaptation of director Katsuhiro Otomo’s 2000-page manga keeps up a kinetically-energetic pace that simply has you holding on for dear life throughout. Plus, the hand-drawn cell animation remains a wonder to behold even 14 years later and still holds a candle to even modern contemporary anime efforts.

Eat With Me

Eat With Me: Directed by David Au

The award-winning Eat With Me, is a charming comedy-drama about a mother and her gay son who heal, connect and grow together as the son’s Chinese restaurant faces foreclosure. As gay chef Elliot (Teddy Chen Culver) tries to find new love with handsome blue-eyed Brit Ian (Aidan Bristow), perhaps his newly-separated mother (Sharon Omi) will find her way towards acceptance of her son as well. Eat With Me also features a terrific turn from Nicole Sullivan (TV’s ‘Family Guy’) as Elliot’s hilarious neighbor and a special appearance by George Takei (Star Trek).

I recommend this movie. First, I am a sucker for great “cooking” movies; second, I am a actually a fan of all the actors in this movie; and third, I like good comedy dramas of which this is one. This film won Best Feature film at the Florence Queer Film Fest, Italy.

Getting Go: the Go Doc Project

Getting Go: the Go Doc Project, Director and Writer Cory Krueckeberg

College boy, Doc (Tanner Cohen, Were The World Mine) is obsessed with a well-known NYC go-go dancer, nicknamed Go (Matthew Camp). He befriends his hunky crush with the intention of shooting a movie about what it’s like to live in his skin. Camera in hand, he follows his subject across the city: into bars, onto rooftops and dance floors and ultimately his bedroom. But as they grow closer, flirtation blurs the line between subject and filmmaker until a steamy night together solidifies deeper feelings. Cory Kruekeberg’s explicit directorial debut explores the thrill and danger of getting exactly what you wished for.

Funny, sexy movie with a great story starring both Tanner Cohen and Matthew Camp. Nothing else needed in this great film.

My thanks to MandaBear83 for putting together this great clip with the song “Overture” from the “Sundark and Riverlight’ album by Patrick Wolf (That song was a good choice!)

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Promotional Posters for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”

Promotional Posters for “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, Directed by Robert Wiene, Starring Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt and Friedrich Feher, 1920

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (German: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) is a 1920 German silent horror film, directed by Robert Wiene and written by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. Considered the quintessential work of German Expressionist cinema, it tells the story of an insane hypnotist (Werner Krauss) who uses a somnambulist (Conrad Veidt) to commit murders. The film features a dark and twisted visual style, with sharp-pointed forms, oblique and curving lines, structures and landscapes that lean and twist in unusual angles, and shadows and streaks of light painted directly onto the sets.

Werner Herzog, “Fitzcarraldo”

Fitzcarraldo: Written and Directed by Werner Herzog, 1982, Starring Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, Jose Lewgoy

Opera-loving European Brian Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) lives in a small Peruvian city. Better known as Fitzcarraldo, this foreigner is obsessed with building an opera house in his town and decides that to make his dream a reality he needs to make a killing in the rubber business. In order to become a successful rubber baron, Fitzcarraldo hatches an elaborate plan that calls for a particularly impressive feat – bringing a massive boat over a mountain with the help of the local native population.

The film is derived from the historic events of Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarraldo and his real-life feat of transporting a disassembled steanbiat over the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald. The film had a troubled production; Herzog forced his crew to manually haul the 320-ton steamship up a steep hill, leading to three injuries. The film’s original star jason Robards got sick halfway through filming. So Herzog hired Klaus Kinski, with whom he had previously clashed violently during production of ” Aquirre, the Wrath of God”, Their second partnership fared no better and an extra even offered to kill Kinski. Herzog reluctantly declined.

A great classic film with Klaus Kinski. The scenes of moving the huge ship over the mountain by hand are amazing. The movie idea was based on a true event.

David Belle: Pakour

David Belle, Film Gif Excerts from “District 13” and “Brick Mansions”

Born in April of 1973, David Belle is a French actor, film choreographer and stunt coordinator. He is deemed the founder or leading pioneer of the physical discipline known as parkour. The term is based on the teachings of his father Raymond Belle and the exceptionally skilled training necessary for parkour’s execution.

Belle came to fame via his parkour videos and film appearances as Leïto in the 2000 “District 13” and 2009 “District 13: Ultimatum”, both written and produced by Luc Besson. He also appeared in Camille Delamarre’s 2014 American remake “Brick Mansions”. Belle was a consultant on the production of “Babylon A.D.”, “Prince of Persia”, “Colombiana” and “The Family”.

Note: There are quite a few parkour videos available online, one of which is “Still Alive”, a nine-minute excerpt from “District 13”. Set to music, it follows Belle’s fast-paced escape across rooftops, through windows, and down twisted flights of stairs. The video shows Belle’s agility, concentration, and skill in the parkour discipline. “Still Alive” is available for viewing on different sites at YouTube.

Stefan Haupt, “Der Kreis (The Circle)”

Der Kreis (The Circle) : Swiss Docudrama directed by Stefan Haupt, 2014

The Circle (German: Der Kreis) is a Swiss docudrama film, released in 2014. Written and directed by Stefan Haupt, the film depicts the social network that revolved around The Circle, a gay publication in Zurich in the 1940s and 1950s, which was scapegoated for the murders of several gay men in the city.

The film focuses in particular on the story of Ernst Ostertag and Röbi Rapp, a schoolteacher and a drag entertainer who enter a lifelong romantic relationship through their involvement in the group. The film intersperses a scripted dramatic depiction of the story, in which the couple are portrayed by Matthias Hungerbühler and Sven Schelker, with documentary interviews with the real Ostertag and Rapp. The film’s cast also includes Marianne Sägebrecht, Anatole Taubman, Antoine Monot, Jr., Stefan Witschi and Markus Merz.

The film won the Teddy Award for Best Documentary at the 2014 Berlin Film Festival, as well as the Panorama Audience Award. North American distribution rights were subsequently acquired by Wolfe Video. It was selected as the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. Director Stefan Haupt said “it’s an honour to represent Switzerland”.

A engrossing film that shows how far we have come and what others endured.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Gus Van Sant, “Mala Noche”

“Mala Noche”: Directed by Gus Van Sant

“Mala Noche (Bad Night)” is a 1985 American drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, Last Days), based on an autobiographical novel by the Oregon poet Walt Curtis. The film was shot in 16 mm, mostly black-and-white.

With its low budget and lush black-and-white imagery, Gus Van Sant’s debut feature “Mala Noche” heralded an idiosyncratic, provocative new voice in American independent film. Set in Van Sant’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, the film evokes a world of transient workers, dead-end day-shifters, and bars and seedy apartments bathed in a profound nighttime, as it follows a romantic deadbeat with a wayward crush on a handsome Mexican immigrant. “Mala Noche” was an important prelude to the New Queer Cinema of the nineties and is a fascinating capsule from a time and place that continues to haunt its director’s work.

Gus Van Sant’s “Male Noche” is available on Netflix disc and through Hulu and Prime subscription services.

“District B13” Starring David Belle

Clip from the Movie District B13 Starring David Belle, 2004

A slightly futuristic film in which the lower class trouble makers are walled in ghettos under heavy guard. Directed by Pierre Morel, this is the first of two movies with David Belle, who started the Parkour enthusiasm among urban runners. Starring David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, and Tony D’Amario.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo

Samurai Champloo (Japanese: サムライチャンプル) is a Japanese anime series developed by Manglobe. It featured a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, character designer Kazuto Nakazawa and mechanical designer Mahiro Maeda.

Samurai Champloo is set in an alternate version of Edo-era Japan with an anachronistic, predominantly hip-hop, setting. It follows Mugen, an impudent and freedom-loving vagrant swordsman; Jin, a composed and stoic rōnin; and Fuu, a brave girl who asks them to accompany her in her quest across Japan to find the “samurai who smells of sunflowers”.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, “Amelie”

Jean-Pierre Jeunet, “Amelie”

“Amélie” is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Delicatessen”; “The City of Lost Children”) invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue.

Release date: November 16, 2001 (USA)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Featured song: La Valse d’Amélie (orchestra version)

A great film on the top of my favorites list- great photography, especially with the use of color filters; great soundtrack; actors who really know their characters; and a funny but heart touching story.

Marcelo Briem Stamm, “Solo”

“Solo”: Written and Directed by Marcelo Briem Stamm; Starring Patricio Ramos, Mario Veron, and Carlos Echevarria

A sexy, romantic and uncomfortably chilling tale of love and deception from first time director Marcelo Briem Stamm. Handsome middle class Manuel (Patrico Ramos), hurt by his previous relationship and bored being alone, meets Julio (Mario Veron), a rugged, lonely, unemployed young man in a chat room. The two eventually meet up in person and the sexual spark is quickly ignited. And while sex is satisfying and frequent, it is their collective problems with intimacy, trust and the fear of being hurt that make them hesitant to commit fully.

As their relationship develops, both reveal secrets from their past but these revelations might be real, imagined or outright lies. All is revealed in this romantic, passionate drama/thriller that offers a shocking, strangely satisfying conclusion.

A great film; search for it. Just watching Mario Veron in this film is worth the effort of the search.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Aluzio Abranches, “Do Começo ao Film”: Film History

Aluizio Abranches, “Do Começo ao Fim”, Computer Graphics, Film Gifs (Rafael Cardoso and João Gabriel Vasconcellos), 2009, Cinematographer Ueli Steiger, Soundtrack André Abujamra

“Do Começo ao Fim (From Beginning to End)” is a 2009 Brazilian romantic drama film written and directed by Aluizio Abranches. The film stars Rafael Cardoso as Thomás and João Gabriel Vasconcellos as his brother Francisco. In their early stage of life, Gabriel Kaufmann is in the role of Thomás at age six and Lucas Cotrim plays Francisco at the age of eleven. Júlia Lemmertz is in the role of their mother, who gave birth to Francisco in her first marriage and Thomás in her second marriage to husband Alexandre played by Fábio Assunção.

“Do Começo ao Fim” was filmed almost entirely in Rio de Janeiro with parts filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For its premier, nine copies of the film were released in Brazil in 2009. Despite the limited release, the film became one of the top ten most-watched Brazilian films in that year. In 2010, it was released in DVD form in Brazil with success; after its premier in France, the first edition of the DVD and Blu-ray sold out in less than two weeks.

The film was shown in 2010 at the Seattle International Film Festival in May, the Frameline Film Festival (the oldest LBGTQ+ film festival in the world) in June, and in July the Outfest Film Festival and QFest. The film which dealt with homosexuality and incest received mixed reviews.