Tag: movie

Sam Mendes:  “American Beauty”

Sam Mendes, “American Beauty”, 1999, The Dancing Plastic Bag Scene

“American Beauty” is a 1999 American drama film by screewrriter Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes, in his feature directorial debut. Academics have described the film as a satire of the American middle-class notions of personal satisfaction and beauty. The film also explores the notions of materialism, self-liberation, romantic and paternal love, sexuality, and redemption.

Mendes’s dominant directorial style was composed and deliberate, making extensive use of static shots and slow pans and zooms to generate tension. Conrad Hall, the cinematographer on the film, complimented this style with peaceful shot compositions to contrast with the turbulaent on-screen events.

Screenwriter Alan Ball developed the idea of the dancing plastic bag scene from an encounter he had in the early 1990s. About 1991-92, Ball watched a plastic bag blowing in the wind outside the World Trade Center in New York City. He said later that, after watching the bag for ten minutes, it had provoked and unexpected emotional response. This idea of the plastic bag dancing is inserted  in a meeting scene between Wes Bentley, playing amateur photographer Ricky Pitts, and Thora Birch, playing the role of Jane Burnham. The music accompanying the scene is track eight from the “American Beauty Soundtrack” album.

“It was one of those days, when it’s a minute away from snowing, and there’s this electricity in the air. You can almost hear it, right? And this bag was just dancing with me, like a little kid begging me to play with it, for fifteen minutes. That’s the day I realized there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video’s a poor excuse, I know, but it helps me remember. I need to remember. Sometimes there is so much… beauty… in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.”

Tron Legacy

“Tron Legacy”,  Directed by Joseph Kosinski, 2010

“Tron: Legacy” is a 2010 American science fiction film produced and released by Walt Disney Pictures. A sequel to the 1982 film Tron, it is directed by Joseph Kosinski, produced by Tron director Steven Lisberger and written by Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis, based on a story by Horowitz, Kitsis, Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. The cast includes Tron veterans Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner, who reprised their roles as Kevin Flynn and Alan Bradley, as well as Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Beau Garrett, Michael Sheen and James Frain. The story follows Flynn’s son Sam (Hedlund) who responds to a message from his long-lost father (Bridges) and is transported into a virtual reality called the Grid, where Sam, his father and the algorithm Quorra (Wilde) stop the malevolent program CLU from invading the human world.

Interest in creating a sequel for Tron arose after the film garnered a cult following. After much speculation, a concerted effort to devise Tron: Legacy began in 2005 when producers hired Klugman and Sternthal as writers. Kosinski was recruited as director two years later. As he was not optimistic about Walt Disney Pictures’ Matrix-esque approach to the film, Kosinski opted for a loan which he used to cultivate a prototype and conceptualize the universe of Tron: Legacy. Principal photography took place in Vancouver over 67 days, in and around the city’s central business district. Most sequences were shot in 3D and ten companies were involved with the extensive visual effects work. Chroma keying and other techniques were used to allow more freedom in creating effects. The film score was composed by French duo Daft Punk, who incorporated orchestral sounds into their electronic music.

James Whale, Frankenstein”: Film History Series

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“Frankenstein”: Directed by James Whale, 1931

“Frankenstein” is a 1931 American Pre-Code horror monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling (which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley), about a scientist and his assistant who dig up corpses to build a monster, but his assistant accidentally gives the monster a murderer’s brain.

The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff and features Dwight Frye and Edward van Sloan. The Webling play was adapted by John L. Balderston and the screenplay written by Francis Edward Faragoh and Garrett Fort with uncredited contributions from Robert Florey and John Russell. The make-up artist was Jack Pierce. A hit with both audiences and critics, the film was followed by multiple sequels and has become an iconic horror film.

In 1991, the Library of Congress selected “Frankenstein” for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Although Frankenstein’s hunchbacked assistant is often referred to as “Igor” in descriptions of the films, he is not so called in the earliest films. In both “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein”, Frankenstein has an assistant who is played both times by Dwight Frye who is crippled. In the original 1931 film the character is named Fritz, who is hunchbacked and walks with the aid of a small cane. In “Bride of Frankenstein”, Frye plays Karl, a murderer who stands upright but has a lumbering metal brace on both legs that can be heard clicking loudly with every step. Both characters would be killed by Karloff’s monster in their respective films.

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.

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.

Michael Akers, “Morgan”

Morgan: Directed by Michael Akers; Produced by Michael Akers, Sandon Berg and Israel Ehrisman; Starring Leo Minaya and Jack Kesy

After an accident leaves him paralyzed from the waist down, Morgan Oliver, a gay bicycle racer, is first seen wallowing in a state of depression, drowning his sorrows in beer as he watches bicycle racing (the sport that at once defined his sense of purpose and drove him to his catalytic accident) on television. He meets Dean Kagan who helps him through the way and a romantic relationship develops between the two. Once Morgan knows about the New York Haven Cycle Race, he decides to take part in the race.

Michael Akers and Sandon Berg planned on writing a story about a paraplegic while casting for an earlier film Phoenix. A young, handsome wheelchair-using paraplegic actor had submitted his portfolio for a possible role in a film. Although the screenplay for Phoenix had been written and no role was envisioned for a paraplegic acting role, they were intrigued enough by him personally, they decided to write a screenplay around a paraplegic athlete. After many interviews with other wheelchair-using gay men, their collection of stories became the basis for the film Morgan.

“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/)

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.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, “Finally”

Priscilla Queen of the Desert, “Finally”

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian comedy-drama film written and directed by Stephan Elliott. The plot follows the journey of two drag queens and a transsexual woman, played by Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terence Stamp, across the Australian Outback from Sydney to Alice Springs in a tour bus that they have named “Priscilla”, along the way encountering various groups and individuals. It was screened in the UN Certain Regard section of the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and became a cult classic in both Australia and abroad.

I was talking about movies with friends and this movie came up as a favorite on all our lists. So I just had to post the song in this scene. A brilliant movie and soundtrack.

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

The Wolf Man, 1941 Trailer

 

The Wolf Man, 1941 Trailer

After teasing his friends for believing in werewolves, Larry (Lon Chaney Jr.) is promptly bitten by a rabid wolf and faints. Horror superstars share the screen when Larry wakes to find a gypsy (Bela Lugosi) who moonlights as a werewolf. Cursed by the werewolf’s bite, Larry suffers torturous full-moon transformations and tries to escape the townsfolk who hunt him. Claude Rains, Evelyn Ankers and Ralph Bellamy also star in this film.

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