Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Appreciation for Andrei Tarkovsky
It was in high school when I first discovered Andrei Tarkovsky and after that I never really looked at movies the same way again. In high school I was in a class called "Cinema", and when I look back I think it may have been the only class where I really learned anything. I remember the day when we watched Stanley Kubrick's '2001: a space odyssey', and having seen the movie before it didn't bore me at all, but when I looked around the room I could see a few heads on the desk. And this is where I realized that this movie was a little slow. But the inspiring part in all this was where I was sitting. Whenever I looked up( not to see if I could spot the Monolith floating above my head) ,but a very striking portrait of Stanley Kubrick was drawn on a ceiling tile by a student who had had the class before me. So, when I delved into the career of Kubrick, I noticed that his movies paced a little different than other movies. But in some odd way, this facinated me. As I did more of my research in discovering different techniques, I came along one technique that only a few directors could pull off, the long take. Preferably tracking shots. And Kubrick had a lot of them, obviously influenced by the French director, Max Ophuls. More of my research into this technique, I came across this Russian director, Andrei Tarkovsky. I liked the name, so I looked more into it. Already extremely fascinated by the long take technique, I watched one of his films at random, assuming that it would probably be cool just to watch for the camerawork. The film I watched was 'The Mirror'. The film has no coherent plot and after I watched it I didn't like it. Basically, my head was laying on a desk the entire time, but after awhile I couldn't stop thinking about the film so I re watched it. After that, I watched as many of his films that I could get my hands on. His movies are really strange, and I don't think I could get into the philosophy of them, but the matching of his camerawork and the presentation of the stories have had a strong effect on me as an admirer of film. I will grant you that his films are a tad slow, but I think that's the beauty of them. He perfected the long take, not just with the fluent movements, but with what he was capturing. It seemed like he had perfectly captured the dream state. When it comes to movies that have really changed my life, it's hard to say. But I think that Tarkovsky's films have changed the way I look at the art of filmmaking and the unique things that you can do with film. His movies may have to take a couple viewings and also, be blessed to be watching his movies, because I don't think there will ever be another Andrei Tarkovsky.
"Tarkovsky for me is the greatest [director], the one who invented a new language, true to the nature of film, as it captures life as a reflection, life as a dream". - Ingmar Bergman
- Ryan
Friday, January 22, 2010
Movie Review:Blow Out
Ryan has been wanting me to watch this film for a long time now,and I've finally gotten around to watching it. Yes Ryan,you are correct. This film is AMAZING.
Blow Out is a thriller which was made in 1981 and is directed by the legendary Brian De Palma (who has made other classics,including Sisters,Carrie,Scarface,The Untouchables and many more). The film stars John Travolta (who also has a small role in Carrie),Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.
The story involves a man named Jack Terry (John Travolta) who is a sound technician and works with a director who has done a few low budget horror films. Their latest horror film is in post production, and they need a good scream sound effect to dub over the girl in the film,since she did a lousy job with it. So Jack goes out one night with his sound equipment to record the many different things that happen at night,hoping to get something useful. During his recording,a terrible "accident" occurs where a car careens off the road into a lake. Jack jumps into the water to save whoever is in the car and pulls out a young,beautiful woman. Underwater,he sees that the man who was behind the wheel is dead. So of course,he takes the unconscious woman to the hospital. This is where it starts to get interesting. The man who died in the car just happens to be a very popular governor who was running for president. The man had a wife and kids and a very respectable reputation. The woman in the car was not his wife,but a mistress. This causes alot of controversy at the hospital and a detective speaks with Jack,telling him to NEVER tell anyone about the woman and that if anyone asks, the late governor was in the car alone. Jack is morally conflicted with this because he believes the truth should be told about this, but he knows the detective has a good point that this information will break the family's heart. So he agrees to keep quiet about the situation. After the young woman is released from the hospital,Jack tries to befriend her and get to know her,and he also subtly tries to figure out why she was in the car with the governor. While all this is happening,he listens to his audio recording of the night it happened. He notices that right before the supposed "blow out" of the tire,he can barely hear what sounds like a gunshot. This makes him believe that this was no accident,but a murder. Through most of the movie,he tries his heart out to uncover the truth and to get everyone to believe that it was no accident. It turns out to be a pretty big conspiracy theory,which involves John Lithgow. This is easily one of his best performances. John Lithgow is very good at playing baddies. If you want further proof,check out this film as well as Raising Cain and the new season of Dexter,where just like in this film,he plays a serial killer.
Well that's all I'll say about the story. I don't want to give out any spoilers. I was totally into this movie from start to finish. It's an amazing thriller that grabs you with it's complex detective story and doesn't let go. Besides Grease,this is another film that very much helped boost John Travolta's career. It's very well acted and the soundtrack is PHENOMENAL.After watching this film,I actually made the main theme one of my ringtones. It's THAT good (Interesting Fact. The main theme is also used in a small scene in Quentin Tarantino's film Death Proof).
Alright,there you have it folks. Blow Out. I give it a 10 out of 10. An amazing film to say the least. We at Mosaic Pictures HIGHLY recommend that you watch it. You can thank us later. CIAO!!
-David
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