FAKE CRITERION COLLECTION ON The Auteurs

a commentary

[image source]

Criterion Collection has a reputation:

"Since 1984, the Criterion Collection, a continuing series of important classic and contemporary films, has been dedicated to gathering the greatest films from around the world and publishing them in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning, original supplements."

Criterion Collection has been my DVD companion for some time now. I admire the roster of films they immortalize. But just today i have been hinted by a fellow blogger of the existence of a 'make-your-own-CC-cover-using-the-magic-power-of-Photoshop' thread on The Auteurs (here), an extension website for CC fans to discuss CC films. And i found these gorgeous fresh ideas (all were taken at random without noting who made it - I'll get back on this one to give the authorial links):

Nice, weird idea

Not happening. haha!

LOL. So bad!

The best. I laughed so hard on this.

This really made my day. Keep it burning.

***

I'm enjoying the weather in Metro Manila. It's sunny in morning and it rains in the afternoon. The afternoons are a perfect time for writing extensive essays over a cup of searing hot coffee .

***
ULYSSES.

Aeolos is a such a hard ball for me. I can't seem to understand the purpose of Joyce. I'm rereading it right now and i am not giving up. ;-(

Actually i borrowed Richard Ellmann's James Joyce (1959). Anthony Burgess considers it as one of the best literary biography of the century. It is also widely accepted by critics as a masterpiece of literary biography. It won a National Book Award in 1960.

***

Truffaut and Aronofsky

back on track

I have a sense that most of my week's adventures are dominated by sentimental oeuvre of a string of films characterized by unique camera movement, a tendency to reinforce a thorough vision, and a pack of ghastly and illuminating cuts and superimposition.

****
SHOOT THAT PIANO PLAYER (Truffaut, 1960)


*****

THE WRESTLER (Aronofsky, 2008)


ULYSSES

I'm on chapter seven, Aeolos, and i hope i'll finish three quarters of the book by tomorrow. I'll pull up an all-nighter this evening.

Ciao! amigos!
****

100 BEST NOVELS OF THE 20th Century

on literature

[source]



Books.

This is polled by the Modern Library Editorial Board.

From their website:

"The editors of the Modern Library are privileged to have the assistance of a distinguished Board made up of celebrated authors, historians, critics, and publishing luminaries. The members of the Board, listed below, play an integral role in contributing suggestions and advice throughout the year. In 1998 and 1999, members of the Modern Library Board participated in the "100 Best" project, voting on the 100 Best Novels and 100 Best Non-fiction works, respectively."

BOARD'S LIST:

1. ULYSSES by James Joyce (reading)
   
2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald (have read)
   
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce (will read)
   
4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner (will read)
   
7. CATCH-22
8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
13. 1984 by George Orwell
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf (have read)
    
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
22. APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O'Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson
25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
33. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
38. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene
41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (have read)
    
42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth (have read)
    
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
57. PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford
58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
60. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
    
61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger (have read)
    
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes
72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul
73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
75. SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh
76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
82. ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen
85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
87. THE OLD WIVES' TALE by Arnold Bennett
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London (have read)
    
89. LOVING by Henry Green
90. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
91. TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell
92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
99. THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy
100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington

The READER'S LIST:

1. ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand (have read)
   
2. THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand
3. BATTLEFIELD EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
4. THE LORD OF THE RINGS by J.R.R. Tolkien (have read)
   
5. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee
6. 1984 by George Orwell
7. ANTHEM by Ayn Rand
8. WE THE LIVING by Ayn Rand
9. MISSION EARTH by L. Ron Hubbard
10. FEAR by L. Ron Hubbard
11. ULYSSES by James Joyce
12. CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller
13. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
14. DUNE by Frank Herbert
15. THE MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS by Robert Heinlein
16. STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND by Robert Heinlein
17. A TOWN LIKE ALICE by Nevil Shute
18. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
19. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
20. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
21. GRAVITY'S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon
22. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck (have read)
    
23. SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
24. GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell
25. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
26. SHANE by Jack Schaefer
27. TRUSTEE FROM THE TOOLROOM by Nevil Shute
28. A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY by John Irving
29. THE STAND by Stephen King
30. THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN by John Fowles
31. BELOVED by Toni Morrison (have read)
    
32. THE WORM OUROBOROS by E.R. Eddison
33. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
34. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
35. MOONHEART by Charles de Lint
36. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner
37. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
38. WISE BLOOD by Flannery O'Connor
39. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
40. FIFTH BUSINESS by Robertson Davies
41. SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint
42. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
43. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
44. YARROW by Charles de Lint
45. AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS by H.P. Lovecraft
46. ONE LONELY NIGHT by Mickey Spillane
47. MEMORY AND DREAM by Charles de Lint
48. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
49. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
50. TRADER by Charles de Lint
51. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas Adams
52. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
53. THE HANDMAID'S TALE by Margaret Atwood
54. BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy
55. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
56. ON THE BEACH by Nevil Shute
57. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
58. GREENMANTLE by Charles de Lint
59. ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card
60. THE LITTLE COUNTRY by Charles de Lint
61. THE RECOGNITIONS by William Gaddis
62. STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert Heinlein
63. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
64. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP by John Irving
65. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
66. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
67. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
68. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
69. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
70. THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling
71. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
72. THE DOOR INTO SUMMER by Robert Heinlein
73. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE by Robert Pirsig
74. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
75. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
76. AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS by Flann O'Brien
77. FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
78. ARROWSMITH by Sinclair Lewis
79. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
80. NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs
81. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER by Tom Clancy
82. GUILTY PLEASURES by Laurell K. Hamilton
83. THE PUPPET MASTERS by Robert Heinlein
84. IT by Stephen King
85. V. by Thomas Pynchon
86. DOUBLE STAR by Robert Heinlein
87. CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY by Robert Heinlein
88. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
89. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
90. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey
91. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
92. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
93. SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION by Ken Kesey
94. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
95. MULENGRO by Charles de Lint
96. SUTTREE by Cormac McCarthy
97. MYTHAGO WOOD by Robert Holdstock
98. ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach
99. THE CUNNING MAN by Robertson Davies
100. THE SATANIC VERSES by Salman Rushdie

ULYSSES, the book that i have been reading lately ranked number one. This is an affirmation of Anthony Bugress', author of Clockwork Orange which was a Kubrick classic, quoted appraisal of the book: "The greatest novel of the century."

Will go swimming today! Wee! Bye for now!

*****

UP GRADUATES OF 2009: On Punctuations

"pride, fuck pride!"- Marsellus Wallace (Pulp Fiction [1994])

[photo from flicker user]

UP.

It is nice to put a period instead of an exclamation point after the acronym on a graduation day. Period, as Ma'am Ginny used to say, is like a close door, it ends every concept. In UP, closing one's door from the past is perhaps the least thing one would do after graduation. Others might think it's a good way of saying goodbye to their incandescent days, a big sigh from their theses, a final stretch.

Closing one's door signals a repose. it does not necessarily put something to end. Every door has a keyhole in which a key fits (do not get green on me), or one could use force to open it. But this door is a special door, because it is a doorway to an unknown place. People have been there, but one can never be too sure.

A period after UP is a temporal standpoint of every graduate in UP. On April 26, 2009, they will be celebrating their graduation, so far the highest achievement for a UP Student. This is where most of their good memories expire (or is it), because this day is the greatest of all days. This somehow parallels the point when one received a envelop qualifying that one passed the UPCAT. But i know this one is much different because it opens one to the world. This is where everything starts, it is a rite of passage, a bottleneck of their destinies.

Congratulations!

Most notably to:

Philip Martinez - BS ECE - kaharap ko lang room niya dito sa IPIL

Luther Caranguian - BS ECE - Summa Cum Laude - GWA 1.192 - BPI -DOST Awardee - Nakausap ko about classic films nung tumambay sya sa room ko

Christian July Yap - BS ChE - Magna Cum Laude - Pseudo-buddy ko dati sa ALCHEMES

Russel Jeff Castaneda - BA Sociology - UP Sorsoguenos - Schoolmate nung HS

Maia Caireen Buena - BA Tour - UP Sorg (again) - Schoolmate nung HS

Gideon Libiran - BS Community Nutrition - Nag-roroom hop sa room ko

SUMMA CUM LAUDE[S]
truly dedicated individuals
I admire them.
[source: UPD site]

Scott Riley K. Ong, BS Biology (1.036);
Juan Lorenzo B. Pablo, BS MBB (1.061);
Maria Patricia Rouelli G. Sabino, BS Computer Engineering (1.082);
Mikhail P. Solon, BS Physics (1.084);
Joseph Ray Clarence G. Damasco, BS Mathematics (1.107);
Frances Antoinette C. Cruz, BA European Languages (1.109);
Laureen Carmela B. Lukban, BS Psychology (1.114);
Anna P. Canlas, BA Broadcast Communication (1.117);
Jan Carlo B. Punongbayan, BS Economics (1.151)
Mark Joseph S. Tan, BS Chemical Engineering (1.16);
Angelo Aresenio de Guzman Santos, BS Mathematics (1.169);
Joseph Jeeben R. Segui, BS Mathematics (1.173);
(he will deliver in behalf of the graduating class)
Christina Marianne G. Mantaring, BS CoEngg (1.178);
Angelo C. Ani, BS Industrial Engineering (1.191);
Luther Paul dela Rosa Caranguian, BS ECE (1.192);
Shyne De Vera Galapon, BS Chemistry (1.193);
Andreo C. Calonzo, BA Journalism (1.198)
Ma. Theresa S. Pamintuan, BS BAA (1.2)

GRADUATES of 2009 good luck on your new journey!

To all left behind:

UP... Ellipsis for the stress. Undergraduates like me locked into the hardwired UP life.

UP --- Dash for the start. Freshmen undergrad have this quick notion that UP is like this and that which fascinates me because the nuances of their categorical claims are mostly true, an approximate.

UP! Finally an exclamation point for those who will be entering UP, full of excitement and enthusiasm.


Lastly,


For the graduates,

I dedicate this video clip from one of my favorite films A Taste of Cherry (1997)

"I don't know this road"
"I know it. It's longer but better and beautiful [way]."

The most beautiful dialogue i have ever heard primarily because of the universality of its theme. It alludes to the age old questions on ethics, nature and origin of man, and to what the director of the film, Abbas Kiarostami, refers to as "the preciousness of life."

****

What's bugging me [part 2]

A note on my freaky disappearance

I am turning medieval.

I've hit film books and lit books of all sizes.

I am mixed up with everything going on: noises from the other room (it's empty), scratches on my face, and a lot of 'happiness' all around.

My tendencies:

1) Adrian went Neoformalist:

I read some of the articles from David Bordwell and I am so absorbed by his essay on Historical Poetics of Cinema (download here) i wished i was never born.

2) Adrian went to read Bordwell's FILM ART for the second time:

My first approach to Bordwell's Film Art was a bit off. I guess that time i wanted a more simplified explanation on aesthetics of film. But on my second look (because i am turning neoformalist) Bordwell's book has pretty simple explanations.

3) Adrian went to read ULYSSES with a guide

I am on Episode 6 (HADES) and i stopped in the middle of Blooms thoughts about the woman peering through the window of their carriage, and Mr. Simon Dedalus was there, and Martin Cunningham was there, and Mr. Jack Power. I went to the CAL Library to grab a book for a guide on reading ULYSSES and i found Harry Blamire's The New Bloomsday Book: A Guide Through Ulysses (Revised Edition Keyed to the Corrected Text) (1988). It was worth reading every bit because, for i also believe that Ulysses is a big book of theological allusions, Blamires focused on exploring such themes.

So yes, i will not be updating my blog regularly to focus on my extensive studies on FILM and acquiring the Neoformalist attitude of a critic.

What to expect:

1) Essay on Neoformalism
2) My first ever (academic) critique on a film
3) Essay about ULYSSES

Okay! Bye for now!

****

What Bothers me Most?

a short post

I have been lost for a couple days, if one could measure my mind's depth and my soul's perturbations, one could find a splendid amount of joy. I could only write in my diary: "Perhaps cinema is a rupture from another world..." (My response to the film The Piano)

In The Piano (1993) by Jane Campion, it shallows one's whole and took one into very deep and unknown place which can be similarly felt in Yi Yi: A One and A Two (2000).

A Scent of Love by Michael Nyman

****

Just a Peek!

I am back!

[image from Arbogast]



My Lenten retreat was peaceful indeed. I went home via plane last Wednesday afternoon and i just got back this morning via bus.

I have so many fresh ideas for April. With my manageable summer class schedule i can finally concentrate on my critical independent studies on film. My goal for April is to prepare for some critical essays on films, focusing on the importance of semiotics (mostly from neo-formalist perspective opened by Bordwell and Thompson in the 1980s).

****
I just watched Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008) at Cinema 9 of SM North awhile ago. It completes my critical perception about the film and also prompts a notion on the distortion of the film's purpose when viewed on a laptop compared when it is viewed on a big screen.

****

UPDATES:
SENSES OF CINEMA has a new ISSUE here.

Richard Bolisay writes essential thoughts on putting up a LOCAL FILM MAGAZINE and the importance of Film Criticism in the Philippine Soil here.

Girish has a new post on Narrative Synthesis here.

Arbogast has "Why you are not the Final Girl" here.



***

RUN LOLA RUN [1998]

a short commentary

RUN!

Predictable, i don't think so. To observe and study the frames is as hard as brick. It is fast, i tell you. This is an stylistic achievement in German Cinema. Fassbinder on Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1973) showed a remarkable style in framing. It opens a new avenue for film criticism, identifiable as post-neo-formalism. Tom Tykwer is Fassbinder faster a hundred times. Though im not quite sure if it is a good idea borrowing Kieslowki's Heaven (2002). It just destroys the creator.

****

Happy Maundy Thursday!

The controversial pauper's banquet from Viridiana (1961)

****

SLEEPLESS in HELL!

a short commentary

Becoming senseless and lethargic on a Tuesday morning, when the birds chirp (pretty annoying) and cats barked at you in the lobby and an awful sound from the other room. I just can't concentrate on my last and final paper to edit for mg English 10. Sitting here alone in the lobby, waiting for the dew to drop on me and insisting that The Cranberries was the hottest rock band of the 90s. I don't really know why i included Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) in this senseless blog post. Well, i just got four sets of DVD today, i mean yesterday. It includes Hiroshima, of course.

1) Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959)
2) Shoot that Piano Player (Francois Truffaut, 1960)
3) The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993) [it shared Palme D'Or with Farewell My Concubine (1993) at Cannes]
4) Studio Ghibli Pack which includes significant Takahata and Miyazaki works.

This is my Lenten Pack. I think my younger cousins, ages 2 years old to sixteen years old will appreciate the Studio Ghibli pack and rest would just be my viewing pleasure unless my mother would insist or my father or my grandma or my aunt or my other aunt.



ULYSSES

I just started reading (again, for a try) ULYSSES by James Joyce, to what Anthony Bugress and the rest of English Literature declared as "the greatest book of the century." I started reading at Starbucks yesterday (technically speaking). I ordered a hot Caramel Macchiato Venti and a Danish at around 12 o'clock, supposed to be my lunch but i didn't feel like eating so i had coffee at the 'best coffee house in town.' To my own surprise i find James Joyce enjoyable that Virginia Woolf.

My recent purchase of books includes:

1) A Portrait of A Young Man as An Artist d/w Dubliners (James Joyce, P313.00)
2) Ulysses (Hans Gabler Edition) (James Joyce, P616.00)
3) The Second Common Reader (Virginia Woolf, P280)

Okay, P1000+ pesos for books only. I hope these would not end up in closet cabinet again. Especially ULYSSES which i have been dying to read.

Ciao!

***********

CHUNGKING EXPRESS [1994]

a short commentary

Launching Wong Kar-Wai to world, Chungking Express never failed to put a smile on my face. I suppose maybe because upon my second viewing, and to what girish describe as a Strombolian moment, a cinematic epiphany that happens after the second viewing of the film. I viewed it the second time and everything was clear. Girish puts it:

"Brenez's notion of Strombolian films holds at least three lessons: (1) A viewing experience is often contingent upon where we happen to be situated--in our lives at a certain point in time--in relation to a work and its aesthetic; (2) It is important to revisit films that frustrated or disappointed us the first time around, and do so with a willingness--even eagerness--to struggle with the work while we simultaneously de-emphasize evaluative judgment for a little while; and (3) The resistance we encounter from an artwork can be put to great and productive use."

Yes, Chungking Express is a hard block at first time. I cannot imagine how frustrated i am to watch a film with a 'distracting' camera work by Wong, quite different from the lucid, beautiful, and precise cinematography in In the Mood for Love (2000). On my second viewing it became really clear how Wong permeates his cinematographic ventures into Chunking Express to create a clear cut and unique style different from his other predecessors.

His directorial vision on the film form, which i totally admire, proves revolutionary to film history. I cannot match him with anyone (should i even matched one director to the other). he clearly is one of the best directors of "New Era".

I prepared some screen shots:

----
----

Meanwhile, on mainstream cinema:

1) Slumdog Millionaire (2008), for some reason i practically don't know, is showing on Black Saturday, April 11 at the local cinemas. This is crap. i was waiting for like three months now [I supposed it should be shown in sync with The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)]. What a big, big marketing game! I will surely flood the theater if this opens on Black Saturday. Post-Oscar hype plus a word-of-mouth epidemic. I totally hate it. It's all money. Black Saturday, a holiday, family day --- those guys really know how to pull it off. Spare me some air to breath will all this suffocation on the local film business, will you?

2) Knowing (2009) I quote one of friend's words, he went to its premiere:

"Ang pangit! Sayang lang ng pera ko. Sentimental ang pagka-depict sa kanya. Yung problema kasi sa kanya, yung conflict hindi nare-solve fully. Parang natapos nalang ang movie na walang pinatunguhan ang kwento."

(It's a bad film. I only wasted my money. It is sentimentally depicted. The problem is the unresolved storyline conflict. It ends as if the story did not arrive somewhere.)

I don't exactly know what he's talking about. He just jumped in my room and screaming how bad film was. Should i watch the film? I don't think so.

3) The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) This is purely hysterical! I just can't imagine i gave in to it so easily! Seth Rogen is there as 'the-ugly-as-fuck guy'. Steve Carell is also there, he lived 'a very fulfilling life as Andy Stitzer'. I admire this comedy, really.


------

DREAMS by The Cranberries
(featured several times in Chungking Express but in Cantonese)

------

****

SOMBRE [1999 or 1998] OPENING SEQUENCE

DOUBLE-Bill of the Day at AUDITOIRE

Opening Sequence of Sombre [1999]

One could say Philippe Grandieux is Kubrickian, as one of the commenter would say, but he's more like Truffaut.

Truffaut's The 400 Blows [1959]

*****

PASSIONATE BLOGGER, what?

take a plunge....

[all images are taken from VILLAGE-OBLIVIA [link]]




Jan gave me the Passionate Blogger Award. The rules say you have to post five things you're passionate about and to pass it on to five people. it's pretty easy so here's my list:



1) Writing - because this is what i breathe for.



2) The [Contemplative] Cinema - because it is my only happiness.


3) Contemporary [Avant-Garde] Art - because i live for it.



4) NEW YORK - because I live there.



5) 'Coffee' - because i keeps me up.




Ciao!

I pass this award to:

1) YOSHKE
2) Kulot, She Blogs



*****

ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL [1974]

a short commentary with screen shots

I am delighted with Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s frames. He embellishes Ali with such enthusiasm and originality which fascinates even the most ordinary human being. His idea of framing, although common to contemporary auteurs such as Edward Yang and Krzysztof Kieślowski, is a unique aesthetic invention

The frames below are significant to the film. It manages to interlaced both external and internal events, a method obtained by changing the type of film used. One can observe the distance of the camera to the characters signifying isolation, loneliness and insoluble fear. Fassbinder uses a different camera to reinforce a metaphoric semblance of mysticism, somewhat to look at the two as dissimilar, foreign and uncommon to the audience. It detaches the characters but also reflects the overlapping of both happiness, for Ali and Emmi got married and just got out of the registry office; and sadness, for both of them and how the 'New German Society' would treat them as an interracial couple.


It is a film that requires an audience to breathe. But sometimes, it often suggests one to feel restricted, suffocated and narrowed on small, tight spaces. It manages to transpire a definite sign system with a masterful usages of frame especially using a doorways to reflect the character's inner modes of thinking. Doorway frames, I call them.

Half-Way Door - sliced between them, it separates the
two worlds of two unlike human being.

----------------
40:22


43:15

Repeated Doorway - it plunges both of them to an unprecedented
racial discrimination of a post-Nazi German Society (Hitler was referenced
several times in the film)

-----------------

Magnified hand illusion - implicitly depicts, if highly enforcing,
the dominance of Ali, giving him justice against the piercing eyes
of Emmi Sons

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More images framed in a doorway fashion

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Dark doorway images - black - a representation of dark hidden
desires, a period in the film with represents Ali failure as a husband,
a humanistic portrayal of fragmented human being.

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Tremendous isolation.

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Mirror and window panes - trapping characters into fragile objects
like a mirror or a window pane represent their
incapacity for triumph and human strength.

Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is a unique cinematic experience. It offers a completely different picture of racism (for lack of a better word) --- a topic which i hate to discuss because it aggravates arguments and often leads to inconclusive discussions on film. I hate to label the film as anti-racist primarily because it is not. it establishes a more distinctive picture of human relations and how differences can divide individuals from individuals and individuals from society than rather ruling out as another anti-racist film primarily because Ali is black. To describe Ali as black, by anyone, by a critic, by a scholar, is an opinion of a racist.

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