In the world of Madison Avenue circa 1960, life was a party. Adulterous flings, come-ons and ogling twenty-something secretaries were like sport for the hipster ad men in charge. The women, on the other hand, were no more than dolls, sweethearts, (more…)
Before a character even opens their mouth in a Wes Anderson film, you can tell who they are just by their appearance. They have eccentric looking hats, head-bands, sunglasses, sports jackets, suits, tuxedos, athletic wear, bow ties, unusual hairdos, facial hair, and accessories. Like Federico Fellini, Anderson has created his own surreal, (more…)
Marilyn Monroe is the symbol of the eternal feminine. She represents an era when sex was not openly discussed or depicted but was suggested in looks and body language.
And Marilyn had a language all her own. She was sex incarnate and that’s what everyone saw up on the screen.
“Marilyn is as near a genius as any actress I ever knew,” said Josh Logan, director of Bus Stop. “She is an artist beyond artistry. (more…)
Latest “Blue Sky Studios” feature, “Horton Hears a Who,” transfers Dr. Seuss’ classic onto the up-to-date medium of digital animation — and what was lost and what was gained in the process seems to be the major concern of many film critics. While most agree that the computerized reproduction of Dr. Seuss’ iconic visuals — the big eared Elephant Horton, the jungle vegetation, the town of Whoville and its residents — is faithful to the source, if at times too glossy, (more…)
Woody Allen’s films are all about people with mucked up interior lives. Allen’s characters are often over dependent on their shrinks, stuck in dissatisfying marriages, or haunted by oppressive childhoods. But the interior spaces in Allen’s films are no where near as messy as the characters that live in them. In fact, the smart, stylish interior design that frames the shots in Allen’s wry dramas starkly contrasts his characters’ psychological instability. (more…)
The evolution of black-and-white cinematography has officially begun. The shadow-play and etched starkness of two-tone movie-making has always been more of an artistic statement than a reasonable field in which to play out a story told on-screen. Christian Volckman’s 2006 noir-thriller Renaissance dives head-first into the deep end of exploring, and destroying, the probable limitations of filming with 3D motion-capture animation in an exclusively black-and-white setting. The images that he and his team have created over the staggering production span of seven years help to redefine the nature of black-and-white cinema, ushering in new field on which to play.
Directed by Jeff Feuerzeig
Does creative genius cause/create or generate madness, or is it madness that the world upholds as artistic genius? The Devil in Daniel Johnston does not try to answer this question but illustrates the conditionality and the repercussions of such genius.
A film depicting the rise of mythic folk legend Daniel Johnston as a man burdened by genius and originally cursed by mental deficiency. Exploring Daniel’s earliest influences when he had begun to develop a taste for artistic endeavor around middle school with interviews from personal friends and family members to present interviews with Daniel’s mother and father and his current band members the film explores the psychosis of a struggling artist and his grip on his personal reality and the reality he lives in.
Only in San Francisco would a filmmaker bring together a leading mid-career architect, an ex-hippie junk collector and the city’s building code inspector to complete a month-long project creating a beautiful, architecturally sound home made entirely of scrap from the salvage yards. Only in San Francisco would that building stand on the lawn in front of City Hall as a monument to the abilities of a community committed to exploring alternative design methods in unconventional settings. And only in San Francisco would such innovative architecture find so much support that a year later the film documenting the project would be screening as part of a month-long tribute to architecture in the city.
“ScrapHouse” was the pet project of Rachel Weidinger, a filmmaker dedicated to doing work which contributes to the world around her. She had the idea to film the process of a design team coming together with a construction team to complete the creation of an environment-conscious building constructed entirely of junk. There was a time when she was certain that the project was not going to come to fruition. There was no funding, there was no organizational plan, and there was no concrete group of people to complete the project.
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This French Noir thriller is true black and white. While watching the trailer may remind you of Sin City, this flick uses no grey tones - just good ol’ on/off pixels.
The filmmakers originally produced a 4-minute short film using the technique and shopped it around with investors. The money poured in and allowed them to hire on architects and urban planners as visual consultants.
Set in 2054 Paris, the story revolves around the kidnapping of a young and brilliant researcher. US distributor Miramax opted against sub-titles (lazy Americans) and is having the film dubbed in English. Hopefully those mouths match up better than Pokemon cartoons.
Renaissance opens in the U.S. on Sept. 22.
