the door

The Pen Story

Annie Hall

I was watching Annie Hall and I am always so impressed at how good that movie is. If you have not seen it, highly recommended. that is all

The Soloist

I just finished watching the Soloist. I thought it was pretty good. Just a tad drawn out and some parts were just a tad cliche otherwise I really enjoyed it. RDJ and Jamie Foxx really do a fantastic job. An actor can learn alot by watching them. The film had some really dynamic shots and had tons of well woven in metaphors. This movie succeeded in using cliches in a really great way. There are points you see something coming, like a line. The line that you expect is one of those awesome yet overused kind of lines. The satisfaction of when it is said is like having eight orgasms. Some scenes fall flat. RDJ had an exwife character that was so annoying. She had like, one good scene the rest were just boring. The movie is good until the very end when its preachy about homeless people. While the cause is noble, it just don't really hit home with me. There are a few scene were you feel like an important charactor is being introduced and then it just sort of ends. You never see that character again. So-so writing, great acting pretty good directing. ther ya go

Avatar

I recently just saw Avatar. I'm not gonna write a long review or anything. I just want to bring to light how much this movie is overrated. I enjoyed the movie a lot. The problem is that the special effects gloss people over and they forget that the movie is simply a rehash of Pocahontas with INSANE special effects. It was O.K. By no means great. Just thought I would point that out.

The Auteurs

Now this is cool. I found out about this through looking up some info about certain Criterion Collection DVDS. In case you did not know the Criterion Collection is a a video distribution company selling "important classic and contemporary films" to cinema aficionados. I have been a long time subscriber to their news periodicals and have found myself buying only Criterion DVDs because they are the only ones really worth buying nowadays, considering how much can be found online and from Netflix. Anyhoo, I was browsing their site when I came across The Auteurs, an online film website. Imagine this, a website that streams movies for free and allows you to connect to others with similar tastes through a social networking system. Well, this is that website. The Auteurs is partnered with The Criterion Collection (whose website The Auteurs designed and manage), the French film distributor Celluloid Dreams and Costa Films, a company specializing in the distribution of films from Latin America. Due to this arrangement, the site is able to stream films that are not currently available on DVD, such as Claire Denis's Vers Mathilde; the selection of viewable films depends on the country the site is being accessed from. In May 2009, The Auteurs formed an alliance with Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation to promote and distribute a number of WCF restored titles. Films that the WCF restores have a premiere at Cannes Film Festival before beginning a tour of other festivals and museum exhibitions. During the museum tour of the restored 35mm prints, the films are made available digitally through The Auteurs. For the streaming of films, The Auteurs sends compressed files to the browser's Flash plug-in. The Auteurs' engineers create compression settings for each film via a digital chain that includes mplayer, x264, ffmpeg, and mp4box. Audio is augmented with 5.1 Dolby surround sound. The Auteurs also hosts an online magazine called The Auteurs' Notebook, which is based in New York City and edited by Daniel Kasman. The Notebook is updated daily on weekdays and features several regular columns as well as movie reviews and coverage of major film festivals. I became a member right away, and I hope after reading this, you do too. Here, my friends, is the site. ENJOY!

Movies For Art

Inspiration can come from anywhere–school, pop culture, a walk outside. One of the best ways to be inspired, however (for me especially) is by another artist. The next time you’re feeling lost on creativity (or just need some drama to put your artistic troubles in perspective), take a night off and consider checking out one of these:

Lust For Life (1956) Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn lead as Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin in a critically applauded movie about a group of artists who helped to define the label of “troubled genius.” I had once heard a story actually, about Michael Douglas getting freaked out by his fathers chilling performance. Goods stuff. TRAILER

The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965) This classic, starring Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II and Charlton Heston as an especially rugged Michelangelo, chronicles the unlikely team and their clashing of wills surrounding the painting of the Sistine Chapel. TRAILER

My Left Foot (1989) Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for his portrayal of Christy Brown, who became an accomplished artist and writer despite being born with cerebral palsy and full control over nothing but his left foot. I got the DVD for free. No, you can’t borrow it. TRAILER (not very good trailer)

Crumb (1994) Terry Zwigoff leads viewers on a darkly comic ride through the troubled, acid-fueled, gam-filled life of controversial underground comix artist Robert Crumb. I will defiantly post some of his stuff in the near future. TRAILER

Basquiat (1996) Depicting postmodern graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and his troubled rise to fame, this movie marks the directorial debut of Julian Schnabel, originally a painter himself and a former colleague of the artist. And yes, David Bowie is Andy Warhol. TRAILER

Pollock (2000) Ed Harris’s pet project about groundbreaking modern artist Jackson Pollock garnered critical acclaim, Academy Award nominations (and a win for Marcia Gay Harden as Pollock’s wife), and is certainly worth checking out. TRAILER

Frida (2002) This account of Mexican surrealist pioneer Frida Kahlo is visually stunning, not only in portraying her life but in bringing several of her most famous paintings to life on the screen. Salma Hayek performs beautifully in the title role. TRAILER

American Splendor (2003) Part biopic and part documentary (the real-life players appear nearly as often as the actors), Paul Giamatti is perfect in his incarnation of angry everyman and Crumb collaborator Harvey Pekar, whose ranting life observations are the spark for the gritty autobiographical comic book series from which this movie takes its name.TRAILER

Factory Girl (2006) Focusing on muse and model Edie Sedgwick, this movie offers an alternate perspective into the world of Andy Warhol’s famous Factory collective. This movie, I will admit has some flaws...and you can find the whole thing on YOUTUBE. TRAILER

The Science of Sleep (2006) All right, Stéphane and Stephanie may be fictional artists, but director Michel Gondry’s artistic vision, with unique stop-motion creations and artfully crafted settings, is as much the star of this movie as any actor. TRAILER