Friday, April 29, 2011
DAY 12, MOVIE 1:
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), directed by Wes Anderson. Every once in a while there comes a film that I didn’t really care for the first time I saw it, but as time went by I appreciated it more and more. The Royal Tenenbaums is one of those movies. The first time I saw it, I thought the premise was intriguing, but I thought the acting (with the exception of Gene Hackman) was rather stale. The movie is about three child prodigies, whose heydays have passed in their adult lives, and all move back home. Meanwhile, their estranged father tries to get back into their lives by pretending to have stomach cancer. Every time I watch this movie, I notice a little more in at least one of the performance. Little by little I understand why so many see this as Wes Anderson’s masterpiece. In one way or another, every character has been hurt by another character, and they all try so hard to let that hurt show on the surface. And then they all try to deal with that hurt in their own way, all on their own. The scene that resonates most with me is when Luke Wilson’s character attempts suicide by slitting his wrists. The scene is so magnificently performed, shot, and edited, that I can’t help but feel emotionally involved with the scene. The color scheme of the scene is much bluer and darker than the rest of movie, which has a lot of warm colors. So the sudden transition in the look adds the right amount of intensity. And when Luke Wilson says, “I’m going to kill myself tomorrow,” a reference to Louis Malle’s The Fire Within, it’s just heart wrenching. But the touch that always gets me is that brief montage before he slits his wrists. Those quick shots of his childhood, of his hawk freely flying away, and of the woman he loves shown right before he tries to take his own life are a beautiful display of looking into the mind of a broken man.
DAY 12, MOVIE 2:
The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher. You may want to get used to reading about this movie, because I’ll be watching it a lot during this year. Since I only just covered this movie yesterday, I’ll be brief this time. Tonight I watched this movie with a friend who hadn’t seen it before, and he loved it. He even pointed out a few of his own interpretations, which I found to be intriguing. Specifically the boat race scene set to the music of In the Hall of the Mountain King. I had always seen that sequence as metaphorically showing the twins’ relationship to Zuckerberg, and their pursuit of claiming the Facebook as their own, but I could never quite put my thoughts into the exact words I wanted. My friend summed it perfectly, saying “I see that scene as showing that they were losing from the start.” Another thing he pointed out was how the Zuckerberg and Sean Parker characters were different from each other, in that Zuckerberg has a conscience. During the club scene, Zuckerberg asks Parker if he ever thinks about the girl he loved in high school, and Parker simply says “no.” And then at the very end, we see Zuckerberg can not forget about the girl who dumped him at the beginning of the movie, and is sorry for the way he treated her. For those of you who have seen the movie, you know how David Fincher was able to perfectly show this visually, without saying a single word.
Showing posts with label David Fincher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Fincher. Show all posts
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Day 11: Modern Masterpieces
Thursday, April 28, 2011
DAY 11, MOVIE 1:
The Departed (2006), directed by Martin Scorsese. Oh, there is so much to say about this movie. This is yet another movie I have seen countless times. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies, in my top 50. It’s easily one of Scorsese’s five best films he’s ever made, I’m happy he finally won his much-deserved Oscar for this movie. I remember after I first saw this movie I was constantly raving about it. Every single actor does a great job with the material given. But I’d have to say Matt Damon is the standout in my eyes, as he plays the product of the mind of a criminal genius, who goes undercover in the Massachusetts state police. He plays the part perfectly, faking his allegiance to the police, but knowing his true loyalty is to crime boss Jack Nicholson. But the real star of The Departed is director Martin Scorsese. As always, he proves his mastery of the craft of film, balancing the two stories of the undercover cop, and the undercover mobster. Each shot in the movie is composed with great care; every frame is easy on the eye. I can play this whole movie in my head, the shots are that good. The soundtrack is also great; I don’t think Scorsese has any problem fitting in the music he likes into the movies he makes (he uses The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter three times. Twice in the same scene even!). And as for the score: how was that score not nominated for an Oscar? It added the write amount of intensity and emotion to each scene, and those guitar notes will stay in your head for a long, long time. I have nothing but praise for this film. This one will stand the test of time.
DAY 11, MOVIE 2:
The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher. 2010 had a couple of really good movies. Although I wouldn’t place it at the top of my list, The Social Network may be the movie from 2010 which I’ve watched the most. There is a lot to love about this movie, but the highlight to me is Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg. In my opinion, Eisenberg got robbed at the Oscars. Out of the five nominees for best actor, none of them had to take on the task of bringing a character as complex as this to life. At first glance, his character my only be an interpretation of the real Mark Zuckerberg, but I don’t think that’s true. I don’t see his performance as a portrayal of Zuckerberg himself, but rather a reflection of Zuckerberg’s creation, and its effect on modern society: emotionally distant, isolated, and detached. Playing someone who is still alive is a major challenge for an actor, but I think Eisenberg, along with the filmmakers, made the right choice for him to play Zuckerberg in such a way that every audience member has their own interpretation of his personality.
DAY 11, MOVIE 1:
The Departed (2006), directed by Martin Scorsese. Oh, there is so much to say about this movie. This is yet another movie I have seen countless times. It’s one of my all-time favorite movies, in my top 50. It’s easily one of Scorsese’s five best films he’s ever made, I’m happy he finally won his much-deserved Oscar for this movie. I remember after I first saw this movie I was constantly raving about it. Every single actor does a great job with the material given. But I’d have to say Matt Damon is the standout in my eyes, as he plays the product of the mind of a criminal genius, who goes undercover in the Massachusetts state police. He plays the part perfectly, faking his allegiance to the police, but knowing his true loyalty is to crime boss Jack Nicholson. But the real star of The Departed is director Martin Scorsese. As always, he proves his mastery of the craft of film, balancing the two stories of the undercover cop, and the undercover mobster. Each shot in the movie is composed with great care; every frame is easy on the eye. I can play this whole movie in my head, the shots are that good. The soundtrack is also great; I don’t think Scorsese has any problem fitting in the music he likes into the movies he makes (he uses The Rolling Stones’ Gimme Shelter three times. Twice in the same scene even!). And as for the score: how was that score not nominated for an Oscar? It added the write amount of intensity and emotion to each scene, and those guitar notes will stay in your head for a long, long time. I have nothing but praise for this film. This one will stand the test of time.
DAY 11, MOVIE 2:
The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher. 2010 had a couple of really good movies. Although I wouldn’t place it at the top of my list, The Social Network may be the movie from 2010 which I’ve watched the most. There is a lot to love about this movie, but the highlight to me is Jesse Eisenberg’s performance as Mark Zuckerberg. In my opinion, Eisenberg got robbed at the Oscars. Out of the five nominees for best actor, none of them had to take on the task of bringing a character as complex as this to life. At first glance, his character my only be an interpretation of the real Mark Zuckerberg, but I don’t think that’s true. I don’t see his performance as a portrayal of Zuckerberg himself, but rather a reflection of Zuckerberg’s creation, and its effect on modern society: emotionally distant, isolated, and detached. Playing someone who is still alive is a major challenge for an actor, but I think Eisenberg, along with the filmmakers, made the right choice for him to play Zuckerberg in such a way that every audience member has their own interpretation of his personality.
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