Here is an article on NDLR starting from Werner Herzog's short movie La Souffriere introducing the town Saint Pierre (Guadeloupe) empty from its inhabitants because of eruption risk (La Souffriere is the local vulcano). From then, NDLR presents Nicolas Moulin (Paris) and Masakata Nakano's (Tokyo) work.We could add to this article two movies: Vanilla sky (Cameron Crowe) and Seuls two (Eric Judor & Ramzy Bedia)
Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cinema. Show all posts
# Empty cities on NDLR
Here is an article on NDLR starting from Werner Herzog's short movie La Souffriere introducing the town Saint Pierre (Guadeloupe) empty from its inhabitants because of eruption risk (La Souffriere is the local vulcano). From then, NDLR presents Nicolas Moulin (Paris) and Masakata Nakano's (Tokyo) work.We could add to this article two movies: Vanilla sky (Cameron Crowe) and Seuls two (Eric Judor & Ramzy Bedia)
# Synecdoche New York by Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche New York is an amazing movie dealing with reality and representation in a fabulous Magritte way. Some parts recall Peter Weir's Truman Show in a more ambiguous and complex way due to a volontary and collective allienation. This is an important and beautiful movie.
# The Fall by Tarsem
Let us be clear, Tarsem is a commercial director and still his two films so far, The Cell and The Fall are difficult to appreciate for their scenarii or their characters' complexity. However Tarsem succeed to keep the same image rhythm of a one minute commercial in a one hour and half movie. Result is quite impressive and surely desserves to be watched...
# Tati Ville in NDLR
Here is a good article in NDLR about the story of how Jacques Tati succeed (with great difficulties) to build a Potemkin city for the shooting of Play Time in 1964.
# Threat Level's 10 Favorite Paranoid Films by Wired
Wired.com publishes a top ten called Threat Level's 10 Favorite Paranoid Films. Question is what to think of yourself when you did see all of them like I did...picture: Pi by Darren Aronofsky (1998)
# Stanley Kubrick retrospective in Paris
La Filmotheque du quartier latin, a little but well known Parisian theater proposes currently a Stanley Kubrick retrospective with seven movies: 2001 A space odyssee, The shining, Barry Lyndon, Clockwork orange, Lolita, Full metal jacket and Eyes wide shut. One can regret here that the fantastic Dr Strangelove does not belong to this list but the initiative already desserve to be salute !
# FIGHT WITH TOOLS /// Fight Club
...When we invented fight club, Tyler and I, neither of us had ever been in a fight before. If you’ve never been in a fight, you wonder. About getting hurt, about what you’re capable of doing against another man. I was the first guy Tyler ever felt safe enough to ask, and we were both drunk in a bar where no one would care so Tyler said, “I want you to do me a favor. I want you to hit me as hard as you can.I didn’t want to, but Tyler explained it all, about not wanting to die without any scars, about being tired of watching only professionals fight, and wanting to know more about himself.About self-destruction.At the time, my life just seemed too complete, and maybe we have to break everything down to make something better out of ourselves. I looked around and said, okay. Okay, I say, but outside in the parking lot. So we went outside, and I asked if Tyler wanted it in the face or in the stomach.Tyler said, “Surprise me.”I said I had never hit anybody.Tyler said, “So go crazy, man.”I said, close your eyes.Tyler said, “No.”Like every guy on his first night in fight club, I breathed in and swung my fist in a roundhouse at Tyler’s jaw like in every cowboy movie we’d ever seen, and me, my fist connected with the side of Tyler’s neck.Shit, I said, that didn’t count. I want to try again.Tyler said, “Yeah it counted,” and hit me, straight on, pow, just like a cartoon boxing glove on a spring on Saturday morning cartoons, right there in the middle of my chest and I fell back against a car. We both stood there, Tyler rubbing the side of his neck and me holding a hand on my chest, both of us knowing we’d gotten somewhere we’d never been and like the cat and mouse in cartoons, we were still alive and wanted to see how far we could take this thing and still be alive.Tyler said, “Cool.”I said, hit me again.Tyler said, “No, you hit me.”So I hit him, a girl’s wide roundhouse to right under his ear, and Tyler shoved me back and stomped the heel of his shoe in my stomach. What happened next and after that didn’t happen in words, but the bar closed and people came out and shouted around us in the parking lot.Instead of Tyler, I felt finally I could get my hands on everything in the world that didn’t work, my cleaning that came back with the collar buttons broken, the bank that says I’m hundred of dollars overdrawn. My job where my boss got on my computer and fiddled with my DOS execute commands. And Marla Singer, who stole the support groups from me.Nothing was solved when the fight was over, but nothing mattered..."
Chuck Palahniuk's novel and David Fincher's movie presents an amazing "club" rejecting any from of social contract. In fact, acting against every artefacts decoy-ing humans from their ability to feel life and death, what Tyler Durden tends forward is a return to natural state for humanity. He imagine a city invaded by jungle and the way of life it implies. Far away from gently and politicaly correct sustainibility, he gives himself all means to succeed.
And to prove you, Durden is not just a novel/movie character, here is a video of a live hijacking of last week end's super bowl, by a 30 seconds porn video !
# Sleep dealer by Alex Rivera
This Mexican movie (currently released in some theatres in France) presents US and Mexico's relationships around 2030. The Wall is more hermetic than ever, United States restrain the water stock and propose to Mexicans to work for American companies by a plug-in system in the body which allows workers to transfer their energies to the other side of the border.Let's face it, computer images are awful and I personally doubt that the movie's (small) budget was well organised. However, issues are interesting and the vision of a future where environment is not so different from nowadays and where innovation essentialy comes from networks is pretty convincing.
# The creatures that ate Hollywood on Wired.com
little article on Wired.com about cinema's creatures. Here is the japanese movie Kingu Kongu tai Gojira (King Kong against Godzilla).
# Home by Ursula Meier
Here is an absolutely brilliant new movie just released in France, Switzerland and Belgium called Home. Written and directed by French/Swiss film director Ursula Meier, this movie succeed to reach the quality of a Ballardian story (read The concrete island) in which Humans become prisonners of their technocratic environment.The story of Home, depicts a family living on the border of an abandonned motorway in construction. Paradoxally, instead of the omnipresent fields, this artefact fits with their garden, their territory of dream, their heterotopia. Unfortunetly, this motorway will be soon opening to traffic...I don't know if this movie will be released elsewhere, but I recommand it to anybody who'd be able to watch it !
# Korean Cinema in Paris
From october 22nd until november 18th, parisian theater La filmotheque du Quartier Latin presents a wide panorama of Korean cinema from 60's to nowadays thanks to 60 movies from masters such as Im Kwon-Taek, Lee Doo-yong or Bae Chang-ho and more currents directors such as Kim Ki-Duk, Hong Sang-soo, Bong Joon-ho, Im Sang-soo or Park Chan-Wook.La filmotheque du Quartier Latinrue champollion (Ve arrondissement)
# Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb
Dr. Strangelove is one of the most appreciated Kubrick's movie. Whoever watched it can not forget the movie's set where general staff is gathering. This set has been designed by Kenneth Adam and here is a preparation drawing.
# The Gotham City issue
I assume that everybody who has seen last Christopher Nolan's Batman Dark Knight would agree to say that it is a very well orchestrated movie, and I would definetly not be the exception. However, if I still can observe a little annoyance, I would have to say that I feel really disapointed by Nolan's refusal of creating anything about Gotham City. In fact, I never went to Chicago but this is obvious that it is the really city where this episode takes place (I'm also wondering what was the point of shooting in Hong Kong despite the fact that I'm always happy to see HK in a movie). Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher brought their own vision of Gotham and the weird thing is that Nolan also did in Batman begins... so what happened ? If the budget ran off, I guess it brings us back to the HK issue.Anyway hopefully I spent a very good time watching it and I hope you did too !
# Flooded London 2090, a tranquil Utopia
Flooded London 2090 is an exhibition created by the graffic design office Squint/Opera in Medcaft Gallery (London) and dramatises the old Tyler Durden's (Fight Club) dream to sea a city as London re-colonized by nature. We are now in 2090 and London has been gain on the sea level several years ago, and urban life has been re-organised peacefuly as a tranquil Utopia. Some women are fishing in an abandonned Canary Wharf building, a man is diving from St Paul's dome...everything is simple and silent.So who is still afraid from the future ?
Of course it remains me of something in the past; Paris beeing flooded in 1910 (see an older post) and Boulevard Haussmann becoming Venice's Grand Canal.
It also remains me of Michael Anderson's Logan's run (1976) when Logan 5 and Jessica 6 discover Washington back to nature and Capitole's dome invaded by ivy !
# Shining revival
La chaine de télévision More 4, afin de promouvoir "The Stanley Kubrick Season" a tourné un court film nous plongeant sur le tournage de Shining dans une assez incroyable reconstitution des décors et des acteurs (55 sosies des acteurs et assistants de Kubrick ont été engagés) de laquelle se dégage une ambiance digne du film !
# Valse avec Bachir de Ari Folman
Un très bon film en ce moment en salles, Valse avec Bachir de l'israélien Ari Folman. Ce film porte à la fois sur les mécanismes mis en place par la mémoire humaine pour se protéger des horreurs de la guerre et sur un épisode historique tragique pour le Liban en 1982, le massacre des camps de réfugiés palestiniens de Sabra et Chatila à Beyrouth par les "phalangistes" sympathisants du Bachir Gemayel tout juste assassiné. Cet épisode de l'Histoire pèse sur certaines consciences israéliennes, l'armée étant présente et n'étant pas intervenue.Le graphisme du film est assez beau et remarquablement cohérent avec ces mêmes mécanismes de subjectivation de la mémoire.
Un film très fin donc, à voir...
# Am ende kommen Touristen (Et puis les Touristes) de Robert Thaleim
Très bon film allemand (titre en France: Et puis les touristes) narrant le service civil d'un jeune allemand à Auschwitz qui n'est ici qu'un exemple comme d'autres de lieux tendant vers le passé aussi bien pour des raisons économiques que mémorielles. Les habitants de ces lieux se retrouvent ainsi prisonniers/gardiens du souvenir "touristique".Le tout est traité de manière très fine et subtile et peut faire penser à beaucoup d'autres territoires happés par le passé.
cinémas parisiens: Reflet Médicis (Ve), Sept Parnassiens (XIVe), UGC Ciné-Cité les Halles (Ier) et Lincoln (VIIIe)
# Rétrospective Michel Gondry
A l'occasion de la sortie du film Be kind, Rewind (Soyez sympas, rembobinez), le MK2 Parnasse organise une mini rétrospective de Michel Gondry et diffuse ainsi:
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- La science des rêves
- Block Party
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