August 2009 Movie Roundup.

I’ve neglected posting a while so I thought I’d jump back into it. Although I don’t have anything that interesting to report so I thought I’d reach into the generic blogger bag of tricks. After shoving my arm in and picking a topic I thought movie reviews. It’s easy, non-committal, and may be near readable. Either way, here’s some shit I’ve seen recently.

Asteroids.

In the latest bid-war-victory-news Universal Pictures has won the film rights to asteroids. I remember playing asteroids at a local card shop for at least an hour everyday after school. Apparently I wasn’t playing hard enough to grip the complex storyline that will propel this movie to box office history. In actuality this is probably another attempt by Universal to make a lot of money on merchandise based on the movie. I for one can’t blame them, it’s cashing in on your nostalgia.

The Asylum.

If you don’t know what The Asylum is you may be familiar with some of their titles: H. G. Wells War of the Worlds, King of the Lost Worlds, The Da Vinci Treasure, Pirates of Treasure Island, Snakes on a Train, AVH: Aliens vs. Hunter, Transmorphers, and the list goes on. They produce what’s known as mockbusters. Essentially they piggyback on the success of a blockbuster to get more people to watch their films. They tend to be lower budget films that have their own plot and usually some sexy subplot.

Adam Elliot.

As a fan of film and animation I have a special place in my heart for artists that occupy both genres. Adam Elliot is an Australian artist who is responsible for the Academy-Award winning piece Harvie Krumpet. Recently he completed his first feature length film Mary and Max. I believe it actually opened at Sundance which I think is the first animated piece to open. The first piece I saw was a short called Uncle. This was the first of a trilogy of films about odd family members of his life. The AFI gave him an award for each of the trilogy.

I Love You, Man.

If you’re like me you wonder what people would look like if you could mash them together. That means both through horrible car accidents, and using photo blending software. One of the best I’ve created was Bruce Campell and Dave Coulier. Unfortunately the resulting picture came to life and named itself Jason Segel. With that shitty intro out of the way here’s a few of my thoughts on this new flick.

The romantic comedy genre is immortal and demonized. Mainly because it’s an obvious ploy to maximize profits while simultaneously minimizing the effort put forth by the filmmakers. Still, it’s an easy way to get couples into seats and it’s appreciated by people who don’t want to invest time or energy on creative dating.

It’s alright though. I got a few cheap laughs and could appreciate the weird metro/mushy friendship Rudd and Segel have on screen. For the most part though, it’s just another cheap popcorn movie. I saw it for free though, so if given the chance to do the same, do it.

Raygun Gothic.

I’m a big fan of the old works of Fritz Lang. If you’ve never heard of Fritz Lang hopefully you’ve heard of Metropolis. If you haven’t check the link, if you have I’m focusing in on the set style and architecture of that movie and several like it. When you look at more of the exterior shots or the design of the buildings like the Tower of Babel in the film you can see a good example of what’s called streamline modern architecture which is itself a late branch of art deco. There are lots of elegant and modern elements along with the long curving forms that are good examples of SM. There are also elements that have a distinct futurist feel that are best identified as googie architecture. All three of these styles merit some of your attention on their own but there is so much overlap between the three that most use the catch-all phrase coined by William Gibson Raygun Gothic.

Watchmen.

Yaawwwnnn. Oh sorry, didn’t see you readers there. I was waking up from a three hour nap from re-watching Watchmen. What a snooze fest! If you’re here from a tag link fora review of the movie let me give you a few tips before going in. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities. Veidt killed the comedian to fake an alien invasion to have everyone stop global hostilities.

Home Theatre.

Got wind of a pretty nifty piece of info when it comes to the shift from theatre to home theatre movie viewing: 1 million Xbox members use Netflix. This is great news, I have held the theatre industry in the highest contempt for some years now. Even historically they piss me off. You ever wonder why old silent films look like they are all sped up? Film projectors when run at proper speed could heat the film and have it set on fire, and theatres wanted to maximize the number of audience members they could serve.

Today many films are shown out of focus to not damage the film reel or are shown dimly for the same reason. The service is always terrible, or at least it has been for me. E.G. I buy a small soda and the movie ends up making me thirstier than I anticipated. I figure if I go back and offer to pay the difference between the small and the large(tub that comes with free refills) they’d just let me pay for a refill. Nope, sorry pal, you buy another small or another large or go sit on it. The trailers making my ears bleed, the movie cuts being apparent, the bathrooms being dirty. I have yet to be to a cinema that hasn’t made me regret going out to the movies.

The shift to home cinema has so many advantages it’d be foolish to try to list them out. However I do find it worthwhile to speak on what I feel is the most important, repeated viewings. Harun Farocki once stated that with the advent of video the possibility of reviewing would lead to the viewer being the co-author of meaning. You’ve probably done this before without even realizing it, ever go back and watch a movie and catch a subtle line you missed and had the image of that character or even the tone of the story changed? Even without having the meaning of the film changed it’s nice to be able to share movies with friends. A simple, “Dude you surely must go to the cinema to see this movie I totally liked” looks selfish and uncaring compared to, “As a valued friend, please come to my home and share this cinematic treasure I’ve found and we will celebrate the occasion with popping of corn”. No contest.

Pirate Talk

So, I hear that a lot of people pirate movies. I don’t really care if people do it or not, but there is a subculture attached to piracy and hacking attached to bootlegged movies (Pirates vs. Ninjas?) that is too often overlooked now that P2P has made it so easy to steal online. If you’re down with stealing but are ignorant of the scene, at least learn some lingo.

Pirate Talk

Click the link and at least learn some of the jargon.

Silhouette City.

If you haven’t seen it, get your hands 0n a copy. If you were a fan of the documentary Jesus Camp, hop on the trolley and check this out. A quick synopsis from the site itself:

Silhouette City is a harrowing free-fall through the near space of American religious extremism. Using archival video, movement propaganda, original investigational material and custom video-game footage, it tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins to the mainstream.

The film begins with the story of an obscure Christian survivalist group active in the 1970s and 80s, as recounted by one of its former members, and then moves forward to the current post 9-11 era where startling ideological echoes are revealed and examined.

In a period largely defined by religious violence, Silhouette City examines the motivations for adopting apocalyptic worldviews by providing a unique window into the foundational ideas, organizational structure and psychological dynamics of one of the most powerful movements taking root in America today. The film bears witness to the long, dark shadows of fear and intolerance being cast in the familiar landscapes of the homeland.

I like this movie because it has a great depth of interviews compared to other similar films. Interspersed archival footage with interviews from current scholars gives a powerful look at how this problem of conservative-paramilitary-crackpot-christians has grown without truly being addressed until something major happens. Like FBI standoff major. I can’t really give a solid discussion until you’ve seen it because I’d like people to see it and form their own opinion.

Actually no, I think belief in any god is a little silly actually. It’s just too easy to see a normal person become a fundamentalist once inoculated with any sort of religious virus (as in something that cannot grow outside of a host, and I generally regard as yucky/lame).