acoolsha
General entries
Inglourious Basterds 22 December 09
Section: article
Categories: Film / dvd
What a rare film. Brilliant dialogue.
Like rummaging about in a pirate’s treasure chest full of precious stones. One example: Mike Myers playing a British officer. Another: the wine glasses.
More on the film when I watch it again sometime.
- Title: Inglourious Basterds
- Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
- Writing credits: Quentin Tarantino
- Starring: Bradd Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Chritoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger...
- Year: 2009
- Further details: Length: 153 minutes
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Avatar 21 December 09
Section: article
Categories: Film / in-a-cinema
Technically this film was beautifully done, of course. The story was not unusual, but was resolved differently from films of its kind in that — well this gives it away a bit, so stop reading if you haven’t seen it yet — the relative “powerlessness” of the victims of the invading force was held in check, wasn’t hammered into us (indigenous peoples historically have more than once beaten back more powerful systems, thinking of Viet Nam of course). And resistance in the story did lead to liberation and did not end demoralizingly in tragedy. I wish the sort of “great white hope” cliche of the former “marine” taking the lead in that liberation had been done differently.
- Title: Avatar
- Directed by: James Cameron
- Writing credits: James Cameron
- Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore...
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Nanook of the North 6 December 09
Section: article
Categories: Film / dvd
What a remarkable film this is.
I was reading about crtiticisms of the filmmaker, Robert Flaherty, for having staged scenes in the film. The film, in its total impact, plausibly and respectfully provides a powerful sense of the life of the Inuit at that time (early 1920s), which I am certain was a central intention of Flaherty. It laid the groundwork for the idea of documentary filmmaking. A more important inquiry (than criticizing this film) would be into how all documentary filmmaking reflects the subjectivity and outlooks of the filmmakers. The presence of the filmmakers already alters the scenes — whereas consciously staging some situations could serve to strengthen their authenticity, certainly in physical environments such as the arctic where the technical constraints were extreme.
- Title: Nanook of the North
- Directed by: Robert Flaherty
- Writing credits: Robert Flaherty
- Year: 11 June 1922
- Further details: 79 minutes
Permalink :: article/627/Nanook of the North
Hunger 29 November 09
Section: article
Categories: Film / dvd
This film was a very pleasant surprise. It was intelligently made and a powerful portrayal of the incarceration and death of the IRA martyr Bobby Gerald Sands, who died of a hunger strike in 1981 while a political prisoner at the British prison, Long Kesh (the Maze).
This adds to the list of films I’ve watched recently on the history of Ireland, for example the remarkable film The Wind that Shakes the Barley, and Fifty Dead Men Walking
The actor who brilliantly played Bobby Sands was Michael Fassbender, who is German-Irish. He was born in Heidelberg to an Irish mother and German father, then raised from the age of two in Ireland. He is related to Michael Collins.
Links
Bobby Sands
Steve McQueen (artist)
Michael Fassbender
Michael Collins (Irish Leader)
- Title: Hunger
- Directed by: Steve McQueen
- Writing credits: Steve McQueen, Enda Walsh
- Starring: Michael Fassbender, Stuart Graham, Rory Mullen
- Year: 2008
- Further details: 96 minutes
Permalink :: article/625/Hunger