28 posts tagged “nablopomo 2009”
(a) Dick Cheney
(b) Donald Rumsfeld
(c) Charles Graner
(d) George W. Bush
(e) none of the above
there is a reason why The Pentagon screened The battle of Algiers in 2003. the flyer for the screening read:
Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range.
Women plant bombs in cafes.
Soon the entire Arab population builds to a mad fervor.
Sound familiar? The French have a plan. It succeeds tactically, but fails strategically.
To understand why, come to a rare showing of this film."
commissioned by the Algerian government, based on the memoirs of one of the rebel leaders, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, scored by Ennio Morricone, The battle of Algiers is a riveting film.
the movie chronicles the uprising of the Casbah, an episode in the Algerian war of independence. the uprising uses urban guerrilla tactics against the French authorities
the local police is overwhelmed. soon, a battalion of French paratroopers arrive in Algiers with a plan and a strategy
I don't often talk about movie 'extras', but I'll make an exception for this movie. The Criterion release of Battle of Algiers consists of three discs: the movie is in the first one, the second has a long interview with director Pontecorvo and technical details of the film, the third goes into questions of warfare and national security. all three discs are must-watch.
you don't have to spend too long in teh internets to find tons of accolades for The Treasure of the Sierra Madre:
John Huston's greatest film!; a triumph; Bogart's finest role; Walter Huston is a revelation; and so on.
the powers that be agreed: Treasure... won three Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture.
all that praise misses one thing. the one thing that makes Treasure... special
Dobbs:
"Nobody puts one over on Fred C. Dobbs.”
trailer
one of the greatest dialogues in American film. referenced in dozens if not hundreds of movies and TV shows:
Gold Hat: We are Federales... you know, the mounted police.
Dobbs: If you're the police, where are your badges?
Gold Hat: Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!
check it
Three Kings takes place in a far away place a long time ago: Iraq and 1991. the (first) Gulf war has just ended officially but there is still much chaos on the ground. as American soldiers disarm some surrendering Iraqi soldiers, the American soldiers find a document.
a war movie that is a heist movie that is a comedy movie.
a sharp critique of Bush I war, its victims, and those who became victims after the war.
great dialogue. check
"Archie
Gates: Sit down. What do you see here?
Chief Elgin: Bunkers,
sir.
Archie Gates: What's
in them?
Troy Barlow: Stuff
they stole from Kuwait.
Archie Gates:
Bullshit. I'm talking about millions in Kuwaiti bullion.
Conrad Vig: You mean
them little cubes you put in hot water to make soup?
Archie Gates: No, not
the little cubes you put in hot water to make soup.
”
trailer
a great, funny movie. 'tis sad to consider that at the time it was made, the Gulf war was a fast receding memory
WEIRD SEX – OBSESSION – COMIC BOOKS
instead of a tagline it looks like an equation, no? weird sex + obsession = comic books
and it could easily be, if your subject is R. Crumb
its been about 15 years, and Crumb remains remarkable for its candid approach to documentary biography..
R. Crumb, his wives (current and ex-), children, mother, brothers (his two sisters refuse to participate), friends, girlfriends, all agreed to sit with writer/producer/director Terry Zwigoff.
what results if a portrait of the artist as a deeply fucked up man from a deeply dysfunctional family - yet the most touching moments focus on R.'s older brother, Charles, profoundly psychotic and unable to leave his mother's house. as the brothers talk, we see some of the drawings and comix they made while growing up; and we see that Charles was by far the most talented. 'tis heartbreaking to watch.
clipx
no one would admit eating or stealing it. it remains a mystery.
it was like the 7th time I looked at the DVD cover that I *got* the "bigger, longer and uncut"
part. [hangs head in shame]. considering the battles M. Parker and
Stone had with the MPAA, it's surprising they allowed that bit to stay.
musical numbers, animation, war, satire, 'social issues', death, the afterlife all tied up in a ribbon = SP: B, L, U
excessive profanity? yes, please
trailer
"Uncle Fucker" from Asses on Fire
the school is concerned
who to blame, who to blame...
of course!
(is not like it's a real country anyways)
Once were warriors is a New Zealand movie, notable among other things for the number of Maori people involved in its production - the director, Lee Tamahori, the entire cast. the movie was very successful in New Zealand and got recognition around the world.
based on the 1980 novel of the same name, Once... narrates the struggles of a family living in Auckland. not quite living in poverty but getting there, the father, Jake Haka, has lost his job and spends most days and nights drinking at the pub. his wife, Beth, is the usual victim of Jake's rages. each of the children is getting lost in their own way. it takes a series of incidents, up to a tragic one, for Beth to finally decide to leave Jake and take the children back with her to the Maori village she's from.
the movie is remarkable for its representation of the violence in the Haka household, the alienation of the Maori from the majority white society, the efforts of some to use traditional Maori history and customs to instill pride and responsibility on the young men.
trailer
Jake, Jake the Muss
Olympia is Leni Reifenstahl documentary of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. it was released in two parts: Olympia Fest der Volker (Olympia Part One Festival of Nations) and Olympia Fest der Schonheist (Olympia Part Two Festival of Beauty)
Olympia was controversial from its release - and with reason. funded by the Nazi party Propaganda arm, and even with no overt Nazi content per se, the images of greater-than-life godlike athletes have been interpreted as supporting the 'superior race'. Frau Reifenstahl herself always denied any overt or covert Nazi alliances.
a very good documentary on Frau Reifenstahl's life and work is The wonderful horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl; in addition to exploring the Nazi question, The wonderful... also delves on the reasons why Riefenstahl is one of the great directors of the 20th century and the innovations she brought to film: the sudden cut, extreme close-ups, cameras on rails to pan over distances, an editing craftwomanship never seen before and rarely after her time.
clippens
the prologue to part one of Olympia, which takes place in Greece. the music is by Vangelis and added later
again from part one, the running of the Olympic torch to the stadium
btw: while the lighting of the Olympic flame at the stadium began for the modern games at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the whole shebang of lighting the torch in Greece and running it to the stadium through different countries and all that was invented for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. this one. ....the more you know
towards the end of part two. the fantastic diving sequence. breathtaking
English title: City of God
many large cities in the developing world are surrounded by large slums . Rio de Janeiro is (in)famous for the sheer size of these slums, ( favelas ). the larger favelas often have limited access to electricity and water, and barely any sewers or paved streets. there is no police presence, and residents are accustomed to having to fend by themselves. the largest and worst favela in Rio is Cidade de Deus (City of God), where the movie takes place.
Cidade de Deus main characters are Busca Pé (Rocket) and Zé Pequeño - they are close in each, and while not exactly friends, they know each other and are interrelated in several ways. Busca Pé, who narrates the movie, is shy and ill at ease; from an early age he's trying to get out of the favela. Zé Pequeño is, we learn early on, very different
during ~ three decades we see the two young boys watch their older brothers and cousins engage in petty crime. one night Zé comes along as a lookout.
jump a few years - Busca Pé has acquired a camera and is documenting the world around him. Zé Pequeño is quickly becoming the top dealer and boss of the favela.
is not an uncommon story, here told via cinematography and editing. in several scenes the camera jerks and bobbles as it follows a character or another through the narrow passages of the favela. there is an open exploration of Zé's character, his fear of women, his inadequacies, how jealous he is of handsome, popular fellows.
Between Heaven and Hell
There's Always Hollywood!
how do you talk about a movie like Barton Fink?
if you are familiar with the development of the studio system in Hollywood, 1930's American writers and playwrights, East Coast v. West Coast, 'Jewish intellectuals', the blacklist
you are likely to read it as a (barely) veiled recounting of those times with easily recognized characters
if you are really into Fight Club
you'll have a different read
could also be a tale of good v. evil, justice and punishment, a vision of Hell, a stay in Purgatory, a glimpse of Heaven.
all of the above can be argued for; none fit exactly. and there is enough leftover symbolism to fill a few boxes
it is, without a doubt, the finest movie the Coen Brothers have made. so far.
trailer
welcome to Hollywood, Barton Fink!
I'll show you the life of the mind!
confused yet? excellent. now go watch (or rewatch).
a nice little thing found out in the ether: teh script
as previously mentioned, this is me own damn fault
ahem. let's take a break in this little sojourn we may call 'some movies I like' and lets consider movies I don't like. there are a lot of movies I don't like, but if we were looking at categories, they'd include:
- movies about sports
- biopics
- 'inspirational' movies
let's pause and give a hand of applause to HotRod, for suggesting the one movie that brings all three of those categories together: The pride of the yankees
The pride... is a straight biopic, beginning with young Lou playing backlot baseball in the neighborhood. after he breaks a grocer's window (because he's such an powerful hitter, natch) we are introduced to Lou's German immigrant parents, right out of the stereotype book. meek father, check; domineering mother, check; we came to America for the opportunities speech, check; baseball? baseball is a game. you go to college and become famous engineer speech, check.
so Lou begins playing in college, on the downlow from dear Mamma, until dear Mamma takes ill and must go to hospital; there is no money, so Lou decides to sign up with the Yankees and conspires with dear Papa to keep it a secret from dear Mamma.
so... Lou goes to the minors, Mamma gets better, but when Lou is called by the Yankees (which of course, is front page news. what else ever happens in New York?) Mamma finds out, gets angry and eventually comes around. d'Oh.
Lou is straight-forward, naive, and a hard-worker. never parties with his fellow Yankees (including Babe Ruth, playing himself). Lou meets the future-Mrs.-Gehrig in Chicago, they court, marry, and he continues to play.
2,130 consecutive games.
until... he begins to stiffen and weaken. the homeruns become base hits. noone knows why. eventually a doctor dx
'a third strike' (ALS - amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis -
is never mentioned). after Lou decides to quit baseball for good, the Yankees arrange to have "Lou Gehrig's Day" at Yankee stadium in his honor. that is the setting for the famous
"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech, which ends the movie.
here's the speech from the movie
