Return of the Fearsome Fangs!

"Rashomon" (feature clip)
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
Premiered: 12/26/1951
Viewed: 2/23/09
Compare/Contrast Comment: Rashomon and Ugetsu seem to both portray women not just as victims, but as victims of their mates. Also they both portray other women as seductresses, not unlike in American Film Noir. Both films deal in death, in that characters are kbnown to act beyond the grave. Truth and pain seems to be at the forefront of great tragedy as well as comedy. The two are studied in depth in these films.



Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Return of the Fearsome Fangs!" (tv series)
Dir: Michael Chang
Premiered: 2/20/09
Viewed: 2/23/09

Ugetsu

"Ugetsu" (feature)
Dir: Kenji Mizoguchi
Premier: 1953
Viewed: 2/23/09
Review: I learned a great many cinematic tricks while watching this film. Theres a wierd principle in film making where if you take an element from live-action, rip it off deliberately and post it in animation, it's considered a reference and adds color to a film. And the door swings both ways. I watched Resevoir Dogs in the AAU DVD lounge and was surprised to see references to Fantastic 4 as well as references to animation. The crossover wakes the viewers up, and calls their attention. But if you steal a sequence from Jungle Book and post it in your own animation, you're called a hack and rightfully so. But I digress.

I've seen Tantino use veeeeeeeery long takes. I feel that idea was taken from films like this one, where the actor is charged with a large monologue and must perform for unusually long takes. I also liked the use of ghosts to further the story. Japanese ghosts tend to not be superficially scary like in American horror. They tend to be more cerebrally scary, teaching life lessons through brutalo and terrifying honesty. The film used cheap editing and set tricks to seamlessly pass the viewer between the human world and the spirit world.

FINALLY!!!

"Coraline" (feature)
Dir: Henry Selick
Premier: 2/6/09
Viewed: 2/20/09
Comment: I can't believe it took me so long to see this one. When that school semester hits, I tend to vanish completely from theaters. Those HW have a funny way of hijacking your free time, but I knew I had to get up off my ass for this one. 'Had to find a way. At least I caught the final weekend where I could see it in 3D.

Sci-fi/ Clip Show, featuring Stanislavsky's "Method Acting"!

"Destination Moon" (feature clip)
Dir: Irving Pichel
Premier: 1950
Viewed: 2/16/09



"The Day The Earth Stood Still" (feature clip)
Dir: Robert Wise
Premier: 9/28/1951
Viewed: 2/16/09
Comment: First use of the "Theremin" in sci-fi music (high pitched wail), by Bernard Herman.



"War of the Worlds" (feature clip)
Dir: Byron Haskin
Premier: 8/26/1953
Viewed: 2/16/09


"When Worlds Collide" (feature clip)
Dir: Rudolph Mate'
Premier: Aug/ 1951
Viewed: 2/16/09



"Creature from the Black Lagoon" (feature clip)
Dir: Jack Arnold
Premier: 3/5/1954
Viewed: 2/16/09



"It Came From Beneath the Sea" (feature clip)
Dir: Robert Gordon
Animation: Ray Harryhausen
Premier: Jul/ 1955
Viewed: 2/16/09



"Forbidden Planet" (feature clip)
Dir: Fred Wilcox
Premier: 1956
Viewed: 2/16/09
Comment: Influenced by Shakespeare's "The Tempest". Influenced productions like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek"


"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (feature clip)
Dir: Don Siegel
Premier: 2/5/1956
Viewed: 2/16/09

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"Rebel Without a Cause" (feature clip)
Dir: Nicolas Ray
Method Actor: James Dean
Premier: 1955
Viewed: 2/16/09



"A Streetcar Named Desire" (feature clip)
Dir: Elia Kazan
Method Actor: Marlon Brando
Premier: 1959
Viewed: 2/16/09


"Suddenly Last Summer" (feature clip)
Dir: David Mankiewicz
Premier: 1959
Viewed: 2/16/09


"Some Like It Hot" (feature clip)
Dir: Billy Wilder
Premier: 1959
Viewed: 2/16/09

Badlands

Wolverine and the X-Men: "Badlands" (tv series)
Dir: Doug Murphy
Written: Kevin Hoops
Premier: 1/31/09
Viewed: 2/15/09

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up!"

"Afro Samurai: Resurrection" (feature)
Dir: Fuminori Kizaki
Exec. Produced: Samuel L. Jackson
Premier: 1/25/09
Viewed: 2/13/09



"Sunset Boulevard" (feature)
Dir: Billy Wilder
Premier: 8/4/1950
Viewed: 2/13/09
Review: Boy what a film to watch when gearing up for a career in Hollywood. This film was cynical, ruthless, and most of all, honest. The streets weren't paved so much with gold in this film, as they were with urine and old chewing gum. It opens with a man being chased by collection agencies. He unwittingly falls into the lap of an old mistress who's beloved pet monkey died. The mourning is short lived, though, as she just lucked into a new one.

So far in these noir films, the female roles seemed to be written to overpower the male roles. The male lead arguably held his own against his circumstances, but the mistress was terrifying. She made every one of her scenes unbearably awkward. It's hard to watch, but strangely enough, I can relate. Many of us have been in a situation where things are soooo awkward that it's tough just to get up in the morning. The lead gets what I'm sorry to say is a typical end in Sunset. The mistress is revealed to be about twice as insane as she was believed to be earlier. Welcome to film noir.

Adventure, In all It's Glory!

"The Man Who Would Be King" (feature)
Dir: John Huston
Premier: 12/17/1975
Viewed: 2/10/09
Comment: Recommended by Mark Andrews, head of story on many of Pixar's new films. He mentioned it on the Splinecast, a podcast run by artists at Pixar (available on iTunes!).



Spectacular Spider Man: "Shear Strength" (tv series)
Dir: Jennifer Coyle
Premier: ?
Viewed: 2/10/09
Comment: I'm still wondering about the logic in airing an American series in other countries, over a full quarter-year before giving the Americans a look... Just plain wierd...

The Eyes of Despero

"Out of the Past" (feature)
Dir: Jaques Tourneur
Premier: 11/14/1947
Viewed: 2/09/09
Review: Based on the novel "Build My Gallows High", "Out of the Past" is an influential plot outline where the stranger's mysterious past comes back to haunt him. It was a great study in the typical noir story. The double-crossing, the femme fatale, the $40,000 stakes, this was definitely by the book. I saw a lot of "Batman: The Animated Series" in many of these shots. It was interesting to see the story expand to Mexico without losing the shady tones.

The viewer beins to root for the male lead when he figures out how his old boss and lover plans to cross him and makes plans to rid himself of them. In contrast to Mildred Pierce, "Past" had a far more bittersweet ending, as no one really makes it out alive, with the exception of the few decent characters in the story. One female character was narrowly spared in the end, from the harsh life led by her love interest. She's left with the practically nameless and omnipresent "nice guy". Lucky her...



"The Third Man" (feature)
Dir: Carol Reed
Premier: 9/3/1949
Viewed: 2/09/09
Review: This film was a great exercise in murder-mystery fare. If you wanted a solid example of plots and sub-plots inter-weaving, and characters who’s significance to the film falls and spiked from scene to scene, you’d want to see this film. I do take issue with one thing, and have been thinking about it a lot. Why do so many stories take the party to the sewers!? It’s as if they had no idea, or concern as to what vile misadventures await them at the crossroad of all toilets. Ironically, one of my favorite stories, involving four pizza-eating mutant turtles takes place entirely in a sewer.

There was a very dramatic use of black and white, particularly in the more pressing moments. It’s nice to see Orson Welles at a young age. I’m noticing that his overall look changes dramatically from film to film. The acting was standard noir-style acting, if I remember. Noir movies seem to have a certain line-delivery style that isn’t boring, but isn’t too excitable.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "The Eyes of Despero" (tv series)
Dir: Ben Jones
Premier: 2/06/09
Viewed: 2/09/09
Comment: Interesting plot choice, placing the now yellow Sinestro in a sort of "villain-in-the-making" situation. Reminds me of Anakin Skywalker.

The Bicycle Thief

"The Bicycle Thief" (feature)
Dir: Vittorio De Sica
Premier: 12/13/1949
Viewed: 2/9/09
Review: “The Bicycle Thief” was a pretty depressing movie. I thought the characters were relatable enough. I guess that’s not too surprising, considering the setting of the plot. After a few years in art school, stories about frustration and futility tend to raise an eyebrow with me. At the end of the plot, Antonio is reduced to just another thief, victim to desperation. I can’t really decide whether that ending diminishes the viewer’s interest in the character, or enhances their empathy for him.

Lots of wide open spaces are utilized in this film. Added to which are large crowds, further driving the point of hopelessly lost property home. The acting was almost improvisational. The actors seemed to be making decisions from the gut, and from their own experiences. It really showed in scenes like when the two locate the thief, but the entire neighborhood sides with him. The frustration and tension in the sequence grew and grew until Antonio eventually gave up his search, and subsequently, his bicycle.

Stewie B. Goode

Family Guy: "Stewie B. Goode"
Dir: ?
Writers: Chris Sheridan & Steve Callaghan
Premier: 5/21/06
Viewed: 2/5/09



Chowder: "Chowder Loses His Hat"
Dir: Eddy Houchins & Kris Sherwood
Premier: 6/26/09
Viewed: 2/5/09
Comment: Loved the reference to the "One Fine Day" Fable.

AAU's DVD Lounge

"Kung Fu Panda" (feature)
Dir: Mark Osborne & John Stevenson
Dir. Animation (dream sequence): James Baxter
Head of Character Animation: Dan Wagner
Head of Character Design: Nico Martlet
Premier: 6/6/08
Viewed: 2/4/09
Comment: FINALLY managed to see it. This was more of a belly-laugh movie than an emotional cinematic journey. The acting and animation was awesome, as was the novelty-style editing, though I'll have to see it again in private. The ANM-3d dept. chose THAT day to host a free pizza party in the lounge. Good pizza, horrible audio experience.

Journey to the center of the Bat!

Chowder: "pt 1: The Arborians" (tv series)
Dir: Kris Sherwood
Premier: 10/02/08
Viewed: 2/3/09
- "pt 2: The Garage Sale"
Dir: Majella Milne
Premier: 11/20/08
Viewed: 2/3/09



The Daily Show: "Feb 2, 2009"
Dir: ?
Premier: 2/2/09
Viewed: 2/03/ 09



The Colbert Report: "Feb 2, 2009"
Dir: ?
Premier: 2/2/09
Viewed: 2/3/09



Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Journey to the Center of the Bat!"
Dir: Michael Chiang
Premier: 1/30/09
Viewed: 2/3/09

Week 2

"Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" (feature)
Dir: Pedro Almodovar
Premier: 1988
Viewed: 1/26/09 & 2/2/09
Review: "Women on the Verge" packs in a lot of surprises for the non-film buff. For one, I didn't expect to see Antonio Banderas in such an early stage in his career. The dialogue was subtitled from Spanish but was no less witty for it. It used slightly pale primary colors and chose red to be the symbol of sanity. There were many things that I enjoyed in the film, one of them was the amount of subplots introduced sequentially during the story. From Shiite terrorists to an eccentric taxi driver, the story gets more and more cramped and hectic until the very end, where we step back and see the chaos after it crumbled. Many had a problem with that, but I believe the film was just very well named.

For story artists looking for interesting and comical ways to shoot moments of insanity, I'd say study the down-shots and closeups used to frame Lucia, the male love interest's wife. A very entertaining twist is that in the beginning of the story, we believe Pepa, the leading lady, to be losing her mind due to her calm attitude in the face of absurd situations. By the end of the film, everyone else has been emotionally exhausted and the building subplots have all collapsed. The only one left unscathed is Pepa, who calmly weathered the whole storm. She wasn't necessarily losing her mind, but becoming empowered.


"Double Indemnity" (feature)
Dir: Billy Wilder
Premier: 9/06/1944
Viewed: 2/02/09




The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: "Jan 27, 2009" (tv series)
Dir: Andy Barsh, Scott Preston, and Christian Santiago
Premier: 1/27/09
Viewed: 2/02/ 09



Robot Chicken: "But Not in That Way" (tv series)
Dir: Chris McKay
Premier: 2/01/09?
Viewed: 2/02/09

HW 1

"Mildred Pierce" (feature)
Dir: Michael Curtiz
Premier: 10/20/1945
Viewed: 2/01/2009

Review: I thought this was a great introduction to the world of Film Noir. The plot was very interesting. I also liked the use of shadows, which I'm sure I'll see again in the coming Noir material. They really supported the suspense in the scenes. I can see that Film Noir can be a great way to study coincidental and non-coincidental lighting. I'm glad that the films I have to study, so far have been enjoyable too. We all know the fine line between entertainment and "well-crafted" homework.

Each character had a great dynamic with each other. What supports good acting, I feel, is a great set of characters who rub each other the wrong way (or the right way...). Mildred served as a great common ground between the three significant men in the film. In the end, we find out which of these men is truly right for her, though by then it's hardly any comfort for the audience. The ending of this story is bittersweet. I assume that can be expected from Film Noir.