Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays to all. This Winter Solstice there are plenty of family animated flicks out there, but my money is going to The Adventures of Tintin. I'd rather see this over War Horse, Spielberg's other release this Christmas. I'm not a huge fan of horse movies. I know, that's no excuse, but I just can't wrap my head around plots centered around relationships with horses.

Merry Christmas!

Video Games: Are They Cinematic?

Video games have come a long way since their pixelated predecessors. They've driven to emulate cinematic camerawork and acting through cut scenes and voice acting. In ways, they are very similar to films in looks, and are basically animated films, yet we experience them in completely different ways than film. The biggest physical difference between the two is the added sensation of touch to that of the video game. Films lack this tactile detail and therefore, films lack a physically engaging aspect.  People involved in video games are challenged and this touch creates an ability to control what is going in the game through kinetic movements of the hands. Video games are all about a degree of control whereas films do not include this. They are under the control of the filmmaker and there is nothing given to the spectator. Film goers are only along for the ride, whereas gamers are very much participating in the direction of the protagonist in games. The greatest example of this would be the interactive drama Heavy Rain. The entire game is emblematic of cinema in the shots that compose the video game, yet the consequences of the game are totally under the influence of the gamer, and one person's experience may differ completely form another. Films are able to show exactly what narrative path to take and exactly what to look at and pay attention to through close-ups, camera movement, and characters. Video games can do this or hand over control to the gamer.

Video games are challenging and give physical and mental challenge to the players. Games can immerse a gamer in the reality of the protagonist in ways that films can't and also produce eclectic reactions that are caused by the tension in the game. The can cause mental stress that films can not. Frustration and denial of closure is another aspect included in video games. Since games can be paused and come back to later, closure can be delayed. Closure is also denied completely if certain aspects of the game are not completed. In Mass Effect 2, closure surrounding certain characters is denied completely if concern for their individual dilemmas are lacking. The spectator has control over whether these events may play out or not. This causes the video game to have a certain dialog between the makers of the game and the player, a dialog concerning what parts need to be shown and how each person's individual experience may differ. This variety of experiences give video games numerous outcomes and interpretations, so much so that two individuals may not even be experiencing the same game. Films allow for the view of another dimension, that of reality, objectified in all its wonder, whereas video games allow for an objectified view of challenge and experience, therefore posing certain decisions to be made by the spectator. It allows for reflection during the game rather than reflection afterward as in movies where there is no pausing, only experiencing.

Narrative and the Gender Perspective

Teresa De Lauretis has made several meaningful contributions to the studies of narrative with psychoanalytic focus on how spectators perceive narrative in film. He theories on desire and its movement of identification throughout films has allowed for a certain masking to take place when viewing films. Men and women take on these different masks when interpreting and identifying with certain aspects of the narrative in films. With this in mind I like to say something on a very unique film La Pointe Courte, directed by Agnes Varda.

De Lauretis points out that women identify both with the active agent in the film and that of the passive agent. The active agent being the male protagonist off to" rescue the princess" and the passive agent being the princess or the setting or landscape through which the male agent travels. In the film the passivity of the land is that of the  male's hometown and the agent traveling across this is both the women and the male. Since the whole premise of the film is based on the couple revealing the state of their relationship, the setting serves as a template for this journey to take place on. The female perception is taken somewhat while the male passivity is explored, since in this case the female agent is the one on "foreign soil", an unfamiliar land that is now a part of both of their lives.

I believe the state of their relationship is that of a strong bond like the one that the male holds with his hometown. The landscape is a metaphor for their relationship, stale, polluted, lackluster and full of predictability. It is inescapable and the woman now has to accept it if she wants the relationship to continue. Certain shots and editing call attention to this bond. For instance, their is a profiling of the two main character's faces in one of the film's most memorable shots with the male facing the camera while half of his face is completed with part of the women's face in a profile. This hermaphroditic visual shows the bond of the relationship in a single frame and part of  a single being or countenance. This shot happens twice with the positions of the faces being switched and it shows a being much like that of the state of the two characters' relationship. They have become bonded, much like the man and his hometown, and they have evolved into something much more than a couple enchanted by the passion of their love. They have become inseparable.

The land through which the active agent travels is a landscape shared by the two characters. It is the landscape of their bond that they've formed since they were together. It is the exploration of this land that brings on the closure at the end of the tale, which De Lauretis claims in the usual narrative is the point where the female identifies with the object of desire the "princess". This film's closure comes from a realization of a bond, one that is strong, but not as full of life as it had been in the throngs of passion. Therefore, the "rescuing of the princess" becomes less of a symbol of the triumph of the male gaze, and more so a repositioning of that gaze to one that may pertain to both sexes.

The Descendants

SPOILERS! Just a quick warning. Nothing to damaging though.

George Clooney is gives a riveting and achingly beautiful performance in this film about trust, lies, and the end of relationships. Clooney plays Matthew King, a descendant of the great King Kamehameha and sole trustee of a large plot of land on the island of Kauai. He's agreed to sell the land, but just as he does, his wife is involved in a serious boat accident. The narrative centers around the sell of the land and Matt trying to figure out the woman he never truly knew.

The film uses the unsoiled land that King is selling as something that everyone wants to happen. It's interesting how the plot develops going between Matt's realization that his wife has been cheating on him and the fact that his family is really pushing to sell the land. Along the way, Matt learns more about his children, wife, and family then he ever could have wished to know.

The Hawaiian setting is beautiful and peaceful, even though Matt King begins the story by narrating how many problems the people of Hawaii have and how it isn't different from anywhere else on Earth. This fact positions the long shots of the landscape as something that may belie it's looks. There is pain and complications hidden in the vast oceans and towering volcanoes and dense foliage. The land also serves as a visual metaphor for the family and their children that they are bearing. It is unsoiled by the masses and their problems, yet it is being put up for sale to be used by everyone. Something to be affected by everyone. Land, ownership, family honor, and trust are all themes explored by the metaphor of land in this film.

The selection of Matthew Lillard as the man who ends up stealing Matt's girl was a very good choice. His past acting in several films as the "laid back, friendly, unintelligent bro" was a character that this film had plenty of (Nick Krause's unforgettable portrayal of a typical "bro"). These past images remained in my mind and I love Matthew Lillard for these characters, but in this movie I was expecting as much. His acting was so unlike what I'm used to from him. Instead, he is a matured "bro" and he has regrets concerning the adultery he'd committed. The past stereotypes of Lillard conflicted with the image of a matured and regretful family man and this truly opened my eyes to another theme in the film: losers. Are they really just dumb or are they just like the rest of us? Prone to mistakes? I think so. The text outside of this film really made me understand the reason for having Lillard as such a large part of this movie in the final confrontation. Sid also becomes welcomed into Matt King's world when Matt finds him awake and discovers why he acts the way he does.

The Descendants is a truly funny, moving and truthful representation of life's surprises and the mess it creates when they are discovered.

Young Adult

Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody have once again teamed up on Young Adult starring Charlize Theron as that bitch in high school. Let's see what she's up to nowadays. As someone who loved Juno, I am excited to this film. Reitman aslo has Thank You For Smoking, and Up In the Air under his belt, this is going to be one that sticks out among the other generic Holiday movies.

Final Projects!

It's getting near the end of Fall Semester and my class and I are wrapping up our final projects. We chose to make a film compilation of stories centered around the theme THE END. Here is my contribution to the bunch.

http://vimeo.com/33060448

Multiple Narratives and Plot

Recently in class, we have been examining the structure of narrative and how plot is an essential element of narrative. I wanted to examine the effect of multiple narratives because there are examples of this in several recent films.

Amores Perros: The fateful car accident.

21 Grams: The heart transplant

Pulp Fiction: The diner robbery

All these instances thread together multiple narratives. I want to concentrate on the plot of Alejandro Inarritu's Amores Perros because of the violent impact of the unifying action. Octavio is involved in the crash since he's being chased, Valeria is a victim in the accident, and El Chivo is a passerby that collects Octavio's dog after he witnesses the crash.

These three stories are connected at this central point and to further emphasize it's power, it is the first shot seen in the film. The plot later returns to this violent crash at the end of Octavio's  dog career. It then begins again with Valeria and her perspective leading up to the crash and then on to El Chivo's version of the story. The structure positions the crash as the central point which is surrounded by the following story lines. It gives the film a very unique structure in without it there would be no character familiarity, dramatic irony, or interweaving of stories to create a multifaceted picture of love. Inarritu is a talented auteur and his use of plot connectivity by a physical and painful event is truly wondrous.

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene. What a terrifically haunting film. Truly great work from both Elizabeth Olsen (There's a third sister?!?!) and Director Sean Durkin. The two work unfathomably well together. Elizabeth Olsen plays an innocent, lost soul who has the looks of a pure, and sweet young woman. She jerks us in with her innocence and vulnerability and forces us back with her obvious disregard for the help provided by her compassionate sister Lucy (Sarah Paulson) and her charming, uptight, British husband Ted (Hugh Dancy). Durkin coats her performance in an interesting form. Using slow zooms, static shots, and a murky composition of the image, he frames Olsen's performance in a fogginess that supports the lack of identity in the film's protagonist.

The film's murky quality distances itself from a clean cut image and tints the story with the quality of unknown depth. Martha's reminiscences of her recent past with the cult runs parallel to her attempts to deprogram herself in the present. This narrative form allows her identities, as stated in the title, to exist alongside in each other, perforating the whole identity that is Martha's. When Martha takes a dip into the water after riding in Ted's boat, the scene transitions flawlessly back to the commune where all the women swim naked in a secluded pool. The images come together and blur that which Martha sets out to do, to remove the brainwashing of the cult, that in a way is somewhat revered by Martha. Her mind is clearly attached to her experiences and this is well represented visually through the construction of narrative form and editing.

There is a unique symbolism in the film's environment. The lavish and modern New York homes juxtapose with the rural and scarce setting of the farm. Lucy materialism is contested by Martha's belief (or brainwashing) of the right way to live. Martha's passiveness to herself being dolled up brings this conflict to light, especially in the end and party scene (I won't give away too much.) Her mental state is in constant flux and the nature of the environment truly brings it out. There is also an acute attention paid to stairs in this film. Lucy and Martha often have their deepest moments on stairs. This reminds me of one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, The Staircase. Stairs are a struggle to gain entrance to different levels of a home, yet when used in the context of the poem, it shows a emotional struggle in a relationship to different levels of that relationship. The same goes for Martha, in that when conversations take place on the stairs, they are shot with restriction in movement. A unique way to show the extent of Martha's struggle with her relationships. Although, there is an eerie Patrick, the gang's charismatic leader, played by a wonderfully sinister John Hawkes, stares at an instance of free love taking place in the bowels of his home, suggesting that he is in control of the level of relationships in his commune.


The psychological horror present in Martha connects beauty and callousness through the absolutely stunning Elizabeth Olsen and the debut feature of Sean Durkin. It is a great film to lose yourself in. Identify with whomever you wish, Martha, Marcy May, or Marlene. The film does a job well done to derail you from every namesake.

Welcome!

Hello and Welcome!

I've been itching to start a blog for a while that discusses movies as a matter of art, and not just on whether one likes it or dislikes it. I am interested in the "why" in this blog. The cinema is a representational mechanism of the real, the phenomenal, and the existential. I want to talk about and discuss with others the merit of films, yet too many films today are only given the occasional approval or disapproval after the screening. "What did you think?" "I loved it!" "I hated it!" But why do we feel this way? Was it because of the composition of the frame? The audio-visual juxtaposition? The actors presence on the screen? Maybe it's because no one wants to consider movies as an art. This argument persists today as it did at the beginning of the twentieth century. Which leads us to the spectacle of cinema today.

Cinema today is in an awful state of affairs. The three-dimensional craze has gone too far! I'm tired of seeing Disney Classics and spectacular sagas like Star Wars, re-released in three-dimensional space. Avatar was a beauty, don't get me wrong. Truly an amazing spectacle. But should that lead to encasing all of the films we know and love into a space filled with depth? What was wrong with a flat animated picture? Movies today are being forced to jump on the 3-dimensional bandwagon just to keep up with each other. Several are put  into 3-D last minute, when they weren't even filmed for the purpose of 3-D and for what? Just so Little Johnny can dribble mouthfuls of popcorn onto his seat after seeing antelopes assault him and his pal Simba. The cinema needs to be knocked from its spectacle high horse.

I do believe that there is potential to every new technological development in cinema. I mean look at the reception sound received after the Jazz Singer (1927). It was doubted at first and then welcomed with open arms. Sound has so many possibilities when partnered with the visual and I believe 3-D can do the same, but treating it as something to be tagged on to a movie just so people can have the option of paying the extra service charge to experience some extra thrill denounces cinema and places it along the track of a theme park attraction. Something to be experienced on a level of exhilaration instead of a level of beauty.

The possibility of representation of three-dimensional space can dress the filmic dimension that was flat. It can add nuances to the two-dimensional space and reveal the realism in life to a sharper degree, but only if it is used effectively.