Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Elephant
Gus Van Sant. Beautiful and strangely empty film about a Columbine like shooting in a high school.
Creepy affectless acting by the shooters.
Creepy affectless acting by the shooters.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Battle In Heaven & Japon
Two compelling, disturbing, beautiful films from Mexico's Carlos Reygadas. I just watched both of these back to back in that order, though Japon was his first big hit.
They both share many themes (pervasiveness of Catholicism in Mexico, class differences, ennui and nihilism), but I am most impressed with the aesthetics of these films. The cinematography and music really drive the emotional impacts, as well as the natural acting and dialogue.
They are both fairly sexually explicit, but not especially titillating. I highly recommend them as examples of pure cinema, where the image is really the force to be reckoned with.
They both share many themes (pervasiveness of Catholicism in Mexico, class differences, ennui and nihilism), but I am most impressed with the aesthetics of these films. The cinematography and music really drive the emotional impacts, as well as the natural acting and dialogue.
They are both fairly sexually explicit, but not especially titillating. I highly recommend them as examples of pure cinema, where the image is really the force to be reckoned with.