Daily post 11 Oct 2006 08:37 am
Watching
- David Nethery at his site, You’re A Gazelle, has taken Tissa David‘s drawings from Upkeep, which I posted yesterday, and has made a QT movie of them.
You can find this and a nice posting about Tissa there. David also offers a number of models and images from Raggedy Ann to illustrate his post. I have quite a few scenes of drawings from Raggedy Ann and hope to post them sometime soon. It takes a bit of patience since the drawings are all so large and have to be reconstructed after I’ve scanned them. That takes some time.
- Comic fans will be delighted with the latest post from the ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive. Several Sunday pages from Rube Goldberg‘s Side Show are posted. Worth a reading.
- Gary Trudeau has kept his comic strip, Doonesbury, alive with political commentary on the “war” this country is fighting. He also now has set up a blog, called The Sandbox, for members of the service to comment on anything they’d like. David Hinckley in the NYDaily News has a review-of-sorts of this work.
- I’ve seen two films recently and both are good in very different ways. Both are intelligent adult movies, and both are headed toward the Oscars.
Martin Scorsese is probably one of the most gifted film makers working today. His latest film, The Departed, has some of the year’s most brilliant acting; cinematography that automatically deserves a statue; and imaginitive, inventive direction.
However, the story is a shallow one. It’s adapted from the film, Infernal Affairs, a 2002 Hong Kong crime thriller by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. William Monahan‘s script stays faithful to the original and writes a chatty, but tense thriller. The director is unable to make a classic in the mold of Mean Streets, Goodfellas, or even Kundun. This is more like Cape Fear – a film made to be popular. Along the way brilliance pops out and it will be deserving of many of the awards it will win.
Little Children is, in many ways, the opposite of The Departed. It’s script has levels of depth that just keep going. It’s a strong, intelligent, thinking adult film. It talks as much about terrorism and fear in our lives as it does about the value of the little touch – the reaching out to help those around us. Humanity.
The film’s stars, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson all turn in bravura performances totally in service to the film. The direction, photography, art direction are all subservient to the story. One just wishes it had more flair. Todd Field, the director (whose past credits include In The Bedroom and Aqua Teen Hunger Force) doesn’t bring a sweeping imagination to the visuals, but he does tell his story. Perhaps that’s all that’s needed when the story is so good.
on 16 Oct 2006 at 11:43 pm 1.Daniel Thomas said …
Since we’re talking about movies, let me recommend one for you: Jesus Camp. It’s an excellent documentary about today’s “charismatic evangelical” Christian movement (or should I say “Christian”?) and their ways of indoctrinating children at such a young age. It was meant to be an honest, evenhanded affair, but I cannot help but feel a sense of sorrow and horror, as though I was peering through the lens of history to watch the children who would grow up to become the young adults of Triumph of the Will.
Needless to say, it’s the most frightening movie I’ve seen this year. I’m also deeply suspicious is a “head trip” film, from its use of discordant sounds and wide-angle lenses, but perhaps that just my soul’s instincts acting up.
Jesus Camp should be seen by everyone in America, if only to gain an insight to a constituency that is being grown by the Republican Party’s far right, and the anti-democratic, authoritarian elements that control it. I feel like I’ve escaped from the Crypts of Shuwa (Miyazaki reference, sorry).
on 17 Oct 2006 at 7:46 am 2.Michael said …
I have seen it and couldn’t agree with your comments more.