Titanic

Just like the Titanic (not the movie), Tron Legacy looked spectacular, but it had some major design flaws...



Before, I get into semantics about how Tron Legacy is a bad movie I am going to explain how I knew it would suck six months prior to its release.

"He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak."

- Michel de Montaigne

How is that quote relevant? As a lot of you noticed Disney was literally marketing the shit out of Tron months before its release; typical, yes. It is after all a multi-million dollar production that exceeded the $100 million mark and rumored to have even broken $200 million, with those types of numbers being thrown in the air, that means that there's a lot riding on its hopeful success; basically failure is not an option. So, what does Disney do in their marketing campaign? Hit every for sure market to over exaggerate the "cool" factor in a movie about a video game program wanting to take over the world.

Disney stopped at nothing to try and make Tron a relevant topic amongst all things "hip" nowadays from customized motorcycles, fixed gear bikes, random little pop up shops in new age art exhibits and even hiring Daft Punk to do their soundtrack Disney has exploited the "underground" market to its fullest for this movie. They even highlighted the "hot bitch" factor in a sci-fi film. There's your biggest indication as to how bad a film is going to be when one of the main selling points are "hot bitches," because "hot bitches" are rarely relevant. Why? Because most of them cannot act, but no matter what the topic, "sex" always sells.

Atop of those factoids you cannot overlook the fact that they hired a newbie director to direct the film. (hint) Big studios hire small directors so they can be pushed around and be told what to do, and we all know how effective a studio's advice can be for a movie...

So, Tron Legacy, I saw it in IMAX 3D from the advice of the trailers, since we are told that we should watch it in IMAX as it was "intended" (I don't think the inflated ticket price has anything to do with it---lol), and I was sorely disappointed. Granted the IMAX sequences looked amazing, but then again so did the scenes in Transformers 2 and we all know how great of a movie that was...

What also was troubling was how one has to watch it in 3D when you're in the IMAX and to attribute to the poor quality of the film there's a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie stating that the movie was shot for 2D...motherfuckers.

The movie starts with a quick montage of events that lead up to Tron Legacy from the original Tron film from 1982, and then to the present where you see an older mischievous Sam Flynn try to sabotage his father's fortune 500 company, this is a key quality in all young rich protagonists, because it automatically gives them a "down to earth" characteristic so the audience can like him, because we all know how selfless trust fund babies are -_-.

Blah blah, he gets into Tron and is immediately thrown into the fray in a gladiator like death match that is known as "the games," this in my opinion was the coolest part of the movie and to me where the movie should have ended haha. Anyways, everyone in Tron is known as a "program" and actual humans are known as "users." The programs are all designed within the parameters of the game program known as Tron which was created by Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) back in the first Tron film. Sam, enters this digital world in search of his father whom has gone missing for the last 20 years, but to his dismay he's accidentally placed right in the middle of a conflict; which is his father's own doing for he created a program in Tron from his own image to make sure everything ran smoothly and this character's name is CLU (it's an acronym, but I forgot what it meant).

CLU, wants one thing and that is to leave the digital world and into ours, but he cannot achieve this due to the fact that he doesn't know how to open the portal to the real world. So, he tricks Sam into opening the portal and entering Tron. Now, the portal is open all CLU needs is Kevin Flynn's disk because it contains all the information he needs in order to take over our world. While in the meantime Sam's one goal is to return back to the real world with his long lost father Kevin Flynn, and Kevin Flynn's main goal is to keep CLU inside Tron to prevent the end of the world. Get it? Real simple.

I like how in this film there's a lot of philosophical references that get mentioned and barely discussed, I guess it gives the film a brain, but in its own right it's also the reason why the movie sucks. It presents all these great ideals and vocab words like "genetic algorithm" to make the audience feel smart when in actuality majority of the audience hears "blah blah blah light cycle blah blah *daft punk soundtrack* blah blah light suit blah blah hot Olivia Wilde." The film even dares to enter the territory of Asimov---wherein the technology supersedes the authority of the creator and takes its function to a literal extreme just like the film I, Robot (which also sucks).

The best part about this film was the short lived "games" sequences with the disc fighting and the light cycle battles; lastly, Jeff Bridges and his CGI composite CLU. They did a really good job integrating a younger looking Jeff Bridges into the film using CGI, it's borderline disturbing.

Why do the programs feel emotion? Why does CLU need to deliver a motivational speech to programs? Can programs be motivated? Can technology evolve on its own? And if it did why does it just regress into typical human patterns? Why is there even a homeless program? Why do programs like to party? Why can't a $170 million dollar budget produce a better film? No one knows. Just leave it to Disney to over simplify a complex topic.







In retrospect when you watch this movie (which I know a lot of you will) think of these films Fifth Element/ Inception/ The Matrix/ Jurassic Park, because it took all the basic points of these films and combined it into a light show.

2/4

-DK

Homicidal Hallucinations of a Lesbian Ballerina Perfectionist

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.



Darren Aronofsky has done it again in his visceral-drama thriller Black Swan, the film about a ballerina striving to become the best amongst her peers.

Aronofsky is a master at portraying the truth behind masters of their crafts i.e. drug addicts in Requiem for a Dream and a washed out wrestler in The Wrestler. The film does an excellent job stalking Natalie Portman as she slowly deconstructs herself and her sanity in her quest for perfection as the White & Black Swan. I really would like to see him direct sports films.

This film has a very effective means of communicating with the audience through the aspect of Aronofsky and his ability to capture the struggle a ballerina goes through whether it's at home or at the studio. He captures the subject in their own respective environments giving the film a very personal and raw feel to it.

The protagonist in this film has a very vivid blueprint to success already outlined in her head, all she has to do is follow it down to the T and she'll get to where she wants to be. However, the role she is going for calls for a more rambunctious free-form kind of movement that someone so technically inclined cannot follow through with, because being a "free spirit" would mean one would have to not have a blueprint. Of course she struggles through this throughout the whole movie to the point where it drives her insane, where her own thoughts and fears begin to takeover her everyday life affecting her and those around her, but she cannot see through this due to the fact that she refuses to believe she isn't perfect.

Along the way she meets Lily (Mila Kunis) whom embodies the very aspect the director of the studio is looking for, someone who looks free spirited and makes ballet look like child's play, because the movement comes so naturally for her. Thus, making her the epitome of a "free spirit," and the fact that she has a tattoo and is also a ballerina gives her an edge lol.

It's in this very nature of perfectionism that we see the best out of Natalie Portman, no longer is she this precious young actress we all grew to love, she is now a villain in her own right. (And yes the sex scene with Mila and Natalie is awesome)

I can only imagine the amount of diet and exercise each actress went through to achieve their bodies in this film...it's quite amazing.

I know a lot of girls will relate to this film due to the very nature of their own personalities; you know what I am talking about, perfectionists. A lot of you should learn from this and learn to let somethings be and accept the fact that sometimes it really is out of your control.

Just know, unless you can tell me the meaning of life you cannot call yourself a perfectionist, its like a scientist calling themselves a scientist when they know nothing on their field of expertise. The only supposed "perfect" being is God and you're not it. The better you understand and grasp that concept the easier life will be for you to understand.





4/4

-DK

Rap Opera

Kanye does for rap what Queen did for rock n roll...

Lyrically I lost faith in Kanye the moment I heard Jesus Walks, don't get me wrong the song is epic but I thought it was funny how he crammed in "Theysayyoucanrapabout anything except for Jesus" it's in the song, listen to it I guarantee you will hear it. And then in his Late Registration album he just goes off on a lot of random tangents in his lyrics, especially in his poetic song Roses, as beautiful as it should be, it's also kind of awkward; in the sense that there's too much info. Now by this time I have come to accept Kanye's lyricism as part of his production. I just listen to the song as a whole and act as if him rapping is just part of the beat.

With that being said, his latest album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" displays Kanye as a man with jokes and someone who is very much into their own penis and money. I say jokes as in he does a lot of play on words i.e. "Head of the class and she just want a swallowship," ha!

I basically place Kanye right next to Lil Wayne in the category I just made up known as "emcees who are simple minded, and tell it like it is." ...I'm finally beginning to see why a good friend of mine kept telling me not to buy the album cause Kanye's lyrics aren't great.

But the production value of this album...woo! It's incredible, Kanye really draws out the best in people. Whenever artists are featured I feel like they are just a commercial before it gets back to the original singer, but as you will witness in this album he draws out a side of people you haven't seen; Jay-Z doesn't have his normal tell-all monotone flow that he's able to stretch out for an entire beat, he actually breaks down in a fit of anger to the point where his voice almost cracks. Then you got Nicki Minaj who hits another level of crazy, just when you thought she couldn't get more animated...I am starting to like her.

I know this album will disappoint most who are expecting what essentially is considered "rap." Keep in mind that the album is titled "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" from a man with a career consumed by crazy things he's said and done:









...Yeah, so when a crazy narcissistic genius calls his album "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" you can imagine just what it is he's going to rap about, and judging by the album Kanye thinks of himself as being Malcolm X, a rock star, and a porn star, which in my opinion falls perfectly in line for the overall theme of the album, but god forbid you if you think I am saying he's some lyrical genius.

The tracks on this album are hard to listen to as a standalone, and I think in that aspect Kanye did a good job piecing together every track to go along with the overall theme of his album.

In conclusion this album is really different. It reminded me of when I first heard the Outkast album where Big Boi and Andre 3000 did their own thing and made Speakerboxxx and the Love Below, some may not be ready for it and others may have been waiting for it...Kanye is truly working hard at changing the face of rap so it can break out of the commercial hell that it's been rolling around in for the past decade. It has a very strong thematic element to it.



8/10

-DK

The Other Guys

How do you make a Will Ferrell movie?



Simple, make sure Will Ferrell isn't the only oblivious character. Yes, it's true The Other Guys was actually pretty good, even for its PG-13 rating, which seems to be the downfall nowadays for comedies...and everything else, haha. Also, place him next to an actor who isn't funny on purpose; Mark Whalberg was a let down in the film, but he successfully betters Will Ferrell's on screen prescence to the point where Will Ferrell begins to look like the smartest person in the movie...paradox.

The films formula is simple, it's a simple parody on cop films i.e. movies in which the cop must get everything taken away from him/her before they are able to foil the evil schemes of the rich guy. But, like all good comedies the formula is just a structure or set up for the comedy to unleash its jokes. Whether it was quick little quips about Prius and their owners or the usage of slow motion and "high octane" stunts, The Other Guys accomplishes its goal pretty well without losing the audience's attention.







3/4

-DK

When You Came In The Air Went Out

The ultimate guilty pleasure.

Never have I watched a series in which I felt guilty watching other than True Blood. There's so much raunchy sex and violence in that show to make you feel like it's a sin watching it...no joke. The only thing that rivals my guilt is the graphic novel series Preacher.

For those of you who doubt True Blood let me just say this; the series is one of the most well written shows to ever come around. It goes to show how you can have crap content, but with proper execution that crap content can turn into gold!

The main point I'd like to stress is the structure of the show, everything is explained well and the best part of it is, is that the show doesn't rely solely on its vampirism and mythology to get by, there's actual human emotions that are greatly painted throughout the show with exceptional character development. And on top of that when the vampires are slain they die in a very Tom Savini-esque fashion almost reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Til Dawn.

I too hated the show at first glance mainly due to my vampire bias, because of Twilight and the fact that Blade or a figure like Blade wasn't in the series...haha however, I still think the show can do better with someone like Blade in it. "Jussayin."






In this scene vampire Bill and his maker are having sex in front of a dying woman and her dead husband, whom they murdered.

-DK

Dead

Zombie movies have seriously run their course on the "big screen" nowadays.

There's proof in this because, George A. Romero; the father of zombie films has been making nothing that comes anywhere near his 1978 American Classic, The Dawn of the Dead and that was well...in 1978. Since then he made the "decent" Land of the Dead in 2005 and the just barely okay Diary of the Dead in 2007, I basically drew the final straw when I saw running zombies in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, which wasn't a bad movie but running zombies? The only time running zombies are okay is in 28 Days Later.

However! I do love the zombie genre, it's something about the vicarious imaginations I have when I picture myself living in a post zombie apocalyptic world, what would I do? What will I be doing for survival? Will I be alone? If I weren't alone who would be with me? How many would be with me? I am going to drive backwards on the freeway.

To me plot is not really important for the zombie genre, just structure. If you can create a successful parallel universe to make events that occur easy to relate to, then the audience will be enraptured, because that could be them in a not so distant future...The problem is Hollywood thinks one cannot make a zombie genre film without a story because the audience needs an ending otherwise you're going to have a lot of people who want their money back, and believe me nowadays you have to really think about going to a newly released movie (where I go tickets cost 12$). So, how do you satisfy the fans of the zombie horror genre? You make a television series out of the brilliant graphic novel The Walking Dead! And milk the franchise slow and steadily cause it's a television series!

The story is simple, it's a record of the trials and tribulations of a small band of people as they just try to survive on a day to day basis; testing the sheer limits of human mortality and humanity.

I always loved reading The Walking Dead, but due to financial issues I had to stop after Book 4 (major sadface).

But now AMC is coming in strong with this little gem:



-DK

Annoying Tenacity

Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan aka M. Night Shyamalan; is quite possibly one of the most gifted filmmakers alive today. So, why has he been failing miserably?

I am only thinking about him because I recently watched The Last Airbender, and was deeply mortified at how such a brilliant director ended up with this piece of shit film, and I've been seeing ads for that new movie Devil everywhere.

Back when I was really into "marketing" I read up on a lot of innovative marketing campaigns and methods that are being utilized to make us, the consumer want specific things. Of course throughout time people's way of thinking tend to evolve with the ever fast paced improvement in technology forcing marketers to also evolve with the times making certain methods look very archaic. But one thing sticks to my mind whenever I go out and stare at advertisements and that my friends is a simple concept known as "branding."

In short "branding" is what makes you buy Duracell batteries over Kirkland batteries or a piece of shit Sanrio toaster versus an actual toaster made by let's say like Black & Decker, get it? It's the association of a name and its value on an object. How much value you see in the name depends heavily on how it's marketed to you, which in turn adversely affects how much your willing to pay for the object; whether it's with time, money or even both.

So, why is M. Night Shyamalan's name being associated with the new film Devil even though he's just the producer of the film? Because M. Night also made The Sixth Sense and movie studios want you to remember that fact when you pay the inflated ticket price to go watch Devil. I think this is retarded because at this rate how will M. Night ever learn that he's not God and he needs to be slightly more open to criticism of his films rather than rejecting them, and labeling criticism as people misinterpreting his films. I only say this because I did enjoy The Sixth Sense and I thought Signs was amazing, and I would like to see M. Night get back to the top of his form. This will never happen if Hollywood keeps sucking up to him and allowing him to hog all the creative credits for his movies. Honestly, how many bad movies does it take for people to realize this man cannot handle all that workload on his own? When will numbers cease to measure the quality of a film? It's like if all of Scorsese's films made after Goodfellas was total crap but they were all advertised as "from the director of Goodfellas," yes this situation does aggravate me to no end.

I feel like the beginning of his downfall came when Time magazine called him, "the next Spielberg," even then I felt it was too preemptive to be calling such a new and young director a legend. Fuck you media.

I know this is an age old argument in Hollywood where studio heads are just looked at as money grubbing business men who have no appreciation in film, but come on!



-DK

Melodramatic Hilarity

This film is quite possibly one of the better Judd Apatow comedies I have seen, and I give all that credit to 3 people; Russell Brand, Jonah Hill and Nick Stoller.



Get Him to the Greek, is a film with all your typical story elements, the passionate and down to earth protagonist, the very particular know it all boss with nerves of steel and the out of control rock star.

So, what's great about the film? Everything. The writer/director does a good job taking all those typical elements and putting very strong performances to back them; Jonah Hill and Russell Brand's on screen chemistry is ridiculously harmonized throughout the film, there's never a dull moment when they are both on screen.

The plot is simple, a recording label needs something to re-ignite their revenue stream so a young aspiring intern by the name of Aaron (Jonah Hill) comes up with a brilliant idea to resurrect Aldous Snow's career by moving off the momentum of Aldous Snow's anniversary of his famous live performance before his major flop "African Child."

Yes, Russell Brand's character is the same one from Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the director does a good job at poking fun at that fact, in respect to the universe in which the two comedies thrive in.

That one portrait of the "Sad Clown" comes to mind whenever I watch comedies involving fame, money, passion, and realism. Especially, when it's coming from the new age writing that Judd Apatow seems to favor so much, the painful realization of watching people who make people laugh for a living end up getting kicked in the ass by reality is almost like a voyeuristic guilty pleasure for me; the audience.




4/4

-DK

Back To Basics

I've been studying 2D art for the last two weeks and the basic principles of geometric shape placements. So, when I saw these renditions of the classic Star Wars trilogy I garnered a new found ounce of respect for the franchise.

This awesome graphic design work is brought to you by Andy Helms.

But just look how effectively the "triangle" is used to show the very essence of the classic trilogy, which are episodes 4,5 and 6.







-DK

Lemony Snicket

Let's try some free association, when I say "Miramax" what comes to mind? Hopefully great titles like Gangs of New York, No Country for Old Men, Good Will Hunting, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill Vol. 1&2, Gone Baby Gone, Chicago, City of God, Trainspotting, Chasing Amy, Clerks and even Chocolat. Pretty important pieces of cinema, no?

Not to mention the star power behind those names like legendary directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Gus Van Sant, Kevin Smith, and The Coen Brothers. If any of those names mean anything to you then you know you're a major patron of cinema and thus have a strong affinity to at least one of those titles and or directors, and you know that having a strong collective of films and directors under one name is nearly impossible due to most of the talent demanding artistic freedom in their projects and most studios not giving it to them. So, even if you don't know much about cinema you know the people behind Miramax at least have an appreciation for talent and the art.

Who are these people? Bob and Harvey Weinstein.

They created the studio specifically for "art-house" style independent films back in the 70's, until the early 90's when Disney acquired it. The name Miramax was created by using elements of their parent's names; respectfully. So, yes such films like Pulp Fiction is technically considered a Disney film.

It wasn't until 2005 when the Weinsteins left Miramax due to some disagreements with Disney on the distribution of the film Farenheit 9/11. Thus, the company The Weinstein Company was created as its own entity away from the ever so powerful Disney sphere of influence.

Ok, that was a quick history lesson, let's fast forward to now. Over the past couple months Bob and Harvey have been negotiating with Disney to buy back Miramax for $600 million dollars the company they helped create from the ground up and this pleased me for the Weinsteins know their shit when it comes to film, atop of the obvious fact that the company is named after their parents so anyone would figure, why not?

Sadly, as it most often happens in Hollywood Disney decided to be total morons and sell the company off to some construction mogul by the name of Ron Tutor for $660 million. WTF does he have anything to do with cinema? I am sick and tired of irrelevant people with money acquiring things they don't deserve. So what if the Weinsteins are hard to work with and slightly out of whack? What genius isn't?

I am tired of corporate influence in art, it really depreciates it value and often times misses out on great opportunities because at the end of the day the people in power only care about one thing, money. Hard work apparently isn't enough nor is $600 million. If you ask me this was a deliberate "fuck you" from Disney to the Weinsteins. To sell such a renowned studio to an irrelevant figure in the world of rich people for a chance to make $60 extra million dollars sickens me. I know Disney doesn't need the money since they are out hunting down everything i.e. 2006's purchase of Pixar for $7 billion making Steve Jobs a board member of Disney and if that's not enough who can forget last years purchase of Marvel for $4 billion? Owning Pixar and Marvel is a surefire way of making money...forever and yet they still have to fuck over the Weinsteins over $60 million? Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye and I hope so, but from the information that's open to the public all I see is a series of unfortunate events...haha

Speaking of movies have you seen the trailer for Sucker Punch?





-DK

Nolan's Guide To Dreaming

The most multi-faceted film of the year; Inception is a psychological "how-to" guide to dreaming. This film has so many layers in it that by the time you peel a majority of it back you realize the movie is already halfway through and you ask yourself, "whoa...how exactly did I get here?"



One of the things about this movie that I thoroughly enjoyed was the simple fact that you can establish whether or not you like this movie within the first five minutes of viewing. Whether it's crazy visuals to dramatic slow motion close ups and the linking of several almost unrelated scenes, Inception is a film that grabs your attention and forces you to keep watching so you can figure out the "how."

Inception, is the story of a rich corporate dude played by Ken Watanabe who hires Leonardo DiCaprio; whom is the self proclaimed "best" at stealing ideas from people's dreams; an "extractor" by profession. He challenges Leo to enter the dream of Cillian Murphy and instead of stealing an idea he asks him if it's possible to plant an idea so deep within his psyche that upon waking up he'll think it was an idea of his own; this is called an "inception." Don't ask me exactly who and what Ken Watanabe exactly does in the film other than being a device that pushes the plot along.

Now enter the "dream team," Leo's personal crack team of people to accompany him in carrying out his mission. You have the "no nonsense all business" Joseph Gordon Levitt who I think had one of the most memorable scene in the movie, you know...the part in the trailer where people are floating in zero gravity. Tom Hardy who plays the slick talking Brit whom is like the "Matt Damon" from the Ocean's trilogy. Dileep Rao who provides the team with a strong sedative to allow them to fall into a dream within a dream...within a dream? And finally Ellen Paige, whom is the newbie in the group and is only hired due to her architectural background via the recommendation from Michael Caine's character; who doubles as Leo's father in law and a teacher at some prestigious University in Paris, that's how he knows about Ellen Paige's exceptional qualities.

Now peel back another layer and you realize Cillian Murphy, who plays the other rich corporate dude whom Leo must plant an inception within has enough daddy issues to make even the resilient George Lucas feel ashamed for his contributions to cinema for the last 11 years.

Now peel back another layer and you learn that Leo is haunted by a past that will not be revealed until later in the film. And embodying his emotion charred past is his deceased wife played by the beautiful Marion Cotillard.

I don't even want to know how long it took Christopher Nolan to be satisfied with this story and all of its "rules." From start to finish the film is an interesting foray in dreams, and all the rules that follow so that all must abide by to successfully "extract" an idea from a dream. The audience learns these rules via Leonardo DiCaprio's mentoring of the young Ellen Paige, whom of course seems to grasp these complex concepts rather quickly because she like Leo is a "rule breaker." This quality is apparently necessary when stealing people's ideas and or planting ideas deep within their psyche.

Inception is a beautifully crafted summer blockbuster with enough explosions, chase sequence, and trippy Mc Escher inspired visuals to keep even the most ADD at bay while still stimulating the minds of those who look for more in film.









I thought this was cute:


Made by the good people at the spectrum.

4/4

-DK

Spaghetti

Transforming Clint Eastwood into the iconic role of the man with no name; Sergio Leone made his first western, "A Fistful of Dollars." The real beauty of this western is that its romance is captured through the eyes of an Italian director thus, the term "spaghetti western" is coined.



The plot is simple, two rival gangs that run a town through violence and fear meet their match when a gun-toting stranger enters the town and plays both sides to earn their trust and their money. But that's not all, this hero has another hidden agenda which is to ultimately free the town from the wretched grasp of tyranny. Of course this simple plot alone is enough driving force to fuel all the showdowns and shootouts in the film.

There is a certain sense of beauty in all things simple and that is exactly what Leone does.

From the cinematography to the soundtrack this film delivers pure beauty, intensity and a lot of borrowed style from that of a Kurosawa film. (Just replace the samurai with a gunslinger)

To me this movie is all about the angles. I love how much more intensity is added to a gunfight just by its closeups and even through the simple act of reloading. Leone plays on every emotion one can have in a gunfight and or even a showdown.


It must have been really hard on Eastwood to keep up his tough guy gaze, with the constant bearing down of the sun's bright rays...


A quick reload in a life or death situation.


Angles; changes everything about the shot. Leone doesn't waste a single shot. Greatness is captured.


Do you see what I mean? Angles.

4/4

-DK

Life: Shit's Rough & Then You Die

Never have I watched a series with a bigger "wtf" expression on my face then Lost. And now that it's finally over, what now? A show of this caliber and definitive moments can only leave you with a yearning for more, but to what extent? Who really knows...

I knew going into this there would be a lot of opinions that factor into whether or not the quality of the finale is actually considered "good." So, without being unbiased I'm going to go ahead and say the creators did a good job explaining a very complex idea that inspired them to create a show for the masses on a major network too. I cant even begin to imagine the difficult tasks the creators had dealing with the fact that they are interpreting death through a television series on ABC (yes those factors do matter because then the show becomes much more then just a creative outlet for the creators to express their beliefs it becomes a business).

With that being said I really enjoyed watching the finale mainly because it resolved a lot of outstanding questions about the show, mainly being, wtf was the purpose for everything? Simple. The answer to that is answered via another question, wtf happens after death? The show displayed a very keen interest on multiple lives that were filled with turmoil, suffering, oppression, depression etc. And somehow through an act of God? or more appropriately through an act of Jacob? (haha) All those lives ended up on the same flight that crashed on a mysterious island where they all learned through extreme danger and time travel to cope with all the wrong doings in their life.

Yes, the show does use alternate universes or realities to explain what happens after death or lack thereof? I only say that because death just seems to be a relative term they use so that the characters on the show understand what happened to themselves. And I know for some that can be a real hang up because people don't like relying on the super natural to explain their favorite television series due to how open ended the ending can be, leaving some unsatisfied. But when tackling topics like faith and beliefs leaving things open ended is probably the best solution so it appeases everyone (once again probably another network decision) but still well executed.

The show really inspires those who understand its content; to know that although as tough as life may be, happiness isn't an impossibility, whether it's achieved through mysterious means or through impossible tasks. All you need is faith. And sometimes being "Lost" is the only way to be found. = P (that ones for aly)


Jack standing amidst symbols of multiple religions. I thought this shot was really important considering he's dealing with his dad's death.


Torch has now been passed to Hurley.


-DK

Terry Gilliam....

Art is always interpreted by those who have a passion for it. Whether it's on film or on canvas many times what the artist displays is left for interpretation, thus causing much confusion and differences in opinions. But, as a filmmaker is it the director's duty to create a film some/all will enjoy? Or is it just their duty to make sure THEIR "art" is brought to life as they envisioned it on film? Can everything be done to the T correctly, to the director's standard but, yet the audience can still be left with a film they don't understand or like? Does that still make it a good movie?


(I am aware it's in Spanish...I like this poster the most)

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is directed by Terry Gilliam. No other director is alive today in which I view their movie and have mixed emotions about all throughout the film. On one hand there's a ton of philosophical and human nature exhibitions, crazy set design, and even crazier depictions of images and costumes in the film, on the other hand there's a ton of awkward closeups, acting, and even actions performed in the film that makes me question what exactly Gilliam is going for when he directs the actors. Who knows?

Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this movie as I do sitting through most of his films. Heath Ledger's performance is slightly lukewarm compared to his Joker, but then again what performance of Ledger's outshines that of the Joker?

Sadly, this was the actor's last performance due to his accidental overdose earlier on in January of 2008, which explains why, but still makes sense with the story that we see a triumvirate of actors play Heath's character throughout the spiritual awakening sequences. Johnny Depp fulfills the shoes very comfortably and respectfully, Jude Law brings an innocent charm into the film and Colin Farrell is....yea.

The film centers on a traveling troupe that move around in an old school horse drawn carriage that is clearly an anachronism placed by Gilliam for aesthetic appeal, and for symbolism in that the group Dr. Parnassus has put together is legit and that good things can come when you least expect it; since they help people realize the greatness in themselves by entering Dr. Parnassus' Imaginarium.

The film has a positive message about material wealth, self esteem, self awareness, self gratification, good vs. evil, and lastly sacrifice. And a ton of crazy hallucinogenic induced imagery. An annoyingly conscientious Verne Troyer, and a couple "wtf" moments, beacuse well...some of the scenes in this movie are just highly unnecessary. My only gripe and hope is that maybe one day Gilliam will make that perfect film that hits me where it counts; my heart and not just my mind.


Favorite scene in the movie. Here you see instead of an admission collection they instead insist that those participating take from them instead.

3 / 4

-DK

Guido vs Guido

I took it upon myself to watch 8 1/2 & Nine. Both films revolve around the same central character known as Guido.



Nine is directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago). Personally I think this director is very talented in bringing Broadway into film. His choice in cinematography is very keen. Every musical number in the film is exhilarating with memorable performances to boot! Penelope Cruz is seductive as the mistress, Fergie is very rambunctious as the crazy lady that ushers Guido into his awareness and appreciation of women, but due to the nature of her showmanship, Guido begins to look at women as just that; lust. Kate Hudson is uber bubbly in the film, although at first glance you can't help but ask yourself, "wtf is she doing here?" It took me about halfway into her musical number to finally get won over by her performance, Nicole Kidman.....yea. I don't know why for ANY reason she was in this film and the same can be said about Daniel Day-Lewis even though he delivers a strong performance and presence on screen but then again when does he not? I think the real star here is Marion Cotillard, there's something in her subtle beauty and her sly smirks that makes her stand out. I know she's not the ideal "hot" girl like Megan Fox, but her role as the emotionally drained wife of Guido won me over. Cotillard has enough directive power as an actor to make it big, and I hope only the best for her.

However, no matter how pretty and exhilarating the performances were in this film, it lacks on the intellectual aspect that is Federico Fellini. Many have to sit and wonder exactly what angle the director was going for when so much of the film revolves around it being a musical. Are we watching it for exciting numbers or are we really watching a troubled cinematic genius try to overcome his writer's block and balance out his personal life? I honestly couldn't answer that question at the end of the movie for it felt like the director cut the audience short on that aspect, and it's because of that sole purpose that Nine felt incomplete and shorthanded. If you're going to make a interpretive film on another film that is based off another director's own interpretations make sure you have a clear direction on where you want to take the film. It's better to make it your own vision rather than failing at paying homage & attempting to hide that fact by casting BIG names.

2.5 / 4



8 1/2 is directed by Federico Fellini. Where has this film been all my life? It's amazing to see a MASTER of the art create his masterpiece, it is such because Fellini effectively uses every scene to literally portray an image of his choice whether it makes sense to the audience or not, and each scene can literally be a quality photograph, even the Kubrick-esque closeups that are used only empower the film and it's cinematography.

The film centers on the trials and tribulations of a writer/director in the midst of a severe writer's block and all those who are in his life. He wanders from woman to woman, hotel to motel, different opinions, schedules, an angry producer whom has staked a lot of money on Guido hoping he will deliver another powerful film, and even alienates himself from his wife, whom he loves dearly, but has a hard time committing to. Why? Is it because he is immature? How can someone who is so good at directing others and capturing raw emotion on film not have a firm grasp on his own reality? Does he know the difference between reality and fantasy? Does he care? What does it all mean for him? No one knows! But Guido himself.

So, I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is misunderstood, enjoys interpreting films for their own benefit, and anyone interested in making a film.

An epic movie was made about four decades ago....watch it. It is essential.


Dream sequence in 8 1/2


Conclave of punishment, in a flashback sequence

4 / 4

Which one is better? Obviously 8 1/2, but that shouldn't deter one from watching Nine also. It's nice to see that Fellini's own interpretation of a troubled writer be interpreted into a musical by a fellow director.


-DK

Q & A

Cool. I am blogging for myself---finally.

Q: Why is the blog called "I; DK?"

A: The "I" represents me and how I think for myself, and the things that I like and think of. The "DK" is my name, how people know me. I feel as if I am often misunderstood or not fully understood, however which way you look at it, I always feel that there's two different sides to everything I do yet it's all for one common goal/meaning thus the semicolon is there to let you (the reader) know that I am linking my blog content (which are also my thoughts) to myself. Creating a blog where I define myself and my thoughts.


-DK