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