Deus ex cinema — WatchBlog

I just saw Avant Garde – Experimental Cinema of the 1920s & 1930s and I have to say that this is one of the best film collection ever put together. All the films are extremely interesting and most of them excellent. Ménilmontant alone justifies buying this collection, one of the best films ever made.

The New scores are great and the notes on the films are fairly good. The picture quality varies (from bad to good) and it would have been nice to have a little more extra material. But still, this collection is a must have for anyone interested in film. One of my favorite DVDs.

Spione is a mixture of brilliance and stupidity. The camera-work was amazing and the same goes for the set. And the film has one of the greatest finale of all time.

Spoilers Ahead!!! But then there are some really stupid scenes like when Haghi (the bad guy) shoots him self in the head but still talks and stands on his own to feet. And if Haghi was so powerful why didn’t he just have No. 326 shot in the beginning in stead of waiting it out? And why should a spy working for the government help a women who has just shot a man, like he does for Sonya? And I have to say that the love story between No. 326 and Sonya was way too much over the top.

Spoilers Finished!!! But don’t misunderstand me. I think it was an fantastic film (8/10), better than Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler – Ein Bild der Zeit (1922). It was also interesting to see how much Bond has borrowed from it. It also reminded me of North by Northwest (1959) by Hitch. Not to mention Dr. Mabuse. I really felt like I was watching Dr. Mabuse no. II.

I saw the Masters Of Cinema edition of the film (R2). The transfer is amazing. Extremely well done. I didn’t care so much for the music though.

I Just came from seeing Lange Flate Ballær, one of the worst film I have ever seen. It is supposed to be funny but I was bored to death.

The acting is awful, the script is a disaster and the editing is the biggest fiasco I have seen. I thought Norway was over amature stuff like this but this proves me wrong.

I just saw Firefly (T.V. Series) and Serenity, the film that follows the series. I had heard many good things about both of them and I can’t say that I was disappointed. I have to admit that I liked the film better but there are also very nice episodes in Firefly.

I find it interesting to compare these two to Battlestar Galactica (an excellent TV. series). There are many similarities. Especially all the reference back to the past (no laser guns or anything like that) and everything is old and used. Even rusty. And there are no aliens in the world any more. Just us, mankind. And the problems we are facing? The same as today. Firefly and Serenity are even set up as westerns to emphasize that point. Gone is the humanistic faith we see in shows like Star Trek.

But what does this tell us? Are we loosing faith in science and modernism? Is this post modernistic SF? Have we come to the conclusion that new technology will never change human nature? That rational thought will not build new kingdom on earth? That “star men” will not come and save us? We are stuck with our self, with nowhere to run. I find this very interesting and I wonder if we are going to see more of this in the future.

Serenity has an interesting answer though. One could call it the Gospel according to Serenity. It goes like this: “I don't care what you believe in, just believe in it. Believe in something.” (Shepherd Book). And that’s what happens. Mal is on the loosing streak until he starts to believe. Modernism has been dropped for post modernism. Faith is what matters, not what you have faith in? I liked the film better then the shows because it deals more with interesting questions like this one.

One could even say that the making of the film proves its gospel. It took a lot of faith to make Serenity. Firefly was canceled before the first season was over. It was a fool’s man dream to make a motion picture from a canceled show. But they did it by never loosing faith. By believing!

I just started a Cinema club and the first movie we saw together was Sunrise, by one of my all time favorite directors, F.W. Murnau. Sunrise is also one of the best films I have ever seen. It was very well received by the participants.

The camerawork is just unbelievable, even by today's standards. The Moving camera that follows "The Man" when he goes to meet "The Woman from the City" is breathtaking. The acting is also quite good but it is the director that shines the brightest here. This simple story is told so well that one can not take eyes of the screen.

There are many religious themes in the film. The most obvious is the reference to the Genesis Story. The Woman from the City is like Lilith and the snake in one person (and not for the first time in art history). She is even seen lying on a branch in a tree, happily observing the drama cosed by her misdeeds. "The man" and "The Wife" are like Adam and Eve. They live peacefully before the snake/Lilith comes and threatens their happiness and even the life of "The Wife", poisoning everything with words.

The name of the film can simply refer to the sunrise in their life, in the end of the film but it also reminds me of the many texts in the Bible where it is stated that Gods help comes with the dawn.

I just saw Caché at the cinema. It is a very interesting film but in no way as complicated as I had heard. 

There are spoilers ahead so if you have not seen the film then don't read further. 

The movie reminded me of Lost Highway (David Lynch: 1997) in the beginning but the films are in fact very different, even though they have many (superficial) things in common (the video tape and not wonting to face your past). 

The movie begins as a psychological thriller but ends up being a political attack on racism in French. The title, Hidden, does not only refer to what happened to the main character(s); it refers mainly to the massacre of the 200  Algerian protesters in Paris Oct. 17, 1961. The French nation is just like the main character. It does not want to face it’s doings and hides it. But you can not sweep things like this under your carpet. The past will come knocking on your door, whether you like it or not. I like the fact that it was their son who taped and sent the videotapes, in collaboration with the Algerians. It gives hope, that the new generation is willing to make changes. 

The movie is really a parable about the relations between the west and the east, and especially between French and Alger. Nice film. I strongly recommend it to anyone.