by Bob Martin | Jan 27, 2010 | Directors, Film, Movies
Vera Farmiga
This film turned out to be more then I expected. I expected grown up humor, well acted, well written and directed movie about road worries, consultants who spend their lives someplace other then home. I was expecting an expansion of the films trailer. The film is much better then the trailer suggest. Up in the Air brings to the foreground the cost of being efficient. We’ve become consumed with records and “stats” as if they accurately reflected our lives. We count how many FaceBook friends or Twitter followers we have.
“
I thought we signed up for the same thing… I thought our relationship was perfectly clear. You are an escape. You’re a break from our normal lives. You’re a parenthesis.” Alex Goran
We conveniently use our “staying in touch” toys to distance ourselves from the people we need to be in touch with. We’ve begun to outsource our caring to the internet and our avatars.
I really enjoyed this movie and want to see it again. It’s fun and painfully true.
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by Sandy | Jan 23, 2010 | Artist, Blogroll, Directors, dvd, Film, Movies
Italian Neorealist Director Roberto Rossellini, (1906-1977), made a series of films just after World War II labeled the “War Trilogy”. They have been issued as a DVD box set :
“Rome Open City, (1945)” “Paisan” (1946) and “Germany Year Zero” (1948)
Acclaimed by French directors François Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard, their articles appeared in the film magazine, “Cahiers du Cinema” declaring Rosselini “the father of the French New Wave”. His use of non-actors, his focus on little human interest stories and his use of the Italian street as back drop gave Rossellini ‘s films a grittiness and realism rarely seen in Europe before the war.
Roberto Rossellini’s “War Trilogy”
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by Bob Martin | Jan 22, 2010 | Art, Film, Photograhy
Oddly, the press release on this exhibit of Parks’ photos describes him as being best known as the director of “Shaft” (org 1971).I would think that his work as a photographer, fashion and journalism, is how he is best remembered. The exhibit at the Toledo Museum is titled “Bare Witness” and begins February 5th and closes April 25th, 2010.
Gordon Parks was a 20th century Renaissance man in that he was a Musician, Poet, Novelist, Director of Motion Pictures as well as a Photo Journalist. His legacy for me, consists of the beautiful and truthful photographs he took throughout his life.
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by Sandy | Jan 9, 2010 | Blogroll, Film, Movies
2 film options to learn more about the situation in Darfur, the western region of Sudan, Africa.
“The Devil Came on Horseback”, 2007 – The “Save Darfur Coalition” is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region.”
“Darfur Now”, 2007 directed by Ted Braun – The documentary captures, thru images and interviews, the seemingly endless horror escalating among the Sudanese. This is a call for intervention – moral, diplomatic.
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by Bob Martin | Jan 2, 2010 | Actors, Art, Directors, Film, Movies
Pedro Almodóvar has a delightful way of telling a story.
Lluís Homar
Without discussing the plot, Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) is reminiscent of Hitchcock both in the telling of the story and visuals. There is something sinister going on and the audience is intrigued and charmed.
Blanca Portillo
It’s funny and sad and never forced. Penelope Cruz and Blanca Portillo both blessed with extraordinary faces that deliver comedic lines with a seriousness that add to the plot of the movie. The film also stars Lluís Homar a seasoned, rugged, good looking actor and director who is perfect in his role.
This is the kind of movie that requires more then one viewing (always with sub-titles). There is a lot more to see and to be fascinated with. Good flick.
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by Bob Martin | Dec 24, 2009 | Art, Directors, Movies
An entertaining movie, especially on the giant IMAX
screen and a theater filled with kids impressed with 3D. and trying to touch everything. A couple of times I confused people walking in the isle as being in the movie. I had not seen a 3D movie in years and was surprised how much better the viewing was this time around.
Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington
I wanted the script to go someplace, away from the typical story line, “Dances 
with Wolves” or “Tarzan” which continues a myth that I find disappointing. So technically I found the movie excellent in telling the same tired story, it takes a westerner to save another culture from extinction that’s caused by western culture. A review in i09 brings up the issues of race, genocide and aligns Avatar with District 9, whose story although the same as Avatar I liked it better.
See it (almost everyone will) and there is no new insight in the story line, white man with a white hat saves the world again. Alien in 3D, now that would have been something.
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