arse poetica

Ingmar Bergman, Famed Film Director, Dies at 89

Unmatched. His films are legend and, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I always loved French and Saunders' send up of Bergman.

Ingmar Bergman, Famed Film Director, Dies at 89.

Ingmar Bergman, the “poet with the camera” who is considered one of the greatest directors in motion picture history, died today on the small island of Faro where he lived on the Baltic coast of Sweden, Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, said. Bergman was 89.

Critics called Mr. Bergman one of the directors — the others being Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa — who dominated the world of serious film making in the second half of the 20th century.

Tintin Films in the Works!

WOOHOO!! This makes me so happy that I am actually sitting in my chair at work and clapping with glee. Clapping. With glee. When's the last time I did that?? I was thrilled -- thrilled -- when I heard that Peter Jackson was going to direct. I know he's an Oscar® winner for the Lord of the Rings trilogy (and deservedly so), but I'm a fan of his smaller scale Heavenly Creatures [and db loves The Frighteners, ha], and I know he'll do Tintin right.

I grew up reading Tintin and wishing I could travel the whole world like him -- and be brave enough to survive hair-raising adventures in the Congo and remote China and Mt. Everest. Happy memories. And thankfully, I haven't read them in a long time so they haven't been ruined for me by, say, recognizing a neo-imperialist undercurrent in the narrative (as Babar was ruined for me in college). I did notice, of course, that there were no grrls.

As I mentioned before, Tintin and I have a few things in common.

Tintin Travels to Tinseltown | TIME.

He may be fictional, he may have emerged from comic books, but for many, Tintin is an inspirational adventurer for all time. And now, Belgium's greatest hero is set for the ultimate escapade, as two of Hollywood's biggest names, Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, have announced plans for three back-to-back features based on his stories.

The films, for Spielberg's DreamWorks studio, will be produced in full digital 3-D using performance-capture technology, which takes points of reference from real life subjects and transfers them to animated characters on the screen. Spielberg and Jackson will each direct at least one movie; there is no word yet on who will helm the third.

The timing could not have been more apt: Tintin's creator, Hergé, was born one hundred years ago on Tuesday. Many credit Hergé, whose real name was Georges Remi, with inventing much of the visual grammar that defines modern comics. His books involve masterly plots and a depth of humor, artistry, detail and characterization. His iconic comic strip hero travelled the world fighting crime and ventured to the moon a full decade before Neil Armstrong.

For an insight into Herge and the Tintin legacy, the documentary film "Tintin and I" is well worth seeing. I only wish it had been longer.

And literally just arrived in my mailbox: the new NY'er, containing an article by Anthony Lane titled "A Boy's World: The Tintin Century."

Persepolis Film!

I can't wait to see this movie. I loved these books.

Cineastes Abuzz for Persepolis Cartoon.

Hot Fuzz

Man, I needed that laugh. I can't remember the last time I laughed outloud like this. I can't wait a week!

Oscar Picks

Best Actress: Helen Mirren, but what a category! I mean, Meryl? Obviously. And don't even get me started about Judi Dench. I was abuzz for days after "Notes on a Scandal." Days. If she won, I'd probably jump up and down on the couch.

Best Actor: Forest Whitaker, or Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Departed," for which he is not nominated. But I'd be happy if either Peter O'Toole or Will Smith won.

Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson -- she OWNED her movie, but another great category. Adriana Barraza broke.my.heart. in "Babel," and what is there to say about Rinko Kikuchi but that she is amazing?

Best Supporting Actor: I missed "Blood Diamond" and "Little Children," but I'm going for Djimon Hounsou, because he is so damn smoochable. Or Kelly from "Bad News Bears," for old times sake.

Best Director: Inarritu is an amazing filmmaker and "Babel" would be flawless were it not for its unrelenting (and emotionally manipulative) misery. Wonderfully edited, amazing cinematography, great score, amazing performances. Maybe he should win. Don't get me started about Scorsese's "The Departed" or we'll be here all night. Meh. I don't think he should win for that. He's done much better. And will again.

Best Film: "Pan's Labyrinth," even though it's not nominated. Of the nominees, I'll vote for "The Queen" on the strength of Helen Mirren's performance and its overall compassion, a tragedy deftly handled.

Best Original Screenplay: "Pan's Labyrinth"

Documentary: "An Inconvenient Truth"

Foreign Film: "Pan's Laybrinth"

Art Direction: "Dreamgirls." They did not miss a beat. No pun intended. "Pan's Labyrinth" was also teh awesome.

Film Score: "Pan's Labyrinth" or "Notes on a Scandal." Damn, or maybe "Babel." 

Song: No idea, so how about something from "Dreamgirls"?

Film Notes + Impeachment Limericks

I just couldn't bring myself to watch the -- God, what do we even call it? Stiffly rendered break w/ reality? -- last night. I watched "The Andromeda Strain" instead. For me, it's like "2001" in that I can understand that it must have been a big wowzer back in the day, but it's difficult for me to engage it on the techno fetish level, and damn, they do love their science-y tech toys, cool scientists, and even cooler machines. It's interesting to me, socio-culturally speaking, but it's overdone by half.

They spend an hour of the film just getting to investigating the precipitating event. The pecipitating event I liked. The scientists' varied reactions I liked. I lamented finding a comparable, what I would call, "No Nukes! ethos" in a contemporary film about potential biological disaster. Is the altruistic scientist acting on behalf of The People gone (as represented in film, I mean)? These scientists actually expressed sentiments independent of the government employing them! That I liked mucho.

Way too much exposition, good Lord. Did they have such little faith in their audience that they had to talk us through each step (or is this the convention of the era, or is it just poorly written)? The lead scientist functions as an ongoing Cliff's Notes. Happy to see two whole female characters in this sciencey bastion, though one of the women's job is to screw things up for the big climax, which, well.... okay, I guess. But the final scene gets a thumbs-up from me, ending on a warning note -- difficult, ambiguous, alright!

I liked the style, the throwback (from this vantage point) *Science Thriller!* soundtrack and camera tricks, and, I would say, a very well utilized split-screen, which I quite enjoyed and, were I to make a film in the near future, would definitely rip-off pay homage to. The split-screen may have been my favorite thing, actually. No, the decided anti-biological warfare sentiment driving the narrative was my favorite.

Then again, maybe the woman playing Dr. Ruth Leavitt was my favorite. I'm not seeing very many Ruth Leavitt-looking female scientists in films these days. Instead, we have the Blonde Scientist phenomenon. The Blonde Scientist is cousin to The Blonde (Assistant) D.A. This is modern Hollywood's nod to feminism (bwahahah!), because, you see, these women are professionals, not mewling/stripping girlfriends and fetishistically purposed victims. Oh, that is another post for another day. Sigh.

So anyhoo, in lieu of my own wishes for a Bush impeachment, which occur naturally and do not need the benefit of a poorly rendered speech about a poorly rendered response to a poorly rendered strategy for a poorly rendered war, I give you Mad Kane's Yet Another Impeachment Limerick.

It is time for another Bush speech,
Which leaves honor and facts in the breach.
Please do not expect reason:
Just more acts of treason.
Enough with this nonsense.  Impeach!

Right the hell on, MK.

What If We Saw Love All the Time?

Yeah.

First Day of My Life.

Making a List, Checking It Twice...

Oooooooooooooooh: Criterion Collection New Releases.

Which just begs the question: why don't I own all of Jane Campion's films? Who's seen "An Angel at My Table"? This is one of those films that when I happen to catch it on TV, no matter what I'm doing, no matter what point in the film, no matter the time of day, I have to watch it. Damn.

Need a Ticket to Zurich

Oooh, I want to see this. Great idea.

Art MoCo: "Portrait of an Image".

Roni Horn is an artist of many talents. Although perhaps best known for her photography, Horn creates sculptures, installations and pieces that are text-based. One of her most compelling works is entitled Portrait of an Image and is comprised of 100 photos of French actress Isabelle Huppert. Horn shot twenty groups of five photos, each group representing a character portrayed by Huppert in one of her films. Each picture displays a personality that exists only on film. Huppert is devoid of make-up, yet through subtle changes in expression the identity changes every time. Beautiful photographs.

The Hauser and Wirth Gallery in Zurich presents Portrait of an Image through July 22nd.

Friends, this is just slightly off-topic, but I have not had a chance to write the PSA that I've wanted to. Here it is now: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU WATCH HUPPERT'S FILM "MA MERE." Okay, only if someone kidnaps your family and the ransom is to watch this film. Only then.

It is atrocious and ranks as one of the worst films I've ever seen, and this is saying something. I had the opportunity while living in LA to view many a bad film, though relatively few terrible French films. This one is indulgent, nonsensical, poorly edited, plodding, dull, "provocative" (feh), &c. and &c. I want my 2 hours back. If I had not watched this atrocity w/ my best friend to whom I could turn periodically and say, "Okay, I know I don't get it, but what is it they're trying to do?", it would have been even more unbearable. We never did figure out what they were trying to do.

I think it's a film about a sexually predatory mother whose son is enamored of, um, something (her libertine power?) and wants to be initiated into her depraved life or possess her or be possessed by her or it's Oedipal but maybe not. Yeah. There are periodic ponderous speeches about you hate me/forget me and you love me/we're secretly the same. I'm guessing it's a film made for people who are into violence, nonsense, blaming women for male sexual neurosis, more violence, existential anomie, and miserable sex. I hope that's not a lot of people.

I Love Docs

Films seen this weekend at Full Frame:

Hammer and Flame: are you kidding me that people take ocean liners apart by hand??
Matthew Barney: No Restraint: when in doubt, more Bjork.
Two-Headed Cow: see previous post
Time Piece: americans = e pluribus unum; turks = e pluribus pluribus
No Umbrella: the Repugs stole that election in Ohio. also, Councilwoman Fannie Lewis for president.
The Trials of Darryl Hunt: f*cking racist bullshit. Darryl Hunt deserves every good thing coming to him and more.
The Intimacy of Strangers: people are listening to you, mostly because they can't help overhearing your indiscreet ass yapping away on your cell phone (not you, dear readers, them).
Iraq in Fragments: beautifully filmed; so well done it felt scripted.

There was a time when I could've filled pages writing about -- well, anything -- but film especially. That time has passed. I am slowly but surely losing my ability to bullshit, which I take as a case of knowing more means knowing less and, thus, talking less. Back in the day, I knew a helluva lot more than I know today. I totally knew what Courbet was going for. Oh yeah. Wasn't it obvious that "L'Origin du Monde" was a slap in the face of bourgeois convention, a worshipful altar of disembodied female sexuality, and the locus of male insecurity all wrapped up in one? Well, my 3 blue books' worth said so anyway. Today, eh. What do I know? [Hi, KathyF!] Plus, I'm tired. Plus, somehow, some damn how, our democracy was hijacked, not once but twice, and I'm still not over it.