Top Ten #4

Okay, the list continues:

Fly Away Home, 1996, Written by Robert Rodat and Vince McKewin; Based on the book by Bill Lishman; Directed by Carroll Ballard.

Of all my favorites, Fly Away Home is probably the one most people will consider the lowest quality from a "critical" or "artistic" point of view. However, we all have our personal favorites that are meaningful on more personal levels. Fly Away Home is one of those movies for me. It's the 2nd film on my list by director Carroll Ballard, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I love movies that explore the relationship between people and nature/animals. There are very few high quality movies in this category, and most of them are directed by Carroll Ballard (though not in my top ten, Never Cry Wolf is also an excellent film). Based on a true story, Fly Away Home is about a 13 year old girl named Amy, who moves in with her father in Canada, after her mother dies in a car accident in New Zealand. She has troubling adjusting to her new home and her long-estranged father until she finds a nest of geese eggs abandoned by their mother. She raises the geese and with the help of father decides to lead the geese to their winter nesting grounds by having them follow her in an ultralight aircraft. Their are some cheesy moments aimed at the kids and a stock bad guy in the form of a land developed, but overall the movie is intelligent and complex. The highlight is the absolutely beautiful montage ending, filled with amazing aerial shots photogrpahed by Caleb Deschanel, in which Amy leads the geese, over an almost abstract Carolina shoreline, to the the haunting song 10,000 miles, composed by Mark Isham and sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Even if you don't relate to the film's plot, it's hard not to be moved by the film's ending

Top Ten #3

Sorry it's been a bit. I was out of town over the weekend (wedding in Michigan--not mine). So here's the next film:

Fearless, 1993, Written by Rafael Yglesias (based on his book); Directed by Peter Weir

In his 80's and 90's films, Peter Weir always seemed to have the ability to portray real-life events in extraordinary ways, without losing much in the way of realism. The experiences are heightened but remain real (see Witness, The Mosquito Coast, and Dead Poet's Society for examples). Fearless is probably the most heightened and in the movie, the dramatic becomes sublime. The story revolves around Max Klein (Jeff Bridges in one his finest performances), the survivor and hero of a terrible plane crash that killed his best friend. While the other survivors struggle with the understandable problems of survivor's guilt, nightmares, etc., Max becomes distanced from his family, and convinced that since he should have died in the crash, he can not be killed now (thus the title). He eats strawberries (to which he has a fatal allergy), walks on building ledges, and generally believes he is invincible. As he drifts farther and farther from his wife (Isabella Rossellini), a psychologist (John Turturro) links him with Carla (Rosie Perez), a woman whose infant son died in the crash. Their "affair of the soul" destabilizes his marriage even more. The movie is filled with amazing scenes including one in which Max straps Carla, clutching a toolbox, into his Volvo and drives straight into a wall, proving to her that she could never have held her baby tight enough to save him (The instrumental opening of U2's The Streets Have No Name provides an unforgettable score to the scene). Just as powerful is Max's decision to help his wife understand his near death experience by eating strawberries (and seemingly choosing ) to go into anaphylactic shock so that she is forced to attempt to save him. Though Max's fearlessness seems be a mental illness of some sort it is also a state of grace. And you're never really sure, despite his disconnection from his family, whether or not he should return to the land of the living.

Say "Brian De Palma." Let the Fighting Start. - New York Times

Say "Brian De Palma." Let the Fighting Start. - New York Times

A.O. Scott has an interesting article about the constant critical battles over the films of Brian DePalma. These critical battles are largely over style versus story, as DePalma is generally accused of elevating style so high he loses track of story. Defenders of DePalma, according to Scott, argue that this attention to stunning visual style is rare these days, and so should be valued. I'm not sure I agree, or at least, I would argue that a focus on sharp story telling is even rarer than a focus on visual style. And if you agree that DePalma does sacrifice story on the altar of style, than it's hard not to conclude that his films may have contributed to the lack of high quality stories in theaters these days.

Baseball Gone Batty - Los Angeles Times

Baseball Gone Batty - Los Angeles Times

This link might slightly stretch the intentions of this blog, but as a baseball fan, I got a kick out of this LA Times article about the Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League (an independent minor league) who are involved in a web based reality series, in which fans vote for each night's starting line-up on the internet...

Freeman's film is in the express line to the Net - Los Angeles Times

Freeman's film is in the express line to the Net - Los Angeles Times

Morgan Freeman is not only a great actor--he's a really smart, tech-savvy guy. His film 10 Items or Less, directed by Brad Siberling, will be available for download two weeks after it's theaters this December. Of course, Steven Soderbergh did this with Bubble, but BUbbel didn't start Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega. The film is still a cheap indie ($10) but is produced by Clickstar, a joint company of Freeman and chip-maker Intel. It's great to see traditional players in the movie business emracing new approaches.

Arizona State University - When Film School Isn't Enough: Welcome to the EnterTech Age - New York Times

Arizona State University - When Film School Isn't Enough: Welcome to the EnterTech Age - New York Times

This NY Times article discusses Arozina State's Entertainment/Technology program (well, right now it's a class which will become a program). This is the future and students, professionals, and teachers interested in creating and teaching visual content for entertainment needs to be thinking along these lines. I would really like to teach a class or two like this at UCA (in fact, the micro-cinema course I taught last summer devled into this quite a bit).

More Top Ten

Wow, this is already getting tough. I'm afraid this top ten might turn into a top 15 or so.

Breathless (A bout de souffle), 1960, Written by Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard; Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.

Of course, there's plenty to say about this film in terms of cinema history and it's influence on the New American Cinema. But for me, there's no movie that feels more alive than Breathless. The energy of the actors, the camera work, the editing, and the city itself seems unmatched even in today's world of fast cut frenetic films. Breathless is simply more vital. No other movie makes me wish I was in Paris (or any other city) more than Breathless. You can feel the pulse of the city in every frame, especially in the exteriors. The ambiguity of Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) and Patricia (Jean Seberg) adds a wonderful layer of complexity. Patricia's ambivalence towards Michel and her motives for being with him create the portrait of a character simultaneously deep and quite shallow. And when Patricia finally betrays him, Michel's refusal to run seems incredibly moving and adult, and at the same time childishly petulant.

CinemaTech: ExpertVillage.com: Paying videographers to produce videos

CinemaTech: ExpertVillage.com: Paying videographers to produce videos

Scott Kirsner has a brief entry on his Cinematech blog on a site called Expertvillage.com which pays $300 per video for "how to" videos. While I link to this because it's a great way for students, etc. to make money, I think the more important aspect is what Kirsner mentions as other possibilties: reviews, locals events, etc. There's a huge market, I think, waiting to be born here...

More Top Ten

I am continuing my top ten list (give or take) as requested by some of my students. One note--I am limiting this list to narrative features only, though my favorite film of all time is generally considered a documentary (and I will write about it). Also, from here on out, the list is in alphabetical order.

The Black Stallion, 1979, Written by Melissa Mathison, Jeanne Rosenberg, and William Wittliff; Based on the book by Walter Farley; Directed by Carroll Ballard.

As a child, I read all the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley (my mom had been a horse lover and we had a horse). I saw the movie in the theater at age 8. Yet, I had very little memory of the movie when I saw it again as an adult and it became one of my favorites. In some ways, the movie is a typical fantastical children's movie (a ten year old boy riding a stallion in a professional horse race is unbelievable even for Hollywood). Yet, in other ways the movie transcends the children's genre and is much more complex. After the opening shipwreck, the movie spends an entire act on a deserted island--the scenes are gorgeous, there's almost no dialogue, and the relationship between boy and horse is transcendental. After the boy and the stallion are rescued, there is always a tension about the domestification of the horse and a feeling that the stallion is sacrificing his wildness out of love for the boy (the boy has no father). The result of this tension is one of most subtle, bittersweet endings in cinema. In the big race, the boy and the stallion, of course, win the race (I'm not giving anything away--this is a children's movie) and as they pull away, the boy releases his hands from the horse and holds them above his head, paralleling a shot from the island. In fact, the movie cuts to the shot, and the happiness of the victory gives way to sadness over the loss of innocence and a realization that the simple perfection of the boy, the horse, and the island is gone and will never be regained...

Re-thinking portable/downloadable video

I've been thinking a lot about how hot everyone seems to think downloadable short films for iPods, cell phones, etc. will be. I do think there is a market for it, but I've been wondering how popular such a thing will be in the long run. This summer I taught a course called Microcinema about making these films and really felt there was a big future here. Now I'm less sure.

First, of all, I wonder where and whenexactly people will watch video on these devices. I always hear and read that people riding the bus, waiting in line, etc. will be able to watch a short film or clip or whatever. But how many people actually ride the bus or train, and wouldn't they be more likely to watch longer form video (if they choose to watch video at all)? And how often do we really stand in line? While there may be a market for selling media to people for every moment in their lives, its seems video will still succeed most in situations where people devote themselves specifically to watching the video (though TV is often a background activity, any video on an iPod or cellphone has to be a dedicated, primary activity).

Second, until a convenient method for subscribing and transferring video to a portable device comes about, downloading video seems more trouble than its worth for most people. Obviously, podcasting is pretty convenient, but to podcast short form video, you need a serialized story (which I think does hold potential) or a service or channel selecting videos for you. And transferring to the portable device is something you really have to choose to do, versus it just happening (DVRs for example).

Finally, who will be the viewers of this type of video? Obviously, this is aimed at younger demographics with the hope that it will become mainstream for them. But even younger users, who will take the time to find the content, subscribe and transfer it, and watch it in their free time? It kind of seems that the typical person in this demographic may not devote their time to this. Rather, it seems the more techno-savvy, media-savvy people will be the primary users (and I don't think all or even most young people are truly techno/media savvy).

I'm curious whether Microsoft's Zune will chance anything as you should be able to download content directly to the player...