Fucking Hell
Slow tracking shots through hellish scenes. The ending is mysterious and resonant.
Watch it (via Giavasan’s Horror post)
Ticklinks: A world of crazy news
- Albino Killings in Tanzania
- Women inmates at a New York prison train puppies to help disabled returning war veterans
- Using false-documentation laws to round up illegal immigrants
- Seeking Cures With No Prescription
- Hmong Hip-Hop Heritage
- Meet the Mangosteen
- Graffiti in Berlin
Pencil Face
Wonderfully creepy.
Bigger, Stronger, Faster
What a trailer! Interesting to see them connect the micro of steroids with the macro of American politics and outlook.
Matt Faust - Home
A great portrait of an American family. One of my favorite shorts for 2008. Matt Faust beautifully juxtaposes photos of his childhood home in Louisiana with the post-Katrina disaster photos of the same home
Watch it - Director Matt Faust’s blog (Thanks to Nic who found this at a festival)
Yard Sale
One incredible take. Perfect for the 48 hour film fest.
Remember When
Touching piece. Actors R.L. Jackson & Tori Lee are just tremendous. Wow!
Watch it in very large QT - a smaller flash available on the front page (subject to change).
Speed Racer Goes Crazy
This is John Kearns‘ parody of the classic series. Or is it a lost episode? You decide.
Watch it. (Flash Video)
via Cartoon Brew
Prevent It ads
A series of Canadian public service announcements in which people have various fatal accidents that could have been prevented. What is really effective about these ads is that the accidents are incredibly short and violent, the kind to get a reaction out of everyone. The first one is especially troubling.
Tentacle
This powerful PSA for Dunkelziffer demonstrates the unbearable trauma, sexually abused children suffer from.
Directed by The Vikings, of Epuron’s fame.
Watch it. (Flash Video)
Bullet Proof Vest
The black & white cinematography beautifully highlights the harsh realities of a “lost generation.” As always, when you let kids ramble on, you get the most truthful assessment of what a situation feels like. This is a classic.
Pictures of You
TAC (Traffic Accident Commission) in Victoria, Australia, has released a three minute advertisement featuring people who have lost family members in speed-related crashes.
The campaign was developed at Grey, Melbourne. Filming was directed by Mark Molloy at Exit Films.
Watch it. (Flash Video)
Download. (Quicktime)
Phone Sex Grandma
I hope you don’t rely on telephone sex to get your rocks off because this short documentery would certainly kill that. A one-joke short but the one joke is pretty funny.
Watch it - via Cinematech
In
Review of There Will Be Blood
Wow! Director Paul Thomas Anderson flexes some serious filmmaking muscle in this film. This is the Raging Bull of our times, less optimistic (imagine that), less character arc but they do share the same theme: a strong character who cannot escape from himself. In Raging Bull, the redemption or the self awareness comes, in There Will Be Blood, there is not even a hint of such notions.
The obvious checklist: great acting: check; best acting performance by Daniel Day Lewis: check; incredible detail to costumes and times: check; great supporting cast: check; great directing: check; great cinematography: check; fantastic editing: check; powerful story: check.
So all the great reviews you have read about this movie are true.
Here are some of my favorite moments from the film that you will not hear about:
- Daniel Plainview comes to a small farm to check out a family who are sitting on a valuable oil reserve and don’t know it. He shows up with his son pretending to be shooting quail. The family patriarch, Abel Sunday (played by David Willis) comes out to greet him. The scene is slow and awkward but real. Anderson and the actors weren’t simply recreating an awkward moment, they are recreating a moment from the early 1900’s (I can only guess, of course). David Willis is simply incredible, he manages to play a character without a brain, a simple minded man. Of all the great acting in the film, his performance manages to stand out.
- Another great piece of acting from David Willis is the close-up shot of him eating, right after Daniel Plainview has beaten up his son. At first, he seems to have taken a stand against Daniel but the following close-up of his son (played by a wonderful Paul Dano) indicates that he is actually standing up to his son. Willis manages to show his simple minded choice of ignoring the problem but all the while knowing what is at stake. Fantastic.
- When the baby strokes Daniel Plainview’s face on the train. Such an easy moment to indicate that he is going to father the child. Simple, no fancy shots of paper signing or whatever.
- The bowling alley in Plainview’s house is one of the best set pieces I have ever seen. Seriously, how cool is that. And Daniel chasing Paul around the back, it is playful. You forget how powerful those bowling pins can be. Which is wonderfully relevant to what happens next.
- The final line “I am finished” can be interpreted in so many different ways. From what is just happened to what will happen in the future to the actual movie.
- When Daniel talks about the peachtree dance hall and his brother can’t remember. My reaction to the information mimicked Daniel Day Lewis’.
One of the greatest movies of all time.
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