Just how high can a man reach before he exceeds his grasp?
Science fiction is one of those genre’s that is much admired, but very little understood. Some of the most iconic movies have been science fiction; Star Wars, Terminator, Blade Runner, etc., that spawned dedicated following still in existence today. It captures the imagination and, unlike fantasy, has the added advantage of having that tantalizing possibility of being real at some point in time. And the subject is versatile, able to blend in with several other different genres like romance, comedy, action, horror, or mystery.
But for all those pluses, it’s still a very niche subject that rarely breaks into mainstream popularity. The one turn off for the subject among casual viewers that I’ve seen is also the one aspect that I absolutely love the most, that it takes a lot of effort to comprehend and understand. It challenges viewers by breaking down their original conceptions of what’s possible, but that’s the beauty of science fiction in my mind. I consider myself an open-minded person for the most part, and in this case nothing impresses me more then when creators push the boundaries of ones imagination and exploring new ideas I hadn’t even dreamed about before. It’s the immersive experience of it all that gives me my money’s worth, and by the end of it I feel this deep sense of satisfaction that all the effort I put into it paid off. If I could compare it to anything it would be like doing well with a particular subject in a classroom, it takes a lot of work, but only then can you truly appreciate it by the end. Maybe that’s not worth it to some people, but for me they just don’t know what they’re missing out on.
Directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing have always been known for shining a light on unknown worlds. They were nominated for an academy award for best documentary feature for their film Jesus Campwhich took a candid look at Pentecostal children in America. They also directed a documentary entitled 12th and Delaware which won a Peadbody award in 2011 and is about Americas raging abortion battle. It’s safe to say that they make their bread and butter by opening people’s eyes. Detropia is definitely an eye opener. This documentary takes place in Detroit which is a city seemingly on the brink of disappearing. In the beginning of the movie an astonishing fact flashes across that lets the viewers know that 10 years ago Detroit had 1.8 million residents and today there are only 725,000. From that point on you want to find out why.
The film does a good job of explaining how the city relied on the auto industry for its survival and now that the auto industry has abandoned them Detroit is doing its best to survive. I really tried my best to find other documentaries to compare this to but I truly feel that it is one of a kind. I think the closest I can compare it to would be The Corporation directed by Jennifer Abbot and Mark Achbar which looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up until present day. It shows how corporations became so influential to society and how they’re cost cutting doesn’t affect them but the people in the towns where they are based.
Even though it was a documentary, Detropia was filled with characters I will never forget. From the foul mouthed but artistic Crystall Starr who was a video blogger that recorded old buildings in Detroit that have been abandoned to Tommy Stephens, the very energetic and always inquisitive owner of the Ravens lounge which is a blues club located a few blocks from a GM plant that was closed. A memorable Scene with Mr. Stephens (and believe me it was hard to choose from) would have to be when he and his wife were at an auto show and he demanded to know how the Ford Volt would compete with a Chinese version that cost half the price. The look of shock on his face when the Ford rep had no idea about its competition was priceless. Another character that stands out is the President of the United Autoworkers local 22 George McGregor. I don’t know what stood out more, the fact he still wore a Jerri curl this day and age or the scene where he broke the news to his members on how AMERICAN AXLE threatened to move operations to Mexico unless the autoworkers took severe pay cuts. To see an actual union meeting in which members had to wrestle with the choice of taking a pay cut and not being able to properly provide for their families or lose their jobs and not be able to provide for their families at all is something that has you thinking “what would I choose?”.
There is a scene with Mayor Bing who comes up with the idea to move the residents from one side of Detroit that is sparsely populated to another part of Detroit that has a lot more residents. The plan is to turn the vacant land into a large urban farm so that better use could be made of the 47 square miles of unused land. One resident asked “so you want to grow tomatoes in the hood?” This shows that the residents truly did not understand how the plan would benefit them, because a garden did not seem to patch up the hole of despair that they were falling through. During a press conference the Mayor was asked if he would give any tax incentives or money to those that had to move and he simply said “we are broke; we don’t have any money to give anyone”.
Detropia is a sad look at what can happen throughout America if a city is too dependent on a corporation for its livelihood. In the end a corporation is a business and is concerned with only one thing and that is to make a profit. With so many corporations wielding powerful influence in many U.S cities, it begs the question “Will your city be next?” Towards the end of the film, Tommy Stephens left us with some chilling words “if we don’t stop this epidemic then it will spread and it will be coming to your city real soon”. Those words still haunt me.
One thing I could have used more of in the film was to explore the beauty that is Detroit so we, the audience can find out why Detroit should be saved and what makes it so special besides the fact it was where millions of cars were made. Other than that Detropia was an excellent documentary and I urge everyone to go see it. I also urge you to write to your local representatives and urge them to go see it and then ask them what do they plan to do to prevent this from happening to your town.
Frankly speaking, I did not know that Detroit is going through a major economical crisis: many people just have no jobs, so the majority moves out, the housing and land drastically decreased in price: the filmmakers give an example of a house in a remote neighborhood that was sold for $6000.
My major is journalism, so I loved the way this documentary was put together and filmed in general. You could see that the filmmakers did a huge job in terms of shedding light to both sides of the conflict, interviewing people who relate to this story from different angles: workers of the big company who lost their jobs, social workers that help these kinds of people, politicians who try to help the dying city and rearrange the neighborhoods, land purposes and budget, the citizens who disagree with the latest, people who crumble down the growing amount of abandoned houses, those who try to survive in these conditions by collecting and selling scrap metal and those who own a business on the outskirts of Detroit, and finally those, who move in to this city drawn by the housing cost.
I loved the small details that underline the general gloomy mood of the movie: they were showing a lot of old and abandoned houses,closed theatres with a bunch of rotten furniture (they even invited an opera singer to one of these theatres to sing in an empty and shabby walls for the contrast), but the word on the wall, made from remaining letters of the former “auto parts” store sign, which now said “utopia”, seemed to be the apotheosis of the whole comparison of how prosperous the city used to be in the 30-s and how this city is now. It took the filmmakers quiet a while to film all the parts of the movie and put all the pieces together: some parts of the movie take place in the winter and some in the summer.
In general, the movie is just telling us a story of once “the fastest growing city in the world” becoming basically shrinking city with falling rate of jobs, and it seems that the only thing that is raising here is crime rates.
I dont think I really liked the movie, and I guess it is because it is lacking the sensation, something extraordinary and extremely interesting. The filmmakers are just showing what is happening very slowly, just like a time bomb, which when once explodes, will give a better movie.
Logan Lerman actually visited the movie theater and we got to see him up close and personal. Surprise!
Today, As I sat watching Perks of Being a Wallflower I had no idea my view of coming of age films would change so radically. In short, I hate these types of movies because it always contains some whiny teen depressed about not fitting in. However, the surprisingly complex Perks of Being a Wallflower delivered so much more than I was expecting.
The film, set in the 1990’s, tells the story of Charlie (Logan Lerman, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lighting Thief), a passive aggressive, lonely high school freshman who has just gotten out of the hospital for crazy people and hopes to make a change this year. At this point I became interested in why such a normal, nice looking boy was coming out of the Cuckoo’s nest. The movie lets the audience see, in flashbacks, Charlie’s relationship with his aunt as a small boy and how in a horrific accident her car was crushed by a truck right after telling him that she will be right back with his Christmas present. Already, there is this tragedy and guilt in Charlie’s life that makes the audience understand his watery eyes, his trip to the mental hospital and his longing for acceptance.
His blackouts and bouts of violence also brings a dark element to the film not seen in typical teen movies. The fact that the film doesn’t shy away from this darkness is incredibly appealing and is surely the reason this small independent film has become so popular.
In the film, Charlie goes on to befriend Patrick (Ezra Miller), a flamboyant gay senior, and Sam (Emma Watson, Harry Potter), Patrick’s step-sister who has a reputation for being “easy.” Of course, Charlie falls in love with Sam at first sight but she’s dating a college guy and so he loves her from afar. It is comforting to know that this is not the main point of this story. However, like a typical teen movie they do get high and go to parties. However, in between the normality of teen life is the dark past of Charlie who while intoxicated casually tells Sam that his best friend blew his brains out while in the same breath asking her where the bathroom is. Sadly, I was the only one that laughed at this scene due to how casually he mentioned this little fact. On the other hand is the amazing performance of Miller as Patrick who has his own issues with the jock he is in love with, who just recently learned to love him without being drunk. But it is not all dark as we also get to see colorful characters a la Breakfast Club such as Mary Elizabeth(Mae Whitman,Avatar and the Last Airbender), a goth girl who recently became a Buddhist.
Ultimately, the charm of this movie is the darkness of the characters and the twist of the story which throws the audience an impressive curve ball never seen before in a coming of age film.
The film I chose to watch and review is entitled L’Accordeur and I found it to be… oh wait, you don’t speak French and have no idea what I just said right? I’m so sorry, L’accordeur simply means the Piano Tuner. Now this film is very well executed and for 13 minutes it definitely packs a punch. I truly did not know what to think when initially selecting this movie. I won’t lie, I was drawn in by the fact the lead character was a blind piano tuner. I mean, come on, if that isn’t an original character I don’t know what it.
The film is about a visually challenged Piano tuner whom was once a great pianist but after failing to win a coveted piano competition falls into a deep depression and finds comfort in pretending to be blind. Within the first few minutes of the film he lets us all in on the secret that he isn’t blind and gives us the magical reason that he does it, and it is because… “tips are better, people are nicer and less suspicious” astonishing isn’t it?, its not wonder more of us don’t pretend to be blind to get that same satisfaction. He also exclaimed to “know things about them that no one else does”. In other words people let their guard down around him because in their minds their thinking “why shouldn’t I get undressed in front of a blind person, he can’t see me” but little do they know he is actually watching(cue creepy music).
The beginning of the movie gets you comfortable with the character and what he actually does for a living, which is the interesting world of piano tuning(did you catch the sarcasm there). At about the 8 minute mark you see the main character ringing the bell of an unassuming older woman who seemed very nervous about letting him in but finally relents after finding out he is blind. Once in the house he see’s something that truly freaks him out, he see’s a…hey wait a minute, I’m supposed to be giving you a synopsis not a spoiler alert. Go see it for yourself, its only 13 minutes not to mention FREE and you can’t beat that.
In relation to other thrillers, I would say that this one really catches you off guard and gets into your head unlike most movies where within the first 20 minutes of the film you’re able to tell exactly what’s going to happen and you have about 2 people in mind that could be the killer. I enjoyed this movie and found myself being relaxed by the soothing piano that seemed to always be in the background of every scene. The main character was very likeable and I truly didn’t despise him for pretending to be a blind person, I actually thought it was pretty cool that he found a way to make his job as a piano tuner more exciting, please don’t tell my mother I said that. Hmmm, now I need a unit of measure so I can show you just how good it was and since everyone uses apples or stars I need to be original. I got it!! I’m going to use something that will put everyone in a New York state of mind and nothing says New York like pigeons, yes, Pigeons. So out of 5 Pigeons I give the film 4 and a half Pigeons. The only reason I gave a half is because I’m upset with the director for leaving me in suspense at the end and making my mind go in so many directions as to what happened. That could be a reason to give them 5 pigeons but for those that know me, I don’t like being left out of secrets.
Watch the Piano Tuner(click the blue words, I dare ya)
YES THE LAST PICTURE IS A BABY PICTURE AND SINCE ITS A BABY IT IS REPRESENTING HALF PIGEON, PLUS I COULDN’T ACTUALLY FIND A PICTURE OF HALF A PIGEON AND THE ONE THAT CAME CLASS WAS PRETTY GRUESOME LOOKING.
To me, dystopian science fiction movies must be the Film God’s version of the Babel Tower, a way of smacking down an audience for having the gall to possess an imagination. Something about the lost promise of technology and the future just seems to resonate with the bleak atmosphere and hopelessness of the dystopian theme apparently. While I can appreciate the irony, there are some instances where I find it grating in the extreme, especially in post-apocalyptic versions where science often revert backwards. The reason is they take away the one thing I have always loved about the science fiction genre, the ability to push the boundaries on what we think is possible. Yet I’m happy to say there is reason to rejoice in the form of the short film, Portal: No Escape by Dan Trachtenberg.
Portal: No Escape, based on the videogame with the same title by Valve Software, begins with our protagonist waking up in a cell with absolutely no idea where she is. Time passes as she acclimates herself to confinement, probing the walls every so often in search of a way out. Finally, she discovers a very interesting device that, with the right amount of creativity, may hold the key to her prison, and perhaps to everything else as well!
What I love about Portal: No Escape is the fact that it’s an example of what you can do when you put the science back in dystopian science fiction. The device, the technological possibilities it offers, is a central asset to the story. The doors it can open up, literally in some instances, challenge both the protagonist and the audience to think laterally in order to make the best use of it, pushing ones preconceived notions while still making logical sense.
Photo taken from telegraph.co.uk
I compare this to some of the latest futuristic dystopian films out there like the Hunger Games, which I did enjoy, but left me a more then a little tenuous on the necessity of science fiction elements being there at all. Whereas Portal is dependent on its technology to move the story forward, Hunger Games is all about tapping into something primitive and decadent, often having to make do with what little the characters have on hand in order to survive. I could easily picture Katniss and the other tributes story in a period piece doing a show in the Colosseum of Rome or some surreal drama taking place on a television show set in the present day, like a less funny and more bloody version of Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show.
If you’re looking for a thrilling experience that makes you do a different take on how you’re looking at things and opens up new possibilities for a seasoned genre then I highly recommend checking out Portal: No Escape. Oh, and The game’s not too bad either.
Brink? A concise title with romantic picture of the film attracted me to watch this film. Shawn Christensen directed the Winner of Tribeca short films, Brink; is science-fiction about love in live-action. This short 9-minute film impresses audiences with its narrative and unique photographic techniques.
Jeremy’s voiceover of his written letter leads the viewers into the film, and this impact lasts until the end of the film. Furthermore, the slow motions of the characters and objects’ floating in the air are almost dreamy and reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Shawn’s Brink had more hidden messages that audiences need to figure out themselves.
Therefore, I stared at the closing credits when I watched Brink for the first time because I totally felt at awe and did not understand what was going on. Moreover, Jeremy’s narration made me to feel like I was daydreaming. It was short but had a strong, lasting effect on me. But I gradually understood and immersed into his narration after watching many times of this film.
“Jeremy has been in love with his best friend, Evelyn, since before he can remember. He decides to profess his love for her through a simple, thoughtful letter… but there’s a strong chance they will never see each other again.”(Short of the week)
His confusion about the progression of losing gravity and uncertainty of the future with Evelyn is very well reflected in this film. Also, the indescribable emotion amplified by the psychedelic background music and his voice
“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is not your typical musical film. It is a hilarious and entertaining tragicomedy musical that gives the heroes vs villains scene a musical twist.
The movie was written and directed by Joss Whedon, along with his brothers Zack Whedon and Jed Whedon, and writer/actress Maurissa Tancharoen in 2008. The producers decided that the film would be released in three acts and produced exclusively for Internet distribution. But it was so successful that it’s now on Blu-Ray DVD and Itunes.
“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is presented as Dr. Horrible’s vlog who tells about his dream to finally be a member of the Bad Horse’s evil league, the progress of his “freeze ray” that stops time, his love interest, Penny (played by Felicia Day), and his nemesis, Captain Hammer (played by Nathan Fillion), who always stands in his way and ends up getting what Dr. Horrible (played by Neil Patrick Harris) wants. In the end, will Dr. Horrible get the girl? Will he be able to produce a successful freeze ray? Only those who watch it will know.
Compared to other musicals, this is probably the most unique way of presenting a musical. A musical is the balance between spoken dialogue and song lyric. When songs are performed, it is highlighting a dramatic event or a momentous event. “Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” definitely incorporates those traits and more. What makes “Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” unique is the way the musical was presented, as a vlog. It also incorporates various comedy styles which is a must-see, because it will keep you entertained throughout the entire 42 minutes.
“Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” won the People’s Choice Award for “Favorite Online Sensation”, an Emmy award for “Outstanding Special Class – Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Programs”, and a Hugo Award for “Best Dramatic Presentation-Short Form” in 2009.
Kseniya Simonova was a participant of the “Ukraine’s Got Talent” show. This piece can be called a historical drama, but her way of expressing the sorrow of World War 2 is not performed through camera and actors, but through drawing with sand. She tells us a story by merely throwing the sand on a surface and dragging her fingers on top of it thus illustrating first a peaceful time followed by the war and losses. This is very touching and a very unusual type of art, Ive never seen anything like that before. She is very talented, she seems to be a good artist, she can make a picture out of sand much faster and nicer than many painters can do with the help of a brush.
The performance made me think one more time about the the overwhelming war and its consequences. She interchanges happy days of everyday life with the horrors of war and weapons, love and death, youth and maturity. She is very emotional while performing, I felt that the war somehow touched her family as it did to almost every family in Soviet Union.
The movie is unique. First of all because it is a performance. It has its plot and the pictures are arisen one from another, this piece is done by one person without a big crew of filmmakers. My previous post was about historical drama/holocaust movies. This movie is about war, the war when the holocaust took place and it is definitely a historical drama, it reflects the pain the people went through, and the pain is written on the faces of those who were watching this performance. It is very short yet meaningful piece.
If you mixed the emotional elements of Karate Kid with the futuristic technology of Gamer, what you would get is the short film Turbo by Jarret Lee Conaway. In the film, Hugo Park (Justin Chon) tries to follow his handicapped older brother’s footsteps by becoming the best virtual game fighter. In typical Karate Kid fashion, his brother teaches him to fight with the wise words, “If you’re gonna replace me. You gotta learn to fight like me.”
Like with every action film I already felt the anticipation of the good guy’s triumph over the bully. The emotional aspect increases as we see Hugo make his virtual fighter’s face that of his brother. The fact that he seeks to still have that image of the brother that was not in a wheelchair tugs at my heartstrings and reinforces my love for action movies. The short, like every great action film, had all the elements; Romance, action, emotion and most importantly, motivation. Hugo’s motivation was to have the stronger version of his older brother exist, even if it was only in a virtual world. The love that the audience could see between the brothers in a twenty-minute film is nothing short of incredible. Not to mention that the action blew me away with the glowing balls of energy and the bodies flying about. What makes this a great short action film aside from the stunts, is the special effects which were very professional and it made me feel that ninety minutes is not necessary to produce a great movie.
Justin Chon is also one of my favorite Asian actors and the fact that he is Eric from Twilight and I got to see his wicked tattoo across his naked chest, well that’s just the cherry on top of an already very delicious cake.
