Kafka On The Shore

laurenm-: eyre:fantasticness: themattsmith:

deleteyourself:
Husband and wife Kozyndan released their latest drawing as a quicktime panorama. Click here.

Very cool

Lykke Li
(via benjaminf: larobotique:flickflickflicker: loverandthesea)

(via unadriana: homecoming)

I was browsing through pages of tumblr stuff without much convinction when this image popped up and caught me by surprise. Man, did I laugh hard. It was a loud, evil laugh and it reeked of garlic… I can’t stand this Hepburn (I much prefer that one) so this reblog is a no brainer.

Lenny (1974) by Bob Fosse

Here’s a film that profoundly marked me when I first saw it and kicked off a phase in my early-mid teens when I would travel great distances across Paris to catch screenings of American film classics. Both Dustin Hoffman and Valerie Perrine are absolutely fantastic in Lenny. The 70s were such a great decade for Hoffman…then the 80s happened and…oh, well.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) by Terry Gilliam

Ah, the magical and cooky world of Terry Gilliam! This film is full of wonderful and colorful characters (as are the costumes and the decors), my favourite being the Baron himself (film critique Rogert Ebert describes him perfectly as appearing “sensible and matter-of-fact, as anyone would if they had spent a lifetime growing accustomed to the incredible”). Loved Jonathan Pryce’s accent, loved how he quickly disposed of Sting, loved the cannon-ball double ride, loved the hot air balloon made of knickers, loved Sarah Polley as the kid, loved all four of the Baron’s sidekicks, loved all the explosions and chaos. I’m not sure I fully understood the ending but that’s OK for in the end, “everyone who had a talent for it lived happily ever after”.

Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
(Still I Rise)

(via none00:crokz)

PETRA MRZYK + JEAN-FRANÇOIS MORICEAU
www.ritterzamet.com

Kung Fu Panda (2008) by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

More often than not, Jack Black is absolutely insufferable, but Kung Fu Panda is one of those rare occasions when I find him hilarious. The fight sequences are brilliantly choregraphed (I particularly enjoyed the one in which Po and master Shifu fight over a dumpling) and the whole feature is a big ball of fun.

Grace Zabriskie. What a great neurotic face that woman has.

Cronos (1993) by Guillermo del Toro

I love it when independent world cinema goes vampiric; the result is usually intelligent, dark, poetic and intimate. Cronos is the perfect example of that. As is Let the Right One In. Plus, Guillermo Del Toro is a facinating guy and a great interviewee. His closet is full of wonderful monsters (and insects).

Moon (2009) by Duncan Jones (also known as Zowie Bowie, son of David)

What a great example of Lo-Fi Sci Fi, featuring the always excellent Sam Rockwell (time to get this guy an Oscar nomination, I say) and Kevin Spacey’s voice as Gerty, the robot (a much nicer version of Hal 9000).

My local cinema has this to say about Moon: “if you liked Transformers and Star Trek, then you’ll love Moon“….Well, they couldn’t be more off the mark. Here’s how I’d put it: “if you loved 2001: A Space Odyssey and Solaris, then you’ll like Moon”. So, maybe Odeon should work on improving their recommendation engine. Just saying.

Sidenote1: To anyone interested in going to see this film, I strongly suggest you avoid watching the trailer as it hints at a plot twist that I think is best kept as a surprise. I’d really recommend you go see this film knowing nothing of the plot and trusting that you’re going to love it.

Sidenote2: It would have been funny, I think, if Duncan Jones had named Sam Rockwell’s character Tom instead of Sam. But whatever, that’s just me being a sucker for obvious and futile references.

Trivia: Moon is produced by Trudie Styler, who also gave Guy Ritchie his first break. To a journalist who pointed that out, Jones said that he’d rather become “a Ridley Scott than a Guy Ritchie, if that’s all right.” I like this guy.

Battersea Power Station cleverly used as the bombed-out military base in Ian McKellen/Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995)

What a great idea to stage this Shakespeare play in fictional 1930s-inspired fascist England. I find that choice of setting particularly fitting if you want to tell the tale of a power-obsessed psycho murdering his way up to the throne.

The cast is an impressive mix of British thespians (Ian McKellen, Jim Broadbent, Nigel Hawthorne and Dame Maggie Smith) and Hollywood stars (Annette Bening and Robert Downey Jr). Sure, McKellen is great as Richard III but it’s Annette Benning who impresses me the most. Come to think of it, Benning has the knack to steal the show in all the films I see her in, so no surprise there. Going back to McKellen’s performance, I find it so over the top (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and so theatrical (obviously) that it makes Richard III look like a loud buffoon with a total lack of finesse. We would occasionally get a small glimpse here and there of how cunning and machiavellian he truly is (usually by having McKellen look straight at the camera and tell us so), but mostly we’re shown Richard III as an out-of-control murderous thug. The death scenes for example are shown rather than implied as in the play. Robert Downey Junior’s murder scene is particularly shocking and graphic. I love it.

One other thing I quite enjoy in this film is to observe actors act their way through some rather hardcore Shakespearean speak. And in such a modern setting, the monologues can sound a bit too anachronistic. One scene, however, makes the modern-stage concept totally pay off: during the climatic battle scene, Richard III’s yells his famous line “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” as his armored car becomes stuck. His lament takes a totally new meaning in the film: it becomes a plea for a mode of transport with legs rather than wheels. I thought that was a scene of pure genius as far as adaption work goes.

Sidenote: This movie was recommended to me by The Once And Future Blonde, who reminded me that, once again, I omitted to credit her. And in return, I should remind her that I never do that on purpose.

Vertigo (1958) - Alfred Hitchcock    (via branduponthebrain)

Considering that my tumblr theme is named after this film and that I have a particular (and totally unjustified) dislike of Jimmy Stewart, I think it’s only fair that I take his severed head home.