"... I haven't slept in a year..."


image courtesy of countingdown.com

a man who is being eaten up on the inside out. because a little guilt can go a long way. insomnia, madness, fear and despair abound in, what seems to me, brad anderson's sophomore effort. i felt that his previous well-known piece, session 9 was fat with potential but still relatively raw. the machinist is a dramatic noir which reminds me a lot of memento. for some reasons, i feel that the plot is rather typical... largely due to the fact that i sort of figured out part of the ending halfway through.

however, the engaging storytelling, the gloomy texture of the film, christian bale's consuming (almost literally) performance as the film's emaciated protagonist and the exquisite dramatic tension of the movie make up for the fact that this piece is really nothing exceptionally new in terms of narrative ideas. i applaud brad anderson's ability to build the tension up to its climatic moments. he's big on symbolic significance in this one too. and that's always a good thing with me. worth a watch in my opinion.

trailer
official movie site

uber homebody no more: like the phoenix i left my domesticity in ashes.

and i intend to keep it that way, yessiree.

so the sneaky arabs turned out to be sneaky mongolians. flight of the phoenix is set in the gobi desert and not on some random dune fest in the middle east i had previously and oh-so-quickly gathered. my bad. note to self: get my sandy barren landscapes right.

like its monumental banners, gargantuan star-sprangled posters and loud trailers the film is, like most of u already know, typical. it's well into 2005, and hollywood's blocking the busters. i guess the only thing that appealed to me was that part of the cast were competent actors and that dad was very keen. oh alright... i'll give credit where it's due. the film does present some interesting insight into the human condition... when it's stuck in the middle of nowhere with very limited resources. how is humankind to respond to calamity.. or life for that matter? to stay put and be manhandled by fate (which can be very unkind sometimes) or act and take matters into your hands (when it doesn't always end with good results)? risk, gambles and decisions, decisions, decisions where ever our heros turn... but in their case, a slight misjudment, a small human error cost lives. intense huh?

but as usual... the protagonists overcome their personal frustrations and fears, outsmart the sneaky menacing "other" and soar... to show the world that western civilisation will once again prevail over the harsh brutality of eastern nature. pun intended. ok, ok... i shall play fair. no hitting below the belt and i will chuck that soapbox in the corner. for now. =p

like it or not... i choose not really. interesting but no lasting impressions on me.


heave...ho...
image courtesy of countingdown.com
for the trailer, proceed here.
for the official website, proceed here.

bad education makes for good company.

greater than good actually. take this critique however u like it, but let it be known that i am a huge beyond huge fan of pedro almodovar and be forewarned that appalling gushing is due ahead. almodovar- that bohemian soldier who unseated the hegemonic cultural wasteland franco left in his wake, a relentless pioneer of la movida, a pillar of film history and an outstanding auteur of film destiny. yes, in my eyes he is guru cinematique and i want to have his children. tough that he's gay though.

bad ed tells the tale of two friends who come together to collaborate on a film based on their experiences during which they spent in a strict catholic institution for boys where one of them falls prey to the sexual advances of a priest who teaches there. it thus becomes an emotional and psychological journey with a delicious twist towards the end.

in the spirit of almadovar's take on postmodernist art, la mala educacion is a self-reflexive, meta-narrative with a pastiche of genres. what i love about almodovar films is that he questions and challenges, not only social issues, but filmic conventions as well. aside from his trademark controversial focus on love, homosexuality, passion, obssession, religion and the human condition, he compels the audience to rouse from cinematic complacency with 3 intriguing parallel stories and engaging characters who are masters at keeping secrets and weaving tales as a means to achieve their desires. who can the audience trust? the characters? almodovar himself? there are many sides to a single tragedy with too many narrative threads to follow... not only are his characters put to the test, but viewers are as well. at the end of the day... a film is just a film. a concocted tale no matter how willing we are to be pulled into its mind numbing and consuming sphere.


va va bernal!

part melodrama, part romance and part noir, it does not have a distinct genre.. it is in fact, a pastiche of genres where the conventions of one category dissolve into another. it makes for an engaging story aided by complex, intriguing characters and great performances particularly by gael garcia bernal who was almost freakishly convincing in every role he donned. i am also extremely, totally impressed with the two young actors, nacho perez and raul garcia forneiro who depict the protagonists as children. it is no small feat to depict two young prepubescent boys who are in love and engage in sexual experimentation. my salutations to the courage and the maturity with which these young actors approach their roles.


talented performers nacho perez and raul garcia forneiro.

the script's witty charm is woven effectively into the narrative's mainly despairing take on these characters' lives. all in all, this is an almodovar treasure... and the best i've experienced so far this year. hopefully it's not the last for 2005.

watch the trailer or die!
go to the official website to save your life!

movie slut signing off... for now. so tough! =p

house arrest: the adventures of homebody.

a well-defined thumb and a dent on my sofa. hundreds of hours logged in. dvd clatter. 7 novels bookmarked. all in the wake of the ultimate (stay)inmate. the uber homebody.

the extraction of my two remaining wisdom teeth turned out to be quite an event this time. the procedure didn't frighten me as much, nope.. not even as they placed the white shroud of death over my face. not even when i felt my jaw slacken under the pressure of my gums being SAWED open.

minimal swelling and minimal bleeding but the grave tragedy that struck in the aftermath was a pretty unlucky and bad reaction to the antibiotic medication. the irony, i know. i'm king barf- i dare anyone who can hurl like i do. when i barf, i hold nothing back. the puking extravaganza was held during the most part of the morning after. it was quite the spectacle... dramatic even. tears, cold sweat, wide open mouth and powerful purging. my motor functions were put to the test. no projectile though. i was almost disappointed.

caught a fever and developed a cold after that. in the state of my immobility, dvds, the internet, cable and novels became daily companions; i developed an insatiable lust for more film info and i mourned the last movie i caught in the theatre... which was pedro almodovar's bad education last thursday. practically the best film i've watched so far this year.

huge thanks to my bestie eileen who visited me earlier today and brought big laughs and good times in my otherwise quiet evenings. please please return to your fabulous blog. the fantastically talented jo has a new blog and there's a new entry to my little family of bloggers- raha, a sweetie who's studying with me in perth. made a couple of changes around this outdated, rusty and dusty place too.

anyhoo... i'll leave a list of links to the trailers of some of the films i'm dying to catch this year. can't possibly fit in all so i'll just name the few from the top of my head... on painkillers. heh. quicktime required.
in no particular order:
1) the jacket- didn't exactly have a great overall response at sundance but i do like adrian brody and keira knightly. interesting story too.
2) anatomie of hell- abjection! anything that challenges or dissolves conventions is always good with me. boldly french and john waters said this is one of the most unpolitically correct film he's ever watched. 'nuff said, sir. oops sorry folks.. no trailer to be found on this yet.
3) land of the dead- my nearest and dearest know my fetish for zombie movies. terribly interested in asia argento's involvement. err.. no trailer for this yet too.
4) notre musique- godard, please don't die soon...
5) dear wendy- thomas vinterberg directed the best dogme film i've seen. he pairs with von trier. i can't resist.
6) manderlay- you're my daddy, lars von trier! yes u are!!! oops no trailer for this too. oh well.
7) the downfall- tense german drama about the final days of hitler. what's interesting is that it arrived without a bang or a whisper... but its intensity snowballed since its release. and i love juliane kohler.
9) melinda melinda- i'm intrigued cuz i think woody allen is both a fool and a genius.
10) sin city- who isn't?? who isn't tell me!!! excellent cast, excellent cinematography, excellent approach to filmic comic book adaptation.
11) batman begins- i'm a whore for christopher nolan and christian bale. impressive cast too except for katie holmes.
12) the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy- douglas adams, rest in peace. unleash your wrath if the film does your excellent novel injustice.
13) the lion, the witch and the wardrobe- finally! finally!! been in development hell for about a decade if not more... it seems weta is doing an excellent job on this so far. and this is my favourite from the narnian chronicles.
14) corpse bride- funny.

until next time, movie slut over and out...