There is something deliciously creepy and perfectly apt abut this poster. In fact it makes me want to see the film in a way the original poster ever did. At any rate: Retro-looking movie posters from Seek&Speak
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( larger version behind cut )

Found on the great site World Digital Library. The images might load slow, but that's simply because they are of Tif quality. I have just spent the better part of this Sunday browsing at all the old maps, posters and photos here.

I'm having a bit of fun listing all the films and series I've watched and rewatched in 2009. So far I must say that autumn has been more relaxed than spring (wherein April and May were a bit absurd).

The only downside is that I set an adjacent goal of writing a bit of a blurb about most of the films, but so far I'm not even half way. So I'd thought I do some mini write-ups about some of the films, and at least make some progress.


Any excuse to put up a picture of Cary Grant. Here from Only Angels have Wings

Paris is Burning

The film adapts a documentary style when narrating the last few days before the Allied liberation of Paris in 1944. Problem is that the film has followed in the footsteps of The Longest Day and other luminaries, and so all the parts are played by famous actors. You're left with the impression that Alain Delon, Jean Paul Belmondo and Leslie Caron all worked for the French Resistance - or more precisely you stop caring about the story and start actor-spotting instead.( +++ )

Home of the Brave

The only times I truly dislike my work is when I have to watch bad films. And by bad I mean "films' that aren't even entertainingly bad, just plain awful." Home of the Brave is one of those. ( +++ )

Red River

John Wayne and Montgomery Clift drive cattle, while being manly men who quarrel over manly things - like, apparently, cattle. To be honest the film is very good, its just that it is a Howard Hawkes' action picture and I've never managed to engage with those (as opposed to his comedies such as His Girl Friday and Bringing Up Baby). ( +++ )

Only Angels Have Wings
( +++ )

Hotel Rwanda

This was a rewatch, and considering the film's material not a very pleasant one. But one thing struck med then, and even more so now and that is the bitter irony inherent in the film's message.( +++ )

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Films watched in 2009.

I'm currently utterly in love with this Norwegian artist, Rockettothesky, which is the name of the one-woman band of Jenny Hval.
She describes her music as surrealist folktales, and I find that quite apt. Haunting and a bit esoteric, with a video that is pretty cool as well.

A slightly modified version of the image-meme seen floating around LJ lately. Apparently I cannot resist a meme that focuses on pictures.

1. Post ten of any pictures currently on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.

2. NO CAPTIONS! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.

3. They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr! They have to have been saved to your folders sometime in the past. They must be something you've saved there because it resonated with you for some reason.

( ++++ )

In other news I am way behind on comments, and will start working on that in the next few days. Apparently those who said that summer was a time for holidays and relaxation lied.

With some films the sheer beauty of the cinematography is the main reason why I love the films. of course the story and the acting helps, but I've always been a sucker for images and love it when I can indulge in gorgeous visuals. So I figured that instead of writing about the film, I'd screen cap parts of them instead. That makes this post rather image heavy, but it is also the only way to do the beautiful cinematography justice.



( Blade Runner - with a tiny spoiler for BSG )

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The German director F. W. Murnau consistently made films that were highly visual, and that often had a supernatural theme. This resulted in some stunning cinematography - like in Faust. It is a retelling of the tale of Faust who sells his soul, and Murnau uses the tale for all it is worth to include alchemy, heavy religious symbolism and some of the more stunning special effects of its time. ( ++++ )

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The great combo of the supernatural and early cinema also produced the wonderful and weird Swedish silent film Häxan or Witchcraft through the Ages. The film proposes to tell in a lecture like manner the story of witchcraft and analyse it via the science of psychoanalysis. Complete with numerous images of naked women worshipping devils or course.( ++++ )

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Films watched in 2009.

From Ken Burns' The War

The Battle of Midway

During World War II director John Ford to a break from directing epic westerns starring John Wayne and devoted himself to making propaganda documentaries. The most famous of these was the twenty minutes long colour film The Battle of Midway:
( video under cut )

The film is famous for its actual combat footage, particularly the way the camera shakes with the impacts of the blasts and how shots of the soldiers are predominantly close-ups due to the need to stick together during the bombardment. Both the shaky camera and the close-ups were later employed by Steven Spielberg in the Omaha beach landing in Saving Private Ryan, and later in Band of Brothers, particularly in the episodes Day of Days and crossroads. ( ++++ )

Ken Burn's The War

In Ford's The Battle of Midway the images tell the main story, but they are effectively complemented by the rhetoric of various voiceovers. A repeated phrase is how the soldiers are from this town, or that town or "any other American town". At one point the narrators says: "men and women of American. Here comes your neighbor's son", combined with mentions of the name of the various soldiers we see close-ups of. It all helps create a personal, intimate feeling that seems to confirm the film's claim that "this is our front yard". The reason I find this interesting is that Ken Burns in his documentary The War does exactly the same thing. ( ++++ )

I'm stuck writing a paper and so I'm procrastinating and talking about fandom instead.
Snagged this from wildtiger7 who tagged me with Band of Brothers, BSG & The Wire

Comment and I will give you 3 fandoms and then you have to answer these questions.

1. What got you into this fandom in the first place?
2. Do you think that you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
3. Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
4. Do you participate in this fandom (fan fiction, graphics, discussions)?
5. Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?

( The Wire )

( Band of Brothers )

( Battlestar Galactica )