A Note on Spoilers

I decided it might be a good idea to make what’s known as a “sticky post” here on the front page for those coming in who might be concerned about spoilers. In these posts I’m going to be talking about varying aspects of movies that I’ve been watching, This may include writing about things that some would consider spoilers, including, at times, the endings of these movies. Those who are particularly spoiler averse may want to avoid reading these posts if they are planning to watch the movie in question. In certain circumstances where I will be discussing events towards the end of the movie, including the ending in at least a vague way, or when a movie contains a particular plot twist that might be considered major, I will try to post a more specific spoiler warning, because I do recognize that even though I may be writing about a movie that is decades old, it’s still going to be new to some people. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Celebrating Richard Wagner’s 200th Birthday With Silence – The Life and Works of Richard Wagner (1913 Silent)

Richard Wagner

Richard Wagner (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What better way to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest composers of all time than with a silent film? Released in 1913 in order to coincide with his 100th birthday, this film, directed by Carl Frohlich, is considered one of the, if not the first ever bio-pics. Originally released with the simple title Richard Wagner, it runs roughly an hour and twenty minutes which was, perhaps appropriately considering the epic length of some of his compositions, an astounding run time for that period.

I’ve posted the entire film below. This version has English title cards and intertitles, and no soundtrack at all. Interestingly, when the movie was first released, it did have a score which was not made up of Wagner’s own music, which would have been too expensive to use at the time, but instead was composed by Guiseppe Becce, who also plays Wagner in the movie.

Say what you will about the man himself, this is certainly an incredible look not only at his life, but into the history of film, too.

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Latest Man of Steel (2013) Trailer Hijacks the Internet

I’ll admit, I’m just having a hard time getting a feel for Warner’s upcoming Man of Steel. The first images and footage released looked way too Christopher Nolan for what I want to see in a Superman movie. Then along came more trailers, and the mood seemed to brighten a bit and I became more hopeful that we were going to get a Superman that was actually super. Now we have this latest trailer which is the most action packed yet, and… well, look for yourself and see what you think:

Of course, the truth is, we’re not really going to know what we’re going to get from this film until it opens next month, and even then it’s not really going to matter. People are going to swarm to see it on opening weekend (which is really all the studio cares about), and some are going to declare it “the best superhero movie ever!”, some are going to absolutely hate it, and most people are going to fall somewhere in between and start looking toward whatever the next shiny golden Hollywood bauble is.

Me? I’m just glad I made it through this post without either some kind of “Kneel” or “Zodliness” pun…

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Speaking Volumes Through Silence – The International Youth Silent Film Festival

ysffThe International Youth Silent Film Festival is one of those events that I love finding out about, and only wish I had known about sooner, because the Midwest Regional (which includes Tennessee) took place back in February, and I know some local aspiring film makers who could/should have participated. Still, the Pacific Northwest Regional is taking place this week in Portland, Oregon and I encourage anyone in the area to check it out.

The basic idea of the Festival is that young people (participants must be twenty years old or under) choose a musical soundtrack from six options based on the genre of film they want to make. They then construct their film to fit the soundtrack. In this way, the festival gives them a good starting point while allowing a lot of leeway for creativity, and also ensures there is some equal ground among the participants. The films cannot have any sound effects or spoken dialogue, and must contain at least three title cards (one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end).

This seems like a great opportunity for young film makers not only to challenge themselves in a way they may not have considered before, but also to get what every aspiring artist needs: a chance to exhibit their work to a real audience. Plus, it gives the rest of us a chance to see and appreciate the creativity and hard work of these young people. And who knows what some of these creative kids may go on to do? They really are the future of film making.

Plus, it just looks to be pretty darned entertaining.

More information can be found at the festival website linked to above, and you can also view past winners there.

Here’s a promotional video for the festival:

And just to give you a taste of what you can expect to see, here is the winner of the Audience Award from last year:

Red Band Trailer for Only God Forgives (2013) – All I Need To Know I Want To See It

Only God Forgives is getting its premiere at Cannes today. It’s written and directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and stars Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas and Vithaya Pansringarm. As I’ve noted before there are some movies that I try to go into as unspoiled as possible, and between the above information and this red band trailer, I think I know as much as I want to before it gets its wide release in July. Here, take a look:

Yeah, this is one of those films that is definitely up there on my “most highly anticipated films of the year” list? Will it live up to expectations? Well, there’s no knowing for the next couple of months, but let’s hope so.

What do you think? Anyone else out there looking forward to this one? Let me know below.

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New Wolverine Trailer Brings On The Hack-and-Slash Action

Yep, it’s another new trailer for The Wolverine (or just Wolverine, or however they’re titling it now), and it certaimly brings the goods. Of course there’s footage here that you will have already seen, but there’s lots of new stuff here, too. Jean Grey,a real shot of the Silver Samurai, Yukio, and…

Well, here, just watch it for yourself:

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Saturday Double Feature: Iron Man 3 (2013) and…

Yay! Saturday again, which means it’s time for another Saturday Double Feature! Remember, the basic idea here is to take a movie that is out in theaters now, and pair it up with another movie from the 1980s or before.. Sometimes the connection will be obvious, and sometimes it’ll be a little less so, but that’s part of the fun.

Iron Man 3. Do I really have to spend much time with this one? Let’s face it, most of you either have already seen it, or know whether you’re going to or not. Still, since it is the SDF tradition, here’s a trailer:

This should be an easy one, right? Well, yes and no. Without getting into specifics (I’ll be writing the movie up in a few days now, with any luck) there are actually a number of ways I could go with this, because of the twists and turns that the plot takes. So instead I decided to just think about the concept of a guy in a metal suit, and images along those lines. Which got me to thinking about robots. Now, there have been lots of robots in movies, and perhaps the most iconic one is the robot from Forbidden Planet, whose design was echoed by the one from the TV show Lost in Space.

The original look for Iron Man.

The original look for Iron Man.

But there’s another robot design I was more curious about. There’s a somewhat iconic mental image that many of us (well, many of us who are old enough not to think of Transformers as the be-all-end-all in robots) carry with us. That’s the image of what is basically a guy in a grey “metal” suit that basically look like, well, a guy in a grey metal suit. You know, kind of like the guy at the right. So where, I wondered, did that mental image come from? 

Well, just a little bit of Googling later, (I’ll admit I really didn’t spend a lot of time on it), I still really didn’t have a definitive answer. At least not a filmic one. My best guess would be that it probably comes from one of the classic serials or from pulp magazine covers and illustrations from the 30s and 40s. However, that bit of Googling also led to a a somewhat different but still similar robotic image, that of  Tobor the Great from the 1954 film of the same name. Here, take a look:

Yeah, considering the 243,791 Iron Man armors seen throughout the new movie, I can completely see one being built along those lines, can’t you?

Anyway, what do you think? What other iconic robot images spring to mind? And what other pairing would you choose to make a Double Feature to go with Iron Man 3? Remember, the pairing doesn’t necessarily have to be obvious, just as in this case. Whatever you think, though, let me know by clicking the comments button below.

Until next time, Happy Viewing!

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David Lynch Does Duran Duran

David Lynch is, without a doubt, one of the most interesting directors in Hollywood. Duran Duran is one of the great party bands from the 80s. Putting them together, getting Lynch to direct a film of their 2011 concert should at the very least lead to something entertaining, right?

Well, actually, not so much. Actually what it leads to is overproduced crap. Sorry if that seems harsh, but hey, you come here to get my opinion, right? Well, there you go.

If Lynch had simply stuck to filming the concert, or simply adding a bit here and there to enhance the experience, that would have been fine, I think. but instead, he can’t seem to leave a frame of the film alone, and what he adds is so distracting that it seems even to be affecting the performance of the group onstage. Though actually I suspect that’s more a case of Simon Le Bon and the others feeling the almost 30 years that have passed since their heyday.

Or maybe it’s just me.

Anyway, the complete director’s cut of the film is screening at Cannes today, and I’m sure it’ll get snapped up pretty quickly for a distribution deal which will see it screened at least in some kind of limited, likely art-house release. If you can’t wait, though, and want to see most of the concert footage, it’s actually been made available on Duran Duran’s YouTube Channel. Or, you can just click the play button below. (And I apologize ahead of time if you have to sit through an advertisement before the video actually starts. That’s just the way these VEVO videos are.)

So, what do you think? Are Lynch and Duran a combo made for each other? Or a combination made in hell? Go ahead and give me your opinion in the comments below.