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The Fall by Tarsem Singh

9/1/2008 12:09:57 AM in Film by Matt

The Fall is an epic fairy tale and if you liked Tarsem's incredible The Cell than you'll like this film even more.  It's visually stunning and poignant with great acting.

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Lee Pace and Tarsem - Exclusive Video Interviews

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Who Killed Jessie? by Vaclav Vorlicek

5/29/2008 9:37:00 PM in Film by Matt

The Czech New Wave is one of the most exciting periods for film people and Who Killed Jessie? is one of a handful of classics.  This film features the most successful attempt at fusing comics books and film.  Archetypal characters like "Superman" and "Cowboy" and the titular Jessie, a female superhero/sexpot, take us on a madcap adventure when they are materialized into the real world via a scientific experiment - from a scientist's dreams.  There are subtexts related to authoritarianism and freedom but ultimately it really works on the level of a briskly paced magical adventure.  See this if you can!

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Brewster McCloud by Robert Altman

5/29/2008 10:52:00 AM in Film by Matt

Brewster is an owlish, intellectual boy who lives in a fallout shelter of the Houston Astrodome. He has a dream: to take flight within the confines of the stadium. Brewster tells those he trusts of his dream, but displays a unique way of treating others who do not fit within his plans. When the fateful day arrives, and he enters the dome with his fanciful construction of bird wings, Brewster is surrounded by the police. Will he be caught before he attempts to fly? Source

 Altman's Brewster McCloud is a magical film that sees life as a somewhat absurd journey of unfulfilled dreams, but not as a process of frustration - more of a monomaniacal vision of freedom.  Brewster dreams of literal flight. He also has a guardian that also seems like a mother figure, a bird mother and spiritual guide.  There is Python-esque narration that flows throughout making parallels between the world of ornithology and anthropology. Interesting characters (Stacy Keach is great) make the story flow briskly. Popular culture references, political commentary, quirky characters, a car chase - this is something not to be missed if you're lucky enough to view it. An absurd, quirky gem - not surprising consider the title character is played by Bud Cort.

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In Memory of Ingmar Bergman

7/31/2007 1:40:48 AM in Film by Matt

Film fans are in mourning today over the death of one of the medium's poets, Ingmar Bergman. I didn't realize film could be art until I saw Persona, Bergman's masterpeice. Someone once told me the Sweden's ethos is its pathos - and Bergman translated that into film as only a visual poet could.

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Solyaris by Andrei Tarkovksky

3/12/2007 1:38:00 AM in Film by Matt

Solyaris is Andrei Tarkovksky's masterpiece but only one among many. It's a subconscious journey through dark, blocked content in one man's life. It's also a film, like Woman in the Dunes, that deals with Existential angst and the real possibility that life could be a solipsism.

Surely other people exist, but the paradox is that we actually create their existence, to ourselves, in our own minds. Truth is very subjective and a lot of the time we interact with our version of others rather than them as they really are. In Solyaris, our projections or our inner experience of others physically come to life and unresolved, unconscious life experiences that we refused to face, now seek resolution. Solyaris is science fiction with a psychological bent that builds slowly and hypnotically.

Tarkovsky is Russia's greatest director and this is probably his greatest film but I also loved The Mirror (aka Zerkalo) - but just about any of his films is worth a viewing.

You can view the entire film here but without subtitles and view some clips here.

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