Bale rants & the quick internet artists!

A couple of days ago, a sound clip found it's way online. You've probably heard it already, but if not, it's a recording of Christian Bale on set of Terminator Salvation a couple months ago. Shane Hurlbut, the film's DP, apparently walked into the FOV of Bale, and he... well, you can hear it for yourselves here.

Funny, but that's not the point. The point is that, while the clip has only been online for 2 days, someone did a remix already!!! I mean, Jesus Christ! I dunno, I was just impressed, here it is:

Oscars & BG

Hello there, this is my first post after christmas.

Today the oscar nominations were announced. To be honest, I haven't seen most of the films that are competing this year, and I feel that this is no coincidence. Again, this is the Academy's opinion of the best films of... the last quarter of 2008. What happened to the films that were released from January to September?

The "brother categories" of Best Picture and Best Director, have five films released in December! Coincidentally they are also the films with the most nominations. Milk (8), Frost/Nixon (5), Benjamin Button (13), The Reader (5) and Slumdog Millionare (10). Between them, there is of course The Dark Knight with 8 and Wall-E with 6, but I feel that especially these two films were largely underestimated, receiving mostly techie nominations (you know, summer films, who cares?).

So I'm wondering, where are: Cloverfield, In Bruges, Be Kind Rewind, Funny Games, My Blueberry Nights, Iron Man, The Fall, The Wackness, Pineapple Express, Appaloosa, RocknRolla, W. and, oh my God, where is Happy-Go-Lucky? Apart from a script nomination, I think Sally Hawkins was the best female lead this year.

Anyway, I think I'll stop here, maybe I'll rant more when I'll see the 5 films competing for best picture/director, as of now I've seen none of them.

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During christmas, after an advice from Ally, I started watching Battlestar Galactica. After two and a half weeks I'm in the beginning of the fourth season.

As all TV-shows, it has its ups and downs, but I was glad to see that it was more ups than downs. I really like the three main actors (Adama, Roslin, Baltar) and the rest of the cast isn't bad either.

I also appreciate that the show has a special way of engaging you while you're watching. There were some points were I was really feeling angry at people and shouting at them! I think the peak was Baltar's trial, where I was really feeling like watching a real trial. It was so redempting to see Roslin humiliated for once in front of the public. Oh well.

If you're into sci-fi, check it out, maybe even if you're not. It has a lot of allegories, mainly about racism and relationships and I believe it can deliver even to someone who is not that much into sci-fi.

Gran Torino

Well look at that, just two posts later and there's a new(er) Clint Eastwood movie released. I was looking forward for this just by having seen the trailer, it looked like a return to Clint's Dirty Harry characters, and oh boy...

The film is directed by Clint Eastwood and he is also starring as a veteran of the Korean war, very patriotic and nationalist character. He is the last American on his neighborhood, which has been transformed to a home for Hmong, black people and other minorities.

Once again the film deals with a lot more things than what it seems; racism, religion and family relations are the stronger elements. Allow me to say that he has done a great job on the last bit, I felt so connected as to how his family treated him, it felt like I was watching my family treating my deceased grandmother some 5-10 years ago, it's very realistic.

I have to say though that despite of all the messages and the importance of the film, Clint's character and the script is a total pleasure! And yes, there is Det. Harry Callahan somewhere deep inside Walt Kowalski. It is so great to see him in his 78 delivering lines like "Get off my lawn" and, one of my favourites:

GANG MEMBER: Are you fucking crazy, get back in the house.
WALT KOWALSKI (holding a shotgun): Yeah, I blow a hole in your face and then I go in the house, and I sleep like a baby, you can count on that!

I think that's what I loved most about the film, it has all the emotional weight that Eastwood's latest films have, along with a type of character that's been missing from our screens for at least 20 years. Highly recommended!

Duck, You Sucker

...or A Fistful Of Dynamite, as it is more commercially known.

The last western directed by Sergio Leone, and his only film I hadn't yet seen. I was impressed actually, and surprised as well. The film is so similar, but at the same time very different from the rest of his films. It takes place in the Mexican revolution (1910-1928), so apart from all the classic elements in his films, you can see a more modern world, cars, motorcycles etc.

The interesting part is that it might be a very enjoyable western, but at the same time it works as a political commentary around revolutions in general, which makes it different from the films before it. Also, I felt that the characters in this film were more distinct, the two leads were clearly the heroes, filled with good intentions, and the bad guys were bad (if that makes sense!), at least that's how I received it.

Apart from that, the film didn't let me down anywhere else either. Brilliant music once again by Ennio Morricone, cinematography, direction, performances, everything I expected from a Sergio Leone film.

A lot of people argue that it is the weakest of the Leone westerns, but I don't agree. I think it's just different, and I prefer that than to have seen a reproduction of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. All hail Sergio Leone!

New Watchmen Footage!!!

Changeling

Clint Eastwood. A man for all ages. Cinema history is about a century old and he entered halfway through. He's still here and Changeling proves it once again.

Remarkable movie. I entered the theatre waiting to see a true story about a mother who loses her child and gets a different one back, but oh God, it's so much more than that. The movie has so many layers, gets into so many different subjects of that age, beautifully crafted into just 2:20. Believe me, it's too hard to fit all these things in so little time and so coherently.

I don't think that I have, nor I want to speak about technicalities, direction or how was the sound or the lighting here. No. Characters, society and human relations, that was the movie and it was one of the best in these aspects. Touching. Well done Clint.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Oh my God! I just re-watched this magnificent movie and, once again, I'm speechless. The film is amazing in every aspect. To those of you that haven't seen it, I strongly recommend it, it is one of the best films of the last years (and one of the more underestimated) and arguably the best film of 2007.

The film takes place on the last year of Jesse James' life. Although the film begins with a train robbery, it is the last for the whole film. There are no bank robberies, lengthy shootouts and action. The film is a deeply internal study of the two men's characters and the relation between them. Also, it's not the film that you wonder what's gonna happen in the end, it's actually written in the title.

So, what makes it so special? Well, for starters, it's one of the most beautifully photographed films in the history of cinema. Really now, I can't actually understand how it didn't win the oscar, at least there. Every single shot and sequence is so carefully balanced in everything, I can't describe it with words.

Then, it's a two and a half hours film, with a really slow pace, an ending that you know what will happen and yet it never feels tiring! I consider that to be an achievement.

The performance of Casey Affleck is astonishing. This was the other nomination of the movie, which I believe also deserved it more than Country's Bardem. Pitt's not bad, but really it's Affleck who steals the show. The supporting cast is also very good.

I don't know, I've seen it twice and I would gladly watch it again soon, which doesn't happen often to me with such long films. In my opinion, apart from the Cinematography and Supporting Actor Oscar, it also deserved Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Music and Directing at least.

Oh yeah, the music is composed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis and is, just like everything else in this film, flawless.