Monday, April 16, 2012

Blog News & Blogging Around 4/16/12



Well, the 2012 film is already getting to a pretty good start as I saw a couple of new features so far.  Still, I'm more focused on other films for the time being as I'm nearing completion of my next Auteurs piece on Guillermo del Toro which will arrive this coming Friday.  Meanwhile, I've already started work on the next part of my Favorite Films essay series in 24 Hour Party People.  Originally, it was going to be Y Tu Mama Tambien but I had no idea what to write about as it's been some time since I've seen the film.  I hope to revisit it later this month or early next month but there's other projects that I've been trying to set up or be involved in.  Notably the upcoming Cannes Film Festival marathon for May 16-27 as I've already selected the films that I will be watching.  All of them are films I haven't seen as I'm not going to do re-watches this time around.

In the meantime, I'm just trying to see whatever I can find as I have a lot of films saved up on my DVR.  There's a lot that I want to see as I have a couple of Robert Bresson films set to arrive on Turner Classic Movies a week from Sunday that I'm eager to see.  I'm also going to post and re-edit the old reviews of films by Werner Herzog that I wrote back at Epinions.com as well as new reviews of Herzog films I haven't seen.  One of them is Bad Lieutenant:  Port of Call New Orleans but I want to re-watch the original Abel Ferrera film that I haven't seen in years.  There's also a bunch of Akira Kurosawa reviews that I've written that I hope to re-edit later this month though it's hard to keep up with everything I had written during that time which was essentially six-seven years of work.

That is all that is coming ahead as I'm also eager to watch upcoming blockbuster releases like The Avengers and Prometheus.  Plus, I'm still working on my screenplay projects even though it's been sporadic at the moment.  Particularly as I've decided to temporarily close my music blog for the time being due to lack of interest.  Plus, I've grown to despise the current state of music altogether as I'm now content in being an old fart to these young little brats.

In the world of the blogosphere, there's a lot that I've been enjoying that's been worth my time. James @ Cinema Sights has this amazing review of Jean-Luc Godard's Vivre Sa Vie as it's a film I really want to see.

JBT @ Big Thoughts from a Small Mind has a great piece about a very underrated performance from Marlon Brando in the film Don Juan DeMarco which I thought was a really good film. Notably the chemistry between Brando and Johnny Depp.

Andy @ Andy Buckle's Film Emporium has been exploring the world of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki as he has a great review of My Neighbor Totoro that I really want to see as I've only seen one Miyazaki film in Howl's Moving Castle.

Stevee @ Cinematic Paradox explores the world of the trailer cliches as her recent piece explores the lameness of Textbook Teen Trailers and what she says is spot-on.

Jessica of the Velvet Cafe has a great review of a film I'm eagerly awaiting to see in Andrea Arnold's adaptation of Wuthering Heights.

Sati of Cinematic Corner has what I think is one of the best reviews written about Steve McQueen's film Shame.

David of Taste of Cinema has a great piece on one of my all-time favorite filmmakers in Sergio Leone.

Alex of And So It Begins... does another director's profile on Oliver Stone where I voiced out my opinion on his recent work while we both disagree on The Doors which I think is one of the worst bio-pics ever created.

Finally, there's a new blog that I'm following in The Vern's Videovanguard which has great pieces on actresses and reviews of old-school films like Heathers.

Well, that is all to state as I will close the blog with what I think is one of the coolest clips out there on the Internet. It brings me hope that there will be a bunch of kids playing cool music.

12 comments:

MP said...

Godard's Vivre sa vie as long as all his films of the 1960's are more than essential to any film lover out there! I highly recommend it to you!

Chip Lary said...

I highly recommend My Neighbor Totoro. Other Miyazaki films you should see are Spirited Away, Castle in the Sky, and Kiki's Delivery Service.

Andy Buckle said...

Thanks for the link dude. All of the Ghibli films I have reviewed so far are worth a look. I have seen Howl's and it is my least favourite by quite a way.

thevoid99 said...

@Michael-it's among the many films of Godard from the 60s that I want to see as I want to see it on TV or get a copy of it on DVD.

@Chip-I want to see all of those films but in the original Japanese language. If I had some cash, I would buy all the Miyazaki DVDs.

@Andy-I heard that Howl's is among Miyazaki's weakest films. Still, I thought it was better than a lot of the average animated films.

Chip Lary said...

@thevoid99 - I just checked three of the Miyazaki DVDs I own and all three have the original Japanese tracks on them. These are Region 1 DVDs, and you're in Canada, right? You should be good to go if that is your preference.

In regards to Howl, I would place it #4 or 5 among his films. In fact, why don't I just rank the ones I've seen:

1. Spirited Away
2. My Neighbor Totoro
3. Kiki's Delivery Service
4. Castle in the Sky
5. Howl's Moving Castle
6. Princess Mononoke
7. Porco Rosso
8. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Other Studio Ghibli films to look into: Whisper of the Heart, The Cat Returns, and Grave of the Fireflies. You may find the last one to be very depressing. I did. It is still a powerful movie, though.

thevoid99 said...

@Chip-Actually, I live in Smyrna, GA.

I know they're available at my local Barnes & Nobles. It's just that I'm kind of strapped for cash right now and I'm always into buying different things whenever I have money.

I did try to see Grave of the Fireflies but the DVD copy from the local library was cracked in the middle and I only saw bits of the early parts of the film.

Chip Lary said...

@thevoid99 - I have no idea why I thought you were Canadian when you are not. My apologies for the confusion on my part. For what it's worth, I'm in Maine, which is almost Canadian from your location.

You mentioned a library copy. That was what I was thinking (or Netflix) when I was mentioning the DVDs. I bought my copies only after seeing them first via rental.

David said...

Thanks for the mention,man.I also will check out some Bressons this month.

thevoid99 said...

@David-You're welcome. There's a couple of Bresson films set to play this coming Sunday night on Turner Classic Movies that I'm going to check out. Possibly around late April/early May unless I shift it towards June due to the various projects I'm doing.

Stevee Taylor said...

Thank you for the link, and stay away from teen films!

s. said...

Thank you for the link! Looking forward to your new article on Guillermo del Toro, the man was involved in so many projects over tha last few years I always get confused whether he is a director or just a producer of certain films.

thevoid99 said...

@Steve-Of course I will. It's only because I'm way too old and can't really understand what these kids are into.

@Sati-My piece is coming on Friday as I will watch the director's cut of Mimic later tonight.