| Blogalyzers |
[Mar. 7th, 2009|06:15 pm] |
Thanks to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tiger_stripes for the link. The pronoun indicators are surprising, given the general attempts to avoid the first person in most entries posted here.
So, asluk, your LiveJournal reveals...
You are... 6% unique (blame, for example, your interest in asian american media representation) and 12% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy radiohead). When it comes to friends you are normal. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is intellectual.
Your overall weirdness is: 20(The average level of weirdness is: 29.
You are weirder than 43% of other LJers.)
Find out what your weirdness level is!
The Blogalyser reveals... Your blog/web page text has an overall readability index of 15. This suggests that your writing style is conventional
(to communicate well you should aim for a figure between 10 and 20).Your blog has 6 sentences per entry, which suggests your general message is distinguished by clarity
(writing for the web should be concise).
CHARACTER MATRIX | male |   | female |
| self |    | world |
| past |    | future |
Your text shows characteristics which are 59% male and 41% female
(for more information see the Gender Genie).
Looking at pronoun indicators, you write mainly about yourself, then the world in general and finally your social circle. Also, your writing focuses primarily on the present, next the future and lastly the past.
Find out what your blogging style is like! |
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| Pure Enjoyment Film Festival, 2008 (ASL) |
[Dec. 31st, 2008|11:44 pm] |
Day 1 - The Price of Purity
THE DARK KNIGHT / REDBELT
Day 2 - First Do No Harm
NEVER FOREVER / LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Day 3 - Best Seat In The House
U2 3D / HONEYDRIPPER
Day 4 - Home Away From Home
FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON / MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
Day 5 - Right Here Right Now
STILL LIFE / THE EDGE OF HEAVEN
Day 6 - Am I Blue?
WENDY AND LUCY / THE WRESTLER
Day 7 - All Together Now
THE HAPPENING / A CHRISTMAS TALE |
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| V-15. JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE NEW FRONTIER |
[Jun. 29th, 2008|11:25 pm] |
dir. Dave Bullock, USA 2008.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0902272/
This is a heavily condensed but startlingly effective adaptation of Darwyn Cooke's graphic reconstruction of the Silver Age Justice League - while the crew doesn't exactly try to hide the fact that their are working on a strict budget, every choice on display is clearly considered and essential. The starkness of the graphic design, particularly in the opening teaser and title sequence, is a fantastic combination with the immersive surrounds and utterly dizzying but elegant pacing of the piece. Strong and concise character work also bolsters the narrative, as the movie both stands on its own while remaining but a sample of the scope and magnificence of the printed work. A creative success under seemingly brutal financing, this is a rather bold exercise in restraint and compromise all around, but one that hopefully leads to continued investment in telling (and retelling) iconic tales in a way well-served by traditional animation. |
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| "Super Collider" |
[Jun. 7th, 2008|10:07 pm] |
New Radiohead song premiered live in Dublin last night.
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| Sydney Pollack, 1934-2008. |
[May. 26th, 2008|07:11 pm] |
A fine filmmaker has passed, with one of his final projects, RECOUNT, having premiered last night on HBO. It's bewildering to think that death could claim such a dominating presence that most recently in MICHAEL CLAYTON conveyed such a sense of power, bolstered by a dangerously disarming layer of empathy. These traits must have made him rather effective as a producer and director, and carry over into his entire body of work as a character actor, perhaps most demonstrably in CLAYTON and A CIVIL ACTION - and of course, in EYES WIDE SHUT.
In Kubrick's film, one cannot help but find that his Victor Ziegler, possibly the most corrupt character in the film, is perhaps the most honest as well. His ability to write off the events of the story and take them at face value so convincingly only heightens the breakdown of Tom Cruise's lead, and contrasts the paranoia of Todd Field's character brilliantly. Cruise and the audience are all but offered no alternative but to believe Ziegler's explanations, because if he is lying, then we are all mad. In this sense, all of Pollack's performances depict a modern-day devil more sinister and compelling than most other onscreen demons - temptation in its most undeniable form. |
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| "Now, gods, stand up for bastards!" |
[Apr. 5th, 2008|09:55 pm] |
Trevor Nunn's production of KING LEAR, with a dynamite cast led by Ian McKellen, is being filmed for television at Pinewood Studios, set for a Boxing Day broadcast, according to IMDB. Having seen the stage version in London last Christmas, and now currently watching Peter Brook's film starring the late great Paul Scofield, which was also made following a famous theatrical run with many of the same players, I couldn't be more excited about the work of this company being made available in a permanently accessible form.
For a taste, see the clips for the play here. This is Shakespeare at its most generously considered and performed, made wholly accessible without compromising any of the text's complex look at familial failures and vainglorious jealousies. My greediness does extend far enough to wish for a film version of the same company's performance of THE SEAGULL, which was performed in repertory with LEAR (at the RSC link above, see the time-lapse video of the crew breaking down the SEAGULL set and constructing the one for LEAR, to witness briefly some damn impressive craftsmanship). I missed THE SEAGULL whilst in London and would love another chance at it with that cast and crew.
Be your tears wet? yes, 'faith. I pray, weep not:
If you have poison for me, I will drink it.
I know you do not love me; for your sisters
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong:
You have some cause, they have not.
You must bear with me:
Pray you now, forget and forgive: I am old and foolish.
-IV.vii
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| Hey Death-- |
[Mar. 31st, 2008|04:06 pm] |
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We get it. Really. Time marches on, you lay claim to our artists in residence. But slow the fuck up, will ya? In the past three weeks, it's been Dave Stevens, Paul Scofield, Richard Widmark, Abby Mann, and now Jules Dassin, among others. Quit overcompensating and spend some time playing Wii or something. I mean, seriously. |
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| 42. WHISPERING SIDEWALKS |
[Mar. 16th, 2008|12:05 am] |
dir. Denmei Suzuki, Japan 1936.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0417756/
In a remarkable feat of revolution without rebellion, this film is a rare portrait of the stunted cultural cross-pollination characteristic of societies such as pre-war Japan. Its very creation is something of a bold statement, yet its content certainly echoes a rigid adherence to an awkward authoritarian bent that hints at some significant creative compromises. Though it's not entirely uncommon in a tale of youths defying the odds to make it into a new wave of show business for the Man (e.g. the president of a record label, a Broadway producer, a Hollywood director) to come swooping in to make everything All Right, it feels particularly unnerving here, against the negative portrayals of the middlemen explicitly tasked with watching after the protagonist's (Betty Inada) budding career, and of the blue collar counterman who has no sympathy to spare for a poor girl down on her luck, showering her with disgrace for being a mere 3 cents short on her bill, at her lowest moment. In this way, the film exudes the same populist sheen common to other stories of its ilk, yet very explicitly denigrates the People in favor of other forces.
The lead artists (singer Inada and the tap-dancing Saburo Nakagawa) in the story are talented but of course lack the resources with which to market their skills to an audience. The real act of social change by which this is resolved is initiated by the charming (and scene-stealing) reporter Satake, played by director Suzuki, who is then summarily martyred, as if by tacit criticism of his willingness to challenge the status quo directly. The film and its characters put on a show of their embrace of jazz and its accouterments, but it arguably does so with less than a full amount of conviction, which seems indicative of the risk that surrounded such a statement at the time.
The theme song, "Hodô no bara (Hodô no sasayaki)", composed by Ryoichi Hattori with lyrics by Takeshi Fujiura, does deliver the goods and bridges more traditional Japanese melodies with instrumentation and subject matter of the Jazz era. The lyrics contain some key resignations, such as the idea that if two lovers cannot be together, then it's fate, that also feel at one with both a Buddhist calm in the face of humanistic turmoil as well as the romantic lament of a Western musician. Further, Inada's career is a fascinating one, as she returned to Japan after being raised and educated in America, much like her character does in the film, becoming a star embraced by the progressive audiences of the day. Such a story is only thinly reflected in the material here, which contains only enough plot and characterization on which to hang the musical numbers, making this weaker as a cinematic narrative, but all the more fascinating as a historical document of the surrounding social and political climate. |
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