The Cinema

genevan: The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983)

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 03:29:29 +0000

The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983)

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Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:37:11 +0000

"There was a long period in my life where I regarded the cinema as the only refuge where I could be..."

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:06:17 +0000

“There was a long period in my life where I regarded the cinema as the only refuge where I could be at peace and where my demons left me and no one could reach me; And I could travel in the dark where I sat alone. Do you ever feel like that as well?”

- Director Ingmar Bergman (via kimserrano)

Beyond The Black Rainbow I was ready to like Beyond The Black...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 21:47:00 +0100

Beyond The Black Rainbow

I was ready to like Beyond The Black Rainbow a lot. The cut-glass retro futuristic stylings of the trailer promised something of a synth soaked, immaculately detailed psycho-puzzle perfectly tailored for homage fetishists. The first half delivers on this, with aplomb, the second half however losses the thread disastrously. Slow-burn menace gives way to schlock horror and what had seemed a finely tuned chamber piece suddenly erupts into a messy adolescent fright night that dissipates nearly all of the carefully wound unease of its premise.

everytime I prepare a pineapple I think of this scene....

Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:54:00 +0100

everytime I prepare a pineapple I think of this scene. it’s never that easy

the-overlook-hotel: The Shining is well-represented in this...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:38:30 +0100

the-overlook-hotel:

The Shining is well-represented in this video compilation of one-point perspective shots from the films of Stanley Kubrick .

Yella I watched Yella the other day, in anticipation of...

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:57:00 +0100

Yella

I watched Yella the other day, in anticipation of Christian Petzold’s latest. It’s fairly melancholic, you could perhaps call it Lynchian, there are moments of Mulholland Drive-esque, noir-inflected eeriness, but its content is something other altogether. It’s a story mostly told in the soulless hinterlands of business hotels and high rise offices. Yella, played by the eminently obsession worthy Nina Hoss, is an accidental traveler in this colourless landscape. Fleeing her past, her interior chaos seeping out into the glacial exterior. A purgatorial malaise pervades, humanity takes on a purely transactional value as money, balance sheets and meeting tactics serve as the measure of a life lived always in pursuit of success and stability. The underlying pulse is that of reconciliation, the settling of accounts and the irreconcilable need for affection in this world of desperate self-preservation. When the spectre of love rears its head it inevitably suffers at the hands of financial need. If this all sounds overly ambiguous then it’s because the film itself trades in ambiguity and shards of understanding, to haunting and darkly mesmerising effect.

vorpaldinger: HELLO, I’M SHELLEY DUVALL ! (by...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:15:35 +0100

vorpaldinger:

HELLO, I’M SHELLEY DUVALL ! (by Goddessshelleyduvall)

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Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:04:47 +0100

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Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:04:12 +0100

A.K.

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:04:00 +0100

Stumbling upon Chris Marker’s 1985 documentary of the making of Kurosawa’s late masterpiece included in my long neglected DVD of Ran I thought it well worth a watch in light of the master avant-gardist’s recent passing.

Marker seems to somehow channel the taught and brooding mood of Kurosawa’s films into the imagery of the set. Legions of hardy, armour-laden actors patiently cradle hot soup on the slopes of Mount Fuji while the veteran master film-makers slowly orchestrate their art, and everyone always in orbit of the imperial presence of Kurosawa himself, the sensei. Less a narrative of trial and tribulation in the mould of Hearts of Darkness or Burden of Dreams but structured thematically with chapter headings such as Horses, Gold and Rain marking both a slight gradation of adversity and the enigmatic elements that form some essence of Kurosawa’s cinematic vision. Much of the film is purely observational and it’s testament to the genius of Frans-Yves Marescot‘s cinematography that it’s never anything less than captivating. It also, in some measure, serves as a brilliant portrait of a small moment in the course of 80s Japan. The young extras, toting trendy sports-wear juxtapose with the ancient costumes in a kind of charmingly discordant way and changes, such as the new technology seeping onto the set draws the focus of transition deeper. The old order, the aged master and a world ever less hide-bound to the past plays along.

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Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:03:14 +0100

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Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:02:34 +0100

tobwaylan: Noomi Rapace, Prometheus Screen Test.

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:32:44 +0100

tobwaylan:

Noomi Rapace, Prometheus Screen Test.

tobwaylan: Noomi Rapace, Prometheus Screen Test. and god...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:30:12 +0100

tobwaylan:

Noomi Rapace, Prometheus Screen Test.

and god created woman

wallacecrumpet: A psychopath, a murderer, a scholar, a...

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:29:49 +0100

wallacecrumpet:

A psychopath, a murderer, a scholar, a gentleman.

the-overlook-hotel: Stanley Kubrick’s personal copy of Stephen...

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:42:45 +0100

the-overlook-hotel:

Stanley Kubrick’s personal copy of Stephen King’s novel, The Shining. This well-worn book, now housed in the Stanley Kubrick Archive in London, is filled with Kubrick’s notes and comments. Many passages are highlighted, and Kubrick has filled the margins with hand-written notes that run the gamut from notating passages that inspire him, to crossing out sections he found silly.

(click images to enlarge)

oldhollywood: François de Roubaix - La Blessure (Le Samourai:...

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:30:53 +0100

oldhollywood:

François de Roubaix - La Blessure (Le Samourai: Original Motion Picture Score)