NEW ADDRESS - please change your bookmarks etc

hey guys, i have just bought a new address for the blog formerly known hopeandbullshit. due to the language of the old title i have decided to clean my act up, so to speak, and am the proud owner of hope lies at 24 frames per second, which is located at

www.hopelies.com

everything has been ported over there from here.

the chorus (2004)

coming soon.

stolen kisses (1968)

after the relatively out of character piece fahrenheit 451 and the film that would later go on to inspire quentin tarantino's kill bill series the bride wore black, francois truffaut returned to the antoine doinel series in 1968 with stolen kisses.

we pick up with antoine freshy discharged (dishonorably) from the army, and on the lookout for his sweetheart (although not colette from the previous antoine and colette). through a series of events antoine ends up working for a private detective agency, fall for the boss's wife and finally end up working as a tv repairman. its all very scattershot but works incredibly well on screen.

i found the use of the private detective agency of particular interest, seeing as truffaut was so keen on the hollywood cinema that was largely dominated by such figures. it was a nice tribute i thought, and didnt seem to falter as parody too much, which is one of my complaints with his shoot the pianist. the use of tv repair man as an occupation seemed to me to be a sly nod to the television industry too, courtesy of the cinema world. as a result this film seemed to fit in with the whole ethos of the new wave much stronger than the earlier films in the series. the nod to laurel and hardy is blatent too, another example of the sort of thing i would expect of the nouvelle vague.

the film is perhaps the best shot work of truffaut's career, with the lingering camerawork an obvious inspiration to the aesthetics of modern american independent cinema and the like. the scene of the letter tubes is outstanding, genuinely one of the all time great scenes.

antoine and colette (1962)

this follow up to the 400 blows is a wonderful tale of young love. antoine and colette is the second in director francois truffaut's antoine doinel series of five films. while this film is only a short it still manages to fit plenty of story into its brief running time.

we learn in the opening minutes that antoine was captured after the escape attempt that brought with it the close of the previous film in the series the 400 blows, and that in the years since antoine has somehow made it through the reform system and is now living the life he aspired to as a boy and is fending for himself.

thematically the film insnt particularly disimiliar to its predecessor, with antoine dealing with the familiar tomes of rejection and the seemingly impossible pursuit, for him at least, of attaining some kind of stability in his life (with regards to relationships at least). his plight with the young colette, a girl he meets at a concert hall is one of the strongest realisations of what it feels to be a young man in love that i have ever seen. the hope and the rejection are born out of genuinely universal themes, that we can all relate to. the comparison between that of antoine's attempts at stealing a kiss from colette and the journey that a skiier makes down a treacherous hill is a particularly wonderful moment, and the final scene of antoine sat (emotionally) alone with colette's parents captures a scenario that is all too uncomfortable, even as a viewer.

terminator 3 - rise of the machines (2003)

the third outing for the architypal ''brand-arnie'' character is basically a retread of the second film, albeit with a couple of awful comedy touches (the 'star' glasses scene? just awful), and while the seemingly endless cycle of different comedy vehicles becomes incredibly tiresome, the film as a whole isnt too bad, mainyl down to one reason - the ending. the ending of terminator 3 is gloriously downbeat, and genuinely surprising. the faults of the preceeding 90 minutes are completely overshadowed by the events of the last five minutes.

synecdoche, new york (2008)

i have been sitting on my review of synecdoche, new york for a good few days now. while im making an effort to remove any overtly foul language from my blog at the moment (a new title is en route folks) this film is the new benchmark when it comes to that most beloved of cinematic event, the mindfuck. move over inland empire there's an heir to thy throne, in the shape of charlie kaufman's directorial debut. kaufman is best known as writer of the likes of spike jonze's being john malkovich and adaptation as well as eternal sunshine of the spotless mind from michel gondry.

synecdoche, new york is a hard film to summise, but basically it tells the story of caden cotard, a theatre director whom suffers a breakdown of sorts. we follow caden throughout the course of his breakdown; during which he attempts to stage a production based on his own life (and the lives of his family and friends), within a large warehouse in new york. within the warehouse he rebuilds the settings and scenarios of the outside world, building effectively a life size model of new york within it. all this without a mention of the smoking house, the tattooed ten year old child, miniature artwork and a bizarre obsession with tootbrushes, time (and the subsequent timekeeping) and hairstyles. its all very odd, but wonderfully realised.

i thought of the film as a comment on many aspects of film and art, with particular note made on the role of the actor within the picture. there's a great scene whereby one of the actors is attempting to perfect he way his character walks. considering the genuinely epic scope that this film exhibits, to make note of such a trivial moment may seem odd, but i found the moment strangely telling of the true nature of the piece.

philip seymour hoffman continues his recent good run (following doubt) with perhaps his most interesting role to date. there is great support from the triptych of women in coden's life.

it goes without saying that synecdoche, new york will have many a different interpretation, but that eally is the joy of this kind of cinema. the discussion factor is endless, with the film already proving incredibly devisive amongst those that have seen it.

the night of the hunter (1955)

french film bible, cahiers du cinema recently named charles laughton's sole directorial effort as the second greatest film of all time, which in anyone's eyes is quite the achievement, but in the mind of someone whom regards the french magazines opinion very highly its even more of an endorsement. having not seen the night of the hunter for around five years, it was with the poll that im conducting at the moment (see the 400 blows) in mind that i revisited it.

has there ever been a more chilling villain in all of cinema than robert mitchum's 'preacher'? this is the performance that defines mitchum's career for this viewer, and it is a portrayal that affected me many years before having actually seen the film. you see, i have fond memories from my childhood, of seeing a photograph of robert mitchum, hands adorned with love/hate, leaning against a white picket fence and smiling affably into the camera. it would later transpire that this photograph was a (rather oddly chosen) promotion still from the night of the hunter, although at the time i genuinely didnt have a clue where it was from, and in a similiar vain i dont actually remember where it was that i saw the photo. it was from this brief tease that i searched out the night of the hunter on VHS. i must have been around 15.

having finally discovered the film that had lingered in my mind for so long i wasnt disappointed, although i will admit that some of the films deeper subtext did go over my head at the time. it wasnt until this most recent viewing that i was fully able to comprehend the entire scope of the picture. understanding the logistics of the silent film and german expressionism helped a great deal too, in providing further enjoyment, as i feel that laughton's film owes as much to murnau or lang as it does to the contemporary cinema of the mid-1950's. the stark blacks of the starkly star-decorated skies add a depth quite unusual for typical hollywood fare of the time, and while the general concept is dealt with in a fairly laconic manner, the horror on display is rather heavy and forebearing. the controversial nature of the representation of the 'preacher' in the film may have drawn protest too, although i sincerely doubt his actual credentials. in spite of all of this, the fact that the film is one of cinema history's all-time great failures is still beyond me, with the repurcusions felt by the films director one of the biggest crimes of the incident.

charles laughton's reluctance to work on the other side of the camera is one of the great injustice's of the cinema, the enticing question of "what if...?" has rarely been more apt.

terminator 2 : judgment day (1991)

james cameron's celebrated follow up to his 1984 creature-feature is regarded by many to be an example of a sequel bettering its original. i personally dont agree with that notion, but it is a great showcase of the evolution of character. sarah connor, potrayed by linda hamilton, is the real focus point of interest in this film as far as im concerned. the way in which the character has developed between pictures is genuinely interesting, but believable all the same. technically the film was a huge leap between the two, with the gritty future hinted at in the first film developed more fully in a brilliantly realised opening sequence. the development of arnold schwarzenegger's terminator from monster to hero works much better than one would expect, especially in the face of the the genuine terror that is robert patrick's T-1000, truly one of the great film villains of the late 20th century.

watchmen (2009)

when it comes to comic books and superheroes my knowledge and attention is fairly lacking. i have a historical love affair with captain america and a bunch of other marvel superheroes, and have a good grasp of the universe they exist in and the industry they are a part of. i am not an unreasonable man. i understand the technicalities that come with any adaptation, be it comic strip, tv show or prose novel, therefore i have never been one to bemoan the changing of aspects of a particular piece of source material to suit its newfound cinematic audience. with the unveiling of watchmen though, for the first time in my life, i found myself in the rather worrying predicament of acting a bit like a fanboy. i felt as though i had a god-given right to act as if the source material mattered enough to me so much that i had an opinion. ''this isnt like iron man, or batman" i thought, those films can exploit 50 plus years of history to their benefit, origins can be manipulated, scenarios can be changed, they do it in the comics so feel free to do it within the realms of film. with 'watchmen' though it was different, very different. the puzzle like nature of the book dictates that if a single ingredient is missing then a disaster could be afoot.

first of all changes to the ending were announced. many exclaimed blasphemy, whereas i wasnt hugely fussed. as long as they kept the message, the subtext if you will, then i will be happy. the second major negative mark against the films production was the employment of my chemical romance, pop-punk emo-supremo's to provide the films "theme-tune". not only that but it was a cover of one of my most beloved of songs, bob dylan's ''desolation row". "desolation row" provides what i feel to be one of the key inspiration points for the original ''watchmen'' book, in the shape of the line "now at midnight all the agents/and the superhuman crew/come out and round up everyone/that knows more than they do''. indeed the song is credited in the book, and the line is used to bookend one of the issues of the original comic that was collated to make up the now famous graphic novel. now my big problem doesnt lie in the fact that the song is one of my favourites, nor does it lie within the fact that my chemical romance are a terrible band (following record label ethics that surely contradict the message within 'watchmen'?), my problem lies in the very fact that zack snyder chose this band and this version of the song for his film. in his artistic opinion, this was the best he could come up with? really? the third and final negative pre-release woe came in the shape of the 30 second clips that were unleashed upon the internet just a few weeks ago. knowing full well that i would be seeing the film i didnt particularly want to check out the clips, for fear of spoiling the one aspect of the film that i didnt already know, but in the case of one scene i buckled. it was the scene involving nite owl 2 and the comedian on "crowd control" duty. in less than 30 seconds of footage i learnt 3 things. well i say i learnt 3 things, only 2 of those were new, whereas 1 was a confirmation of an earlier worry. the first piece of information was the confirmation that snyder really cant choose music. the scene in question, in which civil disruption turns into carnage at the hands of the comedian, features a riot, and is set in the 1970's. now whatever gave snyder the impression that 'im your boogie man' by k.c and the sunshine band was the soundtrack of choice for the keen rioter in the late 1970's i do not know, but it was a ridiculous decision, and indictive of his other musical choices, of which i will get to later. secondly, for all his good intentions, snyder just didnt get the look of this scene right. there was an ominous red glow involved in the original composition, and one which i always took to be a parallel with the scenes on mars. alas it wasnt replicated here. finally, thirdly, and perhaps most obviously was the apparent overuse of slow motion. in this one 30 second segment there were two uses of the damn technique. now im not exactly against the use of slow motion, but if ever there was a technique that required it be used in moderation then this is it.

so the run up to 'watchmen' wasnt particularly positive.

having seen the film this afternoon im actually confused as to how i felt about it. there were some great moments, and the film has a lot going for it, but i cant help but be ultimately disappointed by it.

as a literal translation of the comic strip-based action of the book then it worked fine. i was particularly impressed with jeffrey dean morgan as the comedian, and didnt find any of the performances especially lacking. the sidelining of 'moloch the mystic' and 'hollis mason', the first nite-owl was particularly annoying, being that they represent an area of the graphic novel that i found to be particularly of interest; the roots of the demistification of the superhero if you will. the pacing, obviously a victim through circumstance more than anything, really didnt work. the film didnt feel epic, as much has been made of it on various reviews, it felt slow, and lacking any kind of real heart. the all important subtext, without the contextual background provided within the book, didnt really exist. sure there was a mythology in place, plenty of opportunity for those who would like to seek out more to seek something out, but the subtext and message that were inherent throughout the source material is all but missing. a point that really got to me was the fact that the key point within the book that spells out the comedian and ozymandias' fate isnt in the film. there's a scene in the book whereby the comedian gives the young ozmandias. its a fleeting moment, but the nature of the assault mirrors the image of the opening section of the film perfectly; the roles are reversed and there was something rather poetic about the whole encounter. quite why the comedian fights back is again, beyond my comprehension. he has already accepted his fate by the time his killer strikes. for him to fight back (in the film) reaks of the filmmakers attempt at shoehorning action in. the fact that we lose the wonderful little bit of mirroring with the earlier (in the time frame of the narrative) event just adds salt to the wound.

the music, both score and found was awful, with particular woe being aimed at the use of leonard cohen's 'hallelujah' throughout the most embaressing sex scene i have seen in quite some time. seriously its just incredibly lazy filmmaking when you rely on such well known songs to project a feeling upon the audience. add in the use of 'the sound of silence' during the funeral march and you have something that i would expect from a student film.

one last negative - richard nixon? what on earth went wrong there?

as i mentioned above, the film translates the literal image of the book onto the screen in a very faithful manner. at times it genuinely does feel like the book has come to life, yet at others it feels like a shoddy rip off of the product it claims to be. the overuse of slow motion does wear at first, but after a while it blends into the edit and isnt especially noticeable. it would be nice to see snyder lay off on the slo-mo a bit tho, the final fight in particular would have benefitted from a bit of speed and realism, especially considering the nature of the participants attire. and while its the negatives that stand out the most, the overall experience was fine, just not necessarily alan moore's 'watchmen'; it wasnt great, but it wasnt awful either. it was just "ok", which is probably the most disappointing thing of all.

the 400 blows (1959)

i took in a repeat viewing of truffaut's masterpiece this afternoon in aid of the poll being conducted over at empireonline, in which a group of fifty must choose the ten films that they deem to be the greatest of all time, before the results are colated and put into a hopefully definitive "best ever" type list. as a rule, im making an effort to rewatch each of the 20 or so films that have made my shortlist, before deciding upon my final ten.

"the 400 blows" was one of the films that shaped the way in which i look at and appreciate the "art" of cinema. while topically it wasnt literally relevant to the 16 year old boy that was watching it, visually it felt incredibly fresh, especially compared to the hollywood and mainstream cinema that i had only been exposed to at the point in which i saw "the 400 blows" for the first time. alongside jean-luc godard's "a bout de souffle" my interest in film was formed. i was sold on the notion that film as art was a viable concept.

having spent time in paris since last seeing the film i can suddenly appreciate just why the film and the city are so closely associated. obviously the very fact that the film is set in the city dictates that a close association comes fitted as standard, there is a deeper connection. the opening credits, still an all time favourite, captures the love/hate relationship that the city has with the concept of the tourist, or the outsider. while attractions like the eiffel tower may not have been intended as the "attraction" that i have just deemed it, that is exactly what it is, and i feel that, based upon personal experiences, the opening credits of the film are almost claiming back the tower to the city. throughout the remainder of the film areas regularly associated with tourists (the champs elysees, the basilica, etc) are shown in a light expected more of bresson than the 'nouvelle vague'.

despite having seen the film inumerable times ''the 400 blows" remains as watchable as ever. the charm of the character of antoine doinel remains as affable as ever, with jean-pierre léaud playing the character that would become his most popular for the first time.

the final shot fo the film still manages to be staggering in its existence. one of my oldest memories of the film is just how haunting i found this final shot to be, and can confirm that this is still the case. a beautiful shot that leaves the viewer with more questions than ones it answers throughout rest of the running time of the film. this is cinema, this is film, this is art.

the visitor (2008)

tom mccarthy's follow up to ''the station agent'' proved to be a sleeper hit last summer, with a reinvigoration of interest after richard jenkins' oscar nomination. more importantly the film won the best director award at the independent spirit awards, a more telling sign of quality in my opinion.

"the visitor" tells the story of walter vale, a widowed college assistant who has all but given up on his work and life. when visiting new york for a work assignment he finds that a pair of illegal immigrants are living in his apartment. rather than removing the couple, he decides to let them stay, and over the course of the next 30 minutes or so we see their relationship bloom. vale learns how to be passionate again, through the course of learning to play the traditional drum instrument that tarek plays for a living. through a chance encounter the film takes a decidedly grim turn, and the focus is turned on topic of the american governments post 9/11 foreign policy.

richard jenkins is fantastic as walter vale, just fantastic. im not hugely aware of his work, i remember him from ''six feet under'', and have seen him in the recent "burn after reading'', but he is simply a revelation in this post. his character is reminiscent of that of finbar in mccarthy's previous "the station agent", in the respect that we dont feel like we want to like the character, or that the character doesnt actually want us to like them either. throughout the picture the character is unveiled though, and we learn to feel empathy towards him, and are willing him onto develop.

the themes of the film are pretty hard hitting, in the sense that injustice and political wrong-doing is on the screen for all to see. the film doesnt cop out and offer unrealistic answers, it simply shows us the cause and the realism that is the fact that very little can be done by the average person with regards to the situation we are witness to. visually the film is outstanding. the stunted pace of the film i complimented by languid, sparse arrangements that tie into the tone perfectly. mccarthy's style works as a counterpoint of sorts to wes anderson, with a similiar low key style but understated theatrics.

i was really affected by "the visitor", much moreso than i expected to be. its a wonderful piece of cinema that shows that the talented man at the helm is developing greatly as a cinematic force.

the station agent (2003)

tom mccarthy, a sometime actor probably best known for his role in season 5 of the wire burst onto the independent film scene in 2003 with this gem of a film. "the station agent" concerns a man named 'fin', who inherits an old train depot station after the death of his boss, and his subsequent relationship with the locals of the small town that the property resides in. the core character trio of fin, joe the local hotdog vendor and olivia, a local artist rules the core of the film, and with it comes some pretty heavy topics. each of the characters has a severe characteristic flaw, be it olivia's trauma as a result of her sons death, joe's inability to remove his fathers influence, or the chip on his shoulder that fin carries due to his dwarfism. the resulting 85 minutes brings us a combination of dark rooted hope and a study in the irony of specific relationships. the films "feelgood" nature, a term i despise yet attach to this project is genuinely lovely, despite the nature of which it flows.

mouchette (1967)

robert bresson's final black and white feature, "mouchette" tells the story of the eponymous 12 year old girl of the title, and in particular, her rape and suicide. ninety minutes of joy it may not sound, but "mouchette" is a surprisingly uplifting film.

there are many parallels between "mouchette'' with bresson's earlier film "au hasard balthazar". the plight of the young girl is very similiar to that of balthazar the donkey, with both being the centrepoints of each's respective story. obviously both are heavily put upon by their surroundings. the protagonist doesnt speak until 35 mins into the film. the lack of dialogue suggests more about mouchette's relationship with the world around her than any explanation could. again this is similiar to the silent balthazar, although the fact that mouchette's silence is through choice as opposed to by nature says a lot. the accompanying sound is sparse and diagetic for the most part. this is most effective at the end of the film, wherein the by now familiar sound of mouchette's shoes and the splash of impact upon the pond tell the whole end of the film. incidentally, the incidental music is amazing. this isnt unusual for bresson at all, the little dialogue and heavily visual look combine to create the usual pace for a breson film.

one of my favourite examples of the subtlety within bresson's work is during the scene at the fairground. at one point the barmaid from the village pub, embroiled in the midst of a three way love affair, can be seen riding a fairground ride with one of her suitors. within this short scene that contains no dialogue and is actually confined to the limited scenario of a fairground ride the actual truth towards her feelings are revealed by the simple movement of her arm. its a beautiful scenario, and telling of bresson's style completely. add into this the preceeding scene involving mouchette's naive flirtation on the bumper cars and you have a great telling of bresson's spectrum, with the joy and the immediately following heartache.

there is a comparison to be made between the juvenile delinquency on display in ''mouchette'', with that of the actions of antoine doinel in "the 400 blows". the stylistic overtones and political allegory of truffaut's work is much more apparent, but perhaps that is telling of what seperates the work of bresson with that of the french new wave. interestingly, jean-luc godard cut the trailer for "mouchette". the piece he created was perhaps an insight to what might have been, had bresson embraced the movement.

finally, its worth pointing out that "mouchette" contains what is possibly the most distressing scene that bresson ever shot. the pre-title sequence involving the poaching of a bird is genuinely disturbing.

alone across the pacific (1963)

"alone across the pacific" is my first kon ichikawa, and was a highly positive experience. "alone across the pacific" tells the story of a young man that betrays his father's wishes and embarks on a journey taking him from his home of osaka to the shores of san francisco. the subtext tells of a young man that wants to break free from the shackles that society have deemed upon him, with the story of the journey being as metaphorical as it is practical, and one that most can relate to in some way. contextually the film message may strike deeper tho, with the plot being a slightly veiled look at the way in which japan as a nation was controlled to a large extent by the americans in the wake of the second world war. the scene in the passport office as well as the american sailers obsession with protocol would suggest this is the case.

rather uniquely, the film's structure follows the emotional plight of our unnamed protagonist. that is to say, that rather than as would usually be expected in this sort of film, wherein a person takes a journey of some kind, the joy doesnt come at the end, it comes at specific points along the journey. when our protagonist finally makes it to san francisco his happiness is hampered by the reality of what is effectively "the end".

the dreamers (2003)

bernardo bertolucci's love letter to the cinema of the "nouvelle vague" is a film i have avoided for quite some time. i was under the impression that it was rather embarassing in its adoration, and while i wasnt proven right, i dont feel as tho i was entirely wrong.

first things first; im a huge fan of the period of cinema that bertolucci is aspiring towards with "the dreamers". alas i feel as though he has pandered his view somewhat, and although the film is incredibly enjoyable, it falls short of being addressed as a serious piece of cinema. the main fault lies in the script. the wording seems aspirational as opposed to authentic, and the characters lack genuine characteristics, and are at once incredibly shallow. performance wise eva green steals the show. her engenue provokes michael pitt's rather tepid performance to no end, while louis garrel seemes nothing if not peripheral, and wasted.

while it wasnt entirely successful i did really enjoy it. the geek in me really enjoyed the numerous film references, and i feel like it is definately a worthwhile experience, even if it did feel very much like a student film as opposed to the films it was a celebration of.