Some French Cinema

Lately my local cinema has been running this years French Film Festival (they do a bunch of foreign film festivals from different countries each year). Last year I saw a recent production of The Three Musketeers. This year I saw two films.

 The first was The Stranger based on the novella of the same name by Albert Camus. Filmed in black and white, the story was a looking at what led a man to shoot another and the consequences of that action. The main character is a very unemotional type, and I saw a lot of myself in how he reacts to certain things, and I feel that if the novella had been written today he would be considered to be on the autism spectrum. The way this part of who he is and how he reacts differently to others is used against him when it comes to the trial, and I feel that this is why not only is found guilty but is sentenced to death for what most of the characters were expecting to be a light sentence at worst due to the inherent racism of the society at the time (the main character is a Frenchmen who killed a native Algerian). Due to fatigue from night shifts I did start to zone out at the end where the main character was going through a final revelation, and while listening with your eyes shut means you can usually keep up with what's going on, that isn't the case when you're relying on subtitles, so I did miss a bit of the ending and the main characters final catharsis.

The second was The Money Maker, based on the real life story of a Polish Immigrant who came to France during WWII who became a counterfeiter. Jan Bojarksi started out faking papers to help people escape the Nazis, and after the war got roped into counterfeiting by a criminal he'd worked with during the war. The criminals get caught due to sloppy security but Bojarksi escapes with some equipment and goes into operations for himself. The story then follows the next few years as Bojarski deals with family problems, the police continuing to hunt him, and the challenge of the French government introducing new notes forcing him to start from scratch each time. Bojarski feels similar to Walter White from Breaking Bad in that while he initially gets started because he wants to provide for his family, his main motivation soon becomes pride in his craft (counterfeiting vs cooking meth) and the fact that he's good at the crime, and the lack of recognition galls him. This last part drives certain poor decisions like when Bojarski after nearly getting caught sees the main detective at a bar and has a chat with him. I did like during the ending where they mentioned that decades later a Bojarski counterfeit sold for quite a bit at auction.

Of the two I preferred The Money Maker, although The Stranger has made me consider reading the book (if only to get the ending properly). 

China's Love Hate Relationship with Avatar

China just can't seem to make up its mind about the film Avatar. First, it banned screenings of the 2D version because it thought the movie was hitting a bit too close to home with China's own forced eviction of millions of people so that some mining can get done.

But soon after, in an attempt perhaps to catch some of the megabucks that Avatar has raked in, some Chinese provincial officials have said that the Hallelujah mountains in the movie were inspired by a more grounded mountain in their province, and have renamed the mountain from The Southern Sky Column (a translation I'm sure) to Avatar Hallelujah Mountain.

I guess this is part of the Chinese duality. Rigid totalitarianism mixed with cash hungry pseudocapitalism.

Finally, a slightly tangential factoid, apparently China only allows 20 foreign films to be shown in cinemas each year.

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Writing time: 14 minutes
Time since last post: 12 days
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Not Everything Needs to be 3D

According to the Times Online, Avatar, in addition to making people depressed, is causing movie makers to want to go back and upgrade their movies to 3D.

Now I can understand why. 3D is cool, and a number of the movies mentioned would have been awesome if done in 3D, but the fact is that they weren't. And regardless of the amount of computer jiggery-pokery that gets done, it's not going to change the fact that going from 3D to 2D is really easy, but going from 2D to 3D is very tough.

The movies discussed are action movies that relied on lots of special effects the first time round, and depending on how much of the computer models still exist, you might even get some pretty good 3D in parts, but the more everyday scenes with just people and sets won't have that advantage, and will diminish the effect.

Such upgraded movies will also lack in comparison to made for 3D movies. Avatar does 3D well because it was planned as such from the beginning, and this gave the creators new tools to use when composing scenes and designing locations. Upgraded 2D films will not have these benefits and it will show.

All this improving of old movies to fit with new technology is not unprecedented. Classic black and white films have had color added to them later, to a generally negative reception. One of Orson Welles last requests a few weeks before he died was to not let Citizen Kane be colourised.

Now before you go calling me a neo-luddite or what not, let me sum things up on a positive note. Great 2D films, like great black and white films are great because of the art that went into them, the direction, the design, the acting, the writing, all of it. No one denigrates Citizen Kane because it's not in colour (no one with sense, anyway), they praise it for its merits. And so to if movie making transitions to 3D as a standard, people aren't going to mock today's greats for their lack of a third dimension. They will still praise the stories, the art, the greatness for what it is. Movie makers don't need to go add the latest gimmick to their movies.

On a final note, let it be said that no one should be surprised that George Lucas is one of those movie makers who can not wait to do this, and to be fair to him, if he does, I will go (to episodes III-VI at least)

Surrogates

Last Saturday I went and saw Surrogates. The initial plan was to take advantage of the Magnum Gold Class offer, but a few hours beforehand I checked online if there were still seats available, and alas Gold Class was already booked out (Before asking why I hadn't done that, with the offer you couldn't book online for that screening, but you could buy tickets on the day), so with a bit of texting and calling, we relocated to the Southbank cinema.

Surrogates has an interesting premise, although I did have a tough time accepting some of the changes to society that had happened as a reaction to the introduction of surrogates.

For those who haven't seen the movie (in other words, those who don't care that spoilers follow), a surrogate is a pretty life like robot that you can control remotely through a virtual reality interface. And since you get to choose what it looks like, there are no ugly people anymore. In the movie, almost no one goes outside in person, they just use their surrogates to go out and about in the real world. This is the first thing that's a bit hard to accept. The near universality of surrogates, and the high end ones at that does not seem likely. At one point the movie does show a cheap model that is a bit rough around the edges and still in the uncanny valley, but this is the only time you see such a model. Everyone else has a top of the line model that looks beautiful. I can understand vanity pushing people to spend more, but for something so widespread throughout society, surely there are going to be a lot of people who either won't or can't pay for the good looking models.

Of course these might have been the people who lived in the exclusion zones. These are quite frankly something that would never happen. In the world of Surrogates, there were people who didn't like the idea of surrogates and were aggressive about it, and so in most cities there were set up exclusion zones where surrogates weren't allowed in. I can kind of understand this, but they took it too far. Not only are surrogates not allowed in, the exclusion zones are essentially a lawless zone where police, in person or in surrogate, are not allowed in and they are essentially a separate nation (at one time in response to a policeman entering an exclusion zone, they threaten war). Set up the zone, sure, but it's still part of the country and the law still applies.

There were a few other holes in the story I won't go into, but I will say that the makeup on Bruce Willis was done very well, as when he was in his surrogate he looked just like his younger self. I would recommend seeing it as it is a good watch, even if you do leave debating about the ideas in it.

One cool point for Red Dwarf fans is the brand of Bruce Willis's refrigerator: Smeg.

District 9

On Sunday I went and saw District 9 with some friends (bonus points for organising something social). I quite enjoyed the movie. It was not a feel good movie, but presented a harsh reality showing the depths people can sink to. It is not a movie to entertain, but a movie to make you think (although I've read a few things that show that some viewers didn't quite get that).

None of the human characters are particularly noble. Wikus is a bureaucrat who thinks he's doing something good does so through the eyes of petty racism, and does not question the things he does. He makes jokes about burning egg sacs, threatens kids to get the parents to sign eviction notices, and making fun of the poor conditions the aliens endure. The best that can be said is that he is not intentionally bad, he's just not thinking about what he does.

Others are not so nice. The higher ups at MultiNational United (really creative name there, although I had an interview today with a company owned by United Technologies Corporation, so perhaps it is art imitating life) are blatantly trying to exploit the aliens, and have no qualms using an alien as a target while trying out weapons, or dissecting Wikus to learn what has happened to him. This is made especially heartless given that the boss who orders this is Wikus' father-in-law.

The only noble character in the piece is Christopher Johnson, the main alien character. He has spent twenty years trying to get his people off Earth, and was almost ready when Wikus messed up his plans. He is willing to help Wikus when he sees what has happened to him. He also stands in contrast with pretty much all of the other aliens shown (except for his son and accomplice), who don't show much drive or sense. I wonder if he is perhaps a member of the leadership group that was speculated to have died out in the opening to explain why the aliens arrived in the condition they were in.

The action sequences are pretty good, and the weapons are awesome, though quite brutal. The conclusion is a bit ambiguous, but this works well with the whole making you think thing.

Knowing about the real life District 6 adds more to the understanding of the film.

District 9 is the second best movie I've seen this year (only Watchmen beats it) and is the closest to something not adapted from a previous work I've seen in a long time (it is based on a short film by the same production team so it's close enough for me).

After the movie we had dinner at a Turkish restaurant on Southbank which was really good (I really like Turkish food. It's a good combination of meat, simple salad, and some bread and some rice. Pretty much my ideal meal.) Overall it was a good evening out.

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Good Idea: Take a basic premise of an old tv show, add depth, subtlety, great production values all round, and create a great new tv show.

Bad Idea: Riding on the coat tails of the previous, make a movie that ignores all the good stuff and goes back to the original.

This comes following the news that Glen Larson, the creator of the original series of Battlestar Galactica is going to make a new movie that will be another reimagining that more closely follows the original.

This I think is a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see a Battlestar Galactica movie, but I want a new Battlestar Galactica movie. A movie following the original series is going to have some major problems. First, a lot of people will show up expecting the new show, not the old one, which will cause a lot of people to be disappointed. Second, both the new and the old show were products of their times. The ethos of the original series does not resonate today like it did thirty years ago. Finally, there is also the fact that this seems a blatant move to cash in on the new series. Without the new series, there is absolutely no chance that this movie would be considered. The new series has an incredible amount of popular support which will be squandered by this film.

Glen Larson may have the legal rights to make this film but that doesn't mean he should do so. The reasons above show why doing so will be detrimental to the franchise overall. Glen Larson and Bryan Singer might make a truckload of cash, but at a cost.

I've heard similar news about a possible Buffy movie that will be made without Joss Whedon, about which I'm also doubtful. The continuation of the franchise without the involvement of the creative heart behind it might make a buck, but it will disappoint the fans and lose some of the faith they have in the franchise. I'd like to see something that lives up to the high level of quality set by the series already, rather than something that shares the name and nothing else.

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Writing time: 20 minutes
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Movie Reviews

This Sunday and last Sunday I went to the movies. Last week I saw Prince Caspian, and tonight I saw the new Indiana Jones movie.

Prince Caspian was alright. It's been long enough since I read the book I wasn't able to tell where things had been changed (well I know they added the romance between Susan and Caspian, but that's about it). The action was good, the settings and visuals were great, and the characters were well played, although the minor characters were better done than the main characters. My big complaint though is that all through the movie I was think that parts were just like bits from other movies. The start where Caspian flees the castle on horse and is pursued was like the bit in Fellowship of the Ring where the Nazgul chase Arwen and Frodo. Reepicheep is a mouse version of Puss in Boots from Shrek. The face plates on the Telmarine armour were V's mask from V for Vendetta. The duel between Peter and Miras was very much like the fights in 300. If this movie had come before all of those and others, it would have been a great movie. Since it's not, it feels like the director has stolen a bunch of good ideas from others.

Indiana Jones was much better. An enjoyable ride the whole way, but it does start to wear a little bit around about half way through. The start is a good call back to the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, taking place in the warehouse where the government stores the Ark (which we do catch a glimpse of). The action is good throughout. John Hurt does well as a crazy man. It is a bit of a change to go from Nazis as the bad guys to Russians as the bad guys, but it fits well with the elapsed time between the movies. I don't get what these people are complaining about though. Finally it was interesting to see the Janitor from Scrubs in a serious role, though after I realized who it was (it took one spoken line for me to work it out) it was hard to take him seriously though.

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Writing time: 31 minutes (I got distracted reading up on Prince Caspian to see what changes had been made from the book.)
Time since last post: 3 days (although it's more like 52 hours)
Current media: iTunes shuffle, currently The Plug by Bonobo

Rational Thought Expelled

I found out about a rather disturbing film the other day. The movie is called Expelled, and is about the whole creationism in schools and science controversy. The reason I don't like this movie is that it is presenting the creationism side of the story. Unfortunately, going by the trailer it is an extremist piece that misrepresents both sides in an attempt to make their side seem more valid.

Others have already pontificated at length on this topic, and I don't really have much to add except to warn people about this piece of dren, and to say that I'm rather disappointed in Ben Stein (the narrator/host guy) for being associated with this.

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Writing time: 11 minutes
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A Hat Full of Media

I've got a few different bits of media from the last few weeks that I have a little bit to say about, so I'm going to collect them all here in no specific order.

The Okinawa Reading List.
The books I read on my trip to Okinawa were as follows: Foundation and Empire, Freakonomics, The Little Prince, and Absurdistan.

Foundation and Empire is an oldy and a goody, although I prefer the first of the Foundation novels. From the second book onward, it concentrates more on the individuals whereas the first had a feeling of more impersonal, grandiose history unraveling as you read. Although to be honest, I'm not sure that could be kept up over the course of a thousand years with the same level of quality.

Freakonomics was interesting, but unfulfilling. It lacked a certain amount of depth. I think I expected it to be a weightier, more serious and academic tome than it really was.

The Little Prince I added to the list since John Paul showed me the French copy he was carrying around with him on his travels. An interesting tale which definitely made me think about things (some of which I may be better of not thinking about).

I'm still reading Absurdistan, which is about a fat Russian guy who gets mixed up in a civil war in the former soviet republic of Absurdistan. It's not bad, but I'm not sure what point the author is trying to make.

Also in Okinawa I started playing Phoenix Wright. This is a lawyer RPG type game. The game play has two sections, investigation where you talk to witnesses and look for evidence, and the courtroom where you cross examine witnesses and present evidence to show the holes in the witnesses' testimony. An interesting game, although it is quite linear in play, sometimes the evidence to present and when is quite arbitrary, and now that I've finished it I doubt I'll play it again any time soon. That said, I will probably buy Phoenix Wright 2 after payday.

I've already talked about Die Hard 4 and Pirates 3, so I won't do so further. I am going to try and see Transformers and Harry Potter 5 in the near future while they are still showing in the cinemas.

Today I got my hands on the final Harry Potter book, and am already 100 pages in. I don't expect to get much sleep tonight, as I'll probably get to around 2 am and think, damn, I should get some sleep. I'll probably comment a bit more when I finish it.

Lastly, I found a link to this on Neil Gaiman's blog, Peanuts by Charles Bukowski. This appeals to my fondness for the reinterpretation of stories with a different, more twisted perspective. This is very different to the original, but very good.

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Writing time: 28 minutes
Time since last post: 2 days
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