:: Sunday, May 19, 2002 ::

I had a "movie day" today. This morning, a rather dreary overcast morning, I headed out to the local AMC 20 for the 10:15am showing of "Spider-Man", only to find it sold out, so bought a ticket for the Sandra Bullock starrer, "Murder by Numbers". After enjoying this pretentionless crime melodrama, watching Sandra do a serious version of her "Miss Congeniality" character, I was on my way out the door, when I noticed the new "Star Wars" about to start in another auditorium. I knew most performances were sold out, same as "Spider-Man" ......but no one was looking..... so I found a single seat in the middle of the mixed audience just in time for the previews. "Men In Black II" had a full preview this week, and it looks fantastic.
So did "Star Wars" but the best I can say about the acting is that the most human performances were by C3P0 and R2D2. If they start giving out oscars for best movies that most resembles a video game, I'd pick this one. Naboo looks like Myst. And the sequences in Coruscant reminded me (seemed to be ripped off from) "The Fifth Element" (The links will eventually be to my own reviews/musings but now link to Imdb pages.) I wasn't "bored" Parts were even entertaining, but as I told the clerk at Hollywood Video, where I picked up used copys (at ten and twelve bucks a pop) of the recent "Planet of the Apes" and "A.I.", I remembered seeing the first "Star Wars" in 77, and this one, like the infamous Episode 1, is missing the joie de vivre (sp?) of the first one. The "pictures are pretty" the video game action sequences are exciting. But the computer graphics generated world doesn't have presence or heft, and seems still computer generated.
At least Yoda is CGI, and the audience reacts with cheers and whoops when he bares his lightsaber and battles Chris Lee. (working overtime I see after his recent stint in LOTR.)
After the double feature. ("Murder by Numbers": 7 of 10, "Star Wars: Episode 2": 6 of 10) I also rented the Fox Searchlight DVD of "The Deep End" a film I knew I wanted to see, because I remember Ebert loved it, but a film about which I hardly knew anything.
It is a really great film, with a polished performance by Tilda as a supermom who tries to "fix" everything in sight, and why I really like this movie while I loathed films like "Frailty" and "In the Bedroom" is subject for another post entirely.
Good day at the movies.



:: Michael Nyiri 3:00 AM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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"Hollywood Ending", the new Woody Allen film, which had the "audacity" to open opposite "Spider-man" last week, is the best film I've seen this year, and believe it when I say it should be nominated for an oscar if anything which has come before it anyway signifies the cream of the crop of filmed entertainment in 2002. Woody is NOT the same whiny irascible neurotic that all the critics seem to have seen when they screened the film for reviewing purposes. My only thought must be, after witnessing this delightful creme puff of a movie, that they were psychosomatically blinded by the light the great Woodman has shone on not only his audience, of which I count myself a loyal member, always attempting to see the films in a theater, but on a hopefully future audience, if they see it at all.
Woody is has-been director Val Waxman, and I'm sure everyone reading has seen the previews, which do contain some of the biggest laughs, but by no means all of them. His advertising department worked overtime trying to promote "Hollywood Ending", it's the second movie with Dreamworks instead of Charles Joffe listed as producer, and it seemed poised, when I first glimpsed the trailer anyway to be the first populist film the Woodman has delivered in a while.
But methinks the critics and a certain web slinging superhero (whom I want to see very badly, just not with these crowds. I'll be waiting a few weeks) spoiled his chances.
That doesn't spoil the impact of the movie however. This is top notch entertainment delivered in a familiar yet different vein, as have been most of Woody's past five or six films.
I'll detail this film in a review soon to be posted on ElectricMovies

:: Michael Nyiri 10:08 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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This has been the week of animation. DVD Tuesday saw the release in mass media of two examples of what I always talk about when I talk about the ultimate blending of film with conventional and computer animation. I'm always on the lookout for a great looking "cartoon", whether it be conventional, digital, or stop motion, and with the evolving convergence of animated and computer composited imaging discussed at length here on the Cartoons section of the Cultural Blender, the two DVD's I purchased this week are the most recent examples of how enlightening experiencing the cream of the current crop of animation can be. Both DVD's rate an 8 of 10 on the Mikometer.
On Tuesday, I purchased the DVD of Richard Linklater's "Waking Life". lensed (on digital video) and computer animated in 2001, and one of the many independent films (this was financed and produced in part by the Independent Film Channel, which always gets a workout from my Tivo) which only played in a handful a theaters across the country, and was one I wanted to see but missed when it was realeased. So even though I hadn't yet seen "Waking Life", I bought it instead of rented because I had an epiphany that it was special. And speaking of special, as a special bonus attraction, I also picked up the DVD version of the excellent "modern" animie retelling of a classic Japanese "manga" from the late forties, "Metropolis", based in part but not entirely related to the Fritz Lang silent film of the 20's bearing the same name created by noted Japanese "Cartoonist" Ozamu Tesuka.

The "double feature" nature of these back to back purchases, and the warm feelings and emotional/spiritual epiphanies I received upon viewing them makes this a more than perfect moment to open up the ol blogger program and gush about the collision of film, conventional cel animation, and computers, and the many enjoyable and wonderful ways in which the convergence of artistic medium is shaping a new generation of art and film, inspired by the past, the present, and the future, infused with spiritual awakenings and epiphanies, and presented at a most critical time in the juncture of history, that if only everyone on Earth would take the time (perhaps inspired by my blognanigans) to either purchase, rent, or somehow obtain a private showing of each film, and thereby come to the realization that we are all wonderfully fashioned cogs in a universal scheme of what sometimes purports to be a chaotic existence, and we are saved, with salvation unending, in a scheme that has nothing to do with conventional ideas of religion, of which the mortar is being chipped away in great chunks before our eyes, and much to do with a world view and a universal view , which has been around for centuries, and which doesn't embrace the bickering foisted upon it's populace by the separatist warring religious factions, but remains a mystery which only begins to make sense upon the passing from this plane to the next in our human/geological/thoughtpoetic journey into the heart of ours' and the universe's soul.

The first "cartoon" is "Waking Life" (and I'm rather proud that both these films employ computer animaton as a way to "enhance" an otherwise "standard" filmic medium, (in the case of "Waking Life", a "real, filmed story", and in the case of "Metropolis" cel animated characters seamlessly blended into a CGI background)) Most of the critics, including Ebert loved this film upon release, and my need to see quotient was higher than high for this one. The film critic Kevin Thomas in the L.A. Times totally missed the impact of this entertaining and thought provoking work of art when he mentioned that the "characters philosophizing about the meaning of life" impeded with the enjoyment of the audience for the excellent "animation". Au contraire, Kevin. Most of the movie's wonder derives from it's spiritual message.
Richard Linklater's "Slacker" in 1991 (not to be confused with the recent "Slackers") basically told it's story by showing a myriad group of "streetcorner philosophers" discussing everything under the Austin sun. In execution, "Waking Life" does much the same thing.

"Waking Life" Mikometer Rating.......8 of 10

The main character, let's call him "everyman", played by Wiley Wiggins, whom astute viewers will remember as Mitch in Linklater's seminal high school movie, "Dazed and Confused" arrives in the city by train, calls a friend upon arrival to hitch a ride, notices a girl sitting in the station, and then hitches a ride with a "character in a captain's hat", piloting an amphicar, who spouts philosophy, and whose passenger (played by Linklater) gives directions to where Everyman will be let off. Upon leaving, with the driver's quixotic reverie reverbrating in his mind, Everyman picks up a note in the street, admonishing him to look to his right, which he does, right in time to see a car speeding upon him.
I used the term "played by" above, when mentioning characters, but the actors are merely canvases for the digital artists, who weave a psychedelic (literal) dream world from the images originally filmed with DV. All this is interestingly explained in special features on the DVD, and this is one very special work of art, and video package.
The character of Everyman "wakes up", goes about his routine, and meets several interesting characters, some eerily recognizable beneath the surreal animation, who chat on and on, rather like the Slackers of Linklater's first film, giving our hero insights into the meaning of life and dreams.
After a few "days" existing like this, the hero begins to realize he is in a "Groundhog Day" type of situation, where he knows he is dreaming, but doesn't seem to wake up.
Eventually, by the way, I expect these blog entries to have links to places where I will discuss more in detail certain aspects of these films. There won't be so much in the initial "mini review", or else there will be a link to the actual review "blog".
The film is excellently presented, and the philosophies and conversations among the interesting characters are astutely realized. I very much liked this picture, and after viewing it, I put on the second film in the double feature, the equally excellent "Metropolis", described by Roger Ebert (who regards both my favorite anime films, Akira and Ghost in the Shell as masterpieces of the genre.) as the epitome of digitally enhanced anime.

I think I shall probably discuss "Metropolis" in another post, since this has become somewhat unwieldy.
I'll close this entry by saying it sure is wonderful to live in an age when the "lowly cartoon" in the form of animated films like the two on the double feature, can enhance one's perception of life and death, and the meaning of same. Hopefully more of humanity will embrace a more panthiestic view of the universal someday.
Perceptions involving Tima, Kenichi, the robot policeman Pero, the sweetly endearing FiFi, evil hawkish Duke Red, brave misguided Atlas, and the richly imagined world of "Metropolis", which is the first animated feature to combine digital backgrounds with composited cel animation for the characters (sporadically used in the recent Disney features but only in certain scenes.) throughout the whole movie.
The result is magnificent, and a full review will come later.
"Metropolis" and "Waking Life" Mikometer Rating.......8of 10


:: Michael Nyiri 10:18 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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I've been putting a lot of thought into the "review" situation, and the more I think of it, the more I just don't seem to make time to write the reviews. The actual purpose of the blog is to (natch) take the place of the "diary" and I'll possibly remove the "Coming Attractions" and "Now In Theaters" pages, because charting films, which are released each week, is a daunting process. Inasmuch as the "current review" is still "A Beautiful Mind" and I haven't written anything in the diary, I truly believe this will be, as it always has been, a place where slowly but not timely, my favorite films will be at least listed, and possibly discussed.

The "film page", with updated musings and thoughts, could be in this blog format, but lately, I'm physically changing computers, and haven't mastered the art of blog writing. These things force you to write HTML, and to learn blogcode, which is HTML for blogging. (I do love that word.) Every time I seem to come onsite to write, I conveniently forget the films I want to talk about, and right now, there are roughly 40 or 50 I've at least seen since I started the diary. I haven't been to see many films at the theater this year. The last two or three were "Frailty" dir. Bill Pullman, 6 of 10 simply because of the subject matter. It's a good film, better than "In the Bedroom" and yet it is problematical like f'rinstance Boys Don't Cry. No matter how well made potboilers are when they attempt to be realistic rather than larger than life or melodramatic, the subject matter ultimately turns me off. Peter Bogdanovich's first film in about eight years, "The Cat's Meow", with Kirsten Dunst proving she's going to soon join the ranks of Robers, Kidman, and Bullock (and JLo perhaps, and maybe Ashley Judd) as one of our premier female stars. The film is about the scandalous Hollywood Babylon death/cover up of director William Ince, played by Cary Elwes, who was rumored to have been shot by Hearst who thought he was Charlie Chaplin, lately making moves on Hearst's mistress Marion Davies (Dunst) and the actual intended victim. Bogdanovich is a gifted genius, who might be compared to his idol Orson Welles (who related the tale to Peter as an unfilmed segment of Citizen Kane.) inasmuch as his "great film" "The Last Picture Show" was early in his career, and was never topped, like Welles' Kane.
The subject matter of "Cat's Meow" deals with death in Hollywood, a subject certainly close to Bogdanovich. Consider that his last film, the beautiful, musical, forgotten "That Thing Called Love" (1993) and the equally forgotten "They All Laughed" in 1980 starred soon to be deceased actors. Dorothy Stratten was murdered while Peter was cutting "Laughed" and River Phoenix died soon before the release of "Love". Peter does have his demons, is probably only the second man in tinseltown (the first being Scorsese) with a sense of movie history, and remains one of the great artists in the medium. He paints few canvases, however, and some have been very lackluster. But some are still masterful and enjoyable, and while I really don't think "Meow" will be a lasting work of art, it is a good film, and should be seen.
Speaking of Cats,


CATS AND DOGS:
2001 Recorded on Tivo
MIKOMETER: 8 of 10
This little gem passed completely under my radar. It is an hilarious comedy, styled and executed like a Chuck Jones Warner's cartoon, with a mix of live action, CGI, and puppet animals which are so seamlessly presented, I dare the audience to guess what kind of effect they are seeing.
But (and this is one element which makes it so good) I didn't care about the way it was presented, because the story is witty, wry, and funny. This was a kid's movie, was roundly panned as one of those movies which looks good but is empty of substance, and is rated "G" but in this case "G" stands for Great. The director I don't know: Lawrence Guterman. The human stars are Jeff Goldblum and Elizabeth Perkins. But the cats and dogs are the stars, and what this film reminded me of was a "live" "Lady and the Tramp". The "evil genius" cat out to take over the word is "Mr. Tinkles" who, with the help of thousands of mice, usually cat's enemy, will render mankind allergic to his "best friend" the Dog. Dogs and Man have been "best friends" ever since the Dog race overthrew the Cats from running the world in Ancient Egypt. Rent this or see it on cable or satellite. You will be "pleasantly surprised":

Well, that was a "mini review". The photos are so big because I used the Homestead Sitebuilder. Believe it or not, I can't find my image editing software CD, the wonderful Micrografx Picture Publisher, so looks like I will have to download it and the new Gif animator from Ulead from the web for the new computer.
That's quite enough for now. I know at least one person has looked at this webpage/blog. I think eventually all the start or main pages on AllThingsMike will be blogs on my server. The blog software takes the place of the "diary" sections which keep you the reader up to date. Blog editing allows a webmaster to include the "journal" element in a conventionsl HTML webpage. Soon my pages will look the same, but merely the diary element will be the Blog. I have to take the time to figue out how to accomplish this task, however, and it's taken three days to figure out how to do a file transfer on my new puter. The files still aren't on my new computer. So the fact that I can "text edit" and "img src" while writing makes this a "reel kewl" instantaneous tool.


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:: Michael Nyiri 6:48 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
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