Lost in Translation: Sophia's Farce??

The article here is only the first post from Imomus.com. The article is title "Lost on Me" and contains a great deal of insight into the acting of the characters in Sophia Coppola's Lost in Translation. The following quote is taken from the article explaining Bill Murray's comedy:

Does Murray's charisma have to come at the expense of someone else all the
time? (Let's not even talk about the portrayal of the prostitute or the
commercial director.) In a hospital scene, an old lady asks Murray why he took
this long trip to Japan. Murray responds again by playing to the gallery, miming
her as if she were doing a ludicrous choreographed song. He's the odd one out,
the foreigner, and yet he's treating those around him as if they were
foreigners. This is bad manners and bad traveller etiquette. It prompts the
question, is it possible to be American and foreign? I suspect the answer is
'No', at least if one is in an American film, wherever it may be set.

The author describes, in great detail, the other actors and actresses and they're strong points and weaknesses in the film. There is also a great deal of ideological analysis which analyzes the socialogical behavior in the film.

Contemplating Hero. Wuxia or worse?

Zhang Yimou’s Hero and the Globalization of Propaganda by Mark Harrison was published online for a website called "Wordpress". In the article he compares Hero to and earlier Wuxia film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but immediately points out that there is a lack of propaganda in the film. He says that Hero almost merges Chinese cinema with Hollywood cinema using all sorts of creative effects to propagandize the story in the film.

Contrasting with the muted, earthy colours of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,
Hero’s imagery does indeed a deliver a stunning looking film, wholly
unrestrained in its use of saturated colour and dramatic visual forms in ways
which few films have had the audacity to attempt. Its fight sequences are
spectacularly choreographed and staged, wielding colour, form and movement with
virtuosic skill. The cast, too, is beautiful, and A-list Chinese - Zhang Ziyi,
Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung and Jet Li.
At the same time, the film has no real
plot and no character development and its dialogue is made up of declarations of
fortune-cookie clichés. This points to empty spectacle, to a Chinese version of
the worst excesses of high-concept Hollywood cinema. However, Hero is far more
than an empty exercise in visual technology and marketing.

Zhang Yimou: House of Flying Daggers

Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers was the second major film he directed after Hero. The film has some concepts similar to those in Hero. Zhang Yimous uses a common theme of everday people becoming great heroes. Both films speak about a rebel/rebellion against the emperor. Another major theme within each of the films is the idea that love always prevails.

In the film two policemen decide to infiltrate the "House of Flying Daggers" in order to weed out there new master. Jin takes Mei into the forest in order to help her find the House of Flying Daggers. Along the way they are attacked by Jin's own police guards in order to confuse Mei. In the end they discover many things about each other and eventually the two policemen fight for Mei's love.

The link is only a Wikipedia article. It talks about major themes in the film along with aspects of genre. The plot of the film and information about Zhang Yimou is also explained.

Richard Kelly: Does He Even Have Another Film?

This is just the basic overview from the Internet Movie Data Base. It contains links to information about Richard Kelly's two shorts The Goodbye Place, and Visceral Matter. It also gives an idea of some of Kelly's achievements and other (more known) films: Donnie Darko, the upcoming release Southland Tales, and the film (currently in pre-production) The Box.


Southland Tales received almost no acclaim at Cannes when it was introduced and viewers commented on IMDB.com that it was "the greatest movie never seen." According to this one viewer, and other reviews I have read, the film tanked it and was a huge failure; trying to copy Donnie Darko but missing every beat of Donnie completely. The other clips I've included are some from Donnie Darko and from Southland Tales.

Official! "What Mad World?"

Jason Cowley wrote Official! It really is a mad, mad, mad world. For the "Newstatesman" which was published January 5, 2004. The majority of the article summarizes the writing of Roland Orzbal's memorable song "Mad World". But an excerpt from the article talks about how the song was re-recorded for Richard Kelly's 2001 release Donnie Darko. Cowley dicusses how "Mad World" adds to the 1980's feel of the film and how the rest of the soundtrack further pushes this ambience along.

"[Mad World's] success, though perplexing, is partly the result of the startling effect of the film Donnie Darko. Though greeted with indifference on its release in America in 2001, Donnie Darko has since acquired cult status... everythird person you meet rcommends [the film]."

The 1980's theme of the film is again seen with the opening discussion of Bush vs. Dukakis. Cowley also incquires into how the overall effect of the film is represented by the music chosen for the soundtrack.

What is Human?

I found this paper from an internet collection from Brown University. Dr. Steve Mulhall answers the eternal question of the film Blade Runner, What is humanity? He looks at the film and uses its examples to explain what is truly human. Though lengthy the paper is very precise and explains alot.

Соля́рис, What if Your Every Desire was Real

The 1972 film Solaris (Соля́рис) is a Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky and is considered by most to be an outstanding work of art. Tarkovsky viewed this film as one of his only failures. The aim of the film was to take a science novel and direct a film that was genre-less. The film opens with Kris Kelvin who is sent to a mysterious planet where three scientists have been studying the new world. Kris is sent to replace one of the scientists who is mysteriously deceased. Once he arrives he finds the laboratory to be desolate, unkept, and the scientists (Snaut and Sartorious) distant and confusing.

Dr. Sartorius: "Man was created by Nature in order to explore it. As he approaches Truth he is fated to Knowledge. All the rest is bullshit."

Kris begins to discover that the planet Solaris is alive and is materializing the thoughts and fears of his mind... even bringing his deceased wife back to his side.

Blade Runner: Are you a replicant?

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) is the story of Detective Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) who is on the hunt for escaped super human robots called replicants. As he searches for them in 2019 LA he falls in love with a replicant named Rachael, hindering his ability to "retire" the vengeful replican convicts.

Scott's earlier films Alien, Legend, Blade Runner all present the same type of feel. There is almost a sense of unity among the stories even though they all apply to different genres. The special effects in Blade Runner are fantastic and exciting and help to only back up the meaningful plot and impressive acting.

The clip I've included gives a representation of the amazing special effects in this film.

Dune: The Sleeper Must Awaken

Dune, directed by David Lynch (1984) is the retelling of the novel written by Frank Herbert. The opening sequence begins with the tale of the film: Princess Irulan: A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The Spacing Guild and its navigators, who the spice has mutated over 4000 years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as Dune.