Is-Sibt, Mejju 31, 2008

Pi (1998 - movie review)

Intentionally filmed in a dark, noire style... with a 16mm hand-held video-tape camera that was expanded up to the 35mm standard, all in Black and White, this gritty, dark surreal film about the nature of numbers.

Pi in particular, will take you on a journey you had no idea you were going to take.
Sean Gullette makes an outstanding performance - accompanied by captivating score that never seizes to amaze me.

But the basic plot of a man, anti-sociable genius, struggling to discover the answer to one of the universe, the greatest mysteries... will he find the answer?
Be warned, the crazy dealings of a man searching beyond, stretching the boundary of the mind and finding the magic two-hundred sixteen digits: that some claim to be the he answer to the stock Market crash, while others think it's god name.

You might want to watch this film three or four more times in a row.

If you liked <i>A Beautiful Mind</i> WATCH THIS! The Ending is a minor let-down.

PS: You don't need to be mathematician to understand this masterpiece.

<b>LA Weekly </b> | Manohla Dargis
A triumph of low-end production design, shot in sizzling, solarized black and white, and driven by a propulsive, insinuating score, Pi is a horror movie that makes you think and an indie film that makes you squirm.



btw: oh lawdy! I had a bouldering accident yesterday and twisted an ankle =/
so I guess my bouldering friends we'll miss some fun together =(

It-Tlieta, Mejju 27, 2008

There Will be Blood Review

Here: if you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and I have a straw, there it is, that’s the straw, see, watch it! My straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake: I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! *slurps* I drink it up!

Set in the early 20th century, the film follows the rise to power of Daniel Plainview - a charismatic and ruthless oil man, driven to succeed by his intense hatred of others and psychological need to see his competitors fail. When he learns of oil-rich land in California that can be bought cheaply, he moves his operation there and begins manipulating and exploiting the local landowners into selling him their property. Using his young adopted son H.W. to project the image of a caring family man, Plainview gains the cooperation of almost all the locals with lofty promises to build schools and cultivate the land to make their community flourish. Over time, Plainview's gradual accumulation of wealth and power causes his true self to surface, and he begins to slowly alienate himself from everyone in his life.

Daniel Day Lewis puts on an absoulutely spectacular performance as Daniel Plainview, we see two personalities of this man through the 2 and a half hour film. First seeing the kinder and softer Daniel as he makes his way up through the world through all of his drilling, but once Paul shows him these areas where oil is huge, he changes, due to greed and wealth that hook him over. Daniel handles it with perfect precision as each moment we see him on screen is just fantastic to watch.

It makes me happy as a movie lover to see that there is a director like Paul Anderson who is willing to make a film about the big beginning of the oil production. Instead of creating a post 9/11 struggle movie about the fast moving prices of oil, he takes the time to create a movie in which shows major character and the start of America's largest needed supply. In the 21st century our whole economy is basically run by oil, we need gas for our cars and oil for our electricity. With the whole war going on and everything America is struggling to get these needs as much as we need them.

One thing I must point out which is very good in this movie was the score. The first 10 or so minutes of the movie are all quiet except for character and environment sounds. When there is a moment when score is used though, it gets to be very creepy, but sometimes used in great spots of the movie. Paul Anderson does a magnificent job behind the camera with a lot of very smooth and calm camera angles and shots. The visual style along with his directorial style set the movie perfectly. There Will Be Blood is fantastic in almost every way. At about 2 hours and 38 minutes, it is very long and in moments can be drawn out, but Daniel's performance and Paul Anderson's way to tell a story make the whole film is a must see masterpiece.

PS: Is it sad/weird that I found the end slightly hilarious?

The New Yorker | David Denby
An enthralling and powerfully eccentric American epic.