February 18, 2014
Thesis progress
Hurrah, half way! I’ve finally submitted chapter two of my thesis for supervision. Here’s hoping it only comes back with grammatical suggestions. I found this chapter hard slog and wouldn’t be keen on making further changes to it any more than I have to. Life’s busy. I’ve watched zero films (excluding Aronofsky’s five films, which I watched multiple times). A phenomenological investigation into an auteur is quite a broad topic, as I have found, and probably better suited in scope for a Doctoral thesis rather than a Masters. Anyway, I’ve made my bed etc etc. Here’s a brief account of chapter two:
Ch 2 (10000 words)
– Phenomenological specifics concerning the cinema of Aronofsky: Mood, emotion, its non-cognitive and cognitive affect (Coplan, Carroll, Robinson, etc).
– A phenomenological investigation into the opening sequences of Aronofsky’s 5 films.
– Musical maps for each film. The use of musical score and their associative feeling states.
So onwards to chapter three, a shorter chapter … hopefully. Here I will be exploring the affective image covering predominantly colour, Sobchack’s cinesthetic subject, and composition. Just have a look at the stills from Aronofsky’s five films below (from top to bottom: The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Pi, and The Fountain) … such contrasting colours and composition.
By the time I finish chapter three Aronofsky will have released his Biblical epic Noah. Hope it doesnt disappoint. Sounds quite controversial … but not many Biblical films aren’t, I suppose.
December 26, 2013
My top five 2013 films
Merry Christmas all and Happy New Year!
Thought I’d pop into my blog and mention my favourites for 2013. I’ve seen some really excellent and quite varied films this year, despite not getting to the cinema much. There have been plenty that I have missed such as the slew of excellent documentaries, namely Leviathan, Stories We Tell, and The Act of Killing. Will catch up with them over the New Year hopefully. Some notable mentions this year are Linklater’s Before Midnight, Malick’s To the Wonder, Nicol’s Mud, and Coppola’s The Bling Ring. I also saw some great films from yesteryear that I wholeheartedly recommend (Perks of Being a Wallflower, Coraline, Shame, Amour, Un Prophete, Cloud Atlas, Compliance, Take Shelter, and Skyfall).
Anyway, my top five films for 2013 are as follows:
5. The Hunt – a solid and riveting film.
4. Computer Chess – like no other film I’ve seen. New ground and strangely fascinating.
3. Only Lovers Left Alive – Jarmusch at his best. Full of atmosphere and character.
2. Gravity – technically groundbreaking, yet somehow Alfonso keeps it personal.
1. Frances Ha – Ahoy sexy!
I just couldn’t resist giving Frances Ha my number one spot. For me it hits the mark on every point. I loved it!
Francis Ha
So onto next year … will be a quiet one for me as I plough into my final year of study. I’ll climb back into Cinematic Musings with gusto once I’ve knocked my thesis on the head. In the meantime I will pop in every month or so and make comments on films I’ve seen.
Have a great holidays all!
November 12, 2013
Thesis progress and Gravity
Its been a while since my last update. I don’t imagine there will be too much action on this site over the next year while I undertake the remaining three chapters. At the beginning of November I submitted my first chapter to Simon (my supervisor) for supervision. It is a relief to get that behind me and I’ve given myself a couple of weeks off … I have some hard slog ahead. I’ve learnt a lot about phenomenology in film, but in the same breath I could also mention that I’ve learnt a lot about my daughter’s favourite bedtime book of Party Fairies and their associated special powers. At least I am leading a balanced life of sorts.
I haven’t seen too many films in the meantime. Just Party Fairy books and study. However, I did catch up with the technically astounding Gravity which I enjoyed a lot. If you take Gravity on face value it is nothing more than a clever Hollywood romp, but if you know anything about its director, Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) you’ll realise that this film is painted with a far deeper palette. It seems that you can read this film in multiple ways, although it is immediately apparent that this is a film about interiority and exteriority on a personal level … the struggle to face the world in-spite of the ease to do otherwise. This duality is evident in so many parts of the film; its two characters, the themes, the plot, the sound, the lighting, to name a few. It really is a simple film that has been dealt a master stroke.
See it, enjoy it, and then think about it.
August 6, 2013
Europa Report
I had high hopes for this film and it’s fledgling director Sebastián Cordero. I had hoped that I was going to receive a pleasant surprise … the same kind that Duncan Jones gave me with his superb debut, Moon. Nope. For all its visual wizardry and clever editing, Europa Report just didn’t cut the mustard. It offered nothing particularly new or unique, which to be fair is not necessarily a bad thing, but unfortunately Europa Report rocketed headfirst into the trap of methodically employing clichéd scifi tropes. You can pretty much take the first half of Alien, gloss it up a bit, wash, rinse, and repeat, which goes to show that Nostomo’s landing in Scott’s 1979 Alien is still a timeless and unparalleled piece of film making. That said, it has its moments, and Shalto Copley’s scene (at the very end of the trailer below) is quite intense, but ultimately Europa Report didn’t grab me and I didn’t care much for its characters.
August 4, 2013
Thesis progress
So my thesis proposal is still going to-and-fro between my supervisor and I in what feels like an endless loop. We are now at the stage of making pedantic grammatical changes before submission to the council. Thank goodness I’m part-time, and to that end I’ve decided to forge ahead with the thesis proper and powered out some 7000 words of pap about the basics of phenomenology that no doubt will be unrecognisable in the finished product. Ostensibly here is what my thesis will be about.
August 4, 2013
To the Wonder
… and to cap off the NZIFF, we finished with Terrence Mallick’s To the Wonder. Ostensibly a film about love, To the Wonder follows Neil (Ben Affleck) and Merina (Olga Kurylenko) struggling with their relationship, cleverly contrasted with Father Quintana (Javier Bardem) struggling with his faith. Shot in a very interesting non-scripted fashion, where the narrative comes from editing patterns more than anything else, perhaps similar in style to Mallick’s previous feature, The Tree of Life, although quite different in content. I really enjoyed this film, it drew me in and I found it quite euphoric in parts, although I can understand criticism aimed at Mallick for visually repeating himself.
August 3, 2013
Only Lovers Left Alive
Just quickly, as we’re off Malick’s To the Wonder.
Last night I saw Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive. A new and interesting take on the vampire genre that is a refreshing, cool, quirky, and sometimes hilarious film that leaves the kind of indelible stamp synonymous with a Jarmusch film. Adam (Tom Hiddleston) and Eve (the superb Tilda Swinton) are vampires that have been in love for centuries. Sounds rather clichéd really, but this is so much more than a vampire film. There are plenty of clever commentaries and allegories made here, perhaps most appealing was Adam and Marlowe’s (John Hurt) concern with “getting the art out there” all the while avoiding fame (the allusion to Shakespeare’s rumoured ghostwriter is great). Pleasingly slow, and on occasions ponderous, Only Lovers Left Alive is a film that was more of an experience rather than a plot driven drama. Jarmusch’s, camera slowly roams the moody night-time streets of Detroit and Tangiers, giving a very solid sense of place … if you’ve seen Ghost Dog you’ll know what I mean. Mesmerising stuff!
Rating: 5 stars
August 1, 2013
The Bling Ring
Another busy day yesterday. Work, study, film, study, cricket, shower, bed. Saw Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. Based on actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities’ whereabouts in order to rob their homes. As typical with many Sofia Coppola films, this was a highly stylised affair, not huge on narrative … yet somehow plenty of substance. I was pretty much mesmerised as I drifted amongst these misguided and privileged youths for ninety minutes. It’s pretty much a classic gig of teens misbehaving but dressed up in everything I hate about the captitalist society we live in. Thumbs up to Coppola for making this highly affective, superbly paced, and well balanced film.
Today I see Only Lovers Left Alive. Really looking forward to it.
July 28, 2013
Frances Ha
On Friday afternoon Seema and I saw Noah Baumbach’s latest film, Frances Ha. This well written original screenplay (by Gerwig and Baumbach) is a feel good film that hits its target perfectly. Not motivated particularly by its narrative, Frances Ha concerns the titular Frances (played by Gerwig) as she stumbles through that period of limbo between studenthood and settling down to a job, relationship etc. It’s a real slice of life that is rich with familiar characters, the kind that we’ve all known or met at some stage in our life. I found this film to be so well weighted in all respects. It is funny, quirky, intelligent, and infectious, yet is careful not to overcook any of these. I’m still puzzled by the odd decision to shoot this character driven film in black and white … although it didn’t seem to detract either so I’ll just leave that well alone.
Frances Ha is a must see!
Afterward we headed out to Cafe Abyssinia in Sandringham for some Ethiopian cuisine. Never had Ethiopian before, but boy it was yummy! Thanks to Nana and Mikee for looking after the kids :0)
Next Thursday it’s Sofia Copola’s Bling Ring.
tobywoollaston.com 