Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Why I love the movies
Let's start here...
As people who know me well know, not a day goes by without several visits to imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com or pitchfork.com. These sites are my 'google'. I am constantly looking at what movies are on, who are in them, whether they're any good, and then deciding whether to go to the movies to see them, or not... and who i take with me.
My family went to the movies religiously every week, as our father is a massive movie buff. We went every Sunday and saw everything - the Exorcist when it was released (i was 11! too young), Angel of Vengeance (hooker takes revenge. again, too young), A Star is Born, Jesus Christ Superstar, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Apocalypse Now, the Rocky films... name it we saw it. We also went to Hong Kong Martial Arts films and of course devoured the shelves at the local Betamax Video store.. (with the cute guy who worked there and i can't remember his name. My sister might know).
We are now all grown up and living in different parts of the world, but to this day, when i talk to my father, my first question is 'what movies have you seen lately?', as is his to me.
I love the movies not so much because of the escapism factor, not because it takes me places, not even because of the story lines but because of the way movies look and because of the language in it. Of course these are all important and of course I enjoy them for these reasons, but what I enjoy is looking at something through someone else's eyes. Which i guess is why my favorite movies are by a handful of directors. Spike Lee, Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola...
When I watch a movie, I look at the picture on the screen, and find myself always thinking how this picture was built. What is moving, what is still, what colour is it, does it look cold or does it look sunny.. stuff like that. Which is why i can't always remember the movie itself, but I can tell you how it looked and I can describe the way it felt...
I was watching Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing again the other night. I watch this movie very often. People are probably sick of me singing its praises on my Facebook status. But it is a masterpiece. Every frame bursts with colour. Every person in the frame is there for a reason. There is always something still, and something moving in every shot. Everything I love about visual imagery exists in every single shot in this magnificent film. And while it is socially relevant, and has a mad soundtrack, the colour of the film is the real star for me. I read somewhere that it was filmed with red lights to make everything look hotter, as the story is set on a scorcher of a day.
I also like to pay attention to the language used in a film, and i don't believe there is anyone better with language than Quentin Tarantino. I could go on, he is a genius.
Going to the movies makes me glad to be alive, and I am terrified that i will die before the last Harry Potter movie is released. (joke).
My sister suggested I start a blog, and so here it is. This way I can write what I think without boring all my FB friends with my meaningless opinions.
I will write a small review of every movie that I go see, or maybe some TV stuff too.
Till next time,
D
As people who know me well know, not a day goes by without several visits to imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com or pitchfork.com. These sites are my 'google'. I am constantly looking at what movies are on, who are in them, whether they're any good, and then deciding whether to go to the movies to see them, or not... and who i take with me.
My family went to the movies religiously every week, as our father is a massive movie buff. We went every Sunday and saw everything - the Exorcist when it was released (i was 11! too young), Angel of Vengeance (hooker takes revenge. again, too young), A Star is Born, Jesus Christ Superstar, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Apocalypse Now, the Rocky films... name it we saw it. We also went to Hong Kong Martial Arts films and of course devoured the shelves at the local Betamax Video store.. (with the cute guy who worked there and i can't remember his name. My sister might know).
We are now all grown up and living in different parts of the world, but to this day, when i talk to my father, my first question is 'what movies have you seen lately?', as is his to me.
I love the movies not so much because of the escapism factor, not because it takes me places, not even because of the story lines but because of the way movies look and because of the language in it. Of course these are all important and of course I enjoy them for these reasons, but what I enjoy is looking at something through someone else's eyes. Which i guess is why my favorite movies are by a handful of directors. Spike Lee, Martin Scorcese, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola...
When I watch a movie, I look at the picture on the screen, and find myself always thinking how this picture was built. What is moving, what is still, what colour is it, does it look cold or does it look sunny.. stuff like that. Which is why i can't always remember the movie itself, but I can tell you how it looked and I can describe the way it felt...
I was watching Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing again the other night. I watch this movie very often. People are probably sick of me singing its praises on my Facebook status. But it is a masterpiece. Every frame bursts with colour. Every person in the frame is there for a reason. There is always something still, and something moving in every shot. Everything I love about visual imagery exists in every single shot in this magnificent film. And while it is socially relevant, and has a mad soundtrack, the colour of the film is the real star for me. I read somewhere that it was filmed with red lights to make everything look hotter, as the story is set on a scorcher of a day.
I also like to pay attention to the language used in a film, and i don't believe there is anyone better with language than Quentin Tarantino. I could go on, he is a genius.
Going to the movies makes me glad to be alive, and I am terrified that i will die before the last Harry Potter movie is released. (joke).
My sister suggested I start a blog, and so here it is. This way I can write what I think without boring all my FB friends with my meaningless opinions.
I will write a small review of every movie that I go see, or maybe some TV stuff too.
Till next time,
D
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