Velvet Goldmine was a spectacle that was like a news story unfolding before our eyes as every new bit of information came to light about what really happened to the fictional rock and roll superstar, Brian Slade. The film was all about Arthur Stuart, a British journalist, being tasked to write a story about where Slade is now by his boss. Stuart’s investigation brings up past memories that he seems to have repressed or tried to forget altogether. As the film goes on, we find out that Slade and the rise of glam rock in general was a big part of Stuart’s past life because this was what gave him the confidence and comfortability to come out about his own sexual orientation to his parents. With the investigation on Slade’s life goes on, we learn about his rise to fame and the bonds he formed with different people during this time such as Curt Wild and Jack Fairy. The film ends with Stuart finding out what actually happened to the person who was once known as Brian Slade, even though he did not write a story about this anymore. What I liked the most about the film is how it shows the power that fame can get a person and how hard it is to deal with the responsibilities of someone as well known as Brian Slade and Curt Wild. In the film, we see the sudden rise to fame of Slade, and they show how much followers and fans he garnered in a pretty short time because of his eccentric and quirky personality. Couple this with his artistic talents and creativity, it is no shock that so many people looked up to, or even idolized, Slade. Sadly, for Slade, he did not handle all of these things the right way, and instead, he let his success go to his head and decided to push the envelop more and more by coming up with more out-of-the-box ideas which ended with him becoming infamous after faking his own death during one of his concerts. All in all, I think Velvet Goldmine is a movie that is worth while to watch because it gives the audience an engaging experience that feels like a detective trying to solve a mystery while also mixing this with the musical aspect of glam rock during the 1970s that would keep fans of rock, and even music in general, entertained enough as to not get bored with the pacing of the film. Another note worthy aspect of the film is how it only reveals snippets of information about the life of Brian Slade, and the way they choose when to let the audience know certain information was perfectly timed to help the development of the plot as well as the pace of the film itself to build the mystery factor of the movie. Personally, I thought that I would easily get while watching this film when I read a short overview of the film prior to viewing it, but surprisingly, I was entertained throughout the duration of the whole movie and it is a movie I would recommend to other movie lovers.
Author: rolecintheriver
Let’s Get Real
F for Fake was an interesting film that makes the viewers think about themselves and society. The film talks about numerous personalities throughout its 89 minute run time, which goes to show how fast paced the film was, such as de Hory, Irving, Welles, Hughes and Kodar, but the person that caught my attention while viewing the film was the art forger, Elmyr de Hory. Elmyr is a famous, or maybe a more fitting description would be infamous, personality in the art world because of how many famous paintings he has copied or forged and sold to different art connoisseurs and even museums. The story of Elmyr and the art world piqued my interest because it made me reflect on different things such as how do we know when something is real and fake. In the film, Welles acts as sort of the narrator during the whole thing, and he is also the one that presents the audience with numerous deep questions about art, life, society, and many more. One of the questions that Welles brings up is how the art dealers were buying forged or fake art works when they are supposed to be the experts on this. This question is just one of many that resonated with me and made me think about how these were questions that are so simple, yet no one really brings them up. How the film was able to bring up really simple yet still very profound and meaningful questions about different things in people’s lives is what I think made me appreciate the movie a lot. All in all, I thought that the movie F for Fake was a very effective commentary not just on the art world, but in our society as a whole. The movie analyzed and questioned why certain things happen in our life and how it affects how we understand the world we live in. Although I would most probably not watch this film again because of how a big chunk of the film is just listening to someone talk without anything exciting or eye-catching happening, I still think that it is an interesting film especially for people who are into deep, philosophical type of questions. I think after watching this film, it would be impossible not to question your personal beliefs about certain topics because it brings to light a lot of different perspectives that most people do not take into account because there is a public norm or belief that is already established within society. Questioning what we know is not a bad thing at all because in order to grow as people, we must question everything around us in order to better understand the world we live in. If a film with a premise that is as simple as this can leave the audience reflecting on their lives and how the world they live in works, then I think everyone should watch this film at least once in their lifetime. They will surely not regret it even one bit.
Cycle of Life
The Endless was a very mindboggling yet very interesting movie which kept the audience second guessing whether what was happening in the film was a ploy set up by the community of Camp Arcadia or if there really was a sort of higher power lurking among the people. The Endless is definitely not the kind of movie one would watch if he wanted to just relax and enjoy. Rather, it is a film that makes you think critically as to which one of the two brothers’ character’s point of view you would trust as the truth, but you will be tested throughout the film, and I am sure that you will switch sides at least once while watching the movie, or at least consider believing the other brother’s stand. The plot of the film revolves around two brothers, Justin and Aaron, and their relation to a commune or cult (depending on which brother you believe). The brothers were once part of the community but defected from the group years ago. This difference in perception or memory of the community is what pushes the narrative of the film. When the brothers return to Camp Arcadia, they have two drastically different experiences. Justin is very weary and doubtful about the exact nature of the community which makes him extra careful and reserved around the other people. On the other hand, Aaron embraces being part of the community and enjoys his time in the camp which leads to the brothers spending more time in the community. As the brothers spend more time in the camp, they discover that there are numerous weird occurrences which leads to them finding out that there is an invisible entity among them that is toying with the people. This invisible entity is forming time loops in different locations in the vicinity of the camp, but all of them share a grim and unpleasant ending, death in one form or another. The film ends with the brothers barely being able to escape from the entity’s time loop after a discussion among the brothers. All in all, I think The Endless is a good film because it shows how our memories form our perceptions on certain things early on in life and this has a ripple effect on how we live our lives today. Just like how the difference in early childhood memories of the brothers over the same thing made their experience of coming back to Camp Arcadia drastically different. Another noteworthy aspect of the film in the end is when the brothers are discussing whether to stay in the camp or leave, even after they find out what will eventually happen to them if they stay. This caught my attention because it showed how miserable the brothers, or at least Aaron, were with their life in the real world. The mere fact that they would consider getting violently killed over and over again by an invisible entity over going back to their life outside the camp should alarm the audience about how bad the conditions must be outside the camp.
Spot the Addict
Trainspotting was a good movie which was able to make things interesting and entertaining even though the film dealt with pretty serious and controversial topics. The movie was able to blend the serious elements of the film with comedic aspects which turned into an in depth look at addiction and how it does not just affect an individual but everyone around them without being too boring and full of dialogue. The plot of the film is all about the lives of a group of friends who are heroin addicts living in London. The film is a cycle of the group, or some of its members, wanting to quit their heroine addiction where they successfully do, but it almost never lasts for long. It is clear from the start of the film that the main character from the group, Mark Renton, is the one who is most determined to become clean permanently, but because of different circumstances, he slips back into his addiction. My main takeaway from the film was how it portrayed addiction in a way that showed the audience just how bad it can get for people who are addicted to illegal substances. I think that Trainspotting is one of the few films that I have watched which gave a good portrayal of addiction without demonizing or putting down the addict. What I mean by this is in some movies, when the topic of addiction arises, we often see the addicted character as a bad person which makes them unlikable. On the other hand, Trainspotting made the characters seem likeable and relatable which moved the audience’s feelings towards them to a sense of pity and sympathy from hate and disgust. This sense of pity is what I felt the most for Mark Renton’s character because, as I have stated above, he seems to genuinely want to quit his addiction and longs for a better life for himself, but it seems like he just can not get away from his troublesome friends. This was clearly seen in the film when Mark’s friends tracked him down even though he left their town and moved away without telling them where he was going. Mark was doing well for himself and it seemed like he really had left behind his life as an addict, but his friends, Begbie and Sick Boy, just would not let him escape their clutches. The film’s latter portion saw Mark being pushed around by his friends, mainly by Begbie, and forced to do things he does not really want to such as shelling out his savings for heroine. In the end, Mark gets away with most of the money they got from selling the heroine which we could only hope he uses to get away from his addict friends. All in all, I think Trainspotting is a good movie that was entertaining while also tackling important social issues such as drug abuse. For me, their portrayal of addiction will be one of the most relatable portrayals because it makes the audience really feel like they are going through what the characters are going through.
Fear Factor
Lost Highway was one of the most unnerving and creepy films I have watched in the last couple of years. The film was not like most horror, or maybe thriller would be the better genre for the movie, films because the thing that was causing all the paranoia and fear was just a person. To be clear, the mystery man is no ordinary person as made obvious by the scene when Fred first met the mystery man in a party where he was both at the party and inside Fred’s house to answer the phone call. In my opinion, this first encounter of Fred and the mystery man perfectly introduced the audience to the main antagonist of the film because we were able to see what was stalking the couple and he was just as creepy as I imagined him to be if not more. This creepy vibe from the mystery man perfectly coincides with the film’s feel because the movie does not try to scare its audience outright by showing a scary figure or shocking them with jump scares like most horror movies employ today. Instead, the movie relies on keeping the audience on its toes and always making them think that something scary is going to happen even though nothing usually does. I’m not saying that the film does not use these things at all because I think we were all shocked and terrified when the mystery man’s face replaced that of Renee after Fred and her did the deed, but these are not their main methods in keeping the audience on the edge of their seats. A good example of the film makers building up the tension without actually showing anything scary is during the scene where Fred and his wife, Renee, go outside their room and look into the vast darkness of the hallway. This scene was one of the most stressful and disturbing sequences for me because I had no idea what was going to happen next. There were so many possible outcomes to that scene such as the mystery man popping out that I could not prepare myself for what was to come. In the end, nothing really happened in the dark hallway except for the couple walking through it. All in all, I think Lost Highway is one of my favorite “horror” movies that I have ever watched because of how it builds up the tension as well as misdirection to make the audience lower their guard for their more terrifying scenes to be more impactful. Another noteworthy thing about the film is how they tie up all, or at least most, of the loose ends they scattered throughout the film. From the message Fred receives at home that Dick Laurent is dead to the different dreams that Fred has, we see the importance of all of these things come later on in the film and even though there may be some scenes where the audience are confused with what the meaning is as to why these were shown, the film makers did a great job at tying everything together. I hope that more modern horror films try to emulate the fear inducing method that was used in Lost Highway because it is, in my opinion, how real horror can be achieved.
Cash Green
Sorry to Bother You was hands down my favorite film from the whole semester and can even be considered one of my favorite films of all time. This actually surprised me because the film is not usually the kind of movie I enjoy because of its serious tone. Although, it was a movie that dealt with serious matters, it was still able to convey all of this in a quirky yet entertaining way. The film’s plot deals with different social issues such as racism, which is still prevalent in our society today especially in places like the United States, and also talks about how the corporate world operates. The movie deals with all of these dark and heavy issues, but it is still a very entertaining, and sometimes even funny, movie that I think anyone would enjoy. The film’s depiction of the corporate world, more specifically corporate America, is very eye-catching and very true to life as it talks about workers being paid way lower than they should be, racist practices, and many more. The movie is also not subtle in the way it presents these issues because it can clearly and obviously be seen throughout the movie. One example of this is by the use of the “white voice” by the African American telemarketers. In the early part of the film, the main character, Cassius “Cash” Green, is given advice by his co-worker to adopt a white voice when making calls to prospective clients. It is only when Cash adopts this white voice that he is able to make a lot more sales and, eventually, get promoted to be a “power caller.” This is a clear message from the film makers to comment on society today where people are deemed more approachable and inviting if the color of their skin, or at least the way their voice sounds like, is white. Although racism is a big theme in the movie, the most prominent one is all about capitalism. The movie revolved around 3 main things or groups which were the telemarketing company, Regal View, the WorryFree corporation, and the employee group that was rallying against Regal View. The audience learns at the film’s later portion that all of these three groups are all intertwined, mainly by Cash. The power callers do not sell products or services anymore, and instead, they are tasked with selling people who have signed a contract with WorryFree. Furthermore, Cash finds out that the CEO of WorryFree, Steve Lift, is planning on transforming humans into what he calls “equisapiens”, who are a half human and half horse kind of hybrid, just so they can be more efficient and obedient workers. This discovery is shared by Cash to the public, but he does not get the reaction that he is looking for, and WorryFree are lauded for their “scientific advancement.” All in all, I think the film was a brilliant commentary on capitalism in our society today that anyone would be able to relate to or at least see the similarities it shares with events that happen with real life. The film actually has a pretty out-of-the-box concept, but the film makers were able to deliver this concept with enough details that were grounded in reality in order to make it still very believable. Sorry to Bother You is definitely not the kind of movie that you’d watch if you’re looking for a feel-good movie to just enjoy. Rather, it is a very deep movie which makes you question the society you live in, as well as yourself, while still being highly pleasing and fascinating.
King of Calamities
Shin Godzilla was the weirdest Godzilla film I have watched, which is not really saying a lot because I have only watched around two or three other Godzilla films before this one. What caught me off guard about it was that it was not the usual Godzilla film because it was not just about him going all over a city a wreaking havoc wherever he went. The film in itself was not really about Godzilla and how he affects the places that he goes to and deals destruction. This version of the film focused more on the Japanese government, and how they would deal with the monster rampaging through the streets. The movie did not make Godzilla seem like a monster, even though he was still made to be a monster. Instead, the film made him feel like a natural calamity that was happening and the focus of the film was how the Japanese government would respond to something like this happening. When I researched more on the film, I was able to find out that the reason behind this was because they drew inspiration from two tragedies that happened in Japan both in the year 2011, which were the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Other than the actual plot of the film, another thing that caught my eye about the film was with how the decided to make Godzilla appear on the big screen. With the many advances in technology that have occurred, I always expect monsters in monster movies to look better and have a more realistic feel to them than their previous counterparts, but sadly, I did not get that with Godzilla. Although this version of Godzilla is still not pleasing to the eyes and somewhat looks monstrous, I expected him to look more terrifying and intimidating. Instead, Godzilla felt like he was made with paper mâché and cardboard. With research, I found out that the film makers used CGI or computer generated imagery to render their version of Godzilla, which I thought was a great idea seeing as how far CGI has come, but I did not get the feeling that CGI was used to make Godzilla while I was watching the film. Weirdly, this version of Godzilla felt like it was shot using stop motion animation. All in all, I think that Shin Godzilla is not a pretty bad movie, but I would also probably not watch it again. Do not get me wrong, Shin Godzilla had its bright spots especially because it was a monster movie, but also a sort of political film for all of the reasons I’ve stated above. I think this is more because of my personal preference because seeing as the film had a political angle, which meant lots of talking with no action happening, the film had a weird kind of pacing to it in a way because the scenes being shown were either a bunch of people talking about what they will do to stop Godzilla inside a boardroom of sorts or Godzilla running around Japan destroying everything in sight. Coupled with the fact that the start of the film had such a slow pace, it is not the kind of monster movie I usually enjoy. Even though I probably would not watch the film again, I still have to commend the film makers for a good film, and I would invite other film buffs to watch this if they are tired of seeing the same kinds of monster movies that Hollywood puts out.
What the *bleep*?
Schizopolis was the perfect first film to show the class because it did not try to ease us into the kind of movies that we would be viewing throughout the semester. Instead, the film was as confusing, weird, and, sometimes, nonsensical as the rest of the movies we’d tackle later on in the semester. Schizopolis was a fast paced and sort of bizarre mesh of clips. The plot can be followed, although it is not an easy task to accomplish, because it has a main story that we follow which is the day to day life of Fletcher Munson, who is played by Steven Soderbergh and is also the director of the film. His story is intertwined with other smaller stories such as the exterminator and his reality show or the escaped mental hospital patient that we see for a few seconds numerous times during the film. The actual plot itself talks about how a regular joe in Fletcher Munson lives his daily life and the movie highlights his relationship to his wife. The film delves into the relationship of a married couple whose love life has gone quite stale so she does what a normal married person would do which is cheat on her husband, but the part that makes it confusing is that the wife cheats on her husband with her husband (even though she does not know that the man she’s sleeping with is her husband). If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll be able to understand that weird statement, and that pretty much sums up the kind of movie that Schizopolis is. It is a bunch of peculiar and outlandish scenarios thrown into a plot that actually makes sense, which gives the somewhat boring plot line a more entertaining spin, and it all still works to convey the message of the movie. All in all, I think that Schizopolis’ whacky kind of story telling was a great, although at the same time weird, way to present the narrative with a little bit of extra flair to keep the audience engaged and amused. The way that they presented the “love triangle” of Fletcher, his wife, and his second persona in their different points of view made us see different aspects of each character’s personality and story. Even when they started talking in different languages, it was not so hard to follow because the audience already saw what was happening in the scene, but from another character’s perspective. I also saw the characters talking in another language with no captions or subtitles provided as a testament to the film makers behind Schizopolis because it goes with the old belief that films, even without any audio or lines from the characters, should still be understandable to the viewer if it was well made, and to me Schizopolis is a well made film even with all its quirks. I think that films such as this do not get the respect and admiration it deserves because of how out-of-the-box it is, but I hope that they never stop being made because these are the kind of films that show the brilliance and creativity of film makers.
Annyeonghaseyo!
I think the best way to describe the movie Futureless Things is just utter chaos. The film doesn’t really have a linear story that connects the different scenes shown throughout the film. Instead, it is more like an episodic kind of story that is only tied together by the location of it all, the convenience store. The film, because of all that I have said about it thus far, is very confusing and hard to follow (especially because it is in Korean). From using the same actor but as a different character to having scenes that are just outrageous and unbelievable such as the lady with the box, the whole film can sometimes seem like nonsense to the audience, but just like with other things in life, there’s more to it than meets the eye. When I was able to research more on the film, I was able to learn about the intricacies and small details that seemed unrealistic and overexaggerated for such a grounded and true to life film. Scenes such as the mother and daughter who talked down to the cashier on duty and the other cashier who was berated by a customer because of the North vs South Korea dispute reflect different aspects of Korean society that can be seen today. Of course, as someone who is not Korean and not knowing a lot about Korea, I was not able to relate to a lot of the sort of inside jokes that pertain to Korean culture. All in all, I think Futureless Things, as a movie that shows a commentary on real life, is a good (some might even say great) film because it is a very relatable and close to home type of film. Other than the over-the-top and weird scenes that I mentioned before, a lot of what happens in the film can be seen happening in real life all over the world. Scenes such as one of the customers arguing with the cashier and telling the cashier that “the customer is always right” are things that employees deal with every single day. Another relatable theme in the film is the story of the owner of the convenience store. In the film, we see the store owner toiling away and be a hands-on type of owner that is always visiting his establishment and making sure things are going well. In the end, all his efforts go to waste and his store was not profitable enough. To make things worse, the store was even robbed and left in a disastrous state, and this is also what led to him killing himself in the back room of the store. The film’s commentary on working conditions, Korean society, and, basically, the different struggles that normal people go through with their life is a really interesting and well thought out movie. Even though it may be a struggle to keep up with everything that goes on throughout the film, it is definitely worth the effort because there is a lot you could take away from watching this film.
Elements of Screen Arts (2019) 