Farewell

My dear fellow readers, (or should I say my parents and Ms. Wong) the end has come for my required posting. Which means that the life of this blog depends solely on my will. Knowing myself I can almost guarantee this is my last post and yet part of me believes that to be untrue. While I certainly did not gain in audience numbers I gained in writing experience. This blog has done more than just stimulated my writing but my humor, my wit, my interests , my passions, it alone  represents a whole embodiment of who I am as a person. Besides maybe my rated R absurdity I’d say if you read my blog, you’d have a pretty good sense of who I am, and I hope you ended up liking me aha. So how could I end such a beautiful relationship? By giving you a list of movies to watch while I’m gone.

Sean’s top movies:

5 Centimeters PerSecond is my #1 movie. Not because of it’s heartbreaking romance story, or because of it’s visuals and musical score, but because of it’s impact on me as a filmmaker. If you’d like to know more on that, click here.

When I refer to KillBill I do mean both movies, but I like to consider them one whole movie. The Asian film influence on this movie is undeniable and the direction is clearly the work of Quentin Tarantino, my favorite director. This is a revenge tale done right, so please do yourself a favor and watch it.

When I say I’m going to miss blogging Like Crazy, I’m exaggerating. But seriously, Like Crazy is a beautifully made movie. The way they edited the movie works so amazingly well with the story telling of these two love birds and it makes me jealous I didn’t make something like that. The musical score is splendid as well, capturing the emotions on screen perfectly. In the mood for a true to life romance? Watch this movie.

The Pianist is a movie that will stay with me forever, probably because I watched it so young. Now that I think about it I can’t believe my parents exposed me to such content at that age. It’s damn right traumatizing. But when a movie can sear an image into your head you know it did a good job.

Yes, I have two holocaust movies on this list and yes, they shouldn’t make anymore holocaust movies. Schindler’sList is a classic. Liam Neeson’s performance as Schindler is brilliant. His scene where the jewish people thank him for saving them and he breaks down because he could’ve at least gotten one more is a true tear jerker. “I could have gotten more.” Is a line that truly hits me to this day.

I hope those amount of movies will keep you oh so loyal readers busy from crying for my return. I also hope you’ve learned from my blog as much as I’ve learned about myself when writing it. Movies are the single most widespread form of entertainment of the world. They truly have the power to change the world, whether it’s through a smile, or an idea. Hopefully the next place you’ll see my name is on the big screen. Til then folks, Live long and prosper.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

I have never walked out of a movie theatre so physically and mentally satisfied since…well since ever. Ladies and gentleman I’ve found the best movie of 2013 thus far and it came from the stars. Star Trek: Into Darkness is a must watch so please, if you haven’t seen it yet stop reading now, drag your friends with you to the nearest theatre, then come back so you can nod your head to my words in perfect agreement with how splendid this movie was.

Visuals and Sound:

Let me first start off by saying that Star Trek: Into Darkness is a theatre movie. It has the visuals you want to experience on a giant screen and the sound you want to be surrounded in. I mean, any other experience would be bringing the Starship Enterprise to shame.

I could explain and detail every visual from the movie but I’d rather have the pictures do the talking.

The beautiful city of San Francisco….a few hundred years into the future. (God that must’ve taken forever to render.)

                                     

                                                Warp Speed has never looked cooler.

                                                                 Set phasers to stun.

                                                     I almost wet my pants at this part.

This is arguably the most known space ship in all of sci-fi lore…and it’s on a collision course…EPIC.

The sound in Star Trek has just as much detail as the visuals. When you’re watching the movie (which I know you will) pay attention to the machines. Every interaction they have has a sound. It’s as if they ‘re alive and have a personality of their own. It really adds to the atmosphere of this universe.  When Cpt. Kirk patches through to all of Enterprise a distinct whistle comes in as if addressing you the audience as part of the crew.

Another factor in sound was the musical score. Composed by Michael Giacchino, the music is on par with movies like Indianna Jones, Star Wars, and Back to the Future. The songs bring you back to the Starship Enterprise and it’s crew. When you hear it your mood is enhanced ten fold and you know you’re on an adventure.

Actors:

J.J. Abrams definitely succeeded in assembling the perfect cast with all the chemistry needed to keep the old fans interested while reeling in new ones. The relationship between Kirk and Spock are among the most intriguing. Chris Pine does great in portraying Young cocky and charismatic James T. Kirck. The characters philosophy of “I don’t believe in no-win scenarios” really comes out. Zachary Quinto matches pine as well, nailing Spock’s logical attitude and “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” philosophy. Abrams really captures how these two’s polar attitudes make them the perfect combo, the perfect duo, the perfect friends.

The rest of the cast however is sort of side barred with only one or two scenes giving them the spotlight, except for however Simon Pegg as Engineer Scotty. He works as this kind of comedic relief for the movie as well as holds a key roll in the movie. His scenes are hilarious and often times, does steal the show from Pine, Quinto and the overly hyped Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict Cumberbatch played the villain in this movie. He definitely made the movie dark and I could see why this British actor was so hyped but it felt like his potential was not fully used. Besides maybe a scene with him imprisoned behind the glass throughout the movie his character’s acting did not stray from being angry most of the time.

J.J. Abrams:

J.J., you’ve done it again! Your second run at Star Trek was just as good as your first, if not, better. I know you’ve got bigger things for the future with Star Wars in your hand but I hope this doesn’t mean the end of Star Trek for you. You’ve recreated a universe that many people hold dearly, and I believe you succeeded. Thanks for the entertainment. Live long and prosper.

Are you more of a Star Trek fan or Star Wars?

Star Wars

Photo credit

There is no denying StarWars’ influence on pop culture throughout the past 30 or so years. How influential? Well today, according to statisticbrain.com, it’s total revenue adds up to be $27,000,000,000. That’s including all Star Wars toys, video games, dvd sales, book sales and more. This all started with the first movie in 1977, which was a breakthrough in visual effects. It offered spaceship battles, awesome characters, and light sabers. The movie was so good 5 more came out. It makes sense, the money was good, the fan base was definite, so how come we haven’t seen another movie in eighth years?! Well fellow star geeks the time for yelling and begging at George Lucas is over, Disney has swooped in with 4.05 billion dollars and has taken the wheel for Star Wars. This week on Movie Madness, I report to you the future of Star Wars.

                                          photo credit: link

I love sci-fi. It is probably my favorite genre of all time. I’ve been a star gazer since I was little, watching episodes of Star Trek with my dad, or having Battlestar Galactica marathons are one of the fondest of memories so you can see how a new Star Wars movie would induce a super nerdgasm. The best news folks is that Disney hasn’t just planned for one movie, they’ve gone the traditional route and scheduled a Star Wars trilogy. It doesn’t stop there either as they’ve announced starting in 2015 there will be a new Star Wars movie every year. No this doesn’t mean we get a whole trilogy in 3 years, it means that there’ll be stand alone Star Wars films.

                                                    This is not the actual movie poster.

The possibilities are endless. Think about it. Disney could expand the whole Star Wars universe this way, introducing characters we’ve never heard about. They could even visit a different era in the Star Wars galaxy, the Old Republic, where the Sith (those dude with the red lightsabers) were a lot more common than you think.

                                           Gosh this would be awesome.

Or maybe Disney could go the much more safer route and give movies to characters we’ve all grown to love. We could see stuff like maybe a young Han Solo movie.

                                                  Young Harrison Ford

O0o0or a Yoda origin movie.

                                      
                                          Green and mean.

O0o0o0o0o0or a R2D2 & C3PO Duo comedy

Comedic duo?

Ok, maybe not the last one, but one can hope, heheh… So we’ve answered the “what?” and the “when?” now it’s all about the who? Who are they going to bring in to work on this billion dollar franchise? Who will be in front of the camera? Who will be behind it? Lucky for us, a lot of the important who questions have been answered.

                                            The fastest ship in the galaxy.

First up, as the new trilogy is set to be a sequel from the original Star Wars trilogy you have to wonder if anyone from the old cast will be involved. Thanks to an online article by screenrant.com, author Sandy Schaefer reveals that while not officially announced it’s almost definite in the fandom world that Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), and possibly Billy Dee William (Lando Calrissian) will be returning. This article is credible as it is from a renowned site that treads carefully over such news. It provides quotes from George Lucas himself and writes it’s information with a kind of self awareness of other factoring matters such as Disney and Lucasfilm’s deal. Schaefer also provides her assumption of the inclusion of the original cast by stating the trio after all is “passing the baton to a new generation of actors who” will most likely be playing their offspring in the movies.

                                          Man they're old...

So who’s to bring back their original on screen brilliance without George Lucas in the director’s chair? Disney didn’t look too far and went and stole the director from Star Wars’ life-long nemesis, Star Trek. For those of you that don’t know his name, it’s J.J. Abrams ladies and gentleman. While it pains me to see him step away from another beloved franchise of mine I think Disney could not have picked a better person.

                                          George and J.J.

What ideas do you have for a stand-alone Star Wars film? Thanks for reading fellow bloggers, may the force be with you.

Quentin Tarantino

                                                              Quentin Tarantino 

My favorite Director hands down has got to be QuentinTarantino. Like I had explained before in my previous post with Wes Anderson, when you’re watching a certain movie you know who’s behind the camera. When you’re watching a Tarantino movie, you know Tarantino’s behind the camera. Whether it’s through his trademark violence, soundtrack, or dialogue, you know it’s his movie. I could dedicate the next few posts just on Tarantino but instead I’ll focus on my current favorite work of his.

                                           

                                                Damn that's a cool sword.

Ninety-eight people die in Kill Bill, yes, I have seen it that much and no, I am not a psychopath. There is enough blood in this movie to fill a pool, a revenge story that justifies its grandeur by bloodshed alone. It’s aesthetics as a movie are truly a visual orgasm, but it is once you get through all the violence that Kill Bill starts to become more than just an entertaining treat.

Uma Thurman rocks the Bruce Lee look.

Quentin Tarantino is to credit for the movie as a whole. Every element seen in the movie went through Tarantino, as he was both writer and director. Anyone familiar with the culture of old kung fu movies could see it’s heavy influence on Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino grabbed what he had adored as a child from those kung-fu movies, from the acting, to action, to even actors, and that’s where the magic is for me. He conjured up a movie from his childhood entertainment alone. That’s why I appreciate this movie so much. In a world that forces us to grow, to leave behind our childhood, and our original imagination, Quentin Tarantino shows us we can still remain at play, we do not need to grow up and forget, we can use that which made us happy as children to influence our lives today in what we do as teachers, students, artists, lawyers, even athletes.

I wish I could do that...

Another aesthetic of Tarantino’s movies that is vital the their being is the sound. No I don’t mean the sound of a sword being drawn, or the crack of a skull, or the gushing blood of a severed limb (although those are equally impressive), I mean the music. Tarantino is careful with his music choice, in Kill Bill when introducing the Crazy 88s, a feared and dangerous Yakuza, he plays “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” a badass song that you’d want to walk down the streets with wearing shades in slow motion.  His music choice on this song was so good other movies such as Transformers, Shrek, and The Dictator took it.

                                         Fun fact: I dressed up as them for halloween in high school

Dialogue is another factor that Tarantino movies are known for.  In an online article by Charles McGrath of the New York Times, Mcgrath sits down with Tarantino as he explains that his scripts are “not really about the movie per se, it is about the page.” McGrath shows Tarantino’s attention to detail when screenwriting. He shows us that Tarantino doesn’t look at the big picture when writing but the page. What McGrath may be missing however is how Tarantino’s scripts are influenced by the big dogs, the producers. How they factor into it on the cutting board certainly affects how Tarantino may approach things.

                                                                        The Bride

What’s your favorite Tantino movie? If you haven’t seen one why the heck not!?

Wes Anderson

                                                         photo credit:http://wordpress.hotpress.com/screenlover/2012/05/24/wes-anderson-season-in-the-ifi-june-2-24/

When you watch certain movies you can tell who’s behind the camera, whether it’s the cinematography, dialogue, editing, or maybe even sound. This is definitely the case for American film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, and Academy Award winner, Wes Anderson. His name is echoed throughout many film buff’s mouths and folks, there’s definitely a reason why. I had the pleasure of being introduced to Anderson’s brilliance through his 2012 Academy Award winning movie for best screenplay movie, Moonrise Kingdom.

                                                                      photo credit:http://moonrise-kingdom-trailer.blogspot.com

Moonrise Kingdom:

Moonrise Kingdom takes you on a journey of two runaway children who plan a whole scheme to live together in solitude and happiness, escaping the world they know. In their desperate attempt to escape their impact on the world they so dreadfully want no part in is unmistakable. The relationships they hold, destroy, and create with their families, friends, camp counselors and even local police officers is an intriguing experience that takes you in and does not let you go. Anderson has this way of creating a whole new world through film. In Moonrise Kingdom these kids naiveté and goals are all completely believable. It is as if Anderson creates a peep hole to some alternate universe, one where nothing but the safety and love of these kids becomes priority to the viewer and the characters that revolve around them. Moonrise Kingdom received a fresh rating of 94% on rottentomatatoes.com and you can pick it up on blu ray now.

The RoyalTenenbaums:

Like Moonrise Kingdom before it, The Royal Tenenbaums takes you into a whole new world, you get to peep into the life of the Tenenbaum family, an intriguing and complicated family (but then again who’s isn’t). What makes this such an “Anderson” film is the camera work. If you’ve watched any of his movies you might already know what I’m talking about. Anderson pans the camera like a mad man, by this I mean he moves the camera up, down, left, and right in a specific and purposeful manner. In The Royal Tenenbaums he pans in order to introduce the family moving the camera with no cutting to each level of the house. While this style is no trademark of Anderson he definitely uses it enough to call it his own. It is such a  specific thing to do that you can’t help but notice the shot. The Royal Tenenbaums received a fresh rating of 80% and with its star studded cast, you should definitely check it out.

Fantastic Mr.Fox:

Fantastic Mr. Fox is a little different from Anderson’s portfolio as it is a full-length animated feature. In this stop motion epic featuring George Clooney and Meryl Streep the Fantastic Mr. Fox goes through dangerous and adventurous depths to provide for his family and the community at large. It is definitely tradition for Anderson to break the fourth wall in a quirky and informal kind of way. While it completely breaks the tension or mood of the scene it is necessary as he does this to inform the audience. In Fantastic Mr. Fox Anderson does this when introducing Mr. Fox’s three obstacles to a better life, he creates a kind of live portrait of these three farmers with all sorts of dangerous attitudes towards scavengers such as Mr. Fox. Fantastic Mr. Fox received a 93% on rottentomatoes.com and is an animated feature that has pixar worrying.

While we haven’t gone through every Wes Anderson movie we have analyzed a majority of his styles and what makes his movies special. He creates a story that brings you into a whole other world filled with interesting camera work and breaking of the fourth wall.

Who's your favorite director?