After a rainy day full of foley recording and a delightful lunch at The Hummus Place, my friend and I decided to treat ourselves to a movie. We had both wanted to see "The Informant!" and it was about to go down from the theaters, we were off to the cinemas.
Love the poster.
I had wanted to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer. I love Soderbergh's Ocean's series!
Matt Damon plays the role of Mark Whitacre, who becomes the informant for the FBI to investigate ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) for their scheme of price fixing. Damon gained 30 pounds for this film, and I must say that I was pretty... amazed... whenever I saw his belly and his behind. You are a professional, Damon. You are. Anyway, his acting was superb in this film, and there are talks that he may have his chance at the Oscars - we will see.
This is Mark Whitacre himself. I wonder what went through his mind when he saw this.
Story was fun, acting was great, music was tastefully composed. The characters are each so strong and individual that they really add to the comedy without needing any forced humor. There may not be any fancy gadgets or jaw-breaking technologies, but it's an awkward yet entertaining "spy" movie. It'll also give you nostalgic moments to remember the days when computers had green letters on a black background, cellphones were the size of a walkie talkies, and beepers were IN.
As someone who wants to work with animation, I decided that I really need to broaden my repertoire, whether it be films, animated films, or animation series. Because our school has a pretty decent media center, I decided to make full use of it - after all, I'm paying all those bucks! I've been watching many classics, especially Hitchcock's works, but recently, I've been watching more animated works.
As a starter, I've been watching works of Hayao Miyazaki, the legendary animated film director. His "Princess Mononoke" and "My Neighbor Totoro" are probably the most famous and well-known works in the U.S. Although I've already watched 4 or 5 of his works, I decided to start over and watch his entire works.
I decided to watch something I hadn't seen before and thus started with "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (1984).
The basic story is this:
Much of human civilization and the Earth's original ecosystem were destroyed by the "Seven Days of Fire" 1,000 years ago. Ever since, both land and sea have become polluted - the Sea of Decay, a toxic forest of fungal plants, has been slowly encroaching the Earth. Giant insects, particularly the Ohmu, protect the Sea of Decay, and there has been endless battle between humans and insects.
Nausicaä, the princess of the Valley of the Wind, is an intelligent, brave and warm-hearted girl, who has an unusual gift for communicating with animals, including the Ohmu. She seeks to truly understand the nature and origin of the Sea of Decay and the polluted land.
One day, an airship crashes near the Valley of the Wind. It was carrying an embryo of the God Warrior, which is an ancient biochemical being responsible for the "Seven Days of Fire." Soon after the crash, the powerful state of Tolmekia, headed by Princess Kushana, invades the valley. She is driven by the ambition to destroy the Sea of Decay and the insects by using the God Warrior.
Legend has it that a mythological figure in blue will appear surrounded by a sea of gold and reunite the people and nature. Nausicaä, with her comrades, seeks a way to stop the Tolmekians and their destructive plan.
This story was originally a manga series, which was serialized from 1982 to 1994.
<Cover of the manga series. Nausicaä windriding on her gilded craft, with an Ohmu right behind her.>
The film is based on the first 16 chapters of the series.
First off, Joe Hisaishi's music for this film is beautiful. Although I am not a big fan of the old school synth used throughout the film, that doesn't change the fact that the music is amazing. Besides... I do admit that the textures of the synths fit well with the exotic and unknown qualities of the Sea of Decay. (And I'm pretty sure those synths were considered modern during the time.)
Anyway, to my knowledge, this film was the start of Miyazaki and Hisaishi's friendship, and they have worked together ever since. It's not an exaggeration to say that Miyazaki's films are not complete without Hisaishi's music. Although Miyazaki's artwork and storyline are amazing by themselves, I think - and most would agree - that it's Hisaishi's music that really makes his works so distinctive and special. Hisaishi's melodies, harmonies and orchestration - his musical colors are perfect for Miyazaki's watercolor sceneries and simple but deep storytelling.
I love all of Hisaishi's music for Miyazaki's films, but I must say that there's something particularly about this music which I cannot bring myself to describe. It's just so... beautiful. It describes so well the world that exists within the story. It is fragile yet strong, it is like listening to an old and ancient tale - it just simply takes me away.
I love how Miyazaki describes the fine line of relationship between human and nature - their interdependence and the importance of mutual respect for coexistence. He also makes you reflect on humanity and human nature. As with many of his works, the protagonist is a young girl who is brave and courageous, strong-willed yet warm-hearted. It is truly amazing how he sends a powerful message to the audience, regardless of age, gender and race, through his storytelling and the main character. The feeling that I always get after watching his works is hope, warmth of heart, happiness, and a bright future. Perhaps this is one of the many reasons why his works are so loved.
It is thrilling, it is beautiful, it really touches your heart. Highly recommended. (And, as always, watch it with the original Japanese dubbing. No offense to the American voice actors. :S Although, I was very impressed by Uma Thurman's voice acting. And I was extremely surprised that Shia was Asbel. Yes. Shia from Transformers. Umm.... Didn't really like his voice acting... Sorry, Shia...)
What a way to end a week. Yes, as the poster indicates, "The Fellowship of the Ring" was performed live to film with a full orchestra and 250+ choir. The sound levels of the dialogue were strong, but the sound levels for the sound effects (especially during the fighting scenes) were turned down a lot - the highs and the lows were filtered out.
Although Howard Shore didn't conduct himself (the rumor was that he was going to conduct it), it was nevertheless an AWESOME experience. I hadn't seen the film in a few years, so it was ever so breathtaking and exciting to watch it, especially to live music! It was amazing to actually see how the music came to life with the orchestra and choir.
I don't know if it the lady who sang solo during the Elf themes and "May It Be" at the ending title was Enya or not... but the two young boys were awesome!! One boy sang the part where Gandalf is trapped at the top of Isengard, and the moth(?) flies to him. The other boy sang at the ending title. I must say, boys' singing voices before pre-puberty are so beautiful and angelic.
What was really cool about the concert was how the conductor timed all the cues. There was a small screen in front of the conductor above his score, where the film was shown. First, a subtitle came on top of his screen, which I presume had the title of the cue and such. A purple line would pass by, which indicated that the cue was coming up. Then, a white circle would give him one measure of pre-click. A green line would pass through, which indicated the start of the cue. The white circle would flash at each downbeat.
People laughed, people applauded (especially when each members of the fellowship first gathered at the Council of Elrond, and after each amazing action scenes), and people cried. The words of Gandalf really came to me as an encouragement.
Frodo: I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
Good stuff there.
Boromir's death was so much more heartbreaking and sad than when I had first seen it. Sigh. Merry and Pippin were just so hilarious and cute. Aragorn made me want to scream when he fought, and Legolas was HOT whenever he shot his arrows. Hahaha-
Anyway, it's Howard Shore is just amazing. The themes, orchestration, everything. Our professor would always say that no matter what beautiful melodies you create, it can be a piece of trash or a piece of art depending on how you orchestrate it and how you use the appropriate timbres to make the music come to life. Shore's orchestration is beyond expressions - it's just so beautiful and so... right. And to think that the film was scored almost entirely from beginning to end... That's three films, each almost 3 hours long!! Genius. That's all I can say.
After watching "The Fellowship of the Ring," it made me and my roomie want to watch the entire trilogy again. Well, it says that the epic goes on, and "The Two Towers" will be done next October... Hopefully I'll still be in NYC to watch it, because that's my FAVORITE.
And as a side note, Frodo and Pippin were at the concert today and came up on stage with Howard Shore. I really wanted to see Pippin!!! But I forgot that he didn't have much hair... (Oh, the deceiving image of hobbits with full, curly locks.)
After tutoring, I had about two hours 'til class, so my friend and I went to Bobst to watch "The Magnificent Seven." In "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, Amir and Hassan, the two main characters, love this movie. Also, I remembered that my professor mentioned its score during History of Film Music class. (The composer is Elmer Bernstein, who also scored "To Kill a Mockingbird" (1962), and the score is AMAZING.) Anyway, being one of popular Western films, I was curious to see what the film was about.
Summary : A Mexican village is periodically raided by bandits led by Calvera. As he and his men ride away from their latest visit, Calvera promises to return. Desperate, the village leaders travel to a border town to buy guns to defend themselves. They approach a veteran gunslinger, Chris. He tells them guns alone will not do them any good; they are farmers, not fighters. They ask him to lead them, but Chris rejects them, telling them a single man is not enough. They keep at him though, and he eventually gives in. He recruits men, though the pay is a pittance.
The film is a resetting of a Japanese film, "Seven Samurai" (1954), by Akira Kurosawa.
First off - the moment I heard the opening title, I almost squealed. (Yes. Almost.) I don't know why this music was so familiar when I've never watched this film. Maybe I played it during band in 5th or 6th grade. Whatever the case, it got me very nostalgic. The music has all the factors that makes it "Western," such as the deep brass/horn chordal accompaniment in the background and the sweeping, bright melodies of the strings that gives a sense of the spreadout landscape of the country. "The Big Country" (1958), score by Jerome Moross, also has a similar orchestration for its main theme song.
Second, the flm is LONG. It goes on for 2 hours and 8 minutes.
Third, when I saw Yul Brynner, I thought, "Hey! That's the guy from 'King and I' and 'The Ten Commandments'!"
Okay okay... As for the real afterthoughts of the movie.
Acting was okay, the action scenes were a bit overacted (like the dramatic "Oh, I got shot!" expression, clinging onto the brick wall, sliding down, and dropping dead), and there was a cheesy and slightly unnecessary addition of romance (of course there needs to be one) amidst all the fighting.
The music... well, as much as I love Elmer Bernstein (who is considered the Mozart of film music), I wasn't particularly impressed with this one. I love the main theme, but the music seemed to be too present and extensive. (Although, this extensiveness - as opposed to sparseness - seems to be the characteristic for the films of this era.)
Still, it was pretty fun to watch. (Kinda dozed off in the beginning though.) I would say, this must have been THE movie for the children of the time. Imagine - kids dressing up like cowboys and shooting the bad guys with toy guns around the neighborhood.
Oh, and as a side note, my favorite character was Bernardo LOL
