reviews by a non-reviewer: March 2008

Monday, March 31, 2008

DOWNLOAD JUNO (FULL MOVIE)

Before Sunrise / Before Sunset Motion Picture Soundtrack Download

The Before Sunset soundtrack (combining tracks from Before Sunrise, for which there was never a soundtrack album) is a romantic musical journey, featuring "Just in Time" by Nina Simone plus multiple tracks by the film's star Julie Delpy. The album also includes classical tracks by Johann Sebastian Bach and Henry Purcell plus performances by Yo-Yo Ma and Igor Kipnis.

Track Listings
1. Je T'aime Tant - Julie Delpy
2. Living Life - Kathy McCarty
3. A Walz For A Night - Julie Delpy
4. 'Andante' From Sonata For Viola Da Gamba In G Major, BWV 1027 - Ketil Haugsand
5. Dido And Encas Overture - The Scholars Baroque Ensemble
6. An Ocean Apart - Julie Delpy
7. Come Here - Kath Bloom
8. Varianto 25 From The Goldberg Variations In G Major, BWV 988 - Igor Kipnis
9. The Human Pump - Harald Waiglein
10. Dancing With Da Rat - Loud
11. Trapeze - Lou Christie

Download Here

Friday, March 28, 2008

Before Sunrise/ Before Sunset

Directed by	Richard Linklater
Produced by	Anne Walker-McBay
Written by	Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan
Starring	Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Directed by	Richard Linklater
Produced by	Richard Linklater
Written by	Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Starring	Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy
Music by	Julie Delpy

Simplicity is beauty as we hear often. And there are two movies that would fit perfectly with that adage: Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. Both of the movies is about the special relationship of a man and a woman who are complete strangers but got along very well and somehow fell in love with each other. It is not love at first sight, because that is not always true, but the development of attraction by looking at each other’s insights and thoughts about everything.

Before Sunrise is a 1995 movie starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, except for minor characters they are the only ones you would see on screen. The movie revolves around how their characters: Jessie and Celine spent the night together in Vienna. It all started with a train ride, the two main characters are aboard a train heading for Vienna, and they struck up a conversation after overhearing a German couple arguing. The two strangers then decided to go to Vienna for the night and roam the city. The movie is mostly composed of conversations between the two about almost everything under the sun, and about their take on life in general, and their personal experiences. While roaming the city and picking on each other’s minds Jessie and Celine developed an attraction and eventually made love before they part, before sunrise. They promised to see each other after six months and headed their own ways.

After nine years, the follow up movie Before Sunset came. The movie also happens nine years after the parting of the two main protagonists. What’s remarkable about this movie is that the story unfolds in real time. Jessie is now a successful writer who visits Paris to launch his book which is about his encounter with Celine. Celine who now lives in Paris is working for an environmental agency. Like the first movie, Before Sunset also revolves around Jessie and Celine, their views in life, what happened since the last time they’ve seen each other, and their quasi-relationship. They didn’t get to meet on their agreed rendezvous which is six months after they parted in the first movie. They both took their own directions and lived each life separately. The good thing is that after nine years you can still sense that there’s still going on between the two of them.

The real beauty in the two films, or both halves of one film in my opinion, is that they didn’t bank on massive special effects or mind boggling twists, it is simplicity in its finest working to create a genius work of art.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Deathproof

Directed by	Quentin Tarantino
Produced by	Elizabeth Avellan Erica Steinberg Robert Rodriguez Quentin Tarantino
Written by	Quentin Tarantino
Starring	Kurt Russell Rosario Dawson Vanessa Ferlito Jordan Ladd Sydney Poitier Tracie Thoms Mary Elizabeth Winstead Zoë Bell Rose McGowan Marley Shelton
Cinematography	Robert Rodriguez Quentin Tarantino
Editing by	Sally Menke

Many have deemed Quentin Tarantino as a visionary, a maverick filmmaker. His style is often copied by many who admire his filmmaking prowess. In every movie that he makes there're several trademarks that make his movies truly his own. Fictitious products like Red Apple cigarettes, Big Red Soda and Big Kahuna burgers are a staple in every movie that Quentin Tarantino makes, this is done to avoid placement of real products in his movies. It is true that he also copies some techniques and shots done by the most notable directors in film history, but he gives them a new approach and makes them unique.

His new movie Deathproof, which is a part of the double feature Grindhouse, is another breakthrough in film history. The idea is to make a movie that would look like a grindhouse feature film. The two movies in Grindhouse: Planet Terror which is directed by Tarantino’s good friend Robert Rodriguez, and Tarantino’s Deathproof contains elements of grindhouse features and has a B-Movie feel in it. It is a really fun experience watching those two movies. It really leaves an impression that you are watching old movies, these two films also has a grainy visual, making it seem like the reels are either really old or really bad. There are also “missing reels” segments which are not uncommon with old grindhouse features. The double feature also comes with fake movie trailers of fake movies in between the two features.

What sets the Tarantino feature Deathproof apart from the B-Movies is that it was able to present graphic scenes using new technology. The “crash” scene in Deathproof is beautifully detailed and the shots would be impossible to make if this was really a B-Movie. Like what Kurt Russell’s character Stuntman Mike said, during the days to crash a car in a movie you have to crash real cars and stupid people drive them. But with cutting edge technology, everything is possible, and with Tarantino taking the helm you are gonna have a big time, gruesome assault visually. The violence in his movie is so graphic it makes you whince, or faint if you have a weak heart.

There are some movies that try to be genius but turn out to be really stupid; with Quentin Tarantino’s Deathproof (and also with Rober Rodriguez’s Planet Terror) they try to be so stupid it came out a genius work of art.

reviews by a non-reviewer