Metaphilm ::: Donnie Darko A new theory to help the viewer unravel the cult classic. Erik A. Coburn n recent years, Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly, has become a cult classic. Explaining the timeline This diagram summarizes Donnie’s travel, to and from the Tangent Universe, to and from the past and the future. The entire movie occurs between points B and C on the timeline, aside from the last five or ten minutes, which happen at point A. Before getting into the explanations, there are some phrases that need to be defined: With these terms in mind, we can now begin breaking down the timeline. At point A, the Tangent Universe appears. He’s been here before Take a deep breath, now. Now what does this mean? What is Frank’s story? Frank is not a supernatural being. But, if Donnie is saved by Frank at the beginning, what about his first trip through the Tangent Universe? In every other attempt, Donnie shoots Frank before starting over. The Ensurance Trap He finally succeeds. Tying up the loose ends Wake Up Notes 1.
What are your favorite, non-US films Cool Vintage Actors, Part 1 "QUANTUM SHOT" #750Link - by Avi Abrams Smooth, charming, adventurous, funny: we still remember these heroes of cinema In this issue we will have a look at the 1950s-1970s actors, mostly from Europe - see if you can recognize these faces... and maybe even fondly remember movies they starred in. British actors: oodles of class Here is the real Romeo: Leonard Whiting in the 1968 Zeffirelli film version of "Romeo and Juliet": (image credit: Vogue) Always hilarious John Cleese and the "Monty Python" bunch, sometimes called the Pythons (don't forget to watch "Ministry of Silly Walks" video): (images via) Sean Connery poses for Jim Beam (left) and drives the car with an inimitable special agent intense look: Jack Hawkins and Cliff Robertson have a stand-off in "Masquerade" (1965): (image via Cinema.de) French actors: unforgettable! Charming Jean-Paul Belmondo in "Pierrot le fou" 1965 movie by Jean-Luc Godard: images credit: LIFE, Cinema.de) (images via 1, 2) And here's Jean-Paul Belmondo on the beach:
The Best New Action Classics, Volume 1 Last week I finally caught a screening of the highly-anticipated Indonesian action film The Raid, which has been bringing down houses at TIFF and Sundance. (Our review from TIFF.) The frankly stunning action film is directed by Gareth Evans (Merantau), and it will be released by Sony Pictures Classics in late March / early April -- but not before kicking some ass at South By Southwest next month. So on my way home from The Raid, I was (of course) tweeting in highly opinionated fashion about how "foreign" films are presently kicking Hollywood's ass, as far as quality action films are concerned. Then I got a response from Duncan Jones, director of Moon and Source Code, asking me to write a piece about the best recent action movies I've seen from around the planet. 13 Assassins (Japan) -- Takes a little while to warm up -- although I wouldn't call it boring -- but once the mayhem hits the screen, it just ... doesn't ... stop.
Wall of Films! | Films For Action Just imagine what could become possible if an entire city had seen just one of the documentaries above. Just imagine what would be possible if everyone in the country was aware of how unhealthy the mainstream media was for our future and started turning to independent sources in droves. Creating a better world really does start with an informed citizenry, and there's lots of subject matter to cover. From all the documentaries above, it's evident that our society needs a new story to belong to. But most of all, we need to see the promise of the alternatives - we need to be able to imagine new exciting ways that people could live, better than anything that the old paradigm could ever dream of providing. And all of this knowledge and introspection, dreaming, questioning, and discovery is essential for a cultural transformation that addresses root causes. So take this library of films and use it. Activism - Animal Rights - Big Ideas - Big Media - Climate Change - Corporations
The Best New Sci-Fi Classics, Volume 1 A few months back I offered a list called "The Best New Action Classics," which is a very fancy title for a very basic list of "recent international action movies that I liked a whole lot." Basically it was a fun way for me to make a list (I love lists) while hopefully shining a small spotlight on films you loved -- or haven't seen yet. And so now I'm back to do pretty much the same thing for science fiction films, but this time we're limiting ourselves to ten (10) movies that were released in the past 10 (ten) years. Attack the Block (2011) -- Science fiction will (and should) always be a somewhat "brainy" genre, but sometimes you just want to kick back with a simple alien invasion. 28 Days Later (2002) -- Works better as a horror flick than a sci-fi film, perhaps, but there's a sly brilliance to the film's opening moments, when several well-intentioned but woefully ignorant activists unwittingly destroy the world while trying to rescue a few chimps.
Twenty films that make men cry In response to the Magazine's discussion about why Toy Story 3 makes men cry male readers have been getting in touch with their emotional side and opening up about their own private tear-jerkers. Here is a selection. 1. There's one scene for me, it's the Grey Havens at the end of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. I've seen it loads of times, but even as a man in my 30s, it still manages to get me going every single time! Andy Bishop, Bromley, Kent 2. Chris Mattley, Lincoln 3. Steve, West Kelowna, British Columbia 4. Mike, Essex 5. Chris Hennessey, Manchester 6. Keith Aisthorpe, Colombo, Sri Lanka 7. Bob 8. Chris, Bromsgrove, UK 9. Anon, Westchester, USA 10. Lauren McConnell, Taunton 11. Ian Dickens, Beeston, UK 12. Anu, Helsinki, Finland 13. Joe Ross, Shoeburyness, England 14. Christopher, Milton Keynes 15. Mike Riley, Hampshire 16. Terence Fisher, Crawley, England 17. Ben Halstead, Leeds, UK 18. Ben, Hartlepool 19. Patrick, Newcastle upon Tyne 20. Simon, Horley, UK
Martin Scorsese's Film School: The 85 Films You Need To See To Know Anything About Film Interviewing Martin Scorsese is like taking a master class in film. Fast Company’s four-hour interview with the director for the December-January cover story was ostensibly about his career, and how he had been able to stay so creative through years of battling studios. But the Hugo director punctuated everything he said with references to movies: 85 of them, in fact, all listed below. Some of the movies he discussed (note: the descriptions for these are below in quotes, denoting his own words). Ace in the Hole: “This Billy Wilder film was so tough and brutal in its cynicism that it died a sudden death at the box office, and they re-released it under the title Big Carnival, which didn’t help. All That Heaven Allows: In this Douglas Sirk melodrama, Rock Hudson plays a gardener who falls in love with a society widow played by Jane Wyman. An American in Paris: This Vincente Minnelli film, with Gene Kelly, picked up the idea of stopping within a film for a dance from The Red Shoes. 1951 Mr.
Most Controversial Films of All Time The Moon is Blue (1953) D. Otto Preminger Well-bred people in the 1950s didn't use words like "virgin," "seduce" and "mistress" in public, but this mild sex farce did and became a cause celebre. This daring sex farce and romantic comedy was the first major studio-produced film from Hollywood that was released without an approved code seal from the Production Code Administration (PCA). It was deliberately made as a test case by its producer/director Otto Preminger. Despite its lack of a seal of approval and the controversy, it proved to be a major hit film (grossing $6 million). The PCA's Joseph Breen complained about the film's unacceptable, comedic "light and gay treatment of the subject of illicit sex and seduction." Following the Kansas Board of Review of Motion Picture's decision to ban the film, the Kansas State Supreme Court upheld the decision.
Which Movie Space Portals Are More Conviently Located Than The Avengers’s? In the second half of The Avengers, after Nick Fury has rounded everyone up and convinced them to save the world, a race of revolting aliens called Chitauri arrive on Earth for a ruthless slaughtering. They come through a space portal that drops them off on top of Tony Stark’s famed Stark Towers, which are on top of Grand Central’s stately Terminal. Pale-faced villain Loki put the portal there for reasons that have nothing to do with location (it’s about energy and a tesseract and other things that don’t really matter right now). Still, it’s hard to imagine a better spot. The top of Stark Towers allows a stream of Chitauri to land unimpeded while providing all the benefits of Grand Central. So if a Chitauri needs to off someone in White Plains, it can hop a train. In fact, Loki’s portal might just be cinema’s most conveniently placed space portal. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Criticker - Movie Recommendations and Community Brave New Worldview – 30 Science Fiction Films of the 21st Century - Row Three A decade into the 21st Century and we have arrived at the future. The promise of Tomorrow. But instead we have looming energy crises, endless middle east conflict and more disappointing, we have no flying cars, Heck, for all the bright and clean future promised in 2001: A Space Odyssey, none of the real companies used as brands in the film even exist anymore. Even moving from the late 1960s to the mid 1980s, nobody makes DeLoreans (although they occasionally sell on Ebay), but cloning and tablet computing (as promised by Star Trek: The Next Generation) have more or less come to pass in this century. It is not the gizmos or the distopian aesthetics, that have brought Science Fiction into the new millennium, but the questions it asks of people or society in a future time or place and how they reflect on our own times. There have been a surprising number of excellent science fiction films to come about in the past decade that do this and do this well. The Fountain 28 Weeks Later The Host