In Frost/Nixon, Ron Howard employs many of the same techniques that he used in A Beautiful Mind. To me, the wide angle shots that would dissolve into the next scene were especially reminiscent of the 2002 Academy Award Best Picture. Howard’s close-ups of Frank Langella allow the audience to see Richard Nixon as a real person but shots from the side or behind capture the ex-president’s loneliness. In my opinion, one of the main flaws of the film is the closing shot. Nixon is often seen looking out towards the audience and the final shot shows him alone on his …
Waltz with Bashir
Waltz with Bashir, an animated film by Ari Folman, recounts the story of a man trying to recover repressed memories from his time in the army. The film is a study of contrasts: the black and white of the characters compared to the bright colours of the sky, children at play and children serving as child soldiers, the violence of R.P.G. explosions and the loud sounds of rock music, vibrant young people in a club and a dead child in a pile of rubble, the 2-D animation and the emotion of the live video footage shown the conclusion of the …
Information, Uncertainty, Game Theory, and Quality
Tryouts are a case of adverse selection because coaches rarely have the opportunity to see a player’s complete skill set. It’s certainly a matter of imperfection information and coaches must develop signals that reliably reflect the ability of perspective team members. Sometimes teams make a draft pick because of “unlimited potential” or a “high ceiling”. This logic becomes absurd if it causes players who have been seen in greater detail (therefore exposing all of their skills and flaws) to be overlooked. In 2005 and 2006, Chris Paul and Brandon Roy were seen as the collegiate players most ready for the …
Judgment at Nuremberg
Based on the post-WWII trials of Nazi officials, Judgment at Nuremberg features Spencer Tracy as the lead judge of the tribunal, one of the last roles of his career. The film is certainly a grand spectacle: the formal tribunal is brought to life by a group of skilled actors and accompanied by an epic soundtrack. The film is not exciting because of action sequences but tense because of a number of emotional monologues and confrontations between characters. Tracy’s performance is a highlight as he portrays Dan Haywood, a retired judge charged with deciding culpability among a group of justices who …
Understanding Media
Recently, CNN has revamped the format of their programmes to include more subtitles. Immediately after a guest says something, it is posted in the bar at the bottom of the screen. According to Marshall McLuhan in Understanding Media, this will turn television into a slightly cooler medium and require greater audience participation to keep up with the addition information that they are offered. Highlighting the key point – along with the visual medium – will increase audience retention of that specific information relative to a written article or radio broadcast. However, the phrases are so superficial and pedantic that the …
Gran Torino
Clint Eastwood stars and directs this low-key film which ranges from sarcastic to sappy and manages to be meaningful without becoming too melodramatic. Gran Torino is the epilogue of the life of Walt Kowalski, played by Eastwood (sort of like a retired Dirty Harry at times) who fought in Korea and worked for forty years at the nearby Ford plant. After his wife died, he begins to connect with the Hmong family living next door and helps them out when they have trouble with a local gang. At times, the film is not plausible yet the audience enjoyed the film. …
The Wrestler
The Wrestler seems to be a series of compelling character studies instead of an amazing story. Mickey Rourke, possibly playing himself – either a washed-up actor or professional boxer – is the centerpiece of the film. Darren Aronofsky’s decision to use hand-held cameras and authentic locations add to the realism of the film but I would have strongly preferred for his screenplay to tie up a few more loose ends. Does Randy “the Ram” die in the ring? Does his daughter forgive him? What about Cassidy the stripper? “The people who you pass on the way up are the same …
It’s a Wonderful Life
The Bloor Cinema held a complimentary screening of It’s a Wonderful Life for members last week; it’s another tribute to what can be done with steady direction, good chemistry between cast members, and a sensible screenplay. Ranked thirty-second among I.M.D.B.’s top films, I never found it particularly great. At times, it seems to drag. Viewing the film in a full theatre erased some of those complaints as the film really has a lot of humourous lines. Certain scenes may be slightly old-fashioned (the scenes in Slap Shot don’t age well but it’s still an excellent comedy) but the messages that …
Older Films
Today, although it is rarely aired on television and rarely screened at cinemas, 12 Angry Men is an excellent film that highlights many of the faults in modern filmmaking (even in modern culture). The strengths of the film are tremendous performances and a meaningful script. Henry Fonda’s Juror #8 is clear-headed and well-spoken, using salient logical points to make his argument. Other Jurors have superficial biases or deeper internal conflicts and are gradually won over due to a sensible line of reasoning. Thanks to the individual actors, the viewer can see how each member of the jury must deliberate within …
Toronto Stories
Toronto Stories begins with a series of diverse people passing through customs and ends with a wide-angle shot of a homeless man crossing the street and entering the dense maze of downtown. The link between these two diverse scenes (the personalities of the travelers and the soulless nature of the city) is a mysterious boy of unknown origin who does not speak English. Alongside the tapestry of tales of people moving on and doing their best in their different lives, there is a thread that asks how the city would be perceived by a newcomer who knew nothing about Toronto …
Doubt
Contradictions and contrasts abound throughout Doubt: good and evil, summer and winter, certainty and doubt. Largely due to the captivating performances of Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the audience experiences similar opposite emotions. Who is in the right: Streep’s stern Sister Aloysius or Hoffman’s relaxed Father Flynn? As the seasons change, so does the apparent truth. “What’s this? The wind is so … peripatetic this year,” comments Sister Aloysius early in the film. Later, as Father Flynn arrives in the parish with new ideas, the school principal fights back, criticizing the priest regarding matters ranging from his close relationship …
The Class
For teachers, Laurent Cantet’s Palme d’Or winning film, Entre les murs, is a mirror on their daily lives. For others, it’s a window into a public school system that has changed a great deal during the past twenty years. François Marin teaches the French language to junior high students in the 20th Arrondissement in Paris. Over the course of the year, both teachers and students face many trials and tribulations. At the end, almost everyone admits that they have learned something and they all get along during a staff-student soccer match. However, the year is not a success for all, …
High and Low
Nothing blew up. Nobody fell off of a roof in Vienna. Numerous scenes unfolded without any dialogue. Yet Akira Kurosawa successfully crafted a film in 1963 that surpasses most modern action films. The plot revolved around a kidnapping mystery, which was revealed gradually as the villain and his persistent police pursuers matched wits. Scenes with hardly any action were incredibly tense, as a result of the actors’ performances, the film’s pacing, and the simple score. There was a connection between the characters and the audience which made a two and half hour film fly by. Kingo Gondo, played by Toshiro …
Quantum of Solace
When a franchise becomes over-extended, it becomes a parody of itself. It reflects incredibly poorly upon Quantum of Solace that the most memorable moment of the film is a reference to an earlier James Bond story: like Auric Goldfinger covered Jill Masterson in gold, Dominic Greene covered another one of Bond’s failed loves with crude. (Similar to how Halle Barry’s emergence from the ocean is more a nod to Ursula Andress and Doctor No than a part of Die Another Day.) The visual is striking because of the earlier scene that it parodies; Agent Fields appeared far too briefly for …
Fun
First concert in a while Tuesday night. Saw The Hold Steady at the Phoenx. Last time that I was at that club, Beck was playing and people were worried about Y2K. Last time that I was at a show, Oasis were touring Don’t Believe the Truth at the Molson Amphitheatre. It was more or less enjoyable, a reminder to do so more often. It was similar to seeing Birds of Wales at the Mod Club, another band suggested by a friend. The Hold Steady turned out to be a band that I like (of course, any rock band that plays …
Synecdoche, New York
“The visible world is no longer a reality and the unseen world no longer a dream.” – W.B. YeatsSynecdoche, New York, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and directed by Charlie Kaufman opened to mixed reviews this past weekend. I thought it was a good film. Kaufman’s directorial debut delves into death, divorce, and decay. The protagonist, Caden Cotard, a struggling director in Schenectady, New York reads the obituaries of different friends in the newspaper as September turns into November in a single morning. Eventually, Caden’s wife leaves him and he becomes paranoid about his health. He receives an apparently unlimited grant …