Can you see....

This post is about feeling wronged, wronged by the power of media. No other medium affects the mind more than cinema. It manipulates your thoughts, blatantly pushes you to see things intended for the audience to see. As I have mentioned before, cinema is a form of self indulgence, it’s about putting forth a personal perspective to the multi dimensional world around. But can this personal perspective surpass fact and actuality?

The venerated director Jean Luc Godard said "The cinema is truth 24 frames per second." But do we realize that there is no absolute truth? Truth is true as long as you believe it is.

The reason for this grumbling is the film “The Hurricane”. Saw it last night, and it ran me through a roller coaster of emotions. From pity, sympathy to relief and joy, I had a new idol now. The film based on the true life of Rubin Hurricane Carter, the African American middleweight boxer, whose only fault was the colour of his skin. Wrongly accused and persecuted for homicide by racist white people, it is his battle against adversity. Denzel Washington excels as the wronged prize fighter. Good wins over bad, transcending colour and race.

In reality, Rubin Carter’s innocence or guilt is highly controversial. He had support from celebrities like world champion Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan who wrote and performed ‘The Hurricane’. There are others who believe he is guilty of all three murders.

But what irks me most is the ability of film makers to conveniently exclude important facts and presenting the character in just one light. Subtle positive visual hints reinforce Carter’s heroic position, forcing the audience to feel offended by his penalty. If the film makers believed so strongly in his innocence, they should have shown all the facts with conviction.

Watch “The Hurricane” with a lump in your throat and a gush of relief for your hero, and then visit this website http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/.

Cal Deal brilliantly provides the facts in a most non-racist, no-biased fashion.

"Hurricane Carter: The Other Side of the Story"

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter

RACISM & the Carter Case:

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/racism.html

The Case Against Carter (Prosecutor's Brief):

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/sarokinresponse.html

Carters Criminal, Psychiatric & Military Record

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/threat.html

The Violent Side of Rubin Carter

http://www.graphicwitness.com/carter/character.html

So is Hurricane really a hero or a villain? I will leave the judgment to you...

Labels: Cal Deal, Cinema, Denzel Washington, films, Rubin Hurricane Carter, The Hurricane

The ever growing spiral in Tim’s mind.....

It’s always interesting to follow the visual language of a film. Every director has his/her own distinct visual style, which reflects in everything that they do.

Tim Burton is one of my favorite directors and we have something in common, we both love spirals! Spirals give the illusion of movement, smooth and emanating endlessly.

Here are some instances of the presence of spirals in his popular films; they are present in characteristic features, as backgrounds and props.

Or you can get a detailed view of the 3 films here:

Labels: animation, Charlie and the chocoate factory, Corpse bride, films, Johnny Depp, Spirals, stop motion animation, The nightmare before christmas, Tim Burton, Visual language

Lady in the Water

Lady in the Water by M Night Shyamalan was listed by Variety as one of the ten "biggest (financial) losers" of 2006. It was criticized and many thought it was Shyamalan’s self indulgence, his unique style of unveiling the essence of the film in the end, grossly missing from this one.

Cinema as an art form is self indulgence, a completely made up world of fantasy and childish wonder. Some concepts are convincing enough, others fail to connect, but they are brilliant ideas none the less. A film affects and influences people in numerous ways. Maybe that is the beauty of cinema.

If one were to take away the whimsical layer of fantasy, the underlying essence of the film is about change and the unseen connectedness between people. Every living being has a purpose, though one does not realize it. Story who is a narf (a nymph or a water faerie) is played by Bryce Dallas Howard says “Man thinks they are each alone in this world. It is not true. You are all connected. One act can one day affect all.” The prologue of film is done very tastefully, but maybe giving away the plot from the very beginning was the reason why the film did not appeal to the audiences. But it has to be seen for the message and the animation. See it here.

Personally, it was a feel good movie which always brings a happy tear in the end. Definitely worth a watch.

Labels: Bryce Dallas Howard, Cinema, Devyani, Devyani Arya, films, Lady in the Water, M Night Shyamalan

Here’s the SHINING parody!!

No other character would have been parodied more than our very own Jack Torrance played by Jack Nicholson in the classic cult horror film The Shining by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. But a spoof evolves more from veneration for an actor who has so effortlessly portrayed a man possessed by his own insanity. The famous scene ‘Here’s Johnny!’ has inspired many music videos, comics, animation and films.

The Shining, Jack Nicholson, John 'Jack' Torrance
Jack Nicholson, "The Shining," Warner Bros. 1979.
Photo by MPTV, image copyright of Warner Bros.

Here are some instances:

The Simpsons
In the segment "The Shinning" from a Halloween episode of The Simpsons and part of "Realty Bites".

Image copyright of Gracie Films and 20th century Fox television.

Finding Nemo
Here's Brucie!!!! In the Disney film Finding Nemo, Bruce pounds at a door in a submarine while chasing Marlin and Dory. He creates a hole and instead of saying, "Here's Johnny!", he says, "Here's Brucie!"

Image copyright of Disney/Pixar

Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi

In this award-winning anime TV series created by Gainax studios,the scene where Jack breaks down the door with an axe is recreated for comedic effect when the female protagonist, Arumi, tries to escape a bunch of monsters in a building.

Image copyright of ADV Films

The Shining in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. Watch it here

A funny bunny version of the film created by Angry Alien productions.

Image copyright of Angry Alien Productions

A spoof of in the mad MAD comics

Image copyright of EC Publications

Symphony 2000 by EPMD Watch it here

Guest rapper Redman cuts down a door and sticks his head through it in the same fashion as Jack.

Image copyright of EPMD

Labels: films, Jack Nicholson, John 'Jack' Torrance, parody, The Shining

Can you see....

Sunday, April 06, 2008

The Sultans of Cinema

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Hurricane – the victim or victimizer?

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The ever growing spiral in Tim’s mind.....

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Lady in the Water

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Here’s the SHINING parody!!

About

About Me

Links

Previous

Archives