The Best Cinematography of... Cries and Whispers

Finally I'm returning to this series. My first post in it was 1973's "The Exorcist", a contender for that year's best cinematography Oscar. Today's film, Ingmar Bergman's "Cries and Whispers", which is also my favorite film of all time, was the film to beat it, and rightfully so, as you seen shall see. Potential spoilers in-bound. Enjoy!

2016 Oscar Reaction

Wow. This year's ceremony was... interesting to say the least.

Best Picture: Moonlight

Excellent. I do feel kinda disappointed La La Land didn't win for real, and Hurwitz handing over his stature was so embarrassing, but this win is wonderful and historic none the less!

Best Director: Damien Chazelle, La La Land

No real complaints here, how couldn't he win?

Best Actor: Casey Affleck, Manchester By the Sea

Subtly (Casey) beats bombastic energy (Danzel) in a somewhat a-typical win for this category. Again, no real complaints, he was excellent!

Best Actress: Emma Stone, La La Land

I'm not sue how I feel about her win to be honest. I'm glad she beat Natalie Portman for Jackie, who's part always seemed like the epitome of Oscar-bait roles, but I feel Isabelle Huppert gave the best performance in the category by far for her steely rage in Elle.

Best Supporting Actor, Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Yes he had a small role and yes he didn't do much, but I loved how much he felt like a real person in this, and like someone you know you've met in real life, such a nice part.

Best Supporting Actress, Viola Davies, Fances

BEST. SPEECH. EVER. While I haven't seen Fences yet, I'm so happy she won and I have no doubt she was excellent in it!

Best Original Screenplay, Manchester By the Sea

Eeeeeeeh, y'know what, this is okay! I would've preferred the absurdity that is The Lobster but this is none the less a good win for a well crafted work.

Best Adapted Screenplay, Moonlight

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Best Animated Feature, Zootopia

Super good and super poignant!

Best Foreign Language Film, The Salesman

Political statements aside, I'm sure this is a good win. Toni Erdmann didn't really seem like it was much my taste anyways.

Best Documentary Feature, O.J.: Made In America

an 81/2 hour TV series. Okay. Haven't seen it but to me, this just seems like it's beating a dead horse at this point. Oh well.

Best Documentary Short, The White Helmets

Okay, and another political statement. Anyone else noticing a pattern here?

Best Live Action Short, Sing

Well, at least it's not the animated version. Yeah, haven't seem it either.

Best Animated Short, Piper

Cool.

Best Original Score, La La Land

While it's sad not to see Mica Levi getting a statue, this is still a solid win.

Best Original Song, "City of Stars", La La Land

I mean, really, who didn't see this one coming?

Best Sound Editing, Arrival

Excellent.

Best Sound Mixing, Hacksaw Ridge

I mean, it is a war film after all.

Best Production Design, La La Land

Meh. It's cool to see a contemporary film win here, but something about it feels, underwhelming... still better then anything else in this category though. 

Best Cinematography, La La Land

I preferred Moonlight, but you can't beat the use of color in this one, so not bad at all.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Suicide Squad

What. The. Hell. Anyways, the makeup was probably the only good thing in that vial piece of garbage. How Star Trec lost though, is beyond me.

Best Costume Design, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them

This win is "okay", as was everything else nominated here. This category just felt so...  Empty, this year.

Best Film Editing, Hacksaw Ridge

Haven't seen it but I guess it's okay. Hell or High Water, I think, had more precise cutting however.

Best Visual Effects, The Jungle Book

I'm surprised Doctor Strange or Rogue One didn't win, since this basically has the same 3D trickery that Life of Pi had, but oh well.

2016 Silver Reel Awards!

Happy Oscar day everyone!!!!!

I know how early I'm probably blowing my load in posting this, but I'm so fucking excited!

2016. What a fucking year! Horrendous politics, terrorism, and exploding cell phones aside, this year was personally an excellent one for me, my summer trip to Germany being only the tip of the iceberg! My favorite part of the year however, was the films. THE FIIIIIILLLLLMMMMSSSSS!!!!! 

*ahem*

Anyways... yeah. Great year for movies! And to celebrate some of last year's best, here are my awards for what I think was it's best! Enjoy!

Nocturnal Animals: A Review

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"Do you ever feel like your life has turned into something you never intended?"

HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT. FUCK

So, my most anticipated film of the year so far has expectedly turned out to be one of my most favorite so far. And I urge you all to see it.

After the failure of 'The Girl on the Train' earlier this year, which many had branded as this year's 'Gone Girl', Tom Ford's sophomore film 'Nocturnal Animals' was given said titles even before it had been released. Does it live up to those expectations? In short, no. But, it doesn't really try to, or at least, not on purpose...

The story revolves around Susan (played with great conviction by Amy Adams), an art gallery owner living an idyllic, but ultimately empty life of high society with her husband Hutton, an almost non-existent Armie Hammer. One day Susan receives a manuscript from her first husband Edward, an magnetic Jake Gyllenhaal. The story in question is dedicated to her, and tells a tale of loss and revenge in Texas, Susan believes this story is meant to be a threat to herself and her family from Edward, whom she separated from under quite painful terms. As Susan contuse to read deeper into Edward's book, her mental state descends into a paranoia fueled down-spiral, forcing her to rethink certain life choices.

To quote critic Mark Kermode, this film truly is designed within an inch of its life. The costumes, makeup, art direction, cinematography, and editing are all purposeful and important, and bring to mind other filmmakers whos works function like well oiled machines, like Stanley Kubrick or David Fincher. This also factors into the films style, or in this case styles. It is a film of two halves, the reality of Susan, with its cold and clinical urban mansions, galleries, and offices, resembling works like 'The Shining' or 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo', and the dramatization of Edward's novel, set in the sun burnt valleys and decrepit hovels of West Texas backwaters, like 'No Country For Old Men' or 'There Will Be Blood'. I also need to mention Abel Korzeniowski's delicate yet emotionally arresting score, which at times resembles Bernard Hermann's works under Alfred Hitchcock.

The cast in this work is also superb. Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal give possibly their best performances to date, especially Gyllenhaal as both Edward, and the protagonist of Edward's novel, Tony. Michael Shannon is intimidating, darkly funny, and oddly sympathetic is a rouge sheriff who helps Tony in his vengeance, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson is absolutely haunting as the redneck gang leader who causes Tony so much grief. Special mention also needs to go to Isla Fisher and Laura Linneys cameo appearances, both of whom are fantastic.

So without question, writer-director Tom Ford's newest one is quite a beast to be reckoned with. It's as beautiful as it is brutal, and as well crafted as it is intentionally flawed, and should be seen by anyone who enjoys a spell-binding work to contemplate, which I'm sure people will be doing for years to come.

The Witch (2015) review

Heavily advertised as one of the scariest films in years, Robert Eggers' The Witch is certainly something. Since this is a horror film, we must ask the most important question: is it scary? Yes... Only not in the traditional sense. While the film has very obvious supernatural overtones, they aren't the focus of the fear, that instead comes from what the supernatural does to the characters and what they in turn do to each other.

 The story revolves around a large English family living in New England I'm the 1630s. They get banished from their town and are forced to work the land on a small farm on the edge of a mysterious forest. Things begin to go down hill when their new-born goes missing seeming out of nowhere. What follows is a story of religion, family, and insanity in a time period when these things were almost mutual, which is also a part of the story.

 One of the films best features is it's cinematography. The frame is presented in 1.66:1, which both extenuates the horizontal nature of the landscape and forest, but also gives the feeling of claustrophobia, as if there's something always closing in on the characters, be it their faith or the tension which surrounds them. The frame itself is spectacular, with composition which bring to mind classical paintings of the ear, like Stanley Kubrick's work on Barry Lyndon. My only problem is the color palette, which while thematically and visually appropriate, featuring desaturated and pastel earth tones, it doesn't feel unique due to the abundance of films in the past decade that have adopted this style, even if it is needed or not. The art direction and costume design are all stellar, with excellent period details that make them feel as though they jumped right out of the era. Another thing worth mentioning is the score, which much like Johnny Greenwood's work on There Will Be Blood, is seeping with sinister atmosphere due to its unusual instrumentation and melodies, sometimes not even sounding like actual music as much as it sounds like the emotion of a moment was given sound. 

As for acting, there is much to discuss. Anya Taylor-Joy as eldest daughter Thomasin is a revelation, her innocent face and large eyes bringing to mind Emily Watson in Breaking The Waves. She manages to both innocent and authoritative, while cruel and subtly seductive, yet manages to exude the charm of a young girl who fears God's wrath. Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie are both excellent as parents who slowly descend into madness, and special mention goes to Harvey Scrimshaw as the second eldest Caleb, who gives the film one of its most chilling moments... 

My only true complaint is the general premise reminded me heavily of Lars Von Trier's 2009 film Antichrist, which is a film a very much enjoyed. 

So finally, if you enjoy seeing a leveling crafted portrait of time and place, with fantastic visuals, acting, production values, and music, see this film! Just don't plan on sleeping that night, I don't think I will either.