Hollis Frampton's "Nostalgia"

I greatly appreciated Hollis Frampton's film "Nostalgia" after watching it in class for the first time. It was a lot more complicated than what it seemed from the start, mostly thanks to its unorthodox narrative and disjointed photo description. At first, it did not seem more than his description of photographs that he has taken in the past, but as more and more photos came into the view I started realizing that the author was getting rid of important fragments from his past and all of those pictures meant a lot more to him than just photographs. Letting go of the past is a message that anyone can associate with.

3:10 to Yuma

3:10 To Yuma

Saw 3:10 to Yuma last night and I can already put it in the list of my recent favorites. It is not exactly an unbiased opinion, since I have been a closet western fan since I first started watching movies. In fact, I grew on the spaghetti westerns and films like Magnificent Seven, and Once Upon A Time In The West. My favorite actors of that time were Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef.
3:10 To Yuma is the remake of an old western from 1957, having seen the old version, I was a bit nervous about how this film will live up to the original, a universal concern for all remakes. I was very pleased to see that James Mangold and the crew turned this into a gritty, dark, and emotional film, that still has much of the same story and stayed true to the spirit of the original film. Every cast member delivered a great perfomance, especially Christian Bale, who has quietly become one of my favorite actors. The scenery in the film was picked out very well and matched the raw spirit of the movie. I certainly recommend this to any western fan like myself, all in all this is probably one of the best movies out right now.

Class Comments (10/22/07)

I was very surprised about the films that were shown during class. They combined chaotic feeling of teenage rebellious nature, acid trip, and messy painting. As entertaining as the visual part of the film was, the way the filmmaker chose to do the audio was a bit annoying, and made the films that much harder to follow.

P.S.: Ryan, the director, seemed pretty nervous since he used the world "like" about 40 times per sentence.

Interbeing by Alex Gray

"Interbeing" a painting by Alex Grey, one of my favorite artists.

Prison Tattoo Group Photo

Sitting on the right is Danzig Baldaev, the author of Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopedia.

Project Progress

Russian Prison Tattoos

Currently I am gathering information on the origins of Russian prison tattoos and their history. I am looking in to books and documentaries that provide necessary information.
My grandfather is another source of information since he knew many of his WWII comrades served time in prisons and gulags and came out branded with different symbols.

The Kingdom

The Kingdom

I saw the movie "Kingdom" over the weekend, and I must say that I was unimpressed by it. You may have seen an annoying commercial for the movie the claims that the last half-hour of the movie is the most intense thing you'll ever see. I must disagree with that statement, in fact the movie tries to be a big-budget Hollywood action flick and a thought-inspiring drama and fails at both.
The movie does provide some good points about the situation in Middle East and the politics of USA in that region. However, most of the things that the movie touches up on can be summarized as "cliche", and after years of news coverage and movies like "Syriana", the film does not quite break any new ground in terms of the subject. My main problem with the movie is that it is still a typical popcorn vehicle underneath the cultural clash plot that it tries to offer.

Yoko Ono Movies

Out of the three movies that we saw in class, only the first one: "Cut Piece" was the one that managed to invoke positive reaction in me. Yoko Ono has different ideas about art and presentation that are both conducted very well in this short. I found the behavior of a few people who came out to be very intriguing, especially the guy who cut off half of her shirt. It was very different and refreshing.

"Rape" to me seemed like too much of a set up, even though the reaction was real. The camera's behavior was too annoying and after awhile I fount myself waiting for the film to end. It was definitely a torture in a psychological way, but I don't think it was in the same way as it was intended by the filmmaker.

P.S. After watching "Bottoms" I can definitely say that I am a boob man.

Eastern Promises

Eastern Promises

This recently released film by David Cronenberg has become an inspiration for my project proposal. Since I was born and raised in Russia, so naturally I was interested in the portrayal of Russian mafia, as well as the prison tattoos and their interpretations.
The movie itself had a unique atmosphere and some scenes will forever be carved in my imagination. Cronenberg has been a master of directing memorable scenes before, and he certainly does not disappoint this time. Cinematography goes along great with the movie, and manages to give it a subtle, yet dark atmosphere.
The acting is top notch, and I was pleasantly surprised in Viggo Mortensen's portrayal of a Russian mobster. He is quiet and yet convincing, and manages to convey so much through so little emotion.
I would recommend this film to anyone who enjoys crime dramas and is interested in movies that have something to do with different cultures.

Project Proposal

So far I have two ideas that I am trying to choose from.

1. The first idea involves exploring the art of prison tattoos and their place in movie culture. I will explore the idea through drawing and compare them to their portrayal in film and media.

2. The second idea is that I will explore the history of violence in cinema and through a commentary on most influential violent scenes in cinema, talk about how the violence in cinema became a natural part of film.

On Wavelength

I have mixed reactions after watching "Wavelength", first it was an interesting visual work of art, and second it was an assault on my ears. The visual aspect of the film is fascinating, even though seldomly is anything new shown, I was captivated by the things I saw on the screen. It was the feeling like I was almost hypnotized and I could not look away. And just when the first setting was starting to get boring, the movie changed views and I, along with other viewers, found myself in the apartment room, where things started out with a man laying down on the floor and apparently dying. After that the camera view slowly zoomed in on the picture of what appeared to be waves. After awhile I was able to see different shapes in the picture, until it started to appear as something else entirely.
The sound was the only thing that I did not like, it was too monotonous and did not seem to fit the picture well. In my opinion, it was just far too loud for what the film seemed to me.