Now, I love Joss Whedon and will honestly read/watch/listen to anything he makes. ANYTHING. But I have a problem with how obsessed he is with the specific actors that he chose to play his characters. The recent fan-driven discussion around bringing back Firefly indicates how specific the actors are to the characters:

Step 2: Cancel Castle. Step 3: Cancel Homeland. Step 4: Generally destroy everybody’s careers. Step 5: Avoid Step 2.

Now, I love Joss’ loyalty to the actors that bring life to the characters that he creates but tying the character to a single actor kind of goes against the nature of acting and performance. One of the things that makes Shakespeare great is that it provides a litmus test for any aspiring actor because it forces them to own the performance rather than doing an impersonation of Lawrence Olivier.

But film and television are different because one actor often establishes an indexical relationship to the character to the point they become inextricable from the character. The Shatner/Kirk relationship is probably the best example of this and I’m sure that JJ Abrams was probably freaking out about finding. the. right. actor. Interestingly, the character of James Bond is the inverse of this, where many actors have stepped into the role that Sean Connery defined. It’s probably no surprise that I like Roger Moore and Daniel Craig because each brought a completely different and refreshing approach to the character.

So what gives Joss? While I love Nathan Fillion and the crew of Serenity, I’d hate to see the characters become frozen because they “belong” to someone. Isn’t there something interesting to be gained in having different actors step into Mal’s shoes?

Sadly, the VLC app on the iPad choked on the 720p video of Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars that I managed to find. But that just meant that I had to watch the movie on a laptop like Jobs intended. However, this hiccup didn’t take away from the resounding amount of pleasure that I took from watching this amazing film from a director that I previously had no knowledge of.

Mamoru Hosoda directs this really spectacular tale of identity as told through the breakdown of an all-encompassing social network called OZ that gets accidentally triggered at the 90th birthday party for the matriarch of the Sanada family. Poor Kenji had been tricked by the prettiest girl in school to take a summer “job” playing the role of the fictional fiance that she’d been telling her whole family about. Only this family is a large and distinguished family in Ueda city and shy math whiz Kenji finds himself the opposite of the well-bred, university aged, and international character he has to play.

The story does a wonderful job of paralleling the social network of the family with the virtual network of OZ in a really intriguing way by showing both networks function on relationships that are simultaneously proximal and distant. Truth is a slippery concept at the best of times and it starts to burst at the seams when rogue AI takes over Kenji’s avatar, then slowly the network, and all infrastructure in Japan.

Like an evil sorcerer's apprentice

I really liked how the visual design made allusions to The Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence in Fantasia when Kenji’s stolen avatar starts to tear things apart. They did an excellent job in alluding to animation’s most famous depiction of a plan getting out of control when the evil Kenji-mouse starts eating other users before revealing itself to be the “Love Machine” AI. Now Kenji and the Sanadas have to figure out how they can stop the identity swallowing Love Machine before it steals the avatar of someone with real military power and makes everything in OZ and the real world go kablooey.

You don't want any part of this Love Machine

I was really impressed how the film managed to maintain an emotional core, a sense of humor and depict the concrete and metaphorical aspects of family and self-identity. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Summer Wars and hope that a general audience is able to get their socks knocked off like I was. And don’t forget to check out Hosada’s previous film: The Girl Who Lept Through Time.

]]> http://neoplasticutopia.com/2011/01/03/my-favourite-movie-of-2010-summer-wars/feed/ 1 http://neoplasticutopia.com/2010/12/25/up-close-with-scott-pilgrim/ http://neoplasticutopia.com/2010/12/25/up-close-with-scott-pilgrim/#comments Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:20:57 +0000 admin http://neoplasticutopia.com/?p=454

My Mom got an iPad for her birthday back in November and this Christmas eve was the first time I really got a chance to spend hours with the device and really give it a once over. I was eager to try the keyboard for longer writing tasks (like this post) and see what else I could accomplish.

Then it dawned on me that this slick screen was also designed for watching movies. I decided to try out Scott Pilgrim vs. The World because I had it on the brain after it became one of the candidates on the CBC Radio 3 Rock n’ Roll Movie Club. Scott Pilgrim was too perfect a choice for my iPad test since it’s a hybrid of film, comic, rock and roll, and video game aesthetics, while the iPad is leading the charge in new media platforms that appifies all of those previously distinct forms of media.

Hammer time.

I’m not one to cuddle a laptop in bed to watch a movie because I’ve found it too bulky to be comfortable (I only had this option in China). But the slim profile of the iPad suddenly made cuddling up to a movie very appealing. Curiously, the iPad replicated the proximity of the awesome comic book and gave me the freedom to lie in various positions as though I were reading a book. I was surprised how I could comfortably hold the iPad up with two hands while resting my arms on the bed for the first hour of the movie. Then I contorted my body in all sorts of positions and used either a hand or a pillow to prop the iPad up (I should note that my Mom doesn’t have a case).

While some people have complained about the bezel on the iPad, I found it to be ideal when gripping the device and not obstructing the screen. Overall, the experience was incredible and I feel like we’re going to see an interesting change as cinema gains the proximal relationship of a book. I know the iPhone goes there too, but I still don’t find myself watching much video on it, especially if a bigger screen is around.

Since screen grabs are an important part of my film studies work I was pleasantly surprised that I could save a still by pressing the home and lock button. However, scrubbing through the movie to find the right frame was pretty challenging since I kept nudging the scrubber when I was trying to let go. Considering that this isn’t even an option in the Apple DVD player or QuickTime (Thanks VLC!) I’m happy that Apple didn’t cripple this feature in the Video app and consider it a win. Next up for my weekend of iPad tests is the VLC app and how it handles multi-language .mkv files like Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars. And also the Vevo app since I haven’t had a chance to watch Kanye West’s Runaway video.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

Thanks to a wicked hangover from Claudia’s birthday party I didn’t get to see my first VIFF film until Sunday the 3rd of October.

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child

It didn’t take much convincing to get me to see a Jean-Michel Basquiat documentary directed by Tamra Davis. In my world she has a golden halo for directing Half Baked and Billy Madison, episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and My Name is Earl, and a raft of great music videos. (Plus having her own vegan cooking show and having married a Beastie Boy.)

Davis’ passionate documentary comes from her direct experience of Basquiat as an artist and friend. Her care is evident through the meticulous amount of detail that she sifts through when attempting to grasp the context that nurtured and destroyed one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. Davis smartly shifts between talking head interviews with Basquiat’s friends, her own interviews with the artist, and reams of art, footage, and photographs. I was particularly struck with the way she engaged with Basquiat’s ambition, charm and intellect while criticizing the art world and the persistent racism that kept attempting to reduce his work as “primitive.”

In the end Davis managed to encompass not only the life of an amazing artist but also New York’s fascinating intersection of graffiti, hip hop and art galleries around the start of the 1980s.

The Eye 3D – Life and Science on Cerro Paranal

A 3D science documentary about telescopes! Perhaps the stargate sequence from Kubrick’s 2001 has spoiled me, but I expected more spacey footage than was offered. It felt like the 3D was wasted as a large part of the film that was remarkably terrestrial. It’s cool that telescope technology is getting the royal treatment, but if you’re going in expecting to be awed in the fashion of The Universe by the NFB then you’re going to be disappointed.

Plasticity 3D Trailer #1 from Ryan Suits on Vimeo.

Plasticity 3D
This dialogueless 3D short has an interesting use of layering, light painting, and pixelation while reflecting on the environment and the separation between people from nature through technology. I particulary liked the light painted creatures, which provide evidence that the hand of the artist hasn’t been completely removed by the introduction of digital technologies. However, I was meh-ed by the Tron-like character effects and the overall generic message.

Altitude

Rationale for watching: it’s a high concept film that pushes the boundaries of the horror convention of trapped teenagers in a cabin. This time the cabin is a twin engine plane (shit, I really do work for Boeing) and it’s stuck going up up up.

I hate getting this nitpicky, but I was irritated from the get-go by the blue pallor that overwhelmed the colour range. Having seen the film in its entirety I can understand the decision, but I kept envisioning Photoshop pallets where I would crank up the warm tones to balance the lighting. But it’s not my movie and the reappearance of reds and yellows at the end are such a relief.

Overall the film does hang together and fans of Amazing Stories and the Twilight Zone should be pleasantly surprised that the film manages to keep you guessing even though some things are telegraphed when shots linger on important objects. How’s that for a vague review?

Rag Rah at the Biltmore: Holy Shit, amazing. I’ve been waiting for two years to see Rah Rah since I first heard “Cuba Peru” in The underseen, but awesome movie River. Regina, I love you.

2: People trying to use the Hipstamatic app with no flash while in a dark club. Fail they will.

Also amazing at the Biltmore: Land of Talk and Suuns.

Vancouverites are in for an animated treat this weekend a the Secret of the Kells is a gorgeous piece of cinema. The 2009 Academy Award nominated film is a complete crowd pleaser with stunning design and a really engaging story about 12 year-old Brendan that is learning to be a scribe while facing off against raiding Vikings and a Celtic serpent god. It’s really not necessary to throw any more adjectives at the film, but the Cartoon Saloon studio in Ireland really hit one out of the park. Plus I’m for anything that’s also sings the praises of book design and illuminated manuscripts. So if you started to think about why the title sounds familiar, it’s because the story is also a reference to the famous Books of Kells which was done by Celtic Monks in the 9th Century.

The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs is a monologue by Mike Daisey who actually went to China to see what was going on in those factories where workers were committing suicide. I’m interested in the way that Daisey presents his findings because he’s an Apple user and I’m fascinated by the way he was willing to face his own complicity. Especially the day after the big September 1st keynote.

Death by VHS was the name of Clint Enns and Leslie Supnet‘s awesome program of short films from Winnipeg through the DIM Cinema series at the Pacific Cinematheque on Monday the 30th of August. Link soup follows.

Cattle Call (2008) by Mike Maryniuk & Matthew Rankin
Thunder at the Track (2005) by Walter Forsberg
Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg (2009) by Darryl Nepinak
How to Care for Introverts (2010) by Leslie Supnet
I’m Bohunky-Dory With it (My Nose) (2007) by Sandee Moore
Drawing Genesis (2007) by Jaimz Asmundson
Pants! (2007) by Divya Mehra
Discovering Compositions in Art (2008) by Heidi Phillips
The Death of Natural Language (2007) by Clint Enns
Trafiiiik (2007) by Robert Pasternak
Brodeo in Leather (2008) by Gwen Trutnau
Cold Satie (2007) by Simon Hughes
Mechanical Film Studies (2010) by Andrew Milne
In the Drugs (2006) by Hope Peterson
Death by VHS (2010) by Damien Ferland

Thanks Clint and Leslie!

Why would someone on this trek to visually ransack a culture with a long line of talented artists then decide to go see Transformers:  Revenge of the Fallen? Well, after spending days admiring Amersfoort, the Hague and wandering past the nightlife of Amstersam, I needed to give my feet a break from the torrid pace I had been taking. The amount that I walked was honestly ridiculous considering Dutch cities are designed around the bicycle and after several days of admiring Dutch gazelles zipping by on their bikes it was clear that being on foot was a lesser experience.

Dutch Bike Racks

The decision to see the movie came while I was contemplating my night’s entertainment during a much needed stop at an internet cafe as photos uploaded to flickr, email was checked, and general internet browsing provided entertainment. After reading the io9 review of Transformers that marvelously described the film as Michael Bay’s first art film I was hooked on the idea of witnessing this atrocity for myself. Plus, I was really fascinated by how a bike loving Dutch audience would respond to a very American film about the American love affair with the automobile.

What I didn’t expect was sitting next to an American.

Stripped!

Ok, I may never have spoken directly to the guy but his responses to the different parts of the film indicated that he was not only American, but was either a current or former member of the military. For example, during the moment that Major Lennox (Josh Duhamel) was being stripped of his command by Director Galloway (John Benjamin Hickey) he said, “Fuck you!” With fast “fuck” and a tight “you” that slowly decreased in emphasis. All this told me that he shared a sense of agony with Lennox and that he was having an emotional response to the scene. Yes, Transformers for at least one dude was an emotionally significant event.

One happy soldier jumps off a perfectly good aircraft

I found Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as completely ridiculous i09 made it out to be. However, I was surprised by the emphasis on the awesomeness of the US military. Being next to a guy who not only got excited by the when John Turturro referenced to the troop transport, but also “Hooahed,” I found it hard not to pay extra attention to the military. For example, the final section of the film was littered with sequences devoted to showing off  the military and its technology. I found the sequence where the troops jump out of the plane and one of the soldiers looks directly into the camera to be striking because it’s a weird way for the film to break the fourth wall in a manner that emphasizes the fun of combat prior to the launching of the MQ-1 Predator.

Military Robots in action

At this point a film that is dedicated to showing the coolness of the Autobots and also shows the coolness of the latest military gear that gets sent out when the chips are down and communications in a warzone is knocked out. The focus on military technology isn’t surprising considering that technology is at the core of the story since the Transformers are creatures of technology and their awesome tech now parallels the military’s awesome tech. But given that the entire narrative around the Transformers only exists to sell toys and other merchandise and the film is wall to wall with product placements, it really presents the military as another product to be promoted alongside cars, webcams, and life insurance.

In the end, I wasn’t surprised that the Dutch audience groaned like a Canadian one does when American films like Michael Bay’s get too flag wavey and chest thumpy. But at the same time we do go watch, sometimes out of sheer wonderment at the culture and people that films are aimed at.