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.