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steve-muratore
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The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
A Timely Tale of a Vice President
The Manchurian Candidate with Frank Sinatra is a kind of classic in my book; but a friend's recent reference to The Manchurian Candidate inspired me to see the Denzel Washington version as well.
It's excellent. In the Washington version, Director Jonathan Demme brings forward the horrifying reality seen from inside the almost-thoroughly-manipulated mind of the Manchurian Candidate himself.
It's strangely relevant, too, in these times when the most recent two Vice Presidents have been pre-programmed time bombs-three, if we count Pence.
Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)
Realistic surrealism
Les Triplettes is both one of the most naturalistic and most surrealistic animated features I've seen. The soundtrack alone is worth the price of admission.
La voce della luna (1990)
Fellini at his most poetic
Don't know why I'd never seen this one before, but I'm sure glad I've seen it now.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
This is a great film
The story is Hitchcockian while the style prefigures David Lynch in some ways. Very effective use of the pipe organ in the soundtrack. I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Lynch has enjoyed this film.
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Superb script, screenplay, directing, director of photography,
One of the best film dramas I've seen so far this year.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
Not the BBC version
This is a visual realization worthy of Douglas Adams' book.
Complementary Opposites (2012)
An audio-video poem and meditation
Absorbing this video felt like a peaceful meditation. Try it sometime when you feel like being washed in sound and color, or when you feel like taking a storybook trip to a different part of yourself.
The film begins with an interview between composer-artistic directors Wayne Vitali and I Made Arnawa, and a brief documentary about I Made Arnawa. Then, it leads us into the gamelan performance by way of a discussion of the primary elements of the universe from the point of view of a Bali metaphysics.
Each movement is based on one of these elements. For example, the first movement is based on Space, the direction North, and the color Black. The other movements proceed similarly. As you might imagine, each movement conveys a different mood, much as Vivaldi's Four Seasons, or Holst's The Planets.
On the screen, a young girl begins to read from a storybook, and so the performance begins. We enter the story with her, then see on the screen, and hear, the loud hammering of a building under construction. Then the gamelan-video performance rises from darkness into light and music.
This is not narrative cinema. It is a compelling poetic meditative performance. See it when you are ready.