Film Expression

The Ultimate Gin Martini: Bunuel Style

2010-11-22T17:21:00.026-05:00

To provoke, or sustain, a reverie in a bar, you have to drink English gin, especially in the form of the dry martini. To be frank, given the primordial role played in my life by the dry martini, I think I really ought to give it at least a page. Like all cocktails, the martini, composed essentially of gin and a few drops of Noilly Prat, seems to have been an American invention. Connoisseurs

The Wisdom Of Sam Fuller

2010-11-13T19:40:00.044-05:00

On Filmmaking:"Young writers and directors, seize your audience by the balls as soon as the credits hit the screen and hang on to them!""If the first scene doesn't give you a hard-on then throw the goddamn thing away.""You wanna know how I make movies? I'll tell you. First I figure out what would be a good ending, and then I put it at the beginning. The rest comes after that."On The Army:"You

Houzhe (To Live) 1994

2010-10-26T13:55:00.005-04:00

What makes a masterpiece? What moves us in a work to elicit almost a religious fervor in our very souls? Watching Zhang Yimou’s Houzhe (To Live) it never ceases to amaze me how much more I discover within the work. The film is neither wholly dramatic, comic, propaganda, nor documentary; it inhabits all these worlds and yet judging Houzhe (To Live) by old standards can’t get to the heart of why

The Social Network (2010)

2010-10-04T17:18:00.014-04:00

It’s not easy coming up with the next big thing. To have one’s pulse on what will capture everyone’s attention is a Sisyphean task and most of the time those responsible for unleashing those generation defining moments or icons can never truly predict what they will unleash onto the world once they lift open the lid to Pandora’s box. David Fincher’s The Social Network isn’t just a film about

Suspicion (1941)

2010-09-26T12:29:00.007-04:00

For aficionados of the mystery genre and, more specifically, fans of the Master of Suspense Suspicion has been written off as a compromised masterpiece. The film is brimming with several iconic shots and memorable scenes, but many complain that the story and characters have been watered down to please those with sensitive cinematic palettes. The film’s detractors cite how the adapted

Gendai Yakuza: Hito-kiri Yota (Street Mobster) 1972

2010-07-22T19:34:00.014-04:00

Ever since the advent of cinema filmmakers and the film going public have been complicit in elevating the gangster archetype to near mythic proportions. As far back as Edwin S. Porter’s 1903 classic American Western The Great Train Robbery all the way down to David Chase’s magnum opus The Sopranos, society has had a deep and almost parasitic relationship with gangsters

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros) 2005

2010-06-29T12:47:00.015-04:00

The dividing line between adolescence and adulthood is quite precarious. As children, we have the ability to imbue everyday objects and occurrences with a magical aura just through the use of our imagination. And, with our innocent little minds being the only tool we have to shield us from the harsh reality of our environment we are wholly dependent on those around us to

Kanto Mushuku (Kanto Wanderer) 1963

2010-04-27T21:54:00.016-04:00

“The way of the yakuza is to wear red clothes or white…” If one were to make a clear distinction between the cinematic treatment of the American gangster and the Japanese yakuza it is that the American gangster story is centered on a rise and fall narrative structure whereas the protagonists in a yakuza film are torn between the very Japanese concepts of giri and ninjo.

Pauline Kael on Criticism

2010-03-18T09:44:00.010-04:00

"I regard criticism as an art, and if in this country and in this age it is practiced with honesty, it is no more remunerative than the work of an avant-garde film artist. My dear anonymous letter writers, if you think it is so easy to be a critic, so difficult to be a poet or a painter or film experimenter, may I suggest you try both? You may discover why there are so few critics, so many poets.

Feed the Kitty (1952)

2010-03-12T16:20:00.013-05:00

It’s not such a stretch to say that the bulk of early American animation has relied heavily on conflicts between anthropomorphized animal species; be it cat against mouse, rooster against chicken hawk, rabbit against duck, or dog against cat. The animated short is a universe populated by a whole host of cuddly critters, smart-alecky fowl, and street-smart rabbits. If you

Andy Warhol on Hollywood

2010-03-06T13:28:00.012-05:00

"People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it's the way things happen to you in life that's unreal. The movies make emotions look so strong and real, whereas when things really do happen to you, it's like watching television - you don't feel anything."***"Isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?"***"I love Los Angeles. I love

Irezumi Ichidai (Tattooed Life) 1965

2010-02-27T09:37:00.020-05:00

As a cinema stylist Seijun Suzuki has no rival. Loyal only to his own artistic whims Suzuki’s filmography is replete with pictures that bear his trademark stamp. Categorized by many film scholars as subversive it is important to note that although many of his films undermine the predetermined genre conventions of the yakuza or crime picture it would be more accurate to

Ankokugai No Bijo (Underworld Beauty) 1958

2010-02-13T17:03:00.009-05:00

Maverick. Rebel. Iconoclast. These are all words used to describe Japanese director Seijun Suzuki. Championed by a slew of filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles his work not only challenged Japanese notions of proper behavior, sexuality, and gender roles but his films attacked the very core of Western storytelling techniques. Many of his best films forego the safety net of

Jingi No Hakaba (Graveyard Of Honor) 1975

2010-02-04T16:40:00.006-05:00

Nihilism is a difficult concept to capture in the gangster genre. The gangster film itself is most often a vehicle used by filmmakers to challenge the tenets of capitalism or revel in the kinetic energy of the caper. The yakuza films that Kinji Fukasaku directed between the 1960’s and 70’s are famous for attacking Japan’s rapid attempts at modernization but what set them

Yakuza Cinema: A Guide For The Uninitiated

2010-01-22T17:01:00.039-05:00

The postwar period in Japan saw many changes to society; with the collapse of the former government regime and the destruction of most of the country's industrial infrastructure many people turned to the black market to survive. By 1947 Japan had drawn up a new constitution and although the Emperor was allowed to keep his royal title, power was transferred to the National Diet of Japan. While

Alfred Hitchcock on Hollywood

2009-12-23T20:46:00.014-05:00

"A good film is when the price of the dinner, the theatre admission and the babysitter were worth it."***"Drama is life with the dull bits cut out."***"In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director."***"Television is like the American toaster, you push the button and the same thing pops up everytime."***"The length of a film should be directly related to the

Saboteur (1942)

2009-07-18T16:32:00.044-04:00

Before the War on Terrorism had made terrorists a much talked about topic by the media a fear that many Americans and governments from all over the world had was of the saboteur. Unlike terrorists, saboteurs were not primarily out to inflict as many casualties as possible through their actions. Their methods entailed subversion, obstruction, disruption, and if need be destruction. Unlike

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

2009-07-01T15:51:00.043-04:00

During times of great turmoil and strife those in power look to artists to rally the people to action. In 1940 the conflict in Europe was boiling over into a full-blown world war while in America Alfred Hitchcock's Hollywood career was limping along. After signing a seven-year contract with David O. Selznick in 1939 what Hitchcock initially believed to be his ticket to bigger budgets and better

Raymond Chandler on Hollywood

2009-06-21T19:35:00.007-04:00

"If my books had been any worse I should not have been invited to Hollywood and if they had been any better I should not have come."***"They don't want you until you have made a name, and by the time you have made a name, you have developed some kind of talent they can't use. All they will do is spoil it, if you let them."***"Wonderful what Hollywood will do to a nobody. It will make a radiant

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

2009-06-16T17:57:00.022-04:00

The city of Los Angeles has a reputation for being the bearer and recorder of an entire nation's hopes, dreams, and ideals. It was first settled by Spanish missionaries in 1769 and through its long history it has been a place where its sunny climate belies a community divided by economic, social, and ethnic lines. As the central location for film and TV production it has shaped the way many

The Big Sleep (1946)

2009-05-27T20:57:00.040-04:00

Before the arrival of the internet and specifically Wikipedia a common stock character in film was the private investigator. The P.I. was such an important staple in genre cinema that a whole slew of colorful words were invented to elevate this most humble occupation into a racket bursting with private eyes, gumshoes, shamuses, snoops, and flatfoots. During a time when anonymity was neither a

Point Blank (1967)

2009-04-22T22:22:00.025-04:00

The gangster genre is endemic of American culture. In the history of film the advent of sound coincided with the rise in popularity of the gangster picture. The possibility of hearing the bang of a gun and the screams of its victims offered a new level of reality that lurid still photos and trashy tabloid articles could only report about. Of course as lionized as gangsters were the public's

Ed Wood (1994)

2009-03-25T22:43:00.028-04:00

Unbridled optimism is a trait that has long been ridiculed by the public. It is a trait that is usually used as comic fodder in films; something to laugh at and oftentimes looked upon as the refuge of the simpleton. Of course cynicism itself is no better; it has become, for many, a defense mechanism to ease the pain of daily living. Ed Wood is a celebration of a man whose ideas exceeded his

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

2009-03-11T20:34:00.016-04:00

How do you classify a film that is equal parts comedy and tragedy? Can you even call it comedy if you cringe a bit after the laughter dies out? With Sunset Boulevard Billy Wilder utilizes his acerbic wit to knock down the glamour mask of Hollywood and show it as the grotesque and decaying whorehouse that it really is. Of course Wilder knew that by taking on Hollywood he would basically be

Double Indemnity (1944)

2009-02-22T19:01:00.012-05:00

"Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn't get the money and I didn't get the woman. Pretty, isn't it?" The allure of tabloid scandals and media sensationalism has now become the norm. So-called journalists spend entire days sifting through the refuse of human society trying to find a story that will keep viewers glued to their TVs. This insatiable hunger is fed by a