Posts from the ‘Film’ Category
Mar
1
Our arts event, Bridge Songs: ?rogress, is a few months away, but our Call for Submissions has been posted, and we are looking for short films, among many other art forms.
This week I discovered some excellent, albeit a bit depressing at times, short films dealing with dystopia, a theme certain tied to ?rogress (especially when considering the question mark). While this is only one small angle one could take when approaching this year’s Bridge Songs theme, these two shorts by filmmaker Grzegorz Jonkajtys may offer fuel for the creative fire. They certainly offer some incredible animation.
ARK from grzegorz jonkajtys on Vimeo.
The 3rd Letter from grzegorz jonkajtys on Vimeo.
I owe a big thanks to Short Film of The Week for turning me on to these short films. It’s a great site where you can find many, many more shorts. Visit Short Film of The Week at shortfilmoftheweek.com.
Tags: animation, Bridge Songs, bridge songs progress, dystopia, future, Hope, is this progress?, short film
Posted in Bridge Songs: Progress, Film, Hope | 1 Comment »
Feb
16
Tomorrow morning I have the pleasure of chatting with Jaimie Clements, indie film director of the upcoming Avenue Movie, a documentary about a year in the live of the revitalization of Alberta Avenue. I’m very excited to help her out with a rebuild of the movie’s website, and take some time for an audio interview, too. It’ll be the perfect chance to put my new Blue Mikey to the test.
http://theavenuemovie.com/
Before I head into the conversation, I wonder if YOU have any questions you’d like me to put to Jaimie. These could be questions about the movie, about her life as a film maker, or about the quality of coffee we’ll be enjoying at Mandolin Books and Coffee Co. Any questions you may have about Jaimie or the project, please post to the comments below. Just be sure to get them in before tomorrow morning!
Tags: documentary, jaimie clements, the avenue movie
Posted in Artist Interview, Film | 3 Comments »
Sep
24
Read All the World’s a Stage « Christian Reader.
The Christian Reader has posted an insightful article about Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix’s recent film, I’m Still Here, which, despite a pretty awesome poster and fascinating premise, is apparently not very good.
Phoenix has apparently now confessed on Letterman that his whole stint of madness and hip-hop was nothing more than another role for him, and is now back to sanity and his craft. What makes me concerned about myself is how disappointing that is to hear. How much I prefer the sordid tale they concocted to the reality: “Joaquin Phoenix is still, and always was, a regular Hollywood actor”.
What is nice about Eric Rauch’s article is that it doesn’t provide yet another review of the film itself, but rather a reflection from a Christian perspective on the importance of the whole Pheonix sideshow. Rauch takes this bizarre tale and weaves it into the thread of everyday Christian, and actually human, living. He does this by raising some important questions about celebrity and our longing for the spotlight, as well as our own complicity in a culture where everyone plays a role. If Shakespeare recognized this fact, it certainly is nothing new, but rather, amplified in our media culture.
I think I could go much further than Rauch does by mentioning the online “stage” that we now possess. While Rauch proclaims that “All The World is a Stage”, he may not be getting the half of it by leaving out two words. “All The World Wide Web Is a Stage” recasts the thought because even those who deny their use of multiple identities in “real” life would have a hard time denying their use online. Do you have an avatar? Do you assume a different identity online? Perhaps I’m Not There is as much as anything a metaphor for our own willingness to become someone different when there is a screen or camera between us and reality.
Or, perhaps I’m still stewing too much about the documentary I watched last night, We Live In Public. The film, documenting the rise and fall of Josh Harris, an early dot-com millionaire who lived the bust in a very public way, asks similar questions of authenticity, privacy, and the “we” we become when we know others are watching. We Live In Public was also the name of the website and “art project” Harris and his girlfriend lived through at the start of this decade, where they lived their entire lives on camera, streamed online. Everything from breakfast to phone calls to sex to the toilet was broadcast. Interestingly, as the couple became more intimate and open with their online audience, they became more distant from each other, and less authentic. They began to assume roles and play to their audience. Their relationship broke up, and eventually Harris did too. It’s a fascinating film, and from all I’ve heard so far perhaps a better reflection on the subjects at hand than the Pheonix and Affleck collaboration.
But I digress, having now created a post of my own while simply attempting to direct you to read further. So please, do read further and head over to Eric Rauch’s piece about living in character, and how we all do it do some extent …
Read All the World’s a Stage « Christian Reader
Tags: acting, Casey Affleck, celebrity, I'm Still Here, Joaquin Phoenix, media, pop culture
Posted in Film, Is this progress? | 12 Comments »
Feb
26
Today is a big day for iloveartists. Today the website for Bridge Songs:Faerie has officially launched!
Bridge Songs is an annual collaborative concert, art show and album centered around a theme and held at the Avenue Theater.
This year’s event takes place on June 5th, and our theme will be Faerie. In the broadest terms, this is an exploration of childlike imagination, wonder and faith as well as the worlds of myth, story and fairy tale. You can read more about the theme, about submitting your art to the event or about attending on the website here.
As a little launch treat, I’d like to share with you a small piece of a long conversation I had last night with film reviewer and storyteller Jeffrey Overstreet. In this clip, Jeffrey reflects on the difference between “childish” and “childlike”, just one of the many themes I’m waiting to see explored at Bridge Songs: Faerie. More clips, as well as the full interview, will arrive on the site in coming weeks.
Childish vs. Childlike
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Tags: Bridge Songs: Faerie, childlike faith, Faerie, interview, Jeffrey Overstreet, launch, wonder
Posted in Artist Interview, books, Bridge Songs: Faerie, Film, Friday Feature | 1 Comment »
Feb
2
Really? That was Avatar?
This deflated statement is the best summation I can offer the time I spent at the movies on Friday night. It’s an odd statement to make, because it’s official now. Avatar is the highest grossing film of all time. Just this morning I found out it’s been nominated for 9 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. All of this considered, I figured this was a movie I should see. After seeing it however, I’m the one who feels like the alien. In a world where Avatar was king, I did not like Avatar.
I wish I could say I did like Avatar. I wish I could say I was transported for nearly three hours to a magical world and reminded of the transformative alchemy of cinema. I wish I could say I became someone inside of that world, like Jake Sully himself, pulled for a time into another realty. I wish, at least, I could say the visuals were the most stunning I’d ever seen. I wish, at least, I could concur that this is the reason 3D movies are worth it. But I cannot. The visuals were indeed impressive (but not to my mind revolutionary), yet the movie felt so thin and translucent to me. For over half the film I felt like I was watching a computer animated film, which I was. For a great portion of that time, I felt like I was watching someone play a video game. But I wasn’t supposed to feel that way, was I? It was like watching a magic show from backstage and knowing full well that it’s all a trick. The dialogue was, literally, laugh out loud awful at points. Lines like “shut your pie hole” kept popping up. I was glad for the comic relief, but I don’t think it was intentional. Characters were one-dimensional with predictable story arcs you could decifer the moment they appeared. The political message was so heavy it crushed the films’ joyous and playful moments. And it’s not even a message I disagree with. Worse than all this, there is actually an unobtainable natural resource that causes great conflict and it is called, really, Unobtainium. How does something like that make it into the final draft of a film this big?
What this movie did teach me is that story is king and that there is a deeper beauty that I long for.
I love story. I believe we all love story. I would rather listen to Stuart McLean of The Vinyl Cafè tell me stories for three hours with not a single projected image than gorge myself on vapid visuals, as beautiful as they may sometimes be. I think, for me, the issue here is that I felt like I had no reason to see beauty in the world of Pandora (the world Avatar takes place in) other than the fact that it is physically impressive. But I am not moved by topography alone. All colors are bright. Really bright. Heck, almost everything even glows in the dark! But you know, the old apple tree in my backyard is more beautiful to me because there is a little swing hanging from its branch and every year my kids spend hours beneath its shepherding shade. That tree has taken on meaning for me. I possesses a deeper beauty. That is a true gift. A beauty beneath the beauty. I didn’t sense that in Avatar, and I wish I had.
Reading Jeffrey Overstreet’s excellent review of Avatar, I was reminded that in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, we don’t get an entirely new world. We get New Zealand, with alterations and enhancements here and there, but essentially, those forests and hills exist. While Overstreet makes the case that Cameron has to work a bit harder, creating a world from scratch, I’m not sure I agree. Through nothing but the power of story, Peter Jackson reclaimed the natural landscapes of New Zealand for the world of Faerie. They became someplace magical because of the deeper beauty behind each location. Because we care about Frodo and Sam and the ring, we care about those forests, too. We cared about them for decades before we got to see them. Even if they don’t glow in the dark.
To me, Avatar’s world is too flashy to be, in any sense, real. Even fantasy needs the weight of reality to some extent. In reality, we notice beauty because it stands out. A flower is such a humble thing, there in the bushes waiting quietly to be discovered by our gaze. Every plant and animal begs for our attention loudly in Pandora, but it is a desperate beauty, like a 60 year old lonely bleach blonde buried beneath blush and concealer. The true beauties of this or any other world do not need their makeup.
I realize that in all of this personal preferences come into play, too. I personally did not like the look of Pandora. I found the characters somehow ugly and I wondered why no creature has any fur. A small thing I know, but everything looks like it’s made of wet leather. I enjoyed the phosphorescent night time jungle, but other than that I personally wouldn’t care to spend much time in Pandora. On the contrary, many people did find it breathtakingly beautiful. Cameron has struck a chord, and that’s fair. I can certainly appreciate the effort that went into designing the world and making it come to life. There is a lot of hard work on screen and that deserves respect. It’s certainly not that Cameron has done a terrible job here. The movie did not feel nearly 3 hours long. It breezed by. I was entertained overall and I do not regret going. It was pure movie escapism and that’s OK. It just wasn’t movie magic, as I’d hoped it might be. As it so easily could have been.
For all the glowing forests of Pandora, I’d trade 30 seconds of Carl Fredrickson’s balloon-bouyant dreaming in Up.
Here’s to more of that deeper beauty at the movies this year.
Tags: Avatar, Faerie, film review, James Cameron, Up
Posted in Art, Bridge Songs: Faerie, Film, Movie Reviews | 3 Comments »
Jan
19
On Thursday, January 21 at 7PM, dialog will be screening the documentary Through My Eyes at Vanguard College (12140 103rd St) in Room 104. Here’s a brief synopsis of the film:
Through My Eyes provides an unflinchingly honest look at the role of today’s young Christians in the gay debate: what they really think, how they perceive the church, and what they wish other Christians knew.
Over two dozen young Christians agreed to share their private feelings, struggles, and experiences on camera. All of them have a personal stake in the debate. And all of them hoped that their stories might make a difference.
Created for Christians by Christians, Through My Eyes tackles one of the most controversial topics today with compassion and sensitivity, shining new light on the debate for people on both sides. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before.
It’s a powerful, eye-opening experience you won’t soon forget.
Please come out if you’re interested in hearing peoples’ personal stories and discussing this matter with others.
Posted in Art, Events, Film | Comments Off
Oct
23
carafilms@hotmail.com
5$ Donations per ticket are being accepted to help cover the cost of this event as the entire project has been a volunteer/student effort.
Thank You
SKYLINE MOTION PICTURES and 307 Pictures“>
Local film? Yes! Students and faculty from Concordia College have finished their work, “Unfinished Business”, and we are invited to take in the premiere, red carpet style, at the Garneau Theatre.
Randy Ritz, a great friend to iloveartists and the arts in Edmonton in general, is one of the producers of the film, which brings some Halloween scares to match the season.
Here are the details direct from the producers;
The Premiere of Unfinished Business , A Red Carpet Event with a Halloween Twist!!
When the ghost of a disgraced professor leaves the grave to inhabit his grandson at the very same college he committed his vile acts, the forces of good and evil play out their deadly chess game. Who will survive? Whose blood will be spilled? A college campus comes alive with paranormal intrigue. This timely psychological thriller draws you in to the terror and the romance.
When: Monday October 26th 2009
Time : 7:00pm ( Red Carpet will start at 6:30pm)
Where: Garneau Theatre 8712 – 109 St NW
Dress : Red Carpet Formal with a Halloween Twist (formal attire with Halloween accessories)
Seating is General Admission by ticket only
To get tickets or for more information email carafilms@hotmail.com
5$ Donations per ticket are being accepted to help cover the cost of this event as the entire project has been a volunteer/student effort.
Thank You
SKYLINE MOTION PICTURES and 307 Pictures
Tags: concordia college, edmonton film, Film, horror, randy ritz, unfinished business
Posted in Events, Film | Comments Off
Nov
20
We have partnered with Alberta Avenue Vineyard church to host community film discussions at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse (9351 118th Ave).
I just wanted to let you know that while there will not be another Body Creative Network Meetup before the year is through (I had said Nov 30th, but due to some major life changes that I’ll write about soon, that is cancelled, and there will be one in the new year), I’m co-hosting a film discussion night on November 23rd (this Sunday) at 6:30 PM at The Carrot. We will be watching and discussing the documentary, War Photographer. Of course, there is an obvious appeal to photographers, but the subject matter affects us all as artists who attempt to capture and create the world around us.
Moving Pictures: War Photographer
Sunday, Nov 23, 6:30 PM
The Carrot (9351 118th Ave)
I hope to see you there where the conversation and coffee will flow freely.
Tags: community arts, discussion, faith and film, Film, moving pictures, war photographer
Posted in Events, Film | Comments Off
Jul
21
Ryan Schroeder of Schew Productions has just completed his demo reel, and you can view it here …
If you are a filmmaker, or would like to hire one, check out the reel. The last project looks really interesting especially, and some of the motion graphics work is great.
Thanks for sharing, Ryan.
ibs syndrome“>
ibs syndrome
Tags: demo reel, Film, motion graphics, video, video editing
Posted in Film | Comments Off
Jul
16
The night before last I had the pleasure of watching a movie I’ve wanted to see for a long time – and all through the power of iTunes rentals!
My Kid Could Paint That is a movie about art, and about truth. It is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, as its’ layers upon layers of meaning still need peeling long after the end credits.
On the surface, this is a movie about Marla, the then-4-year-old painting sensation from the USA. You can read all about her on her website at http://www.marlaolmstead.com/. Marla was hailed a child prodigy for her abstract paintings, which were selling for up to $25 000 once word got out. Collectors from all over the globe bought up everything she made, and created a demand for more. That created a bit of a problem, when commercial demand met the work ethic of a 4 year old girl who just loves to paint.
Conflicts like this – the demands of corporate art, celebrity and finance clashing with the innocent purity of “creation for the love of it” – carry the film along through its’ various questions and discoveries. As we watch Marla, we see something fragile and pure in her that this media circus might just break. And yet, I want to know about her – I want to see and experience her work, and I need the circus to come to town in order to do that.
From the outset of the film, we see there is something special about Marla and we least we see that other artists see that. Here is a quote from Marla’s website as an example of this reverence …
“”When I am in Marla’s presence, there’s a weird feeling ’cause I know there’s something inside this girl that many artists look for their whole lives and never have.”
Anthony Brunell”
That type of sentiment permeates the early parts of the film, as we share the filmmakers’ wonder at what this young child – unaffected by our jaded world can create.
But the jaded world has its’ say, too. Many rise up and declare Marla as proof that modern, abstract art is really a grand ruse, after all. Her innocence peels away our pretension, because if a child can do it, with no training, how good can it really be? Those who have said, “why would you pay for that? My kid could paint that!” are vindicated in the most literal way.
That tension is dealt with masterfully, as we do see some of that art-world pretension rise up to be exposed in the light of director Amir Bar-Lev’s lens. And yet, he believes there really is something special in Marla’s work. So do many others. So do I.
That is, if it really is Marla’s work. The shape of this documentary changes after 60 minutes runs a story questioning the authenticity of Marla Olmstead’s genius. You see, no one could ever capture Marla painting one of her masterpieces, start to finish, on film. Her parents would excuse her, saying she clams up in front of the camera. Her process, observed, ceases to be her process. And so 60 minutes hides a camera while she paints, and what she paints for their cameras is indeed not up to par with her previous works.
From then on, we side with Bar-Lev, a director who started out in wonder at this pure creativity, and who now desperately wants to believe in it still. But his conscience won’t allow him the luxury of belief. The skeptic needs proof. The rest of the film seeks that proof and seeks, in my mind unsuccessfully, to vindicate Marla and her family, the Olmsteads. Bar-Lev does not condemn or demonize them, and the film is as much about his wrestling with their portrayal, and their trust of him as an artist, as it is about our trust of Marla and her family. The final scenes show Bar-Lev laying all of this out on the table for the Olmsteads, and having them declare, in tears, “I need you to believe me”. Bring on the layers.
We get fascinating scenes of Bar-Lev talking to his camera about where he will take this film and how it will all come out in the end. We are along for that ride, wishing it all were true – wishing no one would be hurt. We are longing to believe in beauty and the power of art.
Thinking about this film after viewing it, a lot of themes come to mind. Here are just the ones that come to mind most quickly;
- Why does the creator of these works matter? Why, when the buyers find out that Marla may have had some help, do they want their money back? What has changed about the painting, really? Is it not still an excellent work, regardless of who created it? This raises interesting questions about the interplay between a creator and his creation. The piece itself cannot fully exist outside of its’ context – who made it and why and under what circumstances. Does an artwork’s power come from withing itself, or also from its’ maker and her intentions?
- Is there really “good” abstract art and “bad”? If it’s all just squiggles and splotches, what does it matter? Ironically, this movie showed me clearly that their is indeed a standard for modern abstract works, and that there is an absolute sense of excellence. There is a sense of shape and narrative and intentionality that is absent in some of Marla’s filmed works, but present in her more popular, “disputed” works, for instance.
- What does our demand for art and the introduction of money and pressure do the the artist? Seeing Marla paint on video, I have to agree with Bar-Lev that the work created is substandard to the earlier works. But is there another explanation for that? The early works done by Marla were done from her heart – without her knowing that she was a good painter whom people loved. Once she became famed and KNEW that she was a good painter, she became conceivably worse. Was this because she started to think, “what would my public want? What do I consciously think looks nicest on a painting?”, rather than just letting it flow from her naturally. I think that would explain the use of more forms (a mickey mouse head, a sun), and colors that seem typical of any 4 year old girl. When she was painting knowing she was good, she was not as good. I wonder how that can apply to us as artists?
One other theme that rounds out the film is the nature of the documentary itself. Are we being told the full truth about the Olmsteads here? Does it matter.
In voicover near the end of the the film, New York Times Cheif Art Critic Michael Kimmelman tells us,
“All writers, all storytellers are imposing their own narrative on something. I mean, all art in some ways is a lie. It looks like a picture of something, but it isn’t that thing, it’s a representation of that thing. Your documentary is on some level going to be a lie. It’s your construction of things … It’s how you wish to represent the truth and how you’ve decided to tell a particular story. By that I don’t mean that certain things don’t happen. Of course they do. It’s not that there’s no such thing as truth. But we come to like and trust a certain story, no necessarily because it’s the most absolutely truthful, but because it’s a thing we tell ourselves which makes sense of the world, at least at this moment.”
If all that isn’t enough to entice you to see this film (writing it is enticing me to see it again already), then don’t bother. But, please, do bother. And then, come share your thoughts on our forums.
Tags: abstract, documentary, Film, modern art, my kid could paint that
Posted in Film | Comments Off
