"If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries."

Chungking Express

1994; Hong Kong; 98 min.

Director: Kar Wai Wong

Screenplay: Kar Wai Wong

Music: Faye Wong, The Mamas and the Papas, Dennis Brown, Dinah Washington, Michael Galasso

Cast:

Woman in blonde wig - Brigitte Lin

Cop 663 - Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Faye - Faye Wong

He Zhiwu, Cop 223 - Takeshi Kaneshiro

Air Hostess - Valerie Chow

Manager of 'Midnight Express' - Chen Jinquan

Richard - Lee-na Kwan

Man - Zhiming Huang

The 2nd May - Liang Zhen

Man - Songshen Zuo

"Chungking Express" is an absolutely beautiful and amazing film. "Chungking Express" is the story of two cops and their romantic lives rolled into one. First, we encounter the woman in the blonde wig (Brigitte Lin) and her relationship with Cop 223 (Takeshi Kaneshiro). In a fast-paced segment of drug dealing, high speed chases, and shootings, the audience begins to wonder what exactly the woman in the blonde wig does. just as the audience starts to question that mystery, we are shifted over to another cop romance (cromance?) involving Faye (Faye Wong) and Cop 663 (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). The rest of the film follows the romance between Faye and Cop 663, leaving the audience to wonder what happened to the first part of the story, and what its significance is to the film.  

I love some of the ideas that were brought up in the film. A good film is one that makes you think, and this film definitely did. One idea that I liked was how you can pass by so many people every day without knowing what an impact they could possibly have on your life. I think that idea is just so profound and probably quite true. It's amazing to think of all of the people's paths that you cross and when you may or may not meet them again. On a daily basis, you could have bumped into the person you're going to marry or brushed past your future best friend. I think that by calling the cops in the film by numbers, the director is achieving the same effect. Those cops could be anyone. The numbers add to the anonymity of the characters. Another idea that I liked in the film was the concept of expiration dates. Cop 663 brings this idea up relating to pineapple and his ex-girlfriend, May. I love when Cop 663 talks about if love has an expiration date. In contrast to this idea of expiration dates, there's an idea expressed in this film that time moves on. Your choice is either to move with it and progress or live in the past. But also, is time a constant cycle? While the audience switches stories, we're still dealing with two cops. In the end, (SPOILER ALERT) Faye becomes a flight attendant, just like May was. Aside from the similar professions, a common theme of romance links the two stories together. I think that many elements of this film are very romantic, and even scenes that are fairly graphic are tastefully filmed.

Both the music and the cinematography in this film add to the plot to truly make it amazing. I love the song, "California Dreamin'," and had that leitmotif stuck in my head for the time after I watched the film. The cinematography in this film is absolutely outstanding. I love all of the camera effects that Wong uses. His camerawork is truly innovative and unlike anything that I have seen before. Wong uses many canted angles often, which are usually used by directors as a method to show conflict, as well as many other techniques. Below are some frames that I found particularly amazing:

One method that the director uses is a blurred shot or freeze frame. These help to add to the idea that time goes by even if you are caught up in your own world.

This scene is one of the ones that is shot in a very sophisticated, tasteful manner. For example, this scene uses symbols instead of bluntly showing you what happens between the two.

The director uses reflections many times to show characters in the film. The reflections add another dimension to the character and help the audience to literally see them from another perspective.

I think that it's necessary to go back and re-watch this film. I have a feeling that you could understand more of the plot if you do so. Some of the plot is still somewhat confusing for me - I plan on re-watching "Chungking Express." I may have never come across this film in my career as a film viewer, but I'm glad that I did - this film exceeded my expectations. I would highly recommend this film - it's amazing!

iRate: 5/5 airplanes

Trailer: Click here!

An Art of Film First...

For the first time in AoF history, the Period 7 rating has surpassed the Period 5 rating! For which film, you ask? None other than "Jesus Camp!" And, the two periods tied for ratings of "Chungking Express." This is monumental and quite epic. I never thought this day would come... hahah! Check it out for yourself on Mr. D's Website...

The Results Are In...

I was so excited when I got a bigger turnout in my second blog poll! Yay! So, here are the results...

Question: What most attracts you to a film?
Answers:

• Actors/Actresses
• Director (33%)
• Plot (50%)
• Genre (16%)

Thanks for voting! Make sure to vote in my next poll - coming soon!

"Who's in the house? J-C!"

Jesus Camp

2006; USA; 87 min.

Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady

Screenplay: n/a

Music: Force Theory, Neill Sanford Livingston, Michael Furjanic

Cast:

Becky Fischer - Becky Fischer

Ted Haggard - Ted Haggard

Mike Papantonio - Mike Papantonio

I have already had many interesting conversations with HippieKidd about this film. "Jesus Camp" is a film that doesn't end after the 87 minutes of Evangelical exposition. The effects of the film resonate throughout the viewers. To say that this movie sparks discussion would be an understatement. "Jesus Camp" documents children and the Evangelical faith. It's hard to post about such a touchy subject like religion, but I will try my best. I just want to mention that absolutely nothing in this blog is meant to insult another religion in any way. That being said, "Jesus Camp" was truly an eye-opening film. We're very accustomed to our own environment and surroundings. It's hard to coat check our bias at the door. In psychology, the false consensus effect is when we believe that more people think the same way that we do. For example, liberals in New York might believe that more of the country is liberal than actually is. I think that the false consensus effect is completely applicable to this film. I didn't think these seemingly radical groups existed in such large numbers as they do.

Now for the controversial stuff... First, I think it's great that these kids have a passion for something. I think their dedication to their religion probably keeps them out of trouble and will continue to later on in life. The issue of indoctrination arises when discussing the film. I think most of us in some way, are indoctrinated into our respective religions. I was raised Jewish. Not really strictly, but I did go to Hebrew school and had a bat-mitzvah. At the time, I didn't really have strong feelings about religion either way. I knew though that getting bat-mitzvahed (that really doesn't look like a word) and studying religion would be important to me as an adult. Reflecting on Judaism, I really do like the concepts about helping others. It is something that I hope to pass on to my kids - I am proud to be Jewish (although still I'm not highly religious - I like the cultural aspects of Judaism, like the holidays). If I really had opposed Judaism, I assume that my parents would have let me stop my studies. If I had decided to make a decision and switch religions, I don't think I would have been disowned or something. I know that my parents, as do most in all religions, would like me to continue our religion when I have a family of my own. So as a viewer of "Jesus Camp," I didn't come in with any strong opinions or prejudices. I would like to think of myself as a neutral viewer when it comes to religion. I wanted to check if my religion was biasing my perception of the film, so I talked to a couple of my classmates, who were of other religions. My friend Aly had similar reactions to the film as I did. My other peer, David, said that he was personally offended by the film. I was glad to know that it wasn't my religious upbringing that made this film alarming. I think that I was, however, affected with a regional bias - the false consensus effect at work.

What I didn't like about this film was how there were children depicted crying and distraught. I found this to be extremely upsetting. I don't think religion should be something that makes you feel badly about yourself. Seeing these kids so upset over things that they had allegedly done was awful. I felt like it was too often that I saw tears streaming down faces and faces reddening with embarrassment. I don't know if kids should be living in fear of others judging their actions. I do understand that in some religions it is customary to repent. I just found all of the crying to be particularly disturbing. Another aspect of the film that scared me was Becky Fischer. (When I put "Jesus Camp" into the search box on Facebook out of curiosity, I came up with many groups that were anti-Becky Fischer.) Some of the concepts she expressed and some of the words that she said truly worried me. The power of organized religion is a scary thing, no matter what religion it is. At the same time, religion can be a great unifier.

I think that the producers did a great job of making a seemingly unbiased film. I'm sure elements of bias are there if you hunt for them. I didn't see any of them myself though. I would recommend the film for group discussion. It's truly an intriguing topic. I think that a great idea for a book would be to experience Evangelicalism firsthand (sort of undercover, I guess), and then write out one's experiences. (Jesus Camp: The Novel, anyone?) Anyhow, I found this film to be extremely interesting yet quite disturbing at the same time. I think that this was an amazing film in the fact that it had an ability of solicit a reaction out of its viewers, and that's exactly what a documentary should do.

iRate: 3/5 churches

Trailer: Visit the Jesus Camp website for videos and more...

"Greek girls do not lose their pants!"

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

2008; USA; 117 min.

Director: Sanaa Hamri

Screenplay: Elizabeth Chandler, Ann Brashares

Music: various artists

Cast:

Tibby Tomko-Rollins - Amber Tamblyn

Lena Kaligaris - Alexis Bledel

Carmen Lowell - America Ferrera

Bridget Vreeland - Blake Lively

Julia - Rachel Nichols

Ian - Tom Wisdom

Carmen's Mom - Rachel Ticotin

Brian McBrian - Leonardo Nam

Kostas - Michael Rady

I rarely come across sequels of great movies that are equally amazing. "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" was definitely one of these films. I loved the first movie so much, and this movie is definitely another favorite of mine. I could be the fifth sister. For this post, I'd like to take a look at the New York Times review of this movie:

In his review, Stephen Holden talks about this film being an unrealistic, overly sweet film. He claims that the situations that the girls are in do not happen to the everyday teenager (the perfect boyfriends, the ivy league schools, the extreme wisdom). While I do think that the plot is very idealistic, there are some (well, few...) elements of the plot that are "real." For example, in this film, Tibby (Alexis Bledel) and Brian (Leonardo Nam) break up and deal with a pregnancy scare. Bridget (Blake Lively) has to deal with the aftermath of her mother's suicide and the discovery of secret letters from her grandmother. Holden does brings up the issue of the actresses being in high school for part of the film and then in college, when they look older. Holden does make a valid point about the idealism in the film, but I think he just can't see the magic in the "Pants."

It's clear that I love this film. The scenery in the film was breathtaking and accurate. I was actually extremely surprised to see a match cut in the film. It occurred when the film was transitioning from the story of one girl to another. The match cut actually really made sense here. Throughout the film, the director tries to portray an interconnectedness between the girls. I couldn't believe that even the cinematography works to emphasize this bond! I didn't expect to be seeing classic film elements in my fun film. I would highly recommend this film! I know that I will be watching it over and over again - vive le pants!

iRate: 5/5 pants

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9wU-SfV-SQ

The Results Are In...

Here are the long awaited results of my first blog poll...

Question: What has been your favorite full length film of the course so far?
Answers:

• Do The Right Thing (50%)
• V For Vendetta (25%)
• Elephant (25%)
• North By Northwest
• Spirited Away
• High Noon
• Rushmore

Thanks for voting! Make sure to vote in my next poll - coming soon!

A Reinterpretation of "M" With The Cinema Connoisseur

What happens when two friends get together to record an impromptu interpretation of "M" (1931)? Check out the video above to find out! Special thanks to Linnea and Sara L. for their ideas and camera help!!!

*Sorry for all of the video embedding code stuff - I'm still figuring this video thing out!!!