Event: A View of The King's Speech

The Landmark Theater in West Los Angeles plays a more diverse range of films than many commercial theaters. This includes quite a lot of European films. One of these that has been playing recently is The King's Speech, which was made in cooperation between the UK and Australia. The film fits a current trend, set in the UK between the two world wars, and focuses on the royal family. It is the story of the Duke of York who overcomes a speech impediment as he succeeds his older brother to become King George VI and leads the UK into WW II.

The film was shot beautifully. The use of depth of field, composition, and focal length in regard to spatial distortion was stunning. This is the sort of thing that often distinguishes a European film from a Hollywood film. Depth of field was used to isolate subjects, and was so shallow at times that it drew a significant amount of attention to itself, which is counter to the typical Hollywood film, but it was really pleasant to watch. Composition was used to support the story by exaggerating the space between characters or creating a visual hierarchy which supported an emotional or intellectual one. Wide angle lenses were used to create spatial distortion which induced a negative feeling about the subject.

The king's speech therapist was an Australian, hence the UK/Australia co-production. He was thought a fraud because it turned out he was not a doctor. But he never claimed to be a doctor and in fact was more effective than any doctor. He had got his education in speech therapy because, as an actor, he found he was good at helping shell-shocked WW I soldiers returning to Australia. He developed non-traditional methods which actually worked, instead of the ridiculous methods the king's knighted doctors provided. These doctors were simply "yes men" who would not give the royal family any answer they believed the family did not want to hear and were useless.

The film was melodramatic at the beginning. In fact, it was too melodramatic, to the point of nausea. If this film had one weak point and one strong point, it would be that many elements were overdone. This is a weak point because it was distracting and detracted from the story, and a strong point because it was visually beautiful.

More English Humor

I think that I will once again show how attached I am to Doctor Who and share with all of you, who do still check this blog occasionally, a parody of the show. It stars several British comedic personalities including Rowan Atkinson (Johnny English for those of you who need memory jogging) and Jonathan Pryce (Governor Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean).

Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death

There's a Part II to this as well which you can find easily enough in the side-bar. Enjoy!

Last funny Ali G clip

hey i just wanted to share this ali g clip with andy rooney. i think its hilarious and shows a situation with someone who wont put up with him and loses their patience. i know we talked about in class how he can tend to prey on uneducated people to put up with his antics. well here is the reverse. anyways just thought this is hilarious and would be enjoyed. thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KglSPl7g14Q

Sorry for spamming

hey guys, sorry for spamming the boards, i just wanted to take a second to recommend a really good movie store called cinefile. Its a small independant movie store but has tons of international and independent feature. it is a great way to watch more obscure european movies or other movies from directors or countries we learned about in class that may be hard to find on netflix.

anyways, its Called Cinefile, its right off the 10 at the 405 on santa monica, really close to SC

http://cinefilevideo.com/

anyways, again sorry for spamming but its a cool little store with a huge selection which can also help any of u who have obscure movies to watch for your exams you may have missed diring the semester in other classes. enjoy!

..."A Serbian Film"

So, I'm really hesitant to share this one. But class is over, so I suppose I can avoid the scornful gazes. I had never heard of this film until a friend let me know about it. It's called, literally, "A Serbian Film". I will preface this by saying I have not seen this film yet, and I'm not sure I will- It premiered at South by Southwest in the U.S. this year, and I believe has only been shown in theaters late at night in Serbia. It is supposed to come out in the UK in a heavily edited form (over 4 minutes missing).

Anyways, the film is about a retired Serbian porn-star who is struggling to provide for his family, and when he is approached to star once more in a porn film, this time by an artsy, obsessive director, he accepts. Of course, it turns out all is not as it seems. And from there on the trailer I watched descends into some of the darkest corners of the human soul I have ever seen on film - on par or worse than "Irreversible" and "120 Days of Sodom" - and this was just a trailer...

So I will not attach a link to the trailer. If you really want to watch it, and I'm warning you, you can easily find it online. The Serbian government have been trying to outlaw the film, while the director claims its about the "molestation of the people by the Serbian government...it's about the monolithic power of leaders who hypnotize you to do things you don't want to do. I suppose you can decide for yourself, should you choose to see it.

It's certainly an interesting case study for censorship in Eastern Europe.

Hungarian Film - "Kontroll"

So...I thought I had posted this earlier, but apparently it never went through or something. Anyways, I wanted to share a film I have enjoyed for a few years now, but most people haven't seen.

It's a Hungarian film named, "Kontroll" (not to be confused with Control, another movie about the band, Joy Division). It was directed in 2003 by Nimrod Antal, who's actually become something of a big deal in the U.S for his action films - He directed the new "Predators", which was surprisingly OK.

But I digress. Kontroll is a dark, highly stylized and symbolic comedic thriller roller-coaster ride which takes place entirely within the Budapest subway system, the second oldest in the world (after London). Suffice to say, the locations and mood are amazing, and the film is really a gem in my opinion. It won tons of awards at various film festivals, including Cannes and Palm Springs. I own the DVD.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQnWCPMrII

French Hardcore Rap - Sniper

All the talk of French rap by Kaitlyn in class made me wonder if any of you guys had heard of this French rap group - SNIPER. They're somewhat notorious in France for their controversial lyrics, as well as their success in selling albums.

Here's a video (low-budget, it seems) for their song, "La France"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXWoTTTlvxM

Russian Response to WikiLeaks

While the world is finding that the United States may not be such an imperialist power seeking world domination after all, WikiLeaks has announced new plans. I'm pretty sure that the people who want to believe the U.S. is an evil entity will continue to believe so, regardless of the pleas by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to "deal" with Iran. Sweden is taking more action than the U.S. with a warrant for the arrest of Julian Assange. Whether the allegations in Sweden are bogus are disputed. But what I personally find interesting is the Russian dynamic. The Russians have a history of dealing with these kinds of things with swiftness and brutality. Consider all of the journalists that have died in Russia over the last few years. My recommendation for Mr. Assange is that if he survives the Russians, he should go after the Mexican cartels next.