Going back to school tomorrow

Thanksgiving break is over, partially glad in a way. Finals are coming up, my grades are already too high to be impacted by finals, with the exception of one class. I'm not going back to be stressful, so I'm kind of eager to get back to my films. One week of classes, one week of exams with plenty of in between time, and four relatively blow off exams.

I'm excited over Christmas break since I know I'll be overspending theater tickets and the post season football is guaranteed to be fun. I had such a good first semester.

Boredom has consumed my soul

Here. Read my IMDB profile.

"sophia coppola could make a porno and it would be mfreak's new favorite movie" NortonScrubs

http://moviefreakne t1.blogspot.com/

AKA: Freak, Freaky, Freako, Da Freak, Freakazoid, Fweaky, The Freak of Nature, Freakish_Eccentrici ty

Favorite Actors: Bogart, Olivier, Pacino, Leung, Stewart, Cruise, Freeman, Holden, Guinness, Farrell

Favorite Actresses: Ingrid Bergman, Maggie Cheung, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi, Joan Fontaine, Isabelle Adjani, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Christie, Faye Wong, Keira Knightley

Favorite Directors: Hitchcock, Wilder, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Mann, Wong, Lean, Miyazaki, Ozu, Fellini, Allen, Scorsese, Zhang, Jarmusch, Spielberg

Current Obsessions:
Marie Antoinette
Three Times
Keira Knightley
Kirsten Dunst
Isabelle Adjani



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Mr_Chopin on Miami Vice:
Mann took an entirely new direction and blew most people away, including myself, a diehard Mann fan. A concise masterpiece that is sprinting from the start, Mann wastes no time defining the depth of his characters (or lack thereof). I've heard the word "Antonioni-esq ue," and I agree. It's another masterpiece from the man that defies genre with each new effort, continually frustrating the masses with his length and pace while revealing the emptiness of the "art elite," who can't see past the word "Action."

gloriousvain on Miami Vice:
Miami Vice will always have two major things going against it: the fact that it is technically a remake of an 80's television show, and the inappropriate associations simple minds are bound to bring along in regards to the title. Why can't people accept that something can be used in name only? Had this come out under a completely different name, I think it's popularity would have automatically been higher. But no less - the movie is hardly about its story (although anyone who says that their either (a) isn't one or (b) that it's too hard to follow automatically falls into my spectrum of idiots); that's just the platform on which Mann launches his existentially ponderous images. Performances that internalize characters are always overlooked or called terrible; as cops who consciously perform the roles demanded of them (or as criminal minds who do the same), the cast is almost uniformly excellent. The alien cinematography only heightens the sense of emotional disconnect, the inner lining being a jazzy, rugged feeling of angst and sexy suave. In my book, being macho has never been so fu cking cool.

Mr_Chopin on Marie Antoinette:
It's not suprising that the two most challenging films of the year are the two most underrated. Again, Coppola's writing leaves other films, like The Prestige's explain-away ending, in the dust. Dialogue is natural and sound doesn't always permit us to hear everything. There's a silence that pervades Versailles (several shots felt straight out of Miami Vice), leaving Marie locked in a shallow world where there is little beyond the extravagant splendor and perfunctory routine (kind of like The New World, 2005's most underrated). Coupled with the slow pace, it's not hard to understand why people find it "boring." The anachronistic score, which adds depth to Marie's condition on several layers, is another trap for people in hopes of a traditional period-piece. MA is a challenge for the viewer: just like Miami Vice, people aren't ready for it, which is why it's another sorely underrated film. And Coppola's direction hasn't lost the touch that provided magic three years ago: the numerous similarities between this and LiT (dare I say auteur?) hint at a mature and promising future.

gloriousvain on Marie Antoinette:
Marie Antoinette is a victim in nearly the same way. People decide beforehand that the film (1) is and (2) should be a formal historical film, so when it goes off the beaten path, it's automatically doing something wrong. We knows about the revolution, and any idiot can look up the facts in a textbook. Now it's time to let the artists do the reinterpretations for the people who can distinguish between what goes into the fiction and non-fiction section. Sofia's juxtaposition of youthful modern vibes onto the past only brings us that much closer to understanding them, and even if this doesn't proclaim to be true to history, one can only come to understand the real world better if one looks at multiple, "alternate&quo t; takes on it. As for the people who have a problem with the dialogue, etc.; have you ever seen a god damned Altman film? Take off your please-cater-to-me bib and get messy for once in your damn life.
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for the love of film.....



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Best Film Music:
1. Once Upon a Time in the West
2. Taxi Driver
3. Lawrence of Arabia
4. A Clockwork Orange
5. The Third Man
6. 2046
7. In the Mood For Love
8. 8 1/2
9. Three Colors: Red
10. Star Wars
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Film Cinematography:
1. Vertigo (Robert Burke)
2. Once Upon a Time in the West (Tonino Delli Colli)
3. 2046 (Christopher Doyle)
4. La Dolce Vita (Otello Martelli)
5. L'Avventura (Aldo Scavarda)
6. In the Mood For Love (Christopher Doyle)
7. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Geoffrey Unsworth)
8. Heat (Dante Spinotti)
9. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Janusz Kaminski)
10. Dr. Zhivago (F.A. Young)
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Top 20 performances since 1990:
Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas
Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption
Al Pacino - The Insider
Tony Leung - Happy Together
David Thewlis - Naked
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern
Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
Helena Bonham Carter - Fight Club
Emily Watson - Breaking the Waves
Elisabeth Shue - Leaving Las Vegas
Tom Cruise - Collateral
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Bill Murray - Lost in Translation
Tony Leung - In the Mood For Love
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven
Maggie Cheung - Clean
Scarlett Johansson - Lost in Translation
Maggie Cheung - In the Mood For Love
Evan Rachel Wood - Thirteen
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Top Performances of All Time:
Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter
Isabelle Adjani - The Story of Adele H.
Julianne Moore - Far From Heaven
Gong Li - Raise the Red Lantern
Dorothy Malone - Written on the Wind
Laurence Olivier - Wuthering Heights
William Holden - Stalag 17
Jack Lemmon - Days of Wine and Roses
Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon
Nicolas Cage - Leaving Las Vegas
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Top 10 of 2005:
1. The New World (Terrence Malick)
2. Three Times (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
3. Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles (Zhang Yimou)
4. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee)
5. Pride and Prejudice (Joe Wright)
6. March of the Penguins (Luc Jacquet)
7. Match Point (Woody Allen)
8. Cache (Michael Haneke)
9. The Child (Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
10. Shanghai Dreams (Wang Xiaoshuai)
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Movies I hate:
1. Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994)
2. The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)
3. Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003)
4. When Harry Met Sally... (Rob Reiner, 1989)
5. Bully (Larry Clark, 2001)
6. The Rules of Attraction (Roger Avary, 2002)
7. Kung Fu Hustle (Stephen Chow, 2004)
8. Crash (Paul Haggis, 2004)
9. The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson, 2004)
10. Cocoon (Ron Howard, 1985)
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My AIM: MFreakOne
My MSN: movie_freak1000@hot mail.com

Wow. They can act

Someone besides the bird needs to reply



Vocalizing his tormented soul



Describing his honor as an American



Describing his will to quit drinking



Displaying a mixed anxiety and vocal power



Saying his last words before his heart dies out



Narrating her thoughts with concise detail



Losing her mind from an addiction to her lover



Looks away from her friend for the last time



Loses her innocence from the torment of her rivals



Telling the truth about the innocence of her lover

Oh and a note

This blog totally sucks balls, but it's on its way up.

I can't rid myself of my obsession

Asia's finest of this millenium


Bleakness



Colorfulness



Poignancy



Emotion



Poetry

More entertaining than movie popcorn

The Elite List: Top 10 Films + Performances of 2005

This list looks a lot different than my list a couple of months ago, from a couple of new viewings, and completing most of the important 2005 films and a few revisions, this is how my final 2005 year looks like. I take back what I said about 2005 not being one of the better years of the decade, because it just might even top 2004 (sans 2046), which was my favorite year of the decade before. It certainly has more overall films in my complete 250 list (a total of 9). A truly excellent year for films.

Best Films
1. The New World - Without a doubt, the most ambitious and take-your-breath-away film of the year, scene after scene of sweeping cinematography, editing, camera movements, and storytelling devices make this one of the most remarkable films of the decade.

2. Three Times - Possibly the most thematically complex film of the year, left me awed in its themes of lost time, love, and freedom. And it left much more to be desired later on.

3. Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles - Sublime sentimentality at its best. Zhang wears his heart on his sleeve, creating sympathetic characters who we grow to love, emphasizes the importance of human dependency, and most of all, gets the tears out of the audience, not forcibly, but naturally.

4. Brokeback Mountain - Right there with Riding Alone for the most affecting film of the year. Hollywood storytelling at its best; freeflowing, melancholy, and humane, clever in its use of old themes to mold a story. Right after Far From Heaven for the best "simple" film of the decade.

5. Pride and Prejudice - Updates the 1940 version with better art direction, better cinematography, lesser importance on superfluous details and more on the central characters. But most of all, a sublime Keira Knightley performance.

6. March of the Penguins - While being criticized for it being inconsequential, this film is a sweet, touching, and beautiful. Another nature documentary? Nah.

7. Match Point - Concise and addictive drama/thriller with an excellent matching of genre elements. Allen truly returns to form, possibly his best in over fifteen years.

8. Cache - Another very addictive thriller, a psychological thriller that asks us to dive into our deepest conscience.

9. The Child (L'Enfant) - Complex morality drama in the vein of the Italian classic The Bicycle Thief; very nice art designs with the gritty urban environments.

10. Shanghai Dreams - Lost itself in the last hour, but it is a solid, if not one-of-a-kind film about society affecting a young girl's life.

Best Performances:
1. Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice - Explosive vocal power yet not over the top, very sensitive to her character's middle class role, and portrays sublimely Lizzie's prideful and selfish personality. A three-dimensional performance and one of my favorites of this decade.

2. Ken Takakura - Riding Alone For Thousands of Miles - Never over the top, not once indifferent, just gives the most natural performance of the year. I especially like the scene in front of the camera, where he reveals the sadness of his character with bottled emotions more sublimely than any Hollywood cry could ever do.

3. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain - Along with Takatura, the most affecting male performance of the year, denotes the most subdued and sensitive gestures with the indifferent glances and the long faces.

4. Q'Orianka Kilcher - The New World - Just sunk into her role with tremendous naturalness, literally becoming Pocahontas.

5. Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line - Watching Reese and her energetic, youthful vibe, we can forget some of the film's shortcomings. Very subdued performance.

6. Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line - Like Reese said "he gave his heart into this role."

7. Qi Shu - Three Times - Bitchiness, coldness, repression, and playfulness. Nailed them perfectly in her multiple roles.

8. Amy Adams - Junebug - She just totally like...owned the supporting actress nominees.

9. Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain - Whether or not he convinced the audience that he was gay still doesn't explain the fact that he gave so much to Twist's character. I did not see him screw up a line once.

10. David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck. - The cool cat, professional and objective. A very "in character role" which he nailed solidly.


Next up: Top 35 film of the decade (if you can handle it)

This blog is likely to go through some major updates

My spirit is back!