Best cinematography Oscars winners (1927-2016).
Emmanuel Lubezki won in the last three consecutive years for Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014), and The Revenant (2015).
The Danish Poet is a 2006 animated short film written, directed, and animated by Torill Kove and narrated by Liv Ullmann.
And the oscar for best reaction goes to... The Iranians
The director of the Iranian film A Separation, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film last night, delivered a heartfelt plea for the people of Iran to be recognised for their contributions to culture and not just for the harsh words exchanged lately between political officials.
"At this time many Iranians all over the world are watching us and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award or a film or a filmmaker, but because at the time when talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, the people who respect all cultures and civilisations and despise hostility and resentment."
La Joie de Vivre (The Joy of Living) is a key work of French animation. This modern, floral ballet made by Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin in 1934 falls within the modern aesthetics of the interwar years, strongly influenced by art deco.
The cartoon was drawn by Anthony Gross (1895−1984). He was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Art before moving to Paris to train as an etcher and engraver. He became interested in animations, of which he made several.
A beautiful scene from the avant garde French silent film classic titled M?nilmontant. Starring Nadia Sibirska?a as a French girl whose parents are murdered before her eyes; looking for love in the wrong place she becomes pregnant out of wedlock, is homeless and starving, and suddenly finds kindness in the most unlikely of places. Directed by Dimitri Kirsanoff, who was married to the actress.
Hugo Cabret and Max
Max and I have just finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The book is about a 12-year-old orphan who secretly lives within the walls of a Parisian train station. Selznick was inspired by a 1902 film, Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon), by French filmmaker George M?li?s, the father of special effects, who is a character in the novel.
The film is loosely based on two popular novels of the time: From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. It is recognised as one of the first films of the science fiction genre.
And here are some moon related posts:
>> Moonlight
>> The Moon
>> Moon look-alike
Persepolis is nominated for best animated feature film Oscar. Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi push the boundaries of animation and politics with the life story of an Iranian girl.
Tintin & his dog Snowy - Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet in Titanic
Last May Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg caused a flurry of excitement among Tintin fans when they announced they were bringing three of Herg?'s comic-book creations to cinema. Each director will helm one movie, with the director of the third installment to be announced. Steven Moffat of Doctor Who fame is writing the script for the movie, which will be made using performance-capture technology and produced in digital 3-D.
A scene from The Seventh Seal and a book cover.
Bergman lost his final game of chess.
One of the world's leading directors of modern cinema Ingmar Bergman, has died at the age of 89. Death itself had long been one of the subjects of his films - most famously represented as a chess player in his film, The Seventh Seal.
After Stanley Kubrick?s The Shining
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, turned down chance to star in Oliver Stone film but he would have been happy with Stanley Kubrick.
George Clooney & Ismail Haniyeh
Last night I watched the DVD of geopolitical thriller "Syriana". It shows CIA is more interested in making the world safe for U.S. oil conglomerates than actually tracking terrorist networks. The film is an example of hyperlink cinema.
Carry on Flying could be another title for a new Carry On film starring Tony Blair as Kenneth Williams!
>> read the story here
The Carry On films were a long-running series of British comedy movies. They were a mix of parody, farce and double entendres. They are seen as classic examples of British humour.
Spoof Kazakh reporter Borat scored a huge box office hit by offending and humiliating Americans & Kazakhs. Borat bears an uncanny resemblance to Mahir ?ağrı; a resident of İzmir, Turkey, who became an Internet celebrity in 1999. Both men are journalists, favour wearing suits, struggle with English, love playing table tennis, and are wildly enthusiastic about sex!
Pen?lope Cruz & Sophia Loren
I went to see the latest Pedro Almod?var film Volver starring Penelope Cruz and Carmen Maura. It's a great film full of vibrant colours and a subversive plot. In Volver, Almod?var returns to exploring the lives of Spanish women - which characterized his early films - and to his quirky sense of humour. Apparently for Volver, Almod?var asked Cruz to wear a "false bum" so she would appear more curvy like Sophia Loren.
This is the Self Preservation Society
A classic not to be missed:
An unemployed Iranian living in London was looking through the job section of the Guardian, and saw that there was a vacancy in the London Zoo. He decides to give it a try. The next day he goes to the Zoo, and presents himself to the Zoo keeper for an interview.
The Zoo keeper informs of the vacancy: "You see we had a Gorilla here, who was very popular with the crowds. Sadly the Gorilla died last week. The crowds have gone away. We made a costume out of the Gorilla's skin. We want some one to wear the costume, and pretend to be a Gorilla. Hopefully that way we can get the crowd back. Can you do the job?"
The Iranian thinks for a while and, says to himself what the hell. So he accepts.
Next day he dutifully turns up for work. He wears the Gorilla skin, and gets into a cage. He starts to behave like a Gorilla. He excels in the job. The crowds return to see the Gorilla in their hordes. He swings from the ropes. He bangs his chest, just like a Gorilla. The crowds love him. Every day he improves his acts.
One day he swings so hard, that he is thrown out of his own cage into the adjacent one. He looks up and finds a Lion in the cage. He is actually in the Lion's cage. He cries out ' Ya hazrat eh Abbas'. To which lion says, ' Agha Shoma ham Irani hasteed? Are you Iranian too? '
>> View larger image of The Iranian Job: where King Kong meets The Italian Job!
One small step for a dog, One Giant Vegetable for Movies!
Gromit doesn't express himself in words but his facial expressions particularly his eyes speak volumes. Great Fun!
>> Wallace & Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Iranian policewomen using ropes to get down a building and Angelina Jolie getting away after killing an Iranian prince in the film Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
The new short Store Wars movie chronicles the adventures of Cuke Skywalker and Princess Lettuce as they lead an organic rebellion. The organic market "has been taken over by the dark side of the farm," Obi Wan Cannoli tells the cucumber. "An empire of pollution and pesticides has ruthlessly conquered the market, nearly wiping out our organic birthright."
Below is my new proposed version for the second episode:
Store Wars II, Revenge of the Sikh
(Sikh is the Persian word for skewer)
Notice the R2-D2 as a barbeque grill!
To find out how the organic foods save the day and watch the movie, log onto www.storewars.org.
After the Naked Gun, a film about an incompetent gun-toting lunatic who creates total chaos and destruction wherever he goes.
Read this article by another hyphenated Adib about the neo-conservative-Likudnik!
Before Weblogs, there was Harvey Pekar and his homegrown autobiographical comic books American Splendor. Last night we watched the DVD, which like its namesake comic documents Pekar's life, a not so mild-mannered hospital filing clerk. Inspired by his friend Robert Crumb, Peckar decided to retell his life in a comic book. 'Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,' is what Pekar said to Crumb when he presented him with his first comic book.
(After Reservoir Dogs)
A comic film that mocks the clergy has become a box-office hit in Iran. Apparently the film has struck a chord with the public. The film tells the story of a thief who escapes prison by posing as a cleric. In one scene the main character refers to Quentin Tarantino as "brother Tarantino"! Read more.
On Sunday I took Max for the first time to cinema. We saw "Finding Nemo" which was stunning. The film is about a father searching for his captive son, a bit like this story in Guantanamo Bay.
We went and saw "Secretary", a black comedy movie directed by Steven Shainberg based on a story by Mary Gaitskill. The fact that the story is written by a woman is quite interesting. James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal play the two main characters (Mr Grey) the lawyer and (Lee Holloway) his secretary.
Plot Outline: After leaving a mental institution, Lee had to find a job. She learnt typing skills and answered Mr Grey's advertisement for a secretary.
"You'll be bored to death," Mr Grey tells Lee.
"I want to be bored," she says.
"It's very dull work," he warns.
"I like dull work," she says.
He circles her typing errors with a red pen and says:
"Miss Holloway, come into the library, immediately!"
He needs to control, perhaps in order to avoid emotional attachment and she discovers sadomasochism!
Weird stuff!!
Watched two so-so videos:
"I am Sam" and "Random hearts" .
This quote is from "My big fat greek wedding " which I saw last week:
"Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will become."
Very deep! Anyway, from now on I will miss working at the Video shop!!