What I’ve Been Watching:Certified Copy

This is part of a series of posts with my reviews of what I've been watching lately.

Certified Copy

 

 

It is hard to say much about this movie with out venturing into spoily spoilers, but I'll provide some warning before I mention such things. 
Certified Copy takes place in beautiful Tuscany on a quiet Sunday afternoon. It opens on an author giving a talk on a book, titled Certified Copy, which he has just recently published. Afterwards he meets with a local woman who owns an antique shop. They spend the afternoon driving around the countryside discussing the topic of his book – art should be just as meaningful whether or not it is an original.

The entirety of this film revolves around these two characters, and they shine beautifully. The two characters have a very dynamic and interesting relationship, which I'll discuss more in spoilertown. Being the more visual oriented person that I am, I also found the camera work  a joy to experience. From my experience in setting up camera shots of my own, I have an appreciation of films that make clever uses of reflections. And this film does it repeatedly. 

As of writing this it is available on Netflix Instant and Amazon's VOD service. I implore you to check it out and then read below for spoilers.

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I have seen several peoples interpretations on the relationship of the main characters. One is that they had been married, separated, and were giving it another go under the initial guise of a first date.  When James steps out of the cafe to talk on the phone we're never told who he's talking to. It could very well be his other woman and she(The unnamed antique dealer played by Juliette Binoche) could know this and shows her frustration.
Another idea is that they had really just met and, after the interpretation of the cafe owner, they continued the illusion.
And a final suggested interpretation I had heard was the film was actually taking place split between two times. The first part of the film describes their initial meeting, and the last half is truly their reunion as they remember their first meeting. This seems to be the shakiest to me because there's never anything to indicate this.

No matter how you interpret the film, the theme shines. Does a copy of something(a relationship?) hold the same weight as the true thing? If all art(and relationships?) are copies in themselves, how can you differ?
I especially loved the scenes that take place near the end of the film, while they are eating dinner. The frustration expressed over something as trivial as a bottle of wine seemed to truly  punctuate frustration that was bubbling up in James. The camera work surprised me, as I was expecting straight forward shots typical of a romantic film. Especially the initial shot of the older couple at the fountain. The whole wedding scene is such a beautiful display, I am ready to get on a plane to visit Tuscany myself. Both Juliette Binoche and William Shimell  do such gorgeous jobs at expressing the emotion of the moment, I found myself left wanting as the final shots faded down.

 

What I’ve Been Watching:Delicatessen

This is part of a series of posts with my reviews of what I've been watching lately.

 

Delicatessen 

Delicatessen is one I've been meaning to watch for some time now.  The Netflix plot summary had me intrigued, but at the same time there was always something else that seemed more interesting for me to watch. I am, however, very glad I sat down to watch this. A French film from way back in 1991, this dark comedy takes place Post-Apocalyptic France, particularly 1  building in what appears to be an abandoned part of town. A friendly ex-circus clown fills a help-wanted ad for a butcher who has a routine of killing the for the building tenants to eat. 

I have a weakness for movies that take small budgets and make excellent films. This movie really shines at depicting a French wasteland. If you're a fan of the aesthetic used in Fallout series of Video Games you will love this setting.

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, this film offers great characters and some very creative set pieces. I'm a big fan of another of Jeunet's work, City of Lost Children, and this movie is done in a very similar style. All of the actors in this film portray characters in an extremely expressive manner, almost as if they're on a stage rather then in front of a camera. Each family of residents in the building has their own sub-story which all flows beautifully to conclusion. 

 

What I’ve Been Watching:Lillyhammer

This is part of a series of posts with my reviews of what I've been watching lately.

 

Lillyhammer

Lillyhammer stars  Steve Van Zandt, of Bruce Springsteen and The Sopranos fame, as a ex-mafia man from New York who gets relocated to Lillehammer, Norway. The show follows the typical hijinks involved in a New York mobster living in small town Norway. The producers aren't breaking any ground with this plot, and it stays pretty true to what you'd expect as far as characters and story arcs. The acting is about what you would expect, with the exception of characters in the US scenes. Those are outright horrible. Those scenes are few, and the beautiful setting of Norway more then makes up for it. A variety of caracters set an interesting stage in a country that is not often show in popular culture.

 What intrieges me more is how it is getting produced. This marks the first production that is being offered as original productions from Netflix. Rather then have the streaming giant get TV seasons after the cable channel is done with them, they are cutting straight to the source. All of season 1 is available at the time this was written on Netflix Instant,  with Season 2 planned.  Having long been one to warmly greet the coming changes in media and entertainment delivery, I'm excited to see what ground is broke by this and other on-demand media sites producing their own content. 

 

The tops

Rather than post a list of my top 3 movies, albums, books, etc. I am instead just going to post my favorite things released this year. I contemplated including anything new to me, not just newly released, but I felt that would do this year an injustice.

 

Favorite Movie
Hugo
 - There was a lot of movies that moved me this year. Tree of Life and Midnight in Paris both made big impacts when I saw them. That being said, nothing captured my imagination and heart as Hugo did. 

 

Favorite Album
Florence + The Machine – Lungs
    The introduction of Spotify to the states has changed the way most everyone I know listens to music. Now I can listen to entire albums before deciding to purchase them. Even though I don't quite agree with a lot of Spotify's practices(mainly their close association and dependency on Facebook, but that's a discussion for another day) I can't argue with the results they provide. Free music is something I won't turn away. All that being said, Lungs, was the album I continued to replay all year.

 

Favorite Indie Game

Limbo

I've said it before and I'll say it again – I'm a sucker for beautiful game art. I can't tell you the number of times I have purchased some game because it had gorgeous art only to find the gameplay lacking. Part of me expected Limbo to be the same way, but silhouette is one of my favorite artistic styles. When I sat down to play it, I was immediately swept away. This game provides you no story, no help or hints, no text at all. Instead you have to navigate this world entirely on your own. I encourage anyone and everyone to take advantage of the Steam sale going on right now and purchase this for $5. As a mate of mine said "I can't help but be drawn to this game and terrified all at the same time."

 

Favorite image in the Media

Christian's protecting Muslims protesters.

As Time magazine showed, 2011 was the year of the protester. All over the world people are rising up to fight for their beliefs. This display of love brings tears to my eyes.

 

Favorite vacation spot

Bend, OR

 

 

 

So many wonderful things happened this year. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings.

Sunday Movie Special

There was 3 movies this week that I feel everyone should be made aware of. Not necessarily a review as much as a public service announcement. 

The Good - 

My sister has been telling me to watch this ever since it was released in theaters. Usually I'm not a big fan of sports movies but the acting in this was enough that now I'm considering buying this.

 

The Frusturating –

This movie had promise. The entire thing takes place inside a coffin. No shot outside of it. But from the very beginning I felt like the filmmakers were trying to push their agenda. And when it's this obvious, it just frusterates me.

 

The Funny - 

Emily originally picked this up because she mistakenly believed this was a Month Python piece. Once she realized it was not she almost put it back until the librarian explained that it was actually a good comedy and still worth watching. 

Comic-pros and cons

Last Saturday Emily and I went to our first con – The Emerald City Comicon. It was an absolute blast. 

We were only able to go on Saturday so we got up super early and drove up to Seattle for the day. The drive was mostly foggy, so I can’t tell you I saw much great scenery on the way up there. The Seattle skyline, however, was beautiful in the rising sun. 

We used GottaPark for our parking reservation. I was a little wary at first, but we managed to find the tinest of parking spots for my car to slip into. 

After getting inside the Con, I was blown away at the sheer size and amount of people. There were people there dressed up as every fictional(and non-fictional) character you could think of. The showroom floor was filled with a dizzying array of vendors and artists.  We wandered the floor for an hour just looking at the different vendors of comic books and web artists. It was great to see all the artists behind some of my favorite web comics.

At noon we went our first panel, The Guild. A favorite webseries of both Emily and mine. This was one of the main draws for both of us to go. It was an absolute blast. A fan of Wil Wheaton since the Star Trek days it was a great experience to finally get to see him in person. I’ve loved the writing and work that Felicia Day and Amy Okuda have accomplished on The Guild and other projects.

 

After the panel we stopped back by the showroom hall. I bought a print from Jeph Jacques, artist/author of QuestionableContent and Emily bought a print from an artist whom she discovered while wandering around the showroom. 

We then proceeded to go to the autograph line and wait for Brent Spiner’s autograph. I had promised my sister I would grab her one while there. Emily wanted to have him write something about the two of us standing in line for it, but he veto’d that promptly. I then tried to explain the spelling of my sisters name, which completely barfunkled the man.

 

After completing this quest, we switched lines to the Felicia Day/Amy Okuda line where we waited again. This time Felicia complemented my Red Camera and we joked with Amy about her photos.

 

Finally after all that time waiting we went to our last panel, which was a showing of the web series JourneyQuest  I’m interested in film production myself and always love a chance to see people who are suceeding in this field. 

 

I really enjoyed my time and can’t wait till next year. I will definetly be planning my trip better and looking in to staying multiple days.