I think when I sat down to watch Renaissance I had already problematically decided that this film was going to be special - So I will say now that I feel extremely let down. As I said though my expectations were extremely high, so take what I write with a pinch of salt and cogitate for yourself when you get the chance to catch this flick, which I would still recommend wholeheartedly.
So where does this film fall flat on its face? Well for one thing, the animation is shoddy - most noticeably the motion capture technique used to animate the film. Nothing is more bothersome and unpleasant than the brain telling you someone’s movement, their actions and their body is slightly wrong. It’s like looking at an Escher drawing and being unsettled because your brain is constantly confused by what you see.
There are moments of clarity and beauty in the movie, but they are few and far between. What we find instead is that Computer animation has sanitized future Paris and turned it into a box model. If I could have made any decision about the animation at the beginning I would have laid down the law and said this is being done by hand, no two ways about it. I’ve found the recent trend in Computer animated films quite depressing, but on the other hand mixed media films which combine hand and Computer have excited me greatly.
My biggest gripe with Renaissance apart from it’s animation is the film’s indecisiveness about what it is. The producers obviously wanted to add some Hollywood Factor and so at points in the film the cliché runs thick and free, and you begin to wonder whether it’s a French film you sat down to watch. I have a deep respect for French film, so seeing this desperate kowtow to the HW Gods sickened me. The potential for a deeper and more revealing observation of human mortality and it’s value - which is one of the themes of the film - is lost in a hail of bullets.
Renaissance is in my opinion one of the worst kind of films, those that could have been something special, but failed. Every step of the way though it falls short of its goal and in doing so becomes mediocre.
OK, was having a little disagreement with a friend earlier over Cinema and it’s importance. I know that most people aren’t as passionate as I am about Film, and that’s fine, we dig what we dig. However my friend is a passionate reader, and I think any reader who considers them avid should consider Cinema as a medium that is conducive to complementing their reading experience, and sometimes contributing towards an experience that reading just can’t give.
Let’s break it down. There are a great many differences between Cinema and Books. This is so obvious is hardly needs illustrating. However I find there to be one striking similarity, and an important one at that - books and film are just different mediums to convey a narrative. Their relative strengths lie in how they convey that narrative. I think the significant thing here is that Film can convey things that a book can never hope to illustrate clearly, and of course vice versa.
I will keep this brief as it will get to the point where I blather so much I will just confuse myself. I would simply say that any reader who looks down their nose at Film is doing themselves a disservice. I’ll finish the post with some trailers from remarkable films that have come out or will be released this year.
A Scanner Darkly
Brick
Renaissance
Pan’s Labyrinth
The Fountain
I think they speak for their selves, these are remarkable films - and there are many more like them around. Do not just settle for the word as writ, seek to compliment and enrich it through other mediums such as Film, Theatre & Music.
Well I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get round to it but I’ve been listening to some Sage Francis and he really kicks ass - this is what I would consider real Hip-Hop. If you check out his linked profile you’ll see that he is straight edge, which seems to always make for interesting music.
If his music sounds familiar when you hear it for the first time - as it did to me - then that might be because he formed the Non-Prophets with producer Joe Beats. However it definitely has his own style and the beats are much more pared down and spare as SF. Thematically SF has the ability to sing about the most mundane things and make them wonderful, which is what I always look for in Hip-Hop. His work also doesn’t suffer the ego of many Hip-Hop artists, that self love that ends up making them sound like massive narcissists - In love with themselves and in awe of their talent.
Other News
Got a natty little Skype box yesterday. Basically it’s a USB adapter that you plug into your Computer, and on the other end you plug a normal telephone (A cordless DECT jobby in my case) in and use it to talk to people through Skype. Now I can roam the house on my cordless phone while chatting over the Internet, which is muchos coolio; Plus people can now hear me, which is an added bonus.
Funnily enough the picture of Sage Francis above makes me think of Punk more than Hip-Hop, I think it’s his burly appearance. Guess it reminds me of 80’s Punk, Black Flag et all.
I can’t believe I have waited till now to watch Garden State. Zach Braff is a genius. Who would think that JD could pen such a remarkable piece, direct & star in it. It’s amusing, dark and wonderfully true.
…and the people shall drown, and bodies shall float down the street, seven high and seven wide and the sky shall be torn back, stars burning down. People will stand mute, their heads turned upwards and their hearts turned inwards as the heavens tumble down, tears falling with them.
the earth will sunder and the black depths will rush up to meet the sodden roots of trees, as their branches grasp and grapple before they finally tumble into the depths - pulled deep by the pillaging ink grasp of unseen hands. Graves long buried will spill out like mal-born babies, bones curled round, foetal. Empty eye sockets will once again stare at the sky as it boils red and purple, bruising with pain.
natures hands will run rampant, tearing and groping over the bodies of the dead; moss will burst forth and forever cover us and hold us silent.
…and the rain comes falling from the sky, and he walks through the streets, four horses at his back, and Hell steps forth, teeth bared with joy and fury.
Sorry I haven’t written anything in a very long time, I think I have been in something of a stupor; Not to say this is an awakening but for my few faithfuls I owe a word or two, and more than that it’s pretty silly to have a website and then not to use it!
Well, what’s been going on in Nemo land? Well I have a new job. Been there nearly three weeks, and I can’t be less enthused about it. I know the saying goes that we get back what we put in, but this is without a doubt the biggest pile of pants I’ve ever encountered. Unfortunately due to my wholesale idiocy I am in a position where I can’t turn down work, as work == money and money == a life; Unfortunately. I think I should do a graph to illustrate this point, but then again it’s hardly money that separates the nemo from the high life; It’s nemo that separates nemo from the high life.
Oh, the job? BT Technical Support. Oh yes, I kid thee not. I don’t think I have found a a group of people who more passionately hate BT than those who work for it. It’s money in the bag though, so I wont complain too much.
What else, what else? Oh yes, the new design. OK I guess I got a bit bored of it. I did the majority of the work, but then I realized that I had not really thought deeply about the colour scheme, and found myself having to frell around with CSS text formatting, which is frelling boring; I guess my interest waned and I forgot I had even started the project. Frelling typical. Maybe I will finish the project. Maybe I will start anew. It’s not like I have much going on except that sodding job.
OK, I watched ‘Crank‘ a few days ago; OH MY GOD! What an intensely frelling film. This is what dreams are made of. It is Springtime for Hitler, on silvers. There are far too many great bits to pick out one, but needless to say if you can see this at the Cinema do so! If not then there is an excellent Telesync torrent floating around. Yes, that’s right, I am advocating you downloading it. Everyone has a secret minds eye patch, wear it with a proud Arrrr!
Had a discussion today with someone about Karma. They suggested that Buddhism was a poor Religion because it advocated the idea that if someone is disabled that this disability is incurred because of they behaved in a previous life. I wasn’t able to say to them that this was or wasn’t the case, as the problem is I do not know myself. I started to research Karma on the Wikipedia (of course!) and to be honest I am still none the wiser. I’ve learnt that different Faiths have different kinds of Karma - Therefore Hinduism and Buddhism see Karma in a different way, while they both contain many similar concepts because they both derive from Religions begun in Indian regions.
One thing I did realize as I read on was that our conversation was essentially flawed in the first place. The other conversant approached the subject as a Western Muslim, and me as a Western Atheist. Neither of us believers in the idea of reincarnation. This is central to Buddhism and Hinduism - The idea that we are on a wheel of life, that keeps on spinning round. Our horror at the idea of Karma stems from our personal belief that there is one life and that this is it. If you believe that the life you are living now is the one and only one you will ever live, then you will sit so comfortably in that idea for so many years that it will be hard to see things from the perspective of someone who thinks otherwise.
So, imagine that this is not your only life. Imagine that each life you live is a pursuit towards enlightenment of the Universe around you. In the bigger scheme of things, you might suffer terribly in this life but this life is just one of many, in a path towards enlightenment. In a way a lifetime is not really a life, it is part of your greater Life that may span many lifetimes.
Another misconception I think Western cultures have about Karma is that that Bad Karma means ‘Evil’ Karma. To be honest I really don’t understand why this isn’t so, but I am pretty sure that this is the case. I am pretty sure our association of bad Karma with Evil is a result of having lived under the Christian whip for too long.
Either way, this is a topic that merits more discussion and research.
Oh, ps, Watch Jackass II. They make Bam Margera cry. This is a good thing.
Well I don’t know why it has taken me so long to get round to it but I’ve been listening to some