I love movies that present some philosophical notion. What I enjoy even more so is when a movie, ambitiously, tries to screw with your perception or concepts of reality. Here’s a list of the movies that do it best.
This is the first part in an eight-part series on how to analyse movies. The language of film (or video or TV) can only be detected by analysing the “moving image texts”. The idea is that every image conveys a meaning, like a photograph would convey a feeling or a message.
You can’t get around drugs in movies, and we will probably all agree that drugs do make a very interesting subject for movies and other stories. Here are some of my favorite movie (and TV show) quotes about drugs. 5.
h, another remake. I know this one was announced some time ago already but I haven’t had the chance to reflect on it yet. I discussed the original RoboCop lengthily in my thesis, to argue how our modern world is turning into the world often portrayed in dystopian sci-fi, in this case regarding the (intended) use of robots and the like in law enforcement.
I came across this video today (directed by Lyle Lindgren) and it pretty much knocked my socks off. It’s a tribute to Breaking Bad and Walter White. The mashup of the music and soundbites from the series is amazing, the way it’s filmed is great and I love how they spray-painted on “crystal” (I take it’s acrylic glass but still, pretty awesome).
I really like TED. I enjoy watching the videos, to be awed, to be inspired. I also really like the videos that discuss the movie industry or movies themselves.
How To Make Money Selling Drugs (2012) is a documentary discussing the lucrative world of drugs and drugs dealing and how people get involved in the world, and, essentially, what should change to make the business less attractive. In a 90-minute feature, director (and melodramatic narrator) Matthew Cooke interviews a multitude of people among which musicians and actors like Curtis Jackson (50 Cent), Susan Sarandon, Woody Harrelson, Marshall Mathers (Eminem), a whole bunch of drug traffickers among which Brian O’Dea and Freeway Ricky Ross, people from the law enforcement, both pro and against the War on Drugs. I went into this movie without any prior knowledge.
In The Purge, a happy, wealthy family gets ready for the annual night of the Purge, a 12-hour period during which all crime is legal. This new way to fight crime has been very successful – crime is at an all time low, as is unemployment. Moreover, it is supposedly an easy way to rid society of those who do not contribute.
In Elysium, the world has gone to shit. It is heavily polluted and poverty has risen to extremely high levels – the ghettos stretch as far as you can see. This is where the poor working class lives.
In Dead Man Down, Colin Farrell plays Victor/Laszlo (whom I’ll just call Victor henceforth), a Hungarian gangster who’s part of an organized crime syndicate. We soon find out he is not who he pretends to be. The movie opens with a talk about children, which nicely sets the mood and foreshadows some of the movie’s story.
Mobsters are trying to get a foothold in the City of Angels, and good cop John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and his gangster squad come to the rescue. We are introduced to L.A.
Will Snowpiercer be another 1984 rip-off? We’ll have to wait and see whether the South-Korean heritage of the director will (hopefully) influence the story.
The Place Beyond the Pines tries to be an interesting movie, but above all is just very confusing. We start off the story with Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling), motor stunt rider. He finds out he got a baby with a woman, Romina, in one of the towns he visited during his circus travels.
Watch Plurality now, an awesome sci-fi short that quite blatantly refers to criminological theories. Directed by Dennis Liu.
Most people I tell about THX 1138 have never heard of it before. When I tell them it was George Lucas’ first feature-length film, they look at me dumbfounded. Though, if you’d have told me about THX a few years ago, my reaction would probably have been the same.