The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The first image of Bilbo from Peter Jackson's second chapter of the cinematic trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug. It's okay to consider a few things about this image now: first, Bilbo wears a blue jacket and, secondly, he is in the midst of a great treasure. Aren't you glad you take time to read this blog for all the information you glean? But seriously, we know that blue is the color of both wisdom and depression: it's from our difficulties in life, often leading to sadness, that we gain wisdom about those things greater than ourselves and those things above nature (knowledge, on the other hand, is about things pertaining to ourselves, things about nature). It's easy to deduce that the troubles of the journey has created a great wisdom in Bilbo because of the sacrifices made and fear overcome. What's important about this image is, knowing what the blue coat symbolizes, we know it's (wisdom) not only protecting Bilbo in the dragon's lair, the wisdom is his weapon, and it's through his wisdom he is able to overcome the dragon within himself (more on this in the next post on Tolkien's The Hobbit), leading us to the issue of  the gold. Just as Frodo has to overcome the power of the ring in The Lord Of the Ring, so Bilbo has to overcome the power of treasure in The Hobbit, but it's not gold: Bilbo has to overcome the lure of home, friends, safety and security, comfort and warmth, his pipe and armchair, bacon and eggs. Each of us face temptations in life, and because it's so difficult to see how Bilbo's attachment to home could be anything harmful, this is a point of the story we are apt to overlook, yet it's precisely his desire to stay home that nearly causes Bilbo to miss his destiny in taking the adventure offered by Gandalf. The image above, then, teases us with the conflict of the real treasure Bilbo will have to find within himself by overcoming the obvious treasure he can see (the gold) in favor of the lofty, higher ideals the journey has given birth to within himself (the inner-gold of bravery and selflessness).

As I busily work to get the next two posts up, we have a bit of news on the next chapter of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:  The Desolation Of Smaug will be released next Christmas, December 13 with the third and final chapter, The Hobbit: There and Back Again coming out July 18, 2014. The image posted above has revealed that the "rest" of Tolkien's story appears to be completed in the second film; so why a third? It's being suggested that the additional material from The Lord Of the Rings (the hundred page appendix in which Tolkien explained events not elaborated upon in the actual stories) is going to be the bulk of the third film of the series and that Jackson intends to "tell more of the story" than what Tolkien did,... okay, I'm just not going to say anything: I am quite pleased with The Hobbit and will just wait.

Concept art for The Desolation Of Smaug.

Cinematic Awards: there are numerous awards being given, and nominations named, but nothing really worth your time at this point, so I am keeping track, but we'll consider all that a little closer to Oscars, but when short lists are made public, that will be posted.
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner

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Trailers: Pacific Rim & GI Joe Retaliation; Out On Video: Total Recall & Pitch Perfect

While this particular image doesn't show up in Total Recall, Rekall is about changing your identity and becoming what you want to become in spite of anyone else holding you back or deciding you are going to do something different. "Don't let them blow your mind" is a government warning to its citizens (under socialism) to stay away from imagining yourself as something the government has told you you are not, for example,  Doug (Colin Farrel) goes to Rekall to find out who he really is, because who he really is is the same as what it is he wants to become; we are our hopes, our dreams, our fantasies, and that's why capitalism in America has been so important, because a nerd like Bill Gates deciding he was more than a nerd and that he was going to do something great could and did happen in America, whereas the world of Total Recall shows us how their greatest agent, Doug, is caught in a job where he's wanting to advance and he has done he work to advance but he's not allowed, the government is going to keep him in the exact same position they put him in and there is nothing he can do about it. This film was well scripted and executed.

Out on video this week is one of the films which proved to be the biggest surprise for me: Colin Farrel's Total Recall (my review at Recall/Rekall: Memories Of Dreams & Total Recall). The film depicts a socialist government in the future manipulating the minds of its people, particularly Doug (Farrel) who, as the police force's leading agent, switched sides in the fight and went from being a socialist supporter to a guerrilla fighter against the changes taking place (but the government catches him and make him undergo mind surgery so he forgets switching). The dominant vehicle of the film, to me, was the role of "dreams," because there is not only the dreams we have as we sleep, but the dreams we have to keep alive our hope that we can achieve and accomplish something better and greater, dreams that don't exist in a socialist system. Again, this film was the biggest surprise for me, in not only choosing to support capitalism, but the angle from which it attacks the socialist system.

No joking, this film just left our theater two weeks ago, and it's out on video now? I'm glad to hear it, because I was really intent on seeing it. You can find my brief analysis of the film's trailer at this link here.

The film I did not get to see, but most desperately wanted to, was Pitch Perfect. Why? Obviously, this is just a throw away film for a girls' night out, or date night, or just a solo rental over the weekend from Red Box, but we've been keeping close track of the debate in socialism and capitalism over which economic model takes better care of the world of art, and being primarily concerned with singing, this film certainly qualifies to "take note" in that debate. Like I said, I really wanted to see it, so I might get to watch it this weekend, but when I do, either way, I will post on it!
 If you went to see The Hobbit this weekend, you saw this great teaser for Pacific Rim (July 12 release):

 "Today, we have chosen to believe in each other!" (rather than the government). Like Mirror, Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, Total Recall, Skyfall, Battleship, Men In Black, and so many other films, Pacific Rim shows us our world falling apart because a ruling force that doesn't belong is trying to assert itself over us. On the title card in the trailer, it reads, "To fight monsters, we created monsters," and usually, that connection would not be made: the mechanism used to fight a monster would be called a "weapon," a "new weapon," an "important weapon." a "new, important weapon," you get my drift, but it would not be called a monster; so why do it? To establish that what the "weapon" is is the same as what the monster is, i.e., if the monster is socialism, an economic model, than the weapon is also an economic model, capitalism. Can we see that, so far thus, in this trailer?
Absolutely!

Does this publicity still for Pacific Rim remind you of anything? It should remind you of World War II: "Now is the time to join!" (sounds like Captain America, doesn't it?). It's because WWII will be invoked throughout the film that such a visual imagery is being employed, linking up the great historical defeat of socialism to us, today, having to make the same choice to defeat it once more. You may be saying, but the Pacific Rim battle in WWII was against Japanese Imperialism, not socialism, and that's correct, although WWII was, in general, a fight against socialism, and other wars (North Korea and Vietnam) were waged in the Pacific Rim, where socialism spread more readily; the film might also be readying us for the concept of a communist attack from across the Pacific from the Chinese.

When the soldiers enter the giant robots, and control the movements with their own movements, that becomes (at this point, it may change in the greater scheme of the film, but we can see it this way right now) a new metaphor for the difference between the way capitalists respond to changes and demands in the marketplace, and the way the beast, a socialist government, responds. As in the case of Obama's multi-billion dollar failures into the "green energy" domain, artificially trying to generate a business that wasn't there in the market, capitalists have a tighter, more secure sense of what the market will do, thereby allowing them to reap greater benefits for their exertions. I expect--though, as always, we all know I could be wrong--that the robots will become a metaphor in the battle for the well-run company by capitalists vs. the clumsily run monster of a socialist government.
And the newest trailer from GI Joe Retaliation (release date March 29):

"They didn't say anything about re-enlisting," Joe says, and the same men fighting the same battle--and helping the younger generation--is a theme we have seen several times all ready (Red Dawn, Expendables 2, Men In Black III) but, let's take a quick look at that "new weapon" we're shown. If you noticed, it didn't blow up the buildings in London, there wasn't an explosion, rather, the new weapon broke up the foundation of the city; BUT in the meeting of world leaders, North Korea--a communist country--is mentioned as having their country destroyed fifteen times over by this new weapon; so what's going on? It appears we will have to actually wait to see the film! This might be a scathing critique on Karl Marx that, even though he thought socialism would put an end to nationalities and patriotism, GI Joe Retaliation may suggest that the Chinese (Cobra and Zartan) will use communism to enslave the rest of the world, regardless of which economic model they are based upon (including fellow socialist countries like North Korea).  But I will be watching GI Joe before going to see this new installment!
Eat Your Art Out,
The Fine Art Diner,

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UNIVERSAL SOLDIER DAY OF RECKONING

Dated Released : 4 October 2012
Quality : BRRip 720p
Info : imdb.com/title/tt1659343
IMDB Rating : 6.8 (827 users)
Star : Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Scott A
Genre : Action | Sci-Fi
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By: icinema3satu.com


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The Hobbit: HOORAY!

This shot looks terrible, but it's not at all what it looks like in the film! While Jackson shot it at 48fps, most audiences will see it in 24fps (which is how I saw it) because only a handful of theaters have the equipment to play the new 45fps. There were only a couple of scenes where I thought the image wasn't quite right, but my immediate thought was, "I wish I was seeing this in 3D (I had to see it in 2D)," not that something didn't look right or looked bad; so why are critics complaining? Take a guess why the liberal media is complaining, just take a guess,...

Not only will I GLADLY eat every awful word I said of Peter Jackson doing The Hobbit, I will even roll it around in wet dirt and then eat it! First, I was bitter that Jackson was doing it (I hated his adaptation of  The Lord Of the Rings) then I was biter he split The Hobbit into three books, then I was bitter about him filming it in 48fps, then I was bitter it was going to be 3 hours long!
I take it all back,...
This was so enjoyable! The still shots--like the one above--look bad, but that's not how the film looks. I thought the pacing was actually done well (because fans of The Hobbit hand to realize it is being made with the idea in mind that the audience member has not read the book and Jackson was sensitive to that). The characters have great dynamics with lots of artful tension and good investment has been made in them to carry our interest through to the end AND see why that which happens to them happens.

See how blurry this looks? I didn't see any of that in the film.

There is a difference between deviating from the book and being consistent with what Tolkien wrote. I thought Jackson would deviate from Tolkien and turn this into a pro-socialist agenda, which would have been very easy to do; that's clearly not what happens, and the liberal media dishing on this (I think) is due to some added scenes to make it even more of an anti-socialist film intentionally (again, Jackson might be a liberal, but the film isn't); you know me, I would tell you so.

Even a scene like this, which is different than how Tolkien wrote it, is still consistent with what Tolkien wanted to communicate and the characters. IF I were going to complain about something--and I don't really feel like it because I am so grateful the film is so good!--it would be that, visually, the goblins aren't more differentiated from the orcs and when Gollum and Bilbo play the riddle game, it's hard to understand what Gollum says but those are my only strained complaints about a film I was ready to bury!

So at what point does the film cut off to pick up at the second installment?
After the eagles have rescued the lot and taken them to the Eagles' nest, Carrock, they see the far off silhouette of The Lonely Mountain and Bilbo thinks, the worse is definitely behind us now. I am getting the review of Tolkien's book up, then I will review the film.
DO see it!

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Winners In Vegas & LA, Boston & DC

Scene from Life Of Pi. Given that the tiger, a main character, is completely computer generated, we can expect to see more of this trending in the next one to two years; whether that trend lasts beyond that isn't really a question because because new technology will be developing to meet increasing demands for decreased filming costs with heightened visual effects.

LA Critics have kept to their reputation.
Numbering around 60 professional critics based in the LA area, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (founded 1975) gave their Best Picture award to Amour with The Master receiving the Runner-Up status; in another upset, The Master's Paul Anderson won for Best Director with Kathryn Bigelow getting the Runner Up honor for Zero Dark Thirty. The Master won yet another award in Joaquin Phonenix, honored with their Best Actor award and Holy Motors' Denis Lavant got Runner-Up; it's a tie for Best Actress, Amour's Emmanuelle Riva sharing with Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook.

Amy Adams won Best Supporting Actress for The Master, Anne Hathaway getting Runner-Up for her work in both The Dark Knight Rises and Les Miserables; Dwight Henry won for Beasts OF the Southern Wild, with Django Unchained Christopher Waltz getting the Runner-Up; Skyfall gets the award of Best Cinematography and Argo wins for Best Screenplay.
Let's go across the desert to Vegas, baby,...

Emmaunelle Riva in Amour.

The 16 members making up the Las Vegas Film Society (which is only 16 years old) really supported Life Of Pi:

Best Picture

“Life of Pi”

Best Actor

Daniel Day Lewis, “Lincoln”

Best Actress

Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Supporting Actor

Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”

Best Supporting Actress

Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables”

Best Director

Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”

Best Screenplay

Rian Johnson, “Looper”

Best Cinematography

Claudio Miranda, “Life of Pi”

Best Film Editing

William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, “Anna Karenina”

Best Art Direction

Alex Cameron, “Prometheus”

Best Visual Effects

“Life of Pi”

Best Score

Mychael Danna, “Life of Pi”

Best Song

“Skyfall”

Best Documentary

“Bully”

Best Animated Film

“Paranorman”

Best Foreign Film

“Amour” (Germany)

Youth in Film

Suraj Sharma, “Life of Pi”

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year

Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

Best DVD (Packaging, Design and Content)

“Hitchcock Collection – Masterpiece Collection” (Blu-Ray)

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award

Alan Arkin

LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2012

1. Life of Pi

2. Zero Dark Thirty

3. Argo

4. Silver Lining Playbook

5. Lincoln

6. Moonrise Kingdom

7. The Impossible

8. Les Miserables

9. Beasts of the Southern Wild

10. The Master

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty.

On the other side of the United States' coast Zero Dark Thirty is the big winner again:
In Boston, the Society Of Film Critics choose:

Best Film: "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner, "Lincoln"

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"

Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field, "Lincoln"

Best Supporting Actor: Ezra Miller, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

Best Cinematography: Mihai Malaimare Jr., "The Master" 

Best Documentary: "How to Survive a Plague"

Best Animated Film: "Frankenweenie"

Best Foreign Film: "Amour"

Best Editing: William Goldenberg & Dylan Tichenor, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best New Filmmaker: David France, "How to Survive a Plague"

Best Ensemble Cast: "Seven Psychopaths"

Best Use of Music in a Film: "Moonrise Kingdom"

In Washington DC, the Critics said:

Best Film: Zero Dark Thirty

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Best Actress: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

Best Supporting Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)

Best Acting Ensemble: Les Misérables

Best Adapted Screenplay: David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Best Original Screenplay: Rian Johnson (Looper)

Best Animated Feature: ParaNorman

Best Documentary: Bully

Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Best Art Direction: Uli Hanisch, Hugh Bateup - Production Designers; Peter Walpole, Rebecca Alleway - Set Decorators (Cloud Atlas)

Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)

Best Score: Jonny Greenwood (The Master)

The Joe Barber Award for Best Youth Performance: Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

And, putting in their two-cents-worth, the New York Online Film Critics critics wanted everyone to know what they think:

Best Film: "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Screenplay: Mark Boal, "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Actress: Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"

Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"

Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"

Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"

Breakthrough Performer: Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda, "Life of Pi"

Best Documentary: "The Central Park Five"

Best Animated Film: "Chico and Rita"

Best Foreign Language Film: "Amour"

Best Music or Score: "Django Unchained"

Best Ensemble Cast: "Argo"

... Well,... that's a whole lotta information about several movies most of us haven't had a chance to see yet. I am seeing the 3 hour long The Hobbit today, and desperately trying to get up some important notes on JRR Tolkien's book because I think it's revealing what Tolkien was doing and what director Peter Jackson has changed. For Example, the sub-title: "An Unexpected Journey" is not what Tolkien wrote, rather his sub-title was "There And Back Again"; the difference? There And Back Again is biblical, for example, the way God led many of the Patriarchs away from their homeland, put them on an adventure, then led them back again to the land of their birth and fathers; on the other hand, An Unexpected Journey makes me--a now rabid anti-socialist--think of America's unexpected journey into communism,... It will take at least a day to get the post up, but I will tweet my initial reaction to the film via Twitter.

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The Collection Review

Uh, I got the post done for The Collection, but instead of publishing it here, where it should go, it put it way down at the bottom, so here is the link to that review, so sorry!
The Collection & Collectivization: the Horrors Of Socialism

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2013 Golden Globe Nominees

I admit it.
I am totally put out that Nicole Kidman has been nominated again for Best Actress in The Paperboy because tonight is the last day our theater is showing the film, so I have to change all my plans just to catch this showing. With only 93 members residing in southern California, but entertainment critics with a combined readership of around 250 million people, the Golden Globes perhaps counts for more than it should, but that's not quite right, is it? They've been around since 1944 (the Oscars since 1929), so the longevity of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (what the 93 call themselves who give the award called "The Golden Globe") to dazzle and sparkle maintains an impressive aura.

There are a few surprises on this list for cinematic nominees: again, Nicole Kidman appears, but so does Salmon Fishing In the Yemen (Emily Blunt has also picked up a nom for Best Actress in a Musical/Comdey); because of the splitting of categories for Best Picture Of the Year into Drama or Comedy/Musical, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is also nominated. Richard Gere has his first nomination for Best Actor for Arbitrage and so does John Hawkes for The Sessions (Helen Hunt has all ready received nominations, but not for a Golden Globe; Rachel Weisz is back on the list for The Deep Blue Sea, and I just checked, you can watch The Deep Blue Sea on Netflix Instant Streaming) and Joaquin Phoenix is honored with his performance for The Master as is Philip Seymour Hoffman in the Supporting Actor category.

Tom Hiddleston and Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea.

The Nominees are (awards announced live January 13):
Best Motion Picture, Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on the Hudson
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Quentin Taratino, Django Unchained
Chris Terrio, Argo
Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
The Intouchables (France
Kon-Tiki (Norway)
Rust and Bone  (France)
Best Animated Feature Film
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph
Best Original Song, Motion Picture
"For You," Act of Valor, Monty Powell & Keith Urban
"Not Running Anymore," Stand Up Guys, Jon Bon Jovi
"Safe and Sound," The Hunger Games, Taylor Swift. John Paul White, Joy Williams & T Bone Burnett
"Skyfall," Skyfall, Adele & Paul Epworth
"Suddenly," Les Misérables, Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil
Best Original Score, Motion Picture
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, Cloud Atlas
John Williams, Lincoln

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