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Archive for July 31st, 2008

Arrested Development – The Movie

Published by
mpowell
at July 31, 2008 in Coming Up and Television. 1 Comment

If you’re a fan of the show, there’s no doubt you’ve heard the rumors by now that Arrested Development is making its way to the big screen in 2009. That restores my faith in the goodness of humanity, which suffered a severe blow when the show, the funniest on TV, was canceled a few years back.

Will it translate well to the big screen? Arrested Development was perfectly suited to the half-hour sitcom format. So much plot and hilarity was packed into every episode, but can the writers keep it up (coherently) for the length of a film? It’s a problem which the makers of The Simpsons Movie & Aqua Teen Hunger Force both faced, and arguably failed.

But there are so many possibilities! For example, it would be a crying shame if the movie doesn’t take advantage of an R rating for the ultimate Never Nude scene. Including Never Nude, the writers at TV Squad have compiled a list of 27(ish) things which they think must be in the film.

Steve Holt!

Atom Entertainment (formerly AtomShockwave)

Neglected Gems: Sans soleil

Published by
mpowell
at July 31, 2008 in Neglected Gems. 0 Comments

Sans soleil @ Amazon

Chris Marker is a French filmmaker and journalist who’s spent his career blurring the boundaries between the two fields. Born in Mongolia, the reclusive Marker is probably best known for 1963′s post-apocalyptic vision La Jetée but, among the Criticker users who have seen it, Sans soleil (Sunless) is his greatest achievement.

Put your horn-rimmed glasses on and brew a strong cup of espresso before putting this one in your DVD player: watching Sans soleil is an exercise in appreciating cinematic art. The film consists of factual documentary sequences from Japan and Western Africa, while a fictional narrator recites love letters penned by a fictional cameraman. Sound exciting? Well … it can be.

Allowing yourself to get drawn into Marker’s world, contemplating the meaning of the juxtaposition of scenes from different ends of the world and history, deciphering the blend of documentary and fiction, and trying to figure out what the filmmaker is trying to say about memory and truth, can be exhilarating in its own right — just in a different way than, say, The Dark Knight.



Intro, Sans Soleil — Just to let you know what you’re getting yourself into

As mentioned, the Criticker users who have seen it love this film. JakeAesthete says it’s “One of the most heartbreaking and poignant films i have ever seen”, and kyle.loomis had the following review:

Just images and sound. Amazingly they seem to go together pretty well. It’s almost like Brakhage, where you have to just shut your brain off. It took me about 30 minutes but once I put myself in the right mindset, it was a very rewarding experience and I’m looking forward to the next time I feel like watching it.

Sans Soleil is available on DVD, along with La Jetée… a package which combines Marker’s two most important films. Not to be missed, unless plotless French art films really aren’t your thing.