inbae’s blog | [ i n b a e b a y . c o m ]

Update: How could I have forgotten Benjamin Button? Mea culpa.

I give myself three months to be able to see all these movies. (Oh, some of these might not even be out till then, oh well.)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Cool storyline, and I hear that they had to use special type of powder, instead of those devices used for motion-capturing, on Pitt’s face to capture his facial muscle movements. So that they can make all the other versions of him look realistic. It just sounds so cool.

Tokyo Sonata: Because I love Japanese movies that are loaded with emotional scenes with blank dialogues.

Good: Because Mortensen is perfect for this role.

9: Because Burton’s piece finally looks “cool” on atop of his signature vibe.

Che: Because I must do justice to the historical character I used to idolize just because wearing a shirt with his face on was (and still is) considered to be cool. I did tried reading his biography but failed to finish it in high school. And I never watched (or read) The Motorcycle Diary. Maybe it’s time.

The Wrestler: Because the pretty-faced womanizer is back with a seemingly complete new body, and game. Everybody’s gotta be raving about the movie for a reason, no?

Up: Because I’m a sucker for Pixar movies.

Angels & Demons: Because even though this noe probably doesn’t fall in the category of “awesome must-sees” like the ones above, I know I will be watching it for one reason or another.

Absolutely THE BEST action movie I’ve ever seen. Kudos to Nolan, kudos to Bale+Oldman+Kaine+Freeman combo, and most of all, kudos to the late Ledger… I was fxxxin mine-blown away by his stunning performance. I never regarded him as a great actor, but this one made me think twice. His total transformation into Joker is amazingly complete and convincing. What a way to go out… This is a must-see movie for anyone. Last time I checked it was #1 on IMDB’s top 250 movies of all time, with a 9.5/10. It’s dark, it’s long, and it’s intense. Please do yourself a favor and go watch it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhWgcMRdPo]

Besides his history of womanizing and signature slapstick, self-sacrificing stunt work, Jackie Chan is known for his dedication and devotion to taking shots until perfection - which pretty much leaves him more vulnerable for injuries. His biography can tell you that he practically broke all of his bones at a certain point in his career, including twice fractures on his skull, electrocution, brain surgery and so on.

This random scene that I came across from one of his older movies, Dragon Lord, apparently took more than 2900 takes to make the whole scene perfect the way it was supposed to be. It’s just amazing to see for it yourself when you are aware of what the cost of creating such a scene was. (Essentially, he plays hackey-sack soccer for 10 minutes. It’s quite amusing.)

1. Wall-E is awesome. Everyone should go see it. And the Apple-related jokes and inserts are all appropriate.

2. I found out that there exists a movie that entirely consists of a single 90-minute shot. Called Russian Ark. 7.1 on IMDB and 88% on RT further solidifies my conviction that it should be appropriated by myself.

The trailer was hard to find, but it’s cinematography reminded me of Brannagh’s Hamlet. And I have some odd fascination towards 19th-century royal glamour. It turns me on.

Thoughts on: The Fall (2006)

If I were to summarize this movie… “Cinematography of Jet Li’s Hero, phantasm of Lord of the Rings, and youthfulness of (parts of) the Kite Runner”. (If this doesn’t really make sense… this is why I’m not a professional writer…) Overall, amazing visuals. Probably the best cinematography I’ve seen so far… it easily beats Hero. The story was decent, and the child actor, Catinca Untaru, was amazing, her broken English was so adorable and her acting was a lot of times very humorous. The music score was pretty awesome too, except during the credit roll I learned that the main theme is actually Beethoven’s piece. The only problem I had with the movie I guess was the “dream sequence” - you’ll know what I’m talking about when you actually see it for yourself - kinda ruined the consistency of the movie. But oh well.

Highly recommend it. I urge you to check out the website and get an idea for the movie. And then go watch it.

Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037

…Great documentary. I just watched it on Tuesday. If your parents made you play piano at one point, you’ll see the instrument in perhaps a different angle now.

This is a list of movies I want to see. Last night I went on a Quicktime trailers marathon before I went to bed, and picked out these movies.

Glass | By Scott HIcks (Shine, the movie I still haven’t seen). A documentary movie on one of the most prominent cinematic composer right now, Phillip Glass.

Vier Minuten (Four Minutes) | By A German movie of a mentally insane murderer with raw talent of playing piano. The less-known main actress seems to put on a powerful performance.

The Fall | Quite esoteric style. The poster, and the way the fictitious story is being depicted kinda reminds me of Salvador Dali’s color palette. I can’t say this in any other way.

Mio Fratello è Figlio Unico (My Brother Is an Only Child) | The directed style almost reminds me of Fernando Meirelles (City of God). A triangle relationship between a beautiful girl, a Communist brother and his younger Fascist brother in the ’60s Italy.

Blindsight | Documentary-style story of 6 blind Tibetan youths and Westerners struggling to climb Everest, and their humanistic grow-together experience. It fits perfectly into the stereotypical “oh, such a heartmoving real-life story”, but having been to the Himalaya myself, I feel compelled to watch them succeed in a journey larger than mine.

Shotgun Stories | Think the cinematic style of No Country for Old Men. Now with young, angry brothers whose dad left them behind and without proper names. So they were called Son, Boy and Kid. Now they clash with their set of stepbrothers, brought up by their Christian-turned dad and his second wife. They grew up in a complete, functional family. Now it’s feud between the two clans. Interesting plot.

My Blueberry Nights | Acclaimed HK director Wong Kar Wai’s debut movie in English. He’s the one behind classic HK movies such as Chung King Express, Fallen Angels, and Happy Together. I like all three actresses (and yes, that’s Norah Jones, I hope she can act half as good as she can sing).

The Tracey Fragments | Ellen Page, the new phenomena. Juno, and Smart People. This time, it’s all her.

Planet B-Boy | Being Korean I have to want to watch this. Guys from all over the world go all out and break dance about their blood and sweat.

…And, of course, Wall-E. I have high hopes for this movie.

…And let the stupid, yet entertaining summer movies come as they may. Iron Man, Harold and Kumar 2, The Forbidden Kingdom, Street Kings, 21, Leatherheads, …

I have not read the original novel by Dr. Seuss. I didn’t look that much forward into watching a Dr. Seuss’ movie becaus to be very honest to God, the characters in the storybooks didn’t look normal and kinda creeped me out. At least when I was younger. The seemingly grotesque buildings and the characters just didn’t seem normal.

This movie changed my perception. Perhaps it’s because I’ve grown up, and maybe because I can watch movies like a grown-up now. This movie was well-done, the jokes kept coming at a right pace, the characters were funny and cute (I’m talking about that yellow/orange fluff - you’ll know if you’ve seen the movie) and the last scene where the Whos at the Whoville sing in unison was just tear-inducing. I guess Jim Carrey did a good job leading the movie as the emotionally tip-toe elephant, although you can barely tell it’s his voice unless you knew about it before hand. Anyways, I highly recommend this movie. Kids and adults will like it.

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This is an Irish film that also received rave reviews, including the World Cinema Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It is about a street musician in Dublin falling in love with a Czeck immigrant girl. The Guy has an ex-girlfriend whom he cannot forget, and the Girl has a husband back home.

The two actors are non-professional actors, but musicians. They composed all but one song on the soundtrack, and sang everything in front of the camera for the shots. Apparently they also fell in love during the production, and still probably together till present. The soundtrack is very, very cute.

official website

This movie is about an Iranian girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. The director Marjane Satrapi wrote about her childhood in the original novel. The title Persepolis is the name of the historical town in Iran. This movie is in French, and has received critical acclaims from all over, including the Prize of the Jury at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

I really want to watch this because it tells the story beautifully, and the style is minimal yet sufficient.

official website