Black Swan

When you watch a ballet performance or a theater play or anything that involves live performances you expect the character’s emotions to transpire to the audience. In theater this is done mainly by actors, in ballet this is done by the dancer’s performance and the choreography.
Darren Aronofsky does with Black Swan what a live performance does to the audience.
The story is simple: Nina, a young ballet dancer at New York’s Lincoln Center is cast as the lead in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and she has to play both the white and the black swan. The execution of this contradiction seems impossible at first, but Nina artfully overcomes it with the cost of her own sanity.
The real story, the one that pulsates in our minds, is how much Nina is going to choose to sacrifice of her life in order to bring this duplicity on stage. We know she has sacrificed a lot by the way she lives. The apartment feels like a cage, a cell almost, you can almost touch the austerity, the claustrophobic feel. And her mother, a former ballet dancer, has turned her room into a shrine for Nina, one of the most thrilling sites ever.
At work, things have the same feel. In the repetition room black is predominant, the other dancers are dressed in black and the autocratic ruler of the house, Thomas (Vincent Cassel), a beastly character well known for his affairs with other dancers is fully aware of his power and of art’s fragility.
Just like ballet, the movie is a perfect union between actors and choreography. In charge of the choreography, Aronofsky masterfully shapes each scene to lure the audience and play with it’s senses. The unsettling soundtrack (created by Clint Mansell) expands on Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake themes, the character’s close-ups enhance the emotion, the movement of the camera stuns the viewer and sets him in the spotlight on stage.
As a whole, Black Swan is like a live performance that has been practiced to exhaustion and has rendered perfection. It’s a movie that is haunting and takes pride in being a form of art. Just like ballet.

The Social Network

The Social Network is about a kid that while inventing the greatest tool to socialize in the world, he is also the loneliest guy on the planet. The movie's background story is the creation of the Facebook phenomenon, but the main subject is Mark Zuckerberg's ahead-of-time thinking. His views on everything look and sound different but are completely rational.

What he's not good at is, you guessed it, socializing. He is connecting everybody, even if they don't want it, but cannot manage to connect himself. He falls into all the corporate tricks, makes all the wrong friends and drags his best friend with him into the pit.

Don't get me wrong, he's not a bad guy (he says so himself in the movie). He's just a genius of our time and sometimes, if not most of the times, that's bad. He's created an almost indispensable tool of socializing, and inevitably has positioned himself where he is almost untouchable and not in an Al Capone kind a way. His friends are all Facebook friends. Which basically translates what Facebook realy is (and not only Facebook but mostly all other online social networks). A platform that lets each individual share what he wants. That doesn't mean it's necessarily true. Saying hello on Facebook and "Like"-ing it is not the same with saying hello face-to-face, smiling or shaking hands.

True friendship is based on true emotion. And that's what Facebook is missing.

In terms of cinematic experience, this is an Oscar-worthy. From directing to actors, even visuals, music, everything is on the spot, carefuly crafted.

You won't be sorry for the two hours spent in the dark.

Hollywood is desperate !

You can hear the producers screaming: What's the next big hit !!!

I mean, it's obvious. Less and less money go into original ideas because no-one is willing to take any risks. That mean that producers, agents and hollywood execs have no idea what genre/idea/subject will flood theaters with fans of the big white screen.

All of them put their money in safe, secure investments like franchises (the neverending graphic novel adaptations), sequels (Twilight, Shrek, Harry Potter two parts!) and remakes (Karate Kid, The Crazies, Clash of the Titans the list goes on and on)

Others are still looking for the next Paranormal Activity (which usually happens each 10 years) and ofcourse, there's a sequel or two in place which will probably  bomb at the box office.

In the meantime the trend-setters invest in gems like Inception, Splice, Monsters or know how to guess what the public wants (making Salt after the russian spies were captured in USA - now isn't that a funny coincidence?).

Even better for movie-fans, big directors and actors go into developing TV projects since the public is tired of feeling cheated when exiting the cinemas (what did I pay for? why did I waste my time? - all those movie-fanatic existential questions)

Good thing for the coming Oscar season. Maybe we'll get a taste of what good quality movies used to be. Before it's too late.

iPhone's Marketing Power

Was coming out of Phones4u with my new iPhone 3GS in my backpack and felt like having some coffee.

I knew Starbucks had wi-fi so I stopped at one nearby. After waiting at the long queue and getting my grande cappucinno, I went upstairs with the obvious intention to get the iPhone out of the box.

But, as it turned out, the whole process is not just any process.

I've found an empty table somewhere in the middle of the sitting area and maybe five or six other tables were occupied. Added some more sugar into my cup, shake well and took a sip.

I opened my backpack and took out The iPhone Box. All wraped up and brand new. Now, I'm not exagerating here, but since I was the newest coffee-lover arrived in the room, usually the rest of the patrons scan u before u become just another coffee drinker.

But when I took out the box and went looking for the sign where to start un-wrapping, the rest of the patrons turned to watch me.

Suddenly I was in the center of attention. I was on stage. I felt a little weird but I carried on. I took off the plastic wrap and slowly opened the box (slowly because that's how it opens, not that I wanted to). And there it was. The iPhone. Looking sleek and shiny as I was expecting it to look. I wondered at the piece of technology in my hands, my eyes glimmered with satisfaction and some form of fullfilment. Then I went on to see what else is inside.

And that's when my audience got back to their usual.

Now, I know I was not the only person having an iPhone in that room and I know it's not the best smart-phone out there. But everybody in the room recognized the device and seing it in the box, the actual users remembered their "moment of discovery", when they first opened the box. And they wanted to see me live that moment right there, at a table in Starbucks, having a capucinno.

They knew that I was gonna live a moment to remember, as they are all remembering their moment of discovery.

Now, that's what I call a product that creates customer experiences.

Un Prophete

In regia lui Jaques Audiard, Un Prophete este filmul frantuzesc comparabil cu Nasul, si daca varianta americana se intinde pe trei parti, Un prophete face acelasi lucru in doua ore si jumatate.

Povestea arabului Malik (Tahar Rahim) inchis intr-o puscarie alaturi de cei mai periculosi mafioti si transformarea sa dintr-un un infractor intr-un mafiot nemilos este transpusa fara prea multe dialoguri, ci mai mult prin jocul actoricesc.

Malik se afla intr-o situatie relativ simpla. Don-ul napolitan Cesar Luciani (numele nu este o simpla coincidenta) il forteaza sa ucida un martor incarcerat in aceeasi puscarie ce trebuie sa supravietuiasca pentru a putea depune marturie. Fiind singurul care are acces la aripa arabilor si “curtat” de catre martor, Malik are de ales: il ucide sau este ucis.

Intr-o scena de intensitate maxima, Malik il ucide, si devine protejatul don-ului. Dar nu se opreste aici. El este eliberat cateva zile pe saptamana, pe cautiune, timp in care duce la bun sfarsit misiuni pentru don, urcand rapid pe scara ierarhica. Transformarea sa este brutala, realitatea cruda din puscarie schimbandu-l in esenta, metamorfozandu-se psihic dintr-un delicvent marunt intr-un mafiot necrutator.

Pe un ton putin mistic, Malik mafiotul isi conduce viata si ia deciziile in urma unor viziuni bizare (dar pline de simbolistica) sau aparitii hipnotizante ale victimelor sale, iar rezultatele sunt pe masura. Ingeniozitatea planurilor sale il duc pana in varf pe scara ierarhica si puterea sa crescanda se oglindeste in comportamentul respectuos al celorlalti.

Stilul filmului este realist si brutal, scenele violente fiind la limita dintre antrenant si suportabil. Cu o tema ce putini au crezut ca mai poate fi abordata cu succes, si mai ales in acest fel, Un Prophete depaseste cu mult asteptarile si isi revendica bine-meritatul loc printre clasici.

Replica favorita:

Malik: “Listen, we’ll kill them but they can’t see it coming”

Shutter Island - inchisoarea mintii

In longeviva sa cariera, regizorul Martin Scorsese nu a abordat niciodata genul thriller. Desi orice a purtat amprenta sa a fost un succes, thriller-ul nu a fost pe placul sau. Iata ca acum, Scorsese regizeaza un thriller prin definitie, si o face in stilul specific, marcant.

Actiunea filmului este plasata in 1954, pe insula-fortareata Shutter Island devenita spital ce gazduieste cei mai periculosi bolnavi mintali pe care alte institutii i-a refuzat. Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) si Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), doi detectivi cu trecut dubios, sunt trimisi sa investigheze disparitia unui pacient (Emily Mortimer) in conditiile in care este imposibil sa evadezi de pe insula.

Atmosfera filmului este tensionata chiar din primele minute. Muzica, vremea proasta si cadrele apropiate stabilesc evident caracteristica noir a filmului. Insula este inspaimantatoare cu malurile abrupte, zidurile sinistre si mimele gardienilor si pacientilor la un loc, cel putin inchizitorii. Lafel sunt si apartitiile doctorului Cawley (Ben Kinglsey) care pare a avea un singur scop: sa impiedice bunul mers al anchetei.

Momentele de thriller provin insa din bagheta magica a regizorului Scorsese: scenele flash-back ce dezvaluie trecutul lui Teddy sunt finisate la perfectie, luminile si miscarile camerei se potrivesc ideal, dialogurile cu subtext in abundenta, iar actorii, in special DiCaprio, exceleaza la fiecare gest. Violenta nu este covarsitoare, dar tensiunea crescanda parca prevesteste si sporeste momentele violente, lasand urme adanci in psihicul spectatorului.

Toate aceste tehnici aduc aminte de The Shining, al genialului Stanley Kubric, si isi merita locul printre clasici. Shutter Island este un thriller-psihologic necrutator si inteligent, pe alocuri dur si admirabil din punct de vedere vizual.

Replica favorita

Teddy: “You know this place makes me wonder: which would be worse? To live as a monster or to die as a good man?”

Discover your imagination

Can anybody tell me what is "a song that you love" ? I suppose it's something that makes you feel something. Or just sounds good. But if it just sounds good, it doesn't mean you love it. It just plays in your car, in your headphones or on your favourite radio station. A song that you love is a song that you just sit and listen to it. A song that echoes in your brain, in your mind, in your imagination.

Here's an exercise:

Pick a song that you truly love. The one that "echoes". Play it once. Twice.

The third time, while listening to it, the moment you feel something, write that feeling down in an adjective or a couple of words. Do this througout the song.

Then put the pen down. Look at what you wrote. Analyse the words and see what feelings you just had. The stronger the feeling were, the more you love the song.

Here's what I've picked: Audiomachine - "House of Cards". It's a short song that plays in a lot of trailers.

You can listen to it here

And here's what ran through my mind while listening to it:

ritual

quiet

relaxing

angelic

high spirits

grand

warmth

beautiful

luminous/ irradiant

warmth

challenging

up-lifting

engaging

something is coming

silence before the storm

severe

terifiyng

pain

killing

powerful

wripping apart

sublime

cry

end of the world

lost love

no use living

sky falling

resolute

Looking back at the list, it's actually a glimpse of my imagination and what happened with my mind when the music played. It's images transposed into words. And reading it afterwords reminds me exactly of what I was thinking in that moment.

Depending on your mood, the same song can bring up other words, but writing your feelings down is like an open window to your imagination.

Anybody dare to try it? Using your lovely song, ofcourse.