Ladies and gentlemen, I have just witnessed the most interesting movie I've ever seen. Christian Marclay's The Clock is a monument of nontraditional filmmaking; it has no consistent characters, no coherent score, and no legitimate story. It's a movie that consists solely of footage from other films, cut together into one 24-hour film about a single thing: time. The one through-line in the movie is that nearly every shot features a clock, a watch, or someone saying the time. The film is synchronized with the time the audience watches it (example: this screening began at 5pm Thursday and runs until 5pm Friday), allowing for a stunningly intricate - and original - theatrical experience.
The Clock
Director: Christian Marclay
Starring: Random actors from cinema history
If you're still confused as to how this thing is put together, a good example I can give you is if you were to walk into this movie just before noon, you'd see Leonardo DiCaprio playing the hand of cards that wins him tickets aboard the Titanic, and him rushing to make it in time. Then, you'd abruptly cut to Gary Cooper in High Noon, warily watching the clock as the bell tolls. This movie has no bounds, and cuts back and forth between cinematic eras and genres at will. It's fascinating, able to take us through a whirlwind of film history while simultaneously providing a constant reminder of the ever-ticking present.
If you're thinking, "this must have taken Marclay FOREVER to put together!" you're not the only one. This interview says it took the director and his team of assistants a year of searching and compiling footage before he even knew if it was possible to complete, and then another two years of editing to finish the movie. An unbelievable creation, The Clock is not just shots of large clocks in Grand Central Station or bank robbers synchronizing their watches during a heist: much of the movie is comprised of throwaway moments in which characters are walking through a room and a clock is on the wall out of focus behind them. After a few minutes of getting used to watching the movie, half of the fun becomes playing the game of trying to spot the timepiece in each shot. And sometimes, it's not even a clear view of what time it is, indicating a staggering level of detail that Marclay and his team had to utilize in order to pause and zoom in to confirm the actual time displayed.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this film, though, is the way Marclay was able to edit the audio from thousands of different films down to a reasonably consistent level throughout. The hour of the film I watched was from 9:35pm to 10:35pm, so I was there during the famous 10:04pm lightning strike of the clock tower from Back to the Future. In that film, the main theme is blasting as Marty careens down the street in the DeLorean; in The Clock, the music is suppressed a bit to make sure the next edit to a completely different movie isn't aurally shocking when Marty and Doc are no longer needed.
Marclay also would occasionally have audio from one clip bleed over into another, even if the time period or genre was totally different. In a black and white film noir, a woman steps out of the bathroom, talking to an unseen man in the other room. We then see a modern day color film shot of a man in a bedroom alone, perking his head up as if listening to the now-muffled-but-continuing conversation of the woman in the "other room." Many of these instances are done to humorous effect, and oftentimes conversations that make mention of time are cleverly placed for a laugh.
The director was able to craft a lot of visual gags as well. When one character exited a scene through a door, Marclay would cut to someone else from a totally different movie walking through another door and shutting it behind him. The result is a continuous "story" that can go in any direction, not shackled by traditional act structures or narrative constraints. Soon after I began watching this movie, I was completely spellbound. The Clock made me take a step back, allowing for reflection and realization that everyone - regardless of his or her stature or circumstance - is a slave to time. It's the one constant we all share, and no matter how different we are, it affects each of us and dictates the events in our lives.
Since The Clock pulls clips from thousands of movies, there's no way Marclay would ever be able to secure the rights to all of this footage; this makes it impossible to showcase in normal theaters unless it's a free exhibition (as I saw tonight at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Check your local museum schedule to see if it's coming to one near you. The Clock gets my highest stamp of approval and, along with being the most interesting, this just may be the most impressive film I've ever seen. Until next time...
Friday, July 29, 2011
Cowboys & Aliens
Jon Favreau continues to prove himself as an excellent director with Cowboys & Aliens, a movie that is a good summer flick that ends up being not quite as good as the sum of its parts. It's got a ton of energy, the cast is solid, and the effects are great, so even though the final product is missing that extra "spark," it's still a serviceable summer crowd-pleaser.
Cowboys & Aliens
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
Favreau and his massive writing squad (Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Otsby) are clearly passionate fans of the western genre, and their love for the material comes through on screen. The director takes a modern approach to framing vintage character archetypes, and his history of fantastic visual effects from the Iron Man films serves him well yet again. This is much more western than sci-fi, and that's to the film's benefit; the characters take this alien invasion seriously, and there's no joking tone or winking at the camera. It's a big world, full of similar vistas, gorges, and sweeping plains that you might find in an old John Ford movie. Favreau also battled the studio when they wanted the movie shot in 3D; he held his ground and shot it on film to capture the texture of those classic westerns that came before.
Daniel Craig is stoic, rugged, and dirty throughout - in other words, he makes a great cowboy. Taking a page from Eastwood's playbook, he lets his actions do most of the talking; his wandering amnesiac is a total badass, reminiscent (in attitude) of Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. Harrison Ford gives one of his most inspired performances in years as the ridiculously-named Woodrow Dolarhyde, a hardass father with a good heart. The supporting cast does a good job, but ultimately their parts seem a bit undeserving of their talents. Guys like Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Paul Dano, and Walton Goggins have earned a bit more than what they were given here.
The alien design is pretty by-the-numbers (although better than the atrocious designs in Battle: Los Angeles), and their excuse for invading is laughably bad. Olivia Wilde's exposition gets a bit dreary at times, but it's evened out by some memorable chase sequences across stark scenery via land, air, and sea. The climax also features some memorable shots, including one in particular that was clearly influenced by Neill Blomkamp's District 9.
Listen, I liked this movie. It won't be among my favorites of the year or anything, but the structure and predictability is exactly the kind of "turn off your brain" entertainment that most people go to the movies for in the first place. It's well put-together, Favreau puts some style in it, and Craig and Ford go toe-to-toe in entertaining roles. But I still can't shake the feeling that it it was too predictable, the script suffers from its familiarity, and ultimately the movie just ends up coming up short. For summer fluff, Cowboys & Aliens is fine. Looking for anything more? Keep searchin', cowboy. Until next time...
Cowboys & Aliens
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde
Favreau and his massive writing squad (Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Otsby) are clearly passionate fans of the western genre, and their love for the material comes through on screen. The director takes a modern approach to framing vintage character archetypes, and his history of fantastic visual effects from the Iron Man films serves him well yet again. This is much more western than sci-fi, and that's to the film's benefit; the characters take this alien invasion seriously, and there's no joking tone or winking at the camera. It's a big world, full of similar vistas, gorges, and sweeping plains that you might find in an old John Ford movie. Favreau also battled the studio when they wanted the movie shot in 3D; he held his ground and shot it on film to capture the texture of those classic westerns that came before.
Daniel Craig is stoic, rugged, and dirty throughout - in other words, he makes a great cowboy. Taking a page from Eastwood's playbook, he lets his actions do most of the talking; his wandering amnesiac is a total badass, reminiscent (in attitude) of Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. Harrison Ford gives one of his most inspired performances in years as the ridiculously-named Woodrow Dolarhyde, a hardass father with a good heart. The supporting cast does a good job, but ultimately their parts seem a bit undeserving of their talents. Guys like Sam Rockwell, Clancy Brown, Paul Dano, and Walton Goggins have earned a bit more than what they were given here.
The alien design is pretty by-the-numbers (although better than the atrocious designs in Battle: Los Angeles), and their excuse for invading is laughably bad. Olivia Wilde's exposition gets a bit dreary at times, but it's evened out by some memorable chase sequences across stark scenery via land, air, and sea. The climax also features some memorable shots, including one in particular that was clearly influenced by Neill Blomkamp's District 9.
Listen, I liked this movie. It won't be among my favorites of the year or anything, but the structure and predictability is exactly the kind of "turn off your brain" entertainment that most people go to the movies for in the first place. It's well put-together, Favreau puts some style in it, and Craig and Ford go toe-to-toe in entertaining roles. But I still can't shake the feeling that it it was too predictable, the script suffers from its familiarity, and ultimately the movie just ends up coming up short. For summer fluff, Cowboys & Aliens is fine. Looking for anything more? Keep searchin', cowboy. Until next time...
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The NJNM Podcast: Ep. 50 - Poltergeist
Introduction
Character Name Game Intro - 3:25
Media Consumed
Tyler
Shout-outs - 4:10
"Rizzoli and Isles" - 5:00
Zookeeper - 6:53
"Rizzoli and Isles" - 5:00
Zookeeper - 6:53
Ben
The Goonies - 9:24
Gone With the Wind - 15:12
Review
Poltergeist - 25:05
Wrap-Up
Next Time: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - 57:07
Listener E-mail/Voicemail - 58:10
Character Name Game - 1:04:34
Up Your Specs - 1:07:00
Up Your Specs - 1:07:00
Where You Can Find Us - 1:15:00
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Captain America: The First Avenger
Heading into Captain America, one question was at the forefront of my mind: could director Joe Johnston recapture the tone of his 1991 cult classic The Rocketeer and translate that into a superhero movie for today's audience? Thankfully, the answer is yes. This movie probably isn't going to be any Marvel fanboy's favorite, but it has enough action and humor to make it one of the fledgling studio's better efforts of the past couple years.
Captain America: The First Avenger
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones
The newest in Marvel's ambitious multi-film buildup to The Avengers, Captain America shows yet another side to the studio's versatile approach to creating one consistent universe; while Thor delved into an entirely different world, Captain America takes place in a different time, making it Marvel's first true period piece. Johnston, a protege of Steven Spielberg and a former Academy Award-winning effects artist (responsible for designing Boba Fett's armor and the AT-AT units in Star Wars, among many other things), really seems to relish the look and feel of the 1940s in this movie. In a recent interview, Johnston revealed that he had two offices during the making of the film and one of them was in the art department so he could supervise the design and creation of the world; clearly, that aspect of production remains close to his heart. His team pulled off a really cool look here, a stylized vibe that reminds me more of a propaganda poster than what that actual time truly looked like.
After an interesting casting battle that featured "The Office" star John Krasinski and TRON: Legacy's Garret Hedlund, actor Chris Evans - who notably already played a superhero in Marvel's Fantastic Four series - accepted the role and did an admirable job with a pretty decent script. Once the scrawny Steve Rogers (a great bit of CGI trickery) becomes the jacked Captain America, the audience's ability to relate to the character dissolves a bit. It's tough to pull for a guy who's seemingly invincible; even Superman has Kryptonite, but there's never any real danger for Cap. He and his boys go around the world kicking ass, and it's cool and everything, but I wish there would have been a little more importance attached to his missions.
Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull was inspired casting, but he's essentially wasted on a character that never shows the true evil of which he's surely capable. He's gotta have that Darth Vader moment where he completely destroys something on a massive scale for the audience to really fear him, but unfortunately the character is never allowed that moment. The makeup is great, and Weaving was solid, but the character himself didn't really do much.
One of the reasons I liked Thor was because of how well the writers integrated the S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers setup stuff, making it organic to the story instead of forcing it in (ahem, Iron Man 2). Since Captain America is a period piece, it's a little easier for them to deal with; the story revolves around the cosmic cube (referenced in Thor and surely an important part of the upcoming Avengers), and they incorporate Howard Stark's involvement into the story, filling out that character and allowing for some fun moments for Dominic Cooper to chew some scenery as, essentially, an older version of Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony. The rest of the supporting cast is serviceable, too. Names like Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci rarely disappoint, and more minor players like Neal McDonough (fantastic in "Band of Brothers") and Sebastian Stan (entertaining in Hot Tub Time Machine, totally forgettable in the otherwise-brilliant Black Swan) also did some good work. (Though their parts are woefully underwritten.) Hayley Atwell (Cassandra's Dream) takes center stage as Cap's love interest, Agent Peggy Carter. Her character isn't given much to do, but Atwell brings enough moxie to the part that I'm interested in seeing her again soon.
Like most of the other Marvel films, this one begins in media res and returns to the present time by the end. Aside from not detailing how exactly Cap is able to "sleep for almost 70 years" - and honestly, it doesn't matter - I thought all of the storylines were nicely wrapped up and, without trying too hard, Captain America ended up being a pretty fun stepping stone towards next summer's ultimate team-up flick. Until next time...
Captain America: The First Avenger
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones
The newest in Marvel's ambitious multi-film buildup to The Avengers, Captain America shows yet another side to the studio's versatile approach to creating one consistent universe; while Thor delved into an entirely different world, Captain America takes place in a different time, making it Marvel's first true period piece. Johnston, a protege of Steven Spielberg and a former Academy Award-winning effects artist (responsible for designing Boba Fett's armor and the AT-AT units in Star Wars, among many other things), really seems to relish the look and feel of the 1940s in this movie. In a recent interview, Johnston revealed that he had two offices during the making of the film and one of them was in the art department so he could supervise the design and creation of the world; clearly, that aspect of production remains close to his heart. His team pulled off a really cool look here, a stylized vibe that reminds me more of a propaganda poster than what that actual time truly looked like.
After an interesting casting battle that featured "The Office" star John Krasinski and TRON: Legacy's Garret Hedlund, actor Chris Evans - who notably already played a superhero in Marvel's Fantastic Four series - accepted the role and did an admirable job with a pretty decent script. Once the scrawny Steve Rogers (a great bit of CGI trickery) becomes the jacked Captain America, the audience's ability to relate to the character dissolves a bit. It's tough to pull for a guy who's seemingly invincible; even Superman has Kryptonite, but there's never any real danger for Cap. He and his boys go around the world kicking ass, and it's cool and everything, but I wish there would have been a little more importance attached to his missions.
Hugo Weaving as the villainous Red Skull was inspired casting, but he's essentially wasted on a character that never shows the true evil of which he's surely capable. He's gotta have that Darth Vader moment where he completely destroys something on a massive scale for the audience to really fear him, but unfortunately the character is never allowed that moment. The makeup is great, and Weaving was solid, but the character himself didn't really do much.
One of the reasons I liked Thor was because of how well the writers integrated the S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers setup stuff, making it organic to the story instead of forcing it in (ahem, Iron Man 2). Since Captain America is a period piece, it's a little easier for them to deal with; the story revolves around the cosmic cube (referenced in Thor and surely an important part of the upcoming Avengers), and they incorporate Howard Stark's involvement into the story, filling out that character and allowing for some fun moments for Dominic Cooper to chew some scenery as, essentially, an older version of Robert Downey, Jr.'s Tony. The rest of the supporting cast is serviceable, too. Names like Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci rarely disappoint, and more minor players like Neal McDonough (fantastic in "Band of Brothers") and Sebastian Stan (entertaining in Hot Tub Time Machine, totally forgettable in the otherwise-brilliant Black Swan) also did some good work. (Though their parts are woefully underwritten.) Hayley Atwell (Cassandra's Dream) takes center stage as Cap's love interest, Agent Peggy Carter. Her character isn't given much to do, but Atwell brings enough moxie to the part that I'm interested in seeing her again soon.
Like most of the other Marvel films, this one begins in media res and returns to the present time by the end. Aside from not detailing how exactly Cap is able to "sleep for almost 70 years" - and honestly, it doesn't matter - I thought all of the storylines were nicely wrapped up and, without trying too hard, Captain America ended up being a pretty fun stepping stone towards next summer's ultimate team-up flick. Until next time...
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