An Interview with...Emmabung

As probably most of you know, seeing as I asked y'all to do one, I'm doing a series of interviews with some of my favourite bloggers - about film and cinema and the effect it has on their lives. This first interview is with possibly my favourite blogger ever - and also my very good friend - Emma of All About My Movies. Emma was the person who probably got me obsessed with movies to such an extent - I was so inspired by her passion and knowledge of cinema that I strived to make my own better. She writes some of the most insightful and personal reviews I've ever read, and yeah. She's just awesomeness defined :D

ooh btw, if anyone who I haven't asked wants to do an interview, comment me and I'll give you my email to send your answers to :)

Emma's Interview:

Favourite film? Why?

My favourite film is The Shawshank Redemption. It’s the sort of film that I only watch on special occasions, ie, when I really need it. I’ve watched it at points of highest despair, and each time, The Shawshank Redemption has imbued me with faith in life again. It’s such a rich film; it’s about friendship, freedom, salvation, hope and inner strength, and I completely connect with it. To me, Shawshank is perfection.

Favourite Director? Why?

David Lean and Billy Wilder are both up there, but number one is the one, the only, Alfred Hitchcock. Very few of his films are crap and when he’s good, he’s transcendent. He knows how to ply excellent performances out of his actors and can shape suspense in cinema like no one I’ve seen. Rear Window, Rebecca and Rope are my personal three favourites from him, but quite frankly, I could happily reel off most of his back catalogue as recommendations.

Do you agree with the principles of the auteur theory, which states the director is the major creative force behind a film, and is the person who places the biggest mark? In your opinion, which director most embodies this theory?

I agree to an extent. After all, I’ve watched many a film where the technical elements, screenplay and performances are all strong, but with a duff director, or not even a duff director, but one whose vision is at odds with the film, the film itself has ended up below par. The role of a film director is, in my opinion, the biggest one, and with the right director, water can turn into wine. Truffaut and Buñuel are two directors who I believe embody this theory the most. Oh, and Woody Allen.

To what extent do you allow critics/other people to influence what you enjoy?

It doesn’t. I love reading film reviews, because I think it’s always good to read a wide range of opinions, but I take the film reviews I read as lightly as the chicklits I cram into my literary diet.

Do you predominantly see film as art or entertainment? Have you ever liked/ appreciated a film, but not really enjoyed it?

How much I love a film is determined solely by how enjoyable I find it. If it isn’t enjoyable, then, in my eyes, it isn’t a good film. This channel of thought carries through to the likes of Lost in Translation, which practically every man and his dog loved, but I find it extremely dry and just so completely boring. Thus, the fact that I find it boring clouds my objective judgment of the film and I’ll immediately think its turd. The same goes for practically everything Stanley Kubrick has touched. A lot of his work has elements of good filmmaking, but they’re either too disturbing, boring or pretentious for me to like, and thus, in my mind, it’s a bad film. So, for me, in order to like a film, I’ve got to enjoy it.

Gun to your head, you’re only allowed to watch old cinema (i.e pre 70s) or modern cinema (i.e post 80s) – which would you pick? Why?

Ooooh. Bung. Um. Well, I’m going to say modern cinema. The film industry produces a lot of turd, but the fact that it’s ongoing and will make a non-finite amount of film, as opposed to old cinema where there are only a certain number of films from that time, mean that basically, I’m picking quantity over quality. Because it would be impossible for me to select going by quality of films. /copout :D

How important do you consider cinemas and the cinema going experience in this day and age? Are cinema and film the same thing?

I think it is very important. There’s a huge difference between watching a film on my laptop screen and pausing it every five minutes every time I receive an e-mail, and watching a film in a darkly lit cinema, with no other distractions. The latter is very much a cinema-going experience, and I’ve found that all the most memorable films I’ve seen (whether they are, like Slumdog Millionaire, memorable for good reasons, or like Synechdoche New York, memorable for bad reasons) have all been viewed at the cinema.

Who’s you favourite Hepburn girl – Audrey or Katherine?

Definitely Audrey. I’m still a bit of a Katherine Hepburn fan and believe she’s done some terrific work, but Audrey Hepburn is my ultimate icon. A talented actress, a winning personality, a terrific person, and she had natural class to boot, the kind of class that cannot be bought with any amount of money. Love her.

Name one person who you feel has had the biggest influence ever in the film industry.

Probably Steven Spielberg.

Which film festival would you most like to visit? London, Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Toronto…?

Cannes and Venice, because they are usually first to embrace the type of films that I end up loving. I hope to attend the London film festival this year.

Piece together your ideal film – story, actors, actresses, director, composer, cinematographer…the works.

I think it would be funky, feminist, funny and wannabe-revolutionary to make a film about a teenage virgin who is very much her own person, knows what she wants, knows how to get it – and very, very, selfish. And suddenly along comes her Mr. Perfect – or so she thinks, and she falls head-over-heels for him, and suddenly wants to be selfish no longer. Only stipulation? He doesn’t know she exists. And as she slowly climbs her way into his good books and she does capture his affections, she realizes that he, for all his beauty, is vapid and personality-less, and the last person she’d wanna lose her bunginity to. Very much a romantic comedy, but for my first film, I’d like to start out a little less ambitious. And, despite the ongoing theme being of a girl’s quest to lose her virginity to the high school hottie, the last thing I’d want this to be is yer standard gross out comedy. For the cast, I’d have Juno Temple as the main character (she is a fine comedic actress who could warm the coldest hearts), with Robert Pattinson as the object of her affections (well, I need to get the girls to the box office somehow, yes?) and Rupert Grint as her gay best friend (that bit’s just for me), and Andrew Simpson (the student whom Cate Blanchett has it off with in Notes on a Scandal) as her good mate, a lad whom she has always taken for granted. ‘Tis not hard at all to guess where this will go! I’d love, for some reason, for Quentin Tarantino to direct it, just to see how he manages with something so British and so fluffy, and I’d like Julian Fellowes (who has written both a film and a book to be proud of, Gosford Park and Snobs, respectively) to pen the script because his writings exude class, and this run-of-the-mill story needs a special writer to elevate it. My favourite composer is Thomas Newman, but, I wouldn’t want him on this project as I feel his talents would be better served to some other, bigger films I have in my mind. For this film, I’d want a modern soundtrack consisting of some of my favourite choons, as long as they fit with the scene. I’m thinking a bit of M.I.A., Kanye West and Dizzee Rascal. As for the cinematography, I want Christopher Doyle to film it.

(Editor’s note: lmao, this film is so Emma)

What role do you feel films play nowadays? Do you ever see them as superficial/irrelevant?

Anything but. I know people who still question why I’m so obsessed with film, especially as I’m pursuing a Maths degree and they view cinema as nothing but a distraction. But it’s the complete opposite of a distraction. Cinema is, in fact, still very much my raison d’etre. Without film, I’d be an empty, soulless shell. The Hitchcocks, Brandos, DiCaprios, Hepburns, Robbins’, Wilders’, Monroes, David Leans, Guinnesses, Blunts of this world and their cinematic personas form a massive part of who I am. To me, cinema is, and always will be, synonymous with life.

My type of thing...

Post-apocalyptic world? Tim Burton? Ragdolls with the gift of life? I am so on board.

Current Mood: listless

Laura, Otto Preminger (1944)

Haha, see - I wrote something. Congratulate me :D

Laura tells the story of a New York detective investigating the murder of a young beautiful woman - Laura Hunt. As he makes his way through his suspect list of her friends and family - each of whom has a grisly motive for wanting Laura out of the way - he finds himself slowly falling in love with the murdered woman.

Laura is a classic film-noir and - I'm ashamed to say - possibly my first ever true one. And I have to say, based on this film I love the genre already.The film is dark and haunting, but in a very quiet way, getting under your skin and in your mind without your even noticing.

It's also beautifully shot - Joseph LaShelle won an Oscar for his cinematography and it's very apparant why - almost every scene of the film is shot in a careful measured way to emphasise the quiet danger that is brooding in the background - faces in shadow, men in hats sillhoutted against a rainy street contribute to the tension and in indoor scenes, Laura's portrait is often caught just in the background of a shot - making her presence almost as unsettling as that of Rebecca's from Hitchcock's classic.

The acting is also very good - and surprisingly natural for a film made in the forties. Dana Andrews plays the earthy handsome Detective McPherson, and he makes the transition from slightly callous detective to man in love in a brilliantly subtle way, only from fleeting expressiosn and throw away lines of dialogue to we understand what is going on beneath his inscrutable exterior. He is also a rather nice foil to Clifton Webb's Waldo Lydecker- an older, dandier man who apparantly wears his heart on his sleeve, but hides a haughty and cruel side. This was Clifton Webb's first feature length talkie and he absolutely shines. Gene Tierney is also lovely as the title character Laura - managing to give her some actual character rather than just playing her as femme fatale or damsel in distress.

If there was one criticism I would make of Laura, it's that it actually isn't creepy or disturbing enough. The premise of the film is to have a man fall in love with a murdered woman, however *SPOILER ALERT* half way through we discover Laura hasn't died and is among them. This is a nice twist, and admittedly does allow some sexual tension between Tierney and Andrews, however, it does also mean the core idea of the film is scrapped before it really managed to develop. Perhaps it was a rather too twisted idea, and wouldn't have allowed for a nice tidy ending, still, I couldn't help being a little disappointed how quickly that theme was gone.

Besides that one point however, Laura is an excellent film which I thoroughly recommend, and is a shining example of a film noir. I now want to see more :)

ooh btw, answers to the Empire photo thing:

01. Christian Bale - American Psycho

02. James McAvoy + Keira Knightley - Atonement

03. Dan Radcliffe + Emma Watson + Rupert Grint - Harry Potter

04. Sam Neill - Jurassic Park

05. Sean Bean + Viggo Mortensen - Lord of the Rings

06. Clint Eastwood + Morgan Freeman - Million Dollar Baby

07. Anthony Hopkins + Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs

08. Michael Sheen - The Queen

The thing that has been consuming my life...

...Gossip Girl. Sad? Quite possibly. But I love it so much I don't care. I first started watching the first season back in winter - basically what happened was that someone from my school or one of the nearby schools started their very own Gossip Girl blog right here on blogspot, all about people that go to my school and rumours and bitchy gossip. It was fairly harmless I suppose and it got shut down, well, it shut itself down after a few weeks but yeah, I was absolutely appalled. Let me tell you right now, the TV series is one thing, when it happens in real life it feels awful - even though I wasn't on it (I'm way out of the social radar). Still, I thought it was vicious. But I did start watching the TV series, really to see what it was all about and I surprisingly loved it. It's not the smartest or most moral thing around, but it's witty, cool, beautiful and has some quite poignant moments. I only watched the first season though - it was in my exam time and I felt guilty about starting a new TV show, plus, Dan and Serena break up at the end of season one and that sort of broke my heart. I get really invested in characters - especially their romances - and I thought Dan and Serena were perfect together and I couldn't really imagine it without them. So yeah. I never got round to watching the second season 'til about two or three days ago and now I've finally finished and I just adored it. And I thought I'd better introduce you to my new favourite couple - Blair and Chuck. I still really like Dan and Serena, I thought they were so cute together, but oh-my-gosh-Blair-and-Chuck. Or more specifically Chuck. Yeah. He's adorable. I kind of hated him at the beginning of the first season 'cos he was creepy and kept trying to mess people's lives around - but in the second season especially his character really expands and he actually gets some heart and it's adorable. Everytime he smiles at Blair or looks at her or - let's be honest here - walks into a room I just love him even more. So yeah. OK. I am now officially a fan girl. At 18. What is wrong with me? But anyway. I have a pretty humongous picspam of Chuck and Blair, just because it screams adorable. Enjoy :)

(look at his face!! :D)

Serena: Chuck, why did you just do that?
Chuck: Because I love her. And I can't make her happy.
(awwwwwwww!!!)

(these pictures with the numbers are all from this countdown of this fan's favourite chuck-blair moments. Aren't the pictures pretty??)

(when he finally tells her he loves her. *beams*)

Following pictures from my one of my favourite episodes - O Brother, Where Bart Thou?

(this letter scene really cements my belief that Ed Westwick has what it takes to play Heathcliff. I mean, look at him. Haunted, dramatic...could he be more Heathcliff?)

(My favourite favourite scene. One of the most romantic things ever :D)

Hmmmn, looking back, this post is really just one big hormonal ramble. Ah well, to each his own :P

film + photography = love

Empire's 20th Birthday Portfolio is actually pretty damn impressive. To celebrate the magazine's 20th birthday, they've done a photo shoot with some amazing actors with little nods to their most famous films. As a geek, it's ridiculously good fun guessing which film they're paying tribute to (it's also really easy. So you don't really need to be a geek - just need to watch TV about once a week...) These are some of my favourite shots.

CHALLENGE! See if you can guess them all! The person who does gets...well, you get nothing. It really is very easy - especially since I'm putting half the movie names in my tags...

Not Sure About This...

They're planning to extend the Oscar Best Picture category to ten pictures instead of the usual five. Apparantly this will give "populist" films and comedies a better chance. As a big fan of comedies, I suppose I ought to be thrilled, but I can't help feeling that with such a large number, they'll just end up trying to make up the number with any blockbuster or gross comedy. The Oscars are meant to be more of a critical award ceremony, rather than one based on viewing figures or something - we have the MTV movie awards for that. I mean, Twilight was a popular film. Does that mean it comes even close to qualifying for a Best Picture nomination? God forbid. Maybe a small extension would have been alright, to give these films a chance, but I think doubling the number is just too much. Hmmn, we'll have to wait 'til next February to see...


Current Mood: lethargic

Curious-er and curious-er

I have always had a deep love of Alice in Wonderland. Ever since I was little, I would devour the books, the Disney film and any made for TV series which featured anything Alice related. I'm not entirely sure why I like it so much - I think it just really clicks with me. As a girl who infinitely prefers fiction and imagination to reality, and often walks with her head in the clouds, I think I really understand Alice's need to create a little world, to escape from the mundane-ness of this one. The level of creativity and imagination that Lewis Carroll (or to give him his proper name Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) used is extraordinary - he fully replicates the dream-like state we often find ourselves in through the random events, strange characters and whimsical narrative in his book - despite this, nothing is excess or unnecessary - each tiny scene is essential and contributes to this rich imaginative story.

I think what I most like about it though is that, unlike stories such as the Wizard of Oz, where Dorothy appears in this amazing imaginative world but spends the whole time wishing she was back in sepia toned Kansas, Alice belongs in her world and embraces it. There are dangers there - the Queen of Hearts is vicious and the Jabberwocky terrifying - yet no one can deny she fully belongs there. In my mind's eye, it's where she finds home at last. Alice is an inspiration for every awkward girl or boy who doesn't quite fit in - she uses her imagination to create her own world and finds home at last. That's how I've always seen it anyway, and I've always admired her for it. A lot of people feel it's a cop out to have it all end in a dream - and with a lot of stories that is true - with Alice in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass) it is essential to have it be a dream - it makes it truly her world. And I think Lewis Carroll - who is probably one of the most imaginative writers the world has ever seen - wanted to use his own powerful imagination to encourage and inspire the rest of us. I for one am inspired. So much so that I wrote a poem :D *hears groans* Yes, I apologise. I should stop tryign to be so creative. Especially when I'm nowhere near his calibre. Still. Off we go :D The poem pretty much sums up my view of the entire story and the entire character - it's all about finding home and finding happiness and where you belong.

Alice

Little girl,
Fallen down the rabbit hole.
Does comfort await you in this strange place?
Home may beckon,
Familiarity may call,
You were a stranger in your own land.
Stretch out your hand and feel the air,
Wonderland shimmers before your eyes.
Run into the chequered hall,
Dance amidst the roses red and white,

An ice cream in your hand,
A red bow in your hair.
Look up at the sky,
The moon is the Cheshire Cat’s smile,
As you dream of home.

Inspired by:

Phoebe in Wonderland. The whole film is really good, but the last scene - starting from 0.40 - is beautiful, and really reflects my belief of Alice representing belonging and finding out who you are.

and of course the girl herself:

So many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.