Mary and Max is a 2009 Austrailian clay-animation feature directed and written by Adam Elliot. (my friend jeremy insists that i watch it! and thanks!) It tells of a 20 year pen pal friendship between two very idiosyncratic and different people: Mary Dinkle, a chubby, lonely, 8-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia and Max Horowitz, a 44-year-old Jewish man who is severely obese, suffers from asperger's syndrome and leads an isolated life in New York City. it is quite a simple story about the tale of two lonely people who just want a friend.

Their friendship forms out of sheer coincidence when mary becomes curious to know where babies come from in america (cause apparently in australia, they are found in beer bottles.) she randomly rips a sheet out from the white pages and voila, she meets max horowitz. while it appears to be very whimsical and simple, it touches on deep subjects such as depression, obesity, isolation, childhood neglect etc, etc. in the opening credits, it says it is based on a true story. elliot clarified that the character of max was inspired by a pen-pal he's been writing to for over twenty years. (which makes me question if he and his pen-pal met the same fate as the characters in the end. hmmmm...)

the film is very reminiscent of jean-pierre jeunet's amelie (2001) in that mary has a wildly expansive imagination that confronts ideas and emotions that have been buried since one's own childhood. the way mary looks, talks, and acts is like an explosion of cuteness and when she says stuff like "he's scared of outside, which is a disease called homophobia" her cuteness radar just bursts out the roof. what started out to be a simple exchange of words turned out to be more than they ever bargained for. their 20 year friendship which was built through scribbles of ink and paper influences and changes them more than any real and tangible relationship ever could. and maybe thats the key to true happiness and friendship, to have an eternal bond between two people that cannot ever be broken even through the hardships of time, arguments, and distance. A-

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The only people who get sucker punched in Sucker Punch is the audience (like myself) that willingly paid to get our brain cells utterly destroyed. why pay for a movie filled with girls in costumes that show their milky thighs and luscious breasts fighting "big bad monsters and soldiers" like in sucker punch instead of enjoying this obscene content in the very comfort of your couch with a box of tissues? i mean its basically what zack snyder was doing when he was writing his original story very aptly named "sucker punch."(please tell me you read the sarcasm in my text.)

Petite and porcelain Baby Doll (emily browning) is wrongly sent to an insane aslyum after accidently killing her little sister in attempts of trying to save the two of them from their pedophilic step-father. Her and her group of mental inmates must band together and try to escape their reality through the imagination of baby doll.

While on paper it sounds quite intriguing and interesting, synder's execution is unbearably distasteful. whats worse is that the this is an "original" story by snyder and he just fucks it up. within the first 30 minutes of the movie, the audience has its first taste of the surprisingly campy-ness of the movie as they watch baby doll adjusting to the institutional life while a cover of the Pixes' where is my mind is sung overhead. while it can be seem as a otaku's or a nerds dream with beautiful/barely covered girls with their belt-length skirts and baby tees fighting anime monsters, ghost nazis, and serpents, it is quite the contrary. sucker punch is a story within a story and the transition from one story to another can confuse the audience within minutes even with the distinction from the regular to the cgi world. the cgi gets old very quickly, and for two hours, your eyes are held hostage to this horror.

This seemingly women empowering movie shows merely the same demeaning outlook of females as nothing more than meat. the women in the end do not overcome and conquer against their overbearing master, but baaaaaaaarely survive, and i mean barely. the only good thing about sucker punch was the believable sister dynamic between abbie cornish (bright star, limitless) and jena malone (stepmom, donnie darko). sucker punch was just another one of synder's pornographic fantasies that he tried to make into a women empowering film that would please both the females and males, but guess what synder?! you fail. the only one whos getting off on this is you and a million other guys who just want to see another piece of ass. no thank you. D

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"Photographer. Perfectionist. Loner. Maverick. Visionary."

all these words describe the new york times photographer bill cunningham. its sad to say but before this documentary i had no idea who bill cunningham was. but after watching this trailer im glad to know that there is someone like him out there, someone so committed to the world of fashion that he sleeps in a room full of cabinets (which im assuming is inundated with film) on a little cot and calls it his home. it amazes me how in this day and age, there are still some people out there who have such a romanticized mindset about life and money. among the plasticized faces of the celebrity realm, lies a couple of mavericks who have broke out of the mold and into a true "individual." i cant wait for this to come out, seems so interesting. and as i am taking a documentary class this semester im so intrigued and fascinated by good docs of "ordinary" people. it comes out march 16!

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to the many of you that may or may not follow my tumblr or twitter, you may not have known how psycho i was going over the whole the king's speech > the social network ordeal. Honestly, i dont understand and i dont think ill ever understand why oh why did the kings speech ever win best picture and best director over david finchers masterpiece. did the academy think that finchers upcoming rendition of the girl with the dragon tattoo would be just as good that his third time would be it? i dont know but all i gotta say is that from its editing, music, acting, direction, was just simply perfect.

and judging by my predictions, its sad to say but i got owned. i got half of these right and the other half were just way off. im honestly so sad about fincher getting robbed of his oscar. he deserves to have a little gold man in his hand too! maybe next year or maybe never. i just have to remember that fellini, kubrick, hitchcock, or bergman never won an academy. the oscars of 2011 was just bullshit. i guess caucasian people have prevailed once again. the kings speech is such a trivial and redundant piece of work. while the cinematography was breathtaking, the story! the story was a snooooooozefest. k fine, im done shit talking...

Best Picture
"The King's Speech," Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers

Achievement in directing
"The King's Speech," Tom Hooper

Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth in "The King's Speech"

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in "The Fighter"

Actress in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"

Actress in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo in "The Fighter"

Animated Feature Film
"Toy Story 3" Lee Unkrich

Achievement in Art Direction
"Alice in Wonderland"

Achievement in Cinematography
"Inception," Wally Pfister

Costume Design
"Alice in Wonderland," Colleen Atwood

Documentary (Feature)
"Inside Job," Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs

Documentary (Short Subject)
"Strangers No More"

Film Editing
"The Social Network"

Foreign Language Film
"In a Better World," Denmark

Makeup
"The Wolfman," Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Music (Original Score)
"The Social Network," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Music (Original Song)
"We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3," Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Short Film (Animated)
"The Lost Thing," Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

Short Film (Live Action)
"God of Love," Luke Matheny

Sound Editing
"Inception," Richard King

Sound Mixing
"Inception," Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick

Visual Effects
"Inception," Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
"The Social Network," Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin

Writing (Original Screenplay)
"The King's Speech," Screenplay by David Seidler

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i think this is a book but i found a list of films that apparently i "must see before i die!" so im going to try to complete this list this year. i know im starting out slow but ive seen maybe like 1/5 of the films on the list, which isnt saying very much but im looking to change that. first off the list is...


1) dancer in the dark, lars von trier (2000)
2) all about my mother, pedro almodovar (1999)

im going to keep of list on the side of the blog to keep me in check. i dont know if i could complete this list this year but i know for sure before i diiiiiiie, i will!! btw, this list is 49 pages... im just going to keep telling myself that i can do it..

check out the list for yourself..

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my fellow csulb film mate Bryce Marrero is trying to get funded to make his final thesis film "Bad Blood so please go support him if you can.

click here for kickstarter!!

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at first it reminded me very much of thumbsucker. but firstshowing.net is calling it very wes anderson/noah baumbach-esque and i guess i kind of agree. it seems like a cute indie british film and by the hype of it at its premiere at the toronto film festival, i cant help but be excited about it too.

submarine is a comedy following a 15-year old boy named oliver tate who has two objectives: to lose his virginity before his next birthday and to stop his mother from leaving his father for her dance teacher.

although the part of him wanting to lose his virginity does sound cliche, it might be good. the weinstein company has picked it up but a release date hasnt been confirmed. it will come out in the uk in march!

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i love mike mills so so so much. after making the magical thumbsucker back in 2005, hes back with beginners. its screams out idiosyncratic and cute, i dont know what to do with myself...!! sdgjsdgjsg

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(my winner predictions)

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)
Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (no gosling? booohooo)
Javier Bardem (Biutiful)
Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
James Franco (127 Hours)--carson daly was complaining on amp how much he didnt like franco and wanted gosling instead, true that
Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (why didnt andrew garfield get nominated?!)
Christian Bale (The Fighter)
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
Jeremy Renner (The Town)
Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)
Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Best Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

Best Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession Tanel Toom
The Crush Michael Creagh
God of Love Luke Matheny
Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King's Speech
True Grit

Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)
Inception (Wally Pfister)
The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)
The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)
True Grit (Roger Deakins)

Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)
I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)
The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)
The Tempest (Sandy Powell)
True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Achievement in Directing
Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
David O. Russell (The Fighter)
Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)
David Fincher (The Social Network)
Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Best Documentary Feature
Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)
Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Achievement in Makeup
Barney's Version
The Way Back
The Wolfman

Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)
The Fighter (Pamela Martin)
The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)
127 Hours (Jon Harris)
The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Biutiful (Mexico)
Dogtooth (Greece)
In a Better World (Denmark)
Incendies (Canada)
Hors la Loi (Algeria)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)
127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)
The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
TRON: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Achievement in Sound Mixing (no black swan?)
Inception
The King's Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)
The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)
Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

Original Screenplay
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)
The King's Speech (David Seidler)

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My second video art project. (video installation)

As a teenager, there seems to be an overwhelming amount of pressure to lose one's virginity by the influence of the media, peers, and even culture. countless young girls have projected and used their bodies in ways, way beyond their years. here i showcase, one example of how pressure and expectations has effected these young girls.

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indiewire.com says: “The Housemaid,” a remake of the 1960 Korean film of the same name, has been picked up for North American release by IFC Films. Billed as an “erotic thriller,” Im Sang-soo’s film made its world premiere in competition at Cannes this year.

The story focuses on Eun-yi, played by Jeon Do-yeon, who becomes involved in a destructive love triangle while working as a housemaid for an upper-class family.

what a freaking beautiful trailer though. sang-soo im directed the president's last bang (2005) which cause a lot controversy in korea centering around the assassination of president park chung-hee. In 2005, the Seoul Central Court ordered that 3 minutes and 50 seconds of documentary footage (mostly of demonstrations) be censored out of the film. In response, the director had the excised footage replaced with a blank screen for its running time. During its theatrical run, both nationally and internationally, only the censored version was shown.if you havent seen it, its definitely worth checking out.

the housemaid is going to be in theaters jan 21!!!! p.s. thats the most scandalous s.korean film poster ive ever laid my eyes on... *drooooolll..

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entertainment weekly named the 25 films you must see before the oscars. "the feb 27 ceremony is just around the corner. so start the top of this list and work your way down." (bold: what i must watch)

1. the social network

2. the king's speech

3. inception

4. the fighter

5. toy story 3

6. true grit

7. black swan

8. the kids are all right

9. 127 hours

10. winter's bone

11. the town

12. rabbit hole

13. another year

14. get low

15. how to train your dragon

16. blue valentine

17. biutiful

18. animal kingdom

19. waiting for superman

20. alice in wonderland

21. the girl with the dragon tattoo

22. inside job

23. the illusionist

24. tangled

25. burlesque

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i went through a wide range of emotions while watching this from nostalgia to happiness to sadness and back around. it just showcases the sheer genius of pixar and the films that theyve made in the past 15 years. the video was edited by leandro copperfield and although there are some clips i probably wouldve left on the cutting room floor, i nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed this.

p.s. im quite surprised that they used the xx in this but its a nice touch..

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mind you that i didnt see the king's speech, the kids are alright, blue valentine, the fighter, another year

1. the social network

2. black swan

3. never let me go

4. inception

5. toy story 3

6. the town

7. 127 hours

8. harry potter and the deathly hallows

9. kick-ass (for funzies)

10. exit through the gift shop

ok im pretty sure that if i saw blue valentine, the king's speech, or another year, it wouldve probably replaced kick-ass but im just going to put it in for my list for the best films in 2010.

i really freaking loved the social network and really hope it wins best picture at the oscars. this is what owen gleiberman of entertainment weekly had to say about the film:

it's been a long time since we saw a movie that's a zingingly scripted, boldly acted, intricately executed thriller for the brain and a brilliant topical riff on what's really happening in America. Jesse Eisenberg, in the finest performance by an actor this year, plays Mark Zuckerberg as a magnetic jerk-hero who invents Facebook not just because he feels like an outsider, but because he has an idea to rewire who we are. Eisenberg speaks Aaron Sorkin's genius-on-every-level dialogue with a speed-of-thought blunt sincerity that has you hanging on every rudely intoxicating word. In the twin lawsuits that frame it, the film sees Zuckerberg as pitiless but, in his misanthropic grand-scheme way, justified. Yet he is left, in the end, alone, and that's hooked to The Social Network's most teasing perception: that a world that turns ''friends'' into asystem may drive us as far apart as it draws us together.

touche owen, touche...

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as my final for my diverse media class, i was required to make a short and i chose to make a documentary. so chhhhhheck it out!!

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kees van dijkhuizen is backk!!! i went searching for his cinema 2010 after witnessing the epicness of his cinema 2009 (click to see). and i must say, i was expecting a looooooooot. but i guess i should blame the lack of good films that came out this year. like seriously on the top of my head, i can only think of the social network, toy story 3, black swan, as some of the top films of 2010. 2009 definitely had more memorable titles that made the oscar race even more stiff. and even though, ive watched a lot of films this year, i can barely name all the clips in the video. maybe every other clip but thats not good enough for me! i must know them all!!! anyways, enough of this psychoness. watch the video and enjoy. i always love watching kees' work. its touching, seamless, and downright entertaining...!! but not gunna lie, im expecting better films in 2011.. bring it on 2011!!!

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this has got to be the most depressing film to come out this year. but seeing how im a masochist, i must watch it! john cameron mitchell, the director of hedwig and the angry inch (2001) and shortbus (2006) is back with rabbit hole. imdb says: Life for a happy couple is turned upside down after their young son dies in an accident. Based on a play by David Lindsay-Abaire. sooo depressing but check it out...

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beautiful.

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i will write a review very shortly but in the meantime look at these stills and weep, cause yeah, its THAT good.

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i dont know where to start. i cannot begin to describe how much i hated the warrior's way. after witnessing the horror at the sneak peek in los angeles, i gave it the benefit of the doubt and assumed that the full version of the movie would slightly be better. oh boy was i wrong.

In the 19th century, a warrior name Yang (Jang Dong-gun) is ordered to kill the last member of an enemy clan--a baby. He refuses the mission and flees with the child to a dilapidated town in the American West. Despite his attempts, his enemies close in on him and he must fight to protect the child and his newfound comrades, Lynne (Kate Bosworth).

it is essentially a story of how the east meets the west. there is simple (yet, trivial) formula that can be followed during hard times like these when one like sngmoo lee has a brain fart. i should take into consideration that this film was 11 years in the making but that does not justify how cliche and banal the story and characters were altogether . yes there were decent action sequences but rather than focusing on the goal of each character, the story got lost midway of Jang Dong Gun and Kate Bosworth's characters's love affair. the film in its entirety was not believable even with its advanced "CG." and although, some scenes looked cool with its explosion of pastel colors on the backdrop, there was just no substance to the story. there was no emotional pull. why should i even bother caring about these two people whose troubled past does not tear my heart into sympathetic shreds?

what is more bothersome is the fact that they take great foreign actors and put them into "americanized" blockbusters that doesnt truly show their worth besides their incredible ninja skills. same goes for bi (rain) in speed racer and ninja assassin and lee byung-hun in g.i. joe. i know the studios primarily agree to have an foreign actor be in an action film rather than a drama considering the international appeal of the genre but come on! its so repetitive and overdone, that although these stars are getting global recognition, the film itself devalues their ability and talents back by a tenfold. iiiono, im just saying.

i feel like im being too generous but as a Jang Dong-gun fan, it's a C.

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im making a maid documentary at the moment and the star of my film is mayumi tanaka! she works at royal-t cafe, one of the first maid cafes in the los angeles, let along the u.s. while she is not working at the cafe as one of their super cute maids, she is an artist! she is having a show on dec 11, 2010 at the indie collective gallery in culver city. please check her work out shes amazing! and definitely stay put for the premiere of my new doc to find out more about her!!

p.s. she is also a performance artist! check out her website here!!!

Be there!

Indie Collective Gallery
6039A Wshington Blvd
Culver City, CA

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in honor of disney's 50th film (tangled) released this week, they decided to do a countdown of all the amazing disney films that made you hysterically cry, laugh out loud, and fall in love! whether your favorite is lion king, beauty and the beast, or even mulan, its all here! check it out! sososososo amazing and filled with nostalgia...

warning: have a box of tissues before viewing...

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