Happy Birthday, Stanley Kubrick!

Today is what would have been the great Stanley Kubrick's 83rd birthday! A master filmmaker. What more can be said? Go watch one of his movies.

DRIVE (2011)

Well this looks amazing!



I posted the first clip of this movie a month or two ago and I thought it looked awesome. And, well, with this first red band trailer, I'd say that it still looks awesome! Can't wait!

SENNA (2010)

I recently watched this incredibly in-depth and moving documentary by director Asif Kapadia and found myself thinking about it for days afterwards. Now I'm interested in F1 and fast cars, but I am convinced that even the average person who cannot tell the difference between NASCAR and F1 and go-karting will find it hard to resist the beautiful and tragic story of the late great racing driver Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian rose to fame in the 1980s, the glory days of F1 where restrictions on the cars were nothing compared to today's standards, and coupled with relatively primitive technology (manual gearboxes, no traction control etc.), made race driving insanely dangerous, and not to mention extremely thrilling to watch. These men were piloting cars with over 1000 horsepower around wet race tracks with slick tires, and the men became separated from the boys pretty quickly. Senna, despite his boyishness, immediately stood out as something special. He was fearless, and determined to become a champion, even if that meant running his own team-mate off the road or worse. But despite his intense desire to win, he was rational, well-spoken to an almost poetic degree, and had genuine humanity about himself, making him very difficult to dislike. Though many traditionalists did dislike him, making him a bit of a maverick, as he was willing to sacrifice anything to win. The thing I could not shake though, is that there is something glimmering in his eye, something beautiful yet tragic, as if he knew deep down inside that his passion was going to kill him too young. On a number of occasions, we are given an opportunity to just watch Senna either sitting in his car or elsewhere thinking, pondering. And it is in these moments that I found I really became a fan of his. You can tell he wants to be the champion so badly and that he is burning bridges to do so and he knows it is wrong, yet he continues on. He knows that if anything were to happen to him, it would emotionally destroy his family, his friends, his home country of Brazil, and indeed the whole F1 community, and yet he goes on. And I think that is what stuck with me well after it ended, just this feeling that despite the dangers or the banality of piloting a car around a circuit, it was important to him and to many, many people in a way that is indescribable. So despite how you feel about auto-racing, I highly recommend this film as an "in" to how and why people are passionate about this type of sporting event (and it is a sport, and the drivers truly are athletes). And if nothing else, you'll know about an inspiring person named Ayrton Senna.

Here is the trailer:


And watch this excellent segment from the BBC's Top Gear last year. The end gives me goosebumps:

BUSTER KEATON MANIA!

So I came across this post on Tumblr today and it is amazing! Keaton's life's work is basically all here. I'm going to watch as much of this as possible, despite the fact that his films are best seen in a dark, packed theatre with a live piano player providing the soundtrack. This is from the tumblr blog maudit:

“Buster Keaton is considered one of the greatest comic actors of all time. His influence on physical comedy is rivaled only by Charlie Chaplin. Like many of the great actors of the silent era, Keaton’s work was cast into near obscurity for many years. Only toward the end of his life was there a renewed interest in his films. An acrobatically skillful and psychologically insightful actor, Keaton made dozens of short films and fourteen major silent features, attesting to one of the most talented and innovative artists of his time.” PBS. This is a list of Buster Keaton’s surviving films; shorts and feature-length. Many television show appearances, “lost films,” several shorts from 1930-40s, and foreign films are not included because they are not available online. If you find something online, that I’ve missed, feel free to let me know. I have checked all these links! if you have a problem, let me know! Now, Enjoy!

1917. The Butcher Boy | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1917. The Rough House | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1917. His Wedding Night | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1917. Oh Doctor! | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3
1917. Coney Island | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1918. Out West | WATCH
1918. The Bell Boy | WATCH
1918. Moonshine | Unfinished Film - WATCH
1918. Good Night Nurse! | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1918. The Cook | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1919. Back stage | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1919. The Hayseed | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3
1920. The Garage | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3
1920. One Week | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1920. The Saphead | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 & PT 4 & PT 5 & PT 6
1920. Convict 13 | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 / DOWNLOAD
1920. The Neighbors | PT 1 & PT 2
1920. The Scarecrow | PT 1 & PT 2
1921. The Haunted House | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 / DOWNLOAD
1921. Hard Luck | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1921.The “High Sign” | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 & PT 4 / DOWNLOAD
1921. The Goat | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1921. The Playhouse | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT3 / DOWNLOAD
1921. The Boat | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1922. The Paleface | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1922. Cops | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1922. My Wife’s Relations | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 / DOWNLOAD
1922. The Blacksmith | WATCH
1922. The Frozen North | PT 1 & PT 2
1922. The Electric House | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1922. Daydreams | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1923. The Balloonatic | WATCH
1923. The Love Nest | PT 1 & PT 2 / DOWNLOAD
1923. Three Ages | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1923. Our Hospitality| PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 / DOWNLOAD
1924. Sherlock Jr. | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1924. The Navigator | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1925. Seven Chances | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6
1925. Go West | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7
1926. Battling Butler | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7
1927. The General | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1927. College | WATCH
1928. Steamboat Bill Jr. | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1928. The Cameraman | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 /DOWNLOAD
1929. Spite Marriage | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7
1930. Doughboys | DOWNLOAD: PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4
1931. Parlor, Bedroom and Bath | WATCH
1931. The Stolen Jools | WATCH
1932. Speak Easily | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1934. Allez Oop | Pt 1 & PT 2
1935. One Run Elmer | PT 1 & PT 2
1936. Grand Slam Opera | PT 1 & PT 2
1937. Jailbait | PT 1 & PT 2
1937. Love Nest On Wheels | PT 1 & PT 2
1940. New Moon | PT 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9
1940. Lil’ Abner | WATCH
1941. General Nuisance | Clip
1952. Life with Buster Keaton | WATCH
1952. Limelight | DOWNLOAD PT 1 & PT 2 | Torrent
1953. L’incantevole nemica | Clip
1954. The Rheingold Theatre | WATCH
1956. Around the World in Eighty Days | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1961. Once Upon A time [TWILIGHT ZONE] | WATCH
1963. The Triumph of Lester Snapwell | Clip
1963. It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1965. The Donna Reed Show | WATCH
1965. The Railrodder | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
1965. Film | PT 1 & PT 2
1966. The Scribe | PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3
1966. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | WATCH | Torrent
1965. Buster Keaton Rides Again | WATCH / DOWNLOAD
Extra: What’s my Line: WATCH | This is your Life: PT 1 & PT 2 & PT 3 | Buster Keaton 26 shorts: Torrent all of which are listed above

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY (2011)

Remember how the other day I posted that picture of Gary Oldman in costume as George Smiley? Well I've just come across the trailer for TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY and it looks great! Now this is what I look for in a spy thriller. Lots of men talking in dark rooms, cigarette smoke, the murder of a man in Istanbul, some dramatic music, the flash of a Mercedes Benz, and virtually no fancy technology. I love and respect the BOURNE franchise for what it is, but that is an action series. This is what the spy world is more like (and even this I'm sure is more exciting than it actually is). I am also a huge fan of the 007 series, but from what I understand John Le Carre, the author of the novel on which this film is based, as well as many other fine espionage stories, set out to write the antithesis of James Bond, and based on his own experiences in the secret service. What I like here is that the conflict is not about missiles, or nukes, or computer hacking, it is about a mole in the operation and the conflict is between the people there. I find this much more interesting. Spydom was really about who could outsmart who. People who had good people-reading skills, as well as deception skills, the ability to lie flawlessly, and the experience and know how to look two, three, or five steps ahead to outwit the opponent, those people excelled. And I feel like Le Carre's stories, including this one, tell the story of the people who possess these skills and characteristics, and have chosen one of the loneliest professions in the world. So I await with bated breath the release of this film on November 16th! (And look at the cast! Wow, you know it is going to be good!)