The most beautiful thing filmed

Ricky Fitts: "It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force, that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember... Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."

--- American Beauty (1999)

Все́волод Илларио́нович Пудо́вкин

(Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin) (16 February 1893 – 20 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage. Pudovkin's masterpieces are often contrasted with those of his contemporary Sergei Eisenstein, but whereas Eisenstein utilized montage to glorify the power of the masses, Pudovkin preferred to concentrate on the courage and resilience of individuals.

- Wikipedia

Close to 2022?

Solent Green (1973) really makes you think where your food comes from,

and what could happen to the planet if we keep up the destruction.

I never realized this was a Charlton Heston film and with

Edward G. Robinson, the guy (Dathan) from The Ten Commandments (1956).

poster source

What to watch

I have this weird thing with films, like so many other people I am sure. I can watch certain films over and over and never get sick of them. They could be super bad films too; it does not matter. Currently I am watching Tremors (1990) because Aliens (1986) is next. I was not allowed to watch The Abyss (1989) yesterday as I have watched it so many times in the last few weeks. So we watched The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), so figure -- I can recite most of the lines of this film too. Well, it was that or Star Wars: Episode V (1980). Really!?!

Speak

"Paradoxically, the Tongues Untied (1989) censorship hysteria has helped re-kindle an essential public debate: who is to have access to so-called "public" media, and on what terms? Who should represent and define "minority" perspectives and experience? Above all, who has the authority to draw the thin line between innocuous 'diversity' and unacceptable 'deviance?'"

--- Marlon Riggs (Director)

Problems and problems

Between the car and the weather, I do not know what is going to give me a bigger headache. Car was towed. I had to borrow my Mom's car and one of the worst winter storms hit this morning, just the morning.

I fixed my code for one project, wrote another program and have 3.5 programs to go. I can sleep in tomorrow, but still have a lot of work to do.

But, I did see Gran Torino (2008).

Honesty

Guido: " I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest film. No lies whatsoever. I thought I had something so simple to say. Something useful to everybody. A film that could help bury forever all those dead things we carry within ourselves. Instead, I'm the one without the courage to bury anything at all. When did I go wrong? I really have nothing to say, but I want to say it all the same."

-- 8½ (1963), Federico Fellini

DMS 108

Film History:

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren, 1943, 14 min) - Silent
A Study in Choreography for Camera (Maya Deren, 1945, 4 min)
Visual Variations on Noguchi (Marie Menken, 1945, 4 min) - Original Soundtrack

The Hitchhiker (Ida Lupino, 1953, 71 min) - English/Spanish
Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio de Sica, 1948, 93 min) - Italian
羅生門 Rashomon (Akira KUROSAWA 黒澤 明 1950, 88 min) - Japanese
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960, 90 min) - French
Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, 1968, 95 min) - Spanish

"Truth is unattainable…you can’t give truth.
What you can do is reveal something to your viewers that makes them discover their own truth."
---- Michel Brault

Passing time

Today is my super long day. I have a 6 hour break between classes and do not want to drive home and then back again -- gas is still too high. I plan to do some homework and watch a couple of films on my MacBook; Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and El Laberinto del fauno [Pan's Labyrinth] (2006).