Liftingfaces

(WITH SURPRISING VOICES)

5. Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater) - Image / Voice

4. Kristian Matsson (Tallest Man On Earth) - Image / Voice

3. Andrew Bird - Image / Voice

2. Thomas Dybdahl - Image / Voice

1. Ray Lamontagne - Image / Voice

The art of Helena Blomqvist.

The art of Mariléne Oliver.

(BLOOD WINS!)

I know that No Country for Old Men took the award for best picture at the Academy Awards, but I don’t see how the critics chose it over There Will Be Blood. For me, Blood was a stronger, more rewarding film. Daniel Day Lewis and P.T. Anderson gave me a glimpse into the foundation of the oil economy, and drew me deeper into a seemingly one-dimensional character than I thought I could have gotten.

No Country came off as a faithful retelling of a novel where the emptiness between action created the story’s tone. Which can work fine on paper, but on screen, with the Cohen Brothers at the helm, it felt desolate, a sketch of a film, a skeleton of an idea where the dots connected, vaguely, but didn’t really care if we the viewer did so. It was no Blood Simple, I can say that. All of this said, I still liked No Country.

I left No Country asking myself what I had just watched, and came up with a fragment of an idea. I left Blood with questions about the characters and their motivations, but the good kind, the kind that keep you talking for days on end.

The art of Mel Kadel.

The art of Amy Bennett.

I am only on the second book in this projected seven volume fantasy epic, but I can already tell you that A Song of Ice and Fire is one of my favorites series’ of all time. Without getting into a detailed dissertation on why George R.R. Martin has reimagined the genre and brought a new way of looking at stayed archetypes, I will just say that this author knows how to create scenes. Each chapter is told from a different viewpoint of one of the central characters, and there are usually about six or seven characters we follow in each book. The format makes for sprawling, engaging storytelling, and the fantasy elements are not your typical trolls and dragons (though dragons do exist in some fashion).

HBO has actually optioned the rights to this series, and has a plan to turn each book into a single season of episodes. No news on the development yet, but plans had been made to shoot this series in New Zealand were it to go into production. It would be a very special series, and HBO would be the perfect venue for it (for there is plenty of murder, warring, sex, and betrayal to go around for everyone).

If you have avoided reading fantasy because you aren’t interested in wizards or hobbits, then this might be a series you should check out. There’s an alcoholic king, a sarcastic imp, a Tom Sawyer like young girl, and a foreign woman who isn’t too afraid of fire, to name a few.

Go check out the first book now, and buy the rest while you’re at it.

The art of Hew Locke.

(BAZ LUHRMANN’S EPIC “AUSTRALIA”)

Baz Luhrmann wrote and directed this upcoming film; Nicole Kidman (usually a solid actress) stars alongside Hugh Jackman; the story feels in parts whimsical, and in others epic. So why am I not thrilled for Australia to come out? Let’s start at the top.

(1) I just had vision of Jackman coming out of a saloon full of banditos and carving a giant ‘C’ on another bandito’s blouse with his retractable metal claws, then proclaiming he is Zorro’s second cousin Carcayú (Wolverine en español).

(2) Man, I hope Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsdale don’t have a kissing scene in this movie. It was hard enough watching it happen the first time in Pearl Harbor.

(3) Marcus Aurelius would be proud. So would Ridley Scott. And the dozen or so multi-vitamin commercials that have also used this masterful cinematic hand-grazing-wheat moment.

(4) “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet, and no-one can get at it but me!” Oh wait, that was a different movie, with a better actor. Whoops.