Director Antonioni Dies

Much like Bergman I'm afraid I have not delved into Antonioni's work, for him I even say it is far less. I was watching late night one night on Turner Classic Movies (The one network I cannot live without) and they were showing "Blow-Up". I went into to the movie knowing Antonioni's name and knowing this was on Roger Ebert's great movies list (Although I had not read his essay on the film). I went into the film knowing nothing which I think is the best way to view a movie. What was with the mimes playing tennis at the end? I don't know, but I loved the movie, I was addicted to it, I couldn't stop watching it. I can't say I understood all of the movie or what it was conveying in the end, but I was stimulated by it, I felt passionate about film which happens when I watch a stimulating movie. Sadly this was the only time I've ever experience an Antonioni film, that was last October. I guess I shouldn't say anything about the man since I don't know the bulk of his work, the same should be said about Bergman, but they are men that are discussed who have made films that can be dissected and examined. I hope to see more of these men's work as they become available to me and I hope to discuss them with the same admiration I hold other film makers like Ozu, Capra, Truffaut, Spielberg, and Ford.

Remembering Bergman

I have to admit I haven't looked into Ingmar Bergman's films all that extensively but I felt something should be said of the man some considered our greatest living film maker. I have only seen a handful of Bergman's films, I cannot say I understood everything I've seen which made me want to watch them again and again. At times I felt turned off in Bergman's films. When I first saw the great film "Fanny and Alexander" I didn't know how I was supposed to feel. I was frustrated but I knew I didn't know the world of film all that well and I was still learning. I intend to go back to "Fanny and Alexander" and hope to understand it better.
"The Seventh Seal" is the film that introduced me to Bergman, I knew of the famous image of playing chess with death and I wanted to see the film where the image came from. I still try to wrap my mind around it, it's a film where Bergman offers no answers only that death is inescapable.
As I grew out of my teens and into my mid-twenties I realized that a lot of the questions I was asking myself like what's the meaning of life and what happens when we die were what Bergman specialized in. For awhile it seemed like my life was getting more morbid asking these questions, but in another way it was becoming more clear. I knew there were some questions I would never get answered, and I stopped obsessing about it. "The Seventh Seal" in particular works as a catharsis. It's asking all those questions we sooner or later do think about. It shares our frustrations and our fears about death, but it makes it ok because we know we are not alone in our thoughts. In the end we might march along on the Grim Reaper's chain, but it's that inevitability of death that makes life worth living.
Bergman's final film "Saraband" which was released only two years ago is a film of an old divorced couple coming together for what will be the last time. It's not so much a film about regret but a film about acceptance. In the most poignant scene we see the man and woman looking at eachother naked, each one knowing the others strengths and weaknesses. There's a look of sympathy and of love for the other, it was as if all of their mistakes didn't matter anymore. I wish "Saraband" was more highly regarded and perhaps in years to come it will be, it was Bergman's final statement on life and on death. He makes no apologies for human nature because when we are all stripped to our bare essentials we're all the same just skin and bones.

Surprise, it was awesome!!!

Well there's no way getting around it, "The Simpsons Movie" is proof there is a God and he's bald and likes doughnuts. Click here http://www.myspace.com/jeremyimnotedgar for my full review.

I didn't like "Chuck and Larry"

I'm not even bothering adding a picture and if you want my scathing review just go here http://www.myspace.com/jeremyimnotedgar.

Is it "Helping" or "Exploiting"

Lay off! That's what I got to say to all those "so-called" real news stations who are going over and over on why Lindsay Lohan is in trouble again. I suppose we all have our own view of Lindsay Lohan. What gets me is when we have places like CNN talking over and over Lindsay this and Lindsay that. If you didn't know already Lindsay Lohan was arrested again over a DUI charge again. News shows I despise like CNN's Entertainment Tonight carbon copy "Showbiz Tonight" is showing ways Lohan needs to be helped, but what they really are doing is exploiting her. By calling her a train wreck is not helping her. They aren't even encouraging in anyway. If Lindsay Lohan were to disappear so would their story, so stop trying to sound like you're sincere when it comes to Lohan's well-being. Then there's Nancy Grace you know that hard-nosed former prosecutor who must've gotten tired of exploiting suicidal wrestlers who kill their own family.

Is it any wonder this girl has problems. If Marilyn Monroe had to go through Nancy Grace, "Showbiz Tonight" and TMZ back when she was alive, she might've killed herself earlier. These people who try to blame a star like Lohan for being spoiled and rich is doing just as much damage by not understanding that this is a 21 year old girl. By the sound of it she doesn't have that great of personal life with her family, she has gone to rehab and whether or not she took that seriously is not for us to judge since it's supposed to be a personal thing.

Let's not forget this girl can act. Robert Altman cast her in a film and he was a smart enough director not to just cast her as a stunt. So far it is her best role to date where she plays a teenager obsessed with death. You could probably tell Altman sensed a brooding edginess to Lohan for him to pick her for that part. She held her own against Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin, and one hopes that another great director can pick up where Altman left off and put Lohan in a role that could change the way people look on her.

I can't help but feel sorry for Lindsay Lohan, I hope she puts herself together and I hope she puts the pressure of the business of show in the back of her mind. As for Showbiz Tonight and Nancy Grace and TMZ.com who are showing off Lindsay as some kind of monster I suggest you watch "A Prairie Home Companion" and look at the young talent you are helping destroy. Stop pretending to be trying to help her and find your dignity.

The Most Anticipated Movie of the Summer....

Alright I've sat through Spidermen, Pirates, unfunny green ogres with Scottish accents, talking transforming robots, and John McClane, finally we get to the good stuff. For every summer there is at least one movie that comes around that gets my mouth watering. Last year it was "Superman Returns", the year before that it was "Star Wars: Episode 3", this years it's "The Simpsons Movie." It's the kind of movie that critics be damned I'm going to see opening night. I won't read any reviews of the film before hand and come in with an open mind. Even if the film isn't all that good I will still defend it to my dying day and tell everyone I know that they have to see it. For me it's part nostalgia (I was the exact same age Bart is when the show premiered) and part super fan (I have all nine seasons released on DVD, not to mention the game board Simpson's Clue, a trivia game, a poster, and Bart Simpson's Guide to Life") I admit I don't watch many of the new shows on television anymore that are supposed to be good like "The Office" or "30 Rock". Mostly because my life is too busy right now, but I always find time for "The Simpsons". Even though their time as pop culture icons has dimmed in past years, they still remain relevant and clever. And despite newer animated shows like the uninspiring "Family Guy" (Which holds a never ending debt to "The Simpsons") no one has created a perfect balance of insanity and pathos in their shows. As in the early shows that dealt with real family problems like Homer trying to find money for Christmas or Lisa falling for her substitute teacher, it was an emotional ride unseen in animation. But they were still able to find episodes that were full of inspired insanity like the classic monorail episode which also showed why the world is a little sadder without comic genius Phil Hartman. There's also when the town builds a casino, or when Homer meets his enemy Frank Grimes, and remember Whacking Day?

I love "The Simpsons" and I know if the movie isn't any good that doesn't mean the show is any less brilliant. I think "The Simpsons" is probably the best show I've had the privilege to watch and I hope it stays with us for years to come.

And the Winner is........

SHERLOCK JR. narrowed out The General as the best Buster Keaton film in my first poll done on my blog. Of course there were only 3 votes (2 of which were by me) but hey who's counting. Catch my new poll coming soon.