So apparently this is a thing, the UP Series idea applied to South Africa. If you aren’t familiar with Michael Apted’s UP Series I’d highly recommend it. Apted has been producing documentaries about the same group of people every seven years since they were 7 years old. The series is currently at 56 up, and Apted (age 72) says there will be a 63 Up if he is still alive to make it in 2019. The UP Series (aside from the latest 56 up) is currently on Netflix streaming, so go watch it!

Unfortunately Netflix only has 21 Up South Africa so I’m going to have to find it elsewhere.

Being a fan of Korean cinema, I think this would be pretty interesting. Seokyeong University lists Park Chan-Wook among its alumni.  

An Evening of Short Films From Seoul

Thurs., Apr. 25 7pm @ UWM Union Theater

(Various Filmmakers, Korea, in Korean w/Eng st., video, 2013)

Selected short films from Seokyeong University in Seoul, Korea. A rare opportunity to observe the Far East Asian country’s current crop of young stars of cinema. Films from UW-Milwaukee’s film department will be shown at Seokyeong University in Seoul, Korea in return. Cosponsored by UWM Film Department

more info @ union theater website

[P.S. I found this tidbit on the Park Chan-Wook wikipedia page: “He was offered the chance to remake The Evil Dead but he turned it down.” Whaaaat?!]

edit: I went. Good stuff! Of the 8 or so shorts there were only a couple that fell flat. They were all surprisingly refined for student work, not that I have seen that much student film work to compare it to, but it exceeded my expectations in terms of production quality. Unfortunately I didn’t get a program, tons of people had them, but I couldn’t find the source.. I did arrive 5 minutes late just as the first short was starting though. 

well, this looks pretty heavy. 4/16 9pm UWM Union Theater, free

Memories of Overdevelopment

Sergio Garcet is an intellectual who abandons the Cuban Revolution and ‘underdevelopment’ behind only to find himself at odds with the ambiguities of his new life in the ‘developed’ world. A portrait of an alienated man, an outsider with no clear-cut politics or ideology: A stranger in a strange land struggling with old age, sexual desire and ultimately, the impossibility for the individual to belong in any society.

Highly episodical, the film’s narrative is a collage of flashbacks, daydreams, and hallucinations comprising live-action, animation, and newsreel footage assembled to suggest the way personal memory works, subjectively and emotionally.

Another movie, Bonsai runs before it starting at 7pm, more info at the UWM Union Theater website. I sure wish they had a tumblr so I could just reblog this stuff. It’s part of their Latin American Film Series.

LEVIATHAN

A documentary about commercial fishing in the Atlantic. Free showing tomorrow at the UWM Union Theater at 7pm. I always forget that the Union Theater is continuously playing interesting movies for free, oops! Anyway, this raw footage is mesmerizing so I’ll probably check it out!

imdb

I saw this pop up on netflix streaming the other day and decided I had to watch it on the off chance that Keanu Reeves actually interviewed David Lynch. He does! Lynch only pops up a couple of times, but this was actually a great documentary if you’re at all nerdy about camera technology. I didn’t even read the subtext originally (“Can film survive our digital future?”), I just saw a list of directors and thought it was just going to be some interviews, but the film really does a good job of presenting the rise of digital video.

The film goes waaaaay beyond interviewing directors on pros/cons of the mediums, and delves into details about how digital production impacted every aspect of the movie making process. For example, they talk about the rhythm of shooting and how traditionally shots were done in short ~10min bursts (a physical limitation of the film reel) and with digital technology could go on for hours without breaking. Immediate feedback from the camera also opened opportunities for people other than the cinematographer to actually see what was being captured before the next day when traditionally “daily” reels could be reviewed. 

There are tons of scenarios examined, and much more interesting ones that I don’t feel like typing about: who has final control over the image in the digital production pipeline vs. film? is digital archiving actually safer than film, what about obsolete digital mediums and formats? What are some of your favorite movies that literally couldn’t have been made without digital camera technology?

so watch this movie if you’re looking for something on Netflix streaming this weekend!

FYI this movie definitely DID NOT disappoint. Netflix it! The trailer is pretty lame but at least it does showcase some of the cinematography. Also the cameraman scene was one of my favorite humorous scenes. “Beauty! Beauty!…. Werid!!! He’s SO weird!”

The darkest film I’ve seen in a long time. Knew nothing about it going in aside from Netflix thinking I would like it… totally wasn’t prepared. Almost had to stop watching as I started putting the pieces together. Must watch the other two Lynne Ramsay films ASAP.

netflix | imdb

I watched my first Ki-duk Kim film today, and I think I’m going to need to see the rest of them. I’d highly recommend Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring If you haven’t seen it. It’s pretty slow paced but the cinematography is top notch. The IMDB description, which is accurate but pretty terribly written:

This film takes place in an isolated lake, where an old monk lives on a small floating temple. The wise master has also a young boy with him that he teaches to become a monk. And we watch as seasons and years pass by.

The entire movie takes place on this floating “temple” and the area immediately surrounding it.

The netflix instant selection was getting kind of stale so I decided to sign up for a DVD plan again, I think I’ll be checking out 3-Iron next. 

Watched this again for the first time in a couple years. Still great.