Melanie Surani's Blog, page 246
June 26, 2015
I’ve been a silent film junkie for almost as long as I’ve been...
I’ve been a silent film junkie for almost as long as I’ve been watching movies. My mom introduced me to some slapstick comics from the 1910s and 20s, and I discovered I didn’t need sound to make me laugh. (Plus, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin know how to make a person a little bit sad, too.)
But when I was in college, a friend introduced me to Metropolis, the first “serious” silent movie I’d ever seen. My boyfriend at the time, of course, commented that the men were “wearing too much lipstick” and should “kiss each other.” I waved at him to shut up and kept watching.
I found more silent horror movies, and that’s where I found the sweet spot. Especially the German ones. Nosferatu, The Golem, The Man Who Laughs, The Hands of Orlac – brilliant and subtly creepy. For me, watching a silent movie is almost like reading a book (maybe because there’s reading involved) – you have to watch. You have to pay attention, and it gets to you.
But when I saw The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I was floored. Nothing about this movie is realistic from the sets and costumes to the story itself. It’s got an unreliable narrator, a twist ending (or is it??), and the whole thing is stylized to death.
But the whole thing is, you don’t watch a silent movie to see something real. You watch for the story, and for a certain style. The actors pull faces and flail their arms because the movies have taken out an essential part of real life: sound.
One great example of this (and one of my favorite scenes in a silent movie (at about the 39:00 mark) is when Cesare (the sleepwalker) goes to kidnap Jane (the damsel in distress). He doesn’t hide and sneak into her house. No. He gracefully slides around the outside wall with his arm extended like he’s getting set to do a contemporary dance piece. It’s slow and creepy and you know he’s about to kill her. The good guy is looking in the wrong direction and that’s it for the heroine (or is it??).
Hosted by Sister Celluloid
that guy sees the future, dude.
Desmond was totally my...
that guy sees the future, dude.
Desmond was totally my favorite.
constructionpaperandtears:
“Rich and layered, deep and...
“Rich and layered, deep and alternatively light and tragic, it’s the show that changed, well, everything really, about how television drama was executed. It lives on even today, as we see how the protagonists of Fox Mulder the Believer and Dana Scully the Skeptic continue to influence how characters are shaped, and the way the mythology of the show allowed for primetime television to explore new roads of storytelling. It was beautiful and asked the most human of questions regarding our existence and our beliefs, but more than anything, it was a love story in every possible regard— the love for life, the love for truth, and of course, the love for each other.”
I made a little comic out of the quote that inspired me to watch The X-Files. If anyone knows who wrote it, please let me know so I can thank them.
June 25, 2015
It would be great to have a go-to fake name. Gonna have to come...
It would be great to have a go-to fake name. Gonna have to come up with something.
micdotcom:
Rose McGowan was fired by her agent for criticizing...
Rose McGowan was fired by her agent for criticizing Hollywood sexismOn June 17, McGowan tweeted a casting note for Adam Sandler’s next film. It told actresses to wear a “form-fitting tank that shows off cleavage.” A week later she tweeted she’d been fired. Worse though, is that few have spoken up in her defense. Only The Princess Diaries’ Heather Matarazzo defended her publicly.
I think it’s because of things like this that people are afraid to speak up about anything. Especially when it comes to a person’s job, the minute you say anything other than the absolute best about it, you’re tanked. I once had a boss get mad at me for thinking the wrong thing. THINKING THE WRONG THING. I understand that social media is out in the public, but we need an outlet. Sending out the thought police is some scary 1984 shit.
