The Simple Bear Necessities

Disney's trailer for the new live action "Jungle Book" was released this week. If you haven't seen it, here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcgJRQWxKnw. When I first watched the clip I was impressed and excited, especially when I saw Christopher Walken's name flash on the screen. (I love me some Christopher Walken.) Anyway, other actors the new movie will include are Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o and Scarlett Johansson. I think picking Johansson to play the role of Kaa (the snake) is a great choice. Her calming voice has a strange eeriness throughout the entire trailer.

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The entire look of the film is really appealing. It reminds me "Life of Pi," but that might just be because of the tigers. It also has a similar feel to the hit "Avatar." Many wide sweeping shots are used as well as interesting POVs that draw you into the action. Also of course fast paced dramatic music is playing in the background as well. 

But even with the amazing production quality, I'm sure a lot of loyal fans are debating whether it can stand against the original charm of the 1967 classic. I feel like there's a fine line between turning a classic into a  modern phenomena or completely ruining a classic and all your childhood dreams that go with it.

Broken Flowers

This week I decided to watch Jim Jarmusch's "Broken Flowers," a sort-of comedy about a man, Don Johnston, an aging Don Juan played to perfection by Bill Murray, tracking down five of his former flames to see which one produced him a son after receiving a mysterious, anonymous letter.

Don has no interest in finding these women, but his neighbor Winston (Jeffrey Wright), urges him to do so. Winston is the anti-Don; wife, five kids, and three jobs, while Don lives alone after making it big in computers, despite not owning one.

Don hits the road and meets four former loves; Sharon Stone, whose daughter is named Lolita, but neither get the sexual connotation; a real estate agent played by Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange as an animal communicator, and Tilda Swinton as an angry biker. The fifth women is dead. I'm obviously not going to spoil which woman sent the letter, and it's interesting how that the answer is not really what the movie is about, but instead it is about mood and how this man is trying to reconnect in his lonely life.

I really enjoyed the movie and I was excited to see how each women would act. The performances are very good, yet reserved, which seems to be a part of Jarmusch's minimalist style. It's well directed and well shot, keeping me engaged the entire time. I highly recommend this movie, especially those who like Bill Murray in his new era of movies.

Coffee and Cigarettes

In class this week we watched "Cigarettes and Coffee." After class I decided to look up the film, however I searched "Coffee and Cigarettes" by mistake. This brought me to the films of Jim Jarmusch, a director whom I have never watched but I have alway been interested in looking into.  I finally decided to watch this movie based on the cast, which includes Steven Wright, Roberto Benigni, Steve Buscemi, Iggy Pop, Tom Waits, Cate Blanchett, Meg White, Jack White, Alfred Molina, Steve Coogan, Bill Murray, RZA, and GZA.

The movie is actually 11 short stories about people talking, drinking coffee, and smoking cigarettes.  Each of the films are unrelated and involve characters just participating in conversations. They are almost always playing themselves. The discussions do connect a little bit in theme; people talk about enjoying coffee and cigarettes, or why those things do not constitute a meal, Tesla Coils, familial relation, the music business, and celebrity life style. I also noticed that an Iggy Pop song plays during the Jack/Meg White short.

I thought some of the stories worked and some of them didn't just because the discussions were not too interesting. My favorites were Steve Buscemi as a waiter bothering two twins, Iggy Pop and Tom Waits (who apparently is a doctor) meeting, Bill Murray  (as himself) waiting on RZA and GZA, and Cate Blanchett meeting with her non-famous cousin Shelly (played by Cate Blanchett too).

Each short was in black and white and features many above-shots of the coffee being stirred on tables. I thought the shots were well composed and the shorts were well directed. Some of the subjects were boring, but I will definitely remember the ones I mentioned above. Although I wouldn't say that this is a must see, I do recommend checking out a few of the films.

Below is a link to "Delirium," starring RZA, GZA, and Bill Murray. Sorry that I couldn't get the video into the page, but it's not on youtube.

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v426774KxRb5qFG?h1=Delirium+-+Gza%2C+Rza+%26+Bill+Murray