Blow Up

2nd time

Memory is weird. I didn't remember at all the scene when photog guy goes and actually sees the corpse in the park, even though this time it seemed like a very striking scene. I wonder if it was so striking because I didn't remember it? When he went to the park the second time, I thought it was the scene when he went and found nothing, so the sudden presence of the corpse was rather alarming.

Also, at the end, I was sure there was a shot of a tennis ball bouncing away, or something like that. I was sure of it, in fact. I kept expecting it, and the whole time was composing this sentence in my head, "The final shot of the tennis ball bouncing is the only misstep in the whole movie." Does that mean, then, that there are no missteps in the whole movie?

I can still remember things about when I watched this for the first time, with Joe, who didn't like it at all, but it was one of those movies I didn't think all that much of at first. I thought there were some kind of intriguing things about it, but mostly was kind of boring. But letting it float around in my head for a while really worked apparently, because I knew well before I watched it this time that I'd like it a lot if I ever saw it again.

Seeing the scene with Vanessa Redgrave "dancing" to the music this time reminded me of something else I'd seen, but probably what it reminded me of was that very scene. The way she moves is amazing. Of all the near-explicitly surreal moments in the film, that is by far the best. I almost want to call it Lynchian, even though this was way before Lynch. I can't think of anything like it an any other movie I've seen, though.

Listing to the "music only" track right now. What a strange feature for a film with almost no music through the first five-thirteenths of the movie.

At present, Wikipedia has this to say about the movie:

"Ultimately, the film is about reality and how we perceive it or think we perceive it. This aspect is stressed by the final scene, one of many famous scenes in the film, when the photographer watches a mimed tennis match and, after a moment of amused hesitation, enters the mimes' own version of reality by picking up the invisible ball and throwing it back to the two players. A tight shot shows his continued watching of the match, and, suddenly, we even hear the ball being played back and forth. Another version of reality has been created. Then, at the very end, Hemmings, standing all alone in the green grass of the park, suddenly disappears, removed by his director, Antonioni."

I don't know why I find that such a stupid explanation of the movie. Is it "the film is about"? I don't know. But it not only seems really pretentious to me, it also fails completely to capture or explain what is so compelling about the movie. I mean, I guess whoever wrote that isn't a professional critic or anything... But I do imagine that it's probably a paraphrase of what's written an many Film 101 textbooks.

(later) The scene when Vanessa Redgrave disappears into the crowd is one of two Antonioni moments that I know of that are technically amazing. I have no idea how he did it. I slowed down the DVD, and I just can't figure out at all where she goes, how she disappears, etc. Maybe if I knew more about technical aspects of film it would be easy. Maybe it's a simple thing. But I can't see it. It doesn't look like it'd be possible for it to be a simple splice of one shot with her into one shot without her; there's too much else going on. The other scene is in The Passenger the final long shot looking through the window where the camera moves forward and somehow passes through the bars of the window, even though I know the camera must be too big to make it through there. How did he do it?! Brunette, of course, is no help, but he does point out the interesting (though obvious, but I had meant to write it here) point that when seeing that scene for the first time the viewer does wonder just as much as photog guy presumably does if he's actually seen Vanessa Redgrave standing there before she disappears. She's only there for a couple of seconds, and it of course takes a couple of seconds for us to recognize her, and then she's gone. And watching this movie in a theater when that was the only way it could be seen, wow that would've been frustrating. I would've had to pay to see it again and if what I really wanted to know was if she was there the I would've had to sit through the rest of it and try to remember exactly what to look for, and then it would've been over so quickly again, and I wouldn't have been sure if she really did disappear or if I just kind of lost her in the crowd of other people, and there would've always necessarily been a lot of time in between every time I was able to see it. What an incredibly frustrating bit of film.

The Bourne Ultimatum

(8/2/07, 8/8/07. alone, both times, AMC Metreon. 11:00am, 9:50pm)

1) Action fun with a serious face, that is sometimes gleeful about its own machinations but can't ever crack a smile, as opposed to Die Hard, which was like a little kid on a roller coaster, ear-to-ear grin the whole time.

2) All the quick cuts make...(read more) everything seem extremely precise, even the shaky camera. I could almost believe Greengrass planned every little twitch.

3) Really liked the shot of, um... what was his name... the "source" for the British journalist, when they're meeting, how the corner made by the journalist's shoulder and neck frames the source's right eye, then he rubs his forehead and sighs and tilts his head a bit and locks his other eye right into the same position. Dunno why, just seemed really pretty.

4) The Bourne Ultimate Democrat Fantasy: people with consciences inside the gov't release to the public the secret bad stuff, and then Congress comes down on the officials competently and powerfully. Pamela Landy for President!!!

5) An all-out dis of the War on Terror by the guy who directed United 93? Is he trying to karmically pay for it, or is United 93 not the pure propaganda job I figured it for?

The Karate Kid

(7/12/07 Dolores Park, w/Ell, Erin, Patrick, Zab, others, 7/12/07 9:30pm. Probably 5th or 6th time?)

1) Watching this in a crowded park made it really obvious how structurally good the movie is. There was at least one thing to cheer about every ten minutes.

2) The payoff scene when Miagi shows Daniel how all his hard work waxing on and off was re...(read more)ally karate training is just incredibly emotionally satisfying. One of those scenes I wish I could forget about just so I could see it again for the first time, as it were.

3) Another film with a perfect ending. They don't even bother with a denouement, because what would be the point? He kicks evil guy's face, evil guy cries in admiration while he gives Daniel the trophy, everyone cheers, The End.

4) No wonder my younger self had such a huge crush on Elisabeth Shue: she was the gf in this movie and Back to the Future II. It was like a conspiracy to make me fall in love with her.

5) The shower Halloween costume has got to be the best Halloween costume ever. I want to meet the person who thought of that.