The Last Stand

Is it a comeback for Arnold or massive failure? In terms of a Schwarzenegger movie it's a roaring success. For the 65 year old actor he makes a very good comeback considering his limited acting abilities.

The film initially has two parts, one being a CIA operation in Los Angeles and the transport of a federal prisoner and the second is about a small town Sheriff (Arnold) and the town he lives in complete with an inept police department. Naturally the prisoner escapes custody and meanwhile strange characters show up in the small town.

From the opening scene itself the movie holds high promise and holds a certain amount of suspense that it manages to hold throughout the film. Credit should go here to the director (Jee-woon Kim), cinematographer (Ji-yong Kim)and the composer (MOWG) all of whom are Korean. The only area where this doesn't hold true are in the villain's scenes which continuously break the suspension of disbelief that is built up very well everywhere else in the movie.

Scenes in LA are very reminiscent of The Dark Knight robbery both in terms of the way it's shot and the musical score. But then again that film was heavily influenced by the film 'Heat'. Regardless this is the style used for these parts of the film.

There are plenty of car sequences in the movie, with the second by far being the best and if you ever wondered what a 'Need for Speed' movie would look like this scene would be a good indicator.

Latter car sequences look like they straight came from Bollywood in terms of their implausibility and are easily the worst parts of the film. Though there is one interesting game of cat and mouse. It's an all American Muscle affair which is not a bad thing. Sections where cars blaze down the road put the fifth entry of the Fast and the Furious series to shame.

Now on to Arnold. His performance is much as can be expected though its certainly better than in Expendables 2. He delivers one liners in spades. His action sequences are heavily toned down which is a good thing considering his age. Beyond that it's pretty much standard Arnie. He hasn't really gotten any better. Other actors with notable performances are Peter Stormare and Forest Whitaker who really help add credibility to the film.

The shootouts in the film are all well done with very believable tactics being used including and cover and suppression fire. There are also minute sniper on sniper battles which I haven't seen since since 'Enemy of the Gates'. In these shootout sequences everything is very plausible and all of the film's high points take place in the town.

There is also a steady supply of light hearted moments which convey the fact that the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. This is a good thing considering the lead actor.

The biggest weakness in the movie is easily the villain. It's a seemingly large blight on an otherwise very enjoyable film given the scale of his scenes in comparison to the movie. Still definitely worth a watch especially if you ever liked Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Derana Goes Alternative over Peppermint Candy

Love is a confession… A turn of phrase that shot through into a night of stars at the Derana Music video awards held on last Friday, 5th November. ‘Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak’ carrying the theme love is a confession was nominated for 8 categories out of which it won 5 titles for

Best Direction
Best Cinematography
Best Editing
Best overall act
Best Video Adaptation of a movie song


The video directed by Udaya Dharmawardana, echoed in person by Indrachapa Liyanage, is the Official Music Video of the film ‘How I Wonder What You Are’ directed by Udaya Dharmawardana and Chinthana Dharmadasa. The film was a venture into the unsought grounds of independent cinema by the director duo, where an unconventional cinematic experience revolves around two souls seeking for a human bond within the forgotten language of connectivity.



This year’s Derana music awards took a massive alternative turn where the video of Funeral in Heaven was awarded as the best music video of the year and the very original ‘Gemba’ was also awarded for its daring innovativeness along with the eminence Aadaraye Ansumaathrayak received. The channel seems to have taken a step at the edge of hope to uplift the underground attempts of local artists to promote artfully rich creations which may have bound to go unnoticed in midst of the hollow sugar coated, candy floss stream the industry has currently crowned. Its motives were confirmed by the persons who were invited to judging panel that holds eminence for their original artistic ideology as Subash Pinnawala, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Sumeda and Shyam


Winds of Uva was recognized for Best Music Video, Best English Music Video and Best Rock Music Video at Derana Music Video Awards



Gemba, an innovative unconventional take in Sri Lankan music videos

One of the most popular category awards which was based on the SMS’s received by the public was won by a ‘Mr. Wanna be’ like Iraj who claims himself to be fighting a battle for the cults of the society with his ‘so called’ art. This makes it clear on what grounds the mindset of the public lies today where they’ve lost their own thought of identity into what cheap money oriented gimmicks wants it to be. So eventually the public is merely puppets of what some power sourced social stunt perceive them to be. Being locked away from authentic arty creations for decades where many like Vimukthi’s own Cannes passed the country by and where rainbow colored fluff balls were platformed; the people cannot be blamed but sympathized for having no sense of rational contentment and simply gobbling down whatever bullshit that’s fed to them with so much imagined goodness.

At a point in time as such, the attempts made by Derana (Assumed that they were consciously made) to recognize the potentials where art could foster for the richness in it, dues an immense load of respect. But we can’t say ‘hail Derana’ in unison as at yet. Does it have the power to continue the step they took forward and keep going deeper into the woods or would this merely be a single apex that helps them to cover as much as scope they can and how well they face the pressure and reactions of the air headed gimmicks labeled as ‘artists’; are questions that would have to be left to be answered with time.

Post courtasy : Randhula De Silva

Bambara Walalla

Went and watched Bambara Walalla at Regal yesterday, and must say the movie was quite awesome. Needless to say that Mahendra Perera(Mel) and Shriyantha Mendis (Jinnhey) took the spotlight for me even though the movie was centered around Athula Liyanage's character "Podi Eka". Although there were certain areas i wished could have been done better in my humble opinion, the movie at large i think is a refreshing break to the line of cheap carbon copied, romance movies that are being produced lately...

Official Site
http://bambarawalalla.com/

Filming those Long Takes....

When I was small, used to think that film making or even making a teledrama is just a piece of cake as long as you could get hold of a camera and some good actors, where you would just shoot the conversations that happens. But I later came to realized the mammoth effort that goes into creating even the smallest scene.

One of the main aspects in a movie clip would be the camera angles and how the camera is being used in each scene. You could shoot a film in many different angles; this is done due to many reasons.

Some can be to best illustrate the contents of the scene, for example in a scene where two actors are engaged in a conversation the camera will switch between their facial expressions. For this you would either need to shoot with two cameras at once or to shoot the conversations separately.

Also you would slice the movie down into different scenes and have breaks in camera shots just to make it easy for you to get the perfect picture. Then you would work your way through little by little shooting each scene with breaks, this will reduce actors mistakes and ease up choreography and handling of other props.

But as of late I have grown in interest and being fascinated by “long takes”. Long takes are simply where the director uses one single camera to film an entire scene without having breaks in the acting. It lasts longer than the normal editing phase going into extra several minutes. Long shots are extremely hard to do simply due to the effort and the cohesiveness of all the teams that need to go in just to get it right. One single error means that the whole shot have to be taken from the scratch and for a very complex scene this is simply a nightmare.

I first started to show a keen interest on long takes through the movie Children of Men, where director Alfonso Cuarón has created a masterpiece giving you an amazing experience and suspense through his extensive use of this technique.

Of course there are so many directors who are famous for long takes, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and many more but these are three of the best scenes I could find over YouTube and i am sure you are going to enjoy these...

The Goodfellas - Copacabana Entry 
I love this one. One of the most popular scenes from Martin Scorsese masterpiece; The Goodfellas, the scene is where Henry and Karen enters the Copacabana. With the use of a steady cam the director takes the viewer in a smooth journey into Henry’s stratum of friends society he deals with.



Interview on how they made the Copacabana Long Take, utilizing a steady camera
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBMKyNJvNV8


Children of Men (Uprising scene)
I have no idea how they pulled this off; this highly complex and thrilling take keeps you at the edge of your seat, and I am sure the director was able to strike right at the heart of the viewers with the free hand camera that follows Theo (Clive Owen) though this scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuZSmSBLWAg

Children of Men ( Car Scene)

Great use of the Long Take to give the viewers a roller coaster ride of emotions. The shot which is done inside the car is amazing and the techniques they have used for this is simply brilliant.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en16i8BY4hI

Old Boy

This fight scene from old boy has been dubbed as one of the best movie fight scenes ever, and I couldn’t agree more. The director Park Chan-wook has done an amazing work in making Old Boy and this scene is undoubtedly a testament for it.

The long take starts at 0:58

Sri Lankan Art – Teek wechcha ape kalaawa!

In recent conversation with my fiancé, the point came in to the surface whether I’m losing my depth in art or not. Simply my answer was that now I’m more influenced by the stuff like Kill Bill, Demon Ananda’s pulp novels and Cowboy Bebop, so my motive now is to bring that atmosphere and tone in to our audience in any way I do art. That’s why I tend to look for Monroe and Jimi Hendrix in the stencil graffiti and more unorthodox concrete style in my poetry.

In Sri Lanka, virtually every art form is dominated by the work which consists of certain degree of visible depth and similarity to the reality. In films the applauded ones are reality based dramas directed by well renowned, award winning directors. The mainstream films lack everything, even a moderately good, original plot. In Sinhalese Literature the good ones are tend to be the translation of famous novels, and better original work is mainly popularized by the reality based themes. You can’t see western best selling kind of paper back thrillers or sexy pulp novels here. In drama – it’s same, In TV- it’s same, In paintings and drawings- it’s same. Damn-I’m bored… Even the Sri Lankan English Language drama and literature scene is not getting enough attention though they are trying to be different and more creative than their native counterparts. Why Sri Lankan film makers not doing horror movies? Why they are not going for simple romantic movies which are set in suburbs and based on ordinary people without sticking to weary bollywood formula? Why don’t writers try raunchy subjects and thrillers? Where’s Sri Lankan original techno, rave, trip hop, electronic or computer instrumental music?

What is the reason for this homogeneity? Is it because we are intellectually bankrupt? Or lack of finances for the innovation because of less audience and market scope? I don’t know… but the point which is important is that Sri Lankans try to be on the middle path to get the maximum benefit- not going to the extreme experimentalism or to the massive meaningful crowd pullers. Even if they go for either sides (very few) most of them are incorrect approaches or being neglected by majority which is not the case in other art-rich countries.

I hope somebody would break the shekels. I hope I will see the work similar to Quentin Tarantino here, the turntabilism, the pop art, simple romantic (not bollywood-formula bullshit) and trashy horror movies, and more street art too…

Oh baby! I have a dream…



(P.S. - Thanks for Somea and my fellow juniors in Uni for popularizing the word “Teek” and the word and usage borrowed from them.)

Illusions of Success

Record breaking revenues and ticket sales have become the latest trend of theatrical releases. Each year blockbusters hit screens that seem to reach landmark box office figures crushing the movies of yesteryear with staggering amounts of revenue. But the reality is a far grimmer picture.

The truth that is hidden behind a bombardment of marketing is that actual attendance figures for theatres in the United States has been in decline for quite some time now with a dip having been reached somewhere in 2005. So if less people are actually attending movie screenings how come the revenue figures for such movies is enormous?

The answer is simple... inflation. The raw revenue figures that are provided are not adjusted for the inevitable devaluing of the US dollar that is constantly taking place. This means that the current list of the top grossing movies of all time is grossly skewered, looking something like this:













But the actual ranking when adjusting for inflation (with 2009 as the base year) appears as follows:













Taken from boxofficemojo

On the adjusted list last year's heavyweight, "The Dark Knight" comes in at No.27, Shrek 2 at No. 30, Spiderman at No.34, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest at 44 and so on.

Another factor that is left out is the simple fact that ticket prices have also been rising to offset the drop in attendance. This makes the best measure of the success of each film being the actual number of tickets sold which is the basis used to calculate the gross here.

Does this mean people simply gotten tired of watching? Hardly... the number of movies being released today is higher which segments the market making it hard for a movie to have true mass appeal. Other mediums such as cable, DVD and of course downloading have reduced the number of people willing to watch in cinemas. This has made box office figures drop with rises in new markets such as DVD's, rentals and cable viewing.

Naturally the folks at Hollywood are not likely to make these facts known. Propagating images of movies with blitzkrieg like ticket sales helps build hype and keep movie goers coming.

ARISE-The Music, The Life, The Reason- Sri Lankan Metal Music Documentary Teaser Trailer is out NOW!!!...

DRG and realskullzero are being busy since last November because they engaged in shooting material for this groundbreaking amateur documentary about the Sri Lankan metal music genre with the visions of the four underground bands that represent various sub genres of metal...
Now everythings being put to the right places and the film is passing its final editing stage. To give a glimpse of what it is gonna be like, we have put up a teaser trailer in Youtube for you to watch...
So just check it out and tell us what you think and most importantly spread the word around...

For more info visit the Facebook Group - Click here 


 

The Story of Anvil

It’s a harsh reality in life, where you are not all the time able to become what you really want to be, and it’s very rarely that you would see someone trying to disprove it. The Story of Anvil is one such example.

This is a documentary that would touch anyone’s heart. You see two men grown old, chasing a dream that they have been longing since they were children. A dream that tests the true nature of a great friendship. A dream that makes them fight against all odds in a world where everything comes at a price.

The Story of Anvil is not merely about a rock band and their emotional journey in search of fame, it’s also about life, human qualities and hope. The story unfolds with a background to Anvil, who made their mark with bands such as Scorpions, Whitesnake and BonJovi in the early 80s. Brimming with energy they tour the stadiums in Japan in front of thousands of fans influencing many youngsters who would later become rock legends.

You would see the front man Steve Kudlow (Lips) getting up everyday going to work at Choice Children’s catering dropping off deliveries around the town, His buddy and drummer Rob Reiner resorts to his daytime job to make his living. It’s a sad reality, a reality which makes them trod against, a reality they are determined to change.

One interesting fact behind the whole movie is that the director Sacha Gervasi was at one point a roadie for Anvil when he was a youngster back in the 80s. The movie is truly inspirational and unique, with it being cited as “The Greatest Movie Every Made About Rock ‘N’ Roll” by the London Times.

The one thing that strikes me the most is unbound friendship these two people carry...its really a remarkable testament of a great friendship...

I leave you with the trailer; try to get hold of the movie if you can….

Sri Lankan Porn

A flickering light is projected onto a damaged, slightly yellow and supposedly white back drop…

An awkwardly skewed screen radiates a blinding light ensuing a never-ending headache…

A half-empty film hall absorbs the hot body odor of sweat drenched school uniforms, adding to the damp humidity of the place…

The agonizing noise from the speaker overtakes any scant conversation …beating the eardrums into submission…

After two hours that feels like an eternity… an ugly fat 40 year old woman showers…

Covering her fucking boobs with both of her hands for five minutes…

The only sensation is the surgical pain that is brought upon your ass cheek by a starving dust mite…

And yet people make money off of it...

The World's Most Fearsome Fighting Team!

Lean, Green, Fighting Machine! That's what this famous quartet sometimes called itself. During the late 80's and through the 90's these 4 mutants were responsible for a huge breakout in Salmonella among other things.

While the Ninja Turtles may have had a huge range of products ranging from the toys, cartoons and the films, I going to talk about the original movie.

TMNT the movie told a tale that was different from the famous cartoon, and stayed true to its comic book roots. In the film the world was significantly darker and one of the most significant changes undone from the cartoon was Raphael. Just as in the comic Raph suffered from his uncontrollable rage and was constantly at odds with Leonardo for taking what he felt was his leadership spot.

Beyond that the movie had a very serious tone about family. Near the opening of the film, Splinter (the talking mentor rat) tells the turtles that he will not be there forever and his appearance in the film was a heavily aged one.

This movie covered a lot of ground. Themes of love were woven throughout the film, and though Leo and Raph never got on, this changed after Raphael goes out by himself and ends up in a Coma in yet another 'brutal' scene.

One of the heaviest or more shocking scenes to fans of the cartoon would be the scene where the Turtles discover that their home has been discovered, ransacked and that Master Splinter has been abducted. In the scene Raphael begins to shake in rage and lets out a thundering scream into the night which easily rivals the one Superman did in his first movie outing.




Raph's anger boils over

The character interactions were developed nicely from the comic, while Leo and Raph constantly battled each other, Mike and Donnie would mainly stay out of it.

The movie was unfortunately considered too violent for kids, and the subsequent sequels removed the tutrles weapons, especially Mike's chucks and made him use sausages in one part of the sequel! Oh the Outrage! But let's face it, the sequels lost the soul of the original and were just mindless popcorn flicks which even I at age 6 noticed. In fact the actress playing April O'Neil in the original dropped out for that very reason. Sure they replaced her with a much hotter April... but still!

One of the most touching scenes in the film involves the Turtles communicating with Splinter through a group meditation session. It is in this scene where the ties of family are really hammered home and its quite possible the movie's strongest scene.

Overall the movie was a good attempt at making the jump to the bigscreen and managed to keep the darker overtures of the comic.

Are You Sick?

SICKO (2007)
Director-Michael Moore

America sucks big time and the man who showed it has done another witty but eye-opening documentary to prove it to his fellow Americans and to the rest of the world. This time he takes his camera to criticize the American health care system which is corrupted by the insurance companies and their evil insurance schemes. He shows what are the consequences of not adopting a system with free universal access to the health care. To prove his theory he brings out some of the healthcare “nightmares” of fellow Americans. I don’t like to give details about those because you MUST see it and I am sure that those incidents will move you heart and soul.

Then Moore moves in to other countries such as Canada, United Kingdom and France to show the benefits of universal health care system. One thing that I really felt is that Moore not only asking the views from the Canadians and French but he also gets the views of Americans who are living in those countries to bring the true and fair view to his analysis. One of the unbelievable things is that the part where Moore takes our attention to few of 9/11 rescue workers and volunteers who are suffering from various illnesses and disorders because those are not covered by their insurance policies and those people don’t have any financial status to buy necessary medication.

Moore saves the best for the last and we witness a heart wrenching climax where he takes few of the 9/11 sick volunteers and rescue workers to Cuba and those people are treated and looked after well with great care by their so called sole enemies; the Cubans. Moore shows how big the human heart is and the same time he asked why those few profit- oriented Americans can’t show little bit of that sympathy for not so lucky fellow Americans.

Money, power, war and corruption, a strong iron made chain which is destroying the societies in every country. No matter how big and powerful the country is the situation is deteriorating and its happening fast! Michael Moore’s attempt to show this situation to the rest of the world is a worth while effort. Most of the people (the Republicans and their friendly media) branded Mooremust see and know and those are covered and neglected by the people who are in power and by some invisible forces. We need more artists and people like that because those are the people who will make this world much brighter, beautiful and happier place to live for me, for you and for the future generation. as a socialist because of his ideology. But I don’t think so. I think that he is a good-hearted American artist who feels for his country and the rest of the world. Those people (like our own Iqbal Athas) shows the things that people

Written By:
DRG
dirtyrapgangsta@yahoo.com