House of Sand and Fog

Directed by Vadim Perelman
Screenplay by Shawn Lawrence Otto and Vadim Perelman
Based on the novel "House of Sand and Fog" by Andre Dubus III
Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Cinematography by Roger Deakins
Editing by Lisa Zeno Churgin
Produced by Vadim Perelman and Michael London

"It's so rare to find a movie that doesn't take sides. Conflict is said to be the basis of popular fiction, and yet here is a film that seizes us with its first scene and never lets go, and we feel sympathy all the way through for everyone in it. To be sure, they sometimes do bad things, but the movie understands them and their flaws. Like great fiction, "House of Sand and Fog" sees into the hearts of its characters, and loves and pities them.
[...] A plot is about things that happen. A story is about people who behave. To admire a story you must be willing to listen to the people and observe them"
- Roger Ebert (quoted from his review; 12/26/11)

Thomas Newman

Composer

"I remember a teacher once asked me, what makes music sad? What a brilliant question. His answer was, it takes on the physical qualities of something sad. Meaning if it's sad, a melody will move in step-wise manner. It will tend to be slower as you are when you're sad; it takes on the physical characteristics of an emotional state. Something in the music rings and carries you back to a memory you have that elicits a feeling. I guess what's wonderful about music is that it's utterly abstract and yet has a great kind of sinuous, subjective emotional reaction. I like the idea that music can be dimensional, that it's not necessarily playing what's there."
- Thomas Newman

"I call [Thomas Newman's] style minimal, he does a lot with sustains and atmospheres and pinpoint notes and chords which are just so effective..." Bill Bernstein (Music Editor)

La Haine

Written & Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz / Cinematography by Pierre Aïm / Editing by Mathieu Kassovitz and Scott Stevenson / Produced by Christophe Rossignon / Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, and Saïd Taghmaoui

"C’est l’histoire d’un homme qui tombe d’un immeuble de cinquante étages. Le mec, au fur et à mesure de sa chute se répète sans cesse pour se rassurer : jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien. Mais l'important c’est pas la chute, c’est l’atterrissage."

Mathieu Kassovitz: "You don't have to be political to make a film like HATE, you can talk about society through the human perspective, something that everyone can understand. I'm not a politician; I'm lucky to be a filmmaker and to be able to express myself through the films I make."(interview from: ThingReviews NYC 2/9/96, author: Ryan Deussing)

King of Devil's Island

(2010) Written by Dennis Magnusson / Directed by Marius Holst / Cinematography John Andreas Andersen / Editing by Michal Leszczylowski / Produced by Karin Julsrud

based on true events that occurred at Bastøy Prison in Norway in 1915...

Why did you choose to make a film based on a true story? To me a story that has some root in reality is fascinating. This story was interesting, because it was not yet exposed. It is an interesting historical event, since these themes play along and are still relevant today; when evil things are done, who is the bad guy? Is the evil character the one that beats up the kids? Or the responsibility lies higher up with the governor, who allows this to happen? Bastøy is the micro cosmos of what is still happening nowadays. You could take the scandals of the catholic church or Guantánamo Bay and the same kind of themes are still there.
- Marius Holst (interviewed by Zowi Vermeire)

Midnight Cowboy

(1969)
Directed by John Schlesinger / Screenplay by Waldo Salt / Based on the novel "Midnight Cowboy" by James Leo Herlihy / Editing by Hugh A. Robertson / Starring Dustin Hoffman & Jon Voight / Produced by Jerome Hellman / Music by John Barry / Cinematography by Adam Holender / Distributed by United Artists

"If most of my films have anything in common it's an interest in human relationships, particularly the more extraordinary and difficult kinds. I find the struggle of characters against the odds terribly interesting. I don't think I could possibly do a film about some sort of brave hero, some Errol Flynn winning the Battle of the Bulge . . . I'd rather do films about smaller people, outcasts." - John Schlesinger

Words to the World

LittleGiantWorks.com

LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN

Story by Hubert Selby, Jr. "There is more humanity in a prostitute trying to truly love, if only for a moment, than in all the slow-motion romantic fantasies in the world." - Roger Ebert

Until the Quiet Comes

Short Film by Kahlil Joseph
Music by Flying Lotus

Midnight In A Perfect World

DJ Shadow

Prometheus

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
Editing by Pietro Scalia

Prometheus transports its audience to a distant world, where we feel the fear and wonder of exploration, the mystery of existence and humanity's insatiable quest to solve it, and the awe of the universe. The film's ending left me with an understanding of the "Gods" within us and our responsibility in relation to our Creations and our Creator.

"In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy." (Wiki)

Cannes 65th Film Festival

RUST AND BONE
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts
Story by Craig Davidson

...a love story born from trauma and loss; love for self, love for another, love for a child, love for life.

"I like to start with people whose heroic value isn’t obvious, an anti-hero maybe. [...] This story was so unbelievable to begin with — whales, amputation — so I wanted the script to be believable. We wanted to write a movie where in each scene, we couldn’t predict what would happen next. We wanted it to flow naturally and be very unpredictable." - Jacques Audiard (interviewed by Rebecca Leffler THR 2012)

Bon Iver - Wash

American Beauty

Directed by Sam Mendes
Written by Alan Ball
Music by Thomas Newman

"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember. Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."
- Wes Bentley as Ricky Fitts

Yann Tiersen

"Till The End"
Album: Dust Lane

"In a way, part of the process of Dust Lane gave me a distance, and when I came back to the song I had new ideas, and it was as if I was starting again. I discovered a new way of working because usually I like to work fast, so that's why there are sometimes so many contrasts or different moods in some songs. It's the album I wanted to do from the beginning. Most of my first albums were instrumental [but in Dust Lane] there is no proper song structure and no lead vocals as well. I feel more comfortable with that and use the voices not as an instrument, but as a picture inside the song." - Yann Tiersen

(Source: thegauntlet.ca/a/story/15292)

To keep the enthusiasm for creating, an artist should not care about genres. - Y.T.

Urban Atrophy

Photographer Dan Haga
Tome School for Boys - Maryland; built circa 1901

Krzysztof Kieślowski

La Double Vie de Veronique
Directed by: Krzysztof Kieślowski
Original Music by: Zbigniew Preisner
Cinematographer: Sławomir Idziak

“It comes from a deep-rooted conviction that if there is anything worthwhile doing for the sake of culture, then it is touching on subject matters and situations which link people, and not those that divide people. There are too many things in the world which divide people, such as religion, politics, history, and nationalism. If culture is capable of anything, then it is finding that which unites us all. And there are so many things which unite people. It doesn't matter who you are or who I am, if your tooth aches or mine, it's still the same pain. Feelings are what link people together, because the word 'love' has the same meaning for everybody. Or 'fear', or 'suffering'. We all fear the same way and the same things. And we all love in the same way. That's why I tell about these things, because in all other things I immediately find division." - K. Kieślowski

Emerging Cinematographer Awards 2011

String Theory
Director: Zach Gold
Director of Photography: Steve Romano



http://www.ecawards.net

First of the Year

Skrillex
Directed by: Tony Truand

Horror

"There's something about being scared in a horror film that focuses the mind. I think we like really intense emotional experiences. You know, at a time when we're often nervous about the past or thinking about what we have to do in the future or checking our blackberries, you never feel more in the moment than when you're terrified by a horror movie."
- Jason Zinoman

The Human Experience

Directed by: Charles Kinnane / Written by: Michael Campo / Featuring: Jeffrey Azize, Clifford Azize and Michael Campo / Grassroots Films





















"It's about the human experience; it's about the beauty of life--all the good things in life--no matter what you went through, no matter what happened, no matter what happens in life...life is still good. Life is a gift."
~ Jeff Azize


Family.

Planet Earth