Final scene from La Vie En Rose

Unfortunately there is no embed for this video on Youtube, but here is the link. Watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Dz3-k1d9I


I can watch this scene over and over again. In my personal opinion, this scene makes the entire movie worth watching and ends it on the most perfect note. Every time i watch this ending scene i get goosebumps, and I believe this happens to a lot of people. La Vie En Rose is one of my top 3 favorite movies I've ever seen and I'm so grateful one of my good friend Ynes, showed it to me back in 2008. To this day I always recommend it to friends and family and others who ask for some movie recommendations because it's never failed to satisfy me as a movie lover.

Marion Cotillard, whom I love so much, and is one of my favorite actresses, perfects the role of Edith Piaf. Just until recently did I find out she was in fact lip syncing the recorded songs of Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard won best actress for this film and I've never doubted that she would. Her tongue, mouth, and general facial movements convinced audiences she was truly singing, however she wasn't. I think her amazing lip syncing is what also completes her talent in this role. To convince people she herself is singing is a hard thing to do, and she managed to do that wonderfully.

This ending scene in my opinion, is the best of the entire movie. As I mentioned before, it makes it all worth watching. That she performs Non, je ne regrette rien makes it all that much better. Edith Piaf made very bad decisions throughout her life, however through the words of this beautiful song, she explains that she regrets not a single decision. Why? Because it made her who she was at that very moment and made her the woman she is and is known as. I respect that whole handedly and will always look up to Edith Piaf as a wonderful woman. And I will always love Marion Cotillard for playing this role to the best ability she could have.

If you have not seen La Vie En Rose, I recommend that you do as soon as you get the chance.

It's been too long!

My apologies, it's been a while since i posted anything on this blog, but i've been busy with so many other things but i'm back at it :)
So to continue with my film blog i'd like to share a video my friend Renell posted on her facebook. Everything about this short video is pure greatness. I also posted it on my other more personal blog for my other followers to watch. I recommend you to watch it if you haven't stumbled upon it before! The way it's filmed and the composition of it all enhance all the emotions that the audience is able to grasp from it. I love everything about it and couldn't have been more impressed. Funny to think that the way it is filmed is so similar to how i'm hoping my upcoming stop-motion film will be.

Enjoy!

Moments from Everynone on Vimeo.

IS IT WORTH IT?

I've gotten SUCH mixed reviews about Salt, can you guys please let me know if it is worth it or not? I'm going to make a poll, so feel free to vote OR comment this post, it'd be much appreciated :)

I know i shouldn't really care on what people are saying and I should see it for myself, but tickets aren't exactly cheap anymore so i'd rather go only if i know that it's worth it.

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino really impressed me this week. The other night, I slept over at my friend Ynes's house and we always have a tradition of basically ordering in and watching movie after movie until our eyes cannot stay open. So, she finally got me to watch Inglorious Bastards, and all I can say is wow. That movie really caught me off-guard, I certainly did not expect it to be so good as it was. The acting, the humor, the music, the editing and script, all was so well put together. Kudos to Brad Pitt as well, his character was a favorite of mine.

Followed by Inglorious Bastards, we then watched Kill Bill. I saw Kill Bill before, however I was a lot younger at the time and simply did not follow the story line very well. The next morning at Ynes's, we then watched Kill Bill 2. I loved both of them, and obviously understood them now. Quentin Tarantino should really be proud of himself, as well as Uma Thurman, the main character in both films. Again, I am a fan of the music selection and script for both Kill Bill Volumes and Inglorious Bastards. Tarantino definitely has an altogether great style to directing movies and it never fails to entertain me.

Word on the street is that Kill Bill 3 is coming out as well! However, in 2014, bummer.

for anyone who has not seen Inglorious Bastards or Kill Bill Vol 1 and/or 2., GO WATCH NOW.

Apologies!

I'm sorry i've been completely MIA for a while. Kind of been catching up on sleep and resting a lot this past week but this weekend and upcoming week and weekS, i'll be doing a lot of filming. I've been working simultaneously on two projects. One of the projects was the first one i started about 3 weeks ago, which is my documentary on the Lower East Side and its remaining culture, why people love it, why it's stands out versus other neighborhoods, etc. I for a while now, have said I was going to use this (what I'm guessing will be around 10 minute long film) for my admissions into colleges which i'll be applying to for film/photography/cinematography. However, as i've done more and more research on what colleges require for art portfolios, i've realized that i need to send them a much shorter video, nothing longer than 2 and a half minutes.

This realization is what inspired my newest project that i'm also working on. What I've decided to send to these colleges I'll be applying to will be about a 2 to 2 and a half minute stop-motion film that might possibly have time lapse effects weaved throughout it. As for a theme, I've come up with something along the lines of life's simplistic beauties. This idea that the most simple things in life are what make it beautiful.

I'm hoping to finish this stop-motion film by the end of August, including all of it's editing, etc. As for the documentary, keep an eye out! I'm hoping to finish by End of September, so Fall I guess. I'll probably be updating my followers more and more about that. I need to schedule more interviews for that project and set time aside to really work on that considering that project/film is a lot more to handle.

That's my life as of now!

Radiohead never fails

Radiohead never fails to make interesting videos, but this particular music video for their song "All I need", has got to be one of their most beautiful ones.
Check it out

Check this out!

Hey Guys, check out this link.
It's an australian anti-speeding ad that's filmed so well, whoever did this really had an eye for this. But they managed to film it in correlation to the mood that was to be aimed for throughout the video as well, really well done.

http://wimp.com/antispeeding/

How To Make It In America

Just remembered how good the opening credits is for this HBO Series How to make it in America. So creative and the composition of the shots and photos they use are so well chosen to represent NYC and what the show is about itself.

If you haven't seen any episodes from this series, do so now!

Maxence Cyrin

My good friend Zoe showed me this cover by Maxence Cyrin, a cover to the Pixie's song "Where Is My Mind", and it really is a very beautiful cover. I love piano, the sound of it, the way it is played by these delicate little bones we call fingers. The style of this video really creates a nice essence to it overall as it also matches very well with the genre of the song. The fact that this composer decided to go with an old looking film as the music video is really fascinating. Though short, the short film's story is almost being told through the music which is a very difficult skill to do. Overall a really good music video for this amazing cover by Cyrin.

Tom Ford

Designer Tom Ford has really impressed me I must say. To be able to expand his talents and skills to step forward as a film director is great, and he sure has been successful as a director. I just watched his film A Single Man with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, as well as Nicholas Hoult from Skins, and couldn't have liked it more. It was shot incredibly well which only shows Ford's great eye for things considering he was the creative director for YSL and Gucci. The simplicity of the entire movie is really what made it very interesting to watch, and of course, the narration was the icing on the cake.



Even as much as the decision to create a trailer without one word shows the creativity this whole movie takes on.

True Blood

This evening Ynes and I watched the new episode of True Blood, and I've got to say the opening credits are SO well done.
Kudos

Artificial Light

Artificial Light from Daniel Hopkins on Vimeo.

A video I stumbled upon through Vimeo, I love the way 8mm videos look. This overall was done in a real unique style in my opinion. The way the filmmaker decided to use the voice from a computer rather than a real human's voice gives it a nice twist, and the constant of having words that relate to the video appear through out it really grabbed my attention from the start.

Watch.

Alejandro González Iñárritu

Alejandro González Iñárritu has got to be one of my new favorite directors. He directed Babel and 21 grams, and directed a movie which I just watched tonight called Amores Perros, which translates as "loves a bitch".


What makes his films so great is the technique and skill he has in which he's able to create several stories in one movie which all seem to come off as random and non-relatable to one another, yet by the end weave them together with such simplicity. It's brilliant, and he exhibits this style in Amores Perros, as well as Babel and 21 grams. If you haven't seen any of these movie, though it's a handful, add them to your list, now!


Before this evening, and before watching this movie, I had completely forgotten about 21 grams and it made me sort of upset that I'd so easily forgotten about what has got to be such a well directed and produced movie I've ever seen. The narration, which as not many people know is one of my favorite elements to a movie, is so great. The script and the words that were put together really accentuated the story of 21 grams.

Because I couldn't find the ending scene on youtube due to copyright issues, I'll share the ending narration with you although it really doesn't capture as much as it did in the actual film.

"How many lives do we live? How many times do we die? They say we all lose 21 grams... at the exact moment of our death. Everyone. And how much fits into 21 grams? How much is lost? When do we lose 21 grams? How much goes with them? How much is gained? How much is gained? Twenty-one grams. The weight of a stack of five nickels. The weight of a hummingbird. A chocolate bar. How much did 21 grams weigh? "

Some of that narration is in the trailer.
Watch:

SALT & Inception

Salt just came out, and from what I've heard, and read from reviews, it's supposed to be dope. The whole movie itself really was an A+, or so it seems. Definitely trying to see that asap, plus I'm kind of obsessed with Angelina Jolie, her beauty stuns me and she's such a great role model.

However, I'm curious to see how the reviews of Inception contrast to Salt's. Inception was in my opinion, one of the best movies I've seen in a while, considering I also saw it 3 times, all in the same week.

What made Inception so interesting was the theme that was created for it, this idea of dreams versus reality, which also immediately caught my intention because I find myself often thinking about dreams and how that differs from reality. So the story chosen for Inception I feel, is what really made it a great movie. Plus Leonardo DiCaprio has got to be one of the best actors of our time right now. He's awesome.

Next on my list to go out and see=Salt.

Rainy Day

It's a rainy day, see a movie or watch one. Lately I've been reminiscing the movie, which happens to be one of my favorites (considering my blog is named after it), "Almost Famous".

Peep the trailer:

There isn't one thing I dislike about this movie. The movie itself was based off the director (Cameron Crowes), experiences of traveling and touring with rock bands such as: The Eagles, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd. It's pieced pretty damn well together, and the acting is sensational. Definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't seen it. Also, Kate Hudson is actually quite good in this considering a lot of her other roles in movies aren't that great.

Not my first

So, this isn't my first blog. I actually have another one meant for more personal use, which usually is either venting my teen angst, or addressing the random thoughts in my head.

However, recently I've been contemplating creating another blog that would now address my interests in film, and today I finally did it! So for anyone who has stumbled upon this 2nd blog of mine, basically what I'm aiming for through this one is to use this as an attempt to hopefully get myself out there as much as I can through Blogspot as well as use this to discuss movies in a variety of ways. I currently aspire to become either a film editor or producer for major movies, still working that out, but I do know that's what I will be applying to college for.

So, I guess this is somewhat of an experiment, but also an opportunity to take a more serious approach to my main interest in film, so I hope you enjoy and please share this with friends or follow me if you'd like :)

Thanks!