Kazhes pierakstu burtnīca

"Tiekšanās pēc laimes" ir labākā Vila Smita filma, kādu man līdz šim ir nācies redzēt. Protams, nemaz tik liels sasniegums pēc definīcijas tas nav, jo "Vīri melnā" nav mana visu laiku mīļākā filma, gabalu par Muhamedu Ali es nenoskatījos, uzskatīdams boksu par man neinteresantu tematiku, "Hitch" es neesmu redzējis, "Wild Wild West" arī tikai daļēji (un tā jau ar nav nekāda super filma), kamēr "Independence Day" vienīgais krutisms bija specefekti, ā, vēl bija "I Robot", bet tā filma man arī nelika lēkāt uz dibena no sajūsmas.

John Grisham is mostly known to the modern world as a writer of thrillers about lawyers. But in this book you`ll find no descriptions of ugly cases, no chopped to pieces advocates in the trunk of a Volvo, no corrupted politicians and not even a single witness. The book starts off quite nicely - Luther Krank has decided not to spend a lot of money on Christmas as he has been doing for many, many years but to go together with his wife Nora on a vacation in the Carribean. A great plan, I think. Since their daughter Blair has gone on a Peace Corps mission to Peru they have no reason to stay for the commercialised crap that nowadays is called Christmas. They don`t have to put a "Frosty the Snowman" made out of plastic on their roof, they don`t have to give money to everyone that`s willing to take it. Yet their neighbours can`t understand the Kranks` decision and get on their nerves the whole time. This goes for about 2/3 of the book. Ok, not every scene is witty, things tend to get repeated but it`s ideologically ok at least. But then suddenly the whole thing becomes a silly mess - Blair decides to come home and bring her fiancee with her. So the parents decide to stay at home and it even turns out that all those creeps they have as neighbours aren`t so bad at all, and Christmas isn`t only about shopping and about high prices, it`s about people helping each other (for example, by lending a Frosty the snowman to your neighbour). And it turns out that only a scrooge or a moron would want to skip Christmas, for it`s really the best time of the year. For a person like me that doesn`t really love any of those hollidays when everyone tells you that you should be celebrating it only because all other people are, this isn`t a nice ending. The whole thing with buying stuff you don`t need, with being kind to people you despise, with all this fake shit that has nothing to do with Jesus, with God or with anything, it`s simply so disgusting. And Grisham either doesn`t see that or he doesn`t have enough balls to say what he means until the end. He starts quite bravely but finishes in the Hollywood manner. And it`s not a good thing by my standards.

Beidzot noskatījos trešo nomināciju gada labākajai animācijas filmai - "Monstru māju". Šī gada animācijas kategorijā nominētajām multenēm patiešām ir viena kopīga īpašība - tajās visās ir ekselenta animācija. Pingvīnu multene vietām bija vizuāli līdzvērtīga īstajai Pingvīnu filmai, "Vāģi" bija daudz labāki, nekā es biju gaidījis, un visu beidzot Monstru māja. Starp citu, šogad visas 3 nominētās multenes ir datorgrafika. Nez, vai tas par kaut ko liecina? Pagājušogad neviena nebija tīrā datorgrafika. Droši vien gan tas liecina, ka šogad nav bijis gana labu zīmēto multfilmu. Kā lai arī nebūtu, es savu "Oskaru" atdotu tieši "Monstru mājai", kas mani patīkami pārsteidza. Vispirms, vizuāli no visas šīs ļoti spēcīgās trijotnes tieši "Monstru māja" izceļas visvairāk. Otrkārt, sižetiski tā arī ir pārāka par abām divām konkurējošajām multenēm - vismaz nav tā, ka jau no paša sākuma var saprast, ar ko tas viss beigsies. Bet tomēr galvenais šeit bija tieši vizuālais baudījums - te tas ir atstrādāts vienkārši perfekti, liekot man noticēt, ka datorgrafika beidzot ir sasniegusi tādu līmeni, kādu es no tās vienmēr esmu gaidījis - beidzot pat es nevaru teikt, ka ir pārāk maz poligonu izmantots.

Reti gadās, ka es kādu filmu skatos tik daudzos piegājienos, līdz tieku līdz galam, ja darīšana nav ar kādu īpaši neinteresantu mākslas darbu (lai gan tādos gadījumos būtu vērts uzdot jautājumu - kāpēc tad es to vispār noskatos līdz galam, ja ir tik neinteresanti?). Tomēr "Little Čildren" gadījums ir patiešām īpašs. Šo filmu lejupielādēju vēl Rīgā, ierakstīju diskā un sataisījos Ženēvā jau vienā no pirmajām dienām to skatīties. Principā es zināju, ka filmu biju dabūjis krieviskā tulkojumā, tomēr nepievērsu šim faktam īpaši lielu vērību - bieži tulkojumiem nav ne vainas, turklāt anglisko tobrīd dabūt man bija pagrūtāk. Tomēr jau pēc minūtēm 10 es filmu skatīties pārtraucu, jo mani totāli bija nokaitinājis tulkotājs, kas nespēja izsekot līdzi sižetam, rezultātā tulkodams labi ja pusi teksta un regulāri atkārtodams "eēe" tipa skaņas. Taču kad Oskari jau bija pienākuši stipri tuvāk, izlēmu iedot šim tulkotājam vēl vienu iespēju - mēģinot iespēju robežās klausīties angliskajā tekstā, kas bija apakšā. Šoreiz noskatījos vēl minūtes piecas - līdz brīdim, kad sapratu, ka "koroļ porno" oriģinālvalodā ir "prom king".

Suppose I tell you this film is a Japanese horror movie. Are you already scared out of your pants and on your way to the mental hospital? I bet you are. But you shouldn`t be. This film isn`t that scary. It plainly isn`t scary at all. There`s this guy who works as a sound engineer, and who has a wife who is a medium. While he`s in the woods recording the sounds of the forest a little girl running away from a rapist hides in an empty equipment box belonging to the man. It`s quite silly that after the recording he puts the box in his car without thinking why it has become much heavier and without even putting anything back inside it. It seems that he just likes carrying around huge empty boxes. Anyway, the girl dies in the box, and after a few days his wife is asked to find her. She finds her through her powers, but the girl appears to be living. Since they have no way of explaining how the girl got into the box the guy and his wife decide to hide her in a remote location and send the cops to that place. That is particulary silly, but ok. In the end the girl turns out to be a physical ghost and the guy does the best thing you can do to a ghost - he kills her once again by using a piece of wood. After that he sees his body double (which signs his near death) and puts it on fire. To be honest - the guy is crazy, and so even to a greater level is the director. And the film is stupid, uninspired, boring, dull - choose whatever you want. And it isn`t a horror film.

I have always been a fan of Mr. Kundera, and his latest work didn`t dissapoint me even as much as a tiny, tiny little... thing. And it surely doesn`t mean that my expectations were low. Irene is a woman in her fourties that lives in France but now has a chance to return to her homeland of Prague since the iron curtain has fallen. She doesn`t really want to, but other people tell her - she must. There she meets Joseph - another man from the exile whom she once met when they were very young. Still this book isn`t that much about the main characters. It`s about the homecoming and its painfulness and senselesness. Kundera`s hero are somewhat similar to Odysseus who was abroad for 20 years and came back to people that didn`t bother to notice that he had changed. The book is about our memories and how they betray us. How we remember very little, and each our own, and how nobody really knows anyone at all. It`s very sad, it`s a book by an old man who has very much knowledge, a bit of humour but very little hope for this world. Read it if you can. And if you can`t read - don`t read it.

It probably can`t be classified as a single record but should instead be separated into different elements that don`t have too much in common. On the other hand, discussing bonus material as such seems to be a silly thing. Yet for a whole disc of previously unseen (at least by me) material I can make an exception. First, this disc features a documentary about Terry Jones and Michael Palin revisiting most of the locations where "The Holy Grail" was shot. I never thought that those guys worked under such money saving circumstances that they shot almost all scenes in a single castle which has only about 3 different rooms but in the film it appeared to be a lot of castles and dozens of rooms. The things they talk about on those locations they go are worth to be heard as well. This documentary also proves how extremely significant to Britain this legendary film has become - you can nowadays buy coconuts at the castle where king Arthur was harrased about European and African swallows. But enough about the documentary already. Let`s talk about another documentary. It was done by BBC in 1974 on the shooting locations. Despite having got all 6 pythons on screen it ain`t too useful, for it`s mainly goofing around with very little substance. Both Terries shine on this documentary more than the rest of the sixpack, mainly due to the fact that it was them directing the film and therefore receiving more attention from the BsBC. Other materials aren`t that extensive - there`s a short new film about splitting coconuts featuring Michael Palin and some unknown fellow, there`s a bit of old posters and bashing reviews (one of those states that "Holy Grail" makes "Ben Hur" look like an epic. To me it was "Life of Brian" that really made "Ben Hur" look like an epic). Oh, I almost forgot - there`s a short part of the film done in "LEGO". It`s goofy, of course, but not particulary interesting. As for the final judgement - only a Python fanatic would care about those things. But on the other hand - I am a Python fanatic!

"Colour Me Kubrick" ir uz reaaliem notikumiem balstiita filma, cik neticami tas lai arii neshkjistu. Galveno lomu tajaa atveido Dzhons Malkovichs, paziistams, kaa zinaams, kaa tips no taas filmas, kuraa aplaupa banku, un no "Being John Malkovich". Malkovicha varonis ir kaads celjojoshs tirgotaajs vaardaa Alans Konvejs (reaala persona), kura pamatnodarbe bija uzdoties par slaveno kino rezhisoru Stenliju Kubriku un guut labumu no shaadas uzdoshanaas, protams, par labu vinjam shajaa situaacijaa naaca tas, ka Kubriks, lai gan bija ljoti respekteets rezhisors, nebija taada tipa slaveniiba, par kuru daudzi zinaaja, kaa vinsh izskataas. Taalab Konvejs speeja lieliski dazhaadiem cilveekiem apsoliit sho vai to vinju karjeras labad, pretii prasot, lai vinjam kaut ko izmaksaa (jo Kubrikam-Konvejam diivainaa kaartaa vienmeer bija aizmirusies liidz vinja platiina krediitkarte), kaa arii guut seksuaalus pakalpojumus (veel viens triks - ekscentriskais homoseksuaalis Konvejs absoluuti nospljaavas uz to, ka Kubriks nebija gejs, neintereseejoties par atbilstiibu teelam). Kas Konvejam gan reizeem radiija probleemas, bija fakts, ka vinsh iipashi daudz par Kubrika filmaam nezinaaja un orienteejaas tajaas ne labaak, kaa, teiksim, es. Toties vinsh lieliski maaceeja iepiit sarunaas to, ka vinsh nupat pusdienojis ar Tomu Kruuzu vai ka vinja naakamajaa filmaa piedaliisies Elizabete Teilore un vienmeer vinja kaarteejiem pazinjaam atradaas kaada vietinja jaunajaa filmaa atveeleeta. Protams, tas noveda arii pie taa, ka Konveju biezhi gribeeja sist, bet kas vinjam bija pluss - neviens iipashi negribeeja iet pie policijas, jo cilveeka reputaaciju vareetu nedaudz ietekmeet publiskaas zinjaas izplatiita informaacija par vinja uzkjershanos uz pseido Kubriku un paarguleeshanu ar vinju.

Lai gan "Pieziimes par skandaalu" nevienu Oskaru nedabuuja, shai filmai es noteikti vismaz paariiti to buutu iedevis, lai arii esmu to noskatiijies tikai visai beediigaa kinoteaatrii tapusha kameras ieraksta kvalitaatee ar popkorna graushanu, skatiitaaju eenaam un smiekliem nevietaa.

It started off quite nicely but proved to be overlong. This book is a comic book about comic things about books. First thought this was something similar to the "scientific essays" in S.Dali`s diary but it proved to be real literature science and not just a hoax. Basically Mr. Rath-Vegh has collected different funny and not so funny stories from the history of bookwriting and book buying and selling. Some of the elements in this book seem to be pretty unrealistic - for example, Rath-Vegh mentions scientific works about Adam being the first writer and the first scientist, etc, etc. But the problem with this book is that it`s too complicated to write a book on such a subject. But it was a bit too boring for me, so I stopped reading everything from the beginning to the end, but just read a few passages that seemed to be more interesting than the others. Yet in its own category the book ain`t a bad one, it`s just not that kind of stuff I`d normally read in big amounts. It`s more like a good vinegar - you need it but you can`t drink a lot of it (unless you want to die).