New Blog

http://organiz-ized.blogspot.com/

If you recall Taxi Driver (1976), a reflection of the Travis character (Robert DeNiro) involved him somewhat aspiring to finally get organized, or as he put it; "organiz-ized...one of these days".

I've been thinking about my own struggle to develop posts for this blog, screen-write, and perform other tasks that would improve my film work when I go back to school in the fall. I've realized that a lot of it has to do with the condition my room and "work environment" is in.

And so I've begun a new journey, to help mend this one. Call me impressive or pathetic; either way I've left an impact! Be sure to join. Photos and video diaries will follow. http://organiz-ized.blogspot.com/

Also, if you haven't already, be sure to watch and leave feedback for my latest completed student film Picture of Me featured below!




Photo Source:  http://pichaus.com/film-stills-driver-taxi-@415530e75d0a064054b7c7dc5a21bb8c/



SHORT FILM: Picture of Me from Rebecca Farina on Vimeo.

My short film PICTURE OF ME and movie responses to come...

After months of hard work, my short film is complete for the past 2 weeks. A shortened version that was featured at my college's film festival can be viewed at the link below.

With an artist like me, it was bound to get to the point where I had to let go. Creating a work such as a short film often involves me needing to distance myself at the right time. And here is my distant friend. I know I will visit it often and look upon what was accomplished, and more importantly what was learned as a stepping stone for my future filmmaking.

I hope you all enjoy.

PICTURE OF ME:  https://vimeo.com/42655541

Look out for some of my cinematic reactions throughout the rest of the month. Today I watched both Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable's final performance in The Misfits (1961), and watching the talk of the town, The Avengers, is on my agenda for tomorrow!

Photo Sources:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheAvengers2012Poster.jpg

http://www.impawards.com/1961/misfits.html

My Go-To, Feel-Good Movie

It's sad how many weeks it's been since I've abandoned a post I started that was a thematic argument similar to my previous one. I'll probably have to abandon it for some more time now, then revive it with a new twist! On top of that, I long ago began a Taxi Driver/Hugo "look" at some of director Martin Scorsese's work. Ah, bear with me. On my list of "to-do's" is also to finally WATCH the new The Amazing Spider-Man trailer, then state my thoughts (not predictable at all). The suspense is killing me.

I'm enjoying my spring semester at college. It's both exciting and frightening at the same time to embrace just what I'm expecting from myself with my upcoming short film called Picture of Me. It's what I'd like to call a half screwball, half dark comedy that will be finished by May. Being a production student, I don't know what I'd do without turning to my favorites for both inspiration and calamity.

Sydney Pollack's 1982 masterpiece, Tootsie, definitely inspired the tone of Picture of Me. No, mine is not a cross-dressing or hidden identity story per se, but it is to be as absolutely wacky and crooked as the story will allow.

I'm not going to ruin Tootsie for anyone, but seriously, if it meets the criteria for a movie you'd typically like, what are you waiting for?! 

Instead, after watching it for the umpteenth time last week, I have to mention how much the little things really add so much to this film. 

One thing is the placement of items in the set dressing. For example, in almost all the scenes in Julie's apartment (Jessica Lange) there are things lying around in the background that say a lot about an otherwise not thoroughly-explained character. In one shot, I noticed a black & white photo on the wall which appears to be a picture of her father's country home which we see when it's visited much later in the film. I love that; it adds so much to character study.

Another scene is in Michael/Dorothy's (Dustin Hoffman) apartment where a bra is randomly lying over the headboard of the bed. In the context of the scene I found it hilarious to spot out. It's one of those things that has no point to the action of the scene necessarily, but at the same time adds so much to what is going on in the character's lives. In this case, Dorothy is going through a crisis of sorts with this new self-discovery and that bra just lying around in a way introduces a new sense of comfort.

Marry this movie. And let's see if I can post at least once per week.

Photo Sources:  http://annyas.com/screenshots/updates/tootsie-1982-sydney-pollack-dustin-hoffman-jessica-lange-bill-murray/

http://livingromcom.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/03/romantic-comedy.html

http://www.2guys1movie.com/2011/11/he-became-better-man-by-being-woman.html

http://maxseesmovies.blogspot.com/2010/05/69-tootsie.html

I watch tragedy in movies all the time, but on the news hardly.

The Poseidon Adventure (1972)

I got stuck asking myself today why I dismiss the news when something disastrous happens. Now, by disastrous I don't necessarily mean a major world event such as 9/11 or last year's earthquake in Japan. I mean events more like the freak accidents that happen for a reason other than intent or natural disaster. I mean the ones that happen and when seen on the news, people think they can avoid that event from happening to them by that very knowledge. Scary enough, some people think they can stop horrible things from happening through avoidance of that specific cause.

I knew I'd hear more about the recent ship disaster that occurred in Italy because of my dad's obsession with watching the news and reporting to me and my mom how "things happen" and that "things" aren't safe. I guarantee that while watching this report it came to my dad's mind that he wouldn't get aboard a boat or let me or my mom do so, or at least not without a speech. The last time I got on a plane my dad basically drilled into my head that I might die. That was a lovely thought for an otherwise fearless flyer to adopt.

The scary truth is, though, that my dad is right. I might die. It's those very reports that I hate watching, reading, or even remotely hearing about that prove that anything can happen at any given time. The point my dad is missing is that most of them are beyond personal control. Nobody got aboard that ship in Italy thinking they were going to face what they ended up facing. The ones who died probably never imagined they'd reached their last day. It's not that I don't like seeing the truth, although I did debate this idea for a while. It's that I know my human nature is going to hear about these unfortunate events and think for a second that I can stop them from happening to me. That's silly and selfish, and removes the over all truth from perspective. It becomes less about the victims, and more about us. I don't know about everyone else, but I already have enough things in my life that make me fight for "survival." I don't think I need to watch the news for that.

I don't for a moment want to forget that people suffer all around me every day. I just don't like the way it's presented to me most of the time. Maybe I haven't explored enough sources, but I know that my personal way of responding to the world is through art. I hear about the bad things going on in real life, but it never sounds like anything "new." It sounds like repetition. It sounds like noise. I enjoy cinema because bad movie or good movie, most of the time they get it. They understand that we can't live every day thinking we have complete control over our fate. After all, the whole story and outcome have already been planned, shot, and finalized.

In many ways, artists have many of the secrets because they explore the world and look at it beyond the exterior layer of events while too many people are fooled by it.



Photo Source:  http://www.infobarrel.com/Top_10_Disaster_Movies_of_all_time

Golden Globes' Best Foreign Film: A SEPARATION

Happy Martin Luther King Day, all! So far I'm spending it taking a look at some the events of last night's Golden Globes ceremony, but I'll hopefully move onto something more honoring to the King by the day's end, or maybe even by this post's end.

While the Globes news seems to be very focused on how host Ricky Gervais wasn't as insulting this year (I don't even recall him being insulting last year), the first WINNER that has caught my attention is Iranian film Nader and Simin, a Separation which was awarded for the Best Foreign Film category. It was both written and directed by film-maker Asghar Farhadi and centers around a married couple that splits up over a disagreement on leaving Iran together.

I enjoy the simplicity of the trailer, introducing by focusing tightly on the main subject through a single scene, then slowly showing bits of the following progression of the story. This helps to give a proper impression on what is expected of the film experience, rather than flashing to overly dramatic, and sometimes overly climactic events of the movie that are commonly relied on to "pull in" viewers. For me, this is always best saved until actually watching the movie to avoid false expectation. A little bit of this is always nice, however, and it seems that this trailer does a good job in doing this. It is always best for a movie trailer to neither over-amp nor sell short the over all piece, and what can be expected throughout the larger portion of the film (which is ultimately what we end up sitting through for the longest duration).

I wish more Americans would be keen to go see foreign films, let alone watch some on Netflix or through whatever other sources they might use to watch movies without necessarily leaving their homes.

Do you think that people underestimate film making? Do you think they also do the same for other forms of art, disbelieving it as an opportunity to bring forth something new about the true world? Are movies mostly looked at as a form of entertainment?

A Separation is a possible candidate for an Oscar nomination. What's your impression of it?



Photo Source:  http://www.impawards.com/intl/iran/2011/nader_and_simin_ver6_xlg.html

It bothers me...

It bothers me that the film that received excruciatingly horrible reviews and disappointed the majority of its audiences is also at the TOP of the box office. Well, I at least cannot call the creators stupid.

As for us, well, use your head.





Photo Source:  http://www.burialday.com/2012/01/07/devil-inside/

New movies for 2012: ROCK OF AGES

I know of several movies that are coming to the big screen this year, some of which are already predicted to become blockbusters. Aside from that, I've decided to break down my posts for upcoming movies, starting with one simple flick that marks one of my favorite Broadway experiences being adapted for film.

    

The stage musical turned movie musical -

ROCK OF AGES

Often, movie musicals do not meet the same quality as the stage version. This was my finding when I saw Grease on stage and on screen, and similar situations I've suspected in other productions such as Rent, Mamma Mia!, Little Shop of Horrors, and even Hairspray. The list does go on.

I still have to give Rock of Ages, directed by Adam Shankman, the benefit of the doubt. The movie version has cleverly added in a character played by Catherine Zeta-Jones, who comes across as the extremist church-lady villain. This type of humor was fun with the mother of Penny in Hairspray (2007), which was also directed by Shankman.

Personally, it must be admitted that what made the stage production shine for me was largely because of the mixture of 80s music and the comedy. It's not at all a heavy story that would call for crucial changes. If that light-hearted fun factor can be kept in the movie version, it should remain true to its source.

Official Trailer:

Rock of Ages is said to be released this June. What's your impression? For me, seeing Tom Cruise as an 80s rocker was a little startling.

Oh, and I have to say I think it's best if they left Don't Stop Believing out of this one. As nice as it was on the stage, and as much of a great song it truly is, I honestly think it needs a good rest before it can be once again resurrected to film and TV. I bring my dearest apologies with that statement, but let's face it.



Photo Source:  http://www.filmofilia.com/new-rock-of-ages-photo-82968/

Photo Source:  http://www.redcarpetcrash.com/2011/12/13/see-movie-stars-lip-sync-every-80s-rock-song-in-rock-of-ages/

Left hanging watching crazy 1982 film FRANCES

I began watching Frances (1982), directed by Graeme Clifford. It's based off of the true story of the 1930s outspoken and controversial actress Frances Farmer. The story unfolds what happened to her as a result of some radical actions she takes in retaliation to her unpleasant experience within the Hollywood studio system. It's quite an enticing tale while sill setting me up, I feel, for some kind of disheartening conclusion. The events all throughout are largely unfortunate, but they also engage through a passion-filled performance from Jessica Lange, and also beautifully haunting cinematography by László Kovács, who was cinematographer for 1969 classic Easy Rider; and for fans of romantic comedies, he was also responsible for making the visuals of My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) and Miss Congeniality (2000) look pretty.

So, I was watching this with my sister and because she had to leave I'll have to resume the final half hour at a later time. Don't you hate that? That's part of the reason why I don't watch many TV shows. Being left hanging is evil, but my final verdict for Frances will come soon enough. I'm just hoping I can resist trying to find out what became of the real Frances Farmer.



Photo Source: http://hiwaay.net/~oliver/jlfrances.htm