It's wonderful to begin the year with a movie as wonderful as this one.
I thoroughly enjoyed all 100 minutes of this silent film. Michel Hazanavicius' masterpiece will hopefully inspire even more directors to create what I believe to be a lost medium - silent film. (Please note that the theatre isn't silent completely, as music plays to set the mood for the movie at times.) The acting fit perfectly to the style of the movie by including large displays of emotion that would seem ridiculous to a current audience in a modern film. Whether these displays were Jean Dujardin's massive smiles and head twitches or Berenice Bejo's silly but adorable dance movies, they seemed effective in making the movie lighthearted where needed, and dramatic elsewhere.
My generation truly missed out on silent films, and that really saddens me. Us kids of the 90's were right at the edge of cassette tapes and kid's cartoons, and technology of media exploded from there. I'm so sad I never got to sit around with friends listening to vinyls like my parents did (though I admit I have listened to Dad's records quite a few times over, mostly in secrecy). I remember VHS tapes, and how awesome they were, but they were quickly replaced with DVD's. I grabbed a VCR from home and several VHS tapes and I've brought them to Davidson, not to be ironic and nostalgic, but to fully enjoy every single movie so much more. The only VHS tapes I can find are classics and they might be damaged such that the entire movie has a slight pink tint, but they are so much more appreciated than the fifty DVD's I buy every year. Rewinding a movie might be a pain, but it reminds me to slow down every now and then between scenes in my life.
I know I've strayed from the topic of The Artist, but the fact that Hazanavicius made a silent film - one popular in the mainstream - after decades of none at all amazes me. I enjoyed myself so much watching the film, and I sincerely hope that more of the style are produced soon since the film has done so well.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Culturally Aware in 2012
My New Year's resolution is to become more culturally aware. I'll admit, this title comes as an attempt to glorify a silly challenge I'm putting myself through in the year.
This year, I want to build my vocabulary and develop my abilities to explore, analyze, and conclude from what I see, hear, and learn. (Be on the lookout for a 101 things in 1001 days sort of deal in the next week or so--I assure you it will appear from somewhere... I just have to sit down and think through what.)
Essentially, I heard my brother talking about participating in the 50 books challenge where participants try to read 50 books before December 31st comes to an end (~a book a week) and decided I wanted to do something like it. Over the past few weeks, though, I've decided that I wanted to change this a little bit to span more than just books. I want to cover stories of people real and not, descriptions of the world near and far, and views I agree and disagree with currently. I want to gain as much as possible from this experience as well. Unfortunately, studies and money might come into conflict with the completion of this challenge but I will try my best to complete it. Here are the challenges:
1. 30 new books in the year
2. 20 new movies in the year
3. 10 new friends in the year (which I must have some interesting story with) Note: if I'm friends but don't have an interesting story, acquisition of a story counts towards this.
4. 10 new museums or art galleries in the year (which I must see at least one full exhibit in)
5. 5 new cities visited in the year (which I must eat in and see something exciting or thrilling in)
I might be editing this list over the next week or so. I will also try to blog my "accomplishments" as they come - book reviews, movie reviews, interesting stories with friends, thoughts on museums, thoughts on cities.
If you are interested in joining me in this challenge, I would love to have you! Please let me know if you are going to participate, and maybe we can do some stuff together. I would love the company.
This year, I want to build my vocabulary and develop my abilities to explore, analyze, and conclude from what I see, hear, and learn. (Be on the lookout for a 101 things in 1001 days sort of deal in the next week or so--I assure you it will appear from somewhere... I just have to sit down and think through what.)
Essentially, I heard my brother talking about participating in the 50 books challenge where participants try to read 50 books before December 31st comes to an end (~a book a week) and decided I wanted to do something like it. Over the past few weeks, though, I've decided that I wanted to change this a little bit to span more than just books. I want to cover stories of people real and not, descriptions of the world near and far, and views I agree and disagree with currently. I want to gain as much as possible from this experience as well. Unfortunately, studies and money might come into conflict with the completion of this challenge but I will try my best to complete it. Here are the challenges:
1. 30 new books in the year
2. 20 new movies in the year
3. 10 new friends in the year (which I must have some interesting story with) Note: if I'm friends but don't have an interesting story, acquisition of a story counts towards this.
4. 10 new museums or art galleries in the year (which I must see at least one full exhibit in)
5. 5 new cities visited in the year (which I must eat in and see something exciting or thrilling in)
I might be editing this list over the next week or so. I will also try to blog my "accomplishments" as they come - book reviews, movie reviews, interesting stories with friends, thoughts on museums, thoughts on cities.
If you are interested in joining me in this challenge, I would love to have you! Please let me know if you are going to participate, and maybe we can do some stuff together. I would love the company.
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