31 октября 2007 г.

Control

October is full of movies. Today, I watched Control, a biopic about the life and death of Ian Curtis, who was the singer of a pioneering English rock band band Joy Division. Again, I have received a movie pass from the university newspaper a week before for a regular run of the film.


As always, I headed to the Tivoli Theater alone (after a failure to go to the movies with my campus Russian friend since she fell ill then). But at the Delmar Loop metro station I met Katia, who was a graduate exchange student from Russia. She appeared to be interested in watching the movie (though it was Tuesday and not a weekend day), and I was glad to say, that the pass was for two persons. After she parked her byke in her shared house not far from the place, we went to the movies shortly after the lights were turned off, and nobody even asked for our tickets.

Besides the official site, I've found one more, also claiming to be official. They both were in flash, but I like the latter for it features the music from the film that creates the mood of the film. There is also a special site for Canada. The film is made in Britain (and British English was hard for Katia to comprehend at first) in black and white. It created the atmosphere of the 70th, and the tunes from the movie played in my head long after the film was over.

And today I was not alone watching the film, finally.

17 октября 2007 г.

Into the Cinema Again

Sean Penn directed a wonderful film, Into the Wild, based on a book which was in turn written after a real story. I was shocked by the fact that a young college graduate gave all his money to charities and traveled across America to meet his death in Alaska. The pre-premiere film screening draw a huge crowd to the Tivoli Theater. I was lucky to find an empty seat in the first row even having a free pass received, as usual, from the university newspaper, and people were coming long after the movie was supposed to start. The production company also hold some sweepstakes after the film with the prize being the original book by Jon Krakauer, which I am definitely going to buy right in the theater's box-office.


As each good film does, Into the Wild made me cry. It is that kind of a movie that arises questions about human values. Is money important? If not, what is important? The protagonist, Christopher MacCandless, chose the way without money, full of adventures and interesting meetings. But it all lead to his death. And the main character is too perfect in the movie, especially in the scene where he doesn't want sex with an underage girl who loved him. Many would consider him stupid for his attitude towards money and sex. Me? I still need to think it through.

11 октября 2007 г.

Lars and the Real Film

A free pass from the UMSL university newspaper for a new interesting (i.e. independent) comedy, Lars and the Real Girl, brought me to Tivoli again. By the way, it was a pre-premiere showing, and I was even mistaken for a journalist in the movie theater foyer, may be it's fate for me to pursue Media Studies in US?


It was a beautiful movie about simple things, told in a new way. The flash site of the film has some videos (the most interesting thing there, in fact). The plot is fascinating: a lonely man announces his new girlfriend, which appears to be a life-sized doll. I strongly recommend seeing it once it runs in the movies and becomes available on DVD.

5 октября 2007 г.

Knocked Up

Next in the series of free university screenings in the Pilot House inside the UMSL Millennium Student Center, a fresh American comedy about unexpected pregnancy Knocked Up  appeared uncut, and some scenes shocked snobs at the screening.


As for me, it was a typical American comedy with usual toilet humor. I am not going to buy a DVD with such a foolish movie (I would not even paid for it in the real movies).