"Coolest movie", and very enjoyable. The movie consists of 2 stories of 2 cops, who just had a breakup. It's brilliant in the way the mundane-ness of everyday life is shown so interesting...
...giving voice to our irrational thoughts,
Cop223: We're all unlucky in love sometimes. When I am, I go jogging. The body loses water when you jog, so you have none left for tears.
Cop223:We split up on April Fool's Day. So I decided to let the joke run for a month. Every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of May 1. May loves pineapple, and May 1 is my birthday. If May hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire.
...giving form to the spirits within, the way Faye Wong dances for the "California Dreaming" going on and on and loud, to block all the thoughts, and hand-held camera work, enigma.. the Blond-raincoat-and-shades-wearing-Asian-girl: Somehow I've become very cautious. When I put on a raincoat, I put on sunglasses too. Who knows when it will rain, or when it will turn out sunny?
...giving music that takes you right into the scene, Hindustani raagas, Reggae, California Dreaming all so well mixed and just right for the scene.
And here's Quentin Tarantino on Chungking Express
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The Bitter Tea of General Yen (1933)
This is one of the best movies made by Frank Capra. Even though there are very famous movies of him like "Its a Wonderful Life", this movie represents one of his best work. Although this was not a box office success when it was released, this movie is intensely made and it deserves all the acclaim that it got today. Each and every emotion is intensely depicted. This movie is about ill-fated love between a certain Chinese Warlord called Yen and a American Missionary known as Megan Davis (played by Barbara Stanwyck). Initially the movie shows two young missionaries (Bob and Davis) in China who are to be married. Their marriage gets postponed as they had to save some orphans in the spreading Civil War. Bob asks General Yen to give him a safe passage pass, but Yen does not believe at all in this missionary stuff, so he handles him a worthless paper describing his foolishness. So when Bob and Davis tries to save the orphans amidst of this Civil war, the chaos strikes them and both get unconscious and get separated. Davis gains her consciousness in the Yen's private train. From then onwards Yen develops a dangerous fascination towards this extremely beautiful and high spirited Davis (american missionary). Slowly as the movie progresses Davis' own attraction towards Yen is brilliantly depicted by Capra in a dream in which she allows him to kiss her. The costumes used are totally exotic and beautiful. The movie content is highly controversial and it is even banned in England for depicting a missionary fall in love with a cruel Chinese warlord.
Monday, June 02, 2008
Psycho (1960)
By now most of us have seen this movie multiple times. I just want to put up some of the dialogs that I liked from this movie. And one more thing to mention, this movie is among the first psychological thrillers ever made. The murder scene in the bathroom is supposed to be one of the most famous and tough shots of Hollywood. And not to forget all the remakes of this famous movie just didn't work out at all. I will just list out some of the dialogs I liked from this movie Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock ..
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This is the conversation between Marion and the salesman when Marion trades her car with the one in the showroom. Remember Marion is in a real hurry .. :)
SALESMAN:
Well, it's the first time a customer ever high-pressured the salesman! Uh-figure roughly--your car plus seven hundred dollars.
MARION:
Seven hundred?
SALESMAN:
Ah, you always got time to argue money, huh?
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This is the conversation between Norman Bates and his mother when Bates tries to arrange a dinner for Marion.
WOMAN'S VOICE:
No! I tell you no! I won't have you bringing strange young girls in here for supper--by candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap erotic fashion of young men with cheap erotic minds!
NORMAN:
Mother, please!
WOMAN:
And then what, after supper? Music? Whispers?
NORMAN:
Mother, she's just a stranger! She's hungry and it's raining out.
WOMAN:
(mocking) 'Mother, she's just a stranger.' As if men don't desire strangers. Ah! I refuse to speak of disgusting things, because they disgust me! Do you understand, boy? Go on! Go tell her she'll not be appeasing her ugly appetite with my food, or my son! Or do I have to tell her 'cause you don't have the guts, boy? Huh, boy? You have the guts, boy?
NORMAN:
Shut up! Shut up!
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This is the dialog that Marion has with the Bates Motel owner while having her dinner. By now Marion has stolen the 40000$ from her working place and is fleeing away from the police and private detectives. This conversation makes you feel that Bates is the Psychooooooooooooo.. :)
NORMAN:
It's all for you. I'm not hungry. Go ahead. (delightedly watching her eat) You--you eat like a bird.
MARION:
(nodding to the stuffed birds) You'd know, of course.
NORMAN:
No, not really. Anyway, I hear the expression 'eats like a bird'--is really a fals- fals- falsity. Because birds really eat a tremendous lot. But I don't really know anything about birds. My hobby is stuffing things--you know--taxidermy. And I guess I'd just rather stuff birds because I hate the look of beasts when they're stuffed--you know, foxes and chimps. Some people even stuff dogs and cats--but, oh, I can't do that. I think only birds look well stuffed because--well, because they're kind of passive to begin with.
MARION:
It's a strange hobby. Curious.
NORMAN:
Uncommon, too.
MARION:
Oh, I imagine so.
NORMAN:
And it's not as expensive as you'd think. It's cheap really. You know--needles and thread, sawdust. The chemicals are the only thing that cost anything.
MARION:
A man should have a hobby.
NORMAN:
(sitting back) Well, it's--it's more than a hobby. A hobby's supposed to pass the time--not fill it.
MARION:
Is your time so empty?
NORMAN:
No, uh--well, I run the office, and uh, tend the cabins and grounds, and--and do little errands for my mother--the ones she allows I might be capable of doing.
MARION:
Do you go out with friends?
NORMAN:
(pause) Well, uh--a boy's best friend is his mother. (Marion tries not to react.) You've never had an empty moment in your entire life, have you?
MARION:
Only my share.
NORMAN:
Where are you going? (when Marion doesn't answer right away...) I didn't mean to pry.
MARION:
Um--I'm looking for a private island.
NORMAN:
(leaning forward) What are you running away from?
MARION:
(taken aback) W-why do you ask that?
NORMAN:
(shaking his head, relaxing back into his chair) No. People never run away from anything. The rain didn't last long, did it. You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps--clamped in them. And none of us can ever get out. We--we scratch and claw, but only at the air--only at each other. And for all of it, we never budge an inch.
MARION:
Sometimes we deliberately step into those traps.
NORMAN:
I was born in mine. I don't mind it anymore.
MARION:
Oh, but you should. You should mind it.
NORMAN:
Oh, I do (laughs) but I say I don't.
MARION:
You know, if anyone ever talked to me the way I heard--the way she spoke to you--
NORMAN:
Sometimes--when she talks to me like that--I feel I'd like to go up there--and curse her--and-and-and leave her forever! Or at least defy her. But I know I can't. She's ill.
MARION:
She sounded strong.
NORMAN:
No, I mean--ill. She had to raise me all by herself, after my father died. I was only five and it must've been quite a strain for her. I mean, she didn't have to go to work or anything like that. He left her a little money. Anyway, a few years ago Mother met this man, and he talked her into building this motel. He could've talked her into anything. And when he died too, it was just too great a shock for her. And--and the way he died--(laughs) I guess it's nothing to talk about while you're eating. (Marion breaks her enthrallment, looks at the food in her hand and smiles.)
Anyway, it was just too great a loss for her. She had nothing left.
MARION:
Except you.
NORMAN:
Well, a son is a poor substitute for a lover.
MARION:
Why don't you go away?
NORMAN:
To a private island, like you?
MARION:
No, not like me.
NORMAN:
I couldn't do that. Who'd look after her? She'd be alone up there. The fire would go out. It'd be cold and damp like a grave. If you love someone, you don't do that to them even if you hate them. You understand that I don't hate her--I hate what she's become. I hate the illness.
MARION:
Wouldn't it be better--if you put her--someplace--?
NORMAN:
(Norman's demeanor darkens. He leans forward.) You mean an institution? A madhouse! People always call a madhouse 'someplace,' don't they. 'Put her in--someplace.'
MARION:
I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound uncaring.
NORMAN:
What do you know about caring. Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places? The laughing and the tears--and the cruel eyes studying you. My mother there! But she's harmless! Wh-- she's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds!
MARION:
I am sorry. I only felt--it seems she's hurting you. I meant well. (Marion is more than a little spooked by his personality transformation.)
NORMAN:
People always mean well! They cluck their thick tongues and shake their heads and suggest, oh so very delicately--! (He sits back. The storm is over. Gently:) Of course, I've suggested it myself. But I hate to even think about it. She needs me. It-it's not as if she were a--a maniac--a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?
MARION:
(her concern relaxed) Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough. Thank you.
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This is the conversation between Marion and the salesman when Marion trades her car with the one in the showroom. Remember Marion is in a real hurry .. :)
SALESMAN:
Well, it's the first time a customer ever high-pressured the salesman! Uh-figure roughly--your car plus seven hundred dollars.
MARION:
Seven hundred?
SALESMAN:
Ah, you always got time to argue money, huh?
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the conversation between Norman Bates and his mother when Bates tries to arrange a dinner for Marion.
WOMAN'S VOICE:
No! I tell you no! I won't have you bringing strange young girls in here for supper--by candlelight, I suppose, in the cheap erotic fashion of young men with cheap erotic minds!
NORMAN:
Mother, please!
WOMAN:
And then what, after supper? Music? Whispers?
NORMAN:
Mother, she's just a stranger! She's hungry and it's raining out.
WOMAN:
(mocking) 'Mother, she's just a stranger.' As if men don't desire strangers. Ah! I refuse to speak of disgusting things, because they disgust me! Do you understand, boy? Go on! Go tell her she'll not be appeasing her ugly appetite with my food, or my son! Or do I have to tell her 'cause you don't have the guts, boy? Huh, boy? You have the guts, boy?
NORMAN:
Shut up! Shut up!
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the dialog that Marion has with the Bates Motel owner while having her dinner. By now Marion has stolen the 40000$ from her working place and is fleeing away from the police and private detectives. This conversation makes you feel that Bates is the Psychooooooooooooo.. :)
NORMAN:
It's all for you. I'm not hungry. Go ahead. (delightedly watching her eat) You--you eat like a bird.
MARION:
(nodding to the stuffed birds) You'd know, of course.
NORMAN:
No, not really. Anyway, I hear the expression 'eats like a bird'--is really a fals- fals- falsity. Because birds really eat a tremendous lot. But I don't really know anything about birds. My hobby is stuffing things--you know--taxidermy. And I guess I'd just rather stuff birds because I hate the look of beasts when they're stuffed--you know, foxes and chimps. Some people even stuff dogs and cats--but, oh, I can't do that. I think only birds look well stuffed because--well, because they're kind of passive to begin with.
MARION:
It's a strange hobby. Curious.
NORMAN:
Uncommon, too.
MARION:
Oh, I imagine so.
NORMAN:
And it's not as expensive as you'd think. It's cheap really. You know--needles and thread, sawdust. The chemicals are the only thing that cost anything.
MARION:
A man should have a hobby.
NORMAN:
(sitting back) Well, it's--it's more than a hobby. A hobby's supposed to pass the time--not fill it.
MARION:
Is your time so empty?
NORMAN:
No, uh--well, I run the office, and uh, tend the cabins and grounds, and--and do little errands for my mother--the ones she allows I might be capable of doing.
MARION:
Do you go out with friends?
NORMAN:
(pause) Well, uh--a boy's best friend is his mother. (Marion tries not to react.) You've never had an empty moment in your entire life, have you?
MARION:
Only my share.
NORMAN:
Where are you going? (when Marion doesn't answer right away...) I didn't mean to pry.
MARION:
Um--I'm looking for a private island.
NORMAN:
(leaning forward) What are you running away from?
MARION:
(taken aback) W-why do you ask that?
NORMAN:
(shaking his head, relaxing back into his chair) No. People never run away from anything. The rain didn't last long, did it. You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps--clamped in them. And none of us can ever get out. We--we scratch and claw, but only at the air--only at each other. And for all of it, we never budge an inch.
MARION:
Sometimes we deliberately step into those traps.
NORMAN:
I was born in mine. I don't mind it anymore.
MARION:
Oh, but you should. You should mind it.
NORMAN:
Oh, I do (laughs) but I say I don't.
MARION:
You know, if anyone ever talked to me the way I heard--the way she spoke to you--
NORMAN:
Sometimes--when she talks to me like that--I feel I'd like to go up there--and curse her--and-and-and leave her forever! Or at least defy her. But I know I can't. She's ill.
MARION:
She sounded strong.
NORMAN:
No, I mean--ill. She had to raise me all by herself, after my father died. I was only five and it must've been quite a strain for her. I mean, she didn't have to go to work or anything like that. He left her a little money. Anyway, a few years ago Mother met this man, and he talked her into building this motel. He could've talked her into anything. And when he died too, it was just too great a shock for her. And--and the way he died--(laughs) I guess it's nothing to talk about while you're eating. (Marion breaks her enthrallment, looks at the food in her hand and smiles.)
Anyway, it was just too great a loss for her. She had nothing left.
MARION:
Except you.
NORMAN:
Well, a son is a poor substitute for a lover.
MARION:
Why don't you go away?
NORMAN:
To a private island, like you?
MARION:
No, not like me.
NORMAN:
I couldn't do that. Who'd look after her? She'd be alone up there. The fire would go out. It'd be cold and damp like a grave. If you love someone, you don't do that to them even if you hate them. You understand that I don't hate her--I hate what she's become. I hate the illness.
MARION:
Wouldn't it be better--if you put her--someplace--?
NORMAN:
(Norman's demeanor darkens. He leans forward.) You mean an institution? A madhouse! People always call a madhouse 'someplace,' don't they. 'Put her in--someplace.'
MARION:
I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound uncaring.
NORMAN:
What do you know about caring. Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places? The laughing and the tears--and the cruel eyes studying you. My mother there! But she's harmless! Wh-- she's as harmless as one of those stuffed birds!
MARION:
I am sorry. I only felt--it seems she's hurting you. I meant well. (Marion is more than a little spooked by his personality transformation.)
NORMAN:
People always mean well! They cluck their thick tongues and shake their heads and suggest, oh so very delicately--! (He sits back. The storm is over. Gently:) Of course, I've suggested it myself. But I hate to even think about it. She needs me. It-it's not as if she were a--a maniac--a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't you?
MARION:
(her concern relaxed) Yes. Sometimes just one time can be enough. Thank you.
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