Finally watched To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend... some 10 years after reading the novel for the first time (my review here).  It was astonishingly beautiful!  But I most wanted to share this exquisite opening:

The music, the creative shots, the panning, the san-serif block titles... the whole thing strikes me as incredible for 1962!  I feel like Wes Anderson must have been very inspired by this opening--kinda makes me wish he'd do a black and white film.  Anyway, I thought I would just share that one with you.  

Today Samara Learned... [Day 29]

more about the Marvel Universe - and finds it fascinating!!  Between the new Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer(s) [here, in case you're not one of the 50 million viewers thus far], yesterday's Marvel event,  more rumors of Cumberbatch playing Dr. Strange [he was a rumored choice even before Joaquin was selected], and getting to know comic-obsessed MA students [one fellow student is even doing his Thesis project on the rhetoric of the comic format]... she has been learning a lot more!  Her most recent exciting discovery is learning a bit about the new pair of faces in the upcoming Avengers sequel: Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).  They're the twin children of Magneto (from X-men), though both casting and creative decisions have all but ruled out a MCU / X-men crossover.  In the comics, Scarlet Witch marries Vision, who will played by the brilliant Paul Bettany in Ultron even though he heretofore has voiced JARVIS for the IronMan suit.  Annnyway... she's really enjoying making these connections and getting super stoked for the next Avengers film.

Also, based on a conversation she had with a fellow student today, it is safe to say that after Lana Del Rey's "Once Upon A Dream" and Marvel's eerie adaptation of Pinocchio's "I've Got No Strings" - the film industry (which seems to now be half owned by Disney) is moving to re-examine the darker, ironic side of our childhood experiences.  Just wait till you hear a dark rendition of "The Circle of Life" on Disney's Star Wars: Episode VII.

Meditating

I've been meditating on these words and images from the Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011).  Enjoy.



The nuns taught us there are two ways through life...
The way of Nature
And the way of Grace. 
You have to choose which one you'll follow.

Grace doesn't try to please itself. 
Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. 
Accepts insults and injuries.
 
Nature only wants to please itself. 
Get others to please it too. 
Likes to lord it over them. 
To have its own way. 

It finds reasons to be unhappy--
When all the world is shining around it,
When love is smiling through all things.
They taught us that no one who loves the way of grace
Ever comes to a bad end.

Lord, why? Where were you?

Did you know what happened? 

Do you care? 

Help each other. 

Love everyone. 

Every leaf. 

Every ray of light. 

Forgive. 

The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by.

Clips: The Way of Nature & the Way of Grace  and the incredible Creation Sequence.

Film Studies 101

Now that I can talk about going back to school, I'd also like to share a bit of preparation I'm doing to a) re-adjust to academia, it's lingo, trends, etc... and b) to better educate myself in film, as I've never formally studied it.  

As for the latter, I asked the film professor I'm going to be working with for a list of films he teaches on in undergrad courses.  He agreed to in return to the link for the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which I readily obliged.  He held up his end by giving me the lists he uses in his survey classes.  In total, there are about 50 films, some of which I've seen (a few of which I'll be passing on for now) but I wanted improve my percentage.  

A few of the films are available to stream, some others my friends offered to let me borrow, but many still seemed hard to come by.  Until a friend's sister and brother-in-law needed a house-sitter.  Lucky for me, said brother-in-law is a film critic and has amassed an impressive dvd library.  It was inspiring and now I definitely want to start my own Criterion Collection.

So for one glorious weekend, I had a house and this library all to myself.  So my self-appointed mission for the weekend was to watch as many of the films on my list as possible.  The only rules were: they had to be ones I'd never seen before and ones that I didn't readily have access to.

 

All that said, I thought it might be good to give you a little run down on each film [Disclaimer: These are hardly reviews, more like "initial thoughts"].  Alright, in viewing order:

1)  The Lady Eve - A very good romantic comedy caper.  It hits all the classic notes - girl and boy meet on a cruise, girl is trying to con boy, girl ends up falling for boy - without falling into trope (though maybe creating trope?). 

Outstanding feature: Edith Head costumes

Favorite performance: Barbara Stanwyck as Jean / Lady Eve

Recommend it: Yes, widely

Misc: I could see Amy Adam's being influenced by this for her role in American Hustle

2)  Thin Red Line - One of the best war movies I've seen - especially due to Malick's philosophical questions paired with jaw-dropping cinematography and a superb cast.

Oustanding feature: You mean other than Jim Caviezel's eyes?  Malick's cinematography is some of the finest ever.  [Trivia: after shooting over a million feet of film, the original cut was six hours long]

Favorite performance: I can't decide between Sean Penn and Jim Caviezel (I'm pretty sure this was his audition to play Jesus)

Recommend it: Yes - especially as a war movie

Misc: The score for this film was marvelous - and I was grateful to discover only after-the-fact that it was composed by Hans Zimmer (he wouldn't have been my first guess).

3)  Trouble in Paradise - An even earlier romantic comedy caper - I liked it, though not as much as The Lady Eve.

Outstanding feature: Fur! Ok, kidding... kind of.  The camera showed only what was necessary, often implying rather than showing.

Favorite performance: Herbert Marshall

Recommend it: Yes

Misc: Rather steamy for a 1932 film ;)

4) Breathless [Originally: À bout de souffle] - Hello new-wave!  I could see what this film was trying to accomplish and can appreciate that, but it didn't align with my tastes - except for Jean Seberg's pixie!

Oustanding feature: popularized the jump-cut

Favorite performance: Jean Seberg

Recommend it: Only to film enthusiasts

Misc: One of my favorite quotes - 

Patricia: Greatest Ambition?

Parvulesco: To become immortal... and then die

5)  The French Connection - A gritty exploration of the anti-hero.  Though iconic, content here was not compelling to me. 

Oustanding feature: the train chasing scene - classic sequence

Favorite performance: Gene Hackman

Recommend it: Depending on the person

Misc: Based on a true story, the film included a lot of actual officers who were actually involved on the French Connection heroine bust.

6)  The 400 blows [Originally: "Les quatre cents coups" a French idiom "to raise hell"] - The first ever French New-Wave film, The 400 Blows was released at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959 to wide acclaim--and it's easy to see why!  This film is stunningly tragic and tragically stunning. And I preferred this to Breathless.
Outstanding feature:  Inventive imagery - where Malick's cinematography captures the grace of moving pictures, Truffaut's cinematography moves the audience with the subject

Favorite performance: 14-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud

Recommend it:  Yes - especially to film enthusiasts

Misc: Another beautiful score!  Also, this film is dedicated to one of my favorite film theorists: André Bazin. I can see Wes Anderson being very influenced by this film and it's main character.

7)  Rushmore - This one wasn't actually on the list.  It was a fun one because Wes Anderson!  I loved it just as much as I expected to.  Jason Schwartzman - a long-time favorite of mine - makes a marvelous film debut in this examination of community-making and belonging.

Outstanding feature:  In this, Anderson's 2nd feature film, his now-familiar style emerges with flair - people moving in and out of shots, hand-written letters, intimate close-ups, filming through windows, long pans, etc.

Favorite performance: Jason Schwartzman and Bill Murray - these two play marvelously off one another.  Personal theory: it's because they've mastered the hilarity of silence.

Recommend it: Yes, to mature audiences

Misc: Full of Coppola in-jokes [the whole trivia section of IMDB is delightful].  Also "I saved Latin. What did you ever do?"

8)  American Graffiti - I doubt anyone had any idea at the greatness this seemingly easy-going film contained.  Early performances by Richard Dreyfuss and Harrison Ford, written and directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola - this film is a powerhouse.

Outstanding feature: Set on a single night, the plot and characters are carefully interwoven in an excellent balance.

Favorite performance: Both Richard Drefuss and Ron Howard do an excellent job.

Recommend it: Yes

Misc: Filmed in sequence in 29 nights so that characters appear tired as the actors grew tired.

9)  Bonnie and Clyde - Another iconic film, this is so much more than a film about a bank-robbing duo.  Exploring the true story's 1930 setting, Bonnie and Clyde is a romanticized story of disappointment.

Outstanding feature: This is the first film to show a bullet being fired and hitting it's target in the same shot (before, the norm had been to show a gun firing and then cut to the affect)

Favorite performance: Warren Beatty and Faye Dunway

Recommend it: Yes, some mature moments

Misc:  Bonnie Parker's wardrobe is classic - pencil skirts, sweaters, and berets forever!

For all the intense films, it was a wonderful weekend!  I'm so glad I got the opportunity.  

What were your impressions of some of these films?  Let me know in the comments and let me know if you have any related recommendations.

Next Steps

Have you ever told yourself that this thing you love is just a side thing, a hobby, something you will only love amateurly? And then one day you woke up and realized that all along it was the thing?

Well, I have.

If you've read much of anything I post on here, you know I can boil down quite a few of my favorite things to stories, narrative, adaptations, novels, films, that sort of thing...  Last fall, I began really wrestling with what these passions are for and how they might all fit together.  Graduate school had been weighing on my mind for some time - but grad school for what exactly?  Somehow, I didn't think, "I just really love stories - will you let me back in?" was going to cut it for a personal statement. But, there were times sitting at an office desk when I couldn't help but whisper to myself, "I don't belong here..."

When I finally did allow myself to believe that maybe I could actually pursue this thing I love so deeply, it became clear that going back to school was the necessary step.  So I entered this marathon of applications, I put a label on what I want to research - "transmuted adaptation" - and I started asking for a lot of help.  After a very grueling application process, a lot of prayer, too many vague posts, and anxiously waiting...

I am very excited to announce that I am returning to school this September. I will be pursuing a Master's in English and Film at Oregon State University and, thanks to their generous funding package, I'll also be teaching English composition.

Thinking about graduate school makes me feel like I'm returning home and that I'm venturing into some wilderness all at the same time.  And I'm so excited!  Though I try again and again, stories matter more to me than I can articulate.  So for the next two years, I'm going to give myself to stories, to the power of a classic novel told in a new way, and to inspiring others why we need to keep reading these narratives.

I am going back to school.

Interstellar

Saw this trailer when I went to the cinema this weekend.  It moved me.  It reminded me that the peaks I glimpse when I look back are nothing compared to what lies beyond the valley I'm crossing.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

 - CS Lewis

We’ve always defined ourselves by the ability to overcome the impossible. And we count these moments - these moments when we dared to aim higher, to break barriers, to reach for the stars, to make the unknown known - we count these moments as our proudest achievements.

But we lost all that.

And perhaps we've just forgotten that we are still pioneers.  That we've barely begun.  And that our greatest accomplishments cannot be behind us, as our destiny lies above us.