Friday, November 14, 2008

Black + White Friday: Moulin Rouge!

Sorry for the lateness, but as I originally wrote, yesterday was a very long day and so here I am doing this now. Voila!


It's is probably not at all surprisingly to learn that I spend a lot of my day thinking about Baz Luhrmann's Australia and then yesterday I had a hankering to rewatch (for the millionth time) Moulin Rouge!, the film that gave birth to what will likely be an entire lifetime of devotion to the man and anticipation of every single project he will ever embark on. However, upon rewatching it last night, I decided to take a different tact with Moulin Rouge! in this "Black+White Friday" series. Most of the other movies I have screencapped for you guys have had me trying to turn the original into something else, something classical that I think the originally was going for (see, for example, The Others and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre), but while it would be easy to do this for any musical and say "let's see what it would look like if it were made in the heyday of the Astaire and Rogers!" it is impossible to do that with Moulin Rouge! It could never have been made in any other time, by any other person or in any other way, which is why it's such a case of bravura filmmaking.

So, instead, I merely found a bunch of moments that I thought would look nice in black and white - there are plenty - because to try and drain this or this of colour is both silly and a crime against humanity/cinema/life/etc, don't you think?


Upskirt shot! How rude. But seriously, what an incredibly shot.


Proof positive that Nicole Kidman would've been a star in any generation. Not every actor can look so classic in both colour and black and white, but she does it. But, then again, we already knew this, didn't we?


This shot has always made me chuckle. Something about it makes me think it should be in a horror movie about a brood of bald men who come together on Halloween to steal the souls of children (or something to that effect).


One of the (many) film posters I have saved onto my computer is one for the 1954 film The Barefoot Contessa (here is an alternate version of the one I have, I can't remember where I found it unfortunately) and it wasn't until I took this grab that I realised how similar the two shots are. Hmmm.


This moment reminds me of Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary. Strange, but true.


Oh Kerry Walker, bless you. And as an aside, I actually think this scene is Kidman's best in the entire movie and perhaps one of the purest in the film. A lot of people think the musical scenes only work in this movie because of the production Luhrmann puts behind it, but this tiny moment shows there's true power in it and that Kidman actually does have a good voice. I am indeed quite interested to see how she handles her next musical, Nine.


"The Show Must Go On" is routinely one of my favourite unappreciated moments from the film and I remain adamant that it is Kidman's strongest moment vocally. I do have a random question for all you Oscar-philes out there. How long was it between nominations for a musical performance? Surely Kidman's Best Actress nod in 2002 was the first for quite some time, right? Anybody know? I could try and research it myself but, ugh, effort!


How cool and retro-horror is this shot? Answer: Very.


Funny story: I once received an e-mail from somebody claiming to be Lionel Haft (who plays The Duke's manservant "Warner") - and who would fake that, honestly? - who was angry at me for ripping apart his performance in the terrible schlocky Aussie crapfest Solo. I mean, it doesn't top receiving an e-mail from Rena Riffel (another true story), but it still amuses me.


Similar much

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Black + White Friday: Eight Legged Freaks


Before the trend of making horror films in the style of the '70s and '80s (see Grindhouse and many many other recent horror films of late) began this movie from 2002 decided to recreate the horror flicks of the '50s where giant animals wreaked havoc on small town America. These tales tended to be allegories for the war and paranoia of the times. Eight Legged Freaks - originally named Arac Attack until the looming Iraq war put a halt on that title - has no such undercurrents. It's just a straight out monster movie. I actually quite liked this when I saw it at the cinema back in 2002 and even before seeing it I had anticipation for it. I don't like spiders (Arachnophobia frightens the life outta me) but this movie looked like FUN! Alas, the film flopped and its director, Ellory Elkayam, has been stuck making bad direct-to-DVD sequels ever since (Without a Paddle 2, anyone?)

I thought I'd give this film it's due, especially since I recently tried to watch Them! I had liking it until the DVR froze and I was left with one static image for the remaining hour. Ugh.


Oooh, how foreshadowing! lol. Geddit? Oh dear...


Shouldn't this lady be working in a diner serving apple pie and pouring unlimited cups of coffee?


Charming.


I don't think there were motorcross bikes back in the 1950s. Nevertheless, this scene is gold because it leads right to...


THISOMGLOL!!! Amazing.


Remember when Scarlett Johansson starred in movies that were deliberately shit instead of just accidentally? And, yes, that is indeed ScarJo.


There actually aren't that many moments that replicate the old movies like Them! but this is one of them. These trailers are always in 1950s horror movies because, I presume, they provide good fodder to rip open like a sardine can.


Oh David Arquette. How good you are at expressing confusion, stupidity and perplexment. Aah.


I don't really have anything to say about this one.


Because it wouldn't be modern without a massacre scene, no?