AZKABAN

Still the best Potter movie?

Update: Just watched Deathly Hallows 2. Cuaron's is still the best.

A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY

I just watched the 4-hour version of Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day for the first time (off a digitally restored print courtesy of the World Cinema Foundation). The scope and depth of it is even more ridiculous in the 4-hour cut...watching it you feel like you've actually been transported back to the world of 1960's Taiwan.

ACADEMIA AND AU REVOIR

An interesting academic take on Au Revoir:

Senses of Cinema

Annie Hall

MAKING MOVIES

Way before I started film school, I bought and read a copy of Sidney Lumet's "Making Movies". At the time, I hadn't even watched any of Lumet's films, not even the famous ones like "Dog Day Afternoon" or "Network"...I think I just heard somewhere that he had written a good book to read for an aspiring filmmaker.

I still remember sitting on the couch in my parent's living room with my copy of the book, reading it and thinking afterward that maybe making a movie wasn't such a daunting thing...at least the way this guy described it.

Then I watched his films...holy shit.

THE MEET CUTE

From Wikipedia:

A meet-cute is a convention of romantic comedies in which two potential romantic partners meet in a contrived way in unusual or comic circumstances. A staple of the romantic genre, the technique creates an artificial situation contrived by the filmmakers in order to bring together characters in an entertaining manner. Frequently the "meet cute" leads to a humorous clash of personalities or beliefs, embarrassing situations, or comical misunderstandings that further drive the plot.

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