The Game

Michael Douglas plays the successful businessman who gets a rather unusual birthday present from his brother Conrad (Sean Penn), a personalized game constructed by a high-tech company called CSR (Consumer Recreation Services), and promises that it will be fun. He hesitates at first, but feels drawn and interested by the idea and ends up at CRS taking a lot of psychological and physical tests needed for the tailor made adventure. On his way home he finds a dummy dressed as a clown in the drive-way, laying just as his father was found. He takes the clown with him, finding a key in it’s mouth and getting some strange television broadcasts, and after that, the game begins.

The screenplay was written by the same people behind The Net, and is very simple. In fact the only reason why this movie is really good is because of the ending. While watching it you can’t really grasp that there is something special going on, but when they sum the game all up and reveals the twist, most people will find the movie a lot better than if it ended in any other way.

From a technical standpoint the movie looks brilliant. Director David Fincher is one of the directors out there that takes a lot of time and pride in the style and look of the movie, as he does in Se7en and Fight Club. The flashbacks in super8 from his memories of his father really seems real though in huge contrast to the movie itself and the variation in quality and colour. But that is also the only thing for a while that entertains the audience, since at times the movie is actually boring and too slow.

For some The Game can be quite interesting in retrospect, since it kind of has a hidden point. As Michael Douglas is being fooled by a company to be part of a game that isn’t real but for entertainment of some sort, so are we, the movie-watchers. Just as Douglas finds out in a scene that everything in the room is fake, we are being made to believe for a short time that what’s going on the screen is real. The only difference is that the game we are watching cost a lot more that the game Michael Douglas played.

Editing – Memento

What makes Memento special when it comes to editing is that it is cut backwards. The first scene is actually played in reverse, which establishes the viewer in this “setting”. The first scene of the movie is really the last one, and vice versa. The reasoning behind this device is that the main character Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) has a short-term memory loss, and we feel exactly as confused as he does in every new scene. It is as the viewers can feel Leonard’s disabillity themselves. Leonard and the audience get hints through annotated photographs and tattoos that Leonard has placed in strategic places. While this may seem like an innovative idea for its own sake, it is a necessary decision for the film to work. Writer/director Christopher Nolan has not made a straight-forward thriller that needed a twist to be “original.” The entire film rests on the idea that the beginning of Leonard’s journey comes at the end. By the time we see how it begins, the opening scene, and indeed, the entire film take an entirely new perspective—one more shattering than can be expected.

Memento takes a familiar story line and twists it around on itself. It freshens old genre with slick editing and intricate plotting, but in the way they it the genre on its ear and challenge human perception of revenge and its ramifications. Memento is a completely engrossing experience that demands and deserves multiple viewings.

Sound – Transformers

This is the first movie in a long time that actually got me excited and aware of the sound of the movie, rather than having the pictures and story steal all the credit. Of course, I’ve talked to people who didn’t really like the sound design (one complain was that it was way too loud), but no one can claim that they didn’t do their job.

The Autobots (the good guys), were pitched 1 semi-tone down, while the Decepticons were pitched down 1.5 to make them sound scarier.

It takes tens of thousands of different sounds to make a movie like “Transformers.” The process begins with supervising sound editors Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn. They say they use their imagination to figure out what a robot will sound like. They imagine what each robotic move, footstep and explosion should sound like. Then they assemble a team to create them. They won Academy Awards for the sounds in “The Lord of the Rings” and “King Kong,” but squads of giant robots from outer space are a different story.

John Roesch and Alyson Moore are two of the top Foley artists in Hollywood. They watch the action on screen and make sounds to exactly match what they see. For example, 20 different sounds are blended to make the robots’ footsteps. When star Josh Duhamel is running and the audience hears him running on gravel, it is actually coffee grounds. For the metallic sound of a little robot named Frenzy the team uses common kitchen utensils.

The whole idea is to give director Michael Bay a cornucopia of sounds from which to pick and choose. That’s why, when the actors come in, they record take, after take, after take.

Production design – A.I.

The long anticipated story that Stanley Kubrick wanted to realize into movie for over two decades. After his death, Spielberg took over the job of filming this futuristic pinocchio (which the movie often draws lines to) sprinkled with elements of Frankenstein.

The reason why Kubrick waited was that the mechanics at the time could not simulate the liquid movements of computer animation. He had built a fully mechinacal child to try it out, but it turned out to be a complete disaster. But when Spielberg took over after Kubrick’s death, a combination of mechanics and C.G.I. standard (like Jurassic Park) was high enough to make the production design of the environments come true, but still they had to cast real people.

Some of the mechanic effects are Teddy the bear. Fully operated in most of the scenes by personal except in larger shots were he’s running. C.G.I. was mainly everything that is beyond the first row of effects and props. Take Rouge City for example, where all the people are real, the first row of buildings are miniatures, the background is C.G.I, and the helicopter and major props used by main characters are mechanical.

All of the under water scenes are done by dry-for-wet (no real water used), and all the ice we see melting is real. The actors that portrayed robots were sprayed with a thin layer of wax to make them more realistic. This added a lot to the production design of making it as real as we can tell, while it’s still a futuristic movie.

Lighting – Sunshine

The movie starts with a shot of the sun from earth, showing how it’s fading and dying. We then cut to s a shot of space, the outside of the spaceship before entering it. Inside, a man is watching the sun through a filtered screen at only 2% of its potential brightness. His view of the retina-scorching spectacle is heavily filtered to protect his eyes; he suggests the onboard computer let a little more light in, dons a pair of shades, and absorbs the superheated spectacle. The molten textures and angry fire give way to a blazing whiteness that dilates and spreads into all corners of the theatrical frame, as though the photochemical shadows burned into celluloid were being eaten away, as if by acid, in the light of a purer expression of the very idea of image.

The movie shows us the blackness of space and emptiness in contrast to the divine light from the sun, even though it is dying. Sunshine allows us to study our fascination with and dependence on the sun, and on its incredible power of destruction. It delves into the complexity of the human psyche and into the balance between technology and spiritualism. The movie has amazing visuals, and its pace is often such that you can soak up the immensity of the situation in small, delectable bites.

Sound – Fight Club

In Fight Club David Fincher used the same sound designers as he did in Seven and The Game. Having high standards for picture after his time in ILM, Fincher expects no less when it comes to sound. The first thing that literally hit me was the punching sounds. A lot of movies have a tendency to use extremly over-the-top heavy sounds when it comes to hitting, like Rocky or Soldier, where it sounds more like it’s raining blue whales rather than people smacking each other.

However, in Fight Club the punches sound very real, darker, meaner and colder than the usual sound image. A lot of that is probably since the the designers tried everything from pounding chicken carcasses with walnuts inside them to smacking around slabs of meat with pigs’ feet. And the result does the trick, it seems to perfectly fit the bare knuckle fights when it amplifies the feeling of real face and meat getting beat up.

Instead of sitting through the spotting session at the outset of the movie, Fincher is one of the directors who likes to hear some of the sound to what he’s shooting or editing. This gives the sound designer’s longer time to develop the right sound with the director’s comments in mind, rather than doing all the work in post-production.

To record the acuostics that a C19th San Franciscan home would make, they built a 3-storey house with high seilings, wooden floors and walk around in it recording. But the strengt of the sound in the movie is how much care they have put into the foley (they had to start over from scratch in many scenes because Fincher often changed his mind).

The narration of Edward Norton also adds another layer to the movie. His calm voice gives us a feeling of “okayness” and makes the sudden impacts of action or loud noises (such as the imagined plain-crash) a much deeper impact on the viewer.

Favourite films in different genres

Action: Terminator 2. The movie was made in 1991, and it still looks very impressive today. James Cameron really raised the standard with this movie. And Spielberg said that after seeing the special effects in T2, he knew that he could finally make Jurassic Park. T2 is proof that the action genre isn’t just for teenagers who need an explosion every two minutes, but can actually draw an audience with a good story. It has high production values even today, and in it’s genre, high historical importance. The T-1000 is ranked Nr.2 on my list of fictional characters I don’t want to meet.

T2 at imdb.com

Comedy: The Big Lebowski. It fascinates me how the Cohen brother’s can make a rather serious movie revolving around a character such as The Dude. Comedy is maybe one of the hardest genres, because you need a good script and still mustn’t overdo it (see Leslie Nelson’s later movies..), and the balance in The Big Lebowski is perfect. The production values are top noth (like with all of the Cohen’s movies) and the story, characters, soundtrack and the actors performances makes this movie one of my favourite comedies.

The Big Lebowski at imdb.com

Adventure: Time Bandits. In a genre that seems to be more about satisfying people who want to live like elves than good filmmaking, this movie clearly stands out. Not only doesn’t it reek of Hollywood several miles away, it has a hilarious story with a rather dark and realistic look to it, with probably the most insane screenplay of its genre. I knew I loved the movie the second I saw they were banging coconuts together instead of riding an actual horse. Also features the best Robin Hood portrayal ever in a movie.

Time Bandits at imdb.com

Crime/Gangster: Angels With Dirty Faces. Hard to find one here, so many good gangster movies, and most of them from the 30’s and 40’s in Hollywood. James Cagney strike me as the epitome of gangster-toughness, while still having a gentle side. I especially like the ending when he begs for his life after Pat O’ Brian asks him to, without nobody ever knowing the truth. Pat O’ Brian is a bit annoying though, with his over-the-top
righteousness..

Angels With Dirty Faces at imdb.com

Drama: Seven Samurai. Maybe my favourite movie of all time. I like the variety of characters and the build up of the story. It doesn’t rush into anything, but takes it’s time introducing the characters and the story,which makes it really epic. Toshiro Mifune is just incredible and Kurosawa made a milestone in many ways here. With the music, cinematography, and characters, the movie hits me on every level. I love the cold look of it, it illustrates the seriousness perfectly. Could probably be under Epic movies, still I put it here since I find it as THE best drama story.

Seven Samurai at imdb.com

Epic/Historical: Lawrence Of Arabia. It is impossible to list everything that is good about this movie. David Leans excellent portrayal of the desert-loving englishman uniting arabian tribes against the turkish-ottoman empire during world war I, has got to be one of my all-time favourites. Peter O’ Toole does a eccentric but brilliant performance, and the cinomatography is mezmerizing.

Lawrence Of Arabia at imdb.com

Horror: Alien. Not a fan of horror-movies, but when it comes to Ridley Scott’s classic, I am a huge one. Maybe because I’m partial to sci-fi movies, but Alien is a really good horror-movie, and that is rare. I love this movie because it let’s your imagination scare you instead of the special effects, by hiding the monster in the dark, only showing it at the end of the movie, and the result is petrifying. Also one of the greatest soundtracks ever made. Jerry Goldsmith’s music is just as haunting as Scott’s images of H.R. Giger’s art, and a soundtrack’s effect on a movie is pivotal. I saw the stomach-burst scene when I was around 10, and it still makes an impression today. The Alien creature is ranked Nr.1 on my list of fictional characters I don’t want to meet.

Alien at imdb.com

Musical: Yankee Doodle Dandy. Not too fond of musicals. But I do enjoy this one. Probably since James Cagney plays the main character, George M. Cohan. Cohan didn’t want Cagney to portray him, but after he found out that Cagney actually could dance he agreed to it. Cagney delivers as always, though I prefer him as a “wise-guy”.

Yankee Doodle Dandy at imdb.com

Sci-Fi: Blade Runner. Highly under-appreciated. Besides from the cinematography, I fell for the futuristic noir look. It’s extremely dark images, and the soundtrack by Vangelis creates a perfect atmosphere for a sci-fi. How someone can not fall in love with the production design of this movie is beyond my comprehension.

Blade Runner at imdb.com

Western: The Wild Bunch. Is everything I wanted a western to be. The most thrilling gun fights for the right reasons. One of my top-favourite opening scenes.

The Wild Bunch at imdb.com

Sword&Sandal: Probably Spartacus. Since I find Ben Hur far too religious. Kirk Douglas is excellent as a leading warrior type. He wanted to make the movie after not getting Charlton Heston’s part in Ben Hur. Stanley Kubrick regreted taking the job as the director since he wasn’t allowed to make it his way, still I like the movie mainly because of Kirk’s performance. Not that I doubt that the movie wouldn’t be a lot better if Kubrick had final cut.

Spartacus at imdb.com