art

Artistic, musical, creative, and entertaining topics of art about all things geek.

The Power of the Dog and the films tackling the toxic cowboy
he Western was for several decades the film genre that defined masculinity. It was where the silhouettes of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood became inscribed in cultural history, framed by legendary directors like John Ford and Sergio Leone. In reality, cowboys were overworked, underfed and underpaid, but in cinema they could be tough, independent wanderers who chose the freedom of the wilderness over the confines of domesticity. And though the Western itself has been declared dead many times over, it always picks itself up off the dusty ground, ready for one more showdown. Even now, perhaps only the superhero could threaten the cowboy as film's ultimate symbol of all-American manhood.
By Monu Ella3 years ago in Geeks
A Matter of Life and Death: The most life-affirming film
Even now, 75 years after its release on 15 December 1946, A Matter of Life and Death is still the ultimate reminder of the power, beauty, and art of cinema. Audaciously creative as well as infinitely romantic, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's film tells the story of World War Two British Air Force pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) falling in love with US radio operator June (Kim Hunter) as his plane burns, miraculously surviving his plummet to Earth, only to then be told by a divine messenger (Marius Goring) that he should have died and must now report to the afterlife.
By Many A-Sun3 years ago in Geeks
Don't Look Up: The stories that reflect our oldest fear
Sometimes publicity falls out of the sky. On 24 November, just a couple of weeks before Adam McKay's apocalyptic disaster comedy Don't Look Up opened in cinemas, Nasa launched a spacecraft called Dart (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) to see if it could alter the trajectory of the moonlet Dimorphos. That particular chunk of rock turns out to be no danger to Earth. Not so the Everest-sized comet in Don't Look Up, which is only six months away at the beginning of the movie. With a cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep, McKay's film is a striking example of what you might call "impact fiction", a diverse sub-genre of apocalyptic fiction that goes all the way back to Edgar Allen Poe and is currently enjoying (if enjoying is the right word) a major revival.
By Sue Torres3 years ago in Geeks
Five stars for Spider-Man: No Way Home
ere's a Christmas quiz question for you: how many Spider-Man films have there been in the past 20 years? By my count, there were three directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire, two directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, one animation, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and two recent outings directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland. That makes the third Watts-Holland film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the ninth opportunity we've had to see Peter Parker in his blue and red spandex – and that's not including his appearances with The Avengers and Captain America.
By Cindy Dory3 years ago in Geeks
The Matrix Resurrections is 'numbingly familiar'
It's been 18 years since the Matrix trilogy concluded, so why has Lana Wachowski chosen to revive the franchise now? She offers one answer early on in The Matrix Resurrections. The film starts by establishing that Neo (Keanu Reeves) is no longer the super-powered messiah who freed the human race from its robot overlords in The Matrix Revolutions. He is a miserable software-programmer called Thomas Anderson once again, just as he was at the beginning of The Matrix. The twist is that he's world-famous for developing three influential video games titled, yes, The Matrix. With me so far? The next twist is that Anderson swore that he would never make another Matrix game, but he reluctantly goes back on his word after one of his colleagues informs him, "Our beloved parent company, Warner Brothers, is going to make a sequel to the trilogy – with or without us." So there we have it: Wachowski (without her sister Lilly this time) made The Matrix Resurrections simply because she didn't want someone else to do it behind her back.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Geeks
My Own Private Idaho: The cult 90s film that blazed a trail
eanu Reeves and the late River Phoenix were in their 20s when they starred in Gus Van Sant's 1991 cult classic My Own Private Idaho. The two actors were already well on their way to becoming household names when they diverted from Hollywood's well-trodden path to star in Van Sant's third feature: a queer, cult and unprecedented title in both Reeves and Phoenix's filmographies.
By Wu Mu3 years ago in Geeks
Five stars for The Lost Daughter
middle-aged professor who once abandoned her family, a little girl who wanders off on a beach and even that girl's missing doll, which when found spurts filthy water from her mouth – there are many lost daughters in this eloquent adaptation of Elena Ferrante's 2008 novel, along with one eye-opening find: Maggie Gyllenhaal as a filmmaker with a true artist's vision.
By Alessandro Algardi3 years ago in Geeks
The underrated genius of David Bowie's acting
ne of the many pioneering elements of David Bowie's career was his commitment to the visual. For Bowie, sound and vision went hand in hand. His many star personas – Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Major Tom – each came with their own fully realised aesthetic worlds, costumes, make-up and artwork that were as instantly recognisable as the music itself. Long before the advent of MTV, Bowie was making short films to promote his music, and he would go on to push the boundaries of the form with iconic videos such as Ashes to Ashes. Indeed, Bowie's final gift to the world came in filmic form – the video for his last single Lazarus was released on 7 January 2016, just three days before his death.
By Mao Jiao Li3 years ago in Geeks
Why Lady Macbeth is literature's most misunderstood villain
eductress. Manipulator. Madwoman. The Fourth Witch. These are just a few of the more hostile descriptors that Lady Macbeth has been saddled with ever since The Tragedie of Macbeth (the full title of the Scottish play) was first performed 416 years ago. As a schoolgirl studying William Shakespeare's timeless tale of ambition, morality, betrayal and murder, my first impression was that she was all of the above: a straightforward, out-and-out villain. A wife who, after learning of a witches' prophecy declaring her Scottish general husband would become king, persuades him to commit regicide, take power and subsequently ignites a bloody civil war? Lady M is certainly no angel.
By Many A-Sun3 years ago in Geeks
The film changing how we see the internet
When we think about how the internet shapes our lives, especially in art, we tend to imagine the worst. From TV shows like Black Mirror and feature documentaries like The Social Dilemma, to novels like The Circle, writers and filmmakers have portrayed the digital realm as one where we indulge self-destructive and narcissistic impulses, and where our privacy and security is breached. However, as the dystopian treatments of the internet mount up, one filmmaker has been on a different mission: to showcase the beauty of online connection. In the eyes of Japanese anime director Mamoru Hosoda, the web is an ever-evolving realm of exciting potential, an attitude embodied in his aesthetic approach to visualising this digital world.
By Cindy Dory3 years ago in Geeks
Mass and the films trying to make sense of senseless violence
n 20 April 1999 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold walked into their high school in Columbine, Colorado and, with one act of violence, changed America forever. Harris and Klebold's plan, which they had been working on for over a year, was to set off homemade bombs, but when those failed to detonate they instead walked through the halls and used the four guns they'd acquired to injure 24 people and kill 13 more before taking their own lives.
By Sue Torres3 years ago in Geeks
Why Buster Keaton is today's most influential actor
Buster Keaton was something of an enigma to his own era. The silent-film star launched himself between rooftops, battled storms and sand dunes, boarded moving vehicles – and frequently trailed behind them, perfectly horizontal and as suspended as our disbelief – all in the name of comedy, and all while seeming unfazed. Film historian Peter Kramer, in his essay The Makings of a Comic Star, contends that Keaton's "deadpan performance was seen as a highly inappropriate response to the task of creating characters which were rounded and believable". His unrelenting imperturbability was misinterpreted as a lack of emotional expression, or perhaps acting skill.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Geeks