'Fireworks', Kenneth Anger, 1947

Fireworks 

Directed by Kenneth Anger, 1947

Fireworks, an Avant Garde film starring the director himself, is a film of a dream of a dream.  The film is an exploration of homosexuality, violence, and American youth.  Kenneth Anger, director and lead actor, is an Avant Garde film legend.  Fireworks was one of his breakthrough films.  Anger described the film with the following synopsis: “A dissatisfied dreamer awakes, goes out in the night seeking ‘a light’ and is drawn through the needle’s eye. A dream of a dream, he returns to bed less empty than before.”  Fireworks was in all black in white and had only acting, music, and sound effects.  The film had no dialogue, being up for interpretation.  Experimental film is an artistic practice relieving both of visual arts and cinema.  An experimental film is often characterized by the absence of linear narrative, the use of various abstracting techniques, asynchronous sound or even the absence of any sound track. Most such films are made on very low budgets, self-financed or financed through small grants, with a minimal crew. Experimental film emerged in Europe in the 1920s because cinema had matured as a medium and avant-garde movements in the visual arts were growing.

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDu7mbcGqGY

5 Broken Cameras Documentary Review

5 Broken Cameras

The first-ever Palestinian film to be nominated for a best Documentary Feature Academy Award, the critically-acclaimed '5 Broken Cameras' is a deeply personal, first-hand account of life and nonviolent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village surrounded by Israeli settlements. Shot by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, Gibreel, the film was co-directed by Burnat and Guy Davidi, an Israeli filmmaker. Structured in chapters around the destruction of each one of Burnat’s cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village upheaval. As the years pass in front of the camera, we witness Gibreel grow from a newborn baby into a young boy who observes the world unfolding around him with the astute powers of perception that only children possess.  Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify and lives are lost in this cinematic diary and unparalleled record of life in the West Bank. 

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_93nOqwmhU

"The Kids Are All Right" Film Review

"The Kids Are All Right" is classified as a comedy-drama film.  Honestly I saw no comedy involved.  There were incredibly well written moments and it was an emotional roller coaster the whole time, but in no way was there the element of comedy involved.  The drama starts off with two women, Nic and Jules, who are complete opposites of each other happily married with their two children, Joni and Laser.  Family life seems to be simple and easy.  The film did a wonderful job in showing how trapped everyone in the family really feels together.  Nic is a well put together doctor with her life going in the perfect direction.  On the other hand Jules is a restless and maybe even a bit flaky.  She has spent her life dabbling around with different careers while taking care of the children.  There life becomes one big mess when the children decide to start a relationship with their sperm donor father, Paul.  The son, Laser, starts off expecting this great father figure who he got all his athletics and charm from, while Joni has no expectations and is really just doing this for Laser.  By the end of the meeting between the three characters Joni is impressed beyond words of this man and Laser is already over it.  Both kids agree to keep this meeting with their father a secret from their moms.  But Laser cracks under pressure and tells them.  Both Nic and Jules trying to be supportive invite him over for dinner to meet him as well.  Joni and Laser already intrigued by this man hope their moms feel the same way.  As the dinner progresses Jules becomes more and more comfortable with the thought of Paul yet she's still very apprehensive.  Nic on the other hand won't even open up her mind to the thought of getting to know this other half of her children.  Jules, Joni, and Laser begin to make a stronger and stronger relationship with Paul and start to leave Nic behind in the dust.  Then Jules and Paul become too close when they start up an intimate relationship with each other.  Neither of them feel regret of guilt and continue this relationship.  Until the whole family finds out of this affair.  Jules puts the brakes on this relationship to try to glue her family back together and make everything better.  The family starts to come together again but with one subtraction, Paul.  They kick him out of their lives completely so they can continue to focus on the four of them like in the beginning when everything was perfect for all of them.