Deep Water
Circumnavigating the globe singlehandedly in a sailboat is one of the ultimate challenges man can undertake. Two of the best books I’ve ever read were Harry Pidgeon’s Around the World Single-Handed and Joshua Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World. There’s something about an audacious solo journey across the Pacific without a soul to talk to and day after day of endless empty sea.
Deep Water is a documentary about Donald Crowhurst, an English businessman who was determined to win the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race around the world. The race left
The film investigates what went through Crowhurst’s mind leading up to the race, and his erratic decisions and behavior during the race.
Last Exit does iPhone wallpapers of all your favorite FutureCorps scattered throughout their TwitPic.
A NYT visualization of most-queued films by US zip code. A cool example of what can be done with 100% free data. The queue data is accessible through Netflix’s API and zip code boundaries from the US Census.
The Hurt Locker was a great film, and the NSFC thinks so, too.
They also gave best director to Kathryn Bigelow and best actor to Jeremy Renner.
The composer talks about working with Aronofsky, scoring Moon, and a little about his ideas for Aronofsky’s next picture, Black Swan:
“Well it’s all really embryonic at the moment, one of the main ideas we’ve got is building the entire score out of elements from Swan Lake. I mean it would have to be vastly screwed with, but that’s a starting point. Sometimes we’ve had ideas in the past and you put them into practice and they just suck, so we’ll see.”
I’m so happy that there are artists still pushing boundaries with creative ideas like this.
The New Yorker profiles James Cameron.
I love what the man has done for cinematic technique and process, but I don’t think he’s the God of Cinema that many would have you believe.
Part of A House Next Door’s Pixar Week, Jonathan Pacheco finds similarities between Pixar’s Up and Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle:
“Many similarities between the two stick out to anyone with a pair of eyes. Each film features a spectacular traveling domicile that houses an old, old, protagonist. Beyond the protagonist, Up’s principal characters and their designs mirror Howl’s Moving Castle. Docter’s Russell the Eagle Scout resembles the magical disguise of Miyazaki’s Markl the boy wizard; the exotic bird Kevin takes her cues from the hopping scarecrow, Turnip; Dug the talking dog can easily be linked to Calcifer the fire demon, the nearly catatonic but strangely adorable Witch of the Waste, or, of course, the rasping dog that follows her.”
1994 interview with Quentin Tarantino after the release of Pulp Fiction.
He was a lot more humble and a lot less cocky back then. Regardless of his personality, Inglourious Basterds was incredible.
Bad Seeds: A History of Creepy Kids in Film.
Matt Zoller Seitz and Nicolas Rapold put together a video essay about villainous children. Includes films like Orphan, The Exorcist, The Omen, and Let the Right One In.
The House Next Door has good write-ups about the screenplays of The Hurt Locker and (500) Days of Summer.
(500) Days was fun and original. I enjoyed it.
The Hurt Locker was notable for how many ulcers I developed watching it. It’s intense. Loved it.
