I love his movies. He is such an entertaining and well read person.
He is also awesome at writing scripts, some of his dialogues in his movies (Chasing Amy, Clerks) are so brilliantly original!
Kevin is addressing the crowd at the San Diego Comic Con 2005. Typical Kevin Fuckin' Smith moments, here.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
The Holy Brit-Trinity : I
From as long as I have been exposed to the medium of Sequential Art( aka graphic novels to the pseudo Intellectualist and comics to the Layman), I used to hold Alan Moore in high regard.
He was the one who redefined the genre.He was the pathfinder who walked the path.He still has the most number of Graphic Novels - Movie Adaptations to his credit( although at the rate at which Frank Miller s metamorphosis into a Movie Director is progressing, Moore might no longer hold that position). The League Of extraordinary Gentlemen,From Hell and V for Vendetta have already been made into movies. There were even talks about a "Watchmen" movie, ( the fan-forums were rife with speculation as to which Hollywood actor would play what part), but sadly, that movie got canned. There is no doubt in my mind that Moore is a genius and a true genre definer.
(I like Neil Gaiman too.I think of him more of a Morpheus like "Endless" being, in the realm of Graphic Novels).
But this post is not about the "God" of Graphic Novels.It's about the other 3 brit lads who came in the 90s , with their own twisted agendas , who spread the charm and allure of the graphic novel medium to a whole new generation and staked their claim in this new art-world .
This post is about the Holy Brit-trinity.
I am talking about Morisson, Ennis and Ellis.
All Brits. One's a Scot.The second is as Irish as Irish gets, and the third? Well he is an Englishman to the core.
They make up my Holy Brit-trinity when it comes to the religion of Graphic Novels.
He was the one who redefined the genre.He was the pathfinder who walked the path.He still has the most number of Graphic Novels - Movie Adaptations to his credit( although at the rate at which Frank Miller s metamorphosis into a Movie Director is progressing, Moore might no longer hold that position). The League Of extraordinary Gentlemen,From Hell and V for Vendetta have already been made into movies. There were even talks about a "Watchmen" movie, ( the fan-forums were rife with speculation as to which Hollywood actor would play what part), but sadly, that movie got canned. There is no doubt in my mind that Moore is a genius and a true genre definer.
(I like Neil Gaiman too.I think of him more of a Morpheus like "Endless" being, in the realm of Graphic Novels).
But this post is not about the "God" of Graphic Novels.It's about the other 3 brit lads who came in the 90s , with their own twisted agendas , who spread the charm and allure of the graphic novel medium to a whole new generation and staked their claim in this new art-world .
This post is about the Holy Brit-trinity.
I am talking about Morisson, Ennis and Ellis.
All Brits. One's a Scot.The second is as Irish as Irish gets, and the third? Well he is an Englishman to the core.
They make up my Holy Brit-trinity when it comes to the religion of Graphic Novels.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
The spirit of creativity
I saw two great movies today.The first one was "Princess Mononoke".
It's an epic tale of love and adventure told in the grand way by the Master Animator Miyazaki.
I loved his "Spirited away" and I always read in forums and magazines that Mononoke was wayy there at the top of the best animated movies ever.And well , the people who wrote that were right.
Miyazaki has been imparted with this huge zen like drive to create places and characters which are capable of moving viewers beyond the time the movie has stopped playing.He touches topics like deforestation and man's balance with nature with such childlike charm that you are left dazed and mesmerised by the end of it. The narrative is fast paced and the movie never drags.The movie was envisioned with an audience from 5 to 50.And I believe it would take a whole lot from someone to not be moved after watching such a beautiful work of art. And animation is a kind of sequential art that has been refined in the past couple of years. What makes Miyazakis movies more humbling compared to the spate of studio movies that keep churning out is that they are done with the same old technique (sans computers) and boy the effect is still as charming as ever.I felt touched to an extent that I thanked Miyazaki for making me experience a gamut of emotions , from the very light hearted to the most tragic,all through his wonderful,wonderful movie. I thank you sir.
The second , is Cuarons' Children of Men. This movie is going to create an Oscar buzz for sure.Noteworthy performances by the very talented Mr. Owen and an all round stellar ensemble performance by the actors would mean a Best movie and possibly a Best Actor/Best Director/Best Adapted Screenplay nomination . Being based on a dystopian novel by P D James, I had seen the promos of this movie and was attracted to it's unique and moving storyline.This may not be everyones cuppa tea.It may be viewed as too artsy kitsch for the regular moviegoer but it does come off as a brilliant piece of cine-art.Kudos to the director and the cinematographer for creating some stunning images on the screen.The editing was also taut.There are some very soul stirring scenes in this movie and they have been picturized with such finesse and elan, you have to take notice. A great movie, nevertheless.Plus it seems to be getting the right kind of votes on the imdb site(was 8/10 the last time I looked).
Movies are all about grabbing the viewers attention and shaking them up,making them think about topics that we normally don't think about like deforestation and human alienation and famine and war and its ramifications on a normal human being.If I wouldn't have seen these movies, this saturday would have been a pretty normal one.But thanks to these creative visionaries, I was able to enjoy them and also savour on luscious pieces of thoughts that they managed to leave as an after-taste/thought.
It's an epic tale of love and adventure told in the grand way by the Master Animator Miyazaki.
I loved his "Spirited away" and I always read in forums and magazines that Mononoke was wayy there at the top of the best animated movies ever.And well , the people who wrote that were right.
Miyazaki has been imparted with this huge zen like drive to create places and characters which are capable of moving viewers beyond the time the movie has stopped playing.He touches topics like deforestation and man's balance with nature with such childlike charm that you are left dazed and mesmerised by the end of it. The narrative is fast paced and the movie never drags.The movie was envisioned with an audience from 5 to 50.And I believe it would take a whole lot from someone to not be moved after watching such a beautiful work of art. And animation is a kind of sequential art that has been refined in the past couple of years. What makes Miyazakis movies more humbling compared to the spate of studio movies that keep churning out is that they are done with the same old technique (sans computers) and boy the effect is still as charming as ever.I felt touched to an extent that I thanked Miyazaki for making me experience a gamut of emotions , from the very light hearted to the most tragic,all through his wonderful,wonderful movie. I thank you sir.
The second , is Cuarons' Children of Men. This movie is going to create an Oscar buzz for sure.Noteworthy performances by the very talented Mr. Owen and an all round stellar ensemble performance by the actors would mean a Best movie and possibly a Best Actor/Best Director/Best Adapted Screenplay nomination . Being based on a dystopian novel by P D James, I had seen the promos of this movie and was attracted to it's unique and moving storyline.This may not be everyones cuppa tea.It may be viewed as too artsy kitsch for the regular moviegoer but it does come off as a brilliant piece of cine-art.Kudos to the director and the cinematographer for creating some stunning images on the screen.The editing was also taut.There are some very soul stirring scenes in this movie and they have been picturized with such finesse and elan, you have to take notice. A great movie, nevertheless.Plus it seems to be getting the right kind of votes on the imdb site(was 8/10 the last time I looked).
Movies are all about grabbing the viewers attention and shaking them up,making them think about topics that we normally don't think about like deforestation and human alienation and famine and war and its ramifications on a normal human being.If I wouldn't have seen these movies, this saturday would have been a pretty normal one.But thanks to these creative visionaries, I was able to enjoy them and also savour on luscious pieces of thoughts that they managed to leave as an after-taste/thought.
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