konwersatorium3/pjwstk: January 2010

Friday 22 January 2010

Blogging, twitting and fecebooking (1/3)

1 Introduction

We use blogs all the time - to share our thoughts, to learn other people or simply to find solution on the problem we are googling around. And this isonly a tip of the iceberg as nowadays web logs are used in nearly everypossible area, for instance, politicians use blogs to promote themselves (see http://blogi-politykow.com/) and companies post "news" in the form of a blog (example: http://www.gnvpartners.com/web/category/blog/).

2 History

Digital communications was there long before first blog pop out. This part is boring and I'm sure most of us know what email or web forum is. But why blog? Well, Jorn Barger coined the term weblog and shortly after Peter Merholz used phrase we blog for the first time back in 1997. It needed only a couple of months for other users to start blogging with other bloggers on blogs.

4 Own experience

For over two years I've been working as a programmer and I was thinking about starting a blog for a couple of times. Why? Mainly in order to have access to history of ideas, workarounds and solutions for problems I had faced. Eventually, one of my friends started a blog (which is available at www.python-blog.com [6]) and grant me access to it. I still do not have enough time to write there as much as I would like, but I try my best. Oh, and I had written a blog engine for company I'm working for [7].

Occasionally I store feeds [8] to blogs I'm interested in. I'm also using Django's aggregator which provides quick access to entries from it's community blogs.

5 Questions

And how about you? Do you have your very own blog? Do you visit some blogs on a daily basis? Or maybe you are just ocasionally reading blog's entries if google redirects you into one?

[1]	Take a look at this. You can find there many tips how to make your blogging experience better. And more time consuming. There is even a book about it and you may get one on amazon.
[2]	You may read more about the blogosphere and get some statistics about it here. It is slightly outdated piece of information, though.
[3]	Source: wikipedia
[4]	One of blog-awards site.
[5]	For instance google offers http://blogsearch.google.com/ and there is a global blog search engine available at http://www.blog-search.com/
[6]	http://www.python-blog.com was established in 2009 by Marcin Kuzminski
[7]	It will be available soon within company site
[8]	RSS/Atom feeds are alternative ways to track whats new on a website.

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction

PULP FICTION

Following the success of 1992's Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino released his finest film to-date, the self-proclaimed masterpiece Pulp Fiction. It is arguably the most influential of the last few decades. It is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humour and violence, non-linear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references.

Pulp Fiction marked the new-wave, avant-garde cinema, it became recognised for its vigorously exciting flavour and unfathomable cool. Revolving around a deconstructed narrative, composed of three stories, which are all insanely surreal, Pulp Fiction brings you inside a world Quentin Tarantino has successfully crafted through individuality. The film starts with a lavishly entertaining conversation of tension and wit between two robbers, one being Tim Roth and the other being Amanda Plummer, who kick-start the film with furious energy. This scene is then followed by the infamous conversation of Amsterdam and burgers between the justifiable "cool" of Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent (John Travolta).

The film's title refers to the pulp magazines (inexpensive fiction magazines) and hard-boiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue. Pulp Fiction is self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". The plot, in keeping with most of Tarantino's other works, is presented out of chronological sequence.

The cast of this film is truly excellent. Travolta got nominated for best actor at the Oscars but lost out to Tom Hanks (who truly deserved it as Forest Gump but, imo, not as much as Travolta did as Vincent Vega). The character of Vincent is a scum bag but Travolta's performance makes him lovable and funny and likeable. Sam Jackson also puts in a stunning performance (check out the referenced scenes).

Sure, Pulp Fiction is undoubtedly one of the "coolest" and "hippest" films around. Nevertheless it holds much, much more than that. The film stands as a piece which depicts the psychology of normal people who have been thrown into extreme circumstances, meaning their personalities have changed along with their situation. The film has countless recurring themes, such as redemption, vengeance, spirituality, morality, individual morals, and a person's mannerisms

@ Pulp Fiction: Vincent telling Jules about hash being legal in Amsterdam & a different metrics system in Europe – both on their way to assassinate bosses’ debtor

@ Pulp Fiction: My favourite and one of the most memorable scenes in the film -

@ Pulp Fiction: Restaurant scene.

This is without a doubt, one of the finest movies ever made. It has an Oscar winning script, great characters and some career performances from Jackson, Willis, Travolta and Thurman. The movie is so clever and well thought out, even though some people find it confusing. I say ‘rubbish’! The structure of this film is one of the things which makes it so good and original. When put in chronological order, the story makes complete sense, the structure is not a gimmick. Needless to say, the score (music from the film) is marvellous!

I could talk this film up all day but I won’t :) I you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly recommend you do. You'll see for yourself how films should be made.

Discussion topics

I wonder what is your reaction to high rate of violence in Pulp Fiction. Isn't it too messy and bloody in your opinion?

Do you find Tarantino's Pulp Fiction type of humour funny and original?

Also, could you please name your favourite director and his best movie?

Sunday 17 January 2010

Quentin Tarantino

INTRO

Are you bored with dull and boring movies? Does it seem to you that Hollywood is more concerned these days with pumping out a lot of films rather than creating quality?

Assuming your positive answers I decided on continuing the film industry presentation theme and have prepared some interesting information on the life and the movie heritage of my favourite director - Quentin Tarantino.

"I don't think there's anything to be afraid of. Failure brings great rewards in the life of an artist."
-- director Quentin Tarantino, on the pressure to repeat the smash success he had with "Pulp Fiction."

Let’s get to the nitty-gritty then...

EARLY LIFE (BITS OF HISTORY)
Whether it’s starting a family or starting a career, the Tarantino’s like to begin early. Quentin Tarantino was born to Tony Tarantino, an actor and amateur musician from Queens, and Connie Zastoupil, a health-care exec and nurse who was just 16 years old at the time she gave birth to the would-be auteur.
By the time Quentin was 16 years old, he had already dropped out of Narbonne High School in Harbor City, California, to study acting at the James Best Theatre Company. At 22, he landed a job recommending (and restocking) films at the Video Archives in Hermosa Beach, which is where he developed his encyclopaedic knowledge of film alongside fellow filmmaker Roger Avary, with whom he wrote Pulp Fiction several years later.

FILM CAREER
FIRST STEPS
After Tarantino met Lawrence Bender at a Hollywood party, Bender encouraged Tarantino to write a screenplay. He directed and co-wrote a black and white amateur film called 'My Best Friend's Birthday' in 1987. The project started in 1984, when Hamann wrote a short 30-40 page script about a young man who continually tries to do something nice for his friend's birthday, only to have his efforts backfire. Tarantino became attached to the project as co-writer and director, and he and Hamann expanded the short script into an 80 page script. The original cut was about 70 minutes long but due to a fire only 36 minutes of the film survived. The 36 minute cut has been shown at several film festivals. Tarantino has referred to this film as his "film school". Although the film was by his own admission very poorly directed, the experience gained from the film helped him in directing future films. Even though the final reel of the film was almost fully destroyed in a lab fire that broke out during editing its screenplay would go on to be the basis for 'True Romance'.

Over the years Quentin has been working as: a film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. What many people don’t realise though is that one of Tarantino’s first acting roles was as an Elvis impersonator. Quentin frequently makes cameos in his own movies and in movies directed by friend and fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, but one of his first real acting gigs came in 1988 when he played an Elvis impersonator on the popular television show 'The Golden Girls'. Despite performing in the back row of the 10-man “Elvis ensemble,” Quentin still manages to stick out like a sore thumb. Quentin Tarantino has also appeared in four episodes of 'Alias' in addition to his several cameos in feature films.
@ True Romance: The famous scene in True Romance where Dennis Hopper explains Christopher Walken's ancestry.

RESERVOIR DOGS
By 1988, Tarantino had written his second script, 'Natural Born Killers' and in 1990 he sold the script for 'True Romance' for $50,000. He decided to use this money to make his third script, 'Reservoir Dogs' on 16mm and in black and white with his friends in the leading roles. It was around this point that Tarantino left the video store to do rewrites for CineTel, a small Hollywood production company - it was at this time he met Lawrence Bender and struck lucky. Bender was attending acting classes with Peter Flood, who was divorced from acting teacher Lily Parker and knew Harvey Keitel from the Actors Studio. Keitel saw the script and was impressed enough to raise some more finance, act in the film and help Tarantino cast the main roles.

'Reservoir Dogs' is the debut film of Tarantino as a director and a writer. The film deals with the meeting at a pre-planned rendezvous of a group of robbers who have been involved in an attempted jewelry heist. The robbery has been organized by Joe Cabot with his son Nice Guy Eddie who have put together a team of six men, each with a different role to play and each with a pseudonym chosen by Joe. The robbery has gone wrong although the participants have still managed to get away with a quantity of diamonds. The protagonists believe that one of their number is a police informer and the film deals with the recriminations that arise from this.

What is the meaning of the title 'Reservoir Dogs'?

When Tarantino worked in a video store, he referred to the French film 'Au Revoir Les Enfants' as 'the reservoir film' because he couldn't pronounce the title. He combined this with 'Straw Dogs', a Sam Peckinpah film from 1971, to produce the title 'Reservoir Dogs'. Although Quentin chooses to remain quiet about this, this story has been confirmed by Quentin's mother and Roger Avary, among others.

The movie incorporates many themes and aesthetics that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, memorable dialogue, profuse profanity, and a nonlinear storyline. The film has become a classic of independent film and a cult hit. It was named "Greatest Independent Film of all Time" by Empire.

Which films influenced Quentin Tarantino in the making of this film?

In the 1974 American film, 'The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3', the four hijackers of the subway train are all dressed alike (hat, glasses, moustache, big overcoat and machine gun) and had the pseudonyms of Mr Blue, Mr Green, Mr Brown and Mr Grey.
The scene which runs over the credits near the beginning of 'Reservoir Dogs' showing the characters walking in slow motion is a homage to a similar scene in Sam Peckinpah's 1969 film, 'The Wild Bunch'.
Jean Pierre Melville is also a great influence on Tarantino, he was the director of several stylish gangster films in France in the 1950's and 1960's which deal with honour and gangster ethics and are set in a bleak urban environment where everybody is cynical and impeccably dressed. The 'three way stand-off' appears in Melville's film, 'Le Samourai'.
Other influences include 'Rififi' from 1955 directed by Jules Dassin and 'The Killing' directed by Stanley Kubrick in 1956. The films of Hong Kong director John Woo are also a great influence on Tarantino.
However, City on Fire, a Hong Kong action movie directed by Ringo Lam in 1987 is by far the biggest influence on Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino has used a number of ideas in the film and these are worth outlining:
Just before the robbers in City on Fire rob a jewelry store, one of them says 'Let's go to Work'.
The relationship between Chow (the undercover cop) and Fu (the gangster) is mirrored by that of Orange and White.
One of the gang members kills a shop girl in the jewelry shop for setting off the alarm.
There is a scene where Chow is shot by a cop and kills him (Orange is shot by a woman and kills her) while Fu is shooting cops in a car by shooting at them with two guns.
In the warehouse there is a Mexican standoff.
A dying Chow tells Fu that he is a cop.

@ Reservoir Dogs: The greatest credit intro to a film, without a doubt.

And that would be all for now I suppose.

Please share your thoughts on the film scenes I preselected and linked. I'm curious if you've recognised them - I'm a big fan of Tarantino's works, so I know these dialogues almost by heart :) Also, give me a heads up if the article is going into the details of film-making too deeply.

Cheers, Michał.

Horror Movies 3

Today I will tell few word about things and events that were inspired by "zombie films"

1) Zombie walk

A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls in a somewhat orderly fashion and often limping their way towards a local cemetery or other public space (a series of taverns in the case of a zombie pub crawl).

Few photos from USA zombie walk:

And short film from Warsow edition of Zombie walk:

Links:

http://zombie-walk.prv.pl/ <- if you would like to try Warsaw Zombie walk go here.
http://www.zombiewalk.com/ <- offical zombie walk page
http://www.joemonster.org/filmy/4475/Zombie-Walk-w-Warszawie <- films from few nice Zombie Walks.

2) Games: Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2

L4d and L4d2 are one of best games i played. If you like games you should try them i will link few reviews for interested. For none-gamers i link there 2 trailers ;]

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_4_Dead_2 <- info about Lfd2
http://www.l4d.com/ <- official game page
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/104/1045664p1.html < - lef4dead 2 review

3) Community

This section is about one page: LOSTZOMBIES.COM

Please check this movie:

Acording to www.LostZombies.com:
"Lost Zombies is a social network whose goal is to create the world’s first community generated zombie documentary. Members of Lost Zombies, have their own profile page, can submit photos and videos, as well as take part in chat discussions, and submit content to be used in the documentary."

Here is link to videos and photos generated by people all over the world. Some of them are really amazing work - http://www.lostzombies.com/video

QUESTIONS
- What do you think about Zombie walk ? Would you like to try it ?
- Did you know that such event takes place in our country/capitol/city ?
- What do you think about games inspired by zombie culture ?
- Did you ever play any "zombie game" ?
- What do you think about pages like www.lostzombies.com ? are they good idea? or this is just nerdy way of spend spare time ?
- Did you ever try to make some amateur film?

Cheers
Mariusz

Thursday 14 January 2010

Horror Movies 2

Horror film are very wide movie genre that's why we can split it between few smaller subcategorys:

Cannibal films (23 movies)
Natural horror films (154 movies)
Science fiction horror films (294 movies)
Slasher films (406 movies)
Supernatural horror films ( 416 movies)
Frankenstein films (51 movies)
Ghost films (185 movies)
Haunted house films (112 movies)
Monster movies (351 movies)
Religious horror films (54 movies)
Zombie films (218 movies)

Today i would like to tell you about my favourit subcategory of horror films - ZOMBIE FILMS!!

History first...

In the period of time that I like to call B.R. (Before Romero) the zombie as we know it didn't exist. Before 1968 zombies were something entirely different. They were a product of voodoo and the movies portrayed them as such. In films such as White Zombie (1932) and Revenge of the Zombies(1943), lifeless bodies were removed from the grave right after burial and turned into living mindless slaves obeying the biddings of a human master.

Just when the idea of rotting reanimations were about to go the way of an Ed Wood film, along came a man who would revolutionize the horror genre and breath new life (or undeath) into the zombie. A small budget black and white film titled Night of the Living Dead, written and directed by George A. Romero, hit theaters and drive-ins in 1968. The effects of Romero's ground-breaking treatment of the theme are still being felt today.

From the moment that we heard "They're coming to get you Barbara", the zombie became fair game again, and the gore effect became a staple of the genre.

In 1978 Romero gave the genre a much needed “fatherly” shove in the right direction with Dawn of the Dead (1978). The first to gather an understanding of where the genre was going was Lucio Fulci who ended the decade with the release of Zombi 2 (1979, 1980 U.S.).

The list of movies adding to the Zombie Movie History from the 80s is long and includes many of the classics if the genre: Dead and Buried (1981), The Evil Dead (1982), Day of the Dead (1985), The Return of the Living Dead (1985), Night of the Creeps (1986), Evil Dead II (1987), The Dead Next Door (1988).

It was also during this time that certain rules became staples of the genre, some accepted, some rejected, and others made fun of:
    • If you didn’t die first, you ain’t a zombie.
    • Zombies are not cannibals. They do not feed on each other only living flesh.
    • The only way to stop a zombie is a well placed head shot. (Hammer, ice-pick, gun, axe, etc.)
    • Intelligence is not a their strong point.
There are other rules that are deemed acceptable to bend if necessary, but these are pretty much untouchable.

Zombies exeples:

The George Romero arisen ones had the look of "every day". Their dress consisted of either the clothes that they wore in the casket at their funeral, or normal work clothes (i.e. waitress, mechanic). Injuries such as missing limbs were also common. Their intelligence was very low, and movement stiff and slow.

The zombies from Evil Dead were the result of possession by evil spirits, so their faces quickly developed a white crust over them. Pure white eyes with black circles around them are also typical. These demonic heartbreakers could carry on conversations and attack with focus.

This is "Bub", the pet zombie from Day of the Dead. Bub is a little smarter than his typical brethren, and is often seen with a walkman. Wrinkled bluish face ala Romero.

Braindead is considered the goriest movie EVER. The zombies reflect this, with blood and guts everywhere. Also characterized by black eyes and ripping flesh.

The Dead Next Door added quite a bit of blood and gore to the persona of the animated deceased. Other characteristics are broken chains from being locked up and face masks to prevent them from biting humans. Very dumb and slow.

Zombie Nazi from "Dead Snow" 2008 are one of the best zombies created between 2000-2009.

My favourite zombie movie scenes:

best movie/ best scene/ really bloody by Peter Jackson

(before he decide to create Lord of the rings series)

Bub the smartest zombie ever

NIGHT OF LIVING JEWS!!

One of the best Zombie-themed comedy

Few Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Zombie_films <- wiki page with all zombie movies titles
http://horror.com.pl/ <- page of polish horror community
http://www.homepageofthedead.com/ <- G.Romero fans page
http://www.homepageofthedead.com/baps/romero_interview.html <- very interesting interview with G.Romero from 2009

Questions:
- What do you think about "Night of living jews" and "Shaun of the Dead" trailers? Did they encourage you to watch these films ? ;]
- Did you know that P.Jackson made Braindead before Lord of the rings?
- What do you think about zombies ?
- Choose your most and least favourite genre of horror movies and explain your decision.

Monday 11 January 2010

Horror Movies 1

My name is Mariusz and I will tell you a few interesting things about one of the most belittled genre of movies - Horror films!

Lets start with some history...

The silent film Le Manoir du Diable directed by Georges Mèliès (114 years ago) was the first horror movie ever and the first vampire flick ever made. Despite the fact that themovie lasted only 2 minutes, audiences loved it, and Mèliès took pleasure in giving them even more devils and skeletons.

In the 1900-1920 period German directors created the first horror-themed films. One of them - Paul Wegener achieved great success with his Der Golem in 1913 ( remade in 1920, movie was based on old Jewish folk tale ). This fable about an enormous clay figure, which is brought to life by an antiquarian and then fights for freedom, was a clear precursor to the many monster movies.

The most famous early German horror film is probably Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's Nosferatu (1922), the first feature film with vampires. In that time there was one movie that paved the way for the "serious" horror films - Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, still held up as an model of the potent creativity of cinema even to this day. Early Hollywood drama dabbles in horror themes including versions of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) (with Lon Chaney - first horror movie star).

In the early 1930's Universal Studios bringing to the screen a series of successful mythic-based features including Dracula(1931) , Frankenstein (1931) and The Mummy (1932) (and their numerous sequels). No other studio had as much success with the genre.

In the nuclear-charged 1950's the tone of horror films shifted away from the mythic and towards the modern. Aliens took over the local cinema. Humanity had to overcome endless threats from Outside. Two of the most popular films of the period were The Thing From Another World (1951) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) ( <- one of my favourites).
Most famous bad movie from late 1950's is E. Wood's movie called "Plan 9 from Outer Space". The plot of the film is focused on extraterrestrial beings who are seeking to stop humans from creating a doomsday weapon that would destroy the universe. In the course of doing so, the aliens implement "Plan 9", a scheme to resurrect Earth's dead as zombies to get the planet's attention, causing chaos. In the late 1980's this move achieved title of "worst movie ever made"

In the late Fifties the technical side of cinematography became easier and cheaper. This era saw the rise of studios centered exclusively on horror, particularly British production, which focused on bloody remakes (gore movies) of traditional horror stories. Best example of movies from that period is a series of Edgar Allan Poe themed films.

The early 1960's saw the release of two films that changed the viewers' approach to horror films - first was Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, the other was a very low-budget film called Psycho, both using all-too-human monsters rather than supernatural ones to scare the audience.

When Rosemary's Baby began ringing tills in the late Sixties, horror film budgets rose significantly, so many top actors decided to take part in these horror productions. By that time, a public fascination with the occult led to a series of serious, supernatural-themed movies. The Exorcist (1973) broke all records for a horror film, and led to the commercial success of The Omen. Horror movies become mainstream commercial entertainment.

In 1975, Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, became the highest grossing film ever. There were still few independent filmmakers, for example Tobe Hooper with his disturbing and explicit gore-fests The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

John Carpenter's Halloween introduced the teens-threatened-by-superhuman-evil-killer-that-cant-die theme that would be copied in tones of increasingly violent movies throughout the 1980's including the long running Friday the 13th (10 parts + remakes) and A Nightmare on Elm Street series (8 part + remakes).

Horror movies turned to self-mocking irony and downright parody in the 1990's - the teenagers in Scream (spiritual successor of Carpenter's Halloween) often made reference to the history of horror movies. Only 1999's surprise independent hit The Blair Witch Project attempted regular scares.

The rest is just remakes ...

That's all for now!

In my next post I will tell you about most common kinds of horror movies with some great exaples.

Few interesting links:
http://horror.about.com/od/horrorthemelists/ss/horrortimeline.htm <- horror movies time line
http://www.filmsite.org/horrorfilms.html <- nice article about horror film history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film <- wikipedia page about horrors
http://www.horror.gildia.pl/ <- home page of polish horror community
http://www.imdb.com/chart/horror <- best/worst horror movies according to imdb.com

Questions:
Do you like horror movies ?
How often do you watch horror movies ?
What's your best horror movie ?
Did you hear about movies from my presentation ? If yes whats your opinion about them ?

Saturday 9 January 2010

Father Christmas: human or alien ?

Name and history

Father Christmas is a symbolic character representing a good spirit of Christmas. What’s surprising, Father Christmas wasn’t a gift-giver or he wasn’t associated with children. The person we all are referring to as Father Christmas is actually Saint Nicholas, a real character of a gift-giver from the church history. Culture clashes merged both characters eventually, even though historically they have different origins. Now, people consider both of them similar or even identical.

Human or alien

The most basic information about Santa Claus: he’s pretty fat, travels in flying sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, enters home through a chimney and exits through a fireplace. His elves manufacture toys for him.

How is this all even possible. Flying sleigh pulled by flying reindeer sounds more like a flying saucer than like any human engineered aircraft. He enters home through a chimney, then how does he enter a home without one? How does he fit in the chimney if he’s so fat? Maybe some sort of a teleportation device? Elves manufacture toys for him, but how? Where do they get all the necessary materials, how do they manage to produce all the toys they need? Elves have to be aliens or they don’t exist at all since no one has ever seen them.

Either way Santa Claus possesses some sort of alien technology to perform all of his extraordinary duties or he doesn’t exist at all. You choose the option that fits you best.

Father Christmas Origin (highly recommended if you’re in a bad mood)

Rare Exports Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JIz7I5yzwQ