Tag: Brad Pitt

 One of Tarantino’s signature nuances is his treatment of actors. Tarantino intentionally leaves ambiguity and the opportunity for improvisation, likely inspired by the French New Wave film movement. In two similarly structured interrogation scenes, the mise-en-scene acts as springboard for the manifestation of character attributes, which each actor can approach differently. The appropriate selection of props is crucial to induce the most meaningful response from Tarantino’s actors and drive the narrative.

October 18, 2011 / / Main Slate Archive

The Tree of Life – 2011 – dir. Terrence Malick

Did you love it? Did you hate it? Certainly few films have inspired such division among the film criticism community (but one could say that of films like Harmony Korine’s Gummo, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, or Jane Campion’s Portrait of a Lady, too).  It did win the Palme d’Or, considered by many to be cinema’s top prize, but some of the past winners have also been controversial (like Steve Soderbergh’s sex, lies, and videotape, or Lars von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark).

July 9, 2010 / / Main Slate Archive
May 4, 2009 / / Main Slate Archive

By Peggy Nelson

Fight Club – 1999 – dir. David Fincher

So will you be at the meeting on Tuesday?  The first rule of Fight Club is, you don’t talk about Fight Club.  The second rule of Fight Club is, you don’t talk about Fight Club.  The third rule of Fight Club is . . .
I’m going to talk about Fight Club.  Based on the Chuck Palahniuk book by the same name, the film concerns a disaffected white-collar worker who can sum up his life with the three C’s: Catalogs, Condo, Condiments.  Not surprisingly, for his efforts he’s got insomnia, ennui, and anhedonia.  He starts going to support groups for diseases he does not have, to jump-start his atrophied connection to life.  But then he meets a woman doing the same thing; recognizing her as a fellow “tourist,” all his ennui and insomnia come racing back.  Then his house explodes.  Then the movie starts.