Filmmaker and cineaste making his way through Los Angeles. I post random notes about my creative endeavors and general film geekery. www.nathanbrunskill.com
Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (1940, dir. Charlie Chaplin) (via)
“Had I known of the actual horrors of Nazi concentration camps, I could not have made The Great Dictator. I wanted to ridicule their mystic bilge about a pure-blooded race. The English office at United Artists were against my making an anti-Hitler film - until the war had started.”
-Chaplin, quoted in My Life in Pictures (1974)
Sadly I’ve still never seen this Chaplin film!
Anonymous asked: What is your favorite film of all time?
Pretty impossible question. Though “Ed Wood” is the first that comes to mind. I also watched “Sneakers” every day after school for about a year when I was thirteen.
Edison Studios, circa 1907–1914 (Bronx, NY) (via)
A silent film studio in action - relatively simple, three-sided sets could be built side by side to make maximum use of the space, with two or more films shooting simultaneously.
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1931, dir. Rouben Mamoulian) Photographer: Gordon Head
Screenwriting Tip #901
The best writing partner is somebody whose work you admire, envy and want to learn from. If they feel the same about you, even better.
I feel I have this in spades with my screenwriting partner.
Bourne Legacy Teaser - Happy to see Joan Allen and Albert Finny back, but I will always miss Matt Damon.
(Source: youtube.com)
Douglas Fairbanks (center) & director Allan Dwan (right) on the set of Robin Hood (1922). Giant megaphones were used to direct large crowds of extras.
(via)
I definitely need one of these for my set.
Thoughts on “Young Adult”
Finally got around to seeing this film after hearing so many strong reactions to it.
Overall I really liked it. I don’t know if its the type of film one can enjoy, but its certainly one I admire.
I can see how it threw a lot of people for a loop. The trailer looks darkly comedic in tone. In fact its very painful and sad to watch, and walks
the absolute edge of character likability. I’m not sure Mavis is a redeemable character, which really had me questioning my own identification with her throughout. I think the best I can say is I didn’t really identify so much with her actions, which were generally awful, but with the intense emotions that drove her actions.
I also think Charlize Theron’s performance is really underrated. So many scenes and
moments linger on her and, most of the time, she’s glaring in
disgust… but it was always fine line of contempt for the person she’s
talking to or for her own behavior in the moment.
One of the film’s best choices was the portrayal of her parents. I like that they weren’t total assholes. I think that would have been far too easy of an out for Mavis, to grow up in a difficult household.
In fact I think my absolute favorite exchange in the film is
something like:
Mavis (in a small moment of honesty): I think I’m an alcoholic?
Parents both laugh as if its a joke.
That simple exchange crystallized so much for me than if they had simply been verbally abusive. In this moment she’s not the one in denial, her parents are and they can’t open their eyes their grown daughter her asking for help.
SIDE NOTE: If you haven’t heard it yet, Diablo’s interview on WTF with Marc Maron
was amazing and inspiring. She’s articulate, funny and insightful likely got a fan for life.
Hunger Games vs Battle Royale
With all the buzz around Hunger Games reaching a fever pitch I’ve come across a lot of comparisons to Battle Royale (the Japanese film from 2000). While I think the premise clearly has some overlap (teens thrown in an arena in a dystopian future to battle to the death), but I think the details are completely different. To write off Hunger Games as a rip-off, unworthy of attention, is a missed opportunity.
Battle Royale used its premise as a heightened version of teenage experience. In particular it explores issues of authority, both adult/parental and the authority of the clique. Hunger Games on the other hand seems more interested in using the premise as a platform for issues surrounding celebrity and spectacle. More specifically it seems focused on the female voice and how the character of Katniss experiences the construction and manipulation of her body and its image.
Laboratory set from Bride of Frankenstein (1935, dir. James Whale). Art direction by Charles D. Hall
(via)
Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter looks like everything I’d hoped. Timur Bekmambetov is the perfect director for this project.
What’s your favorite film? It’s an impossible question for me. But I can say Man with a Movie Camera blows my mind. Every time I think film form takes a huge leap forward with something new and original, I re-watch this film and am usually reminded “Nope. It was already done in 1929.”
I have to say I think The Amazing Spiderman looks pretty good. I dig the changes in production design and tone. Also Andrew Gardfield…
(Source: youtube.com)
