art

Artistic, musical, creative, and entertaining topics of art about all things geek.

Mass and the films trying to make sense of senseless violence
n 20 April 1999 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold walked into their high school in Columbine, Colorado and, with one act of violence, changed America forever. Harris and Klebold's plan, which they had been working on for over a year, was to set off homemade bombs, but when those failed to detonate they instead walked through the halls and used the four guns they'd acquired to injure 24 people and kill 13 more before taking their own lives.
By Sue Torres3 years ago in Geeks
Why Buster Keaton is today's most influential actor
Buster Keaton was something of an enigma to his own era. The silent-film star launched himself between rooftops, battled storms and sand dunes, boarded moving vehicles – and frequently trailed behind them, perfectly horizontal and as suspended as our disbelief – all in the name of comedy, and all while seeming unfazed. Film historian Peter Kramer, in his essay The Makings of a Comic Star, contends that Keaton's "deadpan performance was seen as a highly inappropriate response to the task of creating characters which were rounded and believable". His unrelenting imperturbability was misinterpreted as a lack of emotional expression, or perhaps acting skill.
By Copperchaleu3 years ago in Geeks
Jules and Jim: The relationship that's still taboo
Francois Truffaut's romantic masterpiece Jules and Jim, which celebrated its 60th anniversary on 23 January, has long been a standard for filmmakers. Director François Truffaut's use of rapid cutting and relentless voiceover, alongside Georges Delerue's score, is so exhilarating and inventive that Martin Scorsese later admitted Goodfellas, Casino, and The Wolf of Wall Street were his attempts to replicate this brash cinematic freedom over an entire film.
By Wu Mu3 years ago in Geeks
The iconic Hollywood films transformed by test audiences
The joyous musical number on a traffic-jammed freeway in La La Land. The decomposing head popping out of a sunken boat in Jaws. Julia Roberts dancing with Rupert Everett at the end of My Best Friend's Wedding; Anne Archer shooting Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction. They're all much-loved parts of much-loved films, and they all have something else in common: they made it into cinemas thanks to you – or somebody like you, anyway. The films' directors didn't put these sequences in their initial edits, but after audiences at test screenings had had their say, new scenes were shot, or old ones were rescued from the cutting-room floor.
By Alessandro Algardi3 years ago in Geeks
Cabaret: How the X-rated musical became a hit
t's 50 years since the release of Cabaret, Bob Fosse's ground-breaking 1972 film musical set against the backdrop of the dying days of Germany's Weimar Republic and the country's growing support for the Nazi Party. A story of loving impossible loves and the torture of self-discovery in a world of demagogues and uncompromising hate, it has a tragic immediacy that makes it as contemporary as ever. In 2021 yet another production of the original stage musical opened in London's West End, which has been received with acclaim and packed audiences.
By Mao Jiao Li3 years ago in Geeks
The Northman review: 'Not weird or violent enough'
The Northman is a film in which a Viking prince proves his worthiness by farting, and then levitates while his father's innards morph into a magical fortune-telling tree. It's a film in which Björk plays a witch with no eyes and a wheat-sheaf headdress, and a frenzied Valkyrie rides a white horse across the sky. Noses are bitten off, throats are torn out, and a man staggers into a fire, holding handfuls of his own entrails. It's not your typical Friday night at the cinema. And yet, despite all of the strangeness and brutality mentioned above, The Northman isn't quite strange or brutal enough.
By Cindy Dory3 years ago in Geeks
Why Jennifer Lopez is Hollywood's most underestimated star
Sing the lyric: "Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got" to any millennial, and chances are they'll pipe back: "I'm still, I'm still, Jenny From The Block". Twenty years on from its release in September 2002, Jennifer Lopez's song Jenny from the Block is still just as infectious an earworm, and has pulled in 162 million views on YouTube and counting.
By Sue Torres3 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Hellraiser"
Clive Barker is known for a certain kind of horror that revels in pain with slight tones of sex. His work in Hellraiser is no exception in this case with its kinky overtones and visually striking villain, Pinhead. The original films had their share of fans due to the visceral nature of their proceedings. All of the things you could expect to see in a remake are here, such as sadomasochistic monsters and a cast of morally questionable characters. Still, unlike the original, it doesn’t stick the landing, nor does it have bite.
By Nick Cavuoti3 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Don't Worry Darling"
Don’t Worry Darling has been on the wrong side of the internet for a long time leading up to its release in theaters for all the drama it has brought to Hollywood and its stars. Movies are supposed to bring drama, but the behind-the-scenes issues behind this film are almost laughable. Between the relationship between star and director Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles is a sore point, as well as the tension between Wilde and Florence Pugh. To go into all the rumors and drama behind the scenes would be more than enough to go into an entirely different article, but still worth mentioning as it will indeed affect how some view the film. At its core, Don’t Worry Darling is a psychological thriller that features some terrific work from its main star in Pugh as well as some incredible cinematography.
By Nick Cavuoti3 years ago in Geeks
Walking Inside the World of Vincent van Gogh
"I don't know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream. ” - Vincent Van Gogh When I was a little girl, I used to look at van Gogh’s paintings for hours. My father had an enormous hardcover book that featured an impressive collection of his art throughout his career. I found it fascinating – the vivid colors, the brush strokes, the people – all of it was like nothing I had seen before. There are a few paintings I’ve never forgotten over the years–Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette, Sunflowers, Starry Night Over the Rhône, The Night Café, and his self-portraits.
By Jennifer M. Ward3 years ago in Geeks
The Magic of La La Land
When The End became clear and the credits began to roll, I could feel a tremendous ache welling up in my heart. The afterglow of jumbled ideas, irrational emotions, and utter awe of masterful cinematic narrative rushed over me. La La Land had performed a magic trick unlike any other for me.
By k eleanor3 years ago in Geeks
Review: "Top Gun Maverick"
Top Gun Maverick by all logic is a film that should not work, but just as the action at times defies logic, the film is just a blast to watch. At times it feels as if Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt had been displaced from his Mission Impossible films and planted here in aviation school amongst the best of the best of their kind. Especially when watching the opening scene of Pete Mitchell “Maverick” taking a plane and making it exceed the fastest velocity a human has ever taken a plane. The way that his co-workers look up in awe at computer screens and declare Maverick to be the fastest man alive feels a bit absurd and self-congratulatory of the action maniac that is Cruise, despite these moments of absurdity, the film is likable, full of heart and just fun.
By Nick Cavuoti3 years ago in Geeks