Jandy, so glad you stumbled into our little corner of the internet. You're right - it's amazing how a film set 20 years ago in a completely foreign country can resonate with us in such a sublime, human way. Recent films like this, The Band's Visit, and The Lives of Others continue to stun me with the universality of the human condition. It's not a stretch to think that if films like these - compassionate, insightful, real - could find a wider audience, the world would be a better place and people would spend a lot less time killing one another than they do now.
Most of my writing is done over at Row Three and its pop-culture sister site More Pop now, though selected things will still be cross-posted here. Please check us out over there!
Avatar, the French New Wave and the morality of deep-focus (in 3-D) - scanners2010/02/15 Jim Emerson wonders why James Cameron would use a shallow depth of field in Avatar, a technique that often uses blur to signal depth, in a film that already has depth through its use of 3D. He bolsters his position through references to Cahier critics' defense of the freedom deep focus allows viewers, arguing that with so much to look at in Avatar, Cameron's dictatorial shallow focus is inexcusable.