dissidenz

what a manic, scattered, intuitive collage this film is. Wong deserves the chutzpah award for taking a relatively simple idea (although how simple is love? not very) and stewing it in dazzling images. The women, all love interests of Tony Leung, swirl around like in a dream. As a writer myself, I think Wong captures the writers mind so perfectly. There's constant conflict in a writer's mind: between reality and the ideal world you constantly envision and refine, between personal conviction and the need to be understood and loved by others. And, most drawn out in 2046, how we deal with out objects of desire. Wong uses women, Leung's objects of desire, to project every wish, desire, hope, and fear onto. Wong's women are goddesses, ghosts, muses, partners, targets, prizes. Their emotional license seems to ripple from Leung's pen, and his austere face. And of course, the visuals are simply stunning and sumptuous; and stark, echoing the claustrophobic loneliness and desperation of the characters. Wonderful, Alive movie.

I know I'm not alone in my fascination of Las Vegas casino "culture." I've only been there once, but I was completely awestruck by the delicious, glowing obscenity of it all (mind you I'm a jaded New Yorker, not some babe in the woods). "Casino" only adds to the fantasy. The irony is that while Vegas is seen as a separate universe where vice is as commonplace as streetlights, it's probably the only HONEST city in the world. Every other city is as full of vice and corruption, but Vegas is the only place that admits that these things are at the core of our lovely civilization. Scorsese has many tools at his disposal; here he uses his scalpel and Bedazzler above all else. The one thing that really bugged me (other than the usual Italian-American stereotypes, but what are you gonna do) is the OVER-use of voice-over. Voice-over is pretty annoying to begin with, but here it's just way too much. It almost sucks the life out of the movie (especially when coupled with Scorsese's snappy montage style). Visually it's quite breathtaking, and the performances are top-notch, especially from Sharon Stone, who emits a raw energy not common among today's leading ladies.

Matthew Barney's "Cremaster" series of 5 feature-length videos are an exploration of this artist's various interests. He's basically interested in everything, and manages to squeeze everything into this series. "Cremaster 3" is the centerpiece, wherein architecture, Freemason ritual, and folklore (Irish, Irish-American, American) take center stage. Barney offers little insight into his interests, simply presents them, overlaps them, as if he just made a list of stuff he likes and then visualized them. Luckily, his visual sense is utterly dazzling and eloquent. As a director, he is undoubtedly indebted to Kubrick and Hal Ashby. The images are elegant but pungent, finely polished but visceral and even gory in parts. The tone of the video, however, is deceitful (for lack of a less harsh word), suggesting a story or plot that doesn't really exist, or is so buried in the visual splendor as to be insignificant. It could be seen as a puzzle, but, in Barney's own words (according to the DVD commentary of "The Order" segment of "3"), it is merely a series of illustrations of ideas that have already been well drawn out (ie. Freemason ritual). Still it's worth watching, and listening to as well. Jonathan Bepler's score is truly gorgeous, reminiscent of Danny Elfman but even more haunting.