National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

US
Jon Turteltaub (While You Were Sleeping, Cool Runnings) - Director / Producer
Jerry Bruckheimer - Producer

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

US
Tim Burton - Director
John Logan - Producer / Screenwriter
Christopher Bond - Play Author
Dariusz Wolski - Cinematographer
Stephen Sondheim - Composer (Music Score)

Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd
Helena Bonham Carter - Mrs. Lovett
Alan Rickman - Judge Turpin
Timothy Spall - Beadle Bamford
Sacha Baron Cohen - Adolfo Pirelli

Before Night Falls (2000)

US
Julian Schnabel - Screenwriter / Executive Producer / Director
Reinaldo Arenas - Book Author
Lazaro Gomez Carriles - Screenwriter
Cunningham O'Keefe - Screenwriter

Javier Bardem - Reinaldo Arenas
Olivier Martinez - Lazaro Gomez Carriles
Andrea Di Stefano - Pepe Malas
Johnny Depp - Bon Bon / Lieutenant Victor
Sean Penn - Cuco Sanchez

Atonement (2007)

US / UK
Joe Wright - Director
Christopher Hampton - Screenwriter
Ian McEwan - Book Author / Executive Producer

James McAvoy - Robbie Turner
Keira Knightley - Cecilia Tallis
Romola Garai - Briony Tallis, aged 18
Saoirse Ronan - Briony Taliis, aged 13
Vanessa Redgrave - Older Briony

Michael Clayton (2007)

US
Tony Gilroy (Screenwriter of The Bourne Trilogy) - Director / Screenwriter

George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson - Arthur Edens
Tilda Swinton - Karen Crowder
Sydney Pollack - Marty Bach
Michael O'Keefe - Barry Grissom

Requiem (2006)

Germany
Hans-Christian Schmid - Producer / Director
Bernd Lange - Screenwriter

Sandra Hueller - Michaela Klinger

Enchanted (2007)

US
Kevin Lima - Director
Bill Kelly - Screenwriter
Alan Menken - Songwriter / Composer (Music Score)
Stephen Schwartz - Songwriter

Amy Adams - Princess Giselle
Patrick Dempsey - Robert Philip
James Marsden - Prince Edward
Timothy Spall - Nathaniel

Juno (2007)

US
Jason Reitman - Director
Diablo Cody - Screenwriter

Ellen Page - Juno MacGuff
Michael Cera - Paulie Bleeker
Jason Bateman - Mark Loring
Jennifer Garner - Vanessa Loring
Allison Janney - Bren MacGuff
J.K. Simmons - Mac MacGuff

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

West Germany
Werner Herzog - Director / Screenwriter / Producer

Klaus Kinski - Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald/Fitzcarraldo
Jose Lewgoy - Don Aquilino
Miguel Angel Fuentes - Cholo the Mechanic
Paul Hittscher - Capt. Orinoco Paul
Claudia Cardinale - Molly

Half Nelson (2006)

US
Ryan Fleck - Director / Screenwriter / Producer
Anna Boden - Screenwriter / Producer / Editor

Ryan Gosling - Dan Dunne
Shareeka Epps - Drey

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes
West Germany / Peru

Werner Herzog - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Klaus Kinski - Don Lope de Aguirre
Cecilia Rivera - Flores
Ruy Guerra - Don Pedro de Ursua
Helena Rojo - Inez
Del Negro - Brother Gaspar de Carvajal

Woyzeck (1978)

West Germany

Werner Herzog - Director / Screenwriter / Producer
Georg Büchner - Play Author

Klaus Kinski - Woyzeck
Eva Mattes - Woyzeck's Mistress
Wolfgang Reichmann - Captain
Willy Semmelrogge - Doctor

[Broadway] Spring Awakening

Eugene O'Neill Theatre

Michael Mayer (Direction)
Bill T. Jones (Choreography)
Lyrics by Stephen Sater
Music by Duncan Sheik
Book by Stephen Sater

[Broadway] The Glorious Ones

Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse

Graciela Daniele (Director/Choreographer)
Dan Ostling (Scenic Design)
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
Music by Stephen Flaherty

Gone Baby Gone (2007)

US
Ben Affleck - Director / Screenwriter
Dennis Lehane - Book Author
Aaron Stockard - Screenwriter / Associate Producer

Casey Affleck - Patrick Kenzie
Michelle Monaghan - Angie Gennaro
Morgan Freeman - Jack Doyle
Ed Harris - Remy Bressant
John Ashton - Nick Poole

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

US
Craig Gillespie - Director
Nancy Oliver - Screenwriter

Ryan Gosling - Lars
Emily Mortimer - Karin
Paul Schneider - Gus
Patricia Clarkson - Dagmar
Kelli Garner - Margo
Nancy Beatty - Mrs. Gruner
Karen Robinson - Cindy

No Country for Old Men (2007)

US
Ethan Coen - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Joel Coen - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Cormac McCarthy - Book Author

Tommy Lee Jones - Ed Tom Bell
Javier Bardem - Anton Chigurh
Josh Brolin - Llewelyn Moss

Michael Sporn

Mona Mon Amour. 2001. USA. 9 min.
Champagne. 1996. USA. 13 min.
The Man Who Walked between the Towers. 2005. USA. 10 min.
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. 1987. USA. 26 min.
The Little Match Girl. 1991. USA. 26 min.
Doctor De Soto. 1984. USA. 10 min.
Abel's Island. 1988. USA. 26 min.

Valerie (2006)

Germany
Birgit Moller - Director / Screenwriter
Milena Baisch - Screenwriter
Ilja Haller - Screenwriter
Ruth Rehmet - Screenwriter
Elke Sudmann - Screenwriter

Agata Buzek
Devid Striesow

Yella (2007)

Germany
Christian Petzold - Director / Screenwriter

Nina Hoss
Devid Striesow

[Misc] Fall for Dance Festival

27 Sep 2007
NYCity Center

Paul Taylor Dance Company - Arden Court
Kirov Ballet of the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg Russia - Middle Duet
Shantala Shivalingappa - Varnam
Juilliard Dance - Deuce Coupe

[Gig] The Arcade Fire

6 Oct 2007
Randall's Island

Wild Light
Les Savy Fav
Blonde Redhead
LCD Soundsystem
Arcade Fire

Setlist
1. Black Mirror
2. Keep the car running
3. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
4. No Cars Go
5. Haiti
6. I'm Sleeping in a Submarine
7. My Body is a Cage
8. Cold Wind
9. Intervention
10. Antichrist Television Blues
11. The Well and the Lighthouse
12. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
13. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
14. Rebellion (Lies)

Encore:
15. Headlights Look like Diamonds
16. Wake Up
Encore 2:
17. Kiss Off (Violent Femmes)

[Gig] The National

11 Oct 2007
Terminal 5

Setlist
Start a War
Mistaken for Strangers
Secret Meeting
Brainy
Baby, We’ll Be Fine
Slow Show
Squalor Victoria
Abel
All the Wine
Racing Like a Pro
Ada
Apartment Story
Daughters of the Soho Riots
Fake Empire
About Today

ENCORE
Green Gloves (w/ Annie Clark)
Mr. November

Funny Games (1997)

15 Oct 2007
MoMA
An Evening with Michael Haneke

從十年前第一次在台中的戲院看Funny Games，到一年前在Genre Studies寫了一篇期末報告，探討片中中產階級家庭的行為及生活如何導致自身的滅亡，這部片我看了六次左右。第一次永遠是特別且無法置換的經驗，在高中時期看到了這部意識上暴力，卻刻意將畫面上的暴力隱藏住的電影。當時只覺得被年輕且有吸引力、說服力的臉龐給迷惑住，成了連續殺人犯的同夥，腎上腺素掌控了大部分腦細胞的運作。而在埋首於一篇篇訪問及學術文章後，Funny Games成為披著類型外衣而反類型的電影；Haneke試著將痛苦及血腥還原其原本的意義，而非提供懸疑快感的工具。而得知MoMA將於Haneke回顧展最後一天請到導演本人做Q&A後，我在一週前就引頸期待這一天的到來。然而在影片放映前20分鐘前才到達的我，自然是一張票都拿不到。當下胸口如同被車子迎面重擊一般悶痛，但仍決定在門口及售票處徘徊，等待奇蹟的發生。在影片即將開始之時，我的堅持有了回報。一位老太太喃喃的對其同伴說：我是不是應該把票讓給別人？我上前詢問是否有多餘的票，可能我問的突然，並非十分禮貌，她第一次裝作沒有聽到我。我悻悻然的走開，但沒有走遠。隨即一位老先生上前問了同樣的問題，老太太的同伴指著我說：她先問的。現在想來這位我沒有注意看清的女士才是我真正的救星，因為她持票的老太太才在一陣猶豫後把手中的兩張免費票送給我及那位老先生。老太太的理由是片子太血腥她不願去看，不管如何，當時拿著票的我捧著票像捧著全世界，心跳及腳步同時加快，迫不及待要見到我心中的英雄。

---------

"Insofar as truth is always obscene, I hope that all of my films have at least an element of obscenity.... Pornography, it seems to me, is no different from war films or propaganda films in that it tries to make the visceral, horrific, or transgressive elements of life consumable" - Michael Haneke (1)

MoMA日前做了Michael Haneke回顧展，一路從最早奧地利時期，一些難以見到的電視作品，到2000年以後的法語長片，做了完整的播放。Funny Games被選作為壓軸於10月15日放映，並請到Haneke到現場做Q&A。就時機來看，不乏是為來年二月在美國上映的英語版做暖身。

睿智與尖銳一直是Haneke電影的特色，也反映在這個夜晚他的談話中。在開始前Haneke只簡單的說電影撥放之前不需多說話，一切留待撥映完後再進行討論。映後觀眾的第一個問題是他為什麼要拍這種片，想必發問的人是另一個被Haneke獨特的殘忍所震撼的觀眾。他回答會看到完的都是需要這部電影的人。這句話不禁讓人咀嚼再三，留待台下每個觀眾慢慢思考。

顛覆與操縱是Q&A中導演及觀眾反覆提及的字眼，也是Haneke希望他的電影能夠成就的目標。有意思的是他答應美國製片公司拍攝此片的條件是完全複製舊版本的一景一幕。這同時也是令人震驚的決定。被問及為何做這個決定時，他回答德文發音的版本只能觸及少數的觀眾，他幽默且聰明的用art ghetto來形容藝術電影的處境，並認為做為對暴力／螢幕暴力的質詢及思考，十年前拍攝的舊版本一點也不顯得過時。映後問答中幫忙做德英翻譯的女士說了一段小插曲：她在遙控器那段劇情前走入放映聽，在槍響後先是聽到拍手叫好的聲音，而在令觀眾無法預料、不知所措的轉折發生後，整個劇院轉為一片死寂。Haneke微笑著說這正是他想要的效果；他希望讓觀眾想想自己的反應，剛剛竟為了一件殘忍的事歡欣鼓舞。不禁想起十年前我在台中的一家戲院第一次看到這部片時，觀眾有著一模一樣的反應。因為這是一年內大概第四次看這部片，電影放映中就不禁好奇同場不知結局的觀眾對於Haneke電影一貫的冷酷與殘忍有何反應。觀眾時常對於劇中兩個年輕人似是而非的論點發出不可置信而又帶點讚嘆的笑聲。但是隨著兒子角色的死亡，觀眾意識到這不是熟悉的好萊塢類型電影，開始明瞭導演的意圖及可能的結局後，笑聲逐漸消失。Haneke曾經說要顛覆類型電影前要先建立類型，觀眾受著情節引導進入懸疑的氛圍，卻等不到熟悉期待的最後救贖。如同劇中人物Paul不時的直視攝影機／觀眾講話，Haneke寄望與觀眾溝通的意圖十分明顯。Haneke提到一個細節，劇中郊外二層樓作為的度假屋的建築在奧地利並不常見，在舊版拍攝時就有影射美國文化的意思。從Haneke的話裡推敲最需要這部片的觀眾群卻對他德語發音的作品不感興趣。

一位觀眾請Haneke定義「真實」，他引用他哲學教授的話回答，當人試圖要用文字定義一個詞時，它真正的意義就已經喪失。這位觀眾接著敘述一個近期在美國發生，與電影情節雷同的新聞，Haneke隨即補充在舊版電影完成，尚未做公開播映時，他從媒體得知西班牙也發生了兩名年輕人殺害一整個家庭的事件，只是手段更為殘忍；每一件在電影中發生的事，在現實生活中都已經發生過了。而媒體呈現暴力的方式或許才是這個問題的源頭。Haneke曾說痛苦及傷害是暴力的真相，也是他想還原的部分。何謂真實何謂虛構，就有待同時接受好萊塢洗禮，也看Haneke電影的觀眾在觀影後做些反思。

得知新版Funny Games將是shot by shot的重建對我來說是個令人傷心又興奮的消息。雖然美國觀眾不喜看需要字幕的電影已是眾所皆知，但是像Haneke一般有聲望的導演還需將自己的作品套上美國人熟知的語言及演員來拓展觀眾，不禁令人嘆息。當觀眾問到和演員合作的模式時，他回答每部片子都不一樣。但是選角成功是最大的關鍵，將適合的人放在適合角色上，電影便成功了一大半。在Haneke的電影中，他鏡頭下的角色總是被逼至超乎常理，通常是殘酷至極的情況。他運用許多長鏡頭，讓劇中人物的情感在螢幕上發酵；可能是驚嚇瞬間，意識停止運作的慘白神情，可能是意會過來後無法承受的嘶吼與號泣。人的情緒與反應是Haneke電影中重要的元素，演員的表演也顯得格外重要。這點他的演員們完成了絕佳的工作，每一部片子裡備受折磨的中高產階級角色，都是由德國或法國演員如 Ulrich Muhe, Isabele Huppert, Daniel Auteuil和Juliette Binoche做出色的詮釋。新版Funny Games是令人期待的實驗，一方面看新版的演員Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt和Brady Corbet能否如同原版一般精彩的詮釋劇中的要角；一方面看新舊片的差異，以及觀眾對電影的反應；在Haneke心中只有一線之隔的Obscenity和Pornography，觀眾的判決究竟為何。

(1) http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/film_exhibitions.php?id=6152

[Baseball] Cleveland Indians

8 Oct 2007
6-4, Indians
ALDS 3-1, Indians

Angry and sad. Baseball god didn't grand me the wish to see Yanks grab another WS Champion during my last year in New York.

[Gig] Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

2 Oct 2007
China Club

Lust, Caution (2007)

Hong Kong / USA / China
Ang Lee - Director / Producer
Bill Kong - Producer
James Schamus - Producer / Screenwriter
Eileen Chang - Short Story Author
Wang Hui-Ling - Screenwriter
Rodrigo Prieto - Cinematographer

Last Holiday (2006)

US
Wayne Wang - Director

Queen Latifah - Georgia Byrd
LL Cool J - Sean Matthews
Timothy Hutton - Matthew Kragen
Giancarlo Esposito - Senator Dillings
Alicia Witt - Ms. Burns
Gérard Depardieu - Chef Didier

Unconscious (2004)

Inconscientes
Portugal / Spain / Italy / Germany
Joaquin Oristrell - Director / Screenwriter

Sebastiane (1976)

UK
Paul Humfress - Director / Screenwriter / Editor
Derek Jarman - Director / Screenwriter

Léolo (1993)

Canada / France
Jean-Claude Lauzon - Director / Screenwriter

Persuasion (1995)

UK

Roger Michell - Director
Jane Austen - Book Author
Nick Dear - Screenwriter

Amanda Root - Anne
Ciarán Hinds - Capt. Wentworth
Susan Fleetwood - Lady Russell
Fiona Shaw - Mrs. Croft
Corin Redgrave - Sir Walter Elliot
John Woodvine - Admiral Croft

Into the Woods (1990)

US

Musical/Recording of the stage show
James Lapine - Director / Screenwriter
Stephen Sondheim - Composer (Music Score)

Kim Crosby - Cinderella
Chip Zien - Baker
Pamela Winslow - Rapunzel
Danielle Ferland - Red Riding Hood
Kay McClelland - Stepsister
Ben Wright - Jack
Barbara Byrne - Jack's Mother
Tom Aldredge - Mysterious Man / Narrator
Chuck Wagner - Rapunzel's Prince
Bernadette Peters - The Witch
Maureen Davis - Sleeping Beauty
Joanna Gleason - Baker's Wife

Across the Universe (2007)

US

Julie Taymor - Director / Screen Story
Dick Clement - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Ian La Frenais - Screenwriter / Screen Story

The definition of 'cheesy' from Urbandictionary.com: trying too hard, unsubtle, and inauthentic. That what this film is.
Worst film I watched this year, I don't even want to find out who the cast are.

See the Sea (1997)

Regarde la Mer
France

François Ozon - Director / Screenwriter

My heart haven't ponding so fast for a while. Ozon is a master in building the suspense using slow paced scenes.

[Baseball] Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays 5, Yankees 4

14 innings.
The greatest come back I've seen in the 9th inning, or in any live game I've seen. Yanks scored 4 runs and tied the game. unfortunately it wasn't enough.

Millennium Actress (2001)

Japan
Satoshi Kon - Director / Screenwriter / Screen Story
Sadayuki Murai - Screenwriter

Mean Creek (2003)

US
Jacob Aaron Estes - Director / Screenwriter

Rory Culkin - Sam
Ryan Kelley - Clyde
Scott Mechlowicz - Marty
Trevor Morgan - Rocky
Josh Peck - George
Carly Schroeder - Millie

[Broadway] A Midsummer Night's Dream

Delacorte Theatre
Shakespeare in the Park
4 Sep 2007

Directed by Daniel Sullian

[Misc] US Open 2007

Day 1: 27 Aug
Jelena Jankovic def Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 7-6(2)
Justine Henin def Julia Goerges 6-0, 6-3
Karin Knapp def Yung-Jan chan 6-2, 6-0

Day 2: 28 Aug
Martina Hingis def Mathilde Johansson 6-0, 6-3
James Blake def Michael Russell 7-6(6), 6-3, 7-6 (4)

Day 13: 8 Sep
Men's Semifinal
Novak Djokovic def David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Roger Federer def Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-1, 7-5

Mulholland Drive (2001)

US

David Lynch - Director / Screenwriter / Sound/Sound Designer

Justin Theroux - Adam Kesher
Naomi Watts - Betty Elms
Laura Elena Harring - Rita
Ann Miller - Coco Lenoix

Enduring Love (2004)

UK

Roger Michell - Director (Notting Hill, Changing Lanes, Venus)
Ian McEwan - Book Author / Associate Producer
Joe Penhall - Screenwriter

Daniel Craig - Joe Rose
Bill Nighy - Robin
Susan Lynch - Rachel
Samantha Morton - Claire
Rhys Ifans - Jed Perry

Waitress (2007)

US
Adrienne Shelly - Director / Screenwriter

Keri Russell - Jenna
Nathan Fillion - Dr. Pomatter
Cheryl Hines - Becky
Adrienne Shelly - Dawn
Lew Temple - Cal

Adrienne Shelly was killed in her office in the Village on November 1, 2006.
While I was happy about discovering an awesome female director/screenwriter, I found out the heartbreaking news about her homicide. Rest in peace.

Blades of Glory (2007)

US
Josh Gordon - Director
Will Speck - Director
John Altschuler - Screenwriter
Craig Cox - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Jeff Cox - Screen Story / Screenwriter
Dave Krinsky - Screenwriter
Busy Philipps - Screen Story

Will Ferrell - Chazz Michael Michaels
Jon Heder - Jimmy MacElroy
Amy Poehler - Fairchild Van Waldenberg
Will Arnett - Stranz Van Waldenberg
Craig T. Nelson - Coach

Thank You for Smoking (2005)

US

Jason Reitman - Director / Screenwriter
Christopher Buckley - Book Author

Aaron Eckhart - Nick Naylor
Maria Bello - Polly Bailey
Cameron Bright - Joey Naylor
Adam Brody - Jack
Sam Elliott - Lorne Lutch

Transformers (2007)

US
Michael Bay - Director / Executive Producer

Shia LaBeouf - Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox - Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel - Sergeant Lennox
Tyrese Gibson - USAF Tech Sergeant Epps
Rachael Taylor - Maggie Madsen

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

US
Paul Greengrass - Director
Paul Attanasio - Screenwriter
Scott Z. Burns - Screenwriter
Tony Gilroy - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Robert Ludlum - Book Author
George Nolfi - Screenwriter
Tom Stoppard - Screenwriter
Oliver Wood - Cinematographer

Matt Damon - Jason Bourne
Julia Stiles - Nicky Parsons
David Strathairn - Noah Vosen
Joan Allen - Pam Landy
Scott Glenn - Ezra Kramer
Paddy Considine - Simon Ross
Albert Finney - Dr. Albert Hirsch

Vitus (2006)

Switzerland

Fredi M. Murer - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Peter Luisi - Screenwriter
Lukas B. Suter - Screenwriter

Teo Gheorghiu - Vitus von Holzen
Bruno Ganz - Grandfather
Fabrizio Borsani - Vitus, Age 6
Julika Jenkins - Helen von Holzen
Urs Jucker - Leo von Holzen

The Lost World (2001)

US/UK
made for TV

Stuart Orme - Director
Arthur Conan Doyle - Book Author

Bob Hoskins - Prof. George Challenger
Tom Ward - Lord John Phillip Roxton
Matthew Rhys - Edward Malone
Elaine Cassidy - Agnes Mooney
Robert Hardy - Prof. Illingworth

Bridge to Terabithia (2007)

US
Gabor Csupo - Director
David L. Paterson - Producer / Screenwriter
Katherine Paterson - Book Author
Jeff Stockwell - Screenwriter

Josh Hutcherson - Jess Aarons
AnnaSophia Robb - Leslie Burke
Robert Patrick - Jack Aarons
Zooey Deschanel - Ms. Edmonds

[Gig] Formoz 2007

27-29 July 2007
Taipei, Taiwan

27
Dean & Britta
阿飛西雅
甜梅號

28
蘇打綠
asobi seksu
Mercury Rev
Tell Me Do You Miss Me (rockumentary)

29
橙草
8mm Sky
Yndi Halda
Hyakkei
Yo La Tengo

Ratatouille (2007)

US
Brad Bird - Director / Screenwriter / Screen Story
Jan Pinkava - Director / Screen Story
Brad Lewis - Producer
Jim Capobianco - Screen Story

Paris, je t'aime (2006)

Switzerland / Liechtenstein / France

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

Spain / France / Germany

Tom Tykwer - Director / Screenwriter / Composer (Music Score) / Musical Performer / Music Producer
Bernd Eichinger - Producer / Screenwriter
Martin Moszkowicz - Producer / Executive Producer
Andrew Birkin - Screenwriter
Patrick Suskind - Book Author
Caroline Thompson - Screenwriter

Ben Whishaw - Jean-Baptiste Grenouille
Alan Rickman - Antoine Richis
Rachel Hurd-Wood - Laura
Dustin Hoffman - Baldini, Giuseppe

Disturbia (2007)

US
D.J. Caruso - Director
Jackie Marcus - Producer
Joe Medjuck - Producer
E. Bennett Walsh - Producer
Carl Ellsworth - Screenwriter
Christopher Landon - Screenwriter / Screen Story

Shia LaBeouf - Kale
David Morse - Mr. Turner
Sarah Roemer - Ashley
Carrie-Anne Moss - Julie
Aaron Yoo - Ronnie

La Vie en Rose (2007)

France / UK / Czech Republic

Olivier Dahan - Director / Screenwriter
Isabelle Sobelman - Screenwriter

[Broadway] 110 in the Shade

29 June 2007
Studio 54

Book by N. Richard Nash
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Lyrics by Tom Jones
Directed by Lonny Price

Audra McDonald
John Cullum
Will Swenson
Christopher Innvar
Bobby Steggert

1408 (2007)

US

Mikael Håfström - Director
Scott Alexander - Screenwriter
Matt Greenberg - Screenwriter
Larry Karaszewski - Screenwriter
Stephen King - Short Story Author

John Cusack - Mike Enslin
Samuel L. Jackson

It is really difficult to discuss a film's plot with a big name original book author, or maybe this question can extend to every adaptation. Who should I attribute, refer to, especially most of the time I've never seen the book? So maybe the wise thing to do is put this issue aside, just concentrate on the film.

Although the plot is short lasting, the tension building between Jackson and Cusack is awesome. This kind of claustrophobic, supernatural, blurring reality and dream thriller doesn't have much surprise, basically all you have to do is to plan the seeds of terror in the first part of the film and wait for the right moment to make them bloom. But this doesn't mean it can't invoke the involuntary screams. Basically 1408 is Cusack's one man show, and he did a great job.

The ending seems to me bear less significant, nothing can really surprise audience these days, and nothing can conclude and rationalize the whole story easily. The best ending is already become cliche, and to avoid that, it means to loose the best choice.

This is Håfström's second Hollywood film, he directed the Danmark film Evil.

Under the Sand (2000)

Sous Le Sable
France

François Ozon - Director / Screenwriter
Marina de Van - Screenwriter

Charlotte Rampling - Marie Drillon
Bruno Cremer - Jean Drillon
Jacques Nolot - Vincent
Alexandra Stewart - Amanda
Pierre Vernier - Gerard

[Broadway] The Public Theater - Romeo and Juliet

22 June 2007
Delacorte Theatre

Directed by Michael Greif

Cast
Escalus - Timothy D. Stickney
Mercution - Christopher Evan Welch
Paris - Dan Colman
Romeo - Oscar Isaac
Capulet - Michael Cristofer
Juliet - Lauren Ambrose
Tybalt - Brian Tyree Henry
Nurse - Camryn Manheim

[Misc] ABT - Romeo and Juliet

21 June 2007
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center

Choreopraphy by Kenneth MacMillan
Music by Sergei Prokofiev

Romeo - David Hallberg
Juliet - Gillian Murphy

History Boys (2006)

US/UK
Nicholas Hytner - Director / Producer
Alan Bennett - Play Author / Screenwriter

Richard Griffiths - Hector
Frances de la Tour - Dorothy Lintott
Stephen Campbell Moore - Irwin
Samuel Barnett - Posner
Dominic Cooper - Dakin
James Corden - Timms
Clive Merrison - Headmaster
Jamie Parker - Scripps
Russell Tovey - Rudge
Samuel Anderson - Crowther
Sacha Dhawan - Akthar
Andrew Knott - Lockwood

[Broadway] Frost/Nixon

20 June 2007
Bernard B. Jocobs Theatre

Directed by Michael Grandage
Play by Peter Morgan

Cast
Frank Langella
Michael Sheen

Time to Leave (2006)

Le Temps Qui Reste
France
François Ozon - Director / Screenwriter

All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)

Japan

Shunji Iwai (岩井俊二) - Director / Screenwriter / Editor

Best in Show (2000)

US
Christopher Guest - Director / Screenwriter
Eugene Levy - Screenwriter

Cast
Eugene Levy - Gerry Fleck
Catherine O'Hara - Cookie Fleck
Christopher Guest - Harlan Pepper
John Michael Higgins - Scott Donlon
Michael McKean - Stefan Vanderhoof
Michael Hitchcock - Hamilton Swan
Parker Posey - Meg Swan
Jennifer Coolidge - Sheri Ann Cabot
Jane Lynch - Christy Cummings
Fred Willard - Buck Laughlin

Guest is able to mock and show the love for the same thing, at least most the mockery for human and the love for canines. Even though I'm not in the mood for laughing, this is still a clever, acerbic comedy that manages to be sincere at the same time.

[Broadway] Talk Radio

Longacre Theatre
13 June 2007

directed by Robert Falls
written by Eric Bogosian
created for the stage by Eric Bogosian and Tad Savinar

cast -
Liev Schreiber
Stephanie March
Peter Hermann
Michael Laurence

An 20 years old script can still catch the heart of conflict and struggle of human beings. Like I always said, nothing has changed.

Ocean's 13 (2007)

US
Steven Soderbergh - Director
Jerry Weintraub - Producer
Brian Koppelman - Screenwriter
David Levien - Screenwriter

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)

US
Gore Verbinski - Director
Jerry Bruckheimer - Producer
Ted Elliott - Screenwriter
Terry Rossio - Screenwriter

To be honest, the heavy British and, well, all the weird accents, and my remarkably bad memory of what happened in Dead Man's Chest hinder my full understanding of the plot. But put my little inability aside, I like it. It does not overdo the jokes, the romance, or the plot (at least as far as I can comprehend...) It does have something underdeveloped. The beautiful and touching opening does not reach its full potential in the proceeding part of the film. The fighting choreography is far less spectacle and entertaining from the first two of the trilogy. (Trilogy? Maybe more to come.)Yet the slightly low-key style just something I will like, with some amazing sequences involving ships sailing though the stellar underworld sea, turning up side down and moving by the pebble-turned crabs. And who wouldn't love the schizophrenic Captain Jack Sparrow and the handsome Pirate Queen Elizabeth Swann?

Strangers on a Train (1951)

US
Alfred Hitchcock - Director / Producer
(appeared when Guy steps down the train)
Raymond Chandler - Screenwriter
Whitfield Cook - Screenwriter
Patricia Highsmith - Book Author
Czenzi Ormonde - Screenwriter
Robert Burks - Cinematographer

Farley Granger - Guy Haines
Robert Walker - Bruno Anthony
Ruth Roman - Ann Morton
Leo G. Carroll - Senator Morton
Patricia Hitchcock - Barbara Morton

This is what a thriller should look like. Needless to say, the beautiful mise-en-scene, immaculate plot development, the cross cutting and the duration of suspension. Wonderful 101 minutes of entertainment.

War of the Worlds (2005)

US
Steven Spielberg - Director
Josh Friedman - Screenwriter
David Koepp - Screenwriter
H.G. Wells - Book Author

The invasion of aliens has been filmed countless times, this adaption of H.G. Well's classic does not repeat the hero-making alien-slaughtering cliche makes it exceed my expectation. It is slow-paced, investing time on the Ferrier family. It is much more about human beings, about any disaster that might come and go without a trace yet takes away everything from you. But does it change you? When Ray standing outside his ex-parents in law's house, nothing is changed, it just a terrible nightmare.

Paprika (2006)

Japan

Satoshi Kon 今敏 - Director / Screenwriter
Yasutaka Tsutsui 筒井康隆 - Book Author

雖然最後的夢境對劇中人物來說是一場惡夢，但是畫面卻不是。陪著日本小孩及動畫迷長大的各種玩具人偶，沒有變成令人不悅的影像，反倒變成一種鄉愁。看到御宅族真心的美女警探或許只會出現在童話故事中，但童話也沒什麼不好。

[Broadway] A Moon for the Misbegotten

Brooks Atkinson Theatre
June 2007

Director - Howard Davies
Book - Eugene O'Neill
Cast -
Ebe Best
Kevin Spacey
Colm Meaney

[Broadway] Journey's End

6 June 2007
Belasco Theatre

Director - David Grindley
Book - R.C. Sherriff
Cast -
Hugh Dancy
Boyd Gaines
Jefferson Mays
Stark Sands

Inherit the Wind (1960)

US

Stanley Kramer - Director / Producer
Jerome Lawrence - Play Author
Robert E. Lee - Play Author
Harold Jacob Smith - Screenwriter
Ned Young - Screenwriter

Spencer Tracy - Henry Drummond
Fredric March - Matthew Harrison Brady
Gene Kelly - E.K. Hornbeck

bring back all my good memories of courtroom dramas. incredible mise-en-scene, the way of putting people's back on the front of the frame just genius.

[Misc] NYC Restaurants

Le Bernardin
Fleur de Sel
Esca
Sarabeth's
The London Bar
Freemans

Tokyo Godfathers (2003)

Japan
Satoshi Kon 今敏- Director / Screenwriter
Keiko Nobumoto - Screenwriter

絕佳的幽默，恰到好處的感人。在《東京教父》裡，巧遇和奇蹟不是廉價的敘事把戲，而是試著找尋已經商品化的聖誕節的靈魂。

Spider-man 3

Sam Raimi - Director / Screenwriter / Screen Story
Ivan Raimi - Screenwriter / Screen Story
Alvin Sargent - Screenwriter

[Misc] New York City Ballet

2007 Spring Season
3 June

Serenade
Bugaku
Union Jack

A Heart in Winter (1992)

Un Coeur en Hiver
France

Claude Sautet - Director / Screenwriter

Daniel Auteuil - Stephane
Emmanuelle Béart - Camille
André Dussollier - Maxime
Elizabeth Bourgine - Helene
Myriam Boyer - Madame Amet

Alice (1988)

Czechoslovakia / Switzerland
Jan Svankmajer - Director / Screenwriter / Set Designer

Czech surrealist animator's first feature length film. A dark adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. A perfect film to apply Freud's The Uncanny.

[Gig] Animal Collective

south street seaport
1 june 2007
w/ danielson

when the first thing i think of is that i was not in the mood of inhaling second hand smoke and pot, it's not a good sign.
this was the first time i heard danielson, actually they're quite good. i was just not in the mood, the sky drizzled rains, and it was hot and humid, what a waste for the concert held outdoor. the crowd is young, emo kids, and then i felt extremely old.
animal collective. yes, they were still good, yet i was disappointed i didn't hear anything i know of. when listening their music on mp3, i felt like they are magicians. i know mixer must be very important, yet i'm still very curious about how they produce all those sounds. ohmyrockness says those sounds are eccentric but catchy, what a wonderful description. usually this would be the time that i complain i wasn't tall enough, and i saw nothing but the back of people's heads. nevertheless, between sight and sound, it's either one or another, can't have them both.

[Gig] BRMC

webster hall
31 may 2007
w/ The Cobbs

i still feel really happy to see them, even though i stood in the front row, blasting by the loudspeaker all night, oh, and my ears are still humming now. singing was all muffled, i could barely hear what came out from peter hayes.
my heart must died a little bit these days. eventually it will happen, i know, after all the gigs i went. i'm kind of sad that it comes so fast, i don't feel the creeps on my skin any more, not even a beer can help.
yet BRMC, they are my first love, nothing in the world can ruin that. even though i heard someone said they're copying themselves in baby 81, or they signed with sony, my first shoegazer is still very special to me.

[Broadway] The Coast of Utopia - Salvage

20 April 2007
Vivian Beaumont Theater

[Baseball] Toronto Blue Jays

6-0 Jays.
Phil Hughes' debut.

The Deep End (2001)

US
Scott McGehee - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
David Siegel - Director / Producer / Screenwriter
Elizabeth Sanxay Holding - Book Author

Tilda Swinton - Margaret Hall
Goran Visnjic - Alek Spera
Jonathan Tucker - Beau Hall
Raymond Barry - Carlie Nagle
Josh Lucas - Darby Reese

[Gig] Battles

3 April 2007
Bowery Ballroom

[Broadway] Dying City

7 April 2007
Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center

by: Christopher Shinn
Directed by: James Macdonald
Cast : Rebecca Brooksher , Pablo Schreiber

Sort of a ritual to watch a show on my birthday. And my birthday present was to see Ralph Fiennes in the crowed to see The Coast of Utopia, Ethan Hawke sneaked in the backstage door who looked suspicious, and Randy Harrison who was going see the same show as me.

[Broadway] The Coast of Utopia - Shipwreck

4 April 2007
Vivian Beaumont Theater

The Lives of Others (2006)

Germany
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck - Director / Screenwriter

Martina Gedeck - Christa-Maria Sieland
Ulrich Mühe - Capt. Gerd Wiesler
Sebastian Koch - Georg Dreyman
Ulrich Tukur - Lt.-Col. Anton Grubitz
Thomas Thieme - Minister Bruno Hempf

Once I compared this film to The Conversation, it didn't come anywhere close to powerful use of sound in Coppola's film.

[Gig] Cold War Kids

9 April 2007
Bowery Ballroom

This was so humiliating, and this had nothing do to with Cold War Kids. If you happened to see me that day, I beg you don't tell...
Here the story goes...

2:09 PM, April 10
definitely top of my most embarrassing experience.

i was there for the cold war kids, end up just listening to their first song, sitting on the filthy ground outside bowery, recovering from the blackout caused by one god damn beer.

one hour ago from this scenes, i stood inside, holding half empty beer cup, happy with the finding that sounds swirling inside my beer cup and vibrating through my palm.

then it came, the post-beer headache. then i saw it coming, the blackout. i thought i could handle it, just like i handled it couple times before, just stood still, breathe, and waited for it to past. i thought i can handle it, but the next thing i knew i was sitting, no, collapsing on the ground. my eye-sight was blurry, so was my hearing. people hold me up and took me few steps forward to lean on the stage. vaguely i might say something like 'can i just stay here for a while then i'll be ok,' but vaguely someone say i need air and people held me out of the venue. the cold air actually felt refreshing, i just wanted to sit down, i knew it going to pass soon. a nice girl called jennie stayed with me for a while and gave me a hug. i assured her i was going to be ok and send her inside. i sit there, didn't know whether to go back or not, or to laugh or cry. i started to feel cold, then put on my jacket. i decided not going back inside to avoid possible recognition from the crowd, which now i could see clear. i took M103 and headed back home. nothing is more surreal than this, as now i'm writing the whole thing, with my head still feel the residue of last night's beer (theoretically it's unlikely, but i can't sever the tiredness, mentally and physically, from it), and the pain in my ass, literally.

hope writing this down can be therapeutic, since i don't want to recall it, and no one else but me will ever know this. luckily i won't go back to bowery until next month. even with this shit, it still my favorite venue in the city.

[Broadway] The Coast of Utopia - Voyage

28 March 2007
Vivian Beaumont Theater

A Trilogy by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Jack O'Brien

[Gig] Bloc Party

30 March 2007
United Palace Theatre (which is aaaaaaaall the way up to 175th St)

[Gig] The Good, the Bad, and the Queen

12 March 2007
Webster Hall

Damon Albarn. One wish down.

A Man Escaped (1956)

Un Condamné à Mort C'Est Echappé
France

Robert Bresson - Director / Screenwriter

Francois Leterrier - Lt. Fontaine
Roland Monod - De Leiris the Pastor
Jacques Ertaud - Orsini
Roger Planchon

This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2005)

US
Documentary

Kirby Dick - Director

[Gig] Sonic Youth

February 16, 2007
Webster Hall
w/ Wooden Wand

[Gig] Arcade Fire

February 15, 2007
Judson Memorial Church

I just don't have the heart to write about that night. This was by far the most anticipated rock show for me. From the moment I saw the five shows being announced on Bowery's website, to the brutal on-line battle for tickets, all the emotion built up and I felt that it would be one of the most memorable day in my life. But it didn't happen. As if my heart shut down that evening, and after way too many times of repeat hearing and remembering lyrics, news song didn't strike me, and old ones didn't give me goose bumps. I still love them so much, Wake Up will still be one of my favorite songs in the world, and I won't hesitate a bit if I have one more chance to see them. Yet there was something missing.

Cache (2005)

Austria / Italy / Germany / France
Michael Haneke - Director / Screenwriter

Daniel Auteuil - Georges
Juliette Binoche - Anne
Lester Makedonsky - Pierrot

Abbas Kiarostami Shorts

MoMA
Toothache (1979)
Orderly of Disorderly (1981)
The Chorus (1982)
Fellow Citizen (1983)

Duel in the Sun (1946)

UK / US
King Vidor - Director

Jennifer Jones - Pearl Chavez
Gregory Peck - Lewt McCanles
Joseph Cotten - Jesse McCanles
Lionel Barrymore - Senator McCanles
Lillian Gish - Laura Belle McCanles

Memories of Tomorrow (2006)

明日の記憶
Japan

Yukihiko Tsutsumi 堤幸彦 - Director

Ken Watanabe 渡辺謙 - Masayuki Saeki
Kanako Higuchi 樋口可南子 - Emiko Saeki

Tears of the Black Tiger (2000)

Fah Talai Jone
Thailand

Wisit Sasanatieng - Director / Screenwriter / Screen Story

Chartchai Ngamsan - Seua Dum (Black Tiger)
Stella Malucchi - Rumpoey

[Gig] The Books

Jan 27, 2007
Webster Hall
w/ Jack Rose, Essie Jain

Volver (2006)

Spain

Pedro Almodóvar - Director / Screenwriter

Penélope Cruz - Raimunda
Carmen Maura - Irene
Lola Dueñas - Sole
Blanca Portillo - Augstina

The Queen (2006)

Italy / France / UK

Stephen Frears - Director
Peter Morgan - Screenwriter

Helen Mirren - The Queen
Michael Sheen - Tony Blair
James Cromwell - Prince Philip
Helen McCrory - Cherie Blair
Alex Jennings - Prince Charles

[Gig] The Dears

Jan 19, 2007
Webster Hall
w/
Annuals
Pilot Speed

Garden State (2004)

USA
Zach Braff - Director / Screenwriter

Zach Braff - Andrew Largeman
Natalie Portman - Samantha
Peter Sarsgaard - Mark
Ian Holm - Gideon Largeman

Breathless (1960)

À Bout de Souffle
France

Jean-Luc Godard - Director / Screenwriter
François Truffaut - Screen Story
Raoul Coutard - Cinematographer

Jean-Paul Belmondo - Michel Poiccard
Jean Seberg - Patricia Franchini

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

USA
Clint Eastwood - Director / Producer
Paul Haggis - Screen Story / Executive Producer
Tadamichi Kuribayashi - Book Author

Ken Watanabe - General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya - Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara - Baron Nishi
Ryo Kase - Shimizu
Shidou Nakamura - Lieutenant Ito

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

US / UK
Richard Eyre - Director
Zoe Heller - Book Author
Patrick Marber - Screenwriter (Screenwriter of Closer)

Cast:
Judi Dench - Barbara Covett
Cate Blanchett - Sheba Hart
Bill Nighy - Richard Hart
Andrew Simpson - Steven Connolly

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

El Laberinto del Fauno
Spain
Guillermo del Toro - Producer / Director / Costume Designer / Screenwriter (screenwriter of Mimic, Hellboy)
Carmen Soriano - Screenwriter
Guillermo Navarro - Cinematographer

Cast:
Ariadna Gil - Carmen
Ivana Baquero - Ofelia
Sergi López - Vidal
Maribel Verdú - Mercedes
Doug Jones - Pan / Pale Man
Alex Angulo - Doctor

Children of Men (2006)

US
Alfonso Cuarón - Director / Screenwriter / Editor
David Arata - Screenwriter
P.D. James - Book Author
Timothy J. Sexton - Screenwriter
Emmanuel Lubezki - Cinematographer

Cast:
Clive Owen - Theo Faron
Julianne Moore - Julian Taylor
Michael Caine - Jasper
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Luke
Charlie Hunnam - Patric

[Gig] Spoon

December 30, 2006
Webster Hall

[Gig] Gomez

6 Oct 2006
Bowery Ballroom

The Band members felt just so at east on stage, maybe the hint of smoke/pot emitting from backstage during Encore helped.
So thrilled to heard Ben Ottewell's voice in person. Low, soulful voice from a skinny white guy still somehow miraculous to me.

California
Shot Shot
Love Is Better Than A Warm Trombone
Hamoa Beach
See The World
Nothing Is Wrong
Long Long Gone
Bring Your Lovin' Back Here
Notice
Ping One Down
Charley Patton Songs (Ian solo)
Baby, Please Don't Go (aborted)
Hangover
Ruff Stuff
Girlshapedlovedrug
We Haven't Turned Around
In Our Gun

Encore:
How We Operate
Make No Sound
Silence
Get Myself Arrested