Jacques Tati films at the Alliance Francaise

Alliance Francaise pays tribute to Jacques Tati this month, with Mon Oncle, Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, Jour de Fête, and Tati's latest film Russian Dolls. Having enjoyed Playtime last year at the Arts House, I'm looking forward to more of the gangling, innocently bumbling M. Hulot (à gauche).

Synopses at the Alliance Francaise website.

Glassy Ocean (Kujira no Chouyaku)

What are the chances of two unrelated individuals mentioning an obscure anime title to me, within a few hours of each other? First, a friend of mine asked if I'd seen Glassy Ocean (Kujira no Chouyaku): a surreal animated short where a whale's leap is frozen in time while a variety of characters stroll on an ocean newly transformed into glass.

I couldn't recall the film at first, but then I struck up a conversation with another friend online who had a pic from Millennium Actress (Sennen Joyu) -- which I love -- as her avatar. Talk turned to Satoshi Kon's debut Perfect Blue, which we both recalled seeing (though we hadn't met in 1998, not at SIFF). “It was a doublebill,” she typed, and suddenly the people on the frozen green waves resurfaced in my mind.

Shortly thereafter I was enveloped in a haze of nostalgia, with motes of regret. But everyone has stories about movies, which is a large part of why going to a cinema can be such a moving experience.

Glassy Ocean
Anime News Network entry
Grand Prize - 1998 Japan Media Arts Festival

Film blogs in S'pore

I have to admit, compared to the regulars at the SGFilm forums, I'm just a dilettante. A couple of them have set up a blog to share their substantial reflections about film.

http://mono-no-awareness.blogspot.com/

Stefan's another exemplary film fan. You can quibble with his reviews, but you can't fault the guy's dedication. I'm really impressed by the regularity of his output - there's a review nearly every day. Where does the man find the time?

http://anutshellreview.blogspot.com/

The Biology of B-Movie Monsters

Look for some of your favourite kaiju in an academic paper on the realities of B-movie monster anatomy. Written by a professor at (where else?) the University of Chicago.

The Biology of B-Movie Monsters

(via BoingBoing)

David Bowie returns to the screen

Gah! Work's been crazy of late.

Normally I wouldn't paste little bits of who's gonna be acting in what film - type of info, but I'll make an exception for David Bowie, who's going to be playing Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan's next film. Don't you see? It's a rare confluence of music, science and film geekiness!

Variety.com - 'Prestige' lures Bowie