beijing olympics Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Roger Ebert Reviews the Olympics
Filed under: Critical Thought », Fandom », Newsstand »
Leave it to Roger Ebert to compare the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics to the Nazi propaganda doc Triumph of the Will. In a blog entry, Ebert wrote in part: "The closest sight I have seen to Friday night's spectacle, and I mean this objectively, not with disrespect, is the sight of all those Germans marching wave upon wave before Hitler in 'Triumph of the Will.'"
In context, Ebert was addressing the "astonishing" $300 million show featuring "thousands of painstakingly drilled performers" who had spent "four months in rehearsal. Eight hours a day." His fascinating article includes thoughts on the opening ceremony, the challenge for any nation to ever equal the ceremony, much less surpass it in spectacle, the individual vs. the collective, and China's capitalist leanings.
At heart, of course, Ebert is a film critic, and he notes the direction of Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern, House of Flying Daggers) and the costumes designed by Eiko Ishioka (Mishima, The Fall). Triumph of the Will may still be fresh in his mind as a point of comparison because he wrote extensively about it again in June as one of his "Great Movies."
I played sports before movies lured me to the dark side, so when I was younger I related to the Olympics as a budding athlete. That was a long time ago, but I did watch a little Olympic badminton * and cycling before heading out to see movies this weekend. Have the Olympics distracted you from movie watching?
* UPDATE: Spelling corrected and link added. Thanks to ML for the gently-worded comment.
Poll: Should Celebs Take on Politcal Causes?
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », Politics », Polls »
Here's something interesting ... Jeff Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere posted a "salute" yesterday afternoon to Steven Spielberg, who announced yesterday that he's withdrawing as an artistic advisor to the Beijing Summer Olympics. Here's the kicker though ... Spielberg didn't pull out because of the Chinese government's continued human rights abuses within its own borders, or for its oppression in Tibet, but over Darfur. According to this piece over on Variety, which broke the story, "I have made repeated efforts to encourage the Chinese government to use its unique influence to bring safety and stability to the Darfur region of Sudan," Spielberg wrote. "Although some progress has been made ...the situation continues to worsen and the violence continues to accelerate."
As Wells noted, Spielberg's "enlightment" about China may be due, at least in part, to Mia Farrow's ripping him a new one over China's human rights issues (and bankrolling of the genocide in Darfur) back in March. So kudos to Spielberg for finally getting on the human rights bandwagon here, but geez, how about getting on China for all its human rights issues, while you're at it? And while we're on the subject, how do you feel about celebs and political issues?
Zhang, Spielberg are Olympians
Filed under: Action », Drama », Foreign Language », Romance », Fandom », Newsstand », Steven Spielberg », Cinematical Indie »
In an announcement that only serves to remind us just
how freaking weird the world is, it was revealed yesterday that Zhang Yimou will direct the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing
Olympics (those are in 2008 if you, like me, haven't been paying any attention). And if it's not odd enough to think
about the director of such masterpieces of subtlety as Ju
Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, and Not One Less masterminding the bizarre, nonsensical epics that
open and close the Olympics, try this on for size: Steven Spielberg will serve as an "artistic advisor." Because, you
know, Zhang's films are just missing that touch of loveliness that Spielberg brings to every project he touches. Uh
huh.Given Zhang's recent work, I'm counting on a gorgeous, stadium-sized action spectacular, featuring a special appearance by Takeshi Kaneshiro who will be involved in a doomed (Olympic) love affair. Oh, and with a touch of Moral Significance sprinkled on top by the great and powerful Spielberg.
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