Exciting Things In The World of Meniere's Disease

It seems that all of a sudden, the wheels of motion are starting to turn in a positive direction for Meniere's Disease sufferers. I was contacted last week about participating in a trial of the injectable steroid OTO-104. I've been following this drugs' process from first clinical trial through today, and I believe OTO-104 is on it's third or fourth clinical trial. I won't know until this week or next if I've been approved for the clinical trial, but I'm happy to hear that OTO is pushing forward. Hopefully, it will be proven effective and useful, and the FDA will clear it for public use.

In other news, a friend of mine with Meniere's Disease in San Diego is undergoing an even more exciting form of treatment right now that, unfortunately, I can't yet discuss here. When he returns home from treatment, and with his permission, I will share his experiences. From the email I received from him today, all signs point to a potentially very viable solution for us. I have my fingers crossed for him, as he is our guinea pig with this treatment. If it goes well for him, I will take the plunge and get the treatment myself. More to come on this.

I feel very excited and optimistic at all of the new pushes toward a cure. This is indeed an exciting time for us, and I hope beyond hope that a solution is coming....soon. :)

I will write more as soon as I have permission, and have more to share. Until then, onward we go!

xo,
S

The Protocol

Having undergone nearly every traditionally recommended therapy or treatment in existence for Meniere's Disease, including diuretics, low-sodium intake, sac decompression with shunt surgery, serc, verapamil, valium, vestibular rehabilitation therapy, steroids, and finally, the vestibular nerve section surgery, and yet still continuing to suffer with dizziness, ringing in my ears, and hearing loss, I have chosen to partake in lesser known therapies over the past few years. These less traditional therapies have included chiropractic work, vitamin regimens, acupuncture, NUCCA, and even a spinal tap. To say that I have tried everything and anything to cure this illness would be quite accurate, if not an understatement.

And yet, the Beast persists. But to his dismay, so do I. I refuse to accept that my fate is one of disability and sickness. I refuse to accept that there is nothing out there that will solve this issue for me. Instead, I push forward, continually doing research on new modalities, new clinical trials, and new options that may provide some help and hope.

About a year ago, I learned of Stephen Spring, and his new protocol for treating Meniere's Disease. Mr. Spring is a researcher and a Meniere's Disease sufferer himself, based in Australia. He has, based on his extensive research, developed a protocol for treating this illness, that has worked wonders for himself, and for many other sufferers. After having a great chat with him via Skype, I decided to undertake this treatment as well.

His treatment is not an overnight cure. It's not a one-stop solution. It is multi-faceted, and requires diligence, as well as an understanding doctor to order certain blood tests and other tests as needed while you undergo the protocol. Thankfully, my specialist is one of the most kind, understanding human beings on this planet, and he has supported me in every endeavor that I have undertaken to find a cure.

Mr. Spring expects this protocol to take a year or longer to help me, as I've had this illness for some time now...ten years to be exact. I am only into my 12th week, so I cannot report much as of yet. I can say that the ringing in my ear has gone down quite a bit, which is a positive sign. I haven't had a reduction in dizziness as of yet, which of course is the thing I hope to eradicate most of all. I have heard from others that the dizziness tends to ease up around week 28-30.

I will continue on the protocol, which is quite expensive, but the theory behind it makes great sense, with the hope that I too will benefit from this. If this proves to be the solution to my dizziness, I will waste no time in advising everyone I know with this illness to undertake Mr. Springs protocol. I won't know for some weeks if it will have a truly positive effect on me, though. So, until then, I will keep posting updates here, and keep searching out updates on new treatments for Meniere's Disease.

I hope to have some good news to report soon, friends. Until then, onward we go....

Goals & The Beast

First off, I apologize for such a delay since my last post. I have been heavily focused on finishing up my Film Production Degree from SLCC, which I was able to do in December of 2013! Woo hoo!

Despite having Meniere's Disease, I was able to accomplish yet another goal, and it makes me all the more vigilant in beating this illness. With guidance and support from my amazing professors, I was able to write several screenplays, shoot, direct and edit two short films and several commercials, and, above all, fully realize that filmmaking and storytelling is where my passion lies.

My next goal is a lofty one, but one that I hope brings about awareness and funding for research for a cure for this bloody illness. I will post updates to this project as I go along, but for now, I want to bask in the glow of having beaten the beast, at least long enough for me to finish a lofty goal.

xo

Shepherd

Last year, I wrote and directed a pretty decent short film called Shepherd. It's a simple story set around lost memory and found second chances. When it was finished, I had glorious plans to enter it into film festivals across the country. But, per usual, my inhibitions kept me from putting it out into the universe. I was then quite surprised to find out this week that Shepherd is screening at a special Filmed in Utah event tomorrow night at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Amazing.

Apparently, the universe gave up on waiting for me, and found the movie on its own. At least, that's what I choose to believe. :)

So, if you're free, the screening starts at 7pm. Now I just have to keep from breaking out in hives from anxiety until then.

Serc

Serc, or betahistine dihydrochloride, is a special medicine developed to treat disorders of the inner ear. For some reason, Serc, is readily available in other countries, and is quite often prescribed in Europe and Canada for Meniere's Disease, but not so readily available in the US. Serc works by improving the blood flow to the inner ear, and also works on normalizing the way in which inner ear nerve endings respond to outside influences. 

My doctor let me try Serc for a time. I was surprised to learn that I had to have it formulated at a compounding pharmacy. In the US, a compounding pharmacy has the ingredients and capabilities to compound certain drugs and medicines that either aren't mass produced in the US, or need to be tailored for a certain patient. I was lucky to find a compounding pharmacy near me that could compound my betahistine. I was unlucky to learn that compounding can be, and was for me, very expensive. I think I stopped taking Serc because of the high cost. I'm not sure if I even gave it a fair shot of helping me or not.

In my continued effort to improve my health, I'm going to give Serc another shot. I will start tomorrow, and report my progress here. Fingers crossed.

Onward we go, fellow soldiers.

The Documentary

I'm very excited about this post. For almost a year, I've been in production on a documentary about Meniere's Disease. I've been fortunate enough to have the support and participation of Meniere's Disease sufferers around the world. My team and I are currently putting together applications for grants, building out our Kickstarter page, and have almost finalized the trailer. The goal of this film to is raise awareness about Meniere's Disease in order to further funding for research. As I mentioned in a past post, Meniere's Disease hasn't had much of a voice, but I'm happy to utilize my film education and training to give all of us a voice at long last.

I will continue to post updates to this project here. If you would like to participate or support this film in any way, please email me. Thanks friends.

skyecemerson@gmail.com

Less Movies, More Meniere's

Less Movies, More Meniere's

Film school is officially finished, and now my focus turns back to Meniere's Disease advocacy. I will still utilize this site to post about films, but I've been neglecting my Meniere's Disease updates, so here is what's happening with Meniere's Disease and me:

The negatives: What the what? Hearing in my left ear continues to decline. Boo. My audiologist recommended a hearing aid. So, me being me, I had to get the mack daddy of hearing aids. It's a tiny little thing, barely noticeable. The cool thing is that it works just like a Bluetooth. I can program my IPhone to ring directly to it, and it will also play my Itunes. This could be very beneficial in boring work meetings. Only kidding. Sort of.

Now, if only I can start remembering to wear it more often. I'm pretty terrible at this. I blame the Meniere's Disease brain fog.

The vertigo and dizziness have been hit and miss. I was very hopeful that the VNS surgery would have completely quelled these spells. Alas, the vertigo has found a way to break through on occasion. I'm now considering an alternative therapy that, if I do undertake, I will discuss further here in a month or two.

The positives: I continue to work, live and play. I am happy. I am functioning. I refuse to let this illness ruin my life. I have great family and friends and loved ones who support me and help me when needed. I am never going to give up fighting this illness. I continue to travel and enjoy life its fullest, and if Meniere's Disease thinks it will take that away from me, it has another thing coming.

Road To Perdition

Sam Mendes is a favorite of mine, stemming from his work on my favorite film, American Beauty. This movie was my inspiration into filmmaking, due in large part to Alan Ball’s adept storytelling style and Mendes’ beautiful depiction of emotional frailty and violence. He carries this style into Road To Perdition, focusing heavily on the emotional impact of the story by using imagery to do the talking, keeping dialogue to a minimum.

Mendes is a storyteller in themes. In American Beauty, Mendes creates beauty in simple, mundane objects, such as a plastic shopping bag, which is used to help the audience realize that there “is so much beauty in the world…” that we fail to notice. In Road To Perdition, he creates beauty by setting the lighting and coloring in such a way that you feel as though you’ve stumbled into a great painting, versus a crime film. This film actually lacks standard coloring, instead focused on shades of brown, with hints of greens and blacks mixed in.

Mendes uses water as a constant theme in most of his movies. Water equals death. However, a key fact to note is that water is always flowing and changing and moving, and cannot be restrained. My guess is that Mendes was also attempting to state something to the effect of “fate cannot be controlled or managed. It is a benevolent force. No matter how hard we try to pull fate into the direction we want it, it will take the course that it determines, just as water does.” I think in this film, while water represents death, it can also represent fate.

The word Perdition is also a theme. Perdition has been used as a term for hell, and Sullivan Sr. is stuck in contradiction-he is literally leading his son to the city of hell, but also wants to protect him from it.

The cinematography in this film is some of the best you will see as a moviegoer. Atmospheric is the way that I would describe the lighting. This movie is filled with soft shadows that often fall off into nothingness. However, the scene with the boy standing on the beach is my favorite-the brightness of the sky meshes with the water and the beach in a way that reminded me of what heaven must be like…utter brightness. This then melds into white snow and a bike riding through it. Lighting for bright scenes, such as snow, is no easy task. To be able to create such a beautiful scene, taking the audience from standing at the edge of the water with this boy, not in an overly colored or saturated scene, but rather in starkness, then transform into snow, is nothing short of skilled brilliance.  

Man With A Movie Camera

This film was a complete, head to toe lesson in cinematography, not only how to visually make a film, but how to visually look at the world around you. The first thing I noticed and the last thing that stuck with me were the beautiful frames of each scene. Vertov does not simply show a building perfectly framed in the center of the lens. Instead, we see rows and rows of windows rising above from a low angled shot. Or we see strong, steel, straight beams of the top of a building cut through the frame as another lower building below is just inside the lower thirds of the frame. I'm assuming that Vertov had very little to no time to set up each shot, which speaks to his brilliant, artistic, cinematic mind. I found myself realizing that while he is aiming to paint a true to life portrait of a single day in Russia, his work actually showing us how we SHOULD look at the world, not how we DO look at the world. Even though it flew by with a flash, my favorite shot was of a trolley car sliding vertically along the same axis of the camera, while another trolley car crisscrossed horizontally in front of the frame. Seeing the two trolleys flow against each other in such a way was absolutely beautiful. It's a way that I wouldn't have looked at them, but it showed me what I'm missing by not stepping into another vantage point.

I don't believe that Vertov's goal was to depict what daily life looks like, I think rather he was showing us how daily life is depicted through the lens of a camera, when we step outside our minds' eye to look at life from another perspective. We as humans do not often crouch low to look at train wheels speeding by. We don't often peer out over the city we live in, looking at the shadows cast by a low hanging tree. We don't often catch the beauty of following a reflection in glass versus staring at the subject itself. But we should.

Showing the eyeball in the lens, showing the camera sliding into the frame, is a great representation of  an ever-present eye. He calls it the "truth-eye." However, this film helped me realize that cameras don't always capture what we see. They don't always record what we witness. Instead, if the person behind the camera is aware enough, cameras capture events in life from the angles in which we wished we could have seen them.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

This film is on nearly everyone's favorite films list, and for good reason. When I first saw this movie, many years ago, I thought it was about something else entirely. I had the naive belief that it was more of a comedy about a revolt at a mental institution, led by the charismatic McMurphy. Watching this movie now, I realize that it's more of a drama, a story instead about McMurphy's defeat. A human story.

I hadn't previously thought about the cinematography of this film, as there weren't many epic, complex shots. I realize now, however, that the simplicity of the cinematography is where the beauty of this film lies.   Draining the asylum of color and life, Wexler does a nice job of portraying what this place would have looked like to his prisoners. Utilizing some nice filters, and also making the whites really glow and pop, the focus remains on the characters in this character-driven story. Also, the camera shots seem to focus on reactions: the reactions of each character to the scene and what's happening to them in it. I love this. The characters' emotions, reactions, and feelings are the heart of this story. Simple but intentional focus gives power to their plight.

This story has a common theme for the time period-a fight against the establishment. However, this movie takes this theme to a more engaging level by focusing on who these characters really are, and how they really feel, versus just on their mental illness and their alienated state.

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now succeeds on many levels. On an emotional level, we connect with its message of the futility of war. On an entertainment level, the script does a fine job of keeping the audience engaged and interested throughout. Where I believe this movie succeeds the most, however, is on a cinematic level. By using very specific shot angles, this story, the setting, and the characters remain unforgettable.

The most common shot angle that I recognized was a high or very high angle. We are continuously looking down on the island, as if we are riding along the sky inside one of the helicopters with the soldiers. This not only determines how we will view and remember the island, but also solidifies our involvement with these characters. This high angle shot also causes a diminution of the villagers. We see them scatter throughout the island, attempting to fight back. When Colonel Kilgore and his men blow up the village, we see from above the power, aggression and devastation that Napalm and weapons of mass destruction can cause.

One of the most powerful shots of this movie is near the end, when Willard finally meets Kurtz. This mysterious man remains fascinating, as he shown in partial darkness, with just a little bit of light on his face. This haunting image was perfectly crafted. Utilizing just a bit of light to show us enough of his features to be intrigued, but keeping him in partial darkness, is a perfect tangible metaphor for the man Kurtz has become-steeped deep in the darkness of the jungle, but enlightened to the worlds' atrocities.

Apocalypse Now is another great example of a movie carefully crafted, wherein every single shot was done with full intention and made a definitive impact in the telling of the story.

Blade Runner

It had been 20 years since I first watched Blade Runner with my brother. I remember having a fond affinity for this movie, but couldn't remember exactly why. I tend to think that I'm not a fan of the sci-fi genre, and yet some of my very favorite films are science fiction-based; 2001, Total Recall, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Metropolis....even Back to the Future. It seems that the most common element in sci-fi genre is the question of life. Why am I here? Do I matter? What life is valuable? Are there other life forms? The way that sci-fi directors choose to examine the question of life seems to determine how I feel about the film. Their choices in use of angles, filters, transitions, cuts, and subtext are what draw me in or shut me down to these types of films.

Blade Runner is visually a very beautiful film. Ridley Scott appears to employ a film noir style, very downbeat, bleak and black. The common film noir themes are also preset: fear, insecurity, suspicion, mistrust. I appreciate movies that focus on the visual asthetic, while keeping the dialogue tight and allowing subtext to speak. Every shot seems very intentional, and helps to move the story forward. The unfortunate voice over was a major distraction from the visual elements, however I have heard that the voice over was removed from the Director's cut in 1992. Whew.

The "eyes" seem to be the visual tie-in throughout the scenes in this film. From the eye at the intro to the film, to the man who developed the Replicant's eyes, to the Owl's eye, it's clear that the eye is an important visual cue. I personally feel that this was Scott's way of representing humanity visually. The eye, with its sensitve iris that shifts with a sudden change of feeling or emotion, is a sure sign of humanity. While the scientific geniuses in Blade Runner have come up with a way to imitate to near perfection everything about humans in their Replicants, emotion, empathy and feelings are elements that they can't quite imitate. And the humans have discovered that the eye will clearly divulge emotion.

Per the film noir style, the majority of the Earth in Blade Runner is shadowed in dark hues. When light is present, it is usually in harsh contrast to its surroundings, such as when the blinds are opened against Deckard's face in Tyrell's mansion. The dark hues help to present Earth as an abandoned place full of decay and disillusionment.

The most common shots seemed to be close ups or medium close ups on faces and eyes.

The cuts linger on eyes and faces for at least two beats beyond the dialogue, which is a terrific directorial decision, as it allows us to see the emotion in the eyes and faces of the characters, to really pay attention to the expressiveness of the actors, to make the scenes much more powerful.

My favorite scene of the film visually is the scene of Deckard interviewing Rachael. Her deep red lips are a welcome color contrast to the bleakness of other scenes. The cuts between her full lips wrapped around her long cigarette and Deckard’s weary, weathered eyes and face and tight lips are beautiful. The transitions aren’t overused, and the back and forth dance between interview questions is cut like a two players in a careful chess competition.

The ending of this film is terrible...contrived both through dialogue and visual elements. Should Ridley Scott have ended on the rooftop with Roy and Deckard, I would have been extremely impressed. Thankfully, I too have heard that the ending changed in the Director’s cut as well.

Scott uses the camera angles effectively throughout, to help us connect with or to show conflict within each character. He uses a low angle on Rachel when she is in turmoil about learning that her memories are fabricated, which helps us feel compassion and empathy for her, he uses a straight-on angle to the eyes during Roy’s final scene on the rooftop to help the audience connect directly with what Roy is experiencing, and the camera is almost always level with Deckard, to show that he is a straight shooter and we are on the same level as him.

Ridley Scott is clearly challenging us to define humanity, and what makes something human and worthy of life. Through careful camera angles, critical lighting choices, and thoughtful cuts, we as an audience can connect with not only the human struggles throughout this film, but also the Replicants.

8 1/2

Anyone who has ever had experience as a Director, from short films to plays and beyond, can relate to protagonist Guido's plight.

Experiencing a not-often talked about issue, "Director's Block," famous director Guido Anselmi struggles to finish his new science fiction film. The story felt autobiographical, and I would not be surprised if Frederico Fellini was experiencing and voicing his own "Director's Block" at the time of this production.

My favorite parts of this film were Guido's dreams...which may in fact have been Fellini's own dreams or memories. His flashbacks are vivid, candid and extremely intriguing. While somewhat confusing, as most dreams are, you do get a sense of a man conflicted between sentiment, values, truth, memory and reality. The stories that Guido wants to tell mirror or relate to his childhood, but he is surrounded by an entourage of friends and colleagues who try to convince him that an audience would not care to or be able to follow such personal tales.

As a writer, I have long believed that the very best stories that one can tell are those that are truthful, personal, and real. I certainly empathized with Guido as he struggled between trying to tell an entertaining story, and live up to his fame, or to give others a glimpse into his very personal childhood experiences.

Another compliment to the film is the precise beauty of it. As a fan of mid-century, modern design, I absolutely loved the sleek lines of each set, and perfectly coordinating contrasting colors. Each shot was also meticulous, and made this film feel more like a piece of art that must be preserved than a mere rental from Netflix.

I love to tell human stories, and to me, 8 1/2 is just that....an autobiographical, real, human story. Though there isn't a tremendous battle, a car chase, or a huge climax, this film proves that sometimes our inner battles are extremely interesting,  worth sharing, and can take the audience on an amazing journey of their own.

Y Tu Mama Tambien

Boys!!! Why do teenage boys think with their bodies rather than with their heads or hearts? And why do so many grow up to become men who think with their bodies rather than with their heads or hearts?

Rich kids Julio and Tenoch are no different than some of the young men that I went to school with, and their plight at times frustrated me, but at other times helped me to better understand the male psyche.

Anyone can tell a tale of adolescence, of the excitement of being on the threshold of adulthood. Sex, drugs, jealousy, confusion, pain, and pure joy. Where the Cuaron brothers excel is weaving in the contrasts between the safe lives of these two upper class boys with the stark poverty and cruel truths that lye just outside their protected worlds.

The character of Luisa, a beautiful, exotic woman, who surprisingly joins the two best friends on a journey to the beach, was unexpected and exciting. Imagining that she would grow bored of their antics, she instead seemed rather to enjoy their youthful exuhberance. As expected, she causes a rift between Julio and Tenoch, a much needed interruption that brings about frank honestly and the emergence of the harsh realities of adulthood.

Adulthood can bring about unexpected change. Sometimes that change involves growing up and apart from people whom you once cared the most about. Having shared extremely intimate and powerful experiences, Julio and Tenoch return from their trip to the beach forever changed. Sadly, their friendship paid the ultimate sacrifice, and the two would never again know that close connection they once shared.

Alfonso Cuaron took on a daunting task here. Casting was critical, as the lead roles called for two young men who could not only portray carefree youth, but who could also tackle emotional and physical intimacies powerfully. I have long been a fan of Gael Garcia Bernal, playing the character of Julio, who can make me smile or cry in the blink of an eye, but I appreciated Diego Luna's portrayal of Tenoch even more. Putting forth a brash, confident facade, it was his moments of heartbreak, from realizing his girlfriend cheated on him, to watching Luisa take up Julio for an instant, that moved me. Cuaron did an amazing job of bringing out the childish antics as well as the pain of adulthood from these two great actors. While most of the dialogue was filled with teenage vulgarities, it was the narrative of the characters emotions that drew me in. Describing the pain of being hurt by your best friend as a "stabbing pain that sits just above your stomach," and relating it to the most painful, confusing experiences as children, was screenwriting brilliance, in my eyes.

The narrative of the landscape and the people throughout their journey to the beach was also extremely moving.  The Cuaron brothers brought to live a vivid Mexico, one with interesting people, places, and stories that should be told and shared.

The Passion of Anna

I'm not sure if knowing that Ingmar Bergman wrote and directed this piece while he was breaking up with the lead actress, Liv Ullmann, helped or hurt my opinion of this film. Set on an island in Sweden, The Passion of Anna takes us through a surprisingly love affair that occurs between two neighbors, Anna and Andreas.

The color and photography are gorgeous, and the acting is brilliant, but I really did not take to Bergman's deconstructionist devices, such as intercutting with the real-life actors talking about their characters, nor did I appreciate or care about the subplot of someone committing acts of animal cruelty on the island.

What most fascinated me throughout this story was the intensity of the two lead characters. While they were not particularly intensely in love with each other, they both brought their own past intensities with them to this new relationship. I love great character studies, and this movie did not disappoint here.

While Andreas pines for the wife that left him, Anna's over-zealous faith in humanity and her madness makes it hard to take your eyes off of her. My favorite part of this film was the scene in which Andreas and Anna confess to each other that they are no longer in love, and that there is a wall now that has built up between them. As Andreas was spilling out some of the most gorgeous dialog I've yet seen in a movie, I couldn't help but think of Bergman own voice, as he is attempting to explain to Liv Ullmann that he cares for her, but can no longer be a part of her.

This movie rotates between beautiful, harsh, violent, and painful. I found it at times interesting and poetic, and other times boring and distasteful. Max von Sydow is immensely talented, and delivered difficult dialog as easily and beautifully as if he'd written it himself.

Definitely not my favorite film of Bergman's, though we can all relate to the pain, struggle, defiance and eventual acceptance of a relationship coming to it's end.

Raging Bull

Combining some of my least favorite elements in film...boxing, abuse, and rapid-fire vulgarity and insults, I was less than excited to watch Raging Bull. While often called one of the greatest films of the 80's, and in some cases, one of the greatest films of all time, I still entered into film very hesitantly. Alas, I thoroughly enjoyed watching Rocky with my brother when I was younger, so maybe this movie, about boxing legend Jake LaMotta, would be as entertaining.

For certain, this movie is nothing like Rocky. While both movies focus on a boxer, their similarities end there. While Rocky is inspirational and uplifting, Raging Bull is depressing and painful. Where this movie succeeds is focusing on the emotions and character behind the boxer. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Jake and his brother Joey. Sibling relationships are always unique, and with Jake's temper and paranoia's, this one is certainly filled with tension and electricity.

The acting in this film is spot on, but my favorite part of this movie was the score, which was achingly beautiful. The slow motion scenes with the powerful accompaniment of the score were breathtaking.

Uhhhh....Scorsese. I have a love/hate relationship with his work. While he certainly found a niche early on telling modern stories of crime and violence, I have yet to relate to, feel for, or have a genuine desire to follow the stories of his violent characters, such as Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver,  Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, or Charlie or Johnny Boy in Mean Streets. The Catholic undertones of guilt and redemption weigh too heavily on me like a thick coat of syrup, the violence goes beyond what we need to see as an audience to put the pieces together, and most of his films leave me feeling like and I need to take a long shower. Only when he ventures into different territory and genres, such as with The Age of Innocence or even The Aviator, do I feel like I can breathe while watching.

I am a big fan of Cathy Moriarty's, and I loved seeing her in this film. She played her role as an abused wife to painful perfection. I would have preferred even more depth to her storyline. I would have probably preferred to see this movie more from her perspective than from the "Raging Bull's."

I'm sure that many will chastise me for feeling and saying this, but I am not a big DeNiro fan. Granted,  he is sublimely talented at what he does, but typically, no matter which character he is playing, while he is completely true to that character and plays it as realistically as possible, DeNiro bothers me while onscreen. He gives me this unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I'm not comfortable again until he is offscreen. To that, however, I must also give him immense praise. The reason I that I adore films and filmmaking is the power that it has to transport ones emotions. To be able to change the way a person is feeling and thinking from the time the opening credits roll until the end credits is amazing to me. That power alone is awe-inspiring. Happy, sad, angry, unsettled...if you are transformed to a new mood, one that is different than the mood you arrived with, this is a sign of a job extremely well done by the writer, director, cast and crew.

I don't think that I will sit through Raging Bull again, but if you are interested in true to life, intense character studies, this movie is worth at least one viewing.

Dial M For Murder....

...is a movie everyone's heard of, but perhaps hasn't seen. I know that this was the case for me. I finally got to watch this Hitchcock classic, and enjoyed it immensely. I would easily say that this movie has crept it's way into the upper eschelons of my Favorite Movies list.  I'm also a fan of A Perfect Murder, the modernized version of this tale, though that movie pales in comparison to this gem.

I love a good suspense movie, and this one did not disappoint. The dialogue was excellently written, and not a beat was missed on the actors. I loved the performances by all leads in this film. Even though Grace Kelly's character, Margot, had committed adultry, I empathized with her far more than her sinewy husband. I have to credit Ray Milland for his excellent portrayal as Tony, a husband ready to have his wife killed, as he really became a loathesome individual to me, a creep to his core.

The movie takes place almost entirely in one single room. Again, I must credit Hitchcock for relying on the captivating dialogue, the talent of the actors, and his genius way of using the camera and shot angles to build suspense, to carry this film. This movie was highly dynamic, and never became boring or tiresome.

I think that the other great suspense movie of that year, Rear Window, has gotten more love and appreciation, but I think that this quiet, beautiful film deserves it's share of accolades. The final scene is a bit too clean and tidy, but otherwise, this movie is a solid, entertaining jewel throughout. 

Time Lapse

For a freelance project, I'm filming a time lapse tonight of an artist painting a canvas. I'm extremely excited. Hopefully it turns out as I plan for it to. Fingers crossed! :) Will let you know how it goes...

Glengarry Glen Ross

Wow. If you are interested in watching a film about how low the human psyche can be pushed, this film is it. The all star cast featured some of my favorites-Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Al Pacino, and sweet Alan Arkin. By the end of the film, I could barely stand to look at Kevin Spacey on screen. Alec Baldwin's part is terribly hard to watch, but he nails the character perfectly. Pompous, obtuse, overbearing, overly confident, and narcissistic.

Jack Lemmon will break your heart in this film. His character Shelly floats between emotions as easily and lightly as a dove, but the end results are starkly different. Throughout any given frame, he is confident, week, gutsy, confused, angry, kind, careless in action. His backstory, that he is working hard to provide for his sick daughter, only adds anxiety and pain to his plight.

The writer and director weave in a subplot involving robbery that takes us down one course, only to pull a surprise out in the end that too, causes additional heartache for the viewer.  This film epitomizes the struggles of daily life in the working force for many: corrupt bosses, selfish managers, and good people pushed to the edge when their options of a stable livelihood run out.

The Asphalt Jungle

Another gem directed by John Huston, The Asphalt Jungle is a caper film in it's truest form. The story focuses on a group of "hooligans" planning a jewelry heist. I love a good, suspenseful drama, so felt that this film would be enjoyable, and it was.

The first thing that came to mind as I watched this film was the movie "In Cold Blood." Intense, complex characters, with fates sealed before the opening credits finished rolling. Steven Hayden's performance of Dix Handley was spot on and gut-wrenching as a man who's only known bad luck, but believes his luck is about to change. While it's human instinct to root for the police, I found myself continually rooting for the "villain" Dix over the dirty cops in this picture. Dix' cohorts, however, were none-too likeable. Between the girl-chasing Doc and the two-faced Emmerich, Dix comes off as a decent fella who is just down on his luck.

One thing that continually impresses me is the intensity that John Huston is able to pull from his actors. His characters go through major story and character arcs, and this requires a great deal of dramatization. Huston's actors shift easily from smoking a casual cigarette, to pouring out their hopes and dreams believably, to having meltdowns or even dying. He keeps them so focused on who their characters are at their core that the performances are mesmerizing and credible.

My favorite moment came at the end of the film when the Police Commissioner is giving an interview to the press, speaking about potentially crooked cops in his force. He turns on the police radio, and every station has a report a crime of some sort taking place, calling for police assistance. He states that they send police on every single call, every single day, in every city, in every state. Then he summarizes his plight by simply stating,  "Suppose we had no police force, good or bad." He then turns off the radio, and the room is silent. "Suppose we had, just silence. Nobody to listen. Nobody to answer. The battle's finished. The jungle wins. The predatory beasts take over. Think about it."

Well done, once again, Mr. Huston.