cinema

Films I Watched

For years I didn’t watch many films but recently the habit has returned. Blood and Gold I am used to watching English or French films about the First and Second World War but recently I watched Blood and Gold, in German, with English subtitles. It’s interesting to watch a German film rather than a European one, for a different perspective of the war. The film is set right at the end of the War, days before the Allies liberate Germany.

Arrest - Screened at the Black Movie film Festival

Yesterday I went to see Arrest - screened at the Black Movie film festival. It’s an independent film festival taking place in Geneva at the moment. I’m a volunteer at the event and in exchange for standing at the door and checking tickets, I get to see any film that still has space. The provisional title of this film was 1983 and because I walked in a few minutes into the film I missed the beginning.

Getting an audience to film screenings

Adam Aron, CEO of AMC recently made a generation of cinema non-goers angry with him when he said that he would allow texting to take place during projects. My generation, previous generations and the generations of the future complained on social media. Getting an audience to film screenings requires an understanding of what they prefer to do instead. In the “Golden Age” of my cinema going life I would go to the cinema up to three times a week.

On Film and Television

I like that I can watch days of television series and that I can’t spend 90 minutes watching films. Television series are about people, places and situations and the characters are realistic. In contrast films are superficial, shallow and too full of special effects for a story to be told. The cinema loses out because it is too superficial, too pretentious without offering something contrast at the end of the donated time.

Der baader Meinhof-Komplex

There are some films we may not intentionaly go to see. Der Baader Meinhof-Komplex is one of them. The English title is The Baader Meinhof Complex. The film takes a look at the beginning of theRed Army Faction, in Germany. It is based on the book The “Baader-Meinhof Group” by Stefan Aust. For more information

The 50 Years of the City Club cinema in Pully

I was in Pully this weekend for the fifty year celebrations of the City Club Cinema celebrating half a century of existence. There were a number of special events, from a silent film being screened with a live orchestra to a number of documentaries being screened as well. I particularly enjoyed the documentary screenings because the documentary producers and some of those interviewed in those documentaries came to the screenings and presented their films before the film and answered some questions at the end.

Gael Métroz and Dziga Vertov

For three weeks he had no battery and was unable to record anything but the rest of the time he was collecting 150hrs worth of video for his documentary Nomad’s land. We’re speaking of Gael Métroz of course, a swiss born traveler who wanted to retrace the steps of Nicholas Bouvier. He would travel from Switzerland to Sri Lanka. I want to see the documentary but so far I’ve had no opportunity.

Fox Film distribution and the European market in relation to Night at the Museum

Fox and UK cinemas fighting I have just read that a few cinema chains in the United Kingdom are pulling Night at the museum from the cinemas. They became angry after Fox distributors decided to release the film just three months after the cinema release. From a media student’s point of view, this is an interesting development. What early adopters have found is that they can get content as soon as the film has been out for a few hours/days.