Like Neon

That shit’s SWEET, yo. Details after the jump.

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What do you know, it’s Oscar time yet again. The truth is that I tend to consider the Oscars a poor representation of excellence in filmmaking, but as I am officially a film studies student, it’s my business to give a shit about them now. Unfortunately, I’ve not seen all of the nominees so I can’t make many predictions, but I do have opinions. Oh yes. [read more]

This week in one of my film studies classes, we’ve been discussing D.W. Griffith’s Broken Blossoms, a silent-era film about a Chinese immigrant who falls tragically in love with an abused London waif. I’d never seen the film before, and while I stand by my rating and review as posted yesterday to Filmikaze, I’ve also had to complete a critical analysis of the depiction of race, gender and class within the film, and feel it’s fair to offer that here as a sort of companion piece to the review. I highly recommend viewing the film, and you can apparently stream it or download it for free from Internet Archive here, as it’s currently public domain.

Even if you’ve not seen the film, I’d love insight on the representation of class, race and gender in cinema in general. [read more]

I hate to be all celebrity gossipy, but seriously: what the shit, Rip Torn? This was one of the first things I read today when I got up, and I still can’t say for sure I’m not dreaming it. I don’t know what’s more disappointing: that he tried to rob a bank in the first place, or that he was unsuccessful.

He’s going to prison. Oh, yeah.

If you haven’t heard yet, there is a remake of The Karate Kid slated for release this summer. It’s starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, and you can see the trailer here. There’s a whole argument to be made regarding the cliche of a Westerner appropriating Asian culture and then being the best at it, but that’s not what I want to talk about today.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who is still clinging to Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita.

Remakes are an intrinsic part of Hollywood and I know this, but…YOU GUYS. This was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Ralph Macchio was my first celebrity crush. “The Glory of Love” from The Karate Kid, Part II was my first 45 (She says, wondering if anyone reading this knows what a 45 is).

I think what upsets me most about it is that the trailer makes it look like any other pseudo-badass against the odds movie coming out of Hollywood these days. Trite story line + wisecracks + training montage with inspirational rap music = box office gold?

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m old and crotchety and still love Ralph Macchio. It isn’t as if the original was anything truly revolutionary. Is it fair to want to keep certain things sacred for the sake of my nostalgia?

…don’t answer that. I’ll just be over here watching the Star Trek reboot for the 20th time.