Erasmus Graves

​Finally finished Crime and Punishment. My fourth Dostoevsky, and absolutely superb.

There Will Be Blood (2007) A modern classic, and one of Paul Thomas Anderson's best films, if not his best. Very well acted and shot. Apart from the odd line of dialogue, it captures the atmosphere of the early 20th century superbly. Leaves one with a lot of food for thought. Third time I've watched it and it's still absorbing, intense viewing. The soundtrack is also brilliant and atonal. 2007 really stands head and shoulders above pretty much other year this century for authentic, high-quality historical movies - Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and of course, this.

Life of Pi. Good book, hadn't realised how many metaphorical levels it worked on until I read it. I am even more impressed by the film now as well, for the way it adapts the book without holding the viewer's hand.

What is dank will never die. Not sure if this one's been posted before:

Diddy Wah Diddy - Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band. Easily one of the best blues-rock covers I've ever heard.

Jockey Full of Bourbon - Tom Waits

Last night, I dreamt I was drifting aimlessly through the town mall on Australia Day (day after tomorrow), and picked a fight with a bearded man. I then ran into a nearby carpark after its conclusion. Apart from the strange and clinical mood I found myself in, and the smoothness of my every movement, it wasn't a particularly "out there" dream.

The cold knight doth deign to tread the warm wastes of Ta-Wahi, 2001.

Rock 'N' Roll Damnation - AC/DC. I love Powerage.

Has anyone ever dreamt of waking up within the dream more than once in the one dream? I mean, it's not quite Inception but it's happened to me once or twice. I felt as if I'd woken up on two separate occasions in the one night - but the dream went on regardless. And then I really woke up, and scratched my head, as I hadn't watched Inception for almost a year and was wondering why this was happening to me.

INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989) Still my favourite of the series. If I started talking about it I'd take up a whole page. It gets a personal 10/10 or A+ from me ALIEN (1979) & ALIENS (1985) Love them both. Can't make up my mind to which is better, though I might give the edge to Alien, which is the scarier of the two (that scene in the air ducts :shivers:), but Aliens absolutely nails it as well. They both keep you on the edge of your seat, and the possibility of survival genuinely feels slim. I like how Aliens goes off into its own territory while still remaining faithful to the spirit of the original. They're two of the best sci-fi films of all time, easily. SILENCE (2016) Right, this was my most anticipated film of 2016, as I love the novel and Scorsese's been trying to get it made for years, but due to its limited release in Australia (like my other most anticipated film, "Heck" or High Water), I was unable to see it. Living in the Outback has its drawbacks. Anyway, Netflix very kindly put it up, so I was at last able to watch it. Note that since the film is concerned with religion and history, my discussion of it will be limited. PROS - Cinematography and Direction: The easiest way to describe the cinematography of Silence is Ozu meets Dreyer, with a dash of Scorsese. It's a lot more static and locked down that most of Scorsese's films, but still has a fair few of his trademark whip pans. The compositions are gorgeous, though. Since Scorsese hasn't made a film like this for a long time (and in such locations), I didn't find myself thinking about how it was shot or made throughout. The film is definitely one of the best-looking of last year, while also managing to be realistically grimy. - Acting: Andrew Garfield has really come into his own, now. He's no longer the second Spider-Man but a formidable actor in his own right now. Adam Driver convinced me he was a really good actor in Paterson, and he's superb here. Liam Neeson's performance is good, but despite his crucial role, he's hardly in the film so I'm not really going to comment on him. Shinya Tsyukamoto and Yosuke Kubozuka were definite standouts, while Tadanobu Asano was also very good and Issey Ogata handled his complex role excellently. - Examination of Faith. In a time when cinema's examination and contemplation of serious religious and existential questions in an intelligent and thoughtful manner has practically slowed to a trickle (particularly in the first aspect), Silence is a torch. It's thought-provoking and, though restrained, quite powerful. I felt quite emotionally blasted by the film, as I was by the novel, but left feeling better for it. It expresses all the opinions laid out in Endo's novel, and never tries to force any upon you, leaving you to form your own. A reviewer said, "It poses all the right questions but only a few answers." It leaves the rest up to the viewer. CONS - Length. While I wasn't bored by Silence (though many others were), I reckon it could have been trimmed by perhaps 5 minutes, maybe more. - Accessibility. If the subject doesn't interest you to some extent, you probably won't like it. But then, I had some mates who did like it, but they like pretty much everything by Scorsese regardless. The film also moves at a slow pace, so it depends if you like slower movies. Personally, I feel that it's Scorsese's best since Casino (1995), though there are people who'll probably disagree with me (I love Casino btw, I'd read the history behind it when I was younger and so I didn't pass it off as a GoodFellas retread like many people did). It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I left moved and . If you liked the novel you'll like the film, probably. Shusaku Endo gave Scorsese his seal of approval back in the '90s. to make the film. Silence is a film that requires intellectual involvement with its questions, and I mean this sincerely (perhaps why it didn't do very well at the box office). It's not a film you pop into the player as a good way to spend a Friday night, it's an often confronting and tough experience. I give it a 9/10 or an A+, but as I said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. If you're religious or at least interested in religion, you'll probably appreciate it.

BLUE COLLAR (1978) Watched this over two days in my spare time. Three Detroit autoworkers, dissatisfied with their treatment by the union, decide to rob its offices. Initially disappointed with their haul, they soon realise they've stumbled onto something much bigger - and with the possibility of money comes danger... PROS: - Acting and Characters. Richard Pryor never really got the chance to do dramatic roles, but he is phenomenal in this film. Probably his best performance. Yaphet Kotto's also superb; again, perhaps his best work. Harvey Keitel had already done and went on to do better work, but he's terrific in the least showy performance of the leads. They're engaging and realistic protagonists. - Screenplay & Dialogue. A really underrated and unfortunately hard to obtain work from the director Paul Schrader and his brother. The dialogue is very good and I can't remember any instances of it feeling anything but completely natural. The story, character development and the manner in which it tackles the themes is also very good. - Direction. It was Schrader's directorial debut and the production was notorious for its fights between the three leads, but it's maturely and well directed and the friendship between the characters feels genuine. - Humour. For a film that deals with a lot of serious topics, it's actually occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. These moments don't feel forced and are well-balanced into situations. - Cinematography. All the shots feel right and generate real atmosphere. There's a fight scene that captures the sudden chaos of undisciplined and scared violence. - Soundtrack. Perfectly fitting blues by Jack Nitzsche and Ry Cooder with a great performance of Captain Beefheart singing 'Hard Workin Man'. It's really well handled. - A realistic and gritty portrayal of '70s working class life. CONS: - Three quarters of the film are great, the last one starts to rush and begins to go downhill but never goes bad. If the film had been 10 minutes longer I reckon it would have held it together much better. - The ending. It's a good ending but it ends up spelling out the major themes in far too blunt a fashion and you can see it coming from about four minutes away. - Lack of development of Keitel's family. While there are some really memorable moments here, I was left with the feeling that there was major potential here that was wasted. Overall: 8.4/10 or a solid A. ​Lean, mean and well worth your time. I reckon it's Schrader's best directorial work (though I confess to not having seen Mishima yet, and that is known for being its length and stylisation, unlike Blue Collar).

The ovens are located above a pocket of unstable gas and the bakery explodes, killing Jala, Takua, Tahu and grievously injuring Turaga Vakama. Onua takes pipe organ lessons.