(Sunday, February 26)

My Favorite Visually Distinctive Movies in terms of art direction and creation (Artistic Style?)

You are probably wondering what exactly this list is about. Well I am also. I really don't know the term for it (and there might not be a term for it). Basically I am tying to come up with a list of movies that I thought had a specific 'artistic vision, when it came to the character's environment and the movie's setting. It is really hard for me to describe what I mean because I don't want to get it confused with movies that do a good job at recreating a time period in history via the set and/or special fx (ie Gladiator, Braveheart, etc) or that do a good job at creating a "foreign environment" (ie Aliens, etc). When I say foreign environment I just mean the creation of an environment the way we think it will be at some time in the future. With Alien, it was the future and the space setting was something that conceptually could be a space station in the future. What I am trying to categorize are movies that created something with a fantastic vision, and with that vision the art direction was able to implement it into the movie in such a way that was extremely new and refreshing. When I say fantastic I mean it in this sense:

extravagantly fanciful in design, construction, appearance; "Gaudi's fantastic architecture"

So, now that I have completely confused anyone who is reading this into wondering what the hell I actually am using for criteria for this list, it might help for you to see the movies me and my wife determined belonged on the list and look at the environments that they were shown and maybe you will see what I mean. (And if there is a term for it please let me know).

Dark Crystal Probably what got me started on this list was I was trying to find some information on the new Dark Crystal movie. I loved the first movie when I was little, and I don't know if there are many other movies that influenced the way I dreamt for such a long time. The concept creator (and person who came up with the actual costuming/puppets) came up with such a dark, torrmented creature when they came up with the Skesis.

I mean these were some pretty scary puppets, yet even as a kid I knew that they were the bad guys because of how visual unappealing they were. When you compare them to Geflings or the Uru, who have faces that are somewhat smooth and visually appealing, the Skesis look like raisin's with beaks. The kink in this theory comes from Augra who helps the two main Gelflings, but is still pretty fucking ugly.

Anyways, The settings of the whole movie are extremely dark and very "earth-toney" (Did I just make up a word?).





Anytime we see the Skesis they are surounded by an environment of jagged edges, and when we see the Gelflings, it is harmonious circles and smooth surfaces.





Certainly one of the coolest movies I watched as a kid, and probably at the core of it one of the most visually dark movies.

Labyrinth "Whose got the baby with the voodoo?"

Another kids movie that I probably wore down the vcr tape heads with my tv recorded version of the movie when I was little. I really don't even need to describe how visually stunning this movie was (and also how visually stunning Jennifer Connely is also [HOORAY for Requiem for a Dream!]) from the characters:

Hoggle:

Sir Didamus:

to the perfect casting of Bowie for Janeth. The MC Hammer-Escher-esque (made up word count: 2) stairwell scenes



and one of my favorite scenes of all times with the 2 talking door knobs, all had very dark distinct visuals.

Moulin Rouge:



I honestly did not think I would enjoy anything where Obi-wan would be singing like a musical. The first time I saw this we rented the DVD and let me tell you, this is most certainly one of the best movies to have ever been made. The story, the characters, and most importantly the visuals, really make this one of the greats in my opinion. While the previous two movies I discussed were elegantly dark, this movie takes to the other side of the spectrum when it comes to the use of color. Every color stands out very well (very much like Sin City) but yet the palate for the entire movie just fits together so well. The same green that you see in the absinthe is the same green you see later on in the movie, maybe only a slight variation in the shade. It really works well through the movie. The rich red of the red velvet curtain is the same red as Satine's dress, etc. Also, one thing I really liked about the artistic vision in this movie is the great use of the absence of color.



In certain scenes like when Satine sings about diamonds (and all the stuff her character ends up willing to give up in the end) the color is very muted and very dull like one would think someone who only cares about that kind of stuff is.

Great Movie. Hands down, just a great movie. And I HATE musicals.

Batman Returns

Yes I loved Batman Begins. I thought it was a great movie and visually stunning in its own right. I also think Bale was the best Batman hands down (I am sure my wife would agree also), but there is just something about Tim Burton's Batman Returns that I enjoyed so much. It seemed to me that out of all the Batman movies, Burton's Gotham was just the darkest and dreariest (yes this might also be the fact that at the time period in batman's life that this movie was supposed to be in was also quite possibly the more dreariest time for Gotham).



I really enjoyed the way that Devito's Penguin character looked also for some reason in this movie.



Catwoman's costuming was done well, but I really think when it comes down to visuals that the penguin was just an extraordinarily abhorrent character.

The Cell



I am sure as some people read this they are like "Is he talking about that J-Lo movie?" and yes I am. The visuals in the ending scenes of this movie, and some of the most artistic scenes I have seen in ANY movie ever. And J-Lo is just totally smokin.



I don't want to give anything away but the final set of scenes is just so perfect and elegantly evil that I don't know how else to describe them. The characters and what they are wearing is extremely intense and almost makes you want to pause the DVD and say "Who the hell would think to wrap that man's nipple with that gauge of wire?" but the result of all these small minute details and the VIVID use of color is just awesome.





Vincent Denofrio's character's costumes are extremely cool and ,in the most complementary way I can suggest it, would have been some pretty cool G.I. Joe character figures.

Also I have to give props to Vince Vaughn and J-Lo in this movie, both did a great job with the acting, and I can honestly say that after Swingers it was very hard for me to see Vince Vaughn and not laugh, but he does a really good job of "serious" acting in this movie.



The Village Since we are on the topic of color, I don't know if there has ever been another movie that I have seen that has used color in such a perfect way as the story telling in The Village. The Yellow of the cloaks, the distinction of the red marks on the door against the normal black/white/green grass environment of the village, all create this distinct visual environment for this movie.





Another thing which I could not find a picture of was the blue of Bryce Howard's Eyes (who ironically plays the blind character). Which is very interesting because there was not much blue in the movie, and really nothing as bright as her eyes, and her eyes (and their use/non use) play a very big part of the movie.

Ok so thats 6. I also had a few honerable mentions:

Sin City - Pretty East to See the artistic style, but it parallel the graphic novel very closely, so I don't know who to really give credit to, the movie or the graphic novel artist.

The Matrix - Mostly do to special fx, but the original Matrix had a very distinct look, specifically within the Matrix it's self.

Beetle Juice - Can you honestly say you expected to see 2 Michael Keaton movies on the list of my most artistic movies of all time??! Well Bettle Juice was in an opium induced class of its own. The visuals matched with pseudo-claymation was pretty suave.

Saving Private Ryan - We were thinking about including this movie, not specifically for the awesome scenes, but only for the way the movie was filmed. I think the persistent shaking and way the camera follows the characters like the camera is another person running behind them in battle was great, and really added to the film.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (both versions) - Really don't need to explain why that much. I really enjoyed Burton's version as much as I enjoyed the original. For some reason scenes Charlie's slanted house right on the threshold of the city really tell a lot about the story for me.

Young Guns II - It really didnt have anything amazing artistic about it, but any movie with Jack Bauer, Gil Grissom, Aragorn, Cameron Frye, Will Scarlet, Ralph from Lord of the Flies, and a character with a last name of Chavez y Chavez deserves to be on any list of any movies and any time. (10 points for anyone that makes all the connections).

So what do you think? Please post any other movies you think are in the same class as these (because of artistic style) in the comments. I am going to try to get a hold of a copy of mirror mask sometime this week; I have heard it is pretty wild. Anyone else got any other suggestions?

Brainstorm it:

I can't believe you put Batman Returns in here. All credibility evaporated right there. The original Batman was so much better. How could you take Devito over Nicholson? This is just crazy. I can't get over this.

What about The Running Man? It gets bonus points for somewhat accurately predicting the future. The over the top TV commercials in there (like fighting dogs for money) are not that far off from our current TV shows.

Also, Starship Troopers was great. It is vastly underrated, but an awesome movie. Great Satire.

I think it would be just as fun to do an anti-list for movies that failed spectacularly at this task. (Batman Returns would probably be on that list. Penguins with missiles strapped on their backs? Puh-lease.) The 5th Element also comes to mind.

# posted by Justin : 2/27/2006 11:46:00 AM

You should definitely check out MirrorMask. I think you'll quickly add it to this list.

As for other movies I might add:

Probably any Shyamalan movie really. Since you already used The Village, I'll take Unbreakable. He uses color pretty well in that one to represent good vs. bad and the comic book feel of the framing is nice.

Dark City would make my list too. It's like the Batman movies, where you feel like it's an environment based on current day large cities, but you can't really place it in a specific time period. I also love the character design for The Strangers.

I'm going to go out on a limb for my last one and say Pitch Black. It's sorta got a color thing going on too, but I think it's the use of light and darkness that make it a visually interesting movie.

Excellent post. I enjoyed muchly (new word #3).

# posted by bobafred : 2/27/2006 12:07:00 PM

How about The Ring? Regardless of whether you thought it was scary or not (I did), I thought it had some pretty effective visuals. The dark mood of the film was done pretty well with the rainy atmosphere throughout most of the movie, and the cut scenes of random important objects such as the tree on the hill, and the sped-up frame speed added to the freakiness. Plus, that damn girl�

# posted by edgemoor : 2/27/2006 12:59:00 PM

When I think of visually stunning movies a lot of these on you list come to mind. Here are a few I think you left out. American History X- going from black and white to color throughout the movie really brings a terrific screen play to life. While I am on the topic of movies that go from black and white to color I must list the only other Film I can think of that is like that The Wizard of Oz. This movie set the bar for films in alternate realities. Something is pretty impressive about a movie that was made almost 70 years ago that still is as visually stunning as this on is today . Very amazing what they did with the limited technology at the time. Another movie I would list is all three Lord of the Rings movies. Peter Jackson such a great job with those films and I am afraid he will never be given enough credit for making them.

Honorable Mention:

Terminator 1 and 2 James Cameron revolutionized the film industry as we know it with T2. Not bad for a truck driver that learned how to make movies by reading books at the public library.

Jurassic Park 1- I like to pretend The Lost World was never made so I am leaving it off.

LA Confidential � There is just something about the way this movie was shot that really sets if apart from other films.

Rocky IV- Just because that movie will be on any movie list I ever make!

# posted by Tosh : 3/02/2006 04:29:00 PM

Well - I can agree that all of those present a certain visual style and appeal - but, in general, the whole list represents very poorly crafted films.

They all have an element of vivid - if not sureal cinematography - but, as a whole, none would ever rank in a serious list of quality films.

# posted by Anonymous : 3/03/2006 02:16:00 PM

Decent List, I agree with Justin above though Batman Returns sucks. Probably one of my least favorite Batmans.

I think LOTR: Return of the King should get a nod for artistic visuals. While a lot, nay most of it was CGI some of the shots were amazing, and the backdrop of New Zealand has put it on the top of my destinations I want to see in my lifetime. Awesome movie, great costumes and effects.

# posted by Andy : 3/06/2006 09:13:00 AM

I stayed away from LOTR/Narnia/Harry Potter just because they were adaptations from books that were pretty visual already. The artists were great, but they generally recreated the images in the style of the author.

# posted by cyan : 3/06/2006 09:48:00 AM

 Your Thoughts?