Amazing record setting news: Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Wednesday through Sunday, MORE THAN 8.8 MILLION PEOPLE watched a movie at an AMC theatre globally. The highest Thanksgiving U.S. numbers ever for AMC in our entire 104 year history. Staggering, incredible numbers.
I watched Alice Rohrwacher's latest film, "La chimera.” It was wonderful. I was fascinated by the indescribable vibe, worldview, tone, and unique rhythm of the film. Rohrwacher’s films do not fit into any conventional film grammar or logic. In a way, they have a mysterious charm to them that cannot be put into words. This is an eccentric adventure story about a "grave robber" with special abilities – but who is neither Indiana Jones nor a treasure hunter – who chases love and fantasy. I was startled by the sudden chorus of Kraftwerk's SPACELAB. Josh O'Connor gives a great performance throughout the film. As was the case in “Challengers” as well, but he is currently one of the best actors out there. Also, Isabella Rossellini was in it, too. This film will be released in Japan on July 19.
Saw Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga in IMAX for the third time. Bought 3 booklets. The chase scene with Octoboss (the name is like MGS). It still makes me roar no matter how many times I see it. The rhythm of the movement and the attacks backwards, forwards, under the truck, in the air and on the truck, the direction and the camera. The "glue space" between the action sequences is well defined, so it is easy to understand even when the positions are changed. This kind of connection cannot be achieved by shooting with multiple cameras simultaneously and then editing. It is a miracle that everything was calculated and studied in the pre-visualization and realized with stunts and VFX. This is action art. The way the chase is introduced is also well done. A sidecar driven by a black octopus crosses the road, where we get a glimpse of his skate shoes. After that, a moving camera from behind frames the chase in a single shot. The skate gimmick is revealed, the parachute opens, and the octopus emerges. The parachute octopus on the other side of the track also appears, and the camera rises with it, spinning above the track (and replacing the parachute), leading to the attack and defense with the Warboys. Only George could have done such a complex one-shot. Sigh. I'm going to see it again, not in IMAX, but in CinemaScope, and then the Japanese dubbed version.