The Magic of the Movies

Product Information

Less than two years after Tyler's book was published, Billy Wilder was making Sunset Boulevard. Initially conceived as a grotesque comedy about a silent film star who attempts to revive her career, Sunset Boulevard was the movie in which, haunted by Gloria Swanson's monstrous Norma Desmond, the movies recognised themselves as history. I know ‘Now You See Me 2’ is far from impressive. In fact, parts of it are pretty ordinary, but I’d say that it’s one of the best in the genre. What’s exciting about both this one and its predecessor is that the magic part of the film has been used very well and it makes for a highly entertaining experience. ‘Now You See Me 2’ follows the Four Horseman in Macau, China where they are forced by a tech expert to pull of a dangerous and seemingly impossible heist. The story certainly looks exciting and it has quite a lot of interesting twists and turns that keep you engaged throughout. However, once the film is over, and when you start analyzing the plot-points, you realize that it is extremely convoluted and implausible for the most part. It’s a shame that Ed Solomon, the screenwriter, barely put any thought to the script. With more efforts, we could have had a much more solid, well-constructed plot that would have made for an amazingly entertaining cinematic experience. Movies have immense soft power. They can greatly influence one’s ideas and opinions. The movie makers can make a large chunk of populace toe their line of thinking and feed the minds with distorted facts of history. Such trends are dangerous. Movies, I feel should be produced to entertain and not to provide education on history, science etc. Let education be left to the educators in the know of the subject. Entertainment with some simple message for the good of society should be the buzzword.

Decide on a theme. What movies would you like to watch? You can choose a certain category/genre, director, actor, or production. Siskel, Gene (January 7, 1979). "Film clips and the year's Top 10 in review". Chicago Tribune. Section 6, pp. 3, 12 . Retrieved September 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com.Kilday, Gregg (June 12, 1976). "MOVIE CALL SHEET: Knievel to Star as himself". Los Angeles Times. Part II, pp. 7– 8– via Newspapers.com. There is another magic documentary that I would have liked to have included titled Magic Camp, about kids from around the world who gather every year at Tannen's Magic Camp. I am nostalgic about the days when watching movies in single screen theatres was a national pastime for one and all. I recall with remarkable fidelity, the divinity in viewing movies in a hall filled with a crowd of all hues, clapping and whistling at good-humored scenes. When the scenes were glum, the hall fell into a melancholic silence.

In his lifetime, Ed Wood was dubbed the "worst director ever" for making movies like Plan 9 from Outer Space or Glen or Glenda. Any sense of production value was nonexistent in these films, the dialogue was laughable, and there was no sense of continuity from one scene to the next. But there was passion on the screen. Wood’s clear affinity for his works and his embracing of idiosyncratic yet strangely personal plotlines make his movie the very definition of the Anton Ego line from Ratatouille, "the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." Most of the exterior shots were shot at Le Trianon resort on the Blue Lake in Upper Lake, California. Turn movie watching today into a joyful experience by taking an active role. Engage with the story and have the best time. Madness resulting from one person living two personas through a ventriloquist's dummy has been portrayed several times before in film and television, most notably: I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians. ~Francis Ford Coppola

10. The Rose (The Rose)

Such were the captivating acts of the thespians on the screen. The audience was vocal, identifying itself intimately with the star. It’s an entertaining story, using politics and magic as the underlying themes. Eisenheim The Illusionist, is a mysterious character with an agenda buried deep down in his heart. He dares to oppose the tyrant crown prince, using the only weapon in his armoury – Magic. Ed Norton poured his heart out while playing this role and you could feel the same, when you see a broken man seeing his dead beloved. Wait, did I say she was dead? Well, before we spoil the surprise, go and watch it, if you haven’t. Read My Lips", a 1993 episode of Batman: The Animated Series, features a villain called the Ventriloquist, who leads a group of criminals through the persona of his dummy Scarface. Directed by Sylvain Chomet, based on an unproduced script written by the legendary director Jacques Tati, ‘The Illusionist’ tells the story of a struggling French illusionist who travels to Scotland, where his life changes after he meets a beautiful young woman named Alice, who believes he genuinely possesses magical powers. I happened to watch this film recently and I was pleasantly surprised by it. The plot here isn’t particularly original or striking in any way but it’s Chomet’s treatment of the story that stands out for me. It is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated animated movies of recent times. 4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Much like Be Kind Rewind, The Purple Rose of Cairo could’ve been unbearable if executed poorly. In this case, it’s easy to imagine that the story of a cinema devotee getting to walk around in the real world with one of her favorite film characters could've been too twee for its own good. Thankfully, Cairo avoids that route by focusing on its central characters, film buff Cecilia ( Mia Farrow) and archeologist Tom Baxter ( Jeff Daniels), the latter of whom has waltzed right off a movie theater screen and into the land of flesh-and-blood people. I do not contribute much to the box office collection now. Unless pestered too much by someone , I do not go to the multiplexes. The reason being I do not think much about the current productions. Too much violence and bloodletting makes me nauseated. Movies have come to our drawing rooms and are available on the smartphones. That suffices my needs. It seems to me that music, art and dance were the central art forms of the early centuries, literature the dominant art form of the 19th century, theatre and cinema the great art forms of the 20th century, and television the key art form of the 21st century. And I might just write one of these days (and I’m almost there) that I’ve begun preferring the way some television movies and serials tell stories to the way movies tell them!Keep it light and playful. Don’t take things too seriously. Watch with playful curiosity and enjoyment as it comes naturally to you. If you feel you’re stressing out, you’re over-thinking. This defeats the purpose. The main goal is to have fun—consciously. I don’t know how much this once large and troubling reality about going to the movies in India has changed for women, but I do see a few young women now, mostly college-going, catch a morning or matinee alone at a multiplex. Killing time, bunking college or an irrepressible passion for cinema? Whichever it is, it’s nice to see they can choose to watch alone. I wonder how much of that ridiculous old stigma had also to do with the poor reputation cinema had in India for several generations as trashy and artistically inferior cinema. Our movies are hip and cool now, but even until the late 90s they were thought of as cheesy and infra dig. (What we could all unabashedly relish and celebrate were the movie songs, especially the old Hindi songs). Stories have been weaved into the fabric of our existence—they are as old as humanity. And storytelling as an art form (or perhaps a necessity) remains at the heart of the human experience. The movies of yesteryear were entertainingly formulated. The operators in the formula were the hero, the heroine , the villain, the comedian and the host of extras. Mellifluous songs founded on high-quality lyrics added to the charm. The movies not only entertained but taught to be chivalrous like the hero, shun the evil acts of the villain and be humorous like the comedian to mitigate the agonies of life.