what is ¿dramatis personae?

This is my broader vision and aim for Dramatis Personae:

"The Room" of Rutger Hauer

Directed by Erik Lieshout and Rutger Hauer

The following notes on "The Room" are from Rutger Hauer's website:

A man explains how he was obsessed when he was younger by a mysterious room and an extraordinary rarefied piano music that drifted through its open window during the night. Forty years later, returning to his home town after having spent most of his life abroad, in "a bunch of different places", he asks one of his friends to rent a room for him.

As chance would have it, it turns out to be the same room which attracted him when he was a young man. What drew him again to this room?

I am surprised, frankly, to see that this haunting short film has garnered only 6000+ views.  It speaks to a subject that is so fundamentally taboo for many of us that, perhaps, it makes sense that not many people have seen it.  Still, it's easily one of the most brilliant films I've seen.

Here are Hauer's video blogs on the film:

Andrew Lloyd Webber at the Royal Albert Hall

What can top a birthday celebration, like this, at the Royal Albert Hall?  Andrew Lloyd Webber was the man of the hour, and in 1998 he turned 50 years old, to the accompaniment of a lavish, well-performed rendition of his stage musical masterpieces.  

Elaine Paige was the lead in the 1978 debut production of "Evita."  Eva Perón died at age 33, and at the singing of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" in the story, she was close to her end.  Paige, a relative unknown at the time, fiercely wanted the role.  So at 30 she was at the perfect age.  

I love Sarah Brightman.  Webber wrote the role of Christine Daaé for her, who caught his attention in the early 1980s.  They were married by the time his adaptation of "Phantom of the Opera" debuted on Broadway in 1988, and to my ears Brightman will always be the defining voice for Christine.  

Glenn Close won the Tony as Norma Desmond in the 1994 Broadway production of "Sunset Boulevard." She follows in a lineage of grand dames in that role, which began with Gloria Swanson in the Award-winning 1950 film.  Both voice and acting cinch Close's performance.  

The Surreal Insomnia of "Fight Club"

Edward Norton, as the Narrator

With insomnia, nothing's real. Everything's far away. Everything's a copy of a copy of a copy.

Brad Pitt, as Tyler Durden

The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.

Helena Bonham Carter, as Marla Singer

You take tuberculosis. My smoking doesn't go over at all.

Shape of Léon and Mathilda's Heart

(image credit)

Classic, indeed. The most unlikely friendship between Léon and Mathilda was a very tender counter-balance to the violence, manipulation and loss surrounding them. 

Jean Reno in a pensive moment, perhaps in an abandoned building in the inner city of somewhere.

Jean Reno, by Antonín Kratochvíl

Natalie Portman was only 13 years old, when Léon: The Professional came out in 1994.  An impressive performance, at such a young age and in her debut film, no less.  

You get the slant of this article:  behind-the-scenes.  Sting may have just awakened, and hardly took a moment to warm up his voice, before taking the microphone with his guitarist.  I love it.  

"Shape of my Heart" is the leitmotiv of the film, and is a favorite of mine for its simple melody and deep poetry.

I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

Awesome Short Films from Jameson First Shot

I first heard about "The Smile Man" from a post in the Movies community on Google+.  The plot is notably contrived, but it's funny and it's compelling.  Its layers of meaning make it more profound than an ordinary comedy:

• Contrivance of Western society around smiling, for instance, when having your picture taken
• Endowment of smiling as a cure-all for a host of ails or distemper, which we see as inspirational quotes on social media
• Cultural prerequisite of smiling among Filipinos, which a friend was tacitly reminding me of, when she kept encouraging me to smile more

Anton Lanshakov is a graduate of the Humanitarian Institute of Television & Radio Broadcasting in Moscow. Currently working as a writer, director and producer his winning script, THE SMILE MAN focuses on a gentleman dealing with the consequences of a car accident, which has left him with a spinal injury that means he has a permanent smile on his face.  [Film notes, here and below, are from Jameson First Shot]

There are two more in this series.  "Love's Routine" queries us on that perennial theme of people vis-a-vis machines.  When is practical usefulness taken too far, when is love no longer quite love, and what happens to machine in the absence (nay, loss) of people?

Shirlyn Wong from New York is an M.F.A. graduate film candidate from New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia. During her film school career she has won awards from Singapore Short Film Awards and First Run Film Festival. Her script, LOVE’S ROUTINE is a dark comedy about a discordant elderly couple, who ultimately prove that love is greater than flesh and blood.

Finally, "Saving Norman" is about an animal therapist, who uses her ingenuity to save an ailing parrot by having its long-despondent owner work through, psychologically, a demoralizing scratch in a championship ping-pong match.

Hanneke Schutte is a writer/director from Johannesburg. Having previously had her work shown at Durban International Film Festival, her winning script, SAVING NORMAN tells the story of a hypochondriac ex-ping pong player who never got over missing a major tournament final because of a cold.

I love this quote, said by Chen Ho Yong, who was the de facto champion in that ill-fated non-match in 1989:

Medal's ruined my life, you know.  It was cursed.  Six months after I won, my wife left me, because I became too much big-headed.  I gained 40 kilograms. Blew all my money on dog races.  I ate dog food for three years, you know.  

So freaking funny!

From Neo and Agent Smith, to Moshimo and Mustache

In this final scene, Neo can finally see Agent Smith and his mates for what they are - algorithms (computer codes) - and finally believes he is The One.

This is an awesome commercial, and I trust GE and their ad firm did market research on this campaign. In one month, this raked in 1.4 million views on YouTube.  Now, at 1.7 million.

Working our theme of the day further, we hear Mom talk about Moshimo ... Mustache ... Leo ... computer whatever ... Judo! This video has pulled-in over 5 million views, and is totally EP.pic (lol).