GIG_PUPPET

A magnificent talk with death and soul. [All That Jazz]

2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

After watching this movie, the crowd was silent for a minute. Anyone who expected to watch a chic & cheerful dancing movie would be disappointed and disgruntled.

“What the F is this?”

All that Jazz, a semi-autobiographical movie directed by Bob Fosse, not so much a musical film but an unprecedented character study on depression and a hallucinating depiction of how a cabaret genius burns out all his passion and, at the same time, bids farewell to the world in an unrestrained and lonely way of narcissism.

Not knowing much about the life of Bob Fosse before watching this movie, but after watching it, I want to know every single detail of the life of the man behind it.

So, what does this movie exactly say? From the story-telling perspective, it tells how a workaholic, smoking-addicted, dissolute and talented cabaret director and choreographer, Joe Gideon, fights with his mental illness caused by a humiliating experience on a stage performance during youthhood, and eventually, get crushed by a heart attack. But the whole movie is way more than that.

First, by adding a flirting and poetic conversation with the death goddess played by Jessica Lange, not only the protagonist’s arc is enriched to a great extent, but also blurred the line of realism and surrealism by cross-cutting his hallucination and the reality which gives the whole movie a jazzy, ambient vibe. Back to reality, the relationships with his girlfriend and ex-wife as well as the negative review from a film critic finally overwhelmed and crushed him. The final scene shows his corpse being zipped in a body bag.

What’s more about this film is, of course, the amazing stage performances. Besides the movies’ glittery finale, there’s also one erotic and sexual inclusive stage show which seems to be bold at that time.

After watching this movie, there’re people saying it feels like Fellini’s 8 ½. It’s true. The dream-like experience, the surrealistic dancing scenes, all feel familiar. However, from my personal perspective, it also feels like Requiem for a Dream to me (Or the opposite?). The anger, helplessness, and loneliness in his soul undoubtedly added a lot of weight of realism to this film. The final tragic scene also undoubtedly enhances the contrast of reality, which leaves the whole story resonates with you.

Does being great also means to be lonely and paranoid and self-centered? Bob Fosse presented his own answer to the world.

Thesis topic discussion and current progress. [To be continued]

2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Honestly, I want to keep a blog to record my thoughts and research progress already for a while now. However, procrastination is the norm of my life, so, yeah, here I am finally. Big shout-out to Github and this youtube video.

What’s my motivation of keeping a blog? Honestly, I don’t know. This might even be a bit overwhelming for me in the current stage. But you know what, who cares. I’m too tired of justifying everything I do. I want to keep a blog, and that’s it.

Just so you know, I’m a master student now, second year. I had like 1000 fantasies before entering this graduate school.

How to write a blog?

2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

H1 Heading

H2 Heading

H3 Heading

Here’s some basic text.

And here’s some italics

Here’s some bold text.

What about a link?

Here’s a bulleted list:

First item
Second item
Third item

Here’s a numbered list:

First
Second
Third

Python code block:

    import numpy as np

    def test_function(x,y)
    z = np.sum(x,y)
    return z

C++ code block

int main()
{
    cout<<"Hello World!"<<endl;
    return 0;    
}

Here’s some inline code x+y.

Here’s an image: First way of inserting an image:

Here’s some math:

$z=x+y$

You can also add it inline $z=x+y$

How to do the update?

git add . ;
git commit -m “new github” ;
git push ;

Fart jokes can also be classy. [The Lighthouse]

2019-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Lighthouse, a psych thriller directed by Robert Eggers, starred Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe, definitely elevates the 2019 cinematic experience to a whole new level. This movie is not so much a thriller but a great showcasing how isolation can turn a normal man into something crazy.

First of all, the cinematography and editing of this movie is just unreal. Choosing to make this a black and white (a very bright kind) film not only brings in some fairly pleasant texture to the movie, but also creating some sort of mysterious atmosphere and surrealistic vibe. It’s a pure aesthetic enjoyment to even just look at some of the shoots. We can say that, the cinematography of this movie even makes the jump scares classy. The 1:1 screen ratio makes the audiences put more focus on the characters which makes a lot of sense for this movie. The lighting and editing are also phenomenal. The only issue I have with the technical aspects of this film is the score. It just feels a bit over the top.

Based on some folk anecdotes from the New England region, the story itself is nothing new. But I’m still amazed at how the director can still pull out some really hilarious and absurd sense of humor out of it. It just makes the whole movie so much fun to watch.

As for acting, the chemistry between Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe just blew my mind away. Who would have thought these two guys can be such a great duo?

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.