Anima

Started by Drenk, June 20, 2019, 09:19:50 AM

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wilberfan

I must say that I was impressed that the Universal Cinema IMAX theater was TRUE IMAX--not the "LieMAX" that I've gotten used to at the local Gigaplex.  Full floor-to-ceiling screen, copiously huge, extremely raked seating--rather shallow front-to-back dimensions.  Almost exactly like the "original" IMAX screen(s) when they were only at museums, etc.


And, if I may steal a bit of WorldForgot's glory, I must quote him when he said, "Netflix logo in IMAX... What a sight"

Jeremy Blackman

I was a little lukewarm on this to begin with, perhaps because the music was meh, but wow does it stick the landing. The last 1/3 is breathtaking.

wilberfan

I just spent most of my afternoon 17 minute meditation session just now, trying to remember the music from Anima (instead of focusing on my breath!).  To be fair, I don't know from Radiohead, and anything outside of big hits or collaborations with PTA, I'm unfamiliar with their stuff.  But I'm curious:  What did you RH/TY fans think of the music, here?   I realized many, if not most of the visuals are still with me--but I can't remember any of the music.   Of course, it could be argued that the music helped the visuals be memorable, but I'm curious what the fans on the music side of this collaboration thought.

csage97

Quote from: wilberfan on June 27, 2019, 08:24:16 PM
I just spent most of my afternoon 17 minute meditation session just now, trying to remember the music from Anima (instead of focusing on my breath!).  To be fair, I don't know from Radiohead, and anything outside of big hits or collaborations with PTA, I'm unfamiliar with their stuff.  But I'm curious:  What did you RH/TY fans think of the music, here?   I realized many, if not most of the visuals are still with me--but I can't remember any of the music.   Of course, it could be argued that the music helped the visuals be memorable, but I'm curious what the fans on the music side of this collaboration thought.

I'm a self-professed Radiohead super-fan. I come from the recording side of things and I'm a musician myself .... I can tell you the exact console that Radiohead owns (70s Cadac G  Series), the transformers and EQ types in it, and for that matter, I can say a lot about the console that Nigel Godrich has (Dalcon from Ocean Way in LA). That's just to give you an example of and prove my obessiveness.  :yabbse-grin:

I think Thom Yorke's solo stuff is pretty good, and it's fairly unique. Radiohead's stuff is more accessible because it's fairly traditional in the sense of its instrumentation (at the core, a lot of it is guitars, bass, drums, vocals, piano, and some analogue synths), with occasional forays into electronic music. But if you ask me, Radiohead usually make their fringe influences accessible in their own music. A lot of their stuff is divergent enough from top 40 music to give them hipster cred and make it seem to some like they're onto some profound shit, but they just use chord changes and voicings a lot of the time that you don't always see in pop music, and put these into 4-or-so-minute pop structures. To me, that's what's really good about Radiohead: They exist on the line separating popular music and genre or experimental music.

Now, Thom Yorke's stuff .... It's more electronics-focused (obviously) with lots of skittish rhythms, sometimes polyrhythms. It's influenced by Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, and probably Four Tet and lots of that stuff, and has other modern analogues in Flying Lotus, Mark Pritchard, Warp Records artists, etc. It also has similarities to EDM and DJ music, I guess you could say. Of course, Thom probably brings other diverse influences to the table, but his stuff sounds most like those electronic artists. A lot of the structures of Thom's solo songs are hidden beneath all clattering rhythms and noisy synths. But they're there. One thing that's cool is that there's still a lot of melodic vocals.

How do I feel about Thom's solo and Atoms for Peace stuff? Yeah, I mostly like it. I just think it has more of a "fringe" sound that's maybe not readily appealing to some people. Which is fine. At the risk of sounding elitist or condescending, Thom's probably gone through listening to so much music as many professional obsessive musician does, and so the interesting parts of his solo stuff might reveal themselves to those who are kind of on the same page. That is, it's something different and probably doesn't have a universal "catch-all" sound.

As for Anima, his new record and the select music that's in the film, a lot of it to me seems a bit "loose" in structure and flow, but that resembles the dreamy, sometimes illogical rhythm and content of the film. Often, there's not a simple section or chord progression to "grab onto" and carry with you after it's over. To give you a straight answer, I enjoy the music in the film and on the album, but I'm also in a place in my life where I'm getting more into electronic music. To me, though -- and this will definitely sound elitist, but I don't care -- it's far more creative and inspired than the majority of the autotuned, same-beat crap lots of young people listen to these days (I sound old, but I'm really not). (There is still other good music being made these days, though, if you ask me).

Wow, that's a long answer. Anyway, that's my take.

One more thing, check out these two versions of the same Thom Yorke song. This song has a pretty apparent structure to it, but the beauty and sense of a traditional song really comes through in the piano version. Point being that there are usually these amazing songs beneath all the electronic instrumentation ...:




Tdog

Well I thought it was quite good. Especially enjoyed the
Spoiler: ShowHide
 Barry Egan trademark dive.

Thom Yorke seemed really committed to the choreography which was cool

This kind of music though isn't really what I listen to. I still think Radiohead/Thom peaked with this kind of sound when they did Kid A and they've dragged it out for waaaaaay too long.

I'd hope PTA just uses Jonny alone with his next picture.

csage97

One more thing: A lot of the Thom Yorke stuff is similar to Brazilian or Latin beats. Westerners are really used to straight unsyncopated 4/4 beats. It's always funny when people in North America try to clap along to a rhythm that isn't unsyncopated 4/4.  :yabbse-grin:

Drenk

Also, Thom Yorke's solo work is different from Radiohead's work, and some Radiohead fans are very impatient with his on-going affair with his laptop. Personally, I like it—even if it has Its ups and down—and it's great that his "side project" sound different. The landscapes he can create are very evocative. His voice is what make the songs, though: it's full of melodies that reveal themselves, and even when the electronic sounds of his solo work sound too "generic" for me I always find that his voice add another dimension.

It's chaotic, restless and moody; Anima is like a synthesis of all his previous solo-ish efforts.
Ascension.

Pringle

I saw this at Universal City in Imax, and was absolutely blown away. We had to sit in the 2nd row, but being enveloped in the screen makes for an incredible experience. Seeing it on a smaller screen simply does not do justice to just how amazing the visuals are.

I love Radiohead, and while I'm not a huge fan of Yorke's solo stuff (I just haven't exlpored it enough) I think that this is the best album he's put out on his own.

The "Dawn Chorus" section is as moving and beautiful as anything PTA has ever done in my opinion. What always amazes me is how emotionally powerful his films are. Beyond all of the technical prowess and the intellectual heft, there is no other director that can cut straight through to my heart like he can.

One of the producers (Sara Murphy) was there along with some other bigwigs/VIPs, and it seemed like they had pretty much the entire center section of the theater reserved and blocked off and most of the people I was in line with had no idea that it was assigned seating, which is pretty lame. A small quibble for seeing a free PTA IMAX film though!

EDIT: One last observation --- the ballet shots in the park are lit exactly like the baby carriage stuff in PT, the last shot made me think of the last shot of Inherent Vice as well, and, maybe it was just me, but the shot of Thom and his love walking into the foggy underpass reminded me of the ending of Russian Doll.

Fuzzy Dunlop

Saw this at the Universal IMAX and straight up loved it. Moving, gorgeous, funny, absurd - so many of the the things I already love about PTA joints but able to really stretch out in a dream-like piece.

I love Thom's solo stuff, not so much his Atoms for Peace record, but was really into The Eraser and Tomorrow's Modern Boxes, I think I played TMB more than Moon Shaped Pool honestly . Haven't heard the full record yet but the tracks in the film were definitely my jam.

Just seeing Thom ACT, like actually do things with his face and go big like a silent film star was so much fun. I can just feel Paul behind the camera basically saying trust me, it's gonna work. Serious PDL vibes with this one. And some of the prettiest looking stuff he's shot yet.

10/10 would go to CityWalk and down scotch and smoke weed in the Hard Rock Cafe bathroom and see again.

Alethia

Quote from: Fuzzy Dunlop on June 28, 2019, 03:54:21 PM
10/10 would go to CityWalk and down scotch and smoke weed in the Hard Rock Cafe bathroom and see again.

I wanna party with you cowboy.

matt35mm

Quote from: pete on June 27, 2019, 12:37:28 PM
I feel like I've seen more PTA films with members of this board than anyone else!? I'm at six I believe. Matt what you got?

Maybe 4 or 5.

wilberfan

(Still grateful for Matt's courtesy +1 for Phantom Thread back in Nov, 2017.) 

wilberfan

Anima would be eligible for "Live Action Short", yes?   (I don't want this to be PTA's only Best Director Oscar!)

Garam

Quote from: wilberfan on June 26, 2019, 03:04:25 PM
In Czechoslovakia, basically, you hire one person and you get four of that person's family to come help, to watch that one person do their work. It was a great place to work, though.

Very impressed that they managed to keep it under wraps that they designed and built a time machine to shoot when Czechoslovakia was a country that existed.

Come on, Paul!

modage

Also saw this at Universal CityWalk (oh, I moved to LA!) and loved it. The video itself was amazing on a big-ass IMAX screen but mostly what I loved was that a room full of a couple hundred nerds who all gathered together and waited in line just to watch 15 minutes of film (even though it was going to be on their phone for free in two hours).  Only PTA/Radiohead can garner such devotion. What a cool communal experience as an EVENT. The fucking BILLBOARDS up all over LA are a nice touch too.

https://twitter.com/modage/status/1143586035256791040
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.