Life of Pi Trailer

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) is back with this adaptation of Yann Martel's best-selling novel. Obviously the cinematography looks breathtaking and stunning, but can Lee pull off the narrative aspects of this seemingly "unfilmable" work? We'll see when it hits theaters November 21.

Shot of the Week: Why Do We Fall?

Every Friday I'll be posting a shot that I particularly liked, either aesthetically or thematically or both, from a recently-watched film. This week's entry comes from none other than The Dark Knight Rises, a film that I won't review on this site (a little late, plus there's a zillion other reviews already out there) but what I consider to be tied with Moonrise Kingdom as the best of the year so far. For the three of you in the world who haven't seen this movie yet, this shot comes at a pivotal point in the story. Bruce has been placed in a mysterious, hellish underground prison in India and must escape by climbing up a pit in order to save Gotham from Bane - only one person has ever accomplished this climb.

If you remember Batman Begins, the first of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, you'll instantly recognize this shot as a mirror image of the well in which a young Bruce Wayne fell. "Why do we fall, sir?" asks Alfred - the answer being in order to pick ourselves back up. In Begins, Bruce is trapped in the well and terrified by the swarm of bats inhabiting it. In Rises, Bruce must learn not to overcome his fear, but control it to his advantage. This shot represents Bruce climbing up the depths of his fear and "picking himself up" in order to save Gotham, and not only is it beautifully lit but it also displays the sheer brilliance of Nolan in making his Batman trilogy. There are so many elements and shots in TDKR that harken back to the previous two installments, leading one to believe that Nolan - and thus the audience - is treating this trilogy not as three separate films, but rather one complete story.

I'm Back

Yes, after a disconcertingly long hiatus mainly due to laziness and lack of motivation, your favorite film school student/struggling screenwriter/occasional blogger is back. I decided to revive Film Schooled from the dead (which was accomplished by saying "Beetlejuice" three times) because my two older sisters have started their own blogs/companies and repeatedly urged me to continue mine. So, here I am. To all four of you who followed me faithfully last year, I'm sorry for dropping off the face of the earth, and I hope we can still be friends. So basically, this is my official announcement that you all should start reading my blog again because, like Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight Rises, I'm back from the dead and ready to save Gotham. Well, not Gotham, but rather naive filmgoers.