cinema

A New Re•solve

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It’s come to my attention that this idea I’ve been working on lately has been on my brain for at least two years now. It’s honestly flooring to look back on the last two years and really reflect on all the changes that have happened. When I started BluePrint VisualWorks I made a declaration that this would be the place I would use to become the filmmaker I want to become. A lot of life has happened to me; lots of heartache, lots of growing pain, and lots of doubt but even then, with all the bumps and bruises and occasional self-deprecating monologues to myself I’m still steely on this resolve.

 

Something that is often preached by my favorite cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, is “why you, why do you dare to be an artist?” That concept of being an artist; to share something of myself to the world that I created; this something that comes from some sort of emotional realm that’s personal and can only be shared through art, in my case through imagery. Why on earth do I dare to share myself in such a way? Is it because of the way I experience life, the way I perceive the world that compels me to create and share? Or maybe the gnawing fear of dying without having shared a piece of myself I can’t summarize with ease. I honestly have no fucking clue, but I do know I’m fortunate to have these questions. I’m fortunate to have a life where I have chosen to express my understanding of the world through film.

I’m happy to share this project that’s very close to me at this point, a project called Triptych. This has been a labor of absolute love and even when I’m banging my head and overwhelmed by the sheer ambition of this idea, I still get excited. Triptych is an anthology exploring the idea of abundance and absence of love, stories told only utilizing three frames of visuals.

One film, starring the lovely Mariannjely Marval, is already in the can, and two more are currently in prep to be filmed later this autumn. It’s bizarre that all the time and effort put into various webs of work is finally forming together and taking shape. The series is my attempt at becoming the filmmaker I want to become, the art I want to share.

In the coming weeks you’ll see a lot more “documenting” of this process, not just because I'm always recording everything,but because I love the making of films and this is an experience I want to remember. A reminder of the struggles and epiphanies this journey brings. An inspiration for the times when the lack of belief from within needs to be rekindled, the belief that this is why I dare to make art.

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Cine•ma Classics 2019/20

I love films. I’ve been making these lists since 2012 and it’s amazing to me how much my taste in films has changed & developed over the years.

Looking over the choices for what qualified as a cinematic masterpiece, I can vaguely see a unifying thread that gravitates me towards these films. Most of the films all share the unifying detail of being a movie about people & love. To get deeper on this point, they're movies about people and the abundance or absence of love in their lives.

The selected films are created by filmmakers with varying styles and technical expertise, but at the same time they all have films that made me feel and think inwardly about my own life and relationships. Thinking about my mortality, the trajectory of my love life, the legacy I want to leave on this world; these are some questions that form when watching these films.

As I mentioned before on the last list I wrote, it is becoming increasingly hard for me to add movies on to this list, not because there's no good films out in the world( I have many more films i’ve been needing to see)that's absolutely not the case, but looking past the visuals, the score and the performance all the matters is the story.

Now on an internal and somewhat spiritual level I find myself asking did this film truly make me care? Do I really care for the survival of these characters relationship? Do I care this character just went through a physical & mental ordeal? Do I care for the success of a plan executed by the character? Of course I do want to care but sometimes the the trajectory of the story is like a roller coaster; when you get all this momentum to the top but then the hype doesn't meet expectations it makes a movie I really wanted to love just a movie I have alot of appreciation for. But there's those moment when a film keeps going on the building momentum to the top, and then once the big drops finally happens my God does it feel so gratifying to witness, that’s the magic I crave for in films.

Alright this post has gotten way off track and gone on to rambling I was not prepared for so here's the list

Cinema 2019

• The Grandmaster

•Glass

•The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

•Pariah

•Only The Brave

•Blindspotting

•The Fisher King

• Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

•A Star Is Born (2018)

• Burning

•Revenge Of The Nerds

•Manila In The Claws Of Light

• Days Of Being Wild

•Joker

• Happy Together

•Y Tu Mamá También

•Alita : Battle Angel

Cinema 2020

• Troop Zero

•Parasite

•Ghost In The Shell

•Tootsie

•The Disaster Artist

•I, Tonya

•Knives Out

• Long Shot

•La Haine

• Jay & Silent Bob Reboot

•Hostiles

•Da 5 Bloods

• The Karate Kid

•After School

• Bad Hair

•Paddington II

Do yourself a favor and checkout a few of these films and tell me what you thought.

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Cine•ma Classics 2018

I love films; the more films I watch the more I find myself becoming more “particular” about films I consider great. There's a lot of good films, but it's hard to find a great film.

The list of Cinema 2018

Every year I start a list of films I saw within the year (old or new) I consider as Cinematic Masterpieces. In recent years finding these films has become a herculean effort; films that have stellar performances, unique imagery and most importantly (this is the biggest) a compelling and engaging story. The list just keeps getting shorter and shorter.

Cinema 2018

• Planet of the Apes

•Hidden Figures

•Nocturnal Animals

•Arrival

•Mudbound

•Gook

•Girls Trip

• Joy

•Alien Covenant

• Beatriz at dinner

•Bright

•Barry

• The Incredibles 2

•Deadpool 2

• Sorry To Bother You

•Blackkklansman

•Yugioh : The Dark Side of Dimensions

•Game Night

•My Cousin Vinny

•If Beale Street Could Talk

•Showdown In Little Tokyo

Lots of films. You may agree with some and scratching your head on others, but hey that's the beautiful thing about having an opinion right? Take a look at any that peek your interest, let me know what you thought and as always…

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew

Cinema 2012-2017

I love movies. Movies have had such an enormous influence on my life and a lot of times I draw on them constantly. In 2012 on a very cold night in December (much like now) , I was channel surfing looking for something to watch, but out of sheer chance I noticed the film, The Tree Of Life, was on tv. I only saw it once and I absolutely loved the film so I decided to watch the remainder of the film. Again I was captivated by the beautiful visuals and the poetic artistry of Terrence Malick’s film that for some reason it made me think.

That moment I started to think about all the movies I saw that year and I thought about how blown away I was with the different stories and visuals that truly struck a chord for me. I thought so hard on it that I got a pen and paper and started listing all the movies I saw for the first time (old or new) that year I considered great cinematic master pieces. Now fast forward to now, I realized that I've been making these lists for 5 years now; each year discovering a new film and being moved by the stories told from each one.

2012

  • Sylvia

  • The Guard

  •  007: Skyfall

  • The Tree of Life

  • The Avengers

  • Prometheus

  • The Dark Knight Rises

  • Everything Is Illuminated

  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes

  • Fargo

  • Captain America: The First Avenger

  • Ted

  • Drive

  • Paranorman

  • Carnage

  • House of Flying Daggers

  • 2046

  • Crazy Stupid Love

  • The Campaign

  • Dare

  • Cinderella Man

  • Alfie

  • Rango

  • The King's Speech

  • Lawless

  • We Have To Talk about Kevin

  • Menace 2 Society

  • The Experiment

  • Hesher

  • All the King's Men

  • The Disappearance of Alice Creed

  • Monster

  • Never Let Me Go

  • Midnight in Paris

  • Cyrus

  • American History X

  • Hanna

  • Raising Arizona

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

  • The Majestic

  • Forrest Gump

  • Black Dynamite

  • Quiz Show

  •  Django Unchained

  • The Fugitive

  • Inglorious Bastards

  • Driving Lessions

  • Game Change

  • In The Mood For Love

  • Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

  • Frida

2013

  • J. Edgar

  • Goon

  • Paper Man

  • Brokeback Mountain

  • Conversations With Other Women

  • Looper

  • The Words

  • 12 Monkeys

  • Shame

  • Closer

  • Death of a Salesman

  • Beginners

  • The Talented Mr. Ripley

  • Million Dollar Baby

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey

  • Lean On Me

  • Real Steel

  • Monster's Ball

  • 50/50

  • Fast & Furious 6

  • Seeking a Friend For The End Of The World

  • Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

  • Mystic River

  • A Dangerous Method

  • Life of Pi

  • Pain & Gain

  • Men in Black III

  • Cloud Atlas

  • Detachment

  • Moonrise Kingdom

  • My Week with Marilyn

  • Rust & Bone

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

  • Identity Theft

  • The Sessions

  • Edward Scissor hands

  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

  • The Wolverine

  • Thank You For Smoking

  • A History of Violence

  • 2 Days in New York

  • Don Jon

  • Erin Brockovich

  • 12 Years a Slave

  • Silver Streak

  • Sunday in New York

  • Cadillac Man 

  • The Master

  • Death Proof

  • Jackie Brown

  • The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

  • Fullmetal Alchemist : Conqueror of Shamballa

2014

  • Kinky Boots

  • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

  • American Hustle

  • The Place Beyond The Pines

  • Oblivion

  • We're The Millers

  • Silver Lining Playbook

  • Hunger Games: Catching Fire

  • Dallas Buyer's Club

  • Rushmore

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel

  • Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

  • Blue Jasmine

  • X-Men: Days of Futures Past

  • Prisoners

  • Atonement

  • Eastern Promises

  • Lone Ranger

  • New Jack City

  • The Player's Club

  • A Case Of You

  • Kings Of Summer 

  • Changeling

  • Clerks

  • She Hates Me

  • Real Life

  • The Producers

  • Gone Girl

  • Dear White People

  • Interstellar

  • About Time

  • The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies

  • The Usual Suspects

  • Her

2015

  • The Interview

  • Panic Room

  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

  • Dom Hemingway

  • Whiplash

  • To the Wonder

  • A Most Violent Year

  • The Animatrix

  • Avengers: Age of Ultron

  • Boyhood

  • Children of Men

  • Girl Fight

  • Private Parts

  • Nightingale

  • The Railway Man

  • Inside Llewyn Davis

  • John Wick

  • Sex Ed

  • Chef

  • You're not You

  • Begin Again 

  • Fury

  • Birdman or ( The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

  • Straight Outta Compton

  • The Drop

  • Filth

  • Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 & 2 Director's Cut

  • The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (Him&Her)

  • Beasts of No Nation

  • Nightcrawler

2016

  • The Hateful 8

  • Spotlight

  • Tortilla Soup

  • Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice

  • The Martian

  • Creed

  • Blazing Saddles

  • Southpaw

  • Hollywood Land

  • The Revenant

  • The Thin Red Line

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment

  • Brick

  • The Night Before

  • End Of Watch

  • Me & Earl & Dying Girl

  • White Palace

  • Steve Jobs

  • The Danish Girl

  • Get on The Bus

  • The Wrestler

2017

  • Mississippi Masala

  • Awakenings

  • Brooklyn

  • The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

  • Logan

  • Punch - Drunk - Love

  • Dirty Harry

  • The World According To Garp

  • Youth

  • Saban’s Power Rangers

  • Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory

  • Swiss Army Man

  • Split

  • Clerks II

  • The Town

  • Friday Foster

  • The International

  • Loving

  • Trance

  • A Bronx Tale

  • Hell Or Highwater

  • Charlie Wilson’s War

  • Do The Right Thing

  • Money Monster

  • Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

  • Jackie

  • The Grey

  • Scott Pilgrim VS The World

  • Thank You For Your Service

  • Moonlight

  • Hunger

  • Lion

  • Baby Driver

  • Windriver

  • American Psycho

  • A Cure For Wellness

  • The Patience Stone

  • John Wick Chapter 2

If you have the time do yourself a favor and checkout a few of these films and tell me what you thought of them.

Hope You Enjoy

-Andrew