Epic

Epic films

Epic films since they started caught on with a huge impact on film making. Today the minimun of what an epic film had to be (70+ minutes) is actually quite short. Films since the 1910s began growing and this has continued to out times. Religious films are the longest I can think of and I can say I personally hate them. When I lived in mexico city I attended a catholic school (not my choice) and one time they made us watch a horrible 3 hour and 45 minute movie about the Ten commandments.

Although, just as in everything, there are ups and downs along the way. And in fact, I love long movies, so long as they are either entertaining, interesting, or at least don't make me sleepy. And I can perfectly fit in here an irony because, I love silent cinema, I'm very keen on them but no matter what it is, it almost always makes me sleepy; yet I love them.

Fantasy mixes with reality

Magic realism

Magic realism, is a hugely important topic for us (spanish speakers) since it influenced Latin American authors so hard, magic realism is often thought about as a latina american movement even though its origins go back to Neue Sachlichkeit.

Anyway, all nationality aside, all magic realism works are, in my opinion, incredibly good. I wouldn't go as far as saying it is better than surrealism in my book; but I am willing to say that it is within a shout of being AS good. And the reason I like it so much is not that far away from the reason why I love surrealism. And it is because, reality, in books, plays, paintings and almost any art form is very boring, and by adding things to it that couldn't otherwise exist, makes it so much better. Things everyone would love to see happen in the real world but can't, if not in books or else. Things that would make the world so much more interesting than it is now, and yet, it is all kept down to earth without exagerating and keeping it realistic. It is a near perfect combination of realism and fantasy. Although, it must be said, complete fantasy and abstraction and senselessness is more interesting.

One, and well probably the only one I'm familiar with and have read, García Márquez, not that I don't know any of the others, is one of my favourite authors. I'd be happy to read all his books and then pretend I didn't get them, so I could read them all over.

Rebellion

Rock and Roll

Over the years, since the real start of Rock and Roll, there have been more rock bands than I can count to. But if we look back, the start of it is what really matters. The changes in music, although, a bit odd for people, were extremely appealing and since its danceable, it is no surprise it caught on like it did. There was also the guitars and distortion and new sounds that sound incredibly well and a bit exciting. But, I think, the most important part for Rock and roll's success was that singers and members of bands had the life that every guy wanted to have. As almost every single band was on drugs, alcohol, had girls and everything and they became idols or role models.

There are so many precursors to rock and roll, that is hard to talk about all of them or choose who really was the most influential. In any case, the influences came from experimental music which appealed to a not very classy section of society. Naturally, Elvis Presley comes forward because, from him everything afterwards in rock.

But finally, with the Beatles and then the beach boys, Bod Dylan, the Rolling stones and Elvis, of course, Rock and roll, was settled in, everyone was now used to it, almost everyone liked it, and competition began.

Non-conformism

Stand-Up comedy / Improv

Stand-Up comedy can be defined as another way of criticizing society and comedians know this and they appeal to the listener by criticizing or reanacting cynically stories or jokes they can easily relate to and even if they get offensive at times, it doesn't matter, it's about the same as when black people tell black jokes, it's completely OK but a white person shouldn't.

I like them a lot. I've always thought that Stand-up comedians have a very dry humor, but dry humor told correctly can be hilarious and it is. An example of that, a bit more modern though, is a TV series called Louie, created and Directed by Louis C.K. and it's about Louis's life as a stand-up comedian and the humor is very dry but you can't stop laughing.

Experimental and independent Film

Experimental and independent films, although a big part of film, are usually not that good. There have been many independent all time greats but in general they aren't. And these type of films are bad because they are what they are, experimental or independents will never have as much budget, experience, expertise, or anything as big studio productions. But I quite like them, and I also like the fact that they are not all that popular because knowing them and appreciating them requires a more trained and artistically focused eye and mind.

Bebop

Along many years since the harlem renaissance many or way too many different styles of jazz have sprung into existence. I don't have a particularly trained ear for music, and I do like jazz. But this one and almost every other type of jazz with which I've come across sounds quite the same. The only variations are the speed and tune and so on but those changes are present in any genre of music without it being considered a new type.

Later abstraction

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract expressionism, as the title properly suggests is quite expressive. These paintings are often criticized by them being easy to make and with no difficulty at all, and it is not without reason, it isn't even open for discussion, the simple fact is, they are extremely easy to make; some a bit less and some a bit more, but specially action and drip painting are even easier. But this does not mean I don't like them, I do. And specially Jackson Pollock's because they are so aggresive and the bare a massive amount of information and feeling; but yes, anyone can do one.

Abstract Sculpture

Along side abstract expressionism, some of these sculptures are also easy to make,
but mostly not. Although, these do require much much more creativity, because sculptors can't and must never go fully abstract, they must be in a sort of mid-point and charge a bit towards abstraction but never go all the way. And it is exactly that which, in my opinion, they did. And even though, they don't particularly speak to me in any way I like them a lot. There is, indeed, a lot to find in them.

Postwar Realism II

Straight photography, Photojournalism and Street Photography

• Straight and Documentary photographers 

This type of photography is not only the best for capturing sociological or historical events or situations, it is the ONLY one that should be used. Other than light, focus and such, documentary pictures mustn't be modified in any way, otherwise it renders them pointlesss since they are not particularly beautiful or appealing to the eye, they are not straight photographies they become merely artistic pictures. Although, when they are not modified at all like Jacob Riis', Walker Evan's and Dorothea Langue's, they really do transmit  and capture the reality of those moments and fulfill their goal as straight documentary photographies. 

• Photojournalists

Photojournalism should've falled into the cathegory of straight and documentary photography, since (and this is still a problem these days) information that goes on newspapers and news in whatever format, must not be modified at all. They aren't far from documentary pictures but I think they should've been exactly the same except for their goal (news and newspapers). Photohournalist pictures, don't look particularly modified; although, they do not give the feel that what is photgraphed is happening and is all that real, in fact it seems as if they were planned out and people were posing for the picture. They are indeed striking and beautiful in their own way but photographs for journals should be a bit more real.

• War photographers

It is quite a shame that 95 of Robert Capa's photographs were destroyed because the 11 that survived are just amazing. They are obviously brought up by the fact that they are not taken in a staged D-day but in the actuall D-day and that he risked his likfe to take pictures. I think him and everyother war photographers were faced with the hardest photography challenge because the pictures must've been spontaneous and unplanned, you obvoiusly can't ask soldiers in the middle of the battle field to pose or stay still so it must've been hard to obtain good photographs and they all did. And even when they photographed the battle field once the battle was over, they had to hold their composure in front of probably hundreds of bodies lying on the floor and bloody sea-water and entire cities, houses destroyed.

• Nature photographers

Nature photographies are probably the most straight type of photographie because they have no reason to be modified and even if they were, it would make no difference. Also because they are all beautifull no matter what the photograph contains, nature in photography always looks well. Although, sadly, the straightest and more direct and objective type of photography (nature photography), doesn't have a socially productive goal other than being great art works.

• Street Photographers

Street photographers no matter where they are from, wether european or american, they all try to portrait the social condition of a paticular moment, in this caste the postwar period. but they do this with a more aesthetic approach. Their goal, even though they aren't modified or are modified slightly, is to produce a photograph which is interesting to watch and try to transmit the current conditions, but not so much as informing deeply into it but just a vague idea since their main concern was probably create appealing and beautiful photographs.

• Straight 'art' photographers

When the photographer's goal is to produce and art work it doesn't matter if they are modified or not, art expands the horizong massively and makes the a lot more interesting to watch and sometimes even more beautifull, as well as a bit creepy and weird (bordering on surrealism) suck as Kertesz's photographs, which were modified inmensely. And when they are not modified, they do lose a bit of what makes them a lot more interesting but they are very beautiful. 

The body ugly

It is hard to figure out how these paintings fit in the postwar realism other than by their date or publication. Just as the very appropiate title says, these paintings show human bodies at their worst. With unproportioned unappealing ugly bodies and faces and most of them nude. In my opinion they wanted to transmitt that human nature is in fact quite ugly (because they had just seen that in the wars). There is also no denying that the painters had amazing skills and that the painting are great pieces of art but I would never even consider owning one.

The Swimmer

John Cheever's 'The Swimmer' must be one of the best short stories I've ever read. It is so fast, nothing is ever still he is at constant motion, situations chance every second, he goes from one house to the other each of them having a different thing to say. Although, it takes some time to figure out what it all means specially because the 'ending' if one can call it that (which you can't) is so inconclusive and efusive that it makes it so much more interesting. Few writers could even dream of writing such an interesting story in so little pages. The only possible explanation I can think of is that he spent his entire life on that 8-mile journey. It would make sense, although in the story everything happens in a sunday afternoon, it would make more sense if it happened through his life, progressively loosing everything, becoming older, weaker, losing his house and daughters and all that happens. Even at the end, the whole point of the journey is made worthless by his own situation "but he was so stupefied with exhaustion that his triumph seemed vague". Cheever's goal was probably to criticize life in the suburbs in postwar america, excesive drinking, partying but in the end everything is worthless and meaningless and shallow and the most important thing, life consuming, which is in my opinion the best plausible explanation.