I thought that Cremaster 3 was a terribly pretentious and tediously over-drawn film. The repetition was suicide-inducing nonsense, and indeed had vague themes and metaphors that you could only "get" by reading off the website. Take off the lavish, expensive costumes, sets, and effects, and what you'd get would be a piece of foolishness. Part of what made the movie so terrible was that it was so dang long (3 hours), and had vague social themes with no impact. The occasionally beautiful shots almost made the movie worth seeing, but didn't make up for the repetitiveness and dullness. There was no speech, which for me, is as far as I’ve seen, is a guaranteed no-no. I believe that Barnes beats his subtle themes into you, when he could have summed up the movie in 15 minutes having spent less money. I think the only reason critic’s praise it is for fear the art world will think they are not intelligent. I felt as if I was trapped in a seat while the three-hour Cremaster 3 goes on (and on), and I felt more like a prisoner than a participant. All I’d have to say for anyone interested in seeing this film is that if you're hoping for a movie that makes sense, you're in for 3 very frustrating hours, as it jumps from one bizarre performance piece to another.
Forget waterboarding. Terrorist suspects should be forced to watch Cremaster 3 instead. This film was one long, drawn out, painful ordeal of chaotic, random images that made no sense and followed no reasonable plot outline. I guess that was supposed to be the point. The combination of visuals explore themes such as religion, rebirth, sexuality, and even the Free Masons, but all I got out of it was watching a guy dressed like Indiana Jones climb up an elevator shaft. All the imagery and symbolism is lost after the first half hour or so once you realize the film is going nowhere. For example, I found the demolition derby within the Chrysler Building to be an interesting idea…..until it went on. And on. And on. And on. The overwhelming theme of this film is repetitive nonsense, not the creative process or development of sexual identity. The most interesting part of the film for me was trying to find Barney’s strange oval symbol in each scene. It helped turn the random scenes into a film version of “Where’s Waldo”? Except with a strange symbol. Admittedly, the visuals are stunning, the sets are well developed, and the props are detailed and original. But nothing comes together to produce a film worth seeing.
Although I have seen many movies that I have disliked, until The Cremaster Cycle 4 & 5, I had never seen a movie that I actively hated. More disappointing is that I actually expected to enjoy The Cremaster Cycle. I enjoy modern art. I enjoy movies that verge on the bizarre. The Cremaster Cycle, however, seemed to have no redeeming qualities. Leaving Cosford, a friend that had accompanied me simply remarked, “Boy, that dude really liked testicles.” I agree. Although there was an overwhelming amount of testicle imagery there was no accessible thesis or message that accompanied it. It just seemed to be balls for the sake of balls. In the same vein, there was a lot of bizarreness for the sake of bizarreness. Just because something is bizarre does not mean it is good. While on one level I respect the filmmaker for pushing boundaries, on another level I believe that he pushed boundaries that simply didn’t need or deserve pushing. Some of the bizarre images were, in fact, captivating. However, I would have preferred to look at them as stills instead of seeing them haphazardly strung together in an afternoon wasting film.
The movie “The Cremaster Cycle” is the perfect archetype of a film that is grandiose in nature, but has very little substance. Though the movie did feature some very aesthetically pleasing images, the story line had no consistency and the fact that every bit of communication was so far spaced out made it tough to follow. I feel as if a child would have a more enjoyable experience watching this movie over and adult, because of the emphasis on images and pleasing the eye, rather than building on a consistent storyline. An improvement that can be made on the movie is to definitely cut out the spaces between events that the director was trying to make seem important, because the length between events made the audience uninterested and lost their focus. Also the repetition in the movie is not used to intrigue the audience or point out importance as intended, it simply serves to confuse and frustrate the viewer to a point where they no longer desire to watch the movie.
I went and saw four and five of "The Cremaster Cycle." I found the movie to be interesting, but definitely very strange. I found myself slightly bored with only sounds and no dialogue. I liked the fourth cycle quite a bit better than the fifth. The main color scheme for the fourth was yellow, blue, and white. I found the colors to be very striking. The visuals are definitely the highlight of this film. Without the stunning visuals the film to me didn't have much of a purpose. I found when the main character who I believe is the filmmaker was crawling through a tunnel to be especially visual. He ends up getting this gooey substance all over him and just through watching I almost could feel myself covered in the substance even though I was only watching. The fourth cycle also seemed to have more of an ending with the race cars finding a sheep in the middle of the road and that sort of ended that part.
The fifth cycle used much richer and darker colors. Dark red, gold, and pink seemed to dominate. This one took place inside a theater and I didn't enjoy the visuals quite as much as the outdoor scenes in the fourth. The fifth spent a lot of time focusing on a woman who was singing opera. This cycle used characters that actually looked like real people whereas the fourth used very strange looking creatures. The costuming in both cycles was very fascinating. I especially liked the shoes on the asian girls in the fifth cycle. The fifth cycle seemed to make less sense to me and really dragged on with not much happening. I got pretty bored during this one. This is by far the strangest film I have ever seen. Besides the interesting visuals I could not see much meaning or point to either cycle four or five.
I went to go see the first and second Cremaster cycle. The first one was pleasant. I didn't understand what was going on with the woman under the table, but she seemed to be in control of the dancers on the football field. The woman under the table stole grapes, and every time she got those grapes, they would come out of her shoe. I tried my hardest to understand what was going on, but I couldn't. The grapes looked delicious. I was trying to figure out why it would go back and forth between red and white grapes being on the table, but I couldn't make a connection. The giant center piece on the table looked like fallopian tubes. Nothing made sense, but the music selection was nice. I enjoyed the music. It was very relaxing and stuck with me. I liked it so much that I watched it a second time on YouTube. I really liked the dancers and how they were able to match the grapes.
The second Cremaster Cycle threw me off. It was too much for me. The transition from the very pleasant dancers with the grapes to the couple having sex in a room full of bees and the guy getting shot in the head spoiled me wanting to see the rest of the film. I hate bees, so I was disgusted. I was already confused and by that point, I was tired of trying to figure out what was going on. I think the first story was about a couple who went to see a witch doctor. The next story was had to do with a man and his fused cars at a gas station who decided to rob the gas station. It all was very, very weird. I had never seen anything like that before. What a strange series of films. I did not get a chance to see the remaining three films for the cycle, but they are on YouTube. I will withhold further judgment on the Cremaster Cycle until I get a chance to see the whole thing. To conclude, I liked the first one and hated the second.
Filled with hundreds of Matthew Barney's fantastical images, this comprehensive volume, which accompanies a major exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, surveys the popular artist's CREMASTER cycle—an epic five-part film project that uses the biological model of sexual difference as its conceptual departure point.
Three essays by Barney experts articulate the series' diverse themes and explore the artist's innovative aesthetic vocabulary; interviews with key collaborators— composer, costume designer, make-up artist, technicians, and actors—reveal his working process. In addition to stills from the five films—including the final episode, CREMASTER 3, which will premiere at the exhibition—the book features related sculptures, photographs, drawings, and storyboards. For anyone intrigued by this Wagner of contemporary art, this is an atlas to his enticingly hypnotic worlds.
Cremaster one and two Matthew Head I'm not going to pretend I have any clue what these were about. There was a woman under a table trying to steal grapes while at time there was another woman in a second blimp trying to steal grapes as well. The whole time I was trying to figure out if the women in the blimp knew about the women under the table stealing the grapes. I'm not sure if this movie even has a meaning. This movie was definitely all style over substance. Or at least I did not understand the substance. For some reason I was really into it, I thought she was going to get caught stealing the grapes. After a while I lost interest and got bored. I gave the first one my best shot, in all honesty the second one was too much I ended up just zoning out. I didn't "Enjoy" the first one but at least it was bearable.
Jason Koreen
ReplyDeleteI thought that Cremaster 3 was a terribly pretentious and tediously over-drawn film. The repetition was suicide-inducing nonsense, and indeed had vague themes and metaphors that you could only "get" by reading off the website. Take off the lavish, expensive costumes, sets, and effects, and what you'd get would be a piece of foolishness. Part of what made the movie so terrible was that it was so dang long (3 hours), and had vague social themes with no impact. The occasionally beautiful shots almost made the movie worth seeing, but didn't make up for the repetitiveness and dullness. There was no speech, which for me, is as far as I’ve seen, is a guaranteed no-no. I believe that Barnes beats his subtle themes into you, when he could have summed up the movie in 15 minutes having spent less money. I think the only reason critic’s praise it is for fear the art world will think they are not intelligent. I felt as if I was trapped in a seat while the three-hour Cremaster 3 goes on (and on), and I felt more like a prisoner than a participant. All I’d have to say for anyone interested in seeing this film is that if you're hoping for a movie that makes sense, you're in for 3 very frustrating hours, as it jumps from one bizarre performance piece to another.
Forget waterboarding. Terrorist suspects should be forced to watch Cremaster 3 instead. This film was one long, drawn out, painful ordeal of chaotic, random images that made no sense and followed no reasonable plot outline. I guess that was supposed to be the point. The combination of visuals explore themes such as religion, rebirth, sexuality, and even the Free Masons, but all I got out of it was watching a guy dressed like Indiana Jones climb up an elevator shaft. All the imagery and symbolism is lost after the first half hour or so once you realize the film is going nowhere. For example, I found the demolition derby within the Chrysler Building to be an interesting idea…..until it went on. And on. And on. And on. The overwhelming theme of this film is repetitive nonsense, not the creative process or development of sexual identity. The most interesting part of the film for me was trying to find Barney’s strange oval symbol in each scene. It helped turn the random scenes into a film version of “Where’s Waldo”? Except with a strange symbol. Admittedly, the visuals are stunning, the sets are well developed, and the props are detailed and original. But nothing comes together to produce a film worth seeing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have seen many movies that I have disliked, until The Cremaster Cycle 4 & 5, I had never seen a movie that I actively hated. More disappointing is that I actually expected to enjoy The Cremaster Cycle. I enjoy modern art. I enjoy movies that verge on the bizarre. The Cremaster Cycle, however, seemed to have no redeeming qualities. Leaving Cosford, a friend that had accompanied me simply remarked, “Boy, that dude really liked testicles.” I agree. Although there was an overwhelming amount of testicle imagery there was no accessible thesis or message that accompanied it. It just seemed to be balls for the sake of balls. In the same vein, there was a lot of bizarreness for the sake of bizarreness. Just because something is bizarre does not mean it is good. While on one level I respect the filmmaker for pushing boundaries, on another level I believe that he pushed boundaries that simply didn’t need or deserve pushing. Some of the bizarre images were, in fact, captivating. However, I would have preferred to look at them as stills instead of seeing them haphazardly strung together in an afternoon wasting film.
ReplyDeleteThe movie “The Cremaster Cycle” is the perfect archetype of a film that is grandiose in nature, but has very little substance. Though the movie did feature some very aesthetically pleasing images, the story line had no consistency and the fact that every bit of communication was so far spaced out made it tough to follow. I feel as if a child would have a more enjoyable experience watching this movie over and adult, because of the emphasis on images and pleasing the eye, rather than building on a consistent storyline. An improvement that can be made on the movie is to definitely cut out the spaces between events that the director was trying to make seem important, because the length between events made the audience uninterested and lost their focus. Also the repetition in the movie is not used to intrigue the audience or point out importance as intended, it simply serves to confuse and frustrate the viewer to a point where they no longer desire to watch the movie.
ReplyDeleteI went and saw four and five of "The Cremaster Cycle." I found the movie to be interesting, but definitely very strange. I found myself slightly bored with only sounds and no dialogue. I liked the fourth cycle quite a bit better than the fifth. The main color scheme for the fourth was yellow, blue, and white. I found the colors to be very striking. The visuals are definitely the highlight of this film. Without the stunning visuals the film to me didn't have much of a purpose. I found when the main character who I believe is the filmmaker was crawling through a tunnel to be especially visual. He ends up getting this gooey substance all over him and just through watching I almost could feel myself covered in the substance even though I was only watching. The fourth cycle also seemed to have more of an ending with the race cars finding a sheep in the middle of the road and that sort of ended that part.
ReplyDeleteThe fifth cycle used much richer and darker colors. Dark red, gold, and pink seemed to dominate. This one took place inside a theater and I didn't enjoy the visuals quite as much as the outdoor scenes in the fourth. The fifth spent a lot of time focusing on a woman who was singing opera. This cycle used characters that actually looked like real people whereas the fourth used very strange looking creatures. The costuming in both cycles was very fascinating. I especially liked the shoes on the asian girls in the fifth cycle. The fifth cycle seemed to make less sense to me and really dragged on with not much happening. I got pretty bored during this one. This is by far the strangest film I have ever seen. Besides the interesting visuals I could not see much meaning or point to either cycle four or five.
I went to go see the first and second Cremaster cycle. The first one was pleasant. I didn't understand what was going on with the woman under the table, but she seemed to be in control of the dancers on the football field. The woman under the table stole grapes, and every time she got those grapes, they would come out of her shoe. I tried my hardest to understand what was going on, but I couldn't. The grapes looked delicious. I was trying to figure out why it would go back and forth between red and white grapes being on the table, but I couldn't make a connection. The giant center piece on the table looked like fallopian tubes. Nothing made sense, but the music selection was nice. I enjoyed the music. It was very relaxing and stuck with me. I liked it so much that I watched it a second time on YouTube. I really liked the dancers and how they were able to match the grapes.
ReplyDeleteThe second Cremaster Cycle threw me off. It was too much for me. The transition from the very pleasant dancers with the grapes to the couple having sex in a room full of bees and the guy getting shot in the head spoiled me wanting to see the rest of the film. I hate bees, so I was disgusted. I was already confused and by that point, I was tired of trying to figure out what was going on. I think the first story was about a couple who went to see a witch doctor. The next story was had to do with a man and his fused cars at a gas station who decided to rob the gas station. It all was very, very weird. I had never seen anything like that before. What a strange series of films. I did not get a chance to see the remaining three films for the cycle, but they are on YouTube. I will withhold further judgment on the Cremaster Cycle until I get a chance to see the whole thing. To conclude, I liked the first one and hated the second.
Filled with hundreds of Matthew Barney's fantastical images, this comprehensive volume, which accompanies a major exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, surveys the popular artist's CREMASTER cycle—an epic five-part film project that uses the biological model of sexual difference as its conceptual departure point.
ReplyDeleteThree essays by Barney experts articulate the series' diverse themes and explore the artist's innovative aesthetic vocabulary; interviews with key collaborators— composer, costume designer, make-up artist, technicians, and actors—reveal his working process. In addition to stills from the five films—including the final episode, CREMASTER 3, which will premiere at the exhibition—the book features related sculptures, photographs, drawings, and storyboards. For anyone intrigued by this Wagner of contemporary art, this is an atlas to his enticingly hypnotic worlds.
Cremaster one and two
ReplyDeleteMatthew Head
I'm not going to pretend I have any clue what these were about. There was a woman under a table trying to steal grapes while at time there was another woman in a second blimp trying to steal grapes as well. The whole time I was trying to figure out if the women in the blimp knew about the women under the table stealing the grapes. I'm not sure if this movie even has a meaning. This movie was definitely all style over substance. Or at least I did not understand the substance. For some reason I was really into it, I thought she was going to get caught stealing the grapes. After a while I lost interest and got bored. I gave the first one my best shot, in all honesty the second one was too much I ended up just zoning out. I didn't "Enjoy" the first one but at least it was bearable.