C'mon guys, Blue Jasmine was great!
There's always a journalist that asks whether they based their character on Woody Allen, and they always deny it.
I thought for sure Midnight in Paris was shot digitally, especially those 1920's time travel segments, but obviously I was wrong.
I'd also like to point out that the Mermaid, is a pretty good film, and probably one of the better Little Mermaid adaptations next to ponyo both have a strong environmental theme in the film. It also deserves all the accolades it gets for having said 'bloodthirsty mermaids' in what could be described as one of best reimaginings of a three stooges sketch played out by a woman commited to film.
So yes, China does have a censorship problem, but people shouldn't let it takeaway from the fact that someone from Hong Kong has made one of the years most enjoyable and weirdly original and funny films out of the system.
It's not surprising that no US indies made it to the top 200 highest grossing films, as China has a quota on the number of US made films that are allowed to screen in China in a single year.
This might have to make it onto a poster.
Also the quick way to explain Inland Empire
Purple Rose of Cairo is his most emotionally affecting movie
Manhattan is an obvious but undeniable choice, but something I go back to over and over, That walk through the Space Museum is ingrained in my memory, the entire movie is so good that even the creep factor of Mariel Hemingways age can be looked over.
Blue Jasmine is like his Frenzy (Hitchcock making movies like a young 40 year old).
This conversation about lenses and distorted featured reminded me of Wong Kar Wai Fallen Angels - in which most of the film is shot with ultra wide lenses for mood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQN6Gkv4JRU
It's fast-paced, claustrophobic and the use of wide lenses seems to represent fractured and lonely mental states of the characters - of course, it's still romantic as hell.
I also use 15mm Voightlander lens for my hobby photography - https://www.instagram.com/inanimateseries/
I find that the distortions help make my toys look bigger than they actually are - and couple with a lens adapter I can focus right up to about 2cms from a subject and get a Mid shot if I purposefully crop my image in-camera.
I don't use a 100mm because I don't have the space...or the $$$
But I do believe you can work 15mm distortion to your advantage