Home Film
Art
Other: (Travel, Rants, Obits)
Links About
Contact
a_film_by Main Page
Posts From the Internet Film Discussion Group, a_film_by
This group is dedicated to discussing film as art
from an auteurist perspective. The index to these files of posts can be found at http://www.fredcamper.com/afilmby/ The purpose of these files is to make our posts more accessible, for downloading and reading and to search engines.
Important: The copyright of each post below is owned by the
person who wrote the post, and reproducing it in any form requires
that person's permission.
It is possible to email the author of any post by finding a post
they have written in the a_film_by archives at
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/a_film_by/messages and
emailing them from that Web site.
15501
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:04am
Subject: Re: Re: Auteur as commodity
--- Aaron Graham wrote:
> I'm very excited about this! I recently interviewed
> Charles Griffith,
> who wrote a first draft of "The Trip" for Corman --
> but as a
> comedy/musical. He mentioned that Frank Zappa (!)
> auditioned, as well
> as composer David Raksin ("Laura"), for potential
> musical choices. It
> wasn't made for the simple reason that Corman
> thought it was
> essentially a feature-length commercial promoting
> pot and LSD.
>
I hope Joe remembers to include Bruce Conner -- who
can be seen in a pot-smoking scene early in the action.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15502
From: hotlove666
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:24am
Subject: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Craig Keller
wrote:
> > I'd be curious as well. I'm not what you'd call a big fan of
Wise's
> > directorial efforts, but I am an auteurist with a real affinity
for
> > late works
> > (although I understand there's an even later Wise picture, a TV
movie
> > from 2000.)
>
> PS - The TV film from 2000 is 'A Storm in Summer,' and it stars
Peter
> Falk (!) and Natassja Kinski (!!), and is actually, to my surprise,
out
> on DVD --
I hear Wise slept thru the shoot -- nothing new: he was already doing
that on Star Trek. (Eyewitness accounts of both)
15503
From: hotlove666
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:27am
Subject: Re: Auteur as commodity
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, David Ehrenstein
wrote:
> >
> I hope Joe remembers to include Bruce Conner -- who
> can be seen in a pot-smoking scene early in the action.
I hope he gets the financing to make it! It's still being shopped.
15504
From: Patrick Ciccone
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:52am
Subject: Wise and Sarris (was Re: 'Rooftops')
STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE is designed to make the director and
viewer one: in slumber, that is.
My nomination for best line of film criticism based on a now-obsolete
technology: Sarris's description of the "IBM perforations" of Wise's
montage. Wise as the soulless puncher of the punchcard? That would
explain the punchcard perforations of the original AMBERSONS Wise
carried out while Welles was filming in Brazil.
If there are any other nominations for this non-contested prize,
please inform me.
(I actually can't find the sentence right now glancing through THE
AMERICAN CINEMA, but I'm sure Sarris said this.)
PWC
15505
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:58am
Subject: Re: Re: Auteur as commodity
--- hotlove666 wrote:
>
> I hope he gets the financing to make it! It's still
> being shopped.
>
>
So that's what he was doing in Venice, right?
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com
15506
From: Craig Keller
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:21am
Subject: Re: Re: 'Rooftops'
>
> I hear Wise slept thru the shoot -- nothing new: he was already doing
> that on Star Trek. (Eyewitness accounts of both)
Wow. And he keeps the streak going by sleeping through his commentary
track as well. It alternates between him and Scorsese (recorded in
separate sessions), and MS is the only one of the two to evince signs
of life or shed any insight. Wise: "Is she gonna take the ticket or
isn't she.. she's trying to decide.. she's gonna walk out. She's
turning around.. and.. yes, she's gonna pick up the ticket." His next
set of comments appear twenty minutes past this scene, a few brief
words. The punchline comes at the last shot: after another twenty
minutes or so without a word, he pipes up on the soundtrack and says:
"There you have it. Thanks for listening. I'm Robert Wise." It would
have been cooler if he'd introduced himself, then chosen to sit back
with the mic running for 70 minutes not letting out another sound
(except maybe a cough, a belch, or a nose-blow) till his sign-off at
the end. As it stands, he probably did have a couple things to say,
but they were probably so hem-haw / antithesis-of-compelling-listening
that they were mostly edited out -- which really is no big deal, as he
made the movie, and it's the film that says it all. (And, of course,
he -is- 90 -- although he sounds sharp as a tack, and is still younger
than Oliveira!)
craig.
15507
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 6:45am
Subject: Re: Wood and Fieschi on Sunrise (Was: Gilberto Perez on NOSFERATU)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Dan Sallitt wrote:
> > Her grumpiness as she departs
> > the village makes her look as if she's been a brat: there's no
hatred
> > toward her.
>
> I found her expression stricken rather than grumpy. But, either
way,
> she's viewed with compassion.
>
That's a detail I should watch for. The audience on Friday laughed at
that point. That may have biased me to think she was pouting.
> It's interesting that this representative of the city is associated
so
> strongly with the marshes, and climbs trees like a wild cat. She
really
> reminds me less of Nosferatu than of Renfield. - Dan
That's an excellent point (she probably has a different diet than
Renfield, though). And she does seem to be a conduit for wild nature,
despite her city origins, just as the fisherman seems to be a guide to
wild nature. Also -- if I might go off on a tangent -- Janet Gaynor's
character seems to be transformed by nature at the end, in appearance
at least -- and George O'Brien's character's behavior fluctuates
wildly throughout the film, but in the end the family is only
strengthened by all the storms it had endured: nature + society =
better society.
Paul
15508
From:
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:24am
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
Michael Schultz has a new theatrical film coming out. It is called "Woman
Thou Art Loosed", and is based on a religious-themed self-help novel by Bishop T.
D. Jakes, who has a cameo in the film. Such black, gospel-inspired work is
very big among African-Americans in general, and Detroiters here in particular
(such gospel stage musicals as "Your Arm's Too Short To Box With God" are big
hits here.) I saw a poster for this last Sunday at the multiplex, when I went
to see "Cellular" (David R. Ellis) - an entertaining thriller, by the way. The
poster was strikingly designed in outline-woodcut style - utterly different
from most contemporary posters.
Schultz has worked steadily in American TV for decades. Have only seen a
fraction of this work. But enjoyed his Will Eisner comic book adaptation "The
Spirit" (7-31-1987), and a farce, "Jury Duty: The Comedy" (1-14-1990), with
Bronson Pinchot.
Schultz also did an interesting episode of "Starsky and Hutch" called
"Captain Dobey, You're Dead" - crooks try to assinate our boys' police Captain boss,
Captain Dobey.
On Stan Lathan: enjoyed his Miami Vice episode, "Glades" (11-30-1984). This
deals with a hostage taking in the Everglades, and is full of beautiful
location photography. It is poetic and beautiful.
Is "Beat Street" (1984) the musical in which the long-suffering mother of
three rapping teenagers tells them at breakfast, "Eat your eggs / or I'll break
your legs"?
On Joel Silberg: am a big fan of his three pop music craze musicals:
"Breakin'" (1984), "Rappin" (1985) and "Lambada" (1990). Silberg had a long career in
Israel before this, but I have been unable to see any of this work.
Am looking forward with enormous interest to Adrian Martin's book on teen
film sand musicals!
Mike Grost
15509
From: hotlove666
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:33am
Subject: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Craig Keller
wrote:
It would
> have been cooler if he'd introduced himself, then chosen to sit
back
> with the mic running for 70 minutes not letting out another sound
> (except maybe a cough, a belch, or a nose-blow) till his sign-off
at
> the end.
To be fair to someone who wasn't always fair to his betters (Welles),
he was half dead when he recorded that and far from sharp. But I love
the idea of the Zen commentary track -- no words. The Goonies one I
hear is interesting -- Sean Astin gets up in the middle of the group
commentary and walks out.
15510
From: Aaron Graham
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:49am
Subject: Re: 'Rooftops'
>But I love
> the idea of the Zen commentary track -- no words. The Goonies one I
> hear is interesting -- Sean Astin gets up in the middle of the
group
> commentary and walks out.
I've heard this one and there's no real explanation, except for maybe
Astin became annoyed by Corey Feldman, as anyone in their right mind
would.
I've not heard it, but I've read that Abel Ferrera's commentary
for "The Driller Killer" is very fascinating. His (somewhat) more
coherent track for "King of New York" ends with Ferrera accompanying
Schooly D's credits sequence on guitar (he sort of sounds like Dylan).
-Aaron
15511
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:52am
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
Hot ziggety, that does look enticing.
Wish there were more Tashlin available though. New release of THE
GIRL CAN'T HELP IT with John Waters intro should go some way to
rectifying this, but I need more obscurities!
I didn't really know who Tashlin was until surprisingly recently, but
when T realised he also made SON OF PALFACE I was thrilled. When bob
Hope supports his three-wheeled car by lassooing the spoke and
holding the thing up from inside, and sends Roy Rogers to retrieve
the loose tyre with the words "Hurry up - this is impossible," whole
new vistas of absurdity opened up for me as a kid.
15512
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:55am
Subject: Re: Full Frontal nunnery (was: This Sunday at 5 PM)
> The print was quite good with plenty of full frontal
> nude nunnery.
>
> That scene was clearly supposed to appear as the
> climax of the sequence in the church where the King
> arrives incognito to observe the shennanigans. I
> gather it's "blasphemy" would be due to the fact that
> nuns would be "raping" a gaint crucifix rather than
> the merely mortal Oliver Reed.
have seen the deletion. Russell goes crazy with the zoom lens, TOMMY-
style, in addition to the overhead shot. Some great reaction shots
from murray Melvin too. It was adjacent to reed's performance of the
sacrament in the wilderness, "contrasting the timeless beauty of the
sacrament with overripe religion gone as bad as it can get" to
paraphrase Russell from memory.
a real highlight of the film, a technical tour-de-force and a pretty
audacious scene to even suggest in a commercial film. I imagine it'll
be reinstated one day...
15513
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:57am
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
MY FAVOURITE YEAR is a fun film, a little flatly directed with the
camera sometimes seeming too distant and uninvolved. Good
performances though. Praise should go to the screenwriters first,
Brooks second, Benjamin third.
He was a better actor than director, IMHO. Love him in the moaning
scene in CATCH 22.
15514
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 0:01pm
Subject: Re: Wood and Fieschi on Sunrise (Was: Gilberto Perez on NOSFERATU)
> > But iusn't Gish playing a CHILD?
>
> Isn't that something of a technicality for Griffith? I dunno - I
haven't
> seen much Griffith in a long time, and maybe there's a persuasive
opinion
> out there on the other side, but I find his depiction of sexuality
quite
> problemsome in general. - Dan
Dunno if problemsome is a word, but it SHOULD be! very pleasing sound
to it.
Agree re Griffith and naughtiness, but think the child defence is
still valid if applied to BROKEN BOTTOMS.
the sexual politics of BIRTH OF A NATION are almost as loopily
repulsive as the racial ones. Shot of the father in the beseiged
house about to cosh his daughter to daeth with his pistol butt to
spare her a fate worse than death stands as a zenith of sexual
hysteria in American film. Double bill with STRAW DOGS, anyone?
15515
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 1:18pm
Subject: Re: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- cairnsdavid1967 wrote:
>
> I didn't really know who Tashlin was until
> surprisingly recently,
Well then be sure to get ahold of a copy of "Frank
Tashlin" edited by Roger Garcia and Bernard
Eisenschitz pubished by the BFI in 1994 in association
with the Locarno Film Festival. It's full of
information and articles by such noted afilmby-ers as
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bill Khron, and me.
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com
15516
From: Matthew Clayfield
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 1:19pm
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "cairnsdavid1967"
wrote:
> Love him in the moaning scene in CATCH 22.
But then, love "Catch-22" in general...
m.
15517
From: Richard Modiano
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 2:49pm
Subject: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Aaron Graham" wrote:
"Has anyone seen 'Two for the Seesaw'?"
It was his weakest movie of the early '60s, no passion, Mitchum
walked through it and the Production Code compromised the play on
which it was based (with Henry Fonda in the Mitchum role.) Wise used
split screen to replicate the divided stage set used for the
telephone conversations. Maybe cross cutting would have worked just
as well for the movie version. Since he made the infinitely superior
THE HAUNTING during the same period I assume he was not particularly
interested in the project.
Richard
15518
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 3:07pm
Subject: Re: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- Richard Modiano wrote:
>
> It was his weakest movie of the early '60s, no
> passion, Mitchum
> walked through it and the Production Code
> compromised the play on
> which it was based (with Henry Fonda in the Mitchum
> role.) Wise used
> split screen to replicate the divided stage set used
> for the
> telephone conversations. Maybe cross cutting would
> have worked just
> as well for the movie version. Since he made the
> infinitely superior
> THE HAUNTING during the same period I assume he was
> not particularly
> interested in the project.
>
Quite true, thought Jean-Pierre Melville liked it.
MacLaine and Mitchum had a fling during the shooting,
which she has recalled with great warmth and
amusement.
Sad that none of it shows up on screen.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15519
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:19pm
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
> Well then be sure to get ahold of a copy of "Frank
> Tashlin" edited by Roger Garcia and Bernard
> Eisenschitz pubished by the BFI in 1994 in association
> with the Locarno Film Festival. It's full of
> information and articles by such noted afilmby-ers as
> Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bill Khron, and me.
I have it and it's great! Must go and recheck your contribution
though, now that I'm in communication with you. But I already know i
like it as the whole book is terrific.
Really wanna see his Terry-Thomas film.
15520
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:23pm
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
> > Love him in the moaning scene in CATCH 22.
>
> But then, love "Catch-22" in general...
>
> m.
Have never understood why it didn't have a great reputation. Apart
from it not being clear who the character is who gets spectacularly
chopped by the plane propeller, the film seems remarkably successful
and just stuffed with great perfs and moments.
15521
From: Craig Keller
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:48pm
Subject: Re: Re: 'Rooftops'
> To be fair to someone who wasn't always fair to his betters (Welles),
> he was half dead when he recorded that and far from sharp.
Let me clarify that when I said he sounded sharp, I meant "his voice
was surprisingly unraspy for 90." His commentary, overall, is
cruise-control. And for his repeated invocation of the "I worked on
'Citizen Kane'"-calling-card, in the context of his RKO lapdog'ism with
'Ambersons,' -- he shan't be forgiven.
craig.
15522
From: Craig Keller
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:52pm
Subject: Re: Re: 'Rooftops'
> I've not heard it, but I've read that Abel Ferrera's commentary
> for "The Driller Killer" is very fascinating. His (somewhat) more
> coherent track for "King of New York" ends with Ferrera accompanying
> Schooly D's credits sequence on guitar (he sort of sounds like Dylan).
If you ever get a chance to stop by the Museum of Television and Radio,
see if you can have them dig up the mid-'90s episode of Conan O'Brien
where Ferrara was a guest (plugging 'The Funeral'? 'The Addiction'?
maybe this was even earlier around the time of 'Dangerous Game'?) --
he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast.
craig.
15523
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:16pm
Subject: Re: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
--- cairnsdavid1967 wrote:
> Have never understood why it didn't have a great
> reputation. Apart
> from it not being clear who the character is who
> gets spectacularly
> chopped by the plane propeller, the film seems
> remarkably successful
> and just stuffed with great perfs and moments.
>
>
It got creamed by MASH which opened the same day. MASH
was quick, sharp and captured the spirit of the
Vietnam era as it was unfolding. "Catch" was a
gigantic, heavy, "impressive" thingy about a war no
one cared much to think about at that time.
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com
15524
From: thebradstevens
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:22pm
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
"Am I the only one in this group who has actually seen ROOFTOPS ???"
I have a tape of this that I picked up years ago for £1, and never
bothered to watch. Maybe I should take a look at it.
But Wise is certainly an auteur (he even managed to turn his STAR
TREK film into a remake of THE HAUNTING), with a consistent emphasis
on the group as protagonist. This concern is particularly clear in
those films made in a 2.35:1 ratio, wherein various group members can
be democratically arranged across the widescreen space.
A STORM IN SUMMER (1999), his last film to date, is a lovely summing
up of several typical Wise themes.
15525
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 5:56pm
Subject: Re: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- Craig Keller wrote:
> he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast.
>
I was on the set of "Fear City" and watched him
direct. He's completely out of his skull at all times.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15526
From: Bret B.
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 8:20pm
Subject: Abel Ferrara's TV appearances (was: Re: Rooftops)
> If you ever get a chance to stop by the Museum of
> Television and Radio,
> see if you can have them dig up the mid-'90s episode
> of Conan O'Brien
> where Ferrara was a guest (plugging 'The Funeral'?
> 'The Addiction'?
> maybe this was even earlier around the time of
> 'Dangerous Game'?) --
> he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast.
In addition to this, I have a distinct freaky
childhood memory of seeing Ferrara do an entire
half-hour interview on the short-lived "Lauren Hutton
And...", an incredibly lame Charlie Rose-esque show
hosted by Lauren Hutton (of all people). During the
program, Ferrara, who was there to plug one of his
mid-90s efforts, couldn't stop rubbing his eyes with
his fingers, and was hard-pressed to complete full
sentences. It was WONDERFUL.
If anyone has a tape of this show, I would pay money
for it -- but it's doubtful anyone besides me even saw
it, since the Los Angeles station that ran the show
used to play it at 3:00am on Friday nights, or some
other ungodly hour.
bret b.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15527
From: Noel Vera
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:14pm
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
> Although I do remember the second one as being much more Burton-
esque (though
> still nothing particularly special, IMO), as though Burton won a
greater
> degree of freedom coming off of the blockbuster success of the
first film. I hope
> Raimi has finally gotten to that place with the third "Spider-Man."
I thought Batman Returns was the work of two people, Burton and
screenwriter Daniel Waters, whose off-the-wall humor gave the movie
the sharpest dialogue I've seen in comic book movies (Raimi gets the
emotions right, but the dialogue barely sparkles). You should
download Water's original script, tho; it's darker, with an extra
twist that I think ties everything together better. That, and
Pfieffer and even Devito not being too bad (thought he was something
Dickens would have written, if he had worked in Hollywood) makes
Batman Returns my favorite of the (not exactly very distinguished
genre) genre.
15528
From: Richard Modiano
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:28pm
Subject: Re: Wise & Welles (Was 'Rooftops')
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Craig Keller
wrote:
"...for his repeated invocation of the "I worked on
'Citizen Kane'"-calling-card, in the context of his RKO lapdog'ism
with 'Ambersons,' -- he shan't be forgiven."
Wise was at the beginning of his career then and probably would have
been punsihed (fired? suspended?) by his employer RKO for not
following orders, and the result for AMBERSONS would most likely have
been the same (or even worse) at other hands had he refused. Much
more egregious, in my view, was his "restoration" of KANE for the
1991 50th anniversary re-release. Wise had the entire movie printed
higher in the grey scale "so you could see more." And now you can
see Joseph Cotton and Erskine Sanford as reporters in the screening
room after the newsreel, see that formerlly vast rooms are shallow
sets, etc. This restored version had a fairly wide art house release
at the time, but here in Los Angles one could see UCLA's excellent
1956 re-release print too, and I can attest that the Wise restoration
suffers by comparison. Evidentlly Wise's version is the one
currently available on DVD (I haven't seen KANE on DVD so I'm just
guessing.)
Richard
15529
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:32pm
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera" wrote:
>
> I thought Batman Returns was the work of two people, Burton and
> screenwriter Daniel Waters, whose off-the-wall humor gave the movie
> the sharpest dialogue I've seen in comic book movies (Raimi gets the
> emotions right, but the dialogue barely sparkles). You should
> download Water's original script, tho; it's darker, with an extra
> twist that I think ties everything together better. That, and
> Pfieffer and even Devito not being too bad (thought he was something
> Dickens would have written, if he had worked in Hollywood) makes
> Batman Returns my favorite of the (not exactly very distinguished
> genre) genre.
15530
From: thebradstevens
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:59pm
Subject: Abel Ferrara on TV
If you ever get a chance to stop by the Museum of Television and
Radio, see if you can have them dig up the mid-'90s episode of Conan
O'Brien where Ferrara was a guest (plugging 'The Funeral'? 'The
Addiction'? maybe this was even earlier around the time of 'Dangerous
Game'?) -- he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast."
He was plugging THE FUNERAL. Abel was actually being incredibly witty
on this show, which he used to explore some of his usual themes. Many
Ferrara films are about the conflict between two characters, one a
spontaneous improviser, the other an inert role-player who withdraws
behind a facade of 'cool' detachment. Abel plays the former role
himself in THE DRILLER KILLER, while the latter role is incarnated by
Tony Coca-Cola, the punk rock musician who is rehearsing night and
day in the downstairs apartment (see also Dennis Hopper in THE
BLACKOUT, Benicio Del Toro in THE FUNERAL, the serial killer in FEAR
CITY, James Russo in SNAKE EYES, etc.).
On LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, Abel again takes the 'spontaneous
improviser' role, and 'casts' Conan O'Brien as Tony Coca-Cola! It's
really a remarkable achievement: Abel reads out Conan's cue cards
("Abel Ferrara, we'll be right back"), dismisses Conan's
conversational ploys (Conan: "I want to talk about Harvey Keitel",
Abel: "Go ahead"), and almost succeeds in turning the show into a
miniature Abel Ferrara film!
15531
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 10:01pm
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera" wrote:
> I thought Batman Returns was the work of two people, Burton and
> screenwriter Daniel Waters, whose off-the-wall humor gave the movie
> the sharpest dialogue I've seen in comic book movies (Raimi gets the
> emotions right, but the dialogue barely sparkles). You should
> download Water's original script, tho; it's darker, with an extra
> twist that I think ties everything together better. That, and
> Pfieffer and even Devito not being too bad (thought he was something
> Dickens would have written, if he had worked in Hollywood) makes
> Batman Returns my favorite of the (not exactly very distinguished
> genre) genre.
"Batman Returns" has also become my favorite. I noticed that my initial
reaction was less enthusiastic:
http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=1uukug%244tm%40sun.Panix.Com
But the DeVito's Penguin (and Cobblepot) and Pfeiffer's Catwoman (and
Kyle) are such wonderful personalities, and the film itself is rich and
strange. It's overshadowed by Burton's later masterpieces, "Edward
Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood," but it doesn't lag too far behind them.
Paul
15532
From: George Robinson
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 9:57pm
Subject: Fw: [MediaTank] Take Action against industry clamp-down
I apologize for the cross-listing but this is an issue that really will
affect every one of us very directly.
As you can see from the e-mail below, Congress is basically trying to take
away your right to tape off the TV.
Simple as that.
If you have a collection of videotapes and any intentions of taping in the
future, you should be concerned.
This is not a joke and it is not a hoax.
George Robinson
Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor,
never the victim. Silence encourages the
tormentor, never the tormented.
--Elie Wiesel
----- Original Message -----
From: "Media Tank"
To:
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 12:33 PM
Subject: [MediaTank] Take Action against industry clamp-down
>
> Artists, Musicians, Consumers
> SAVE BETAMAX
>
> The short version: We're organizing a call-in day to Congress on September
> 14 to oppose new legislation that would undermine the Betamax decision
> (INDUCE Act - i.e. relating to inducement of copyright infringement)
>
> Here's why: The Betamax VCR died more than 15 years ago, but the Supreme
> Court decision that made the Betamax and all other VCRs legal lived on. In
> Sony vs. Universal (known as the Betamax decision) the Court ruled that
> because VCRs have legitimate uses, the technology is legal-even if some
> people use it to copy movies. Of course, the movie industry was lucky it
> lost the case against VCRs, because home video soon became Hollywood's
> largest source of revenue. And the freedom to use and develop new
> technology that was protected by the Betamax decision set the stage for
the
> incredible growth in computer technology we've seen in the last few
decades.
> ............................................
>
> Hollywood is Trying to Kill Betamax
>
> The Betamax ruling is the only thing that protects your right to own a
VCR,
> tape recorder, CD-burner, DVD-burner, iPod, or TiVo. It's that important.
> But new legislation that's being pushed through the Senate by lobbyists
for
> the music and movie industries would override the Betamax decision and
> create a huge liability for any business that makes products which can
copy
> sound or video. This legislation (formerly known as the INDUCE Act) would
> essentially give Hollywood veto power over a huge range of new
> technologies. And if they get this power, they'll definitely use it: just
> as they tried to stomp out the VCR in the 70's and 80's, the music and
> movie industries want to force all content to go through their own
> restricted channels.
>
> Is Congress Insane?
>
> You might think so at first glance. Voters, technology experts, public
> interest groups, and electronics manufacturers all oppose these efforts to
> weaken Betamax. So why is it still happening? Because the major record
> labels and the movie studios-- the same companies that opposed the Betamax
> ruling-- make huge donations to the re-election campaigns of the Senators
> who are sponsoring this legislation. And most members of Congress assume
> this is a non-controversial issue, off the radar of most voters. If they
> can please their donors without a big fuss, they will. It's bad policy,
but
> until we start making noise, it's smart politics.
>
> Why We Need a National Call-In Day
>
> We need to make sure Congress hears from the public. There's been plenty
of
> opposition on the internet to the INDUCE Act and its more recent drafts.
> But this general dissatisfaction hasn't quite come together into a real
> demonstration of how strongly people feel about protecting the Betamax
> decision. At Downhill Battle, we've organized people to send faxes to
> Congress before and there's been lots of emails flying around, but
> telephone calls take it to the next level. A big, one-day mobilization to
> swamp these members of Congress with phone calls could make a huge impact
> on the debate. If you care about keeping Betamax intact but haven't felt
> compelled to act before, now's the time to get involved. You can sign up
on
> the top right of this page.
>
> Not Convinced? Don't Take Our Word For It.
>
> If you're ready to get involved, go sign up. If you want some more info on
> the Betamax ruling and what's happening in Congress, here are some really
> good quotes from filesharing opponents, Mr. Rogers, and Sony's own
> Corporate History, all of them in support of the Betamax decision:
>
> Convincing Quotes
>
http://savebetamax.org/convinced.php?PHPSESSID=92f07647c5668986ea2e7587cc727
162
>
> The Save Betamax call-in day is organized by Downhill Battle.
>
>
>
> ===============================
> Media Tank :: www.mediatank.org
>
15533
From: Matthew Clayfield
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:50pm
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, David Ehrenstein
wrote:
> It got creamed by MASH which opened the same day. MASH
> was quick, sharp and captured the spirit of the
> Vietnam era as it was unfolding. "Catch" was a
> gigantic, heavy, "impressive" thingy about a war no
> one cared much to think about at that time.
Of course, thanks to the passing of time, "M*A*S*H" and "Catch" can
now co-exist together – or at least, I'd like to think that they
can, especially seeing as they're so different, with only the
whole "anti-war" stance acting as a connecting thread between them.
I'd even argue that they're not all that alike in terms of their
comedy. "Catch" walks a much finer line between comedy and tragedy
than "M*A*S*H" ever does, the latter settling for one constant and
unchanging tone [irreverent unhinged-ness] for its entire duration.
Admittedly, this adds to its charm, but the point remains: rarely
[if ever] is "Catch" irreverently unhinged, and despite their shared
genre, they're very different films. [I'd also argue that "Catch"
comes closer to anti-Americanism than "M*A*S*H".]
Personally, I think that they're both wonderful movies in their own
right, but I ultimately think that "Catch" is the better, and more
interesting, picture.
15534
From:
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:24pm
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
I've seen Rooftops and thought it was pretty bad. The gymkata dance moves are
poorly integrated if one can even use that word. They're like a pimple that
goes away for a huge chunk of the narrative and pops up again randomly at the
end.
But we're forgetting The Curse of the Cat People although I'm not sure how
much of it is Wise's hand. In any event, I prefer it to Cat People, a minority
opinion, I know (anyone else share it?).
Kevin John
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
15535
From:
Date: Tue Sep 14, 2004 11:34pm
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
Haven't seen My Favorite Year in years but remember liking it (a mild joke
with a wedding dress sticks out, for some reason). But Mike, try Bejamin's Marci
X if you haven't already. It was MUCH better than I anticipated, walking a
fine line between sharp satire and utter cluelessness...I think.
Kevin John
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
15536
From: Craig Keller
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:04am
Subject: Shô Kosugi (was: Rooftops)
> I've seen Rooftops and thought it was pretty bad. The gymkata dance
> moves are
> poorly integrated if one can even use that word.
Ah, -gymkata-. This brings to mind not necessarily 'Gymkata,' but some
of my favorite films as a child in addition to all the slasher films
with the great VHS box art -- the oeuvre of Menahem Golan. I've got a
huge reassessment cocked and ready to blast in the form of a (rigged?)
Amazon shopping cart, but I haven't seen most of these films since 1987
or '88, when I was on the cusp of cracking a two-figure age. Am I in
for amazement, or am I in for pain? I almost don't care either way.
'Enter the Ninja' (by Golan himself! -- napkin-deal producer of
Godard's 'King Lear,' as many of you already know) can't be anything
but a classic -- and thinking back to it (-that- one I probably haven't
seen since I was 7 or 8), the climax is obviously heavily influenced by
the last act of Suzuki's 'Branded to Kill.' Nevertheless, the
step-by-step, forest-acre-by-forest-acre plotting of the opening ninja
trial, followed by the beheading of the master's effigy, was thrilling
stuff. It's got to hold up. But on to the valedictory era of the
Golan production oeuvre: 'Revenge of the Ninja' (with Shô again),
'Ninja III: The Domination' (directed by Sam [Shmulik] Firstenberg, of
'Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo' fame, this is possibly the greatest of
the '80s Shô Kosugi ninja films), then 'Pray for Death' and 'Rage of
Honor' (both by Gordon Hessler -- with the former produced not by
Menahem Golan, but Moshes Barkat and Diamant, and Sunil Shah).
And while we're on the topic of '80s B-cinema, am I right in recalling
that the best of the 'Elm Street' films as being part 2? The American
modern-suburb-at-nightfall is portrayed nowhere greater than in this
film, cul-de-sacs of 'E.T.' included. The bus-on-skinny-mesa nightmare
is, also, very powerful stuff.
craig.
15537
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:06am
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, LiLiPUT1@a... wrote:
> But we're forgetting The Curse of the Cat People although I'm not
sure how
> much of it is Wise's hand. In any event, I prefer it to Cat People,
a minority
> opinion, I know (anyone else share it?).
>
> Kevin John
Curse Of The Cat People is a wonderful film, and the rare Hollywood
movie that conveys the odd state of being that is childhood. Of
course Lewton had a hand in it, as did Gunther von Fritsch who
apparentlty had to answer to his draft board in the midst of it (the
army couldn't have waited til the end of a three week shoot?). Still,
I think it's easily Wise's best picture other than The Sound of
Music.
Which reminds me, in a high school religion class, we had to do an
oral report on a piece of art that touched upon religion and/or
spirituality. I chose Curse Of The Cat People. I got a C, because
the teacher said that despite my excellent presentation the subject
(i.e. Curse) was not worth serious consideration.
15538
From: Aaron Graham
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:23am
Subject: Re:Nightmare 2; was: Shô Kosugi (was: Rooftops)
> And while we're on the topic of '80s B-cinema, am I right in
recalling
> that the best of the 'Elm Street' films as being part 2? The
American
> modern-suburb-at-nightfall is portrayed nowhere greater than in
this
> film, cul-de-sacs of 'E.T.' included. The bus-on-skinny-mesa
nightmare
> is, also, very powerful stuff.
>
> craig.
I think it's the only stand-alone 'Elm Street' film, without any ties
to its predecessors (apart from the lame idea to have the lead
character read from Nancy's diary from the first film). There's also
that whole business about it apparently having a gay subtext (our
lead sleepwalks to an S&M club, where he runs into his gym teacher;
Freddy bursting through his abdomen after declining to make-out with
a girl). I haven't seen it in ages, but it's the only one of the
series that sticks out in my mind.
-Aaron
15539
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:49am
Subject: Wise and Sarris (was Re: 'Rooftops')
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ciccone" wrote:
> STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE is designed to make the director and
> viewer one: in slumber, that is.
>
> My nomination for best line of film criticism based on a now-
obsolete
> technology: Sarris's description of the "IBM perforations" of Wise's
> montage. Wise as the soulless puncher of the punchcard? That would
> explain the punchcard perforations of the original AMBERSONS Wise
> carried out while Welles was filming in Brazil.
What's always struck me about Wise's films is that, whatever (minor)
attributes they may posses, they are surprisingly stodgy for movies
made by an ex-film editor. Whereas Don Siegel's films are thrilling
in their kineticism (granted Siegel was technically a montage person
not an editor per se), Wise's just plod along. For instances, it's
striking that the quintessential self-conscious middle-brow boxing
movie, The Set-Up, is top heavy with tracking shots – which is not
what best serves the material -- while the rhythm of the cuts is
slightly off. The other problem with the picture is that, as
typically marvelous as Robert Ryan, none of the characters come
across as real flesh-and-blood people, they're all just types, and
the movie's sense of irony is very heavy-handed and facile. What's
most notable about The Set-Up is that both the Bowery Boys'
legendary Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey) and his successor Mike
Clancy (Percy Helton) are in the picture. His other boxing picture,
the facile and utterly negligible Somebody Up There Likes Me is even
worse. A big deal "A" film at MGM, it's self-important 50s studio
movie-making at its most sterile. Similarly, Executive Suite – my
most recent Wise viewing – supposedly examines corporate America in
the mid-50s through character studies of a group of people, one of
whom will become the head of a company. The ongoing machinations of
these folks should have set the stage for judicious cross-cutting as
each character embarks on his own particular machinations, but
instead there's nothing. It's a plodding period piece.
Very much involved in working to eliminate the death penalty, Wise is
undoubtedly one of those excellent people who are much better human
beings than they are movie directors.
15540
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:55am
Subject: Re: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, David Ehrenstein
wrote:
> It got creamed by MASH which opened the same day. MASH
> was quick, sharp and captured the spirit of the
> Vietnam era as it was unfolding. "Catch" was a
> gigantic, heavy, "impressive" thingy about a war no
> one cared much to think about at that time.
I could be mistaken because I was away at boarding school in Rhode
Island at the time, but I believe M*A*S*H* opened in February 1970,
Catch-22 in June.
15541
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:49am
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "cairnsdavid1967"
wrote:
> Hot ziggety, that does look enticing.
>
> Wish there were more Tashlin available though. New release of THE
> GIRL CAN'T HELP IT with John Waters intro should go some way to
> rectifying this, but I need more obscurities!
>
Highly recommended obscurities, unavailable even on cassette when I
last looked: The First Time (script by Hugo Butler), Marry Me Marry
Me, Susan Slept Here, The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, Bachelor Flat.
I assume the two Mansfields and the two Martin/Lewsis's don't count
as obscurities. The feat of making those avant-garde masterpieces for
Fox (Mansfield) and Paramount (Martin/Lewis)in 2 years (and back-to-
back, I believe, despite the listing in Sarris) is staggering to
contemplate.
There's a bilingual Yellow Now book about FT published on the
occasion of the Locarno fest. The mini-biography at the end by Howard
Prouty is worth the price of admission, though little else in the
volume is. I wish to God someone would let Howard do a full
biography -- every inch of space the editors took from him on that
project to make room for windy "analyses" was a crime. He had access
to all of Tashlin's archives and many people who knew him well, then
living, and he spent a year on the research and writing. It could be
an indispensable piece of film history.
15542
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:51am
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, David Ehrenstein
wrote:
>
> --- cairnsdavid1967 wrote:
>
>
> >
> > I didn't really know who Tashlin was until
> > surprisingly recently,
>
> Well then be sure to get ahold of a copy of "Frank
> Tashlin" edited by Roger Garcia and Bernard
> Eisenschitz pubished by the BFI in 1994 in association
> with the Locarno Film Festival. It's full of
> information and articles by such noted afilmby-ers as
> Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bill Khron, and me.
I of course except DE, JR and myself from my regrets that more space
wasn't accorded to Howard.
>
>
>
> _______________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
> http://vote.yahoo.com
15543
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:54am
Subject: Re: 'Rooftops'
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, David Ehrenstein
wrote:
>
> --- Craig Keller wrote:
>
>
>
> > he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast.
> >
>
> I was on the set of "Fear City" and watched him
> direct. He's completely out of his skull at all times.
Hey, David, so was I!
15544
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:55am
Subject: Re: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy (was: Feel-Good films)
If you were an adult in the 1980s, it wasn't simply hideous enough
that Regan was president, one also had to deal with the fact that the
studios' main concern seemed to be ensuring that the likes of My
Science Project or Class be put into production.. No wonder the 80s
would justifiably go down as the worst decade yet in cinematic
history,
And yet in the midst of all this dreck, unexpectedly came Heaven Help
Us. Sold as just another horny teen comedy, the Michael Dinner film
possesses extraordinary depths of feeling, portraying love in a
hostile environment so convincingly that it recalls Borzage and the
Blake Edwards of The Tamarind Seed. Plus, the teen comedy elements
are beautifully orchestrated by Dinner. Not to mention the film
presented to the world the most wonderful actress of post-studio era,
Mary Stuart Masterson, Dinner seemed positioned to become a
combination of Mitchell Leisen and Paul Mazursky for the late 20th
century. But unfortunately he went into television.
15545
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:58am
Subject: Abel Ferrara's TV appearances (was: Re: Rooftops)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Bret B." wrote:
>
> > If you ever get a chance to stop by the Museum of
> > Television and Radio,
> > see if you can have them dig up the mid-'90s episode
> > of Conan O'Brien
> > where Ferrara was a guest (plugging 'The Funeral'?
> > 'The Addiction'?
> > maybe this was even earlier around the time of
> > 'Dangerous Game'?) --
> > he's completely out of his skull on this broadcast.
>
>
> In addition to this, I have a distinct freaky
> childhood memory of seeing Ferrara do an entire
> half-hour interview on the short-lived "Lauren Hutton
> And...", an incredibly lame Charlie Rose-esque show
> hosted by Lauren Hutton (of all people). During the
> program, Ferrara, who was there to plug one of his
> mid-90s efforts, couldn't stop rubbing his eyes with
> his fingers, and was hard-pressed to complete full
> sentences. It was WONDERFUL.
> If anyone has a tape of this show, I would pay money
> for it -- but it's doubtful anyone besides me even saw
> it, since the Los Angeles station that ran the show
> used to play it at 3:00am on Friday nights, or some
> other ungodly hour.
>
>
>
> bret b.
>
I've never forgotten an installment of the Tom Snyder Show -- before
you were born, Bret -- with Terry Southern, coked to the gills, and
some guy from NBC wearing a turtleneck and a peace medallion. The
topic was broadcast standards. The network exec, in pear-like tones,
explained to Tom that they were getting lots of letters complaining
about content, and that "these are serious people whom we have to
take seriously." "But," piped up Southern, momentarily drawn into a
conversation he had been drifting away from, saliva running from the
corner of his mouth, "those are CRACKPOT letters!" Memories...
15546
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:58am
Subject: Re: Re: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy (was: Feel-Good films)
Just out of interest of registering a dissenting opinion, I loved Yang's "Yi
Yi" when I saw it in theatres four years ago. Maybe I was out of the loop,
but I don't remember it as being particularly over-hyped - I know the critic at
my local daily was decidedly mixed on it. I think I mostly saw it on the
basis of some sense I had of the director's reputation and the fact that the wide
shots I saw in clips looked interesting. And I felt they were more than
"interesting" - very amazing and stunning, in fact - when I saw the film itself!
Peter
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
15547
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:01am
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera"
wrote:
I love the Penguin's press conference, where the reporters are all
taking him seriously while he is in the process of snarfing down a
haddock, mouth smeared with blood. Could have been filmed yesterday.
15548
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:01am
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera"
wrote:
I love the Penguin's press conference, where the reporters are all
taking him seriously while he is in the process of snarfing down a
haddock, mouth smeared with blood. Could have been filmed yesterday.
15549
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:01am
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera"
wrote:
I love the Penguin's press conference, where the reporters are all
taking him seriously while he is in the process of snarfing down a
haddock, mouth smeared with blood. Could have been filmed yesterday.
15550
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:01am
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera"
wrote:
I love the Penguin's press conference, where the reporters are all
taking him seriously while he is in the process of snarfing down a
haddock, mouth smeared with blood. Could have been filmed yesterday.
15551
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:01am
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Noel Vera"
wrote:
I love the Penguin's press conference, where the reporters are all
taking him seriously while he is in the process of snarfing down a
haddock, mouth smeared with blood. Could have been filmed yesterday.
15552
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:05am
Subject: Re: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
Brad,
Interesting analysis of Wise's themes. What Wise films would you recommend
most strongly to a skeptic? That is, of the later stuff, as most of us seem to
agree that many of his early films are quite good. I suppose this is a
roundabout way of asking what your favorite Wise films are. I'm always interested
in revisiting a director who I've not responded to in the past.
Peter
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
15553
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:06am
Subject: Re: Wise & Welles (Was 'Rooftops')
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Modiano"
wrote:
> --- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Craig Keller
> wrote:
> "...for his repeated invocation of the "I worked on
> 'Citizen Kane'"-calling-card, in the context of his RKO lapdog'ism
> with 'Ambersons,' -- he shan't be forgiven."
>
> Wise was at the beginning of his career then and probably would
have
> been punsihed (fired? suspended?) by his employer RKO for not
> following orders, and the result for AMBERSONS would most likely
have
> been the same (or even worse) at other hands had he refused. Much
> more egregious, in my view, was his "restoration" of KANE for the
> 1991 50th anniversary re-release. Wise had the entire movie
printed
> higher in the grey scale "so you could see more." And now you can
> see Joseph Cotton and Erskine Sanford as reporters in the screening
> room after the newsreel, see that formerlly vast rooms are shallow
> sets, etc. This restored version had a fairly wide art house
release
> at the time, but here in Los Angles one could see UCLA's excellent
> 1956 re-release print too, and I can attest that the Wise
restoration
> suffers by comparison. Evidentlly Wise's version is the one
> currently available on DVD (I haven't seen KANE on DVD so I'm just
> guessing.)
>
> Richard
Richard Wilson confirmed to me aht you are saying, Richard. He was
outraged about the timing. But I'm also outraged about Ambersons. And
about a reported meeting at Paramount on shogun, attended by Wise for
some reason, where Welles was brought up as a possible narrator. "Why
are you considering that has-been?" said Wise. Eyewitness account.
The reports of him sleeping thru Star Trek etc. -- while Welles was
running around H'wd with a bandit crew and the energy of a 1000
children making Other Side of the Wind, just confirms the botom line
on Wise: Ultimately, he cared more about the money than he did about
the movies.
15554
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:12am
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, LiLiPUT1@a... wrote:
> I've seen Rooftops and thought it was pretty bad. The gymkata dance
moves are
> poorly integrated if one can even use that word. They're like a
pimple that
> goes away for a huge chunk of the narrative and pops up again
randomly at the
> end.
>
> But we're forgetting The Curse of the Cat People although I'm not
sure how
> much of it is Wise's hand. In any event, I prefer it to Cat People,
a minority
> opinion, I know (anyone else share it?).
>
Me. Cat People is a bit clunky. Curse of the Cat People is one of the
most wonderful films ever made, and so is The Seventh Victim,
directed by Wise's more pedestrian co-editor on Kane, Mark Robson.
They are Val Lewton films, and they are as good as Zombie, except
that they don't match the incandescence of Tourneur's visuals in
Zombie. I keep begging Mike Thomas to stop wasting his time and
what's left of Wise's brain getting him to ruminate about Helen of
Troy -- someone MUST get his recollections of Curse down before it's
too late!
15555
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:13am
Subject: Re: Shô Kosugi (was: Rooftops)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, Craig Keller
wrote:
> > I've seen Rooftops and thought it was pretty bad. The gymkata
dance
> > moves are
> > poorly integrated if one can even use that word.
>
> Ah, -gymkata-. This brings to mind not necessarily 'Gymkata,' but
some
> of my favorite films as a child in addition to all the slasher
films
> with the great VHS box art -- the oeuvre of Menahem Golan.
I just saw Golan-Globus's Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for the first
time -- it's really quite good.
15556
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:15am
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "cairnsdavid1967"
wrote:
> > Well then be sure to get ahold of a copy of "Frank
> > Tashlin" edited by Roger Garcia and Bernard
> > Eisenschitz pubished by the BFI in 1994 in association
> > with the Locarno Film Festival. It's full of
> > information and articles by such noted afilmby-ers as
> > Jonathan Rosenbaum, Bill Khron, and me.
>
> I have it and it's great! Must go and recheck your contribution
> though, now that I'm in communication with you. But I already know
i
> like it as the whole book is terrific.
>
> Really wanna see his Terry-Thomas film.
A few years ago I was at a dinner party in San Francisco and was sat
next to Roger Garcia becuse we were the two "movie people" there.
Never having heard of Roger, I braced myself for an evening of praise
for Tarentino, Spielberg, Coppola and all the usual suspects, so I
was delightfully surprised when my passing mention to Sirk led to
discussions of Minnelli, Nick Ray and, in particular, Tashlin.
Tashlin's Terr-Thomas film, Bachelor Flat, is an amazing
deconstruction of Cinemascope. There's a sequence in which a dog --
a wide screen dachsund, if I remember 30 years after seeing it --
tries to bury a bone, which is one of the most remarkable uses of
Scope ever.
Did any other director employ wisescreen better than Tashlin?
15557
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:15am
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Damien Bona"
wrote:
> --- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, LiLiPUT1@a... wrote:
>
>
> Which reminds me, in a high school religion class, we had to do an
> oral report on a piece of art that touched upon religion and/or
> spirituality. I chose Curse Of The Cat People. I got a C, because
> the teacher said that despite my excellent presentation the subject
> (i.e. Curse) was not worth serious consideration.
Too bad you couldn't pull James Agee out from behind the blackboard
to tell her how fulol of shit she was.
15558
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:17am
Subject: Wise and Sarris (was Re: 'Rooftops')
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Damien Bona"
wrote:
> Very much involved in working to eliminate the death penalty, Wise
is
> undoubtedly one of those excellent people who are much better human
> beings than they are movie directors.
No, he's about the same as a human being.
15559
From: Damien Bona
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:31am
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "cairnsdavid1967"
wrote:
> Hot ziggety, that does look enticing.
>
> Wish there were more Tashlin available though. New release of THE
> GIRL CAN'T HELP IT with John Waters intro should go some way to
> rectifying this, but I need more obscurities!
>
> I didn't really know who Tashlin was until surprisingly recently,
but
> when T realised he also made SON OF PALFACE I was thrilled. When
bob
> Hope supports his three-wheeled car by lassooing the spoke and
> holding the thing up from inside, and sends Roy Rogers to retrieve
> the loose tyre with the words "Hurry up - this is impossible,"
whole
> new vistas of absurdity opened up for me as a kid.
Don't just look for the films Tashlin directed -- his sensibility
dominated many of the films for which he worked on the scripts, his
personality dominating the likes of such directors as Norman Z.
McLeod and, especially, Lloyd Bacon. The Fuller Brush Girl is an
especially draw-dropping live-action carton.
15560
From: Adam Hart
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:29am
Subject: Re: Abel Ferrara on TV
> On LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN, Abel again takes
the 'spontaneous
> improviser' role, and 'casts' Conan O'Brien as Tony Coca-Cola!
It's
> really a remarkable achievement
I just have to point out that any dvd with Ferrara commentary on it
is an absolute necessity, as he is undoubtedly the most entertaining
filmmaker I've ever heard do one of those things. Particularly The
Driller Killer.
Has anyone seen the French documentary on him, "Dans les coulisses
du clip 'California'". I guess it's about some music video he made
(?).
15561
From: Aaron Graham
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 9:09am
Subject: Re: Shô Kosugi (was: Rooftops)
> I just saw Golan-Globus's Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for the first
> time -- it's really quite good.
I think "TCM 2" is quite an amazing film. I've got an article
concerning the production where the screenwriter, David Holzman
himself - LM Kit Carson, talks about how it's all about "sticking it
to the yuppies".
There's tons of footage - wonderful little asides and gags - that
should be added to a director's cut dvd at some point.
-Aaron
15562
From: thebradstevens
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:03am
Subject: Re: Wise & Welles (Was 'Rooftops')
"a reported meeting at Paramount on shogun, attended by Wise for some
reason, where Welles was brought up as a possible narrator. "Why are
you considering that has-been?" said Wise. Eyewitness account."
But don't you think that he was probably joking?
15563
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:54am
Subject: Re: Wise (Was 'Rooftops')
My favorite Robert Wise movie is "The Day the Earth Stood Still". This is a
highly poetic science fiction film. It has some of the atmosphere of a Val
Lewton production.
MIke Grost
15564
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 8:02am
Subject: Re: Michael Dinner (was: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy)
Michael Dinner is a gifted director. His "Off Beat" (1986), the comedy about
the tap dancing policemen, is a gem. One of Dinner's TV works is also worth
reviving: "The Curse of the Corn People" (1989). Despite its title, this is not
a horror movie. Instead, it is a comedy-drama focussing on a group of aspiring
young filmmakers, making a low budget, independent horror movie (not
dissimilar to "The Children of the Corn"). This film is both sweet, and inspiring in
its look at the filmmakers' idealism. This was an hour-long pilot for a TV
series that did not materialize.
I think there are a LOT of interesting comedy films made in the 1980's. It is
a highly underrated period in film history.
Mike Grost
15565
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 0:21pm
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
> Highly recommended obscurities, unavailable even on cassette when I
> last looked: The First Time (script by Hugo Butler), Marry Me Marry
> Me, Susan Slept Here, The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, Bachelor Flat.
- the only one of which I have is the BIZARRE Susan Slept. The only
film (I think) narrated by an Oscar, with freaky freudian-cartoon-
musical dream sequences and an ey-popping moment when "juvenile
delinquent" Debbie Reynolds is grabbed by the tit by a cop when
trying to flee Powell's pad. Happens in close-up, too, there's no
mistaking it.
Have found that even a largely unsuccessful tash like THE ALPHABET
MURDERS has moments of sheer genius, such as a mirror trick that sees
Tony Randall and Robert Morley's mouths transposed onto each others'
faces in a dialogue scene. A second more of that and my brain would
have melted.
Reread yr piece last night, David, and it's one of my favourites! a
comparison of the Lewis and Tashlin styles was a very necessary thing
for any critical study of Tash - there's even more to be said on the
subject, especially on the use of colour on thsoe films...
15566
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 0:25pm
Subject: CATCH 22 was: My Favorite Year (Richard Benjamin)
> > It got creamed by MASH which opened the same day. MASH
> > was quick, sharp and captured the spirit of the
> > Vietnam era as it was unfolding. "Catch" was a
> > gigantic, heavy, "impressive" thingy about a war no
> > one cared much to think about at that time.
>
Nichols reportedly took the theme of CATCH 22 as "the fear of death",
meaning that it was only incidemntally about WWII. I like both films.
Regardless of which is better, I think CATCH 22 does a good job
showing the damagingly masculine environment of war without being
itself sexist, whereas MASH is sometimes wearisome in its relentless
trashing of any female characters who dare to stand up to the men.
Unlike some, I don't see a consistent misogyny in Altman's work, but
I do see it there.
15567
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 0:27pm
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
> The Fuller Brush Girl is an
> especially draw-dropping live-action carton.
I have that one. Haven't been able to find any of his other scripted
films, apart from A NIGHT IN CASABLANCA, to which he reportedly
contributed the celebrated "What are you doing, holding up the wall?"
gag.
My life's ambition is to be a gag man. I was one, on a kids' TV show,
but they insisted on calling me "script editor."
15568
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 0:32pm
Subject: Re: Wise & Welles (Was 'Rooftops')
> The reports of him sleeping thru Star Trek etc. -- while Welles was
> running around H'wd with a bandit crew and the energy of a 1000
> children making Other Side of the Wind, just confirms the botom
line
> on Wise: Ultimately, he cared more about the money than he did
about
> the movies.
To be fair, Hitchcock fell asleep on set a hell of a lot too. I think
Wise was just old. (Yipes, what does that make him now???)
I think he clearly has a responsible, corporate mentality, which made
him see AMBERSONS as a useless thing, however beautful, if it didn't
please a large general audience. He's admitted as much in interviews.
Nevertheless, Wise's craftsmanship and feeling for the medium has
resulted in some genuinely fine films, most notably THE HAUNTING.
He's earned his place in movie heaven, even though his AMBERSONS
recutting means he'll have to go through purgatory for a few
millennia before St Orson allows him in.
15569
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 0:35pm
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
> Did any other director employ wisescreen better than Tashlin?
According to the book it is indeed a daschhund, and the bone is a
huge dinosaur one.
The other master of widescreen for me is Ray, who does great things
with glass offices in the early scene of REBEL in the cop shop.
Tash makes the best self-conscious use of the format, for sure.
though I like the Very Long Painting seen in Scorsese's AGE OF
INNOCENCE.
15570
From: Zach Campbell
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:20pm
Subject: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
Damien:
> Did any other director employ wisescreen better than Tashlin?
Blake Edwards!
--Zach
15571
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:27pm
Subject: Re: Re: Jerry Lewis on DVD
--- Damien Bona wrote:
>
> Did any other director employ wisescreen better than
> Tashlin?
>
>
Oshima in the rather Tashlinesque "Three Ressurrected
Drunkards" and "The Ceremony."
I'm also crazy about "2 ou 3 Choses Made in U.S.A. Que
Je Sais D'elle" and the complete works of Miklos
Jansco.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. Download now.
http://messenger.yahoo.com
15572
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:33pm
Subject: Re: Re:Nightmare 2; was: Shô Kosugi (was: Rooftops)
--- Aaron Graham wrote:
>
> I think it's the only stand-alone 'Elm Street' film,
> without any ties
> to its predecessors (apart from the lame idea to
> have the lead
> character read from Nancy's diary from the first
> film). There's also
> that whole business about it apparently having a gay
> subtext (our
> lead sleepwalks to an S&M club, where he runs into
> his gym teacher;
> Freddy bursting through his abdomen after declining
> to make-out with
> a girl). I haven't seen it in ages, but it's the
> only one of the
> series that sticks out in my mind.
>
In "Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train" the
wife-abusing bisexual junkie Thierry (Roschedy Zem)
watches a "Nightmare on Elm Street" series entry
("Freddy's Nightmare") on video while on the nod.
_______________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Declare Yourself - Register online to vote today!
http://vote.yahoo.com
15573
From: iangjohnston
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:03pm
Subject: L182
Very belatedly I've finally got round in my film-watching life to
seeing Bergman's "En Passion" - most impressed, even if the self-
reflexive actor interviews are a pretty dated effectand rather
detract from the overall impact of the film. But I do have one query
about the film's title. (Nothing to do with the US title "The
Passion of Anna" being rather inappropriate as opposed to the UK's
literal "A Passion".) The Swedish title "En Passion" never appears
during the credits; we only get "L182". Does anyone know the
significance/reference of this?
15574
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:20am
Subject: Yi Yi and the critics (was: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy)
"Yi Yi" (Edward Yang) is one of the three most critically praised films of
the new millenium. The other two: "Lost in Translation" (Sophia Coppola) and
"Before Sunset" (Richard Linklater). All three showed up on countless critics' 10
Best lists, won critics polls, and were generally treated as the best films
of our time.
"Hype" is probably the wrong word for these films' reception. Hype, to me at
least, describes large advertising budgets, and publicity stories in the
entertainment press and TV shows. There is plenty of hype in the movie business,
usually surrounding big budget Hollywood films. Is there a man, woman or child
anywhere who does not know that "Meteor" is about a metoer "the size of Texas"
threatening the Earth? I've never seen this film - but somehow, like everyone
else, I know all about it. This is hype.
By contrast, the three films above are critics' favorites.
"Yi Yi" is a favorite of both auteurist and non-auteurist critics. Such
leading auteurists as Jonathan Rosenbaum, Fred Camper and John Belton seem to
regard Edward Yang as a Pantheon director. But his prestige also seems enormous
among the critical community as a whole, including non-auteurists.
Yang's reputation also benefits from a non-auteurist idea. Many people claim
that Taiwan, along with Iran, is now the center of film culture. Taiwanese
directors, including Yang, Hou and Tsai Ming-liang, are seen as artistically
superior to those from other regions of the planet. Judging filmmakers
collectively, instead of on their individual artistic merits, is not an auteurist idea.
But this concept of Taiwan as the center of world film has a deep grip on many
critics today.
Rosenbaum, Camper and Belton have all seen most of Yang's movies, presented
in theaters under good conditions. By contrast, I have only seen "Yi Yi" among
Yang's works, and on video. I am much less qualified to offer an opinion on
Yang. But my reaction was the same as Bill Krohn's: complete disappointment. "Yi
Yi" seemed to me to be a grim soap opera, putting not very well developed
characters through a series of depressing stock traumas: adultery, the death of a
loved one, unemployment, mid-life crisis, abusive teachers. The film also
seemed lacking in any sort of creative visual style.
As everyone on this list knows, I did not like "Lost in Translation" at all,
and found "Before Sunset" only moderately interesting - mainly for some good
camera movements through Paris gardens in the first half. Viewings of all three
films left me feeling completely out of sync with world critical opinion.
Here are what are supposed to be the great films of our time, and I did not even
think they are good movies!
Where do we go from here?
Both Yang's admirers and detractors would agree on one point: what we need
now is a theatrical release of what is often seen as Yang's masterpiece, "A
Brighter Summer Day" (1991). Allowing large numbers of viewers to see this film
under good theatrical conditions would go a long way towards a greater
understanding of Yang by everyone.
Mike Grost
15575
From: Fred Camper
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 2:56pm
Subject: Important group business, please read
We have made some small changes in our group's "Statement of Purpose."
Some of these changes include integrating a file about the details of
our group's operations and occasional procedural posts we've made to the
group into it. We've also made slight revisions in the "Information on
Joining" document for prospective members. The new documents are now
linked to from the group's main page.
One addition to the Statement of Purpose reads, "Please also understand
that many of the members our group are not going to have time to answer
all questions about their views, or, for example, about their published
articles. You are free to ask, but no one in our group should feel
obligated to answer queries." We want to encourage professional critics
who are publishing regularly to join and remain members, but as our
group continues to grow we also don't want to make any member feel
compelled to spend time on this group at any particular moment. In
general, one way of saying "I don't have an interesting reply to this
question" is to not reply at all.
One other change is that while new members can join on the sponsorship
of existing members, without having to answer questions from the
moderators about who your favorite critics are and the like, "sponsored"
members do have to tell us that they agree with our Statement of Purpose.
The other changes and additions are all minor tweaks. We would, though,
like to underline our request that members place useful information
(name, age, location) into their Yahoo profiles wherever possible, sign
posts, and also consider adding an autobiography to our member bios in
Bios.html in our files section (email autobiographies to Fred).
The idea behind these changes is to make everything a bit clearer and
simpler, and to create documents that won't have to be changed again for
quite a while.
If person or persons knowledgeable on the subject would like to write a
brief history of the auteur theory for our site, starting with
Truffaut's Cahiers article (or before?), proceeding through Sarris, that
would be a great addition for all of us, and particularly for
prospective members. Email Fred and Peter. This could be scholarly and
detailed or a short 250 words written off the top of your head.
Fred and Peter
Your co-moderators
15576
From: Fred Camper
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:00pm
Subject: Important group business, please read (PS)
The new Statement of Purpose plus a short history of our group can be
found in the Files section accessible on the left of the main page, or
at http://www.fredcamper.com/M/Aboutafb.html
Fred Camper
15577
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:28pm
Subject: Re: L182
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "iangjohnston" wrote:
> The Swedish title "En Passion" never appears
> during the credits; we only get "L182". Does anyone know the
> significance/reference of this?
L-182 is the screenplay code for "En Passion." My guess is that this
just another example of the film reflecting on itself. I'll try to
find out more.
Paul
15578
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:33pm
Subject: Re: Yi Yi and the critics (was: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, MG4273@a... wrote:
> "Yi Yi" (Edward Yang) is one of the three most critically praised
films of
> the new millenium. The other two: "Lost in Translation" (Sophia
Coppola) and
> "Before Sunset" (Richard Linklater). All three showed up on
countless critics' 10
> Best lists, won critics polls, and were generally treated as the
best films
> of our time.
> "Hype" is probably the wrong word for these films' reception.
I rushed to see it with tasteful friends Marvin Usevich and Janet
Bergstrom, excited by what we'd read about this as a breakthrough
masterpiece. As we exited the theatre we started trying to praise it;
by the time we had gone 20 steps we were all admitting to each other
that it was nothing special. Whether the word "hype" is appropriate
to cases like this is a good question. As I said, it's a decent film,
but my expectations were so high that it kind of spoiled it for me --
whereas I long ago learned not to believe what anyone says about a
H'wd film. Your comments on Meteor are very funny, Mike.
15579
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:35pm
Subject: Re: L182
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Gallagher"
wrote:
> --- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "iangjohnston" wrote:
> > The Swedish title "En Passion" never appears
> > during the credits; we only get "L182". Does anyone know the
> > significance/reference of this?
I don't know. Totally agree that the film is a masterpiece -- except
for the unforunate idea of the interviews.
15580
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 11:48am
Subject: World Cinema and the recession
A thesis:
There is much less creative cinema being financed world wide since the
recession that began in 2001.
Films released in 2001 were probably financed before the recession began in
early 2001.
Films released during 2002-2004 were financed after the start of the
recession.
Yesterday, I searched the imdb, looking to see what my favorite directors had
been up to during the years 2002-2004. The answer: nothing much. Most had
made no new movies AT ALL.
I looked at ALL of the directors who made films I had liked from 1996-2001.
Almost none of them had managed to make a film in the last three years
(2002-2004). At least as far as the imdb knew.
There are a few pockets of filmmaking enterprise. South Korea keeps making
movies. Directors in Spain keep working too: Almodovar and Carlos Saura have
been employed, and Benito Zambrano has managed to make a five hour miniseries for
Spanish TV.
Some other directors have kept working, by making really low budget movies.
Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan finances all his own films; "Distant" was made with
a five person crew (!). Similary, Agnes Varda has kept making documentaries,
on what seems to be skeletal budgets and crews, too. Good for them!
Peter Bogdanovich has made a single new film, his Natalie Wood biopic, for TV
in Australia. André Téchiné has made a single new movie. So have a lucky few
other directors. John Waters finally has a new movie coming out, "A Dirty
Shame", his first since 2000.
Peter Watkins recently signed the on-line petition to preserve the BFI film
archive. He gave his profession as "unemployed". He is telling the truth about
a lot of the world's film directors.
Concerned,
Mike Grost
15581
From: samfilms2003
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:03pm
Subject: Re: Yi Yi and the critics (was: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy)
> Many people claim
> that Taiwan, along with Iran, is now the center of film culture.
I think the point is, there is no one center; or, 2, 3, many centers.
For me that's a good thing.
>Taiwanese
> directors, including Yang, Hou and Tsai Ming-liang, are seen as artistically
> superior to those from other regions of the planet.
Again, for me they are 2 of the, most interesting
narrative/dramatic filmmakers now working. (Edward Yang I've yet to
catch up with altho friends who know what I like highly recommend).
I don't care about superiority, or ranking; I care about levels of
involvement.
But I don't see how this can be reduced to geography in a simple way,
Asian artistic culture arises out of a multitude of trans-national influence.
Tsai is Malaysian, so even placing him in some geographical center
doesn't account for other, different centers of influence and specific
vision.
-Sam
15582
From: Matt Teichman
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:37pm
Subject: Blier on video
Hello all,
I'm trying to track down copies of two of Bertrand Blier's less
available films: _Calmos_ and _Breakdown_ (A.K.A. _Meme si j'etais un
espion_), and I was wondering if anyone might have any leads. Any
format would be fine. I've heard that _Calmos_ airs occasionally on
British TV, but unfortunately we don't get very much British TV in
Pittsburgh...
thanks as always,
-Matt
(and many thanks to Doug, Brandon, and everyone who provided feedback on
Italian DVD vendors some months back)
15583
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:41pm
Subject: Re: Rooftops (and a view of cinema therefrom)
> Me. Cat People is a bit clunky. Curse of the Cat People is one of
the
> most wonderful films ever made, and so is The Seventh Victim,
> directed by Wise's more pedestrian co-editor on Kane, Mark Robson.
> They are Val Lewton films, and they are as good as Zombie, except
> that they don't match the incandescence of Tourneur's visuals in
> Zombie. I keep begging Mike Thomas to stop wasting his time and
> what's left of Wise's brain getting him to ruminate about Helen of
> Troy -- someone MUST get his recollections of Curse down before
it's
> too late!
I like clunky. But I agree that Wise's memories of ALL the Lewton
films he worked on are precious, and need to be recorded for
psoterity. I like all the Lewton films I've seen (am missing a couple
of obscure dramas).
I recently saw APACHE DRUMS and thought it excellent - the direction
by Hugo Fregonese lacks imagination, but the script and atmosphere
are just great. It has a surprising amount in common with Lewton's
horrors, and reaches for almost supernatural effects at times.
15584
From: cairnsdavid1967
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:46pm
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
> I thought Batman Returns was the work of two people, Burton and
> screenwriter Daniel Waters, whose off-the-wall humor gave the movie
> the sharpest dialogue I've seen in comic book movies (Raimi gets
the
> emotions right, but the dialogue barely sparkles).
I found the script too reliant on one-liners (though not half as bad
as the Schumacher outings) and found the story convoluted without
necessity. The Penguin changes his plan from shot to shot,
Christopher Walken's character seems largely unnecessary,a nd
Catwoman's overall motivation - which SHOULD be to revenge herself on
Walken - is almost impossible to fathom.
But still, better than the later films.
Am pretty sure there's a special gag-writer brought in on the
SPIDERMANS to write the genuinely funny stuff for J. Jonah Jameson.
The other dialogue is flat and endless, especially in the second film.
Can't quite understand why most people prefer SPIDEY 2 - the first
one makes more sense, is better written and has more of Raimi's
stylistic hallmarks.
15585
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:48pm
Subject: Damien's asshole teacher! (WAS: Rooftops)
OMG, Damien, that was APPALLING of your teacher! It reminds me of my sister's difficult time in school. She was not a good student but I wonder to what extent that had to do with her teachers' willfully ignorant view of popular culture. To make up for a failing grade in one class, she was told to write a report on a hero of hers. She chose David Bowie and the teacher wouldn't even read her report because "rock musicians don't count."
I imagine your unfortunate run-in with this small-minded teacher, Damien, was a while back. But I cringe to think of how rampant such myopia might be in today's schools. I seriously hope to counteract all that via my stint in academia. Last night, one of my students reluctantly professed a love for Empire Records and she seemed genuinely relieved after I began gushing about it.
It's sad because this dim view of popular culture has very real ramifications on who gets ahead in what fields in American society.
Kevin John
15586
From: Dan Sallitt
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 4:56pm
Subject: Wise (Was:Rooftops)
> Curse Of The Cat People is a wonderful film, and the rare Hollywood
> movie that conveys the odd state of being that is childhood. Of
> course Lewton had a hand in it, as did Gunther von Fritsch who
> apparentlty had to answer to his draft board in the midst of it (the
> army couldn't have waited til the end of a three week shoot?). Still,
> I think it's easily Wise's best picture other than The Sound of
> Music.
I'm not a Wise fan (though the Cahiers people were kindly disposed toward
him, as I recall), nor did I even enjoy CURSE that much on my one long-ago
viewing. But for some reason I really like THE BODY SNATCHER, which I
think is the most Hitchcockian film not made by Hitchcock. - Dan
15587
From: Dan Sallitt
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:02pm
Subject: Re: Yi Yi and the critics (was: Post 1978 Hollywood comedy)
> Many people claim
> that Taiwan, along with Iran, is now the center of film culture.
> Taiwanese directors, including Yang, Hou and Tsai Ming-liang, are seen
> as artistically superior to those from other regions of the planet.
> Judging filmmakers collectively, instead of on their individual artistic
> merits, is not an auteurist idea. But this concept of Taiwan as the
> center of world film has a deep grip on many critics today.
These things shift around. My sense is that Taiwan and Iran are both
yesterday's news as far as journalistic interest goes - not that the films
are worse, just that people talk about them less. South Korea is still
hot, I think. Thailand, definitely. Even China.
I enjoyed YI YI without going crazy for it, but I recently saw Yang's THE
TERRORIZER and was quite pleased. - Dan
15588
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:03pm
Subject: Re: World Cinema and the recession
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, MG4273@a... wrote:
> A thesis:
> There is much less creative cinema being financed world wide
since the
> recession that began in 2001.
A major director recently told me that as far as he can see he's
"out of the film business." Good heads-up, Mike. I'll be curious to
hear from other a_film_byers. The virtue of this kind of theory vis
a vis conspiracy theories is that a posteriori reasoning can be
sort of checked. There are definitely observable cycles in the
business like you're describing on record before this. Another
factor -- David and Joseph K and I were discussing this after
seeing The Devils -- is production costs.
Don't get me wrong -- I love conspiracy theories too! Fun ones, at
least.
15589
From: Aaron Graham
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:15pm
Subject: Re: comic book movies (was: Anderson, Jost, Ozon, Ford, et al)
> Am pretty sure there's a special gag-writer brought in on the
> SPIDERMANS to write the genuinely funny stuff for J. Jonah Jameson.
> The other dialogue is flat and endless, especially in the second
film.
I haven't seen "Spiderman 2" yet, so I can't rightly comment on which
is better. But having seen a tape full of Raimi's short films
recently, I can definitely attest that Raimi himself is probably
coming up with all the gags for Jameson. The fact remains that the
Three Stooges rank as one of his biggest inspirations, though
unfortunately they have been sidetracked in his recent big budgeted
pictures.
-Aaron
15590
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:33pm
Subject: Re: Re: World Cinema and the recession
--- hotlove666 wrote:
Another
> factor -- David and Joseph K and I were discussing
> this after
> seeing The Devils -- is production costs.
>
Right. And as I pointed out what happened in the
now-hallowed 70's was that talented filmmakers were
able to put projects together "for a price" -- a cheap
one. But what the studios discovered was that this
product wasn't easily saleable. "McCabe and
Mrs.Miller" is not only one of Altman's best films
it's in many ways THE signature film of the 70's.
Adventurous, atmospheric, visually stunning,
narratively exploratory, impossible to sum up in a
single sentence -- unforgettable.
Filmmaking has been replaced by film marketing.
The state we've sunk to is smmed up by the fact that
more people are interested in talking about Harvey
Weinstein than they are about Martin Scorsese.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15591
From: Elizabeth Nolan
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 5:41pm
Subject: M*A*S*H
M*A*S*H is very American in the entrepreneurism and leisurely
athleticism of its characters.
> from "Matthew Clayfield"
>
> Admittedly, this adds to its charm, but the point remains: rarely
> [if ever] is "Catch" irreverently unhinged, and despite their shared
> genre, they're very different films. [I'd also argue that "Catch"
> comes closer to anti-Americanism than "M*A*S*H".]
15592
From: jess_l_amortell
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:02pm
Subject: Re: World Cinema and the recession
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, MG4273@a... wrote:
> There is much less creative cinema being financed world wide since the
> recession that began in 2001.
> I looked at ALL of the directors who made films I had liked from 1996-2001.
> Almost none of them had managed to make a film in the last three years
> (2002-2004). At least as far as the imdb knew.
Just thought I'd add that that supposed universal darling, Edward Yang himself, has apparently not made a film since YI YI in 2000. I'd been wondering about this, and it seems to me I read he'd been ill -- don't know if that has anything to do with it.
15593
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:02pm
Subject: Re: Wise (Was 'Rooftops')
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, MG4273@a... wrote:
> My favorite Robert Wise movie is "The Day the Earth Stood Still".
This is a
> highly poetic science fiction film. It has some of the atmosphere of
a Val
> Lewton production.
>
> MIke Grost
Sam Wood's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" was discussed recently, and now
"The Day the Earth Stood Still," so I thought I mention that on the
starship in the Paramount TV series Star Trek: Enterprise, there's a
movie theater. Among the films they're still watching in the 22nd
century are "For Whom the Bells Tolls," "Frankenstein," and "The Day
the Earth Stood Still."
Paul
15594
From: David Ehrenstein
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:18pm
Subject: Overlooked Gems
I've been thinking about breaking into the
conversation people have been having in here about
teen films of the 80's, but I really can't work up
that much enthusiasm for any of them. However this in
turn raises quetions pertaining to film scholarship
that used to be asked more frequently in the pre-video
era than today. And again it relates to marketing as
what movie was "Number One at the Box Office" last
week is regarded as more important than if the damned
thing was any good.
I've already spoken of my enthusaism for "Second-Hand
Hearts." I'd like to put in a few words about a pair
of other gems: "So Fine" and "Death to Smoochy."
Written and directed by Andrew Bergman "So Fine" stars
Ryan O'Neill as the college professor son of a
clothing retailing, Jack Fine (Jack Warden), who's in
hock to a loan shark known only as Mister
Eddie(Richard Kiel) Mister Eddie demands that"new
blood" is needed for the business so his goons kidnap
Fine the younger (Just as he's showing Bruce
Mullholland, playing an aged poet, around the campus)
and bring him to New York to work for his father.
There he meets and falls in love (and vice versa) with
Mrs. Eddie (Mariangelo Melato) while inadvertently
causing a fashion sensation by accidentally
"inventing" hip-hugger jeans with see through pals
panels on the bottom.
The climax is an awe-inspiring triubute to the climax
of "A Night at the Opera" with Mr. and Mrs. Eddie
performing Verdi's "Othello"
All this and Anita Morris singing and dancing her way
thorugh a commerical for Fine jeans, choreographed by
her hubster Grover Dale.
It's Sturges on Acid!
"Death to Smoochy" a balls-out attack on children's TV
in genreal and Barney in particular is to my mind
Danny DeVito's greatest achievement to date. Likewise
his star Edward Norton as Smoochy the Dinosaur. Robin
Williams as Smoochy's jealous rival is quite
remarkable -- earning the Oscar he won for "Good Will
Hunting." Also on hand: Catherine Keener, Harvey
Feinstein, and OUR LEADER, Jon Stewart.
Kenneth Anger loves this one as much as I do. Any
other takers?
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
15595
From: Paul Gallagher
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:42pm
Subject: Re: Damien's asshole teacher! (WAS: Rooftops)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, LiLiPUT1@a... wrote:
> OMG, Damien, that was APPALLING of your teacher! It reminds me of my
sister's difficult time in school. She was not a good student but I
wonder to what extent that had to do with her teachers' willfully
ignorant view of popular culture. To make up for a failing grade in
one class, she was told to write a report on a hero of hers. She chose
David Bowie and the teacher wouldn't even read her report because
"rock musicians don't count."
>
Maybe not unrelated, especially since "Velvet Goldmine" has shown the
connection between Wilde and David Bowie: I spoke with someone whose
senior thesis on Oscar Wilde, in Harvard's Department of English, had
been downgraded because Oscar Wilde was not an artistically important
writer.
Paul
15596
From: hotlove666
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 6:49pm
Subject: Re: Damien's asshole teacher! (WAS: Rooftops)
--- In a_film_by@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Gallagher"
wrote:
I spoke with someone whose
> senior thesis on Oscar Wilde, in Harvard's Department of
English, had
> been downgraded because Oscar Wilde was not an artistically
important
> writer.
Don't tell that to Harold Bloom. He downgraded Matthew Arnold
and replaced him with Wilde 30 years ago! That's really
shocking, Paul. What would unipolar depressive senior high
school English teachers teach if they didn't have Dorian Gray!
15597
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:08pm
Subject: Re: Re: World Cinema and the recession
In a message dated 04-09-15 14:03:38 EDT, you write:
<< Just thought I'd add that that supposed universal darling, Edward Yang
himself, has apparently not made a film since YI YI in 2000. I'd been wondering
about this, and it seems to me I read he'd been ill -- don't know if that has
anything to do with it.
>>
15598
From:
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 3:21pm
Subject: Re: World Cinema and the recession
In a message dated 04-09-15 14:03:38 EDT, Jess L Amortell writes:
<< Just thought I'd add that that supposed universal darling, Edward Yang
himself, has apparently not made a film since YI YI in 2000. I'd been wondering
about this, and it seems to me I read he'd been ill -- don't know if that has
anything to do with it.
>>
Believe me, I am not trying to ruin Mr. Yang's career. I wish him all the
best in finding funding for his movies.
"Yi Yi" was crowned at Cannes. And the video box says it is on 200 critics'
10 Best lists. This seems to be accurate. It really IS a prestigious movie. By
contrast, Stan Brakhage's "Lovesong" (2001) is on very few 10 best lists, for
example.
Despite all this, Yang, like most world directors of any artistic or creative
pretensions, has hardly been working during the period 2002-2004. And
probably for the same reasons that so many other gifted filmmakers have fallen off
the map: Something Bad is Going On Out There.
Mike Grost
15599
From: Craig Keller
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:29pm
Subject: Re: Re: World Cinema and the recession
> Despite all this, Yang, like most world directors of any artistic or
> creative
> pretensions, has hardly been working during the period 2002-2004. And
> probably for the same reasons that so many other gifted filmmakers
> have fallen off
> the map: Something Bad is Going On Out There.
And part of that something-bad is the unwillingness of once capably
funded filmmakers to make small, self-financed, ten-, twenty-,
forty-minute films without budgets or stars, shot on 16mm or on DV.
craig.
15600
From: Jonathan Takagi
Date: Wed Sep 15, 2004 7:34pm
Subject: RE: Re: World Cinema and the recession
> Despite all this, Yang, like most world directors of any artistic
> or creative
> pretensions, has hardly been working during the period 2002-2004. And
> probably for the same reasons that so many other gifted
> filmmakers have fallen off
> the map: Something Bad is Going On Out There.
One thing I've always been curious about- how do people like
Paulo Branco continue to be able to produce so many films
whose commercial prospects seem so slim? Or Raul Ruiz - are
a lot of his films publicly funded? I know that he has
discussed the disappearance of a lot of money in his various
interviews with Jonathan Rosenbaum, but this was (I believe)
back in the '80s.
I participated in the Student Symposium at the Telluride
Film Festival, and I remember listening to Frank Marshall
and Kathleen Kennedy (of Amblin fame, who had generously
funded our trip) talk about how it was impossible for them
to find the money needed for their pet project...
Jonathan Takagi
a_film_by Main Page
Home Film
Art
Other: (Travel, Rants, Obits)
Links About
Contact