random
thoughts regarding cinema
THE ARCHIVES
WEEK ENDING MAY 12, 2000
Between the ambient music or Moby and BT, the
constant rentals from at least three different venues (the Exton library,
MCCC library and Video Update Pottstown), I'm drowned in the pop culture
of my choosing. The other night I threw up at work after talking about
'Bringing Out the Dead' with an EMT driver. I received a nasty letter,
nearly a threatening letter, from a teacher (it was my essay covered in
red paint and howling with invective thrown sharply at me). I am looking
for apartments, a car, all the necessary motions of getting married and
in the meantime, I'm losing touch with myself.
And there are other things, too.
WEEK ENDING MAY 5, 2000
Two quotes from the Matt-man : (yeah, that's my
brother) :
"The 'Summer of Sam' poster is so cool. Way
better than the film".
(pretending to be my older brother Greg talking
to an Italian exchange student :
This is 'Ben-Hur' - it's an American
movie."
Watch 'Fight Club'
first thing when you wake up. Reminiscent of that line in 'Easy Rider',
when Peter Fonda says to Jack Nicholson, regarding Nicholson's joint (which
has gone out) : Save it. Smoke it tommorrow morning. It will give you an
entirely new outlook on the day."
Just for kicks, I copied 'End of Days', hoping
for....I don't know....it was free....anyway, everytime I turned the television
on, Ah-nuld was speaking. And he sounded like a real dumbass. He's not
an actor. He's muscles with a mouth. And watching him in a scene with Gabriel
Byrne : that's comedy.
Message to video update customers : I am an authority
figure.
Message to video update bosses : I was not the
one responsible for the theft of the 'Man on the Moon', 'Bringing out the
Dead' or 'Fight Club' posters
I have no skepticism
regarding 'Gladiator'. Ridley Scott's last adventure epic, the extremely
underrated '1492:Conquest of Paradise' met the definition devised by Werner
Herzog who said that we as human beings are starving for images. In the
trailer for 'Gladiator', some of the imagery looks like it could easily
rival that of '1492:Conquest of Paradise', which boasted, arguably, some
of the most sumptuous and lush images ever to surround the silliness of
an American Historical Epic.
Excitement abounds.
WEEK ENDING APRIL 14, 2000
Special thanks to my special lady for her choice
in videos the other night. Watching 'Unforgiven' widescreen - felt like
the first time. Also, thanks to her for not turning off '2001: A Space
Odyssey' after our daughter fell asleep - It's hard to turn it off
- it's hypnotic. It's, it's....it's '20001'. And thanks for the Kubrick
article from the NY Times Magazine. And thanks for taping Charlie Rose
the other night when Phillip Baker Hall and William H. Macy were on, discussing
David Mamet.
I didn't think I was accepting an award
- but I guess I was. Thanks.
The season finale of 'The Sopranos' proves without
a shred of doubt that it's the most cinematic show on television - maybe
ever. Those dream sequences as a segway for Tony to confront his suspicions
about Sal (aka Pussy) - and that luminous slow-motion shot of him lighting
his cigar at the end of the hour. Smack! Perfecto. Can't wait till season
3 starts.
There were about 10 great lines in last night's
'Futurama'. I can't remember a single one. That show just gets better and
better.
I taped George Clooney in 'Fail-Safe'. Along
with DVD versions of 'Three Kings' and
'The
Insider', 'On the Ropes' which I taped off of TLC last week - plus
'High Fidelity', 'American Psycho' (read
my take on the magnificent book here) and 'Where the Money Is'. Don't
bother me next weekend.
The main character in Graham Greene's 'The Heart
of the Matter' is named Scobie. You wish you'd thought of it. Then you'd
be smarter than Graham Greene. But you're not.
APRIL 7, 2000
I watched 'Pulp Fiction' again this week - first
time on DVD (that was my excuse to make such an occasion out of a film
I've seen well over a dozen times). It has such a lasting power. Such a
staying force. And you know what? Jules eats Brett's last meal.
The newly released score to 'Magnolia' is so
beautiful. Described to the letter in the liner notes (by PT Anderson)
as "slow but fast, scary but romantic, sad but happy" and "a few full symphonies"
- it is just that, and it's sweeping, bbut intimate on top of that. Soothing,
refreshing. Thank God.
READ the 'MAGNOLIA'
review
MARCH 31, 2000
(THE OSCAR EDITION)
Though shocked to the bone that Michael Caine
had beat out favorite Tom Cruise (and cutesy runner-up D. Ed People aka
Haley Joel Osmont) - I was so pleased with his speech that I'm glad he
won. He called himself a representative of the other four nominees and
went through each one - noting their performances - and desperately trying
to make up for his absence in 1986 when he was filming 'Jaws : The Revenge'
instead of accepting his award for 'Hannah and Her Sisters'. He vindicates
it tenfold. My hat is off to him.
When a foreign language film wins the Oscar -
two things happen - we all immediately smack ourselves in the head and
say, "Duh, of course it won - the people opening the envelope are from
the same country". Then, we wonder why they only call the winner by their
first name. It's happened twice. (And watching Antonio Banderas drag Pedro
Almodovar off of the stage - that's comedy.) And now Benigni wants to be
a dog - and possess a tail. What gives?
Robin Williams singing 'Blame Canada' was wonderful.
Anti-Canadian sentiment. Take it in kids, take it all in! [And the new
format - where all five nominees sing their songs (some of which were compressed)
works really, really well. My hats off to this new wave].
I'd like to thank Russell Crowe for NOT ruining
his career by beating to death the cameraman who looked at him twice. What
did the Oscars ever do to Russell Crowe? I mean, really.
And finally - A big congrats to 'Topsy-Turvy',
which won the first two awards (Costume Design and Makeup) and to 'Sleepy
Hollow', which took home Best Art Direction. These three awards were not
just deserving - but satisfying to watch.
And someone needs to keep an eye on Conrad L.
Hall. Seriously.
MARCH 24, 2000
"...excuse my French, but I stomped his ass right
on the spot...if you ever get within arm's reach of this arm right here
- you'a paid fer son of a bitch. You goot my word on it."
-cronie to Jon Mark Byers,
Revelations
: Paradise Lost 2
"Ben, you don't nominate somebody because
they can do a good accent".
-RJ Good,
both calling my desperate attempt to protect
the honor of 'The Sixth Sense' - and observing the banality of the Academy's
choices (because let's face it - Toni Collette : it's either the accent
or the coattails - either way, shameless).
Anyone else intrigued and overjoyed to see a
familiar face, the Indian from 'Dead Man', show up in 'Ghost
Dog' and say the one line we've been yearning to hear him speak since
1996 : "Stupid Fucking White Man."
Coincidence. Roman Polanski and Stanley Kubrick
both set their films, 'The Ninth Gate' and
'Eyes
Wide Shut', respectively, (for Polanski - part of the film) in New
York. Neither of them left Europe. Both of their films feature heavily
over-staged orgy sequences : one that works out, one that contains a great
punchline : Frank Langella shouting "Boo" at a bunch of "pseudo Satan Worshippers".
Coincidence.
Today I saw two films by Matthew Barney ('Cremaster'
and 'Cremaster #4'). I now know where the dream sequence in 'The Big Lebowski'
was lifted from. (6/3/02: AND RECENTLY, I LEARNED HE'S MARRIED TO BJORK)
'Made in Hollywood', an experimental video (that
I didn't like - but that's beside the point) features Patricia Arquette
long before she was ever known by that name. And let me tell you, she was
just as bad an actress in the beginning as she is now and ever shall be.
Amen.
MARCH 17, 2000
A SODERBURGH GENERALIZATION
My girlfriend must've known I'd fallen in with
the wrong crowd of film snobs when I started pronouncing director Steven
Soderburgh's name with a long 'o' sound rather than a short 'o' sound.
The suspicious glint in her eye gave it away.
A PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF GREENAWAY'S 'THE FALLS'
Imagine Hitchcock's disturbing painting 'The Birds', multiplied 90
times, injected into the human consciousness and fragmented like shattered
glass on a carpet, moments before a barefoot convention is set to take
place. This is 'The Falls'. No, I was not impressed with it.
THE ONLY GOOD THING TO COME OUT OF 'FEAR
AND DESIRE'
Frank Silvera's line : "You try door after door when you hear voices
you like behind them - but the knobs come off in your hand". Noirish and
truly the only thing not laughable in this goofy crapfest from the master.
THE EXTRAS ON THE 'EYES WIDE SHUT' DVD
There were a couple of trailers, etc. - all of which I had watched
on that Entertainment Weekly Summer Preview tape about a hundred times.
But there are three interviews - really, really good ones. In the first,
Tom Cruise, without makeup (and contrast this interview with the Frank
TJ Mackey interview in 'Magnolia'), gets all choked up and sputters in
and out of articulation as he tries desperately to paint us a portrait
of his three year relationship with Kubrick. In the second, the heavily
made-up Nicole Kidman cries over the death of Kubrick and waxes poetic
about her acting style, his directing style and plot of 'Eyes Wide Shut'.
Finally, in the best segment, Steven Spielberg tells great stories (as
only he can) about watching 'Paths of Glory' with friends and family the
evening of Kubrick's death and about his meeting with Kubrick after 'The
Shining' set burned to the ground - just days before Spielberg was set
to being shooting 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' on it. These are worth watching
and great additions to an already perfect DVD - even though the film is
pan and scan and contains digital figures in front of the orgy sequences.
(Read the Notes and Observations from
'Eyes Wide Shut' on my Essays Page)
THE TWO MOST PASSIONATE KISSES I'VE SEEN LATELY
Were in 'The Earrings of Madame De..." when Donati (Vittorio De Sica)
kisses Madame De... in the train car after months of not seeing each
other. And also, in Sopranos #7, season 2, when Christopher (Michael Imperioli)
kisses Jon Favrea's agent (the beautiful Alicia Witt). Two kisses of real
passion and spark.
(Read about my Experience with 'The Earrings
of Madame De...' on my Essays Page)
MARCH 10, 2000
THE ICE STORM COFFEE CUP
I just want the world to know that in 'The Ice
Storm', you can see the Moustache Cup Ben (Kevin Kline) lies about to his
wife, Elena (Joan Allen). In the scene where they argue in the kitchen
after Thanksgiving leftovers - the scene which will end with a premature
"throw in the towel" allusion by Elena - you can see, in the BEN'S POV
shot, bottom left-hand portion of your screen, on the counter, the Moustache
Cup. It's not really necessary for us to see it - but it's there. That's
lived in.
EYES WIDE SHUT/FIGHT CLUB RELEASE DATES
Why are 'Release Dates' subject to change. 'Eyes Wide Shut' was supposed
to be out March 7. Then March 14th. Then March 21. Now it's back to March
7. Make up your minds. And thank you. For nothing. 'Fight Club' was supposed
to be out April 18 on DVD. Now they're saying June 20. I'll be married
by then. Make up your minds.
RAVENOUS COMMENTARY
This week I watched part of 'Ravenous' with commentary. Is commentary
as banal as deleted scenes? This was one of my first experiences with it
- and I started with 'Director Antonia Bird and Co-composer Damon Albarn'.
Yawn. More silent gaps - and Bird constantly alluding to coming on to the
production late and Albarn constantly yammering in the language of music.
So I switched to commentary by Robert Carlyle. I thought - okay, it's Begbie
- he'll be hilarious. First off, his coommentary didn't start until his
scenes started. Second, he kept saying crap like "In this scene, I was
going for this...." or "We filmed this on my birthday". Yawn. Then he got
to his nude scene. "The Obligatory Robert Carlyle Ass Shot". Finally -
a winner.
SNAKE EYES DISAPPOINTMENT
In the grand tradition of Hitchcock - from Hitchcock, JR. himself,
Brian DePalma - though it may appear that the opening shot of 'Snake Eyes',
some fourteen minutes in length, is one simultaneous stream - don't be
fooled. When the camera pans from the television screens in the first time,
as Nicholas Cage begins to talk to Monique, his girlfriend, on the cell
phone - a figure passes in front of the camera and - a la 'Rope'- there
is a cut. Thanks to the invention of DVD, I'm shattered.
WONDER BOYS VIEWING #2
It's such a wonderful movie - but deserves a second viewing to catch
the attention of detail - such as the woven plot (of whose points, at least
2 were lost on me the first time), to catch James Ellroy at the Wordfest
cocktail party in the beginning of the film and finally, to savor the wonder
of Douglas's performance - which is nothing shy of genius. (Read
my review of 'Wonder Boys')
RE : DVD COMMENTARY, EXTRAS, ETC.
Watched the Criterion treatment of Dreyer's 'The Passion of Joan of
Arc'. The fact is - every single extra on the film, from the making of
the soundtrack to the restoration details to the comparisons of bastardized
versions to the one seen on the disc itself - the extras are very helpful
and very, very necessary. The film is a masterpiece - but it's story is
mythic folklore in itself. (Read
my Short Essay on my first experience with this film).
home