28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Boner M]

I'm sad now. I initially told her I didn't wanna say how I watched them, then she asked why not, and I told her because I didn't wanna tell a decidedly not rich filmmaker that I saw her work for free. She replied, "hmmmm" and defriended me. I'm such a colossal fuck-up. I told her I'd totally buy Dissolution, her latest, on DVD if it existed. I guess that didn't persuade her.

I wouldn't worry too much. Friending filmmakers on FB out of fandom should just be for shits and giggles.

[B-side]

I wouldn't worry too much. Friending filmmakers on FB out of fandom should just be for shits and giggles.

Yeah, oh well. I planned on watching The Great Sadness of Zohara tonight, but I might not just to spite her. That'll show her.

[Derek]

I have never seen The New World. Netflix sent me the extended version and I'm thinking, hey, why not. Good idea or bad idea?

Hmm, I actually haven't seen the 171 min cut yet, but I prefer the 150 to the 135 as it's a bit more lyrical and abstract. Most rabid fans tend to prefer the longest cut, but I imagine it will make whatever your reaction would have been to the theatrical cut more extreme. I say go for it.

[B-side]

A cryptic, pseudo-musical, The Gold Diggers is intriguing, if a bit of a slog. Centered around the always perplexing topic of the inner workings of the economy and the reminiscences of a woman named Ruby, it's a bizarre mash-up of fairy tale and Welles' take on The Trial. A black woman inquires about the nature of her work of moving numbers and is run around the bureaucracy and eventually led to a man sitting atop an oversized student desk reciting rhetorical philosophical banter. She's then pursued by anonymous henchmen in suits. A theatrical production of a dramatized version of Ruby's childhood, including a silent, mime-like clone of Ruby herself, plays as the crowd jeers the show. I'm still unsure if I actually grasped anything here as opposed to passively taking it all in since I found it difficult to latch onto anything. If nothing else, it's unique, and that's something.

[Ezee E]

Curious what the differences are in the cuts anyway. I liked the theatrical plenty.

[Irish]

I have never seen The New World. Netflix sent me the extended version and I'm thinking, hey, why not. Good idea or bad idea?

The theatrical version is overlong and self indulgent, and the movie really is pure shit.

Looks nice, though.

[B-side]

Oh, Irish.

[Irish]

Nina Menkes defriended me on Facebook after I told her I pirated her work.

Why would you do this? I mean, why would you pirate the stuff of some indie dev whose work you really liked, why would you tell them about it sort of "to their face", why are you surprised at the reaction, and why would you admit to criminal activity under an account that uses your real name?

[B-side]

Why would you do this? I mean, why would you pirate the stuff of some indie dev whose work you really liked, why would you tell them about it sort of "to their face", why are you surprised at the reaction, and why would you admit to criminal activity under an account that uses your real name?

The answer to all these questions and more, coming up, after the break.

[B-side]

Why would you do this? I mean, why would you pirate the stuff of some indie dev whose work you really liked, why would you tell them about it sort of "to their face", why are you surprised at the reaction, and why would you admit to criminal activity under an account that uses your real name?

I didn't specifically tell her I pirated her work. Just that I saw it for free, which could mean a number of different things. I don't have an income, so seeing movies like hers is not exactly an easy activity unless I'm willing to acquire them through less than legal means. She insisted I tell her, so I did. I'm surprised that she would get indignant over one asshole living in Michigan not paying to see a few of her films as opposed to simply being happy that I'm a fan.

[DavidSeven]

Decided to re-watch both Casablanca and Citizen Kane today. A consensus G.O.A.T. double-feature of sorts. Because ...why not?

What is there to really say?

Casablanca is amazingly straight-forward with a mostly functional, non-distracting mis-en-scene. But it's really a great story. An all-time great third act. And the finale delivers enough of a visual flourish to totally compensate for the workmanlike quality of the rest of the film's aesthetic. Still affecting, even when you know everything Bogie's going to end up doing. Maybe more so.

Citizen fucking Kane ...I believe this was my third time watching it. I'm determined to make sure the fourth is on a big fucking theater screen somewhere. Still immaculate. Of course you could spend hours analyzing every damn shot of this movie, and of course the screenplay is so wonderfully complex yet beautifully structured. This time, however, my attention gravitated to how perfect the casting was for the film. Maybe it was the contrast to Casablanca that made it especially stand out this time. The performances in Casablanca are certainly great and work for the film, but they also feel as though they are product of those times. There's a theatricality to them that I'm sure most are forgiving of (though this applies more to Bergman and the supporting cast than it does to Bogart). It's part of the charm, and I don't point it out as a knock against the film. In Citizen Kane, however, there's just something timelessly good about even the film's most minor performances. The mother. The child-Kane. The librarian. Kane's butler. Both of Kane's ex-wives. Of course Welles and Cotton. I could go on, but I'd just be reading off IMDB verbatim. Everyone is just so damn good, even by today's measure of "good" acting. Was it not enough for this film to demolish all others in aesthetic, to be flawlessly structured, and to be a pioneer in the use of sound in cinema? It just had to be one of the most timelessly well-acted movies, too? Damn it, Orson. You magnificent, genius, bastard.

Was a good day.

[Derek]

Curious what the differences are in the cuts anyway. I liked the theatrical plenty.

Here's the most comprehensive write-up I've seen of the differences between the 135 and 150min versions. I only saw the 150-minute cut since I happened to be in NYC when it opened, but they pulled it within 1 or 2 weeks and released the shorter cut everywhere else. I can only imagine the 171-minute cut has similar changes, but not sure.

[Derek]

The theatrical version is overlong and self indulgent, and the movie really is pure shit.

Probably the most effective quote I could use for getting MatchCutters who haven't seen it to check it out!

[Irish]

In Citizen Kane, however, there's just something timelessly good about even the film's most minor performances. The mother. The child-Kane. The librarian. Kane's butler. Both of Kane's ex-wives. Of course Welles and Cotton.

Agreed. IIRC, almost everyone in Kane was a Mercury player out of New York and all these guys had been working together for years. That probably went a long way towards the effectiveness of the performances.

I've probably seen Casablanca a dozen times, and I'm still noticing things about it that I missed previously.

[Irish]

Probably the most effective quote I could use for getting MatchCutters who haven't seen it to check it out!

Malick is one of those drink-the-Kool-aid directors. If someone has a hard on for his other stuff, they'll eat up New World (mostly because he's the kind of guy of thematically repeats himself ad nauseum). But I think if Spinal had gulped the Kool Aid, he wouldn't have posted his question. He'd just watch the movie.

I'm not one of Malick's fans, but I'd still take something like Thin Red Line over this, mostly because Colin Farrell is really weak in the "lead" and Malick belabors his points here, which were done more smoothly and to better effect in Red Line.

Respond to this post if Terry ever manages to refrain from shooting the goddamn wind moving through the trees.

[elixir]

Malick is one of those drink-the-Kool-aid directors. If someone has a hard on for his other stuff, they'll eat up New World (mostly because he's the kind of guy of thematically repeats himself ad nauseum).

It's called an auteur, dude.

[Irish]

It's called an auteur, dude.

No. It's a form of creative bankruptcy, because he doesn't mix it up enough and raise any other questions. Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, and Oliver Stone have been guilty of this too, at different points in their careers.

It's one thing to be obsessed with one area or a series of different questions -- guys like Hitchcock and Philip K Dick fall into that kind of category.

But The Birds plays different than North by Northwest or 39 Steps, just as Man in the High Castle reads differently than The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch.

Same area, different kinds of focus. I've found Malick to be sticking to the same area with the same focus for faaaaaaar too long.

[elixir]

Oh dear lord, I'm not getting into this. Also, self-indulgence is one of the worst criticisms ever.

[Winston*]

Are Terrence Malick''s films really that thematically identical? He runs across Man's relationship to God and nature a lot, but that's hardly the only thing his films are about.

[elixir]

Haha, I don't think they are (they're certainly similar, but not identical), but this discussion [with Irish] won't go anywhere.

[Qrazy]

Of course you could spend hours analyzing every damn shot of this movie.

I did this in high school actually for an independent study haha. I went through shot for shot and kept a journal in regards to the lighting, composition, etc and how all this related to the content of the film. Let me tell you there's a hell of a lot of shots in that opening montage of Kane's life.

[Watashi]

It's called an auteur, dude.

Don't let Irish scare you away.

Post moar.

[Qrazy]

Malick is one of those drink-the-Kool-aid directors. If someone has a hard on for his other stuff, they'll eat up New World (mostly because he's the kind of guy of thematically repeats himself ad nauseum).

Nah, The New World is the only one of his films I'm not super huge on. I still like it quite a bit though.

[Boner M]

Oh dear lord, I'm not getting into this. Also, self-indulgence is one of the worst criticisms ever.

Word, esp. to the second sentence. Specify why you hate said indulgences or GTFO.

[Boner M]

Random query: How many of y'all binge on unwatched DVD special features from your collections when undecided on what to watch?