writer/director I’ve made four shorts and one feature. I’ve played quite a few places and worked on several features out in Hollyweird as assistant director. I reside in the midwest now. Feel free to add me as a friend and pick my brain if you want, I have lots of opinions. Going at it strong right now with www.barstoolcowboymovie.com
How on earth did you trick Vilmos Zsigmond to shoot that one movie with Will Smith I mean Jennifer Lopez I mean Ben Affleck you know that one movie where you were going to show the world the “sensitive” side of you. That one movie that made you decry “I will never make another film er….cinematic jerk off with Jay and Silent Bob”. You had yourself convinced those days of fart, dick and chronic jokes were over, no more would we be invited to the world of two losers hanging outside of a convenience store because it’s such a fresh idea. Then something awful I mean wonderful happened……………Jersey girl really sucked which is wonderful, but then again awful because what was the first thing you did following the monumental disappointment? That’s right Kevin you went right back to your cash cow, your bread and butter, your unsensitive material and created Clerks II and tried to make us believe that Rosario Dawson would fall in love with whatever that guys name is. I mean are you serious Kevin, Clerks II. Now I see you have a new sophomoric production about a couple making a porno which is only a vehicle and an excuse for a Chronic and Bluntman cameo I’m sure. We wait with baited breath Mr. Smith for your profound one line of dialog that’s suppossed to make us think. “Wow this guy really is smart” It’s the whole theory of business, commercials and corporation Kevin and you follow it well. Dumb down the audience with gag after gag of the lowest substance and terrible “witty” one liners and then when you’ve fried nearly all of their brain cells you can come in at the end(after you’ve remained silent)and throw out that one perfect line that at the time seems genius, but only because you’ve made us feel so dumb. Oh how I bet you strain over that one line for months and months, while you write the rest of the script in minutes. Anyway sir I’ve given you enough of my time and money so for now I will sign off I mean jerk off because that’s a more funny thing to say……get it.
His film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu sits in a very strange place for me. It’s not a picture to enjoy, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. What is so fascinating about watching an old man suffer at the hands of inept healthcare workers during his last hours alive? I don’t know. Shot very stripped down documentary style, but it almost seems like the camera is behind the old man the entire journey or peering at him from a safe distance like death just waiting to creep in. Hollywood would never have the guts to make a film like this, it goes against everything the American happy ending promises. There is no victory, nothing is overcome, boy does not get girl instead he dies, hypocrisy is exposed, the human condition is realized for what it is….lonely at the end and we all must die and do it alone. I found it very honest and brave. I look forward to more films from Puiu.
Huy Le, crazy I just watched “The Girl at the Monceau Bakery” last night. Weird………….I too was really into it, where is this going, when is the morality going to set in and then bam it was over. I found a lot of truth in it by way of sometimes in life we spend time with people that we really don’t want to be with and we only do it because the person(s) we’d rather be with are not around and we’re just wasting time in between the next encounter. It’s unfair, but true. Shadows is wonderful, my favorite Cassavete’s. Check out the other moral tales from Rohmer, the rest of them are features with “Claire’s Knee” being my favorite.
I know Kubrick really wanted to make a biopic about Napolean after 2001. I’ve heard Lynch say in interviews ever since Eraserhead when he is asked what he wants to direct next he always says “Ronnie Rocket” “about a three-foot tall guy with red hair and physical problems, and about 60-cycle alternating current electricity.”1 Ronnie Rocket was a strange mixture of the abstractness of Eraserhead and Lynch’s love of America in the fifties. He has described it as “an American smokestack industrial thing — it has to do with coal and oil and electricity”
Can’t believe I forgot about my favorite childhood film or should I say pre-teen, teen, or adult as I religiously watch this film one time per year so as not to forget who I was and what I aspired to be when I was younger.
Over the Edge
I was too young when it initially came out, but caught it at two in the morning on the A&E channel probably in 1987. It changed my life forever, I said to myself “I wanna be just like those kids” and in a lot of ways still do. Does anyone else have strong feelings for this film? Maybe has to be viewed in that golden age of rebellion to be fully satisfying.
Uck, I think she’s nice to look at and as an actor I do not mind her terribly, there is a presence. Her directing skills however need a complete overhaul or giving up would certainly be preferrable. I rented Scarlet Diva quite a few years ago because there was a decent buzz cruising around. It was pure melodrama in a “I was hurt as a child and it has affected everything I’ve ever done” sort of way and “now I will make a film and you will know my pain”. Who cares? I didn’t care for her or her character for a single second. Blah. The worst part was not even the film, what was worse was the video opening she put in front of the film begging the audience to not hate the film and to please like it or her feelings will be hurt even more. As for “The Heart is Deceiftul Above All Things”, I was watching the Sundance channel and it came on, the titles read “a film by Asia Argento” and I went to the bar to get drunk. I do know the title is from Jeremiah though.
Ah, Stroszek is very dear to me. I have German heritage in my family and I grew up in the Midwest. Never have both landscapes been put on celluloid in the same picture as far as I know. It’s a film that I’m very close to and it speaks in a strange way to me, but I did not see it until I was 24. If someone would have put it in front of me at 17 I might have thrown a T.V. out a window. I think this is a great idea, but I agree with Wut on starting a little slower and working into more “difficult” films. People always say to me “If I wanted to read subtitles I’d read a book instead”. One of the first films I suggest to peopel is Night on Earth. The first half is in English, the second half is subtitled. That way if they’re into the film they will want to see it through rather than becomming immediately distracted because they have to read and once it’s over they always say “I didn’t even notice the subtitles after two seconds”. It’s the sad way of the world, but it’s our duty to help our Hollywood inflicted brethren along.
Check out Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart, his finest directed film by far. Worst Oscar beat in recent memory has to be Julia Roberts versus Ellen Burstyn.
I don’t care for either, but I would put Michael Bay on the list before Brett Ratner. I see more of his stamp and ego on his body of work whereas Ratner has been involved in more than one sequel. The criterion collection even has two Michael Bay films available.
The estatic truth is nothing more than exaggerating a bit to make a stronger point. Is it flat out lying? No. Is it a bit untruthful. Yes. But it’s in Herzog’s genetics, if the man was not an exaggerating individual we would never have Aguirre or Fitzcaraldo.
Ryan, watch “Over the Edge”. I saw it when I was 12 and it’s the best thing since sliced bread and you are at the perfect age for it’s influence to alter you for the rest of your life. Trust me.
Right on, it drives me crazy when I hear the argument that Fistful of Dollars is a better film. It simply lacks the hilarious comedy and the action scenes as well as the outlaws are not fleshed out as they are in Yojimbo. Clint Eastwood is a cool bad-ass, but he can’t compete with Toshiro Mifune.
It depends on what we’re looking at. 2:35:1 works really well for a large cast or landscapes, but seems very strange and stretched out to me if we’re focusing on two people eating lunch in a diner. It also really depends on which lens is used. It’s nearly impossible to get a “true” closeup in 2:35:1 unless the camera is six inches from the actors face, whereas 1:85:1 or less captures close ups very naturally. I prefer allowing the content of the story to choose which scope will properly capture it and neither aiming too high or too low because one just generally prefers 2:35:1 over all else no matter what. With that said my favorite aspect ratio is 1:78:1. It doesn’t feel as clean and standard to me as 1:85:1, but it’s not small academy 1:37 or European 1:66 either. The choice of lens is more critical to acheive a wider look or more refined close. Watch Straw Dogs or Dead Man for good examples of 1:78:1.
I went to see Bogdanovich speak a couple of years ago and he was wonderful. He told many stories about Cary Grant, Hitch, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Orson Welles and he would always mimic they way they spoke. Welles lived with him for a year towards the end of his life and he told a great story when Welles was very excited about an idea he had and threw his lit cigar into the pocket of his robe and began writing down his idea. His robe soon caught fire and he tore it off and eventually his whole room went up in flames.
The best autobiography I’ve read from a director is My Last Sigh by Luis Bunuel. It is very cool and really gave me some perspective to the man and his work and the fascinating lives he lived in Spain, Mexico and France.
Just by asking the question “Should I watch Salo?” means yes you should. On the other hand…I read about the film for at least five years before I saw it and in that time it really blew itself up in my mind and when I finally had the chance to see it there was no way it could reach the strange high places I had put it. My advice is to watch it right now immediately or never watch it at all. If it sits and festers for a while it will continue to build up and grow as it did for me and it was ultimately a disappointment, but it may not have had a fair chance so don’t hesitate and make up your mind right this second. Neither choice is absolutely right or wrong, but allowing the mind to twist is the worst decision.
I fell asleep during the third Matrix thing. I had no idea what was going on and all I can remember is there was an “important” war being waged on Reeves and his crew and it must have went on for 19 hours. I woke up during the credits, turned to my friend who said “that sucked.” I said “huh.”
Confession: I sleep in the theatre at most film festivals I go to. I’m not talking about Cannes or Sundance or Telluride, I’m talking about small regional film festivals in the middle of nowhere. I will stay awake if I’ve personally met the filmmaker, otherwise I crash during almost every other screening. The quality is usually very low as they tend to program a lot of films from the region from first time filmmakers and the formula becomes familiar. I always stay out very late discussing movies and usually drinking a lot with other directors so the only time I can find to catch up on sleep is during the actual festival.
I try to shoot for 500 a year by way of watching 10 per week. One film on Monday thru Thursday, take Friday off. One film on Saturday and then five on Sunday. Give or take a few here and there I’m usually a little over or under 500.
A Character Just Like You over 3 years ago
hmmm….Vincent Gallo in Buffalo ‘66 kind of reminded me of me and I’m a little scared to admit it.
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What are the best Brian De Palma's films? over 3 years ago
Phantom of the Paradise is my fave, Hi Mom! is interesting.
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Who's looking for eachother? over 3 years ago
writer/director I’ve made four shorts and one feature. I’ve played quite a few places and worked on several features out in Hollyweird as assistant director. I reside in the midwest now. Feel free to add me as a friend and pick my brain if you want, I have lots of opinions. Going at it strong right now with www.barstoolcowboymovie.com
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the hate corner over 3 years ago
Dear Mr. Smith, er….Kevin
How on earth did you trick Vilmos Zsigmond to shoot that one movie with Will Smith I mean Jennifer Lopez I mean Ben Affleck you know that one movie where you were going to show the world the “sensitive” side of you. That one movie that made you decry “I will never make another film er….cinematic jerk off with Jay and Silent Bob”. You had yourself convinced those days of fart, dick and chronic jokes were over, no more would we be invited to the world of two losers hanging outside of a convenience store because it’s such a fresh idea. Then something awful I mean wonderful happened……………Jersey girl really sucked which is wonderful, but then again awful because what was the first thing you did following the monumental disappointment? That’s right Kevin you went right back to your cash cow, your bread and butter, your unsensitive material and created Clerks II and tried to make us believe that Rosario Dawson would fall in love with whatever that guys name is. I mean are you serious Kevin, Clerks II. Now I see you have a new sophomoric production about a couple making a porno which is only a vehicle and an excuse for a Chronic and Bluntman cameo I’m sure. We wait with baited breath Mr. Smith for your profound one line of dialog that’s suppossed to make us think. “Wow this guy really is smart” It’s the whole theory of business, commercials and corporation Kevin and you follow it well. Dumb down the audience with gag after gag of the lowest substance and terrible “witty” one liners and then when you’ve fried nearly all of their brain cells you can come in at the end(after you’ve remained silent)and throw out that one perfect line that at the time seems genius, but only because you’ve made us feel so dumb. Oh how I bet you strain over that one line for months and months, while you write the rest of the script in minutes. Anyway sir I’ve given you enough of my time and money so for now I will sign off I mean jerk off because that’s a more funny thing to say……get it.
Sincerely yours,
Mark
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INTELLIGENCE IS THE NEW BLACK over 3 years ago
Cristi Puiu
Romanian filmmaker
His film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu sits in a very strange place for me. It’s not a picture to enjoy, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. What is so fascinating about watching an old man suffer at the hands of inept healthcare workers during his last hours alive? I don’t know. Shot very stripped down documentary style, but it almost seems like the camera is behind the old man the entire journey or peering at him from a safe distance like death just waiting to creep in. Hollywood would never have the guts to make a film like this, it goes against everything the American happy ending promises. There is no victory, nothing is overcome, boy does not get girl instead he dies, hypocrisy is exposed, the human condition is realized for what it is….lonely at the end and we all must die and do it alone. I found it very honest and brave. I look forward to more films from Puiu.
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TOP 5 Childhood Films over 3 years ago
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
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What are you watching now? over 3 years ago
Huy Le, crazy I just watched “The Girl at the Monceau Bakery” last night. Weird………….I too was really into it, where is this going, when is the morality going to set in and then bam it was over. I found a lot of truth in it by way of sometimes in life we spend time with people that we really don’t want to be with and we only do it because the person(s) we’d rather be with are not around and we’re just wasting time in between the next encounter. It’s unfair, but true. Shadows is wonderful, my favorite Cassavete’s. Check out the other moral tales from Rohmer, the rest of them are features with “Claire’s Knee” being my favorite.
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Best Musicians Turned "Actors" over 3 years ago
Joe Strummer anyone?
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Debate over 3 years ago
Smoking cigarettes in San Francisco is one of life’s small pleasures.
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Dream Projects over 3 years ago
I know Kubrick really wanted to make a biopic about Napolean after 2001. I’ve heard Lynch say in interviews ever since Eraserhead when he is asked what he wants to direct next he always says “Ronnie Rocket” “about a three-foot tall guy with red hair and physical problems, and about 60-cycle alternating current electricity.”1 Ronnie Rocket was a strange mixture of the abstractness of Eraserhead and Lynch’s love of America in the fifties. He has described it as “an American smokestack industrial thing — it has to do with coal and oil and electricity”
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Some Movies that always lifts You up are... over 3 years ago
Living in Oblivion always does the trick for me.
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TOP 5 Childhood Films over 3 years ago
Can’t believe I forgot about my favorite childhood film or should I say pre-teen, teen, or adult as I religiously watch this film one time per year so as not to forget who I was and what I aspired to be when I was younger.
Over the Edge
I was too young when it initially came out, but caught it at two in the morning on the A&E channel probably in 1987. It changed my life forever, I said to myself “I wanna be just like those kids” and in a lot of ways still do. Does anyone else have strong feelings for this film? Maybe has to be viewed in that golden age of rebellion to be fully satisfying.
Go to Comment
Asia Argento over 3 years ago
Uck, I think she’s nice to look at and as an actor I do not mind her terribly, there is a presence. Her directing skills however need a complete overhaul or giving up would certainly be preferrable. I rented Scarlet Diva quite a few years ago because there was a decent buzz cruising around. It was pure melodrama in a “I was hurt as a child and it has affected everything I’ve ever done” sort of way and “now I will make a film and you will know my pain”. Who cares? I didn’t care for her or her character for a single second. Blah. The worst part was not even the film, what was worse was the video opening she put in front of the film begging the audience to not hate the film and to please like it or her feelings will be hurt even more. As for “The Heart is Deceiftul Above All Things”, I was watching the Sundance channel and it came on, the titles read “a film by Asia Argento” and I went to the bar to get drunk. I do know the title is from Jeremiah though.
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What the...? What really means the ending over 3 years ago
Wow! Cool site. Thanks
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Perversity Is a Matter of Perspective over 3 years ago
“Anybody familiar with the music of Hijo-Kaidan / ‘Emergency Staircase’ (Japan, 1980s – present day) ?”
Or check out GG Allin. There’s a documentary called “Hated”. Certainly as primal as it gets.
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Film Club over 3 years ago
Ah, Stroszek is very dear to me. I have German heritage in my family and I grew up in the Midwest. Never have both landscapes been put on celluloid in the same picture as far as I know. It’s a film that I’m very close to and it speaks in a strange way to me, but I did not see it until I was 24. If someone would have put it in front of me at 17 I might have thrown a T.V. out a window. I think this is a great idea, but I agree with Wut on starting a little slower and working into more “difficult” films. People always say to me “If I wanted to read subtitles I’d read a book instead”. One of the first films I suggest to peopel is Night on Earth. The first half is in English, the second half is subtitled. That way if they’re into the film they will want to see it through rather than becomming immediately distracted because they have to read and once it’s over they always say “I didn’t even notice the subtitles after two seconds”. It’s the sad way of the world, but it’s our duty to help our Hollywood inflicted brethren along.
Go to Comment
most overrated oscar performances or robberies over 3 years ago
Check out Eastwood’s White Hunter Black Heart, his finest directed film by far. Worst Oscar beat in recent memory has to be Julia Roberts versus Ellen Burstyn.
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can someone explain why brett ratner is in the auteur profile list?? over 3 years ago
I don’t care for either, but I would put Michael Bay on the list before Brett Ratner. I see more of his stamp and ego on his body of work whereas Ratner has been involved in more than one sequel. The criterion collection even has two Michael Bay films available.
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Favorite Werner Herzog Film over 3 years ago
The estatic truth is nothing more than exaggerating a bit to make a stronger point. Is it flat out lying? No. Is it a bit untruthful. Yes. But it’s in Herzog’s genetics, if the man was not an exaggerating individual we would never have Aguirre or Fitzcaraldo.
Go to Comment
12-year old asking... over 3 years ago
Ryan, watch “Over the Edge”. I saw it when I was 12 and it’s the best thing since sliced bread and you are at the perfect age for it’s influence to alter you for the rest of your life. Trust me.
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Favorite films that Clint Eastwood stars in or directs. over 3 years ago
White Hunter, Black Heart is my favorite while directing and starring(Bronco Billy takes second). The Beguiled for starring.
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Kick-Ass. over 3 years ago
Right on, it drives me crazy when I hear the argument that Fistful of Dollars is a better film. It simply lacks the hilarious comedy and the action scenes as well as the outlaws are not fleshed out as they are in Yojimbo. Clint Eastwood is a cool bad-ass, but he can’t compete with Toshiro Mifune.
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Sex in the movies: Disturbing? over 3 years ago
I really like the sex scene in Naked Lunch.
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FAVORITE SILENT FILMS/DIRECTORS over 3 years ago
The Crowd by King Vidor is my fave. The cinematography is top notch and the ironic full circle story hits the mark perfectly.
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WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE ASPECT RATIO? over 3 years ago
It depends on what we’re looking at. 2:35:1 works really well for a large cast or landscapes, but seems very strange and stretched out to me if we’re focusing on two people eating lunch in a diner. It also really depends on which lens is used. It’s nearly impossible to get a “true” closeup in 2:35:1 unless the camera is six inches from the actors face, whereas 1:85:1 or less captures close ups very naturally. I prefer allowing the content of the story to choose which scope will properly capture it and neither aiming too high or too low because one just generally prefers 2:35:1 over all else no matter what. With that said my favorite aspect ratio is 1:78:1. It doesn’t feel as clean and standard to me as 1:85:1, but it’s not small academy 1:37 or European 1:66 either. The choice of lens is more critical to acheive a wider look or more refined close. Watch Straw Dogs or Dead Man for good examples of 1:78:1.
Go to Comment
When Directors Write (or Speak) over 3 years ago
I went to see Bogdanovich speak a couple of years ago and he was wonderful. He told many stories about Cary Grant, Hitch, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Orson Welles and he would always mimic they way they spoke. Welles lived with him for a year towards the end of his life and he told a great story when Welles was very excited about an idea he had and threw his lit cigar into the pocket of his robe and began writing down his idea. His robe soon caught fire and he tore it off and eventually his whole room went up in flames.
The best autobiography I’ve read from a director is My Last Sigh by Luis Bunuel. It is very cool and really gave me some perspective to the man and his work and the fascinating lives he lived in Spain, Mexico and France.
Go to Comment
Should it be seen? over 3 years ago
Just by asking the question “Should I watch Salo?” means yes you should. On the other hand…I read about the film for at least five years before I saw it and in that time it really blew itself up in my mind and when I finally had the chance to see it there was no way it could reach the strange high places I had put it. My advice is to watch it right now immediately or never watch it at all. If it sits and festers for a while it will continue to build up and grow as it did for me and it was ultimately a disappointment, but it may not have had a fair chance so don’t hesitate and make up your mind right this second. Neither choice is absolutely right or wrong, but allowing the mind to twist is the worst decision.
Go to Comment
Favorite Films In Which the Heroes Die over 3 years ago
Lonely are the Brave.
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MOMENT OF TRUTH: HAVE YOU EVER GONE TO THE MOVIES AND FALLEN ASLEEP DURING THE FILM? over 3 years ago
I fell asleep during the third Matrix thing. I had no idea what was going on and all I can remember is there was an “important” war being waged on Reeves and his crew and it must have went on for 19 hours. I woke up during the credits, turned to my friend who said “that sucked.” I said “huh.”
Confession: I sleep in the theatre at most film festivals I go to. I’m not talking about Cannes or Sundance or Telluride, I’m talking about small regional film festivals in the middle of nowhere. I will stay awake if I’ve personally met the filmmaker, otherwise I crash during almost every other screening. The quality is usually very low as they tend to program a lot of films from the region from first time filmmakers and the formula becomes familiar. I always stay out very late discussing movies and usually drinking a lot with other directors so the only time I can find to catch up on sleep is during the actual festival.
Go to Comment
How Many Movies Do You Watch in a Year? over 3 years ago
I try to shoot for 500 a year by way of watching 10 per week. One film on Monday thru Thursday, take Friday off. One film on Saturday and then five on Sunday. Give or take a few here and there I’m usually a little over or under 500.
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