I’m sure most of what I could imagine wanting has already been said, but the original take on Sleuth, Fitzcarraldo, and an edition of O Lucky Man! that doesn’t split the movie over two discs would all make me very happy.
I’d love to see American-culture time-capsules like Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Heavy Metal Parking Lot, too.
My 10 will invariably be “whatever 10 I happen to think of when putting myself to the task,” but I always keep a frown in reserve for The Boondock Saints: the moment when the Tarantinoist mini-movement, having long since run out of things to say, totally jumped the shark.
It’s in “Burden of Dreams,” I believe. Herzog tells the story of how he stole his first camera, and maintained that he was not only justified but objectively right in doing so, as if (to paraphrase the man himself, since I don’t remember his exact words, or their subtitles) divine providence had pushed the camera into his hands.
The best film-still cover the Smiths used was Terence Stamp in “The Collector,” grinning with chloroform pad in hand, on the sleeve of “What Difference Does It Make.” Stamp (or someone) objected, and so they reissued it with a new cover, featuring Morrissey doing a deceptively dull-eyed imitation of the pose, clutching a glass of milk. (Truly one of the most tragic lost films, in that it never even had a chance to exist.)
Edit to add: Pretty sure the discography at passionsjustlikemine.com has all the sources on the cover stills.
“Man, if only he remade Herzog’s documentary MY BEST FIEND as a fiction film.
I don’t know how I’d feel about the results, but at least that would solve—with a vengeanec—the age-old proposal that Anderson stop working strictly from his own written material.”
Starring Owen Wilson as Herzog and Bill Murray as Kinski.
Lord of the Rings. I can’t keep the characters straight, in large part because somewhere around 30 minutes in, regardless of which movie in the trilogy it is, my brain starts organizing its stamp collection or something; next thing I know, I’m left blinking and wondering where those three hours went and why I can’t have them back.
I also hated that Miranda July movie where the guy lights himself on fire at the beginning, but I haven’t yet met anyone who can blame me.
I dunno, reading over some of the responses, I’ve never found myself physically drained from a movie. Like, gory special effects never make me sick or anything like that, I suppose because in the back of my mind, you know, movie magic, sparkle sparkle. Mentally drained? Certainly, plenty of times; most notably when I was, god, 14 or 15 and realized in watching ‘Gimme Shelter’ that I’d just watched someone die. But physically ill? Unless the film makes a concerted effort to punch me in the perception (like ‘La Region Centrale,’ which I mentioned earlier), I can’t think of any that have ever accomplished that.
I love Brakhage too, but seeing a giant vagina pulse out soupy blood before pushing a screaming purple hobgoblin in a manner reminiscient of a football being shoved through a pinhole in a rubber sheet — well, at least, seeing it projected onto the interior of a barn? That was the only time I ever hated my film professor in art school, if only momentarily.
“And The Shining is a great adaptation. A Clockwork Orange ain’t too bad either. But both as stand alone films, not as faithful adaptations.”
I’d say they’re faithful adaptations in that they stay true to the themes of their respective novels, if not their happy endings. I think when people are saying ‘faithful adaptation’ in this thread they’re not talking about adaptations at all, where things change to suit their environment (in this case, two completely distinct storytelling formats with their own advantages, disadvantages, and sets of conventions) — they’re talking about translations, where it’s just the same thing in a different language, so to speak.
‘Watchmen’ was a translation more than anything else, for example; aside from the ending and some omitted stuff along the way, it was as if they’d not bothered to write a shooting script or draw storyboards and were just working right from the graphic novel. And god, that movie was like an abortion of the imagination as a result. Long story short, considering novels and films are apples and oranges, I think that lack of faithfulness is precisely what makes them memorable and creative adaptations, rather than, you know, absolutely dull.
“Nobody’s Perfect,” the book of Anthony Lane criticism. Not entirely based around film, but enough of it is, and it’s so viciously swishy that I consult it as a style guide regularly.
The director, Anton Corbijn, was Joy Division’s photographer way back when. I don’t think he was aiming to give insight into Ian Curtis’ creative process or the Manchester post-punk scene; rather, I think he was trying to create a portrait of a man he knew and respected and lost.
Co-sign on Michael Snow and Kenneth Anger. Snow is the more experimental of the two by half; his movies aren’t so much about being movies in the conventional idiom, but using sound, vision, and time to push sensory experience as far as the technology can. Anger, meanwhile, is more hallucinogenic and erotic, and far, far more theatrical.
Hit up, uh, what’s the site, ubufilm.com? ubuweb.com? Ubu something. It’s got tons of short films by experimental filmmakers available for free viewing. Some of it’s sub-Youtube quality, but free and easy is free and easy. “Serene Velocity” by Ernie Gehr is a particularly visceral one they’ve got there.
State and Main is my favorite Mamet thriller; you really root for the movie producers to not pay Sarah Jessica Parker the million dollars or whatever that she’s demanding to do a nude scene — like the oft-cited “timebomb under the breakfast table,” they remain blissfully unaware of how terrible it’d be to eroticize Sarah Jessica Parker.
Uhhh, ask me again in an hour and the list will probably be different, but I’m pretty comfortable naming these remorselessly subjective choices out of order:
- A Clockwork Orange
- Robocop
- Tout Va Bien
- Do the Right Thing
- Apocalypse Now
- Aguirre, the Wrath of God
- O Lucky Man!
- Blow-Up
- Aliens
- Caddyshack
As much as I like being a giant snob, this is the stuff I watch again and again and again.
Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection about 3 years ago
I’m sure most of what I could imagine wanting has already been said, but the original take on Sleuth, Fitzcarraldo, and an edition of O Lucky Man! that doesn’t split the movie over two discs would all make me very happy.
I’d love to see American-culture time-capsules like Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Heavy Metal Parking Lot, too.
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Ten Worst Movies You've Ever Seen? about 3 years ago
My 10 will invariably be “whatever 10 I happen to think of when putting myself to the task,” but I always keep a frown in reserve for The Boondock Saints: the moment when the Tarantinoist mini-movement, having long since run out of things to say, totally jumped the shark.
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CONFESSIONS--FILMS YOU ARE ASHAMED TO SAY YOU HAVE NOT SEEN (YET) about 3 years ago
Still haven’t seen any Kurosawa. Not a one. It’s not for lack of intention; I just keep getting distracted along the way.
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HOW DIRECTORS GET STARTED about 3 years ago
It’s in “Burden of Dreams,” I believe. Herzog tells the story of how he stole his first camera, and maintained that he was not only justified but objectively right in doing so, as if (to paraphrase the man himself, since I don’t remember his exact words, or their subtitles) divine providence had pushed the camera into his hands.
Go to Comment
Frankly, Mr. Shankly... about 3 years ago
The best film-still cover the Smiths used was Terence Stamp in “The Collector,” grinning with chloroform pad in hand, on the sleeve of “What Difference Does It Make.” Stamp (or someone) objected, and so they reissued it with a new cover, featuring Morrissey doing a deceptively dull-eyed imitation of the pose, clutching a glass of milk. (Truly one of the most tragic lost films, in that it never even had a chance to exist.)
Edit to add: Pretty sure the discography at passionsjustlikemine.com has all the sources on the cover stills.
Go to Comment
Favorite auteurs missing from the profile selection box. about 3 years ago
Co-sign on Jonathan Glazer.
Also, Michael Winterbottom.
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What is your favorite ending? about 3 years ago
The titular character’s collapse in Cobra Verde.
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Action movies that deserve to be in the Criterion Collection about 3 years ago
The Mystery of Chessboxing. I’d be a very, very happy boy.
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What is your favorite ending? about 3 years ago
“I was cured, all right.”
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An Amazing Discovery!!!! New Wes Anderson! about 3 years ago
“Man, if only he remade Herzog’s documentary MY BEST FIEND as a fiction film.
I don’t know how I’d feel about the results, but at least that would solve—with a vengeanec—the age-old proposal that Anderson stop working strictly from his own written material.”
Starring Owen Wilson as Herzog and Bill Murray as Kinski.
I’m sold.
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Films that made you physically ill after watching about 3 years ago
La Region Centrale, by Michael Snow. One can only watch so much before starting to feel queasy from the constant movement.
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? about 3 years ago
Lord of the Rings. I can’t keep the characters straight, in large part because somewhere around 30 minutes in, regardless of which movie in the trilogy it is, my brain starts organizing its stamp collection or something; next thing I know, I’m left blinking and wondering where those three hours went and why I can’t have them back.
I also hated that Miranda July movie where the guy lights himself on fire at the beginning, but I haven’t yet met anyone who can blame me.
Go to Comment
Films that made you physically ill after watching about 3 years ago
I dunno, reading over some of the responses, I’ve never found myself physically drained from a movie. Like, gory special effects never make me sick or anything like that, I suppose because in the back of my mind, you know, movie magic, sparkle sparkle. Mentally drained? Certainly, plenty of times; most notably when I was, god, 14 or 15 and realized in watching ‘Gimme Shelter’ that I’d just watched someone die. But physically ill? Unless the film makes a concerted effort to punch me in the perception (like ‘La Region Centrale,’ which I mentioned earlier), I can’t think of any that have ever accomplished that.
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Films that made you physically ill after watching about 3 years ago
I forgot “Window Water Baby Moving” by Brakhage.
And now I wish it had stayed forgotten. Oh god.
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Films that made you physically ill after watching about 3 years ago
Michael Furman:
I love Brakhage too, but seeing a giant vagina pulse out soupy blood before pushing a screaming purple hobgoblin in a manner reminiscient of a football being shoved through a pinhole in a rubber sheet — well, at least, seeing it projected onto the interior of a barn? That was the only time I ever hated my film professor in art school, if only momentarily.
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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) about 3 years ago
23, art school graduate, trying to get the chess board arranged to go for my master’s.
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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) about 3 years ago
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Is The Shining the best novel to film adaptation? about 3 years ago
“And The Shining is a great adaptation. A Clockwork Orange ain’t too bad either. But both as stand alone films, not as faithful adaptations.”
I’d say they’re faithful adaptations in that they stay true to the themes of their respective novels, if not their happy endings. I think when people are saying ‘faithful adaptation’ in this thread they’re not talking about adaptations at all, where things change to suit their environment (in this case, two completely distinct storytelling formats with their own advantages, disadvantages, and sets of conventions) — they’re talking about translations, where it’s just the same thing in a different language, so to speak.
‘Watchmen’ was a translation more than anything else, for example; aside from the ending and some omitted stuff along the way, it was as if they’d not bothered to write a shooting script or draw storyboards and were just working right from the graphic novel. And god, that movie was like an abortion of the imagination as a result. Long story short, considering novels and films are apples and oranges, I think that lack of faithfulness is precisely what makes them memorable and creative adaptations, rather than, you know, absolutely dull.
Go to Comment
Great Books on Film about 3 years ago
“Nobody’s Perfect,” the book of Anthony Lane criticism. Not entirely based around film, but enough of it is, and it’s so viciously swishy that I consult it as a style guide regularly.
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tv shows? about 3 years ago
The Wire, Arrested Development, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I’m good.
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Control (2007) about 3 years ago
The director, Anton Corbijn, was Joy Division’s photographer way back when. I don’t think he was aiming to give insight into Ian Curtis’ creative process or the Manchester post-punk scene; rather, I think he was trying to create a portrait of a man he knew and respected and lost.
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Another off Topic/Your Favorite Albums about 3 years ago
“The White Room” by the KLF.
And then some others, but that’s the key one.
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Experimental: be all, end all? about 3 years ago
Co-sign on Michael Snow and Kenneth Anger. Snow is the more experimental of the two by half; his movies aren’t so much about being movies in the conventional idiom, but using sound, vision, and time to push sensory experience as far as the technology can. Anger, meanwhile, is more hallucinogenic and erotic, and far, far more theatrical.
Hit up, uh, what’s the site, ubufilm.com? ubuweb.com? Ubu something. It’s got tons of short films by experimental filmmakers available for free viewing. Some of it’s sub-Youtube quality, but free and easy is free and easy. “Serene Velocity” by Ernie Gehr is a particularly visceral one they’ve got there.
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Experimental: be all, end all? about 3 years ago
Worth noting that Elijah wasn’t making those statements directly himself, but quoting someone else.
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What do you guys think of Gaspar NOE? about 3 years ago
I like him as a provocateur; my attention tends to drift during the actual films, though. The content doesn’t live up to the hype.
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Further proof of David Mamet's lunacy; or, the longest con about 3 years ago
State and Main is my favorite Mamet thriller; you really root for the movie producers to not pay Sarah Jessica Parker the million dollars or whatever that she’s demanding to do a nude scene — like the oft-cited “timebomb under the breakfast table,” they remain blissfully unaware of how terrible it’d be to eroticize Sarah Jessica Parker.
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What's your Top 10? about 3 years ago
Uhhh, ask me again in an hour and the list will probably be different, but I’m pretty comfortable naming these remorselessly subjective choices out of order:
- A Clockwork Orange
- Robocop
- Tout Va Bien
- Do the Right Thing
- Apocalypse Now
- Aguirre, the Wrath of God
- O Lucky Man!
- Blow-Up
- Aliens
- Caddyshack
As much as I like being a giant snob, this is the stuff I watch again and again and again.
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Essential Herzog movies? about 3 years ago
Just get the Herzog-Kinski box set they put out.
The worst criticism I can level at any of the movies with Kinski is that some aren’t absolutely fucking great, just plain fucking great.
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Favorite opening scene about 3 years ago
Apocalypse Now’s napalm hell and Tout Va Bien’s checkbook purgatory.
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Essential Herzog movies? about 3 years ago
The opening sequence of Woyzeck is maybe my favorite thing that either Herzog or Kinski ever created.
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