Random Movie Talk XIII: In Which I Cannot Come Up With a Relevant or Witty Title

[Lancemc]

I was damn close to picking up Dead Man today. Jarmusch will live to fight another day.

That's still his best probably... well that and all his other ones. The three I mentioned form a unique sort of formal and thematic triptych though.

Also, Mystery Train coming out on Criterion Blu soon! *jizz*

 

[No spoken words]

My plan tomorrow after work:

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai -> Broken Flowers -> The Limits of Control... plus a lot of beer.

OK, everyone go back to mocking Cori now.

Ghost Dog.

 

[LMP]

That's still his best probably... well that and all his other ones. The three I mentioned form a unique sort of formal and thematic triptych though.

Also, Mystery Train coming out on Criterion Blu soon! *jizz*

I feel like exploring Jarmusch would be best chronologically. I got finished reading Biskind's Down and Dirty Pictures, which is almost a loose sequel to Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, focusing on Sundance and Miramax's influence on independent film in the '90s. It's much more business-oriented than Easy Riders, essentially following Harvey Weinstein through most of it and doesn't focus on filmmakers aside from the major players like Tarantino and Soderbergh. I was hoping Jarmusch would be talked about more, but he was revered as this sort of mythic figure in indie cinema, which was kind of awesome.

Yes!

 

[Lancemc]

You can't go wrong chronologically. Actually, no yeah, that's maybe the best thing to do with him the more I think about it. He's also maybe one of the most worthy of the term 'auteur' I can think of. Also probably my second favorite American filmmaker ever. Yeah.

 

[LMP]

Who's the first?

I've been looking to acquaint myself with more American auteurs, so that's great. Scorsese, Woody, The Coens, and Welles are the four that stand out to me right now.

 

[Lancemc]

Malick, foo'.

 

[LMP]

Silly me.

If The Thin Red Line and Videodrome aren't in the next Criterion announcement, I'm gonna choke a bitch.

I just found out StudioCanal's putting out Blu Rays of Mulholland Drive, Peeping Tom and The Elephant Man soon. They better not mess those up.

 

[LemonMelon]

Blu Ray of The Elephant Man

If ever a man needed Blu Ray to make him look good, it's John Merrick, I suppose.

 

[lazarus]

Not a Jarmusch fan. Saw Stranger in Paradise in film school and have only been occasionally impressed by his stuff.

Dead Man is great, though.

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

i was in the process of watching the secrets in their eyes

when all the sudden

the FIRE ALARM WENT OFF AT THE CINEMA i was at!

it was the last session of the evening, and we didnt finish the film

 

[corianderstem]

Did you at least get a refund?

 

[LMP]

I'm going to see that tonight, hopefully fire-free.

 

[lazarus]

I wouldn't worry; no theatre fire is a match for SQUIRTIGO.

 

[LMP]

About to start A Matter of Life and Death.

Powell and Pressburger all up in this business.

 

[lazarus]

Enjoy.

 

[Imperor]

The best.

 

[bono_212]

 

[LMP]

Enjoy.

Yeah, wow.

The best.

Yes!

 

[lazarus]

How many P&P have you seen now? Care to rank yet?

You should make A Canterbury Tale a priority. That is some magical shit.

 

[Jive Turkey]

YouTube - Whitest Kids U'Know: Jaws

 

[lazarus]

Well, it does kind of look like a shark tooth...

 

[LMP]

How many P&P have you seen now? Care to rank yet?

You should make A Canterbury Tale a priority. That is some magical shit.

In order of preference: The Red Shoes, Tales of Hoffmann and Matter of Life and Death from P&P and I've seen Powell's Peeping Tom (which I would put ahead of Life and Death).

A lot of their work is on Watch Instantly, but my connection via Xbox Live has been shaky at best, and I'm fairly positive Canterbury Tale is one of them. Colonel Blimp certainly is. I'm also waiting until its BD release to watch Black Narcissus.

 

[lazarus]

You still have some major goodies ahead of you. I also highly recommend The Small Back Room, which was the most recent one I saw. Great little character study that's very thrilling at times, with a great alcoholic hallucination scene.

Powell's Age of Consent is also worth tracking down, not least for a nude (and young) Helen Mirren. And JAMES MASON.

 

[LMP]

I'm excited for all of them. Do you know how much Powell was involved with The Thief of Bagdad?

You recommended that Age of Consent / Life and Death two-pack to me a few weeks ago and I bought it. Age is up next.

Say, where are the whores?

 

[lazarus]

Hard to say. That film was Alexanda Korda's baby anyway, just like Gone With The Wind was Selznick's. Claiming GWTW is a Victor Fleming film is ridiculous, when there were 3-4 directors involved, and one who was fired kept working with the actors in secret.

But the Thief of Bagdad is a must-see. A hell of a lot of fun, and the SFX, while obviously dated, are very creative.

 

[LMP]

Cukor directed the bulk of GWTW anyway, right?

Good to know, thanks. Canterbury isn't on Watch Instantly, so I'll be getting it next with Coppola's The Conversation.

 

[No spoken words]

Am I being too big of a dork when I say that we should seriously reconsider doing a movie club? Maybe 1-2 a month, different suggestions from different posters, but you do it ONLY if you really commit to watching and discussing, to the best of your abilities, each film.

 

[lazarus]

Cukor directed the bulk of GWTW anyway, right?

Good to know, thanks. Canterbury isn't on Watch Instantly, so I'll be getting it next with Coppola's The Conversation.

I don't know about the bulk, but he shot a significant percentage (certainly enough for a co-credit, which unfortunately just wasn't done at the time). The more important point is that Vivien Leigh continued to rehearse with him (she didn't get along with Fleming), and considering her performance is the most important and successful element in the film, his efforts should have been acknowledged.

Am I being too big of a dork when I say that we should seriously reconsider doing a movie club? Maybe 1-2 a month, different suggestions from different posters, but you do it ONLY if you really commit to watching and discussing, to the best of your abilities, each film.

I'm open.

 

[Lancemc]

I wouldn't mind either.

 

[No spoken words]

I'm open.

I wouldn't mind either.

I'll take the lead on it/start the thread if/when enough people are open to it.

How many is enough, do you think?