Nightcrawler (2014; d. Dan Gilroy)
Such a good film. I wrote about it here.
Rancho Notorious (1952; d. Fritz Lang)
Marlene Dietrich rules. I totally buy her as that ranch owner. It makes no sense but she makes it make sense. She moves with such confidence, but what really makes her HER is her confidence in persona, her belief in herself.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 4, “Sin City” (2007; d. Charles Beeson)
Finally getting my act together for the re-cap.
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956; d. Nunnally Johnson)
This movie depresses me so much. This whole era depresses me so much. Mad Men, The Best of Everything, Revolutionary Road, The Hours … it’s all the same damn story. There was so much else going on in that era – the Beats, rock ‘n roll … but it’s this part, the suburban, commuter, housewife life … it makes me want to kill myself. Like the characters in Revolutionary Road and The Hours. It’s so STIFLING of individuality.
School Life (2017; d. Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane)
Loved this documentary. Reviewed for Ebert.
The Sixth Sense (1999; d. M. Night Shyamalan)
I know the movie by heart but it still works like gangbusters.
Hidden Figures (2016; d. Theodore Melfi)
I believe I have made my feelings about this film perfectly clear. I feel like all I did for a month was argue about it – and the stupid reviews of it – on Facebook. It was one of the best films of 2016. It also featured one of my favorite individual shots in any film in 2016.
Twin Peaks: The Return, episode 17 (2017; d. David Lynch)
God, I miss this experience. Was it only last month that it ended? What have I DONE with myself since then?
Twin Peaks: The Return, episode 18 (2017; d. David Lynch)
At least I can say that I enjoyed it WHILE it lasted. I was fully aware with every episode how special the experience was, how lucky I was to get to participate in it. I haven’t done a full re-watch yet. Made it up to episode 7 but had to stop because I’m too busy. It’s amazing how much more I am perceiving watching it through twice.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946; d. Frank Capra)
Magical and painful. Thomas Mitchell when he loses the bank deposit … It makes me so anxious I almost can’t get through it.
The Big Short (2015; d. Adam McKay)
I’ve seen this about 5 times now. Not sure what it is that satisfies me exactly. I knew Adam McKay back in the day. He and this guy were best friends, and the two of them performed every week at Improv Olympic with their now-legendary improv team The Family. I used to go every week. Those shows are burned into my memory forever. The brilliance was breathtaking. Mitchell, Ann Marie and I STILL quote “lines” from those shows. So it’s quite amazing to see all that has happened (with all of those guys, not just McKay).
Logan Lucky (2017; d. Steven Soderbergh)
ADORED IT. I’ve seen it twice so far. I highly recommend seeing it twice. Since the whole thing is a “sting” operation – a heist – where all is not revealed until the final moments of the film, the second time through I saw so much more. It was so fun. Love a good heist movie.
Rat Film (2017; d. Theo Anthony)
This is definitely one you should see. Nothing else quite like it. I reviewed for Ebert.
Twin Peaks: The Return, episodes 1 – 7 (2017; d. David Lynch)
So far, the re-watch has been an almost entirely different experience than the first time through. The first time through was an onslaught of impressions, of grappling with expectations vs. reality, of trying to piece together what I was seeing – the new characters, all the different locations, etc. Now that I know where we are going, and how it ends, I can just relax and absorb what I absorb. The main thing that’s striking me in this re-watch is how clear it all is. It didn’t seem at ALL clear the first time through.
The Confession Tapes, episode 1 – 3 (2017; d. Kelly Loudenberg)
I can’t remember where I came across this but I watched. I think there’s more to it but I had to stop. I’m fascinated/horrified by the phenomena of “false confession” and this series is all about that. It’s DREADFUL.
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Season 1 episodes 1 – 4
She is such a hero to me. As a long-time critic of said cult, I cannot even believe I have lived long enough to see this day. Even 5, 6 years ago, what she is doing would have seemed impossible.
Strong Island (2017; d. Yance Ford)
Very good documentary. I reviewed for Ebert.
20th Century Women (2016; d. Mike Mills)
I only saw it once, for when I reviewed for Ebert. I had such a strong and positive reaction to it on first viewing – a movie like this feels almost made for me. An ensemble, not much plot, good characters, great script … chaotic a little bit, not narratively-driven. I’m so happy to see that it holds up. That my gut instinct about it was right. SUCH a good movie.
Midnight in Paris (2011; d. Woody Allen)
A favorite. Reviewed for what was once Capital New York, now Politico. Allen’s conception of Ernest Hemingway is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Something New (2006; d. Sanaa Hamri)
Another favorite. Comfort food. It always always works. I wrote a little thing about Sanaa Lathan here.
Bobbi Jene (2017; d. Elvira Lind)
I did not care for this. Reviewed for Ebert.
The Leftovers Season 1, Episodes 1 – 5
It’s all I had time for, but I will get back to it. It’s fascinating.
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Season 2, Episodes 5, 6
If anything, Season 2 is even stronger. She’s going after every sacred cow imaginable.
Truth and Lies: The Menendez Brothers (2017)
Ah, true crime. Never abandon me, true crime. This features phone calls with Eric Menendez from prison. I can’t help it: I see the two of them as total sociopaths who wanted money. I don’t buy the “abuse excuse” – at least not how it was presented during the trial. I think their father was a nightmare, and their mother was ineffective – so that is a form of abuse (or neglect), and I think Eric and Lyle were huge disappointments to their parents. (And rightly so. They were spoiled brats who got their kicks breaking into people’s houses.) But the rest of it? The boys crying on the stand? Nope.
Truth and Lies: The Murder of Laci Peterson (6 episodes)
Re-watching this I am amazed that this “case” got as much attention as it did. Yes, yes, pregnant white girl with a pretty smile, mistress emerging, sex/lies/murder … but still: it was a media frenzy and honestly with everything going on in the world … how on earth is it justified? I remember at the time purposefully avoiding the case as much as I could. And yet STILL I got sucked it, that’s how omnipresent the coverage was. Found the post I wrote at the time.
Super Dark Times (2017; d. Keith Phillips)
I loved this. It’s out now. See it. I reviewed for Ebert.
California Split (1974; d. Robert Altman)
A masterpiece.
MASH (1970; d. Robert Altman)
A masterpiece.
3 Women (1977; d. Robert Altman)
A masterpiece.
The Player (1992; d. Robert Altman)
I haven’t seen it in years. So good.
Gosford Park (2002; d. Robert Altman)
HUGELY entertaining film. I’m on an Altman kick, for research reasons, and many of these I have not seen in years. I am struck by how MANY masterpieces this man directed. I haven’t even gotten to Nashville, The Long Goodbye, McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Short Cuts. Towering achievements. It’s unbelievable. He is so totally American, our own home-grown master, who – like other geniuses before him – was misunderstood and not trusted by the powers-that-be in his own time. He went his own way. And look what happens when you go your own way. You have a body of work almost unparalleled. It’s DAUNTING watching them one after the other after the other.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 5 “Bedtime Stories” (2007; d. Mike Rohl)
Continuing on with a Season 3 re-watch. It’s been a while since I’ve done an extended re-watch. I’ve just been too busy. I really needed this. Season 3 is so good, one good episode after another.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 6 “Red Sky at Morning” (2007; d. Mike Rohl)
I have huge fondness for this episode (and I do not care that the series itself dissed this episode later – I make up my own mind, thankyouverymuch) – I love it mainly for its comedic atmosphere AND that the show suddenly becomes a rom-com. It doesn’t LAST, but for this episode only, it’s a screwball rom-com. I also love it because a moment that lasts 5 seconds was my impetus to start writing about the show.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 7 “Fresh Blood” (2007; d. Kim Manners)
Such a fine episode. So upsetting. In this re-watch, I found the poor blonde in the opening sequence – who had no idea she’d been turned into a vampire – a TRAGIC figure. Terrible terrible scene. Vampire episodes in Supernatural always provide great opportunities to make SUPER SICK observations about family relationships.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 8 “A Very Supernatural Christmas” (2007; d. J. Miller Tobin)
A masterpiece. One of the best episodes in the history of the series.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 9 “Malleus Maleficarum” (2008; d. Robert Singer)
Not a super strong episode but at least it introduces witches into the scenario. It’s so clear, in retrospect, especially watching this episode (which is pretty gory, gorier than most) the negative effect that Rowena has had on the series. She turned “magic” into “Abracadabra” instead of where it always was before: gritty, grimy, with nasty bodily fluids mixed in bowls … the earthiness of raw magic. Not this magic wand shit.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 10 “Dream a Little Dream of Me” (2008; d. Steve Boyum)
One of my favorite episodes in the history of the series. It’s amazing to watch Season 3. Even though I KNEW this episode was coming, I still wasn’t prepared for it when it arrived. I thought: Already?? Jensen Ackles is particularly brilliant in this episode. He’s always brilliant but he ups his game even more here.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 11 “Mystery Spot” (2008; d. Kim Manners)
Season 3, man. My God, it’s good.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 12 “Jus in Bello” (2008; d. Philip Sgriccia)
A great stand-off episode, from straight out of the Western playbook. The “But you didn’t shoot the deputy” joke makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it. So inappropriate! But it had to be said!
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 13 “Ghostfacers” (2008; d. Philip Sgriccia)
The best part of this episode is that it confirms how much these two guys swear. Also the “gay love” piercing the veil … It’s amazing they not only got away with this but that they made it so touching I was in tears. Poor Corbett!
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 14 “Long Distance Call” (2008; d. Robert Singer)
What is so striking about this episode is how much Dean reverts when his father re-enters the picture. Ackles’ work is so vulnerable, so touching, I almost get frightened for him. He’s like a teenage girl waiting for her crush to call.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 15 “Time Is On My Side” (2008; d. Charles Beeson)
First of all: poor Bela. It’s interesting that as much as she is an adversary – she and Dean have been having identical experiences. They’re both trying to avoid the exact same thing and it is only now in this episode where we learn that. It makes perfect sense. I miss Bela. The other thing that is interesting about this episode is how much it shows Sam’s total desperation. The fact that he thinks that Frankenstein-scarecrow-like creature is a valid possibility for his brother is WACK.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 16 “No Rest for the Wicked” (2008; d. Kim Manners)
You guys. I can’t take it. I will never, and I mean never, forget my first time viewing this episode, and that final moment.
First They Killed My Father (2017; d. Angelina Jolie)
Jolie has done something perfectly extraordinary here (not a surprise). She has told the story of war and genocide – at the hands of the Khmer Rouge – totally through the perspective of a 7 year old girl. She doggedly refuses to explain, or contextualize – because to a 7 year old, all that matters is survival and fear and adaptability. Jolie is an incredible director with an amazing track record so far. I believe I have made my love for By the Sea crystal clear here and here – so far it’s unlike anything else she’s done (first of all, she’s IN it). But First They Killed My Father is her best so far. Very painful frightening film. Superb acting.
Gone: The Forgotten Women of Ohio (2017; d. Joe Berlinger)
I haven’t made it all the way through this one. It’s very interesting. I love Joe Berlinger but I’m not too crazy about how much he’s inserting himself into the narrative (shots of him in his office, making calls, narrating). It’s a little bit self-congratulatory. However, so far it’s been really interesting.
Barracuda (2017; d. Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin)
Opening this week. Reviewed for Ebert.
Dina (2017; d. Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles)
Opening this week. reviewed for Ebert.
I LOVE Altman, and particularly adore and never tire of watching 3 Women, so this whole “research” thing you’re doing has me intrigued.
That entire string of films in the ’70s is really something. Even a lot of the smaller and/or lesser-known movies he did around that time (Quintet; Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean; A Wedding; A Perfect Couple) have things going on in them that I really, really like. I wish Popeye was (a lot) better, but oh well. I’d pay Criterion however much they’d like for a box of lower-profile Altman films.
On a totally unrelated note, very belated thanks for recommending the Dave Marsh Elvis book, which I read right after rereading the Guralnick books early this year. The pictures alone are worth it, but the whole package is great. Very surprising for a book that looks like something you’d see stacked up on a bargain rack at B&N.
Tom – very glad to hear your thoughts on 3 Women. The movie just haunts me. It’s in that whole persona-swap genre that I find so fascinating. Every time I watch it I see another detail. Shelley Duvall’s character kind of breaks my heart … but that seems a little unfair because the character’s attitude is so … positive. She doesn’t seem to notice that the people at the apartment complex clearly don’t want her hanging around them … that men are always blowing her off … or she DOES notice, but she doesn’t let it get her down. It hurts my heart.
In re: those other films you mention – yes, I need to re-watch those, but that’ll have to wait until later this month. There’s just so MUCH. I love Brewster McCloud too … Altman is just so out there.
I read the oral biography of Altman and I really recommend it!
I was unaware that Kevin Spacey was such a sonofabitch to him in the last thing Altman did – directing a play at the Old Vic. Everyone says in this book that he was horrifying – mean to Altman – re-directing scenes – Altman was old and ill … so it really is revealing that Spacey threw his weight around like that. Intimidated? Jealous he hadn’t been in an Altman film? I don’t know!
His films are so rich with behavior that it’s actually difficult to absorb. One of the reasons why they yield so much on re-watches. I love Prairie Home Companion too – and The Company I adore. These aren’t really mentioned as great Altman films but I feel he was moving into extremely interesting and personal territory as he got older. (His films were always personal – but if I recall they were treated on release with some bafflement. I love them.)
It’s been one of the funner research projects I’ve had in a long time.
and you are so welcome in re: the Dave Marsh book. Isn’t it great?? Guralnick’s bio is essential but honestly I think Marsh’s book is the better book – maybe because it feels like it was written like a bat out of hell. It bristles with passion and anger. Just love it!
3 Women is regularly quoted in my household. All her dinner party-planning tips are just hilarious. “It takes 30 minutes but it’s worth it.” I’m cracking up just thinking about it. But yeah, her obliviousness to how she’s perceived is sort of simultaneously a source of humor and really sad.
I still need to see too much of his post-’70s output, and I’m still missing a few from the ’70s, but it’s all just so uniformly interesting, even if it’s just in a “what was he thinking?” sense. I love The Company — just rewatched it not long ago. All of his films are somehow more impressive the second time around, even the ones that are great to begin with.
I forgot about the Spacey anecdotes from the biography (which is so good!). I sort of think I don’t like him very much. My dislike of House of Cards may be coloring my opinion, though.
You’re right — the Marsh book has a written-quickly-and-passionately thing about it that really works. I’m guessing his sense of being on a mission to correct the record played a part. Fired-up Dave Marsh is hard to beat. I feel like you’ve mentioned The Heart of Rock and Soul before, but that’s a desert island pick for me.
Tom – I love so much that you quote 3 Women in your house. Brilliant! and yes … her recipes! // “It takes 30 minutes but it’s worth it.” // hahahahaha I watch the film and it’s just amazing to me how that character can keep the dialogue going – regardless of whether or not anyone responds. I know a compulsive talker like that. I can actually sit back and tune out and she won’t even notice. I love her, too – she’s not a bad person. She’s a super generous person, and funny and interesting … but boy, she does not need anyone to even BE there to keep the conversation going!
// All of his films are somehow more impressive the second time around, even the ones that are great to begin with. //
I agree with this. For me that’s particularly true with McCabe and Mrs Miller, California Split, Nashville … those gigantic 70s masterpieces. They’re way too much to absorb in one sitting.
I’ll get back to the Altman research – need to tackle those daunting 70s films I mentioned – plus his later stuff. I really look forward to seeing The Company again – and Kansas City and Cookie’s Fortune and Prairie Home Companion.
In re: Kevin Spacey: When he was winning Oscars, I was so BAFFLED. It was like he had pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. He does one very limited very narrow thing and I guess he does it well … but no better than any other actor who plays son-of-a-bitches. People still say stuff like, “Well, he’s obviously a great actor” and I can’t help it, I’m like, “Stop right there.”
Then came the story of him stopping a performance when an audience member’s cell phone went off – and saying something bitchy: “If you don’t answer it, I will.”
And I thought: freakin’ AMATEUR. Mr. Old Vic? Does he think Shakespeare’s plays were originally produced in an atmosphere of respectful silence? How would he have handled playing Richard III with people in the pit throwing fruit at him, or screaming at him, or whatever?
People applauded Kevin Spacey – and Patti Lupone – for “calling out” audience members – and I get it, I HATE it when people turn on their cell phones in a theatre – but honestly, if you’re a professional, you deal with distractions and you keep going. You don’t yank yourself out of it – because your ego is bruised – and ADDRESS it in a bitchy way that … may feel good in the moment, but will make you lose a lot of momentum in the long run.
He’s an exTREMELY over-praised actor.
Clearly I have strong feelings – mainly because there’s a lack of critical thinking around him – based on … Glengarry Glen Ross? Seven? Those were YEARS ago.
and then to read that he was an asshole to a dying master like Altman … I’m DONE. Such a jerk!
20th Century Women really stuck with me when I saw it. It (and The Love Witch) were my favorite films of that year. Just these real, troubled, decent people living their own lives and also trying to help Jamie grow up to be a good person. And help Julie be a good person also. I’m glad it holds up.
Yeah, it really holds up! This time I was really struck with just how good Billy Crudup is. I mean, I thought he was good the first time … but it took a re-watch to really get just how awesome he is, what good work he’s doing.
Love it!
So much good stuff from him in that movie. Very good at being passive – that’s not quite it. “Patient” is probably a better description, and open.
I loved when he was reading from Our Bodies, Our Selves and the bit about how our antiseptic homes are unhealthy – what an interesting thing to include in the script. An observation that I think gets more and more credence with time.
I love it when he says something about “we come from the earth” and Greta Gerwig laughs in his face.
That would be my reaction.
and he’s definitely passive. I think he even says it himself! But he’s so present in his moments. That seduction scene!!
Have you seen the movie Greta’s directed yet, Lady Bird? . The previews look great.
Seeing on Friday at New York Film Festival press screening. I’m reviewing for Film Comment. Looking forward to it. I love her. It took me a while to get on board – it was Frances Ha that did it – now I’m a huge fan.
Hi Sheila
I just wanted to ask you, did you noticed how beautiful the song The Land of Might Have Been is in Gosford Park? The piano player and singer is supposed to be Ivor Novello, the actual compositor of the song. Jeremy Northam is such a good actor!
Some of the lyrics:
We shall never find that lovely
land of might-have-been.
I can never be your king nor
you can be my queen.
Days may pass and years may pass
and seas may lie between–
We shall never find that lovely
land of might-have-been.
Thank you for remind me of all that.
Clary – oh man I love that moment so much. Northam has always been a minor favorite of mine and he is just beautiful in this, his acceptance that he has to sing for his supper – his kindness to the poor lonely wife in the wrinkled green dress whom everyone is rude to. He’s wonderful!!
Yes, total kindness and not at all sentimental about it.
He’s the only one who is kind to her – for no other reason than he is a kind person. Beautiful moment.
Believe it or not you just got through the “worst stretch” of The Leftovers. (Not that they were bad episode. Poor Gladys. I just looked at the episode summaries to refresh my memory). But Episode 6 is arguably the best in Season One so get ready for some serious Carrie Coon acting! And the season ends great.
Plow on to Season 2 which as I keep saying is my favorite season of TV ever.
Altman is just so good. As you said, there is something definitively American about his body of work that I don’t think anyone can match, not even Scorcese.
My personal favorites of his are Short Cuts (In my all-time Top 10) and The Player. Short Cuts was loosely adapted from Raymond Carver stories as you probably know, and it’s a perfect marriage.
And I think Dr. T & The Woman with Richard Gere and Cookie’s Fortune, while they don’t get much attention, are just great.
He said once at an awards show (I’m paraphrasing), that in many ways he made one giant movie, and some of the passages were better received than others, but he hoped people liked the whole. Great summary of his career. What a body of work.
Todd – I found some of the teenage daughter stuff in Leftovers pretty tiresome. Not crazy about her, so far. Cliched performance. I’ll keep an open mind though.
I’m mostly fascinated by the white-clad-cigarette-smoking cult-y group – that was what grabbed me the first time I watched the pilot. I don’t have any time in October to keep watching but I’ll pick it up eventually!
In re: Altman – For me, it’s his 70s stuff that is so dauntingly brilliant I can’t even get my mind around it. McCabe and Mrs. Miller?? WHAT? NASHVILLE??? Like … what … how ….
Like you, though, I love the later stuff too – I saw Dr. T in the theatre and loved it. And The Company is just beautifully impressionistic. I love that he did that, that he took Neve Campbell’s dream and devoted himself to it in the way that he did it. In its own way, it’s a wonderful entry in the “dance movie” genre – because it is so focused on the details of the lives dancers lead. It’s gorgeous.
I definitely feel that his work is just one long conversation. Themes keep coming up. Gambling, risks, identity, despair, cynicism, playfulness.
Funny thing – Altman rarely commented on his contemporaries, especially directors. He just wasn’t interested. Probably felt many of them were hacks, or glorified employees of “The Man” (and in a lot of cases that’s true). The only director whose work he specifically referenced as admiring was Scorsese. They’re very different people – and Scorsese has that Catholicism informing every single choice he makes – but they both tap into a certain kind of American alienation that other people stayed far away from. Maybe not in the 70s when people like Robert Towne and Hal Ashby and those renegades were running the show.
I don’t know if you’ve seen Silence, but I think it’s a masterpiece. Practically a career best and that’s saying something.
Martin Scorsese said that the only football game he ever understood was the one in MASH. I love that so much!!
That’s fascinating about Altman and his comments on Scorcese, and lack of comment about other directors.
As you say they are very different directors, with different interests and styles. But their films, to me, seem to complement each other perfectly as a history/study guide of American culture and values. The body of work for both is so DEEP, and yet also so entertaining, which is a rare trick for any artist to pull off once, let alone with regularity.
You’re right, this spirit existed in the 70’s with the guys you mentioned and maybe Bob Rafelson and a few others. But it’s fading. William Friedkin maybe could be mentioned too. I think PT Anderson is the closest thing we have today.
I have not seen Silence or The Company! They go on the ever growing must watch list. I’ll see Silence for sure at some point, I’ve seen every single thing Scorcese has directed as a matter of obligation.
I hear you on the aspect of The Leftovers that you find lacking. (Although I personally liked Margarett Qualley, but what do I know. You’re much more in tune with noticing acting tricks and tics than me). The show was a bit spotty in the middle of Season 1, but it ends strong, and picks up a lot in the next episode for you (S1,E6 “Guest”).
And the Guilty Remnant stuff only get better.
But TRUST ME, after the creative team was freed from the plot of the book for seasons 2 and 3, they absolutely went for broke, and made something so special and unique I can’t quite process it still.
Todd – yes! Friedkin! Bob Rafaelson. Warren Beatty! These were true mavericks. Their films are uncompromising. That final shot of Shampoo … haunting.
I’m sure you know that Altman asked PT Anderson to be a “standin director” for Prairie Home Companion because Altman was so ill at the time. If Altman got too sick/died, then Anderson would take over. What an amazing compliment. Anderson has said he would never have made Magnolia if it weren’t for Nashville. Extraordinary. There can never be another Altman, but Anderson is definitely in that realm – particularly in The Player and Short Cuts. The Company is really a mood piece – a dreamy mood piece about a dance company. I loved the final scene in particular. One of the main things I treasure in Altman is that he feels ZERO obligation to plot.
Silence is … an experience. That’s all I can say. You have to be ready for it. You have to clear the decks. It’s 3 hours long. It’s extremely religious – with no irony. In a way, it is Scorsese’s most personal film – even though it’s an adaptation of a book. Alissa Wilkinson (a Christian film critic) wrote an amazing essay on it on Vox. I highly recommend it – great context, at least for all the religious stuff. Honestly I think a lot of “liberal” critics were turned off by the overt faith in the film. Their loss. Narrow minded.
// but what do I know. You’re much more in tune with noticing acting tricks and tics than me //
Hey, just my opinion!! I do love her supportive best friend.
Yeah, I’m mid-Season 1 now … I kind of wasn’t into the whole “preacher” episode (although he is a phenomenal actor) – but it was good to flesh out that character a little bit.
I’ll keep trucking!
I knew PTA idolized Altman, especially Nashville. One of the many things I love about PTA is how much he loves talking about movies, his influences, and his process. He’s incredibly open in that respect. Happy to hear Altman felt the same way about PTA!
Not sure if you’ve seen PTA’s analysis of why the opening sequence in “The Earrings of Madame de …” is such a masterpiece – it’s on Youtube – and I think included in the Criterion Collection too.
Must see. I think he analyzes another scene too.
He was inpsired by it for his long takes – but Ophuls long takes are on a whole other level.
If you haven’t seen the movie, what are you waiting for?
Everyone in that generation of the 70s was inspired by it – it’s so dauntingly brilliant. I love that PTA loves it too!
//Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 7 “Fresh Blood” (2007; d. Kim Manners)
[…]I found the poor blonde in the opening sequence – who had no idea she’d been turned into a vampire – a TRAGIC figure. Terrible terrible scene. //
I love Mercedes McNab so much – another Buffy actor cameo! In Buffy, she was mostly used for comic relief – although her character became more important, mostly in the spin-off. She is very funny. I love seeing her in that opening sequence, especially because she is so tragic.
//I have huge fondness for this episode (and I do not care that the series itself dissed this episode later – I make up my own mind, thankyouverymuch)//
Yeah, screw that! I like it very much too. I’m always slightly annoyed by the fact that older women’s sexuality is a joke (and come on, that woman is so beautiful), but it still makes me laugh because PADALECKI’S FACE.
As for Mystery Spot, it is on my list of movies/episodes that get me through a day when I want to blow my brains out.
I cannot wait to re-watch Twin Peaks: The Returns in its entirety. But I’m keeping it for when I can focus only on that, like a delicacy. Love the screengrab you chose. I recently saw David Lynch: the Art Life. It was fascinating to watch him as a painter, and to listen to him tell stories. There’s this one shot in his studio of an open notebook with a pen and some scribbling. I tilted my head, and I saw the word “Cooper”. Got me so excited to think that he wrote notes in his studio.
Logan Lucky (2017; d. Steven Soderbergh)
Need to see. I think I’m falling in love with Adam Driver. I watched Paterson not long ago and absolutely loved it – thanks for the recommendation.
Lyrie –
see, this is one of the problems with not having watched Buffy. I miss all of these great connections. She really is beautiful and tragic – and she looks so vulnerable sitting there in that chair as they stand over her. I feel protective of her cleavage. I want to put her to bed and feed her chicken soup. I feel horrible. She’s wonderful.
// I’m always slightly annoyed by the fact that older women’s sexuality is a joke //
Totally – Boys Club mentality all OVER that portrayal – but like you say it’s worth it for Sam’s reactions.
“You smell like sex.”
// it is on my list of movies/episodes that get me through a day when I want to blow my brains out. //
Do these tacos taste funny to you?
// There’s this one shot in his studio of an open notebook with a pen and some scribbling. I tilted my head, and I saw the word “Cooper”. //
Oooh!! I missed that! Great catch!
Logan Lucky: Adam Driver is amazing. I absolutely love his career. It’s on its own track. Slow and steady wins the race. I also love his devotion to veterans (being one himself). He’s HILARIOUS in Logan Lucky – and he and Channing Tatum as brothers? With Elvis’ freakin’ granddaughter as their hot-to-trot sister? Oh, it is just so pleasing. I saw it with Jessie when she came to New York – it was a blast.
//I saw it with Jessie when she came to New York//
I’m so curious about that. :)
It was a fun time – finally putting face to name. and then Logan Lucky which was a blast.
It’s so funny because it made me realize I just assumed you guys knew each other or at least had already met! :)
I FEEL like I know all of you! Ha!
We should have a group get-together in some wackily decorated motel room in the American heartland sometime. :)
A shelia and the cunts convention! \o/
“Yes, I’d like to book about 5 rooms please, using the group discount?” “Of course, ma’am. What name should I put down?” “Annoying Cunts dot com.” “Uh …”
Ha ha ha! Am now contemplating purchasing the domain name (weirdly enough, it is free).
The fact that you checked if the domain was free is so hilarious to me.
I owned “mange ton caca dot com” for a year, for a joke.
Lyrie and Sheila that’s hilarious! if you buy that domain I will be seriously concerned for your inbox and whatever mail networks you wind up on. It was a real treat to meet up (and hilarious how predictable the topics of convo were) and I’m so glad LL was showing! <33
Ugh, have not seen “The Earrings of Madame de …” .
I know, I know. I feel compelled to watch it before hearing PTA’s thoughts.
I love hearing PTA talk movies. You recommended his podcast with Mark Marron which was amazing. I’ve also listened to his Boogie Nights commentary tracks at least 3-4 times. He is so enthusiastic about film it’s infectious, and he clearly is a genius, yet he talks like a giddy school kid about actors and story choices. The deleted scenes on Boogie Nights are as good as anything in the movie, but it’s amazing to hear him talk about things like story momentum and why certain things were cut.
I could listen to him ramble about that stuff all day.
That podcast with Maron was the best! I love PTA’s feeling for California – he made some comment in re: Short Cuts – that he felt “My God, THAT’S California – THAT’S what it feels like here.”
and Inherent Vice is a stone-cold masterpiece.
I think The Master is too – but there’s something about IV …
and yes: you should see the movie and then seek out those Youtube videos. If Altman was an influence on PTA, Ophuls was even more so!
Hey Sheila, I just watched Super Dark Times and I have absolutely no idea what I just saw.
Really? Seemed pretty clear to me! Plus that beautifully uneasy mood.
Hahahaha I meant it in a good way. You’ve got all these unexplained strange occurrences that add to the overall atmosphere. For example, the hole in the ceiling during the dream sequence (something similar is seen in the grocery store) or Zach’s refusal to kiss Allison. What are your thoughts?
Johnny – yes, I noticed the hole in the ceilings!
To me – it went along with every other strange thing we saw, that landscape that seemed like a nice New England town but … really wasn’t: the closed-off bridge (with clearly no construction crews working to open it back up again – see the last line of my review), the fact that the town seemed deserted, the suicidal deer, the sobbing kid in the hallway … None of these things are explained (and I, for one, am glad. If they were explained, I’m not sure I would have loved the film as much as I did.)
I wrote about all that in my review. It’s more of a sixth sense, a spidey-sense, a feeling that the speeches about progress on TV have nothing to do with life on the ground.
I don’t think there’s any meaning that can be nailed down one way or the other. I don’t think it’s meant to be read that way.
Truly an epic month, and an epic gif sequence to prove it! I got emotional going through them.
Now I want to go back and rewatch Altman’s movies, and catch up on the ones that fell down my black hole–like “Prairie Home Companion.” “Gosford Park” is a favorite of mine–a movie that can be watched for pure entertainment, but on second viewing reveals all the tangled relationships and interdependencies. I love all of the characters, flawed as some of them are–except the master of the house. Can’t bring myself to like him.
And season 3–wow. It’s astonishing that the quality was so high on their shortened season, especially when you consider that the creators basically ran out of road, and weren’t able to complete their intended storyarc in the time they had. The first time through, I could not believe that last shot, that they actually had the–well, Bobby might say “balls”–end the season by sending one of their leads to Hell. And then to build on that story decision, commit to it, and let it become the turning point for the rest of the show’s run (so far). Amazing. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on these episodes!
(And by the by–if anyone is going to be out West the first week of November, the Library is letting me do another Supernatural “Geek Out”! I’m sure a funky motel room or two could be found–)
// but on second viewing reveals all the tangled relationships and interdependencies. //
So much!! The way that from the very start – you can tell that Helen Mirren’s character is rocked to the core by the arrival of Clive Owen’s character. What is even more amazing to me is that 6 weeks into filming – SIX WEEKS – Altman was looking at Mirren and Eileen Atkins one day and he realized they looked alike and it dawned on him: “The two characters are sisters!” So halfway through, 3/4s of the way through filming – Altman throws this other element into the works – both Mirren and Atkins had to adjust – but to us in the audience, it all makes sense. It is so courageous to work in such a fly by the seat of your pants trust-inspiration way!!
// especially when you consider that the creators basically ran out of road, and weren’t able to complete their intended storyarc in the time they had. //
I know! In the not-so-good seasons, the number of episodes is a real detriment – but here, everything had to be so focused and compact. It really works. It’s also – accidentally – perfect because Dean’s running out of time too. He didn’t get enough episodes either! :)
// the Library is letting me do another Supernatural “Geek Out”! //
that is so fabulous!!
So much great stuff here! Starting right with Nightcrawler. What a great movie. Just thinking of the colour palette freaks me out. And that’s nothing to Gyllenhaal’s face! I love him so much.
Logan Lucky — what a blast! I can’t help comparing it to (Soderbergh’s) Oceans, and while I don’t think the heist part is as strong, the character work is so much richer, the surrounding story deeper, and the tone hits this lovely kind of absurd naturalism. Or naturalist absurdity I don’t know but it everyone’s deadpans kill me.
What an Altman fest! Looking forward to reading the outcome. That Duvall screencap, good lord. I’m deficient in Altman, way behind — seen a handful — Nashville is a masterpiece, the POV transition across McCabe is killer — but am I alone in MASH sticking in my craw? I can’t get past the bathhouse scene; it overshadows all my memory of everything but that football game — it’s just so cruel, I felt so dislocated from the film’s sense of what was funny watching it. Really threw me. I don’t even remember that last supper scene.
Season three! There’s so MUCH in it!!
Jessie – JG’s intensity in Nightcrawler is soooo creepy – and the way Rene Russo basically succumbs to the emotional terrorism because she wants to save her career. It’s so ruthless. Ugh! Such a good movie.
// the surrounding story deeper, and the tone hits this lovely kind of absurd naturalism. Or naturalist absurdity I don’t know but it everyone’s deadpans kill me. //
I agree! and the characters are so eccentric but I never felt the film was condescending to them, or turning them into cute caricatures. Of course they all were broad types but there was humanity in it as well.
// but am I alone in MASH sticking in my craw? I can’t get past the bathhouse scene //
That scene is so brutal. Boys Club run amok. War as ultimate Boys Club. I don’t think in that scene Altman was “critiquing” the Boys Club attitude – I think he was participating in it. which isn’t necessarily an issue – a lot of his movies show men “running amok” without women – and Altman himself was a famous wild man – but the bathhouse scene in MASH really stands out (for me) in his work. There are plenty of naked women in all of his movies – I love the naked dancing next door neighbors in Long Goodbye – they’re background in so many scenes and they’re hilarious – but it’s not presented as a way to humiliate the women – as the scene in MASH does. I am happy, though, that Hot Lips doesn’t exit the film in disgrace – she is there as a cheerleader during the football game – fully participating in fun for maybe the first time in her life. So I’m happy she recovered. and lookee here, Kellerman was the only one in the cast nominated for an Oscar. She got her revenge. :)
another great list, Sheila, and thank you – it nudged me to watch 20th Century Women which I’d noticed was on streaming but not quite got around to. I think I was fearing another The Kids Are Alright which for some reason I did not get on with at all. But such a lovely, thoughtful, tender film, and What. A. Cast.
(it would also make an interesting double bill with a Larisa Shepitko’s Wings, which is also features some glorious scenes of flight as freedom.)
and goodness, Rancho Notorious – I watched it a while back kind of expecting a Western-as-fever-dream film like Johnny Guitar, which it definitely is not, although it is magnicently artificial as only a western with Marlene Dietrich could be.
I’ll add my own whoops of approval to the SPN Season 3 love and am looking forward to ALL the recaps.
// magnicently artificial // It really is. I love her outfits, and her short haircut, and her comfort with all those men. It’s so much fun.
Glad to hear you liked 20th Century Women! I don’t know “Wings” and a quick Google search made me realize I need to rectify that immediately. Thank you!
In re: Season 3: It’s been so fun to re-watch, and now I’m moving into the tremendously tormented Season 4 – God, those first couple of episodes with Castiel … it’s like the show is on another planet. Misha Collins is PERFECT. so “other.” Consider where that character went … Oy.
Larisa Shepitko, man … I recently bought the Criterion box set (too long) after getting to see her film ‘Homeland of Electricity’ (you would appreciate the story of its making and suppression, I think) Am steeling myself to watch The Ascent.
I’ll say it again, I loved 20th Century Women, and loved all kinds of things about it, not least that it gave all the characters so much space and allowed so much to remain unspoken, even as it threatened to be ‘overtelling’ the story with those montages and flash forwards. The two hours just whizzed by, I was so absorbed, laughing and crying in recognition at what was going on.
Oh Season 3, how I love thee … but I find it so hard to talk about those earlier seasons without it turning into a lament for (or rant about) later seasons. Case in point, Rowena, as you pointed out. There is no line to be drawn between the S3 witches and her character, she’s from another universe entirely. Agh, so mishandled.
I will get that box set Helena. Thank you so much.
// I was so absorbed, laughing and crying in recognition at what was going on. //
Me too. There are so many details I love. I also love that Mike Mills has now done two tributes – one to his dad and one to his mother – both wonderful films, although 20th Century Women is the better film. I love his depth of feeling – AND he can put that feeling into his writing, which is funny – un-sentimental (amazingly – considering the subject) – and specific. I really look forward to his next film.
// I find it so hard to talk about those earlier seasons without it turning into a lament for (or rant about) later seasons. //
I’m with you. I’m trying though – since 10 mostly good seasons outweigh the total SHIT SHOW of Season 11. Speaking of which … premiere this week. I’m terrified.
anyway – re-watching (and I’m now starting on Season 4) is a very immersing experience. It’s been a while – I’ve sort of moved away from SPN during the last year, mainly because of how awful the new season was – it hurt too much! But it’s been great going back.
The whole Rowena thing has been bugging me for about 3 years – ha – same with Crowley – like: why are you all still here?? But re-watching that witches episode (it’s been a long time, I’d forgotten most of it) REALLY drove the point home. That is a GROSS episode – I’m with Dean – witches are GROSS. Spell-work requires bones and bloods and guts and maggots. Not ka-POW and flashes of light.
Ugh. One of the strenghts of SPN was its “re-imagining” of these age-old supernatural phenomena – its “spin” on vampires and werewolves and witches.
Then they went all generic on us. Rowena’s not the only culprit but she’s a BIG one.