Movies
Freaky Friday - The original with Jodie Foster. The kids liked it and I found myself laughing at times as well.
All the President's Men - Yep. Good stuff. One thing bothered me though, there were like twenty super long tracking shots following Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford or Jason Robards around the Washington Post set. I never noticed that before and it seemed strange. Another of Soderbergh's faves. It doesn't make my top ten of all time, but I'm glad to have seen it again. I read that Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford took great care not to take on or develop character for their portrayals of Woodward and Bernstein as much as the things that drove the men internally. They wanted to preserve the deeds of the men rather than a biography.
The Underneath - Soderbergh's fourth film. A remake of Criss Cross, the Burt Lancaster noir classic. It's a clear early example of the time shifts that Soderbergh played with so successfully a few years later in The Limey and Out of Sight. I've read that Soderbergh doesn't really like the crime genre in and of itself, but that he's very into it being a plot structure within which to explore relationships. I think he does that in an interesting way in this film. It definitely represents the transition between sex, lies and videotape and Out of Sight.
Gilda - Va va vavoom! Rita Hayworth is ... mmmm she can sing (or at least lip sync convincingly), she can dance, and on top of that, she's very, very talented. A young Glenn Ford starts out wonderfully sebaceous and transitions into a shrewd then paranoid then sentimental man. He nor the story quite achieves the tragedy of the Thane of Cawdor and Glamis, but it's an impressive performance and the chemistry between he and Rita is wonderful. The rest of the cast is mostly high camp. The plot convoluted. The sets beautiful art deco creations.
A Generation - A Polish Neo-Realist film by Andrzej Wajda about the Marxist underground during the Nazi occupation. Made in 1954, it was both a celebration of those that resisted the Nazis as well as an indictment of the corrupt policies of the Soviets. They used live ammunition to achieve ultra realism on a low budget. It's a beautiful film. A very young Roman Polanski is in it.
Wet Hot American Summer - I had heard it was hilarious. I guess I'm too old or something. I don't think I laughed once. Why I watched the whole thing, is a good question.
The Manchurian Candidate - Wonderfully abstract. I tried to watch this film several years ago and didn't have the patience. My patience rewarded me this time around. The scene where Sinatra meets Janet Leigh on the train is masterful. I transcribed it and am going to assign it in my class.
I found it interesting that they were able to make a film so incredibly anomalous. Apparently Sinatra's involvement and belief in the project kept the studio at bay.
George Washington - Another film I tried to watch six or seven years ago and failed to stick with it. I was again rewarded. It's very beautifully filmed. Which gives the raw and naive performances a certain grace.
Oliver Twist - David Lean 1948. In the opening scene I immediately recalled seeing it before in the ASC Art of Cinematography DVD. Ernest Dickerson talks about its profound impact on him. Watched it with my son. He never once called it a gray movie as he tends to do when I watch a black and white film. It's a masterpiece - gorgeous, timeless and fully articulated.
The Steel Helmet - One of Samuel Fuller's first films. A Korean War film made in 1951, during the war. He combines melodrama and realism. Some of it was shot on a stage and a few shots on location, mixed with newsreel footage for the battle sequences. It's an odd combination of very fine filmmaking with naive B movie techniques. There are some political ideas that have since become at best cliche and at worst offensive. I don't know enough about film history to cite exactly how it was new and inventive in relation to its era, but it seems very ahead of its time. They must have moved fast pretty fast. The cinematographer, Ernest Miller ASC, shot fifteen films released that year.
Akeelah and the Bee - I found the idea that someone that has the courage to be true to themselves can accomplish great things very powerful and moving. She did a lot more than win a spelling bee - she brought her community and her family together not in the winning as much as in the journey.
Books
The Rest is Noise - I mentioned it last week. I really like the historical aspects of the book, but I can't let go of my lack of knowledge of music theory. I'm trying to understand things that make no sense to me and shouldn't based on my total ignorance. I think there are some interesting parallels between classical musicians in the early 20th century and independent or artistic filmmakers of the early 21st century. Popular audiences didn't readily appreciate Schoenberg or Webern, preferring newer forms of music like ragtime and eventually jazz. Classical devotees wanted to see concerts of 17th and 18th century composers. In the current era, popular film audiences want to see National Treasure and Clovenhoof or whatever it's called. And film aficionados would rather see repertory films than contemporary unknowns. Before you argue that, what's going to get a better turnout over a weekend at Cinema 21 or Film Forum? A new Park Chan-wook film or a restored print of Days of Heaven? There will be a line around the block for the thirty year old Malick film. I've stood in it. And I've had my choice of seats for all of Park's films. Certainly ragtime and jazz are more rigorous art forms than Hollywood blockbusters, but that's beside the point I'm trying to make.
The Art of the Storyboard by John Hart - I have such mixed feelings about storyboards. And I'm a damn perfectionist. So a lot of the time, I won't draw them if I'm not creating impressive little cartoons. Then I'm not sure I like the idea of assuming how it's all going to work out. And then again, it seems most cameramen need the picture because they're very visual. And I want to have a coherent and productive conversation with the man behind the camera.
It's a decent book. He emphasizes the importance of using the boards to previsualize rather than to be good drawings in themselves. I need that kind of affirmation. As I need to further explore the use of storyboards. This book helps.
I need to get into some fiction. I've got plenty of novels within arm's reach. I don't know...
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