My Blood is Celluloid

Delirious Revisited

Wed, 14 May 2008 23:58:04 GMT

Last August, Deb and I had the opportunity to attend a special screening of director Tom DiCillo's Delirious. I wrote about the film the next day (which, if you check out the comments, generated a response from DiCillo himself). In subsequent weeks, due to lousy distribution (think Katrina-relief-effort lousy) and despite a rave review from Roger Ebert, Delirious came and went, lasting only a month in New York, a week in Los Angeles, and appearing on less than two-dozen screens in the entire U.S.

Last week Delirious was released on DVD. I encourage you to run out and buy, rent, or steal a copy immediately. You won't be disappointed (especially if you're a fan of the great character-study films of the Seventies). Rewatching the film today, I was once again blown away. Not only does it boast fantastic performances (by Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, and Gina Gershon, to name the obvious few), it's also a stunning piece of cinema.

Fortunately, the DVD transfer captures the movie's rich colors; scenes like the one where the Pitt character, walking through the streets of New York and realizing he's in love, are nothing short of visual poetry. Plus, there's a great commentary track by DiCillo, who has crafted a film, despite all third-party efforts to the contrary, worth remembering.

What the Hell?

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:25:07 GMT

This morning, in The New York Sun, there's an article about how Manhattan's Anthology Film Archives (according to its website, "the first museum devoted to film as an art form") is reviving the early movies of Albert Brooks; specifically, his first two features, the wonderful and exquisite Real Life and Modern Love (the former, made in 1979, an extremely prescient commentary on reality television, the latter taking neurotic romanticism to heights even Woody Allen never dreamed possible).

Regarding Brooks's third movie, Lost in America, the article mentions that "'there's no print of it anywhere.' An apparent victim of indifference on the part of Warner Bros., which owns the film, Lost in America has fallen through the distribution cracks."

No print of it anywhere?! It's not unusual in this day of film restoration awareness (thanks to the efforts of directors like Martin Scorsese) to hear how 90 percent of American silent movies have been lost, as well as half of all the films made in the U.S. before 1950. But we're talking about a movie that was made in 1985, for Chrissake! As well, Lost in America took in more at the box office than Brooks's first two films combined. And nobody thought to preserve a single print?

I don't know about you, but that really grinds my gears.

Cancel the Bigger Boat

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:14:42 GMT

Roy Scheider died earlier this week. Damn. He was one of those actors who was often much better than the material he was given (a curse that followed him from his first screen credit: TV's The Edge of Night).

But all that's moot, because he appeared in one of the most entertaining films ever made (Jaws, where he ad-libbed the line "You're gonna need a bigger boat"), one of the most exciting (his reaction shots behind Gene Hackman lent humanity to the often cold and heartless French Connection), one of the most overlooked (William Friedkin's difficult and uncompromising Sorcerer), and two of the most daring (David Cronenberg's version of Naked Lunch and his narration for Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters). Most importantly, he starred in (and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for) Bob Fosse's brilliant All that Jazz, which is just flat-out one of the best movies ever made.

Roy Scheider was a classic example of one of those actors, like Bogart, who always, regardless of circumstance, rose to the occasion; so that, in those those few-and-far-between instances when the occasions rose to him, he was ready.

He is already missed.

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:06:16 GMT

I hope this is allowed. I created an RP revolving around directors and promoting it in RP promotion communities doesn't seem to work, since no one on them has heard of any directors, so I thought I'd go to sites for people who know something about movies. The community is the_crf and it's just a faux celebrity RP revolving around directors. Lots of good ones are available.

Delirious

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 14:59:57 GMT

I've got this camera click, click, clickin' in my head.

—ELVIS COSTELLO,
"I'm Not Angry"

Although it doesn't appear until the end credits, Elvis Costello's classic 1977 spitfire anthem serves as one of the best movie theme songs—theme in every sense of the word—of recent years. Jealousy, voyeurism, paranoia, acceptance, rejection, denial, the potential for violence, the recognition that it's all so damn unfunny that it becomes funny—Costello's song has it all, and so does the fine film to which it's now been wed.

Director and writer Tom DiCillo's Delirious, which had a special screening last night in Manhattan at the Angelika, works effectively on so many different levels that it gives new meaning to the term cross-genre. At once a comedic and dramatic Midnight Cowboyish character study of downtrodden friendship, it's also a love story, a meditation on fame (those who have it vs. those who want it), and a potential stalker flick. Despite its vastly disparate characters, shifts in tone, and wildly divergent plot lines, the movie hangs together remarkably well. Its debts to Michael Powell's Peeping Tom and Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver aside, Delirious is the best movie about wanting to be famous since that other great Scorsese paean to obsessive behavior, 1983's The King of Comedy. (Both Scorsese films starred Robert De Niro, who receives mention several times in Delirious.)

"Sometimes I see too much," says Steve Buscemi's Les Gallantine (even his name is a worthy successor to Rupert Pupkin and Travis Bickle) to Michael Pitt's Toby Grace. What he doesn't see is how his chosen profession—that of paparazzi—with each click of his shutter takes something away from his subjects. He proudly displays on his apartment wall two long-range photos of Elvis Costello (who effectively appears as himself in the movie) as if they were big-game trophies.

Following last night's screening, Tom DiCillo spoke about the making of Delirious, which he spent the last six years bringing to fruition. He couldn't say enough good things about his star Steve Buscemi, who delivers what might well be the best performance of his career (right up there with his starring role in DiCillo's 1995 indie classic, Living in Oblivion).

One thing DiCillo couldn't stress enough about his new film and whether or not it succeeds: "Tell your friends about it." Indeed, in a movie marketplace where big-name films boast advertising budgets larger than what it cost DiCillo to make his movie (he had to reduce his budget from five million dollars down to three million), word of mouth is more important than ever.

DiCillo told The New York Times last week: "'Look at the movies people are watching.... They’re about nothing. You invest nothing.'"

Not so with Delirious.

Shopsin's

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 14:05:47 GMT

I learned about Shopsin's last year when I visited Evergreen Video to interview owner Steve Feltes for my book about Paul Nelson. Deciding we'd eat while we talked, we walked across the street to Shopsin's, at 54 Carmine Street in the West Village, where we were presented with menus the length of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novella (there are supposedly over 900 dishes listed).

On the way over, Steve told me that the restaurant's proprietor, Kenny Shopsin, was somewhat legendary for yelling at — and even tossing out — his customers. He also mentioned that someone had made a documentary about Shopsin.

Now that film from 2004, I Like Killing Flies, is out on DVD (I watched it online yesterday via Netflix). Lo and behold, Kenny Shopsin is indeed a veritable Soup Nazi (his refusal to seat parties of five or more is only one of his endearing predilections), albeit one with a fouler mouth and a more philosophical bent. Imagine a cross between a kinder, gentler Charles Bukowski and perverse, dyspeptic Mortimer J. Adler — then stick a spatula in one hand and a flyswatter in the other, and voilà! you have Kenny Shopsin.

Director Matt Mahurin's documentary is about as bare bones as you can get, and the pace is rambling and frenetic at the same time; all of which serves his subject well. And, indeed, Shopsin likes killing flies, which functions not only as a metaphor for how he treats his customers but also for the United States' terrorist problem and for the human condition as a whole.

The day I was there, Shopsin was on his best behavior, occasionally emerging from the kitchen to sit down and visit with a customer, and the food was great (reminding me of one of my favorite restaurants from Salt Lake City, Over the Counter). And, perhaps because it was late in the year, there were no flies.

Gun Crazy

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 14:19:01 GMT

I'm not sure how this one escaped me for so many years. Directed in 1949 by Joseph H. Lewis from a screenplay by MacKinlay Kantor (based on his 1940 Saturday Evening Post short story) and blacklisted Dalton Trumbo masquerading as Millard Kaufman, Gun Crazy reset the standard for film noir and paved the way for the attractive, sympathetic -- albeit sometimes psychotic -- antiheroes that showed up two decades later in movies like Bonnie and Clyde (whose real-life characters inspired Gun Crazy's lovin' couple on the run) and The Getaway.

Cinematically, the film's often expressionistic; its startling and (then) innovative use of extended "backseat driver" takes, shot from within the getaway car, and get the viewer caught up not only in the characters' predicament but the sexual excitement their larceny generates. And Russell Harlan's black-and-white cinematography is right up there with his work on Red River, The Thing from Another World, and Blackboard Jungle.

Not again until Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway would the screen see crooks as charismatic as Peggy Cummins and John Dall. Director Lewis told critic Danny Peary in 1981: "I told John, 'Your cock's never been so hard,' and I told Peggy, 'You're a female dog in heat, and you want him. But don't let him have it in a hurry. Keep him waiting.' That's exactly how I talked to them and I turned them loose. I didn't have to give them more directions."

Everything Is an Afterthought

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:38:38 GMT

I recently sold my first book. In conjunction, I've established another LiveJournal to report on the project's progress, occasionally provide links about, and writings by, its subject, the journalist and critic Paul Nelson, and share snippets of information or parts of interviews that may or may not be covered further in the final product.

In addition to being a critic and screenwriter, Nelson co-wrote the fine book: 701 Toughest Movie Trivia Questions of All Time (about which Martin Scorsese said, "Some of the sections were so tough I could only guess at the answers, but the book taught me a lot I was happy to learn").

The new journal shares the book's working title, Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson. Just follow the link.

Anybody interested in learning more about this brilliant writer, whose own life proved just as mysterious and fascinating as the artists' about whom he wrote, is welcome to join. As well, tracking the process of how a book goes from sale to publication should prove interesting. I'm rather curious about that part myself...

Year of the Dog

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:36:02 GMT

For his directorial debut, Mike White chose to make a movie (based on his own original screenplay) that's a treatise about loneliness and people who have love but can't find a place to put it. Like many of the characters in White's previous scripts (to name a notable few: Chuck and Buck, School of Rock, Orange County, three episodes of Freaks and Geeks, and one of my all-time favorite films, The Good Girl), Year of the Dog's Peggy (played by Molly Shannon) doesn't quite have a sense of herself; her strong feelings and opinions locate her a little outside of the mainstream. The thing is, the people in the orbit of her life who don't get her, whose eyebrows and judgment she raises, are no less idiosyncratic.

Following the surprising but inevitable course that Peggy's life takes, Shannon is excellent, as is the rest of the cast, with the ever-dependable John C. Reilly, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Pais particularly outstanding.

As exemplified by a user comment at IMDb, the film is far from the chick flick that its plot and advertising suggests: " I thought I was going to see a funny movie. I came home feeling suicidal. If I wanted to see a pathetic over-40 woman who has bad dates and lives alone with the pets she dotes on too much, I woulda stayed home and stared in the mirror!" Year of the Dog -- the chick flick from hell?

Regardless, by movie's end, as in all of White's work, he manages to humanize his offbeat characters so that we, too, can understand and perhaps even identify with them -- if we hadn't already all along.

We Don't Live Here Anymore

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:18:23 GMT

"Too sad," Mark Ruffalo's character says toward the end of this film from 2004, succinctly summing up the preceding hour and a half of marital warfare. Arguably, director John J. Curran's greatest accomplishment is managing to end the movie, which is sometimes almost too painful to watch, on a hopeful note without resorting to maudlin platitudes or a song by Sarah McLachlan.

Woody Allen's Husband and Wives without the laughs, Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage without the subtitles, and Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut without the masks, We Don't Live Here Anymore boasts terrific performances from Ruffalo (fine in this year's Zodiac), Laura Dern, Peter Krause, and co-producer Naomi Watts.

Larry Gross's screenplay, based on Andre Dubus's novella We Don't Live Here Anymore and short story "Adultery," guides -- but doesn't drag -- the viewer through a psychic minefield fraught with every imaginable method of harm we humans can inflict upon one another without actually drawing blood.

Pauline Kael, Reviews A-Z

Sun, 22 Oct 2006 16:18:56 GMT

Some lunatic has put online all 2,846 of Pauline Kael's capsule reviews from her fine compendium, 5001 Nights at the Movies. While I don't advocate the unauthorized hijacking of anybody's copyrighted works (the site's been out there for a while now, so who knows whether or not it's been sanctioned), it's indeed handy having these insightful cinematic kernels available at one's fingertips. (Which is to say, it saves me the arduous task of getting up off my butt and taking the book itself off the shelf.) Such is the insidiousness of the Internet.

On paper or in cyberspace, one thing these reviews reveal is that Kael was at her best writing in the long form. Reduced to the amount of space usually permitted in Entertainment Weekly, often lost are the insights, the snap of her words, and the sense of enjoyment that shone through her writing. Kael, like Paul Nelson, was as much a stylist as she was a critic, in some cases rendering the reviews she wrote better than the films she was writing about.

The Abominable Snowman

Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:56:35 GMT

While it certainly wouldn't qualify for Paul Schrader's canon of great films (or anybody else's, for that matter, including mine), whenever I happen across this 1957 movie (sometimes calling itself The Abominable Snowman of the Himalayas) when it airs on Turner Classic Movies, I inevitably watch until the end. Director Val Guest treats screenwriter Nigel Kneale's intelligent script so matter-of-factly that parts of the movie achieve a documentary feel (helped along, admittedly, by the wealth of stock footage of the Himalayan mountain range and avalanches).

I remember staying up late one night to watch this, for the first time, as a child, and being absolutely mesmerized by Peter Cushing's long-awaited face-to-face encounter with the Yeti. The effect remains the same for me today: menace mixing with mystery as the unbelievably tall beings step from the shadow into the light, finally revealing the eyes of the Yeti. Those age-old eyes.

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 21:02:09 GMT

Come join allinittogether

For fans of Terry Gilliam's films.

Edmond

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 17:27:56 GMT

When this film first opened in Manhattan, its run was so short that, by the time I read about it, it was gone. So it was with considerable delight when I discovered the film had returned, this time to Brooklyn, last week.

Edmond seemed to have everything going for it: a script by David Mamet, based on his 1982 play of the same name; starring the incomparable William H. Macy, always marvelous but especially so in Wayne Cramer's wonderful 2003 film The Cooler; and director Stuart Gordon, who did HP Lovecraft proud with his adaptations of Re-Animator and From Beyond. On the surface, this film seemed like a winner.

Therein lies the problem: Edmond is all surface.

Edmond is the same character at the end of the film as he is at the beginning -- but it's not Macy's fault. The way the story is written, we don't know if the racial epithets Edmond spews are a sudden eruption or part of his daily routine, whether he's at the tail end of a journey toward violence or whether it's a destination he's inhabited for some time. It's not a one-note performance but a one-note character, devoid of any sense of what, if anything, has been lost. Just as Gordon's direction plods from one scene to the next, Edmond is a dead man walking from the first shot to the last (where he becomes a dead man lying down). Because we are not permitted to experience his fall, but rather just follow his somnambulistic walk on the wild side, there is no tragedy. We, like Edmond, feel nothing.

Unlike Cape Fear's Max Cady, who promised, "You're gonna learn about loss," Edmond offers no such lesson. To paraphrase Dorothy Parker's famous obvservation, the film runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.

Similarly, a litany of usually fine actors are put through their paces so quickly and without distinction that often they're gone from the screen by the time we realize who they were: Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), Dule Hill (fine here in a role that's about as far from The West Wing's Charlie as he can get), Joe Mantegna (always amazing, but especially so as Dean Martin in The Rat Pack), Denise Richards (the Charlie Sheen-Denise Richards divorce), Julia Stiles (so memorable in Mamet's State and Main), Mean Suvari (the American Beauty herself), Rebecca Pidgeon (also fine State and Main -- and married to Mr. Mamet), and Debi Mazar (not used nearly enough in Entourage). Despite all this thespian firepower, the only onscreen chemistry occurs in the scene between Macy and Stiles in her character's apartment, when, for a fleeting moment, it seems as if she and Edmond might have found in each other a twisted kindred spirit. Alas, even that spark is extinguished before it can ignite anything else.

A gentleman, a few rows ahead of us, served as spokesman for the sparse audience when the film faded out and the lights came up. "That's it?" he said. Indeed.

Can anyone help?

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 15:05:49 GMT

I was wondering if anyone has pictures of family members or themselves taken at the airport or with suitcases. The idea is, that for my student film, which is titled "Immigrant Tales" for the opening titles I'd like to use pictures of immigrants upon their arrival sporting the 'I just got here' look. However, I'm sure it'll work if people are with suitcases or in a merry huddle at any airport.

The ideal scenario is that you have a 2 mb digital file taken by a 5 megapixel camera, but I'll take any prints you have (of course with the authorization to use the image). It would also be awsome if people are from different parts of the world. So please dig in your shoe boxes and forgotten picture folders. I can't really afford to pay you, but you'll be credited in the film. Please feel free to ask any questions. Thanks!

Marina

'Da Vinci Code' Author Accused in London--may muck up film's release

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:41:56 GMT

from Yahoo! Entertainment News...
'Da Vinci Code' Author Accused in London
Monday February 27 12:57 PM ET

"The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown was accused in Britain's High Court on Monday of taking material for his blockbuster conspiracy thriller from a 1982 book about the Holy Grail.

The accusation was made in a breach of copyright lawsuit filed against "The Da Vinci Code" publisher Random House. If the lawsuit succeeds in getting an injunction barring use of the disputed material, the scheduled May 19 release of "The Da Vinci Code" film starring Tom Hanks and Ian McKellan could be threatened.

Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail," sued Random House, which also published their book. Random House denies the claim.

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Baigent and Leigh claim Brown appropriated their ideas and themes in writing his book, which has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide since its 2003 publication.

Both books hinge on the theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and they had a child, and that blood line survives to this day. The earlier book set out the notion that Christ did not die on the cross but lived later in France.

Brown, who was expected to testify next week, told reporters outside court that this idea had no appeal for him.

"Suggesting a married Jesus is one thing, but questioning the Resurrection undermines the very heart of Christian belief," said Brown, who described himself as a committed Christian.

Jonathan Rayner James, a lawyer for Baigent and Leigh, said the case did not relate to the theft of specific parts of text but to the appropriation of themes and ideas.

"Brown copied from 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' and therefore the publication of the resulting novel is an infringement of my clients' copyright," he told the court.

James said his case was not an attempt to "stultify creative endeavor" or claim a monopoly on ideas or historical debate.

But Jonathan Baldwin, representing Random House, said Baigent and Leigh were making "wild allegations."

He said they were suggesting that "Mr. Brown has appropriated not only the numerous parts of a jigsaw puzzle but the organizational way (Baigent and Leigh) put it together."

"In brief, the complaint appears to be that 'The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail' discloses the idea that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, that they had children which survived and married into a line of French kings, that the lineage continues today, and that there is a secret society based in France which has the objective of restoring this lineage to the thrones not only of France but to the thrones of other European nations as well, and that ('The Da Vinci Code') uses some of this idea," Baldwin said.

He said Brown referred to "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" in his novel, but the earlier book "did not have anything like the importance to Mr. Brown which the claimants contend it had."

The case is being heard in the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand, a short walk from the Temple Church, which figures in Brown's book. The church, founded by the Knights Templars, has reported an increase in visitor traffic inspired by "The Da Vinci Code."

Brown's book also was the target of a previous U.S. lawsuit. In 2005, a U.S. judge in New York ruled that his book did not infringe on the copyrights of "Daughter of God," by Lewis Perdue. The judge also ruled out any copyright violations of Perdue's 1983 novel "The Da Vinci Legacy."

Fri, 27 Jan 2006 01:56:44 GMT

Today a friend put on the movie Waking Life, and there was a scene that had Celine and Jesse from Before Sunrise (and Before Sunset) in it. I know the two movies have the same director, but I think it's really strange anyway. Does anyone know why this director chose to put his characters from Before Sunrise into Waking Life, even before he made Before Sunset? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Documentary

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 22:19:12 GMT

Quentin Tarantino get a presenters tiltle in Hostel... I just saw his hyper activeself in a clip from the "Z Channel" documentary by Xan Cassavetes (Johns Daughter). Has anyone seen that doc.

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 03:49:12 GMT

Hi my name is Michelle and I've just joined. I am really happy to find a community like this because I only know a hand full of people who share my taste for semi-obscure but critically acclaimed films. I am lucky enough to live in Rochester, NY, home of the George Eastman House. It has a great theater that shows old and new films. For example, I just watched Woody Allen's Manhattan there a couple weekends ago. They have a film noir series this month, and an Argentinian directors series too.

So I just finished watching The Pledge. Has anyone else seen this? It's a Sean Penn film starring Jack Nicholson, and I thought it was very good but ended too... open-ended. Does anyone else have an opinion?

I also recently watched Amores Perros by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. I am trying to watch most of the films Gael Garcia Bernal is in, and I think his performance in this was one of his best, second only to Motorcycle Diaries. I can't decide if I like Amores Perros or 21 Grams better though. Any thoughts?

Now I am going to delve into Sin City, which I think I'll either love or loathe.

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:52:19 GMT

today i was in need of some sap and some liv tyler loveliness, so i finally got around to watching kevin smiths jersey girl. despite some painfully contrived moments (horse drawn carriage through central park? kevin, really) and ben afflecks presence, i didn't think it was as bad as everyone makes it out to be. if they'd cast someone with a bit of charm-say, ewan mcgregor-in the lead it would have been so much better. affleck really has no charm, what-so-ever. almost eveything he does seems terribly forced. i think it also would have gained from having someone else direct it. thats not to say smiths a bad director, i just think he was to close to this one. anyone who writes & directs movies runs the risk of losing perspective, and in the past smith has shown us his sensibilities(if you can call "fly fatman, fly!" sensible), but i really think with this one, it could have done with some strong non-kevin smith input.

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 05:13:07 GMT

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 06:47:30 GMT

This is a little lame, but I am in procratination mode and figured that this might be a bit amusing.
What are everyone's top five favorite films?

mine:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Adaptation (I worship Charlie Kaufman!!!)
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Amelie
Vanilla Sky

this list tends to change quite often though :p

anyone else care to share?

newbie!/ lost on Mulholland Drive/ Gyllenhaal love

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 07:35:24 GMT

I just joined this community about 10 minutes ago, and I decided that it was high time for a post.

Yesterday I watched Mulholland Drive for the first time. My favorite type of movies are the kind that leave you wondering, get you thinking, confuse you a bit, and finally tie it all together at the end. Now, as I watched this film, I was confused...I thought and I wondered...but at the end I was left scratching my head. As far as I'm concerned the plot was about as clear as mud. When it was all over I had to go look it up on the internet to gain some understanding of what David Lynch was trying to accomplish with that two hour pot of crazy soup. After reading a bit about it, I understood the dream sequence, but I wish Lynch had made the whole thing just a bit clearer to his audience. While I felt slightly cheated by Mulholland Drive, I can't help but be intrigued. I have been reading for hours about the different theories in respect to the plot. I am fascinated, but I just wish the movie was made a bit clearer to the casual viewer.

In short, David Lynch has fucked with my mind and I can't stop thinking about his movie, which I'm assuming was his intent in the first place.

I also just watched Happy Endings with Lisa Kudrow and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I enjoyed this movie immensely. The written commentary that accompanied the movie was quite clever and helped the viewer keep the plot line straight...which was a relief after Mulholland Drive :p. It was also an interesting way to cut down on the time wasted in exposition. The centerpiece of this movie for me however was Maggie Gyllenhaal. I love her to an unhealthy extent.

That's all for tonight. I was feeling rather long winded.
Hello everyone!