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constant escape

winter withered, warm
Have you seen Three Colors: Blue? Another impressive use of that kind of brief interlude. Much more dramatic in that case though, from what I remember.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I have seen it a couple of times but not for yonks, I don't remember that at all.
I really like his Dekalog films... as a whole series of low-key films they are really interesting and diverse. You never know where they are gonna go, who they will be about or even if they will be a comedy or tragedy. Usually a tragedy come to think of it.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
Still haven't seen Dekalog, much to my dismay. Can they be appreciated individually, or would you recommend watching them in series? Do the narratives overlap, as in Three Colors?
 

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
Punch Drunk Love stuck with me, but a fellow kid in one of my classes pointed out that all Sandler needed to do was deviate from his usual performance and he would be lauded. A bit overstated, but not by much. Not to dismiss his performances in Punch Drunk Love or in Uncut Gems, both of which I respected - but there is some truth to that, no?

Also PTA is from, and sets some of his films in, the San Fernando Valley, porn capital of the states, where I was born and raised.

what does it mean growing up in the porn valley? is that something you notice living there or is this hidden?
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
I think its pretty well hidden, but then again I'm not known to be observant about these things. There are porn production companies on some of the major streets in the valley, and frankly I'd be surprised if the adult entertainment industry was centralized anywhere else.

In short, I never really noticed anything explicit, one the sidewalks, etc - but how could I, really?

There is something about the valley ethos that lends itself to, or is partially informed by, porn. A subtle, unplaceable sleaze factor that passes in a strangely charming way. Hollywoods less pretentious and more explicit step-sibling.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Still haven't seen Dekalog, much to my dismay. Can they be appreciated individually, or would you recommend watching them in series? Do the narratives overlap, as in Three Colors?
As I remember it, there are ten films which don't have any continuous story line or suchlike and which could be watched on their own. However, as you say, with Kieslowski there are often things that maybe aren't obvious and crucial to the main story lines but which you may notice if you've seen all the films and which might give you something extra. I think that the films do have something of the same feel to them or the same headspace or something that links them, so even if one may be a comedy (I think there is only one of them that could be considered outright in that manner) and another might be a tragedy or a love story or whatever, they do feel as though they are connected by more than being made by the same director and both being named after one of the ten commandments. So I would say that you don't NEED to watch them together and back to back, but I would advise anyone watching them that they might find it slightly more rewarding overall if they did. Not too much of a problem though cos I think they normally sell them as a box-set type thing of two or three dvds (if that's how you intend to consume them).
But anyway I highly recommend the films. I like that each one starts and there will be a few people interacting in a shop or whatever and you never know which one it's gonna kinda pick to follow and make the central character, but bit by bit you realise you're drawn into something unexpected and compelling.
As an aside, Kieslowski did a film called A Short Film About Killing and - it's so long since I've seen all this but I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying this - I think he cut that down a bit to make the Dekalog film about the relevant commandment, and I think that at least one other of the Dekalog films exists in a slightly lengthened version as a stand alone film too.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
I'll do just that - watch them in order. And I haven't heard of A Short Film About Killing, but if its, as you say, in the same headspace, I'm already sold.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I'm saying I think he cut that down to make one of the Dekalog films so there is something of a duplication in his filmography. Not that that matters necessarily. Often quite interesting to see two different versions of the same film, I guess that occurs with directors cut and so on but this one I assume he made two versions at two lengths for different uses.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Speaking of which, someone was talking about Kurosawa's Seven Samurai in this thread I think - I remember Monte Hellman talking about Kurosawa's editing and saying how the full length version as it was intended to be seen was fascinating and just flies by... and yet, a butchered version with an hour or so cut out of it by hacks for (I think) the US market seemed interminably longer than the uncut original.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
I could use a rewatch for Seven Samurai, and I wonder if that original version is out there.

I think it was you who mentioned Hellman and Two Lane Blacktop (he did that, right?), which was written by Rudy Wurlizter whose book Slow Fade was, I believe, allegedly in talks of production. It was about this Peckinpah-like living legend western director drowning in late-life decadence and dismay. A very cool story, seems up your alley if you like the Hellman vibe. Not sure about your feelings on westerns though.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Could certainly have been me as I love Hellman; his best films are Two Lane Blacktop, The Shooting, and Cockfighter. After that I'm not keen on most of his other films, they have their moments but I'm not gonna stick up for them. Equally you can find his moments in stuff he finished off for Roger Corman (as did, I think Scorsese and Coppola maybe?) - again not necessarily great but enjoyable films in their own right, but I read a book about Hellman and it would tell you which scenes he'd done or whatever and it's quite interesting cos when it's pointed out you do sort of think "Oh yeah, that makes sense" though maybe it's just some kind of thing where I'm lying to myself once it's suggested so I can pretend I've understood and feel clever.
I think Hellman did make a comeback film of sorts about ten years ago but I didn't want to watch it and be disappointed.
So you're tipping a book called Slow Fade which was written by the same author as Two Lane Blacktop right? Thanks for that it sounds interesting, I do like a decadence and, well, faded success, and I have no problem with westerns (or really any genre as long as they are done well). The aforementioned The Shooting is itself a western,


I recommend it highly, it's not very long but it has a kind of mysterious power. I'm guessing you've seen TLBT but if not then check that too, both with Warren Oates they would make a good double-bill.*
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
So you're tipping a book called Slow Fade which was written by the same author as Two Lane Blacktop right?
Yeah, Wurlitzer I believe wrote the screenplay for Two Lane Blacktop - not sure if there was a book before that. And I still haven't seen The Shooting. Seems like much of this would fall into the lower-profile Easy Rider Raging Bull movement.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Yeah, certainly Nicholson was behind the scenes of a surprising amount of stuff. Famously The Shooting was shot by Hellman simultaneously with another western with much of the same cast called Ride the Whirlwind or something. That's a solid enough film but you can completely see if you watch them next to each other that The Shooting was the one that was what he wanted to do and on which he sprinkled that Hellman magic and weirdness while RTW was a simple, solid meat and taters western without that intangible existential otherworldiness that characterises The Shooting and Two Lane Blacktop and - to a lesser extent - Cockfighter.
 

version

Well-known member
Tom Cruise will film his next Hollywood blockbuster on location — 250 miles up in the air and orbiting the Earth once every 90 minutes.

The "Top Gun" star will be flying through the stratosphere shooting an as-yet-unknown film aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said Tuesday.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I notice that there is a David Bowie biopic coming out - starring Johnny Flynn as Bowie - one problem though, they didn't get the rights to use any of his songs. Now, for most people, that would be a hurdle that they would deem insurmountable, but I'm looking on the bright side, it should be the perfect film for dissensians who like Bowie the artistic creation but can't stand his music... although sadly I have seen the trailer and it may not be that good even on those terms. Ah well.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I don't have an especially strong opinion on him really. He has done some good films and some bad - there's not really that much of a pattern there I think cos he's done so many so you can't even think "he's always watchable or whatever". Seems to have had a mini-renaissance with films that suit his over the top style such as Mandy, Mom and Dad and The Colour From Out of Space I guess.
 

constant escape

winter withered, warm
Yeah I'd say so too. Plus he's playing Joe Exotic, as if he is trying to out-do reality at its most extravagant.

Anyway, The Vampires Kiss is what flipped me. Haven't seen all of Mandy, started it late at night and ended up falling asleep.
 
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