SCFZ

hmm some interesting movies being discussed in here

i really admire astruc's writing but une vie, the film that apparently sort of stalled his career at the end of the '50s, is the first of his films i've seen. an adaptation of a maupassant novel i haven't read, it's got christian marquand's debt-riddled parisian marrying landed normandy naif mari schell, with heartache and philandering to come.

it's a truly odd film, a whole novel with a great scope of time in just an hour and twenty odd minutes. every gesture, camera move, lighting shift is precisely choreographed; at times schell's mannerisms start to remind me a little of bulle ogier in her very most stylized mode. her narration threads through the whole film, but doesn't always clarify the psychology (even hers) and sometimes obfuscates it.

both main figures, husband and wife, can seem sympathetic and monstrous at certain times, with schell's seeming naivetie (and masochistic streak) often as strange as marquand's sullen brutality and serial cheating. need to see again to really get sense of what i think about what this is doing.



another film about marriage and upward social mobility that sticks a novel worth of plot into 80 minute runtime - the early blake edwards film mister cory, with poor immigrant kid tony curtis getting out of the navy and taking a job at a posh lakeside vacation community, where he gambles for money and woos two rich sisters (of course a blonde and brunette). he's pretending, at least to the blonde sister, that's he's a guest instead of a bus-boy, and when this doesn't work travels the country to become a professional gambler, then open a gambling casino in his (and the sisters') home town of chicago; it all ends in tragedy of sorts.

odd movie. there's an interesting clarity to it all, not just in the filmmaking (a long way from his peak but there is already a certain elegance to the staging in depth) but in the moment after moment action, which manages to pretty seamlessly jump between different spaces, times and even genres without friction. but it's still somewhat thin. seema and i joked after watching that if this was a hindi movie from same period you'd get exact same plot but also 6 song sequences where the more abstract motivators (love for a woman as aspiration towards wealth, shame for upbringing, etc) would be expressed in stylized urdu poetry and sung by rafi; here it's all kind of on narrative surface without quite having the sort of implied back layers you'd get in say a dwan version.

Devil's Doorway
Damn, this film doesn't pull any punches. Angry, righteous, bleak. Even the brown-face can't ruin it. Plus it has a great villain and one of the best bar fights in cinema.

well robert taylor kinda ruins it (like he does most films he's in) but anthony mann called it the best script he ever read

also une vie!

rischka wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2020 2:53 am well robert taylor kinda ruins it (like he does most films he's in) but anthony mann called it the best script he ever read

also une vie!

I loved the villain's speeches about how beautiful the land is, really well-written film alright. I've never seen Robert Taylor in anything else but I thought his performance had a good amount of intensity if we disregard the whole race thing. I guess I shouldn't ask you for recommendations of his other stuff?

I don't get the "general" Robert Taylor hate and dismissals. In the few films I've seen him in, he was always pretty good, and sometimes even excellent.

My favorites (all masterpieces, imo) would currently be:

Ivanhoe (1952)
The Night Walker (1964)
Many RIvers to Cross (1955)


but I also found him remarkable in:

Knights of the Round Table (1953)
The Law and Jake Wade (1958, my favorite Sturges)
Westward the Women (1951)
The House of the Seven Hawks (1959, great stagy, tableaux-like b-movie by Thorpe)

haven't seen a weak performance of his, so far.

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2020 10:14 am

rischka wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2020 2:53 am well robert taylor kinda ruins it (like he does most films he's in) but anthony mann called it the best script he ever read

also une vie!

I loved the villain's speeches about how beautiful the land is, really well-written film alright. I've never seen Robert Taylor in anything else but I thought his performance had a good amount of intensity if we disregard the whole race thing. I guess I shouldn't ask you for recommendations of his other stuff?

lol one film i do like him in is leroy's johnny eager, which greg convinced me to watch once upon a time. he and lana turner made a great pair of desperately shallow beautiful people but van heflin stole the picture. also he's not bad in westward the women? scruffiness helps maybe. should mention i've not seen any of the other films wba named! i guess i just always think of him as barbara stanwyck's boytoy

just a few films in and might have to jump on the Soderbergh bandwagon soon if he keeps this up. Didn't anticipate ever saying that, but the man is a colossal talent. Had he channeled it into more esoteric, non-genre films I think he'd be championed by even the most critical viewers.

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Thu May 14, 2020 11:18 pm
Devil's Doorway

https://idrawonmywall.files.wordpress.c ... .jpg?w=640

For a split second I thought that was Ivan's Childhood.

I feel like I've fallen down an auteurist rabbit-hole, and I can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face,but

"Escape From Alcatraz is Siegel at his most Bressonian."

Go ahead, laugh.

liquidnature wrote: ↑Fri May 15, 2020 11:32 pm Didn't anticipate ever saying that, but the man is a colossal talent. Had he channeled it into more esoteric, non-genre films I think he'd be championed by even the most critical viewers.

Nope.

Lencho of the Apes wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 7:53 am I feel like I've fallen down an auteurist rabbit-hole, and I can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face,but

"Escape From Alcatraz is Siegel at his most Bressonian."

Go ahead, laugh.

Yup.

I like Soderbergh a lot, he's all over the place in a charming way, just churning out loads and loads of films in different genres, like a hornier Michael Curtiz.

wba wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 8:54 am

Lencho of the Apes wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 7:53 am I feel like I've fallen down an auteurist rabbit-hole, and I can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face,but

"Escape From Alcatraz is Siegel at his most Bressonian."

Go ahead, laugh.

Yup.

Cell Block is better.

Phenomena: some good scenes, some stupid ones, and it overstays its welcome. This was the beginning of Argento's 'fall' (although his supposed greatness has been overstated and somewhat based on nostalgia and/or skewed aesthetic values), but his films still looked good at this point, and it contains some of his best shots and sequences. Pleasance is also a lovable ham. 6/10

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 9:48 am

wba wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 8:54 am

Lencho of the Apes wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 7:53 am I feel like I've fallen down an auteurist rabbit-hole, and I can't believe I'm saying this with a straight face,but

"Escape From Alcatraz is Siegel at his most Bressonian."

Go ahead, laugh.

Yup.

Cell Block is better.

Phenomena: some good scenes, some stupid ones, and it overstays its welcome. This was the beginning of Argento's 'fall' (although his supposed greatness has been overstated and somewhat based on nostalgia and/or skewed aesthetic values), but his films still looked good at this point, and it contains some of his best shots and sequences. Pleasance is also a lovable ham. 6/10

I haven't seen this one but I've seen everything else he made between 1970 and 1987 and I don't get your take-down. Nostalgia for what, exactly? Skewed how?

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 9:27 am I like Soderbergh a lot, he's all over the place in a charming way, just churning out loads and loads of films in different genres, like a hornier Michael Curtiz.

But without the genius of Curtiz...

Watched the first half of Lang's DR. MABUSE THE GAMBLER and got a lot out of it, enjoyed it a lot more than I have on previous viewings. The storytelling felt a lot swifter, it just flew along. The great mad avalanche of story just clicked, and the performances really stood out, and little details in the storytelling got clearer this time, like the parallels between Mabuse and his nemesis Prosecutor Von Wenk. Good tastiness. I'll be checking out the second half in the coming days.

And that restored MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM is on the stack, looking at me like what am I chopped liver....

Should articulate that the subjects of Soderbergh's films aren't what intrigue me, but rather his eye for technical detail, especially how he manipulates/perfects digital editing to manipulate/perfect his storytelling, and his keen eye for contrasting/staging flourescent/gaseous lights and colors, especially neon yellows, greens, blues, and reds. Contagion and Ocean's Twelve have been the first two examples of what I would consider great technical talent for filmmaking, we'll see how well or poorly the rest of his films take advantage of this talent.

Still think Fincher has the better on him in this field, and Mann is another step above them both. Except for F's Zodiac which is on the same plane as Becker's Le Trou in my mind as a work of technical perfection. All of these elements really please my brain's perfectionist tendencies, which is probably why I like them so much.

I love Fincher but weirdly Zodiac, which seems to be his most beloved film in certain circles, left little impression on me. That was about a decade ago so a re-visit is highly overdue. And I've seen 6 Michael Mann films and wasn't blown away by any of them, though I did like Heat, Collateral, The Insider and Thief a bunch, I thought Miami Vice and Public Enemies were both ugly and mediocre.

MrCarmady wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 9:27 am I like Soderbergh a lot, he's all over the place in a charming way, just churning out loads and loads of films in different genres, like a hornier Michael Curtiz.

Yeah, but with as much talent as was in Curtiz' left toe.

Joks Trois wrote: ↑Sat May 16, 2020 9:48 am

Phenomena: some good scenes, some stupid ones, and it overstays its welcome. This was the beginning of Argento's 'fall' (although his supposed greatness has been overstated and somewhat based on nostalgia and/or skewed aesthetic values), but his films still looked good at this point, and it contains some of his best shots and sequences. Pleasance is also a lovable ham. 6/10

probably his best film and Argento at the height of his powers. Easily a 10/10 for me.

Just realised that last night I watched Saturday Night and Sunday Morning on.... Saturday night and Sunday morning, starting at around 11:55 PM and finishing in the early morn'. 100% coincidence



A new favourite, for sure... I can see some 'deficiencies' in it, but I can just relate so strongly to aspects of it it buckles me. Maybe it'll seem immature and naive in 10 years? Hope not, or maybe hope so!

Holymanm wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 1:17 amstarting at around 11:55 PM

this took me back to about 8 years ago, when I was practically nocturnal - one memorable middle-of-the-night viewing experience was the first time I watched Lost in Translation, some time around 2:00-3:00 am, which only enhanced its power. I also had no job, and would play CSGO most of the night. Good times.

Now days I'm usually in bed by 10:30 pm, which, in my experience, has been a much better way to live. I'd love to go to sleep and wake up even earlier if and when my job changes.

liquidnature wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 2:02 am

Holymanm wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 1:17 amstarting at around 11:55 PM

this took me back to about 8 years ago, when I was practically nocturnal - one memorable middle-of-the-night viewing experience was the first time I watched Lost in Translation, some time around 2:00-3:00 am, which only enhanced its power. I also had no job, and would play CSGO most of the night. Good times.

Now days I'm usually in bed by 10:30 pm, which, in my experience, has been a much better way to live. I'd love to go to sleep and wake up even earlier if and when my job changes.

I also watched Lost in Translation like that and it was an amazing experience - I think being very sleepy but not actually falling asleep is kind of a like a drug buzz which makes you more emotionally receptive and therefore enhances movies and music. I guess that's the appeal of Ambien though I've never tried it.

Curtiz's original MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM in that lovely restoration, on that lovely Blu-Ray, and the loveliness is lovely. The remake is a lot speedier and the story is more cleanly streamlined, certain characters from the original are combined and subplots excised, and okay. But the remake doesn't have Curtiz and cinematographer Ray Rennahan turning every shot into a fantasia of green and red and light and shadow and more shadow and then some more shadow, it's 1930s Hollywood Expressionism. To say nothing of some good pre-Code stuff involving bootlegging and drugs and a sassy blonde reporter played by the sublime Glenda Farrell. And there's Fay Wray, and Lionel Atwill. It's fabulous.

Roscoe wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 10:46 am Curtiz's original MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM in that lovely restoration, on that lovely Blu-Ray, and the loveliness is lovely. The remake is a lot speedier and the story is more cleanly streamlined, certain characters from the original are combined and subplots excised, and okay. But the remake doesn't have Curtiz and cinematographer Ray Rennahan turning every shot into a fantasia of green and red and light and shadow and more shadow and then some more shadow, it's 1930s Hollywood Expressionism. To say nothing of some good pre-Code stuff involving bootlegging and drugs and a sassy blonde reporter played by the sublime Glenda Farrell. And there's Fay Wray, and Lionel Atwill. It's fabulous.

One of the 3 films on letterboxd about which I did write a few words: https://letterboxd.com/wba/film/mystery ... ax-museum/

It doesn't seem the film made our Michael Curtiz Top 20 during the last director voting (https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... s-poll-39/ ), but I also can't find the thread here on the forum to check what my ballot said, at least (I'm 50% sure I must have put it into my Top 5).

EDIT: found it - https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/the_aut ... tiz#p65239

^^^ If the film means anything to you, grab that new Blu-Ray. GRAB IT. It's a real revelation. I'm hoping they do the same for the equally fabulous DOCTOR X.

trois couronnes du matelot in mind-blowing quality





thought i'd seen this before but i was WRONG

rischka wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 2:23 amtrois couronnes du matelot in mind-blowing quality

Where did you get this? I have an old British dvd in much lower quality. It would be fantastic to upgrade.