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SCREENING LOG
-12/06-12/12, 2004
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After watching 11 Buster Keaton films last week, I think
he has breached my pantheon of most favorite directors; at
least he now has a stronger claim to it than Chaplin. I can
simply no longer deny the sheer genius of his ability to play
with cinematic space, making things appear or disappear onscreen
virtually out of thin air; the way he seems to defy the laws
of earthly physics in some his most breathtaking stunts, turning
physical space into psychological space the same way Looney
Tunes cartoons would revel in two or three decades later.
It seems my favorite Keaton films are shorts that take place
in domestic settings, where all the jumping up and down and
in between doorways, hallways and stairways represents some
kind of domestic upheaval -- and even if it doesn't, it's
just plain jaw-dropping to behold.
Pennies from Heaven (1981, Herbert Ross) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0082894/
I've now seen this and SINGING DETECTIVE -- do all of Dennis
Potter's major works have the same flipping of the light switch
between grimy fingernail reality and fancifully nostalgic
musical numbers? Who came up with this trick first, him or
Bob Fosse? Or do they both owe a debt to Fellini? In any case,
this was very enjoyable. yes (tied at #1 for 1981 with REDS
and EXCALIBUR -- three cheers for terminal period nostalgia!
But 1981 still lacks a masterpiece)
Jackie Brown (1997, Quentin Tarantino) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0119396/
I must have really had a thing against pulp cinema when I
shut this movie off after 1/2 an hour back in 1999. Seeing
it this time I could really appreciate Tarantino's artistry
-- while still holding firm that KILL BILL was a step down.
The guy is capable of genuine soul when he wants to have it.
YES (#7 for 1997 between MEN IN BLACK and BOOGIE NIGHTS)
The Weather Underground (2002, Sam Green and Bill Siegel)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0343168/
Succeeded in having me raise some doubts about the merits
of Errol Morris' THE FOG OF WAR -- this film offered a much
needed counter-perspective, even if it didn't go into real
depth about the members or their subversive activities in
the 70s. yes (upgraded from mixed if only for the DVD that
has a commentary track by two ex-Weather Underground members,
who lend a valuable critique of the film's shortcomings)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920, Clarence Brown, Maurice
Tourneur) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011387/
It was like a watching a series of still paintings come to
life -- a series of mostly medium shots and not a single camera
movement, and the effect was sublime. I was surprised by how
little a role Hawkeye played in this version (given that he's
the lead role in Michael Mann's version), instead focusing
on the doomed love affair of another Indian and a white woman.
YES (#1 for 1920)
Oldboy (2004, Park Chan-wook) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/
Guy gets kidnapped and imprisoned in a hotel room for 15
years -- he breaks out and tries to find his captor for a
little tempus paybackus. Incredible stylistic flourishes make
the first half of this film the second coming of Seijun Suzuki,
but it was around the part when a guy gets all his teeth extracted
by the nail-pulling part of a hammer that I started to wonder
what the point of this all was, and what I came up with was
some not too original views on vengeance (meditations on an
eye-for-an-eye that his previous film SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE
had already spelled out rather stunningly) and a sick Oedipal
twist thrown in to liven the mix. Fanboy mania has elevated
this film to the IMDb top 200, and it hasn't even been released
in the US! YES for the first half, mixed for the second half,
for an overall rating of yes (#18 for 2004 IMDb releases between
BAADASSSSS! and COLLATERAL)
Mysterious Object at Noon (2000, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0269587/
Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, or Jo, as his friends call him,
made his breakthrough with this beguiling mix of documentary
and fiction, as he toured the entirety of Thailand, asking
random people he met (a fish seller, a doctor, schoolchildren,
etc.) to tell the story of a crippled boy, his teacher, and
a mysterious object that comes between them. The film becomes
a uncategorizable and totally unique experiment in storytelling
as each person comes up with their own variation of the story,
and Weerasethakul enlists regional actors to perform parts
of each version. Resisting the global tourist impulse to explain
everything for the viewer's easy consumption, he prefers to
dwell in an indeterminate space where Thai folklore, culture
and people exist in themselves and we revel in their physical
presence and arresting imaginative powers. Never quite comprehensible
yet always fascinating to watch, this Chesire cat of a film,
along with the revelatory BLISSFULLY YOURS and the eerie TROPICAL
MALADY, represents one of the most original filmmakers to
emerge this decade. yes (#6 for 2000 between YOU CAN COUNT
ON ME and THE GLEANERS AND I)
Neighbors (1920, Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011508/
YES (#2 for 1920 between LAST OF THE MOHICANS and ONE WEEK)
The Balloonatic (1923, Buster Keaton, Edward F. Cline)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0013858/ yes (#8 for 1923 between
THE LOVE NEST and WHY WORRY?)
The Navigator (1924, Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp)
second viewing http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0015163/ yes (#10
for 1924 between THE LAST LAUGH and THE IRON HORSE)
The Boat (1921, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011984/
yes
The Love Nest (1923, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0014218/
yes (#7 for 1923 between RETOUR A LA RAISON and THE BALLOONATIC)
Go West (1925, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0015863/
yes
The Scarecrow (1920, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011656/
Wallace and Gromit, who's your daddy? yes (#6 for 1920 between
THE PARSON'S WIDOW and THE SAPHEAD)
The Paleface (1922, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0012543/
yes (#10 for 1922 between THE TOLL OF THE SEA and MY WIFE'S
RELATIONS)
The Saphead (1920, Herbert Blache) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011652/
mixed
The High Sign (1921, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0012278/
YES (#1 for 1921)
One Week (1920, Edward F. Cline, Buster Keaton) http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0011541/
YES (#3 for 1920 between NEIGHBORS and THE TOLL GATE)
also from the ongoing Looney Tunes front, I saw these, as
well as some others (but I forgot to write down their titles
-- anyone remember what the first Foghorn Leghorn cartoon
was called?):
Odor-Able Kitty (1945, Chuck Jones) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037956/
yes
Crockett-Doodle Doo (1960, Robert McKimson) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053741/
yes
Hoppy Go Lucky (1952, Robert McKimson) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044721/
mixed
Highway Runnery (1965, Rudy Larriva) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059271/
yes
To Beep or Not to Beep (1963, Chuck Jones) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057586/
yes
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