Congratulations. That's not your credentials, though, it's your badge of honor. You have suffered for your art. It is worth enduring poverty to do the work one loves. But it was hard on your family. I hope they are happy as you are.
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Congratulations. That's not your credentials, though, it's your badge of honor. You have suffered for your art. It is worth enduring poverty to do the work one loves. But it was hard on your family. I hope they are happy as you are.
Chris, I search in vain. Please put a link to your review of "Call me by your name" so I can read it.
Sure, cinemabon. Just click on the title logo below. My review can be found in the Festival Coverage section for the 2017 New York Film Festival.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/cmbyn.jpg
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL (Steve James 2017)
In view of its Oscar nomination, I've added it to my 2017 Best Documentaries list. Steve James, the eminent documentarian, adds authority to it, his own work here understated.Quote:
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL DIRECTED BY STEVE JAMES
RECEIVES OSCAR® NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THIS IS THE FIRST OSCAR NOMINATION FOR BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
FOR DIRECTOR STEVE JAMES WHO IS ALSO A CONTENDER FOR THE
DIRECTORS GUILD OF AMERICA BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD
January 23, 2018 - Los Angeles The FRONTLINE (PBS) documentary ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL, directed by award-winning filmmaker Steve James (Life Itself, Hoop Dreams) and produced by Mark Mitten (Life Itself) and Julie Goldman (Life Animated, Buck), has been nominated for an Academy Award® in the Documentary Feature category.
This nomination marks first Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Feature for Steve James; Mark Mitten’s first Academy Award® nomination; and Julie Goldman’s second Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Feature. For the acclaimed PBS documentary series FRONTLINE produced out of WGBH/Boston, this is a first Academy Award® nomination.
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL chronicles the Chinese-American Sung family’s fight to clear their names after their small bank in New York City’s Chinatown became the only U.S. bank indicted for mortgage fraud related to the 2008 financial crisis. The documentary follows how the bank’s indictment and subsequent trial forced the Sung family to defend themselves — and their bank’s legacy in the Chinatown community — over the course of a five-year legal battle.
“I’m so pleased and grateful. This is such a wonderful recognition for all of the ABACUS team, but especially for the Sung family. It has been a joy being able to follow their story,” said director Jame
-Publicity release from David Magdael & Associates (Jan. 23, 2018).
Am I incorrect in saying this is only the second gay-themed romance film (Broke Back Mountain) to be nominated for best picture?Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Knipp
Moonlight last year.
This article says many LGBT films have gotten Oscar noms, but Best Picture "isn't the most flattering place to start." Many Best Actor gay roles.
Rex Reed's Lists for 2017.
Just looked to see what Rex Reed has been saying. His best and worst lists are worth a look. I agree with most of the worst, at least the ones I've seen. Some of his Best list are good movies overlooked by most critics in their list-making. The thing about Rex Reed is that he is an independent eye not swayed by the crowd of critics, many of whom are looking over each other's shoulders. . See his detailed explanations
of his Best choices HERE.
Rex Reed's Best of 2017
Quote:
1-The Post
2-Call Me by Your Name
3-Lady Bird
4-The Finest
5-Brad's Status
6-I, Tonya
7-Mudbound
8-Film Stars Don't Die i LIverpool
9-Novitiate
10-Stronger
Rex Reed's Worst of 2017
I haven't seen The Layover, Suburbicon, Colossal or Fallen, though if Reed is right, it's just as well. I regret that The Cure for Wellness is a flop, because I'm a fan of Dane DeHaan, but it lacks a relatable plot. I labored in vain to like mother!, The Disaster Artist, It, and Get Out. They all were distasteful. Downsizing was an obvious stinker from the start. In his best list, he favors the warm and uplifting, without sacrificing quality. However, I would find it hard to omit Dunkirk and Phantom Thread.Quote:
1-Mother!
2-The Disaster Artist
2-Get Out
3-The Layover
3-The Cure for Wellness
4-It
5-Downsizing
6-Suburbicon
7-Colossal
8-Fallen
It's award season and time to celebrate the rich accomplishments of 2017. Top 10s and "best of" lists have been ubiquitous, as usual. There are so many movies (and series, programs, etc.) vying for the attention of the increasingly distracted audience always pressed for time to catch (discover) the new thing. It's a whirlwind. Generally speaking, we live in a world in which neither audiences nor critics spend enough time with a movie to get to know it the way the great films deserve. Film reviewing is an exercise in rationalizing first impressions. It's always been that way but now there's more of it and everything's faster. I'm thinking about how unprepared I am at the moment to say which are the best movies of 2017 in a conclusive way. This is true for many reasons, one being that time has a way to change the importance of an accomplishment and esthetic judgements become clearer. I like many 2017 movies but no new movie was more important to me than the 2017 release of the version of The Sage of Anatahan that Josef von Sternberg edited in 1958, five years after a censored version flopped in its limited theatrical release. It's his last film. I am very happy that The Library of Congress, the Film Foundation and other institutions collaborated to restore it and re-release it. As for new films, I will soon post a list of titles that show promise.
The 2018 Village Voice Poll
Published Feb. 13, 2018. A notable thing is that Bertrand Bonello's Nocturama made the top ten. It made about $30,000 at the box office in the US. This is an independent and smart poll without being distractingly eccentric. D'Angelo pointed out "neither Nocturama nor A Quiet Passion placed in the top 50 of Indiewire’s poll." See the Voice page HERE.
Quote:
Best Film:
1. Phantom Thread (348 points)
2. Lady Bird (326 points)
3. Get Out (318 points)
4. Call Me by Your Name (305 points)
5. The Florida Project (289 points)
6. Dunkirk (202 points)
7. Personal Shopper (169 points)
8. Nocturama (165 points)
9. A Quiet Passion (161 points)
10. The Shape of Water (152 points)
Best Lead Performance:
1. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird (121 points)
2. Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name (108 points)
3. Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion (101 points)
4. Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread (86 points)
5. Kristen Stewart, Personal Shopper (85 points)
6. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water (81 points)
7. Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread (77 points
8. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (72 points)
9 (tie). Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out (52 points)
9 (tie). Robert Pattinson, Good Time (52 points)
Best Supporting Performance:
1. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird (199 points)
2. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project (147 points)
3. Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip (132 points)
4. Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread (101 points)
5. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me by Your Name (74 points)
6. Allison Janney, I, Tonya (56 points)
7. Barry Keoghan, The Killing of a Sacred Deer (52 points)
8. Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (49 points)
9 (tie). Mary J. Blige, Mudbound (43 points)
9 (tie). Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water (43 points)
Best Director:
1. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread (65 points)
2. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (52 points)
3. Jordan Peele, Get Out (51 points)
4. Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk (49 points)
5. Luca Guadagnino, Call Me by Your Name (42 points)
6. Sean Baker, The Florida Project (41 points)
7. Bertrand Bonello, Nocturama (37 points)
8. David Lynch, Twin Peaks: The Return (31 points)
9 (tie). Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water (22 points)
9 (tie). Dee Rees, Mudbound (22 points)
Best First Feature:
1. Jordan Peele, Get Out (42 points)
2. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (15 points)
3. Kogonada, Columbus (10 points)
4. Eduardo Williams, The Human Surge (6 points)
5. Julia Ducournau, Raw (5 points)
Best Documentary:
1. Agnès Varda and JR, Faces Places (20 points)
2. Jairus McLeary and Gethin Aldous, The Work (11 points)
3. Bill Morrison, Dawson City: Frozen Time (10 points)
4. Errol Morris, Wormwood (8 points)
5. Ceyda Torun, Kedi (7 points)
Best Screenplay:
1. Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (22 points)
2. Jordan Peele, Get Out (17 points)
3. Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread (14 points)
4 (tie). Noah Baumbach, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (4 points)
4 (tie). Terence Davies, A Quiet Passion (4 points)
4 (tie). James Ivory, Call Me by Your Name (4 points)
4 (tie). Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (4 points)4 (tie). Ruben Östlund, The Square (4 points)
Best Animated Film:
1. Lee Unkrich, Coco (21 points)
2. Nora Twomey, The Breadwinner (13 points)
3. Chris McKay, The LEGO Batman Movie (11 points)
4. Makoto Shinkai, Your Name (8 points)
5. Sunao Katabuchi, In This Corner of the World (6 points)
The Voters:
Simon Abrams, Sam Adams, Siddhant Adlakha, Florence Almozini, Mallory Andrews, David Ansen, Ali Arikan, Sean Axmaker, Jason Bailey, Miriam Bale, Abbey Bender, Sheila Benson, Christian Blauvelt, Danny Bowes, Charles Bramesco, Sean Burns, Monica Castillo, Daryl Chin, Jaime Christley, Jake Cole, Sherilyn Connelly, Adam Cook, Jordan Cronk, Mike D’Angelo, Freja Dam, Morgan Leigh Davies, Peter Debruge, A.A. Dowd, Diana Drumm, Alonso Duralde, Bilge Ebiri, David Ehrenstein, Eric Eisenberg, Kate Erbland, Steve Erickson, Chris Evangelista, Molly Faust, David Fear, Jon Frosch, Cynthia Fuchs, Noah Gittell, Tim Grierson, Karen Han, Jesse Hassenger, Eric Henderson, Odie Henderson, Aaron Hillis, Jordan Hoffman, Eric Hynes, Caryn James, Ren Jender, Don Kaye, Ben Kenigsberg, Jonathan Kiefer, Nellie Killian, Dan Kois, Michael Koresky, Peter Labuza, Tomris Laffly, Joanna Langfield, Josh Larsen, Richard Lawson, Manuela Lazic, Will Leitch, Diego Lerer, Craig D. Lindsey, Phillip Lopate, Willow Maclay, Calum Marsh, Ben Mercer, Sean Mulvihill, Angelo Muredda, Noel Murray, Vikram Murthi, Sophia Nguyen, Michael Nordine, John Oursler, Gerald Peary, Sasha Perl-Raver, Ray Pride, Matt Prigge, C.J. Prince, Kristy Puchko, Jeff Reichert, Katey Rich, Vadim Rizov, Joshua Rothkopf, Mike Rubin, Nick Schager, Alan Scherstuhl, Michael Sicinski, David Sims, Matt Singer, Josh Spiegel, Emma Stefansky, David Sterritt, Elizabeth Stoddard, Alice Stoehr, Anne Thompson, Luke Thompson, Scott Tobias, Kyle Turner, Kathleen Walsh, Chris Wells, Matthew Wilder, Alissa Wilkinson, Alison Willmore, Charles Wilson, Kristen Yoonsoo Kim, Lara Zarum, Alan Zilberman, Esther Zuckerman
I've seen enough 2017 releases to feel good about posting a canon for the year. Of course, no one has seen all the worthwhile films, much less give them the attention, alertness, and reflection they deserve. Of course, this list is a snapshot judgement since I will continue to explore and think about these films and will continue to watch the many I've missed. I have decided to exclude documentaries. The four that could compete with the fiction films listed are: Dawson City: Frozen Time, Faces Places, I Am Not Your Negro and Ex Libris.
Best Movie of 1954 is Anatahan(Restored, uncensored cut)
2017 Top 10
Mudbound
The Death of Louis XIV
Twin Peaks
Phantom Thread
The Florida Project
Lady Bird
A Quiet Passion
The Red Turtle
The Shape of Water
The Woman Who Left
The Lost City of Z, War for the Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner 2049, A Quiet Passion, Dunkirk, The Beguiled, Good Time, Graduation, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, Marjory Prime.
* (Restored, uncensored cut of 1954 release)
BAFTA Awards. (Found in Variety.)
(CK comment:)
I do not think these are all good choices, though by accident, some are. Particularly, I think it is unfortunate to choose Three Billboards as "Outstanding British Film." How nice it would have been to choose God's Own Country, or even the very silly and mainstream but at least superficially British Paddington2. How can they choose I Am Not a Witch when they could have chosen Lady Macbeth? The Handmaidenwhen they could have chosen Loveless or The Salesman?
BAFTA FILM AWARDS (winners in bold)
jQuote:
BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears
DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
DIRECTOR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino
DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh
LEADING ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya
SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water
SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird
LEADING ACTOR
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread
DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out
GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour
JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya
KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour
LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird
LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water
SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World
HUGH GRANT Paddington 2
SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project
WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling
LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch
PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)
I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)
KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director)
LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy
DOCUMENTARY
CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck
ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
JANE Brett Morgen
ANIMATED FILM
COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT Jordan Peele
I, TONYA Steven Rogers
LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory
THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh
MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin
PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King
ORIGINAL MUSIC
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer
DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli
DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins
DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel
DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis
EDITING
BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker
DUNKIRK Lee Smith
THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory
PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau
COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran
DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran
I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson
PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges
THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira
MAKE UP & HAIR
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn
DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji
I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee
VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips
WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten
SOUND
BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth, Theo Green
DUNKIRK Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten
THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood
VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049 Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson
DUNKIRK Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson
THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Nominees tbc
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Nominees tbc
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
HAVE HEART Will Anderson
MAMOON Ben Steer
POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low
BRITISH SHORT FILM
AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster
COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen
A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell
WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell
WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
DANIEL KALUUYA
FLORENCE PUGH
JOSH O’CONNOR
TESSA THOMPSON
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET
I'm adding one to my Best Documentaries list:Quote:
Abacus (Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman 2017)
It's Oscar-nominated, I've seen it, I liked it, so why not? An important theme, the power of big money, and Steve James is an honorable filmmaker.
I just watched COCO for the second time in five days. It doesn't seem that there are any critics who put any animated films in their top 10s. I think there are a lot of critics who adhere to the genre theory that argues that live action films are better than animated films, and that certain genres are inherently inferior than others. I love Pixar's Coco and Inside Out and I would have a difficult time justifying leaving them out of a list of major films of the past few years. That thought extends to The Red Turtle, which actually is in my Top 10.
Roger Deakins' recognition long overdue. I've been watching interviews of him on YouTube. Such an unassuming man and yet extremely knowledgeable man who has helped so many directors achieve more to their projects than they first envisioned. He brings so much depth and experience. I've admired him for a long time.
Roger Deakins and his brother reportedly walked four miles to see a movie from their little town near Devon, UK. That's how you learn to respect the art form. He spent his teens painting. That's a good way to lear framing, composition, and the use of light and color. Worth admiring, for sure.
Did you watch Coco?
I have not seen Coco yet and as you know, I'm a huge fan of animation in all of its forms. I missed it in the theaters (a minor family crisis over the holiday break) and look forward to catching it on DVD. I'd have preferred "Loving Vincent" since I saw the doc on how it was made. I did not see that film either; therefore, can't judge one over the other. (my bad - the current colloquialism) I'm somewhat familiar with the Mexican holiday though should brush up on the custom before I see it. Thanks for the info on Deakins. Such a soft spoken man. In the group of cinematographers, he spoke last. When he did, the others just sat and listened as if it was time for the professor to speak. That's posted through the Hollywood Reporter, which runs a YouTube program prior to the Oscars about Directors, Set Designers, Costume, Cinematographers, Editors and so on. Very informative.
FYI - years ago I used to hang with an independent writer who submitted articles for the "Reporter" and often called me to attend certain premieres as he understood my penchant for Sci-Fi. While in Hollywood, he also introduced me to a variety of people - Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, Mel Brooks, Ron Haver, many, many others; including Francis Coppola (went to the premiere of "Apocalypse Now - A Billy Graham Presentation" in Westwood. Gene Hackman tried to steal my seat. I read the trade every now and then. Makes me feel as if I'm in touch, which I'm not.
I'm only superficially familiar with the custom but no preparation is required to appreciate and share in the joy of Coco. You and the fam will love it. Check it out. It's spectacular in 3D but good'ol 2-dimensional will do.Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemabon
Back to the thread's topic, I have no doubts, in the midst of a second viewing, that David Lynch and David Frost's 17-hour, made-for-cable
Twin Peaks: The Return
is clearly the best movie of 2017. It is also a work of art at the vanguard of audiovisual culture and not something that a general audience would enjoy. It's clearly the most influential and consequential of the ten 2017 releases I listed earlier.
And I must see it, and thanks for the reminder. I found Lynch very simpatico seeing his early life story in The Art Life this time last year.
Busy with the San Francisco film festival now though.
Hoping to review more of the films; it's still on for six more days.
Again I remind you all that fans of animation should rush to see Isle of Dogs
Having seen smidgens of it here and there (I only just got Showtime back); I wondered, Oscar, what you thought of the ending. I've read several interpretations. Unfortunately, Chris said he hasn't seen it. (Did you see the original, Chris?) The first series which aired decades ago starred Kyle MacLachlin, who also starred in the Lynch production, "Blue Velvet," fresh off his debut in "Dune." The first series attracted an unusual crowd of murder mystery and sci-fi/horror fans as Lynch played to several audiences (ABC network TV). The first series ended (mostly due to ratings) with no resolution. That they brought it back spoke more to Lynch wanting closure, I believe. I'm certain fans of the series must have hounded him to death.
Speaking of death, many actors connected to the series either died during or just after the shooting concluded (Harry Dean Stanton and others). Even David Bowie is featured with a dubbed voice. Twin Peaks - the Return is available to stream. Lynch premiered the series at last year's Cannes. The audience responded with a five-minute standing ovation.
Interesting choice, Oscar.
"Twin Peaks" ? Yes, I followed the original on TV.
I don't think figuring out the ending is a very worthwhile activity. Willing suspension is the best way to enjoy the wild invention that is David Lynch.
There has been some discussion of whether this new extension can be a "film" to list as a "best film" of the year and, indeed, accepting TV series as "films" seems like a bad direction. But I might make an exception in the case of Lynch, as one would accept other miniseries that could be considered artistic long films, such as Olivier Assayas' 2010 much-admired Carlos, starring Edgar Ramírez.
Spielberg just argued to the contrary, decrying "Netflix" as undermining the award process. Several outlets carried the story. Here's a link to one: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/20...eserve-oscars/
Good for him. That is a different issue, though, from whether or not "Twin Peaks" is a film, I thought, which is about length. Format. Rather than presentation method.Quote:
But now three-time Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg has said that films made by Netflix should not be awarded Oscars simply because they have had a short cinematic release, and called the service: "a clear and present danger to film-goers". - Telegraph.
Apologies for taking so long to respond to your query, and also for not providing my interpretation of the ending; being lazy I guess since it would require stringing many thoughts together.I am happy Lynch again decided to make it strange in unexpected ways, to continue moving forward with his characteristic aesthetic. Again, he gives us a series the public is not quite ready for. He breaks with narrative convention in a more pronounced way in this series and you can thank technology (CGI, etc) for the means or tools to do it. The 2017 series incorporates purely avant-grade, basically non-narrative, expressionistic image-making and the sound designed and mixed by David Lynch himself is a crucial element in achieving the emotional, cognitive and physical effects the material aims to elicit.Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemabon
Thanks for the post.
Let ambiguity and nihilism reign supreme!
I'm watching the new Twin Peaks now. But with 18 55-minute episodes, it's a lot to watch and I hope I can cancel my Amazon-Showtime free trial in time. 7 days to watch 18 hours. Julie Muncy, a Wired writer, has a piece in Polygon about intentionally crude effects and new technology used in the series. Frankly, I think the straightforward noir-soap scenes, are better and more important than any of the surreal effects, though they are necessary Lynchian embroidery, of course.
Watched John Krasinski's new monster movie A Quiet Place today. Miraculously simple and effective - the word-of-mouth hype I've been hearing was justified.
A little research can't hurt since we're talking about the continuation of something that began 25 years ago.Quote:
"An academic definition of Lynchian might be that the term 'refers to a particular kind of irony where the very macabre and he very mundane combine in such a way as to reveal the former's perpetual containment within the latter.' But like postmodern or pornographic, Lynchian is one of those Potter Stewart-type words that's definable only ostensively --i.e., we know it when we see it. Ted Bundy wasn't particularly Lynchian, but good old Jeffrey Dahmer, with his victim's various anatomies neatly separated and stored in his fridge alongside his chocolate milk and Shedd Spread, was thoroughly Lynchian. . ."
-from "David Lynch Keeps His Head," in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace, 1997, which I thought it might be time to get out and read again.
By the way ~ Kazuo Miyagawa
http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/Fw.jpg
Floating Weeds
A retrospective is being held of the cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa (1908-1999), whose contribution to the world's lensing is unbelievably important, it turns out (Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kurosawa, Ichikawa). It's at MoMA and the Japan Society in New York. See this MoMA announcement:
https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/4955?locale=en
http://www.chrisknipp.com/images//y4u6.jpg
I finished TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN (2017). Learned a word. Tulpa. http://twinpeaks.wikia.com/wiki/Tulpa
This is pivotal for the whole plot of Dale Cooper's multiple personalities. The series could be calledTulpa-ing. More than the "irony" of the "macabre and the mundane" the focus seems to be on the spiritual and the paranormal.
Ending of Twin Peaks: The Return explained.
http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/4t5.jpg
Photo: Suzanne Tenner/Showtime [Vulture] Sheryl Lee and Kyle MacLaughlan in TPR, E.18
Even somebody like me who doesn't look for "meanings" of things might need help following "The Return," and that's why I looked up "tulpa," which seems like a key concept in the plot concerning multiple characters, most notably Dale Cooper and and his new avatars all played by Kyle MacLaughlan. But, it turns out, there are multiple other "tulpas," which are defined on that website as "conjured duplicates of individuals." They appear in Dale's case to be more like messed up or garbled clones.
You will find a Vulture piece by Devon Ivie based on a book by Mark Frost called Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier, itself a sequel to the Times bestselling Secret History of Twin Peaks. I think she (Ms. Ivie) notes that the newly reborn Cooper, when he picks up who he thinks is the 25-years-older Laura in Odyssa (Texas, though it's left vague), goes over some kind of space-time-spirit zone at a certain mileage point, which may be where things go wrong with finding Laura's mother in Twin Peaks.
Cinemabon and others seeking the "meaning" of all or parts of Twin Peaks: The Return might be helped by consulting a fan or reference website called Twin Peaks wiki.
Yes, perhaps ambiguity is right. But perhaps fragmentation and even incompleteness are words that come closer to characterizing the series as a piece of narrative. I don't think the word "nihilism" applies here. In Lynch's diegesis, there are characters who are invariably sympathetic and guided by the desire to do good. There is a clear "good side" to root for and a degree of optimism that they may prevail.Quote:
Originally Posted by cinemabon
I was thinking the same. It occurred to me that surrealism is not the art of nihilism. There is hope in it and in Lynch's world.
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Nihilistic?
These conjured duplicates in Lynch's films at least since (and perhaps most memorably in) Lost Highway partake of very old traditions of character splitting, alter egos, and doppelgängers (a term made famous in the 19th century and still widely used). Stevenson's "Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886) is a key work in this tradition. In cinema, the convention goes back to Melies, who doubled himself 9 times for "One-Man Band" (1900).Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Knipp
http://www.chrisknipp.com/images/Quilty.jpg
Thanks for the historical footnote. The Tulpas in The Return aren't doppelgängers to my mind, because they exist in separate universes or on separate planes. Nabokov made interesting and important use of doppelgängers. They are central toLolita and Despair. Claire Qulity is a mocking, pursuing doppelgänger of Humbert Humert. It is best if they cross paths. One's doppelgänger is someone one is astonished to meet. Does that happen in Twin Peaks: The Return? No. With Nabokov the author is famously always visibly at work. With David Lynch not. It's as if he's channeling the unconscious. Therein lies the difference between doppelgängers and tulpas. But in artistic terms they are certainly related, they are both doubles. I hope you have all read Lolita, one of the greatest masterpieces of American literature of the second half of the twentieth century (1955, when it caused a shock and thrill you can't even imagine). But at least you've all surely seen Kubrick's adaptation (1962, when it caused only mild excitement of the casting of an unknown, Sue Lyon as the nymphet). In Kubrick's film the encounter between Quilty and Humbert, in a brilliantly improvised sequence by Peter Sellers as Quilty, to my mind is the highlight, which transcends the otherwise pedestrian adaptation (as many more parts of the movie Clockwork Orange transcend Burgess' hard-to-read novel). You can't adapt the novel Lolita, can't do it justice, but Lynne's more pedestrian version is just as good or better if you really want to revisit the shadow of the novel on the screen. James Mason, though great is too strong an actor for the devious, secretive Humbert Humbert. The Web is loaded with academic papers about this stuff. Here's one, comparing the encounter between Quilty and Hubert in the book and both movies) that comes up right away:
http://www.alphavillejournal.com/Iss...leRichards.pdf
From the University of Florida. Maybe you actually wrote it, Oscar, as this dude's double.
Quote:
You must confront your shadow self- your doppelganger- to pass through the black lodge. The implication is everyone has a doppelganger.
Tulpas are artificial doubles created with a specific purpose.
You can have a doppelganger (Mr C) and a tulpa double (the Dougie Jones whose head popped)
-reddit commentsQuote:
Tulpas are created by a person's will. doppelgangers are a result. not controllable
Quote:
You must confront your shadow self- your doppelganger- to pass through the black lodge. The implication is everyone has a doppelganger.
Tulpas are artificial doubles created with a specific purpose.
You can have a doppelganger (Mr C) and a tulpa double (the Dougie Jones whose head popped)
s will. doppelgangers are a result. not controlableQuote:
Tulpas are created by a person'
-reddit comments
Why did I know you two critics would be able to link Stanley Kubrick to this series? Interesting historical facts, though. BTW - just because I watched ONE Stanley Kubrick doc in my YouTube account, my inbox is flooded with Stanley Kubrick docs on all of his films. Who knew YouTube had such a plethora of Kubrick docs waiting for someone like me to watch them all... as if ANYONE had the time to do that! My Covfefe agrees with your tulpas.
I still don't have a firm opinion on Spielberg decrying Netflix.
Let's give Chris all the credit for linking Kubrick and Lynch via Nabokov. I found the comments very interesting and the links take you on intriguing paths.
I don't see reason to leave out a great piece of audiovisual narrative because of length, or "platform" or format. It's become increasingly difficult to separate what premieres in theaters from what debuts on broadcast TV or available via streaming. There are a number of made-for-TV films or series in my canon. They include Dekalog , Berlin Alexanderplatz,An Angel at My Table (1990), The Boys of St. Vincent, etc. Others that I need to watch (test) one more time before listing include Pride and Prejudice (1995), Angels in America (2003),and Mildred Pierce(2011). My listing of Twin Peaks: The Rturn in 2017 coheres with my desire to acknowledge my appreciation of these works.
I think it would be interesting to open a thread to discuss movies from the current millennium that have been maligned in some way, under appreciated, or "mismarketed", ignored, etc. I teach film history and one constant is that there are myriad films of all kinds which today are hailed as great achievements and widely viewed that were considered terrible or barely released at all when they were new. I have a couple of films I want to bring up that fit into these categories. One fits into the definition of "film maudit". Any interest in that kind of thing. Can you think of films you know that you think are great that few have seen? Or that you think it's been completely misunderstood?
It's good to be liberal, Oscar, but you can be too liberal, and then the world crumbles into chaos. "Dekalog" is great and profound, but it's a series of films, not a film. They certainly have validity as feature films. It's an "anthology series," in current jargon.
Cinemabon, at first I thought it was Johann talking with the fanboy talk, but then you say you haven't the time. I am not busy since the SFIFF ended so I could devote many hours to first "Twin Peaks: The Return" and then "Babylon Berlin." Which, incidentally, in my view are not movies, but TV series. My friend says this is "the golden age of television" and so, there is a plethora of great series. I think if we want to argue about this, the thing is, that there is a certain limit to what can make sense at one sitting, a rhythm and a flow that makes the experience of a feature in a theater satisfying. They can be long. Oh boy, can they ever. But we don't have to call something that's in 18 episodes a film. But call it that if you like. I just would hold back.
I'm such a colloquial pussy (but don't grab me). I have Pride and Prejudice (1995 Colin Firth) on "fast dial" on my laptop. Whenever I feel subservient or submissive too much, I pull it up and fantasize I'm Mr. Darcy, prancing around with too much pride. Just as Jeremy Brett epitomized Holmes, so too does Firth with Darcy. Nobody does it better (to quote Carly). The golden age of TV? Perhaps if you discount the 1950's when you had writers like Rod Serling cranking out things like "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Nothing like access to Broadway in which TV studios drafted talent in those days. Now they just turn to modeling agencies. Too cynical?