The Film Doctor's third anniversary

Three years ago today, the Film Doctor started posting reviews, including this one concerning Michael Clayton.












Some links:

---three reasons: Something Wild

---making Hanna

---the art of the title sequence: Game of Thrones

---revisiting A Clockwork Orange

---detail shots of Bottle Rocket

---criminalizing cameras


---the faux-vintage photo and nostalgia for the present

---Ben McGrath's "The Dystopians":

"Orlov’s 2008 book, “Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects,” identifies the ingredients of what he calls “superpower collapse soup”—a severe shortfall in the production of crude oil, a worsening foreign-trade deficit, an oversized military budget, and crippling foreign debt—and argues that his adopted country, with its “American-style Potemkin villages” and “highly compensated senior lunch-eaters,” is not only vulnerable but likely to fare worse. (“Make no mistake about it: this soup will be served, and it will not be tasty!”) “Now we’re in hospice care,” he told me. “The bailouts you see can be viewed as ever bigger doses of morphine for a patient that’s not long for this world.”

---using After Effects for The Social Network

---the original ending of Election (which is faithful to the book)

---Jason Bellamy and Sheila O'Malley choose their "movies"

---Toy Shining

---The Hangover filmmakers take many risks with their new trailer

---A. O. Scott and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

---the appeal of the apocalypse

---the Say Anything scene that Cusack improvised

---Roseanne Barr lets loose:

"I grabbed a pair of wardrobe scissors and ran up to the big house to confront the producer. (The “big house” was what I called the writers’ building. I rarely went there, since it was disgusting. Within minutes, one of the writers would crack a stinky-pussy joke that would make me want to murder them. Male writers have zero interest in being nice to women, including their own assistants, few of whom are ever promoted to the rank of “writer,” even though they do all the work while the guys sit on their asses taking the credit. Those are the women who deserve the utmost respect.) I walked into this woman’s office, held the scissors up to show her I meant business, and said, “Bitch, do you want me to cut you?” We stood there for a second or two, just so I could make sure she was receptive to my POV. I asked why she had told the wardrobe master to not listen to me, and she said, “Because we do not like the way you choose to portray this character.” I said, “This is no fucking character! This is my show, and I created it—not Matt, and not Carsey-Werner, and not ABC. You watch me. I will win this battle if I have to kill every last white bitch in high heels around here.”

---lastly, Repo Man

Comments

Craig said…
Happy anniversary, Film Doc. Your blog has great reviews AND great links, and not many have both.
Anonymous said…
Congratulations! Out of the couple dozen film blogs I subscribe to, I always look forward to your posts the most. Your link collections are suberb.clatis
Just Call Me Alice said…
Cheers to you, Film Doctor.

Happy Third Anniversary.
bd said…
Congratulations! Your work is inspiring!!
Thanks, Craig, although the Blanche Dubois phrase comes to mind: "God love you for a liar." Your reviews are top-notch, and mine try.

Thanks, brittp and Just Call Me Alice.

Thanks, bd. I have a hard time feeling inspired right now with that ghastly Disney Pirate franchise arriving tomorrow. I reviewed Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3 for a newspaper, and still I wonder, why do people return to that frenetic demented swill. Do they even remember the last two films? Are they expecting something better?
Jason Bellamy said…
Happy third, man! There are a handful of sites that even in the busiest of times I never skip over in my RSS feed. Yours is one of them. (Great tweets, too.)

Thanks for all your support of my stuff over the years. And keep writing. I may not always comment, but I'm always reading.
Richard Bellamy said…
Congratulations, FilmDr. I've appreciated your support over the last two and a half years, and I always enjoy how we rush out to see movies like Thor and Paranormal Activity 2 on opening weekend* and exchange reactions. I really enjoy your humorous posts. Keep it up!

*Speaking of which, I saw Priest last weekend, and the only thing notable about it was that the plot parallels The Searchers: two men search for girl abducted by wild vampires; the Priest wants to kill her if she's infected, but the boy friend is there to stop him if he tries. Also, it takes place in a desert wasteland with frontier outposts that get attacked by the vampires.

And I just got back from seeing PIrates. Some fun, lighthearted, way too much sword fighting, but the mermaids are well worth seeing.
Thanks, Hokahey, for your support and comments.

I almost went to see Priest, but drove past the theater and went home to take a nap instead. Given that I kind of liked Bettany's Legion movie, I really should see this one.

The Pirate movies tend to really bother me (although I liked the first one). All of that forced unnatural movement. In terms of plot, they do not progress so much as twitch in one place. I hope to write a review sometime this weekend if I can.
Richard Bellamy said…
Legion is much better than Priest.

Well said here about all the "forced unnatural movement" of pirate movies. And this Pirates is full of motion involving group sword fights that go on and on and make you want to cry, "Stop!"
Yes, the sword fights have all of the spontaneity of a cumbersome high school marching band moving in formation.