tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.comments2024-03-10T07:42:17.071-04:00The Film DoctorThe Film Doctor http://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comBlogger2177125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-63369595820878502132020-04-01T16:41:40.155-04:002020-04-01T16:41:40.155-04:00Is it accurate to call the film Oedipal?Is it accurate to call the film Oedipal?The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-6272936241174504552018-04-08T17:13:45.583-04:002018-04-08T17:13:45.583-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.سيريس فور واتشhttps://series4watch-film.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-91157359926761971102017-10-20T10:03:05.812-04:002017-10-20T10:03:05.812-04:00Anonymous,
You are entitled to your opinion. Hav...Anonymous,<br /><br />You are entitled to your opinion. Have you seen the movie? I mostly liked the Atlantic article because I really enjoyed the movie when it came out, and it was fun to compare James Parker's praise of the film with my own. The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-64343462075146909382017-10-19T10:52:50.519-04:002017-10-19T10:52:50.519-04:00Michael Clayton didn't predict anything that h...Michael Clayton didn't predict anything that hadn't already been predicted countless times by other films, books, songs, and other sundry cultural artifacts. The bigger question is: why does Michael Clayton get credit for something it shouldn't? What Michael Clayton exposes is nothing new and has been known about for a long, long time. Why act as if people can't remember anything about the world pre-9/11? That would seem to me to be just as pernicious as the corporate shenanigans that are depicted in the movie. But then again, propaganda's point is to create an ideology that explains the present moment, which outs this article by the Atlantic as nothing more that slick piece of propaganda. "Oh, we didn't know the world was like this. We had no idea. Not until recently." I call B.S.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-4098246643908832302017-05-18T13:01:27.133-04:002017-05-18T13:01:27.133-04:00Thanks, Philippe. I like the way the blogosphere a...Thanks, Philippe. I like the way the blogosphere and the internet keeps providing the reader/viewer with more insights into the filmmaking process. The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-26442830625171686862017-05-18T11:23:51.191-04:002017-05-18T11:23:51.191-04:00Your blog has been a fascinating source of informa...Your blog has been a fascinating source of information for me as I developed (and still develop) a better understanding of cinema and on American politics and life as well. Congratulation on 9 years of bloggingLeblanc_philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11262676969212335285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-34242177495620997132017-05-16T12:59:11.773-04:002017-05-16T12:59:11.773-04:00Thanks, KMB! Thanks, KMB! The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-41046528064227169032017-05-15T13:12:01.826-04:002017-05-15T13:12:01.826-04:00As someone who follows your blog for at least 4 (c...As someone who follows your blog for at least 4 (could be 5, could be 6, who counts?) of those 9 years, I would like to congratulate you and thank you for your service. My favorite feature are the links, which even now I safe in my RSS reader for later to enjoy when I have enough time to peruse them unhurriedly. In short and bad spanish: Muchas Gracias!<br /><br />Suggestion for the next link doctor: https://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/KMBhttp://inpromtu.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-53019370856159502022017-03-12T01:56:15.181-05:002017-03-12T01:56:15.181-05:00I have been writing about movies since 1970 (and h...I have been writing about movies since 1970 (and have one book on 70s films, "It Came from the 70s: From The Godfather to Apocalypse Now." I stood in line here in Austin @ SXSW from 5 minutes to 5 until 6:30 p.m. on Friday, only to learn that 600 people (and me) were being turned away from the too-small Paramount Theater (capacity: 1100). Seems they've sold something like 90,000 badges, and it looked like MANY of that group were lined up, with me, to see Ryan Gosling, Michael Fassbender, et. al. I was a fervent admirer of "Badlands." I liked "The Thin Red Line." I found his Colin Farrell Pocahontas film so so and disliked "Tree of Life" when it wasn't dealing with the family drama. Preliminary report(s) from those who DID get in, told me at a showing of "The Hero" (which was pretty good, with Sam Elliott, Katharine Ross, Nick Offerman and Laura Prepon) was that "Song to Song" is a movie about the Austin movie scene that has no music to represent that but multiple locations, which just confused the audience, so much so that a couple who has been going to this for 4 years now left mid-film. Saw "The Ballad of Lefty Brown" tonight (Bill Pullman). Pretty slow going, but probably a better film than the one I missed. I hate to say it, but it's almost like when Kubrick put out "Eyes Wide Shut" and you just wanted him to go back to doing "Dr. Strangelove" or "Full Metal Jacket." (or something like that.)Connie Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16632508457569917902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-48687402376347228322016-07-26T18:15:00.659-04:002016-07-26T18:15:00.659-04:00Nice.. Lovely Nice.. Lovely Inspirationaleduhttp://inspirationaledu.com.ngnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-82787720171444557092016-05-18T14:26:11.055-04:002016-05-18T14:26:11.055-04:00Thanks, DeadSpiderEye. I was not a huge fan of th...Thanks, DeadSpiderEye. I was not a huge fan of the TV show, but I was expecting the movie to be better. I find it interesting how such highly regarded stars once performed in such tepid studio vehicles. <br /><br />Rahul Agarwal, Thanks! It's great to have such a longstanding reader.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-59181852762071842472016-05-18T13:14:39.118-04:002016-05-18T13:14:39.118-04:00Congratulations! I've been following you for 7...Congratulations! I've been following you for 7 years, and this blog is outstanding. Rahul Agarwalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09044323332351135010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-43833922434728964212016-05-17T08:49:16.068-04:002016-05-17T08:49:16.068-04:00Marvel at the sight, as single cast member, Johnat...Marvel at the sight, as single cast member, Johnathan Harris, bares the burden of a dreary cast and script to produce an absolute classic of TV, for season one of lost in space. I did see the film once but it was odd experience because it was during an analysis of DCT compression and the then, rather primitive capabilities of domestic DVD equipment. So it's hard to get immersed, when the viewing experience is continually interrupted by shuffling through the narrative to compare screen grabs. Someone did quip on the Harris role going to Gary Oldman because of his performance in Prick up your Ears. While I do see the association, I think it was one that was probably made after a session arranging white lines on a glass coffee table.DeadSpiderEyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687178085803686186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-69078256013146334252016-04-02T12:36:10.952-04:002016-04-02T12:36:10.952-04:00Some entertaining views, I'm wondering quite h...Some entertaining views, I'm wondering quite how Derek forms that impression of a bygone creative idyll though. Understanding super-heroes is tough business I suppose, there must be a few wtf moments for those not inculcated into the conventions. That prospect puts me in mind of the audition scene in Mystery Men, which had me on the floor laughing. I suppose the first mistake is thinking of the super-hero scene exclusively as a genre, it is a genre but it's also a template, an idiom for dramatic and thematic expression. Someone told me or I read it somewhere, that most classical Japanese drama came through the Bunraku tradition. I've no idea how true that is but as an idea, it's quite a useful analogue to apply in this instance.<br /><br />Super-heroes rose to prominence within the comic medium as means to circumvent, or acquiesce if you like, to censorship. Before 1954 comic artists and writers were tackling topics more grounded in reality, drugs, prostitution, political extremism. The instance exploited so salaciously by that charlatan Fredric Wertham, the woman apparently being stabbed in the eye with a needle, is a reasonable example. Prior to that, super-heros were in steady decline from there heyday in the 30's and 40's, during which time, they represented an ideal in the face of corruption and the reality of war.<br /><br />So what's the commonality between those two periods, the first, when super-heroes represented a retreat from reality and the second, when reality became off limits for the medium? The real world of course. Why should that be relevant today? Read the papers, watch the news, what's missing tells you as much as what they let you see.DeadSpiderEyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687178085803686186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-73408640025117665572016-03-30T13:19:03.846-04:002016-03-30T13:19:03.846-04:00Thanks for your thoughts, DeadSpiderEye.
I was no...Thanks for your thoughts, DeadSpiderEye.<br /><br />I was not a comics reader. A colleague of mine refused to go see <i>Batman v Superman</i> because he did not like what Snyder had done to Superman in <i>Man of Steel</i>, so that as well as the major critics panning the movie became reason enough for me to see it. Fully expecting to hate the film, I found it somewhat fun at times, grim, surreal at others. In their big fight scene, Batman and Superman crash through enough walls to remind me of <i>Scott Pilgrim vs The World</i>. At another point, I think Lex comes up with a variation on Blanche's "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers" from <i>A Streetcar Named Desire</i>. All of that studio pressure hinting at superheroes to come (Captain Marvel! Aquaman's entrance is the most humorous) mixed with Snyder's whimsical visions, what can one say? How many of this year's blockbuster wannabes will devolve to two swollen muscle-bound color-coded figures duking it out WWF-style amidst a great incoherent splash of CGI lighting as great cities crash, burn, and die in the distance?The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-44064353785347644662016-03-29T19:51:17.895-04:002016-03-29T19:51:17.895-04:00I nearly saw it today but I got caught in a shower...I nearly saw it today but I got caught in a shower in town and had to buy an umbrella with the cash I was gonna buy the ticket with. I love comics, which as a medium has a lot more depth to it than the super-hero genre, but the live action flicks, especially the recent ones, they just don't butter my parsnips. I dunno why that should be, I'm thinking they're kind of boring but it's a odd kind of ennui they generate. The best comics create a tension between stylisation and realism, which although reflected in the contrast between the cgi and studio sequences in the contemporary live action scene, what the films lack is the middle distance. Flash bang wallop, a city disappears in fog of brownian emulation, then we cut to a some people yakking. One exception, Guardians of the Galaxy, which I caught rather belatedly but enjoyed immensely.<br /><br />Did I say I love comics? Yeah well, perhaps I should've said <i>loved</i> because the snot has been knocked out of the Industry. There was a time, not that long passed, when it was medium that could bare a certain degree of risk, but now the properties are multi billion franchises and we can't be tarnishing those with anything untoward. So The Batman becomes The Fixer as DC cops out and what did they do to Peter Parker? Funny that, because success proved to be so much more deadly to creativity than the paranoia born from The Seduction of the Innocent.DeadSpiderEyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687178085803686186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-90030007028129599032016-03-20T01:29:31.438-04:002016-03-20T01:29:31.438-04:00I don't like chickens, but this is a very pret...I don't like chickens, but this is a very pretty one. Acts like it owns the place. And the tiger.<br />The Pinchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01754310870254122572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-82681329290675188252016-02-15T09:29:55.607-05:002016-02-15T09:29:55.607-05:00Thanks, Mahee. And thanks, Erich! I've enjoyed...Thanks, Mahee. And thanks, Erich! I've enjoyed your blog for years. Excellent point about Hollywood's inherent tendency to re-release. The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-33860818790553939972016-02-02T06:52:47.928-05:002016-02-02T06:52:47.928-05:00Forest Whitaker he's pretty good, I'm real...Forest Whitaker he's pretty good, I'm really not looking forward to that Lifetime Achievement award for Opera Winfrey though.DeadSpiderEyehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07687178085803686186noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-84883100899081559642016-01-05T13:21:01.208-05:002016-01-05T13:21:01.208-05:00I actually really enjoyed this movie. To me the Av...I actually really enjoyed this movie. To me the Avengers: Age of Ultron was far better than the first Avengers movie. It was a lot less shallow and dealt with real issues concerning heroism, the differences between right and wrong and the fundamental contrast between Captain America and Iron Man and what they believe heroism is. Superhero_addictnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-55861475088800482932016-01-01T06:56:09.197-05:002016-01-01T06:56:09.197-05:00Great review, Thanks for sharing.Great review, Thanks for sharing.Ravihttp://www.studyhelproom.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-46769502070637621522015-12-21T13:22:55.124-05:002015-12-21T13:22:55.124-05:00I hadn't seen it, but it's completely appr...I hadn't seen it, but it's completely appropriate. Abrams made a career of repackaging nostalgia and selling it in a new package. The movie is a gateway to consumerism. With the original movie it seemed as though the toys were a bi-product or a sort of unintended consequence of the popularity of the movies. Kind of like "we got all these cool looking ships and aliens, kids seem to like this movie, maybe they'd like toys of it". Although I wasn't there at the time and I can' tell for sure, but it seemed more innocent. Now every single frame of the movie will be made into toys, action figures, poster, video games. bath products, make-up... <br /><br />I did see this new movie. It was alright. The first half an hour works well, particularly because it focuses on new things. The second it turns its head toward the past, it goes downhill and the logic of the story implodes. I won't spoil anything just yet, but it will be interesting to see how this movie is received in a few years, once the novelty has worn off. Will it be seen as a weak retelling of the first movie, or will people OBEY the corporate overlord and nostalgia deity and say it's the best thing ever made? What about when there are 28 Star Wars movies? Leblanc_philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11262676969212335285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-35833830235212725302015-12-18T00:57:33.035-05:002015-12-18T00:57:33.035-05:00"the ubiquity of the marketing makes it unbea..."the ubiquity of the marketing makes it unbearable to be alive." --good point. Have you seen this?<br /><br />https://pbs.twimg.com/tweet_video/CWdpyKQWUAEr4Qk.mp4The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-76813135647349444872015-12-17T16:35:16.000-05:002015-12-17T16:35:16.000-05:00That is quite an extensive list of Star Wars resou...That is quite an extensive list of Star Wars resources. I would add one to your list. The Red Letter Media Star Wars Prequel reviews (http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/). Red Letter Media is a filmmaker group from Milwaukee. They created a characters that reviews various movies in a comedic way using various film theories, clip from the movies and clips from behind the scenes to achieve comedic effect. While I could do without the crude humour scattered throughout, their analysis of each Star Wars prequels is incredible. Their main point is that no one challenged Lucas on these movies, from the script, to the characters, to the way the movies they were made. This made the film the product of a single vision, but an unrefined one. They argue that it seems like it was all a first draft that they went with without questions because from a producer point of view, a Star Wars movie will be a hit regardless of content. Which harkens back to a point you made a few weeks ago (Why haven't the three deplorable Star Wars prequels (Revenge of the Sith, etc.) done anything to dampen public enthusiasm for Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Has the failure of those movies somehow enhanced the franchise through some sort of media herd hypnosis reverse psychology?). <br /><br />For example, they take down the way the movies was shot. Apart from the action scenes, every sequence where character delivers line is always shot in the same two ways. Either people are walking slowly somewhere, they’ll slow down and talk before walking again OR people will be sitting on a couch and it’s all done in shot/reverse-shot. When things get boring, people will stand-up, usually walking to a window and look out. The location will vary, the position will vary, but it’s the same thing throughout the prequel movies. It’s shot for efficiency, not for artistic reason. Lucas can make his computer creates all sort of visually dazzling scenes through the use of computers, but when he has two real person he can’t make it work (they argue it’s a boring messy disaster and I tend to agree). He wants to take those boring scenes out of the way quickly to get back to the action scene. But this prevents you from feeling terribly engaged in those films.<br /><br />They also compare George Lucas and the Star Wars prequel Episode III: Revenge of the Sith to Citizen Kane. You have two directors with complete control over their films, Welles used special effect to extensively tell a story, while Lucas used a story to make special effects. While Citizen Kane is about William Randall Hearst, in his own way Lucas became his own Charles Foster Kane. Going from an idealistic young director rebelling against the system to becoming the system and a bit of a weird recluse himself. Same goes for the character of Anakin Skywalker and maybe Lucas even hoped it would be his own cinematic masterpiece. <br /><br />I highly recommend it. I watched these reviews more often than the movies themselves. Their blend of analysis and comedy made them highly enjoyable. The reviews are quite long (about 80 minutes per prequel movies) it’s a bit of a time investment, but I highly enjoyed them.<br /><br />I’m not particularly looking forward to this movie, the ubiquity of the marketing makes it unbearable to be alive. I’m sure the movie will be fine, doing a remix of the greatest hits with new and old character should hit that nostalgia/newness sweet spot. But I mean, there are Star Wars shower heads and Star Wars windshield wiper blades… we can’t escape it, none of us can. It’s in the grocery stores, the libraries, the radio, the internet, the street… It’s everywhere… It’s everywhere...<br />Leblanc_philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11262676969212335285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-1853206970203787792015-12-06T20:50:39.021-05:002015-12-06T20:50:39.021-05:00Thanks, Cinetrix.
I like showing Ms. Coppola'...Thanks, Cinetrix.<br /><br />I like showing Ms. Coppola's making of videos in my filmmaking class. Here one can see an earlier version of her love for dressing up Bill:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exm6JN0_cxs&sns=twThe Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.com