must see films

Absurdity of art: author William Faulkner’s estate filed a lawsuit against Woody Allen for his use of a quote from a Faulkner novel

and yes film, when it’s film and not entertainment, is the ultimate art…

“faulkner’s likeness does not appear in the movie, but his words are quoted by owen wilson’s character. in a slight paraphrase of a line from faulkner’s novel ‘requiem for a nun,’ wilson’s character says, “the past is not dead! actually, it’s not even past.” the original quote reads, “the past is never dead. it’s not even past.”

unbelievable! petty! and of absolute bad taste… if anything woody allen has brought faulkner to a younger audience who would have mistaken him for owen wilson’s father-in-law. based on this absurd premise, jean luc godard should have been spending his life in court fending lawsuits instead of cooking culture. faulkner must have not left much money to his petty estate, who seem so desperate to make a buck. shame on them. see the film if you haven’t. its allen’s best film since manhattan. by uh

CATEGORIES: art, must see films

“he wrote poetry until he went nuts!”

i was shown this beautiful roy andersson film by a friend quite a few years ago, but the imagery—the sheer and unidentifiable essence of it, has been stuck inside my conscious ever since.  captivating is an understatement for andersson’s epic tale, and i have chills just thinking about some of the scenes and the perfect usage of vallejo’s poetical themes.  the title of this very post is from my favorite storyline.  you may hate the film, as i have shown it to many who felt just that way, but it is undoubtedly memorable and unique.  what’s left but that nowadays?  just being different.  whatever happened to the quintessence of individuality?  the film is the first in an unfinished trilogy of magic.  i am certainly going home to watch this tonight, and you should make it your business to do the same. thank you, mr. andersson. by sv

CATEGORIES: clips, must see films

Two lane blacktop

directed by monty helman with warren oats as the main character.  basically anything helman’s done is worth a try, and that goes the same for warren oats, but put them together and it’s a sure fire. if you like tom waits, just watch warren oats films and you’ll see where tom picked up the character ideas. if you like vincent gallo films for that matter, just watch helman’s and you’ll see where his inspiration comes from. this is a lesser known film from the era and a gem indeed. i have the dvd and highly recommend it. by dd

CATEGORIES: must see films

Smoking Samurai kill kill kill


sounds like an PSA for non smoking…. but actually this is toshiro mifune and tatsuya nakadai smoking on the set of sanjuro or yojimbo as i remember it… reminds me of SV and I on our daily balcony outing…. this is an amazing film of course by akira kurosawa. i’ll be sure to watch them all once again this week since i’ll be home alone in the dark woods. by dd

CATEGORIES: backstage, must see films

junkopia

in memory of the tremendous paragon of cinema, words and social commentary chris marker, here is his illustrious ‘junkopia’ shot while filming the vertigo shots of ‘sans soleil’ …if you ask me he looks like a relatively normal john waters, at least in this shot.  marker is one of my favorites, transcending the invisible lines created by our minds, and forcing you to use all of your senses.  love. by sv

CATEGORIES: clips, must see films