Saturday, November 18, 2006

The Trim Bin #48


- A front page article from the Berkshire Eagle about the area's new cinemas features an accompanying photo of my mug. I was particularly scruffy-looking that day, so it's not my best picture. But I figured it was worth sharing here so that some of you could get a glimpse of me in my office. However, I'm not, as the caption states, the projectionist (sorry, Dave).

- The trailer for David Fincher's Zodiac has hit the internet, and the film looks stunning. It's been four years since Fincher's last film, and seven since his last great one (I desperately tried to find room for Fight Club on my list - you know you've seen too many movies when it's tough whittling your favorites down to a hundred). I love the visual style on display here, I'm intrigued by what I've heard about the film (such as the choice to switch the soundtrack from mono to stereo when the film hits the era of FM radio), and anything with Robert Downey Jr. is a must-see (excluding The Shaggy Dog).

- 24 Lies a Second has an excellent new article on Dune and the films of David Lynch by Robert C. Cumbow entitled David Lynch Folds Space: Because He Is the Kwisatz Haderach! (thanks to SLIFR for the link). Cumbow easily trumps most of the print analysis I've read of Lynch's films; it uses the folding of space as an insightful entryway into understanding Lynch's methods. But I think I love it most of all because it means that Dune is finally getting some positive critical recognition. While I'll admit that it's Lynch's most flawed film and loses some of the things that made me obsess over the book as a kid, I still sort of love it. Dune was an important stepping-stone movie in my film education; it was the first Lynch movie I saw, and it led me to seek out The Elephant Man, "Twin Peaks" and Blue Velvet in quick succession. Had I not been a sci-fi geek, it might have been a long time before I discovered the film that is currently my all-time favorite.

What were your stepping-stone films?

- Finally, artist Francesco Vizzoli has elevated the faux-trailer trend to an art form with his Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula. Is it wrong that, on the basis of the trailer, I'd gladly pay nine bucks to see the feature-length version?




Films watched this week:

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan 9
Eaten Alive
3
Performance
7
Repulsion
10
Cape Fear
(1991) 10
Inside Deep Throat
7
Walk on Water
6
Marathon Man
9
Reds
10
A Clockwork Orange
10
The Departed
10
Koyaanisqatsi
8
Over the Hedge 6
eXistenZ 7
The Devils
8

4 comments:

Reel Fanatic said...

Fincher definitely needs to work more often .. before "Casino Royale" here, they showed the trailers for both "Zodiac" and "Spidey 3" .. they both looked great, but Zodiac came out on top in terms of sheer anticipation

Anonymous said...

Stepping stones for me were alot of films that fall in that strange middle ground between film as art and the sheer pulp popcorn film.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your kind comments on my 24 Lies piece about DUNE and David Lynch. I feel the same way as you about DUNE--a flawed film, but one that, with the passage of time, has become increasingly important, as well as more satisfying to watch. I appreciate your response.

My big stepping-stone film was LA DOLCE VITA. It changed forever the way I look at and think about movies.

Andrew Bemis said...

Thanks for stopping by. La Dolce Vita is indeed a horizon-expanding film.