tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post4925443571007132482..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: TO DRIVE-IN HELL AND BACK!Dennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-24470378829416655782009-08-04T03:11:35.858-07:002009-08-04T03:11:35.858-07:00I
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I really enjoyed thi...<a href="http://daitinga152.xhost.ro/gayarmydfe/" rel="nofollow"><br />Thank</a> <a href="http://daitinga152.xhost.ro/gaymaled2b/" rel="nofollow">author</a>, fellow author. <br />I really enjoyed this article. <br />The author, I beseech you write <a href="http://daitingsex946.xhost.ro/1freegayca/" rel="nofollow">more</a>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-50457679200787474062009-06-04T15:14:54.715-07:002009-06-04T15:14:54.715-07:00"Spartan" is actually the only Mamet fil..."Spartan" is actually the only Mamet film I've missed, for some reason.<br /><br />I loved "House of Games" despite the rough spots (it's been quite a long time however), similarly with "Homicide," which hits close to home, though I appear to have come to a very opposite conclusion about the issues it brings up than Mamet. <br /><br />My memory is foggy (I haven't seen it in probably at least a decade or more), but the movie implies a sort of false choice by making Bobby Gold so wholly disconnected. It's possible to be entirely proud of your ethnicity while pretty much disregarding the religion (though the Talmudic traditions was a nice step forward for humanity, I believe) and the narrowness it can engender sometimes.Bob Westalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17515868620255715845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-5041662253723652242009-06-04T09:51:07.682-07:002009-06-04T09:51:07.682-07:00But best of all I love how the movie becomes about...<i>But best of all I love how the movie becomes about how Mantegna's character is ultimately about a man without allegiances, a man without people, and how in the existential scheme of things this is quite the opposite from how it's usually portrayed in hard-boiled crime films, as a good thing</i>...<br /><br />That's a really excellent point. I'm no expert on Mamet's biography, but it always felt to me that this film grew out of his own return (a very STRONG return) to his Jewish faith. Before <b>Homicide</b>, Judaism -- or maybe "Jewishness" -- was portrayed more or less indifferently in his work, as just a fact in the lives of some of his characters. After <b>Homicide</b>, Judaism almost took over his work for a very long time (not a criticism, by the way). That's fallen away lately, but it was a strong presence for a while. I think Mamet used to be a bit like Gold.<br /><br />Which is funny, considering where the film ends up. Gold scrambles and guilts his way into an even bigger mess. And that final revelation somehow manages to be both hard to swallow and spectacular. A neat trick.<br /><br />You're right, the overheard conversation is devestating, as is pretty much the whole final 20 minutes or so. And there are so many little things I love, like Gold's interaction with the man who killed his family with a deer rifle, and the final shot of that man (which I don't quite "get", but which somehow works for me anyway).<br /><br />You might be interesting to know that "Bobby Gold" has appeared as a character, sort of, as "Bobby Gould" in many of Mamet's plays. He's a morally conflicted film producer in <b>Speed-the-Plow</b>, his life is up for judgment in the short play <b>Bobby Gould in Hell</b>, and as a kind of observer of other people's lives in <b>The Old Neighborhood</b> (his role in this last play is more complicated than I'm leading you to believe, but it's been a while since I read it).<br /><br />Another thing about the film: How about that score by Alaric Jans? No one ever talks about it, but it's one of my all-time favorite film scores.<br /><br /><i>I had an encounter with the movie this week (can't say much more than that yet)</i>...<br /><br />I think I know what you mean by this. I won't let on, but if I'm right, it makes me VERY happy... <br /><br />And yes, you should rent <b>Spartan</b>. ASAP. His directing improves very clearly from film to film. It's weird how precisely you can tell that. And <b>Spartan</b> is one of his best in that regard. Someone in <i>Film Comment</i> -- Kent Jones, maybe? -- really raved about his work on that one.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-20556298471595342742009-06-04T09:18:48.185-07:002009-06-04T09:18:48.185-07:00Yes, Bill, it's true.
I had an encounter with...Yes, Bill, it's true.<br /><br />I had an encounter with the movie this week (can't say much more than that yet), but I was delighted to discover how compelling the whole thing was. My delight sprung from my involvement in the narrative, for sure, but also from recognition of the fact that I was involved to the degree I was even though I still have problems with Mamet's sort of canned filmmaking style, which I think is in evidence here too--everything seems too laid out, prefigured, predesigned, in terms of the dialogue and the way the actors are instructed to deliver it. But the movie is a model of freewheeling improvisation compared to <i>House of Games</i>.<br /><br />This is one of the reasons I found <i>Redbelt</i> so engaging-- it was clearly a Mamet movie thematically, but he seems to have learned how to direct with the camera and editors with the recent film in a way that I think he's beginning to figure out with <i>Homicide</i>. Over the course of making two previous films Mamet is starting to find his sea legs here, and some of the scenes are just spectacular. I'm thinking of the way the movie introduces us to Mantegna and Macy with that racial confrontation with the police chief's toadie. But best of all I love how the movie becomes about how Mantegna's character is ultimately about a man without allegiances, a man without people, and how in the existential scheme of things this is quite the opposite from how it's usually portrayed in hard-boiled crime films, as a good thing. Jesus, that scene where he is overheard by Rebecca Pidgeon talking on the phone to Macy in the parlor of the family of Jews he's there to ostensibly protect is devastating. Some of Mamet's laying out of the thematic strands of this branch of the movie are a little too on-the-nose for me, but still I appreciated this left turn from a typical crime film into the darker territory of Mantegna's dilemma of the soul.<br /><br />Gee, maybe I'd better hurry up and rent <i>Spartan</i>, eh?Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-22115618351115044052009-06-04T07:24:08.136-07:002009-06-04T07:24:08.136-07:00I'm really sorry to be going off-topic here, D...I'm really sorry to be going off-topic here, Dennis -- I haven't even seen <b>Drag Me to Hell</b> (though I want to very much) -- and maybe I should just e-mail this to you, but:<br /><br />YOU LIKED <b>HOMICIDE</b>!!! WOO-HOO!! I am perhaps unreasonably excited by this news...bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-15187375711826531312009-06-03T11:50:26.611-07:002009-06-03T11:50:26.611-07:00Please disregard the extra "and" in the ...Please disregard the extra "and" in the last sentence. That's what quick commenting gets you.The Voracious Filmgoerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18047409667180496331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-33093911370969136362009-06-03T11:48:25.798-07:002009-06-03T11:48:25.798-07:00Your second feature, "Angels and Demons,"...Your second feature, "Angels and Demons," is another movie that gets a PG-13 despite some fairly gruesome imagery. And yet "Slumdog" and gets an R?The Voracious Filmgoerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18047409667180496331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1727468969739769902009-06-02T21:59:03.067-07:002009-06-02T21:59:03.067-07:00Mmmmm....MAYERLING. I will have to put it on my q...Mmmmm....MAYERLING. I will have to put it on my queue right away! So sorry I couldn't be there for what sounds like a grand night. Can't wait to see DRAG ME TO HELL, though!blaaaghnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-57356003677442140372009-06-02T21:48:03.471-07:002009-06-02T21:48:03.471-07:00This was indeed a fabulous night! Thanks so much ...This was indeed a fabulous night! Thanks so much for organizing it!<br /><br />Interesting point about the ratings too... but I remember as a kid being able to go see second or third-run stuff like "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" without an accompanying adult. I am still haunted by visions of Mariclare Costello and her creepy, creepy eyes...Erinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-90718947431810989962009-06-02T19:07:39.768-07:002009-06-02T19:07:39.768-07:00Woo-hoo!Woo-hoo!larry aydlettenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-25674424421607554282009-06-02T15:18:25.119-07:002009-06-02T15:18:25.119-07:00Funny, Mr. Aydlette, but I just happen to have one...Funny, Mr. Aydlette, but I just happen to have one transfer left with <I>your</I> name on it!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-26035035921337810712009-06-02T15:17:46.878-07:002009-06-02T15:17:46.878-07:00leOpard 13: You are most welcome!
And I remember...leOpard 13: You are most welcome! <br /><br />And I remember <I>Boy on a Dolphin</I> well. My own personal favorite encounter with Loren, however-- again, around age 8 at a drive-in, and again with Omar Sharif riding shotgun-- was <I>More Than a Miracle</I>. If you don't recall that one, may I direct your <A HREF="http://tinyurl.com/ob48ch" REL="nofollow">attention</A>...Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-24103237036743711502009-06-02T15:15:22.760-07:002009-06-02T15:15:22.760-07:00Man, I wish I could have been there! And, waaaaaa...Man, I wish I could have been there! And, waaaaaaah, I want a T-shirt! (Maybe for Xmas: Hint, hint?)larry aydlettenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-76754289319336400312009-06-02T15:07:49.878-07:002009-06-02T15:07:49.878-07:00Dennis, what a night you all had! Wish I could hav...Dennis, what a night you all had! Wish I could have been there (out of town in the desert). A wonderful post. Some thoughts:<br /><br />Nice to know that someone else enjoyed the movie <I>Slither</I> as much as I.<br /><br />I recall when I first saw <I>Big Jake</I>, I couldn't believe it was a <I>Wayne</I> western. But then again, it was 1971. The time of the coined <I>ultra violence</I> period (<I>Dirty Harry, A Clockwork Orange, etc.</I>). Though much of it was implied, BJ was a jolt to those of us who grew up on his oaters (and that G rating). But, it did have the much underrated Richard Boone as its villain. Which goes a long way in my book.<br /><br />I have to tee up <I>A Simple Plan</I>, again. You've reminded me how good that film was.<br /><br />Based on this post's comments, I've queued up (may he rest in peace) Bob Clark's <I>Deathdream</I> via Netflix right now. Too bad <I>Mayerling</I> is not there, though. But then again, I'm still waiting on my boyhood thrill to come to DVD. Ah... Sophia Loren coming out of the water in <I>Boy on a Dolphin</I>.<br /><br />And Dennis, there are those old enough amongst us here that fondly remember rated <B>M</B> movies. If it wasn't for them, my high school years would have been even more uninteresting. Thank you.le0pard13https://www.blogger.com/profile/09421175808461787862noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-27066450340928766272009-06-02T13:11:06.921-07:002009-06-02T13:11:06.921-07:00Ha! Just another gratuitous Fosse-ism, I say, insi...Ha! Just another gratuitous Fosse-ism, I say, insinuating its way into a perfectly innocent comment. <br /><br />BTW, my copy of <I>Mayerling</I> arrives by FedEx tonight!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-12693537909199292022009-06-02T12:43:37.911-07:002009-06-02T12:43:37.911-07:00"bored stiff"That's one way of putting it!
Also.....<I>"bored stiff"</I>That's one way of putting it!<br /><br />Also... Netflix just saw a surpising increase in demand for <I>Mayerling</I>.Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-51986640949750479012009-06-02T12:37:28.765-07:002009-06-02T12:37:28.765-07:00"Gratuitous Fosse-ism"! Now, there's a phrase that..."Gratuitous Fosse-ism"! Now, <I>there's</I> a phrase that could be applied with a very broad brush! :)<br /><br />Speaking of ratings, my favorite was always the now-nearly-forgotten "M" (Suggested for MATURE Audiences), which afforded me my first glimpse of frontal nudity, at age 8-- it was Catherine Deneuve disrobing in front of Omar Sharif in <I>Mayerling</I>. I was bored stiff by the movie itself, but I'll never forget this <I>one part where</I>...Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-48845479296476372362009-06-02T12:24:40.051-07:002009-06-02T12:24:40.051-07:00Hey Dennis -- thanks for correcting the earth shat...Hey Dennis -- thanks for correcting the earth shattering era [insert "Drag Me to Hell" inspired revenge joke here.]<br /><br />It would be interesting to see exactly when and how the MPAA made that transition between G truly meaning "general audiences" and it becoming the kid-friendly rating -- was it exhibitor pressure and marketing, kinda sorta like what happened with X? Other still G-rated movies I've seen recently that would be automatic PGs todays, despite nothing overtly "objectionable" would be "The Odd Couple" (divorce, suicide, subtle sexual innuendo, etc.) and my old favorite, "Sweet Charity" (quasi-prostitution and accompanying innuendo, gratuitous Fosse-ism).Bob Westalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17515868620255715845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-90340396742003148612009-06-02T11:57:35.240-07:002009-06-02T11:57:35.240-07:00Dennis-
Agreed on horror and social commentary......Dennis-<br /><br />Agreed on horror and social commentary... when it's done well. That's subjective of course, but I sometimes feel that horror filmmakers lean on the crutch of social-commentary in order to justify their violence. <br /><br />For instance, I don't buy the premise in that documentary <I>American Nightmare</I>, that films like <I>Texas Chainsaw Massacre</I>, <I>Friday the 13th</I>, and <I>The Hills Have Eyes</I> were born of some supressed anger from the Viet Nam/Nuclear paranoia era. (Further, I don't buy that <I>Hostel</I>, <I>Saw</I>, etc. are born of the war on terror/torture era). I think the writers & directors of these films simply tag that association on because the think it's cute and/or gives them further legitimacy.<br /><br />However, I <I>do</I> think Romero's <I>Dawn of the Dead</I>, Craven's <I>The People Under the Stairs</I>, and much of the work of Frank Henenlotter, Joe Dante, and Stuart Gordon hit the mark on social commentary. And as far as a Viet Nam horror film, I've still never seen one that can best Bob Clark's <I>Deathdream</I>, which is just fantastic (and touching) in my opinion.<br /><br />With Raimi, I was just worried that he was gonna venture into that "commentary" arena when he isn't really that type of filmmaker. I was worried it could have been a disaster. But it wasn't. It's a brilliant film. I had no idea that teh script was that old either. That even makes things clearer.<br /><br />And you're right, it is a movie about ethics, ethical choice and moral choice (again, going back to when the boy stole from the gypsy). But damn! The gypsy's sure as hell come of worse because they don't forgive for anything!Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-15553386849649082612009-06-02T11:27:52.206-07:002009-06-02T11:27:52.206-07:00Fox: I'm all for horror films reflecting their tim...Fox: I'm all for horror films reflecting their times and acting as flexible social commentary-- it's one of the things this rather conservative genre can do better than almost any other. But I think it's clear that the application to the current crisis in one that, in this case, owes more to coincidence than clairvoyance, given the fact that the screenplay was originally written some 10 years ago or more. <br /><br />And you're right-- the economic references are used as a touchstone, and the themes of money and payment of dues and owning up to one's (bad?) decisions resonate within the action, but they don't cut deep as social observation here. And that's perfectly okay, as you suggest. Raimi is in his wheelhouse as a filmmaker here, and just off the top of my head I'd say the only other corollary in his work is the black hole of greed down which the protagonists of <I>A Simple Plan</I> plunge. Otherwise, Raimi doesn't strike me, in his overtly horror-oriented work, as much of a social satirist.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-65783429261577761732009-06-02T11:15:42.842-07:002009-06-02T11:15:42.842-07:00Raimi’s achievement here as a writer (the movie wa...<I>Raimi’s achievement here as a writer (the movie was produced from a long-shelved script by the director and his brother Ivan) is not so much in the movie’s stake in originality, or its much-ballyhooed connection to the current zeitgeist of economic despair—as one writer has observed, our real-life dire straits were precipitated not by stinginess and rigidity on the part of banks, but instead by giving away too much credit and too many loans—but instead its attendance to storytelling detail.</I>Dennis-<br /><br />I'm glad you said this. I was one that went into <I>Drag Me to Hell</I> expecting a tired socio-political commentary from someone who probably isn't of astute enough economic mind to do so, but was delighted that Raimi stepped away from that. I think he knew it wasn't his area of expertise.<br /><br />Yes, it's touched on, but so is the comeuppance of the thievery of the young Mexican boy who steals a necklace from a gypsy. Is this commentary on young Mexican boys? I think not. Raimi uses the mortgage issue as an identifiable touchstone and nothing more. Well-played on his part because it allows <I>Drag Me to Hell</I> be what it is, an excellent, unbounded achievement not only in horror cinema (this decade) but one of the best visaually tight films of the year.Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067136509248849744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-84269276213594813092009-06-02T10:52:02.523-07:002009-06-02T10:52:02.523-07:00Steve: Now that's an excellent drive-in double bil...Steve: Now <I>that's</I> an excellent drive-in double bill! Perhaps less overtly devilish than the one we saw, but much closer in spirit to the B-movie drive-in aesthetic overall. (I bet the budgets for <I>Drag Me to Hell</I> and <I>Fast and Furious</I> combined could have paid for about 50 similar drive-in double bills from the '50s!)<br /><br />Enjoy! You've got a good one coming up!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1431111973395023982009-06-02T10:49:03.609-07:002009-06-02T10:49:03.609-07:00Generic: My pleasure! You wear it well! And yes, n...Generic: My pleasure! You wear it well! And yes, next time sample the dogs. They are, specially for drive-in fare, pretty delicious, and the tacos are quite <I>especial</I> too.<br /><br />Bob: Like ships passing in the night... I was in the process of adding your link (I was too tired last night) when your comment came across. Are you watching me out of the corner of your milky right eye??!!<br /><br />"I was under the impression that the way the film divorced clever gross-outs from violence was what did the trick..."<br /><br />I suspect this is the key, and that level of fright being so subjective, as you point out, makes the rating process even slipperier than usual. And yes, <I>Slither</I> was a big flop (and much gorier), but it was also tilted much further in the direction of comedy (like <I>Evil Dead 2</I>), and I think it suffered because of that identification. I really think the people who passed on that one might have enjoyed it a lot, but how you gonna get 'em down on the farm for a gory romp when they've been duly terrorized (and I presume satisfied) by the likes of Rob Zombie? All this being said, remember, by someone who has no general objection to violence (even excessive violence) in films. I just wonder about the standards brought to bear on this particular movie.<br /><br />Finally, I do remember that "G" rating for <I>The Andromeda Strain</I>, from back when "General Audiences" wasn't a euphemism for "kids" and the "X" hadn't quite come of age as a social stigma. I remember the comparatively bloody John Wayne western <I>Big Jake</I> getting off with a "G" too. As is, those movies would be automatic PGs today. I guess in some ways the rating system is better... but I really do think that if <I>Drag Me to Hell</I> was directed by Schlomo Frightmeister instead of Sam Raimi, there wouldn't be much doubt, for intensity and shocks alone, as to the rating it would have received.<br /><br />I wonder if Raimi played Scorsese's game and shot scenes that were, in fact, even more gross than what ended up in the finished film, the easier to make cuts for an MPAA all too willing to give him the less restrictive rating if he were only to play ball just a little.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-36303483807406678752009-06-02T10:48:44.565-07:002009-06-02T10:48:44.565-07:00Thanks for the report, I'm seeing it this week...Thanks for the report, I'm seeing it this weekend with Fast & Furious at the Valley 6. You nake a good point with the ratings game.Steve Swansonnoreply@blogger.com