tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post6120689569239718476..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: 1941: A GREAT COMEDY FOR SLIM PICKENS DAY Dennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-7098919162703802732017-08-31T00:36:08.957-07:002017-08-31T00:36:08.957-07:00I've expressed my extreme distaste for 1941 be...I've expressed my extreme distaste for <i>1941</i> before (despite it bringing back some very pleasant memories of filming on the Warners lot with some old friends -- who occasionally pop up on screen), but I will share an anecdote. <br /><br />I tended to keep within listening distance of Spielberg while on set (I admired him in those days) -- he even picked me for a close-up in the tank scene (cutting-room floor) -- but I overheard him talking about the Louma crane shot (he <i>loved</i> that Louma crane) of the jitterbug number, and he expressed regret and frustration that, because of the height of the stage, he wasn't able to get a full overhead Berkeleyesque shot of the dancers, and had to make do the best he could. <br /><br />I admit it's the best sequence in the picture (which isn't saying a lot), but every time I see it, I see the seams; how shots don't <i>quite</i> match up with what they're supposed to, or are static at the beginning and the end, rather than feeding into surrounding shots (like they were edited a half a second too early or late), or how deliberate it all seems, rather than frantic and/or lightly effortless.<br /><br />My biggest problem with the picture is that (Stack, Lee, and Mifune excepted) no one acts like a plausible human being, even under the given circumstances of being in a farce. If everyone in a story is wacky, there's no normal for them to play off of. The utter stupidity of everyone in the Beatty scenes drives me mad.<br /><br />I was at opening day at the Dome. It was full of people who'd been associated with the film, and I've rarely felt such a deflation of a crowd's anticipation that a movie we all hoped would be fun just laid there like a flounder.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14383234713692495686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-4731884891473902602017-08-27T22:11:43.959-07:002017-08-27T22:11:43.959-07:00"Check 'em for stilts."
I love that..."Check 'em for stilts."<br /><br />I love that movie, and will continue to love that movie forever no matter what. W.B. Kelsohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06488705562652550244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-71784210304729943872017-08-26T16:26:00.019-07:002017-08-26T16:26:00.019-07:00I call it "Listomania". The media has go...I call it "Listomania". The media has gone mad for lists. 99.9% of which are 99.9% rubbish, with flagrant recency comprising an overwhelming number of the picks.Tony.Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09568222786360226613noreply@blogger.com