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Ishtar
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Betrayal
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Play It As It Lays
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The Outfit
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Alex in Wonderland
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The Legend of Lylah Clare
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In The Cool of the Day
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That Cold Day in the Park
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Thumb Trippin'
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Midas Run
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At Long Last Love
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Outcast of the Islands
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Run of the Arrow
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House of Secrets
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Saint Joan
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The Fiend Who Walked the West
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Haunted Summer
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The Girl on the Train

Which Van Sant?

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Two or three days ago I passed along that comment about Sean Penn being "so great" in Gus Van Sant's Milk (i.e., from an actor-director friend with reliable early-buzz connections),and thereafter concluded that Milk could be regarded, if you're into mindless spitballing, as the #2 contender for the '08 Best Picture Oscar, right behind David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The only thing that scares me about Milk is Van Sant himself, which is to say my uncertainty about who he is or wants to be right now. The c.w. is that there have been three significant Van Sant phases thus far -- (a) the assured street-poet chapter that included Mala Noche, Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, To Die For and Good Will Hunting, (b) the misguided, bordering-on-deranged '98 to '00 period when he made the Hitchcock-aping Psycho and the repulsive Finding Forrester, which led to a kind of spiritual withdrawal-or-collapse, and (c) the verite rebirth period, lasting five years so far, consisting of raw, deconstructed extended-take art films -- Gerry, Elephant, Last Days and Paranoid Park.

If Van Sant who made Drugstore Cowboy is making Milk, terrific. If a blend of that Van Sant along with the guy who made Elephant is directing Milk, beautiful. But if the Finding Forrester Van Sant is anywhere near the Milk set, watch out.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 6, 2008 at 9:04 AM

comment #1

lazespud says ...

Oh man, I forgot he directed Finding Forrester. God what an abomination. I literally wanted to shoot the screen when Matt Damon showed up for his cameo...

That said, it looks might weird to see Van Sant's career cut into three parts... I think it's more appropriate to either do four parts (with To Die For and Good Will Hunting occupying their own part of "quality mainstream" productions), or lump them into the Pyscho/Forrester phase, because they have a lot more in common with th Die For and Good Will Hunting than those films have with My Own Private Idaho and Drugstore Cowboy...

Posted by lazespud at April 6, 2008 10:16 AM

comment #2

jjgittes says ...

I'd be surprised if Milk lives up to expectations. I'm not even sold on Penn frankly, I'm seeing it as a possibly excrutiating mannered clash of actor and character.

Van Sant to me has dissipated into arty vagaries. He makes movies about capturing moods - this film needs to encapsule and illuminate events.

Hopefully I'm wrong and it delivers.

Posted by jjgittes at April 6, 2008 10:44 AM

comment #3

breadlymoore says ...

I'll take FINDING FORRESTER over PARANOID PARK anytime.

Posted by breadlymoore at April 6, 2008 11:04 AM

comment #4

actionman says ...

You're the man now, dog!

Posted by actionman at April 6, 2008 11:32 AM

comment #5

Titus Pullo says ...

Gus Van Sant doesn't make movies anymore...he makes statements. Which is fine I guess but they really are a bore, though I did like Elephant, to a degree that one can like something like that. Last Days absolutely sucked.

Posted by Titus Pullo at April 6, 2008 11:44 AM

comment #6

erniesouchak says ...

Where's the "street poetry" in "To Die For"?

Posted by erniesouchak at April 6, 2008 12:41 PM

comment #7

lazarus says ...

It wasn't in Good Will Hunting, either. Great studio film, but any authenticity in that was because of the script, and in the performances of Damon and his posse.

Clearly the dividing line is between My Own Private Idaho and To Die For, the former being a clear indie, the latter another great film that still feels like a studio project, however subversive it may have been.

Posted by lazarus at April 6, 2008 12:46 PM

comment #8

gruver1 says ...

Wells to erniesouchak: In Joaquin Pheonix's performance, for one thing. In that shot of Kidman buried beneath the ice, for another.

Posted by gruver1 at April 6, 2008 1:48 PM

comment #9

Edward says ...

Finding Forester was a decent mainstream film. Has anyone considered that Van Sant was helping his Portland mate Mike Rich, when he made it? I'm not saying this is necessarily a good thing, considering Rich's other films.

Posted by Edward at April 6, 2008 1:58 PM

comment #10

JackeyAces says ...

jjgittes I know what you mean about Penn but I hope Penn will be on his medication & not over do it since he has his Oscar already. Milk is an important figure but I don't know if there is enough story to make a great flick.

Politically active gay man shot by asshole who was against his politics.

Posted by JackeyAces at April 6, 2008 2:31 PM

comment #11

Jay T. says ...

Finding Forrester wasn't horrible, but it wasn't exactly good either. I'll remember it most for marking the week when I stopped reading David Poland, after he raised expectations about that movie talking about how it forced him to sit in his car and reflect for an hour or something like that. In other words, he was deeply moved. Wow...

Posted by Jay T. at April 6, 2008 3:51 PM

comment #12

Jay T. says ...

I almost forgot. This post simply demands that someone drops: http://yourethemannowdog.com/

Posted by Jay T. at April 6, 2008 3:56 PM

comment #13

JD says ...

In fairness to Van Sant, most of the shortcomings in Finding Forrester come directly from the script. There's actually some really evocative images in that film, but they're used in the service of an undistinguished script. Also, it's worth noting that Van Sant has been working on various incarnations of Milk for 15-20 years so I wouldn't expect soulless studio product. In a recent interview, he said most of the visual research him and Harris Savides did for the film consisted of documentaries from the 60s and 70s... which might give you some idea of the aesthetic they're circling. I wouldn't expect many art film flourishes this time, but I am expecting something emotionally complex and slightly peculiar.

Posted by JD at April 6, 2008 5:20 PM

comment #14

alan says ...

Poland also stated that Sean Connery would win the Best Actor Oscar for Forrester. And, if I'm not mistaken, that the movie would be nominated for Best Picture and probably win. Yeah...that's about the time I stopped reading him, too.

Posted by alan at April 7, 2008 8:56 AM