comment #1

thevisceral says ...

"Rain in the Face, Dry Gulch, and Squalling Mouth" remains the greatest title ever for an essay on any subject in history.

comment #2

MilkMan says ...

I've never understood the whole termite versus white elephant art.

That's about all I know of Farber's work.

Since I couldn't process that I figured nothing else he wrote would make any sense.

But then again, I've seen his paintings and I think they're ugly.

They remind me this wallpaper my uncle had in his den, where he kept all of his framed celebrity headshots that had supposedly been signed by actual celebrities.

Ron Cey.

Dick Van Patten.

To Howard, best wishes, Doc Severensin.

The wallpaper was Western-themed, saddles and corrals and horseshoes and ten-gallon hats.

Isn't that what Manny Farber painted?

Did Farber like Cassavetes?

I have no idea.

I have no idea what he liked.

I bet he liked Ida Lupino,

That seems like someone that Farber would've liked.

comment #3

T. S. Idiot says ...

One of the deep, dark secrets of film criticism is that most film critics don't write that well. The few exceptions include Ferguson, Agee, Kael, and Farber. What is most striking about Manny are individual lines more than his opinions of individual films, though he is to be praised for recognizing the vitality of B movies before the American critical establishment did.

Farber begins his essay "'Best Films' of 1951" with "Let Stevens or Kazan win their Oscars" before going on to praise FIXED BAYONETS, THE THING, THE PROWLER, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, and, one of my favorites, HIS KIND OF WOMAN. At his best, he made the reader want to see whatever he praised immediately.

comment #4

sardine says ...

Manny is a wonderful critic. He is also a great painter. He and Pauline Kael were v. close.

comment #5

Joshua Mooney says ...

I always enjoyed Farber's writing in "Film Comment" many years ago.

comment #6

Gaydos says ...

Here's a couple of novel ideas: 1) before commenting on Manny's work, read it.

2) If you can't "process" Manny, get a job in the development department of a major studio and make comic book movies.

comment #7

nemo says ...

Wasn't Manny Farber Robert De Niro's stepfather, or at least a serious boyfriend of De Niro's mother? I seem to remember that Farber and De Niro were at odds when De Niro was a kid in his teens or early 20s.

It's been decades since I read Manny Farber, but I remember enjoying his jazzy style. I'll have to take another look.

I always translated termite vs. white elephant art into B movie noir vs. big respectable Oscar-bait movies, but generalized to other art forms.

T.S. Idiot, His Kind of Woman is a favorite of mine too.

comment #8

MilkMan says ...

I think it's actually harder to get a job in the development department of a major studio than understanding Farber's work, so if you have any tips on how to go about the former, please give them to me, because I've got another kid on the way, and my current job isn't paying me enough. Other than that, thanks for the encouraging words. I didn't know that not reading Farber equalled a kind of intellectual retardation. For what it's worth, I enjoy reading Serge Daney, Robin Wood, Kent Jones and Jonathan Rosenbaum. Does that qualify me to at least get a job in Marketing?

comment #9

T. Holly says ...

Milkman, you're a dumb shit. All you seem to be good at is having kids and reading this blog.

comment #10

MilkMan says ...

I think being good at two things is a cause for celebration T. Holly. And FYI, I'm also really good at eating, masturbating, tweezing the hair out of my ears, buying magazines, walking my dog, driving to work, and shopping online. So actually, now that I think about it, I'm quite a well-rounded individual.

comment #11

frankbooth says ...

At least MilkMan has never gotten a personal request from Wells to please make more sense when he posts.

MM, if it makes you feel any better, I've never been able to get through that essay, either. I bought a collection of Farber's writing several years ago, on the basis of his reputation, and it still looks like new. Meanwhile, my Kael, Kaufman and Simon books are well-worn.