My favorite all-time western gunfight, and that includes the Wild Bunch finale. And it’s not just those magic six-shooters that are capable of firing 15 or 20 rounds without reloading. It’s also that cannon-like sound when they fire. Perhaps not as roaring rumbling thundercloud as the gunshots in Shane, but in the same basic neighborhood.
Day: October 12, 2019
All Too Suddenly…
Matthew Miele‘s Alan Pakula: Going For Truth, a 98-minute doc about the director of the “paranoid trilogy” (Klute, The Parallax View and All The President’s Men) as well as Starting Over, The Sterile Cuckoo, Sophie’s Choice, Presumed Innocent, The Pelican Brief and The Devil’s Own, just finished screening at the Hamptons Film Festival.
Scott Feinberg tweet: “A tight/interesting authorized profile of a great filmmaker gone way too soon, with huge participation from key people related to his life including Streep, Redford, Fonda, Ford, Roberts, Hoffman, Bridges, Woodward & Bernstein.”
Revelling in Travel and Luxury, Pretending To Be Kick-Ass
Straight superficial bullshit…hold your nose and cash the paycheck…pure posturing emptiness. Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott or Ella Balinska might be in great shape and they might have learned some cool moves from a choreographer, but when push comes to shove I don’t believe they can “take” any midsize guy (5’10” tall, 170 pounds or more) who’s in reasonably good shape. I wouldn’t be afraid if I ran into any of them in a dark alley. I don’t believe that short hardbody girls are a threat and neither do they…be honest.
Army of Anderson Acolytes?
Journo pally: “I distrust the influence of Wes Anderson. Because it seems to be everywhere, and it’s fascinating. One of my colleagues has been teaching film classes at college level, and the #1 filmmaker all the seniors want to be is Wes. Ari Aster is a case in point. He’s got the worst of Wes’s fussiness but none of his narrative gifts, and is just as ham-handed with his performances. Midsommar, though, is not as badly acted as Hereditary.”
Comment from HE reader “JD”, posted 12 years ago: “His movies have a child-like surface because that makes for a more potent, dynamic juxtaposition with the films’ darker undercurrents. His films are subversive for precisely this reason: the characters (like Anderson himself…and possibly his audience) are trying to hide from their very real, adult pain in the surface comforts and curiosities of childhood…but it doesn’t work. In all of his films, Anderson calls himself on his love of all things innocent and youthful, creating a conflict of substance and style that’s tremendously rich and rewarding.
“In essence, he makes children’s movies and/or fairy tales for adults with an interest in art films, literature, and rock ‘n’ roll. If you ask me, that’s an incredibly bold and original approach and one that is certainly worth revisiting in different genres/narrative contexts.”
Values Are Values
“Some people think they’re born born better than others. I’m trying to prove it’s the way you’re raised that counts. Even a monkey brought up in the right surroundings can learn the meaning of decency and honesty.” — Professor Peter Boyd (Ronald Reagan) to Jane (Diana Lynn) in Fred DeCordova‘s Bedtime for Bonzo (’51).
Final Stretch
THR‘s Scott Feinberg posted this yet-to-see list the other day. I’ve seen Ad Astra, of course. It’s just Richard Jewell now…an AFI Fest thing. I’m presuming but don’t know for a fact that 1917 will also debut at that November festival. Bombshell peeks out tomorrow (Sunday, 10.12). The first Little Women screening is slated for Wednesday, 10.23. I’m finally seeing The Painted Bird on 10.15. My first Knives Out experience will happen at the Middleburg Film Festival (which starts on Thursday, 10.17). I don’t know what’s up with Dark Waters, but expectations are fairly high. Catching the highly regarded Peanut Butter Falcon (that title!) this weekend. Queen and Slim has been seen and praised. JJ Abrams’ The Rise of Skywalker won’t happen for a while yet. Cats? I tingle with anticipation. I don’t know from The Good Liar. Seeing Zombieland: Double Tap on Tuesday, 10.15.
