All That Jazz - 1979 (starring Roy Scheider, dir. by Bob Fosse)

xp jesus i can't imagine watching this movie without all the fucking and cursing. I really loved it though, the cutup/collage style of editing jumping back and forth in time reminded me very much of Nicolas Roeg, particularly Bad Timing. and holy fuck what an incredible performance by Roy Scheider

Michael Koresky launched his new column on queer(ish) cinema with a partial evaluation of ATJ (tho i prefer the first half, before he gets to it).

The overt gayness of the Broadway scene, of the dancers, of the composers and lyricists, of the other directors and producers, is a given, never made outré or kinky. It likely functions this way to make Fosse/Gideon stand out and sparkle all the more (his straightness is his queerness); yet it’s also the kind of casual depiction of a milieu that could only have been made by a filmmaker who so deeply knows it. “I wouldn’t say you’re a faggot, but you do have a lot of feminine characteristics, right?” an actor acquaintance says to Gideon while he’s in the hospital after his first heart attack; Gideon has no response to speak of.

https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/queer-now-introduction-1979/

A brilliant piece tbh.

"Drop your diet, have a ball."

Bye bye happiness, I think I’m gonna die

KJB rewatched and wants you all to know this is still "awful"

He can save your breath, because that's something I will never "know."

he also can't stand Pennies from Heaven.

no one gives a shit morbs

cool

this holiday season be italian

― slam dunk

― balls, Wednesday, January 15, 2014 3:15 PM

Not sure KJB would appreciate you turning him into your new Dennis Perrin either.

I haven't even quoted his "You can't block assholes on that board"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HETgexi3aWI

Almost posted this in the “movies where you disagree w/ the screenwriters on who the 'good guys' are” thread but thought it didn’t exactly fit there…

I saw this for the first time recently & liked it a lot but thought of that thread bc for a while I was hung up by wondering if the film thought Gideon was actually talented or not. Like he’s obviously presented as v successful and respected, but the actual creative work that we are shown in the film (editing the fake Lenny Bruce movie and the porno dance scene he choreographs) were both howlingly silly and bad imo, to the point where I wondered if Fosse was being parodic or laceratingly self-critical.

In the end i had to admit that the movie seems to think he is talented, but idk I feel like I almost like it better thinking about it the other way, where he’s a has-been coasting on fame despite having completely squandered his gifts

Screened tonight in Chicago:

The ticket line went out the door past multiple neighboring buildings, and the conversations I overheard in line were all “are we all here for All That Jazz???” just glorious collective bewilderment that YES we ARE all here for All That Jazz!!!!!

— James Allen (@jallencomposer) July 19, 2022

imo the erotic airlines routine is supposed to be (and is) good

the lenny bruce doc within all that jazz is clearly one of those artistic pursuits that’s totally its plot and purpose

also i think regardless of how good either project is, the movie views them both as acts of self-sabotage

lost its plot and purpose*

I saw this for the first time recently & liked it a lot but thought of that thread bc for a while I was hung up by wondering if the film thought Gideon was actually talented or not. Like he’s obviously presented as v successful and respected, but the actual creative work that we are shown in the film (editing the fake Lenny Bruce movie and the porno dance scene he choreographs) were both howlingly silly and bad imo, to the point where I wondered if Fosse was being parodic or laceratingly self-critical.

tbh this is the usual failing of Films About Artists, so I don't get hung up on it.

also i think regardless of how good either project is, the movie views them both as acts of self-sabotage

yeah thats why those scenes still worked for me (& why whether or not i think the works are "good" is irrelevant), they both served plot & character functions beyond just "lookit what a genius this person is", which is the default reflex of most Great Artist bios. i like Fosse fine but i appreciated not having that be a requirement for enjoying it as character study.

Back when I was working in a Turkish Nightclub...

My sister had an idea she wanted to add "All that jazz" to one of the shows, and got somebody to bring out this movie's soundtrack.

When it got here, guess what?

Yep. It's not in this movie. It's "Chicago"

Never mind, we did mine it for other tracks, and "It's showtime folks" did get used as a blip intro...

Blank Check recently did a series unpacking all of Fosse's films.

Lin Manuel-Miranda guests on the ATJ one, some great moments are drawn from Fosse's first draft of the script that Sam Rockwell sent to Miranda, w/ no name changes and some juicy details.

https://soundcloud.com/griffin-and-david-present/all-that-jazz-with-lin-manuel-miranda