Some more snooping revealed loose confirmation of a 30th anniversary edition, which would be ... next year? But of course a lot of people expected a 25th anniversary edition back in 2007, too. Still, clearly there are workable "Sorcerer" materials. It may just be Friedkin (who is also apparently to blame for the film being pan and scan and DVD, though even then there's some debate as to the original aspect ratio, 1:66 vs. 1:85 - apparently Friedkin almost never worked in 'Scope).
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 June 2011 12:06 (twelve years ago) link
all it takes to strike a new print is
a) somebody who wants to screen itb) who has a good connection withc) a receptive person at the studiod) that person's boss approving a few thou for the new print
so it happens. but if i just called up swank (who handle non-commercial distribution of major studio titles) and asked for a good print of the brinks job? uh-uh.
that film btw is my favorite friedkin.
― by another name (amateurist), Wednesday, 8 June 2011 12:52 (twelve years ago) link
oh man, Swank. We used to rent from them in college back in 198X.
― the gay bloggers are onto the faggot tweets (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 8 June 2011 14:00 (twelve years ago) link
Peter Falk, right? I think we ran that when I worked as an usher in high school.
I read Eric H.'s DVD review of Cruising (linked to above), and that was helpful in trying to make sense of it. This'll make me sound really stupid, but I don't think I'd considered the possibility that it was Pacino who killed his neighbour--maybe for a second or two. That would definitely make sense in terms of Pacino's "confusion" at the end. I guess I discounted it because it doesn't make as much sense simply in terms of how the narrative unfolds; there's no suggestion of when Pacino would have done this (he's busy trying to bait the other guy), and for all the ambiguity of his expression right at the end, I didn't see the look of someone who just committed a grisly murder. I don't know--if it wasn't Pacino, I don't really have a good alternative. (Doesn't seem like it would have been the guy's prodigal boyfriend.)
― clemenza, Wednesday, 8 June 2011 14:05 (twelve years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/yjYTIN3.jpg
― bi-polar uncle (its OK-he's dead) (Phil D.), Wednesday, 30 April 2014 12:43 (ten years ago) link
i wonder what he has to say about exorcist 2: the heretic?
― espring (amateurist), Wednesday, 30 April 2014 23:32 (ten years ago) link
lol
― PLATYPUS OF DOOM (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 30 April 2014 23:39 (ten years ago) link
Sorcerer is incredible
― Gary Synaesthesia (darraghmac), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 22:42 (six years ago) link
It really is.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 23:41 (six years ago) link
Killer Joe the series?
http://www.indiewire.com/2017/10/william-friedkin-killer-joe-tv-series-matthew-mcconaughey-1201890168/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 October 2017 20:05 (six years ago) link
Five-film mini-program in July at the Lightbox--the four you'd expect, plus To Live and Die in L.A..
http://www.tiff.net/#series=filmmaker-in-5-william-friedkin
― clemenza, Monday, 18 June 2018 01:27 (five years ago) link
Sorcerer is def worth a watch if you haven't caught it before.
― Simon H., Monday, 18 June 2018 12:23 (five years ago) link
I have--thought it was pretty good, somewhere between its poor reception at the time and the revisionist praise today. I think I'll catch The Exorcist and To Live and Die in L.A.. Wondering if they'll get him to town for a screening.
― clemenza, Monday, 18 June 2018 13:57 (five years ago) link
Shame they couldn't find room for The Hunted in that series.
BTW, the Sorcerer Blu-Ray that came out a few years ago is fantastic.
― grawlix (unperson), Monday, 18 June 2018 15:24 (five years ago) link
Had no idea Friedkin did Cruising. I got it this past Xmas but still haven't watched it.
― flappy bird, Monday, 18 June 2018 17:20 (five years ago) link
Interesting that its reputation has been reformed enough that it is now one of the obvious picks for a Friedkin retrospective, particularly given that the more “positive” The Boys in the Band is not on there.
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Monday, 18 June 2018 17:25 (five years ago) link
I'd argue it's "the four you'd expect, plus Cruising."
― I Never Promised You A Hose Harden (Eric H.), Monday, 18 June 2018 17:29 (five years ago) link
haven't seen Cruising yet but I'd swap out LA in favor of Bug
― Simon H., Monday, 18 June 2018 17:30 (five years ago) link
I only became aware of it last year, as a bizarre & offensive curio/time capsule, like that Christina Ricci movie Pumpkin.
― flappy bird, Monday, 18 June 2018 17:31 (five years ago) link
― flappy bird, Monday, June 18, 2018
"Merry Xmas, son. Here's the lube and DVD of Cruising you asked for. Let's get some egg nog."
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 18 June 2018 17:35 (five years ago) link
ugh jesus lol... actually my brother got it for me haha. along with Pumpkin and Auto Focus
― flappy bird, Monday, 18 June 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
Cruising is also not in print in the US, my copy is region free and Japanese I think
― flappy bird, Monday, 18 June 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link
cruising is worth a watch. good soundtrack - jack nitzsche. unintentionally funny in parts. new york in the 70s looking good on screen as usual. bit of a mess of a film tho - as in narratively somewhat unclear - it's going for ambiguity but lands on incomprehensibility, due to being badly edited.
― ( ͡☉ ͜ʖ ͡☉) (jim in vancouver), Monday, 18 June 2018 17:50 (five years ago) link
Wow, thought you were wrong about this but searched it up and it's print-on-demand from Warner Archive. Maybe I should throw my copy of the 2007 DVD release up on eBay.
― grawlix (unperson), Monday, 18 June 2018 18:26 (five years ago) link
You can get very shitfaced very quickly by watching the Cruising retrospective featurette and playing 'Hi Bob' w/the words "Leather Bar".
― Making Plans For Sturgill (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 18 June 2018 18:27 (five years ago) link
The Lightbox series started tonight. Was curious how To Live and Die in L.A. would hold up--well, I'd say. Two or three laughable lines (not that many for the genre) and a long car chase (typically well edited, typically unnecessary), but pretty absorbing most of the way. Brendan Ross talked a lot about William Petersen in his funny introduction to the film, but he didn't mention Dafoe--he's what I most remembered from 30 years ago, and he seemed just as sinister tonight. Tried to answer a question online and just got a link to someone asking the same question: was that John C. Reilly being chased down at one point (one of the film's funnier exchanges: "Why are you chasing me?!" "Why are you running?" "Because you're chasing me!")? Sarris had this third on his year-end list for '85.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:33 (five years ago) link
when Dafoe opens the $uitcase and coos "You're beautiful"
― flappy bird, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:37 (five years ago) link
First film I ever saw Dafoe in (not technically--he's in Heaven's Gate uncredited). With the possible exception of Affliction, I've never liked him better.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:41 (five years ago) link
yeah that character is one of the best villains ever, & his performance is stunning
― flappy bird, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:43 (five years ago) link
Really love the symmetry of Chance’s story ending in the completely exact same, uh, “unceremonious” manner as his partner’s.
― omar little, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:46 (five years ago) link
Shouldn't fuss over logic with this kind of film, but I didn't understand why Dafoe went ahead with the sale to Petersen and his partner. He openly mocked the fact that they weren't who they said they were (one of his best moments). Was he just so confident in his infallibility that he'd walk away with the money anyway?
― clemenza, Friday, 13 July 2018 04:54 (five years ago) link
Car chases are never unnecessary.
― Ward Fowler, Friday, 13 July 2018 07:59 (five years ago) link
fun fact: the car cahse wasn't in the script, friedkin just decided he needed one once he started shooting and it needed to be better than the one in the french connection
mission accomplished imo, the whole sequence is absurdly intense
― look, you’re just gonna get gravy on the baby sometimes 🤷♂️ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 13 July 2018 08:40 (five years ago) link
lensed by Robby Muller, yes?
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 July 2018 13:59 (five years ago) link
yeah, and in typically gorgeous muller style - there's a lot of amazing stuff in this but the one which sticks with me is a scene between william peterson and his girlfriend in her apartment, which has an awesome view over industrial l.a., and the hazy outdoor light is perfectly balanced with really subtle indoor lighting that makes the whole thing look like a painting. it's fucking amazing but it doesn't draw attention to itself
here's one of the shots from that scene:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WkKZJVG5wTk/SM3WAx_Gq_I/AAAAAAABh8U/cwkUnXpLxVk/s400/To_Live_and_Die_in_LA-185.jpg
actually we were talking a bit about this movie a couple of weeks ago on the Wang Chung's "To Live and Die In L.A." soundtrack - C/D Wang Chung's "To Live and Die In L.A." soundtrack - C/D thread
― look, you’re just gonna get gravy on the baby sometimes 🤷♂️ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 13 July 2018 14:11 (five years ago) link
pls excuse messy bbcode there...
― look, you’re just gonna get gravy on the baby sometimes 🤷♂️ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 13 July 2018 14:12 (five years ago) link
the line that sticks in my head from this film is the hilarious "you pulling my dick?"
― Οὖτις, Friday, 13 July 2018 15:37 (five years ago) link
was that John C. Reilly being chased down at one point
doesn't look like it, Reilly's film debut wasn't until over a decade later. He was 20 in 1985.
― Οὖτις, Friday, 13 July 2018 15:47 (five years ago) link
the slow shift from a boilerplate story of a law enforcement dude seeking revenge against a psychopathic villain after he killed his partner to the extremely smart narrative reveal that the psychopathic villain is the hero is kind of awe inspiring for this kind of genre film. The fact that it’s done without it ever being explicitly pointed out in any “do you see???” manner is even more impressive. The story is merely told.
― omar little, Friday, 13 July 2018 16:43 (five years ago) link
otm
― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:44 (five years ago) link
spoilers tho
― dele alli my bookmarks (darraghmac), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:44 (five years ago) link
lol I don't remember that at all, mostly I just remember the homoeroticism and hilarious dialogue which seemed to have been written by a 12yo that just learned how to swear. also it looks great.
― Οὖτις, Friday, 13 July 2018 16:47 (five years ago) link
i mainly remember bill petersen's butt in those jeans
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:49 (five years ago) link
I remember something else *not* in those jeans
― omar little, Friday, 13 July 2018 16:51 (five years ago) link
yeah the boiling-a-frog atmosphere is great - by the time vuckovich realises his partner is a total psycho he’s in way too deep and has no option but to become him
― look, you’re just gonna get gravy on the baby sometimes 🤷♂️ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:51 (five years ago) link
the equal-opportunities approach to nudity in this feels very european
― look, you’re just gonna get gravy on the baby sometimes 🤷♂️ (bizarro gazzara), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:52 (five years ago) link
the car chase where Vukovich is in the back seat correctly freaking the fuck out vs Chance flashing back to bungee jumping is key (and hilarious!)
― omar little, Friday, 13 July 2018 16:53 (five years ago) link
US film industry gen squeamee about peepee
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Friday, 13 July 2018 16:56 (five years ago) link
Worst line in the film (or maybe so-bad-it's-great for some people): "You want bread, go fuck a baker."
I'll grant that this particular car chase did have some thematic importance in terms of Vukovich melting down. I don't think it would been that missed if it hadn't be there--that point had been made in other scenes, too--but clearly I'm just not big on car chases.
― clemenza, Friday, 13 July 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
"would have been"
― clemenza, Friday, 13 July 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link