S/D: Albert Brooks, the neurotic American Ozu

I found it very disappointing at the time. Will see if I can order a copy.

oh good he didn't die.

"i love you, dear" "i know you think you do" goes through my head pretty regularly year in and year out.

A couple more stray observations:

1. This is the first viewing where I realized what an asshole the Brooks character is. Reading Ebert's review just now, I see that he kind of picks up on this too. Not a flaw; it actually gives the film some rich thematic continuity: sure, his mother is subtly maddening, but his need to use the women in his life as affirmation of his self-esteem is way more dickish than offering lamb to a vegetarian ("I didn't know if it was the cow you were siding with, or the whole thing").

2. The younger brother, played by Rob Morrow, still creeps me the fuck out. The entirely non-comic scene of he and his wife bickering over his mommy issues is beautifully handled.

I also rewatched Mother and agree with several of the caveats above. Reynolds is canny and never winks at the character, and even her throwaway lines are pricelessly delivered ("You know I enjoy my Grape-Nuts"). I also wonder if AB knew how much of a dick his character is... also, his parents' surnames were Henderson and Bartlett? Rather goyish. And he's a little too old for the role (15 years younger than Debbie).

Mostly aligned with this David Edelstein review from Jan '97:

The brother episode dribbles away, and the conclusion of John's journey--his epiphany--is so easy that I wondered if it were meant to be fatuous, a satire of all those Freudian psychodramas where secrets are unearthed and the now-psychologically unfettered characters emerge into the sunlight. Brooks must know that such revelations, even when valid, rarely translate into changes in behavior--mustn't he? He doesn't lay any blame at John's own doorstep: The man's only fault seems to have been choosing mates who would hate him as much as his mother does. The movie suggests that domestic bliss begins and ends with blaming Mom.

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/1997/01/sons_and_lovers.html

I find Defending Yr Life mostly flat but I'd still like to see Mother. It's hard to believe, based on previous films, that AB doesn't understand what a dick he is.

My favourite thing of Brooks's might be this Real Life trailer

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6KtAzt9LGsI

Or even

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KtAzt9LGsI

Criterion Lost in America out now

https://www.criterion.com/films/29022-lost-in-america

I always wished he'd done commentaries on his DVDs. Has he expressed any reasons for not doing them, or explained his apparent aversion to them?

Albert Brooks, c. 1988, gets it. pic.twitter.com/tS0aqSzH7O

— 𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝕯𝖆𝖞 (@NickPinkerton) May 5, 2018

More Albert Brooks wisdom literature, this from a 1987 Village Voice profile. pic.twitter.com/Clk2wQwBfY

— 𝕿𝖗𝖔𝖚𝖇𝖑𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖞 𝕯𝖆𝖞 (@NickPinkerton) May 5, 2018

The new Albert Brooks doc “Defending My Life” (dir by Reiner) is steaming on Max

It’s really lovely & the old standup clips are pure gold (also great stuff about his Dad)

Yeah, thoroughly enjoyed it, and made me want to rewatch all his old movies.

https://www.criterion.com/films/30974-real-life

https://www.criterion.com/films/29661-mother

Mother's way underrated

oh, it's such lovely cheese!