Alan Rudolph: Choose One

Trouble in Mind was my favorite movie of any movie when I was in high school. Loved Endangered Species and Choose Me as well. And then there are wildly imperfect ones like Love at Large and Equinox. Some of these blew me away when I saw them, maybe as much a matter of editing and design as acting and story, but some of them have been better in memory than revisiting. Consistently great soundtracks.

Opening credits for Choose Me:

I'll go with Choose Me.

Voted for The Moderns, which is one of the best movies about writers and literary chic. Choose Me also very fine, and I'm a sucker for Afterglow (Jonny Lee Miller, rawr). Trouble in Mind's costumes and concept, like Streets of Fire, seem redolent of a particular kind of low budget eighties futurism -- and I still haven't seen it!

some of the early films are very hard to see these days.

I've seen 11 of these, but never Remember My Name or
Welcome to L.A.

I'd have to go w/ Choose Me. He made consistently sexy use of Keith Carradine.

i guess trouble in mind, but i haven't seen it in a long time so i have to asterisk my enthusiasm. i like choose me a lot, along with songwriter. equinox was fun, i don't know why it seems to have dropped into a black hole. (is it even available on dvd?) i actually watched some of investigating sex on some movie network the other night, it wasn't terrible but not good enough to watch all the way through. i liked secret lives of dentists.

and the moderns, that one's pretty entertaining.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Choose Me is on TV (one of the Showtime channels) right now!

I love JJL in Mrs. Parker & The Viscious Circle, particularly her miserable way of speaking accenting unconventional syllables in the words

he's a good director and comparisons as "Altman lite" have never done him justice

Vicious, sorry

Choose Me. i need to see this movie again.
if i think about this film, i imagine those scenes where Keith Carradine sitting in the bar,with an absurd tough poker face, while the bartender flirts with him..

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I went with Trouble in Mind, the most inexhaustible fever dream of the 1980s. And Divine's performance was quite possibly his best.

I love Dave Kehr on this matter: "Divine (who, in male garb, plays a mob chief possessed by an ineffable sadness)."

Finally saw Welcome to L.A.--I wanted to see it in 1976, but got sidetracked. The DVD has a warning up-front about "best available transfer," which isn't really necessary; it's a good-looking film, and the slightly faded quality only adds to that. Richard Baskin's songs are everywhere, even more than in Nashville. You have to be able to put them to the side somehow to get through the movie--don't think I've ever heard a more iconically awful version of a mid-'70s singer-songwriter. (I've always liked Nashville's music fine in context, some of it even out of context.) Besides Baskin and Keith Carradine and Geraldine Chaplin, there's also Allan Nicholls, who played Bill in Nashville. I'm always fascinated by the conception of female beauty that held sway in the '70s: Chaplin, Sissy Spacek, Lauren Hutton, Sally Kellerman--I'm not sure if they'd have made sense at any other time. (Spacek went on, I know, but the '70s Spacek is like a person apart for me.) Carradine has dalliances with all of them, of course, Diane Abbott too--his callowness and silences and fedora overwhelm everyone who comes into his orbit. He's through three of them within 10 minutes of showing up. Mostly I liked this. Many would be repulsed.

i have trouble in mind sitting on my dvd shelf; it's been there, unwatched, for at least a year. should i?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9bmcDbXFvM&feature=related

Trouble in Mind tonight on Amazon Prime. My god Keith Carradine's hair.

Never even heard of or seen the earlier films. The earliest one I've seen must be Mortal Thoughts. I think I watched that and everything after that in about two weeks. Most of them aren't very good but there is something interesting about them anyway; like, I kept watching, hoping one would transcend. There are things in Equinox that are great (mostly they are Marisa Tomei) but honestly I can't remember a thing about it otherwise.

Excited that I can see this next week

http://www.bam.org/film/2014/remember-my-name

This was a really impressive debut by Rudolph (and well attended, perhaps by ppl who have also waited half their lives). Chaplin persuasive as an unstable obsessive, Perkins (and his wife Berry Berenson) fine... Early appearances of Jeff Goldblum and Alfre Woodard, ALberta Hunter specially recorded for the programmatic soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6mamLdYraU

(actually I guess Welcome to L.A was his first, though I think the US-release order might've been reversed?)

BAM screens Trouble in Mind in therir indie '80s series tonight. Shout Factory put out a DVD in 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyxrU7Wxzz8

I had a terrific time watching TIM last fall. Holds up better than expected; must be the gel in Carradine's hair helping.

35mm print of Choose Me playing in NYC tonight

https://quadcinema.com/film/choose-me/

http://www.villagevoice.com/2017/05/02/the-quad-commemorates-itself-and-spoils-us-with-rediscoveries/

Major NYC retro at month's end -- and he has a new one starring Keith Carradine and Sondra Locke.

https://quadcinema.com/program/alan-rudolphs-everyday-lovers/

https://quadcinema.com/film/ray-meets-helen/

Equinox really is one of his 3 or 4 best, and Matthew Modine's most daring performance(s). Also maybe Lara Flynn Boyle's most demanding role outside of Twin Peaks. I don't know how they did that last copter shot at the Grand Canyon either -- it starts and ends so smoothly, and they didn't have drones.

I couldn't figure out what city was masquerading as NYC, and it turns out it was the Twin Cities (MN) ... for a movie about twins? Quite an in-joke.

(apparently it's on iTunes)

New one looks typically flaky and funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TBts8Gr30k

I resaw The Moderns tonight, which is not among my favorites, but it looks great and Chaplin and Bujold are standouts... also Kevin J O'Connor doing a funny goof on Young Hemingway. Carradine and John Lone have the best dirty boxing match I can remember in films.

Rudolph and Carradine were there after, both in good humor about working together for 42 years for "no money." Rudolph says he wondered in the '80s. "Why are my budgets always going down when they were near rock bottom to begin with?"

interview

I’m just thrilled that they’re showing the movies. At least two-thirds of the prints are the only ones in existence. A film like Remember My Name [1978], which was so completely ignored when it first came out, was as limited as limited releases get. There’s no DVD, there’s no video, there’s nothing. I bought a print from the lab before it closed, I don’t know, 20 years ago, and I think that’s the only one around, so don’t tell anybody.

It’s amazing, because that film has become one of the most important in your filmography. Critics are really drawn to it.

At the time they were drawn to it with knives! I actually thought it was a giant leap ahead for me and I was thrilled with that little movie. I was so shaken by how it was received that I didn’t know what to do. There was nobody around who was interested in working with me, so I just tried it in the real world, and that didn’t work out so well.

https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/interview-alan-rudolph/

That middle stretch from Choose Me to The Moderns sure is sumpin'. Jonny Lee Miller too darn hot in Aftergow (last time Nolte was too).

Nolte is really committed and hilarious (to a point) running around in that red cocktail dress in BoC.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiXgDK4Hw9I/?taken-by=criterioncollection

Jennifer Tilly bein' Jennifer Tilly in the RMH trailer

Found the new one a little disappointing. Both stars have their moments (esp Locke), as does Samantha Mathis, but Rudolph spills over from his usual behavioral eccentricity into Quirk (TM).

Denizens of Rudolph's Rain City. Not pictured: Divine. pic.twitter.com/rs3cCxWGAv

— Kathy 📼 Fennessy (@kcfennessy) October 4, 2019

Geraldine Chaplin in Remember By Name....wow. I assume it only got 0 votes in this 'cause no one saw it.

...and yet I found pollwinner Choose Me incredibly grating. (I did like The Moderns, though.)

next up Trouble in Mind and Mrs Parker.

Choose Me is endlessly fascinating, love its hermetically sealed and hyper stylized milieu, plus the lead actresses are amazing. still waiting to see Welcome to LA which would seem to be very relevant to my interests

If anyone needs RMN my ilxmail is open.

Trouble in Mind was a real treat when I saw it about five years ago.

I only saw RMN about 2 years ago at a rep screening so yes, too late. Still prefer Choose Me and Mrs P. Have never been crazy about Trouble, too cute for its own good.

I thought Mrs Parker was the too-cute-for-words one, for, after all, Parker herself was too.

Walked out of The Moderns, also too cute, corny humor.

The DVD synopsis for Alan Rudolph’s Welcome to LA is perhaps the most succinct and relatable film description I have ever seen. pic.twitter.com/q6alK92Jwe

— Clyde Folley (@FlyedCollie) January 24, 2020

I call shenanigans (the description on the back of my copy is nowhere near that great).

Have never seen Remember My Name, so it's good to know it's streaming in a few places and on TCM.

The curious career of Alan Rudolph: at his best, as in Remember My Name, on @tcm tonight and streaming (Prime Video and Tubi), he's among the absolute greats, but his work varies widely...https://t.co/HqthRznnZV

— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) August 2, 2023

Also, Morbs's description of Trouble in Mind as "cute" makes me think there's a whole 80s genre of "cute noir": taking the affectations of the hard-boiled genre but putting the playfulness ahead of the nihilism.

I know I saw Choose Me back in the 80s, and I remember liking it, but I have zero recollection of what it was about.

Equinox is a massively underrated film. Even coming from the man who made Trouble in Mind, it’s an odd duck

Very fortunate to have seen Choose Me and Remember My Name in beautiful 35mm prints. Genevieve Bujold is such a gem, and she’s incredible in the former. It’s a shame that Anthony Perkins’ 2 best films as an actor that were made during the 70’s (the other being Frank Perry’s Play it as it Lays) are both unable to be released on home video

I enjoyed Equinox but I remember very little about it.

I've still never seen the Dorothy Parker movie, I should. I like The Moderns a lot, so it seems like a good bet.

Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle is so good that even Andrew McCarthy’s presence doesn’t hurt it too much. Jennifer Jason Leigh was on a real roll with Short Cuts and Georgia as well

there's a whole 80s genre of "cute noir"

Love at Large definitely qualifies. One of my film teachers loved it for introducing him to Anne Archer; I agree with my Leonard Maltin guide that it is a "coy mess", though it does feature Neil Young as a tough guy for a few minutes if that's a plus.

I think the only other Rudolph film I've seen was Welcome to L.A., where the only moment of life in the whole thing was Harvey Keitel dancing with joy in an elevator for a few seconds. Clemenza points out above what a terrible score it has, with Richard Baskin as, I guess, a tenth-rate Randy Newman.

I guess I've only seen two of the "bad ones", but nothing really compelled about Rudolph and his style to investigate further.

I love that mid '80s run: Choose Me, Trouble in Mind, The Moderns -- an original approach to pace, dialogue, framing.

The Moderns is extraordinary. I love how even the matte paintings are actual works of art from the period depicted. Linda Fiorentino is extraordinary in it, and it’s sad that she’s no longer in the business

Love at Large features Leonard Cohen’s “Ain’t No Cure for Love,” maybe several times, which was my first introduction to his music, followed soon by “Everybody Knows” in Pump Up The Volume.

Finally saw Welcome To L.A. It's an easy movie to dislike but I can't give it a placement on the "Self-Absorbed 1970s Los Angeles Hatewatch Faves" list because confoundingly, for a film called Welcome To L.A. there isn't much of Los Angeles in it. Just lots of interiors, pouting, and the sense that you're among Altman characters - just not the cool ones that an actual Altman movie would be following.

Didn't know that Richard Baskin was the heir of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream fortune.

Welcome To LA used to get shown a bit on the THIS channel when it started out and was exclusively showing tv prints of random MGM/UA properties. One time I had it on in the background while taking a phone call, and I paused the discussion to describe what was on the screen: "Kieth Carradine is delivering a monologue while wearing a newsboy cap and drinking Southern Comfort, sitting behind the wheel of an AMC Pacer -- I've found the 'most '70s' film scene evah!"

https://www.criterion.com/films/29146-choose-me

hell yeah

Breakfast of Champions is getting a 4K release as well

I saw Choose Me on a double bill with Heartbreakers (1984), which has an amazing Vinegar Syndrome release

It’s a shame that Anthony Perkins’ 2 best films as an actor that were made during the 70’s (the other being Frank Perry’s Play it as it Lays) are both unable to be released on home video

Hey Beams, while I have your attention: what's up with the rights to those MIA '70s Universal films and why can't they be released?

Has Heartbreakers ever gotten a home video release? I know about the movie b/c Kael liked it.

Fun City Editions put out a Blu-ray during their partnership with Vinegar Syndrome.

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/fun-city-editions/products/heartbreakers-fun-city-editions

It's going OOP after it sells out.

Re: Universal films from 1969-1972

Movies like Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe… and Red Sky at Morning have music issues. Play it As it Lays might as well. Justin Borzung, Frank Perry’s biographer, is on Criterionforum.org, and I’d consider asking him.

Remember My Name is a Sony film. It also has music rights issues.

One of the Choose Me extras:

New conversation between Rudolph and actor Keith Carradine

I’ve never really liked this guy, but Criterion seems to have just added a collection, so maybe I should give him another chance.

Remember My Name is incredible. first Rudolph i've seen, will now continue to see all the rest...