All Purpose NYC ILX Film Snob Thread

speaking of tonal insanity, i just re-watched "8 diagram pole fighter." man, does that film have some mood swings. it's also kind of the ne plus ultra of one kind of kinetic filmmaking. i think i'll watch it again tonight.

i still am waiting for world film culture to catch up w/ HK action cinema. i know it's a big deal and has been for a while, but it still seems very "niche." maybe that's all it'll ever be.

for example on that sight & sound poll from a few years back barely any critics mentioned films by lau kar-leung, cheng cheh, tsui hark, etc. -- even king hu (the wu xia director who everyone likes) didn't really make a strong showing.

couldn't make it to full alert, sadly. were you at city on fire? ringo lam sat right in front of me! until he bailed after the shower scene

i think the stuff that city on fire does right (stylish bits, danny lee) outweighs the bad stuff (tonal insanity)

― adam, Monday, June 29, 2015 5:34 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

Yeah I was 3rd row dead center

am i think the tonal insanity is part of the charm but i also think that may be stockholm syndrome after imprinting very heavily on hard boiled as a kid

tonal shifts are a feature, not a bug! Or at least, yes, you have to "put up with it" if you're interested in a lot of popular cinema. popular indian cinema will make your head spin. when i first encountered the so-called "masala" films from the 80s-90s (which are, self-consciously, even more tonally diverse than your typical 3-hour bollywood extravaganza), i was a little shocked, not to say outraged, by the way the films would seemingly turn on a dime from searing social critique to sadean violence (minus the graphic-ness of some HK films) to insipid romance. not to mention the musical numbers! i still find myself a little unsettled by it, but less so.

i always found it kind of interesting that john woo was the HK filmmaker who had the greatest success in Hollywood. obviously, as a stylist he's extremely accomplished. but the thematics and emotional appeals of his films are far from the most "sophisticated" (putting that in scare quotes b/c by saying this i don't mean to disparage them) in HK. i find that students sometimes laugh at the more over-the-top stuff in "a better tomorrow" and "the killer". woo cannily modulated that for his hollywood films... but not /that/ much. i would have thought that tsui hark would have had more success in hollywood but i guess he was just too much of a manic control freak to work easily within that system. (also, his filmmaking powers were already waning by the time he made it to los angeles.)

Village Voice (Michael Atkinson) assessment of NYAFF today was 'it aint what it used to be'.

MOMI does 'essential' Pappy:

http://www.movingimage.us/films/2015/07/03/detail/the-essential-john-ford/

had a dream that a few more of ford's early westerns at universal were discovered (most are lost). woke up really excited, then grudgingly went back to sleep when i realized it wasn't real.

still, too bad they aren't showing 'straight shooting'. i don't know if it's 'essential,' but it's fantastic.

i always found it kind of interesting that john woo was the HK filmmaker who had the greatest success in Hollywood. obviously, as a stylist he's extremely accomplished. but the thematics and emotional appeals of his films are far from the most "sophisticated" (putting that in scare quotes b/c by saying this i don't mean to disparage them) in HK. i find that students sometimes laugh at the more over-the-top stuff in "a better tomorrow" and "the killer". woo cannily modulated that for his hollywood films... but not /that/ much. i would have thought that tsui hark would have had more success in hollywood but i guess he was just too much of a manic control freak to work easily within that system. (also, his filmmaking powers were already waning by the time he made it to los angeles.)

― wizzz! (amateurist), Wednesday, July 1, 2015 1:15 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark

part of this is the fact that the male-bonding, brotherhood aspects of his films don't translate super well into western culture (not to say that bro-iness isn't a thing in the_west but it's done on very different terms)

I thought guns were the reason Woo did better in America.

unscientific ranking of the fords i've seen (NB some of these i've seen only once, others probably one or two dozen times)

how green was my valley
my darling clementine
they were expendable
the searchers
she wore a yellow ribbon
fort apache
the sun shines bright
wagon master
young mr. lincoln
the quiet man
wee willie winkie
steamboat 'round the bend
judge priest
stagecoach
the man who shot liberty valance
rio grande
two rode together
drums along the mohawk
air mail
the long voyage home
pilgrimage
the long gray line
straight shooting
just pals
7 women
the horse soldiers
the grapes of wrath
3 godfathers
the prisoner of shark island
mogambo
3 bad men
flesh
the last hurrah
four sons
the whole town's talking
the iron horse
hangman's house
gideon's day
the informer
bucking broadway
cheyenne autumn (this has some beautiful things in it, but it also rehases stuff from his earlier films in a very coarse way that makes me embarassed for ford)
the lost patrol
lightnin'
mother machree
salute
the fugitive
donovan's reef
arrowsmith (redeemed--barely--by some excellent cinematography)
four men and a prayer
what price glory
the plough and the stars
up the river
the world moves on
born reckless
mary of scotland (hoo-boy)

i don't even know /what/ to do with 'tobacco road' btw

btw the first four or five of those rank with the best films made by anyone anywhere anytime

i do like the title of this Tadanobu Asano vehicle

http://www.filmlinc.com/films/on-sale/ruined-heart-another-love-story-between-a-criminal-a-whore

Intrigued by some of these James Naremore books but have never read anything by him.

i'd go to this at ABC No Rio if my life wasn't a shitstorm right now

http://onlocation.dirtylooksnyc.org/break-the-rules

Japan Cuts begins Thursday

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/deep-cuts-the-challenging-pleasures-of-this-years-japan-cuts-film-fest-7330194

http://www.japansociety.org/page/programs/film/japan-cuts-2015

almost always amazing lineup there and i'm always booked, sadface.

sounds interesting... maybe i'll try to make it down for some

4 weeks of true crime at FF

http://filmforum.org/series/true-crime-series

hitting up _voice of water_ and _and the mud ship sails away_ at japan cuts, should be a good time.

thinking about _heavenly creatures_ in 35mm at film forum

http://dgeneratefilms.com/chinese-cinema-events/best-of-beijing-independent-film-festival-coming-to-new-york-city

cool! are you familiar with any of the programming? idk none of that

nope! all i know it was banned one year in beijng

directors w/ one feature only

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/44498

6 weeks of indie '80s at BAM

http://www.bam.org/film/2015/indie-80s

should've tipped before... Mexican noir at MoMA. Saw In the Palm of Your Hand last night, a good one by Roberto Gavaldon.

https://www.fandor.com/keyframe/daily-mexico-at-midnight

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/films/1589

That Mexican series looks good, never saw anything from that era or those directors I didn't like.

most films are gone but the asian american international film festival is happening this weekend and a lil bit of this week and next

dang, wish I heard about that earlier. didn't realize they'd run that so soon after the NYAFF

there's an amazing close to Night Falls involving a dog and a poster

also the MoMA audience was yukking it up like the Film Forum

I saw Badlands in Bryant Park last week and really appreciated that the audience didn't yuk it up at all, but just took it in.

whoa! will you be here for Fringe as well?

and that kabuki Glover performance

CLARISSSSSSSSSSA

(sorry rong thread)

Wish I was there for Fringe - just had something job-related for a couple days but had Monday night free.

Actually left Badlands about 10 minutes before the end, when one of the sprinklers on the lawn started up and sprayed a circle of moviegoers.

i don't know this guy, but maybe i can go Sunday

http://www.movingimage.us/films/2015/07/31/detail/politics-as-spectacle-the-films-of-mani-ratnam/

anyone seen Jem Cohen's Counting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmY5lQ47b5k

http://www.ifccenter.com/films/counting/

^It's pretty good, especially if you (theoretically) like Coney in winter or have done a lotta F train time.

Richard Lester at FSLC:

http://www.filmlinc.org/series/richard-lester-the-running-jumping-pop-cinema-iconoclast/

Here to recommend the Brando doc.

hey now

John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats will screen and discuss Pier Paolo Pasolini's MEDEA and sign copies of his debut novel, WOLF IN WHITE VAN, on August 31 as part of our Print Screen series.

http://www.filmlinc.org/daily/print-screen-john-darnielle-pier-paolo-pasolini-medea/

heads-up that last FF Third Man show is 6:10 tonight

dang @ pasolini. i haven't seen that one.
hey has anyone been going to the bam '80s stuff

just Henry:Killer and Trouble in Mind; othwise a lot of stuff i've seen

Anthology's "One Film Wonders" resumes

Spring Night, Summer Night sounds intriguing.

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/44498

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=B_b0LAp3jG4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_b0LAp3jG4

hey has anyone been going to the bam '80s stuff

Saw Vortex (1982). Lydia Lunch is just funny. It made me wonder if there was any way she could have become a legit film star. It's like she had everything but technique.

AIP series, Roger Corman in person Friday night

http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/film_screenings/series/44549

This will probably be my night for The Iron Ministry at MoMA

http://www.filmcomment.com/blog/make-it-real-the-cinema-of-transition/

really wanna see that in theaters