Goddam but that Fellini mothafucka was good!
is spectacular. I love the way he manages hugely complex scenes with parades of characters carefully choreographed moving from one place to another, often without cuts. In lieu of a firm narrative we get many scenes: conversations, reaction shots, dances--a variety of settings and situations into which Fellini places his characters in order to reveal them. Somehow it works every time--life isn't tidily tied up each day, and Fellini's films don't pretend to end in any conventional manner. When Anita Ekbert is on screen there's an instant electricity, and Marcello Mastroianni is of course his usual debonair, playa self. I'd do either one of them. Ekbert in the Trevi Fountain? Woof. Tradition has it that when you visit the Trevi you should turn your back and throw a coin over your shoulder into the water to ensure a repeat visit. Watching La Dolce Vita evoked powerful, vivid memories of Rome: the smells, the streets, the cobblestoned pathways, the ruins. I feel like I've been back! I have to buy all this guy's stuff on Criterion.
I must admit that as much as I liked Dolce I liked
and
and
better.
I'm excited because next up on my Netflix queue is my fave George C. Scott pic:
I haven't seen it since I was a young teen and it scared the shit out of me.
9 comments:
Haven't reached him yet in our collection here. I saw a scene that was interesting--an odd fashion show of papal costumes. Don't recall what film it was from. Changeling--with the tub and the wooden wheelchair right? Went to the Crayola factory this weekend and watched Men in black and Coneheads back to back. Have Old Boy but not ready yet, what is wrong with me???
Never got through Coneheads, but saw the first MIB once. Linda F!
I don't recall a papal fashion show but it sounds right for his stuff. There's a lot of movement and quick flashes in tone from soaring romanticism to heavy modernist/existentialist angst to the ridiculous and sublime. Must be in one of those I've yet to see.
Changeling: indeed with the wheelchair and the tub. I have very vague memories about a spirit catcher at a seance and knocking and automatic writing; some discovery about a kid being drowned, and frantic digging for his remains. I'll find out this weekend.
I think the fashion show is in "Roma", but I could be wrong.
I recall trying to watch "The Changeling" and being rather disappointed and bored. Curious to hear what you say. I may revisit it.
There is mild buzz about the DVD release of "Ghost Story." A film everyone agreed sucked, but apparently folks are appreciating it now. I remember a very scary spectre in a 1920's dress, and the glorious movie poster, but little else. Have you seen it?
"La Dolce Vita" is on the must-buy list, as is...
"David Lean Collection" (Blithe Spirit...at long last!)
"Looney Tunes Collection Vol 2" (includes Whats Opera Doc)
"Marx Bros Silver Screen Collection" (yay! Duck Soup!)
and
"Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease"
Du--it is indeed ROMA--thank you!! I haven't seen the Changeling recently but I too thought it scary when I was a kid. I do like George Scott though, what a freak. I asked in another post but it may have been passed over--has anyone seen the movie Hardcore with him in it?
I haven't seen Ghost Story but I think Geoff has. The novel it's based on I think is great. I too would like to see more Lean films. Speaking of Looney Tunes have you seen the Tom and Jerry 2disc set coming out the 19th???
DU being here reminded me of a nasty thought I had yesterday while driving but I'm not sure if it is appropriate for this blog. I'm on the fence!
David Lean--is his Great Expectations out on DVD? Watched half the Changeling on break-YAWN. All the standard stuff (long-ago death that mirrors current tragedy, and the spirit child who died tragically tries to communicate with guy who lost his kid tragically). Lots of rip-offs of The Haunting (banging noise in particular). Requisite creepy music box and ball down the hallway scene. BUT, nice medium scene. Will finish tonight.
Ghost Story--I have this on DVD (it was $7). It's not too horrible, and features lots of "foot-in-the-grave" performances worth checking out (Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks JR., Melvin Douglas). The film has a certain charm to it, tho it's not faithful to the Straub book.
Carmen Electra? No thanks--but Looney Tunes and T&J--fuck yeah. We badly need Tex Avery stuff in digital transfer! Especially the ventriloquist cat.
I don't think anything is out of bounds here...
Oh yeah--never seen Hardcore, and Scott is a freak, even with this subpar spinetingling material he manages to be interesting (there's a scene where he's pounding on a lock and trying to open some mysterious attic room while a poltergeist bangs on the house itself--his face is contorted and maniacal).
Poo. The David Lean films have been pushed back to an unannounced date. They are: Great Expectations, Blithe Spirit, This Happy Breed, The Passionate Friends, Oliver Twist and Brief Encounter. WTF?
The Tom & Jerry box set will be a delight: it includes the gorgeous "Heavenly Puss" (get a load of that streamlined train to Heaven, and the depiction of Spike's "hell") and...drum roll please..."The Flying Sorceress" in LTBX..a bona fide Cinemascope cartoon; I love widescreen 50's toons. The laserdisc box of Tom and Jerry had a small problem: a few of the cartoons had the black maid's voice dubbed over with a white voice! This is beyond my comprehension. Why censor this? What kid will even catch on? I think I was 24 before I even realized the black woman wasn't the home's owner.
Who, may I ask, is the commentor above with the asian letters? Come out from behind your mask!
It is not a mask! "�良�景色" is Japanese (Kanji I think) for "defective view" in English. "Defective view" is as close as I could get to "Faulty Landscape" which is the moniker that our fearless leader has saddled me with. Does that help? This is a fun game!!
Speaking of "mask" and "Faulty Landscape"... ANOTHER weird thing I was wondering about while driving Rt140 (passing one Bush/Cheney sign after another) was whether or not gay male pron focuses on the money shot like heterosexual pron does. I had this great vision of the Dostoyevsky robot from Spiderman's Marvel Team Up with frosting all over his bearded countenance. Google rocks, you remember some crazy obscure comic from your youth and after one keyword search of Dostoyevsky and the Scarlet Witch, voila!!
look here: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/thinkerbots.htm#fyodor
Of course now I can't remember what the other idea was.
I think we should talk about the ventriloquist cat all the time. You should call this blog the ventriloquist cat. And Tom and Jerry almost convinces me that there is a higher being. One of my greatest pleasures is giggling with my son at Tom getting his teeth whacked out by a golf ball. Who the fuck does those inhuman hollers on those things? DUrabinite-I always thought that lady was the Mom of the house too! I sure hope that set has the zoot suit one, the "is you is or is you ain't my baby" one, the rolling cheese one, the billiard balls one and the three mouseketeers one on it. Does anyone remember a cartoon where Porky Pig(?) smokes a cigar and has a hallucination with smoke ghosts dunking smoke donuts in coffee cups? Or what about those weird "general store in the dead of night ones" where people come off of can labels, books etc. and have to fight the most insanely frightening gorilla ever that comes out of the animal cracker box?
One more dumb thing and then I'll tighten the spigot--Exorcist III with George C. Scott?? Anyone????
I saw Ex III one time--there was at least one good scare, where a corpse comes out of the morgue with an enormous pair of shears held out straight-arm.
I DO remember that Porky Pig--those are my faves. I like the general store ones too--wasn't there a Porky one where the song is "Little Boys shouldn't smoke!" I think it's the one you're talking about. The new WB set has one of these, with books. I only vaguely remember it.
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