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DanEngler

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Posts posted by DanEngler

  1. Posted

    This movie is both good enough and groundbreaking enough to merit its spot on the AFI Top 100, no question.

     

    As controversial as the sex and violence were in 1967, I was genuinely surprised that they didn't go full exploitation film and play up the "HE can ONLY get it UP when he MURDERS" aspect, and Clyde's impotence instead humanizes him as someone who relies as much on false bravado as he does skill. I was also surprised by how much of the film turned out to be historically accurate, erections notwithstanding.

     

    Amy, your interview with Robert Benton was fantastic!

    • Like 3

  3. Posted

    I find it fascinating that, rather than explain his intentions, Kubrick intended 2001's message to be conveyed directly to the viewer's subconscious, yet so many critics had a violent negative reaction after seeing it.

     

    The first time I tried to watch 2001 (in actual 2001), I bailed 45 minutes in because it was "slow" and "boring". My excuse is that I was a stupid kid whose brain hadn't evolved enough to receive the signal and oh shiiiiiiiiiit

     

    lP1EBRF.gif

     

    17 years later, I am a different person and I love a pensive, open-ended visual experience. The Twin Peaks revival is one of my favorite things in recent memory, and Part 8 "explains" the creation mythos of the Twin Peaks universe (to the extent that David Lynch ever explains anything.) I've lost track of how many time I've watched it. It obviously owes a great debt to Kubrick.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IKUeIEdRMY

    • Like 5

  4. Posted

    1. Do you think constructive criticism is negativity?

    There's nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but there wasn't much constructive about the review I posted to Letterboxd and then deleted in shame shortly thereafter.

     

    Everything's fine, though. I felt relief when I was able to five-star next week's film.

    • Like 4

  5. Posted

    Dan Engler, I see you rating Titanic 1.5 stars on letterboxd LOL.

    I've been reluctant to join the conversation for two reasons:

     

    1. I try to never broadcast negativity about other people's work on the Internet. There's already more than enough of that in the world.

     

    2. Following the French Connection thread, I'm worried about becoming the resident contrarian dick who rains on everyone's parade week after week.

     

    So, suffice it to say: I watched Titanic.

     

    giphy.gif

    • Like 4

  6. Posted

    I'm kind of surprised at the number of people who aren't into French Connection. I think the movie is undeniably great. It's maybe not always enjoyable since it shows a lot of police brutality and racism. The characters aren't likeable and there really is no hero in this at all. But I think the redeeming factor of this is that the movie, in my mind, doesn't glamorize them or make them feel like heroes at all (and I'll definitely use that as my main criticism for hating MASH whenever it comes up).

    My disconnect stems from the fact that the film establishes a palpably grimy setting and then makes its protagonists almost (but not quite) comically inept. The Santa Claus chase and the subway tail and Popeye's morning-after handcuffed-to-the-bed scene and the train driver's heart attack were juuust shy of being Fletch, but the rest of the movie features stroller-pushing mothers gunned down by snipers and murdered transit cops and car crash corpses. One click in either direction and it could be Beverly Hills Cop or Die Hard, but instead its tone careens between extremes, and the whole movie feels aimless as a result.

     

    Is this indicative of filmmaking in the 70s? All of my points of reference are obviously from the 80s, so I'm willing to accept the possibility that I am at fault here.

    • Like 5

  8. Posted

    Of course, the main question I have is: who is buying Custard on a train platform in New York City? How much are you selling that it becomes your stand's main selling point?

     

    13941026709_95ef07372a_o.jpg

    I've never been on the NYC subway but, if it's anything like Seattle's transit tunnel, every arriving vehicle kicks up a hot swirling cloud of filth. Imagine standing on the platform and going for a lick, only to find your ice cream cone covered in rat fur.

     

    Aside: Jesus Christ, Titanic is 3h15m?!

    • Like 5

  9. Posted

    Can you imagine having to carry a little knife around with you in case you see some sea creature on the ground and you wanna eat it? If anyone know what Charnier was eating, please let me know.

    It was an oyster, commonly found lying in piles in French puddles.

     

    And my favorite was the little scene at the Copain, which seemed like a high end restaurant, where the Frenchies enjoy 2 plates of escargot (but of course). Popeye keeps an eye on them while eating a slice of pizza himself.

    Also, the key to any stakeout is to make a big production out of dumping a cup of soup onto the sidewalk while standing in your suspect's eyeline. Only a brilliant criminal mind like Charnier could detect such cunning!

    • Like 5

  10. Posted

    Going into this film (and 80% of AFI's Top 100) knowing very little in advance, I had no idea that:

     

    1. The French Connection was largely based on a true story.

    2. The car chase scene was considered groundbreaking for its time.

    3. It cleaned up at the Oscars.

     

    Absent any of that context, I found the movie tedious and anticlimactic, and I echoed a lot of the sentiments Amy expressed. Is this supposed to represent skilled police work? Are we supposed to be rooting for the detectives? Are we expected to sign off on brutality and racism and incidental murder because that's what it takes to get (read: stumble backwards into) justice out in these Mean Streetsâ„¢? And, since it is based on a true story, is Friedkin trying to excuse those excesses in the real world?

     

    Between The French Connection and the widespread opinion that Swing Time isn't even the best Fred & Ginger film, I'm starting to question the AFI's bona fides.

     

    Also, after you've watched the real single-take

    , even the car chase in The French Connection seems anticlimactic.
    • Like 4

  12. Posted

    In case you aren't following @Unspooled on Twitter:

     

    For all those who are watching along with us, we wanted to give you a head start on what to watch for the upcoming episodes...

    Ep 5 - The French Connection

    Ep 6 - Titanic

    Ep 7 - 2001: A Space Oddessey

    • Like 9

  13. Posted

    Sorry for bringing down the discussing with the first post but, Paul describing her being slapped then responding with a kiss really made me feel awful. Then describing MGM as awful and kind of skipping over the worst of it.

    Please do a "Debbie Downer" column for every episode of Unspooled, akin to taylor anne's "This Week in Feminism" in the HDTGM forum. It'll save me the work of having to look up all of the horrific abuses that surely occurred on the set of all 100 films.

    • Like 6

  14. Posted

    I had to pause Ben-Hur and consult its plot summary on Wikipedia at one point, because the film abruptly cuts from a scene where the Emperor "frees" Judah to another where he's a five-time chariot champion with an apparent love interest and an adoptive father. I thought something was wrong with my copy of the film, but I guess I was supposed to infer that passage of time from a crossfade?

     

    I disagree with suggestions that Jesus be cut in the interest of time. As an ex-Catholic raised on a steady diet of The Ten Commandments, the idea of The Bible happening just off-screen is hilarious (hence, Life of Brian.) There should have been more scenes of Jesus as a peripheral character; Judah walking past the Last Supper, Judas hanging himself in the background of an unrelated scene, etc.

     

    Instead, cut all of the leper material. Miriam and Tirzah actually die in prison, Judah stumbles out into the empty chariot arena after Messala's death and realizes how hollow his vengeance is, so he chooses to embrace Christ's teachings rather than foment uprising against Rome. Same message without the additional 90 minutes of cruft.

     

    Ultimately, I can't tell if Heston is any good because whenever he speaks I only hear Phil Hartman's impression of him from Saturday Night Live. "All we had was bananas, bananas, bananas."

    • Like 4

  15. Posted

    I'm curious how other people reacted to this on their first view. Did you think it lived up to the hype?

    Prior to watching Citizen Kane, I'd only seen 20 of AFI's Top 100. I listened to the oldies station when I was young, and love You Must Remember This, so this glaring cinematic blind spot can only be explained by having prioritized other media (TV as a kid, video games in my 20s, podcasts in my 30s.) I plan to remedy this by watching along with Unspooled.

     

    I went into the film with the assumption that its legendary status was earned via writing and performances, so I was surprised to find I was most riveted by the cinematography. The long camera movements, the way the actors played between light and shadow, and the sense of "heft" in the environments felt remarkable even by today's standards. (The sometimes claustrophobic darkness/post-Art Deco New York/themes about the downfall of Great Men felt very

    , though, so maybe I was predisposed to enjoy it.)
    • Like 3

  17. Posted

    Does the show not feed into iTunes anymore? I found this week and the minisode on Stitcher but I usually listen on my iPad and it's now showing up?

    Try deleting it from iTunes and re-subscribing. If you've been listening for a long time, you may still be subscribed to the very old Feedburner RSS feed which was recently deleted.

    • Like 2

  25. Posted

    It's come up a couple times on the Earwolf subreddit, and executive producer Colin Anderson has said the following:

     

    We don't have any news. They've both been working on separate TV stuff. I want them back as soon as possible but it's their call.
    Still trying to make something happen but can't promise anything.
    • Like 2
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