Vic Sage

I saw Napoleon at Radio City Music Hall, with a live orchestra conducted by Carmine Coppola. It was glorious.

i didn't really consider foreign-language films, and if i did, i don't really think of MAN AND A WOMAN that way. Its racing is incidental, but i can definitely see the argument for it's inclusion. Maybe under the "big race" sub genre, despite the fact that its not about any particular race.

I can't find my Hitchcock essay in the archives. oh well. another moment lost, like tears in rain.

I've got to take another look at that. but its also a scene that's been referenced many times over the years, like the Odessa Steps sequence from POTEMPKIN

I was surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. I loved McKinnon. My son said the whole premise rested on the "questionable" presumption that those were transcendently great songs, rather than simply products of their time and place. I tried to smack him with my cane, but he avoided the blow.

Hitchcock? I got a filmography essay somewhere.

is it the first time you've seen FIDDLER?

it's Tevye. Its always been Tevye. The recent Broadway revival had a director restaging the show with a "framing device", with Tevye in modern dress becoming the Tevye in the story. He wore a red fleece to denote his "modernity".

=LWFS post_id=28354 time=1576206059 user_id=84] What, no Baby Driver (2017)? Edgar Wright's vehicle vehicle may be more of a caper-gone-wrong-er, but still... practical driving stuntin' (to a fantastically curated soundtrack) is VERY much a featured co-star. The underrated CB-prank-gone-wrong slasher Joy Ride (2001) is worth a notice, too.

Here's a car list from the archives: MAN AT THE WHEEL There is a man is at the wheel… he is driving fast, destination unknown. He may be chased, or in pursuit. He may have loved once, or been loved, and he may be fleeing justice, or seeking it, but now all the meaning in his life is defined by his skill and velocity. He is merely an object in space, and his only remaining relationship is with his machine. He is likely to meet his fate at gunpoint, or at a point of impact, or find himself at the vanishing point, where open blacktop meets the distant horizon. He is a burnt out shell of a man, a ronin, the existential anti-hero at the wheel, hurtling toward his fate… and these are the movies that define him: FAST & THE FURIOUS (1955) – this is the first AIP/Corman B-Movie… guy on the run, girl in danger, hijacked jaguar… time to race! THE WILD RIDE (1960) – quintessential AIP/Corman juvenile delinquency flick for the Beat generation, with Jack Nicholson making trouble, racing around and dying young. BONNIE & CLYDE (1967) – notorious lovers on the run in their vintage 30s cars, careening around to banjo music, until they're shot to death in their car. VANISHING POINT (1971) – This is the absolute epitome of the genre. 2-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) – Monty Hellman's philosophical road picture BADLANDS (1973) – Bonnie & Clyde's younger version, more interested in killing than stealing. DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY (1974) – Peter Fonda on the run in a Dodge Charger GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974), (2000) (– also DEADLINE AUTO THEFT / THE JUNKMAN follow-ups) – stunt-driver HB Halicki wrote, produced, directed and starred in this no-budget chase film about car thieves. Halicki died in a car stunt making a sequel. These are probably unwatchable now, but the big budget remake with Nick Cage sucks, too. SUGARLAND EXPRESS (1974) – Spielberg's first feature, with Goldie Hawn on the run. RETURN TO MACON COUNTY (1975) – young Don Johnson and Nick Nolte in this sequel to MACON COUNTY LINE, about delinquents looking to drag race. TAXI DRIVER (1976) – He prowls the night, waiting for a rain to come and wash the scum from the streets… that is, until he realizes that HE is the rainstorm he's been waiting for. THE DRIVER (1978) – Walter Hill's take on the existential wheel man. BREATHLESS (1983) – while not quite as good as Godard's version (1960), they both celebrate the aimless criminal and his lover on the run THELMA & LOUISE (1991) – a distaff version of Bonnie & Clyde, they end up driving off a cliff rather than live lives as southern housewives. Can't say I blame them. HEAVEN'S BURNING (1997) – An Ozzie Bonnie & Clyde, with young Russell Crowe. AMERICAN PERFEKT (1997) – Robert Forster as a psycho-psychiatrist on the run with a body in the trunk. TRANSPORTER (2002), II (2005), III (2008) – Jason Statham as a merc who transports illicit packages in a cool BMW – no questions asked, of course. DEATH PROOF (2007) – Tarentino's psycho automotive serial killer meets his match in pack of deadly female stunt drivers. DRIVE (2011) – Ryan Gosling picks up the mantel of the wheelman not to be crossed, and knocks it out of the park Moonshiners: these southern gothic actioners are a subset of the genre; usually low-budget exploitation by AIP, but Robert Mitchum set the standard in THUNDER ROAD and the Dukes buried it. THUNDER ROAD (1958) WHITE LIGHTNING (1973) MOONRUNNERS (1975) DIXIE DYNAMITE (1976) BAD GEORGIA ROAD (1977) THUNDER & LIGHTNING (1977) DUKES OF HAZZARD (2005) Driver comedies: the comic approach to the man behind the wheel has basically taken the form of extended chase films, usually involving illegal races, or chases, or crashes on a ridiculous scale. IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963) – also RAT RACE (2001) FIREBALL 500 (1966) EAT MY DUST (1976) GUMBALL RALLY (1976) CANNONBALL (1976) GRAND THEFT AUTO (1977) SMOKEY & THE BANDIT (1977), II (1980), III (1983) BLUES BROTHERS (1980) CANNONBALL RUN (1981) Cross-genre driver movies: the existential driver pops up in horror and SF, most notably the MAD MAX movies. DEATH RACE 2000 (1975) – black comedy/SF became a cult classic MAD MAX (1979), II (1981), III (1985) – the ultimate in “burnt out shell of a man on the road” movies THE LAST CHASE (1981) – bad sci fi but on the nose, theme-wise. CARS (2006) – animated cars, but no drivers! SPEED RACER (2008) – the cartoon comes to life, but no anti-heroes. Horror Cars: some horror films feature the car or the driver as a supernatural force chasing the protagonist, which doesn't really fit the genre but what the hell: DUEL (1971) – Spielberg's first was a TV film but got a theatrical release. CARS THAT ATE PARIS (1974) – Peter Weir's Ozzie flick RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975) – Satanists chase Peter Fonda CHRISTINE (1983) – Stephen King's killer car DRIVE ANGRY (2011) – another over-the-top Nick Cage on the run film, escaped from Hell and chased by Satanists. *The Trucker movie - sometimes the car is a big rig, and the driver is seeking justice, or a paycheck, or just survival. THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940) WHITE LINE FEVER (1975) SORCERER (1977) – Friedkin's remake of WAGE OF FEAR (1953) CONVOY (1978) *Bikers - sometimes they drive 2 wheels, not 4. GIRL ON THE MOTORCYCLE (1968) EASY RIDER (1969) ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE (1973) GHOST RIDER (2010), II (2012) *And sometimes, it's a train. EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (1973) RUNAWAY TRAIN (1985) The Big Race: these aren't really anti-hero movies, featuring instead race car drivers driving legitimate races, but they do have some overlap. THE GREAT RACE (1965) - Blake Edwards "race around the world" comedy with Tony Curtis, and Curtis's similar followup, THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES (1969) GRAND PRIX (1966) – James Garner WINNING (1969) – Paul Newman LE MANS (1971) – Steve McQueen LAST AMERICAN HERO (1973) - Jeff Bridges, true story about a moonshiner who becomes a stock car champion. GREASED LIGHTNING (1977) – ditto, with Richard Pryor STROKER ACE (1983) - good ole boy Burt Reynolds, in his comic redneck NASCAR driver mode (as opposed to comic redneck outrunning-the-cops mode) DAYS OF THUNDER (1990) – Tom Cruise TALLADEGA NIGHTS (2006) – Will Ferrell Car chasers: some movies just feature a spectacular car chase or 2, but otherwise don't fit the genre. Worth mentioning are: THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) – McQueen racing on a motorcycle, jumping barbed wire BULLITT (1968) – McQueen as a cop in hot pursuit on the hilly streets of SF THE ITALIAN JOB (1969) – Caper film with Michael Caine FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) – Friedkin's race under the L THE GETAWAY (1972) – McQueen and McGraw on the run SEVEN UPS (1973) – Cops in hot pursuit MCQ (1974) – The Duke in a cool car TO LIVE & DIE IN LA (1985) – Slick Michael Mann and his LA cops RONIN (1998) – caper film with DeNiro and getaway chase through Europe FAST & THE FURIOUS (2001), II, III, IV, V – this Vin Diesel series fetishizes car culture like none other. The only problem is it's about an undercover cop, not an existential anti-hero, so not within the genre. Lifetime achievement award: Steve McQueen – the Tao of Steve required maintaining a detached cool even astride a Harley vaulting barbed wire fences to evade Nazis, flying a car over the hills of San Francisco, racing at Le Mans, on the run with Ali McGraw, bounty hunting atop a train, shot flying a jet as Thomas Crowne, financing a documentary on bikers, and generally living his life at maximum RPM. Runner-up: Paul Newman. Special mention: Burt Reynolds. Nick Cage has desperately attempted to join their elite ranks, but Nick lacks the chops and his movies usually suck.

time for a list of best racing movies!

Ahhhh, McQueen. King of cool. He did a lot of his own driving in the movie, having competed in actual races.

Edgy MD wrote: Thirty films. That's a nice round number. No need to cast aside the early stuff. Let them stand or fall in competition. well, its 31 films, but sure. It doesn't really matter, though; nobody coming out of that bracket is going to beat 7 SAMURAI in the 1 v 4 quarter-finals.

there was also a biopic with Jeffrey Right from the 1990s.

i loved Tampopo, but you'll have to go out and eat Ramen right after seeing it.

Double Switch wrote: Would you tell me where those numbers come from? i found a website that ranked all of Kurosawa's films as an aggregate of IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, etc. Then i seeded them in each bracket accordingly, with slight tweaks based on my own assessments.

the early bracket would have 7 films: 1- No Regrets For our Youth (46) vs 8- [bYE] 2- Sanshiro Sugata (43) vs 7-Those Who Make Tomorrow (46) 3- Man Who tread on Tiger's Tail (45) vs 6- Sanshiro Sugata, Pt.2 (45) 4- One Wonderful Sunday (47) vs 5- Most Beautiful (44) but as i said, these were studio films that Kurosawa didn't have complete control over, and some were produced during the war; he considers DRUNKEN ANGEL to be the first film that was completely his.

Edgy MD wrote: Yeah, a poll couldn't handle Kurosawa. He deserves the spectacular head-to-head matchup of an elimination tournament. Kurosawa wrote and directed around 30 films, but 24 of them were after the war and were free of studio interference. He considers Drunken Angel (48) his first real film, so I've broken down the 24 remaining films into 3 brackets (early Mifune, late Mifune, and no Mifune). The highest seed of the bracket winners gets a bye into the finals to face the winner of the other 2 brackets. Here you go: Bracket 1 (Early Mifune) 1- 7 Samurai (54) vs 8- Quiet Duel (49) 2- Rashomon (50) vs 7- Scandal (50) 3- Drunken Angel (48) vs 6- The Idiot (51) 4- Stray Dog (49) vs 5- I Live in Fear (55) Bracket 2 (Late Mifune) 1- Yojimbo (61) vs 8- Lower Depths (57) 2- Throne of Blood (57) vs 7- Red Beard (65) 3- High & Low (63) vs 6- Bad Sleep Well (60) 4- Hidden Fortress (58) vs 5- Sanjuro (62) Bracket 3 (No Mifune): 1- Ikiru (52) vs 8- Rhapsody in August (91) 2- Ran (85) vs 7- Do-Deska-Den (70) 3- Dersu Uzala (75) vs 6- Dreams (90) 4- Kagemusha (80) vs 5- Maadayo (93) 7 samurai would and should win, but Rashomon could give it a bit of a test in Bracket 1. Bracket 2 is the deepest, with samurai lovers choosing between Yojimbo and Sanjuro, classicists going for Throne of Blood (i.e., MacBeth), star wars fans going for Hidden Fortress, and cinephilic appreciation going High & Low. Bracket 3 is surprisingly strong, with critics pick Ikiru going up against the Lear epic, Ran, the Lucas/spielberg fave, Kagemusha. and the Russian dark horse, Dersu Uzala. The chalk says 7 samurai takes a bye, waiting for Yojimbo to beat Ikiru, leading to a battle of Mifune ronin, with the Magnificent 7 defeating Fistful of Dollars in the finale. But, there are always upsets, so anything could happen.

funny, then tragic, and beautiful all the way through. ScarJo's best performance.

best Japanese movies: 1) everything by Kurasawa 2) everything else

just saw it. They could've stopped with 3 and i'd be fine.

I give it two and one-half stars (Felix Millan) **1/2 Its like 5 movies crammed into one. But at least 3 of those movies are pretty good. Still, Marty and Thelma should've considered editing the film. Most directors try to do that.

Double Switch wrote: The reason I ask is that I haven't bothered to watch any new movies (by that I mean pretty much everything made in the 21st century, which is entering its 20th year soon). I'm just not into CGI and explosions as plot devices. I could be called a retrograde movie fan because I would more love to discuss film noir than movies that are bioflicks or remakes of earlier hits. As an example, I would never bother to watch a remake of The Manchurian Candidate or Psycho because the originals were excellent. I see no reason to revisit them as if they were not already perfection. I quit the Star Wars franchise after the third one. That was enough for me. I truly have no idea how many there are now and would need to look that up. And, everyone following this franchise now, in drooling anticipation of the next iteration, likely were not around for the very first of these movies (1977). Please tell me I'm wrong. But - that's just me. Maybe I am alone in my reverence of The Big Sleep and The Philadelphia Story and Dodsworth. And Eraserhead. Surely in a crowd this size, there must be at least one fan besides myself of Eraserhead. At the moment I am about to start watching The Elephant Man, the movie that came after Eraserhead and made David Lynch, if not a household word, at least a blip on the radar of serious movie goers. I used to have a 16mm print of ERASERHEAD and showed it at parties I hosted with my roommate (this was in the 1980s). "In heaven, everything is fine..." I used it, like i used Frank Zappa, to see which girls would like it, so i could ask them out. I watch everything and anything. old, new, borrowed, blue; s'all good.

looks like an ABC after-school special. pass.

they showed it at half-time during MNF last night. Nothing like Disney promoting itself across its platforms! But it still gave me chills.