SCORSESE MADE ME DO IT

 

The regulars over at The Pink Smoke got together to share some of their favorite Scorsese-recommended films. 

Click here or the image above to go to the article.

Enjoy.

THE SCHOOL OF TARKOVSKY PART 22: MOVING IMAGERY

Solaris / Moonlight

The Mirror / Moonlight

Andrei Rublev / The Element Of Crime

The Mirror / Mandy

Andrei Rublev / The Revenant

Andrei Rublev / The Revenant

The Mirror / The Matrix

Solaris /
Knight Of Cups

Andrei Rublev / The Life Aquatic...

Solaris /
First Reformed

The Sacrifice / The Untamed

Stalker / Taurus

Stalker /4

The Mirror / Vox Lux

Solaris / Vox Lux

Andrei Rublev / We Need to Talk About Kevin

The Mirror / Star Wars

THE SCHOOL OF GODARD PART 4: MOVING IMAGERY

Here's part four of the ongoing series on the visual similarities between the films of Godard and the directors that came after him.

Enjoy...

Pierrot Le Fou /
Moonrise Kingdom

A Married Woman / Loves Of A Blonde 

Breathless /
Inland Empire

Contempt /
Crash

Vivre Sa Ve / Stranger Than Paradise

A Married Woman / Do The Right Thing

Alphville / Claire Dolan

Alphaville / Ratcatcher

Alphaville /
Les Rednezvous D'Anna

Alphaville /
Collateral 

Weekend / Crash

Weekend / Crash

Breathless / Perfect Blue

Breathless / Rabbit In Your Headlights 

ZEBRAS IN AMERICA EPISODE 73

Jared Gilman was kind enough to hang with us for a good portion of an afternoon and record a few episodes of Zebras. This is part one...

In addition to obvious topics like Wes Anderson & Jim Jarmusch, Jared talks about everything from the auditioning process to some of the films & music that are on heavy rotation for him these days.

enjoy...

LOOKING FOR VALIDATION IN MEDIOCRE MOVIES...

So I noticed there's not a lot of folks of color and I thought I would like to give you my resume to give to Wes Anderson and just to let him know I'm available. - Whoopi Goldberg 

On a recent episode of The View Whoopi Goldberg half-jokingly addressed guest Jason Schwartzman about the lack of Black people in Wes Anderson’s movies (Schwartzman is one of Anderson's stock actors). Sure, Whoopi technically said “folks of color” but she more than likely meant Black people. Anyone familiar with Anderson’s movies knows he has a partial boner for India so there’s almost always a splash of “color” in his movies. However there aren’t many black people in his movies as Whoopi pointed out. Ok... So? If he wanted more Black people in his movies at this point (almost two decades of filmmaking) he would have done something about it by now (personally I don't care. I just want the old Bottle Rocket/Rushmore Wes Anderson back).

And I don’t want to make Wes Anderson out to be the bad guy here. This is bigger than him. I feel like there aren’t many Black people in his movies simply because they aren’t in the specific upper-class society that he often explores. There’s nothing malicious in his casting (I'm willing to bet Whoopi is going to show up in one of Wes' movies now too). And realistically speaking, Black people would more than likely be the servants & sitters in his world so I actually appreciate his (unintentional) omission of Black people. 

Let's be honest, in the real world Herman Blume (Rushmore), the Maplethorpes (Bottle Rocket) & the Tenenbaums would ALL have Black butlers, servants & nannies. In 2015 I'd much rather Black folks not be seen in certain movies rather than be seen as a maid or a butler.

The Royal Tenenbaums

The Life Aquatic

Why do Black people continue to complain about their lack of representation in movies that are often mediocre or overrated? Remember that whole #oscarsowhite "movement" on social media a few months ago? That was all rooted in Black people wanting to be validated/recognized by white people. And what's even worse is that all of that validation rested on the shoulders of one pretty good movie (Selma).

I obviously understand where all this comes from. White people aren’t the only race on the planet yet a lot of movies, both mainstream & indie, would have you think otherwise. Black people, brown people and just people of color in general should all have some kind of substantial representation on film. But it’s 2015 and we’re still fighting the same battle. Maybe it’s time to take the hint, stop looking for validation from people that clearly aren't  thinking about us/you, and just focus on filmmakers that do represent people of color in some form (if Whoopi really wanted to beg for a part in a movie she should reach out to someone like Newlyweeds director Shaka King).

I found the whole interaction between Goldberg & Schwartzman to be both cringe-inducing & corny. If someone continues to not cast people of color in their movies (and it really bothers you) then stop supporting their movies and support (talented) filmmakers that DO show a wide range of “color” in their work. Don't ask to be cast in one of their movies! Seriously, Whoopi Goldberg, have some respect for yourself. You’re an academy award winning actress. You don’t need to half-jokingly beg Wes Anderson for a part in one of his quirky movies like some struggling actress.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised as this is the same person who defended Mel Gibson after his racist telephone rant to his ex and defended Ted Danson’s blackface stunt.

I'd also be lying if I said this piece wasn't partially fueled by my disdain for a lot of Goldberg's more recognizable (and stereotypical) roles (I know this isn't a popular stance and any kind of harsh criticism of an aging actress/woman in this day & age is just asking for trouble but some folks need to be called on their shit). Next to Morgan Freeman & Scatman Crothers, she's got some serious Mount Rushmore-status "wise/magical black person" roles under her belt. Whoopi's stunt on The View came off like a scene in Bamboozled.

Normally I’d love to see a guy like Spike Lee call Goldberg out on all this but his own hypocrisy in recent years has reached a level where I can’t really listen to him anymore. Lee has never shied away from calling out everyone from Ving Rhames & Cuba Gooding Jr to Tyler Perry & The younger Wayans Brothers for what he felt was “cooning” or “selling out”...

(for those that didn't know, Spike Lee was going at Cuba Gooding Jr. & Ving Rhames in certain specific scenes in Bamboozled for what he felt was "selling out")

But for some reason a guy like Charles Barkley is exempt from Lee’s criticism. From Trayvon Martin to Michael Brown, Charles Barkley has clearly shown he doesn’t like young black people and has some serious self-hate issues he needs to work out. Instead of calling out Barkley on his self-hating racist bullshit (like he's done with others so many times in the past), Lee turned around and did a series of commercials with the guy who not only agreed with the George Zimmerman verdict, but called the Fergusson rioters “scumbags”. I know we all have contradictions as human beings but isn't there a limit? You can’t cry “Black Lives Matter” then do an endorsement deal with someone who clearly thinks the opposite. Seems a little hypocritical to me. Spike Lee is the same guy who cancelled an appearance at Hampton University at the last minute when he discovered some of the president's personal political views (I know this because I went to Hampton at the time and was one of the many disappointed folks that got stood up). Where is that same defiance with Sir Charles?

But this isn’t about Spike Lee. Let me leave him alone. He's busy crowdsourcing money from people to fund his movies when he has millions of dollars in the bank…


Anyway, shortly after that nonsense on The View I discovered a new video project, via Slate, where cinephile/video editor Dylan Marron chronicles the lack of dialogue delivered by actors of color in mainstream movies like Noah & Frances Ha (Frances Ha? Do you really expect to see that many people of color in the cinematic world that is France Ha?). This immediately made me think of how everyone was up in arms last year about biblical movies like Exodus (and Noah) featuring mostly white actors. Those movies didn’t even look good to begin with (seriously, Noah and/or Exodus could feature an all-star cast made up of Idris Elba, Kerry Washington, Cicely Tyson, Tyler Perry & Denzel Washington and it would still look terrible to me). And what’s strange is that some of the people who complained about the lack of “color” in Noah & Exodus are atheists that don’t even believe in God or The Bible. Why do you care about Black people not being represented in films (that aren’t even good to begin with) based on source material that you don’t even believe in and, more than likely, probably arrogantly dismissed in the past (I’m not a religious person myself but I think we know how arrogant & imposing some atheists can be about their own views, which makes them just as annoying as the religious folks they try to challenge).

At the end of the day, as a black person I’m glad we aren’t represented in films like Noah, Exodus or Grand Budapest Hotel. They aren’t that good.

WES ANDERSON: THE THRILL IS OFFICIALLY GONE.

I didn’t completely dislike Grand Budapest Hotel. I remember laughing out loud at least four times, I felt everyone pretty much played their part, it’s always nice to see Harvey Keitel in anything popular/reputable these days, and it was a pleasant surprise to see Lea Seydoux in this even though she did only have four minutes of screen time. But I did have more than a few problems with the film overall. As I watched Grand Budapest Hotel I found myself internally asking things like; “Did Wes Anderson seriously just remake clue?” or “why does this feel like a mash-up of Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic & Darjeeling” or “what is this white guy’s obvious fascination with Asian Indians?!” (Be honest, Wes Anderson’s love for Indian people & culture is a little strange).
I can’t hate on Wes Anderson too hard tho. He knows how to make a film that can fill up a theater which I imagine is one of the things he strives to do as a popular filmmaker. But at the same time it almost feels like he’s phoning it in, yet his movies still manage to come off big & grand (mostly thanks in part to his all-star casts) and to the average movie goer/non-cinephile it still appears like he’s trying. I’m at the point where it's like if you’ve seen one Wes Anderson movie in the last decade (Life Aquatic through Grand Budapest) you’ve seen ‘em all. I’m well aware people have already felt like this for quite some time. I guess it just took me a little longer to get to this point. This isn’t even a review of Grand Budapest Hotel because I don’t feel the need to actually talk about specific scenes or give any kind of an analysis on it. Whether I like Grand Budapest or not, my opinion won’t matter. It’s a Wes Anderson movie with an appearance from Bill Murray & Owen Wilson. You’re all going to go see it just based off of that. I kind of appreciate Anderson picking new actors to work with on each film, but we all know everyone looks forward to seeing Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman or at least one Wilson brother.

I think it’s obvious that Anderson’s style has been bigger than him for quite some time now which isn’t a good thing. There’s nothing wrong with a director having their own unique style. I think that should be one goal of every filmmaker. It’s nice to watch something and know who directed it without needing to see the credits. But sometimes it’s a bit much in the case of Wes Anderson. With Grand Budapest Hotel he has officially become the “indie” version of Tim Burton – That filmmaker with a very recognizable style that still feels the need to shove it down our throats. Turn the colors down, man. I get that you like red & purple, but Jesus Christ…

I’m not suggesting Wes Anderson mimic other filmmakers I like who have a recognizable yet more subdued/toned down style (Claire Denis, Michael Mann, Lodge Kerrigan, Carlos Reygadas, etc) but I think it’s important to not let the “look” or quirkiness of your work take first place over the story, performances or other important elements that go in to making a movie great. Does Wes Anderson not know it’s ok to try different types of film scores or deviate slightly from his signature style of cinematography or work in a different brand of humor? Imagine a Wes Anderson film with only two recognizable/big names and the rest of the cast as unknowns or up & comers. That would be a breath of fresh air. I’m sorry but these all-star casts are working against him in my opinion. As long as his films remain under two hours (which they mostly are) there just isn’t enough time to fit everyone in. Grand Budapest started to feel like a cameo-fest/mixtape of quick appearances by famous faces rather than an actual movie. The posters for his last few films come off more like “HEY! LOOK AT ALL THE FAMOUS PEOPLE IN THIS” instead of “HEY! COME SEE MY MOVIE. IT’S GOOD!”

I know you sometimes need big names to get people to watch your movie, but enough is enough. It’s become too distracting (Wes Anderson isn’t the only filmmaker guilty of this. I’m not putting this all on him). In Grand Budapest Hotel you see people like Tilda Swinton, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and a few other recognizable faces for two minutes then they’re gone for the rest of the film (one of the minor issues I had with 12 Years A Slave). It just all seems cheap and/or pointless.
I feel like people either don't get my frustration in this or they do get it, but for some reason they still always end up flocking to the theater to see Anderson's work because they feel like they have too. As I sat in the Brooklyn Academy Of Music theater watching Grand Budapest, the sold out crowd I saw it with kept laughing at stuff on the screen, but nothing funny actually happened. Seriously. And I'm not saying that the audience members laughed at things I personally found to be unfunny. I'm saying that there would be a random shot of Jude Law sitting in the bathtub or F. Murray Abraham looking off somewhere and the whole audience would snicker or mildly laugh in unison. WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING? NOTHING HAPPENED YET! Their laughter was so transparent. It's as if they were so insecure & scared about missing a small quirky moment that they had to laugh at ANYTHING that appeared to be "off" or possibly cute.

Can’t you all feel both my apathy & frustration right now? I think that’s a problem because I like Wes Anderson overall. Bottle Rocket is always on rotation in my DVD player and I feel that Rushmore is one of the defining films of Generation Y (my generation) along with Ghost World, Welcome To The Dollhouse & Home Alone. I also know that both The Fantastic Mr. Fox & Moonrise Kingdom have appeared in my end of the year reviews in 2009 & 2012, respectively, but Grand Budapest Hotel has me kind of regretting these decisions.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that when it comes to Wes Anderson these days, the thrill is gone...

MOONRISE KINGDOM! (MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE EXCLUSIVE)

Who needs to go all the way to France to see Wes Anderson's new movie before it hit theaters when you can just get on the N train and go to Astoria?! Thanks to the Museum of the Moving Image I got a sneak peek at one of the most buzzworthy films to come out of the Cannes film festival so far. Before we go any further with this review I'll just get it outta the way and say that Wes Anderson's latest film is very good and worthy of all the early praise it’s been getting. It's a pretty typical thing to say in a movie review but this may be one of his best movies and we see a side of him as a director we haven't seen yet (Moonrise Kingdom has more special effects than any other Wes Anderson movie with more than one daring rescue attempt). Drawing inspiration from the beginning of Royal Tenenbaums where we see young Richie & Margot run away from home together, Moonrise Kingdom is also about two children in love who do the same (and the search party that's out to find them and bring 'em home). Our two main characters are "Sam" - a troubled orphan boy scout with no friends who's foster family doesn't want back, and "Suzy" - the daughter of two lawyers that barely speak to each other (and she kinda has a bit of a temper). The only problem with Sam & Suzy's plan to run away is that they can't get very far due to the fact that they live on a secluded New England island thats about to face it's biggest rain storm in history.
I was worried that The Fantastic Mr. Fox would be a fluke and Anderson would go back to his regular quirky B.S. that some of us have grown a little tired of. But this time around he doesn’t force his meticulously quirky 1960's "look" on a story that takes place in 2012 (we get it Wes, you like nostalgia, artifacts from back in the day, corduroy and British pop music, but after a while the world of Wes Anderson can start to get a little played out). Instead he finally just sets the story in the 1960's making his signature look, soundtrack and overall vibe of the film seem less forced. He gives his India fetish a rest, there’s no sign of a Wilson brother and along with his regular cast of actors like Bill Murray (Suzy's father) & Jason Schwartzman (a rival scout leader who helps Sam and Suzy escape on their second attempt), Anderson makes room for new faces like; Bruce Willis (the town sheriff in charge of finding Sam & Suzy), Ed Norton (Sam's scout leader), Frances Mccdormand (Suzy's cheating mother who communicates with her children through a megaphone), Tilda Swinton (a social worker, and the only character in the film that doesn't have an actual name) and Harvey Keitel (who's appearance is short but since he's my favorite actor and hasn’t been in anything good in quite some time, I'll take what I can get). Highlights from Moonrise Kingdom include Jason Schwartzman’s quick performance, Bob Balaban's narration and just overall presence (seriously, how has he never worked with Wes Anderson until now?), a boy scout getting stabbed in his kidney with scissors, Ed Norton rescuing Harvey Keitel, one of the main characters getting zapped by lightning, all the tracking shots, a funny Shawshank Redemption reference and pretty much the last 15-20 minutes of the movie. Animal lovers should be warned that there is a heartbreaking scene involoving the death of an animal. I also love Anderson's decision to cast two young unknowns as the main characters surrounded by a supporting cast of A-list veterans.
 Ever since the disappointing Darjeeling Limited and Life Aquatic (a film some people found to be a lil' problematic once the hype around it settled down), it seems like Anderson gave the quirky rich/upper-class family dramedy genre a rest and has been focusing more on making family oriented films. Naturally this will be loved & praised by the hardcore Wes Anderson fans that’re still in denial about how bad Darjeeling Limited really was, but it’s also a great movie for restoring faith in people that once loved Wes Anderson but have started to get a little sick of him.

THE CINEMA OF LODGE KERRIGAN TOLD THROUGH IMAGES & STILLS

His (Lodge Kerrigan) beat is mental illness...i think the extreme edges of it, and I'm happy to go there with him as he takes my hand as we go in to his world - John Waters on Lodge Kerrigan

I wont be structuring this one like the other "Cinema Of..." entries because Lodge Kerrigan only has 3 films (4 if you count this years' 'Rebecca H', which i don't think anyone has seen). There's only so many comparisons you can make with just three films. But nevertheless, the purpose of this director exploration is no different than any of the others I've done in that I want to create guide or a summary of a director that I'm a fan of in hopes it will turn others that aren't familiar on to his work.
Any good director that has his/her own unique style or "look" is essentially creating an alternate universe or world for the audience (that goes without saying for some people, but that may not register with others). These worlds range from digitally shot, hi-def, flashy bright lights, night club world of Michael Mann (a world I'd love to live in) or the strange surreal world of David Lynch filled with dancing midgets who talk backwards, industrial background music and scary/mysterious figures who haunt us through the coarse of the film. I've always been fascinated and amazed by the ability that some directors have to make people say; "Oh, this must be a Kubrick Film" or "This looks like a Robert Bresson film" without ever having to look at the credits to see who the director actually is.
A few days ago I watched Lodge Kerrigan's 'Clean, Shaven' & 'Claire Dolan' back-to-back, and found that my mood for the rest of the evening had changed pretty drastically. I didn't feel down or depressed or anything like that, but i definitely felt uneasy and had a difficult time thinking nice or happy thoughts. There's quite a few modern directors who paint a world that I don't want to live in like the darkly lit, sensual world of Gaspar Noe filled with back alley's, drug addicts, rapists and incest or Harmony Korine and his focus on "white trash" and the dirt filled homes of paint sniffing, cat killing , meth addicts. But there's something so realistic about Kerrigan's films and his characters that makes him stand out among his peers.

THE WORLD OF LODGE KERRIGAN: MENTAL ILLNESS, PARANOIA, AGGRESSION AND UNEASE

I have a long-standing interest in mental illness. I have friends who suffer from it. I think it's a devastating illness, not only mentally, psychologically, emotionally, but also economically. I think it isolates people tremendously, and again, I want to try and engender some empathy for people who suffer. - Lodge Kerrigan

The world of Lodge Kerrigan is full of aggressive, mentally unstable and sometimes violent characters. You never know if someone is going to snap & attack someone or break down & cry. Just the music in his films alone creates an uneasy and almost frightening feeling. For those of you who aren't familiar with Lodge Kerrigan's work, he intentionally mixes and layers various audio samples together that don't traditionally go together. In his feature debut; 'Clean, Shaven', the story of a recently released paranoid Schizophrenic looking for his daughter, the soundtrack to that film is made up of radio signals, the audio from the scared straight documentary and other various audio samples like dog barks or screams. In 'Claire Dolan', Kerrigan mixes old soul music with a haunting piano score and random saxophone samples. Although the structure to his films are pretty traditional in the world of American independent film, what he does with audio gives his films a connection to the world of experimental film.
Instead of using images for this category, I thought video clips could best convey what I'm trying to get across. Pay close attention to the background score in the 'Clean, Shaven' clip, the tense vibe in the 'Claire Dolan' scene, and note Damian Lewis' amazing acting in the clip of 'Keane'...

Paranoia is another common theme in Lodge Kerrigan's work. And this goes beyond the paranoid schizophrenic characters found in 'Clean, Shaven' and 'Keane'. Even "normal" or emotionally stable characters (like "Claire Dolan") are always on edge or under the impression that someone is out to get them. In Claire's case, she's actually right. Through out the film (about a high priced call girl trying to work off a debt), she's stalked by more than one person. In all of Lodge Kerrigans films theres always a shot of someone looking over their shoulder, behind their back, peeking around a corner or looking out for some kind of an attack...

'Claire Dolan' (1998)

'Claire Dolan'

'Keane' (2004)

'Clean, Shaven' (1994)

Homeleand Season 2, episode 3

Girlfriend Experience

THE PRESENCE OF CHILDREN:

The constant presence of children in Kerrigan's films are also a huge part of that uneasy feeling. The last thing we want to see or think about is a small innocent child in the hands of a crazy person (even if that crazy person has no intentions of harming the child). In 'Clean, Shaven' a subplot of the film involves a detective trying a solve the murder case of a young girl. Additionally, the lead characters ultimate goal in 'Clean, Shaven' is to get to his daughter. But we never know his true intentions once he gets to her. Did he plan to take her? Did he plan to kill her? We'll never truly know. Same with 'Keane', Kerrigan's last movie about another paranoid Schizophrenic trying to find his daughter who was abducted from a bus terminal. But as the story unfolds, we question whether or not our lead character even had a daughter in the first place. And the fate of Abigail Breslin's character at the end of 'Keane' is very open ended as well. Will she be abducted as well? Will she be returned to her mother? Lodge Kerrigan's world is full of seedy hotels, dirt and is just all around unclean and unsafe. No one wants to picture children in a world like that (especially parents). The image of a child walking hand in hand with a schizophrenic appears more than once in his films...

'Clean, Shaven'

'Clean, Shaven'

'Claire Dolan'

'Keane'

POLANSKI'S (POSSIBLE) INFLUENCE:

On the commentary track for 'Clean, Shaven', Kerrigan drops Roman Polanski's name more than once, and his influence is all over films like 'Clean, Shaven' & 'Claire Dolan'.

'Repulsion' (Roman Polanski)

'Clean, Shaven'

'Repulsion' (Polanski) 'Claire Dolan' 'The Tenant' (Polanski) 'Claire Dolan' BRESSON'S (POSSIBLE INFLUENCE) Au Hasard Blathazar/Clean, Shaven A Man Escaped/Clean, Shaven (POSSIBLE) INFLUENCE ON OTHER FILMMAKERS Clean, Shaven/Royal Tenenbaums Clean, Shaven/Julien Donkey-Bpy RECURRING SHOTS & THEMES Like any other director, Kerrigan has his signature shots. He seems to have a fascination with reflection. In 'Clean, Shaven', not only does our main character have an issue with seeing himself in the mirror, there's also a pivotal scene that takes place in front of a mirror (like in many other indie films) where he cuts himself... 'Clean, Shaven' 'Clean Shaven' 'Claire Dolan' 'Claire Dolan' Girlfriend Experience The Killing Season 4, episode2 Other themes and common shots in Lodge Kerrigan's work include his fascination with modern architecture, specifically the patterns found on the exteriors of today's buildings... Girlfriend Experience Girlfriend Experience 'Clean, Shaven' 'Claire Dolan' 'Claire Dolan' Claire Dolan 'Keane' Tracking shots from a side view (similar to the shot commonly found in 'Michael Haneke's work) can also be found in Kerrigan's films pretty regularly... Girlfriend Experience 'Keane' 'Claire Dolan' Ok, I'm off to Barcelona then Paris...