tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post5471649431087398062..comments2023-07-12T09:16:45.437-04:00Comments on The Cinema: When movies become moreTed Pigeonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04789041055263853568noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-24662794564905931512007-07-27T05:31:00.000-04:002007-07-27T05:31:00.000-04:00Firstly, great site. Funnily, one of my main comp...Firstly, great site. <BR/><BR/>Funnily, one of my main complaints about<BR/>MULHOLLAND DRIVE was that it felt too clinical (eh, it's Lynch...that's a heavy-handed word) within his oeuvre - -few directors have the ability to really polarize viewers like Lynch. I guess ERASERHEAD appeals to that whole "organic, innate" first-viewing thing...it's so effective is how visceral it is: it doesn't merely present these themes through dialogue but makes you feel them very directly at an uncomfortable level through the visuals and particularly the unprecedented sound design -- all those strange buzzes and hums create a tone that fluctuates, at times obviously and at times subtly, in order to express the underlying mood at each moment to a startling degree that we don't always consciously recognize. And in that sense, it's one of the most "cinematic" movies ever made. MULHOLLAND DRIVE has always felt like an odd sort in that I <I>perceive</I> how incredible the filmmaking process was; however, at the same time the film feels too artificially pieced together to actually work like that. There's much to be said about the Lynch film's and their ineveitable conclusion that they will be "figured out"...in essence that's really how rewatches work for these ("Miami Vice", "Miller's Crossing") films, right?Austintationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08852471677134619719noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-42157575668388379742007-07-24T10:31:00.000-04:002007-07-24T10:31:00.000-04:00I agree, Piper. "The moment" is not what mainstrea...I agree, Piper. "The moment" is not what mainstream audiences seem to want, at least on a conscious level. I'm sure I could construct an argument asserting that the desires of cinema exist on a deeper, more unconscious level of experiencing those moments that viewer can only process as good plot and structure. I think there are few who prize "the moment" because it's a risker endeavor to suggest that logic and sense, i.e. structure and development through a narrative, are essentially unimportant in our experiences with visual narratives. Some people just don't want to think about that.Ted Pigeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04789041055263853568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-50913919032462059262007-07-23T15:49:00.000-04:002007-07-23T15:49:00.000-04:00Another great post Ted.I wish I knew the answer to...Another great post Ted.<BR/><BR/>I wish I knew the answer to that. I have an uncanny ability to remember movies and scenes from movies. Yet, there are certain movies I've seen that I have no recollection of. <BR/><BR/>It's an interesting question to think that a combination of music, sfx, scenes can combine and trigger a certain reaction from the brain to make it file that stuff away.<BR/><BR/>Adam is absolutely right that David Lynch is a master of this. No one can create a singular scene such as him. So much richness to everything going on. <BR/><BR/>I would also say that Brian DePalma is excellent with this. No one loves to draw out of build a scene more than he and his use of slo-motion helps.<BR/><BR/>This is an important topic to focus on because memorable scenes are lost in today's cinema. They're not looked on as something to cherish, they are looked upon as something to help move the story. Thus the lighting and the composition is secondary.PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-58100942252772766902007-07-22T08:53:00.000-04:002007-07-22T08:53:00.000-04:00I admittedly haven't seen any films by either Reyg...I admittedly haven't seen any films by either Reygadas or Tarkovsky. But you elucidate a number of worthy points, Ryland, especially about blog-a-thons. I think the occasional blog-a-thon can be a really fun and interactive experience, but you're right: there's too much out there. We may be on the edge of risking our individual voices and experiences by engaging in so many unified practices. <BR/><BR/>And regarding your comments about politics, well, let's just say that blogging definitely warrants strong consideration from the standpoint of politics, democracy, and discourse. <BR/><BR/>As for Lynch, I have heard nothing but good things about <I>Inland Empire</I>, which I will be seeing when it is released on DVD.Ted Pigeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04789041055263853568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-17496531076300009232007-07-22T03:39:00.000-04:002007-07-22T03:39:00.000-04:00You know I'm a Lynch fan... His ability to see dif...You know I'm a Lynch fan... His ability to see differently is something that sets him apart. I would easily say his Janus diptych of _Mulholland Dr_ and _INLAND EMPIRE_ are two of my favorite films. I cannot wait for the latter to be released on DVD.<BR/><BR/>What I like about your piece here is the paradox of trying to celebrate in fixed words the elusive thing you felt awed by in a theatre (or book, or on TV, &c.). I think part of why I haven't written in earnest about Carlos Reygadas is an effort to preserve some of the magic I feel in his films. It's very similar to my relationship with Tarkovsky's films, even though I finally did sit down and write about one recently (that Reverse Shot essay). But it's funny: now I don't want to write about Tarkovsky again, at least for a while. I would very much like to do a Reygadas symposium (a la my Lynch Mob efforts from February) whenever _Silent Night_ becomes available to American audiences but I feel a hesitation in that regard as well. (I was just struck by the (uber-cool) similarities between regard and Reygadas.) Anyways... I feel way off topic...<BR/><BR/>I should watch _Miller's Crossing_ again: two Seattlites I know really dig it and have tried to tell me it's amazing but I remember really _not_ liking it when I saw it in high school. It seems rather popular in the blogosphere: I'm surprised nobody's done a blog-a-thon about it yet. That said, I think there have been a few too many 'thons recently. Ah, internet politics -- oh wait, there are none! Or, there shouldn't be any. Well, if anything, you've gotten me reinterested in watching this movie, finally. That, and, uh, watch some Carlos Reygadas films. (And _Pirates_!)Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-90098589472162942312007-07-20T13:44:00.000-04:002007-07-20T13:44:00.000-04:00I think you're right about Lynch, Adam. I saw Mulh...I think you're right about Lynch, Adam. I saw <I>Mulholland Drive</I> when it first came out on DVD about five or six years ago and I have only seen it once through (I do own it though). To this day, a multitude of images from that movie have stuck with me; not so much just still images, but images in motion. I remember the compositions and their movements so well, the music, and the ambiguous feelings of pure evocation. Ebert said it best about that movie; it's like a dream, making sense in weird ways even though it doesn't.<BR/><BR/>I think David Lynch is in rare company, that being filmmakers who understand the power of moving images; sights and sounds. He does not have it down to a science, as no one really does, but he is exclusively interested in different kinds of feeling that images can provoke. And he searches for them in his movies.Ted Pigeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04789041055263853568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580771530471531574.post-30530300427187668082007-07-20T13:13:00.000-04:002007-07-20T13:13:00.000-04:00I had a similar experience when i saw "Miller's Cr...I had a similar experience when i saw "Miller's Crossing" for the first time a couple of years ago. I've still only seen it that one time (even though I own it), yet so many of the images and dialogue remain clear in my memory. Regarding the plot, it was (and still is) tough for me to fully understand and I think part of that lies in the Coens genius, where all of their movies have their tongue just slightly in cheek and have the most delicate touch of satire to them.<BR/><BR/>The last movie that struck me in the fashion of "Miller's Crossing" was "Mulholland Dr.," which I saw for the first time a few weeks ago. I really wasn't sure if I liked it until the next day when I started piecing together some of the images and characters, and then I couldn't wait to watch it again! David Lynch may be the master of that "unidentifiable feeling" you wrote about.Adam Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11968051066147134504noreply@blogger.com