Carol Reed - An influence on welles?

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Speaking of Stroheim, i was watching the reconstruction of Queen Kelly the other day, and noticed in the african sequences, with the Pimp Lord, Stroheim was doing something Welles later did with Glenn Anders in Lady from Shanghai - those grotesque closeups of the sweaty human face.

Nothing as splendiferous as the European sequences in Queen Kelly was seen again until Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, IMO. I think Kubrick and Stoheim have more than a little in common. Both strived (sic?) for perfection, both laboured on each project and exposed an inordinate amount of celluloid in order to achieve the perfect final product. Both also tried for as much realism as possible, if not always in performances, in details like set construction, costumes and period detail. All this is up for dispute, no doubt, but the comparison at least is interesting.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

Blunted - i was just watching the 60's Batman movie the other day and i also couldn't help noticing the inordinate amount of what i now can call dutch angles (or is it dutch shots?). What a great time that show was. Best fun i've ever had watching superheroes.

[blunted by community]

brown, they certainly used a lot of dutch angles in batman. and the colors of the series are so vibrant. i'm not a fan of the batman movies and feel they have not yet come close to the entertainment value and fun of the tv series.

and the cheesier they got the more fun it was to watch.

now and then i see people dancing in nightclubs doing that thing travolta did in PULP FICTION when he's dancing and brings his two open fingers across his eyes. that came from a batman episode, he was in a disco and danced, and that is what he did. we used to call it the bat dance. now kids call it the PULP FICTION dance. i'm always happy to correct them.

[Flint]

If memory serves, I think it was actually called the "Bat-tusi"

-Flint

[Sir Bygber Brown]

That's an interesting trivialet. I didn't know that. You have to admit its very cool when Travolta does that in Pulp - even if you don't like Tarantino's dialogue, Blunted, you have to agree that's a pretty cool scene.

[blunted by community]

pulp fiction is full of cool scenes, and super cool music. i loved a lot of it. but i just did not see all of america, and the world blowing him on that picture. that movie made him an A-list director.

[blunted by community]

maybe the explanation for the bang pulp fiction made is best explained by the old adage that you are only as good as your competition. like a lousy boxer only gets to be champ for a few years because nobody good is around.

i didn't think PRIZZI'S HONOR was good enough to be nominated for an academy award, though i love huston, and nicholson. they just didn't have any competition around.

i see films like LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and GODGATHER as major accomplishments, and worthy of the award.

but then i also think award shows are bullshit. i would find shows that acknowledge, and display worthy films much more paletable than a show that puts them against each other like racing horses.

everyone waiting with baited breaths to see if DANCES WITH WOLVES, or GOODFELLAS will win. i fail to see a criteria here for making a choice.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

i'm with you on that. Brando said that about awards shows - he just didn't think acting could be the sort of thing where there was a winner (and it applies to pictures as wholes, obviously, too). I still end up watching them, and am curious who they give the awards to, but i don't gauge a movie's quality by whether it wins an award or not.

[Citizen K]

George C. Scott refused to accept the Oscar for his performance in Patton because he thought that the competition aspect of acting was unnecessary. I haven't bothered to watch the Oscar ceremonies after Titanic won 11 statuettes, but I must confess the lifetime achievement awards can still be pretty moving occasions. It's just that particularly in recent years Oscars have often been given to unworthy films. Or should I say that the overall quality of Hollywood films has deteriorated in recent years so badly that many of the "best" films up for Academy Awards are even at best mediocre. Just my opinion.

[blunted by community]

i saw parts of this last awards show, first one i watched in years. i watched for about 15 minutes now and then. i walked by tv while mrs blunted had it on, and that eastman kodak theater kicks ass. what an incredible job of design and workmanship. i was fascinated by the set. i'm commenting on the set with 'oooohs & wows' and mrs blunted thought i was commenting on the movies they were showing.

i always felt george c scott took cues from brando, besides the fact that scott was already a tortured, troubled man, made him impossible to deal with.

wouldn't it be cool if one awards show the academy decides nobody won. all entries sucked. i would feel they are more honest if they did that now and then. while announcing the runners up a buzzer sound goes off, no winners this year.

[Sir Bygber Brown]

The Lifetime Achievements are good, and i also watch to see the tributes to lost stars, directors and other movie makers. Gregory Peck and Katherine Hepburn were very great losses.

I'll also bashfully admit, i watch to see what beauties like Angelina Jolie are wearing. I'm a red carpet groupie. I like playing spot the star.