Films XLIII and XLIV
Day One of the sulk allows me to watch a couple of films, as part of the Top 100 Project. the other, why I'm not sure why I rented it but it's probably Paul Giamatti's fault.
XLIII: Jean Vigo, L'Atalante (1934)
One thing that is made very clear in auteur theory is the importance of a large body of work - as in Hitchcock, Ford and Hawks (and Huston, but keep that quiet). So how come we have Jean One-Feature Vigo on the list (he also did À propos de Nice (1930) a "city" symphony which recently toured with Michael Nyman, Taris, roi de l'eau (1931 - which might suggest a watery fixation given the Hungarian water polo movie) and Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (1933))? I don't know, and whilst this is a clearly influential slice of poetic realism with added surreality, I can't see it as a top ten film as Sight and Sound has.
There's been a wedding, of Jean (Jean Dasté) and Juliette (Dita Parlo). Jean captains a barge, and Juliette joins him as they travel along canals and rivers. Unfortunately Jean is jealous of Mate père Jules (Michel Simon) and Juliette wants to see Paris. As Juliette pops into the city, Jean sails without her.
A curious beast - never dull, but clearly stolen by père Jules and his dozens of cats, which pop up in the most unexpected places. Jules has a collection of machines and automata, which he slowly fixes and which Jean wants him to dump. There is also a travelling sailsman with a most unlikely set of goods for sale. This is very different from À propos de Nice - I can't make the case for auteurship on these two films alone.
XLIV: John Hamburg, Safe Men(1998)
Go figure: they are two Jewish gangsters in Provincetown, NJ: Big Fat Bernie Gayle (Michael Lerner) and Leo (Harvey Fierstein).
Go figure: Gayle wants a safe to be cracked and Veal Chop (Paul Giamatti) accidentally gives the job to Sam (Sam Rockwell) and Eddie (Steve Zahn), except, go figure Eddie's father was a safe cracker and it's clearly a skill you can pick up in an evening from a book.
Go figure: Sam and Eddie get away with not robbing the safes because the real safe breakers (Frank (Mark Ruffalo) and Mitchell (Josh Pais)) are right behind them.
Phew. Disposable eighties wannabe comedy (there is a homage to Say Anything (1989)) whose plot falls apart under any scrutiny that punches above its weight because the good performances almsot put across mediocre material.
Totals: 44 [Cinema: 16; DVD: 26; TV: 2]
XLIII: Jean Vigo, L'Atalante (1934)
One thing that is made very clear in auteur theory is the importance of a large body of work - as in Hitchcock, Ford and Hawks (and Huston, but keep that quiet). So how come we have Jean One-Feature Vigo on the list (he also did À propos de Nice (1930) a "city" symphony which recently toured with Michael Nyman, Taris, roi de l'eau (1931 - which might suggest a watery fixation given the Hungarian water polo movie) and Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (1933))? I don't know, and whilst this is a clearly influential slice of poetic realism with added surreality, I can't see it as a top ten film as Sight and Sound has.
There's been a wedding, of Jean (Jean Dasté) and Juliette (Dita Parlo). Jean captains a barge, and Juliette joins him as they travel along canals and rivers. Unfortunately Jean is jealous of Mate père Jules (Michel Simon) and Juliette wants to see Paris. As Juliette pops into the city, Jean sails without her.
A curious beast - never dull, but clearly stolen by père Jules and his dozens of cats, which pop up in the most unexpected places. Jules has a collection of machines and automata, which he slowly fixes and which Jean wants him to dump. There is also a travelling sailsman with a most unlikely set of goods for sale. This is very different from À propos de Nice - I can't make the case for auteurship on these two films alone.
XLIV: John Hamburg, Safe Men(1998)
Go figure: they are two Jewish gangsters in Provincetown, NJ: Big Fat Bernie Gayle (Michael Lerner) and Leo (Harvey Fierstein).
Go figure: Gayle wants a safe to be cracked and Veal Chop (Paul Giamatti) accidentally gives the job to Sam (Sam Rockwell) and Eddie (Steve Zahn), except, go figure Eddie's father was a safe cracker and it's clearly a skill you can pick up in an evening from a book.
Go figure: Sam and Eddie get away with not robbing the safes because the real safe breakers (Frank (Mark Ruffalo) and Mitchell (Josh Pais)) are right behind them.
Phew. Disposable eighties wannabe comedy (there is a homage to Say Anything (1989)) whose plot falls apart under any scrutiny that punches above its weight because the good performances almsot put across mediocre material.
Totals: 44 [Cinema: 16; DVD: 26; TV: 2]