Werner Herzog
Host: Chris
Even Dwarfs Started Small
Stroszek
Aguirre: Wrath of God
Herzog on Charlie Rose
Friday, November 15, 2019
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese (starring Robert DeNiro)
Host: Freddy
Freddy's Take: There aren't many film lovers or casual movie goers that haven't watched at least one Martin Scorsese film. He has been making films since 1967 and some of them are ingrained in our culture as significant pieces of art and many more are a part of our pop culture, with references ranging from The Sopranos to The Simpsons. The influence of Scorsese movies are everywhere, even embedded in many of today's best filmmakers styles.
I didn't want to just take Scorsese without drawing down to a specific set of films. I want Chris and Tanner to feel like they can use him at a later date, as he has so many movies that are fun to watch with other people. I chose to do his films with DeNiro which netted the acting great an Academy Award nomination. So, I went with Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Cape Fear. It doesn't hurt that each had a great supporting cast. I'll use any Director Day as an excuse to see a young Cybill Shepherd in the early days of her career, to watch Joe Pesci kick the shit out of Frank Vincent, or to catch Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck get "tip of the cap" cameos! That's just some cinematic goodness right there.
There isn't a lot to say about these movies that hasn't been said before, but they are among my favorites, regardless of genre or director. Each has its own style in how it's shot. Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are almost documentary like, with Raging Bull getting the black and white treatment which lends to the obvious attempt to make it feel "vintage"and Taxi Driver having an almost "confessional" feel to the narration. Cape Fear owes a lot to Alfred Hitchcock and Brian DePalma in the use of camera moves and color palette. As far as appreciating an homage to another director, Cape Fear is as good as it gets.
I'm glad I got to watch these with my friends. It's a tough day to have three very serious, and often times very violent films, back to back to back, but we made it through. The main characters are hard to identify and sympathize with and I feel like that almost lets us into the world of a sociopath without getting too close for our own good. I look forward to eventually watching Mean Streets, Goodfellas, The Aviator, or even The King of Comedy with my friends some day. You just can't go wrong watching a Martin Scorsese picture.
Taxi Driver
Raging Bull
Cape Fear
Scorsese & DeNiro at Tribeca 2019
Friday, April 19, 2019
The 3 Amigos: Inarritu, del Toro, & Cuaron
The 3 Amigos: Inarritu, del Toro, & Cuaron
Host: Tanner
Freddy's Take: Tanner decided to go off the beaten path and stole three directors on one day. LOL! That's OK though, because that's what we do. We don't really set limits to how we conduct our day and we all know that if one of us wanted to revisit a director it's alright to do so. Exposing each other to what we love or have interest in is a big part of why we do this.
I enjoyed the films from all of these directors that I have seen. Individually, their body of work is impressive, but together, it's a collection of diverse, interesting, and complex film from three men who are among the best in the world at what they do (each has at least one Academy Award for directing). Tanner chose del Toro's "Pans Labyrinth", Cuaron's "Roma" and Inarritu's "Biutiful". All three are excellent choices, but let's face it, could he have gone wrong picking ANY film that one of these gentlemen have directed?
I have watched "Pan's Labyrinth" multiple times and love the rich storytelling. It ties in real events with the fantasy (or is it?) world of a little girl trying to cope with her life being turned upside down. It has the signature creatures that del Toro is famous for, but the story of the girl trying to figure out who to trust and manage her feelings in a situation where she feels (rightfully so) in the way is what stands out to me and keeps me going back to the movie.
"Biutiful" is a movie that I had seen once before and remembered it being gritty and short on being an uplifting film. It sort of reminds me of "Taxi Driver" in that way. Javier Bardem is terrific as a man who can "see" death and suddenly has to come to grips with the imminent reality of his own demise. In a more mainstream film, the main character would have been able to provide his family with the means to carry on and he would know they were OK, but this isn't that movie. Inarittu doesn't let us off the hook, as he keeps Bardems character rooted in his world of hiring cheap labor along with creating and selling bootleg products. He isn't a good man, but he tries to be and it's just not possible to live in that world without things going wrong. Great movie from a director (Inirratu) that has several honest to goodness "great" films in his arsenal such as "The Revenant", "Birdman", and "Babel".
Finally, that brings us to Cuaron's "Roma". I hadn't seen this film and was a little uncertain of what we were getting into as it is basically a "Netflix" movie. I won't sight unseen wave off a Netflix movie again. This was a terrific piece of work, albeit a little strange. It's set in 1070's era Mexico City and is strongly rooted in reality. There is an attempt to get the audience to see the differences in classes from a societal view, but it also does a good job of portraying how class plays a role in how we perceive each other on a personal level, day to day. I highly recommend this one.
Another enjoyable day with my friends watching movies! Thanks Tanner!
Roma
Biutiful
Pan's Labyrinth
Sunday, January 6, 2019
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky
Host: Chris
Freddy's Take: A very roller coaster day. I wasn't familiar with Jodorowsky so I had no idea what to expect. What I found, was that his films were funny, heavy handed, abstract, confusing, visually striking, and thought provoking. The best movie of the three we saw, as far as being a technically sound endeavor was Santa Sangre. The narrative was fairly easy to follow and it was much more of a cohesive piece of work than the other two films, but for some reason I enjoyed it the least. It was an engaging movie, but El Topo and The Holy Mountain were far more interesting to me. They beg to be watched multiple times. The Holy Mountain may well become a "psychedelic" staple for me. I could probably write 1,000 words on those films, but to keep it short, I will say that they expressed ideas about commerce, sexuality, religion, power structures, politics, and human interactions that were complex enough to keep me thinking beyond one scene and into the next. I borrowed the movies from Chris and will be watching them again with the director commentary on to find a better idea of what was trying to be expressed. As with any good art, you should be able to revisit it and gain more understanding and I feel like that's what will happen with this set of movies. Chris brings another challenging, yet very enjoyable director to our attention! Bravo.
Santa Sangre
El Topo
The Holy Mountain
2002 Interview
William Friedkin
William Friedkin
Host: Freddy
Freddy's Take: Friedkin has long been a favorite of mine. It was tough to choose the 3 films I wanted to show Tanner and Chris, but since it was around Halloween when we were doing this, I went with his horror classic and two of his more bizarre films. Yes, it was difficult to not include The French Connection, Sorcerer (very underrated movie from 1977), or To Live & Die in L.A., but what are you gonna do? I count The Exorcist as one of my favorite movies of all-time and watching it with other people is a treat for me. It's aged very well and even though it's so obviously a 1970's movie, it doesn't feel irrelevant or dated. I think that not having CGI and still holding up is a testament to how much work went into its' production. Bug and Killer Joe are both films that weren't quite made for mass consumption. They end on down notes and highlight the worst side of human nature and mental illness. I have had Friedkin in my pocket since we started doing Director Days years ago and finally had to put him out there. I believe that Chris and Tanner also enjoyed the day and if they didn't, I couldn't tell it or they didn't say it. All in all, Friedkin can be an acquired taste simply because of his eclectic nature and how he doesn't always give the audience a satisfying ending and tends to pull out the most raw and even negative aspects of human nature. That's probably part of why I'm intrigued so much by the work that he has done.
The Exorcist
Bug
Killer Joe
William Friedkin on his favorite films.
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