a friend (hi murmur!) posted this:
http://flavorwire.com/200745/the-30-harshest-filmmaker-on-filmmaker-insults-in-history
which lead to a ramble-rant i've had many times before bc he comes up so often...
(and yes, i did type this on the durn iPad touch screen, blarh)
I totally agree, Godard is crazy overrated (and yes, of his things Alphaville is sort of ok). I also feel that way about Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino.
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Update: oh my god, that one about Tarantino and baked beans cracked me up. Yes, that exactly.
/
I didn't mind Contempt but didn't see what all the fuss was about, and most stuff with Karina like Alphaville and Anton Le Fou were ok only bc of her, not Godard. Breathless was alright but again, not as incredible as I was lead to expect it would be. I kind of liked 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her but haven't seen in it in over a decade; given my feelings now after seeing more of his stuff I might just find the extremely Frenchy navelgazing supposedly thoughtful musings tiresome. Wha killed Godard forever for me was In Praise Of Love, which I saw in an old downtown theater in college. It was one of the very worst movies I've ever seen and soured me permanently on him. All the criticisms in that post--faux intellectual/counterfeit depth/obsessed with a message whose meaning could fit on a pin head--I agree a billion times over. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so, so mindnumbingly pretentious with the dialogue. Good god. And as proof I CAN love the sort of thing Godard seemed to be trying to do but to me his attempts are a naked emperor deal, I love Eric Rohmer and most of Alain Resnais' stuff to death. I just think Godard is shockingly weak both intellectually and aesthetically/whatever else, film-specifically, and the fact he's the most famous New Wave cinema idol bewilders me.
truth is, i love comparing notes about movies, maybe more than any other medium for some reason. i love the ways in which R and i come together and drift apart on these subjects too. it feels illuminating in ways other topics don't somehow. (R digs Cronenberg, Lynch, and Kubrick best of all; I'm big into Rohmer, Fassbinder, Dreyer, Ozu...and a decade ago it was more like Hartley and Linklater. We have both enjoyed our foray into Oshima's work. R doesn't care for Fassbinder or Costa, sadly, and doesn't seem as into Rohmer at all. He was totally floored by Baraka. Interestingly enough, we both like Cassavetes but for different reasons, and different films even. The Malick I like R doesn't and maybe vice versa. His enjoyment of Malle really really surprised me, and I love that he appreciated Safe when I unveiled it gingerly. He's also liked the Innaritu--sp?--he's seen. I get the impression I love Melville and Renoir more, a lot more. He likes it when shots are technically impressive or hard or unusual and when things unravel into the zany or absurd; I like certain color motifs and moments that are silent and sad in the smallest spaces. We both were moved to silence at The Decalogue. The Up Series is a blast to discuss with him. We both thought as new movies go The Hurt Locker and Winter's Bone were excellent. We both loved No Country for Old Men for the exact same reasons. I still am not quite over his very divergent reading of Let the Right One In. But he did appreciate I'm Not Scared, so yay!)
http://flavorwire.com/200745/the-30-harshest-filmmaker-on-filmmaker-insults-in-history
which lead to a ramble-rant i've had many times before bc he comes up so often...
(and yes, i did type this on the durn iPad touch screen, blarh)
I totally agree, Godard is crazy overrated (and yes, of his things Alphaville is sort of ok). I also feel that way about Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino.
/
Update: oh my god, that one about Tarantino and baked beans cracked me up. Yes, that exactly.
/
I didn't mind Contempt but didn't see what all the fuss was about, and most stuff with Karina like Alphaville and Anton Le Fou were ok only bc of her, not Godard. Breathless was alright but again, not as incredible as I was lead to expect it would be. I kind of liked 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her but haven't seen in it in over a decade; given my feelings now after seeing more of his stuff I might just find the extremely Frenchy navelgazing supposedly thoughtful musings tiresome. Wha killed Godard forever for me was In Praise Of Love, which I saw in an old downtown theater in college. It was one of the very worst movies I've ever seen and soured me permanently on him. All the criticisms in that post--faux intellectual/counterfeit depth/obsessed with a message whose meaning could fit on a pin head--I agree a billion times over. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so, so mindnumbingly pretentious with the dialogue. Good god. And as proof I CAN love the sort of thing Godard seemed to be trying to do but to me his attempts are a naked emperor deal, I love Eric Rohmer and most of Alain Resnais' stuff to death. I just think Godard is shockingly weak both intellectually and aesthetically/whatever else, film-specifically, and the fact he's the most famous New Wave cinema idol bewilders me.
truth is, i love comparing notes about movies, maybe more than any other medium for some reason. i love the ways in which R and i come together and drift apart on these subjects too. it feels illuminating in ways other topics don't somehow. (R digs Cronenberg, Lynch, and Kubrick best of all; I'm big into Rohmer, Fassbinder, Dreyer, Ozu...and a decade ago it was more like Hartley and Linklater. We have both enjoyed our foray into Oshima's work. R doesn't care for Fassbinder or Costa, sadly, and doesn't seem as into Rohmer at all. He was totally floored by Baraka. Interestingly enough, we both like Cassavetes but for different reasons, and different films even. The Malick I like R doesn't and maybe vice versa. His enjoyment of Malle really really surprised me, and I love that he appreciated Safe when I unveiled it gingerly. He's also liked the Innaritu--sp?--he's seen. I get the impression I love Melville and Renoir more, a lot more. He likes it when shots are technically impressive or hard or unusual and when things unravel into the zany or absurd; I like certain color motifs and moments that are silent and sad in the smallest spaces. We both were moved to silence at The Decalogue. The Up Series is a blast to discuss with him. We both thought as new movies go The Hurt Locker and Winter's Bone were excellent. We both loved No Country for Old Men for the exact same reasons. I still am not quite over his very divergent reading of Let the Right One In. But he did appreciate I'm Not Scared, so yay!)