Mostly NP:At the movies

[Thomas Eckhardt]

Dave Monroe wrote:

> Always easier for me to talk movies than to open the
> books, of course, so ...

For me too, but my third copy of COL49 is ordered (I gave away the other two
to friends), so my conscience is clear...

> "... the only real outlaw cinema left is pornography.
> There's nothing left that has not been co-opted and
> any minute it will be co-opted by Hollywood. In the
> next ten years, a major star will cum on film
> probably."

There was a rumor once that Christopher Walken was going to play John Holmes
in a Verhoeven-movie... But generally I doubt that Waters is right.

As for "Baise Moi":

> The sex 'n' violence thing, of course, and the gendering
> thereof.  Interesting, for example, that, any time any
> male character in the film attempted to act out a
> stereotypical, cliched pornographic scene, they killed
> him, and that the only men who were allowed, er,
> visual satifaction were the ones chosen by the two
> women.

Ok. Also, after decades of glorified mindless male violence and James Bond
allowed to effortlessly seduce every girl in sight it was nice to see the
women make the choices and lay down the rules. Still, I prefer "Thelma and
Louise". Something terrible must have happened to Ridley Scott, by the
way...

The new Argento, Sleepless. It is a Giallo. Think of Tenebrae (there is even
a scene consciously alluding to that special moment near the end of Tenebrae
which I still think is the most terrifying visual effect in all of cinema,
and which made the audience audibly gasp and shrink into their seats when I
last saw the movie on the big screen) and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
The music is by Goblin and sounds as if it was composed around 1978, which
is okay by me. The violence is, of course, very graphic. But there are a few
things somebody, preferably a good friend, should tell Mr. Argento:

1) It is 2001, and for Christ's sake, women don't start to cry and shiver
when the lights go out and a cat meouws in the dark (just to give an
example).

2) Dialogues are not his strong suit. He should leave writing them to
somebody else.

Fortunately, Maximilian Schell has a major role. This is an actor who can
speak the most corny of lines and still makes the audience believe every
word he says.

Yes, this is a much better film than The Phantom of the Opera, but this
isn't really an accomplishment. I think I liked The Stendhal Syndrome
better, not to mention the classics. Not a true return to form...

Thomas