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Random Chatter
From Chicago, this is The Dope Sheet... I'm Adam Kempenaar.
* The complete interview with "Brick" writer director Rian
Johnson will be posted Monday morning (9/4). We only had time for
about 10 minutes on the Chicago Public Radio show, but Rian was so
insightful and fun to talk with that we wanted to make the full 30
minute interview available to you.
* Filmspotting #123 with a review of "The Illusionist," the
Screwball Comedy Marathon Awards, and our Top 5 School Movies will
probably be posted next Thursday morning (9/7) instead of Wednesday
due to the Labor Day holiday throwing off our recording schedule a
bit. Thanks for your patience.
* It's that time again... if you have a second, we'd appreciate
your vote this month
over at PodcastAlley.com.
As always, thanks for your support.
* Last week, Mike Spring from DVD Snapshot
posted this interview with Sam Van and myself.
It covers how the show started, our top 5 lists, marathons and more.
Thanks, Mike!
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Overlooked DVD Pick: Nine Lives
 I'm a sucker for long takes. Almost every Woody Allen film, the
opening shot of "Touch of Evil," the opening shot of "The Player"
that is spoofing "Touch of Evil" ... the skill required to pull the
shots off always impresses me, but I also just enjoy watching actors
follow a beat from start to finish without anyone directing our
attention. "Adam's Rib," last week's Marathon entry, has some
glorious long takes that allow us to just marvel at Spencer Tracy and
Katharine Hepburn. (Don't ask me about the close-up cut to Tracy
crying near the end of the film; it so disappointed me that I've
decided it never really happened.)
I recently caught up with 2005's
"Nine Lives"
from writer/director Rodrigo Garcia and was really blown away by its
use of camera movement. The movie features nine stories about nine
women and utilizes nine unbroken takes (10-12 minutes). Each
"chapter" is one shot, and characters who were the stars of their own
sequences often show up in supporting roles in other stories. What
most fascinated me is that I've always found a certain amount of
tension and suspense in watching a long take because you can't help
but be waiting for the cut -- we've been conditioned by MTV and 70 or
so years of Hollywood cinema. The wonder of "Nine Lives" for me is
that I was never waiting for the cut; in fact, as the sequences went
on, I forgot completely that I was watching one unbroken take. The
fluidity of the steadicam and progression and variety of shots gives
the illusion of a more traditional shooting and editing system. The
camera is rarely stationary and allows Garcia to get close-ups,
medium shots and long shots without needing to cut.
The sequences become one-act plays dealing mainly with how these
characters are held captive by relationships, whether past or
present. Not all of the chapters work, but the ones that do are so
powerful that they more than make up for the less effective scenes. I
was immediately drawn into the anguish of the opening chapter about
Sandra, who is in prison and flips out when she can't talk to her
daughter. Her anger and frustration is a surprise because she has
been so serene up to this point, but we understand it completely when
she explodes. The second chapter with Robin Wright Penn and Jason
Isaacs as former lovers who happen upon each other in a supermarket
was my favorite. Watch Penn's reaction when she spies Isaacs across
the aisle for the first time. There are -- we come to realize -- a
thousand different conflicting thoughts running through her mind. And
she gives them to you -- every one of those thoughts shows up on her
face and in her body language.
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All The Kings Sellouts
As discussed in Filmspotting #122, later this month we'll be
promoting the upcoming film "All The Kings Men" on the show. So far
we haven't had any negative responses to this, but we just want to
make sure everyone is aware of a few things:
* We accepted this promotion because we're genuinely excited
about the movie and have previously discussed how much we are
anticipating it on the show. A couple of months ago we had an
opportunity to promote a movie that we both had no desire to see and
weren't planning to review. We turned down that offer, and we'll
continue to turn down any opportunity that we don't have a genuine
interest in.
* The promotion runs before the movie opens and we are under no
obligation to say anything positive about the film when we do review
it. I hope it would be obvious by now that we would never accept such
terms, but just in case...
As always, we welcome your thoughts. Please feel free to email us
with any concerns and we'll be happy to address them.
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Rejoice, Gymkata Is Coming
Thanks in some part to the voting habits of Filmspotting listeners,
the so-bad-it's-good gem "Gymkata" will be available on DVD in
January. From last week's press release:
"Warner Home Video and Amazon.com have announced the results of
DVD Decision 2006, an online initiative in which movie fans could
vote for 10 obscure films to be released on DVD.
The Illustrated Man, There Was A Crooked Man, Presenting Lily
Mars, Up Periscope and Operation Crossbow will be released Dec. 19
(prebook Nov. 14). The Arrangement, Band of Angels, Gymkata, Looker
and Madame Curie are due Jan. 30 (prebook Dec. 26). Each $19.97 DVD
will contain a re-mastered version of the film and any available
bonus materials."
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Filmspotting on MySpace
After urging by several listeners, Filmspotting finally set up a
MySpace page --
myspace.com/filmspotting.
Feel free to check it out and do whatever it is that you are
supposed to do on MySpace. I'm pretty sure we're not really utilizing
MySpace to its fullest capability, so if any of you are really into
it and have some suggestions, please pass them along.
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