‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: Vanguard of the Revolution’, 2015
DIRECTED, PRODUCED & WRITTEN BY: STANLEY NELSON
A PBS DOCUMENTARY
FILM REVIEW – BY NANCY SMITH, FEB 18, 2016
An amazing archival & living history document, I was lucky enough to catch a PBS screening on my TV yesterday.
All these people I had heard tell about, but never really knew the facts about – came to life with wall-to-wall archival photos. The historical record, fleshed story & behind-the-scenes narratives are provided by a wide array of players – from all sides of the story: from FBI informants to the very compelling first person accounts provided by luminaries such as: KATHLEEN CLEAVER, ERIKA HUGGINS & JAMAL JOSEPH. All three, still very much alive, strong & vital . . . and, who had been there. in person, played a role, & lived through it. how can you beat that ?
so often with these historical PBS documentaries, fascinating as they are, we have only the archival footage, the old sienna, or black & white photos, the strips of journals and scraps of letters. dry, crusty, newspaper clippings – imbedded, colored, intentionally or not, and still interesting, don’t get me wrong – with the ‘bias’ of their times, which is invaluably telling – in its own way.
here, we have the real voices of a remarkable generation – an incredible oral history rolls out, closely following the chronological timeline of the events, and enriching our ‘take’ beyond all hope & imagination. It’s really a remarkable accomplishment. the film has a beautiful cinematic rhythm, too. not too shrill nor militant in tone – but it ‘packs’. the archival footage of then FBI Director J. EDGAR HOOVER – proves our by now, only ‘inherited’ subliminal thoughts on the guy – to be right on. ugly, ugly as sin. secret files, unfair trials, brutality, killings, by outright assassination, or by paper trails, as in no true affordable legal representation, etc. etc. at one point it even drops that even the ‘personal’ security guard with . . was it Fred Hampton or Huey Newton, or both – was a federal agent/informant.
on the other side, although the empowerment was real, and the uniform went a long way towards making the exploitive white folks wake up, and feel threatened, the proud afros, the cinematic black leather jackets, and the ubiquitous guns, was not so much truly terrorist in nature – as it was posing. strutting. these guys weren’t thugs, they were pop cultural visionaries, & as I write that – hope I’m not offending anybody – from the perspective of 2016 – they didn’t bomb schools, derail trains, blow-up suicide, mass machine gun, or poison. they walked their walk, they talked their talk, they strutted their stance. it was a form of power, but it was not terrorist, as we know it. it was militant, it was organized, it had a target, but it was also kind of by and for ‘writers’ – if you know what I mean. Bob Dylan was subversive, too. it was just finally time for a change, and these guys seized it. as far as I could see, they got pretty beat up, too. in the process. it was urban resistance, the militant style was their most potent weapon.
for artists, I think we all love anything ‘archival’ and esp of the photographic record . . one of the inherent visual strengths of the film – is just watching the self-empowerment & pride that glows out from these young strong faces. usually all we get to see in PBS records of the history of the USA . . are the beat-downs, the sadly mis-used & doomed genius musicians, and the true root/giants of our culture . . or the severely kicked-in-the-backside, if not lynched, downtrodden ordinary folk from the Jim Crow era. ok, occasionally we get brilliant film portraits of the modern gifted black women writers, like Zora Neal Huston and Alice Walker. this doc was so much different. you had to wonder, over and over – at the power of the Party, which came, truly – from within.
the other surprising aspect of the film, that will captivate artists is the actual artwork that runs through the film, and even informs the film’s final credits – artwork by EMORY DOUGLAS – the “Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture and chief art director for their newspaper for 12 years.” Today we would call that – an indie zine !! a cross between folk lore, folk art, and mid-century revolutionary art. And lucky for us, as this documentary is made to celebrate the 50th (!!) of the movement – a very youthful and sweet Mr. Emory Douglas is still around and kicking, teaching, and making art . . to tell us his story – in the first person. priceless. I always saw the soulful woodblock print-type art. . on the covers of the books by the black woman writers I so revere, I never knew from where it had sprung, now I do. boy, is his time for global recognition overdue, or what !!
though of course, following the lives and different sets of circumstances of the various leaders, and even the heroic small ‘folks’ who get caught up in the party’s momentum – they all glowed with charisma and down home fire, coming from NYC 2016 – you can’t not appreciate their street style. and smarts. drives. dreams, goals. just such a beautiful, beautiful generation. again, I’m not saying this, to be smart-ass, nor to trivialize their fight, plight, brutalization, tragedy & the crass covert way the American system ‘played’ them, and the so-called ‘democratic’ gov’t failed them. except in New York, bye the way, witness the ultimate freedom of the New York 21.
just put it this way: the white cops, and the white feds look like mad-crazed un-educated nasty, rural dogs. fat, sweaty, mean, ill-clothed, and just so full of fear. such an attractive look, no wonder time is on the Black panther side, you are what you – eat.
there is one other one small slice of cinematic telling included here, that maybe won’t mean much to many, and . . if you blink you’ll miss it, so I’m mentioning it. and that’s the brief alliance of the Black Panther Party . . with THE YOUNG PATRIOTS aka the HILLBILLY NATIONALISTS – the young revolutionary voices that sprung up out of the deep, raw poverty & the outright government abuse of the stubborn & early-rooted Appalachia. if you are into quilts, fiddles, banjos & vintage hand-painted Southern Potteries – Blue Ridge dinnerware, you know what I’m talking about. another folk art rich area of America – that also got really ripped off. American dream, right. I think they were among the first to fight in the Revolutionary War, the Mountain Boys (?), and, the first to be ripped off by the new nation – by GEORGE WASHINGTON, himself, who taxed the hell out of their whiskey & beer industry, even stole the recipe – for his own big money-making use.
so yeah, with all the authentic first-hand accounts, and the glorious, if steely archival clips . . and, ‘clips’, i.e. moving film . . not just still black & white photographs – it’s hard to believe this film comes out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Black Panther Party . . whose full and
official title always was – and is: The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. self-defense being the key phrase.
and, after 9-11-2001, and certainly in light of the recent sad, brutal & shocking events in Paris, and elsewhere & even still here at home in the urban trenches, and it’s not just in the streets, bye the way: why isn’t . . ‘STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON’ up for an Oscar this month, why wasn’t the awesome JAMES BROWN biopic, ‘GET ON UP’ . . sweeping up at last year’s Oscars ?
don’t get me started, but even so . . repeat after 9-11, and on-wards – I think we all should really really think hard, about our ‘domestic’ policing, and I hope we can as a nation, better appreciate . . 50 years on, just how truly revolutionary their stance, their ideology, their intellect, their artistry, their power, their poetry, their militancy, their voice, their struggle . . was.
‘Black Panthers from Sacramento, Free Huey Rally, Bobby Hutton Memorial Park in Oakland, CA, 1969.’
courtesy of PIRKLE JONES & RUTH-MARION BARUCH
photo via: PHOTO GALLERY – THE BLACK PANTHERS.COM
‘THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD of the REVOLUTION’, ARTWORK BY: EMORY DOUGLAS
FILE UNDER: LET’S START – A MASS MEDIA PROTEST.
LENA DUNHAM . . to WRITE & DIRECT THE NEXT STAR WARS, or dump the whole damn project.
PEGGY G. vs DARTH VADER ? PEGGY WINS !!!!!!!!!
‘PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT’ vs ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’ . . . ?
‘PEGGY GUGGENHEIM’ WINS . . . !!
hands down, no contest.
DARTH VADER, oops I mean . . KYLO REN !!!! – LOOK OUT !!!!
PEGGY G. – coming to take you out !!
‘PEGGY GUGGENHEIM: ART ADDICT’, 2015 – directed by LISA IMMORDINO VREELAND, is still playing at the IFC CENTER in Manhattan, albeit at 10:45 am – but, still . . !!
as IF, we don’t know it’s a dumb-ed down world, don’t blink, get out of bed 2 hrs earlier, and go see it.
yeah, it’s great on a big screen – lots & lots of archival footage: JACKSON POLLOCK, MONDRIAN, DUCHAMP – all them forward moving serious art Frenchies, and, then all those bold American dudes. yep. totally fab visuals . . as the art world moves from Paris – to New York !!
and it’s: all because of, thank you – Peggy !!
and of course, the film is . . . !!
also chock-full of the main character, and I do mean CHARACTER, with a capital C, art-seer & patron .. PEGGY GUGGENHEIM, herself.
and, even CARLO McCORMICK – makes several cameos – as a talking head !!
on the other hand, ‘STAR WARS’ put me to sleep, several times, in fact continuously !!
even at the IMAX !!
what a waste of time, and resources. and it made $1 Billion in a record 12 days.
well, that’s the world – we live in. sad. played out. thin & lame. $$$ in all the wrong places.
inter-planetary, NOT.
I think that’s what I missed most in it. something really new, weird and far-out. seriously digital. warped sound waves. twisted time. come on guys, alien life forms are not all going to be anthropomorphic.
if you were a muscle-bound weightlifter, you could maybe squeeze a few drops of original imagination – out of it, maybe enough . . to make one cup of tepid tea.
the only thing I liked, special effects wise, and anything else wise: was the roly-poly 2 balled metallic or was that hard plastic/composite (?) ‘snowman’ robot/droid – that followed the super cute, scavenger class, duh. heroine, around. nothing else is new. oh I forgot – the ‘villain’, KYLO REN aka the new gen Darth Vader – is: new.
but, he sucks. that guy from ‘GIRLS’, sucks. you know, ADAM DRIVER, what a disappointment. scrape it up, off the sidewalk – dude, your character doesn’t even qualify as an alternative new age, mopey brooding Vader.
Brooklyn hipster dude, you shoulda stuck with . . Lena. Adam did better with a naked frumpy Lena – than he does with this good looking chick, any day. no chemistry whatsoever. no balls. no fear. no twists. no terror. no evil. ok he throws Han Solo around. so what, Harrison Ford looked like he was ready, already !! to be cast out of this loser – gimme break. he gets more thrills flying planes in real life.
boo-hoo.
maybe, because . . no script ? no really, and I mean really .. dark holes.
yeah. I vote LENA DUNHAM – to direct, if not write – the next ‘Star Wars’ !!
anybody else – second that emotion ?
on the other hand, ‘PEGGY GUGGENHEIM’ was a low ball production that had it’s weak moments of editing, but overall – absolutely delivered.
and, for god’s sake – don’t judge this film by it’s trailer !!
the worst trailer in the world – and as good an example as any, of how Peggy was demeaned throughout her life.
thank God, she lived to see her singular vision – validated !!
and shame on the filmmakers for releasing such a lame low ball trailer – no wonder the film is screening at 10:45 in the morning.
but PEGGY GUGGENHEIM herself – was huge !!
a huge colorful character. super chic, and modern – before modern was a word, she was a huge huge influence on the art scene – we know and love, even today. and, except for that unfortunate trailer, which just serves to show you – what unkind idiots she was up against – she comes through – loud and clear.
how could she not ?
she left a blazing trail of artists behind her, that never would have stood a chance without her . . just 3 names, among many – should suffice: MARCEL DUCHAMP, JACKSON POLLOCK and MONDRIAN.
some interesting tidbits . . that had particular big sparks for me:
1. haha, her feud with her richer, but dumber art patron uncle, SOLOMON GUGGENHEIM, founder of the Guggenheim Museum, and his arrogant, nasty, snobby, power-stealing, ‘hottie’, maybe mistress – art consultant / curator !!
as if, things have changed !! NOT !!
Peggy has one word for her, besides: “bombshell” – lordy !!
and yeah, they got a clip of her !!
was it: evil ? or simply: “she was a fiend”.
well, Peggy as I said, lived to see – she had had the last word.
how satisfying.
2. the insights into the Guggenheim family & its legacy, in general, but esp her aunt or cousin, who threw her own 2 babies to their death off a roof, rather than give them up in a divorce power play, and was never charged with anything ??!!??
a nice cameo on the social mores of the day. esp of the super upper crust. they, the Guggenheims, went from dirt poor immigrant Lower East Side street cart peddlers to vastly immensely super rich – in one generation, so one can only imagine the DNA in that clan. if you are going to ‘bio-clone’ – you know where to start.
and maybe Peggy was the smartest of the lot, if not the shrewdest !!
3. I loved how people bitch in the film about . . . “how cheap she was” – !!
because she served . . the cheapest low grade food and wine at her parties !!
omg, what losers. and no, again, nothing – has changed.
in the meantime she fronted the considerable dough out of her own pocket – that had several indie galleries, with agendas & curatorial visions way ahead of their time – up and running in Paris, London and then New York, and finally in Venice, without much sales, or income – all of which, literally gave birth to modern art, and all !! on her own dime.
not only that, she single-handedly & in person, in a desperate & dangerous time – moved a lot of this modern art, from Paris, away from the grasp of the Nazis who would surely have destroyed it, and shipped it, covertly – across the Atlantic ocean, for god’s sake !! halfway around the world – to safety, in New York – again, all on her own dime.
not to mention the generous patronage she bestowed, we are talking US $$$, on the ’emerging’ & under-recognized artists, of the time, even bringing many of them, including Duchamp – to New York. in essence saving them. and, all on her own dime.
Jackson Pollock would never have flourished without her financial support.
and then, just ever so casually – towards the end of the film, it is just dropped that she, Peggy G paid a life long patronage grant to DJUANA BARNES !! to keep her alive, and writing her whole life.
are you following me ? Djuana Barnes !!
yeah, PEGGY GUGGENHEIM was cheap. right.
dodos rule the world, and esp the art world – as if anything has changed there.
NOT.
4. the bio behind the brand . . the woman herself.
all the incredible archival photos, film clips & newly surfaced audio-tapes. nothing beats seeing & hearing her in her own voice & words – the real deal . . the real person, behind that art-history-in-the-making.
Peggy comes across as quite funny, vulnerable, brilliantly wry & equally insightful, brave. with a life both tragic, hard-partying, and art loving joyful. she was intellectually inspired, passionate, and sensual – on hyper mode.
moved to action by forces that are hard to explain logistically, but with a . . juiced-up pre-vision, that was/is . . as sure as sure can be.
tell me about – it. second nature, you either have it, or you don’t.
that’s a funny thing about being such a radical pre-thinker, talent scout & patron.
you begin to be perceived as an oddball, an outsider, when really you are the most consummate insider – in the world.
moved by invisible rays . . of knowing.
a water diviner. a juicer. it make take years – for the clear source of that sweet nectar of inspiration – to surface and, finally make its play.
but when your ship comes in, it’s a huge, huge payload.
for all the hardships & name calling, there’s nothing like knowing great art when you are the only one in the room, nothing like buying great art for pennies, and then living long enough to walk around – and point to the now . . million dollar price tags !! which she does in this film, and yes, she utters many a “damn I shouldn’t have sold that” under her breath !!
but, she always knew it. that’s the great beauty of her . . eccentricity. her edge.
the only thing she regrets – at the end of her long life, is that with age – she ran out of lovers !!
and the worst trailer in the world – is:
but, still fun to watch !!
YES: “art & sex occupied the same part of her brain”, lol . . . . tell me about it. the ultimate rush.
especially crushin’ on new art, omg. it is hard to tell the diff, except as you get older, the underground just keeps turning over a new wave of eternally twenty-somethings. yo, Peggy – ain’t that the truth. catching the wave, is how we like – to call it.
YES: she created an art collection on just $40,000 . . . “now worth billions” ~ Larry Gagosian !!
YES: she met “JACKSON POLLOCK when he was just a carpenter .. working in her uncle’s museum . . . !!
all ye art handlers, and, yep – I could name a few !! take heart.
BB-8 …. the only star in ‘STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’, and not so much for anything he does, just for his shape & the way he moves. esp that disconnected . . head !!
nice graphics, nice colors, nice surface fades, too. all good. good stencil work. good proportions, minimal, hard core, scratched. weathered. believable. functional.
imagination-rollin’ – in a word.
‘JOEY’ – BOOKLET LAUNCH
SAT DEC 12, 2015 / 1 -3 PM
OUTSIDE of 34th STREET – HUDSON YARDS – 7 TRAIN STATION
SOUTH SIDE of 34th STREET – BTWN 10th & 11th AVENUES
screengrab: from ‘JOEY’, A SHORT FILM, 2:35 MINS. – by SEAN VEGEZZI
‘AMY’, (2015) – a film by ASIF KAPADIA
FILM REVIEW by NANCY SMITH, AUGUST 4, 2015
yep, we DO eat our young.
AMY WINEHOUSE – A YOUNG TEEN ON SUMMER VACATION.
IMAGE VIA @amy_filmuk
AMY. a young teen on vacation, much as many of you are. talented. and with dreams as big and, as unknown – as that big summer sky.
no, no, no. it’s not just a “sad and depressing” story. it’s a powerful, fascinating document – an epic film painting a vivid, living 3-D portrait of an epic talent, an astonishing voice, an astonishing song writer, and an astonishing personality. Now playing to packed houses, at the Sunshine theater on Houston St. in NYC. and for good reason – it’s a powerful, powerful, soulful film composed entirely of archival footage, and the voices of the people who knew her, and above all . . her voice, dark and dusky, illuminating her shadowy lyrics, and her life. and all, up front, up close, and in the first person personal . . early home movie clips, archival media interviews, recording sessions, and performances. and, above all – her music, her big voice, her phrasing, her song writing – all deeply black magic – and absolutely hypnotizing . . on the soundtrack.
the first few frames of the films trailer summation-capture it all in a couple of e seconds: back to bbbblack. the brilliant musicality that rolls right out of her, like water off a duck’s back. natural talent – if you need a definition. that’s Amy.
I knew her dad was an ass-hole, and that he left the family when she was 9 years old, but in this film he actually says he ‘left’ the family way before that. he fell in love with another woman when Amy was at the ripe old age of 18 months, but he didn’t have the guts to leave until she was 9. so tell me why she keep saying “he was never there”, even when he was “there”.
tell me, we don’t eat our young. and of course the most talented, the most rare, the most brilliant are going to be – the most tragic victims.
no wonder evolution has us so dumbed-down, we can’t manage to parent the naturally numb-ed ones, let alone the ones that shine and . . divine, like the natural-born stars they are.
natural-born stars vs. natural born killers ?
I hate to say who wins the equation on this specific playing field.
actually. there is ONE SPECTACULAR art event happening in NYC, and that’s this film about the take-over of the legendary House of Dior – by RAF SIMONS. an absolutely superlative effort – on all levels, which makes it an artist’s film – no matter what your genre or field. or interest in haute fashion, for that matter. it’s about the creative process, the vision, the drive, co-ordinating teams of SKILLED ARTISANS, making the media buzz, keeping your backers happy, in a word: making the big dream – happen !!
but beyond that general creative endorsement, it is also a film about art, how art . . ‘travels’. just as we might peruse the tabloids or the fashions pages for a mental break, RAF looks to art to get his juices flowing. his 3 favorite artists at the time of this film: STERLING RUBY, GERHARD RICHTER,and JEFF KOONS.
RAF takes the time to introduce us to the drip paintings of GERHARD RICHTER, and more intensely to the recent spray paint on big canvas, all-over almost monochrome, very very moody, stormy ‘fields’ of STERLING RUBY, which he right then and there decides to custom create as a fabric for some of his floaty, but reined-in ballgowns for this his first Dior showing. and he’s got like 8 weeks to pull it all together !!
so we get to see the Sterling Ruby inspiration, hitting his mindset like a lightning bolt. we get to witness a big creative leap of faith. a big big leap of faith, and we become part of the background pressure put upon the atelier, the artisans, mostly women in white lab coats – who have to make the idea come to life, have to make the Sterling Rubies transition from painted canvas to printed fabric, and yes – they come out fab. everyone is surprised and pleased.
the Jeff Koons – connection ?
all Raf does, is talk talk talk about the JEFF KOONS flower puppy – pronouncing it “POP-IE” really really fast, so cute. “have we seen it” . . yes we have !! (in photos)
then when he is flown over to see M. Dior’s fab fab old school estate, he sees the gorgeous flower gardens and he decides that, with that in mind – and the Jeff Koons “POP-IE” he is going to rent a huge old mansion and fill it with solid walls of fresh blooms, for the runway show – and yes he does. He must emptied out flower markets all over Europe, let alone France. spectacular. gorgeous, oh my god.
so anyways, if you know your art 101 – you know PETER BRANT owns this flower puppy and he has it displayed on the grounds of his home / foundation in Connecticut. I read online he spends $75,000 a year to maintain it and keep it blooming with live flowers. imagine if he lived in LA ?
he’d have to have it covered in horny succulents !!
so, who do I see in line to see the next showing of ‘DIOR and I’ just as I was leaving ?
PETER BRANT !!!
no joke.
how fun.
I couldn’t help wondering how cool it must be to watch the movie and know you owned that piece – amazing.
just ask him, if you happen to see him, out and about. he saw me. I was going to take out my camera and get in his face – but I just really really didn’t want to break the spell of a . . magic NYC moment.
SO: is this the year of the biopic – or what ?
selfie x selfie x selfie x caricature – in cinematic terms ?
‘Big Eyes’, ‘Get On Up’ – JAMES BROWN, ‘American Sniper’, and supposedly the big daddy art biopic of them all: ‘Mr. Turner’ – all tell stories of real people, and in close-up, intimate range.
I mean even ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ . . is a biopic !!
it’s actually, format-wise . . even more truly a ‘selfie’ then the others – as it’s told from a first person point of view – a recollection. and in a funny twist, although it is FICTIONAL, it is re-creating the storytelling voice of: STEFAN ZWEIG, so, go figure.
ps: in a gorgeous snarky aside, didn’t you just love how the lawyer, a superb JEFF GOLDBLUM, got his 4 fingers chopped off !!
ok. yeah I saw the ‘Nanny Photographer’, too. it’s a true biopic, in that it is a doc after the fact, cobbled together after her death – and I guess then that should be included, it’s actually up for an award !!
maybe more on that – next. it was kind of wimpy.
only in a slow week in the art scene, would it even score a mention.
SO: geez, apparently NOT all OLD WHITE MEN are old fogie geezers.
3 cheers for CLINT EASTWOOD for holding down the fort – of cinematic brilliance on EVERY FRONT.
3 cheers for the REAL MR. TURNER, you old horny hobbit – please stand up !!
what a character !!
but seriously, details aside – the film is way too slow, worse than watching a pot of water come to a boil. moves at what they used to call a ‘glacial’ pace, but now up-dated to .. slower than watching the glaciers recede via global warming.
SO: obviously, not that much exciting is happening in the art world, to report upon this week . . .
but the big screen, and even the little screen (TV) are super super HOT !!
where biopics, stretched to include fictional bio-dramas, bio-novel adaptions, as well as real life action – are too numerous to list, but you know them, including ‘Girls’ – a true ‘selfie’ (!!) and ‘Olive Ketteridge’, moving thru ‘Homeland’ and onto ‘Sons of Anarchy’, ‘House of Cards’, etc etc. all these intense bio portrayals are the plats de jours, and all kinds of TV/CABLE series based on vivid characterizations, (as opposed to rom-coms) – are just absolutely . . on FIRE.
I don’t care what anybody says, including the so-called hip of the hippest, who are really just too cool for school, and very lame attention-needers – ROLLING STONE, that means you !!
BRADLEY COOPER inhabits that ‘military artisan’ – sniper, sharpshooter, or marksman, no matter how you want to call it, like he is out of his body and burrowed deep into the real life CHRIS KYLE that the film is based on, and yes, he does deserve an Oscar for Best Actor.
yes. military ‘artisan’, just as surely as there is a BROOKLYN REVIVAL 21st CENTURY – on all things craft and ‘artisan’ – this film is so on point, being a conscious focus on the individual talent and determination involved in being an ace sharpshooter. it is most definite about being being hands-on, ‘skilled’ as in hand-made . . . as opposed to being about a non-human heat-seeking digitally navigated drone/missile.
the focus, skills, the beauty & tragedy of that deployment in action – is captured in an intense, narrowly focused sweep of a life story .. by director CLINT EASTWOOD, as in no other war movie before. American markmanship has a very proud history, going back to the days of the American Revolution, where if you pay even the slightest attention to the re-creation dramas on TV (!!) – these lone snipers, homegrown backwoods boys skilled enough to stand above, or rather apart from the rest of the pack – as to surface in history by name, were key battle game changers. Mr. Eastwood has just brought the arc – up to update.
it’s very Americana. profoundly Americana.
young American snipers picked off the British officers, who were used to being able to parade around on their horses – previously a big no no, and strictly off-limits according to the rules of old world warfare, too bad. talk about early American fighting spirit, and . . know-how.
oh lordy, yes I was happy to see this film, it was fascinating and a brilliant portrayal – but friggin – deadly SLOW. talk about a sniper, this film needs a sharpshooter of an film editor – to take it back back to the cutting room, and trim like 1 frame out of every 11 – out.
it reminds me of TIM BURTON’S woeful, but could-have-been, ‘BIG EYES’ – in that the film loses creative steam – to a technical ‘glitch’ . . as opposed to a weak storyline.
in ‘BIG EYES’ – the 2 leading actors, CHRISTOPH WALTZ and AMY ADAMS never get on the same page, and this eventually just shuts the whole film down – and brings the entire enterprise to a complete stop. in ‘Mr. Turner’ so much of the film is wonderful and brilliant: the cinematography, the story-telling, the tale itself, the acting is superb across the board – but the film is so slow – as to kill any possibility of real success. even I, dedicated art world wonderer, and a big movie fan – was left crawling up the walls, as it went on and on and no. grunts and groans, and all. I literally felt like a pre-schooler forced to take a ‘nap’, when your blood is racing and all you want to do is run amuck, and fling your arms out to life. I was literally hanging onto the almost empty theater chair in front of me – for dear life, I was so awash in impatience, absolutely, physically stultified by the glacially, and overwhelming boring pace.
yep, that bad.
I mean unlike ‘BIG EYES’ in which the horribly mis-matched character acting is imbedded through-out the film, this film could possibly be saved – if they just had the GUTS to go back and do one hell of a re-edit !! they don’t have to change anything about how the story unfolds, they just need to sharpen up the pace of the telling, and I don’t mean delete all those great groans and grunts – but man, get it moving.
I wonder if they would have the guts to do that ?
I wonder if a film has ever yet been pulled from circulation – and made better, edited to run swifter – with the material already in hand ?
too bad. because it’s quite a curious character brought to life, and in a most marvelous way, so curious. so Brit, in a nutshell: such a ‘Hobbit’ meets BEATRIX POTTER . . kind-of-way.
omg, do you remember TIMOTHY SPALL – in ‘HARRY POTTER and THE GOBLET OF FIRE’ – enough said.
I guess there was a reason HARRY POTTER, had that last name (Beatrix Potter ).
but back to Mr. Turner, I wish I could say it was just as delightful as those Harry Potter films.
I mean, PLEASE don’t take out all those long scenes, and silent landscapes, all the long silences and esp all those groans, and grunts. but you know, pick and choose your battles – otherwise this very fine effort – is doomed to the dustbin.
if you can sit through it, maybe it would work broken down into smaller pieces and serialized on TV !! it is a rewarding and full of brilliance cinematic journey, with piquant, insightful moments and rich with vivid cameos. it actually, unlike ‘BIG EYES’, but on a par with ‘American Sniper’ – unfolds as very real, very authentic, but still even so, reverberates: very c-u-r-i-o-u-s.
I can’t say, ‘curious’ enough. even though Mr. Turner seemingly was very successful and in fact a celebrity in his own lifetime – what a curious, horny little hobbit.
how he ever got past his natural-born – ‘outsiderness’ – is a mystery not addressed by the film, apparently he was part of the academy, the film only traces the last 25 years of his life – til his death at 76 in 1851. I guess in his youth, he was just that great a virtuosity. but the movie seems to imply that his curious stature and resultant ornery anti-social stance, finally caught up with him, and when he really let loose and let his creativity – fly, social walls closed down on him, except for his curious love life ?
that opening scene with the windmills, shown in the screen grab above – is the absolute most beautiful cinematic moment put to screen. don’t clip that. it’s fine, it’s more than fine – it’s a glory to behold.
the painting ‘technique’ shots, esp his inserting that red buoy by hand and dirty fingernail, into a finished canvas at an academy exhibition – all ring true.
omg, his hobbity sex life – is a full-blown capture: a riot of soulful passion and upfront grunting ribaldry, without any trace of humor !! the scenes with his slightly not-all-there housekeeper are the best road bumps the movie delivers, and unlike everything else in this movie – move on way too quickly.
the interludes at the academy, likewise are fascinating, Turner vs Constable !! particularly noteworthy – are the bits with the inter-generational painters, painters of all ages and stages . . showing up to the lectures !!
likewise the JOHN RUSKIN cameos are a real sweet spot, too. so swift and telling, and unlike most everything else in this grand film – so swift and good – in the movie telling !! so I’ve been rambling on, so much – I hope I’ve lost half my readers so I can insert this . .
OMG. whoever knows NICHOLAS STEINDORF, a young painter on the scene, that I follow on artlovers, don’t you agree . . ?!!
you know, NICHOLAS STEINDORF vs ANDY WARHOL, that same young painter/digital video artist . . . who took us on that spirited, but well-curated trek through the GREENPOINT STUDIO ART TOUR last Spring.
well, tell me that one of those two young, intense 20-something artists, specifically the one with the long hair and ‘German’ demeanor, in the stuttering JOHN RUSKIN salon – isn’t a dead ringer for Nicholas !!!
haha, a little bird told me Nicholas had just as hard a time sitting through the movie, as I did.
the friend I went with it – actually fell sound asleep. like being lulled to your death, if death could only be so kind.
yeah, that bad.
damn it – do a re-edit !!
don’t they have ‘test’ audiences in Europe ?
MR. TURNER vs MR BROWN, as in . . JAMES BROWN ?!!
now, that’s a funny thought !!
apparently even funny little hobbits can find their – groupies.
why aren’t CHADWICK BOSEMAN and BRANDON SMITH . . . strutting their stuff at the awards shows – this season ?!!!
except for the one lone lame performance – DAN AYKROYD, dialing it in, or on delusion tablets . . and the one white guy in the film, wouldn’t you just know . . trying to play an ole school music biz agent – his performance never even hits barely acceptable, you cringe in embarrassment every time he gets screen time, yes THAT BAD !!
but otherwise – ‘GET ON UP’ – is on high gear . . 100%.
CHAD BOSEMAN and BRANDON SMITH totally inhabit their roles with astounding abandon and sheer absolute talent.
as a portrait of a real life artist – whose roots stretched back to dark deep south gospel, whose music shook the world and whose business smarts were just as astute – ‘Mr. BROWN’ to all, harsh twists and sad turns and all – can’t be beat.
it makes me truly .. . ‘jump salty’.
huge omission – terrible snub. a sorry situation . . beyond the beyond of any reason, just a bunch of old white geezers way past their expiry dates – blowin’ it for everybody else.
SO: what a great expression: JUMP SALTY . . meaning “to become suddenly angry”.
Salty old sea salt – started off as term for those tough old birds that lived their lives on the salty, briny sea, but then in 1930 the African American streetwise wise-guys played a neat twist on the word – and came up with: JUMP SALTY !!
damn, wouldn’t you know it. jump and salty – crazy brilliant.
I know all this cool salty stuff – because the mighty straight-talking word master . . BEN ZIMMER wrote a wonderful essay on ‘SALTY’ (and @blacklivesmatter !!), its usage and roots – in the WALL STREET JOURNAL, this past Sat JAN 17, 2015.
the film’s somewhat wimpy edit, going for the dumbed-down mainstream but still pumping terrific music – TRAILER . . . comes across slightly soft, as in leaning towards OPRAH W and ‘THE HELP’ – as opposed to as downright SALTY !! the film is in its entirety. but this is movie is no ‘THE HELP’ – and in fact, #blacklivesmatter . . where is the brilliant ‘GET ON UP’ – director . . TATE TAYLOR in the awards action, either ?
ok, so he did in fact direct ‘THE HELP’, but trust me he crossed the hyper-vivid color line with this one. guess they should have circulated more press photos of TATE TAYLOR . . arm-in-arm with MICK JAGGER ?
screenshot from the trailer, the sequence shot in the early deep south gospel church was . . transfigurative. wow, TATE TAYLOR really gives you a vivid peep through that . . strange powerful window.
BRANDON SMITH – as LITTLE RICHARD. I could play that priceless cameo in my head til my dying days. hold onto that crazy thought !!
CHADWICK BOSEMAN does not just bring the real Mr. JAMES BROWN to life, he is the real – Mr. Brown, to you !!
there is no stopping this guy.
on Oscars night, people should just flood their screens with this movie, in protest.
radiant, illuminating, and . . salty !!
almost to the point of religious . . ecstasy.
yeah, that BEAUTIFUL, that rockin’.
except for DAN AYKROYD. like I said, MICK JAGGER – wtf ?
locked into a contract ?
the JAMES BROWN, bio flick – ‘GET ON UP’ – wins hands down, no contest.
so does . . ‘THE DROP’ and of course, WES ANDERSON’S ‘THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL’ – is the loveliest of – them ALL !! !!
TIM BURTON . . at an advance screening of ‘BIG EYES’, DEC 13, 2014, NYC.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
‘BIG EYES’ – BIG FLOP.
of course, I was intrigued & happy to see ‘BIG EYES’. it’s a fascinating true-life story of deception, outsize egos, borderline autistics, gender domination, troubled marriages, an outsize con artist, brilliant showmanship, and last – but not least .. intellectual property theft (don’t get me started – photo copyright theft being one of my biggest issues & personal thorns), and most curious above all, and the least addressed aspect of the whole film & accompanying ka-babble – how and why – those previously reviled & spit upon, demeaned by the mainstream art world, kitschy BIG EYED WAIFS BY KEANE – so loved by the unwashed art masses – have not only prevailed, and need to be re-defined in art’s canon, finally endured to go on and worm their way into pop culture, big time. esp in the fields of animation, cartoon art and of course: Japanese anime. not to mention popping up the colorful trendy, wrapping paper I got on one of my Xmas presents this year !! (and, inside a book on quilts !!)
if you want to define ‘Post-Internet art’ .. look no further.
yes, the film is drenched in Panoramic retro-color, but when you come out in the same year as the most magical & brilliant, talented and gifted retro-color ‘THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL’ – if your storyline can’t sweep the cinematography off it’s feet – you’re looking like a mighty big loser.
and it’s not just the lame storyline, because there is a great great story to be told here, it all comes down to the clunker-of-junker of Mr. Burton’s directing, where one has to ask, new young blonde personal assistant “mid-life crisis” flame, and all – was his mind just not on the ball ?
could there be a worse match-up in movie heaven than AMY ADAMS and CHRISTOPHE WALTZ ? nobody in the world is going to disagree with me. CHRISTOPH WALTZ and AMY ADAMS were never, ever on the same page. acting-wise. even MR. BURTON referenced this, as if to, or probably . . hoping to ‘pre-empt’ the obvious – in fact it was the first thing out of his mouth: “was CHRISTOPH TOO OVER-THE TOP ?” – and then he shrugged his shoulders. no going back now, and the thing is, when you saw archival pix of the REAL IMPOSTER ARTIST/SHOWMAN WALTER KEANE running alongside the final credits . . . . he did look over-the-top, so was it AMY ?
let’s put it this way – she did a great impression of MERYL STREEP with a retro blonde haircut & make-up . .
there was absolutely no extra-terrestial radiance, no inner illumination of the real please stand-up MARGARET KEANE, in the building. nobody home. Elvis, I mean Margaret had not just left the building, she had never even knocked on the door. and god I so loved AMY . . in ‘AMERICAN HUSTLE’, so god of the movies – please forgive me.
you just could not fall into the movie – there was no getting past the cinematic conflict on screen – between the acting styles of these two. there was no chemistry, there were no sparks of life beyond these facade, Christph and Amy going through their retro masquerade at different speeds. a career downer for both, I think the blame has to fall with Mr. Burton ?
an Indie classic – no. nope. no way. but a fascinating art story – almost got told.
which is pretty is all pretty strange. Mr. Burton supposed to be such a brilliant director and all. great story and all. All I can say is the minute Mr. Waltz showed his face on the big screen – the whole theater burst out laughing out loud. we wanted Christopher to take wings and F-L-Y !! but it was all down hill from there., he never settled into the role. except maybe the ‘BIG LIGHT BULB GOING OFF IN HIS HEAD’ scene when he realizes, aha: the common masses of adoring fans who love the ‘BIG EYES’ paintings, but don’t have a dime to their names to buy an original canvas, can easily scrap together a buck, and buy a print. yep, everybody laughed the minute Christophe showed his face – it’s pretty damn basic obvious, a director either has to channel that huge great energy, or lose it. Mr. Burton lost it.
let’s face it when the 2 minute cameo of those 2 Hawaiian Jehovah Witnesses – are the most right on moments in a trumped-folly, you know ‘TWIN PEAKS’, ‘BLUE VELVET’ . . this is – NOT.
as for everybody saying Amy was so great.
all I can say is: go see ‘GET ON UP’ the radiant and illuminating film / story of the great JAMES BROWN. if you want to see great, cinematic character brought-to-life, a brilliant unfolding – this is your baby.
so, why is CHADWICK BOSEMAN- who plays, inhabits, projects with authenticity and verve .. the late great JAMES BROWN – not up for an OSCAR ?
shame shame shame on Hollywoood, and here they are all lamenting how racially un-diverse the Oscars are this year. and the most brilliant performance of the year – was right in front of their very noses. executive produced by MICK JAGGER, no less.
must be all those old foggies still creaking & creeping around. not quite behind the ball anymore, but well enough to drop a bad ballot or two. we have the same problem in the art world, so tell me about it.
I mean, not only was CHADWICK BOSEMAN a-l-i-v-e and truly James Brown kicking, but even in the short span of the movie we got an incredible insight into his darker sides, his complexity and ego tripping, as well as a deep understanding of where his music sprang from, a real nice cameo of deep South balck magic . . gospel church-going . . and a great great musical history picking up the trail, with a nice side dish of the nascent civil rights struggle going on in the background. we got to understand a compicated talented artist – in way that sad AMY with her hairdo never sparked for Margaret. and funny come to think of it, on eof th things that set JAMES BROWN apart – was just like WALTER KEANE, his innate flair for self-promotion & management. and, he JAMES, also had a dark twisty nasty side !!
throwing the whole thing off-the-charts to infinite greatness . . was the small (screen-time wise) but ultra-brilliant & way-inspired performance of a truly gifted . . BRANDON SMITH as LITTLE RICHARD !!
oh my god, and I thought I was a touched-in-the-head tarot card reader !!
ya gotta go see it.
the only flaw in the entire production was the way-off-his-mark, DAN AYKROYD as James’ real-life old-school Jew of an agent. what ?
MICK !! wtf – you can come up with a full roster of talented black artists, every which way and back and forth, including the gorgeous women in Mr. Brown’s life – but you can’t cast a decent old-school music talent agent ? Hollywood used to be full of them. guess they are all too busy being old foggies, bad voting, and apparently . . going extinct.
talking about which, going e-x-t-i-n-c-t . .
the real MARGARET KEANE is still alive and kicking. damn yes, that is her in the first moments of the film, sitting on a park bench in the very San Francisco park where Amy meets Christoph as Walter at a street art fair – where Margaret is trying to sell her big-eyed ‘selfie’ portrait/caricatures to ‘tourists’ !! she, the real Margaret Keane such a compeeling, poise I got distracted right away -who is that woman. then you see the archival photos and slips of ‘history’ trail past at the closing credits and you realize it was . . her.
tuns out Tim Burton actually knows her pretty well, and commissioned some paintings from her decades ago !!
damn damn damn in a world of increasing stupid-o . . can somebody please go and interview her & film her and let her for ONCE AND ALL – HAVE HER OWN REAL VOICE !! she’s old, but she’s got great posture, great spine and I bet the mystery of those haunting BIG EYES . . will slowly come forward if she can just speak for herself.
boy, talk about doomed, bad karma – what did this poor woman do in a past lifetime – that nobody lets her tell her OWN story !!
I mean, we can’t wait forever, or are we doomed to end up with a “NANNY PHOTOGRAPHER” – TAKE TWO ?!!
I mean it is kind of rich that NEW YORK TIMES CRITIC – JOHN CANNADAY couldn’t call it, no surprise there. . . what incredible, magical ‘legs’ those KEANE ‘BIG EYE’ have had. how interesting that her naive outsider ‘cartoon art’ – her ‘lost’ waifs live on. and on, and on. and how interesting the roll of her husband in their marketing, mass appeal, branding and almost damning promotion.
oh lordy, how the outsiders always come in from behind – to win the day.
I wonder if that’s what the art critics of his day thought of VINCENT VAN GOGH, or EDVARD MUNCH’S – THE SCREAM ? both very cartoon, comic book like. and of course that was the game. trashed by the pros, but living the afterlife – big time.
which brings us to ‘THE DROP’ – if you want to see just how badly MR. BURTON dropped the ball re a small ensemble film – beyond a bio pic like ‘GET ON UP’, go see ‘THE DROP’ – totally fell through the cracks – but bet it’s going to have a great long life, ‘legs’ !! on the small screen in your house.
and, if you want to see how just much magic and creative thinking-beyond-the-box was missing from ‘BIG EYES’ – well you know, a night at the ‘THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL’ – is just what the doctor ordered !!
should I start doing my hair up like TILDA SWINTON’S – or what ?!!!
don’t you just love when RALPH FIENNES says old people just have .. so much FLAVOR !!
ok, let’s be clear. I can say that – because I’M NOT . . . THAT – OLD.
but my god-given hair . . sure could rock like that.
somehow, apparently I too am doomed to be an outsider, no matter what.
artlovers, and all.
maybe there’s no (artistic) gain – without the (borderline autistic / social) pain.
MARGARET KEANE, THE NANNY PHOTOGRAPHER, and me. great. just great.
Tilda Swinton, move over !!
since it looks to be we are all stuck inside . . polar vortexing, today !!
not to worry . . boredom, NOT !!
JOSH HARRIS . . has sent in a link to the long lost, ORIGINAL !! MUCHO RAW !! & UNCENSORED !! . . ROUGH CUT of . . . ‘QUIET’
. . . as in, ‘QUIET’ – ‘WE ARE ALL WATCHING’ !!
the $1 MILLION DOLLAR+ MILLENNIUM NEW YEAR’S EVE / YEAR 2000 – 2 WEEK ART PARTY – that shook downtown New York City to the rafters, and whose live streaming 24/7 surveillance videos . . became the basis for ONDI TIMONER’S . . SUNDANCE AWARD WINNING . . ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, (2009).
SO, HEADS UP, 15 WARREN STREET, haha. if you think you were . . WILD !!
this was . . INSANE, CRAZY, and completely – OFF THE WALL !!
and held in, yes . . 2 warehouse/abandoned storefronts in . . . TRIBECA !!
you guys came after . . 9-11 – we called it !!
so, new wave / new gen . . 15 WARREN STREET, meet . . your predecessor, your brother from another mother !!
the NEW YEAR’S ART PAR-TAY . . . to end all art parties.
so, hold onto your hats. cause, hello . . ‘WOLF ON WALL STREET’ – !!!!!!
meets . . the REAL !! DOWNTOWN art scene !!! NYC. JAN 1, 2000.
talk about: climbing high & dangerous places . . !!!
here’s a few key players, who pop up . . in the first 10 seconds of the raw footage:
MARK ENGER . . the incredibly talented, incredibly messed-up, original redneck cowboy, army brat, artist, and master silkscreener . . . co-founder of EXPLODING SKY WORLDWIDE, and now . . dead.
YOURS TRULY !!
yep, me . . NANCY SMITH. aka artloversnewyork.
hardcore downtown artist, quilt repairer/consultant & ‘art world groover’ . . . to JOSH HARRIS, and yes, damn it . . . he paid well !!
and well, damn it . . YES !!
I’m still terrorizing the mainstream art world !!
and, calling the . . shots & the REAL TALENT !!!!!!!!!
so, boo-ya !! all ya wannabes, fakes & posers !!
JOSH HARRIS. the head honcho.
CEO. and .. not to forget: LUVVY !! / the CLOWN – or, how to put it ?
the art world’s ‘WOLF’ . . before there was … a ‘WOLF ON WALL STREET’ – ?!! JOSH HARRIS, mad brilliant . .
Internet guru, futurist . . and well, GENIUS !! ARTIST !! VISIONARY !!
who funded !! & founded !! it all . . and, set it all in motion.
just as SEAN VEGEZZI . . is a (far-out) ‘product’ of his unique time . . and place.
so was JOSH.
JOSH HARRIS . . left sunny U CAL in the mid 90s . . and came to NYC with only a second-hand car, and big dreams. he promptly sold the car for $750 . . and, with that small seed of dough – he started JUPITER.COM – the very first internet web trend tracking company – which he then promptly flipped, as they say: IPO’D !! . . for $81+ million dollars.
so yes. he was . . a mad crazy 90s dot.com CEO, for real.
and so – yes, ‘WOLF ON WALL STREET’ drugs, sex and $$ collides . . with the hardcore art scene, NYC style !! it was . . the dot.com era.
ok. maybe not quite as much .. drugs. but almost. but def, more ART !!
so, yeah. this is . . the stuff of legends. he is also know as the ‘Andy Warhol of the web’, and the ‘father’ . . of social working, by the way.
(just saying. google: ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – the movie)
he, JOSH . . then pumped all that money, $81 million !! o.k. he bought a few antique quilts along the way (!!) . . into PSEUDO.COM.
OMG — Pseudo.com !!
live streaming video, comedy, culture, gaming, hip hop & soft porn, of course !! while most people were still on dial-up, if that !!
and the rest . .
‘NEBRASKA’ – a film by ALEXANDER PAYNE. WRITTEN BY BOB NELSON. MUSIC BY MARK ORTON.
is . . an artists’ movie, no doubt about it.
made by artists: storytellers, cinematographers, musicians, prop guys .. who pretty much followed their inner guts . . and kept it, real.
to be viewed by artists.
esp those who live in big cities, far from the sparsely populated and old-school American prairie homeland, or heartland .. as is called, and with good reason.
this low profile, small budget .. yet sweeping American panorama will be viewed by artists, of all genres . . with profound appreciation, as the simple but compelling story unfolds across a wide screen of stark, yet absolutely picturesque, black and white midwest landscape.
the raw-feeling footage was shoot across 4 states.
BRUCE DERN, 77, won BEST ACTOR at CANNES for his work in this film. it’s a beautiful multi-layered performance that is so nuanced with ‘cluelessness’ . . it’s scary.
WILL FORTE carries off the role of the son perfectly. it’s his ultimate ‘kindness’ to his aging dad, who apparently hadn’t been that kind or good to him in childhood .. that is the redeeming factor of this movie, and the ‘key’ on which it all turns.
as the younger son, he could have been, well . . judgmental. impatient. all the way to .. blaming his alcoholic, unambitious ‘bit of a loser’, not much of a dreamer, either .. dad for his already washed-up going nowhere existence . . I dunno maybe that’s just a New York thing ?
but instead . . he rises to the reality of life’s ‘last call’, with tenderness, patience and no .. belittling.
an absolutely riveting low fi character ‘capture’.
the only, very small flaw that caught my attention was the portrayal of the dad, Woody’s .. long suffering wife, Kate Grant, as played by JUNE SQUIBB. she almost almost nails it, but seems too ‘happy’. too happy to have landed the plum gig of her life, out of nowhere. and at this age.
we don’t totally fall into the depth of her being, as we do with father and son.
I’m thinking she should have been a touch more tired, a touch more bitter, a touch more ‘angry’. a touch more in touch with the dialog. it’s not so much that she should be a ‘shrew’, as just more disappointed. and well, fed up. though I did love her screwball moments exposing the underside of small town sex life.
too much info, mom !!
watch out my young ‘uns.
as your baby boomer parents head into their last chapter . . you could do well to watch this, and prepare yourselves . . for what’s ahead !!
more than anything, BRUCE DERN as WOODY GRANT reminded me of . . DAN ASHER.
same mannerisms. same not . . ‘getting it’.
and, that’s exactly how Dan dressed too, even to the glass frames.
same rumpled plaid shirt, same jacket. same physical build. walk.
same everything. except for the wife and kids, of course.
and, not even close to 77 .. of course.
DAN ASHER. a brilliant, quirky, real-life character on the NYC art scene going back to the 80s, who had had some success, but ultimately considered himself a failure . . career-wise. there was no ‘air’ left to breathe, for the rest of us when Jean Michel’s concurrent star ascended and fell.
that was DAN, cantankerous, and stubborn. frustrated by life and where it took him.
the most telling moment, and a wonderful testament to a great fiction portrayal by an actor in any film .. ever, takes place in this bar. when some big mouth from Woody’s past, spills a few too many beans, to his son, also played almost musically, it’s so pitch perfect a performance by WILL FORTE.
it’s the scene where the son, David Grant learns he almost was .. well, NOT.
that his dad Woody had had a moment where he thought he had ‘really fallen in love’, with a half-breed over in the reservation, before he returned to the fold of married life.
the amazed David looks back to his dad . . who just sort of half nods with unspoken guilt, as we see him lost in thought, time traveling back to the brief days of a long long ago, forbidden, and probably .. quelle steamy session.
that look was priceless.
that look was .. Dan Asher.
the small town boy, ace . . ‘paparazzi’.
believe it !!
I did catch the film’s writer, BOB NELSON in person .. at an advance Writer’s Guild screening.
he said, that .. yes this was his family. Alexander Payne, the film’s director grew up in Nebraska, and BOB NELSON grew up in the midwest .. so no wonder the film comes across with such authenticity.
Mr. Nelson said his real-life uncles were all like that. they didn’t say much, and what they did say was football, or cars.
in ten words, or less !!
his family fought, but it was mostly over . . “toasters”.
my family fights over missing vintage 1950’s 18K gold charm bracelets. guess that’s what I get . . for being an immigrant New Yorker with roots in Montreal.
hope my kids don’t fight over .. the Dan Ashers.
about the music. which is really like a kind of silvery Americana on-the-road ‘silence’ in this film.
below is a brief clip of TIN HAT band member, MARK ORTON . . who wrote the score, and performs on the soundtrack. in it he hits the nail on the head, as to why .. the soundtrack is so on-point. which is that 9 times out 10, it plays along to visual footage, without any concurrent dialog.
