Really enjoyed listening to this, my first podcast from you guys will go and check out the back catalogue. One point: did neither of you manage to see Tabu or Berberian Sound Studio?
Whoa where did all the libel for Richard Gere come from? He wasn’t in either of the Valentines/New Year’s movies.
I think his worst movies are the Hollywood romances/dramas: Autumn in New York, Mothman Prophecies, First Knight.
Also I think he gets a bad rap for playing hunky leading men as he’s aged, ending up with love interests that are twenty years younger (Julia Roberts, Diane Lane, Julia Ormond, Winona Ryder).
For every great performance with Primal Fear or The Hoax he takes two steps back with stuff like The Jackel and Nights in Rodanthe.
Even if you think Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride are crappy (haven’t seen either in a while so I can’t really be critiquing them), you have to say that Gere gives decent to good comedic performances in them and that they’re not as bad as the recent Garry Marshell dreck: Georgia Rule and New Year’s Eve (which featured actual slumming Oscar winners Hilary Swank, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro)
Enjoyed listening as always. Just a few thoughts in passing – I always think of Richard Gere via his early work in Days of Heaven (78) and American Gigolo (80), then in ’82 w an Officer and a Gentleman. Kind of a tweener, not part of the Pacino/DeNiro generation, but earlier than Denzel, Alec Baldwin, etc. Good call for William Hurt as his contemporary. Boy, the 80s was a relatively weak era for American film as the Hollywood producers regained their creative power. I think Gere can give a good performance if he has a good director who can help him control some of that staginess. I loved Arbitrage, btw.
Was a bit disappointed, David, that you seemed to give Django Unchained a pass, in that I don’t believe you pointed out any weaknesses in the film. (Btw, I found the black exploitation rendering of certain of the slave plantation scenes offensive; that said, as a filmmaker myself, of course filmmakers have the right to make whatever film they want). Two that I can remember in passing (have only seen it once): QT totally took me out of the film by appearing in it; his face is way too famous to actually act in his own films without distracting the audience. Same thing w Spike Lee in Malcolm X, it took away from that film. I think that Sally Menke’s editing presence was missed. For example, I think if they had cut that first plantation house shoot out by 1/2, that would have made the final gun battle less repetitive.
I don’t think Tarantino’s face is any more famous than Leonardo Dicaprio’s. QT is not a good actor but it’s not due to his recognizability and, personally, it didn’t take me out of the film.
Having seen the film a few times now, I’ve gotten more confused with people calling the ending repetitive. There’s really only the one, main, first gun “battle.” In the second instance, it’s true, a bunch of people get shot but it’s relatively brief and to the point when compared with the earlier sequence. It’s hard to call it a “battle” when there’s only one guy doing the shooting.
I love hearing about other people’s top lists, so this was great! It’s even better when your favorite films of the year appear on your favorite critics’ lists like Amour and Django.
I have yet to see The Master and Like Someone In Love, so I’m excited to hear good things about them (no pressure to like those at all!).
I usually go with IMDb’s release date for movies so my top tens usually look like I left some movies out, but actually they might be on a previous year’s list or I just hated the movie because everyone loved it and thus it must be overrated 😉
Having loved “Certified Copy,” I can say that David’s enthusiasm for “Like Someone in Love” has me really anticipating that one.
Enjoyed the discussion of “Django Unchained.”(Right now it’s hanging in at #10 on my list.) It’s such a rich movie, but I responded to it more as an act of film criticism, not unlike “Inglourious Basterds.” I really loved the interplay between Django and Stephen as two conflicting portrayals of black characters in movies. And the way Stephen acts as both a trenchant critique of the Uncle Tom cinematic stereotype as well as a psychologically fascinating character is, for me, one of the year’s highlights.
Also dug the talk about “The Master” (my favorite film of the year as well). If anything, I could have used MORE. I know BP prides itself on not being a review podcast, but I think there is so much to discuss in “The Master” that it might be worth considering devoting an entire episode to it. Or perhaps Tyler is planning on devoting an MTOL to the film.
In addition to the interpretations of ANNA KARENINA’s style offered up on the show (and as an extension of Tyler’s as well), the theatricality also more specifically acknowledges the artifice of Brits being “allowed” to play any other European nationality without modulating their speaking style at all.
Kiarostami actually speaks no Japanese at all, which, given the film at hand, is astounding.
CASA DE MI PADRE is so awesome.
Andrew Dominik likened KILLING THEM SOFTLY to a political cartoon, so there’s an added comic book connection.
I love Tarantino’s cameos almost exclusively for the absurdity of them. People give QT a lot of crap for his egotism, but it’s just a lot more outward than that of most filmmakers’, and his “look-at-how-awesome-I-am” attitude tends to benefit his films.
I had no problem outright hating David Siegel in QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, given that he’s introduced as one of the guys who (by his own admission) illegally tampered with election results, which is bad enough, but in this case specifically, did so to give us the presidency of George W. Bush. So yeah, screw that guy.
Really enjoyed listening to this, my first podcast from you guys will go and check out the back catalogue. One point: did neither of you manage to see Tabu or Berberian Sound Studio?
Yeah, I missed both of those. Glad you liked the episode!
– David
I always got the feeling that Max Fischer wrote Moonrise Kingdom
Whoa where did all the libel for Richard Gere come from? He wasn’t in either of the Valentines/New Year’s movies.
I think his worst movies are the Hollywood romances/dramas: Autumn in New York, Mothman Prophecies, First Knight.
Also I think he gets a bad rap for playing hunky leading men as he’s aged, ending up with love interests that are twenty years younger (Julia Roberts, Diane Lane, Julia Ormond, Winona Ryder).
For every great performance with Primal Fear or The Hoax he takes two steps back with stuff like The Jackel and Nights in Rodanthe.
Mea culpa. I guess I just assumed he was in one of those because of his tendency to appear in crappy Gary Marshall movies.
– David
He’s only appeared in two over ten years ago.
Even if you think Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride are crappy (haven’t seen either in a while so I can’t really be critiquing them), you have to say that Gere gives decent to good comedic performances in them and that they’re not as bad as the recent Garry Marshell dreck: Georgia Rule and New Year’s Eve (which featured actual slumming Oscar winners Hilary Swank, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro)
He was in MOVIE 43, so he’s got that going for him. (Though I suppose there are quite a few you could point that finger at.)
Enjoyed listening as always. Just a few thoughts in passing – I always think of Richard Gere via his early work in Days of Heaven (78) and American Gigolo (80), then in ’82 w an Officer and a Gentleman. Kind of a tweener, not part of the Pacino/DeNiro generation, but earlier than Denzel, Alec Baldwin, etc. Good call for William Hurt as his contemporary. Boy, the 80s was a relatively weak era for American film as the Hollywood producers regained their creative power. I think Gere can give a good performance if he has a good director who can help him control some of that staginess. I loved Arbitrage, btw.
Was a bit disappointed, David, that you seemed to give Django Unchained a pass, in that I don’t believe you pointed out any weaknesses in the film. (Btw, I found the black exploitation rendering of certain of the slave plantation scenes offensive; that said, as a filmmaker myself, of course filmmakers have the right to make whatever film they want). Two that I can remember in passing (have only seen it once): QT totally took me out of the film by appearing in it; his face is way too famous to actually act in his own films without distracting the audience. Same thing w Spike Lee in Malcolm X, it took away from that film. I think that Sally Menke’s editing presence was missed. For example, I think if they had cut that first plantation house shoot out by 1/2, that would have made the final gun battle less repetitive.
Okay, back to editing my own film! Thanks. Thomas
I don’t think Tarantino’s face is any more famous than Leonardo Dicaprio’s. QT is not a good actor but it’s not due to his recognizability and, personally, it didn’t take me out of the film.
Having seen the film a few times now, I’ve gotten more confused with people calling the ending repetitive. There’s really only the one, main, first gun “battle.” In the second instance, it’s true, a bunch of people get shot but it’s relatively brief and to the point when compared with the earlier sequence. It’s hard to call it a “battle” when there’s only one guy doing the shooting.
– David
I love hearing about other people’s top lists, so this was great! It’s even better when your favorite films of the year appear on your favorite critics’ lists like Amour and Django.
I have yet to see The Master and Like Someone In Love, so I’m excited to hear good things about them (no pressure to like those at all!).
I usually go with IMDb’s release date for movies so my top tens usually look like I left some movies out, but actually they might be on a previous year’s list or I just hated the movie because everyone loved it and thus it must be overrated 😉
Having loved “Certified Copy,” I can say that David’s enthusiasm for “Like Someone in Love” has me really anticipating that one.
Enjoyed the discussion of “Django Unchained.”(Right now it’s hanging in at #10 on my list.) It’s such a rich movie, but I responded to it more as an act of film criticism, not unlike “Inglourious Basterds.” I really loved the interplay between Django and Stephen as two conflicting portrayals of black characters in movies. And the way Stephen acts as both a trenchant critique of the Uncle Tom cinematic stereotype as well as a psychologically fascinating character is, for me, one of the year’s highlights.
Also dug the talk about “The Master” (my favorite film of the year as well). If anything, I could have used MORE. I know BP prides itself on not being a review podcast, but I think there is so much to discuss in “The Master” that it might be worth considering devoting an entire episode to it. Or perhaps Tyler is planning on devoting an MTOL to the film.
Anyways, keep up the great work you two!
Assorted thoughts…
In addition to the interpretations of ANNA KARENINA’s style offered up on the show (and as an extension of Tyler’s as well), the theatricality also more specifically acknowledges the artifice of Brits being “allowed” to play any other European nationality without modulating their speaking style at all.
Kiarostami actually speaks no Japanese at all, which, given the film at hand, is astounding.
CASA DE MI PADRE is so awesome.
Andrew Dominik likened KILLING THEM SOFTLY to a political cartoon, so there’s an added comic book connection.
I love Tarantino’s cameos almost exclusively for the absurdity of them. People give QT a lot of crap for his egotism, but it’s just a lot more outward than that of most filmmakers’, and his “look-at-how-awesome-I-am” attitude tends to benefit his films.
I had no problem outright hating David Siegel in QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, given that he’s introduced as one of the guys who (by his own admission) illegally tampered with election results, which is bad enough, but in this case specifically, did so to give us the presidency of George W. Bush. So yeah, screw that guy.
And finally, LINCOLN is a masterpiece.