There are no cinematic crimes, just forthcoming delights. I’m sorry to hear hints of derision about Spielberg. He’s made his bad pictures, but also some great ones, regardless of which odious movement of cinema he may represent to whomever. Schindler’s List earns a lot. Every minute is justified, for instance. It is amazingly human, especially for the holocaust film as a type, where people can be used to represent qualities of humanity – the monstrous, the victims, fathers, wives, and what have you. It’s smart. It’s adult. It will not insist that you bring a respectful amount of depression with you, nor will it place a draining heaviness upon you, but rather it earns a kind of deeply felt thoughtfulness. So it’s not something to fear, like an experience you need to really prepare for, but it also doesn’t make sense to have a chip on the shoulder about it. I don’t think you do (,Jim), but some do. I seem to recall Jean Luc Godard cashing in his cache with some silly nonsense about it. That says less about the film than it does about Mr. Godard’s being an ass, and kind of a small person. I hope you see it. Give it its time too – watch it all at once, not in sections. It warrants that.
In this episode, Jim acts as his own guest to discuss the career of Billy Wilder.
There are no cinematic crimes, just forthcoming delights. I’m sorry to hear hints of derision about Spielberg. He’s made his bad pictures, but also some great ones, regardless of which odious movement of cinema he may represent to whomever. Schindler’s List earns a lot. Every minute is justified, for instance. It is amazingly human, especially for the holocaust film as a type, where people can be used to represent qualities of humanity – the monstrous, the victims, fathers, wives, and what have you. It’s smart. It’s adult. It will not insist that you bring a respectful amount of depression with you, nor will it place a draining heaviness upon you, but rather it earns a kind of deeply felt thoughtfulness. So it’s not something to fear, like an experience you need to really prepare for, but it also doesn’t make sense to have a chip on the shoulder about it. I don’t think you do (,Jim), but some do. I seem to recall Jean Luc Godard cashing in his cache with some silly nonsense about it. That says less about the film than it does about Mr. Godard’s being an ass, and kind of a small person. I hope you see it. Give it its time too – watch it all at once, not in sections. It warrants that.
Nice idea for the show, flipping it this way.