The Searchers - One of my absolute favorite films of all time and there's always something new to find each time I watch it. Some of the humor bits kind of get in the way of making me say it's a "perfect" film, but there really is something truly special about it. John Ford is one of my heroes, even though he has impulses I shouldn't like (bawdy humor in unwarranted places, over sentiment, sometimes flirting with old-fashioned racism). But he always makes me feel something when I watch a film of his.

No argument from me. He's as good as it gets, imo.

I've been reading the Bogdanovich book. He seems larger than life. I recently got into an argument with someone who called Ford a "one-trick pony." No one is going to get away with that in front of me

i love ford as a master of the epic western and awesome old-timey action but in the end i have to reject some of his stuff on an ideological basis, in that i don't share his love of the empire and what wsome of his movies stand for.

in the case of the searchers, to me, it's saying that in order to protect the frontier home and save the white princess from the savages you need some sort of atrocious asshole, warts and all. a bit like "a few good men" but from the other side of the fence. "everything he's done, it's worth it"

today he'd be a trump voter.

---

anyway, just finished SLEEPER



speaking of homages the other day-- this is an homage to charlie chaplin above all, closely followed by truffaut (farehneit 451) and a distant godard (alphaville). i'm sure i'm missing a ton of other references.

i love this movie. hilarious physical comedy, tons of jokes and an anarchic romp through early 70s culture.

last, a very minor note: roger ebert's review of small time crooks laughs at the (i think frenchy's while she was learning the dictionary) use of the expression "in agreeance"

in sleeper, while conducting the cloning operation, miles uses the expression "in agreeance" in front of the doctors

that was a little funny. i wonder if frenchy winkler is woody himself-- starts as a standup joker, ends up restoring venice, gets took at some point.

I hope you hit them, or at least forced them to watch My Darling Clementine.

I'm glad you guys are discovering Woody Allen.

I used to worship Woody. Then he made a bunch of bad movies and I stopped. When he made MATCH POINT and had a resurgence, I was too pissed off to enjoy it.

I'm not sure what happened, but nowadays even the crappy ones I find charming. (Need to re-watch CURSE OF JADE SCORPION and put that to the test.) I think it was when I watched CAFE SOCIETY and I said, "This isn't a great FILM but it's worth 90 minutes of my life," and when it was over I had a smile and I said, "Heck, that's all I wanted. I'm satisfied."

I mean, fuck it. Nearly every single film he's made is good enough.

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BIKINI CHAIN GANG

http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.ph...h5857966916d71

An innocent woman goes to prison. There, she meets lots of lesbians.

This is soft-corn porn. That means no genitals and certainly no jizz. No public hair even. The sex is hilariously simulated by people who it seems have never really had sex. Lots of breasts and butts, though.

Who's the audience for this stuff? People who like porn but don't enjoy all the fucking? Deeply disturbing. WARNING: if you click the link, you will NOT be turned on.

Yeah, I bought a boxset of his 90s-00s stuff, because it was the era that pretty much made me give up on him. So far I've not seen anything that's really blown me away but none of it's been exactly terrible either. Still quite a few films to though. The guy's prolific as fuck!

two that i really liked from that era were bullets over broadway and deconstructing harry

both are meditations about art/literature in a sea of hilarity.

mighty aphrodite was great too. i did enjoy the greek chorus and f. murray abraham in it and the hilarious deus ex machina--very clever.

sweet and lowdown was great. i can't remember every detail at this point but it felt great watching it and great cast

didn't like melinda & melinda-- too... eh. too... synthetic? like it was thought not felt. didn't work for me.

match point is really fucking great though. i'm not saying that just because scarlett. but he really was in fine form in that one.

Bullets over Broadway is in my top 5 woody films. Top 4-6.

Isn't that a movie you'd see on Skinimax? (Late Night Cinemax?) I don't use Pornhub, didn't know they show softcore late-night Skinmax stuff on there. Seems silly to have softcore stuff when there's the hardcore stuff available on the same site. But, I will say, there have been some attractive ladies in the late-night Skinmax stuff. Most of which have done Playboy or some form of nude modeling too.

Celebrity

So ... Woody Allen decides to do a take on La Dolce Vita and, well so what? What really bothered me though was Kenneth Branagh, who basically just impersonates Allen for the duration of the film. Really irritating. Small Time Crooks and Mighty Aphrodite didn't do much for me but I at least enjoyed bits of them. This one on the other hand actually annoyed me. So far this has to be the worst Woody Allen film I've seen, from any era. This boxset sucks, and I still have about 5 films to go!

i remember very little to nothing about "celebrity." only i think that it was in black and white. and a convertible?

what are the other 5 left? i could save you some suffering maybe ha ha

eta:

i haven't seen EVERY movie here and i disagree with some individual cases, but the general pattern in this list is not aberrant

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/w...-worst-movies/

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Taxi Driver - Not as perfect as I remember it being, but still incredible. Enough's bee said about it really but it ranks really high with me because it really makes you feel.

Jackie - Absolutely fantastic and much much better than I expected. Transcends the awful biopic genre. It reminded me almost of a mix between Kieslowski's Blue and a dash of Hiroshima mon amour. I think it helped having a non-American direct this and I think Aronofsky (who originally was going to direct) would have butchered it. There was no myth making, only meditation. Highly recommended and I hope other biopic filmmakers take note.

Sweet and lowdown is la Strada, and stardust memories is obviously 8.5. Three homages? Is that legal?

The remaining films are Bullets Over Broadway, Sweet and Lowdown, Everyone Says I love You, Deconstructing Harry and Wild Man Blues.

The Boxset should've been titled The Lost Years. Although after Celebrity, Small Time Crooks starts to look like a masterpiece.

His more recent films, though generally more throw-away than anything he'd done before, do seem to represent, if not quite a return to his 70s-80s form, a definite upturn - and Blue Jasmine (which isn't throwaway at all) actually wouldn't look that out of place alongside his very best comedy/dramas. Either way I do have a soft spot for stuff like Magic in the Moonlight, To Rome With Love and especially Midnight in Paris, without making any great claims for them - I'm actually quite looking forward to seeing Cafe Society.

That 90s stuff though ... so far not good. Unfortunately I'm one of those people who, when I buy a boxset, I have to watch it all, however bad, if only to get it out of the way.

Not trying to influence your opinions of the movies before you've watched them but Sweet & Lowdown might be my favorite Woody Allen movie, and I've seen most of the ones that are considered his best of his career.

That at least makes me curious, and I'll definitely watch it with an open mind. I'll put it on tonight. Thanks.

NO!

The secret to enjoying the last 20+ years of Woody is to go in thinking the film will suck. That way, when it's just okay, you won't be disappointed.

Assuming the new Woody will be great has led to years of sadness. But assuming the new Woody will suck shit has led to some pleasant surprises.