[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

sirk

If you haven't seen Sirk I reckon you'd like him. Written in the Wind, All that Heaven Allows. Think of Fritz Lang directing an episode of Dallas.

as for other "cold" ones: buñuel is cold as fuck, but often hilarious; godard is brilliant but often just trying to prove a theoretical point (my favorite movie of his is la mépris ((contempt)) = because it's probably the most visceral. tarantino is pretty fucking cold beneath his violence porn-- he can be really good though but if we wanna talk about cartoons he makes some good ones.

Generally agree. Le Mepris is my fave Godard, too, although I'd say he's made more visceral films - just not as beautifully photographed, or with BB's bum.

eisenstein ... Que Viva Mexico

As you say, great for what he was. He's obviously the patron saint of film studies programmes everywhere, but Potemkin isn't something I'd turn to for something to watch in bed, curled up with a macaron. Agree about Que Viva Mexico, though.

i don't like steinbeck much

Was never much of a fan of his 'big', more moralising books, like Grapes of Wrath, but I love his small 'in every sense' stuff like Cannery Row and Tortilla Flat. More poetic, less social comment.

where i draw the line is not in coldness, but more than that, cynicism. which is why i can't stand harmony korine.

With you on both counts.

Although even cynicism is ok if it's done intelligently. That's where I draw the line. Cynicism without insight or anything intelligent to say, which is Korine's problem. A lot of film noir could get cynical but the filmmakers were usually able to treat it intelligently. Cynicism that's lazily defended by certain filmmakers as 'hey, I'm just saying how things are' bores me and annoys me in equal measure. I'm not especially sympathetic towards emotional retards justifying their own limitations as some kind of universal truth.

if you are ever near new mexico we should get plastered, eat pig or beef, and discuss movies.

Deal. Pig and beef, though.