Mar 17, 2016

@Twan - watched and loved The Spirit of the Beehive yesterday. so entrancing

 

Mar 17, 2016

Wrote 10 pages of my first ever screen play

i prolly need t fix some things

 

Mar 17, 2016

how is he

 

Mar 17, 2016

Tell Vahn we miss him. @Old_Parr

 

Mar 17, 2016

So Friedkin was part of New American Cinema in the 70s with major studio releases like The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973) and is still making smaller, passionate pictures today like Bug (2006) and Killer Joe (2011). He recently did this sit down with Marc Maron where he talks about his career, influences, directing Operas, and various movie related topics. I'd like to hear from our members about their opinions on his work, ranking his work, and anything else that springs to mind.

Finding this interview today is actually really convenient since I was browsing his IMDB yesterday and decided to check out an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation that he directed titled Cockroaches. I find it kind of fascinating when talented filmmakers try their hand at TV, most notably Rian Johnson's work on Breaking Bad with standout episodes such as Fly and Ozymandias. I won't say that CSI offers quite the level of television that Breaking Bad does, but you can tell he was afforded a steeper budget and managed to do some interesting things despite the show having been running for 7 years at that point. There's a very nice open with a dumptruck in a car chase especially when considering that Friekin's car chase in The French Connection is one of the most notorious ones in cinematic history. It also deals with some mob characters which you find out in the Maron interview that Friedkin grew up familiar with.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is his recent partnership with Tracy Letts, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright behind Friedkin's Bug (2006) and Killer Joe (2011) as well as Academy Award nomiated August: Osage County (2013) which was based on one of his plays. I'm looking forward to whatever weird picture they churn out next, if one does materialize. That's a very hard director/writer team to beat in my opinion. Especially when Friedkin continues to make quality movies so late in his career.

 

Mar 17, 2016

Awesome, glad you were a fan! Such a beautiful, yet haunting movie.

I'm a big fan of The Exorcist and The French Connection, but didn't particularly care for Killer Joe. I've heard good things about Sorcerer (love Wages of Fear) and Bug, but haven't gotten to them yet.

 

Mar 17, 2016

Not a fan of Sorcerer, but Bug is excellent. It really had an effect on me.

 

Mar 19, 2016

I dug Midnight Special quite a bit. While it's unable in the end to deliver on the intrigue or mystery it so expertly builds, Nichols' sparse, measured approach provides a fresh take to a relatively familiar sci-fi narrative. Like Take Shelter before it, underneath the surface-level genre elements lies a big heart and a parable of family, this time with a focus on parenthood, specifically the fear of letting one's child go forward into a potentially threatening, unknown world. If it doesn't quite reach the emotional heights of Take Shelter, as it skews more heavily towards sharply delivered sci-fi suspense and action (Nichols once again seamlessly blends the fantastic with the mundane with a mid-level budget), Nichols' use of open space and pregnant silences infuses his very Spielberg-ian tale with an ominous feeling of foreboding.

 

Mar 20, 2016

going to see 10 Cloverfield Lane today

 

Mar 20, 2016

me too!!!!

 

Mar 20, 2016

wow the ending s----d a---.
Everything was really really good up until

 

Mar 20, 2016

Tinker Tailor Solider Spy was (1) the most British cast of all time (2) a bloated and tedious adaptation of a novel.

 

Mar 21, 2016

watched and loved Edward Yang's A Brighter Summer Day today in the cinema. Criterion release hitting soon...

 

Mar 21, 2016

 

Mar 21, 2016

He's good, He is considering moving back to New Jersey in May. I actually went again with him to see Knight of Cups which by the way i wasn't a big fan of, but this always happens with Malick

 

Mar 23, 2016

BvS cult classic?

Nah

 

Mar 23, 2016

Tough call this weekend whether I see this or a newly released Asghar Farhadi film...I wonder how many others are weighing the same decision.

 

Mar 24, 2016

both

 

Mar 26, 2016

Saw Asghar Farhadi's Fireworks Wednesday, which was dope as all h---. As he does in A Separation, Farhadi takes a relationship drama and makes it play like a mystery thriller.

Maybe I'll still check out B v. S if I get a chance.

 

Mar 29, 2016

Jesus BvS was awful.

I liked Man of Steel, I'll admit I liked it. There's a good movie in there somewhere, but BvS is just so incoherent with shameless set ups