There Will Be Blood

I don't have much use for writing about films I've seen only once, unless the experience is so full that some kind of imperative calls, with the urge to get something of an impression recorded in the face of the isolated event much too overpowering (as in the instance of L'Amour fou by Jacques Rivette [1969], which I discuss here). That said, and at the request of a couple friends, here are some cursory thoughts about the new Paul Thomas Anderson picture, There Will Be Blood (2007). All impressions are subject to change. But — I have no desire to see the latest again until it's out on DVD, unless some beautiful Portuguese heiress asks me to take her to the movies, at which point I'll lie with enthusiasm.

"We'ah goin' to the movies!"

Informal Blah-Blah-Blah from an Instant-Message Conversation About the PTA Film

"———————————————————————

"It should have been performed on the stage.

"————————— step-backward ——————————————————— Blossoms and Blood [2003] ———————————————————— Archie L. Mayo —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"—————————————————————————————————— blame actors —————————————————— as though that alone, to use Gena Rowlands's line in Cassavetes's Opening Night (1977) will grant "the reality of... the reality!" ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Johnnie To ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— (obviously) ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

" ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— the "priorities" of a film.

"——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— let's call it "simulationism" ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Le Pornographe [The Pornographer] by Bertrand Bonello, 2001:




"———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— movies as "containers for stories" ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"———————————————————— David Denby ———————————————————————————————————————————— "The Current Cinema" — HA!! — fakest title ever ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The Girl and Her Trust by D. W. Griffith, 1912:




Mogambo by John Ford, 1953:




"———————————————————————————

"—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Kurosawa's appalling Drunken Angel [Yoidore tenshi, 1948] ——

"————————————————————

"———————————————————————————————————————— stacking the cards ———————————— 'catharsis' ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— vicarious spleen-letting ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— self-therapizing ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"In any case, all solutions can be found in Luc Moullet."

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This is making the rounds across the Net — passed on to me courtesy of Fred Veith. (The footage is an excerpt taken from Lynch's 2007 Stories, found on the second disc of the North American INLAND EMPIRE release.) — I love it. —




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Radiohead's New Year's Eve web-film Scotch Mist, in which the band perform the whole of In Rainbows can be seen here; it's brilliant.

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Today is the big 30th birthday of Mike Eastman, star of July Follies, and more to come. How coincidental then that this beloved-Smiths-related report should fling itself over the newswire today, courtesy of the abysmal NME.com? Very:

"Protesters scuppered Tory leader David Cameron's plan to recreate The Smiths’ iconic photograph of the band outside Salford Lads’ Club with him in it yesterday (January 10).

"Cameron wanted a publicity shot of himself to be taken outside the iconic venue during a whistle-stop tour of Salford, but protesters prevented the photograph being taken.

"Local protesters held placards saying, “Oi! Dave – Eton Lads’ is 300 miles”, a reference to Cameron’s private school upbringing.

"Another read: “Salford lads not Eton snobs”.

"Salford resident Matthew Mold, 26, told The Sun: “This visit is disgraceful. What have the Tories ever done for working-class families?”

The Smiths in front of Salford Lads Club, 1985. Photographs by Stephen Wright.







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