By Craig Kennedy - September 9th, 2012; 2:12 pm
Fans of John Williams’ work with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas might not instantly recognize his work on Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye. With lyrics by legendary songwriter Johnny Mercer, Williams theme is memorable for being repeated throughout the film in styles ranging from jazz vocal, jazz instrumental, muzak, tango, mariachi, sitar, love theme with strings and more.
Kids who grew up in the 70s will recognize the voice above as jazz singer/trumpeter Jack Sheldon from so many great Schoolhouse Rock cartoons.
There’s your Watercooler musical interlude and that’s it from me this week. Now it’s your turn. Has anyone seen anything worth talking about lately? Lay it on me.
Filed under: The Watercooler
Belatedly watched Hugo over the weekend. I thought the film was most winning and at its best when staying closest to the content and spirit of the source material. Selznick’s and Scorsese’s affection for and long love affair with the magic and history of cinema shone through and dimmed the filler low-lights – the cliched comedic elements involving Baron Cohen’s Station Inspector and the station romances.
It’s telling that I can’t remember what my response to SBC was so I think he neither harmed nor enhanced the film for me which overall I liked quite a bit better than the clever but rather clunky book. Scorsese did a wonderful job of keying in on the most interesting parts and expanding on them. He remained pretty true to the book while very much making it his own.
Great Williams theme there in a film I always struggled with. Terrific hybrid interlude!
With school starting, it has been a hectic time for my entire family (the kids beginning their high school and grammar school schedules, Lucille planning for her first principal meetings with her teachers, and Yours Truly commencing with a new literature program for middle schoolers) and I’ve had to put a bit of a halt on the French Old Wave Festival, attending only two films this pas week after a torrid twoweeks previously. The decision was easier still when I realized that I had already seen all but one of the films I decided to take a pass on, several even on the big screen in past festivals. This freed me up to spend time and home and to aggressively tackle the television shows I had started a few weeks back.
Lucille and I watched:
Compliance **** (Saturday) Landmark Cinemas
La Bete Humaine **** 1/2 (Saturday) French Old Wave at Film Forum
Carnival in Flanders **** (Friday) French Old Wave at Film Forum
The two Old Wave titles I watched brought the total to 16 that we managed at the Film Forum, though as mentioned most of the films on the schedule have been previously seen. COMPLIANCE is a kind of docudrama about a phone scam by a thrill seeker that at time really hits the mark and shows just how clueless some lower-rung job-holders are; LA BETE HUMAINE is a 1930?s Renoir classic, and Jacques Feyder’s period piece CARNIVAL IN FLANDERS is as ever a delightful work.
Where I really made head-way this past week was at my basement plasma, where I completed Season 2 of The Wire, taking in the last six episodes, and then attacking Breaking Bad with abandon, watching against all odds, the complete second and third seasons, totaling 26 episodes. Combined that’s 32 episodes for the two shows, meaning about 28 hours of television over six days. Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad is one of the most engrossing shows I have ever seen, and I am amazed that I will soon be starting Season 4. (I actually just finished the first episode of Season 4, and it was a knock-out. The show is starting to have The Godfather’s epic scope and moral complexity. I’ll have more to say at a later time about both series. I plan to start The Wire Season 3 soon as well.
I wasn’t crazy about Compliance, though I know I’m in a strong minority on that. Even though I know it’s based on a true story, and it really follows the facts of the case closely, there’s just something missing. I can’t believe that people would be so incredibly stupid. Especially the manager. That made me quickly lose sympathy with everyone in the film and it all just felt exploitative.
Love La Bete Humaine and Carnival of Flanders though.
Don’t remember if I’ve menioned int he past few weeks how big a fan I am of pre-war French cinema.
Did I already ask you Sam if they showed the Marius trilogy?
Craig, you didn’t ask me until now, but yes they did show the Trilogy in succession on Sunday, August 26. I was unable to attend that day, but like you I am a big fan of those films. I agree with you too on pre-War French cinema!
The first words out of Lucille’s mouth when she walked out of the theatre after seeing COMPLIANCE was much the same as yours. How is it possible that people could be so clueless? Indeed.
That’s the kicker about Compliance though. I read the real story afterward and the movie stuck really really close to the facts as reported. I still just feel as if part of the story is missing something. Someone was up to no good.
The more I thought about it afterward, the more I liked it, but in the moment I kind of called bullshit on the whole thing.
As for Marius, what’s not to like about Pierre Fresnay, Fernand Charpin and Orane Demazis? The first film to me is the best, but altogether they have a nice kick.
The first film of the three is my favorite too.