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Originally Posted by Derek
Used Innocence Dir: James Benning
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One of my all time favorite directors, this is a great film. I'd highly reccomend LANDSCAPE SUICIDE if you haven't seen it, it's pretty similiar. He has, uh, like 150 films, and I've olny seen maybe 17 so yeah.
TheDom, I though Godard's short was the only good thing in Aria (the one about bodybuilders -- strangely, this is the ONLY FILM HE'S DONE not covered in that book that came out a few years ago, EVERYTHING IS CINEMA, which is not even a biography, it's more like a godard NOVEL, talking about just about everything he's ever done -- except that short. Curious.). His shorts before Breathless are okay, I think they're all on the Criterion DVD, one is a documnetary of a lumber yard. Uh.. his best short is probably ANTICIPATION, the last time he filmed Karina (as a prostitute, heh)...
DEMON, THE BLACKOUT is interesting in that it supposedly wasn't finishd -- or even close to it -- so the fact that it works at all is pretty bizarre. I think it takes some patience to get into that one, but I ended up liking it. I am not saying DANGEROUS GAME is a perfect film -- I'm a Keitel fanboy, let's face the facts, I'm probably going to overrate his films based on his involvement because he always brings such raw intensity to his films -- and I can see why people dislike it.. at the same time, it sure is one dark, harrowing, intense film in parts.
I've been getting into the experimental director RAOUL RUIZ and watched
CITY OF PIRATES - 9/10
ON TOP OF THE WHALE - 9/10
Okay, this guy is just FUCKING INSANE, I dunno why no one has
ever mentioned him before, information about him is absolutely scarce, except one review on some website comparing some of his films to Lynch (Lost Highway-era). I can see that, I guess. This guy makes dark edgy exhausting experimental cinema that is positively bizarre in places but really entertaining and makes you think. It's going to be a chore to acquire all of his works, and I've heard he later worked with stars in odd genre films (shades of Mamet and.. uh.. Lynch actually... and Herzog.. and Cronenberg... actually, what director
hasn't started out in a kind-of fucked-up/experimental mindset and then eventually did genre pictures? Even Cassavettes did! I mean, they have to make money). Still, if you get a chance, at least read the synopsises of this guy's films, as they are all really interesting -- I just read one about a lawyer who "takes on cases that he knows he can't win". And that's the whole film. And that sounds like a damn good premise for a film to me. Anyway, the two above films represent wildly original experimental and sometimes hilarious stuff.