tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post5504468467003115084..comments2024-03-10T07:42:17.071-04:00Comments on The Film Doctor: The '70s as the last golden age of filmmaking: 10 things I learned from Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging BullsThe Film Doctor http://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-23620382769579454522010-06-13T15:43:11.098-04:002010-06-13T15:43:11.098-04:00You sold me with the anecdotes about BONNIE AND CL...You sold me with the anecdotes about BONNIE AND CLYDE (love that film!), Julie Christie's dialogue, and Faye Dunaway's urine cup!Kelli Marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08269932900784757760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-47394300112955524832010-06-12T18:58:13.447-04:002010-06-12T18:58:13.447-04:00Thanks for the tip, Hokahey. I look forward to re...Thanks for the tip, Hokahey. I look forward to reading several Biskind books as the summer goes on.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-61380566577991500622010-06-12T09:51:01.131-04:002010-06-12T09:51:01.131-04:00FilmDr - Yes - the pacing of Heaven's Gate is ...FilmDr - Yes - the pacing of <i>Heaven's Gate</i> is marred by a number of overlong scenes. I rather like the roller skating and dancing scenes - but the lengthy scene in which the immigrants express their outrage and argue over what to do is just a mess and a bunch of noise. Your suggestion of a post is a good one. As I said, I can see this film's many flaws, I just love it for its vision. I respect the filmmaker's passion for a vast visual epic of the West. I love filmmakers who take a risk. When you look at the films being released this summer, it's all old stories. Not many new ventures.<br /><br />My favorite Biskind book is Seeing is Believing: How Hollywood Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties. It includes great analyses of 50s sci-fi and Westerns. I use its theories a lot in film history.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-61372793699802004472010-06-12T09:26:11.099-04:002010-06-12T09:26:11.099-04:00Thanks, I will J.D. You are referring to Down and...Thanks, I will J.D. You are referring to <i>Down and Dirty Pictures</i>, I take it. It's funny to think of Biskind taking on the '80s, because he does such a good job of denigrating that decade in advance. I like the way Biskind foreshadows many of the problems with the modern day blockbuster. As he writes, "every studio movie became a B movie, and at least for the big action blockbusters that dominate the studios' slates, second unit has become first unit." I also liked his characterization of '80s films as "star vehicles comprised of little more than a series of movie moments set to a pounding score."<br /><br />Thanks, Craig. You probably noticed your influence on this post given your excellent series on Mark Harris's <i>Pictures at a Revolution</i>. I can see what you mean about Biskind's weaknesses (he can be mean-spirited), but Biskind is informative in terms of filmmaking technique, and Mark Harris does owe something to him. I look forward to reading Tom Shone's book. It's also funny how Mark Harris has a nice piece in <i>Entertainment Weekly</i> about how the blockbuster formula is no longer working this summer. <br /><br />Also, I like the point about the damning influence of <i>Star Wars</i>. '70s films like <i>The Godfather,</i> were all about exposing the moral ambiguities and the political corruption of the Nixon era. There's a sense that Lucas sensed that people were getting tired of that and wanted something more positive, but then later he got caught in the Star Wars machine. I also like the association of the "innocence" of Star Wars with Ronald Reagan's mode of leadership. <br /><br />Thanks, Movieman. I'll look into the documentary. Biskind also includes a humrorous portrait of Friedkin turning to Jeanne Moreau for New Wave comfort after the tanking of <i>Sorcerer</i>. <br /><br />Thanks, Sam. I found <i>Easy Rider, Raging Bulls</i> very readable in proportion to what I know about the films involved. Biskind does an especially good job with Martin Scorsese.<br /><br />Thanks, Hokahey,<br /><br />Biskind's book also includes great portraits of the screenwriters Robert Towne and Paul Schrader. <br /><br />You should write a post about your liking of <i>Heaven's Gate</i>, because I wonder if people just had a hard time appreciating the film's good points in the midst of the general critical slaughter. Didn't you find the whole opening scene in Harvard a bit unnecessary (I had fun juxtaposing in my head the image of the older Joseph Cotten with the fake older version in <i>Citizen Kane</i>)? Didn't you find the dancing and rollerskating scenes a bit much? At times, Cimino just seems to fall in love with the idea of film movement. <i>Heaven's Gate</i> struck me as the anti-<i>Breathless</i>, an argument in favor of a not shooting so much film per shot used in the movie. <i>Heaven's Gate</i> seems to sacrifice much (plot, pacing, balance) in favor of the perfect shot.filmdrhttp://filmdr.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-74898184515917940712010-06-11T21:02:43.364-04:002010-06-11T21:02:43.364-04:00This is a great book, and I enjoyed your observati...This is a great book, and I enjoyed your observations here. <br />2. Really enjoyed your comments about writing. That's what I tell my would-be filmmakers in Film Club. You gotta write something down! ... I had a white Plymouth Valiant when my wife and I lived in San Francisco.<br />6. Love the story about Julie Christie. That garden in the image is on the grounds of the Filoli Estate in Woodside, California, not far from where I grew up.<br />9. The cup of urine totally fits in with a bleak film noir filmed by Polanski.<br />10. You know what? I love <i>Heaven's Gate</i>. Believe me, I am aware of its flaws, but it is beautifully shot, I love its epic scope, and it has a number of thrilling moments. I love Westerns - and I like this film's take on late 1800s scenario of the downtrodden immigrants exploited by the rich industrialists. I was quite tickled to find it in a book including it in "the best 100 films ever made! " The book talked about how it was very popular in France where it was considered the first socialist Western.<br /><br /><i>Star Wars</i> certainly changed the way people saw movies - putting an end to the double feature and the custom of being able to see a movie repeatedly for the price of admission - which led to the birth of multiplexes, which began with subdividing (and destroying) countless singles-screen theaters. And then along came the 80s - the wasteland of American film history.Richard Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12397053921647421425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-56684008305458483112010-06-11T16:34:36.648-04:002010-06-11T16:34:36.648-04:00(Maybe it has more to do with SW trouncing Sorcere...<i>(Maybe it has more to do with SW trouncing Sorcerer at the box office that summer?)</i><br /><br />That's probably a big reason for Friedkin's resentment (though a disturbing number of folks seem to agree with it). Ironically, I'd rather watch <i>Sorcerer</i> again today than <i>Star Wars</i>. I think it's held up better and is a lot more interesting.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-54139114931218812832010-06-11T16:14:11.318-04:002010-06-11T16:14:11.318-04:00Interesting book, Film Dr. I can remember that 19...Interesting book, Film Dr. I can remember that 1974 People cover as if it were yesterday, and Bogdonovich's quick rise and fall will always intrigue. If you learned those ten things from the book, I'd say it's a worthwhile read on balance! I may have to place an oder. ha!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-90270879303749652002010-06-11T14:54:02.736-04:002010-06-11T14:54:02.736-04:00Also Exorcist was definitely part of the progressi...Also Exorcist was definitely part of the progression away from arty films to mega-blockbusters, so it's a bit hypocritical of Friedkin to lash out at Lucas. (Maybe it has more to do with SW trouncing Sorcerer at the box office that summer?)<br /><br />I haven't read the book, except in bits and pieces, but quite enjoyed the documentary. Have you seen that (if not, check it out; I think it has a lot of material that's not in the book, as it was more of a spin-off than an "adaptation" but I might be wrong).Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-16526772066611536412010-06-11T13:05:05.044-04:002010-06-11T13:05:05.044-04:00Biskind makes my teeth itch. He's like the kid...Biskind makes my teeth itch. He's like the kid in the corner counting the zits on everyone's faces. But I enjoyed reading your synopsis (especially #6, on Christie and Beatty), which susses out the good stuff and leaves the rest for the dregs.<br /><br />To me, the "<i>Star Wars</i> ruined everything" thesis is too simplistic. Have you ever read Tom Shone's <i>Blockbuster</i>? He takes Biskind to task for that, and while I don't agree with everything Shone writes I find his argument persuasive on that score.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7704583061723470804.post-20962001241380688242010-06-11T09:27:10.793-04:002010-06-11T09:27:10.793-04:00You should read Biskind's follow-up book where...You should read Biskind's follow-up book where he goes after the Weinsteins and Miramax and Robert Redford and Sundance. More behind the scenes gossip!<br /><br />It really is a good read.<br /><br />Alto, I'd love to see him tackle the 1980s. At the end of EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS, he hints at a fascinating thesis for that book: how the directors collapse of power made way for the rise of the producer and movie star-driven vehicle.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.com