With Lena Dunham presumably joining the collection, Criterion certainly missed a golden opportunity to have her provide an appreciation on last year's Bigger Than Life release.
At first I thought perhaps Criterion chose Tiny Furniture due to its marketability, but now I see that Certified Copy hasn't even finished its theatrical run and has already grossed more than Tiny Furniture did, and also has far more IMDb ratings than does Tiny Furniture, so perhaps the market factor is unrelated to this choice.
David Thomson opens an essay on the Red Riding trilogy by stating: “Red Riding is better than The Godfather.” I’m not sure if this is true, because I’ve never seen The Godfather. According to every guy I’ve ever dated, this renders me ineligible for making films or even discussing them. But I know myself, for better or worse, and mafia narratives (be they tragic, comic, starring a Pacino, a De Niro, or even my beloved Hugh Grant) leave me utterly cold. I guess I’m generally nonplussed by a complex web of crime. For instance, I cannot get into The Wire and refuse to be sorry, or to “hang on until season two.”
ianungstad wrote:They can't be that picky if they are planning a special edition of Tiny Furniture.
Another woman director in the Collection, which is great. I still haven't seen it, but look forward to giving it an unbiased shot.
Who knows - perhaps he was just blowing smoke up my ass with everything he told me.
If Criterion is focussing on female directors I hope that the major works of Julie Taymor and Miranda July will be inducted into the collection before too long - their works certainly should be higher priorities than the output of minor filmmakers like Kira Muratova and Lucrecia Martel.
Honestly, looking at her reviews, it seems like she's most interested in basically the kind of movies she makes- small, low budget movies with low key emotions and a sort of Dogme aesthetic. I don't know that her disinterest in other stuff, however kneejerk (and weirdly gendered) that disinterest is, is all that damning to her as a filmmaker.
Then again, I haven't actually seen Tiny Furniture.
Based on the trailer I can't say I have any interest in it. I don't mind mumblecore, I enjoyed Beeswax a great deal and at least one of the actors from that are in this, but the dialogue is just too grating.
oldsheperd wrote:Wow! From what I've read Tiny Furniture seems like a mish-mash of mid-twenties post-college isolation and aimlessness. That's original.
I've seen it, and that is unfair reductionism, oldsheperd. Tiny Furniture is actually a mish-mash of mid-twenties post-college isolation and aimlessness as seen through the prism of a self-important, pretentious naif with a massive sense of entitlement.
Tom Hagen wrote:Here's a question: has anyone here actually seen Tiny Furniture?
Funnily enough, I saw it on a date (lady's choice) and had about as adverse a reaction to it as the filmmaker had to Bigger Than Life. The difference of course being the filmmaker's objections are borne out of ignorance for the Hollywood style, whereas mine were more along the lines of "Just because you can make a film doesn't mean you should"-- I wanted to excuse myself to the bathroom and never come back
I have yet to see every movie in the collection, but if it is in fact forthcoming, it will be the new worst film in the CC
I don't think Showalter would contribute to any extras for the Baxter anyways: "Oh right, this is when we were dating, before she left me for a dead guy... God look at her... I hate my life."
But back on point, that Criterion would pass on all it has and release this nascent nonsense is just pathetic, really
*CG* wrote:Maybe Becker, Wes Anderson and Lena Dunham are really, um, close.
Lena Dunham's Twitter wrote:Aware most @criterion enthusiasts think I give handjobs for a sport. Please just know I worship the company & am not flippant about this! xo
Uh, oh, I think she's reading this thread.
(Incidentally, I don't mean to endorse the suggestion that any woman who accomplishes something I don't like or don't understand did so through sexual favors.)
Last edited by matrixschmatrix on Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
