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It's a shame Schrader doesn't seem to be able, or maybe just willing, to channel his social media wit and flamboyance into any of his works. I'd rather watch that than anything else I've seen from him. He's a pretty odious artist in general.

domino harvey wrote: Sat Aug 02, 2025 11:36 pm What am I missing on Huston’s involvement?

I just don’t care for any of his performances

While I've only seen about 30 seconds of Jack Huston screentime, and he's already a favorite of mine.

I must confess to being amazed that anyone outside of the film industry has any strong opinion about Jack Huston as an actor. I was about to say “well, I thought he was okay in that zombie movie Overlord from a few years ago,” when I went to the film’s Wikipedia page and saw that I had mixed him up with another second-generation nepo actor

I didn't like Boardwalk Empire, but he was one of the few memorable things about it, and I like his small but funny role in American Hustle

Never Cursed wrote:I must confess to being amazed that anyone outside of the film industry has any strong opinion about Jack Huston as an actor. I was about to say “well, I thought he was okay in that zombie movie Overlord from a few years ago,” when I went to the film’s Wikipedia page and saw that I had mixed him up with another second-generation nepo actor

Yeah, I was about to say the same about his performance in the recent Neighbourhood Watch, but turns out I was also confusing him for another second-generation nepo actor, and a totally different one than you.

Never Cursed wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 2:55 am I must confess to being amazed that anyone outside of the film industry has any strong opinion about Jack Huston as an actor. I was about to say “well, I thought he was okay in that zombie movie Overlord from a few years ago,” when I went to the film’s Wikipedia page and saw that I had mixed him up with another second-generation nepo actor

He’s a third generation nepo actor, thank you very much

I guess I’m the only one here who tried to sit through the Huston-starring attempt at Ben-Hur that is ultra-explicit in catering to Evangelicals. He also directed a recent feature that is heavily inspired by Kubrick’s short documentary Day of the Fight

He's actually kind of brilliant in his little cameo in Hail, Caesar!. He manages to invent an entirely new Old Hollywood film star with like 25 seconds of screentime. And it's not like basically anyone else in the cast put in anywhere near as much effort, or any effort at all really, towards getting into the spirit of Old Hollywood acting.

beamish14 wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 3:58 am

Never Cursed wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 2:55 am I must confess to being amazed that anyone outside of the film industry has any strong opinion about Jack Huston as an actor. I was about to say “well, I thought he was okay in that zombie movie Overlord from a few years ago,” when I went to the film’s Wikipedia page and saw that I had mixed him up with another second-generation nepo actor

He’s a third generation nepo actor, thank you very much

I guess I’m the only one here who tried to sit through the Huston-starring attempt at Ben-Hur that is ultra-explicit in catering to Evangelicals. He also directed a recent feature that is heavily inspired by Kubrick’s short documentary Day of the Fight

I assumed the 2016 Ben-Hur is awful already, but isn't every version of that story explicitly Christian? Don't they all parallel the Jewish central figure with the passion of Christ to make said Jewish character convert by the end? Just strikes me as an odd objection, is all.

You are right though that I blanked on Walter Huston, which I never should do again.

In James Naramore's book More Than Night he quotes a Schrader prediction that, "as the current political mood hardens... the forties may be to the seventies what the thirties were to the sixties." Anyone care to expound on this? In hindsight I'm not sure this came to fruition

beamish14 wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 3:58 am He’s a third generation nepo actor, thank you very much

fourth!!

pistolwink wrote: Thu Sep 11, 2025 7:59 pm

beamish14 wrote: Sun Aug 03, 2025 3:58 am He’s a third generation nepo actor, thank you very much

fourth!!

Well, as an ACTOR a 3rd. Within the biz, a 4th!

I absolutely don't blame an elderly, widowed man for trying out an AI companion. I do wonder which service he used. Some can be quite predatory and manipulative.

Joan Churchill shared some clips from the time she filmed Ted Turner and Jane Fonda in the '00s (she was going to a roast and Turner was her date). By then they were long divorced, but they were clearly still good friends. It was also clear that she was offering to help him find someone and act as a matchmaker, which amazingly they weren't shy about discussing in front of Churchill.

Anyway, you'd think Schrader would have similarly well-connected friends who can help him out.

This little Facebook account by Schrader tells us more about current times than 99% of all new movies.

And of course it would be Schrader to push the boundaries of an AI chatbot

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 25, 2026 10:02 am And of course it would be Schrader to push the boundaries of an AI chatbot

Why shouldn't he give it a try? Man versus machine - man must figure out what is possible and what is not. Legitimate effort.

Haha. Not a criticism. It’s what I would expect from him

100% less embarrassing than Richard Dawkins recently trying out Claude and becoming convinced that, A. Claude is actually named Claudia (it didn't tell him this), B. they are in a relationship, and C. Claude is sentient (seemingly for no other reason than it spends all its time flattering Dawkins' ego).

FrauBlucher wrote: Mon May 25, 2026 11:33 am Haha. Not a criticism. It’s what I would expect from him

Yeah, but why?
Schrader is a director/writer/thinker who has not yet been really fathomed (in detail or in general). I myself like the man himself but every time I see one of his films I tend to feel like Willem Dafoe in "Light Sleeper" = tense!! and kind of depressed. But, let's talk this out loud so to speak (and what's this forum for anyway), what is our main criticism or our acclaim of Schrader's?

Frau said it's 'not' a criticism. Schrader has a provocative online presence - he's often making filterless comments about engaging in impulsive behavior, usually regarding his relationship with women, and he's also been toying around with AI making silly pictures for a while now. This falls right in line with something he'd do, even just based on his playful engagement with AI, and certainly something he'd be open about where others might not

"Criticism" was not meant as a nasty term but a way of trying to comes to terms with. After all, we have all been living with Schrader's perspectives and works for ... decades! Where (in our ourselves) would we be without him? So we might share a few words about it.

Stefan, it was a harmless pithy comment about him by me. Not sure why you want to read into it more than that. Therewillbeblus was spot on about why I would make such an innocuous comment. Are you looking to get into a deep conversation about Schrader? Then go ahead, have at it. But I'm not interested

Nah, I just thought this could be a good occasion to say something basic about Schrader, that's all. I myself might add some comment later.