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Via_Chicago wrote:

HerrSchreck wrote:

“I’ve always thought that I had a lot in common with Jean-Pierre Melville. He is a silent tiger, a desperate romantic . . . He is a master.” —John Woo

Anyone else catch this?

Next weeks quote from Kevin Smith:

"I always thought I had a lot in common with Orson Welles. He is a film wizard, a visual poet. He is a genius-- just like me."

That's great. Woo has always thought of himself as the heir apparent to Melville. Melville would have approved - if only to have actually had himself a real disciple (see this interview). In reality though, Woo is merely a pale imitator - a mediocre stylist with little of Melville's restraint or command over his themes.

HerrSchreck wrote:Yea I've caught the ongoing tributes by Woo to Melville, but I've seen little in terms of mise en scene to associate the two of them with each other-- aside from maybe this fixation on this idea of a non-cinematic, real world masculinity. I E bring the sensibility of (what they imagine to be) a real career criminal, a genuine contract killer living on the fringes, etc, into the generally sterile world of film with it's plastic screen criminals. In reality an advertisement to more or less degree for the amount of Street Cool residing in the filmmaker himself.

But whereas Melville registers as a real master and innovator of film grammar, who can say more with a moment of silence than most filmmakers can across a decade of filmmaking, Woo's most beloved films are the precise opposite... gymnastic events with a "more is more" sensibility, hoping to cram more action into a minute of film than most action directors do across a decade of filmmaking.

Outside of that, I just think it's hokey and risky to say "I remind myself of (Insert Brilliant Artist For the Ages), who is a master."

Poncho Punch wrote:You can't really say the same for this gem I just picked up during an ill-advised visit to Zach Snyder's wikipedia entry:

'Best known for his cinematic wide screen shooting style, Zack has been compared to a young David Lean to which he remarked, “the similarities are inevitable.”'

Tootletron wrote:It seriously seems like someone just pasted his resume or press kit or something.

HypnoHelioStaticStasis wrote:Haven't seen it, but isn't this Friends of Eddie Coyle?

Last month we asked you to name at least three actors who have appeared in Criterion releases and also portrayed U.S. presidents on-screen. Correct answers were varied but included Henry Fonda (as Lincoln), Philip Baker Hall (as Nixon), and Anthony Hopkins (as Nixon and John Quincy Adams).

Antoine Doinel wrote:I actually would've preferred to see Schrader's ten worst list.

domino harvey wrote:

Last month we asked you to name at least three actors who have appeared in Criterion releases and also portrayed U.S. presidents on-screen. Correct answers were varied but included Henry Fonda (as Lincoln), Philip Baker Hall (as Nixon), and Anthony Hopkins (as Nixon and John Quincy Adams).

Off the top of my head, they forgot Walter Huston. And Tim Robbins if you count portraying fictional presidents

HerrSchreck wrote:What CC is Reagan in?

1. THE RULES OF THE GAME - Renoir
2. TOKYO STORY - Ozu
3. CITY LIGHTS - Chaplin
4. PICKPOCKET - Bresson
5. METROPOLIS - Lang
6. CITIZEN KANE - Welles
7. ORPHEE - Cocteau
8. MASCULIN-FEMININ - Godard
9. PERSONA - Bergman
10. VERTIGO - Hitchcock
11. SUNRISE - Murnau
12. THE SEARCHERS - Ford
13. THE LADY EVE - Sturges
14. THE CONFORMIST - Bertolucci
16. THE GODFATHER - Coppola
17. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - Wai
18. THE THIRD MAN - Reed
19. PERFORMANCE - Cammell/Roeg
20. LA NOTTE - Antonioni

1. THE RULES OF THE GAME - Renoir
2. TOKYO STORY - Ozu
3. PICKPOCKET - Bresson
4. ORPHEE - Cocteau
5. MASCULIN-FEMININ - Godard
6. 8 1/2 - Fellini
7. THE THIRD MAN - Reed
8. THE LEOPARD - Visconti
9. THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC - Dreyer
10. JULES AND JIM - Truffaut

ellipsis7 wrote:It goes on to list a 'Silver' and 'Bronze' section... So from current CC releases, his top Criterion 10 can be deduced to be...

1. THE RULES OF THE GAME - Renoir
2. TOKYO STORY - Ozu
3. PICKPOCKET - Bresson
4. ORPHEE - Cocteau
5. MASCULIN-FEMININ - Godard
6. 8 1/2 - Fellini
7. THE THIRD MAN - Reed
8. THE LEOPARD - Visconti
9. THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC - Dreyer
10. JULES AND JIM - Truffaut

1. THE RULES OF THE GAME - Renoir
2. TOKYO STORY - Ozu
3. PICKPOCKET - Bresson
4. ORPHEE - Cocteau
5. MASCULIN-FEMININ - Godard
6. 8 1/2 - Fellini
7. THE LADY EVE - Sturges
8. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE - Wai
9. THE THIRD MAN - Reed
10. THE LEOPARD - Visconti
(11. THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC - Dreyer)
(12. JULES AND JIM - Truffaut)

Feego wrote:You left out THE LADY EVE and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, which should be #'s 7 and 8.