I moved stolen kisses up near the top of my Zip queue
Being that I have been banging on about this film for a few weeks, I hope you are not disappointed! It is a semi-sequel to 400 Blows (one of the most famous films of the French New Wave) though I do not think you need to see them back to back, but there are a couple of nods to the previous film. The reason I love the film is that it takes a film noir standard - the private eye - and shows how it does not really fit in the real(ish) world, the comedy is funny and the two central relationships are both funny and romantic.
Possibly I love it so much because I am film noir fanatic, I love the genre. It and Westerns are my two favourite genres, which are perhaps two of the most American film artforms in culture. Who knows what appeals!
I’m sure I’ll dig stolen kisses; Our tastes are pretty similar. Noir is an area I’m familiar with and have seen a decent amount of, but I’m not as well versed as I’d like to be.. Westerns are great. I of course, prefer the scuzzy, sweaty aesthetic and amoral views taken by the Italians, but it is first, and foremost, a very American genre. My favorite western though is not Italian, it’s American. The Wild Bunch. I toyed with throwing it on the show(as well as Carrie), but figured both films had been talked about many times by smarter people than us so I scrapped the idea.
the only one of the 3 80’s Coppola films you mentioned that I’ve seen is Rumble Fish, which is good. When you say De Palma bad, you mean late 90’s and on De Palma right? I know I speak for Sammy and I both when I say early De Palma(70’s and 80’s) is deeply loved by both of us. Carrie is one of the 5 best horror films of all time in my opinion, and dressed to kill is one of the better attempts by an american filmmaker at doing giallo-esque stuff
When I mean De Palma bad, I mean the man made Snake Eyes, Mission To Mars, Femme Fatale, The Black Dahlia and Redacted in his last five films. In my opinion a truly atrocious run. For me him, Coppola and Freidkin have had a bigger fall from grace than any other directors in history. There most recent work has been utterly without merit.
I agree De Palma has made good films (as had Coppola obviously) which makes the utter crap he puts out now is so annoying. In my opinion his finest film is Blow Out. I think Blow Out is an absolutely brilliant piece of work, a mash up between Blow Up and The Conversation starring Travolta and Nancy Allen.
yeah, Blow out is top notch. I love Nancy Allen in De Palma’s early stuff. That run you mentioned for De Palma is pretty atrocious considering the heights he reached. Speaking of Friedkin, what are your thoughts on Cruisin? I personally think it’s a great little film that has a very undeserved bad reputation that has preceded it unfairly for many years. Why Pacino is so dismissive of the project, I’ll never know. It is one that we’ll be covering some time in the future as I think it’s great. It has a good cast too.
I’m sure I’ll dig stolen kisses; Our tastes are pretty similar. Noir is an area I’m familiar with and have seen a decent amount of, but I’m not as well versed as I’d like to be.. Westerns are great. I of course, prefer the scuzzy, sweaty aesthetic and amoral views taken by the Italians, but it is first, and foremost, a very American genre. My favorite western though is not Italian, it’s American. The Wild Bunch. I toyed with throwing it on the show(as well as Carrie), but figured both films had been talked about many times by smarter people than us so I scrapped the idea.
Noir and classic Hollywood is probably the stuff I know most about, I do not have the genre knowledge of most around these boards, and certainly nowhere near the amount of knowledge of yourself our Samurai, but I imagine that I could hold my own on pre-1960 American films with anyone. The two noirs I always recommend are Nightmare Alley and Force of Evil, they are criminally underseen in my opinion.
I have seen a lot of Italian Westerns, but my favourite Westerns tend to be American usually. My favourite Western and a film which is in my all time top ten would be Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, but I also love films by Anthony Mann and Budd Boetticher and stuff like Johnny Guitar.
I would love to hear you two talk about The Wild Bunch or Carrie, but that is probably cause I fall in the more mainstream than most of your listeners. But then again I listen to get ideas for genre films I have not seen yet.
Being that I have been banging on about this film for a few weeks, I hope you are not disappointed! It is a semi-sequel to 400 Blows (one of the most famous films of the French New Wave) though I do not think you need to see them back to back, but there are a couple of nods to the previous film. The reason I love the film is that it takes a film noir standard - the private eye - and shows how it does not really fit in the real(ish) world, the comedy is funny and the two central relationships are both funny and romantic.
Possibly I love it so much because I am film noir fanatic, I love the genre. It and Westerns are my two favourite genres, which are perhaps two of the most American film artforms in culture. Who knows what appeals!
Hmm, I have to watch Stolen Kisses as well, just finished watchingThe 400 Blows a week ago, I like it very much. I admire the camera work of the film a lot and wonder what will happen next to the antagonist. The Noir aspect caught me by surprise though, you really trigger my interest. I’m eager to watch more of Truffaut. Having said that, I really don’t like Jules and Jim. The cinematography and the editing is fabulous, but I have no idea why critics championed it so much. I really want to buy the Hitchcock/Truffaut book as well, but I think it’s out of print and in Amazon the price is sky-high.
yeah, Blow out is top notch. I love Nancy Allen in De Palma’s early stuff. That run you mentioned for De Palma is pretty atrocious considering the heights he reached. Speaking of Friedkin, what are your thoughts on Cruisin? I personally think it’s a great little film that has a very undeserved bad reputation that has preceded it unfairly for many years. Why Pacino is so dismissive of the project, I’ll never know. It is one that we’ll be covering some time in the future as I think it’s great. It has a good cast too.
Cruisin is an excellent scuzzy little thriller, with a creepy ending. The scenes around the bars are just oppressive, the whole feel of the film is brilliantly captured. I love the ending as well, plus it has two of the great scenes of Friedkin’s career - Al Pacino Bodypopping dancing and the interogation with the naked black guy coming into the room. (Though Pacino has to be one of the oldest rookie cops in history!)
Friedkin made some great films for my money - French Connection, Exorcist, Sorceror, Cruisin’, To Live and Die in LA. But he has not made a great film since the mid 1980s (I did not like Bug)
Croc, let us know what you think of 400 kisses so once I see we can all chew the fat.
Wilson, Ha! you hold your own quite well when it comes to genre films big boy! In fact, most of our listeners have a great knowledge and taste in film that is constantly impressing me. This is what I love; learning from people who dig our show.
Hmm, I have to watch Stolen Kisses as well, just finished watchingThe 400 Blows a week ago, I like it very much. I admire the camera work of the film a lot and wonder what will happen next to the antagonist. The Noir aspect caught me by surprise though, you really trigger my interest. I’m eager to watch more of Truffaut. Having said that, I really don’t like Jules and Jim. The cinematography and the editing is fabulous, but I have no idea why critics championed it so much. I really want to buy the Hitchcock/Truffaut book as well, but I think it’s out of print and in Amazon the price is sky-high.
Jules et Jim is not something that completely blew me away when I watched it, I found it is easy to admire but not completely enjoyable. I feel the same way about A Bout De Souffle. Whereas Truffuat’s work with Jean-Pierre Leaud works brilliantly because Leaud as a lead gives the whole film heart and a light comedic touch. There is no better mid-20s romance film in my opinion. Not a genre overflowing with films I will admit!
yeah, Blow out is top notch. I love Nancy Allen in De Palma’s early stuff. That run you mentioned for De Palma is pretty atrocious considering the heights he reached. Speaking of Friedkin, what are your thoughts on Cruisin? I personally think it’s a great little film that has a very undeserved bad reputation that has preceded it unfairly for many years. Why Pacino is so dismissive of the project, I’ll never know. It is one that we’ll be covering some time in the future as I think it’s great. It has a good cast too.
Cruisin is an excellent scuzzy little thriller, with a creepy ending. The scenes around the bars are just oppressive, the whole feel of the film is brilliantly captured. I love the ending as well, plus it has two of the great scenes of Friedkin’s career - Al Pacino Bodypopping dancing and the interogation with the naked black guy coming into the room. (Though Pacino has to be one of the oldest rookie cops in history!)
Friedkin made some great films for my money - French Connection, Exorcist, Sorceror, Cruisin’, To Live and Die in LA. But he has not made a great film since the mid 1980s (I did not like Bug)
I thought Bug was a mess and it ranks up there for my wife as one of the films she hates the most that I’ve made her watch. I will say that as much of a mess as the film was, Michael Shannon(as usual) was stellar in it, and Judd was also pretty solid in it.. it started off good, but went completely off the f*cking rails. The Pacino Body popping is definitely a highlight of Billy Friedkin and PAcino’s career. Wasn’t the black dude where a cowboy hat? I’m really glad the tide is turning back for this film and people are now appreciating it for what it is.
That is very true some directors can have amazing periods of filmmaking and then surround them with completely dross. Coppola will forever be a hero of most film fans but I am sorry to say having caught his last film Youth Without Youth, he has completely lost it. Youth Without Youth is one of the poorest films I have ever seen from a major director, it is De Palma bad.
On his good films - I do think that The Conversation is the best film he has ever made. I love Gene Hackman in the film. But even into the eighties he made some good stuff - One From The Heart (Tom Waits music is awesome in this) Rumble Fish and parts of The Cotton Club.
I think people should cut Coppola some slack. He has always been a very personal director, I mean the man does not need to prove anything. By the age of 40 he has won 5 Oscars, 2 Golden Palm, created 4 masterpieces of cinema. He was basically the King of the 1970s movie brats. I am one of the few people who are of the opinion that acting skill and directing skill can never go away,especially for people like Coppola or Pacino or De Niro. Youth without Youth is pretty bad, but I give the man some credits, he’s 70 now and tries to go back to more small, personal projects with his own money, which he gets by selling wine(lol), the thing that he always wanted in the first place. At least he tries sth new and may be will reinvent himself in the later stage of his career, not like the man who created Star Wars. Btw, his new movie Tetro is the first script he wrote since the Conversation, hope it will be decent.
“If one can take any moral value out of Nightmare Alley it would seem to be that a terrible retribution is the inevitable consequence for he who would mockingly attempt to play God. Otherwise, the experience would not be very rewarding for, despite some fine and intense acting by Mr. Power and others, this film traverses distasteful dramatic ground and only rarely does it achieve any substance as entertainment.”
I love how much this film was hated upon release for being morally bankrupt and disgusting. I think that this and Tod Browing Freaks would make one of the great double bills.
yeah, Blow out is top notch. I love Nancy Allen in De Palma’s early stuff. That run you mentioned for De Palma is pretty atrocious considering the heights he reached. Speaking of Friedkin, what are your thoughts on Cruisin? I personally think it’s a great little film that has a very undeserved bad reputation that has preceded it unfairly for many years. Why Pacino is so dismissive of the project, I’ll never know. It is one that we’ll be covering some time in the future as I think it’s great. It has a good cast too.
Cruisin is an excellent scuzzy little thriller, with a creepy ending. The scenes around the bars are just oppressive, the whole feel of the film is brilliantly captured. I love the ending as well, plus it has two of the great scenes of Friedkin’s career - Al Pacino Bodypopping dancing and the interogation with the naked black guy coming into the room. (Though Pacino has to be one of the oldest rookie cops in history!)
Friedkin made some great films for my money - French Connection, Exorcist, Sorceror, Cruisin’, To Live and Die in LA. But he has not made a great film since the mid 1980s (I did not like Bug)
I thought Bug was a mess and it ranks up there for my wife as one of the films she hates the most that I’ve made her watch. I will say that as much of a mess as the film was, Michael Shannon(as usual) was stellar in it, and Judd was also pretty solid in it.. it started off good, but went completely off the f*cking rails. The Pacino Body popping is definitely a highlight of Billy Friedkin and PAcino’s career. Wasn’t the black dude where a cowboy hat? I’m really glad the tide is turning back for this film and people are now appreciating it for what it is.
aww, thanks Croc; We certainly do do it for our listeners and for our collective love of film, and you are welcome. No matter where in the world we are or what other interests we have, we can all agree that film is one of the most wonderful things we can experience. It is art in it’s purest form.. The tricky thing with the “road maps” as Sammy and I call them is that we try to strike a balance between genres, directors, etc. I try to throw a few action films in there, with some Kung-fu and some other stuff.. Try as I might, there was some horror, I just couldn’t get on. I tried to make a more conscious effort to include some, but to no avail. As well, there was some cool 70’s thinking man/woman’s sci-fi that I wanted to get into, but it also didn’t quite make it this time.. there’s always next time..
Oh BigWilly, you guys don’t know how much I appreciate your show, I listen to tons of movie podcast but GGtmc is what I treasure the most. I learn a lot about genre cinema through you guys and I found you two are really 2 of the most noble yet humble podcasters out there
I thought Bug was a mess and it ranks up there for my wife as one of the films she hates the most that I’ve made her watch. I will say that as much of a mess as the film was, Michael Shannon(as usual) was stellar in it, and Judd was also pretty solid in it.. it started off good, but went completely off the f*cking rails. The Pacino Body popping is definitely a highlight of Billy Friedkin and PAcino’s career. Wasn’t the black dude where a cowboy hat? I’m really glad the tide is turning back for this film and people are now appreciating it for what it is.
Mark Kermode, the legendary British film critic, is a huge fan of the film and is attempting to get the three hour cut released with all the explicit gay sex scenes put back in. It premiered at Cannes a couple of years ago, but it has not been released. I would love to see a three hour cut of the film!
aww, thanks Croc; We certainly do do it for our listeners and for our collective love of film, and you are welcome. No matter where in the world we are or what other interests we have, we can all agree that film is one of the most wonderful things we can experience. It is art in it’s purest form.. The tricky thing with the “road maps” as Sammy and I call them is that we try to strike a balance between genres, directors, etc. I try to throw a few action films in there, with some Kung-fu and some other stuff.. Try as I might, there was some horror, I just couldn’t get on. I tried to make a more conscious effort to include some, but to no avail. As well, there was some cool 70’s thinking man/woman’s sci-fi that I wanted to get into, but it also didn’t quite make it this time.. there’s always next time..
Oh BigWilly, you guys don’t know how much I appreciate your show, I listen to tons of movie podcast but GGtmc is what I treasure the most. I learn a lot about genre cinema through you guys and I found you two are really 2 of the most noble yet humble podcasters out there
Croc, you are too kind. That made my day and I’m sure my colleague in the blue grass state will be flattered as well once he gets away from the mint juleps and horse racing this weekend.
Wilson, I’m game for a 3 hr. cut despite not being a fan of the man on man buttsecks, but hey, live and live. I’ve already seen Pacino Hog tied after he takes off his leathers, so it’s all good.
