very sympathetic to the view that this is a little too overdetermined to live up to its full comic potential (Abel Ferrara's phrase "fascist filmmaking" comes to mind), but what Bogdanovich and co. end up with is still quite fun. perhaps Dr. Bannister's igneous rocks offer a useful lesson in that regard: even seemingly lifeless objects can still create music.
Favorite films
Recent activity
AllRecent reviews
More-
-
The Plot Against Harry 1971
Two scenarios that comprise probably 80% of the film: Harry surrounded by large crowds of people (at weddings, bar mitzvahs, brises, hotels, hospitals) and Harry in transit (cars, golf carts; ”the only time I get to see my lawyer is when I’m giving him a ride”) — and, memorably, as the two intersect during a party held on the subway. He’s always moving or experiencing the world move around him, and whenever Harry stays still I don’t think it inaccurate…
Popular reviews
More-
The Jazz Singer 1980
the only reason I persevered past the ten-minute mark (approx when Neil Diamond dons blackface) is so I could feel morally capable of leaving this review that would be zero stars if that option was available
this was the messiest, most convoluted film I've watched perhaps ever. the plot is terribly paced and completely absurd/illogical. regarding the second point I'll cite one minuscule example that wouldn't be picked up on by gentiles and one more significant instance. firstly, while Jess…
-
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 1974
A road trip motivated by dug up graves, the thought-to-be-buried past still very much present -- sets up what feels to me to be the film's chief thematic concern, namely America's terrifying lack of social/cultural/political/etc progress and its equally terrifying belief that the opposite is the case... whether you kill the cow with a sledgehammer or gun, you're still killing the cow (as, I believe, one of the women points out). Some of the most unsettling aspects of the cannibal…
