tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post5102987111506876744..comments2024-03-28T06:25:00.013-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: What Should've Won (That Could've Won): 1928Matt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-7326337328279376052012-12-09T21:18:04.469-05:002012-12-09T21:18:04.469-05:00For anyone still monitoring this comment thread: T...For anyone still monitoring this comment thread: TCM is showing The Crowd at midnight tonight. Set your DVRs!Steve Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10347604037697186966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-85146908707917006332012-02-28T04:53:50.179-05:002012-02-28T04:53:50.179-05:00That clarification makes sense re: Sunrise and nua...That clarification makes sense re: Sunrise and nuance. It has been a while since I've seen it, but I can see how s simplification of ideas and world-view would not hold up.<br /><br />Really quickly about TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. -I guess why I count it as a film that is of and about its time, (and why the graphics, music, etc. still feel right-on today) is that on some level all that over-the-top 80 chintz seems meta to me. The film doesn't feel like it's trying to be forward-looking in its style, it feels as if Friedkin is self-consciously reflecting back the superficial flash of era. So on some level style itself feels like one of the subjects of the film to me. Those credits were so terribly "80s" I couldn't help but think there was commentary there. Maybe I'm giving it too much credit.J.A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-44725859040724573712012-02-27T18:07:06.989-05:002012-02-27T18:07:06.989-05:00Regarding "dated" silents a la "Sun...Regarding "dated" silents a la "Sunrise," I feel that way about Harold Lloyd's "Speedy." In that, we're rooting for a small businessman with a license from NYC to run a horse-drawn street car, which he can maintain as long as he runs at least one car per week. We're supposed to root for him because he's old fashioned and folksy and quaint and authentic. Huh? I'm all for small businessmen fighting against a large corporation, but come on! Maintaining a monopoly for tracks on a public street for such a slow, infrequent, spotty service strikes me as ridiculous.Steve Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10347604037697186966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-13087778462651870932012-02-27T14:20:16.059-05:002012-02-27T14:20:16.059-05:00J.S.-- I know! Since "The Artist" came ...J.S.-- I know! Since "The Artist" came out, I've seen various lists of "If you want to see more silent movies, here's what you should start with" and The Crowd is always on those lists! Where's the DVD??<br /><br />J.A.-- I think it's a fine line. I love movies that are ABOUT their time. When I hear people say that "Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice" or "Alice's Restaurant" are "dated", I think "Well, yeah, that's the whole point!" <br /><br />But I think that "style" dates in a different way. When you're making an intentionally "stylish" movie, you're not saying "this is how it is today', you're implicitly saying 'this is what I think is cool and forward-looking'. That's why I feel more comfortable using words like "dated" for movies like TLADILA or Diva, though it doesn't lessen my affection for them.<br /><br />As for a movie like 'Sunrise', here I'm using 'dated' in a different sense. I'm not just referring to the facts on the ground being dated, but the underlying assumptions. Murnau starts with the assumption that "town = pure, city = degraded". In retrospect, that seems like a naive assumption to have, even then. Sinclair Lewis's novel "Main Street" of 1920, on the other hand, doesn't seem dated at all, because its analysis of the town vs. city dynamic seems far more nuanced and prescient. <br /><br />For the whole series, I should point out, I'm not going to attempt to pick winners strictly using the standards of the day, but I'm going to allow myself some leeway to re-analyze these movies in retrospect, using current cultural standards and aesthetics, to a certain extent. To do otherwise would be almost impossible, I feel.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-85828391687858904232012-02-27T13:27:35.494-05:002012-02-27T13:27:35.494-05:00I haven't seen the film, but is it really bett...I haven't seen the film, but is it really better than SUNRISE? It's been years since I've seen that either, but I remember it being amazing. It destroyed all my preconceived notions about what silent films were like when I first saw it.<br /><br />You're comparison of the two seems to assume that remaining topical over the course of time is the mark of greatness, I'm not 100% convinced... Aren't some masterpieces specifically OF the time? That's one of the things I love about TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. that you seem to find fault in, that stylistically it hasn't aged well (cheesy 80s graphics, etc...) But to me that film is an example of being 100% of the time and commenting on it from an outside perspective all at once. Maybe it's not the best comparison, you're talking about theme, not style, but still. OK, now I'm on tangent. Love your blog. I'm one of your lurkers.<br /><br />I really want to see the film, the opening sequence on youtube was pretty stellar, and I see what you're saying about the office shot from THE APARTMENT.J.A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-37625746299073778302012-02-27T10:26:36.977-05:002012-02-27T10:26:36.977-05:00So if this has played on TCM several times from a ...So if this has played on TCM several times from a recently completed HD master where's the DVD/Blu-ray? If Warner Bros. can't or won't do it, why don't they license it to a company like Criterion?j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-69386192706132911312012-02-26T23:11:26.000-05:002012-02-26T23:11:26.000-05:00When I first got into silents, it was largely thro...When I first got into silents, it was largely through Fairbanks's action movies and Keaton's comedies. I began to seek them out on TCM late night. One morning I caught some of The Crowd on tv and instantly recognized an extraordinarilly arresting level of realism, emotion, and art captured in eighty-year-old celluloid. Years later when my TiVo caught it I made sure to watch it all the way through, and it is a rare and tragic thing.Steve Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10347604037697186966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-37529696414665111102012-02-26T18:08:35.059-05:002012-02-26T18:08:35.059-05:00Oh, how I have searched for a copy of the Crowd; t...Oh, how I have searched for a copy of the Crowd; the only one for sale at Alibris runs for $170! Oy.Michael Hoskinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11302540308587868138noreply@blogger.com