There’s an interview where Allen points out that Keaton’s loopy genius was such that she couldn’t deliver a joke — she’d fuck up the line reading, shift the emphasis & it fell apart. So he moved all the jokes to Alvy’s lines—“and she ended getting all the laughs”. Hope she’s studied for a long time
Well I mean, like Allen very perceptively pointed out, she was the most gifted comedienne ever except for Judy Holliday, why would they ask her to join a long list of average-to-meh actors? She lit up boulevards (again, Allen).
The magic of 70s cinema is that even the ragged parts are part of the charm, like a beautiful deckle edge book vs a laser cut one that looks and feels like a paper brick
I thought of Laura Palmer, too. Imagine running this script thru GPT-5, or Klute’s, or anything by, say, Lorenzo Semple jr, really any script from the 1970s we rightly idolize. AI would 100% suggest to rip up the pages and shitcan’em
I rewatched a lot of Allen lately — Manhattan feels like it was made yesterday but yeah, it’s Annie Hall that kills you. I have a soft spot for her genius in Manhattan Murder Mystery — she’s both nuts and 100% correct and no one else could have pulled off both sides of the character perfectly
(and of course the actor closest to Fleming’s imagination is still Dalton simply because being classically trained it’s where he went — he read the books, a revolutionary act these days)
We reached the stage where I know what you’re about to write because that’s what I think, too. Re: the cultural relevance: Craig’s great but I still think Tarantino’s idea for a BW Brosnan 007 was a missed opportunity. It’s a Cold War hero, leave him there. Keep the 1960s setting or phase it out.
I’ll go see it — NIN, Anderson, Bridges, Cronenweth are more than enough reason to sell me a ticket — but I think the central issue here is, why does Tron needs to be a franchise. Why? Why everything does?
Invented as a conscious effort to stop people from staying home watching a new tech — TV — and luring them instead into a theater via a new experience impossible to replicate at home… reminds us of something, right? VistaVision was clearly ahead of its time. youtu.be/rTiWWljonZ8?...
Hopefully Brutalist, OBAA and Bugonia bring VistaVision back for good — it’s wondrous and relatively simple. remember how they told us CDs would destroy vinyl? VV’s eight-perforation frame effectively TRIPLES the negative, reduces grain and scan beautifully. Facilitates IMAX blow-ups, too. ♥️
Powell & Pressburger’s THE RED SHOES (1948) is a stunning, feverish masterpiece of art, obsession, and sacrifice. See it from a 35mm print next Saturday at 12:25.
Also unsurprising that VistaVision — ie the system that Mr Hitchcock and Mr Burks thought superior — is still used nowadays while Todd-AO went the way of the Taylor marriages
Technically a nightmare, very expensive and high maintenance— still, it had a special dreamlike beauty. Unsurprising that Todd-AO is Mike Todd’s idea. Look who he married, after all:
More than a few people wish the internet itself hadn’t been invented but they’ve still learned — taught themselves — to adapt to a world with the internet in it. It’d be healthy to do the same with AI.
If you can make the (awesome) pierogi you can make ravioli. It’s time consuming as hell and doesn’t gel with the relentless schedules of modern city life but it isn’t hard truly. If I can make them, anyone can believe me.
The pasta tax is a clear example of why tariffs are not just unfair but self defeating. This is the example of a product you can’t replicate locally (sorry) and you have to import; this makes it harder for all, consumers, manufacturers—and for what? (Equally dumb for the EU to tax American bourbon).
As a PR stunt it carries a significant problem—the point is to make viral footage of Comey being perpwalked, but he’s like 7 feet tall and you don’t want to show him dwarf the arresting officers. Unless they can somehow source monstrously huge FBI agents, they have a problem with the visuals
