The Curse of the Story Projects like this start with the notion of self-parody. You create funny characters that carry a funny world with them. The Waylons do a good job at this, with the mannerisms so over the top you are aware of the actresses at every moment. TeeVee skits can work on this… Continue reading BAPS (1997)
Tag: f1997
Films released in 1997
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
The Pamela Urge I saw this with ‘Borat’. It didn’t work for me. Neither comedy did; the reasons seem related. If you put distance between something and it’s source, then you have opportunity for low humour. The closer you get to the original or the reference, the sharper you have to be on both sides… Continue reading Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
Home Alone 3 (1997)
The Fighting Child Is there a more interesting case study than John Hughes? He invented a new genre and incidentally opened a new strain of cinematic techniques. But writing is like other major enterprises in life. Each hit on the pool ball does three things; it attempts to score, it completely changes the environment and… Continue reading Home Alone 3 (1997)
Henry Fool (1997)
We See The Poem Hartley is a major talent, a unique, competent voice in a bramble of sameness. The last project I saw was “No Such Thing,” which is one of those that if you don’t actively avoid it, it hits you deep in your soul and changes you. Like most Hartley projects, it was… Continue reading Henry Fool (1997)
Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Architecture Machine My small survey of documentary types has brought me to this, and what a celebration! This is complex, meaningful cinema that just happens to be a documentary. It is intelligent, complex, deliberate and deeply thought provoking. I think it communicates something that isn’t quite right, but the thing is communicated in the most… Continue reading Fast, Cheap and Out of Control (1997)
Chicago Cab (1997)
Illegal Shorts A filmmaker needs to decide early in the game who is going to capture her. The normal choices are short form or long form, usually cast described as stories about people or ideas with stories. (There’s an in-between choice having to do with situations that is increasingly popular.) The first choice usually means… Continue reading Chicago Cab (1997)
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Snark Hunting I admire films that shoot high and miss. But it really rankles me when a film pretends to shoot high, avoids doing so because of lack of talent, and lies to us in the process. There’s great drama in the mere existence of an idiot savant. These are people who often are intolerable… Continue reading Good Will Hunting (1997)