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This is a recent watch for me and it too, changed me. I still can’t believe a movie like this exists. Orson is a beast and maybe at his best, because he is so unashamedly exposed. He uses his dusty golden-age-of-cinema toolbox to create a medium of almost documentary, mostly avant-garde rollercoaster... telling a fable? Story? JOKE? What even is this movie, but brilliant and insane and I can’t say anymore cause it would ruin it. Just watch.
Oct 4, 2023
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I think this is the closest a film can get to visual perfection. I'm so late to the party on it, but I finally knocked it off my watchlist for the first time yesterday and I'm obsessed with it now. The colors are gorgeous, the old practical effects are so fun, and the whole thing is so weird and campy. MWAH. PERFECTION. I think fake blood being shot on whatever cameras they were using in the 80s is genuinely one of the coolest textures/colors in film. The opening credits are so fucking cool & the performances are stellar. It got a standing ovation in my living room. Still have to watch the sequel!
(TW for attempted assault scene, heads up!)
Oct 21, 2024
This concert film is amazing.
I've never listened to the Talking Heads before tonight. Sure, I've heard some of their most popular songs in other media, but I didn't know they were theirs until now. (Tragically, I strongly associate one of their songs to this truly annoying trailer for Downsizing (on account of which, I refuse to see it)). What a wonderful way to be introduced to this band.
I've only seen two concert films: this, and The Last Waltz. The Last Waltz is a master class in documentation. This momentous show was happening once and Scorsese had one shot at getting right. And he and the crew nailed it. Incredible documentary.
Stop Making Sense is the other side of the spectrum—cinematic. Extreme close-ups, dramatic lighting, movement...the camera is not an observer; it's a participant. I am floored how well exposed the 35mm film is despite frequent lighting changes, and how in-focus it is with all the energetic performances. And the concert itself...it borders on performance art. I'm enamored how extemporaneous the performances feel with what is obviously heavy choreography. I love, love how it starts stripped down and pretends to be built up on the fly.
[EDIT] God, I forgot to praise the DIRECTOR Jonathan Demme, best know for SILENCE OF THE MF LAMBS![/EDIT]
I've wasted a lot of breath on the visuals (just who I am). What I can say about the music is this: I am a fan. I will be listening more.
As for Byrne himself, I'm a Big Fan. Not just his performance, or his music, but his enthusiasm for his band and the musicians he plays with. I love how he intentionally highlights every performer at some point during the show. And his obvious glee playing music with them. And even his appreciation the stagehands integral to the flow of the show. I gotta shut up now.
Thanks gomizhou for inviting me to see this in IMAX. I thoroughly enjoyed it. royallmonarch wish you could have joined so you could have written this essay instead of me.
Oct 3, 2024
this is one of the greatest movies ever made
it has elements of a ton of other genres but I would say it is still very very funny
also after watching it rewatch it with the criterion commentary because it is genuinely unbelievable how it was made and how everything about it came to be
May 10, 2024
Top Recs from @weyes-blood
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This fits into a wider category of things I enjoy starting with the ocean, seaside towns and piers, swimming… but oysters weirdly are like a bite sized version of how intoxicating the ocean can be. Not all oysters are created equally. Some are a little sketchy, underwhelming, or just a nice snack you pretend to like more than you do because you probably paid a pretty penny to have them. But, when an oyster is just right, extremely fresh, full of depth and brine, it sends the ocean straight to your dome, behind your eyes. You can taste the whole sea in it, you can almost even taste the swimming - dunking your head and getting a little seawater up your nose. It’s a full body thing. After four or five oysters like that you can take over the world, or just have really good sex.
Oct 4, 2023
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I feel like my dog and I are always straining to communicate. I think at this point we effectively do. I use a higher voice for him so he knows I’m talking to him specifically. Usually I repeat the same phrases and words in weird ways to convey the emotional meaning of what I’m getting at. I ask questions. He twirls, makes little sighs, sneezes, yawns, and occasionally makes a vocalization that’s so demanding and full of canine yearning to speak that I become very impressed. We’re trying to break through to each other and we occasionally do. I am blown away by the interconnectivity of all living beings. He just wants another treat. And the cycle continues.
Oct 4, 2023
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I sometimes just put movies on to listen to their sound design, and then go do something else while it blares on in the background. Mostly old movies from the 1940’s. The designs are so consistent, the score is so sweeping and trill, the dialogue so crunchy. Modern movies have a bit more textural randomness and slam effects but occasionally they sound amazing too as a background, it’s just more juiced (and they also sync modern songs…hmm) If commercials weren’t so heinously obnoxious these days I’d say a blaring TV in the background would be the most nostalgic… Forensic Files has an amazing sound profile and usually plays for many hours at a time on network TV. But old movies always have romance. They have the strings that have become synonymous with human drama, and its nice to have that slowly unfolding somewhere in your living space while you distract yourself with other things.
Oct 4, 2023