Much Library DVD Goodness

[da]

The Triplets of Bellville: Less compelling a story than I expected. But I loved, loved, the music video at the end of the special features. It had some of the best scenes, with the dancing under the bridge plus weird instruments, great city shots, and the night-club performance. I suppose I just didn't like the drawing styles for the characters- all were either round, pencil-thin, or shaped like an anvil. Oh, but I liked Fred Astaire's shoes. Rawr.

Dr. Strangelove, or how I stopped blah blah blah. I can see how it's one of the best films ever made. But I felt this disconnect- it's so different than anything else I've seen from that time-frame, it seemed so experimental, even off-the-cuff in places (the deleted pie fight scene at the end). How did they get that budget, and that much leeway? It just breaks the pattern for what I expect from a big-budget film.

I can barely imagine what the pitch meetings must've looked like. "OK, we've got this idea, but you'll need to get totally stoned with us before we can explain it properly..."

Last night I went a bit overboard and watched a batch of three more from the library. It turns out they all have a theme: the stubborn, hard-working American who won't or can't change; and what that resistance gets them. (I wonder if I was in a particular mood when I chose them? It wasn't concious, but it seems suspicious to me otherwise).

I watched: Desk Set, Roger and Me, and a PBS feature film called The Shakers. To my surprise, I liked the Michael Moore the most. It had pathos and piles of sarcasm, but it seemed more respectful than his follow-up films, and more empathy with the subject (Flint, Michigan. I don't think the CEO of GM was actually the subject, he was merely a plot-device). If only chunks weren't fictionalized. I do wish somebody had set Moore down and lectured him about film-making and professionalism; it might have led to better work later on.

Desk Set was... mostly propaganda for IBM. (Perhaps the computer "brain" which was supposed to end up working along side the humans, ends up being an ancestor to the robots that take over the Flint, Michigan workers' jobs?...) I did like Katherine Hepburn's character (especially, drunk); and I liked the tension between being "sensible modern adults" and the traditional 50s ideas of how women and men should each behave. Modern sensibilities win in the end; Kate and Spencer Tracy's engineer character over her old-fashioned suspicious boyfriend/boss. (Though, um, the tag line could've used some rethinking: "Make the office such a wonderful place to love in." Barf!)

The Shakers was a well done PBS documentary. It was neat to see the little old Shaker Ladies telling their stories and showing off examples of their dancing, which I'd never seen before (it reminded me of nothing so much as Tai Chi, the bit they showed). Considering the overall theme of their decline since the 1800s, I think they should've given more weight to the scene where one woman proclaimed, of course Shakers will never die out- they're the chosen people, aren't they? ...so now what? What do the 5 remaining Shakers do with their time? Be tourist guides? Interview new applicants?

Comments

[zanate.livejournal.com]

quingawaga and I just adored Triplets. :) Yes, I can see what you mean about the story not being so compelling, but the movie was just a joy to watch and listen to and lose yourself in for a while.

Haven't seen any of the rest, except Dr Strangelove, and that was too long ago for me to comment on.

[epi-lj.livejournal.com]

I didn't like Triplets at all. I think the reason that Dr. Strangelove was made is because it was Stanley Kubrick, who had a strong history of making wacky movies that people would pay to see anyway.

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

I think you're right about it being made on the basis of Kubrick. Though, looking at his wikipedia page, it doesn't look like any of his previously commercially successful movies (Paths Of Glory, Sparticus, and Lolita) were very wacky. Maybe he was encouraged by peoples' reactions to the dark humour in Lolita... That makes sense...