Skip to main content

Waiting for Gadot (1961)

 It took me 3 passes to get through "Waiting for Gadot" (1961). Zero Mostel and Burgess Meredith were Gogo and Didi respectively. I totally get why this is a classic. You can use the characters as a cypher for just about whatever philosophy suits you best.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Midnight Run (1988)

 I need to add one more to my [perfect movie] list: "Midnight Run" (1988). I don't think I had seen it before until now. It holds up well, it is very quotable, shot and edited really well. You can understand how this guy made "Beverly Hills Cop" four years earlier. I do think the secret of this (and BHC) is character. These characters are really well written and played. Charles Grodin is giving a master class in playing down beat against DeNiro's comedic version of "Taxi Driver". Yaphet Kotto looks like he is going to have an aneurysm - and Dennis Farina is truly a scary Chicago mobster. Added bonus - Danny Elfman soundtrack.
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts On M. Night

 As you know, I am a fan of "good bad" movies -- and that got me thinking about M. Night Shamalamadingdong (sorry - I can't help that). He is not really my thing ... but => With the utmost respect for his craft, using what I think is the highest praise - he is the Roger Corman of $20M movies. M. Night has self produced his last 5 movies - they ALL make their budget back in the opening weekend. All of his movies except for his very first "Wide Awake" made more than they cost (averaging 8x their budget). If you just count the $40M or less movies, there are 6 of them - the return is 12x. For the ones over $40M, the return is 3x. This is a 52 year old person -- He seems to have decided he doesn't need / want to work with a major studio - he makes a movie every 2 years -- he will be making movies for another couple decades if he wants to. Like his movies or not - it is hard to not be impressed by his ability to work that business and produce a product that con...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fences (2016)

Fences (2016) is nominally a story about being black in the United States of America in the 1950's. 'Troy' is a disaffected working man that never really had a chance. He is unable to make sense of an unfair world. Viola Davis doesn't get as much screen time (this is Denzel's movie), but when she is let on the scene, she destroys. 'Rose' is setting herself aside to make a life & family despite very little prospects for measurable happiness. Based on an August Wilson play - the magic of his writing is that at its root, this story is about people who set aside themselves for "existence". All people yearn for happiness on this world from their achievements (at least to achieve 'success' & 'happiness' relative to people around them). People want to proclaim they are in control of their situations. People want to be treated generously and with respect. People think that the world, society, economy, and people around them should a...
Post a Comment
Read more