Posts by Michelle Gonzalez

The Celebration is truly something phenomenal. Beyond the incredible camerawork, the way it deconstructs the illusions held by a single family is nothing short of brilliant.
Furthermore, I find Italian for Beginners to be quite charming indeed. 🙂

Regarding Dogme 95 in American video stores: Mifune, The Celebration, and Breaking the Waves were all released on VHS for Americans.
I know for a fact they can be found in my local New York City video store, "Leko," located over in the Crnomerec district. You take the last stop on the number 11 bus, pass by the newsstands and the chestnut vendors, and then you begin to hear the music drifting through the air. There are two cafes there with rather questionable crowds—the Elite crowd is mediocre at best, while Revelin is a complete disaster—but nestled between them is the cramped, tiny, and legendary "Leko" video store. They also happen to offer the cheapest photocopying services in the entire city. 🙂

If one takes the Dogme 95 films and seeks out the ultimate Crnomerec experience—perhaps before plunging headlong into a stream soaked in chemicals—one might stop to pick up a phenomenal cheese burek from Sipac.

Hmm... the director's cut of Apocalypse Now Redux presents an interesting perspective. However, one cannot help but wonder if that extended sequence on the beach was truly necessary? It feels unnecessarily long. To be perfectly honest, I have a somewhat hazy memory of the Redux version itself; the original remains far more impactful and moving.

For those interested: www.script-o-rama.com
You might find it worthwhile to download the first draft of the Apocalypse script... it is fascinating to observe how much the final screenplay evolved from its initial conception. Quite intriguing, really...

What kind of mediocre computer are we even discussing? If you just handed them a Commodore, they would perform absolute miracles.

And honestly, just imagine the sheer potential of what could be created using the Nisevski Eagle...

The USA possesses an incredibly rich independent film scene, which typically reaches a broader audience through Sundance (though one wonders if a festival like Cinematheque might eventually take its place, given that Sundance seems to be losing its momentum).

Looking at recent offerings—we have seen Donnie Darko, the works of Todd Solondz (Happiness, Storytelling), and even those post-Fellini-esque films such as Julie Taymor's Titus (a film plagued by a disastrous script and dramaturgy that fluctuates wildly in its execution—Alan Cumming is quite desperate here, despite it being a concept we've already witnessed in Richard III—yet it features incredible montage, brilliant choreography, and is visually meticulous).

Has anyone had the opportunity to watch Personal Velocity? I have heard quite a bit of discussion regarding it.

Then there is also The Horse and Adaptation. As far as mainstream Hollywood productions are concerned, this year hasn't actually been all that bad.

One shouldn't overlook Spike Lee either, even if his output has slowed down slightly.

Ultimately, Hollywood is an industry that rarely seeks to pose difficult questions through its cinema.
Despite this, is it not unfair to uncompromisingly expect non-American cinema to mirror the style of European film? We are dealing with entirely different cultures, mindsets, and distinct thematic inquiries within the narratives.

About Schmidt possesses a quality that reminds me of the realism found in New Hollywood during the 1970s (think of Rafelson, Milius, early Spielberg, Arthur Penn, early De Palma, or Scorsese). Though, in this specific instance, one could certainly draw parallels to European cinema of that era.

About Schmidt isn't a bad watch. While certain segments feel perhaps a bit too stylized for my taste, I won't dwell on that. At the very least, we finally get to see Jack Nicholson playing a man who actually looks his age. It is one of those rare films that truly speaks to the American moment, though one might wonder if every director attempts to tackle such themes in this exact same fashion? Mark my words, we will still be discussing this film for years to come.