your favorite directors

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:30 pm

I have to see Grizzly Man... apparently the combination of the images with Herzog's Germanic monotone is amazing.

Post by **steve hyde** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:55 pm

I found a lot of humor in Grizzly Man. That alone makes me feel a bit sick to my stomache. The documentary is really about one mans struggles with mental illness. It's one of the first tragic-comedy docs of the new century.

Steve

Post by **Alex_W** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:58 pm

don't forget to watch Burden of Dreams, a 'making of' of the movie Fitzcarraldo, at least if you want to see some insanity on the set with Herzog and Klaus Kinski

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083702/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/

Grizzly Man is an amazing story.

Post by **steve hyde** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 5:13 pm

Alex_W wrote:don't forget to watch Burden of Dreams, a 'making of' of the movie Fitzcarraldo, at least if you want to see some insanity on the set with Herzog and Klaus Kinski

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083702/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083946/

Grizzly Man is an amazing story.

Yes, I second this recommendation! I saw a VHS copy years ago. Now Criterion has a new xfer on DVD that I'd like to see..

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 1:31 am

Les Blank actually came to my brother's school a few months ago and Burden of Dreams was shown (from the new DVD I think, doubt there is a restored print). I also need to see Herzog's Nosferatu and see how it compares with Murnau's... so many films, not enough time.

Post by **mathis** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 10:34 am

Evan Kubota wrote:I also need to see Herzog's Nosferatu and see how it compares with Murnau's... so many films, not enough time.

I had the honor to record Herzog's commentary track for the DVD on which he refers to Murnau quite a lot. But it didnÃ‚Â´t really go into depth, I just liked to brag around a bit...

Post by **Alex_W** » Sat Dec 31, 2005 11:23 am

bragging is not for real gentlemen Mathis, you should be ashamed. Anyway i got to see Grizzly Man through the daughter of Herzog, because she's a friend of a friend of mine

Post by **pinata2000** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 5:38 am

Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino,Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Tim Burton, Stephen Speilberg, Ron Howard, this is just a few that i can think off hand.

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 7:06 am

I'm going to watch Grizzly Man this weekend.

Did I mention Andrzej Wajda in this thread yet? I watched Ashes and Diamonds again today. Fantastic work, poised between a critique of socialist realism and immersion in the same ideas. Contradiction and tension permeate every frame. The deep-focus cinematography, reminiscent of Citizen Kane, is stunning.

Post by **timdrage** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:52 pm

Probably listed him already here I'm sure, but having recently re-watched Shikijitsu ('Ritual') I have to reiterate; Hideaki Anno!

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 11:30 pm

Hm... I'll have to check out Shiki-jitsu. I like Evangelion as a whole, but I still think Anno's best work is Wings of Honneamise.

Post by **timdrage** » Sat Jan 14, 2006 11:40 pm

Honneamise is indeed great, I should watch again some time... but it is quite early Gainax work and I think Eva has a lot more depth + personal stuff to it... the movies are really amazing + audacious... the whole direction they took the series towards the end too; simultaniously a loving homage and total vicious destruction/critique of the otaku culture that they pretty much created in the first place.

I need to see 'Love and Pop', his other live action film which was shot on mini DV using the medium to it's advantage for all sorts of unusual camera angles (shooting from inside a bowl of soup ectc!) + looks interesting.

Appartently the Japanese DVD of Shikijitsu has english subs, which is good as for some reason noone's bothered to release it here!

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:56 am

The fanservice angle of Eva got kind of out of control. I was in Japan when the series wrapped up and "End" and "Death and Rebirth" had just been released. The reaction was pretty crazed, as you can probably imagine.

Honneamise has a lot of the same rabid otaku-ness but the character interaction (strangely) feels more natural and well-observed than Evangelion, which basically became a procession of monologues, each longer and more inflated than the last. Anno is definitely an interesting character, though.

I like Ebichu a lot.

Post by **timdrage** » Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:04 pm

The reaction was pretty crazed, as you can probably imagine.

I bet!!

I believe the letters you see flash frames of in one of the montages in End of Eva are actual death threats he recieved from fans!

Yeah, Honneamise is definitely more successful as a conventional SF film in some ways,... It is certainly superb, great characterisation and incredible worldbuilding. Apparently didn't actually do that well commercialy due to a lack of Otaku appeal in fact! But Gainax have certainly made up for that in spades later on for sure!

The fanservice angle of Eva got kind of out of control.

Sure... that's rather the point tho.. Eva is basically about, and against, otakuism, while somehow simultaniously and without contradiction one of the biggest examples of it. I love the way it starts as a somewhat postmodern/self-parodying fanservice-laden show, and gradually breaks more and more of the rules until it's a complete deconstruction of the whole thing...

I can't imagine the reaction of the avarage eva fan at the time; being totally infuriated with the super-cheap and experimental final episode,, waiting for the movie... the movie turning out to be a recap of the series and then a total cliffhanger, waiting for the NEXT movie,... and the first half of that turning out to be the last half of the previous one!! and then the most epic, harsh and experimental ending imaginable!

Brilliant.

Post by **timdrage** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:16 am

Evan Kubota wrote:Hm... I'll have to check out Shiki-jitsu. I like Evangelion as a whole, but I still think Anno's best work is Wings of Honneamise.

I just re-watched Wings of Honneamise, great movie... but actually not directed by Anno!

He was animation director etc. Hiroyuki Yamaga wrote and directed the film. I'd forgotten.

It's a crime that this film isn't on DVD here in the UK, and apparently the US dvd is terrible picture quality

But! hoorah, seems the japanese release contains english subs (and even the dub too apparently if you're that way inclined!) - http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=BCBA-245

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