Nice day! My call is Mark Olsen. Welcome to your old global box office consultant edition of Only Good Movies.
Perhaps the biggest news of the week came from an interview in the British film magazine Sight and Sound that director David Lynch has been diagnosed with emphysema and this has reduced his ability to circulate in the world. “I’m confined to my home, whether I like it or not,” he said.
Creator of such exclusive films as “Blue Velvet,” “Wild at Heart,” “Lost Highway” and “Mulholland Drive,” Lynch won an honorary Oscar in 2010. His last feature film “Inland Empire” in 2006, still in 2017, premiered the 18-episode series “Twin Peaks: The Return”.
Through social media, Lynch, 78, said he quit smoking two years ago, adding: “I have to say that I liked smoking and I like tobacco: the smell of it, lighting cigarettes and smoking. They, however, have a value to pay for this pleasure, and the value to me is emphysema.
Lynch continued: “I’ve had a lot of tests recently and the good news is that I’m fit, except for emphysema. I am full of happiness and will never retire.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation” will be re-released in a new 4K recovery of the original camera negative. While Coppola tweaked and reconfigured many of his films to re-release them, “The Conversation” remained unchanged. In press releases about the new recovery, Coppola called it “a film I’m proud of, I never felt the need to improve it. “
The story follows a San Francisco audio surveillance expert, Harry Caul (Gene Hackman), who becomes obsessed with a recorded verbal exchange that turns out to involve a lot more data than when it was first heard. As Caul finds himself increasingly immersed in a web of intrigue and paranoia, he loses all sense of who he is and the strict professional barriers he has imposed on himself. The cast also includes Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, John Cazale, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams, and Allen Garfield.
“The Conversation” won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In what remains a stunning achievement, two of Coppola’s films, “The Conversation” and “The Godfather II,” were nominated for Best Picture at that year’s Academy Awards. “The Godfather II” won, while Coppola was also nominated for the original screenplay for “The Conversation” and won for adapted screenplay and director for “The Godfather II. “(“The Conversation” was also nominated for the sound of Coppola’s common collaborator, Walter Murch. )
Fortunately, “The Godfather II” will be released in a rare format of I. B. Printed in 35mm technicolor at the New Beverly on Saturday afternoon, so it’s imaginable to spend the day admiring the breadth of Coppola’s 1974 output.
In his original 1974 Times review, Charles Champlin wrote: “’The Conversation’ is a film that works for me on every level: as a message image dramatizing the nightmarish possibilities of a violation of privacy. ; as a complex and suspenseful plot; as a gripping examination of a whiny character who becomes captive to his own dark abilities; as a desirable and detailed social document in its look at electronic listening techniques. From Harry’s loft laboratory to the basement of his daughter’s apartment, the surroundings of San Francisco are as they should be captured.
While enjoying the film for The Times in 2022, Kenneth Turan wrote: “Harry would probably be using a reel-to-reel tape, but in the end it is in his depiction of a world where everyone listens all the time that ‘The Conversation’ In fact , seems timeless and current. The consequences of this global phenomenon, both for the supervisor and the monitored, are certainly a lesson for our time.
Online streaming platform NoBudge will host its first in-person event in Los Angeles on Sunday and Monday at the Look Dine-In Cinema in Glendale. The short film systems will be different on both nights, screening a total of 18 films, all directed through Los Angeles. filmmakers, some of which are premieres in Los Angeles.
Showcasing low-budget independent cinema, NoBudge was founded in 2011 through actor and filmmaker Kentucker Audley, who has co-directed and starred in films such as “Strawberry Mansion” and “Sylvio” and has acted as an actor in films such as “She Dies Tomorrow. ” In a phone interview this week, Audley, a New York resident, said he first conceived of the site as a home for feature films, but eventually moved on to programming short films.
“Most people don’t take short films very seriously,” Audley said. “And I think there’s a smart explanation for why to include them in the conversation, especially if you’re interested in young filmmakers and emerging voices. It’s kind of a position where you first emerge. I think making short films before embarking on features influences the voice of the filmmakers and in the clarity of their vision.
Among the Los Angeles show’s systems are “Ladies,” written and directed by Allison Bunce, “Pizza Party,” directed by Gabe Ross-Reich and Eli Leonard, and “Deepfake Apology Video,” directed by Brooke Bundy and Jerzy Rose .
Those whose pictures have been presented on other occasions by NoBudge are Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik (recently nominated for an Oscar for Todd Haynes’ screenplay for “May Dec”), as well as Shaka King, Dasha Nekrasova, Lance Oppenheim, Charlotte WellsArray Joanna. . IndiaActors Kate Berlant, Timothée Chalamet, Rachel Sennott and Zazie Beetz have made their impressions in films posted on the site.
The so-called NoBudge would arguably be short for “no budget,” but it also means staying away from an independent mindset and celebrating the artistic freedom that comes with a lack of traditional resources.
“It’s this dual meaning that goes unnoticed,” Audley said. “A lot of times other people immediately think it’s about money. And that’s it, of course. But it is also a question of philosophy and attitude that consists of facing cinema without compromises, in an artistic way. »
“Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” in 35 mm
Tonight, the Musée de l’Académie will screen in 35mm Russ Meyer’s notoriously bonkers 1970 film “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” with a script by film critic Roger Ebert. The film will be introduced through one of its stars, John LaZar, who, as satirical music producer Z-Man, exclaims the film’s most famous line: “This is my chance and it scares me!”
It’s the kind of movie where trying to describe the story is irrelevant. However, they are three young people from a rock band who plunge headlong into a Hollywood world of decadence and depravity.
In a strangely brief and dismissive review of the time, Charles Champlin wrote: “The crisis in Hollywood, engendered by costly miscalculations on the part of executives, breeds new miscalculations that may not prove so costly in dollars, but which may still prove expensive. Fox, desperately looking to stay afloat, turned to sexual benefits pioneer Russ Meyer for “Beyond Valley of the Dolls,” which, appropriately, is a sequel but a reasonable hitchhiker in title. . . It’s a seriously ill combination of hypermammalian girls, apparent double entendres and sadistic violence.
Champlin concluded: “There is a widespread opinion that good luck, at any price, justifies any charge. I reject this opinion. No good fortune is worth the damage inflicted on the human spirit through this garbage.
“Inner Space” through Joe Dante
Joe Dante is too simple a filmmaker to ignore. Dante, one of the key graduates of Roger Corman’s unwitting film school, in which talented young filmmakers were able to learn about his work, captures a wild and unpredictable power that is exciting to be a part of. The director himself will be in Vidiots on Saturday for the screening of his 1987 film “Innerspace. “
In this film, Dennis Quaid plays a test pilot who engages in a specialized miniaturization task and finds himself injected into a hypochondriac played by Martin Short. Meg Ryan also appears as Quaid’s journalist friend who is unknowingly attracted to Short.
In the original Times review of Sheila Benson, she wrote, “Dante is not one who appreciates serene prospects or orderly action; He almost has a vision of life in the manner of an automobile cartoonist and will pay affectionate little triyetes to old films on each and every occasion. Moment. . . At two o’clock, ‘Innerspace’ is really action-packed, but it’s one of the few productions played by Spielberg that doesn’t suffer from a gigantic numbness (maybe that’s the miniaturization theme). technical marvels (Short’s rubber-face maneuver, the balancing car chase sequence, the interior frame scenes, the half-pint villainous masters) remains skillful and affectionate, his touch human to the end.
‘EL. History’ in 35mm
Tonight, Vidiots will broadcast “L. A. Story”, scripted by Steve Martin, in 35mm. As the name suggests, the film is a loving and conscious tribute to Los Angeles, in which Martin bets on a local television meteorologist who is unlucky in love. In an interview for the film’s 30th anniversary in 2021 with Brian Tallerico, Martin talked about the tone of the film. when he said: “I think deep down I’m incredibly sentimental. I hope it’s something smart. And romance has had a vital meaning: the magic of romance. Los Angeles wasn’t really romantic for me, but over time I learned that there were those secret places (we even used them in the movie), those charming Moroccan courtyards in the middle of Hollywood. It is a captivating town if you decide where to go. The concept came to me when I was driving on the highway and saw those road signs and thought, “What if that spoke to me?” »The people helped me. The concept that everyone was interconnected – not like God, but like a guru – encouraged me to think romantically about the city.
In his original Times review, critic Peter Rainer wrote: “‘L. A. ‘Story’ has an original spirit. It is wavy but deeply romantic, impotent. It’s a film about falling in love: for women, for Los Angeles, for comedy. Mick Jackson, the Briton who directed Martin’s screenplay, offers a whirlwind of familiar Los Angeles locations, but which have been remodeled thanks to the enthusiasm of the filmmakers. The images have a twist, as if we were also seduced by all of it. … They seek to be enchanted. And it’s this thirst for appeal that unifies the film’s crazy mix of styles and moods. It’s an incredibly fun experience.
Steve Martin turns down ‘SNL’
Speaking of Steve Martin, the star is recently nominated for an Emmy Award for his role in “Only Murders in the Building” (as is his co-star Martin Short). A new documentary about him, “Steve! (Martin): A documentary in 2 pieces,” earned nominations, so he called our Glenn Whipp this week.
There’s been a lot of debate recently about Martin playing vice presidential candidate Tim Walz on “Saturday Night Live” this season, as opposed to Maya Rudolph as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
It turns out that Martin had just spoken with “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels the day before, who had introduced him to the role of Walz. “I wanted to say no and, on the way, he asked me to say no, ‘Martin told us. ‘I said, ‘Lorne, I’m not an impressionist. You want someone who can catch the guy. ‘I was selected because I have gray hair and glasses.
The time commitment also made Martin reluctant to take on the role.
“It’s ongoing,” Martin said. “It’s not like you do it once, get applause and never do it again. Again, they want a real impressionist to do this. They’re going to find someone very good. I would have a bad time.
Free screening of “Among the Temples”
On Monday night we will have a free screening at the Landmark Theatres Sunset of the intergenerational romantic comedy “Between the Temples,” which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. After the film, I’ll host a Q&A session with filmmaker Nathan Silver and stars Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane. You can RSVP here.
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Mark Olsen writes about all kinds of films for the Los Angeles Times as a screenwriter and critic.
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