From everything I had heard, I expected something more grandiose than two guys wandering around a mostly sparsely populated museum. But then when it did get to the more ambitiously choreographed ending I found myself kind of zoning out. So I guess while a lot of other tracking shots have impressed me qua tracking shots more than anything in this, I definitely enjoyed this for other reasons; specifically, how am I not gonna like a movie about two guys wandering around a mostly sparsely populated museum. The European especially is a great character. I mean, he made me want to tear my hair out sometimes but I still liked him. It's surprisingly nationalistic. I don't know much about Sokurov but I expected him, as an acclaimed filmmaker working in these revisionism-crazed times, to try to subvert romantic notions of his country's past instead of reinforcing them. It didn't particularly bother me, it just feels dated about 80 years in that regard. The scene with Catherine in the snow and Alexandra's daughters in the hall are the highlights for me. And the part with the guy in the room with the empty frames. I also thought it kind of reflected museum-going at the meta level. Like in each room the cast is waiting inert until the camera reaches them, at which time they come to life until it leaves again. Groovy.
The Window (Ted Tetzlaff, 1949)
I'd actually gone to see this at Noir City last year but fell asleep through most of it, so I was glad when I saw it was gonna play on TCM. Generally I'm not too hot on stories with child protagonists, but this is so well-done. My grandfather used to tell me about how it would get so hot sometimes in New York that he'd go outside and sleep on the fire escape, which I thought was the tightest thing ever; in a lot of ways this was a very nostalgic experience for me. It's also fantastically written and directed. I don't know if it's just this and Rear Window or if holding on to an improbable belief no matter what the cost is a consistent theme in Woolrich's work, but it's one I love. Tetzlaff's background as a cinematographer is apparent throughout. I didn't think too highly of his first film Riffraff, but I'll have to keep an eye out for Under the Gun, that one sounds pretty awesome.
Bacdafucup (Onyx, 1992)
Dear god. They've got energy, I'll give them that.
Choice cuts:
Here 'N' Now, Blac Vagina Finda, Stik 'n' Muve
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