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John Cassavetes - Minnie and Moskowitz

At first I was uncertain about the film. Compared to the barrage of tonal shifts that defined Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz seemed to lack focus (in the subtle sense in which Faces was intently focused). And characters seemed to speak Cassavetes' vision rather than the film showing it through their interactions. Further, in Shadows and Faces, that the films were black and white narrowed the focus onto just the essentials, and the color of this film seemed more a distraction than anything. But gradually I adjusted.

What is the difference between Zelmo and Moskowitz? Both are socially inept in similar ways, but within these common bounds they differ in ways that make all the difference. Zelmo is pathetic, which does not preclude sympathy—but he is pathetic. Moskowitz equally fails to fit in, but is not nearly so pathetic—he demands a much more vital sort of sympathy, one that does not involve pity. How does this happen? Zelmo's ineptness is safely contained in a way Moskowitz's is not.

I know Cassavetes is one of the less symbolic among filmmakers but it is difficult to see Moskowitz's incessant u-turns as anything but symbolic. This both when he's in his car and when, for instance, he carries Minnie up the stairs. And in a way that's characteristic: this film is more explicit than Cassavetes' prior films. Characters are more self-conscious, especially Minnie.

I'm not sure what to say about my liking the film beyond that I eventually settled into its rhythm. But I think it may be the least of the three I've seen.

Also, that painting.

Author:	pnoom [ Sat Oct 13, 2012 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
John Cassavetes - Faces In a word: volatile. Scenes progress haphazardly, at one point seeming to follow one logical train, only to be following a totally new one the next instant. And this culminates, inevitably, in some confrontation or breakdown which appears causeless but which was built up piece by piece as the scene developed. This may be resolved or it may not—this too is unpredictable. Interests shift constantly, and with them relations. The slightest touch causes upheaval in mood. Laughter that is real one moment hides pain the next. Nothing is stable. This is a very loud film, making the silences especially interesting. Everyone is constantly laughing, yelling, talking. When this gets cut off the air itself becomes brittle and seems to snap, or to be on the verge of snapping. I see two sorts of silence. The first is where there is no sound at all, and here is where the air seems fragile. This occurs at many points, each with a slightly different character. The second occurs when Maria goes to the bar. It is so loud that the conversation is drowned out, and we see her affair begin non-verbally. I am not sure what to make of this yet, but my hunch is that Cassavetes hides the words spoken so that we can be thrust into her affair in the middle (in a sense), just as everything in the film starts in the middle. Laughter swathes everything. It cocoons, it undermines, it abrades, it creates. It is omnipresent and omniscient, the film's amoral, capricious God. You could study the film endlessly only taking into account how, when, why each character laughs, and what effects this laugher has. The structuring of the final conversation between Dickie and Maria is devastating in its ability to show how deeply two people may misunderstand one another. The film ends with coughing, not laughter.

Author:	dreamcoil [ Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:56 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It

Author:	Dreww [ Sun Oct 14, 2012 6:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Aaron your review just gets it. The laughter and the silences are SO important as weapons in Cassavetes' arsenal. Never hold back on criticism ever again, because you are already way ahead of most critics who just look at Cass films and see shaky camerawork and indulgent acting.

Author:	pnoom [ Sun Oct 14, 2012 7:30 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Thanks Drew. I will note, though, that I am reading the Carney book on Cass' films, and while I did not read the chapter on Faces I did read the intro and the chapter on Shadows, and I would not have gotten nearly so much out of the film without his priming.

Author:	Deany [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 8:03 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Moonrise Kingdom was great. Just watched it on DVD yesterday and it was just awesome. Maybe I can relate because I'm still somewhere near that point in my life, but I found it so much warmer than the only other Anderson I've seen (The Royal Tenenbaums). Then again, I probably need to rewatch that one.

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Author:	Sodacake [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:06 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Watch The Fantastic Mr Fox.

Author:	The Seeker [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:33 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
bman wrote: Looper - 9/10 Far and away the best film i've seen all year (from the few movies i've actually seen). It's intellectually captivating and has great emotional depth for such a generally stone cold genre. I thought JLG did a brilliant performance (though can anyone tell me why he looks more like Bond-era Sean Connery than his actual self??) and i also thought the film did a brilliant job to pull the story off. Brilliant directing, had potential to be really lame. Bruce Willis was just so fun to watch, Emily Blunt was also terrific, and such a babe as always. I already have a craving to see this again Saw this yesterday and did enjoy it, purely as a piece of entertainment. I'm not overly bothered about any 'time travel paradox' plot holes (even the big ones). However, what really bugs me is that the whole premise of the film is passed away by a single almost glib statement in the opening narration that makes no sense. Q Why in 2074 when Mafia gangs control the world, do they have to use time travel to send people back 30 years to be executed? A Because 'Tagging' makes it difficult to dispose of bodies in 2074. Hhmmm !

Author:	pnoom [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
John Cassavetes - Minnie and Moskowitz At first I was uncertain about the film. Compared to the barrage of tonal shifts that defined Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz seemed to lack focus (in the subtle sense in which Faces was intently focused). And characters seemed to speak Cassavetes' vision rather than the film showing it through their interactions. Further, in Shadows and Faces, that the films were black and white narrowed the focus onto just the essentials, and the color of this film seemed more a distraction than anything. But gradually I adjusted. What is the difference between Zelmo and Moskowitz? Both are socially inept in similar ways, but within these common bounds they differ in ways that make all the difference. Zelmo is pathetic, which does not preclude sympathy—but he is pathetic. Moskowitz equally fails to fit in, but is not nearly so pathetic—he demands a much more vital sort of sympathy, one that does not involve pity. How does this happen? Zelmo's ineptness is safely contained in a way Moskowitz's is not. I know Cassavetes is one of the less symbolic among filmmakers but it is difficult to see Moskowitz's incessant u-turns as anything but symbolic. This both when he's in his car and when, for instance, he carries Minnie up the stairs. And in a way that's characteristic: this film is more explicit than Cassavetes' prior films. Characters are more self-conscious, especially Minnie. I'm not sure what to say about my liking the film beyond that I eventually settled into its rhythm. But I think it may be the least of the three I've seen. Also, that painting.

Author:	joe c [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:58 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
I never have any idea what to say about films unless I'm actively discussing it with someone, but whatever. I'm starting a long list of films (around 400) that I'm going to re-watch or watch for the first time. It's basically all films that make "greatest" lists (theyshootpictures, arts & faith, ddd, imdb, rym, etc) but hopefully I'll be a better and more enlightened person by the end of all this. Anyway, I just use the netflix rating scale (loved it, really liked it, liked it, didn't like it, hated it) for stars. The Mirror: This was my first time seeing this film. I didn't follow that they used the same actors for different characters at first, I thought I was just confusing them on my own. A very deep and immense film that one would write a whole book on, but fuck if I know enough about film to do that. The final scene pretty much made the whole film. I docked off a star because of my initial confusion, and while it's obvious that it's a terrific film, it didn't emotionally resonate with me on a personal level. The Turin Horse: This was my first time seeing this one too. I saw someone refer to this as "Sunn O))) cinema" and I think that's appropriate. I guess it's a good thing I'm a huge Sunn O))) fan. It's also my first Tarr film (I've found his films aren't really widely available). I thought this one was fucking incredible. The only reason this isn't five stars is because I'm not going to give a film 5 stars without seeing it more than once. I've never seen a film do so much with so little. Every single scene is bare bones but there's so much detail in the background, particularly the use of dynamics in the sound. I loved how the characters barely say a word but you come to know pretty much everything there is to know about them. That horse should win an Oscar. This was a film that showed me the potential that film as a medium has. The Man Who Wasn't There: This was my second time watching this. I think this film is better than I am giving it credit for, but it was personally diminished for me because I knew it was a Coen film, and this one doesn't measure up to their best stuff (which is the majority of their stuff come to think of it). I do like the noir style and I think they made a lot of interesting lighting choices, but apart from that it was just okay to me. Mysteries of Lisbon: This was my first time with this film. I was skeptical about watching it because it was 4 1/2 hours long, but I really think the story needs that long to develop so the viewer can see all the complexities about the character's pasts and how everything ties in together. Despite this, it was still slow in parts (please someone recommend me a film that is this long that isn't slow at times). This was just a beautiful piece of work even though I was hoping for a more concrete ending. 8 1/2: This was my umpteenth time seeing this one. This is one of those films that I can't make my mind up on. There are times I see it and it's the greatest thing in the universe, and there are other times I see it and I wonder what I saw in it in the first place. This was closer to the second time, but it really had more to do with watching it first thing in the morning and I'm pissed off because I'm bed ridden and I was hungry and I fell asleep during the middle portion. Go ahead and call this a 4/5 because that's probably what it really is. Apocalypse Now: I've seen this too many times to remember. Maybe it's because I'm still in the elementary stages of watching film but THIS FUCKING FILM RIGHT HERE MAN. I love the characters, love the acting, love the ending. It just keeps me captivated the whole way through, even if the acting is a little hammy at times. Oddly enough, watching it on Netflix enhanced the ending. Are there credits in the original cut? Because on Netflix as soon as the film fades out it just goes back to the title screen. It really added to the overall atmosphere of the ending, because rather than see credits and hear some credit music or whatever, I heard "The Horror..." and then just the silence of my apartment. I guess sometimes the experience of watching a film can be better than the film itself. Paths of Glory: This was my first time watching this. It had moments of Kubrickian brilliance and the ending was on point, but even though the film deviates from being a stereotypical war film, I found myself with a bad case of deja vu. This is a borderline 2, but I'm going to go with a 3 because it's not a bad film by any means, just a little uninteresting.

Author:	pnoom [ Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:00 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Quoting because terrible timing bottom-of-the-paged it literally seconds after posting: pnoom wrote: John Cassavetes - Minnie and Moskowitz At first I was uncertain about the film. Compared to the barrage of tonal shifts that defined Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz seemed to lack focus (in the subtle sense in which Faces was intently focused). And characters seemed to speak Cassavetes' vision rather than the film showing it through their interactions. Further, in Shadows and Faces, that the films were black and white narrowed the focus onto just the essentials, and the color of this film seemed more a distraction than anything. But gradually I adjusted. What is the difference between Zelmo and Moskowitz? Both are socially inept in similar ways, but within these common bounds they differ in ways that make all the difference. Zelmo is pathetic, which does not preclude sympathy—but he is pathetic. Moskowitz equally fails to fit in, but is not nearly so pathetic—he demands a much more vital sort of sympathy, one that does not involve pity. How does this happen? Zelmo's ineptness is safely contained in a way Moskowitz's is not. I know Cassavetes is one of the less symbolic among filmmakers but it is difficult to see Moskowitz's incessant u-turns as anything but symbolic. This both when he's in his car and when, for instance, he carries Minnie up the stairs. And in a way that's characteristic: this film is more explicit than Cassavetes' prior films. Characters are more self-conscious, especially Minnie. I'm not sure what to say about my liking the film beyond that I eventually settled into its rhythm. But I think it may be the least of the three I've seen. Also, that painting.

Author:	George [ Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:02 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
wait til you see "husbands", pnoom... you may not make it out alive... like cass's other movies, M&M is discomforting as the characters constantly oscillate between extremely annoying to extremely endearing, but cass's insights into human psyche and behavior are awesome. i remember i loved the speech about certain romanticized abstract notions and ideals being forced upon us as kids, and living the rest of the lives frustrated, unable to reach those ideals, which are arbitrary and often not worth striving for in the first place, anyway.

Author:	wantabodylikeme [ Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Straw Dogs (Peckinpah) Basically Peckinpah makes one of the most complex tales of morality I've ever seen in my life. A+

Author:	Dreww [ Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
Fuck yes. Did you listen to the Criterion commentary? Best commentary ever.

Author:	wantabodylikeme [ Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:08 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
No, we watched it in class, so it was nice to see it on a bigger screen. But I for sure will be buying the criterion when the sale comes along in november

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Author:	ahawk [ Fri Oct 19, 2012 11:41 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Last Film You Saw And Rate It
The Perks of Being a Wallflower 8.4/10 The Master I honestly don't know yet. I'd really have to see it again to decide how I felt about it.