Rob Christopher's Blog, page 115
January 17, 2020
How to maintain your film queue and sanity.
How can two people with strong, and often wildly different, tastes in film get along when it’s Friday night and time to pick something to watch?
My husband and I have devised a system that allows for flexibility and variety.
The film queue has 30 slots; I get 15 films, my husband gets 15. Films are organized in a spreadsheet, sorted alphabetically by title.
When it’s movie night, I ask my phone to give me a random number between 1 and 30.
When a film is selected, the person who originally chose it has veto power. If the film is vetoed, a “strike” is recorded on the spreadsheet. Once a film has 3 strikes it must be removed from the queue, and the person who originally chose it must replace it in the queue with a new film.
If a film is vetoed, the selection process continues and I ask my phone to give me another random number between 1 and 30.
Only 3 vetoes are allowed per movie night; after the third veto, we must reach an agreement to watch one of films already selected.
In the event a film is selected but is discovered to be unavailable (it’s no longer streaming anywhere, etc.), the person who originally chose it may either (a) keep it in the queue, strikefree, until it does become available or (b) replace it in the queue with another film.
January 16, 2020
3 things about Matt Wolf's RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT
Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project [2019]
1. “I’m surprised you didn’t call when Steve died.” (Steve Jobs.)
2. An interview with an anti-nostalgist.
3. “We shouldn’t ascribe rationality to those in power and irrationality to those without.”
January 14, 2020
3 things about L.Q. Jones's A BOY AND HIS DOG
A Boy and His Dog [1975]
1. “Let’s get another Michael out of the warehouse. This time make sure the engineering department wipes that smile off his face.”
2. Being milked.
3. Charles McGraw in makeup.
January 13, 2020
3 things about Richard Fleischer’s SOYLENT GREEN
Soylent Green [1973]
1. The idea of maximum security farms.
2. White plastic pipe bookcases.
3. “And I get a full twenty minutes?”
January 12, 2020
3 things about Alfred Hitchcock's SABOTEUR
Saboteur [1942]
1. Running into the bebop cat at the charity ball. “Beat it out, son. Beat it out.”
2. Curlers in her beard.
3. Perfect choice: a nasty soliloquy captured in a long shot.
You don’t hear many folks talk about this film nowadays, but seeing it again I think it’s really underrated. He’s trying out some of the ideas he’d later perfect in North by Northwest. And the script offers up some pretty provocative ideas about America and patriotism. I personally like how abrupt the ending is.
January 11, 2020
3 things about Luca Guadagnino's CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Call Me by Your Name [2017]
1. Sounds of the peach.
2. He just shrugs.
3. “And before you know it, your heart is worn out, and, as for your body, there comes a point when no one looks at it, much less wants to come near it.”
January 8, 2020
3 things about Emilie Upczak's MOVING PARTS
Moving Parts [2017]
1. Unintelligible whispers of advice.
2. “I’m sorry that your brother died, but this isn’t a hotel. Work still goes on here. Make yourself pretty and go upstairs.”
3. He raises the cleaver. An implicit threat.
January 7, 2020
3 things about Mati Diop's ATLANTICS
Atlantique [2019]
1. Explaining how a corkscrew and a bottle opener work.
2. Virginity test.
3. “He doesn’t even know how to dig!”
January 6, 2020
3 things about John Dahl's THE LAST SEDUCTION
The Last Seduction [1994]
1. “Just go away.”
“I haven’t finished charming you.”
“You haven’t started.”
2. On top, in control, pounding the roof of the car.
3. Quickly wiping her fingerprints off the can of Mace.
January 5, 2020
3 things about Whit Stillman's THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO
The Last Days of Disco [1998]
1. Hidden in the sub-basement.
2. “There’s something really sexy about Scrooge McDuck.”
3. “A lot of people like to say they won’t take no for an answer. I just wanted you to know that I’m not one of them. I can be easily discouraged. I will take no for an answer.”
