Just finished reading Kaufman’s meta-screenplay for Adaptation, which is based on Susan Orleans’ novel The Orchid Thief. In 2002, Spike Jonze made the highly inventive and hysterically funny film Adaptation with a great cast and excellent visuals. It’s all worth the deep dive if anyone wants a good summer goal.
Steven Soderbergh’s Raiders Cut
Soderbergh takes Raiders of the Lost Ark, removes the color and re-scores it with the masterful techno sounds of The Social Network by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. Check it out here.
C’mon C’mon by Mike Mills
Another beautifully directed film by Mills about what it is to be human. Watch trailer here.
Power of the Dog (Film) by Jane Campion
Masterful filmmaking here by Jane Campion - it’s almost a western thriller. Shot in a New Zealand that is convincingly a century old Montana and based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage (which I have not read, yet).
When you see it, LMK your thoughts, but no spoilers please, for those who still have it in their cue.
Wes Anderson’s Newest Film
Really looking forward to seeing this one.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (the novel) Tarantino
Just read this new release by the same guy that made the movie a few years ago. It’s meta, pulpy, filled with excellent dialogue and follows the film but doesn’t bother to retell it. I look forward to not remembering which scenes are in which format (book or movie). So…if you enjoyed the love letter to Hollywood that was the theatre or screen experience, I highly recommend the paperback. Read more.
Cinema Paradiso 1988
I’d put this in my top 10 films of all time with perhaps the most beautiful ending. If you haven’t seen it yet, add it to your summer queue, eat some Italian food, have a glass of wine and enjoy.
The Sparks Brothers Documentary by Edgar Wright
I so look forward to watching this new project by the highly inventive and fun British filmaker Edgar Wright. I know little to nothing about the Sparks Brothers but can see from the trailer that they’ve inspired a generation of musicians I love.
Filmmakers Miranda July and Mike Mills
Known for their very different styles, this couple can each make a thought provoking film.
July: Kajillionaire, The Future, You and Me and Everyone We Know
Mills: Thumbsucker, Beginners, 20th Century Women (one of my favorites)
Side note: Greta (16) got her 2nd Pfizer shot today.
The Beatles - new doc by Peter Jackson
Looking forward to the August 2021 release of the making of Let It Be album (1969) with the experimental, playful and highly collaborative process of these groundbreakers. Watch 5min. teaser trailer.
Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 26, 2021)
Michael Apted (Director) Feb 10, 1941 – Jan 7, 2021
Beyond directing and receiving critical acclaim for several feature films (Coal Miner’s Daughter, Nell, Gorillas in the Mist, etc.), Apted was best known for the Up series (1964–2019) documenting the lives of a group of British children starting in 1964 and checking-in (every 7 years) on their ordinary to extraordinary lives through 2019.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
David Prowse a.k.a. Darth Vader (July 1, 1935 – Nov. 28, 2020)
Prowse was an English body builder and character actor in British TV and film. He was best known for physically portraying Darth Vader in the original Star Wars Trilogy and also as a manservant in Kubrick’s, A Clockwork Orange. It was not until he starred in a 2015 documentary entitled, I Am Your Father, would his identity/face be widely shared.
Peter Cushing, George Lucas, Carrie Fisher and David Prowse (during filming in 1976)
LONG WAY UP (Documentary)
RECOMMEND: This is the 3rd installment in the LONG WAY (Round and Down) series. The idea in this one is Ewan McGregor and buddy Charley Boorman ride electric motorcycles from southern tip of S. America to L.A. (15,000 miles) in 3 months. The rub is…they’ve never ridden electric bikes before, there is no charging infrastructure in place in S. Am. and the motorcycles get about 100+ mile range on a charge. So much problem solving is required, I love it.
Sean Connery (Aug. 25, 1930 - Oct. 31, 2020)
Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray
Sixteen years after teaming up on Lost in Translation, Coppola and Murray are getting ready to release another film together with On the Rocks. Looking forward to watching this Somewhere.
Ennio Morricone (Nov. 10, 1928 Rome - July 6, 2020 Rome)
This is mostly from a 2019 post.
Morricone scored music for more than 400 movies and television shows (e.g., Cinema Paradiso, The Mission, Space 1999, The Hateful Eight, and on and on). He spread the sauce on the Spaghetti Western. Listen here to the scoring for Once upon a Time in the West, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and more.
THE FIGHT - a documentary about the ACLU
This is the type of documentary I’d like to watch (at this point in time). See trailer here.
Drive-in Movies
Looking forward to the likely massive come-back of this venue type.
