This Sporting Life [1963]
1. Arthur Lowe flashes his teeth. "False or real? False or real?" Frank replies: "False, but they could’ve been real."
2. She tucks the sheet under the corner of the bed and, in an unbroken movement, pushes an invisible strand of hair behind her ear.
3. Her face, deathly pale on the pillow. A black stream of blood suddenly leaks from the corner of her mouth.
Left Bank [2008]
1. They go to a rock show. Suddenly it’s the 60s: flash cuts, jerky camerawork, bright colors.
2. Driving somewhere. In the midst of an unsuccessful conversation, Bobby says, "Everyone is lonely, Marie."
3. He takes off one of her shoes and throws it into the mud pit, where it sinks without a trace.
Fear Me Not [2008]
1. "I think the trick is to accept that this is all there is."
2. He throws the pills into the dumpster. He later takes them back again at the last moment.
3. The freezer door opens and the frosty vapor pours out.
The Darjeeling Limited [2007]
1. Bill Murray misses the train. Therefore, he is not in the movie. If he had caught the train it would have been a completely different movie. A different outcome, a different reality.
2. Their nickname for Rita is Cool Lime, after the refreshing beverage she serves when the train gets underway.
3. Each compartment of the train is a different segment of someone’s life. What someone is doing at that moment in time. In a long dolly shot, the camera explores this cross-section of the movie’s characters.
Amacord [1973]
1. She pops her massive breast out of her sweater and pushes his face into it. “Don’t blow, suck on it!” she commands.
2. Uncle Teo climbs up a tree and refuses to come down. He keeps shouting: “I want a woman!”
3. Peacock in the snow.
I enjoyed this. I’ve enjoyed every Fellini film I’ve ever seen. But for some reason he just doesn’t quite set me on fire the way that Bunuel or even Antonioni does. Not sure why. It’s interesting seeing this so soon after Radio Days. I think Woody drew some inspiration from Amacord.
We find ourselves in a downward spiral of gloom and instability. We find ourselves in a Talking Heads song. Which means, there is hope.
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground.
And you may ask yourself, how do I work this
And you may ask yourself, where is that large automobile
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house
And you may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving, and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground.
And you may ask yourself, what is that beautiful house
And you may ask yourself, where does that highway go
And you may ask yourself, am I right, am I wrong
And you may tell yourself, my god, what have I done
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground.
Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…
Same as it ever was…Same as it ever was…
Gomorrah [2008]
1. A thug wears a basketball jersey that has CINCINNATI printed on it. Only it’s spelled wrong. Instant clue that it’s counterfeit.
2. He exits the apartment, gingerly stepping over the pools of blood. His cream-colored jacket is peppered with spatters of blood.
3. A blender is used to chop and mix the cocaine.
Cruising [1980]
1. "Let me ask you something. Have you ever had your cock sucked by a man?"
2. Edge of the knife on the nipple.
3. Karen Allen in leatherman garb.
What a fascinating, repellent movie. And in the making-of featurette Friedkin remains stubbornly incredulous about its negative reception. It’s amazing when someone is so blind about something so obvious.
Los Angeles Plays Itself [2003]
1. A public sign: "BETTE DAVIS PICNIC AREA."
2. "Other buildings that have lost their purpose can be preserved as movie locations."
3. Thesis: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is the cartoon version of Chinatown.
