I saw Frank Oz’s Bowfinger (1998) recently and enjoyed it a lot. It’s a rare time when both Steve Martin and eddie Murphy are on top form, but they are here in this nicely barbed satire of the movie industry, star’s egos and Scientology. Heather Graham (always reliable) is fun as well as the nobody who sleeps her way up the movie.
just imagine Stanley Kubrick, who after he made 2001, would start directing B-grade flicks with Seagal and you get Geoff Murphy
The one I just saw looked a tad better than that mix.
I watched “Tightrope”, which I always liked, not too long ago…was surprised that I didn’t think it’s ageing that well. Although far and away a better film than “Sudden Impact”, that’s for sure.
[url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/manonaledge1.jpg/[/url] [size=12pt]MAN ON A LEDGE[/size] (2012, Asger Leth)
![http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/manonaledge1.jpg/[/url]](http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/manonaledge1.jpg/%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
One of those contemporary thrillers that almost entirely rely on plottwists that put the whole thing upside down on regular intervals. It all looks like a variation on the Kafkaïen labyrinth-plots, in which the protagonist is the only one who’s groping in the dark, while all others seem to know what’s happening and think all things are perfectly normal. In these contemporary thrillers, the protagonost is virtually the only one who knows what’s going on, while all others are left in the dark. It’s not a thing I particularly like, and I’ve seen better examples of it, notably The Disappearance of Alice Creed.
Sam Worthington is the man on the ledge, but the last thing on is mind, is committing suicide.
But what’s he up to then?
Man on a Ledge is not completely unenjoyable, but it’s very, very lightweight and only occasionally exciting. Halfway through we know (more or less) what’s going on, and then it’s difficult not to notice the numerous plot holes.
The thing has a great cast, but you wonder why Worthington, Bell, Harris and all those others joined the cast of this movie (did it look so promising on paper?). I also thought the film would’ve worked better if Jamie Bell had played the man on the ledge (he now is his brother). Worthington is definitely in need of a new hit, otherwise his career will peter out much sooner than everybody wouyld have expected after Avatar.
6 out of 10
Breathless (1960) Jean-Luc Godard.
It’s a great movie and the flick that started the French New Wave. Belmondo gives a truly gorgeous performance and the character he plays fits him like a tight glove, he’s not as great as in Le Doulos by Melville though. The element that render this film magnificent is Godard. The direction is IMO flawless and the pace always flows fast but it’s never erratic. With his quick montage and some truly unique shots (I particularly liked the policeman assassination and an unexpected extreme close-up of Belmondo’s gun), Godard creates great movie that is never boring and in spite of the fact that the script might appear to be a bit unoriginal, it’s a certainly good fun owing to splendid acting and directing. Highly recommended 8/10
[quote=“Mickey13, post:8106, topic:1923”]Breathless (1960) Jean-Luc Godard.
It’s a great movie and the flick that started the French New Wave. Belmondo gives a truly gorgeous performance and the character he plays fits him like a tight glove, he’s not as great as in Le Doulos by Melville though. The element that render this film magnificent is Godard. The direction is IMO flawless and the pace always flows fast but it’s never erratic. With his quick montage and some truly unique shots (I particularly liked the policeman assassination and an unexpected extreme close-up of Belmondo’s gun), Godard creates great movie that is never boring and in spite of the fact that the script might appear to be a bit unoriginal, it’s a certainly good fun owing to splendid acting and directing. Highly recommended 8/10[/quote]
I never liked Godard, his style basically relies on tricks, but always liked this movie. The actors are great in it and it’s a movie that somehow stays with you. It may have ‘started’ La Nouvelle Vague, but at the same time I don’t think it’s really a nouvelle vague film itself.
Cries In The Night ( 1980 ).
A former funeral home is converted into a hotel, but guests start to go missing. Very low key style to the film which is miles away from the directors Death Weekend for example. The style worked for me as kept me watching, and only wanted to view the film at first to hear Jerry Fielding’s score. One of the last scores ( if not last) by Fielding.
How come? It seems to me that the film has all the elements one thinks a nouvelle vague film should have.
[[quote=“scherpschutter, post:8105, topic:1923”][url]http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/manonaledge1.jpg/[/url] [size=12pt]MAN ON A LEDGE[/size] (2012, Asger Leth)[/quote]
I haven’t seen it yet, but when I first saw the trailer for the film, I immediatly thought it was a remake of the (1951-Fourteen Hours with Richard Basehart and Paul Douglas. Witch is a pretty good suspence-drama on it’s own with a good cast.) But found out it’s a completely different film.
I’ll have to rent Man on a Ledge one of these days.
I like these tricks. 
That’s true, it has all the ingredients, but still in a not entirely full-grown form. I don’t see that as a negative point, I think the movie is far more interesting than the movement it inspired (among with a couple of films by others). When the movement reached maturity, it was already over its peak, what had been refreshing, had become predictable, a series of tricks. You could compare this to the detective novel: some of the forerunners of the genre (Dostoïevski, Wilkie Collins, Edgar Allen Poe) were more interesting novelists than those who wrote full-blood detective stories. A Bout de Souffle is a bit to Nouvelle Vague what Conan Doyle is to the detective novel. Transitory.
Viewed the remake of Breathless which I do not mind, as Richard Gere is full of energy in the film. Never viewed the original as of yet though.
Okay, I understand where you’re coming from. I haven’t seen many Nouvelle Vague films yet, but I do know without the movement we wouldn’t have had the careers of some great directors.
[B]The Outside Man[/B] - I watched it this afternoon and thought it was pretty good. Trintignant plays a Hitman who is double crossed and after he has done his assignment another Hitman (Scheider) is hot on his tail to take him out. Definitely worth a watch, the soundtrack is pretty good too.
[quote=“Mickey13, post:8106, topic:1923”]Breathless (1960) Jean-Luc Godard.
It’s a great movie and the flick that started the French New Wave.[/quote]
Even if we don’t count the early films by Louis Malle as part of the movement, and if we ignore some short films of Godard and co, the so called Nouvelle Vague started 2 years earlier with Claude Chabrol’s Le beau Serge and Les cousins. And before A bout de souffle at least Truffaut and Rohmer had already made their debut films and Chabrol had made 1 or 2 more.
When did the Nouvelle Vague movement reach maturity?
And when was it over its peak?
Which other Nouvelle Vague director uses “tricks”? Rohmer? Rivette? Eustache?
[quote=“Stanton, post:8116, topic:1923”]When did the Nouvelle Vague movement reach maturity?
And when was it over its peak?
Which other Nouvelle Vague director uses “tricks”? Rohmer? Rivette? Eustache?[/quote]
When: that’s a matter of definition. To me Nouvelle Vague is to film making what postmodern philosophy is to philosophy - a couple of interesting ideas (plus a lot of not-so-interesting ideas) resulted in a movement, and it lost its freshness (became mature if you wish) when people became aware of the fact that there was something like a nouvelle vague/postmodern movement. Some of the things Godard, Rohmer anand Malle did were interesting, regardless of what the movies are called.
[quote=“Mickey13, post:8106, topic:1923”]Breathless (1960) Jean-Luc Godard.
It’s a great movie and the flick that started the French New Wave.[/quote]
I bought “Breathless” recently on Criterion, and while I enjoyed it, I felt that it’s been copied so many times by so many other good films that it takes away from it’s impact. It must have been really something to see in its day - kind of makes you wish you were born a little earlier (although that passes quickly).
Never had any interest in the Ricahrd Gere remake…probably good intentions but a bad result.
On rotten tomatoes it’s said to be one of the earlier New Wave flicks, so I didn’t make it up.
We could spend days talking about the nouvelle vague movement and when it started. I think its correct to say that even before any film was made the all non organized movement startet when then critics and future directors like Francois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol and Jacques Rivette wrote there before before starting to make films themselves.
Those directors own more to classical French cinema (Renoir, Vigo etc) and Hollywood that we might usual think, and a director like Clouzot made better films generally speaking that the ones bellonging to the NV movement. And adirector like Rohmer in my view could hardly be considered like a NV director, but like I said we could be wrioting about these stuff for ages.