tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post6568782941198764466..comments2024-03-16T10:03:59.180-07:00Comments on The Movie Projector: The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)R. D. Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-82535032370162827392011-04-06T19:38:54.921-07:002011-04-06T19:38:54.921-07:00Indie pics can also turn a profit today because of...Indie pics can also turn a profit today because of video distribution. While I think that's great, I still miss seeing those out-of-the-box movies at a theatre on a big screen with an audience. In the 1970s, I can remember when a local theatre might show a movie like O LUCKY MAN! or when a drive-in might show CRIES AND WHISPERS(I kid you not). In today's crowded movie marketplace, that doesn't happen unless you live in a big city with an arthouse theatre. It's just a different paradigm.Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-8609073707196928772011-04-05T22:01:43.561-07:002011-04-05T22:01:43.561-07:00Rick, thanks for your insightful comment. I think ...Rick, thanks for your insightful comment. I think of the years from about 1970-76 as being a "golden age" of American movies, much like the British New Wave of ten years earlier. That's when the new sensibility in American cinema pioneered in the late 1960s by films like "Bonnie and Clyde," "The Graduate," and "Easy Rider" really seemed to come to fruition. It's also when the young filmmakers who were so inspired by the great European films of the 50s and 60s seemed to adapt the approach of the European masters to their own works. I'm thinking of the early films of directors like Coppola, Scorsese, Altman, Woody Allen, Terrence Malick, and of course Rafelson. To me movies like "The Conversation," "Mean Streets," "American Graffiti" (a sort of American version of "I Vitelloni"), "Interiors," and "Badlands" have a distinctly European sensibility. And, of course, both "Five Easy Pieces" (especially the second half, which could almost be a Bergman movie) and "Marvin Gardens." I don't think it's a coincidence that this period of astounding creativity seemed to end around the time "Jaws" was released. Rafelson talks about the big producers financing those creative films because they saw the possibility of profits in movies made on the cheap that appealed to the youth audience. But after "Easy Rider" these films seemed to appeal more to critics than to money-paying audiences. "Jaws" changed all that by showing the huge profits to be found in blockbusters that appealed to the mass young audience, a mindset that seems to have been prevalent ever since. I guess today the indie/Sundance type film has taken the place of those creative films of the early 70s.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-7705865616320677162011-04-05T19:57:20.985-07:002011-04-05T19:57:20.985-07:00R.D., thanks for another fine review (I always enj...R.D., thanks for another fine review (I always enjoy THE MOVIE PROJECTOR). I love your description of "lost souls living on the fringes of 1970s America." There seemed to be an abundance of introspective, character-driven films made in the U.S. in the late 1960s and throughout much of the 1970s. Examples that come to mind include this film, SCARECROW, and DRIVE, HE SAID. It's those kinds of films that make 1970s cinema intriguing to me (vs. the big blockbusters like JAWS and STAR WARS). In a way, I think some of those low-key films are reminiscent of the British "New Wave" films discussed recently.Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-22892778334080879262011-04-05T11:11:31.574-07:002011-04-05T11:11:31.574-07:00John, Nicholson is an actor I came to appreciate a...John, Nicholson is an actor I came to appreciate after he received all that attention in the early 70s, but he's one I've come (for the most part) to respect. He's surely THE American screen actor of that decade. It's interesting you should recall the movie's slowness. I read an interview with the director, who commented on this very thing when he saw the movie for the first time in more than 25 years at a retrospective of his work in the late 90s. He also commented on being impressed with how committed the actors were to really getting to the bottom of their characters. I find it one of those movies you can appreciate for its intelligence and artistry even if all the elements don't quite click, and I hope this view of it came through in the post. I should add that "Hearts and Minds" is not included in this collection. I've adjusted the post a bit to make this clearer.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-42853153544678532702011-04-05T05:55:35.390-07:002011-04-05T05:55:35.390-07:00R.D.
Have not seen this since it first was releas...R.D.<br /><br />Have not seen this since it first was released but I do remember Nicholson’s subtle performance as well as the fantastic performances from Burstyn and Dean. It is a great film to appreciate good, intelligent acting, though the film itself I just remember as being a bit slow, maybe I just didn’t get it at the time. I probably should take another look at it. The film in this package, of the two that I have not seen, that I really want to see is HEARTS AND MINDS, which has been on my list of must sees for a long time. HEAD by the way is the other film I have not seen. Nicholson, by the way, gives another very good subtle performance in THE PLEDGE.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01808503055317962289noreply@blogger.com