tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post8994023057405082327..comments2023-10-11T03:42:59.033-07:00Comments on The Criterion Contraption: #109: The Scarlet EmpressMatthew Dessemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-40545529768836081422011-12-18T08:56:53.421-08:002011-12-18T08:56:53.421-08:00An interesting blog! Good luck!
Greetings from Ru...An interesting blog! Good luck!<br /> Greetings from Russia!Igor Torgachkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14220739978220238897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-19360746417226534512011-07-27T21:28:05.506-07:002011-07-27T21:28:05.506-07:00Well, I do recommend A Personal Journey... I'm...Well, I do recommend A Personal Journey... I'm not very satisfied with Scorsese's latest films, but he certainly knows his job and did some excellent works back ago.<br />However, what makes me a fan of this director it's his dedication to the cinema's preservation. Thanks to him now there's a fine restoration of Glauber Rocha classics.<br />And I'm not familiar with this Christiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-71868685091497834872011-07-27T00:03:19.777-07:002011-07-27T00:03:19.777-07:00Christian,
I haven't -- it's been on my q...Christian,<br /><br />I haven't -- it's been on my queue for a couple of years now. I'll move it up. I don't know about this Hugo Cabret thing, though.Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-52916753160074070332011-07-26T11:45:24.354-07:002011-07-26T11:45:24.354-07:00Matthew, two films mentioned on this post, The Sca...Matthew, two films mentioned on this post, The Scarlet Empress and Baby Face, also appear in the documentary about Hollywood cinema and independent film-making in the USA made by Martin Scorsese. It's called A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies.<br />I saw it recently and found it great, both in content and length (almost 4 hours). One can really see the passion in Christianhttp://classicosuniversais.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-86383244878443266382011-07-18T14:22:12.665-07:002011-07-18T14:22:12.665-07:00I just saw a revival of The Scarlet Empress a few ...I just saw a revival of The Scarlet Empress a few weeks ago. All I could think about while watching Sam Jaffe was: "If you <i>wanted</i> Dwight Frye for the role, why not <i>hire</i> Dwight Frye?" That said, this is one of my favorite movies for no good reason I can explain.Vulnavia Morbiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04722740955194993451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-15114133291514117122011-07-07T17:56:59.434-07:002011-07-07T17:56:59.434-07:00Heavens! The trailer sounds exactly as I imagined ...Heavens! The trailer sounds exactly as I imagined in my mind, but instead of "De Palma" the narrator would call my name. Well, back to the start...Christianhttp://classicosuniversais.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-17833033021185186372011-07-07T17:45:10.542-07:002011-07-07T17:45:10.542-07:00It's great to read an article that references ...It's great to read an article that references <i>The Anatomy of Criticism</i>. But I think you can find a place in Frye's scheme for individual movies even if a genre (such as "Erotic Thrillers") doesn't. Frye thought mystery/detective novels were comedies but he never considered (probably never read)Chandler or Hammett, who wrote romances about questing heroes. Some noir CCBChttp://community.netidea.com/ccbc/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-92049084067644280452011-07-06T21:39:18.439-07:002011-07-06T21:39:18.439-07:00I've seen the Last Command (that box set is gr...I've seen the Last Command (that box set is great) and I think that movie is built like a comedy in a way- it reminds me of Murnau's Last Laught/Letze Mann, in the way it creates this absurd figure of a pompous jerk and then allows his story to play at such length it becomes tragic.<br /><br />I just rewatched Scarlet Empress, and I'd forgotten how much of the humor was in nasty Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00521395530302258154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-77862591229701517402011-07-06T21:17:59.159-07:002011-07-06T21:17:59.159-07:00To give you an idea of how closely sex and power a...To give you an idea of how closely sex and power are tied after each 'conquest' Stanwyck moves to the next floor up. It's a tad Basic Instinct-ish I suppose.legatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-43201917764781336202011-07-06T20:47:08.889-07:002011-07-06T20:47:08.889-07:00Legato,
Oddly enough, my girlfriend just spent so...Legato,<br /><br />Oddly enough, my girlfriend just spent some time digging around in the Warner Brothers archives reading different drafts and studio memos about <em>Baby Face</em> (for a paper arguing that some of the changes that are credited to the PCA were actually Stanwyck's doing). And yet I didn't get a chance to watch it with her. Onto the queue...Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-15774759689275433302011-07-06T20:42:29.368-07:002011-07-06T20:42:29.368-07:00Tom,
I also highly recommend The Last Command. It...Tom,<br /><br />I also highly recommend <em>The Last Command</em>. It doesn't have as much of a sense of humor but it's certainly a winter movie.Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-10259768232473040612011-07-06T20:40:13.345-07:002011-07-06T20:40:13.345-07:00Christian,
Thanks-—glad you enjoyed it. And kudo...Christian,<br /><br />Thanks-—glad you enjoyed it. And kudos for figuring out how to brand yourself as a filmmaker, but unfortunately, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qrox5ZS2go" rel="nofollow">you're too late</a>...Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-84005477657514326022011-07-06T15:32:37.730-07:002011-07-06T15:32:37.730-07:00"I can't think of another film from this ..."I can't think of another film from this era in which power and sex are so explicitly linked."<br /><br />While it's a completely different sort of movie Baby Face does tie sexuality and power in a similar sort of manner and extent.legatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-90629306149019409132011-07-06T10:05:36.368-07:002011-07-06T10:05:36.368-07:00I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees von...I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees von Sternberg as a satirist with a nasty, nasty sense of humor- I just watched The Devil is a Woman last night, and it too is absolutely a mockery of the grand misogynist romance- I was cracking up over and over every time the lead told another part of the story where Dietrich screwed him over, gave him nothing, and kept him coming back like a lost Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00521395530302258154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-8518074361253890852011-07-06T03:20:12.423-07:002011-07-06T03:20:12.423-07:00This one was specially nice to read, not just as a...This one was specially nice to read, not just as a review, but as a text as well. It made me very curious to see this film.<br />And I'm very much into autumn and winter films, except for the summer's damsels in distress in Hitchcock. <br />As a side note, someday when I start my career as film maker, I promise to sell myself as "The Master of Erotic Thriller". It seems like a Christianhttp://classicosuniversais.comnoreply@blogger.com