Gamble is back to do that thing he does, and The Master proves to be one of the more divisive films on the show in some time. We talk at length about some of the themes, the craft and the performances of perhaps the event film of this fall. Andrew lays out the plethora of homework submissions for the first listener assignment of the semester, and we lay out a new one at the end of the show. A very thorough Watch-List sees Gamble enamored with German Cats, Fundamentalist Christians and the Queen of Versailles. Andrew takes another run at The Avengers and parses the pubes of Basic Instinct and has mixed feelings on character actors on motorcycles. Kurt talks at length about Jason Reitman’s Young Adult, jumps into Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men and then brings it back around to ParaNorman and Dredd. Of course there are many more things on the go in this loaded and lengthy episode.
As always, please join the conversation by leaving your own thoughts in the comment section below and again, thanks for listening!
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http://rowthree.com/audio/cinecast_12/episode_274.mp3
Full show notes are under the seats…
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS:
– WTLTE podcasts (Compliance and High and Low Brow
– Kurt on Director’s Club podcast (Compliance)
– Kurt’s kids on ParaNorman
MAIN REVIEWS:
– The Master
– - with brief tangent on Compliance
GRADING HOMEWORK:
Sean Kelly: Martin Scorsese
Courtney Small: Danny Boyle
Nat Almirall (LetterBoxd:) John F. Milius
Robert Reineke: Joel and Ethan Coen
Ian Loring: Cliff Martinez
Mark Lorig: Steven Spielberg
Rick Vance: Brad Pitt and David Fincher
Dick Japowski: Bill Murray
Antho42: Christopher Doyle
Lennart Andersson: Martin Scorsese
Ryan McNeil: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
OTHER REVIEW:
– Dredd
THE WATCH LIST:
Matt
– God Bless America
– Holy Rollers
– Hell House
– The Queen of Versailles
– The Loved Ones
– A Dangerous Method
– Felidae
– Side By Side
– Indie Game: The Movie
– Make Believe
Andrew
– The Avengers
– Basic Instinct
– “Sons of Anarchy”
Kurt
– Young Adult
– Children of Men
– Paranorman
– Dredd
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:
send us your best/favorite example of ON-SCREEN DRUNKENNESS
OTHER STUFF MENTIONED:
Soap Factory Haunted Basement
Felidae on YouTube
NEXT WEEK:
Looper(!)
PRIVATE COMMENTS or QUESTIONS?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or email us:
feedback@rowthree.com (general)
andrew.james@rowthree.com
kurt@rowthree.com
FOLLOW US:
Andrew: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd
Kurt: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd
Matt: Twitter, LetterBoxd
RowThree: Twitter, G+, Letterboxd
Part of the reason I used Fincher was I see remarkably small talk about him online, and it is kinda surprising because of just how much he pushes what he does forward with every film regardless if you enjoy the content or not. Also his use of the popular fiction of the time, the great casting and the remarkable use of technology remind me more of what a modern Stanley Kubrick would be over anyone else in that thread.
I mean to even expand very few film makers can capture a decade / attitude like he did with Fight Club but then to do it again a decade later with Social Network is nothing short of extraordinary, he has his finger on the pulse.
I was yelling at my IPOD until Gamble got into it, PREACH IT!
Don’t mean to nit pick but I think Kubrick did interviews after 2001. He would never explain his movies to people but he still did interviews. I read one of him talking about his adaptation of The Shining and Stephen King’s work as well.
Yea it may not have come across clearly in the podcast, but on youtube there are several pre-2001 interviews with Kubrick where he is candid with themes, intent, etc. in his completed works, but after 2001 he pretty much doesn’t discuss that stuff in interviews, which in my opinion can neuter the interview into nothingness….
Well, he doesn’t discuss his interpretations of vague points in his films but I’ve read quite a few of his post-2001 interviews and I learned a lot from them. I read one on The Shining where Kubrick his approach to storytelling vs. King’s and I thought it was very interesting. There’s also a few collections/anthologies of his interviews put out in book form that I think are worth reading as well.
THE MASTER SPOILERS*** KIND OF *** BUT NOT REALLY***THE MASTER SPOILERS*** KIND OF *** BUT NOT REALLY***THE MASTER SPOILERS*** KIND OF *** BUT NOT REALLY***
The desert motorcycle scene establishes that insofar as there is a co-dependent relationship between Freddie and Lancaster it is clearly not evenly fixed. Dodd goes and returns, Freddie just goes, and you see Dodd getting agitated the further he is from him. That point is not hammered home, that is the first time in the film you see Freddie’s capacity to break with The Master. Afterwards you see how he behaves apart from him, at the Doris doorstep scene and it is a character development moment, he is significantly more together, calmer, sober.
I had suspected that it would be the animalistic nature of Freddie that would eventually push him away from the Cause, but PTA doesn’t go that route. He doesn’t reciprocate the sinful advances of the daughter, and while he doesn’t give up drinking, that is condoned by Dodd. His actions are enigmatic, maybe even random, and in the motorcycle scene Dodd sees how uncontrolled Freddie actually is. There are answers I am sure in the final part of the film, I just haven’t worked them out.
I suppose for the homework assignment we should have mentioned our own picks. I think I’d have to go with George Clooney. He’s probably not my favorite actor working today but he’s probably the most consistent in terms of high quality films he chooses to be in and in quality performances. On top of every film he’s in being great and him being great in them, he also takes on many different types of roles and challenges himself. Look at who frakking amazing he is in The American, then compare that with something like O Brother, Where Art Thou and then Solaris and then The Descendants. The man seems to be able to do anything and make it look stunning and make it look easy.
George Clooney.
And he’s not just a great actor with broad appeal. He’s also an accomplished director and producer.
THE MASTER SPOILERS*** THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS***THE MASTER SPOILERS****
Actually I like this read on the motorcycle scene because as I remember it that scene cuts right to the Doris doorway scene:
“When he hops on the motorcycle, and is given the keys to his freedom, he finally follows Peggy’s advice and imagines something in front of him — a goal with which he can move forward. But by the time he arrives at the house of his old sweetheart, in hopes of forging that reunion he has long thought about, Freddie realizes that he’s far too late. It took too long. She’s gone.”
Read more: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/09/24/the-master-mystery-solving-paul-thomas-andersons-many-riddles/#ixzz27hFPzamK
also good read on the other questions as well.
this read of The Master is worth checking too
http://ca.askmen.com/entertainment/better_look/the-master.html
Speaking of The Queen of Versailles, one of my Freshman year roommates ( a Newport Beach native) did not know how to use a microwave. We actually had to teach him how to use it. Incredible.
You should have knocked grade points off that one guy for a) Dissing Arcade Fire b) Mentioning them in the same breath as Vampire Weekend
Arcade Fire greatly deserve all the success they’ve received. Sure they aren’t the heaviest of bands (though I still categorize them under rock), but they are nowhere close to the “Ai Ai Ai Ai” garbage of Vampire Weekend.
The Suburbs is my favorite album. Here, here.
Oh and the correct answer: the Master is Terrence Malick. Look into your hearts, you know it’s true.
Doesn’t Amy Adams role mean she has to play the background, it is very true to life that the person who is really in charge isn’t the public figure of something so the fact that she is always seated off to a corner makes a whole ton of sense.
Also I didn’t take the film as being about any specific religion at all, just about the whole idea of submitting to a Master and recognizing how hard it is in the world to escape those relationships entirely.
Freddie was also an incredibly visceral character which I greatly enjoyed because so often it is the higher brain that gets to play and it is nice seeing a character who is working on simpler base instincts and showing how meaningless and empty what PSH is trying to do to him at every turn.
Matt you downloaded Wild Zero during that recommendation show, watch it you will LOVE IT.
On Kubrick’s & making things up as he goes along:
Can’t remember exactly what it was I didn’t love about YOUNG ADULT, but it’s somewhere in here:
http://www.rowthree.com/2011/12/21/cinecast-episode-238-just-the-tip-please/
Charlize Theron’s bitch face which she uses over and over in the film was an instant star. I also love how her character is largely informed by the products she uses.
Ah yes, now I remember what bugged me about the movie. The tone of the film is really scatter-shot. One second it’s really funny and then the next it’s trying to be really serious.
And the most egregious problem about its seriousness is that it pulls its punches way back. It tackles some serious issues but does it in such a “safe” way.
Eyes Wide Shut and The Master have something in common. They both stride the obvious and the impenetrable, and they both feature a weird A-List star spending a 2+ Run time in the quest to get laid.
This week’s butcherings:
Dragon with a Tattoo
The Curse of Benjamin Button
Only two? That’s a new record!
You’ve got to stop mispronouncing Joaquin Phoenix’s name, Matt. Gets on my nerves.
How about I call him Leaf and we call it square?
I haven’t listened to this yet, but I already know I’m a lot closer to Gamble’s side on The Master. This was a pretty movie but way too pretentious and artsy. I can’t see myself sitting through this movie again.
Apparently, though, no one really cares judging by the length of the thread.