04-06-2013, 11:39 AM
This was Ted Demme's last project and was finished by Nick Cassavetes. It is a three part documentary that aired on the Independant Film Channel. It charts the rise and fall of the Independant film maker over the course of the seventies. It is interviews and film clips of all the major players of that decade. Everyone from Scorcese to Towne to Altman to Christie. If you can think of a great actor or director from this period and they weren't dead by 2002, they are in this film.
It is broken down into three part and I must say the first two parts were the best. The first part charts the demise of the Studio system and the rise of the Independant or New Filmmakers. Lots of great clips of lots of great films. The middle part goes into more in depth of these film makers. The final act is everybody mourning the death of the independant film makers as studios decide to go with the Blockbuster paradigm of film making. There was a lot of whining in the third section.
My least favorite interview subject has to be William Friedkin. He comes across as a blow hard and always sounds as if he is yelling. He made some great films and then he declined. I don't think he has gotten over the fact he is no longer a well regarded film maker.
They also used a lot of Julie Christie who still looks amazingly good. She is also quite unhappy.
But I would watch it for the first hour alone, because it gives such a great sampling of films in that period.
It is broken down into three part and I must say the first two parts were the best. The first part charts the demise of the Studio system and the rise of the Independant or New Filmmakers. Lots of great clips of lots of great films. The middle part goes into more in depth of these film makers. The final act is everybody mourning the death of the independant film makers as studios decide to go with the Blockbuster paradigm of film making. There was a lot of whining in the third section.
My least favorite interview subject has to be William Friedkin. He comes across as a blow hard and always sounds as if he is yelling. He made some great films and then he declined. I don't think he has gotten over the fact he is no longer a well regarded film maker.
They also used a lot of Julie Christie who still looks amazingly good. She is also quite unhappy.
But I would watch it for the first hour alone, because it gives such a great sampling of films in that period.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit