If I am not mistaken, this was your second conversation with Jack and Milo, and it was long overdue. The quality of your discussions merits at least a monthly installment.
I am glad that you watched Bondarchuk's War and Peace. Unfortunately, we will probably never see a film like this again, as, for budgetary reasons, all the tens of thousands of extras would now be replaced by CGI characters.
I would argue that Disney has produced other worthy animated films beyond the first five you discussed. Even if we count only the movies produced since the 1990s, we can list among the greats Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King, and Zootopia. And I am not even counting the significant number of genius Pixar films.
I would also claim that there are still some amazing contemporary American filmmakers, including Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen brothers. (I did not include Scorsese, Spielberg, and Coppola in the list, even though they are still active, because they began their careers in an earlier era of filmmaking.)
I think Wes Anderson ranks up there with PTA and the Coens (whom I adore), but I understand that many are put off by his distinct style. Fincher, Reichardt, Soderburgh, Spike Lee, and the younger Coppola also deserve a mention.
I like almost all of them, especially Fincher. Unfortunately, for some reason, I have yet to watch Reichardt's films. I wanted to add Tarantino, since I've watched every one of his movies at least three times (and some of them many more times) with enormous delight, but I realize that he has probably made only one film with real depth, and that happens to be his latest one, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. As Konchalovsky once said of him (in a long-lost interview for a Bulgarian TV station), "He knows very well how to say something, but just has nothing to say."
I didn't include Tarantino since, while still alive, he's (semi?) retired. I also loathed The Hateful Eight, to the point where it's colored my thoughts on the rest of his filmography.
Critic Walter Chaw summarized Fincher well, I think: "The only question David Fincher’s movies try to answer is whether it’s possible to do everything well (better than well, really–I mean better than anyone has ever done anything before) and still produce what is essentially a piece of shit. He’s the king of garbage cinema, David Lean doing Jackie Collins for some damn reason."
Wendy and Lucy is probably a good place to start with Reichardt. Her films tend to be gentle, realist, but with a simmering rage and acute sense of justice. (Though I can't say I've kept up with her most recent couple). There's a cross-fade in Meek's Cutoff that literally took my breath away. I think it'll linger in my filmic memory for a very very long time.
Let's see what Fincher will make of Tarantino's latest script. As the latter modestly said:
"I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors. So the idea that David Fincher actually wants to adapt my work, to me, shows a level of seriousness towards my work that I think needs to be taken into account.”
Thank you for the Reichardt's films recommendation.
As I was watching Game 7 in the 2025 World Series (and learning the rules along the way), one thing that stood out to me about baseball was the variance of outcome. The oblong games don't have anything as dramatic as the grand slam or the triple play.
If I am not mistaken, this was your second conversation with Jack and Milo, and it was long overdue. The quality of your discussions merits at least a monthly installment.
I am glad that you watched Bondarchuk's War and Peace. Unfortunately, we will probably never see a film like this again, as, for budgetary reasons, all the tens of thousands of extras would now be replaced by CGI characters.
I would argue that Disney has produced other worthy animated films beyond the first five you discussed. Even if we count only the movies produced since the 1990s, we can list among the greats Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King, and Zootopia. And I am not even counting the significant number of genius Pixar films.
I would also claim that there are still some amazing contemporary American filmmakers, including Paul Thomas Anderson and the Coen brothers. (I did not include Scorsese, Spielberg, and Coppola in the list, even though they are still active, because they began their careers in an earlier era of filmmaking.)
I am a Pixar admirer. I may rate Up as the best, if only because so much of the humor is about dogs.
I think Wes Anderson ranks up there with PTA and the Coens (whom I adore), but I understand that many are put off by his distinct style. Fincher, Reichardt, Soderburgh, Spike Lee, and the younger Coppola also deserve a mention.
I like almost all of them, especially Fincher. Unfortunately, for some reason, I have yet to watch Reichardt's films. I wanted to add Tarantino, since I've watched every one of his movies at least three times (and some of them many more times) with enormous delight, but I realize that he has probably made only one film with real depth, and that happens to be his latest one, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. As Konchalovsky once said of him (in a long-lost interview for a Bulgarian TV station), "He knows very well how to say something, but just has nothing to say."
I didn't include Tarantino since, while still alive, he's (semi?) retired. I also loathed The Hateful Eight, to the point where it's colored my thoughts on the rest of his filmography.
Critic Walter Chaw summarized Fincher well, I think: "The only question David Fincher’s movies try to answer is whether it’s possible to do everything well (better than well, really–I mean better than anyone has ever done anything before) and still produce what is essentially a piece of shit. He’s the king of garbage cinema, David Lean doing Jackie Collins for some damn reason."
Wendy and Lucy is probably a good place to start with Reichardt. Her films tend to be gentle, realist, but with a simmering rage and acute sense of justice. (Though I can't say I've kept up with her most recent couple). There's a cross-fade in Meek's Cutoff that literally took my breath away. I think it'll linger in my filmic memory for a very very long time.
The Hateful Eight should have led to his imprisonment in a penal colony.
Let's see what Fincher will make of Tarantino's latest script. As the latter modestly said:
"I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors. So the idea that David Fincher actually wants to adapt my work, to me, shows a level of seriousness towards my work that I think needs to be taken into account.”
Thank you for the Reichardt's films recommendation.
The two Andersons, the Coens, & Tarantino are middlebrow dreck, though all of them except Tarantino have one film I admire.
I love O Brother, Where Art Thou? and have a high opinion of The Big Lebowski and a few other Coen brothers films.
As I was watching Game 7 in the 2025 World Series (and learning the rules along the way), one thing that stood out to me about baseball was the variance of outcome. The oblong games don't have anything as dramatic as the grand slam or the triple play.
Indeed.
I love coriander and grow it here in Sicily.
I have to ask, did you find that Disney’s take on Kidnapped was any good?
I love that book.
I have not seen it since I was a child. I do, however, share your love of the book, and of basically everything that RLS wrote.