Tuesday 20 July 2010

More Fincher

 Photo by Mark Romanek

10 comments:

Hal Gracie said...

The Mark Romanek? If it is he should have that camera confiscated and not given back until he makes another movie.

Mark Salisbury said...

Yes, that one.

Mark Salisbury said...

Have you ever seen Static?

Hal Gracie said...

Yes, but not for well over 20 years despite looking for a DVD release now and then.

I was more succesful in following the career of Keith Gordon, however. I'd rate him as one of my top 10 directors, easily. It's tragic that he struggles so hard each and every time to get a movie made. Sadder still, maybe, that his last feature The Singing Detective failed on just about every front, but it's been his only director-for-hire job outside TV.

Romanek needs to make more films!!! Although my own personal opinion is that if someone of his caliber is replaced on a project by Joe Johnson then he was definitely right not to do it.

Mark Salisbury said...

So you must be a fan of A Midnight Clear, then. I agree, Gordon's one of those overlooked talents.

Hal Gracie said...

I thought A Midnight Clear was beautifully filmed, but couldn’t buy into the whole ‘fake fight’ at the end. Why not just shoot your weapons into the woods and the snow without the ‘enemy’ standing in front of you at the time? If there was a reason why both sides risked everything by doing it the way they did, it passed me by.

I probably prefer the other three. Mother Night is in my Top 20 films, and the R1 audio commentary by Nick Nolte is my favourite DVD extra by far (from a collection of thousands). It’s like listening to Alan Moore without all the posing weirdness and cheap jokes. Nolte is an intellectual giant and I’ve never looked at any of his work the same way since.

Waking The Dead is pure cinematic beauty. And yet the Constant Gardener – which covers practically the exact same ground and feels like a pale knockoff – was a critical darling and Gordon hasn’t managed to get another of his own films off the ground since. There is no justice in the world. I did buy a season of House to check out Gordon’s TV work before deciding that life was just too short.

I’ve just went on IMDB to see if Static was out yet on DVD, and see that Romanek has a third film in the can. Great stuff.

Mark Salisbury said...

Haven't seen Waking The Dead. Really must.

By third I'm presuming you mean Never Let Me Go which I was on set of and which I've...

Hal Gracie said...

That'll be the one.

Unknown said...

Mark:

You MUST see WAKING THE DEAD! Amazing, heartbreaking film and easily Jennifer Connelly's finest moment and the first film where I felt that she really had some acting chops.

I'm a big fan of Gordon's as well and actually liked THE SINGING DETECTIVE. It was admirable effort.

Mark Salisbury said...

Okay, okay, just ordered it.