The Conversations #11: Lawrence of Arabia

The eleventh installment of the Conversations has now been posted at The House Next Door. This time, Jason and I tackle David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia, using the opportunity to talk about the nature of the epic film, the evolution of the genre over time, the conventions of brownface performances, and of course the specifics of the film itself, which warrants much in-depth analysis. We approached this topic from very different perspectives, as Jason was already a big fan of the film while I was totally new to it and not generally a fan of old-school epics. Despite that, we wound up agreeing on many of the film's merits while reading certain scenes and elements in different ways. I think it's an interesting conversation, so take a look. As usual, we encourage everyone to continue the discussion in the comment thread; we always want our pieces to be the beginning of the conversation, not the whole story.

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The Conversations #10: Trouble Every Day

The tenth installment of the Conversations is here, just in time for Halloween. In this latest discussion, Jason Bellamy and I turn our attention to Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day, a startling and deeply enigmatic film about vampirism, lust, infidelity and addiction. As usual, our discussion is fairly lengthy and intensive, covering not only the film itself but also diverting into a debate about what constitutes the horror genre. We always hope with this series that our piece will be just the beginning of a larger conversation, so please stop by and weigh in with your own thoughts, either about this film or about horror in general.

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The Conversations #9: Pixar

The ninth of my conversations with Jason Bellamy has now been posted at The House Next Door. This latest installment of the series is a contribution to the Pixar Week event, which is running from October 4 through October 10. Our conversation focuses on some of Pixar's recent output — especially WALL-E, Ratatouille and The Incredibles — in order to evaluate the animation studio's place within contemporary cinema. As with most of this week's pieces at the House, this conversation is an attempt to challenge some of the conventional ideas about Pixar and to take a more serious, in-depth look than usual at the studio's acclaimed films. It's also an opportunity to air some of my grumpy contrarian rebuttals to the commonly accepted wisdom about the quality of Pixar's films.

As usual, we hope that this piece will spark a larger conversation, so please stop by, read what we have to say and offer your own thoughts and reactions in the comments.

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The Conversations #8 (part 2): Inglourious Basterds

As previously announced here, Jason Bellamy and I have completed the latest installment of our Conversations series at The House Next Door. This eighth conversation is a discussion of the work of Quentin Tarantino, divided into two parts. The first part, published earlier this week, was a career overview of Tarantino's career from Reservoir Dogs through Death Proof. The second part has now been published as well. It's an in-depth discussion of Tarantino's latest film, Inglourious Basterds, a film so exciting, so dense and rich and unusual, that it's ignited an urge to talk about it in seemingly everyone who's seen it. Jason and I are no exceptions, and now we somewhat belatedly join the conversation that's been raging all over the Internet for the past week or so. Click below to read.

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The Conversations #8 (part 1): Quentin Tarantino

Jason Bellamy and I have completed the latest installment of our Conversations series at The House Next Door. In honor of the release of Inglourious Basterds, the film that seemingly everyone is talking about these days, we've put together a discussion of the career of Quentin Tarantino thus far, followed by an in-depth exchange about Basterds itself. Part 1 of the conversation, about Tarantino's career from Reservoir Dogs to Death Proof, is now posted at the House. The discussion of Inglourious Basterds will be posted on Wednesday. For now, click below to read Part 1.

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The Conversations #7: Michael Mann

My latest conversation with Jason Bellamy is now live at The House Next Door. For this discussion, we've tackled our biggest topic yet, a career overview of Michael Mann, covering his feature films from Thief to Public Enemies (leaving out only the studio-compromised horror flick The Keep). It's an in-depth discussion, and we hope you'll stop by, check it out, and join the conversation with your own comments. Also, as an extension of the discussion between me and Jason, House editor Keith Uhlich has posed some questions in the comments, on the topic of Mann's habit of revising his films for DVD "director's cuts."

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The Conversations #6: Errol Morris

My latest conversation with Jason Bellamy is now live at The House Next Door. This time around our topic is the work of documentarian Errol Morris: we've done a complete film-by-film overview of his career, from Gates of Heaven to Standard Operating Procedure. Along the way, we take a number of different approaches to Morris' films, thinking about his work aesthetically, politically, and ethically. We hope you'll join the conversation as well, either reacting to what we have to say or providing your own input on Morris. So click the link below to read the full piece and comment.

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The Conversations #5: Werner Herzog

My latest conversation with Jason Bellamy is now live at The House Next Door. As usual, we range far and wide, and at great length, this time debating the oeuvre of Werner Herzog. We focus on an eclectic selection of both his fiction features and documentaries, as well as discussing the general arc of his career thus far and the development of his aesthetics and themes in his 40+ years as a filmmaker.

We hope that this conversation will generate some lively discussion, so click below to read the full piece and then add your own thoughts.

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The Conversations #4: Star Trek

Jason Bellamy and I have now posted the fourth installment of our regular monthly series of conversations at The House Next Door. This month, with the release of the new J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek origin movie only a week away, we have gone back to the first six Star Trek films, the ones featuring the original cast from the late 60s television show that started it all. It's a fun and wide-ranging discussion that we hope will be interesting for Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. Below I've posted Jason's introduction to the piece; click through to the House to read the rest.

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JASON BELLAMY: America's relationship with Star Trek began before man ever set foot on the moon. Gene Roddenberry's creation was born in 1966 and lasted three seasons on TV before dying of low ratings in 1969. Forty years, endless reruns, four live-action TV series and 10 feature films later, Star Trek is alive and well in the pop culture. In just a few days, on May 8, the crew of the starship Enterprise—Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov—will hit the big screen yet again in an origin story directed by J.J. Abrams. Star Trek, as the film is simply called, is perhaps the most anticipated movie of the spring. And though its arrival is hardly a surprise in this era of remakes and retreads, the brand's longevity is nonetheless impressive.

From 1987-2005, there was some form of modern Star Trek on TV. The Next Generation (1987-94) begat Deep Space Nine (1993-99), which begat Voyager (1995-2001), which begat Enterprise (2001-05). All of these series can be traced back to the 1966 pilot that started it all, but it's safe to say that none of these series would have been possible without the varied yet undeniable success of Star Trek at the cinema. From 1979-91, six Star Trek films were released featuring the recognizable cast and characters of the original TV series. Almost two decades later, these films are cherished by some ("Trekkies" or "Trekkers"), mocked by others and seemingly ignored by everyone else.

Ed, I have invited you to join me in boldly going where so many have gone before, to those first six Star Trek films. Over the course of our discussion, I'd like to explore the factors that make Star Trek beloved and belittled. I'd like to figure out whether Star Trek gets too much respect or not enough. I'd like to debate the series' impact on cinema. And I'd like to forecast what a successful Abrams adaptation might look like. But let's begin at the beginning. Tell me: Prior to rewatching the first six Star Trek films, what was your relationship to those films and to the overall brand? Which of these films had you seen, and how long had it been since you'd seen them? What was your stored impression of Star Trek cinema up until a few weeks ago, and what is it now?

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The Conversations #3 (part 2): Overlooked - Solaris

Part two of the third installment of the monthly feature The Conversations has now been posted at the great multi-author film blog The House Next Door. As I said yesterday, this month Jason Bellamy and I each selected a film from the last few years that we deemed to be "overlooked." I picked David Gordon Green's Undertow, and Jason opted for Steven Soderbergh's Solaris. The first part of this two-part conversation, on Undertow, can be found here. Now the second part, on Solaris, has been posted as well. Click the link below to read it.

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The Conversations #3 (part 1): Overlooked - Undertow

The third installment of my monthly feature with Jason Bellamy, The Conversations, has now been posted at the great multi-author film blog The House Next Door. This month, Jason and I each selected a film from the last few years that we deemed to be "overlooked," and as it turned out, we hadn't previously seen one another's picks. I picked David Gordon Green's Undertow, and Jason opted for Steven Soderbergh's Solaris. This conversation has been divided into two parts. To read the first half of the conversation, about Undertow, click through to the House below. The second half, with a discussion of Solaris, will be posted tomorrow. As usual, reader comments are especially encouraged; we hope that our conversations will trigger a larger conversation.

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The Conversations #2: Mulholland Dr.

[The second installment of the monthly feature The Conversations has now been posted at the great multi-author film blog The House Next Door. This series is a venue for Jason Bellamy and me to discuss a wide range of cinematic subjects: critical analyses of films, filmmaker overviews, and more. In this piece, we discuss David Lynch's Mulholland Dr., with tangential references to Lynch's Lost Highway and influences like Vertigo and Kiss Me Deadly. A brief teaser from my opening remarks is included below; click through to the House to read the full discussion.]

ED HOWARD: David Lynch is a filmmaker who has haunted my mind since the first moment I saw one of his films. This is especially true of Mulholland Dr. I vividly remember my confused, stunned reactions the first time I saw this film. It was in the afternoon, and when I stumbled outside afterward, into bright daylight, everything looked strange, somehow subtly changed. I'd spent over two hours in Lynch's world, and in the time I'd been lost there it was as though the real world had been infected with Lynch's unsettling aesthetic. It was a unique experience. I can't remember another film that shook me up and destabilized me so thoroughly, and I've returned to it, and to Lynch's work in general, compulsively ever since.

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The Conversations #1: David Fincher

[This is the first installment of a new monthly feature, The Conversations, in which Jason Bellamy and I will discuss a wide range of cinematic subjects: critical analyses of films, filmmaker overviews, and more. These conversations are being published at the great multi-author film blog The House Next Door. Our debut discussion centers around the work of David Fincher, beginning with a lengthy analysis of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and taking off from there into an in-depth appraisal of Fincher's career as a whole. I'm very proud of this piece, so go take a look by following the link below for the full article. Jason's introductory remarks are included here as a teaser.]


JASON BELLAMY: Ed, earlier this year we had a lengthy and spirited debate about Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York. Encapsulating that exchange is difficult, but to nutshell it as best I can: I argued that Kaufman's film is "complex for complexity's sake" and that Synecdoche's inner themes aren't worth the effort of their labyrinthine design; you disagreed and argued that the structure was "encoded with elegant metaphors." Throughout our exchange, at my blog and yours, I'm not sure that the word "gimmick" was ever used, but thematically that was the bonfire we danced around.

I bring all this up because David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, inspired by a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a 166-minute exercise about a man (Brad Pitt's Benjamin Button) who ages backward. He's born, on the night after the end of World War I, the size of an infant with the physical maladies of an old man, and from there his body grows younger while his spirit and soul grow older and more experienced. Within the margins of this story are ankle-deep philosophical waxings about the aging process (body vs. mind), a fairly straightforward love story and a Forrest Gump-esque trip through American history. But I wonder: Is Benjamin Button anything more than a gimmick?

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