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March 17, 2005
Recent Rentals
We're counting down the hours to Spring Break here at the North Avenue Trade School, and I just wanted to mention a few of the films I've been renting recently. I don't have time to write full reviews but recommend all three with varying degrees of enthusiasm.
Over the weekend, I had a chance to watch Ming-liang Tsai's Goodbye Dragon Inn, a haunting movie about moviegoing. The film is set in a giant downtown Taipei theater, and the theater is almost entirely empty excpet for a few patrons who wander the corridors or sit silently watching the film. Goodbye Dragon Inn has almost no dialogue except what you hear on screen from the film they are watching, Dragon Inn. For more about Goodbye Dragon Inn, check out A.O. Scott's review, but it's a compelling film visually, very atmospheric and haunting.
I also watched Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, the 2004 documentary about the making of the band's most recent album. I was mildly disappointed with Monster, finding it a little tedious, and after a while, I didn't think the film went any further with its attempt to deconstruct the image of the heavy metal band, and the doc certainly had the subtext of seeking to humanize the man who killed Napster. Maybe I missed something about the doc because I didn't find it nearly as compelling as some viewers, but it was mildly interesting.
I've been wanting to see Tongues Untied for a long time, and finally decided to watch it last night. The 1985 short film about black gay life, which originally aired on the PBS show P.O.V., is pretty moving, and it certainly illustrates the political power of autobiographical documentary. Riggs, who died in 1994, commented on the film and its reception in this 1991 article in Current.
Posted by chuck at March 17, 2005 9:06 AM
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Posted by: G Zombie ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://chutry.wordherders.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 17, 2005 10:26 AM
Thanks, G. Your review brings out many of the film's strengths, many of which I failed to mention. I do think the film complicates the creative process in an interesting way even if it also presents an uncritical picture of the band. I'm a sucker for docs, too (obviously), so I'm not sure why Monster didn't work for me, and I did look for your review last night but somehow missed it.
Posted by: Chuck at March 17, 2005 10:34 AM
Chuck - thanks for writing about my father. He was a great man and we will miss him very much.
Anna in Atlanta - one of Bud's 6 children.
Posted by: Anna Copello at March 18, 2005 5:57 PM
Thanks for stopping by. I very much enjoyed every conversation I had with Bud and wish I'd had more opportunities to talk with him.
Posted by: Chuck at March 18, 2005 10:26 PM