February 7, 2010
Jour de fête [1949]
1. A movie is being shown in a tiny theater on the square, a western. For a few moments the soundtrack of the western becomes the soundtrack of the world just outside the theater. A man and a woman face each other and say nothing; the characters in the western speak for them.
2. He rides the fence.
3. The butcher chops off the toes of his new shoes.
February 7, 2010
Mr. Hulot’s Holiday [1953]
1. He wipes his mouth on Hulot’s sleeve.
2. A most unusual shark.
3. He attempts to fill the watering can.
February 6, 2010
The Last Temptation of Christ [1988]
1. Dogs lick the blood spattered on the grate of the drain.
2. “It simply doesn’t matter how you want to change things, we don’t want them changed.”
3. He reads the invisible words written on the animal hide.
February 5, 2010
The Vault of Horror [1973]
1. The waiter opens the curtain to reveal a wall-length mirror. Rogers is the only one in the restaurant who is reflected in it.
2. Her drink leaves a nasty ring on the coffeetable.
3. A bloodstain rapidly forms on the ceiling.
February 4, 2010
Up in the Air [2009]
1. The wrinkled heads peeking out of the top of his suitcase.
2. “You’re so pretty! You look exactly like how I want to look in 15 years.”
3. The “For Lease” signs on the office buildings they visit.
January 31, 2010
Android [1982]
1. The space station has ratty berber carpeting.
2. Klaus Kinski’s disembodied head: ”I am not an android.”
3. James Brown provides the soundtrack for Metropolis.
January 27, 2010
Waltz with Bashir [2008]
1. 26 dogs.
2. The tops of his feet bobbing in the sea.
3. A narrow alley with dead bodies piled waist-high.
Very interesting to see this so soon after Circle of Deceit. They comment on each other somehow.
January 25, 2010
They All Laughed [1981]
1. Audrey Hepburn wearing Yoko Ono sunglasses.
2. Bogdanovich’s voice as the radio DJ.
3. They stop outside the hotel and she says, “This is where I turn into a pumpkin.”
January 23, 2010
The White Ribbon [2009]
1. He unbuttons his shirt and carefully removes a tiny wounded bird.
2. Walking down the road through a snow-covered landscape. Blindingly white.
3. The doctor slowly wraps a bandage around the child’s head. The boy begins to scream.
January 22, 2010
Sunday Bloody Sunday [1971]
1. “I know you’re not getting enough of me, but you’re getting all there is.”
2. She pours out some gravy, catching the drip from the spout of the gravy boat with her finger. She licks her finger and passes the gravy boat to her father. He does the same thing, exchanging a mischievous glance with her.
3. A strange assemblage of adolescents at an all-night chemists. He walks back to his car. A roving band of roller skaters go by, then a small band of drunken young men. Two of them hang onto one another. Strangely tender.
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