I do wonder whether old theatre tricks have been lost in the film industry given that everything is now ‘fixed with CGI’.
Ask Buster Keaton
A lot of it was really simple but ingenious. I suppose a lot came from music hall artists. There is a clip here from a documentary I saw a while ago:
Edit: ironically using CGI to demonstrate the effect!
Here’s actor Billy Redden in his role as the banjo-pickin’ backwoods mountain boy in the 1972 film “Deliverance.”
Fun Fact – Film director John Boorman selected Redden for the part because of his skinny frame, large head and almond-shaped eyes. But there was one problem - Billy could not play the banjo. So he was fitted with a special shirt that allowed room for the actual banjo player, Mike Addis, to slip his left hand through the sleeve and finger the fretboard. The scene was then shot with carefully-chosen camera angles to conceal Addis, whose arms were wrapped around Redden’s waist to play the tune.
https://x.com/discussingfilm/status/1948398207257432362?s=61&t=VxX1vHU3NOwwNhlbyICG-g
Plot twist - this time it’s a black lab and klopptimist explodes in rage
White Labs can’t jump.
Went to see Weapons last night.
Loved the originality, premise and acting. Some creepy moments, jump scares ans laughs.
I didn’t get the hype about Barbarian so I’m holding off going fully in on this. But this is the film that Jordan Poole allegedly fired his management team for failing to land the distribution rights to. So even if that is bullshit, that has this as a must see ever since.
Nothing really like Barbarian.
The comparison is it is made by the same guy and it was the success of Barbarian that made the entire industry scramble to get the rights to this, his next film.
Barbarian was a pretty original idea though. A freaky one but original.
This is a little more conventional.
I hate to see hype behind any new film - it’s a recipe for disaster. Take Sinners as the latest example (or any Ryan Coogler film for that matter). They turn my up my expectations to the max, great reviews are pouring in, and even Jerry Cantrell writes a (great) song for the film, so I expect a modern masterpiece. What I get is a decent film with wonderful photography and good performances but one that fails to have any emotional impact on me and whose story is pretty derivative.
I guess that either the public’s standards have massively lowered, or my expectations have grown unrealistically. I know it’s getting a bit difficult for me to find a new film that truly hits me (like All of Us Strangers).
I liked Barbarian, by the way, but I knew nothing about it prior to seeing it. I thought that the director had some serious chops and that he should only get better. It’s that feeling that creates expectations of Weapons this time, rather than rave reviews it’s been getting.
As a side note, you probably meant Jordan Peele? I love his films, by the way, though it will be very difficult for him to make another one that hits the highest heights of Get Out.
Yeah but in this example this is easily reconciled with the understanding that you are just wrong about Sinners
There’s nothing wrong with Sinners, it’s just a film that not a lot of people will remember in a few years. I mean, it’s a modernised version of The Lost Boys set against a Southern Gothic backdrop and racial struggles. And a lot of people still remember The Lost Boys.
Did you mean Jordan Peele?