CINEMANIA:

Dead Man (USA 1995 Jim Jarmusch)

Where Ben and I squabble a little over Jarmusch's intent.

Ben:

In the scene near the end at the trading post when he blows away yet a couple more characters, Jacob laughed out loud and said, "Man, it's like Tarrantino." Odd as this may sound, the kid is on to something. Pulp Fiction came out the year before DM and it does appear that Jarmusch was as smitten with it as everyone else at the time, at least with regard to tapping into it's droll approach to (so-called) gun-play; the presentation of violence as comedic, not through cartoonish conventions but rather through an ironic detachment towards banal realism. I don't mean to reduce DM down to this mere derivative aspect, however, as the film just as much perpetuates the film-maker's own idiosyncrasies.

Deadwood Season Three (2006, USA, David Milch et. al.)

Wherein the weight of expectations prove crushing...

Ben sed:

Season Two was not as good as Season One and Season Three is not as good as Season Two. In fact, three is more inferior to two than two was to one. I know that many fans of the program are upset that HBO has canceled it but I have to say that it is for the best.

La Jetee (France, 1962, Chris Marker)

Wherein Ben and I attempt to deconstruct Marker's technique.

Ben:

I have only seen about half of the Short 2 disc but so far I have found all of the selections worthwhile and deserving of commentary. However, La Jetee is clearly in a class by itself. I was confused about which Terry Gilliam film it inspired, telling Jacob that it was Brazil. He has seen 12 Monkeys three times to my once, however, and quickly corrected me.