Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by mikenyc on March 30, 2002 at 05:53:49

In Reply to: Yeah, Uncle Milty & Billy Wilder in the same week! Bummer. :o( posted by AuPh on March 29, 2002 at 05:55:56:

For Wilder, it wasn't so much the Noir of these films and his comedies, as it was the witty cynicism that permeated the pictures and words of his entire ouvre. Films like "The Fortune Cookie", "Kiss Me Stupid" and "The Apartment" are just as Noir as "The Lost Weekend", "Double Indemnity" and "Sunset Boulevard".

He said it, in word and picture, with a brevity and a sussinctness that is missing in all of today's film writing. He wrote as people wanted to hear people speak...not as they really talk...which is boring enough to hear in everyday life. Who wants to go the movies and actually PAY to hear how boring people sound and think you're being entertained ? He made films Big, larger than life.

Unfortunately all of this is lost on most of today's writers...with the exceptions of say a David Mamet or William Goldman. Instead, most of the time, you are assaulted with EFX, which is no substitute for story and characterization.

At least we have video...thank God !