William Heise | September 1, 2010
I used to go to the drive-in a lot in high school and college, and the most disturbing movie I ever saw in my life was I Spit on Your Grave. I must have seen the movie five of ten times (I used to go to a lot of movies). Of all the movies I [...]
William Heise | July 11, 2010
Okay, let’s review. Here’s how I look at art. The viewer starts out with a Status Quo (that’s ‘the way things are now,’ for the less Latin inclined). But the clever artist has identified a conflict in the Status Quo. The introduction of conflict into the previously untroubled world of the Status Quo means that [...]
William Heise | June 12, 2010
I’ve been working my way through the silent film era in Germany recently, and I have to admit that silent film is one of those things that takes getting used to. The pictures are often grainy (1920’s Golem), the stories are often abbreviated (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), and scenes take far too long to [...]
William Heise | June 7, 2010
There’s just one more thing about It Might Get Loud. Here’s an interview that I never saw before of Jimmy Page, god of guitar, being asked what he’s going to do with his life. Interviewer: Are you going to take up skiffle? Jimmie Page: No, I’d like to take up biological research. Interviewer: What do [...]
William Heise | April 6, 2010
I didn’t know until this week that they’d made a movie of Serge Gainbourg‘s life called Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque): Obviously, their take on Serge’s ‘heroic’ life as ‘he reinvents music and love’ is rather different than mine.
William Heise | March 25, 2010
Another one of my favorite bits of comedy. This one is from Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances. After this, it’s all downhill.
William Heise | March 6, 2010
Found this, today: One of the two police officers shot by a gunman outside the Pentagon says he is doing fine and credits God for shielding him. This, of course, reminds me of Pulp Fiction (another noir), where Samuel Jackson turns from repeating blindly his favorite Bible speech (6:00) to actually thinking about its meaning [...]
William Heise | February 27, 2010
I watched Sunset Boulevard yesterday with Gloria Swanson in the role of Norma Desmond. She’s as creepy as it gets in Hollywood, and never more so than when her imaginative mind has taken full control of her reason in the final moments of the film when she addresses “those wonderful people out there in the [...]
William Heise | October 25, 2009
Kathy and I used to love Mystery Science Theater 3000. Although I liked Mike Nelson as host a little more than I liked Joel Robinson, our favorite episode by far was entitled “Mitchell.” This was Joel’s last episode before he retired. My favorite line: “Why would anyone want to do that with Mitchell, Joel?” (at [...]
William Heise | October 12, 2009
Michael Moore has a new film. I love Michael, particularly his early films and his hilarious television show TV Nation. Watch this clip and you’ll see what I saw in the 1990s. He’s not a guy who was against George Bush and for the good old days of Bill Clinton. I’m not saying that he [...]
