McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)

[dave jenkins]

He doesn't show contempt, but he is interested in transforming generic conventions to create something new.

No, I'd say he wants to trash genre conventions to create something new. Part of his techinque (taken, perhaps, from Godard) is to highlight conventions in purple and red crayons before exploding them. He wants the audience to conciously recognize his desire to leave genres behind. And the contempt is there: this is why he ironically uses "Hooray For Hollywood" at the beginning and end of The Long Goodbye.

[cigar joe]

dave jenkins, have you seen McCabe & Mrs. Miller

[dave jenkins]

More than once, Joe. Because of this thread, I rewatched the DVD just the other day.

I haven't voted because my choice isn't up there ("Seen it and am rather ambivalent about it").

[cigar joe]

its there now

[dave jenkins]

Okay, I voted.

[indio]

I watched this film at the weekend. god it reminded me of keoma , the feel of it that is. then it became the great silence.

[cigar joe]

 shuuuuuuush, don't say no more you'll spoil it for Firecracker 

[cigar joe]

Watched Three Women tonight and it was like watching a disturbing dream.

[KERMIT]

Watched Three Women tonight and it was like watching a disturbing dream.

yea, looks very interesting joe .
is this w. shelly duval and sissy spacek ?

i was watching "two women" last night on TCM.

[cigar joe]

yes & I recorded Two Women 

[titoli]

Altman was one of my favourite directors in the '70's. Still I saw this movie only once, in the early '80's on TV, because it was very difficult to find even in art cinemas programs (what do the younger generation know about film-viewing before vhs?).
He said, introducing the movie for italian tv viewers, that he had wanted to make a movie out of the LC's album that he found so extraordinary. I can't but agree with him, all the more so as of a rule I am not particularly fond of folksie albums like that. Still  I found the movie too slow, as many of the lesser Altman's (of whom I adore Nashville, his masterpiece; Mash, The Long Goodbye and California Split ) like Three Women or Thieves Like Us. Like with Cassavetes movies, you think that the movie could last half an hour or 5 hours and you wouldn't have lost anything anyway. So I prefer to listen to Cohen's LP (well, it's been maybe 15 years sinvce the last time I've heard it, mebbe 20, but I know it by heart) or, even better, the songs I like the best which happen, BTW, to be the same 3 Altman included in the movie.

[cigar joe]

Yes Titoli, but in the film Cohen removed a few stanzas and included a long instumental section. On Cohen 's album,  "The Stranger" does not include that instumental, it would have been nice to have both versions.

[titoli]

Frankly, I don't think any song by Cohen is worth an instrumental version, not even for a soundtrack.

[cigar joe]

Frankly, I don't think any song by Cohen is worth an instrumental version, not even for a soundtrack.

Its not a full instumental, just sort of a "bridge" between the lyrics that are used, it just adds to the bleak setting in the rainy Pacific Northwest.

Of course its not Morricone, and the music and lyrics were already composed and just tweeked to fit the film. sp its not really in the same class.

[cigar joe]

Here is a trailer I found during todays trailer quest for McCabe & Mrs. Miller (it doesn't show any of the action sequences though so you can't judge it by that), enjoy.

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/trailer.html?v_id=31953