That’s the secret, hidden between the lines of all of these pieces: Although it seems they’re talking about some old movie, what they’re really talking about is themselves. I think I got about as far inside as you can get, at least through the uncertain filter of an interview. When they began talking about some scene or performance in a movie that truly touched them, they opened up, bit by bit. In the end, they couldn’t help themselves. How then to tell a real emotion when it comes from someone so adept at manufacturing fake ones? In that, I think, it was the conceit of the series that saved the day. After all, are you going to invite the New York Times over and then be mean? When you’re dealing with people at this level, both actors and directors, people who have risen to the top of a hotly competitive, deeply uncertain business, you are dealing for the most part with extremely smart people. No one started snorting cocaine or dove into a hot tub full of Baywatch beauties. Yes, I saw some nice houses and got to spend some pleasant time with famous people, far away from the niggling of publicists and the straitjacket schedules of location shooting and press junkets. Exclusive! Inside! Did I get past the stone-faced handlers and the celebrity facades? Did I catch a true glimpse of the Hollywood paradise that everyone imagines, where the boldface names live in hedonistic splendor?Īnd the answer to that is really kind of disappointing for people. What they really wanted to know was: Did you get inside? That’s what all the entertainment television shows and the slick magazine covers promise. But I don’t think that’s what people were really asking about, any more than when they asked: Who was the nicest? Who was the meanest? Who did you like? Who didn’t you like? lot with Steven Soderbergh as the projectionist rewound the print of All the President’s Men and talking about his eagerness to begin filming Ocean’s 11 in Las Vegas while dryly taking a few digs at the New York Times, with which he’d had a couple of gripes over the years? Or how about standing in a corridor on the Warner Bros. The movie lasted only forty minutes, but it was five hours before I got out of his house. It was staying afterward and talking, talking, talking about all sorts of movies, including his own, one topic spilling into the next in his febrile brain. And the best part of spending an afternoon with Quentin Tarantino at his Mediterranean spread in the Hollywood Hills was not watching the Roy Rogers movie he’d chosen to project on his living room wall with a 16-millimeter projector. I remember sharing a humongous platter of sushi with John Travolta and listening to him describe dinner parties at his hilltop house, including one he had for Marlon Brando that attracted, if my memory’s right, just about every A-list leading man in Hollywood. But the truth is that the most memorable, fun moments were ones that had nothing to do with the job at hand, the watching of the movie. I’d always try to answer it, and even came up with a few little anecdotes that hadn’t made it into the finished pieces. Once the thing got started-which took forever, by the way-the question I was most often asked was: Which one was the most fun? To Barb, even though she keeps telling me to turn it down INTRODUCTION: THE WAY IT WORKED Steven Soderbergh on All the President’s Menġ8. Quentin Tarantino on The Golden StallionĦ. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us./piracy. Copyright infringement is against the law. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. Lyman enhances every essay with a brief biography, career history, and complete filmography of each of the subjects, which puts them in a historical and creative context.ĭrawn from the enormously popular series in The New York Times, Watching Movies will fascinate film students and curious moviegoers alike. * Quentin Tarantino on The Golden StallionĮach interviewee's character is revealed in the resulting essays, which deepen our appreciation of landmark films, and give us extraordinary insight into the process of filmmaking. Steven Soderbergh on how All the President's Men influenced Erin Brockovich In this unique collection, New York Times film critic Rick Lyman sits down with notable directors, actors, screenwriters, cinematographers, and other film industry professionals to watch and discuss a movie that each person considers seminal or influential on his or her career. An inside look at how some of the biggest names in the film industry view their craft
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