1. "Sydney Pollack, Film Director, Is Dead at 73": Please share your thoughts and remembrances in the comments section.
["Sydney Pollack, a Hollywood mainstay as director, producer and sometime actor whose star-laden movies like “The Way We Were,” “Tootsie” and “Out of Africa” were among the most successful of the 1970s and ’80s, died Monday at home here. He was 73."]
2. "A skill every cinephile should master": Paul C. of Silly Hats Only educates us.
["...one thing not enough people will bear in mind when asked if they've seen anything good lately is that it's not simply an idle question. If someone is going to ask you this question, it's because they're looking for something good for themselves, and they're asking you in a form that sounds less self-serving than "can you recommend something good for me?" But of course, this is exactly what they're asking for, and this is your time to shine. One of the great pleasures for most movie lovers is turning others on to something great, so take this opportunity to use your knowledge for good. Some tips:"]
3. "First California gay weddings may be on a Saturday": Two related articles, "Battle looms for plan to ban same-sex nuptials" & "The Difference Between Marriage and Civil Unions".
["Same-sex couples in some counties will be able to marry as soon as Saturday, June 14, the president of the California's county clerks association said Monday. Stephen Weir, who heads the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials, said he was told by the Office of Vital Records that clerks would be authorized to hand out marriage licenses as soon as that date—exactly 30 days after the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage should be legal. The court's decisions typically take effect after 30 days, barring further legal action. "They are shooting for the 14th," said Weir, adding that the state planned to give California's 58 counties advice early this week for implementing the historic change so local officials can start planning."]
4. "FEC, media can't handle Obama jackpot": There's a Brazil sequel in here, I just know it.
["The record-shattering fundraising by Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has reshaped the financing of presidential elections and generated breathless coverage and analysis of the otherwise arcane area of campaign finance. Yet it’s had another consequence that has gone all but unnoticed. The campaign finance reports filed by Obama and Clinton have grown so massive that they’ve strained the capacity of the Federal Election Commission, good government groups, the media and even software applications to process and make sense of the data."]
5. "YouTube law fight 'threatens net'": From BBC News.
["A one billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube threatens internet freedom, according to its owner Google. Google's claim follows Viacom's move to sue the video sharing service for its inability to keep copyrighted material off its site. Viacom says it has identified 150,000 unauthorised clips on YouTube. In court documents Google's lawyers say the action "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information" over the web."]
Quote of the Day: Henry Kissinger
Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Paul McCartney receives an honorary degree from Yale. 
Clip of the Day: Sydney Pollack explains pan & scan vs. widescreen.
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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to keithuhlich@gmail.com.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Links for the Day (May 27th, 2008)
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13 comments:
As a director, Pollack was efficient, elegant, versatile and unobtrusive (which is not the same thing as being bland). He seemed quite comfortable in the mainstream, making star-packed Hollywood features that were more concerned with moving the story along than rewriting the commercial cinema playbook. But if you look at his movies over the span of four decades, you see the areas in which he excelled: comedy ("Tootsie"), suspense ("Three Days of the Condor," "The Firm"), romantic melodrama ("Out of Africa," "The Way We Were," and "Random Hearts," mature and mesmerizing despite an unconvincing central romance and a misjudged cop corruption subplot). Though Pollack preferred to stay out of the way of the plot and performances, his movies are filled with little stylistic flourishes: the whip-pans in "Condor," Dave Grusin's solo piano score in "The Firm," the creeping zooms and depopulated wide shots in "Random Hearts," and the focus shifts and geometrically striking, narratively meaningful compositions in "The Interpreter" (a movie whose thoughtful construction went almost completely unnoticed by American critics).
A former acting coach who got into film directing after working with John Frankenheimer on "Playhouse 90" and Frankenheimer's debut feature "The Young Savages," Pollack was nearly as effective -- and obviously more visible -- as an actor, notably as Dustin Hoffman's exasperated agent in "Tootsie" ("You were playing a tomato!"), as the likable and terrifying explainer of mysteries in "Eyes Wide Shut" ; as the wife-killing physician-turned-convict on "The Sopranos"; as Judy Davis' estranged husband in Woody Allen's comedy-psychodrama "Husbands and Wives." (My favorite moment: Pollack wrangling a hysterical date away from the scene she made at a party, then accidentally dropping her on the pavement while trying to force her into their car, looking skyward and declaring, "My life is such a fucking mess").
When I think of Pollack, two things immediately come to mind: the sense, in his directing and acting, that it's possible to be mature and almost unshockable without being cynical or unfeeling; and that marvelously expressive voice.
He had one of the great voices in movies. I'm really going to miss hearing it.
Thanks for mentioning Pollack's voice, Matt. It was quite effective at expressing exasperation (the two examples you cite are perfect). One of my favorite recent Pollack roles is in a cell phone commercial they used to show in the theaters. The guy is apologizing to his girlfriend, and Pollack shows up to direct him. What's so funny about it is that Pollack is absolutely terrifying! "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I interrupt you?!!!" he asks with the appropriate menace.
Like you, I really liked the way The Interpreter was constructed, finding it more interesting than Three Days of the Condor, which never worked for me (nor did Dave Grusin's horribly inappropriate score for The Firm, easily Pollack's worst movie).
Pollack said about Redford that he knew what Redford could and couldn't do, so he didn't have to be diplomatic about directing the guy with whom he made 7 movies. (Redford was Pollack's DeNiro, I suppose.) The director also knew what he could and couldn't do, because even when I didn't like his movie, I never felt he was the wrong person for the material, acting-wise or directing-wise. He will be missed.
Re #2: That was a great article. It reminded me why most of my friends are NOT cinephiles like me. I can't stand being told that some snob's taste should override mine.
Paul C said it a lot more politely and more eloquently than I would have, if only because the topic strikes a nerve with me.
Me: Keep in mind your friends don't necessarily have the same taste you do. People into the Wayans aren't going to give a fuck about Antonioni, so recommending Zabriskie Point as some way of "saving" them is nothing more than your sad attempt to exercise a superiority over them you just don't have. Get over it. If they liked White Chicks, they might like Some Like it Hot or even Tootsie, but probably not The Crying Game! Discretion trumps whatever sorry ass desire you have to make your friends culture clones of you.
When my friends ask me what movies they should see, I know them well enough to make a suggestion for a movie THEY might like, not necessarily one I did. That's a better public service than sending them to something they'll find the cinematic equivalent of a big heaping spoonful of cod liver oil.
I was a bigger fan of Sydney Pollack the actor than of the director. He's one of those unbelievably solid actors, a pinch-hitter whose bat you just have to respect. Reliable, sort of like Alec Baldwin of late. Pollack didn't really get the flashy roles, but anytime you see him show up on screen, you know you're getting something good. Very masculine, almost always very strong (even in his character's "weaker" moments), as well as intelligent.
This is the type of aura the man had, and it just commanded respect. In my opinion, he was a guy that you'd have a hard time going wrong with. Unfortunately, not the kind of guy that gets mentioned in a ton of "favorite actor" lists, but I've always had an affection for him, almost like a secret crush.
I'm quite surprised by the news. I'll miss his work tremendously.
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I actually pride myself in my movie recommendations to friends and family. I feel that I know them enough to know what they would like, I can usually "read" very accurately based on its trailer, but I always try to push a film I've been impressed with that I think they might enjoy as well. I take such pride in this "skill" that I've joked about starting my own "Movie Recommendation Consulting" service....
Pacheco - Pollack was such an effective actor, that it was easy to remember him more for even the smallest roles he played because he made them so memorable. I don't remember a lot of details from Eyes Wide Shut, but his cold as silk warnings at his pool table still give me the chills.
Condor, Tootsie, The Firm all are among my favorite films. In fact, I just saw Condor again a few weeks ago and still find it incredibly admirable. I think the Bourne films' precise blocking owe something to Pollack.
Changing Lanes was a movie that I loved, and Pollack's performance in it was the first that made me think of him as an actor, rather than just as a director who sometimes did parts. He's the evil lawyer, but when confronted, reveals the twisted logic that led the character to the point. He turned what could have been a stock character into something rich and confounding.
Matt --
Unobtrusive, as you put it, is a wonderful way to remember Pollack's films. When I read the sad news this morning I immediately tried to think of many of his films I could squeeze in tonight. The problem is that you can really only watch two at the most in one sitting. His films linger, sometimes a little too long (the middle of The Firm sags, as does most of Havana and Random Hearts), but what I love about them is the way they represent a long forgotten way of making films. Yes, there is nothing flashy, but there is often a feeling of reverie and splendor; you are spending your two-plus hours in a conversation with someone who isn't always the most excited storyteller, and sometimes he digresses a bit too much, but its classic filmmaking in the purest sense and it is something that cannot be easily explained. Even his romantic comedies, "Sabrina" namely, had some kind of odd hypnotic pull to them, even though the film was 30 mins. too long I still enjoyed it for what it was. And damn, can he get a good looking cast to act their asses off.
I can think of when I saw "The Firm" in the theaters and got antsy a few times, but never bored. You just have to prepare yourself for a Pollack film and its leisurely pacing. And I love that piano score from "The Firm."
As an actor I always smiled when I saw him on screen. He had one of those voices and a matter-of-fact tone that reminded me of the great Mametian actors Ricky Jay and Joe Mantegna. There was just something so recognizable about that voice, and you could tell he was having a hell of a time playing ruthless (heartless), cynical rich people who had to educate the greenhorns (or just plain idealistic characters) in films like "Eye's Wide Shut," "Changing Lanes," and "Michael Clayton."
Even his flaws ("The Interpreter," "Havana," and "Random Hearts") are better than 80% of what's out there right now.
He will be missed.
Odienator --
I loved those theater commercials with Pollack, as well. He always made me laugh, and yes, he was quite intimidating (his voice is wonderful) in that commercial. It reminds me of the three films I mentioned above ("Changing Lanes," "Eyes Wide Shut," and "Michael Clayton") where you get the sense that he is always in control and is quite demanding. His films showed those same tendencies. Controlled, classic filmmaking, and he demanded your patience, attention, and time with while he lingered on the elements of his film for two-and-a-half hours.
As an actor, he went out with a bang. Pollack's turn in Michael Clayton was superb. Tell me, which other actor could have played a dominating prick of a boss with that much warmth?
Odie: I loved that pulsing piano soundtrack of The Firm. It took balls to do that; everyone else would have thrown in percussive beats or the whole freaking London Symphonic.
"Life goes on, until it doesn't"
This is the line I've been thinking about the most today, as delivered by Sydney Pollacks' amoral, wealthy hedonist in Eyes Wide Shut---it's a contextually callous yet strangely comforting bit of wisdom which seems to encapsulate Kubricks' godless world view as finally one to be cherished rather than feared. How perfect that the ultimate Kubrick line be delivered with the avuncular malevolence of a fellow "big canvas" director such as Pollack. I miss him already.
Matt -
That scene at the dinner party in Husbands and Wives with Pollack and his new-age dippy girlfriend ("I cannot stress how important it is to know your astrological sign!!") is cringingly awful, and funny - perfectly played - that's what first came to mind today when I sat down to write something on my site about Mr. Pollack. The first thing I saw was him dragging her down the driveway, with her screaming as though she's in the middle of a violent abduction - and he has that moment you describe, where he's like, "What am I DOING?" - his only real moment of self-awareness in the film. Just wonderful. I want to watch it tonight.
He will be so missed.
Rest in peace!
In addition to the tributes to his acting and directing, let's also not forget the many movies he produced and filmmakers he supported.
He was the real deal in so many ways and I'll miss his presence behind and in front of the cameras.
This is sad news. Not long ago, I was watching an old TV special included on the DVD for Pollack's underrated '70s film THE YAKUZA, a behind-the-scenes deal which had some wonderful clips of Pollack in the middle of directing a scene. The way he discussed the shots he was trying to pull off, so articulately and with the same great voice we know from his acting roles, made me like him even more. Pollack is one of the only figures I can think of who are truly actor-director hybrids, meaning he is known and esteemed equally well on both sides of the camera. I guess Eastwood is the main example of this type--but Pollack pulled it off too, and always came out looking good.
And yeah, I loved him in that turn-off-your-cellphone ad.
I will have to see THE INTERPRETER -- his final feature film. It sounds like many of you are fans. I look forward to it.
I loved that Pollack played Marty Bach in MICHAEL CLAYTON, which Pollack also produced. A great supporting role with ambiguous menace, a trademark. It was a weird mix of his agent in TOOTSIE and the mephisto of EYES WIDE SHUT. Then I remembered his directorial turn in THE FIRM, and there is something of Pollack's DNA in that thriller and the newer MICHAEL CLAYTON.
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