Patreon Ramble #21 - Becoming a Fuller Person Through Watching Movies

I am not Joel, but I wholeheartedly recommend The Reflecting Skin by Philip Ridley from 1990. It stars Viggo Mortensen. It is horrifying without being a horror movie.

Andrew from Minnesota

Hey Joel, how do you film your videos that just have two actors? Like the ones with yourself and Trent.... New and this and asking for a friend.

PapaKillmoves

Would love to hear if you have any recommendations on any horror films. I have grown so bored of the paint-by-numbers American horror and am more drawn to the psychological horror coming out of places like Wales and Scotland. A24 has put out a lot of very good movies -- are there films like that that you enjoy?

Kurt Braddock

Joel and others, I'm curious if you've watched any Jacques Tati films (Trafic, Playtime), and your thoughts on those. While comedic, they are maybe examples of a kind of almost stoic movie making. The example of American dramas manipulating you with tried-and-true emotional cliches also applies to comedy, where the laughs are so finely calculated that it can even feel too forced and become stale. Tati's films are more simply absurdist than comedic, and they remind me of some of your work. I just re watched your short film Night Life and the locked-off shots of you and your friend roaming the city are reminiscent of his style. But yeah, I recommend them for their visual beauty too, to anyone who wants a relaxed (often wordless) watch.

Kerry Zentner

I feel like blockbuster emotions can feel a bit surgical. Like they worked because they're tried and tested, which is fun, but it's like going to Disneyland where everything feels over-curated, whereas you might find something more fulfilling elsewhere that will stick with you longer. Anyway, all I'm doing is repeating what everyone else has said but in a slightly different way, so have a good day all!

Ben Cotton

@Julia and Joel Nice! I thought I was the only one! I'd always heard how great Kiarostami was, so I watched Taste of Cherry and thought it was just alright, and that was the end of that until I saw Close-Up. Then I watched everything else of his I could get my hands on and he's definitely become one of my favorite filmmakers.

Evan Snyder

I was having a conversation with my girlfriend today about manufacturing emotion in film, and how I find it.. I don't know if cheap is the right word but you spoke understanding to my heart in this!

Maybe part of what you were saying is that mainstream movies, Hollywood stuff, appeal to the common denominator - they hit the beats that are almost guaranteed to hit an emotional note with everyone, but nobody in particular. But the movies that mean the most to any one person are rarely those movies, because those movies connect deeply with something specific to that person, their personality and their relationship to the world and other people. And I would agree that's exactly why people should explore more different film - follow leads by watching movies that people you strongly relate to recommend, or movies that get referred to or quoted by other movies that resonate strongly with you, since they apparently resonated with the authors of that movie.

Jaap van der Velde

I think that puts it really succinctly, expressing with far less. Not to diss American films as a whole, John Cassavetes is my favorite filmmaker after all, but I guess more broadly popular and modern American films. Close Up is one of my favorite movies for how subtly an quietly it dissects the toils of being a person.

Joel Haver

Absolutely! I'll always make sure to get second and third opinions. Thanks for the heads up!

Joel Haver

Michael Cera's closet picks is one of my go to cozy videos, it's like he's cuddling me with his words :)

Joel Haver

Good luck with that back pain. Be careful and critical as you consider options. There's a lot of snake oil and pseudoscience out there when it comes to pain in general and back pain in particular. This is not the place to call out specific treatment or anything, but please inform yourself well and talk to medical professionals you trust and feel comfortable with handing the future of your back over to.

Jaap van der Velde

Sorry to hear about your back Joel, my friend is getting a spinal epidural for chronic back pain pretty soon, it seems like a difficult road. Funny you focused on this topic today, I just began a new habit of watching a movie when I wake up. Started off today with Touch of Evil. I think one of the things a lot of non American filmmakers are incredibly adept at is expressing what a character is thinking or feeling with far less. One of the most moving shots I’ve ever seen is in Kiarostami’s Close Up, when the cab driver in the beginning looks up at an airplane flying overhead after mentioning while driving that he’s a retired pilot. Very simple shot that communicated to me the sense of this man’s entire life passing him by.

Jack Edmondson

@Evan that's how I discovered it too! Michael Cera and Paul Dano both mentioned it in the Criterion closet picks, then Joel mentioned Ozu and I was like okay now I GOTTA watch this!

Julia Garbe

Kiarostami's endings are always great. So are Joel Haver's.

Evan Snyder

I discovered Good Morning and Close-Up both from Michael Cera's Criterion closet picks. Two great films!

Evan Snyder

I just watched Good Morning by Ozu yesterday and loved it!

Julia Garbe