Weekend Wrap-Up & A Special Gift (for some, at least)

What is it about Thanksgiving weekend that invariably draws Filmbrain, zombie-like, towards the local Schlockbuster? With a perfectly good mountain of unwatched DVDs at home, he somehow felt the need to grab a small handful of this year's mega-budget releases off the shelf. He quit after the first two, realizing he should have stuck with his original plan to watch the George Romero tetralogy. War of the Worlds: Which was harder to swallow? Aliens rising up from underground to wreak havoc on Joisy, or a muscle-car driving Tom Cruise desperately trying to portray a blue-collar single parent? All Filmbrain can remember is two hours of Dakota Fanning screaming, followed by a sudden feel-good ending that was pathetic even by Hollywood standards. And remember, it's ok to murder somebody in front of your child as long as you cover her eyes with a handkerchief. Batman Begins: Fair enough -- there's nothing really wrong with Christopher Nolan's character study of the Man who would be Bat, but halfway through Filmbrain realized he just couldn't muster enough enthusiasm to give a shit about the struggles of yet another long-underwear wearing crime fighter. Nolan's direction here is far more interesting than Spielberg's, but it still seemed quite programmatic when compared to his prior films, which interestingly enough were made for a combined budget of less than half the cost of this behemoth.

Perhaps part of the problem is that Filmbrain is still all about Cassavetes' Love Streams. As mentioned in the comments of this post, he ordered and received the DVD from France in (amazingly) only two days. The quality is as good as the folks over at DVDBeaver claim it is, and it contains a few supplemental features, including an introduction by Agnès b., a ten-minute excerpt from the Michael Ventura documentary I'm Almost Not Crazy, and some fascinating footage of Cassavetes directing takes 1, 2, and 3 of scene 143 (between Gena and her bowling-alley lover). The film just keeps on getting better, and there are several scenes that Filmbrain must have watched over a dozen times. As there was some discussion in the previous post about Bo Harwood's score (and the commercial unavailability of it), Filmbrain thought he would give Cassavetes fans a treat -- an MP3 of Almost In Love With You, ripped right from the DVD. The song (which is played during the dance scene between John and Margaret Abbott) was written by Bo Harwood, John Cassavetes, and Anthony Harris, and sung by Jack Sheldon. The entire scene is pure cinematic poetry. Enjoy! I'm almost in love with you I nearly miss you, I've hardly seen you When I do, I get a feeling that something should be there I almost like your eyes, they're green not blue Your touch could thrill me What can I do, I'm not, but almost, in love with you. . . Click here to download Almost In Love With You.mp3 (3020.6K). (Right-click to save.)

Comments

[CMason]

Filmbrain, thanks for putting this up! I also saw Love Streams at BAM on the 20th and haven't been able to get this song out of my head since. Or the movie. It's so ridiculous, emotional, and crazy that is has to be showing real lives onscreen. I haven't been so profoundly affected by a film in some time. The scene where Cassavetes and Rowlands dance in the darkness is one of the most touching -- and ultimately heartbreaking -- things I've ever seen.

[Filmbrain]

Ah....how right you are.

John enters the dark room which is illuminated only by the old jukebox. He selects "Where Are You". Moments later, Gena enters and fades into the darkness as the two begin their dance. Magic.

[Toto]

"What is it about Thanksgiving weekend that invariably draws Filmbrain, zombie-like, towards the local Schlockbuster?" An overwhelming desire for popcorn, of course, in amongst an anonymously crowd of the like-minded.

[Aaron Hillis]

I'm reporting you to the RIAA, you swarthy pirate.

[jfigl]

I'd never seen Dakota Fanning in a film 'til I saw "WTW". I was pleasantly surprised, at first, at her ability to "behave" (no, not in the "children should be seen" sense, but in the "believable acting" sense). Then it began to dawn on me that she was "behaving" like a high strung middle-aged woman, and I really started to get creeped out. I concluded that she's the most horrifying thing in the film, that totally awesome bridge explosion notwithstanding.

[Peter Nellhaus]

"Following" thrilled me much more than "Batman Begins". While I think Hollywood is getting to dependent on comic books, I admit to loving "Batman Returns" primarily for Ms. Pfeiffer, and "Hellboy" which had some very funny moments. My SO thought it would be a good idea to see WOW when it came out last summer. My ears hurt from Dakota Fanning's constant screaming. Let us know if you see the Romero films. I thought one of his obsure non-zombie films, "Bruiser" was actually pretty interesting.

[Faux Hulot]

"Perhaps part of the problem is that Filmbrain is still all about Cassavetes' Love Streams. "

I know how you feel, I've had the same problem with... oh, most of cinema since seeing A Woman Under The Influence in 1990.

Bless you for that mp3, brutha.

[the narwhal]

Filmbrain, you're a saint.

Now, if I could just find some way to get a copy of the rest of Harwood's score for Love Streams, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Minnie & Moskowitz, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night.

[Filmbrain]

I thought about ripping some of the other songs from the film, but most of them are often buried under dialog and/or background noise.

Perhaps I'll give it a shot.

[Scraping the plate]

Hey, I really dig this rip! Really great song. There is a scene from
Chinese Booking that has a great song playing in the background. You can hear it when when Cosmo is waiting around for the new girl he's going to audition. Any chance you could you give that one a try?

[joeylow]

i loved this song from the first time i heard it. so what i did, i paused the documentary dvd where they showed the sheet music so i could write it down. i play piano and sing it myself. jack sheldon plays here in LA regularly. i should get him to start playing this tune again. it's a real shame harwood's music/soundtracks are not available. they should at least let him release it himself via internet.