Since some of us have been talking so much about him in other topics I figured we’d save some space and source it all into here.
Update which films of his you’ve seen and what you thought and keep your eyes open for new releases of his harder to find films.
I’ve seen 7 Cassavetes movies until today, all on the big screen (and for free, otherwise I wouldn’t have watched that many) it was some kind of retrospective.
One was great (A Woman Under the Influence)
3 were acceptable (A Child is Waiting, The Chilling of a Burmese Cookie, Love Streams)
3 were horrible (Shadows, Feces, Opening Night)
so not a good average.
I prefer Cassavetes as an actor. But I really want to buy A Woman Under the Influence and Love Streams on DVD.
Why don’t you explain why they were horrible?
A Child is Waiting was Stanley Kramer’s watered down bullshit.
Because I don’t remember that well…it was quite a while ago.
Is “Faces” the one where Gena Rowlands is a hooker singing “I love the Jeannie with the white-blonde hair” or sth. like that? That was one of the most annoying and painful minutes of my movie watching history. I remember either Shadows or Faces had a couple of people doing nothing… I remember “opening night” very well, and I was terribly bored.
A Woman Under the Influence is truly a great film and the only real good one I’ve seen from him.
I realize that “A Child is Waiting” was too mainstream and too “studio” for many film freaks out there. But I thought it was one of the better ones. It’s not a crime to use close-ups and music to convey emotions to the audience. Good movie.
The Killing…was kinda interesting to watch but ultimately forgettable. Though I dunno which cut I’ve seen.
[quote=“Col. Crazy Kenneth”]
Because I don’t remember that well…it was quite a while ago.
Is “Faces” the one where Gena Rowlands is a hooker singing “I love the Jeannie with the white-blonde hair” or sth. like that? That was one of the most annoying and painful minutes of my movie watching history. I remember either Shadows or Faces had a couple of people doing nothing… I remember “opening night” very well, and I was terribly bored.
A Woman Under the Influence is truly a great film and the only real good one I’ve seen from him.
I realize that “A Child is Waiting” was too mainstream and too “studio” for many film freaks out there. But I thought it was one of the better ones. It’s not a crime to use close-ups and music to convey emotions to the audience. Good movie.
The Killing…was kinda interesting to watch but ultimately forgettable. Though I dunno which cut I’ve seen.
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These are what everyone says the first time they see a Cassavetes films. The critics, and everybody but now, they’re all eating their words. You ought to watch them again. Sometimes scenes don’t reach a climax. Cassavetes doesn’t point out what’s important because EVERYTHING is important. The beaufitul mess of emotional shifts that can go from melancholy to empty joy to anger.
A Child is Waiting was hated by Cassavetes for those reasons above.
These are all kind of lame reasons to dislike his films.
"I was bored"
And that’s the films fault? Bullshit.
I might re-watch his movies again at some point in my life . that is highly likely. As for now, I don’t want to see any Cassavetes except for A Woman Under the Influence and Love Streams.