Comments on: Revisiting the virtual courtyard

By: Bob Rehak

Bob Rehak — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 03:31:31 +0000

Steve, thanks for your comments; I'm glad my post added a little coolness to the video for you. How fun that you bring up Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid -- I remember watching it as a kid (hmm, it was released in 1982, making me [and you too, I assume?] 15 or 16 at the time) and being more interested in Rachel Ward's figure than in Martin's clever pastiche. But you're right, that movie prefigured "classier" raidings of the past like Zelig (1983) and Forrest Gump (1994) -- the latter trumpeted as a digital-effects film but following a similar impulse to mix and match its temporalities. Of course, those two weren't as invested in a specifically cinematic history as was Dead Men. Along those lines, did you see Hugo? I'm about to write a capsule review of it ... BTW, Mulvey's full piece on the clumsy sublime (still only a single page) can be found here.

By: Steve Hathaway

Steve Hathaway — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:15:21 +0000

About the digital revisiting, that brought to mind Steve Martin’s ‘Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid’. I’m not sure just how, but seems like the underlying schtick of that movie is a similar exploration/enjoyment/ode to classical Hollywood, though perhaps in a more general way.

By: Steve Hathaway

Steve Hathaway — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:10:54 +0000

Like the ‘advent calendar’ bit–and the idea of ‘clumsy sublime’ (new to me). Great to look at this video in a thoughtful way. I saw it a few days ago and didn’t think much of it, but reading this adds a lot to it.