Good stories. Whether over dinner or over a 6 month shoot. I want to hear good stories and to tell them visually.
This goes to the films I shoot and the music I listen to. ...and music? If it has a good bass line at the bottom, it has a good foundation to grow from, just as a great film grows out of the cornerstone of a good script. Tell me your story.
Music:
To my ear, the best "genre" is a genre that cannot be easily defined. If the music moves you, whether to dance or think or feel, then it is truly music. The word, "Eclectic" gets overused, but maybe some of my favs qualify.
Gustov Mahler,
Miles Davis,
The Beatles,
Danny O'Keefe,
Todd Rundgren,
Gotan Project,
The All-American Rejects,
King Crimson,
Everything But The Girl,
Weekend Players.
Massive Attack,
Tom Waits,
Edith Piaf,
Ken Nordine,
Brain Train,
Joni Mitchell,
Pat Metheney Group,
Clifford Brown,
Gil Scott-Heron,
Nina Simone,
Ella Fitzgerald,
John Hartford,
Duke Ellington,
Diana Washington,
Lady Day--Billie Holiday,
Nat King Cole,
Death Cab for Cutie,
David Bowie,
Joy Division,
They Might Be Giants,
Fountains Of Wayne,
Ten Years After,
Sia,
Kraftwerk,
Jet,
Steve Wynwood--with and without Traffic,
Air,
Frank Zappa--often with The Mothers of Invention,
Jill Scott,
Steely Dan,
Lee Michaels,
Angélique Kidjo,
Thompson Twins,
Butt Trumpet,
Donna Lewis,
The Holy (MoTown) Trinity: [Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson],
10cc,
Laura Nyro,
Linkin Park,
Yo-Yo Ma,
John Prine,
Ludwig Van Beethoven,
Devalip Carlos Santana,
The Band,
Annie Lennox (& The Eurythmics),
Lila Downs,
Pure Prairie League,
Cocteau Twins,
Thomas Dolby,
Claude Debussey,
The Killers,
Jimmy Eat World,
Yes,
Toots Thielman,
Cammander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen,
Traffic,
Harry Nilsson,
The Album Leaf,
The Cure,
Ulrich Schnauss,
Astor Piazzolla (The Tango Assassin),
Nightmares on Wax,
Nhoque (Vietnamese folk artist),
Payola$,
Shriekback,
Talk Talk,
Sarah Vaughn,
Papa Hayden,
The Verve,
Moody Blues,
The Tourist,
Pink Floyd,
Mr. Scruff,
Johny AND Edgar Winter,
Danny Howell,
Emerson Lake & Palmer,
Fruer,
Billie Holiday,
Count Basie,
Al Green (aka The Good Reverend...),
Motorcyle,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Bill Evans,
Cannonball Adderly,
John Coltrrane,
Thievery Corporation,
Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes) Young,
Robert Fripp (when he solos),
Mark Isham,
The Cure,
The Who,
David Byrne,
Talking Heads,
Mark Isham,
Hans Zimmer,
Wayne Boon,
Johny Cash and June Carter,
Béla Fleck & The Flecktones,
The 5th Dimension,
Brian Eno,
Mark Snow,
Jeannette Hollyday,
Asleep at the Wheel,
Cab Calloway,
Kenny Loggins,
Ben Watt,
DJ Shadow,
Isao Tomita,
Circa,
Aaron Marshall,
Hoobastank,
Telepopmusik,
Shemekia Copeland,
the soundtrack of "O Brother Where Art Thou"...it goes on
Movies:
Unlike many people I run into, I actually PREFER a film that produces thought in its audience, not just mind-numbing entertainment. A complete film for me starts with great writing and grows from that cornerstone and holds up over repeated viewings.
Yellow Submarine,
The Sea Inside, (Spain)
American Beauty,
Hombre Mirando al Sudeste (Man Facing Southeast) - Argentina,
Casablanca,
Into the Wild (screenplay/dir/prod by Sean Penn),
Kite Runner,
The Savages,
The Visitor (Six Feet Under's Richard Jenkins stars),
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song,
Beaufort (Isreal),
Operation Homecoming,
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania),
Owl and the Sparrow (Vietnam),
Rendition,
Holly (English, Vietnamese & Cambodian),
Married Life (Patricia Clarkson, Chris Cooper, Pierce Bronson),
Redbelt (David Mamet),
In Bruges (Irish gangsters in quaint Belguim),
Persepolis (French animated--about Iran),
Story of Pao, (Vietnamese)
God Drew Tired of Us, ..
Juno,
Volver - un film de Almadovar,
The Big Blue (Director's Cut),
{La Môme }
{la Vie en Rose } (France),
{The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf }
Waitress,
Away From Her,
No Country for Old Men (the Coen Bros.),
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,
Badland,
Se, jie (Lust Caution) (Mandarin and other dialects dir by Ang Lee),
Sea of Dreams (DP'd by Chris Chomyn),
No End in Sight (documentary US into Iraq),
Lake of Fire (abortion documentary),
3:10 to Yuma,
Elizabeth, The Golden Age,
Strike (Poland),
Lars and the Real Girl,
David & Layla,
The Namesake,
Maroa (Venezuela),
Once (Ireland),
Control (2007 bio-pic of Ian Curtis of Joy Division),
In a Day,
Leatherheads,
The 11th Hour,
SiCKO,
Gone Baby Gone,
From Silence to Sound,
Evening,
Ulee's Gold (Peter Fonda),
Paris, Je T'aime (French-with some shorts in English),
The Lookout,
I'm Not There,
Eve and the Fire Horse (English with some Mandarin Chinese),
Angel-A (France),
Blood Diamond.
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth),
Manufactured Landscapes (Chinese & English),
An Inconvenient Truth,
The Pool (India),
The Good German,
The Constant Gardener,
Good Night and Good Luck,
A Mighty Heart,
Duck Soup,
Animal Crackers,
LA Story,
Fanny and Alexander - Swedish Igmar Bergman,
Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others) - German,
Vanaja (India),
Spiritual Warriors,
*61,
American Gangster,
Efter Brylluppet (After the Wedding) - Denmark, w scenes in India (Dannish/English/Hindi?)
The Good Shepherd,
Venus (Peter O'Toole),
Fauteuils d'orchestre (French with USA title Avenue Montaigne),
The History Boys,
Notes on a Scandal,
Breach (Chris Cooper),
The Band's Visit (Hebrew and Egyptian),
The Monastery, (Danish, Russian & English doc),
English as a Second Language (shot in LA in Spanish y some English),
Postal (dir. Uwe Boll),
Zodiac,
Grbavica (Bosnia-Herzegovina),
Self Medicated,
The Host (Korean creature feature with a tinge of political viewpoint),
Apocalypto,
Shopgirl,
Best in Show,
Bull Durham,
Field of Dreams,
Love Actually,
The Girl with the Pearl Earring,
Planes Trains & Automobiles,
Raising Arizona,
Perfume: A Story of a Murder (French),
The Outlaw Josey Wales,
12 Monkeys,
Brazil,
The Fisher King,
Time Bandits,
Life of Brian,
Monty Python and the Holy Grail,
The Jerk,
Stop Making Sense,
Syriana,
Defending Your Life - Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep,
Atonement,
Traffik,
Brokeback Mountain,
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,
Brokeback Mountain,
V for Vendetta,
Letters from Iwo Jima,
Flags of Our Fathers,
Thank You for Smoking,
Inside Man,
Infamous,
Little Miss Sunshine,
The Last King of Scotland,
All the King's Men,
Arsenic and Old Lace,
Days of Glory (Algeria),
Little Children,
Babel,
Love Happy,
Some Like it Hot,
In The Bedroom,
Sweet Land,
The Kid Stays in the Picture,
Deja Vu,
BOBBY,
South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut,
Ordinary People,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
Apocalypse Now Redux,
Lawrence of Arabia,
Planes, Trains & Automobiles,
Goodbye Mr. Chips - Peter O'Toole & Petula Clark,
Being There - Peter Sellers,
Inherit The Wind - Spencer Tracy & Gene Kelley,
The Usual Suspects,
Glengary Glenross,
Out of Africa,
La Misma Luna (Under the Same Moon) (Espanol),
The Big Lebowski,
Spartacus,
Bite the Bullet - Gene Hackman, James Colburn, Candice Bergman, Jan Michael Vincent et al (**** Western),
To Kill a Mockingbird - Gregory Peck,
Five Easy Pieces,
Shane,
The Princess Bride,
Kramer versus Kramer,
The Pride of the Yankees,
Pieces of April,
Hard Eight,
Boogey Nights,
Cotton Club,
Seabiscuit,
Sideways,
The Quiet American,
The Last Waltz - final concert of The Band dir. by Martin Scorsise,
Devil in a Blue Dress,
Eight Men Out,
Living Out Loud,
A League of Their Own,
Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
All About My Mother - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
The Three Faces of Eve,
Talk to Her - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
Fargo,
Pulp Fiction,
Amelie (France),
A Very Long Engagement (France,
Scarface,
The Insider,
Snow Falling on Cedars,
Chinatown,
Pay It Forward,
Philadelphia,
KPAX,
Searching for Bobby Fisher,
Drugstore Cowboy,
The Audition - Japanese truly terrifying,
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - Chinese,
What Time is it There? - Taiwan & France,
Napolean Dynamite,
Body Heat,
O Brother, Where Art Thou?,
The Godfather I & II,
Jabberwocky,
A Fish Called Wanda,
Monty Python's Meaning of Life,
Dave,
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead,
Jennifer 8 (is Next) - young Uma Thurman,
Murder in the First,
JFK,
Cleopatra - Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton,
Mother - Albert Brooks,
Altered States,
Top Hat - Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers,
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid,
Rollerball - James Caan,
The Longest Yard - original starring Bert Reynolds,
Bad News Bears - original starring Walter Matthau,
The Sunshine Boys,
The Odd Couple,
The In-Laws - original w/Peter Falk & Alan Arkin,
The Seven Year Itch,
Scenes from a Marriage,
Divorce American Style,
A Room with a View,
Winged Migration,
Control Room,
Farenheit 9/11,
Outfoxed,
28 Days,
Thunderheart,
The Ghost and the Darkness,
The Pillowbook - Chinese/Japanese/French/English,
The Chinese Box - Chinese/English with Jeremy Irons & Gong Li,
The Magnificent Seven,
The Dirty Dozen,
My Dinner with Andre,
A Hard Day's Night - original Beatles B&W,
Matewan,
The Big Chill,
Lone Star,
2001: A Space Odyssey,
A Clockwork Orange,
Escape from Alcatraz,
Dial "M" for Murder,
Stealing Beauty,
Wag the Dog,
Key Largo,
The Maltese Falcon,
The Untouchables,
13 Days in October,
12 Angry Men - Henry Fonda,
On Golden Pond,
Laura,
Kill Bill 1 & 2,
Beyond the Sea,
West Side Story,
The Wizard of Oz - Judy Garland,
Lost in Translation,
Malcolm X,
She's Gotta Have It,
Jungle Fevor,
Do the Right Thing,
She Hate Me,
Summer of '42 - Ali McGraw,
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
The Sting,
Cool Hand Luke,
The Hustler,
HUD,
Taps,
Patton,
Tora! Tora! Tora!,
Mr. Roberts,
Grapes of Wrath,
Hearts in Atlantis,
Shaft,
Mission Impossible 1, 2 & 3
Cinema Paradiso - Italian,
Sliver,
Fatal Attraction,
Double indemnity,
Casualties of War,
Three Seasons - Vietnamese,
Blazing Saddles,
High Anxiety,
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,
The Thin Man (a series of films),
Silver City,
My Beautiful Laundrette,
Brother From Another Planet,
The Shawshank Redemption,
Meet John Doe,
It's a Wonderful Life,
Harvey,
Old Yeller,
Die Hard,
Se7en,
In Country,
The Verdict,
The Cooler,
Rear Window,
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,
Momento,
North By Northwest,
Psycho,
Goodfellas,
Vertigo,
The Third Man,
Das Boot - German,
Requiem for a Dream,
All About Eve,
L.A. Confidential,
Hotel Rwanda,
American History X,
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin,
The Great Dictator - Charlie Chaplin,
Saving Private Ryan,
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
Amadeus,
On the Waterfront,
Ran - Chinese,
The Apartment - THE MUST SEE ROMANTIC COMEDY,
The Incredibles,
The Shining,
The Great Escape,
Touch of Evil,
Strangers on a Train,
Annie Hall,
Play It Again Sam,
Blade Runner,
Full Metal Jacket,
It Happened One Night,
Notorious,
The Graduate,
The Philadelphia Story,
The Green Mile,
Amores Perros,
Bad Education - Spain Pedro Almadovar,
Finding Neverland,
Ben-Hur,
Manhattan,
Bringing Up Baby,
Platoon,
The Searchers,
Gone With the Wind,
Mystic River,
Roman Holiday,
His Girl Friday,
Young Frankenstein,
La Strada,
A Streetcar Named Desire,
The Conversation,
Gandhi,
Groundhog Day,
All The President's Men,
Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf,
The Lion in Winter,
Garden State,
The Station Agent,
Network,
The Exorcist,
Rain Man,
Heat,
The Scout,
Broadcast News,
Cast Away,
The Sixth Sense,
Cargo, (short by American in Bulgaria),
The Bicycle Thief - French B&W,
A Night at the Opera - Marx Brothers,
Stripes,
The Cats of Mirikitani,
Caddyshack,
The Opposite of Sex,
The Comic,
Slums of Beverly Hills,
Oh God!,
The End,
Hooper,
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World,
The Man with Two Brains,
Bert Rigby, You're a Fool,
Sleepless in Seattle,
When Harry Met Sally,
Women in Love,
The Life of David Gale,
Two Women - Sophia Loren,
Reservior Dogs,
What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire,
American Splendor,
Cinderella Man,
Forest Gump,
The Natural,
High Plains Drifter,
Million Dollar Baby,
Unforgiven,
Pleasantville,
Silence of the Lambs,
Marathon Man,
Logan's Run,
Leaving Las Vegas,
Time Code,
Winter Solstice,
High Heels - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
Matador - Spain Pedro Almodovar,
Henry V - Kenneth Brannah & Emma Thompson,
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - Gene Wilder,
The TV Set,
Silver Streak - Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor,
State and Main,
The Player,
Shooter,
Mistress - starring Robert Wuhl,
Stealing Home,
Next (Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel),
Roger Rabbit,
The Golden Compass,
Moscow Chill,
August Evening (Spanish),
Cold Play (a thriller not associated with the band),
Frank and Cindy (documentary),
Mary Poppins,
....
