By the company he keeps…
Oh I am a happy man right now!
On IMDB there are recommendations at the bottom of each page, “if you liked this, you might like…” sort of thing. Well these are the results it generated for my film Comfort Food.
Read ‘Em and Weep. Not because the selection is that good (it is) but because you’re not.
This thing reads like a page out of my subconscious! It’s not perfect, I really didn’t like Mysterious Skin myself, but take a look at the other ones.
Closer: Unbelievable script, I’ve got four real influences that I can pinpoint, and this film is one of them. I went to Sorkin for my warmth and I went to Marber for my rage and this film is what rage has as it’s facebook picture. There’s a break up scene in there that is fucking catagory five. Like finding your own bones between your teeth. I love it.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: Unluckily for me, I think everything there is to say about this film has been said. Ingenious, perfectly acted, heartfelt, interesting, funny. Charle Kaufman gets some flack and a lot of it I get, especially some of the newer films, but honestly he just makes me walk a little faster. Magnificent.
Mysterious Skin: Really didn’t like it.
Network: Embarrassingly, I’m really bad at keeping up with the classics. There are so many I’ve never even been near. I asked some friends of mine to draw up a list of classic films that can’t justifiably remain unseen. It’s got about 60 films on it and they made it some 3 years ago, and so far there are only 12 names crossed off it. One of them though, is Network. I don’t care about how this is a biting commentary on the television industry, I really don’t. I just care that it’s incredible, it’s so funny, and extraordinarily well written. In fact I care so little about satire that in this film, I am one of the people being sold this stuff. I watched it and I wanted to stick my head out of the window and shout “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.” I fell for it. The synopsis says he’s a deranged lunatic who they exploit for profit, well I’m one of the people having the cash sucked out of me by this madman and I love it.
In Treatment: And here we are, back at television. My home. I am one of those people you throw rocks at because I think TV is better than film. Give me 2 episodes of The West Wing over The Social Network any day of the week and twice on Sundays. But even if you don’t agree with me (and statistically, you probably don’t), I challenge you to point to anything even coming close to the depth of the characters on this show. They are intricate and expansive and constantly surprising. They’re beautifully acted and they’re annoying and wonderful and jealous and poignant and they feel real. Plus, if you want to see how a furiously strong woman should be played, it’s hard not to crumble at Dianne Wiest the sleepy spider, listening quietly, genuinely sure that nothing anybody says will ever get to her.
The only thing missing...
In truth, my film has almost nothing in common with any of these titles. It’s a short, warm, simple romantic comedy about a long distance couple who try to keep their relationship alive by baking an apple crumble over the phone. Nothing more than a nice warm way to spend 10 minutes, and nothing like the things listed here. I have no idea how IMDB generates these lists but if there’s any truth to them at all (and in my experience there isn’t) I’m going to naively take it at its word and jump around for a few hours.
Sorry neighbours!
