H'oh boy, I so agree with your statement: "A drift towards mediocrity has infected culture at pandemic velocity." If you haven't seen the SNL sketch from three weeks ago of a spoof game show called, "The Big Hollywood Quiz" wherein contestants could not name any movies from the 2020s, it's worth a watch (link below). The streaming world is flooding us with overwhelming amounts of forgettable mediocrity.
In your list, 3) the difference between an experiment and a proof (in the creative industries) - is the one I’m curious about. My first thought was: what IS the difference?
Experiments are proof and proof only comes through experimentation🤯
Quite the contrary, experiments, if they have any discipline, have specific outcomes in mind. If a surprise comes, fine. But all experiments that tell a story are based on logic and plausibility, which in turn is based on "what one knows".
I'm with you...and that will require a commitment to be open to exploring all avenues to experience Cinema in analog, digital and hybrid environments...
Thank you for this and the inspiration! We won a Jerome grant to make a short film Fly Angel Soul shot entirely in a “reactive” virtual mis-en-scene constructed in Unity game engine and shot with 3 virtual cameras from the eponymous pov’s. Very little to be added in post . The human camera will actually be the experience of a live human moving through in the set. We are not interested in “the shot” but with creating a new kind of embodied film language. Inspired by Deren, Ophuls and Inarritu. We are feeling our way through this process — exciting unknown territory. Just the beginning …
Unfortunately, this sounds more like a manifesto than an actual movement. "Never willing to be polite" sounds childish. Dadaism, Surrealism were short-lived movements and only exist today as fragments, not as a total vision of life or experience. And "aiming more for the experiment than the proof". Godard already did that. And besides, great drama gives us the proof. That's what we pay for. Any journalist can ask questions.
So glad to see Janicza Bravo’s Zola on your list-- committed 100%. Both artful and entertaining, elevating the everyday that we read-and-scroll through, her cinematic perspective on the world of her characters is electric. And in terms of the slide toward mediocrity, it reminded me of your piece on the disappearance of development. I see so many mainstream films that wouldn’t fall into “committed” cinema, but could have easily fallen into good solid films had there been a bit more script development. In the end, this phase is almost free compared with others costs. The actors, filmmakers and audiences deserve it, don’t we all? A little more time with the script might actually give that resurgence to the rom-com everyone keeps talking about but that doesn’t quite happen.
I am very much interested in these kind of films. But how is it a new movement? Haven´t there always been interesting films, willing to take big risks, to push the language of film into new territories?
Yes, you are right in that there has been, but I don't feel there has been so many at the SAME TIME that are "never willing to be polite, chasing the unknown and opting for a visceral connection above all else — aiming more for the experiment than the proof but definitely discovering and building something bold in the process. Committed Cinema is committed first and foremost to advancing the language of cinema — regardless of success, failure, or alignment with the status quo." But that's just ME. Maybe I am wrong. Anyways, it's HOPE hoping for it to become a movement. That's really my point.
Well, I am definitely committed. I am committed to make films that really make a difference, that can change the world for the better. I wish I could say after watching a few of these trailers that some of these are that kind of film. Unfortunately, these filmmakers may need to be committed. At least I see nothing in their trailers to make me want to spend time watching their films. Or maybe the century old trailer has seen its day and will fade into obscurity.
I was discussing aesthetics and not content. And granted more care about what is told, than how it is told -- and that is why we've neglected the latter for so long, particularly in mainstream business. I wish you well with your apples. I like oranges.
Yes, Orange is my favorite color, but GERD means I can't enjoy the fruit. An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, so yes, I believe in Art for Humanities Sake rather than Art for Art's Sake. When we are all gone, there will be no-one around to appreciate the aesthetic value.
Thank you for your concern and acknowledgement of my mission. My father was a silent film actor, so I am very much a committed enthusiast of the medium. I would like to know what films most move you. I can name a few of my favorites, both past and present. I loved "Resurrection" (1980) and met the director several times before his passing. I have watched the documentary, "Accidental Courtesy," several times, and Daryl Davis has called me on the phone twice. I recently met the writer director of the new feature, "Move Me No Mountain" and watched the film on Prime Video. A truly amazing and moving project. These may not be films in the mainstream, but these are the kinds of films that attract my attention.
Yes, I WANT to see films like this too -- perhaps I am doing my best to encourage more of it!
I don't think any of the directors is looking to belong to a movement, but all are reacting in their own way to what it is to participate in this system at this time.
I am helping to put together an International Studio Without Borders or Walls to make films that do more than just entertain or make us forget about our problems but offer possible solutions to the problems that we face every day. It may be a whole new world of filmmaking. They are more than just movies, they are a "movement," a movement for positive change.
Altman’s 3 Women seems like one to add as a committed forbearer especially with regards to #’s 4,5,7 and 8 on your list.
H'oh boy, I so agree with your statement: "A drift towards mediocrity has infected culture at pandemic velocity." If you haven't seen the SNL sketch from three weeks ago of a spoof game show called, "The Big Hollywood Quiz" wherein contestants could not name any movies from the 2020s, it's worth a watch (link below). The streaming world is flooding us with overwhelming amounts of forgettable mediocrity.
https://youtu.be/6q2G9QePGoI
Yeah, I thought about using it in a post. It's a good one. Thanks for sharing.
In your list, 3) the difference between an experiment and a proof (in the creative industries) - is the one I’m curious about. My first thought was: what IS the difference?
Experiments are proof and proof only comes through experimentation🤯
Thanks for the list of fresh films examples.
Experiments are open to all outcomes. Their goal is to learn.
Proofs are demonstrations. They are displays of what one knows.
Quite the contrary, experiments, if they have any discipline, have specific outcomes in mind. If a surprise comes, fine. But all experiments that tell a story are based on logic and plausibility, which in turn is based on "what one knows".
I'm with you...and that will require a commitment to be open to exploring all avenues to experience Cinema in analog, digital and hybrid environments...
this literally just inspired my next post, “imagine a new world of film with me” things are getting good, Ted. 🥳
I completely agree, yet the master is struggling to find distribution with exactly such a film if this article is to be believed: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/megalopolis-francis-ford-coppola-challenges-distribution-1235867556/
Thank you for this and the inspiration! We won a Jerome grant to make a short film Fly Angel Soul shot entirely in a “reactive” virtual mis-en-scene constructed in Unity game engine and shot with 3 virtual cameras from the eponymous pov’s. Very little to be added in post . The human camera will actually be the experience of a live human moving through in the set. We are not interested in “the shot” but with creating a new kind of embodied film language. Inspired by Deren, Ophuls and Inarritu. We are feeling our way through this process — exciting unknown territory. Just the beginning …
Unfortunately, this sounds more like a manifesto than an actual movement. "Never willing to be polite" sounds childish. Dadaism, Surrealism were short-lived movements and only exist today as fragments, not as a total vision of life or experience. And "aiming more for the experiment than the proof". Godard already did that. And besides, great drama gives us the proof. That's what we pay for. Any journalist can ask questions.
So glad to see Janicza Bravo’s Zola on your list-- committed 100%. Both artful and entertaining, elevating the everyday that we read-and-scroll through, her cinematic perspective on the world of her characters is electric. And in terms of the slide toward mediocrity, it reminded me of your piece on the disappearance of development. I see so many mainstream films that wouldn’t fall into “committed” cinema, but could have easily fallen into good solid films had there been a bit more script development. In the end, this phase is almost free compared with others costs. The actors, filmmakers and audiences deserve it, don’t we all? A little more time with the script might actually give that resurgence to the rom-com everyone keeps talking about but that doesn’t quite happen.
I am very much interested in these kind of films. But how is it a new movement? Haven´t there always been interesting films, willing to take big risks, to push the language of film into new territories?
Yes, you are right in that there has been, but I don't feel there has been so many at the SAME TIME that are "never willing to be polite, chasing the unknown and opting for a visceral connection above all else — aiming more for the experiment than the proof but definitely discovering and building something bold in the process. Committed Cinema is committed first and foremost to advancing the language of cinema — regardless of success, failure, or alignment with the status quo." But that's just ME. Maybe I am wrong. Anyways, it's HOPE hoping for it to become a movement. That's really my point.
Well, I am definitely committed. I am committed to make films that really make a difference, that can change the world for the better. I wish I could say after watching a few of these trailers that some of these are that kind of film. Unfortunately, these filmmakers may need to be committed. At least I see nothing in their trailers to make me want to spend time watching their films. Or maybe the century old trailer has seen its day and will fade into obscurity.
I was discussing aesthetics and not content. And granted more care about what is told, than how it is told -- and that is why we've neglected the latter for so long, particularly in mainstream business. I wish you well with your apples. I like oranges.
Yes, Orange is my favorite color, but GERD means I can't enjoy the fruit. An Apple a day keeps the doctor away, so yes, I believe in Art for Humanities Sake rather than Art for Art's Sake. When we are all gone, there will be no-one around to appreciate the aesthetic value.
You've got a point!
AND I HOPE your health improves First Features. I'd like a candle to the cinema gods but they only operate on a real name basis unfortunately.
Thank you for your concern and acknowledgement of my mission. My father was a silent film actor, so I am very much a committed enthusiast of the medium. I would like to know what films most move you. I can name a few of my favorites, both past and present. I loved "Resurrection" (1980) and met the director several times before his passing. I have watched the documentary, "Accidental Courtesy," several times, and Daryl Davis has called me on the phone twice. I recently met the writer director of the new feature, "Move Me No Mountain" and watched the film on Prime Video. A truly amazing and moving project. These may not be films in the mainstream, but these are the kinds of films that attract my attention.
Yes, I WANT to see films like this too -- perhaps I am doing my best to encourage more of it!
I don't think any of the directors is looking to belong to a movement, but all are reacting in their own way to what it is to participate in this system at this time.
I am helping to put together an International Studio Without Borders or Walls to make films that do more than just entertain or make us forget about our problems but offer possible solutions to the problems that we face every day. It may be a whole new world of filmmaking. They are more than just movies, they are a "movement," a movement for positive change.