If you’ve never heard of Eric Schaeffer, today is your lucky day, because I am about to introduce you to quite possibly your new favorite filmmaker. I say ‘possibly’ because he’s definitely not for everyone. Either you’ll dig his vibe or you won’t—more specifically, either his art will rip your fucking heart out of your chest and hug it, or you’ll be all ‘he’s weird’ and go watch something else. And I say ‘new favorite’ because if you enjoy the first thing of his you see, you will definitely quickly seek out and devour all of his things, and force close friends and lovers of yours to go through the same process so that you can watch them have the same reaction you did, as a way of sort of pinching yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming, and ‘not the only one’. And they will be grateful for you showing them the light. And you will be grateful for me showing you the light. And you’re welcome.
Continue reading Eric Schaeffer: The Most Underrated Writer-Director-Actor Ever
Author: Cody Clarke
6 Great Books for Film Lovers and Filmmakers
There are tons of books out there on the subject of film, acting, writing, whatever. I haven’t read most of them. I’ve read some, though. And these are my favorites. By ‘favorites’ I mean they’ve had a fucking seismic effect on me. Each one of these has helped expand my mind into what it is today. So, if you enjoy my work—whether it be my writings here at Smug Film, or my films—these books are partly responsible for why the things I say and do are so damn wonderful.
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‘Dark Horse’ & ‘Damsels in Distress’: A Tale of Two Departures
One of the best shots in recent history. This, right here, is how you say ‘fuck you’.
Dark Horse (2011)
Written and Directed by Todd Solondz
86 min.
Spoiler-free.
I should’ve seen this one in theaters. But I didn’t. I listened to people. I should never listen to people. People are shit. By ‘people’ I mean those-who-tell-you-a-movie-sucks-and-that-it-is-an-unwelcome-departure-from-said-filmmaker. Those people. Fuck those people.
Why is it that they never caution you about the right movies? I would’ve killed for someone to tap me on the shoulder before I saw Damsels in Distress and warn me that Whit Stillman—a once perfect filmmaker of remarkable integrity—has decided to cop out and pander to a generation he doesn’t understand, and isn’t even worth understanding. But no. They had to warn me about this one instead.
Continue reading ‘Dark Horse’ & ‘Damsels in Distress’: A Tale of Two Departures
We Now Offer Free Movie Advice!
Typical Smug Film reader at a movie store.
If cinema has taught us anything, it’s not to trust robots. So why get movie recommendations from robots? Robots don’t know anything about movies. If they did, they’d make ’em themselves or whatever. So fuck all that algorithmic nonsense on Netflix and Amazon and IMDb and countless other sites. Nothing beats good ol’ fashioned advice from a knowledgable film buff who enjoys stuff from all genres. But gone are the days when you could walk into a video store and get that sort of service. Which is why we have started a free movie advice column.
Every Monday (Beginning March 18th) Cody Clarke and John D’Amico will answer a new batch of your requests. Simply fill out the form below, and you can kiss your ‘what to watch’ woes away! (Form will not appear in RSS.)
Argo: I Barely Watched It (So You Don’t Have To)
Yes, this is really from the god damn movie.
Argo
Directed by Ben Affleck
Screenplay by Chris Terrio
121 min.
I tapped out after about 15 minutes on this one, and normally, I’d just not review the thing on here, and tweet “argo sucks ass” and call it a day, but I gotta talk about this fucking thing. Because I look at a movie like this and I can’t understand the world I live in. This movie is so the antithesis of everything I value as far as movies are concerned (and what you, ideally, should value too) and it’s times like these I feel like the great Roddy Piper in They Live, staring at the plain-to-see ugliness in front of me, and I just wanna force glasses onto everyone around me with my words. So here goes.
Continue reading Argo: I Barely Watched It (So You Don’t Have To)