Tag Archives: david mamet
10 Films Every Libertarian Should See
Dogville (2003)
I don’t really get into my political leanings here at Smug Film, for the obvious reason of this being a site about movies, not politics, but also because I hate creating arbitrary ‘dividing lines’ in my work. It’s petty, and I can’t stand when others do it. For instance, I’m a huge Woody Allen fan, I think he’s our greatest American filmmaker, but I cringe whenever he peppers little jabbing jokes against the Right in his films when the story doesn’t even call for it. Those sort of winks to the audience take you out of the film momentarily, whether you agree with them or not. It’s distracting and wholly unnecessary. So rest assured, people who disagree with me politically—there will be no lazy digs, or insults, or other ‘playing to the base’ bullshit in this post whatsoever.
This list will be of particular interest to libertarians, that’s a given, but even if that ain’t your particular alignment, it should at least be a unique window in the the sort of things we, or at least I, care about, both politically and philosophically. And don’t worry, there are no propaganda docs on here; these are simply great movies, many of which (hell, probably all of which) aren’t even made by libertarians. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, they just so happen to contain, within their myriad elements, certain elements that we get a kick out of. Enjoy! Continue reading
Posted in All Posts, Cody's Lists
Tagged annie hall, ayn rand, barcelona, bicycle thieves, charlie kaufman, cody clarke, collectivism, damsels in distress, dardenne brothers, david gelb, david mamet, death wish, dick cheney, dogville, fascism, films libertarians should see, fish tank, george w bush, girls, happiness, howard roark, jean-pierre dardenne, jiro dreams of sushi, lars von trier, libertarian film, libertarian films, libertarian movie, libertarian movies, luc dardenne, manderlay, manhattan, metropolitan, michael winner, new york, objectivity, oleanna, paul kersey, republican film, republican films, republican movie, republican movies, rosetta, rotten tomatoes, smug film, smugfilm, storytelling, subjectivity, synecdoche, synecdoche new york, the last days of disco, todd solondz, tribalism, vittorio de sica, welcome to the dollhouse, whit stillman, william h macy, woody allen, zelig
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10 Woefully Underrated Comedies
It’s not hard for comedies to slip under the radar. Like any ‘genre film’, so many are pumped out each year that it’s almost impossible to keep track of which ones are good. Unless something gets an alarmingly high rating on Rotten Tomatoes, or was made by people you trust no matter what the Tomatometer says, you probably aren’t going to see it. And then you’re going to forget it even existed. Here’s ten great ones that probably passed you by.
Dan in Real Life (2007) | Dir. Peter Hedges | 98 min.
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Tagged 10 best comedies, 10 best movies you've never seen, 10 great comedies, 10 most underrated comedies, 10 underrated comedies, 40 year old virgin, adam carolla, adam larson broder, airplane, anthony abrams, best comedies, best comedies you've never seen, best movies you've never seen, big top pee-wee, bob odenkirk, bryan gordon, career opportunities, charles herman-wurmfeld, damsels in distress, dan in real life, david mamet, david steinberg, david wain, david zucker, evan almighty, funniest movies you've never seen, great comedies you've never seen, great movies you've never seen, herbert ross, hot shots, jennifer connelly, jerry zucker, jim abrahams, joe mantegna, john hughes, kids in the hall, little miss sunshine, magnolia, michael showalter, monty python, most underrated comedies, my blue heaven, naked gun, nora ephron, oleanna, paul reubens, paul thomas anderson, pee wee's big adventure, peter hedges, pieces of april, pumpkin, randal kleiser, rick moranis, rotten tomatoes, shel silverstein, smug film, smugfilm, stella, steve carrell, steve martin, team america, ten best movies you've never seen, the 40 year old virgin, the brothers solomon, the hammer, the state, the wrong guy, things change, todd solondz, tomatometer, top secret, underrated comedies, underrated comedy, underrated comedy movies, whit stillman, will arnett, will forte
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Netflix Longies #1 (Girl Model, Kumaré, Foreign Parts, I Like Killing Flies, Monica & David)
This is basically the opposite of my Netflix Quickies series. Instead of movies I picked randomly on Netflix Instant that I tried for a few minutes and hated, these are ones I fell in love with and watched all of. So definitely check them out.
By the way, these are all documentaries, because for some reason the only stuff I’ve given five stars on Netflix lately have been docs. Just been really lucky with them, I guess.
Girl Model (2011)
Directed by David Redmon and Ashley Sabin
78 min.
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Posted in All Posts, Cody's Reviews
Tagged ashley sabin, best documentaries netflix, best netflix docs, best netflix documentaries, best netflix movies, borat, david mamet, david redmon, down syndrome doc, down's syndrome, down's syndrome doc, foreign parts, girl model, hoarders, i like killing flies, irn triangle, j.p. sniadeki, kenny shopsin, kumare, lars von trier, lost in trnaslation, monica & david, monica and david, netflix docs, netflix documentaries, netflix longies, netflix quickes, penn & teller, penn & teller's bullshit, penn & teller: bullshit, penn and teller, penn and teller's bullshit, penn and teller: bullshit, phil spector, russian modeling, shopsin, shopsin's, the celebration, thomas vinterberg, verena paravel, vikram gandhi, what to wtach on netflix, willets point
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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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Tagged a man with a camera, books on film, cody clarke, david mamet, man with a camera, nestor almendros, on directing film, pauline kael, robert ben garant, smug film, smugfilm, steven pressfield, the war of art, thomas lennon, true and false, writing movies for fun and profit
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Edmond: A Movie that Just Sort of Exists and is in Dire Need of Viewing Eyes
Edmond is one of those movies that just sort of exists, and you can’t remember it ever coming out in theaters, and you can’t remember hearing anything about it, and the poster and DVD cover are completely generic and unmemorable, so you always skip over it when browsing for something to watch, but then one day, as a result of no other movies particularly jumping out at you, you take a look at it, you consider it, you think to yourself, ‘well, Mamet is usually good’, and ‘well, Stuart Gordon is usually good’, and ‘well, William H. Macy is usually good’, and so you decide to give it a try based on that, but even though those things are true, you know with every fabric of your being that it can’t possibly be a good movie, because how could a movie, one with juggernauts such as these involved, slip through the cracks, unless it were a piece of useless shit, but then after the first fifteen minutes, you’re fucking floored, because it is definitely not a piece of useless shit, or even a piece of regular shit, in fact it is the opposite of shit, it is a legitimately good movie, and even though you aren’t too far into it, you feel a sense of calm, because you know you have nothing to worry about, and that you are in safe, masterful hands.
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Tagged cody clarke, critique edmond stuart gordon, david mamet, edmond, edmond 2005, edmond david mamet, edmond movie, edmond movie review, edmond stuart gordon, joe mantegna, matt atchity, review, rotten tomatoes, smug film, smugfilm, stuart gordon, william h macy, william h macy movies
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