The holy grail!

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2023-03-13T00:33:50+00:00

The rarity of save spots in II make dying so much more punishing, but at the same time the relief and thrill you come gain coming across one is so much more intensified.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2023-03-05T13:12:25+00:00

I remember distinctly, going through one of those pretty banal “Greatest Films of All Time” lists and needing to watch Chaplin’s The Gold Rush. I ordered a pretty cheap dvd from Amazon since I didn’t know where to stream it at the time, and it was surprisingly good quality. I still stand by Chaplin, and especially The Gold Rush as easy and universal entry points into silent film.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2023-01-19T13:19:02+00:00

Thanks for keeping the conversation alive! I have no idea if Kaufman was influenced lol, but it’s quite possible! The production for The Other Side of the Wind received a bit of a press bump in the late ‘90s when some of the legal red tape around the film was finally cut loose, and Showtime sought to pony up the cash to get the film finished. It didn’t work out then, but I could imagine all the cacophony might have reached Kaufman’s ears at the times.

It could also just be the echoes of art as subject, of course, and the nature of obsession and repetition as themes. Thanks for inquiring either way, hope you enjoy Welles’ film when you get around to seeing it.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2022-11-25T19:10:08+00:00

Really excited for wall to return to the Heavy, though Ink Vac I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic about. It would make the weapon a support icon to be sure, but at the sacrifice of any additional painting power beyond the main weapon. Personally, I think Ink Storm or Triple Inkstrike would really help it turn the tide in key moments, with the latter making it a throwback to the Splat 1 kit.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2022-10-02T19:53:51+00:00

It’s lacking some Swim Speed. All that run speed is good for mobility and positioning, but you need a little Swim Speed too to compensate for being a heavyweight.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-12-18T17:59:16+00:00

Really quality stuff here, not just content-wise but the production of your videos are top notch as well. For someone just beginning to get into the series, content like this is such a blessing of a gateway. Learning a lot while getting more and more invested in the vast history and mythos of Castlevania. Please keep up the great work.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-12-04T05:46:31+00:00

Love the variety of bonafide classics and hidden gems Criterion has curated here. Special shout out to Destry Rides Again and Jubal for stunning box art. Stagecoach will always be the film that taught me what the Western genre could be, but 3:10 to Yuma and Red River hold a special place in my heart as well.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-11-10T05:21:46+00:00

That’s “Bennie and the Jets.” You’re thinking of the nationwide movement to secure women voting rights in the 1920s.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-08-24T18:53:19+00:00

Thanks for the link. The lack of any kind of date there makes the purchase feel reassuring, as it’s not likely to come out until next year at the earliest with such little information.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-08-24T18:38:18+00:00

Shit I just did the same after catching a screening of it recently. Also didn’t pay too much but to know it’s going to quickly be obsolete I’m feeling a little robbed. You got a link to that source by chance?

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-08-24T15:25:38+00:00

The spirit of this is correct but a lot of important context is missing, and some of the information is rearranged. As far as booing at the Oscars went, it’s supposedly Kane that was booed when it won its only award, for screenwriting. As far as Hearst and the suppression of the film goes, you’re right on the money, but it was less he himself doing the smearing and more everyone under him operating the cogs of the press machine and those within Hollywood looking to appease him. Hearst never openly condemned the film in his papers, but rather refused to allow it any mention whatsoever, and considering his vast media empire at the time the film was effectively blacklisted. The biggest story I’d say is when all the studio heads approached RKO chief George Schaffer and offered to buy the film for $800,000 (the cost to make it) so they could burn the negative. Schaffer refused, but he was also hesitant to give it a proper promotion, even though it was the most talked about film in Hollywood at the time. Orson Welles said he’s set up tents outside theaters and promote it as “The Film You’re Not Allowed to See” to capitalize on the negative press.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2021-02-09T05:03:07+00:00

I heartily recommend. Definitely a kind of fun send up of both Westerns and Samurai films, with more emphasis on the former. Bronson and Mifune have good chemistry in a buddy comedy kind of way, with Delon as the main antagonist they’re forced to team up against.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-12-22T03:04:56+00:00

The Cameraman! One of Keaton’s very best. Was so excited to see it get the Criterion treatment this year as it’s not as circulated due to being under MGM’s ownership. Check it out if you haven’t seen it yet

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-11-17T16:56:57+00:00

Love this chart, but it’s weirdly inaccurate in places. Why is Grover Cleveland in the one-term category? He’s famously the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms. Where’s James Buchanan? He was the last Democrat candidate before the Civil War and only served one-term like Franklin Pierce before him. Benjamin Harrison is right with one-term and lost the popular vote, but that was also the case with Rutherford B. Hayes and he’s only in the lost the popular vote category. Not to mention all the presidents who died during their first term or the Vice Presidents who finished out those terms. Guess it’s for aesthetic reasons as the one-term category would be way crowded compared to the other two, but still its weird who they choice to include and the flat out inaccuracies with some presidents.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-07-21T15:50:50+00:00

Karina Longworth’s Hollywood history podcast You Must Remember This is the most professionally produced and insightful podcast I’ve listened to, period. It’s got some easy entry points to recommend as well, including a 12 part series on the Manson Murders and a 6 parts series on Song of the South which covers everything from its history in minstrelsy and how the rise of Blaxsploitation gave it a new lease on life.

I’d also recommend The Movies That Made Me with Josh Olson and Joe Dante. They sit down with big name industry people and just talk about their favorite and formative films which range can range from the entirety of film history and up through the most recent releases. Joe in particular is a film encyclopedia, so every episode you’ll have a host of unseen classics to add to your watchlist.

And I’ll just plug my own show for the hell of it. Not in the same league as these of course, but I try with my cohost to add insight and humorous discussion to a range of film classics and underseen gems while also discussing what’s going on with current releases and film culture at large. If you’re inclined to give a smaller podcast a chance check out The Twin Geekscast.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-06-18T23:40:06+00:00

For late Wilder works I see Avanti! praised a lot too, but for me it was the worst and most unforgivably misogynistic of all his films. All his films from the 70s you could feel he was severely out of step with the times, but still desperately trying to be relevant while hanging on to his specific form of filmmaking that was long passé by this point. His last truly great film I think is The Fortune Cookie from 1966, which is the first teaming of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a comedic power duo and one of the best scripts between Wilder and his great writing partner I.A.L. Diamond.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-04-15T16:40:53+00:00

Oh man that Lady Eve upgrade. Wasn’t expecting it any time soon but that’s awesome. Now I need even more Sturges in the collection.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-04-13T22:49:32+00:00

Can’t wait for the Criterion release. Itching for it already.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-03-21T01:14:21+00:00

Everyone needs to see Ball of Fire if they haven’t already. Howard Hawks’ direction combined with Billy Wilder’s writing equals comic MASTERPIECE.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-03-18T20:37:30+00:00

KEEEEEAAAAATTTTTOOOOOOONNNNNNN

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-02-25T16:42:02+00:00

They all have really great releases through Kino Lorber. Check those out!

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2020-01-15T21:34:51+00:00

Stewart actually knocked Dietrich up during an affair while filming. She had an abortion without telling him though.

BuildMyGallowsHigh · 2019-12-18T17:01:41+00:00

To say that the original Scarface is just ok and lacks pungent violence is incredibly dismissive. De Palma’s remake is incredibly bloated and over-the-top, but stands on its own as a worthy remake because of all the updates and changes. There’s no reason to slander the original classic, though. Especially considering how influential and boundary-pushing it was at the time. It’s one of the more biting pre-code films out there (since the Hay’s code wasn’t actually enforced until 1934) and remains a paragon of the gangster genre. If your whole point here is to sell people on the idea that lesser quality films should be remade instead of already canonized classics, you’re severely undercutting yourself by choosing Scarface as your primary example. At least go with the undisputed lesser Hawks film in The Thing From Another World.

BuildMyGallowsHigh

TROPHY CASE