Althouse: We watched this movie on Netflix yesterday. Recommended.

April 2, 2021

We watched this movie on Netflix yesterday. Recommended.

23 comments:

rehajm said...: Compelling. Imma watch...; 4/2/21, 10:41 AM
Iman said...: I’m in.; 4/2/21, 10:51 AM
rhhardin said...: It looks like a god how long does this go on movie to me.; 4/2/21, 10:53 AM
Paul said...: I prefer watching Midway 2019... Still waiting for Mission Impossible 2020!; 4/2/21, 10:54 AM
Dave Begley said...: I liked "Wild Mountain Thyme."; 4/2/21, 10:55 AM
Wince said...: When that video freeze frame with the name "Dorfman" in the title popped-up on the screen it reminded me of...

"This is Kent Dorfman. A legacy from Harrisburg."; 4/2/21, 10:58 AM
Temujin said...: I'm going to watch it. I love photography. I love how some people can capture other people on file (or digitally). There's more to it than point and click.; 4/2/21, 11:02 AM
rhhardin said...: Closed Circuit (2013) with Rebecca Hall (spy/courtroom/action) is one I've watched many times, with time separation. It's not only good but there are no scenes that I fast-forward though, unlike most favorites.

In Harmony (2015, En Equilibre) french with subtitles, with Cecile de France, would be my all-gender recommendation.; 4/2/21, 11:02 AM
Joe Smith said...: I am old enough to have directed hundreds of photo shoots (for commercial products) when everything was analog...in my case we shot mostly 4x5 film positives.

Sometimes it would take hours to set up everything...lighting, fill lighting, placement, checking cropping, etc.

We'd do a rough check on Polaroid before shooting 6 or 8 different exposures on film.

Then wait 2 or 3 hours for processing (a good lunch or 9 holes of golf) before putting them on a light table and choosing the best one.

Photoshop was not a sophisticated tool back then. Big mistakes could be fixed after scanning, but for the most part you had to capture everything you wanted on film in the original shot.

So I can see how it might be with people and film as opposed to digital.

There just isn't as much care taken with digital as every click of the shutter is essentially 'free.' If you fuck it up you know immediately and can keep on clicking.

When digital got really good I adapted. Fortunately my 'old' and trusted photographer had adapted as well and was great with Photoshop. I don't know that our shots were better but I don't think they were worse either. It was certainly more convenient to walk out of the studio with a a CD-ROM containing print-ready files.

But a lot of jobs at traditional color houses (scanners, strippers (not that kind)) went away for good.; 4/2/21, 11:25 AM
Ann Althouse said...: The trailer is very representative of what's in the film.

It's only a little over an hour.

There's a lot about the woman as a very specific sort of person, and there's a good amount about Polaroid (including how badly it stopped producing its cameras and film and the unusual large-format 20x24 and 20x48 cameras).; 4/2/21, 11:33 AM
Joe Smith said...: "...and the unusual large-format 20x24 and 20x48 cameras)."

That's some big-ass 'film.' Most of the really detailed photography of the day was 8x10 and I never had a reason to use it.

Of course, I believe the purpose of Polaroid stock that size was to view it directly as the end image as opposed to film, which could be scanned at a high resolution or printed at a large size...; 4/2/21, 11:39 AM
Charlie said...: Thanks for the tip, gonna watch.; 4/2/21, 11:58 AM
J2 said...: I'll watch yours if you watch mine - "Croupier".; 4/2/21, 12:39 PM
Sydney said...: That looks interesting. I’ve always admired people who can take a good portrait. Especially of multiple people at once.; 4/2/21, 1:01 PM
NKP said...: Speaking of film/TV, the Midnight Diner (Netflix) was mentioned here a few months ago. I 'voted' against it before I 'voted' for it. In fact, I've elevated it from soap opera/cartoon almost to art. What seemed overly simple at first actually rewards the viewer who puts some effort into the experience.

I gave it a second look after a Japanese lady at an Asian food market expressed joy and surprise that I'd ever heard of it and confessed she'd seen every episode multiple times. I think my earlier pan was due to being distracted from the product value by production values - having been involved in making many films, I sometimes 'miss' the story entirely while constantly critiquing how it was made.

The only question left is; how long before the racial justice warriors realize Netflix is airing a popular show featuring a main character called "Master" :-); 4/2/21, 1:01 PM
Known Unknown said...: There just isn't as much care taken with digital as every click of the shutter is essentially 'free.' If you fuck it up you know immediately and can keep on clicking.

"It used to be you'd take one picture and look at it a hundred times. Now, you take hundreds of pictures and never look at them again."

-James Lileks; 4/2/21, 1:27 PM
LakeLevel said...: I met a salesman from Polaroid once. I told him a joke: "What happens when you sit on the ice when you are ice fishing? You get polaroids". He was not amused.; 4/2/21, 1:29 PM
Howard said...: I loved it. Trigger warning: She's best friends with Allen Ginsberg.

Another good art documentary on netflix is "Made You Look" about fake art fraud at the highest level of the NYC art scene.; 4/2/21, 2:03 PM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Digital? Back in the early 60s I used to hump the film caddy and strobe unit for my Dad's Speed Graphic. I'm awestruck at the quality of the digital product. God those batteries weighed!; 4/2/21, 3:37 PM
mezzrow said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/2/21, 5:53 PM
mezzrow said...: Hooked instantly. Had to look her up. I discovered a true cultural VIP.

I still have an analog heart in this digital world. I love my mechanical watches, my internal combustion engines, and my wall of vinyl records. I love my clarinets, and their imperfect reeds made of cane, and my mouthpiece, handmade in a shed in Ohio somewhere. To use these things as they were meant to be used, to harvest and appreciate and maintain the old technology is a joy for me. It's a tribute to the world we've lived in.

I just finished overhauling a friend's clarinet (a fine one, a Buffet R13) built in 1962. Elsa probably heard Stanley Drucker or Benny Goodman play a clarinet that was made in 1962 somewhere along the way. Or, she heard them play in 1962. Those clarinets still work fine, if maintained properly. So happy to learn there was an Elsa.; 4/2/21, 6:08 PM
Banzel said...: We often wish we could tap into another algorythm. Would you share more of what Netflix thinks you want to watch?; 4/2/21, 7:25 PM
Mitch Sondreaal said...: I have a career much like Joe Smith. From 1977 until 2007, commercial photography.
Fine art since then.
From what I recall, Polaroid developed the very large format cameras and film to document the Sistine Chapel.
After that, they offered the system to artists. Chuck Close is one artist that did great work it.
William Wegmann too.
To get access to that system was rare and prized.
And yes, the print itself was the final product.
I was lucky enough to have access to an 8x10 camera and polaroid processor.
Back when that was prized in commercial photography.

This documentary seems to be pretty wonderful.; 4/2/21, 9:31 PM