Travelling to Manchester in order to attend a Q&A with film maker Peter Strickland at the HOME cinema, which screened his latest movie: Flux Gourmet (2022-also reviewed), I decided to visit the local Foop store to check their Criterion sale.
Going to the Criterion aisle whilst another customer was deciding what titles to go for, we ended up getting into a discussion about our top Criterion releases. Unable to decide what film to go for, I asked the other customer to choose the Blu-Ray I would buy (!) Not having heard of this film before,I got ready to watch my first Criterion Blu-Ray.
View on the film:
Featuring detailed extra interviews going from lead actress Julie Hagerty, to friend of the film maker James L. Brooks, Criterion present a terrific print, with the new 2K transfer retaining a film grain, and the soundtrack allowing the dialogue to be heard with a crispness.
Revealing in a interview on the disc that one of his brothers works in the ad industry, and that he originally wanted Bill Murray to play the lead role,co-writer (with regular collaborator Monica Mcgowan Johnson) lead actor/ directing auteur Albert Brooks gives a hilarious performance as David, whose neurosis tendencies Brooks has constantly fighting with David attempting to build a new sunny side up outlook,from the nest egg he and his wife have built.
Tearing the nests apart with her gambling, (based on co-writer Johnson's own bad fortune at the gambling table) Julie Hagerty gives a very funny performance as Linda, thanks to Hagerty displaying a warm chemistry with Brooks in their snappy lovers tiff exchanges, spinning to Hagerty having Linda act almost possessed at the gambling table, as she takes a spin of the wheel, with a belief that the American Dream will lead her to victory.
Sending the script to Stanley Kubrick, (a fan of Brooks's earlier Modern Romance (1981), and who once his suggestions were turned down, never spoke to Brooks again) the screenplay by Brooks & Johnson superbly take Brooks major recurring themes of restlessness and dissatisfaction,into the Yuppie era with jet-black satire and whip-smart comedic one-liners
Following Linda and David believing that they are going off the grid like rebel bikers with their bourgeoisie nest egg money and Yuppie Winnebago,the writers break all the eggs as the Road Movie follows the couple bickering, that leads them to a bitter end of the American Dream, as their Winnebago drives them back into the corporate machine.
Written whilst on the road with Johnson, director Brooks reunites with cinematographer Eric Saarinen for the last time, and retains the roots of the project, via cleverly using road-side camera set-ups in real locations to bring a up close and personal atmosphere to the funny comedic set-pieces capturing David and Linda's plans going off-road.
Contrasting the road-side set-ups, Brooks and Saarinen lay out David's bourgeoisie life with outstanding long tracking shots following the faceless figure of David (his face is kept turned away from the camera) walking like a worker drone inside his pristine, soulless workplace, as David and Linda get lost in America.
Going to the Criterion aisle whilst another customer was deciding what titles to go for, we ended up getting into a discussion about our top Criterion releases. Unable to decide what film to go for, I asked the other customer to choose the Blu-Ray I would buy (!) Not having heard of this film before,I got ready to watch my first Criterion Blu-Ray.
View on the film:
Featuring detailed extra interviews going from lead actress Julie Hagerty, to friend of the film maker James L. Brooks, Criterion present a terrific print, with the new 2K transfer retaining a film grain, and the soundtrack allowing the dialogue to be heard with a crispness.
Revealing in a interview on the disc that one of his brothers works in the ad industry, and that he originally wanted Bill Murray to play the lead role,co-writer (with regular collaborator Monica Mcgowan Johnson) lead actor/ directing auteur Albert Brooks gives a hilarious performance as David, whose neurosis tendencies Brooks has constantly fighting with David attempting to build a new sunny side up outlook,from the nest egg he and his wife have built.
Tearing the nests apart with her gambling, (based on co-writer Johnson's own bad fortune at the gambling table) Julie Hagerty gives a very funny performance as Linda, thanks to Hagerty displaying a warm chemistry with Brooks in their snappy lovers tiff exchanges, spinning to Hagerty having Linda act almost possessed at the gambling table, as she takes a spin of the wheel, with a belief that the American Dream will lead her to victory.
Sending the script to Stanley Kubrick, (a fan of Brooks's earlier Modern Romance (1981), and who once his suggestions were turned down, never spoke to Brooks again) the screenplay by Brooks & Johnson superbly take Brooks major recurring themes of restlessness and dissatisfaction,into the Yuppie era with jet-black satire and whip-smart comedic one-liners
Following Linda and David believing that they are going off the grid like rebel bikers with their bourgeoisie nest egg money and Yuppie Winnebago,the writers break all the eggs as the Road Movie follows the couple bickering, that leads them to a bitter end of the American Dream, as their Winnebago drives them back into the corporate machine.
Written whilst on the road with Johnson, director Brooks reunites with cinematographer Eric Saarinen for the last time, and retains the roots of the project, via cleverly using road-side camera set-ups in real locations to bring a up close and personal atmosphere to the funny comedic set-pieces capturing David and Linda's plans going off-road.
Contrasting the road-side set-ups, Brooks and Saarinen lay out David's bourgeoisie life with outstanding long tracking shots following the faceless figure of David (his face is kept turned away from the camera) walking like a worker drone inside his pristine, soulless workplace, as David and Linda get lost in America.