R.I.P. Peter Bogdanovich

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I honestly was really sad about this today, from the word "go" when I heard about it on here. As someone who's particular joy is "Old Hollywood" ... just felt like the final "nail" in the coffin hit. Heavy day for me indeed.
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Imagine an eye unruled by man-made laws of perspective, an eye unprejudiced by compositional logic, an eye which does not respond to the name of everything but which must know each object encountered in life through an adventure of perception. How many colors are there in a field of grass to the crawling baby unaware of 'Green'?

-Stan Brakhage



I was at two screenings with Bogdanovich in attendance: at the D.C. Film Festival with The Cat's Meow and in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre for a screening of Fantastic Mr. Fox. He was there with Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. I did not get to speak to him in D.C. but did get a moment in L.A. while the masses were mobbing Wes. I asked him if he would have the patience to direct a stop-motion feature. He said, "These days I barely have the patience to ask what's on the craft service table." Though that was my only brief exchange with him one-on-one, through interviews and his books I feel like I knew him much better. He was a character, for sure, and left a legacy of some very fine films (and a few stinkers).

This is how I would rank his features...

Paper Moon
The Last Picture Show
What's Up, Doc?
They All Laughed
Targets
The Cat's Meow
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers:
Runnin' Down a Dream

Mask
Saint Jack
The Thing Called Love
Noises Off...
Texasville
Daisy Miller
At Long Last Love
To Sir, With Love II
Nickelodeon
She's Funny That Way
Illegally Yours

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Hate to hear this one. Man. I'm in the middle of a podcast that TCM's Ben Mankiewicz did with Bogdanovich and it's just totally fascinating stuff. I had just watched The Last Picture Show again last week, only for the second time in my life. He indeed had a great list of films. Godspeed, Peter.
Yeah, that was a fascinating interview. I recall how devastated PB said he was over Stratten's murder, and that he never really got over it-- affected him for the rest of his life. It was also interesting his fascination with Orson Welles, a relationship that both helped and hurt him.

BTW, there were supposed to be more interviews of celebrities by Mankiewicz. Have you heard of any others?



I loved What's Up Doc? as a kid. Mars had me in stitches. A fun tribute to the screwball comedy and farce in general.



RIP Peter Bogdonavich



You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
While most people probably say that The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon are his two best movies, my favorite movies of his are What's Up, Doc? and Noises Off. These are two of the most fun and rewatchable movies.

R.I.P.
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While most people probably say that The Last Picture Show and Paper Moon are his two best movies, my favorite movies of his are What's Up, Doc? and Noises Off. These are two of the most fun and rewatchable movies.

R.I.P.
I sure agree with you about What's Up Doc?. And I'd forgotten all about Noises Off. That film was a riot, and a tour de force by its ensemble cast. That one must have been VERY tricky to perform: fast and madcap.



I've only seen one of his movies, but it's been in my top 100. Roger Corman needs to be at his funeral.


EDIT: Actually, I caught the ending of A Saintly Switch on TV when I was a toddler, but I didn't remember the name of it for years. My mind always kept confusing it with "A Simple Wish" which I knew about back then but never saw. When I looked up the end of "A Simple Wish," I wasn't very surprised, because I remembered the special effects being of lower quality than the movies I usually watched.



Rewatched Last Picture Show last night. Yes, it's still fantastic if anyone was wondering.


Sometimes I think time has sort of shuffled this one out of the deck of all the great films that came out of America in the 70's. I think its willingness to embrace so many older cinematic traditions maybe makes some who like to embrace the harder edge of that era overlook it, as it seems so quaint and quiet and of another time. But its very much this blend of old and new that makes it such a revelation. It could be argued (not necessarily by me) that it is even the very best of that entire crop of films. Legitimately perfect, with none of the baggage I usually associate with perfections.