A Director’s Notebook. Federico Fellini. 1969. ⚃

Over the years, there’s a bunch of supplemental movies included on DVDs and blu-rays that I haven’t watched. I thought it might be fun to spend a couple of days watching these…

I’m not going to blog about the normal “behind the scenes” Hollywood documentaries, because that would be even less interesting than usual.

So here’s a fifty minute sort of… er… It was included on the 8½ DVD.

:

Fellini filmed a “sort of semihumourous introduction” to past and future plans: the recently abandoned project, The Voyage of G. Mastorna, and his latest work-in-progress, Fellini Satyricon.

[twenty minutes pass]

It’s not really a documentary, but… it’s very Fellini.

I haven’t seen Fellini Satyricon in decades, and this thing seems to reference that a lot… but as pantomime. This would probably had more resonance if I were more familiar with the movies this seems to be commenting on…

But I don’t, so it just seems like an oddity.

[twenty minutes pass]

But it’s kinda entertaining. It’s very meta. I mean, it’s Fellini; how could it be otherwise? I found myself falling into the patterns of this thing kinda hypnotised…

Scary Movie. Keenen Ivory Wayans. 2000. ⚄

[an hour passes]

OH MY GOD.

This is so crass.

I love it.

Just when you think they’ve plumbed the utter depths, they find a way to go even lower.

It’s amazing.

But there’s also just generic silliness like:

Which I love, too.

In some way, this movie is more coherent than the movies it’s making fun of (which is 90% Scream and 10% I Know What You Did Last Summer).

And, of course, a bunch of other skits based on other movies.

It’s very funny, and very, very crass.

Man, that’s a lot of shirt. Like 2x the fabric of shirts these days. But practical! No plumbers’ butt.

Libeled Lady. Jack Conway. 1936. ⚄

I’m waiting on Stalker for the main movie blog (I forgot to buy it on bluray), so I’m watching stuff that’s not Officially The Best while I’m waiting.

Which reminded me that I bought a whole bunch of screwball comedies last year, and I haven’t seen a single one of them.

*rolls dvd*

Oh my Emacs! It has everybody! *gasp*

[fifteen minutes pass]

Oh, this is just delightful. I haven’t laughed out loud a lot, but the snappy repartee and the preposterous plot it just perfect!

I think I may have seen this before, though, without that diminishing the thrill of seeing this a bit.

[an hour passes]

This has a bunch of genius scenes, but it’s not perfect. It’s a bit flabby — some of the scenes could have been more snappy and more screwy.

I really, really enjoy this (except the er slight misogyny; but even Jean Harlow’s character gets say in the end), but I have to admit that it’s not perfect.