December 29th, 2009 / 1:59 pm
Snippets

Is there an album or film that has influenced your writing as much as any book?

110 Comments

  1. thomas

      tinderbox off angels come on time by the slip influenced my writing a good deal when i first heard it

      Not sure if it influenced me more than other writing has though. It’s a goddamn incredible song though

  2. thomas

      tinderbox off angels come on time by the slip influenced my writing a good deal when i first heard it

      Not sure if it influenced me more than other writing has though. It’s a goddamn incredible song though

  3. john sakkis

      realized yesterday that i’m sort of writing The Streets Original Pirate Material.

  4. john sakkis

      realized yesterday that i’m sort of writing The Streets Original Pirate Material.

  5. alexisorgera

      The sentiment behind PJ Harvey’s White Chalk has influenced me a fuckload recently. (Stripping down the histrionics, “singing as if you’re standing beside your grandmother at church hymns” (not an exact quote, but she said something like that).

  6. alexisorgera

      The sentiment behind PJ Harvey’s White Chalk has influenced me a fuckload recently. (Stripping down the histrionics, “singing as if you’re standing beside your grandmother at church hymns” (not an exact quote, but she said something like that).

  7. james yeh

      not influenced so much by films, i don’t think, but definitely by music

      mostly i think it’s an evocative thing. for example, there are definitely times when i try to write things that somehow give off the same feelings i get when listening to certain albums. other times i will listen to music i associate with a certain time of my life in order to try to reconnect with what i felt at that point.

      some of the ones that have meant a lot to me include

      bowie – ziggy stardust (this was while writing a novel about a egotistical, delusional wannabe indie rocker, set in atlanta GA)

      pavement – crooked rain, crooked rain (“california” themed confused angsty dude stuff set in SF)

      the beach house (pastoral, melancholic “beautiful” stuff)

      really, i often find music to be as “influential” as books but in a different way. books, for me, are more influential as far as voice and thought but music, generally speaking, provides a more visceral and immediate response.

      for me, books feed the mouth and brain, music feeds the legs and heart — and, if i’m to continue with this pretty ridiculous metaphor, life the eyes and dick.

      but yeah, music’s influential to me.

  8. james yeh

      not influenced so much by films, i don’t think, but definitely by music

      mostly i think it’s an evocative thing. for example, there are definitely times when i try to write things that somehow give off the same feelings i get when listening to certain albums. other times i will listen to music i associate with a certain time of my life in order to try to reconnect with what i felt at that point.

      some of the ones that have meant a lot to me include

      bowie – ziggy stardust (this was while writing a novel about a egotistical, delusional wannabe indie rocker, set in atlanta GA)

      pavement – crooked rain, crooked rain (“california” themed confused angsty dude stuff set in SF)

      the beach house (pastoral, melancholic “beautiful” stuff)

      really, i often find music to be as “influential” as books but in a different way. books, for me, are more influential as far as voice and thought but music, generally speaking, provides a more visceral and immediate response.

      for me, books feed the mouth and brain, music feeds the legs and heart — and, if i’m to continue with this pretty ridiculous metaphor, life the eyes and dick.

      but yeah, music’s influential to me.

  9. Blake Butler

      haha, i gotta see that

  10. Blake Butler

      haha, i gotta see that

  11. Blake Butler

      i downloaded that after you mentioned it to me. really wicked, even more so than most of her stuff.

  12. CB

      Barbara Streisand – Guilty

  13. Blake Butler

      i downloaded that after you mentioned it to me. really wicked, even more so than most of her stuff.

  14. CB

      Barbara Streisand – Guilty

  15. Caleb J Ross

      I have an entire novel (unpublished) inspired by Tom Waits’ “Hoist That Rag.” That song just makes things flow.

      But I agree, I want to see Original Pirate Material-infused writing.

  16. Caleb J Ross

      I have an entire novel (unpublished) inspired by Tom Waits’ “Hoist That Rag.” That song just makes things flow.

      But I agree, I want to see Original Pirate Material-infused writing.

  17. gene

      return to the 36 chambers: the dirty version.

      this shit has influenced my writing as much as any book, hands down.

  18. gene

      return to the 36 chambers: the dirty version.

      this shit has influenced my writing as much as any book, hands down.

  19. Jeff

      Still sorting out these influences but they’ve been steadily working their way into my writing:

      ‘Sans Soleil’ by Chris Marker

      ‘The Inner Scar’ by Philippe Garrel

      ‘Celine and Julie Go Boating’ by Jacques Rivette

      Mountain Goats ‘We Shall All Be Healed’

      Sleater-Kinney ‘Call the Doctor’

  20. Jeff

      Still sorting out these influences but they’ve been steadily working their way into my writing:

      ‘Sans Soleil’ by Chris Marker

      ‘The Inner Scar’ by Philippe Garrel

      ‘Celine and Julie Go Boating’ by Jacques Rivette

      Mountain Goats ‘We Shall All Be Healed’

      Sleater-Kinney ‘Call the Doctor’

  21. mark gluth

      The Shinning

  22. mark gluth

      The Shinning

  23. Adam R

      Seriously: Samuel Barber’s Adagio For Strings.

      No, just kidding.

  24. Adam R

      Seriously: Samuel Barber’s Adagio For Strings.

      No, just kidding.

  25. Stu

      I feel that way with regards to Immortal Technique’s “Revolutionary” Volumes. I’ve been writing a lot recently to the tune of Ghostface’s latest.

  26. Stu

      I feel that way with regards to Immortal Technique’s “Revolutionary” Volumes. I’ve been writing a lot recently to the tune of Ghostface’s latest.

  27. Muzzy

      Only literature influences literature. No writer has ever set out on an Oedipal quest to conquer a musician. It is impossible for a literary text to be influenced by film or music.

      Which is different than, say, pillaging a song or a film for material. Tolkein obviously ripped off Wagner. But that’s not influence — that’s just plagiarism.

  28. Muzzy

      Only literature influences literature. No writer has ever set out on an Oedipal quest to conquer a musician. It is impossible for a literary text to be influenced by film or music.

      Which is different than, say, pillaging a song or a film for material. Tolkein obviously ripped off Wagner. But that’s not influence — that’s just plagiarism.

  29. christopher higgs

      The thirteen films Godard made from 1961-1967 (everything he did between Une femme est une femme and La Chinoise) has monumentally influenced my approach to writing — probably even more so than any work of literature I’ve ever read.

  30. christopher higgs

      The thirteen films Godard made from 1961-1967 (everything he did between Une femme est une femme and La Chinoise) has monumentally influenced my approach to writing — probably even more so than any work of literature I’ve ever read.

  31. Merzmensch

      Movies:
      Avalon (by Mamoru Oshii)
      Stalker (Tarkovsky)
      These films influenced my vision of reality. Especially in the way of there is no such thing as reality.

      Music:
      Loquat, Dadawa, Cornelius, Múm, Boris Grebenshchikov.
      Inspirating,

  32. Merzmensch

      Movies:
      Avalon (by Mamoru Oshii)
      Stalker (Tarkovsky)
      These films influenced my vision of reality. Especially in the way of there is no such thing as reality.

      Music:
      Loquat, Dadawa, Cornelius, Múm, Boris Grebenshchikov.
      Inspirating,

  33. Matt Cozart

      nonsense

  34. Matt Cozart

      nonsense

  35. Paul

      “it is impossible for a literary text to be influenced by film or music”

      that’s not only nonsense, it’s complete garbage

  36. Paul

      “it is impossible for a literary text to be influenced by film or music”

      that’s not only nonsense, it’s complete garbage

  37. Nate

      They Might Be Giants.

  38. Nate

      They Might Be Giants.

  39. Stu

      Yeah, I’d say this guy is smoking crack, but if he were, he’d been infinitely more endearing.

      No way he beats that for nonsense.

  40. Stu

      Yeah, I’d say this guy is smoking crack, but if he were, he’d been infinitely more endearing.

      No way he beats that for nonsense.

  41. Stu

      *he’d HAVE been.

      Geez.

      Still wins.

  42. Paul

      yeah

      i’m pretty apathetic when it comes to blatant idiocy

      and the name “Muzzy” doesn’t help any

  43. Stu

      *he’d HAVE been.

      Geez.

      Still wins.

  44. Paul

      yeah

      i’m pretty apathetic when it comes to blatant idiocy

      and the name “Muzzy” doesn’t help any

  45. BAC

      Elliott Smith’s Either/Or.

  46. BAC

      Elliott Smith’s Either/Or.

  47. thad

      “subterranean homesick alien”, via “subterranean homesick blues”? via The Subterraneans? wrote stuff with all three, although the last one is a book. I just thought it was interesting how art inspired art in this situation

  48. thad

      “subterranean homesick alien”, via “subterranean homesick blues”? via The Subterraneans? wrote stuff with all three, although the last one is a book. I just thought it was interesting how art inspired art in this situation

  49. sasha fletcher

      you, the living

  50. sasha fletcher

      you, the living

  51. sasha fletcher

      that song is a beast. a living breathing beast. dear lord does it make me feel.

  52. sasha fletcher

      that song is a beast. a living breathing beast. dear lord does it make me feel.

  53. CB

      aLL OF YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT

  54. CB

      aLL OF YOU ARE FULL OF SHIT

  55. jereme

      i am curious, why?

      i have always thought of godard as a phase. i liked him when i was young but i don’t think he’s that much of a genius anymore.

      i don’t know.

      sparks at times.

      i like what melville or truffaut did.

      but i’m not applying their work to writing.

  56. jereme

      i am curious, why?

      i have always thought of godard as a phase. i liked him when i was young but i don’t think he’s that much of a genius anymore.

      i don’t know.

      sparks at times.

      i like what melville or truffaut did.

      but i’m not applying their work to writing.

  57. jereme

      a children’s book, i cannot remember the title of, is eternal in my mind. it was about an elephant who had to sneeze and all the birds and bees pleaded, please don’t sneeze! last time you sneezed all the leaves fell off the trees, the wings fell of the bees (and the ground is hard on bee’s knees) and…

      the spell of the yukon taught a 3rd grade me that poetry wasn’t just for girls.

      the anarchist cookbook taught me how special and weird a book could be.

      the hagakure changed how i think about life.

      but my interpretation of the question leads me to think the question isn’t about influence.

      influence is an outside force, usually hidden from the purview,

      i think what you are asking is what work do i identify with and want to emulate, to a certain degree, in my writing.

      hmm.

      i don’t know.

  58. jereme

      a children’s book, i cannot remember the title of, is eternal in my mind. it was about an elephant who had to sneeze and all the birds and bees pleaded, please don’t sneeze! last time you sneezed all the leaves fell off the trees, the wings fell of the bees (and the ground is hard on bee’s knees) and…

      the spell of the yukon taught a 3rd grade me that poetry wasn’t just for girls.

      the anarchist cookbook taught me how special and weird a book could be.

      the hagakure changed how i think about life.

      but my interpretation of the question leads me to think the question isn’t about influence.

      influence is an outside force, usually hidden from the purview,

      i think what you are asking is what work do i identify with and want to emulate, to a certain degree, in my writing.

      hmm.

      i don’t know.

  59. alexisorgera

      yes! Glad you use the word wicked.

  60. alexisorgera

      yes! Glad you use the word wicked.

  61. jonny ross

      incredible album. so much atmosphere, frail and haunting and bleak beauty. heard in an interview that she would record herself playing piano (an instrument she hadn’t played before) as if she were a virtuoso and then going back and picking out the interesting bits and writing songs around them. not sure how that applies to writing. probably doesn’t.

  62. jonny ross

      incredible album. so much atmosphere, frail and haunting and bleak beauty. heard in an interview that she would record herself playing piano (an instrument she hadn’t played before) as if she were a virtuoso and then going back and picking out the interesting bits and writing songs around them. not sure how that applies to writing. probably doesn’t.

  63. jonny ross

      along with the rest of kubrick, including eyes wide

  64. jonny ross

      along with the rest of kubrick, including eyes wide

  65. isaac estep

      Back in high school I the plot structure of Memento was very inspirational for the short story I was working on.

  66. isaac estep

      Back in high school I the plot structure of Memento was very inspirational for the short story I was working on.

  67. isaac estep

      How do you delete posts? That sentence is fucked.

  68. isaac estep

      How do you delete posts? That sentence is fucked.

  69. jonny ross

      virginia woolf’s entire oeuvre was influenced as much by post-impressionist painting as it was ulysses and the russian formalists. to cite just one example of another art form influencing one’s writing.

  70. jonny ross

      virginia woolf’s entire oeuvre was influenced as much by post-impressionist painting as it was ulysses and the russian formalists. to cite just one example of another art form influencing one’s writing.

  71. magick mike

      Xiu Xiu’s Fabulous Muscles and The Microphone’s The Glow, pt. 2 were pretty necessary for me to really allow myself to start being a creative person, though I can’t really articulate why.

      Movies, on the other hand, have been my primary source of inspiration for a decade, and at least up until recently I was watching 10x more movies than I was reading books (this ration has significantly shifted in the last few years, and I think I’m reading about as many movies as books these days). Very very “key” movies that have influenced my writing have included the following:

      Institute Benjament, Quay Brothers (which is, of course, based on a Walser story, but it’s the sensual texture of the film, the corporeal mystery that the film carries, that is why it has stuck so hard: I have watched it at least yearly since 2002 or 2003)

      -Multiple films by Hisayasu Sato sort of hit me at the conclusion of my “I’m obsessed with asian horror movies” phase in high school, and in the many years since, as more of his films have filtered down to my dirty hands, I’ve realized more and more that he is really the master of virtually everything I look for in any sort of narrative format. Particularly Survey Map of a Paradise Lost and Muscle.

      -Being exposed to experimental film simultaneously with experimental fiction has lead to basically weird ideas that I try to throw into all art I make, regardless of medium. Ernie Gehr’s Serene Velocity flashed in my head as I wrote almost every page of a recent novella,.

      -Vicente Aranda’s Fata Morgana (not to be confused with the far superior Herzog film of the same name) manages to nail a particular tone in a few scenes that is basically everything I want my writing to feel like.

  72. magick mike

      Xiu Xiu’s Fabulous Muscles and The Microphone’s The Glow, pt. 2 were pretty necessary for me to really allow myself to start being a creative person, though I can’t really articulate why.

      Movies, on the other hand, have been my primary source of inspiration for a decade, and at least up until recently I was watching 10x more movies than I was reading books (this ration has significantly shifted in the last few years, and I think I’m reading about as many movies as books these days). Very very “key” movies that have influenced my writing have included the following:

      Institute Benjament, Quay Brothers (which is, of course, based on a Walser story, but it’s the sensual texture of the film, the corporeal mystery that the film carries, that is why it has stuck so hard: I have watched it at least yearly since 2002 or 2003)

      -Multiple films by Hisayasu Sato sort of hit me at the conclusion of my “I’m obsessed with asian horror movies” phase in high school, and in the many years since, as more of his films have filtered down to my dirty hands, I’ve realized more and more that he is really the master of virtually everything I look for in any sort of narrative format. Particularly Survey Map of a Paradise Lost and Muscle.

      -Being exposed to experimental film simultaneously with experimental fiction has lead to basically weird ideas that I try to throw into all art I make, regardless of medium. Ernie Gehr’s Serene Velocity flashed in my head as I wrote almost every page of a recent novella,.

      -Vicente Aranda’s Fata Morgana (not to be confused with the far superior Herzog film of the same name) manages to nail a particular tone in a few scenes that is basically everything I want my writing to feel like.

  73. magick mike

      why are there letters cut off from like ten words in my comment. that first title is institute benjamenta, of course.

  74. magick mike

      why are there letters cut off from like ten words in my comment. that first title is institute benjamenta, of course.

  75. magick mike

      oh my god

      should be “not to be confused with the far inferior Herzog film of the same name”

      The Aranda is a lot better than the Herzog film, I promise. I’m just bad at typing today.

  76. magick mike

      oh my god

      should be “not to be confused with the far inferior Herzog film of the same name”

      The Aranda is a lot better than the Herzog film, I promise. I’m just bad at typing today.

  77. magick mike

      haha, i will preface this by saying i’m not trying to be condescending at all, or whatever, but:

      I have always thought that thinking of Godard as a phase is in itself a phase, and I say this because it’s a phase I went though (both briefly liking Godard, and then thinking that liking Godard is a phase). Godard’s early pop-trash (that he himself has sort of denounced), based in sentimentality, love of American trash films, and the face of Anna Karina, seems to hold a sort of hipster cache that is totally unappealing to more wizened film nerds, and I think it creates a sort of backlash, as it leads to lots of tweens and clueless folks who say they only like “indie movies” proclaiming Godard a genius though not having any interest in his politics or work with form, which makes it hard to narrow in on the really great stuff that Godard did once he became a force to truly be reckoned with.

  78. magick mike

      haha, i will preface this by saying i’m not trying to be condescending at all, or whatever, but:

      I have always thought that thinking of Godard as a phase is in itself a phase, and I say this because it’s a phase I went though (both briefly liking Godard, and then thinking that liking Godard is a phase). Godard’s early pop-trash (that he himself has sort of denounced), based in sentimentality, love of American trash films, and the face of Anna Karina, seems to hold a sort of hipster cache that is totally unappealing to more wizened film nerds, and I think it creates a sort of backlash, as it leads to lots of tweens and clueless folks who say they only like “indie movies” proclaiming Godard a genius though not having any interest in his politics or work with form, which makes it hard to narrow in on the really great stuff that Godard did once he became a force to truly be reckoned with.

  79. magick mike

      nico walking in a circle, following fire, harmonium flowing on the soundtrack

  80. magick mike

      nico walking in a circle, following fire, harmonium flowing on the soundtrack

  81. reynard

      love that movie

  82. reynard

      love that movie

  83. rion

      Movie: The 36th chamber of shaolin

      Music: let’s get free by dead prez
      Wu-tang’s entire catalog

  84. rion

      Movie: The 36th chamber of shaolin

      Music: let’s get free by dead prez
      Wu-tang’s entire catalog

  85. reynard

      i don’t really know where to begin with this because i’m sort of of the opinion that everything influences me and the way that might happen is unpredictable at best and haphazard at worst.

      jazz has been a big influence on me stylistically. i listen to jazz radio a lot. def sun ra and django reinhardt, soft machine. for lyrics i would say arthur russell, brian eno & david byrne.

      movies: def terry gilliam and david lynch. chris marker. wim wenders. mumblecore has influenced some stuff i’ve been working on lately. and i think i will probably rip off hara kiri one day.

  86. reynard

      i don’t really know where to begin with this because i’m sort of of the opinion that everything influences me and the way that might happen is unpredictable at best and haphazard at worst.

      jazz has been a big influence on me stylistically. i listen to jazz radio a lot. def sun ra and django reinhardt, soft machine. for lyrics i would say arthur russell, brian eno & david byrne.

      movies: def terry gilliam and david lynch. chris marker. wim wenders. mumblecore has influenced some stuff i’ve been working on lately. and i think i will probably rip off hara kiri one day.

  87. reynard

      also, maya deren and jodorowsky

  88. reynard

      also, maya deren and jodorowsky

  89. Paul

      that was a beautiful explanation

      i fucking hate the misuse of the word “indie” (which is pretty damn common)

      too many people think the word “indie” correctly describes a genre (film or music)

      i blame movies like “juno” or similar cinematic abortions possessing directors that consistently refer to their style or cinematography as something in the vain of “indie”

  90. Paul

      that was a beautiful explanation

      i fucking hate the misuse of the word “indie” (which is pretty damn common)

      too many people think the word “indie” correctly describes a genre (film or music)

      i blame movies like “juno” or similar cinematic abortions possessing directors that consistently refer to their style or cinematography as something in the vain of “indie”

  91. MG

      There’s this film that was directed by Kubrick, from a screenplay written by Joel and Ethan Coen.

      It’s imaginary, but really very good.

  92. MG

      There’s this film that was directed by Kubrick, from a screenplay written by Joel and Ethan Coen.

      It’s imaginary, but really very good.

  93. Jeff

      yes!

  94. Jeff

      yes!

  95. El Dangerouso

      I love this interactive stuff.

  96. El Dangerouso

      I love this interactive stuff.

  97. BE

      stroszek

  98. BE

      stroszek

  99. christopher higgs

      Hi Jereme,

      The short answer as to why those films have been so influential on my writing is that they valorize aesthetics. They are spectacle, first and foremost, which is my approach to writing. Some folks care about what a movie/a piece of writing is about – which is something I don’t care about and neither did Godard between 61-67. When Godard began foregrounding politics in 1968, with the move toward Maoism and the Dziga Vertov Group, he lost me. But before then, he always foregrounded aesthetics.

      In terms of specifics, each of those films do something different, something unique, something intriguing and inspiring to me…for instance Un femme est un femme we have the obsession with the color red & also the way he utilizes the tropes of the musical in reverse order: music plays when no one is singing but when people are singing there is no music. The way he conflates reportage with dramatization in 2 or 3 things I know about her….the way he unfolds the narrative in My Life to Live and also the way he uses the camera on Anna K.…the way he uses sound in all of these films as if it is its own thing/disconnected to the film itself…the way he assembled Masculine/Feminine: the way it creates narrative through juxtaposition and fragmentation, the beautiful depiction of war as a banality in the The Riflemen, the compostion in all of them, the meta-commentary in all of them, the Brechtian distanciation…man I feel like I’m doing disservice to the vast richness of these films with this brief comment, but I wanted to respond with a few of the reasons why these films have been so influential to me as a writer.

      At a very basic level, those films have made me think and wonder and imagine more than most literature does. They excite me, they thrill me…I love the seeming randomness of them, I love the chaos they contain. I love the vitality, the play, the arrogance, the audacity, the bluner of them all. They remind me that my work can be raw. They remind me that my work can do nothing and be about nothing and still be radically beautiful. They challenge me to set about opening new pathways. They give me permission and validation to do whatever I want however I want without regard. They are like adrenaline to me.

      In terms of it being a phase…I’m not sure about that. I can tell you that when I was in film school (over a decade ago) I didn’t care for Godard’s work, and now I absolutely thrive watching it.

  100. christopher higgs

      Hi Jereme,

      The short answer as to why those films have been so influential on my writing is that they valorize aesthetics. They are spectacle, first and foremost, which is my approach to writing. Some folks care about what a movie/a piece of writing is about – which is something I don’t care about and neither did Godard between 61-67. When Godard began foregrounding politics in 1968, with the move toward Maoism and the Dziga Vertov Group, he lost me. But before then, he always foregrounded aesthetics.

      In terms of specifics, each of those films do something different, something unique, something intriguing and inspiring to me…for instance Un femme est un femme we have the obsession with the color red & also the way he utilizes the tropes of the musical in reverse order: music plays when no one is singing but when people are singing there is no music. The way he conflates reportage with dramatization in 2 or 3 things I know about her….the way he unfolds the narrative in My Life to Live and also the way he uses the camera on Anna K.…the way he uses sound in all of these films as if it is its own thing/disconnected to the film itself…the way he assembled Masculine/Feminine: the way it creates narrative through juxtaposition and fragmentation, the beautiful depiction of war as a banality in the The Riflemen, the compostion in all of them, the meta-commentary in all of them, the Brechtian distanciation…man I feel like I’m doing disservice to the vast richness of these films with this brief comment, but I wanted to respond with a few of the reasons why these films have been so influential to me as a writer.

      At a very basic level, those films have made me think and wonder and imagine more than most literature does. They excite me, they thrill me…I love the seeming randomness of them, I love the chaos they contain. I love the vitality, the play, the arrogance, the audacity, the bluner of them all. They remind me that my work can be raw. They remind me that my work can do nothing and be about nothing and still be radically beautiful. They challenge me to set about opening new pathways. They give me permission and validation to do whatever I want however I want without regard. They are like adrenaline to me.

      In terms of it being a phase…I’m not sure about that. I can tell you that when I was in film school (over a decade ago) I didn’t care for Godard’s work, and now I absolutely thrive watching it.

  101. keith n b

      oh yes yes: institute benjimenta. exactly as you said, the texture and mystery. i had no idea what was going on in the movie and yet it still made almost too much sense, so much sense that it was beyond comprehension.

      and then a couple months later, andre tarkovsky’s nostalghia. that is the only movie that i’ve ever watched twice in less than a day: i felt the need to watch it again (before going to sleep) when i woke up in the morning. both movies enable a liminal state of eyes-wide-open meditation.

      i can’t enter either movie anymore, but i’ll never forget where i went when i was able to.

      and john coltrane

  102. keith n b

      oh yes yes: institute benjimenta. exactly as you said, the texture and mystery. i had no idea what was going on in the movie and yet it still made almost too much sense, so much sense that it was beyond comprehension.

      and then a couple months later, andre tarkovsky’s nostalghia. that is the only movie that i’ve ever watched twice in less than a day: i felt the need to watch it again (before going to sleep) when i woke up in the morning. both movies enable a liminal state of eyes-wide-open meditation.

      i can’t enter either movie anymore, but i’ll never forget where i went when i was able to.

      and john coltrane

  103. jereme

      yes i’m aware it is a phase.

      awareness is not simply off or on. i didn’t really think it necessary to vocalize this fact.

      because i’m aware of it and those that are also aware fo it are aware of it and those that aren’t aren’t so what’s the point of saying it?

      even tarantino now thinks of godard as a phase.

      so yeah.

      ?

      but what you are saying is i’m just too dumb and ignorant to realize what godard did and you are grouping me in with “indie” kids, correct?

      see this is where you fail to realize your company.

      i understand what godard is and what he did and etc.

      and i’ve seen more than 3 of his fucking films.

      so pretty please, tell me why he’s better than truffaut?

      did truffaut make “american trash films”?

      hmm. i wonder why?

      oh and btw fuck godard’s politics. what does that have to do with his work?

  104. jereme

      yes i’m aware it is a phase.

      awareness is not simply off or on. i didn’t really think it necessary to vocalize this fact.

      because i’m aware of it and those that are also aware fo it are aware of it and those that aren’t aren’t so what’s the point of saying it?

      even tarantino now thinks of godard as a phase.

      so yeah.

      ?

      but what you are saying is i’m just too dumb and ignorant to realize what godard did and you are grouping me in with “indie” kids, correct?

      see this is where you fail to realize your company.

      i understand what godard is and what he did and etc.

      and i’ve seen more than 3 of his fucking films.

      so pretty please, tell me why he’s better than truffaut?

      did truffaut make “american trash films”?

      hmm. i wonder why?

      oh and btw fuck godard’s politics. what does that have to do with his work?

  105. jereme

      makes perfect sense to me. i could only think of his aesthetic value as the reason why you liked him and i agree. i am picking up what you are putting down.

      when blake posed the question about film being an influence, i could only think of two directors in possible response: godard and douglas sirk.

      thank you for answering.

  106. jereme

      makes perfect sense to me. i could only think of his aesthetic value as the reason why you liked him and i agree. i am picking up what you are putting down.

      when blake posed the question about film being an influence, i could only think of two directors in possible response: godard and douglas sirk.

      thank you for answering.

  107. Ben Kopel

      Great great double great question. Here’s what comes to mind for me:

      We Shall All Be Healed by The Mountain Goats
      Horses by Patti Smith
      …Almost Killed Me by The Hold Steady
      3rd/Sister Lovers by Big Star
      Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen
      Terry Gilliam’s Brazil
      Terrence Malick’s Badlands
      Jem Cohen’s Benjamin Smoke
      Grant Morrison’s run on Animal Man and Doom Patrol
      Marvel Comics from the 60s and 70s

  108. Ben Kopel

      Great great double great question. Here’s what comes to mind for me:

      We Shall All Be Healed by The Mountain Goats
      Horses by Patti Smith
      …Almost Killed Me by The Hold Steady
      3rd/Sister Lovers by Big Star
      Double Nickels on the Dime by The Minutemen
      Terry Gilliam’s Brazil
      Terrence Malick’s Badlands
      Jem Cohen’s Benjamin Smoke
      Grant Morrison’s run on Animal Man and Doom Patrol
      Marvel Comics from the 60s and 70s

  109. magick mike

      @jereme

      i have no idea what you’re getting at with this awareness thing, i was saying that thinking godard is a phase is a phase.

      and also, what does tarantino have to do with it? tarantino is a major hack who doesnt actually care about anything important, he only cares about being a giant douche-tool and making money and making sure that everybody in the god damn world knows that he is the “#1 fanboy,” or something. he seems to fail to understand that films have anything to offer other than surface value.

      “so yeah.”

      “but what you are saying is i’m just too dumb and ignorant to realize what godard did and you are grouping me in with “indie” kids, correct?”

      no. the “indie kids” i’m referring to are the reason, it seems to me, why godard ends up turning a lot of people off at first. you pretty much explicitly stated that you don’t like godard, so how am i grouping you in with indie kids that like godard?

      “and i’ve seen more than 3 of his fucking films.”
      congratulations, i’m pretty sure I’ve only seen about 4.

      “so pretty please, tell me why he’s better than truffaut?”
      not until you tell me why truffaut is better than godard.

      “did truffaut make “american trash films”?”
      both truffaut & godard (and much of the early cahiers du cinema group) have actually vocalized that their primary inspiration was the american noir, or basically other ostensible forms of american trash cinema. i wasn’t saying “american trash films” as any sort of insult, I was just recognizing the historical significant vis a vis the new wave ‘group.’

      “oh and btw fuck godard’s politics. what does that have to do with his work?”
      from ’68 and beyond, godard’s politics had everything to do with his work, and to say otherwise is to completely ignore everything he strove for in cinema. it’s irrelevant to higgs’ liking, but there were seeds of his political growth present in the ’61-’67 films. you can choose to ignore it in terms of your own personal viewing, but considering auteur theory ostensibly grew out of the criticism & films of the french new wave (though later godard was obviously trying to escape from this) i think it’s stupid to ignore it over all.

  110. magick mike

      @jereme

      i have no idea what you’re getting at with this awareness thing, i was saying that thinking godard is a phase is a phase.

      and also, what does tarantino have to do with it? tarantino is a major hack who doesnt actually care about anything important, he only cares about being a giant douche-tool and making money and making sure that everybody in the god damn world knows that he is the “#1 fanboy,” or something. he seems to fail to understand that films have anything to offer other than surface value.

      “so yeah.”

      “but what you are saying is i’m just too dumb and ignorant to realize what godard did and you are grouping me in with “indie” kids, correct?”

      no. the “indie kids” i’m referring to are the reason, it seems to me, why godard ends up turning a lot of people off at first. you pretty much explicitly stated that you don’t like godard, so how am i grouping you in with indie kids that like godard?

      “and i’ve seen more than 3 of his fucking films.”
      congratulations, i’m pretty sure I’ve only seen about 4.

      “so pretty please, tell me why he’s better than truffaut?”
      not until you tell me why truffaut is better than godard.

      “did truffaut make “american trash films”?”
      both truffaut & godard (and much of the early cahiers du cinema group) have actually vocalized that their primary inspiration was the american noir, or basically other ostensible forms of american trash cinema. i wasn’t saying “american trash films” as any sort of insult, I was just recognizing the historical significant vis a vis the new wave ‘group.’

      “oh and btw fuck godard’s politics. what does that have to do with his work?”
      from ’68 and beyond, godard’s politics had everything to do with his work, and to say otherwise is to completely ignore everything he strove for in cinema. it’s irrelevant to higgs’ liking, but there were seeds of his political growth present in the ’61-’67 films. you can choose to ignore it in terms of your own personal viewing, but considering auteur theory ostensibly grew out of the criticism & films of the french new wave (though later godard was obviously trying to escape from this) i think it’s stupid to ignore it over all.