Citizen Kane, then...

you know, it wasn't even a newsroom. it was the theater where they were projecting the newsreel. love how that also suggests that, in the film's chronology, kane is long dated at the time of his death - the world's moved on to talkies, papers don't dominate anymore.

I had to rewind the part with the bird to make sure my imagination wasn't fucking with me, that there wasn't a ghost in the machine.

I love the newsreel/theater scene so much because, by the time I saw it for the first time, I had been used to black and white films in my own admittedly limited experience as being constantly, perfectly staged in terms of dialogue -- everything was all about precision and delivering of lines. So the sudden cut and seeing and hearing a bunch of people all talk back and forth 'naturally,' however written and focused that part of the script was in turn, was a bit of a revelation. Everything actually felt relaxed.

What I love most about the film now is the young Orson Welles, without makeup and jowls, ready for the world.

yes, it does feel like a breath of fresh air after the clipped narration of the newsreel especially! also the smoky light, the deep blacks, the journalist silhouetted by the projector. the cold light in thatchers archives-cum-mausoleum. beautiful, beautiful film.

young Welles is already a little jowly

give ryan reynolds a year

i would lvoe to watch this again sometime soon.

otm

not that it's that hard, to find two hours...

feel like it isn't presented in the best possible state, which is a shame

Ned otm about the newsreel/theater scene contrasting with 'normal' black and white movies. We watched Kane for film class in my first year of uni, and I had a similar reaction. And the great thing about Kane is that while it is a film that books are endlessly written about and people cite as the greatest whatever, part of what I find great about it is that it is such a pleasure to watch on repeated viewings. And Welles is so magnetic as the young CFK.

I remember later on seeing Olivier's "Wuthering Heights" and thinking, 'there's something about the cinematography that is kind of familiar to me'...and then looking it up and realizing that Gregg Toland was the common denominator. Probably a big old 'duh' for everyone else who knows anything about anything, but it was a little epiphany for me at the time, lol.

always nice to see someone get genuinely excited about 'kane' -- it is a very fun, engaging, gorgeous film.

I just saw the for the first time, too, a few months ago. Really as big and watchable as they say it is!

Seeing Kane added another level to visiting Hearst Castle. It's like, "Holy crap he really DID have a fireplace bigger than he was."

"I think we might have a FAP tomorrow, Susan."

Want to watch this again now, but waiting for the Blu Ray out next year. Saw it in the cinema once but it was on old print, so not much better than the DVD version I have.

Kane at 70

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/3227

what a fun movie.

how wonderful to be this guy:

http://images.piccsy.com/cache/images/70764-05642a-500-689.jpg

paid for it of course

Who knew that Kane paved the way for The Human Centipede?

Yesterday was also Welles' birthday (and Freud, and Willie Mays).

Morbs I'm curious - where do you rank this among Welles pics?

The "ultimate collector's edition" blu-ray was announced today:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81zNzRWRpHL._AA1500_.jpg

ho hum lobby cards book WAIT HOLY SHIT MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS

Aw hell yeah! Finally!

aero, it's kind of impossible for me to think of it as anything but Welles' best both as entertainment and unsullied, unfucked-with tour de force. I see a certain greatness in Lady from Shanghai, Touch of Evil and especially Othello, but only prefer them to CK in fleeting moments.

After reading this, I was hoping that set would include an acclaimed BBC doc on the making of Kane, but apparently not? I hope this, tho, gets taken care of:

WB should certainly “un-restore” the “News-on-the-March” sequence which Welles intentionally wanted to have a dirty and scratched look, as well as all the scenes in the previous digital restoration that removed such “artifacts” as the raindrops on the windows outside of Mr. Bernstein’s office.

http://www.wellesnet.com/?p=1358

srsly, how does somebody who removes raindrops and cleans up News On the March get a job in restoration?

Maybe he worked for Ted Turner.

As for me, I can't possibly choose any of Welles' other films over CK for sheer entertainment. That's what I tell skeptics afraid of its classic aura: it's fast moving and fun as all hell.

True. The pacing makes it seem pretty modern.

Can't wait for some HD Kane.

see teal+orange thread for a sneak preview

http://events.hometheaterforum.com/files/lowry.txt

<q=JohnLowry>May I please apologize for the lack of certain raindrops in the window.
The work on Citizen Kane was done exactly two years ago, and we have made great
strides in the interim. Today, removal of one drop of rain, snow, sleet or hail is unacceptable...
regardless of incessant requests from the Postmaster General (Just kidding)</q>

holy crap that kane set looks sweet

As for me, I can't possibly choose any of Welles' other films over CK for sheer entertainment. That's what I tell skeptics afraid of its classic aura: it's fast moving and fun as all hell.

otm

sadly the blu-ray version still includes the revisionist documentary and adds the shit biopic based on it. (revisionist because it claims that kane is based on welles himself which is silly/missing the point, and possibly included so that turner can try to mess with welles's esteem)

Apparently the Ambersons disc is bare bones. :-(

Other movies that are fast moving and fun as all hell.

The Magnificent Ambersons
Touch of Evil
F for Fake

Just saying.

cosign on F for Fake, it's cut like a music video. Great fun.

Apparently the Ambersons disc is bare bones

well we don't even have all the bones of the film!

Ambersons is fun as hell but it's not fast moving -- and that's a compliment.

Touch of Evil drags more than CK does (the Heston-Weaver stuff leaves me cold).

ambersons is so slow-moving that whenever i watch it i end up staring at the edges of the frame in certain scenes to try and see if the image is static or just moving incredibly slowly

f for fake kinda bogs down towards the end. the picasso thing.

meanwhile citizen kane moves like star wars.

F For Fake is (somewhat) fun, and that's ALL it is.

chartres bit somehow manages not to be overrated.

I've the same problem with F For Fake that I do with Zelig: the joke gets tired after twenty minutes.

Zelig has a richer authorial metaphor, at least to me. Also funnier.

is the joke "orson welles has a moviola" because it's a pretty good joke

i like zelig but it takes longer than any other 80-minute movie i'm aware of. it has as much content as a longish shouts and murmurs piece.

"Orson Welles in a cool-ass cape"

"orson welles shows you pictures of his girlfriend"

You know what's funny? That Richard Gere made a movie about this too.