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Not the cult but the divisive cinematic "Heaven's Gate," 1980 film, the testament to Hollywood's changing tides and the unpredictable oscillations of critical opinion. A product of the "auteur" era's unchecked creative freedom with a 219-minute runtime, and an initial onslaught of vehement criticism embodied a directorial excess, effectively sounding the death knell for this period of Hollywood's history. Despite the film's early infamy, it later found an unexpected redemption in Criterion Collection, affirming its artistic value against the tide of its earlier reception. This paradoxical journey from cinematic pariah to treasure paints a compelling narrative of artistic resilience and the capricious currents of industry and critical reception (like for real it's hard for most people to finish).
Aug 23, 2023
Related Recs
We're a bisexual nation living in denial, all because of a bunch of nerds. totally ambitious exercise by an auteur. this movie saw all culture of the last twenty years more or less going insane, and ran with it. in all its schlocky needle drops and all. a lot of talk about this movie talks about "prescience" which I dislike much less than the idea that this movie is a scalpel into the heart of American paranoia much like a Philip K Dick novel if he understood Green Day. It's an incredibly difficult film to sit through all the way, partially because it feels at first glance incredibly Bush-era, but I don't think that makes it worse. Utterly relentless, but I think that's the point in what might be maddening. genuinely one of the most futuristic films ever made. You can watch it on Tubi RN!
Aug 11, 2024
This film fucking rules. On John Waters best of 2023 list, "A maddeningly radical, tedious, shockingly repetitious, brilliant two-hour-and-43-minute Godard–meets–Harmony Korine Romanian masterpiece in which we spend way too much time locked in the car of a confident, trashy, gum-chewing workaholic PA for a movie company as she does her chores."
Apr 9, 2024
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I think about this doc all the time because it’s kind of a cautionary tale. It’s about the making of that movie “Boondock Saints” and all the shitty stuff that happened during development. The director was a megalomaniac who refused to listen to anyone else and got drunk off the attention he got from Harvey Weinstein and other people in Hollywood. Every time I’m being really stubborn about something on a creative project, I think of this movie and it reminds me that I should always make time to doubt myself.
Jan 4, 2022
Top Recs from @matthew
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This could be one of those rare things that – somehow – reminds you who you are, or who you used to be, those parts you thought were gone. (And trust me, there will be threads. So many threads.) I’ve learned, too, that there are whole stretches of life where you’ve been a stranger to yourself for so long that admitting it feels terrifying, insane even. But without that one thing to confess to, to get honest with – to untangle the mess of ordinary, maddening thoughts – you might never know what’s actually there, buried under the static.
Nov 14, 2024
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Taking your time to increase the quality of what you are doing will improve almost every activity or outcome.
Dec 26, 2023
I stumbled upon this relic in a nameless California town I forgot the name of, probably because thrift shops are like existential quicksand. It’s the perfect prop for those friend-argument moments, an almost absurd metaphor for dismantling our emotional walls between us. Plus, its sheer randomness guarantees everyone will question your sanity rather than the sentiment. 💯💯💯💯
Aug 3, 2024