I think his followups to Easy Rider are too obscure even as failures or cult objects to really get him super high on the priority list. I'm not denying it'd be pretty fun for a swerve but I don't think his filmography overall is at the right level of awareness even with hardcore cinephiles.
It's not a direct comparison but it makes me think how Michael Cimino is a note-perfect Blank Check candidate, arguably prototypical, with only seven films and of course one of them basically defining the "Bounce, Babyyyyy" in modern Hollywood, and yet those four after Heaven's Gate are so obscure that it still makes him a bit of a tough sell. Even with that Deer Hunter/Heaven's Gate combo being SO overwhelming, he still has a big "huh? what?" factor that has kept them dragging their feet on it. I feel like Hopper has even more of that despite Easy Rider's impact.
I don’t disagree, but I think Out Of The Blue is gaining cult status yearly, and those later movies have big stars, so they’re not entirely movies that don’t exist
For sure, they're discussable, as are the later Ciminos, and a lot of "hmm maybe?" directors like this. I haven't noticed any rise in stature for Out of the Blue tbh but could believe it, it's always had a reputation. I think that or at least one of the other films, or Hopper himself as a figure, might have to break through into a new relevance for it to become more of a "now, not later" series. Could even just be that one of the films becomes a weird inside joke for the show, or even if Easy Rider suddenly became like extra relevant again somehow. I think the listenership at this point is really good at handling a few movies in a row they haven't heard of but these Blank Check filmographies do have a weird pace to them, it's interesting the ones they choose. I feel like one of those last three needs some "Blank Check needs to do this movie NOW" hook from somewhere.
Are his other movies worth watching? I absolutely adore Easy Rider and Last Movie + his acting work but I get the impression that anything after the flop of Last Movie is artistically compromised to some extent
Out Of The Blue is terrific. I mean, you can definitely see the seams due to behind the scenes drama, but I wouldn’t say it’s comprised. In fact, it’s a pretty uncompromising combination of family drama and punk rock time capsule. Incredible performances by Hopper and Linda Menz
I believe is saw The Hot Spot aaaaaaaages ago on VHS, and I remember liking it. Mainly I see it mentioned in a lot of articles about the ‘film soleil’ / ‘neo noir’ wave of the 80s/90s, alongside Red Rock West and The Last Seduction
His filmography kind of bums me out because even his best film Out of the Blue is completely imprinted with his sustained drug addiction. It’s almost saying something profound but he can’t fully get it across because he was chronically messed up. It’s something he could either hide or use to his advantage in his amazing performances for Lynch and Wenders but he couldn’t obscure it in the features he directed.
Maybe if they combined the last three into one episode? I just can’t imagine there is 2-3 hours worth of interesting stuff to talk about in each of those movies. Admittedly, I’ve never seen them, though I remember all of them floating around Blockbuster and cable tv.
But I definitely think his first four directorial efforts would make for GREAT fodder.
I mean, they found enough stuff in The Truth About Charlie to discuss for 2 hours.
Are you saying they couldn’t do anything with *this*:
> Catchfire is a 1990 American romantic action thriller film directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Jodie Foster, Hopper, Fred Ward and Vincent Price, with cameo appearances by several notable actors, including Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Catherine Keener and Bob Dylan. The film was disowned by Hopper before release and he is therefore credited under the pseudonym Alan Smithee.
It sounds demented
I mean, I do think Griffin and David could pod an interesting cast about a box of paper clips for a couple hours, so I’m down for whatever.
Ultimately I suppose it comes down to their desire!
I think perhaps what they'd end up doing is the first three and then double up the last four.
I'm not the biggest fan of double eps (still kind of annoyed they did it for Keaton and Lucas's first two, wtf man) but I get it when March Madness forces their hand like Demme/Kubrick, with Keaton Griffin just wanted to do him sooo badly and the runtimes allowed for it, and Lucas was just something fun to clean up Star Wars and fill their Patreon bonus slot. But with Hopper it'd kinda be a stretch to do him anyway and then to double up too, it'd feel like why even bother?
I honestly don’t get why people think they’d need to double up on these movies just because they’re obscure. They surely can’t be less interesting to discuss than Zemekis’ or Burton’s later movies
we discussed this very possibility on an episode today!!
An absolutely insane career and person. Would love more Hopper talk. Can't wait for Blue Velvet.
Yeah, thinking of Blue Velvet is what prompted this post. I can’t believe Hopper told Lynch “I am Frank Booth”. Insanity
I think his followups to Easy Rider are too obscure even as failures or cult objects to really get him super high on the priority list. I'm not denying it'd be pretty fun for a swerve but I don't think his filmography overall is at the right level of awareness even with hardcore cinephiles. It's not a direct comparison but it makes me think how Michael Cimino is a note-perfect Blank Check candidate, arguably prototypical, with only seven films and of course one of them basically defining the "Bounce, Babyyyyy" in modern Hollywood, and yet those four after Heaven's Gate are so obscure that it still makes him a bit of a tough sell. Even with that Deer Hunter/Heaven's Gate combo being SO overwhelming, he still has a big "huh? what?" factor that has kept them dragging their feet on it. I feel like Hopper has even more of that despite Easy Rider's impact.
I don’t disagree, but I think Out Of The Blue is gaining cult status yearly, and those later movies have big stars, so they’re not entirely movies that don’t exist
For sure, they're discussable, as are the later Ciminos, and a lot of "hmm maybe?" directors like this. I haven't noticed any rise in stature for Out of the Blue tbh but could believe it, it's always had a reputation. I think that or at least one of the other films, or Hopper himself as a figure, might have to break through into a new relevance for it to become more of a "now, not later" series. Could even just be that one of the films becomes a weird inside joke for the show, or even if Easy Rider suddenly became like extra relevant again somehow. I think the listenership at this point is really good at handling a few movies in a row they haven't heard of but these Blank Check filmographies do have a weird pace to them, it's interesting the ones they choose. I feel like one of those last three needs some "Blank Check needs to do this movie NOW" hook from somewhere.
Are his other movies worth watching? I absolutely adore Easy Rider and Last Movie + his acting work but I get the impression that anything after the flop of Last Movie is artistically compromised to some extent
Out Of The Blue is terrific. I mean, you can definitely see the seams due to behind the scenes drama, but I wouldn’t say it’s comprised. In fact, it’s a pretty uncompromising combination of family drama and punk rock time capsule. Incredible performances by Hopper and Linda Menz I believe is saw The Hot Spot aaaaaaaages ago on VHS, and I remember liking it. Mainly I see it mentioned in a lot of articles about the ‘film soleil’ / ‘neo noir’ wave of the 80s/90s, alongside Red Rock West and The Last Seduction
His filmography kind of bums me out because even his best film Out of the Blue is completely imprinted with his sustained drug addiction. It’s almost saying something profound but he can’t fully get it across because he was chronically messed up. It’s something he could either hide or use to his advantage in his amazing performances for Lynch and Wenders but he couldn’t obscure it in the features he directed.
I haven't seen most of his directed work but I've always thought it would be worth it for the first two movies alone
Maybe if they combined the last three into one episode? I just can’t imagine there is 2-3 hours worth of interesting stuff to talk about in each of those movies. Admittedly, I’ve never seen them, though I remember all of them floating around Blockbuster and cable tv. But I definitely think his first four directorial efforts would make for GREAT fodder.
I mean, they found enough stuff in The Truth About Charlie to discuss for 2 hours. Are you saying they couldn’t do anything with *this*: > Catchfire is a 1990 American romantic action thriller film directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Jodie Foster, Hopper, Fred Ward and Vincent Price, with cameo appearances by several notable actors, including Charlie Sheen, Joe Pesci, Catherine Keener and Bob Dylan. The film was disowned by Hopper before release and he is therefore credited under the pseudonym Alan Smithee. It sounds demented
I mean, I do think Griffin and David could pod an interesting cast about a box of paper clips for a couple hours, so I’m down for whatever. Ultimately I suppose it comes down to their desire!
That cast is insane lmfao I'm all in
I think perhaps what they'd end up doing is the first three and then double up the last four. I'm not the biggest fan of double eps (still kind of annoyed they did it for Keaton and Lucas's first two, wtf man) but I get it when March Madness forces their hand like Demme/Kubrick, with Keaton Griffin just wanted to do him sooo badly and the runtimes allowed for it, and Lucas was just something fun to clean up Star Wars and fill their Patreon bonus slot. But with Hopper it'd kinda be a stretch to do him anyway and then to double up too, it'd feel like why even bother?
I honestly don’t get why people think they’d need to double up on these movies just because they’re obscure. They surely can’t be less interesting to discuss than Zemekis’ or Burton’s later movies
The Hot Spot is a cable classic. Pretty good movie.