“Milk” (2008)
As part of my pre-Oscar film frenzy, I saw Milk over the weekend. I loved it; I learned from it; I wept. I’ve read movie critics who wonder at the tendency to turn good documentaries into films. Milk is largely based on the highly regarded documentary The Times of Harvey Milk. I think that films, especially well-made and -acted ones like Milk, get a wider release, and are more able to be seen, thus more likely to be seen. They can in turn prompt people to seek out the source material, which I plan to do.
I was amused by this bit of trivia from IMDB:
During a July 2008 interview with the Orange County Register about Pineapple Express (2008), the interviewer told Seth Rogen and James Franco that he prepared for the interview by watching the classic stoner comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) the night before. When he asked Rogen and Franco if they prepared likewise before making Pineapple Express, Franco said he prepared by making out with Spicoli (a reference to his having shot Milk (2008), in which he and Sean Penn play lovers).
January 14th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
i loved it too. really beautifully done.
January 16th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
I have to get out and see that! Which reminds me — do you also like to watch documentaries, or does your fiction prejudice hold with films as well? Because Errol Morris (Thin Blue Line, Gates of Heaven) is fabulous.