414 Two-Lane Blacktop

[ellipsis7]

Tom Milne/Time Out...

Two-Lane Blacktop:- Hellman, as his later inactivity testifies, seems to have turned himself into box-office anathema by toying once too often with his beloved actes gratuites, so open-ended that they would delight even the most demanding existentialist. Here two young hot-rodders (Taylor, Wilson), making their way across America by picking up racing bets on the side, challenge (or are challenged by) the boastful middle-aged owner of a gleaming new Pontiac (Oates). As their mesmeric duel unfolds within a landscape that narrows down to a claustrophobic tunnel of highways, filling stations and roadside cafés, it soon becomes apparent that Hellman is less interested in allegory (class and generation conflicts as in Easy Rider) or in the race itself (which simply fizzles out), than in the mysterious process whereby a challenge is subtly metamorphosed into an obsession. Self-enclosed, self-absorbed, and self-destructive (as the last shot of the film catching in the projector and burning suggests), it's absolutely riveting.

It seems this and BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ are earmarked for the Xmas prezzie market, along with one new Bergman in SAWDUST AND TINSEL and the hastily put together Bergman box set aiming to capitalise on a renewal of interest for those who have not picked up before!...

[125100]

Are this and the Bergman cash-in, I mean boxset, really it for Dec?

I may buy Two Lane Blacktop even though it doesn't really appeal to me, I mean I didn't care for Easy Rider and nothing good ever came of the 70's.

If only the Bergman set was full of rereleases with new style artwork *Sigh* Just a Seventh Seal rerelease would have made my xmas

[Faux Hulot]

So happy to see this coming out, even if I do still have my Anchor Bay (with the keychain[!]), as I always felt the AB edition's encoding was a bit lacking (I actually thought the laserdisc looked better).

Does anyone know of a halfway decent uncut DVD of China 9, Liberty 37 anywhere in the world?

[ellipsis7]

Just a Seventh Seal rerelease would have made my xmas

Well Tartan are releasing a new edition of new transfer remastered from the freshly restored camera negative of THE SEVENTH SEAL on R2 UK standard DVD & Blu-Ray on Oct 22nd...

[miless]

PLUS: Rudy Wurlitzer's screenplay, reprinted specially for this release; new essays by Kent Jones, appreciations by Richard Linklater and Tom Waits; and a reprint of the 1970 Rolling Stone article "On Route 66, Filming Two-Lane Blacktop."

Sounds like this release will come with a book (in a digi)
can't wait to read what Tom Waits thinks of the film!

[Person]

It's very interesting to see the 5.1 mix (presumably the same Anchor Bay / Chase work) but not the original mono that that the Anchor has, but is one of the rare cases where the 5.1 remix yields a better experience, with the roaring engines, etc. New transfer from Criterion, though the AB was also approved by Hellman. Tough film to transfer - 2-perf Techniscope, aphotic nighttime scenes, but Criterion have the experience and I think that it will look superior to the AB. I'm not sure why the screenplay has been added, as I have never had the desire to read it and it will just be another needlessly bulky set on my ever-shrinking shelves, alongside The Man Who Fell to Earth. Bloody decadent Criterion staff!

[miless]

and nothing good ever came of the 70's.

nothing?
Malick?
Altman?
Scorsese?
Tarkovsky?

[Steven H]

Two-Lane Blacktop came in at #78 on the 70s List Project a couple years back. That list, at least, should give anyone decrying the decade's lack of films pause.

[arsonfilms]

Looks like this just got changed to spine 414

[you gotta be kidding me]

No Beginning, No End, No Speed Limit

[zedz]

I'm grateful that they seem to have developed their own commentaries rather than porting the excruciatingly dull AB one. Looks like a comprehensive package.

[Person]

nothing good ever came of the 70's

Even Barmy will be reeling at that one. I mean, writing of the pornos, too?!

[Cinephrenic]

nothing good ever came of the 70's

WTF?

[FilmFanSea]

On my only viewing of the film a few years back, I came away underwhelmed (I had loved The Shooting and Ride the Whirlwind). I think the subject matter didn't interest me in the least, I was pissed off at the superficial narrative, and the acting was wooden. Maybe there's an existential masterpiece lurking beneath the surface that eluded me (it wouldn't be the first time that's happened), or maybe I just wasn't in a receptive mood. I will certainly rent the CC edition to give it another spin and to see if it improves with some additional context and interpretation.

All the same, it's nice to see Hellman added to the collection.

[Cinephrenic]

I mean I didn't care for Easy Rider and nothing good ever came of the 70's

You obviously didn't care about the 60's as well.

[jbeall]

I may buy Two Lane Blacktop even though it doesn't really appeal to me, I mean I didn't care for Easy Rider and nothing good ever came of the 70's.

Not to pile on, esp. since this thread is about Two-Lane Blacktop, but put Network and The Sting in your netflix queue. If you watch those two films and still believe that nothing good came out of the 70s, then you're beyond hope. On the other hand, if you find yourself enlightened, come back for more recommendations.

[Macintosh]

I may buy Two Lane Blacktop even though it doesn't really appeal to me, I mean I didn't care for Easy Rider and nothing good ever came of the 70's.

Not to pile on, esp. since this thread is about Two-Lane Blacktop, but put Network and The Sting in your netflix queue. If you watch those two films and still believe that nothing good came out of the 70s, then you're beyond hope. On the other hand, if you find yourself enlightened, come back for more recommendations.

forget those films, put The Hired Hand or Electra Glide in Blue in yr queue.

Also, i feel the cover art is really missing the spirit of the movie and doesn't do the film justice.

[Cronenfly]

The cover is indeed crap, and not at all as I would have expected it (another thread, I know...). Features look awesome, though, but I can't fathom why the screenplay is being included (happy to have it, but still...this doesn't seem to be the kind of movie where that's necessary).

[eez28]

Also, i feel the cover art is really missing the spirit of the movie and doesn't do the film justice.

I haven't seen the movie so in your opinion what kind of cover art would do the film justice because by reading the synopsis on criterion's site it seems that a car in action on the road seems fitting.

[LeeB.Sims]

nothing good ever came of the 70's.

Maybe he meant nothing good ever came of That 70's Show. That's a statement we can all agree on right?

I ave often wished that Criterion would include the screenplay with certain releases. If it becomes a semi-regular new standard then this is a perfectly good place to start. I wish Sweet Baby James was involved in the extras somehow.

Also,

Hellman, as his later inactivity testifies, seems to have turned himself into box-office anathema by toying once too often with his beloved actes gratuites, so open-ended that they would delight even the most demanding existentialist

Can some smarty-pants here dumb down this sentence for me a little and help me understand exactly what it is saying about Hellman's work?

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Hellman, as his later inactivity testifies, seems to have turned himself into box-office anathema by toying once too often with his beloved actes gratuites, so open-ended that they would delight even the most demanding existentialist

Can some smarty-pants here dumb down this sentence for me a little and help me understand exactly what it is saying about Hellman's work?

Basically he's box office poison coz he's got his head up his arse- (hope that's sufficiently dumbed).

I neither concur with this view nor claim the title of smarty pants.

[Buttery Jeb]

So, is Hellman making a documentary about Warren Oates for future theatrical release? I saw something like that mentioned once or twice in conjunction with this DVD; but I thought it was going to be a supplement.

-BJ

[GringoTex]

Richard Linklater's Things I Love About Two-Lane Blacktop

• Because it's the purest American road movie ever.
  Because it's like a drive-in movie directed by a French New Wave director.
  Because the only thing that can get between a boy and his car obsession is a girl, and Lori Bird perfectly messes up the oneness between the Driver, the Mechanic, and their car.
  Because Dennis Wilson gives the greatest performance ever by a driver.
  Because James Taylor seems like a refugee from a Robert Bresson movie.
  Because there was once a god who walked the Earth named Warren Oates.
  Because there's a continuing controversy over who is the actual lead in this movie. There are different camps. Some say it's the '55 Chevy, some say it's the GTO.
  Because it has the most purely cinematic ending in film history.
  Because it's like a western. The guys are like old-time gunfighters, ready to out-draw the quickest gun in town. And they don't talk about old flames, but rather old cars they've had.
  Because Warren Oates has a different cashmere sweater for every occasion. And of course the wet bar in the trunk.
  Because unlike other films of the era with the designer alienation of the drug culture and the war protesters, this movie is about the alienation of everybody else, like Robert Frank's American Comes Alive.
  Because Warren Oates, as GTO, orders a hamburger and an Alka Seltzer and says things like "Everything is going too fast and not fast enough."
  Because it's both the last film of the '60s -- even though it came out in '71 -- but it's also the first film of the '70s. You know, that great era of "How the hell did they ever get that film made at a studio/Hollywood would never do that today" type of film.
  Because engines have never sounded better in a movie.
  Because these two young men on their trip to nowhere don't really know how to talk. The Driver doesn't really converse when he's behind the wheel, and the Mechanic doesn't really talk when he's working on the car. So this is primarily a visual, atmospheric experience. To watch this movie correctly is to become absorbed into it.
  And, above all else, Two-Lane Blacktop goes all the way with its idea. And that's a rare thing in this world; a completely honest movie.

[tryavna]

On my only viewing of the film a few years back, I came away underwhelmed (I had loved The Shooting and Ride the Whirlwind). I think the subject matter didn't interest me in the least, I was pissed off at the superficial narrative, and the acting was wooden. Maybe there's an existential masterpiece lurking beneath the surface that eluded me (it wouldn't be the first time that's happened), or maybe I just wasn't in a receptive mood.

Having also been underwhelmed by it after my first viewing but then having realized that it really sticks with you in an almost inexplicable way, I'd have to say that it is an existential masterpiece. For me, it's a movie that's more of an "experience" than anything else -- in that I find myself slowly being forced to adapt my own mental state to its rhythms.

If nothing else, of course, Warren Oates gives a masterclass in film acting in the movie.

[pauling]

Agreed. I can't explain how happy I am to finally have Warren Oates added to the collection.