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Never Cursed wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:16 pm Would it even be a late-period Schrader movie if it didn't rip off the ending to Pickpocket?

Judging the finales for Patty Hearst and Light Sleeper, his whole career has been a homage to Pickpocket.

American Gigolo anyone?

The Elegant Dandy Fop wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:33 pm

Never Cursed wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:16 pm Would it even be a late-period Schrader movie if it didn't rip off the ending to Pickpocket?

Judging the finales for Patty Hearst and Light Sleeper, his whole career has been a homage to Pickpocket.

And First Reformed, at the very least

My excitement for this film hasn't been dampened, but the editing of this trailer screams to me, "We have no idea how to market this!", and I cannot tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Computer Raheem wrote: Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:58 pm My excitement for this film hasn't been dampened, but the editing of this trailer screams to me, "We have no idea how to market this!", and I cannot tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

I felt exactly the same.

I *think* it's a good thing

It strikes me as heavily influenced by Scorsese which is not surprising considering he's an Executive Producer

I agree with the comments here.

Kind of a mess of a trailer but it leaves me no less excited for the thing. But yeah the editing is a wreck. Awful music, too.

Isaac and Haddish seem like they have great chemistry. Dafoe will be perfect as this scumbag. If there's a weak link I can perceive in the footage itself it's maaaybe Sheridan but hard to tell when the trailer is chopping all performance to hell.

criterionsnob wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:05 pm One night only online screening through Metrograph Sept 9 (8pm ET).

Thanks for posting!

Def worth the $5 monthly membership to watch this, not to mention their other 'At Home' offerings.

tehthomas wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 11:28 pm

criterionsnob wrote: Mon Aug 30, 2021 8:05 pm One night only online screening through Metrograph Sept 9 (8pm ET).

Thanks for posting!

Def worth the $5 monthly membership to watch this, not to mention their other 'At Home' offerings.

I definitely agree, worth the price. Feeling weird that I’m hoping this movie gets pirated. Paying for it regardless, but I’ve become suspicious of these ‘one-night only’ screenings as the servers tend to be overwhelmed. As I recall it even happened with Mayweather at Showtime. (In addition to The Green Knight- which is what I’m referencing more directly I suppose) as said, looking forward to being a paying fan but honestly hoping someone smarter and more reckless than I to assist in the (most assured) case of a streaming failure.

A rave from Glenn Kenny

The trades were quite positive as well though (I think it was) THR were saying some of the characters including Sheridan's were underwritten and the mid section of the film drags a little.

Slant's review from Venice (3/4)

Tidiness is an obsession of Schrader’s. He irons wild and lurid premises out with curt dialogue, tightly controlled acting, governable metaphors and themes, and sharp and symmetrical imagery. It’s as if imposing rules on himself, such as those he identified in his seminal 1972 book Transcendental Style in Film, allows him to navigate the subjective process of art-making, just as constriction allows his antiheroes to make sense of the chaos of life as well as of their own minds. The Card Counter is very much a work in this tradition, and it’s frustrating, personal, and intensely moving for its stubbornness. He may be an elder statesman by now, with his legend cemented, but Schrader is still an admirably risky and furious artist.

Featuring a throbbing, ominous score, occasionally wild camera gimmicks, and a messier narrative, The Card Counter is in some ways a stylistic return to late-career form for Paul Schrader after the relative stillness and restraint of First Reformed. Ultimately not as striking and powerful as that film, this is still one of Schrader’s best 21st century efforts, hitting on many of his recurring motifs and featuring at least one virtuoso audiovisual sequence that hit just right on a big screen. Oscar Isaac is a worthy inheritor of Schrader’s lonely antihero archetype, a skilled gambler with distinct peculiarities who, as one would expect, records his musings on morality, guilt, and reparation in a journal with a bottle of whiskey nearby; Tiffany Hadish, Tye Sheridan, and Willem Dafoe all ably provide support, but this is primarily a showcase for Isaac, who really kills a late scene with Sheridan that balances control, menace, and benevolence in a way that expertly reflects the facets of his character (whose name, the pointed nature of which some were concerned about upthread, is a little more complicated than it appears at first glance — though still relevant). Worth seeing theatrically, especially if you’re inclined to enjoy Schrader’s style (as I am), but may be a bit jarring to those who are primarily familiar with him through First Reformed (as many in my audience seemed to be).

Thank you, DI! Planning on seeing this Friday. Very excited.

Obviously the stylistic approach isn't going to be as restrained but were the technical credits comparable to First Reformed? And how were Isaac and Haddish together?

I thought they were fine and had some palpable chemistry, but my friend had the opposite impression and wasn’t very happy with her performance generally. I’d say the below-the-line work on this was mostly comparable with Reformed, but with some occasional exceptions that I’d guess were related to the COVID-19 production disruptions.

Ok, thank you. I've seen some clips of Haddish and Isaac where it seemed like that could go either way.

Schrader made it sound like the covid hiatus ended up helping him because then he got to workshop with Scorsese and others what he needed for his last week of shooting, but it would be fascinating to someday get a director commentary on the details.

C+ from Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

In fact, the only thing really holding The Card Counter together is Schrader’s ritualization of the plot: the ascetic symbolism, the drinking, Tell’s celibacy, the usual issues with women. (The role of women in the Abu Ghraib case, however, is tellingly ignored.) There is, as usual with later Schrader films, an element of pastiche; Tell, with his black tie and professionalism, recalls the honor-bound hoods of Jean-Pierre Melville, the premier French interpreter of noir, whose Bob Le Flambeur may have provided some vague inspiration. But despite these and other echoes of moody and hard-boiled cinema, there is no sense of suspense or milieu.

Is anyone else trying to watch this on Metrograph's website without success?

Per a search of "Metrograph" on Twitter, it seems like the site is down for many if not all of viewers

Thanks for the heads up. It’s working for me now, but no idea if it’ll give out.

Does it have the Property of Focus Features watermark through the whole film? Kind of a dealbreaker for me.