David Mamet

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mfunk9786
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Re: David Mamet

#76 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 2:35 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote:He seems to be a very gracious host, in the domestic sense of the word, so I'm interested in hearing if former Air America personality Marc Maron kowtows to Mamet's conservatism.
He was certainly polite, but by then Mamet was full steam ahead and it wasn't like he was on a James Woods-level rant or anything, just speaking in more general terms about how great the constitution is and other fascinating topics

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Re: David Mamet

#77 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:29 pm

The Spanish Prisoner is getting a Blu ray release January 8th from a new Sony licensor, Ammo

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Re: David Mamet

#78 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 25, 2019 12:56 am

Mamet’s been busy writing novels since all his movies keep falling through (shame Blackbird with Cate Blanchett never transpired, it would been great to see those two work together on a conspiracy thriller). He wrote the gangland-set Chicago last year and his latest appears to be a fake tell all loosely based on the Stormy Daniels scandal

Also missed his two latest plays— Bitter Wheat, the Weinstein-inspired one that ran with John Malkovich in the lead in London this summer, and the Penitent, which focuses on LGBTQ identity politics and born again Christianity. After the last couple Mamet plays, I trust him not at all to tackle any of those topics, so curiosity may finally not get the better of me

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Re: David Mamet

#79 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:33 pm

I've been going down the Mamet rabbit hole of revisits, the ultimate form of self-care that never fails to re-awaken my love for movies.

The Spanish Prisoner: Endlessly rewatchable, Mamet’s most intricately conceived conjob gratifies hope that an artist can come along and take the best of neo-noir and wrong-man Hitch to forge a perfect film. Even though I’ve seen this countless times, there are always details I forget regarding the cleverness of the mechanics or a misremembered setpiece that delivers stripped-down naked thrills. I came to this as a kid to see Steve Martin in a serious role, and part of me still returns for that reason- a marvelously impenetrable perf.
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The responsive glance that Rebecca Pidgeon gives as she reads Scott’s face and consciously drops her act at the end, is priceless and one of my favorite moments in any Mamet film
I can’t think of a better or purer modern reincarnation of Hitchcock offhand.

State and Main: I've only seen this once, in theatres at the age of 11, so two decades later it's heartening to discover that this isn't just an amusing satire on the film industry but a self-reflexive one that fits right into the Small-Town Screwball mold in farcical structure, busy overlapping character dynamics, witty fast-paced banter, and astute details down to sight gags and sharp supporting-part/cameo passive commentaries. This film is so smart and layered in its influences, but becomes a capital-G Great film because it's also emotionally earnest, proving that behind all the artificial tools used to communicate the playful expositions of.. artificial systems, is also an honest meditation on human experience, conveyed by such manipulated constructs.

The desires for existential purpose, compromising values, social absurdities, eccentric ego-games, and the faint energy of meaningful connection, are all parodied but not too far removed from the moments of humor produced from interpersonal engagement in real life, just chopped up and shoved into the skeleton of a traditional Hollywood studio-era 30s film. Mamet's subversion of expectations is glorious especially in how he twists the liberated-female (now pejoratively categorized as the MPDG) archetype, with the ease of leaving one partner for another bluntly issued without emotion, and the 'misunderstanding' situation between PSH and JSP quickly alleviated before it even starts forming the 'problem' of the film, patted with a political non-sequitur-analogy quip. The real kicker is the 'practice' con at the end, which pokes fun at Mamet's own repertoire. This may be the best (post)modern recontextualization of the screwball comedy, beyond even entertainment purposes because Mamet understands the genre language like the back of his hand, and finds new avenues of application to color its potential within the medium.

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Re: David Mamet

#80 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Oct 22, 2020 11:19 pm

Heist: It’s amazing how much I recalled vividly from this film, and the thrills of revisiting it rest in how Mamet’s wild script twists his own ideas on confidence games as an Advanced class. Instead of playing the long con, he crafts a series of episodic ambiguities that spill into each other and confound, but not for the sake of embellishing rehashed work. These pieces reflexively must exist by the nature of the diverse pool of con artists trying to out an unwanted intruder without the ability to communicate openly. So it’s not manipulative to the audience, but a creative method at planting us with these people and revealing that to an extent they’re taking risks and reading the room rather than planning everything out to a T in advance waiting for us to catch up. Mamet forces us into their highwire lifestyle, an energy that contains its own contradictory adrenaline rush that’s trained to keep cool with some secret trump cards in the back pocket.

Things Change: As soon as the credits started, I realized I saw this multiple times as a kid but forgot it was Mamet. It’s a solid film with some dry black humor and cute meditations on finding deep meaning in small gestures and impermanent details, but ultimately it’s a film about isolated individuals finding connection. This is a compassionate and sharp movie, rare to find one that’s so loving but hurts. The second act even feels like a Demme film for stretches before we return to Mamet’s bouts of sobering bleakness. Mantegna’s demeanor at the end is jarring in its erratic displays of acute emotional processing that the film transforms from a predictable mob comedy into something cutting and real, even if for just a moment.

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Re: David Mamet

#81 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:24 pm

Gotta love Amazon Prime’s MPAA warning for The Winslow’s Boy’s G rating:
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Brian C
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Re: David Mamet

#82 Post by Brian C » Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:37 pm

That’s weird ... I don’t remember any drug use.

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domino harvey
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Re: David Mamet

#83 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 23, 2020 9:42 pm

It’s the wrong description. The film is in fact G rated, it contains none of those things

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Re: David Mamet

#84 Post by Brian C » Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:06 pm

Way to ruin the joke, domino.

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domino harvey
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Re: David Mamet

#85 Post by domino harvey » Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:10 pm

I mean, I’m certainly not posting on this forum to add anything of value

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Re: David Mamet

#86 Post by therewillbeblus » Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:30 pm

I could see an intern vaguely familiar with Mamet’s work just making a blind assumption after seeing a single letter rating

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Re: David Mamet

#87 Post by Finch » Sat Oct 24, 2020 5:39 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: David Mamet

#88 Post by domino harvey » Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:18 pm

Man, I know Mamet must have written this specifically for Pidgeon to perform, but what is she doing with these lines... Have they both lost it at this point?

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Re: David Mamet

#89 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Sun Oct 25, 2020 2:58 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:18 pm
Man, I know Mamet must have written this specifically for Pidgeon to perform, but what is she doing with these lines... Have they both lost it at this point?
I think it was the audition for the audio book version.

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Re: David Mamet

#90 Post by dwk » Fri Jul 09, 2021 9:10 pm

MVD is releasing Stuart Gordon's adaptation of Edmond on Blu-ray on November 9th.

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Re: David Mamet

#91 Post by Aunt Peg » Sat Jul 10, 2021 4:19 am

Funny seeing David Mamet's name bump on this thread just a couple of days after watching Glengarry Glen Ross for the first time since its initial release. And boy has it aged BADLY. Very much a product of its day that is now really tedious despite the still fresh work by Jack Lemmon.

I'd be curious to revisit Edmond, flawed as it may be it is one of Mamet's most interesting works.

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Re: David Mamet

#92 Post by DarkImbecile » Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:03 am


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domino harvey
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Re: David Mamet

#93 Post by domino harvey » Mon Apr 11, 2022 11:21 am

That was so much worse than I expected, even at this point from him

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Re: David Mamet

#94 Post by hearthesilence » Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:08 pm

JFC, what the hell happened to this guy? Like for a good stretch, he and Kanye West were the two of the biggest sources of hometown pride when it came to the arts, and now....ugh.

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Re: David Mamet

#95 Post by Q Pete Mitchell » Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:32 pm

I wonder how he gets along with his ex Lindsay Crouse, and what he thinks of their daughter appearing in a show like Girls.

It's so strange to see him say stuff like this publicly, as these ideas could be much more palatable contained in the context of a his work. Homicide is such a complex, compelling blend of racial and religious paranoia and compassion. On the other hand, Oleanna was tiresome and annoying, maybe due to the limited he said/she said aspect, which doesn't really interest me.

This reminds me I haven't yet seen Detachment, from Tony Kaye, which as far as I can tell from reviews, is a generous, positive look at teaching, which seems odd given his own bizarre public statements and behavior.

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Re: David Mamet

#96 Post by Fiery Angel » Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:52 pm

When he was on Bill Maher's show Friday, and Maher mentioned his daughter, Mamet looked happy and said "Girls!"

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Re: David Mamet

#97 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:03 pm

Q Pete Mitchell wrote:
Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:32 pm
This reminds me I haven't yet seen Detachment, from Tony Kaye, which as far as I can tell from reviews, is a generous, positive look at teaching, which seems odd given his own bizarre public statements and behavior.
Bryan Cranston (and others, from what I can gather) were extremely frustrated with Kaye. Not sure what that has to do with Mamet, but they're certainly two peas in a pod when it comes to a sort of open ear to the far right that turns into something more sinister, and frankly just obnoxious. Mamet knows better. He just doesn't care.

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Re: David Mamet

#98 Post by swo17 » Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:43 pm

Just now placing that Ellen Burstyn's granddaughter at the end of Wiener-Dog is David Mamet's daughter

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Re: David Mamet

#99 Post by RIP Film » Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:09 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Mon Apr 11, 2022 5:03 pm
Q Pete Mitchell wrote:
Mon Apr 11, 2022 4:32 pm
This reminds me I haven't yet seen Detachment, from Tony Kaye, which as far as I can tell from reviews, is a generous, positive look at teaching, which seems odd given his own bizarre public statements and behavior.
Bryan Cranston (and others, from what I can gather) were extremely frustrated with Kaye. Not sure what that has to do with Mamet, but they're certainly two peas in a pod when it comes to a sort of open ear to the far right that turns into something more sinister, and frankly just obnoxious. Mamet knows better. He just doesn't care.
Cranston said he didn’t get along with Kaye, but his main issue seemed to be that he didn’t honor the original screenplay (by former teacher Carl Lund). It’s no surprise that Kaye is hard to work with and has a massive ego, but not sure what you mean by him “lending an ear to the far right that turns into something more sinister”. I see him more as an artist willing to dive straight into issues that divide people and find the humanity there. Granted I haven’t seen Lake of Fire and don’t plan to, but American History X and Detachment are both enormously compassionate films.

Also not sure what this has to do with Mamet.

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Re: David Mamet

#100 Post by Q Pete Mitchell » Mon Apr 11, 2022 6:23 pm

Jesus, sorry I sullied the "purity" of the David Mamet thread by comparing his film and public statements to another directors similar films and public statements. Why that's verboten or bad form, I don't know. Perhaps there's a thread called "David Mamet and Tony Kaye" which I haven't seen? In that case, apologies.

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