criterionforum.org

Jesus, has anyone seen the Eagles documentary? Alex Gibney co-produced it. I heard it was good and did a cursory search on it, and the portrayal of Henley and especially Frey seems to have drawn universal anger from most fans - not at the doc, but at those two individuals and what they did to the band.

I've seen it. Many times actually, it's a great doc. Here's a write-up on it I did on Letterboxd. Frey comes off the worst, but it really didn't make me despise him. Henley waxes philosophical a bit too much but is otherwise okay. It's been a long time since I've read it but To The Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles was a good read. That kind of conditioned me to the egos of the band when it came to the documentary.

The source of one of the catchiest samples on the Avalanches album!

I have a soft spot for the Eagles, but it obviously requires this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZrCLF-sZag

Jesus, Elaine had terrible taste. Couldn't the show have used one of their good hits?

hearthesilence wrote:Jesus, Elaine had terrible taste. Couldn't the show have used one of their good hits?

To be fair, it's her boyfriend who liked 'Desperado'.

"Witchy Woman" isn't much better though!

Rule #1 with the Eagles - if it doesn't have Joe Walsh, it ain't gonna be good. (Possible exception: "Take It to the Limit," despite the shoddy lyrics.)

There's also "Journey of the Sorcerer", which sci-fi fans would know as the theme to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned The Big Lebowski and the cab scene. Unlike the songs on the Seinfeld episode, Frey sings lead on "Peaceful Easy Feeling".

flyonthewall2983 wrote:I'm surprised nobody's mentioned The Big Lebowski and the cab scene. Unlike the songs on the Seinfeld episode, Frey sings lead on "Peaceful Easy Feeling".

"I hate the fucking Eagles" seems in poor taste to quote after the man died but I'd be lying if that wasn't the first thing that popped into my head

Could be worse, that scene from American Psycho will no doubt be cited ad nauseum when Phil Collins dies.

Speaking of the History of the Eagles doc, Glenn Frey told Allison Ellwood that he didn't want it to be a fluff piece, that he wanted as much as could be to be out in the open. That just makes me like the film more.

flyonthewall2983 wrote:Could be worse, that scene from American Psycho will no doubt be cited ad nauseum when Phil Collins dies.

But that's a very pro-Collins monologue.

Collins and Collins-era Genesis will be due a critical rehabilitation soon anyway.

Ettore Scola.

antnield wrote:Ettore Scola.

The best Italian director you've never heard of because his peak period 1977-1990 just began when all the other famous Italian directors were dying or declining in power and the Italian cinema was finally also hit by the commercial decline which had affected other cinematographies a decade earlier. And since film historiography is written along the great movements or the great individualists, Scola always stood a bit in the shadow.
You almost can't go wrong with any of the films he made then, the best are probably Una giornata particolare (saved by Criterion), the disturbing Passione d'amore, the deliciously visual and elegant Le bal, Splendor which unfortunately was overshadowed by the simultaneous released Cinema paradiso and the great Viaggio di Capitan Fracassa.

He also wrote the recently Criterioned Il sorpasso and I Knew Her Well.

After discovering him from an old library vhs of "Down and Dirty", I found these to be his masterpieces

C'eravamo tanto amati (1974)
... aka "We All Loved Each Other So Much"

Brutti, sporchi e cattivi (1976)
... aka "Down and Dirty"

Le bal (1983)

La famiglia (1987)
... aka "The Family"

Criterion is sitting on La nuit de Varennes. Hopefully they will get to it.

hearthesilence wrote:Rule #1 with the Eagles - if it doesn't have Joe Walsh, it ain't gonna be good. (Possible exception: "Take It to the Limit," despite the shoddy lyrics.)

I would suggest One Of These Nights but your point is well taken.

Kind of makes sense for The Dude to hate them. They were seen by some as sellouts or a much watered-down pop version of the country rock that came before them (for the first few albums anyway). Not surprised Henley has a sense of humor about it. In the doc, he seems the more level-headed of the two. And also there's the story of him joining Mojo Nixon on stage for a rendition of Nixon's "Don Henley Must Die".

What's possibly his final interview, talking to Dan Patrick last spring.

hearthesilence wrote:A brief article about the Eagles reference in The Big Lebowski, namely how it made Frey angry and that Allen Klein allegedly waived the licensing fee for "Dead Flowers" because he loved that scene so much.

There are a couple of other versions of this story.

1. An italian producer previewed the movie, unimpressed until the eagles scene. At that point he agreed to produce the movie.

2. Allen Klein previewed the movie, unimpressed until the eagles scene. At that point he agreed to produce the movie.


I think that the funniest thing about this scene is that the cab driver is black.

Hah! I saw Lebowski soon after Boogie Nights, and between the two, I remember thinking "was country music ever big with black audiences?"