Proposal: Macho Macho Men
December 15, 2014 10:38 PM - Subscribe
A film series exploring masculinity.
Short film series, Macho Macho Men, that highlights movies that feature, or at least touch upon, masculinity and its attendant complications. (Broad theme, with no other parameters, intentional.)
PROPOSED FILMS
1) Rush
2) The Aviator*
3) Apollo 13
4) 300
5) The Right Stuff
6) Five Easy Pieces
7) The Untouchables*
Documentaries:
8) Touching the Void
9) Man on Wire
* pre-existing FanFare posts.
Open to suggestions as to:
- frequency - twice a week? once a week? once a month?
- other suggestions - I'm looking for intelligent, well-made films (like Rush which was much better than I'd anticipated). Not "GRAR! Masculinity!" movies, more like "Hm, masculinity..." movies.
- volunteers welcome!
TAG: MachoMachoMen
Short film series, Macho Macho Men, that highlights movies that feature, or at least touch upon, masculinity and its attendant complications. (Broad theme, with no other parameters, intentional.)
PROPOSED FILMS
1) Rush
2) The Aviator*
3) Apollo 13
4) 300
5) The Right Stuff
6) Five Easy Pieces
7) The Untouchables*
Documentaries:
8) Touching the Void
9) Man on Wire
* pre-existing FanFare posts.
Open to suggestions as to:
- frequency - twice a week? once a week? once a month?
- other suggestions - I'm looking for intelligent, well-made films (like Rush which was much better than I'd anticipated). Not "GRAR! Masculinity!" movies, more like "Hm, masculinity..." movies.
- volunteers welcome!
TAG: MachoMachoMen
(Also this is kind of up in the air - if there's little interest I'll drop it.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:42 PM on December 15, 2014
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:42 PM on December 15, 2014
Already been FanFare-d, but Rocky might fit the bill? Or Saturday Night Fever? Midnight Cowboy?
Needs a Western. This essay suggests High Noon; more recently, maybe Unforgiven?
Feels like it also needs (a) a war movie, and (b) a cop/crime movie (although maybe The Untouchables fills that role) to round it out.
(Rush is indeed good, and was badly overlooked; a good double-bill against the documentary Senna, too.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:07 PM on December 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
Needs a Western. This essay suggests High Noon; more recently, maybe Unforgiven?
Feels like it also needs (a) a war movie, and (b) a cop/crime movie (although maybe The Untouchables fills that role) to round it out.
(Rush is indeed good, and was badly overlooked; a good double-bill against the documentary Senna, too.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:07 PM on December 15, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'd go for High Noon, definitely - a classic and still a great film experience.
Yeah we could get really carried away here - I was hoping for a shorter series but the open nature of the theme invites endless suggestions and add-ons. I think the best thing to do is ask people to make specific suggestions, and I'll cherry pick some. I think two space movies might be too many, I can forfeit, say, Apollo 13 for the Western (High Noon) and maybe add *one* war movie. Otherwise I'll have another Robin Williams on my hands...
A very good Western might be The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
More suggestions - specific movies you'd like to discuss in terms of this theme!
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:12 PM on December 15, 2014
Yeah we could get really carried away here - I was hoping for a shorter series but the open nature of the theme invites endless suggestions and add-ons. I think the best thing to do is ask people to make specific suggestions, and I'll cherry pick some. I think two space movies might be too many, I can forfeit, say, Apollo 13 for the Western (High Noon) and maybe add *one* war movie. Otherwise I'll have another Robin Williams on my hands...
A very good Western might be The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
More suggestions - specific movies you'd like to discuss in terms of this theme!
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:12 PM on December 15, 2014
I don't think Saturday Night Fever interrogates masculinity enough.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:12 PM on December 15, 2014
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:12 PM on December 15, 2014
Fight Club.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:00 AM on December 16, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:00 AM on December 16, 2014 [3 favorites]
Upon reflection, probably cut "300", that doesn't take a long hard look at itself - unless it's to admire rippling abs.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:28 AM on December 16, 2014
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:28 AM on December 16, 2014
Upon reflection, there doesn't seem to be much interest in this series, so....
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:00 AM on December 17, 2014
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:00 AM on December 17, 2014
Tombstone?
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:49 AM on December 20, 2014
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:49 AM on December 20, 2014
The Damned United
posted by fullerine at 7:33 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fullerine at 7:33 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
The Full Monty?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:14 PM on December 22, 2014
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 2:14 PM on December 22, 2014
Yeah this didn't get much interest so my "so..." upthread was a sort of "so I'm not going to do this series."
Was that too subtle? I AM NOT GOING TO DO THIS SERIES. :D Someone else is welcome to it.
Thank you for the suggestions, though - they're excellent, I especially like "The Fully Monty" and "Dog Day Afternoon" which certainly raises issues of gender/masculinity.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:28 PM on December 22, 2014
Was that too subtle? I AM NOT GOING TO DO THIS SERIES. :D Someone else is welcome to it.
Thank you for the suggestions, though - they're excellent, I especially like "The Fully Monty" and "Dog Day Afternoon" which certainly raises issues of gender/masculinity.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 7:28 PM on December 22, 2014
I like the idea, and would probably read the resulting threads with interest. Not sure whether I would actually watch the films and participate, though :)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:51 AM on January 12, 2015
posted by escape from the potato planet at 11:51 AM on January 12, 2015
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Obviously there is a rich tradition of valuing machismo in film, as it's a major preoccupation in Hollywood and often drives the plot of a film forward - however, I'm looking for directors and scripts that highlight the problematic nature of a focused masculinity. In other words, not full-on endorsement. Otherwise we'd just have a list of popular movies with no reflection.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 10:41 PM on December 15, 2014