Mr. Hoover & I Disclaimer: I’d never heard of De Antonio before watching this film (his last), and I’ve never seen his previous work, so any opinions I have formed about him while watching this autobiographical documentary are sure to lack context. I’m not sure what to make of Emile De Antonio, the director and subject of this film. He’s a political and social activist, and the “controversial” director of 10 documentaries on subjects ranging from the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings to the New York art scene from 1940-1970. This film is a memoir of sorts about De Antonio’s experiences living under J. Edgar Hoover’s watchful eye.
Apartently the FBI had a file on De Antonio no less that ten thousand pages long. He talks about being under surveilance and being threatened by men in black suits because of his marxist views. But that’s not all he talks about... the documentary really wanders around. We see his wife giving him a haircut and the somewhat awkward conversation they have while the camera is rolling (I guess an attempt to show De Antonio’s personable side), they don’t talk about anything of consequence. We see him talking philosophy in the kitchen of a friend's apartment. We see footage of De Antonio giving a lecture to a half-full auditorium of students (it’s really him telling anecdotes about his run ins with the law). We see archival footage of Hoover and McCarthy yelling into microphones. And sometimes all we see is De Antonio standing in front of the camera, set up somewhere in his home, and he speaks on different political subjects of past and present (present being 1989). All these scenes come and go in a mixed up manner.
If I had an interest in this man’s career then
Mr Hoover and I might’ve been fascinating, but I don’t, and it wasn’t (Sorry, that came out all
In Bruges-y). The doc just dives right in and assumes you know everything about the man and what he’s done. I literally had to stop 10 minutes in, go on imdb, and look up who he was and what he’d done because there wasn’t so much as a title card to set anything up (even his name was a mystery!). After reading his wiki and other internet blurbs all I really wanted to do was go back and watch his
other work, all the stuff that made him famous in the first place (I think I will). Would I come back and watch this film afterward? Probably not. It still doesn’t strike me as being a particularly interesting doc.
Mr Hoover and I is out. It's just wrong for the bracket. Maybe we can switch it for his other film from the decade,
In The King Of Prussia... *shrugs*
Ferris Bueller's Day OffFavourite frame Disclaimer: I've been receiving subtle threats via private message from ferris every day since I got this match-up. Let me quote one: "Oh hai, it's ferris again. Did I ever tell you about how I have a bunch of friends in high places in Winnipeg? Neat huh? Well, anywho... have a nice day". Lately though they've been less subtle: "Hey, it's ferris again. If you don't move FBDO through to round 2 I'll firebomb your house, and then firebomb the ashes that used to be your house. Well, anywho... have a nice day". I just figured I should mention that up front.Obviously I'm just kidding around, ferris never sent me any private messages. But if he had I would've told him not to sweat it; I really like Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It's just one of those movies that makes you feel good through sheer fun-ness. Every scene gives you something to different to remember the movie by. A line, a shot, a song... there's a reason it's such an iconic film.
The cast deserves as much credit for this movie as John Hughes. They're great! Every one of the them! Maybe too good. I mean 25 years later it's still the first movie that comes to mind when I think of Broderick or Ruck.
Anyways, I've run out of things to say. I think everyone is pretty familiar with this movie already, so I'll end it here. Bueller is moving on