Can’t tell you the weird feeling of anxiety when you moved Watchmen... it was like moving an icon as it’s been in the background of your videos for so long
Since my two passions are film history and the classical piano repertoire, it's probably no surprise if I tell you I'm a big fan of Oscar Levant. Have you ever thought of reviewing Levant's movie performances in a group? He was in some great movies, his performances are almost always hilarious and he steals ever scene he's ever in. Besides the obvious importance of him being in two films connected to his very good friend, George Gershwin, he was in the great films the Cobweb, the Band Wagon and Humoresque, the first and the last quite underrated. The Cobweb is on of my favorites. One of the best of the gaudy, overwrought Hollywood 1950s melodramas. Minnelli is the elephant in the room.
I also loved Dostoyevsky when I was in high school and after many years I still love him greatly. I wonder if you've seen "Crime and Punishment" adaptation from 1970? In my opinion the only movie that managed to create atmosphere reflecting Dostoyevsky's masterpiece.
So weird the other day I was gonna start writing down every single movie I've seen in a year and now i watch this and you beat me to it by a long time!
I'm the same way. English major that hardly ever reads anymore for exactly the same reasons. Great collection! Hitchcock/Truffaut is an absolute treasure.
My mom gave me a copy of Story by Robert Mckee when I was around 16. A few years later it was featured in the Charlie Kaufman movie: Adaptation, in a way which always made me feel like there is an inside joke between me and the film. Its the one book I always notice on your shelf.
Great video! Loved the commentary you gave on each book. I'd be curious to hear you discuss your favorite and least favorite adaptations of the works you've read (and if there are any worse than Breakfast at Tiffany's...) Also I really like how you've been branching out into other styles of video, as well as other endeavors like your website and art commissions. We may have found you because of film and film reviews, but we stick around because of you! I hope you continue doing stuff that's interesting to you instead of feeling pressured to stick to one thing and getting burned out on it! :)
Glad to hear there is someone exactly like me. I studied english language and LITERATURE at university and I even graduated. However, I can only read comics without falling asleep after 3 pages. Also, exactly like you, I was forced to read when I was younger, I guess we have had enough.
Thanks for sharing. A couple of books that I would suggest that you might like: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind. Also, these three books by The National Society of Film Critics: The A List edited by Jay Carr, The B List edited by David Sterritt and John C. Anderson, and The X List edited by Jami Bernard.
I watched the whole video hoping you'd explain why the image is always flipped when you sit next to your bookshelf. Do you prefer the aesthetic of the shelf being on the left of the screen?
Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film. You need one of those, it's great and it'd fill a gap... even if it'd de-mystify the hell out of Tarrantino. It'll change your life! In a great way. Mill on the Floss is great! And Last Picture Show is one of the all-time great adaptations of a book.
Would love to see a collaboration video between you and Clifford Lee Sargent of Better Than Food: Book Reviews. You both seem to have similar tastes and interests
Just checked out your channel a day ago and I'm absolutely floored by your reviews. Incredibly nuanced and layered. Your interest in movies mirrors mine to an extent, and I was wondering if you have checked out any of Michael Haneke's films? Would love to see your thoughts on Funny Games (2007).
Hollywood Babylon could have won an award for cover design, if they put the title at the bottom, because nobody was looking at the top half. My heart's broke about my very well stocked local library. Books are really important to study film, directors and actors can be far more intimate and candid in some low circulated book in a shelf somewhere than online or on television. But my library is closed to the public until heard immunity achieved, realistically 3-4th quarter 2021.
Agreed completely on Breakfast at Tiffany's film adaptation, a much loved movie, but I've always hated (deeply) that horrendous piece of cinema. And it's a bummer, because everyone remembers Audrey Hepburn for that particular film and not for other incredible efforts like 'Wait Until Dark' or solely for the huge, fascinating human being she was, and her version of Holly Golightly and the overall circumstances in the film where as offensive as you said, as if to supplement the rawness of the story with cheap Hollywood charm. And SO AWESOME to see your old diaries! I think every cinephile have those in their life, for sure. I had this notes when I was like 7 years old where I rated movies with stars ^^ so much fun :3 Thanks for this awesome insight! I love your channel! I often listen your reviews while having breakfast, good way to start the day.
Oscar Levant was interviewed by Jack Paar right after Pillow Talk came out. Doris Day played an innocent woman preyed upon by Rock Hudson, a Lothario. Levant was a pianist and had played with Doris when she was a young singer. Paar asked Oscar what he thought of the movie and Doris's role as the virtuous victim of the predatory male. Oscar said, "Well, Jack, you have to realize I knew Doris before she was a virgin."
Hi Maggie, I've been a fan for a few months now, I saw your channel based on a review you did of a Gaspar Noé film. We seem to have very similar tastes, and I was wondering: how do you select films to watch? I have been on a film binge for a while and I pretty much get all my movies from you. btw, your commentary is, without fail, so intriguing. really love what you do with the channel. Cheers!
My obsession with reading now is due to a lack of it growing up and even doing it just for uni work. Polar opposite of your story. 😂 Up until 22 I had only ever read one full book. Now it's around 40-50.
nice felt like a private guest in a Dubian virtual museum fer cryin'out hey! recall checking out that public library YA paperback about the kid lucking out on a mystery concotion from a strange salesman enabling him nightflight experiences...after which said "trips" transformed him from a skinny weakling in to a dude(wink)?----"Black'n'Blue Magic", right(on)? thanks for the tour
I loved the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. How is it offensive? It's such a sweet story and Audrey Hepburn and George Pepard were both amazing. I love "Moon River" and all of Mancini's music!! I don't understand how it could ever be considered offensive.
Well I think most people would consider it extremely offensive to the Japanese. But if you cut out those two scenes, I think it’s a great film. Haven’t read the book though. It’s now on my never-shortening list.
Have you ever seen the movie, “Too Late”, starring John Hawkes? It is an incredible indie with a great story filmed in 20 minute uncut parts. It’s a must see in my opinion!
"I don't like reading, but I do like having read" - Cosmic skeptic. That's pretty true for me, and perhaps you as well? Nice to finally see you collection btw :)
Another interesting video. Thanks. I have Peter Bpgdanovich's "Who the Devil Made It" - interviews with major directors, and overview of their careers. Its probably my favourite film book. My books include alot of fiction, but discovered from films (eg, just by getting into the source novels for John Huston movies you can get an appreciation of American literature, eg Moby Dick, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, Wise Blood, The Dead (OK, some Irish literature), Reflections in a Golden Eye (started my affection for Carson McCullers).
Oh jeez, I was also an English major who didn't particularly enjoy reading... it's such a bizarre contradiction, but I get it. Alright, since we both love Sopranos and shit, I got a greeeaaaaat book recommendation for you -- super fucking dark, super fucking violent. This shit will blow your hair back. Stanley Kubrick really fucking wanted to make it into a movie but couldn't get it off the ground. The book is considered "unfilmable," but fuck it, I think a genius could pull it off. Ever read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy? If not, wow, you should check that out. Definitely read it with some supplemental material that annotates shit. The history and literary aspects of it are IMO fucking awesome to know as you're navigating the story. It's heavily influenced by Moby Dick too if you've read that, but you don't need to have to love Blood Meridian. It stands tall on its own. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian Just to give you an idea of my own artistic preferences, my favorite types of movies are shit like the Shining, Barry Lyndon, etc. shit like that. But I also love "bad" movies too, from the 80s and 90s, that fill me with nostalgia and comfort like a sugary donut. Blood Meridian on the other hand is an extremely dark and fucked up book, and most people can't get through it for those reasons. I do believe it's a work of genius though, and I highly recommend it to you in particular because I believe you have that part of the brain that can see its brilliance and be able to enjoy it. All the trigger warnings though to you on this one, it's filled with horrific passages of violence and hate, but told so goddamn beautifully IMO. Even seemingly innocuous passages are rooted in some sort of historical context too. The history was heavily researched by McCarthy before writing the story and so it's absolutely wonderful in that regard. As a teaser, here is the novel's opening lines: "See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt. He stokes the scullery fire. Outside lie dark turned fields with rags of snow and darker woods beyond that harbor yet a few last wolves. His folk are known for hewers of wood and drawers of water but in truth his father has been a schoolmaster. He lies in drink, he quotes from poets whose names are now lost. The boy crouches by the fire and watches him." Anyway, something to keep in mind, and if you ever reach a level of boredom that the typical forms of entertainment just aren't satisfying, well you have this card to play now if you want. Thanks for reading, and really enjoying your content! Cheers.
Levant wrote three books of his own. Bittersweet accounts of a life and career of motional struggles--including hospitalizations--but unfailing ironic humor throughout. Wikipedia lists them. Recommend them highly. Very fast reads. Priced like gold bars these days, but a library???
Yeah I think overall it comes of messy but Codex, Give up the Ghost and bloom are all pretty great. I love all the different versions bloom has now (piano,orchestral...)
Your book shelf screams 'artistic' but your movie reviews are analytical and go deep into the dark side. Allergic to print; heavy on visuals. Yep, you're one of a kind as I suspected.
Can’t tell you the weird feeling of anxiety when you moved Watchmen... it was like moving an icon as it’s been in the background of your videos for so long
I'm one of those people that checks the bookshelves at parties. This is great!
I also do this but tell no one.
Very fun. The bookshelf is great for doing an archaeological dig into our past lives.
CNN Breaking News: "Deepfocuslens finally does bookshelf tour. Gives Shrek A-"
Since my two passions are film history and the classical piano repertoire, it's probably no surprise if I tell you I'm a big fan of Oscar Levant. Have you ever thought of reviewing Levant's movie performances in a group? He was in some great movies, his performances are almost always hilarious and he steals ever scene he's ever in. Besides the obvious importance of him being in two films connected to his very good friend, George Gershwin, he was in the great films the Cobweb, the Band Wagon and Humoresque, the first and the last quite underrated. The Cobweb is on of my favorites. One of the best of the gaudy, overwrought Hollywood 1950s melodramas. Minnelli is the elephant in the room.
I also loved Dostoyevsky when I was in high school and after many years I still love him greatly. I wonder if you've seen "Crime and Punishment" adaptation from 1970? In my opinion the only movie that managed to create atmosphere reflecting Dostoyevsky's masterpiece.
Thanks to whomever suggested this video ! :D
So weird the other day I was gonna start writing down every single movie I've seen in a year and now i watch this and you beat me to it by a long time!
I'm the same way. English major that hardly ever reads anymore for exactly the same reasons. Great collection! Hitchcock/Truffaut is an absolute treasure.
One of Oscar Levant's wittier remarks was "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin"
Yah, he got in trouble for that one XD
My mom gave me a copy of Story by Robert Mckee when I was around 16. A few years later it was featured in the Charlie Kaufman movie: Adaptation, in a way which always made me feel like there is an inside joke between me and the film. Its the one book I always notice on your shelf.
Great video! Loved the commentary you gave on each book. I'd be curious to hear you discuss your favorite and least favorite adaptations of the works you've read (and if there are any worse than Breakfast at Tiffany's...)
Also I really like how you've been branching out into other styles of video, as well as other endeavors like your website and art commissions. We may have found you because of film and film reviews, but we stick around because of you! I hope you continue doing stuff that's interesting to you instead of feeling pressured to stick to one thing and getting burned out on it! :)
If there's music put together by serious editing it's SMiLE, back in 1966/67, and I'm glad you have it.
Maybe I'll tour the vinyl collection next
Very interesting tour, thanks. Recommendations: Wormwood Star, The Magikal life of Marjorie Cameron. And Knut Hamsun, Growth of the Soil.
Please do your cd collection next!! FKA Twigs FTW
Glad to hear there is someone exactly like me. I studied english language and LITERATURE at university and I even graduated. However, I can only read comics without falling asleep after 3 pages.
Also, exactly like you, I was forced to read when I was younger, I guess we have had enough.
been wanting to see this video for a while, thank you!!
Thanks for sharing. A couple of books that I would suggest that you might like: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind. Also, these three books by The National Society of Film Critics: The A List edited by Jay Carr, The B List edited by David Sterritt and John C. Anderson, and The X List edited by Jami Bernard.
Always noticed Watchmen on there, which you got my instant respect for when I first saw it.
My undergrad dissertation was on that badboi
Yay Allen Ginsberg! One of my favorites.
Also you were very really nice with your grades way back :) A lot of A and A-.....
I really loved to read, until becoming a history major. Now I hate it a little bit, and I hope it will swing back to love.:)
I watched the whole video hoping you'd explain why the image is always flipped when you sit next to your bookshelf. Do you prefer the aesthetic of the shelf being on the left of the screen?
I expected that image is not flipped, but all of her books just happen to be printed in mirror image :)
Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film. You need one of those, it's great and it'd fill a gap... even if it'd de-mystify the hell out of Tarrantino. It'll change your life! In a great way.
Mill on the Floss is great! And Last Picture Show is one of the all-time great adaptations of a book.
I don't why but that movie journal is ridiculously adorable.
Great video! Will you make a video of the films on your shelf, too?
I did my criterion collection. But do you mean the rest of them?
@@deepfocuslens yeah, will you make a video of the rest of them?
@@bri1474 POssibly, sure
Would love to see a collaboration video between you and Clifford Lee Sargent of Better Than Food: Book Reviews. You both seem to have similar tastes and interests
I have that exact Citizen Kane box set.
Ok hold up, big ups for having The King of Limbs vinyl, still such an underrated album in Radiohead's discography.
Just checked out your channel a day ago and I'm absolutely floored by your reviews. Incredibly nuanced and layered. Your interest in movies mirrors mine to an extent, and I was wondering if you have checked out any of Michael Haneke's films? Would love to see your thoughts on Funny Games (2007).
Hollywood Babylon could have won an award for cover design, if they put the title at the bottom, because nobody was looking at the top half.
My heart's broke about my very well stocked local library. Books are really important to study film, directors and actors can be far more intimate and candid in some low circulated book in a shelf somewhere than online or on television.
But my library is closed to the public until heard immunity achieved, realistically 3-4th quarter 2021.
I always kind of hoped we'd see you grab that guitar that's always behind you and sing us a song.
Agreed completely on Breakfast at Tiffany's film adaptation, a much loved movie, but I've always hated (deeply) that horrendous piece of cinema. And it's a bummer, because everyone remembers Audrey Hepburn for that particular film and not for other incredible efforts like 'Wait Until Dark' or solely for the huge, fascinating human being she was, and her version of Holly Golightly and the overall circumstances in the film where as offensive as you said, as if to supplement the rawness of the story with cheap Hollywood charm. And SO AWESOME to see your old diaries! I think every cinephile have those in their life, for sure. I had this notes when I was like 7 years old where I rated movies with stars ^^ so much fun :3 Thanks for this awesome insight! I love your channel! I often listen your reviews while having breakfast, good way to start the day.
Oscar Levant was interviewed by Jack Paar right after Pillow Talk came out. Doris Day played an innocent woman preyed upon by Rock Hudson, a Lothario. Levant was a pianist and had played with Doris when she was a young singer. Paar asked Oscar what he thought of the movie and Doris's role as the virtuous victim of the predatory male. Oscar said, "Well, Jack, you have to realize I knew Doris before she was a virgin."
Really fun video Maggie!
wahoo. Way too excited for this.
Edit: laughed out loud at 5:37
Hi Maggie, I've been a fan for a few months now, I saw your channel based on a review you did of a Gaspar Noé film. We seem to have very similar tastes, and I was wondering: how do you select films to watch? I have been on a film binge for a while and I pretty much get all my movies from you. btw, your commentary is, without fail, so intriguing. really love what you do with the channel. Cheers!
woah. what are these experimental video angles?
I always thought you just had the book shelf to hold up your head during your videos
My obsession with reading now is due to a lack of it growing up and even doing it just for uni work. Polar opposite of your story. 😂 Up until 22 I had only ever read one full book. Now it's around 40-50.
nice felt like a private guest in a Dubian virtual museum fer cryin'out hey! recall checking out that public library YA paperback about the kid lucking out on a mystery concotion from a strange salesman enabling him nightflight experiences...after which said "trips" transformed him from a skinny weakling in to a dude(wink)?----"Black'n'Blue Magic", right(on)?
thanks for the tour
I very meta-ly recommend Jorge Luis Borges. :) Short, so you're in and out quick, but mindblowing.
Where did you buy the nice bookcase?
IKEA. Like every other UA-camr with a bookshelf in the background.
I loved the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. How is it offensive? It's such a sweet story and Audrey Hepburn and George Pepard were both amazing. I love "Moon River" and all of Mancini's music!! I don't understand how it could ever be considered offensive.
maybe she meant "offensive" to the original source material,not in an absolute sense
@@sagarsaxena6318 OK. Thanks.
Well I think most people would consider it extremely offensive to the Japanese. But if you cut out those two scenes, I think it’s a great film. Haven’t read the book though. It’s now on my never-shortening list.
@@sagarsaxena6318 Yes, offensive to the source material.
Have you ever seen the movie, “Too Late”, starring John Hawkes? It is an incredible indie with a great story filmed in 20 minute uncut parts. It’s a must see in my opinion!
"I don't like reading, but I do like having read" - Cosmic skeptic. That's pretty true for me, and perhaps you as well?
Nice to finally see you collection btw :)
Absolutely
Another interesting video. Thanks.
I have Peter Bpgdanovich's "Who the Devil Made It" - interviews with major directors, and overview of their careers. Its probably my favourite film book.
My books include alot of fiction, but discovered from films (eg, just by getting into the source novels for John Huston movies you can get an appreciation of American literature, eg Moby Dick, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, Wise Blood, The Dead (OK, some Irish literature), Reflections in a Golden Eye (started my affection for Carson McCullers).
Have you read any Borges or Jim Thompson?
Oz has pulled back the curtain.
Kenneth "Hollywood Babylon" Anger turns 95 today.
RIP. He was always one of Anton Lavey’s best buds
Oh jeez, I was also an English major who didn't particularly enjoy reading... it's such a bizarre contradiction, but I get it.
Alright, since we both love Sopranos and shit, I got a greeeaaaaat book recommendation for you -- super fucking dark, super fucking violent. This shit will blow your hair back. Stanley Kubrick really fucking wanted to make it into a movie but couldn't get it off the ground. The book is considered "unfilmable," but fuck it, I think a genius could pull it off.
Ever read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy? If not, wow, you should check that out. Definitely read it with some supplemental material that annotates shit. The history and literary aspects of it are IMO fucking awesome to know as you're navigating the story. It's heavily influenced by Moby Dick too if you've read that, but you don't need to have to love Blood Meridian. It stands tall on its own.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Meridian
Just to give you an idea of my own artistic preferences, my favorite types of movies are shit like the Shining, Barry Lyndon, etc. shit like that. But I also love "bad" movies too, from the 80s and 90s, that fill me with nostalgia and comfort like a sugary donut. Blood Meridian on the other hand is an extremely dark and fucked up book, and most people can't get through it for those reasons. I do believe it's a work of genius though, and I highly recommend it to you in particular because I believe you have that part of the brain that can see its brilliance and be able to enjoy it. All the trigger warnings though to you on this one, it's filled with horrific passages of violence and hate, but told so goddamn beautifully IMO. Even seemingly innocuous passages are rooted in some sort of historical context too. The history was heavily researched by McCarthy before writing the story and so it's absolutely wonderful in that regard.
As a teaser, here is the novel's opening lines:
"See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt. He stokes the scullery fire. Outside lie dark turned fields with rags of snow and darker woods beyond that harbor yet a few last wolves. His folk are known for hewers of wood and drawers of water but in truth his father has been a schoolmaster. He lies in drink, he quotes from poets whose names are now lost. The boy crouches by the fire and watches him."
Anyway, something to keep in mind, and if you ever reach a level of boredom that the typical forms of entertainment just aren't satisfying, well you have this card to play now if you want.
Thanks for reading, and really enjoying your content! Cheers.
A for Michael Mann's Heat. A masterpiece of a heist film you should review.
have you reviewed/seen 'last picture show'?
I wonder if it’s the same Oscar Levant who was well known for his 1940s reading of George Gershwin’s rhapsody in blue and piano concerto in F
That's the one.
WE LOVE YOU MAGGIE!
You might like the book "The Double" by José Saramago.
Levant wrote three books of his own. Bittersweet accounts of a life and career of motional struggles--including hospitalizations--but unfailing ironic humor throughout. Wikipedia lists them. Recommend them highly. Very fast reads. Priced like gold bars these days, but a library???
Do you read any other graphic novels? Or comics?
i have that shirt too
DMT the spirit molecule :-)
Thanks for this~📚 📖🕯
Peeping the King of Limbs in its underrated glory
It probably is underrated a bit but still their worst album from post-ok computer era
@@Danny-ql2it Agree. It's uneven for sure, but there are certain tracks that grew on me, and a couple that I think are genuinely great.
Yeah I think overall it comes of messy but Codex, Give up the Ghost and bloom are all pretty great. I love all the different versions bloom has now (piano,orchestral...)
@@mrmogford8117 Lotus Flower is actually my favorite track on there
@@deepfocuslens how could I forget it!? Definitely the most lyrically beautiful
Also, have you seen The Innocents from 1960? Based on The Turn of the Screw
of course
@@deepfocuslens nice. That movie creeps me out so much.
I wonder if your opinions have changed on Free Willy 2, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court and The Wedding Planner lol
XD Not likely. We all know that A Kid In Aladdin's Palace is the superior film to King Arthur.
How many times have you read Gravitys Rainbow tho?
11:20 Next time: a cooking video
please review kingdom hearts 2 strategy guide
Yes I loved the film The Last Picture Show would like to read the book
Me: You got any books on Scorsese?
Maggie: Who?
Me: Nevermind..
Awesome!
Is someone taking bong rips off camera?
It's "the monotony of words ... over a long period of time" - Groucho Marx couldn't have explained his dislike of books much better than this.
Deep focus text.
Surprised you don’t have any of Jodorowsky’s weird books.
needs some graham hancock
Fun stuff. Thanks for the tour...
AFTERTHOUGHT: What, no James Joyce?
“Hollywood Babylon” is a juicy book, and does cover tragedies of the classic Hollywood era, but most of the facts in the stories were made up.
Finally
USED SAVES
Your book shelf screams 'artistic' but your movie reviews are analytical and go deep into the dark side. Allergic to print; heavy on visuals. Yep, you're one of a kind
as I suspected.
Learn to read in Chinese -- that should solve the "monotony" problem.
Have you ever considered becoming a writer?
Where’s your signed copy of Mein Kampf?
twigsssssssss omg
ew, you like Roger Ebert
What’s wrong with him?
I really enjoy your videos, but you should consider investing in a better mic!
huh. English major doesn't like reading, funny
I'm a poli. sci. major, and not only do I despise politics, I despise folks who are political, but don't know history.