One of the greatest films ever made? Opinions...
Okay: that's kind of strong, I'll admit, but - oh man - how much do I love that movie. One of my friends recently told me they thought it was just Gallo essentially masturbating for an hour and a half, which I can see to an extent, but - hey - any art is essentially that, right? And there's way more to it than just self-loathing/loving... Anyway: what does anyone think...?
This IS one of the greatest movies ever made!
At least for me. It's just beautiful. I can also see why people think Gallo is glorifying himself...and anyone who's read any interviews with him knows what an ego problem he has. But this movie is too perfect. I remember seeing it when it first opened, and I was so scared that the movie was going to end after he shoots himself. When it didn't, I just started crying, I was so happy.
One of the first questions I ask other filmmakers/film buffs when I meet them is whether or not they liked this movie. It's a tell-tale question.
Totally: the moment when you think it's going to end the first time you see it then it suddenly twists - that for me sums up so much of what I think is wonderful about film in general. You're thinking as you see him die, "this is a hard edged, depressing 'realistic' independent movie ending" and then it goes against that, rebelling against the rebellion, and gives you a happy ending - which is so much more daring than ending it any other way. You know? It's absurd, ridiculous, contrived - and yet somehow it feels beautiful and true.
What do you think the answer to whether or not people like this movie means...?
This is a fucking great film, definitely one of my favorites. Definitely one of the funniest ever too. I think Vincent Gallo is so funny in this, I always try to mention his preformance here when naming my favorites, he's such an asshole but still charming and cool...and the guy who plays his dad...fucking hilarious. There are some scenes where I'm laughing literally from the beginning to the end of them. Like the scene where he keeps repeating "motherfuck"...I laughed so hard I cried. There are many others but that's the only one I can think of right now, I've only seen it once...I've been wanting to watch it again for quite awhile. I'll do that this weekend. I forgot to mention some of the great more dramatic parts too, there's some really poignant stuff with just Vincent and Christina. Then there's those really cool musical numbers...like Christina's tapdancing thing...those are pretty cool too. There's a lot to love with this movie. I too love the ending...totally didn't expect the twist. It wasn't a Shymalan style twist either, where everything you've seen makes sense now that the twist has taken place...it was more spontaneous and realistic. Twists in real life usually don't have any explanation.
When I first saw this in theaters, I was mezmerized. The cinematography is wonderful, especially the composition; gritty. And I think it was the first time I saw the use of the what is now commonly known as 'bullet time' shots (even before the Gap ads), making me wonder, "How'd they do that?" Perfect casting for sympathetic characters. Very funny.
its great, i fucking love it. im gotta go rent that motherfucker again right now.
I saw the film after the buzz (wasn't into movies when it was released) upon the request of someone who had seen it over a hundred times. When I saw it, I wondered what the big deal about it even was. The relationship of Gallo and Ricci went into unbelievability with Ricci being not just affectionate to Gallo, but wanting a relationship with him when it was out of a kidnapping situation. Then, if I remember correctly, the film descended into weirdness that I only figured as weirdness than anything that important.
~rougerum
i really liked this film. i recently bought it on dvd. i agree with the pure ego gallo has for himself and this picture but most great artist have such an ego. i remember first seeing the trailer for this film and think how this was the best trailer i have ever seen. so much so that it's number one on my favorite trailers top 5 list. also i think BUFFALO 66 has one of the best endings i have ever seen in a movie. this is truely an artsy/art lover's film.
Absolutely amazing film. I also love his album "When"...great enjoyable stuff.
I am a little put off by Gallo supposedly being a very racist, ignorant republican. Sometimes he seems too outrageous that I am not sure if the joke is on me for having taken him seriously. I'd like to hope that's the case.
Quote from: Bill Maplewood
I am a little put off by Gallo supposedly being a very racist, ignorant republican. Sometimes he seems too outrageous that I am not sure if the joke is on me for having taken him seriously. I'd like to hope that's the case.
OH SHIT! Another Polanski Person/artist debate...
Probably my favorite film of all-time. I remember when I first saw it: I was flipping through the channels one last time before I went to bed at about 3am one summer night. I caught the part where Billy Brown is walking around looking for a place to go to the bathroom. The humor and look of the film just caught me and I was hooked. I stayed up till 5 totally captivated. Billy Brown's behavior, his family, and his mindstate were remarkably similar to my own. The next day I became obsessed with finding out the name of the film. I've been a huge Gallo fan since.
Quote from: lamasProbably my favorite film of all-time. I remember when I first saw it: I was flipping through the channels one last time before I went to bed at about 3am one summer night. I caught the part where Billy Brown is walking around looking for a place to go to the bathroom. The humor and look of the film just caught me and I was hooked. I stayed up till 5 totally captivated. Billy Brown's behavior, his family, and his mindstate were remarkably similar to my own. The next day I became obsessed with finding out the name of the film. I've been a huge Gallo fan since.
Sort of a similar situation here. I just watched Buffalo '66 on HBO for the first time. I was flipping through channels, ready for bed. Then it caught me. And I can say that literally. There was something about the film that captivated me, so I just grabbed a blanket and sat down on the floor. I came in at the part where they were eating dinner, so I'm not sure how much I missed. I'll watch it again sometime. But after watching it, I was so relieved. The ending was fantastic. I felt the film was a bit masturbatory, but I think Gallo was just being very urgent about the film. There came a point during that dinner scene where I started grinding my teeth. It was so awkward, the lighting was so harsh and plain and the performances so raw, it was at that moment I knew Gallo had something special. Was this shot on 35mm stock, or 16?
It was 35mm, but it was shot on a special kind of stock called reversal film which Gallo demanded because he wanted the exact look of the first film he ever saw in the cinema: Superbowl III. They needed to build a special machine that was no longer made any more in order to proccess the film...!
Ahhh, Vinnie, Vinnie, Vinne...
Quote from: children with angelsIt was 35mm, but it was shot on a special kind of stock called reversal film ... They needed to build a special machine that was no longer made any more in order to proccess the film...!
Reversal is a very common stock. This must have been a certain type of reversal because if it were standard issue, they wouldn't need to build a special machine...
That brings up something though... does anybody ever shoot on reversal and NOT cross process anymore?
Quote from: Ghostboy
One of the first questions I ask other filmmakers/film buffs when I meet them is whether or not they liked this movie. It's a tell-tale question.
i truely am a film geek and i should consider myself worthy cuz i love this film!
actually, a friend of mine borrowed the dvd from me and he said at first he didn't like it but then after sleeping on it he realized that he really loved it. go figure!
I really loved the film. I'm able to separate Gallo the person from his character; in fact, he seems the type of person who may only be able to show any vulnerability at all through a character like this.
The scene I always remember is the tap-dancing scene. Just interrupt everything for this one tender, transcendent moment. That was wonderful. I didn't feel that way again until the "Wise Up" sequence in Magnolia. It's not self-indulgence, it's audience-indulgence, to give us beautiful little unexpected things like that.
I felt exactly the same way the first time I saw the film: the tap dancing scene was the moment that just sealed the film to forever be in my top movies of all time - it absolutely blew me away... That plus the Ben Gazzara song. Those moments where you just leave the reality of the movie momentarily and are just transported are invariably my favourites: the Wise-up scene in Magnolia, the end of 8 1/2 (well, a lot of 8 1/2 actually)...
I totally agree: these are audience indulgent moments, often mis-interpreted as self-indulgent ones. Although it all depends on whether you feel indulged or not, I guess. I do.
I love this movie. Just lok at my scrren name.
I haven't seen it...I'll get right on it.
Quote from: BILLYBROWNI love this movie. Just lok at my scrren name.
do you want a plaque or a medal?
hehe, i'm just kidding, it's all in good fun. welcome to the boards.
Quote from: BILLYBROWNI love this movie. Just lok at my scrren name.
:roll: *(looking)
I too thought the tapdancing was perfect, cinematic bliss before reading anything here. It's one of those transcending moments, and I thought of Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love immediately, because that's the kind of thing it is. Amelie is full of 'em, too. And that's one of the things that makes the film great.
It does have its weaknesses, though. Throwing Gallo's unsavory personality aside, the film itself has an unbelievable premise. Ricci's character falls for Brown in a manner that while it may be possible and explainable in real life, it doesn't really make sense in the movie. We don't know anything about Ricci's character, either. And that outfit, with her breasts almost ready to pop out for the entire movie, well, that transcends the picture in a bad way, especially considering Gallo's comments about wanting to "work" with Ricci ever since he saw the Adam's Family. Along with that, there's the issue of Gallo's change. I think of the change Michael Corleone had in The Godfather, for some reason, because some say it came out of nowhere. Arguments can be made both ways. There are some subtleties, but I would have liked more depth to their relationship, more depth to his psychology, and more to his change.
Bad movies, as Siskel once said, are never too short. Good ones are never too long.
Quote from: OnomatopoeiaI too thought the tapdancing was perfect, cinematic bliss before reading anything here. It's one of those transcending moments, and I thought of Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love immediately, because that's the kind of thing it is. Amelie is full of 'em, too. And that's one of the things that makes the film great.
It does have its weaknesses, though. Throwing Gallo's unsavory personality aside, the film itself has an unbelievable premise. Ricci's character falls for Brown in a manner that while it may be possible and explainable in real life, it doesn't really make sense in the movie. We don't know anything about Ricci's character, either. And that outfit, with her breasts almost ready to pop out for the entire movie, well, that transcends the picture in a bad way, especially considering Gallo's comments about wanting to "work" with Ricci ever since he saw the Adam's Family. Along with that, there's the issue of Gallo's change. I think of the change Michael Corleone had in The Godfather, for some reason, because some say it came out of nowhere. Arguments can be made both ways. There are some subtleties, but I would have liked more depth to their relationship, more depth to his psychology, and more to his change.
Bad movies, as Siskel once said, are never too short. Good ones are never too long.
I'm of the opinion that a movie needn't follow the "real," "psychological" expectations set by the 19th-century novel to be great. Anti-psychological has been just as powerful an impulse across the arts for much of the twentieth century (and beyond). Take the novel, for example: Even though they're doing virtually opposite things, a Robbe-Grillet can be as great as a Dostoyevsky. And though I would never claim that Vincent Gallo could be put in the same category as a Hitchock, I would say that the Bunuels, Antonionis, and Godards of the film world had just as much to offer, despite their artistic disdain for psychology.
Oh yeah - I can never relate when people say that a minus point for the movie is the fact that it's unrealistic: that's what I love the absolute most about it...! Gallo has absolutely no right to have a girl fall in love with him - let alone a beautiful young girl whom he has just kidnapped: it is completely and utterly ridiculous! And that, for me, is the beauty of the movie. It's like the ultimate male fantasy: you can be as much of an asshole as you like and you're still going to have some amazing girl fall in love with you. It's a beautiful lie...
I find I can be just like Gallo in the first 2/3 of the movie, most of the time. Y'know, the whole hating everyone, not trusting anyone, freaking out constantly, and most of all what he says to Ricci in the diner, that girls "stink", because they're liers, and backstabbers, etc.
And then I'll fall for a new chick, and be such a happy-dazed asshole with a shit eating grin on my face, wanting to buy strangers heart cookies in donut shops, like Gallo at the end of the movie.
I love Buffalo 66.
What a great film, totally surprised me when i first saw it in the theater. love the look most of all.
"I drive cars that shift themselves"
That whole scene had me rolling. It's like what the fuck?, hes complaining about her car?, pretty out there, which is why i love it, totally unexpected.
looking forward to Brown Bunny, even though ive heard bad things about it but oh well.
I saw this film when it just came out on video and I thought it was ok. Nothing amazing. I've never wanted to see it again , but people here keep bringing it up, so maybe I'll have to revisit this thing and see if i was right the first time.
Quote from: EL__SCORCHOI saw this film when it just came out on video and I thought it was ok. Nothing amazing. I've never wanted to see it again , but people here keep bringing it up, so maybe I'll have to revisit this thing and see if i was right the first time.
ditto. exactly. saw it when it came out, thought nothing of it, but all this goddamned hype on here makes me so curious to see it again. although admittedly my tastes have changed a bit from that many years ago, usually my first impressions end up being right, (even after a re-viewing many years later).
i didn't like this movie... at all. i just rented and was bored most of the way through. vincent gallo pissed the shit out of me and without seeing Brown Bunny I knew exactly what the critics must be complaining about. the only parts worth any notice were the tapdancing scene, angelica huston's performance (really, has she ever given a bad performance?), and the end. and i don't mean the end in a sarcastic way like thank god it's over. the end of the movie made me feel happy, like, i'm so glad that they're in love and it's oh so happy and the credits roll and i'm like, aw, how sweet. then i remembered the hour and a half that preceded it all and i'm like, no, that's shit. it was too long, too boring, and i hardly gave a shit about any of the characters. it was an interesting character study to an extent, but god, what an annoying character. i wouldn't be able to sit through it again.
i liked the look of it though. they shot it on some cool film stock.
Quote from: bonanzataz
i liked the look of it though. they shot it on some cool film stock.
whats that?
There are a few posts earlier in this thread about that. It was shot on reversal. I do remember Gallo saying they had to convince Kodak to manufacture enough of the film for them to shoot the movie on, so it must have been a rare/defunct grade, or somethin.
i noticed that lance acord, the guy who does jonze's stuff, shot it.
Quote from: GhostboyThere are a few posts earlier in this thread about that. It was shot on reversal. I do remember Gallo saying they had to convince Kodak to manufacture enough of the film for them to shoot the movie on, so it must have been a rare/defunct grade, or somethin.
So what does it do to the image? What does it look like? I dont remember
it gives it kind of a grainy, washed out, white look while the colors are still look semi-vibrant.
So after reading all the glowing reviews on this board, I rented the film from Netflix.
Ughhh, there are some moments that I enjoyed, some techniques I enjoyed but overall...they are just used to mask a mediocre story in which I felt no happiness when Billy, for once, doesn't do the wrong thing.
Quote from: lamasProbably my favorite film of all-time..
ohh over orsen wells kubrick boogie nights pulp etc etc
explains why you have no taste except the taste of sperm on your tonsils
Quote from: SHAFTRSo after reading all the glowing reviews on this board, I rented the film from Netflix.
Ughhh, there are some moments that I enjoyed, some techniques I enjoyed but overall...they are just used to mask a mediocre story in which I felt no happiness when Billy, for once, doesn't do the wrong thing.
I'd second that as my opinion of the movie as well. This easily went on my "most overrated list." High up, too.
Quote from: RaikusThis easily went on my "most overrated list." High up, too.
No no no no no no no. Well, I guess it's your opinion, but I just watched it for the first time, and rarely have I ever ended a movie with such a big grin on my face. I'm sure someone once said that movies on a serious subject, can't have a happy ending. "Happy endings are bad endings", right?
No I have a tendency to think they are, and well, was I ever wrong. See, I like to think the bittersweet ending #5 of Return of the King makes it a better movie/ book, than if I'd had ended after (happy) ending #1 (and still do after viewing Buffalo 66, but that's just because I couldn't find a more appropriate example).
But, this movie just opened my eyes, my heart, my...
me Why can't it end happy. I mean...Christ...I'm just in a state of bliss right now. Call it overrated as much as you fucking please, I just saw a movie I love, and it's called
Buffalo 66. And I'm just babbling.
(By the way, I found the thread by doing a search on
Buffalo 66, and every time the title came up, it appeared bold and red, making me think "Damn, everytime someone writes
Buffalo 66, they should write it
bold and red")
Wonderful film, I loved every segment of it. Sometimes it ran a little slow, but really picked up as it went on. I was seriously pissed when he shot the guy in the head and shot himself. I was saying how that could have been the worst ending to a movie ever. And as God as my witness, Billy Brown's character was pissing me off as well as to how rude and pushy he was.
So I guess he achieved all he wanted, and I'd really love to see some more by Gallo.
This film grows better with each viewing, atleast for me. First time I saw it I thought it was alright. I missed a lot of the humor and I didn't really like the Billy Brown character. I just saw it again a few weeks ago and couldn't stop laughing. Rarely has my opinion on a film done such a u-turn as with this one.
Didn't you think that Gallo desperately tried to be a new Cassavetes with this film? Think of Ben Gazzara, the Strip Club, Billy Brown's debts, and compare these, for instance, with The Murder of a Chinese Bookie. There are some references.
I don't really know what to think of the movie. I didn't like at all the drawing of Billy Brown's parents, which was far too much over the top. Gallo jumping around the axis annoyed me sometimes. The cheap black filter over the prison in the beginning of the film was not really necessary.
All in all I can't say Gallo made a bad film but I feel he really needs to acquire some maturity.
Quote from: kelvinDidn't you think that Gallo desperately tried to be a new Cassavetes with this film? Think of Ben Gazzara, the Strip Club, Billy Brown's debts, and compare these, for instance, with The Murder of a Chinese Bookie. There are some references.
I don't really know what to think of the movie. I didn't like at all the drawing of Billy Brown's parents, which was far too much over the top. Gallo jumping around the axis annoyed me sometimes. The cheap black filter over the prison in the beginning of the film was not really necessary.
All in all I can't say Gallo made a bad film but I feel he really needs to acquire some maturity.
He claims he has only seen a Cassavetes film and it was "the worst damn film he's ever seen."
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
see, that's why I love Gallo.
I just rented it (after trying to take a look at Wes Anderson's 'best films of the nineties' list) and thought it was fantastic. So many great parts. I actually managed to get into the films groove and find the humour in it, instead of of missing it the first time like I usually do. The "spanning time" scene was so funny. Gallo's face after raving at Ricci about being a loving couple that don't touch each other! What an ending, too. Hot chocolate - the perfect choice.
Quote from: themodernage02 on June 9th, 2003Quote from: EL__SCORCHOI saw this film when it just came out on video and I thought it was ok. Nothing amazing. I've never wanted to see it again , but people here keep bringing it up, so maybe I'll have to revisit this thing and see if i was right the first time.
ditto. exactly. saw it when it came out, thought nothing of it, but all this goddamned hype on here makes me so curious to see it again. although admittedly my tastes have changed a bit from that many years ago, usually my first impressions end up being right, (even after a re-viewing many years later).
so, because i plan to see the Brown Bunny this week i decided to take another look (6 or so years later) at Buffalo 66. because, as stated above, i rented this when i was maybe 16 and my tastes/opinions have probably changed quite a bit since then. well, not really on this one. i still didnt think it was that amazing or really terrible. it was just okay. its like a really good student film, or a movie thats nowhere near as good as a movie thats
actually good. gallo's character is near unbearable for 3/4'ths of the film. he's so neurotic, he makes woody allen look well-adjusted. the opening of the film is a 10 minute joke about him having to pee? it seems at times homophobic, mysogynistic, and very narcissistic. also: does gallo have something about his own penis? (in the opening minutes, 'its so big', brown bunny).
also, he likes B. Billy Brown in Buffalo, or Bud from Brown Bunny. there were a handful of really funny moments here and there and 'cool' scenes like the musical ones. but what the hell was the point? i mean, it seemed like cool for the sake of being cool just like his outfits. who dresses like that from prison? and yet, theres just enough there so you can see where a great film might've been had it been handled a little better. or maybe thats just my own problem accepting that gallo in real life might be completely different than his billy character.
the unbelievability of the premise doesnt really bother me, and neither does not knowing anything about ricci, (although i would've liked to know SOMETHING) her coming out of the bathroom crying is enough to know that she has problems. and since i hadnt seen it in so long i couldnt remember a damn thing about it, including when it was coming to an end whether or not it was really ending. and then it didnt, and he returned to her and i couldnt help but have a totally big smile on my face.
so funny...
There was nobody that I liked because girls stink. They stink. They're evil. And they're all bad. They're backstabbers, like you.
"Don't start trouble...Don't start...evil..."
"I swear to God, if you embarass me, I'll kill you right there, on the spot. And I swear, if you make me look bad - I will never talk to you again..."
he's so melodramatic, i love it.