Dario Argento Books and DVD List + Links

[thomasjarvis]

Originally Posted by sethdlh

It looks like the popular (and pretty damn good) book Broken Mirrors Broken Minds is getting a revised released and is available for pre-order on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Mirrors...3422800&sr=8-1

Thats music to my ears, actually. I truly enjoyed plowing through McDonagh's humble little labour of love (originally her college thesis, actually), and for me it will likely always be the definitive write-up on Argento. And its been out of print for far, far too long. I quite enjoy the glossy, picture-filled goodness offered up by longtime Argento scribe Alan Jones, but for tuly indepth insight into Dario's cinematic world, 'Broken Mirrors' can't be topped. I might even rate it higher than 'Cronenberg On Cronenberg', and thats high praise indeed.

[CastleGrapsOwner]

Originally Posted by J-Syxx

Some of you guys are just stuck up nerds. I'm sorry. His newer films may not be as great as his older classics, but I still enjoy them. Sick as hell of hearing all this bitching about Argento, Romero, *insert any director who has been active for more than 20 years.* In the end, don't listen to lots of these people. If you are an Argento fan, you may find something to enoy in every piece of his oeuvre.

I think that people that talking like you is not a Dario Argento's fan. It's not a nerd or not nerd thing (nerd to me doesn't means nothing when we talking about cinema), it's all about the good taste. The newest argento's flicks lack of any logic and atmosphere.

In my opinion when someone says nerd to another, this person loses his credibility.

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

I think that people that talking like you is not a Dario Argento's fan. It's not a nerd or not nerd thing (nerd to me doesn't means nothing when we talking about cinema), it's all about the good taste. The newest argento's flicks lack of any logic and atmosphere.

In my opinion when someone says nerd to another, this person loses his credibility.

To be fair, Argento was never strong on the logic. But he was definitely heavy on the atmosphere.

And why not use the term "nerd"? The commonly held negative attributes that go with the term (being socially inept, for example) might not ring true for many film buffs but the raison d'etre for the term, to describe people who are compulsive/obsessive with their interests, fits well for most people. You make no case when you mention "good taste" as there really is nothing more subjective than taste. As you are responding to a post from 2010, I don't know if J-Syxx is going to be around to defend himself, but I think his point was that most Argento fans don't find his late career output to be on par with his early career output and that opinion blinds them to whatever might be good about his later films (ie. it doesn't stand up to Suspiria ergo it isn't any good). Now while I'm sure that is true of many people, for me they're not good simply because they're not good. I don't care who directed them.

Now that being said, there will always be a bit of qualified criticism there. We've all seen what Argento can do. The man was easily one of the best European directors in the 70s and 80s. Watching his recent spate of films (Mother of Tears, for example, or Giallo), I can't help but feel that he has devolved into just another "point and shoot" director. So for me, these recent films are doubly terrible. Not only are they terrible films, they're terrible Argento films. I doesn't matter if I'm guilty of what J-Syxx accuses people of doing, I still fall on the low end of the critical spectrum. Either way, they're terrible.

[CastleGrapsOwner]

nothing, that's the reason I said that. You have a strange way to describe people that have more than an hobby. Here it's different, you can read comic books and have a social life too.
With "good taste" I meant "buon gusto", it's all about how a director starts a work, and his intentions to be honest with the fan and with himself, and avoid any ridiculous ideas. It's not about the taste of people, that it's subjective of course.

Returning in topic, the lack of logic it's not in every movies he done.
I'm saying that this Argento is far far away from the master that he was. The mother of tears for me it's an insult to the people intelligence. And you must know that I am a big Argento's fan, an so I'm not happy to say that.

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

nothing, that's the reason I said that. You have a strange way to describe people that have more than an hobby. Here it's different, you can read comic books and have a social life too.

Yeah, but that's the popular image of a nerd here, someone with no social life who sits at home and reads comic books. I appreciate my nerdish behavior. I spend a huge portion of my free time watching every bit of Italian genre cinema I can come across (with generous portions of everything else, of course). I still manage to be social, I still manage to be approachable and I still manage healthy, normal relationships. All of which flies in the face of what someone normally means when they say "you're a nerd". However, when someone calls me a nerd after I rant on and on about giallo films I usually just say "thank you". It doesn't bother me. Shouldn't bother anyone, as far as I'm concerned.

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

With "good taste" I meant "buon gusto", it's all about how a director starts a work, and his intentions to be honest with the fan and with himself, and avoid any ridiculous ideas. It's not about the taste of people, that it's subjective of course.

Well now that we have that cleared up I can say I largely agree.

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

Returning in topic, the lack of logic it's not in every movies he done.

No, it isn't. I agree. The Animal Trilogy, when compared with some of their contemporaries, feel very well structured narratively (even though both The Cat O' Nine Tails and Four Flies on Grey Velvet use as their central plot devices two pieces of pseudo-science that were, even at the time, recognized as nonsense). But once Deep Red went before cameras, Argento's logic started to go with it. But that isn't a criticism. Not really. The loose logic fits with the narratives. With Suspiria and Inferno, logic went right out the window by design, not by a creative mistake. The gialli that followed those films were filled with deus ex machinas and seemingly random plot devices. All by choice. So to fault Argento for not sticking to the common logical forms within the text of his films is to miss the point.

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

I'm saying that this Argento is far far away from the master that he was. The mother of tears for me it's an insult to the people intelligence. And you must know that I am a big Argento's fan, an so I'm not happy to say that.

Oh I completely agree. Mother of Tears and Giallo were absolutely horrible films. I am an Argento fan. But I'm not an Argento apologist like some of the people I've argued with in this very thread. Like I've said before, those films are bad regardless of their director but when viewed as a part of the man's ouevre, their failure to do anything well seems even more egregious. So once again, I agree with you.

[CastleGrapsOwner]

The logic I talked about was not related to the "unreal plots". For me are more illogical the choices he made the last years. Illogical for their ridiculous parts like the "rappresentation of chaos" in Rome in Mother of Tears.

Which is your favorite argento's flick?

[DaveG]

Originally Posted by CastleGrapsOwner

The logic I talked about was not related to the "unreal plots". For me are more illogical the choices he made the last years. Illogical for their ridiculous parts like the "rappresentation of chaos" in Rome in Mother of Tears.

Which is your favorite argento's flick?

I don't honestly know what my favorite Argento film is. I think his most interesting film is Suspiria but his most entertaining film is easily Deep Red. But whenever I get the desire to watch an Argento film I usually put on The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. I basically just bounce between those three films as my favorite.

[Robert Thorn]

I've only seen a handful of his movies so far:

1. Deep Red (1975)
2. Suspiria (1977)
3. The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970)
4. Inferno (1980)

From what I hear, his work started to decline by the 1990s. Still I'll given even his modern movies a chance.

[Void Terra Firma]

I thought his Masters of Horror entry Jenifer was pretty good (if predictable), so there's that. There's nothing particularly "Argento-esque" about it at all, but I'll take it over Giallo, for sure.

[CastleGrapsOwner]

Guys, have you seen the last Argento's movie Dracula 3D?
I did!