> The reaction to the old films is "Where is the plot? Why is every
> scene stretched out so much? Who is who and what is what in this
> movie? What in the world is this camera movement trying to say?"
> These movie unfold too slowly and yet somehow are able to "signify"
> shot for shot, camera movement for camera movement, too quickly.
I saw The Maltese Falcon for the first time a few months ago. I didn't get it. All the characters seemed unintentionally completely insane. I couldn't fathom the motivations. Everybody acted like William Shatner, without the excuse of coming from Shakespeare. The pacing would have been fine if it hadn't been all so bizarre. Duck Soup made more sense.
I got into Doom when it came out. After a while it made me feel like a rat pushing on a lever.
-- Andy