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THE MOVIE THAT INSPIRED ME
The Movie That Inspired Me returns for the fourth year with Curtis Hanson hosting. The brainchild of screenwriter-director Hanson, who is also the Chairman of the UCLA Film and Television Archive, The Movie That Inspired Me debuted to great success in 1999. The series pairs film artists with their choice of a movie that significantly influenced their creative lives. Each evening begins with a screening of the selected film followed by an informal conversation with the artist moderated by Mr. Hanson.
Previous guests have included editor Dede Allen, actor-producer Drew Barrymore, production designer Jeanine Oppewall, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, actor-directors Sean Penn and Diane Keaton, and screenwriter-director-producer Michael Mann.
From aintitcool.com:
[...) Last night Christopher Nolan was the guest and he showed Blade Runner - the Original Cut.
Yes I was in a state of confusion as well.
When I heard this was happening I knew I had to be there, not only to hear Nolan and Hansen discuss one of my favorite films, but also to find out why in the hell Nolan chose the voice over version that Ridley Scott and, obvious by the performance, Harrison Ford hated.
Curtis opened the film by explaining that he had to do quite a bit of string-pulling to get a print of the original since the studio will not allow it out (are they embarrassed about the VO now, too?). He ended up getting it from some secret collection because the owner is a big fan of Memento. Overall the print was decent and it was great getting to see the original on the big screen even if the VO can be a little grating. Afterwards, Nolan spoke about how this was how he originally saw the film and this is the version that inspired him, therefore, it was only appropriate to show this version for the series. He spoke in length about how watching a pirated VHS version of it influenced him in really being obsessive about every shot. Hansen and him spoke about the whole theme of identity in the film and how it carried over to the movies that he went on to make - especially Memento.
Hansen then announced that Nolan's next feature will be Batman, which Nolan did not deny. There was some grumbling from the audience and Nolan just smirked a little about it and Hansen went on to take questions from the audience.
Other than that, Nolan went on to say that he felt the effects in Blade Runner are far superior to those in today's film. He said that CGI just doesnt have it, and "the technology isn't good enough yet, but we are being told that it is". He also spoke in length about being "in" the studio system now, and how he likes being able to have professional people around him and having the ability to use a "larger canvass" since there is more money.
A guy who likes being able to make big budget films, hates CGI, and says he has seen Blade Runner hundreds of times? I think we might just get our great Batman movie that we all know is possible.
After it was over Nolan and Hansen hung around and spoke with people one on one and were very accessible.
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