The_Film_That_Changed_My_Life

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26 Chris Miller Sleeper Somehow, it all comes back to giant food. Chris Miller made his move from TV (Clone High, How I Met Your Mother) to the big screen with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which he directed with Phil Lord. Below, he talks about the film that turned him on to directing: Woody Allen’s Sleeper, which also features massive, out-ofcontrol food. He says, “It was a middle phase for Woody Allen. Those were two things I was very interested in: having something interesting to say in a movie but also not taking yourself too seriously and really making the kind of gut laughter that you get from pure physical comedy.” Chris Miller, selected filmography: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009; codirector, with Phil Lord) Sleeper 1973 Directed by Woody Allen Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mary Gregory, Don Keefer, John Beck, and many more How would you describe Sleeper to someone who has never seen it? Miller: It’s a 1973 Woody Allen movie in which he is cryogenically frozen, wakes up several hundred years in the future, gets into a bunch of mayhem, and becomes involved in a plot to overthrow the government. 241
242 Chris Miller When did you first see it? Miller: I was a freshman in college when I saw it, and it really did change my view of film and comedy. For me, Sleeper was a great balance between physical comedy—slapstick humor—and clever savvy social satire. At that point I’d never really seen a film that has really balanced both of those elements. It was kind of like—you know how Rubber Soul and Revolver are the best Beatles albums because they’re somewhere between “She Loves You” and “I Am the Walrus”? They have elements of catchy pop songs, but with experimental stuff in them. I felt like Sleeper was not just a silly, goofy comedy like Take the Money and Run and not like Hannah and Her Sisters. It was a middle phase for Woody Allen. Those were two things I was very interested in: having something interesting to say in a movie but also not taking yourself too seriously and really making the kind of gut laughter that you get from pure physical comedy. It’s interesting that you had that reaction. Allen told biographer Eric Lax that Sleeper was the first film in which “I started to get interested in my profession.” It was the first movie that wasn’t a series of sketches and was his first full narrative. Miller: Yeah, I like Annie Hall better as a movie and so does everybody in the universe—no big whoop there. But again, this was near my heart, Sleeper, because it was one of the first movies that I’ve ever seen where he was just unabashedly funny but still caring about things like art direction and what kind of shots he makes. I took a lot away from that movie as far as cinematography. I still believe that long, wide setups are good for physical comedy. And when you get too tight with too many cuts, it often ruins the joke. It was definitely the case in Sleeper. There were lots of big wide shots where he just lets himself do all sorts of physical antics. What scene sticks with you when you think about the film? Miller: I think about the whole series of things when he is impersonating the robot. It’s the first thing I think of. Then, there’s the giant food and slipping on a banana peel—a really classic, old-timey, cartoony gag.
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Danny Boyle on Apocalypse Now Kevin
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-P
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Contents Introduction … vi 1 Edga
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Introduction Movies are personal to
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viii Introduction For me, a sevente
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2 Edgar Wright How would you descri
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4 Edgar Wright an extremely gory Ri
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6 Edgar Wright going on. People are
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8 Edgar Wright Wright: The thing th
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10 Edgar Wright And then the deadpa
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12 Edgar Wright when a director has
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14 Rian Johnson How would you descr
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16 Rian Johnson [laughter] So there
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18 Rian Johnson The Godfather, and
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20 Rian Johnson creates the beauty
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22 Rian Johnson Johnson: Oh God, ar
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24 Rian Johnson As a filmmaker it
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26 Danny Boyle Starring Martin Shee
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28 Danny Boyle Boyle: [laughs] It h
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30 Danny Boyle on the ground, they
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32 Danny Boyle shooting schedule; h
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34 Danny Boyle And, as a filmmaker,
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36 Danny Boyle nonsense. But, it se
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38 Danny Boyle Boyle: Oh yeah, it
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40 Bill Condon How would you descri
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42 Bill Condon Condon: Oh, I think
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44 Bill Condon that great ending. I
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46 Bill Condon And then there’s a
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48 Richard Kelly Terry Gilliam call
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50 Richard Kelly access passes to t
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52 Richard Kelly Kelly: It makes it
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54 Richard Kelly they are not seen
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56 Peter Bogdanovich Texasville (19
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58 Peter Bogdanovich How did it cha
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60 Peter Bogdanovich everything the
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62 Peter Bogdanovich And you were p
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7 John Dahl A Clockwork Orange John
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66 John Dahl For example, I would s
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68 John Dahl way around. Art consis
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70 John Dahl Dahl: It’s interesti
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72 John Dahl My only other criticis
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8 Henry Jaglom 8½ Henry Jaglom cha
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76 Henry Jaglom was going through.
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78 Henry Jaglom out of control. A g
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80 Henry Jaglom Over the years, I
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9 Brian Herzlinger E.T.: The Extra-
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84 Brian Herzlinger during the scen
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86 Brian Herzlinger that world brou
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88 Brian Herzlinger You met Spielbe
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90 Brian Herzlinger And he says,
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92 Brian Herzlinger in theaters bec
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10 Alex Gibney The Exterminating An
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96 Alex Gibney one was political in
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98 Alex Gibney There’s one scene
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100 Alex Gibney you’ve had to do
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102 Alex Gibney I would say that th
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11 Kimberly Peirce The Godfather Pe
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106 Kimberly Peirce and he gets him
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108 Kimberly Peirce Have you ever r
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12 Steve James Harlan County U.S.A.
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112 Steve James later. It’s so tr
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114 Steve James an outsider. She ha
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116 Steve James out there, which wa
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118 Steve James James: Sure. It was
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120 Steve James give-and-take, then
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122 Steve James 28 Up and The Times
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124 Austin Chick Can you tell me ab
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126 Austin Chick Chick: Yeah, I mea
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128 Austin Chick Chick: The very fi
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130 Austin Chick But this does have
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14 Guy Maddin L’âge d’or Guy M
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134 Guy Maddin a movie myself. My m
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136 Guy Maddin It has a great shape
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138 Guy Maddin Maddin: Oh my God, i
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140 Guy Maddin shooting things, I l
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142 Guy Maddin to the way we love.
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144 Guy Maddin see that the spicy,
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146 Michel Gondry How you would des
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148 Michel Gondry You’re right. I
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150 Michel Gondry I think they have
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16 Michael Polish Once Upon a Time
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154 Michael Polish because he was u
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156 Michael Polish I’ve heard it
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158 Michael Polish aspects of filmm
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17 Arthur Hiller Open City Roberto
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162 Arthur Hiller movies like that,
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164 Arthur Hiller hope I put in thi
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166 Arthur Hiller Coburn character
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168 Pete Docter How would you descr
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170 Pete Docter Docter: Yeah, I had
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172 Pete Docter Tatum O’Neal was
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174 Pete Docter meaning of the scen
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176 Atom Egoyan How would you descr
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178 Atom Egoyan It’s been suggest
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180 Atom Egoyan old quote about sto
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182 Atom Egoyan That had a huge inf
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184 Atom Egoyan Bergman was working
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186 Atom Egoyan always find that im
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20 Gurinder Chadha Purab aur Pachhi
Page 199 and 200: 190 Gurinder Chadha blond hair and
Page 201 and 202: 192 Gurinder Chadha My films are fr
Page 203 and 204: 194 Gurinder Chadha Even now, as I
Page 205 and 206: 196 Richard Linklater Raging Bull 1
Page 207 and 208: 198 Richard Linklater I’ve been i
Page 209 and 210: 200 Richard Linklater To see someon
Page 211 and 212: 22 Jay Duplass Raising Arizona Jay
Page 213 and 214: 204 Jay Duplass superbly executed
Page 215 and 216: 206 Jay Duplass camera, similar to
Page 217 and 218: 208 Jay Duplass And Moonstruck is t
Page 219 and 220: 23 John Woo Rebel Without a Cause a
Page 221 and 222: 212 John Woo I was pretty strong—
Page 223 and 224: 214 John Woo —but the role went t
Page 225 and 226: 216 John Woo Mean Streets came out
Page 227 and 228: 218 John Woo Scorsese’s violence
Page 229 and 230: 220 John Woo That’s one of the pe
Page 231 and 232: 24 John Landis The 7th Voyage of Si
Page 233 and 234: 224 John Landis That’s funny, bec
Page 235 and 236: 226 John Landis People have a misun
Page 237 and 238: 228 John Landis completely dazzles
Page 239 and 240: 230 John Landis Casablanca or Citiz
Page 241 and 242: 25 Kevin Smith Slacker For director
Page 243 and 244: 234 Kevin Smith very clever, very f
Page 245 and 246: 236 Kevin Smith place I’d really
Page 247 and 248: 238 Kevin Smith Smith: The benefit
Page 249: 240 Kevin Smith What was your react
Page 253 and 254: 244 Chris Miller at the same time.
Page 255 and 256: 246 Neil LaBute The Soft Skin 1964
Page 257 and 258: 248 Neil LaBute if anyone, is short
Page 259 and 260: 250 Neil LaBute most passionate mom
Page 261 and 262: 252 Neil LaBute LaBute: Yeah, well,
Page 263 and 264: 254 Neil LaBute Such a small portio
Page 265 and 266: 256 Neil LaBute If I remember right
Page 267 and 268: 258 Neil LaBute Lachenay moves arou
Page 269 and 270: 260 George A. Romero The Dark Half
Page 271 and 272: 262 George A. Romero I’ve never h
Page 273 and 274: 264 George A. Romero Pressburger an
Page 275 and 276: 266 Frank Oz How would you describe
Page 277 and 278: 268 Frank Oz Tell me about that dis
Page 279 and 280: 270 Frank Oz There’s a story abou
Page 281 and 282: 272 Frank Oz coffeehouse. That was
Page 283 and 284: 274 Frank Oz know what I’m doing.
Page 285 and 286: 276 Frank Oz It’s amazing how you
Page 287 and 288: 30 John Waters The Wizard of Oz The
Page 289 and 290: 280 John Waters And then, the seldo
Page 291 and 292: 282 John Waters countries—maybe t
Page 293 and 294: Acknowledgments First, thanks to th
Page 295 and 296: Index A accidents, on-set, 148-149
Page 297 and 298: 288 Index Coutard, Raoul, 257 Cowar
Page 299 and 300: 290 Index Hoop Dreams, 117, 118, 12
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292 Index My Beautiful Laundrette,
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294 Index special effects, 223, 224
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