I've been happy ever since.

It stuns me that GC even exists still. Choose any new movie, and only 5 people or so will have rated it. Do they really have that small a user base (or that small a DVD inventory)?

As a filmmaker myself, I'm deeply respectful of what he is doing. As a viewer and audience member I'm deeply affected by his films.

GreenCine looked promising at first, but over half of the foreign films in my Netflix queue are not available from GreenCine. Plus Netflix has a distribution center in my town, while GreenCine is in California.

I have seen the movie at Pompidou retrospective, i dont remember any scenes of horseplays ...

The two gangsters who want to recruit Stan say "The animal has its teeth and the man has its fists, that's the way I was brought up". that echoes to the lecture of that father lecturing his boy in the opening scene, right?

And then what Stan's wife replies sounds incredibly racist, especially if it was coming from a White mouth: "You think you're still an animal in some god-damn bush somewhere? You're here, you use your brains"... yet it's the voice of reason to discourage criminality.
It's ironic how Spike Lee follows the reverse path in Do The Right Thing, from reason to violence.

I didn't mean the speed round was wrong, but it's more common in other podcasts, it's not what raises yours above the fray.

We have one more summer speed round in the queue and then we'll probably lay off for a while.

First, an insert (aka pillow shot) that's a low-angle shot. This is atypical for Ozu, but I think he does this from time to time when he's outside. It does help break the movie suddenly out of those boxes.

Second -- just a couple of shots later -- a shot of Noriko showing the old couple around. They're standing on the steps seen in the first example. In this one, it's actually very hard to tell what angle it's shot at, because of the angled railing, the stairs, and the people who are all standing at the top of the shot. The camera may be angled up, or it may be perfectly in line with one of those top steps. But, as you say, the people in this case are above the horizontal, so we do see them from below.

I don't remember very well the shots you mention in Tokyo Story in an outdoor staircase, but you're right they are not orthogonal, I think they are diagonal (horizontally though). Even if the feet of the characters are above the horizon on the upper platform (so the camera is on the lower platform) doesn't mean he has to use an angle to frame them.

But I know I'm being nit picky.

I checked out a few more podcasted featured in the article where they mention Errata, at Film in Focus, but they are either anti-intellectual info-tainment or fanboy chatter... superficial levels of film culture.
I hope you turn yours into a regular offering, interviews and in-depth exploration of a film/oeuvre. The speed-rounds aren't as special to me though.

I think a few of the pillow shots might be low-angle shots, from time to time, like maybe looking up at a clothesline or power lines, but I don't have time to look them up at the moment. Also, in that scene in Tokyo Story when Noriko is showing the older parents around Tokyo, and they look out across the skyline, does the camera look up at them, a little? I'm not sure. Maybe not.

Of course all of those possible examples are outdoors. Indoors he's horizontal, as far as I can remember. You mention the stairs, and I think even in Hen in the Wind where they figure prominently in several scenes, I'm not sure we ever get a shot looking up or down at them. I'd have to revisit it to know for sure.

Killer of Sheep is messy, but I like that about it. Doug recently posted about The Exiles over at filmjourney, and I think this comment from the director, Kent Mackenzie, applies to Killer of Sheep, too: "we sought to photograph the infinite details surrounding these people, to let them speak for themselves, and to let the fragments mount up."

Over at Daily Plastic -- or maybe on the podcast itself -- I'd like to mention a few other film podcasts that are worth a listen. Thanks for that link to Mitchell's interview with Burnett.

In French we say "plongée" = dive (high angle, looking down) and "contre-plongée" (low angle looking up). They are dramatic effects.

Burnett does use these angles (the domestic fight with the gun, the engine carried by Stan and his friend) for dramatic situations.

Harry, you're right that keeping a horizontal sight-line creates a different perspective, which is a useful distinction. I hadn't thought about that. I just know that when I watch Ozu, I always feel like I'm looking up at people, and I was amazed during the two-month retro what a different experience that was.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm lame in that I don't listen to any other podcasts, so I'll agree with you that ours is the best I've heard.

This is a great film indeed. We can feel the overwhelming summer heat and the weight of life, the nonchalance and laziness, the playfulness and the rivalries. It reminds me of Jarmusch's Permanent Vacation or Stranger than Paradise...
It's a little "messy", lacking wholeness and global coherence, even if we don't talk about strict continuity. Though there are many great scenes, with great ideas, which you describe very well.

One note: I don't think Ozu looks up at people (low angle camera). He lowers the sight-line to the knee level (not the academic eye level), but maintains an horizontal sight-line. I know J. Roberts didn't mean it that way. But this detail does change the perspective lines according to the angle of the camera to the horizontal, and it also changes the psychology of the resulting image.

Admit it. You know you're looking for an excuse to build an iPhone app.

You've got 20 days.

Thanks for the grid feedback. We're trying to convey a lot of information in limited space, but I hope it feels manageable.

I imagine we'll try to record a few things from TIFF, but I'm sure I won't get around to putting anything up until I get back.

Oh well.

Perhaps we can all raise a glass in honor of the launch of Daily Plastic in a couple weeks!

Maya, unless you're referring to my birthday in 2007, your calendar is out of whack. Or your greetings are very belated. 'Cause my birthday is in October. However, gifts and greetings will not be rejected under any circumstances.

I also liked hearing David Gordon Green's comments on the film. The first couple of times I saw George Washington I had not yet seen Burnett's film. Now that I have, I'm almost afraid to revisit it, in fear that the magic I got from Green's debut might evaporate in the face of direct exposure to so strong an influence. I should probably brave it though.