I see to have vague memories that both John Bruns and Arnab are big Rutles fans.

They got together for a showing at the Egyptian Theater last night and a Q&A and jam session - the first time the four have been together since it was filmed. Nicole Campos did a write-up and pictures for LA Weekly.

If you’re interested, it’s here:
blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/film/rutling-is-the-sincerest-form-1

I watched Badlands last night. Wasn’t nearly as poetic and grand as Days of Heaven. I was surprised. NOt sure what I think of it yet, though it was very good.

I have not seen the documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, that Werner Herzog re-made as this fictional account of Dieter Dengler’s captivity in Laos and then escape during the Vietnam War. I am not even sure why Herzog chose to tell Dengler’s story twice, once in documentary form and once in fictional form, with Christian Bale in the role of Dengler. Perhaps someone on this blog has seen them both and can offer an opinion?

The film itself has an oddly uplifting and wildly optimistic ending that is hard to square with the rest of the film. The only real justification for this ending is that it somehow mirrors the relentless optimism that Dengler manages to display throughout his captivity, in marked contrast to the five other prisoners (including a disappointing Steve Zahn). But the great majority of the film is enjoyable (that’s probably the wrong word) and beautifully made. It captures in a matter-of-fact (documentary?) style the torture, degradation, and long period on the run in the jungle that Dengler experienced. Bale is, as usual, expressive and manages to portray strength and vulnerability throughout. Recommended.