The Walker Cinema is a no-snack venue. But never have I yearned harder for a little bag of popcorn than I did at the screening of Dogfight as part of Lili Taylor’s Regis Dialogue and Retrospective. I brought along my friend, Sovady, and we settled in for 89 minutes of snarky one-liners and endearing moments with Lili and River Phoenix. I am such a sucker for that film.
River Phoenix and Lili Taylor in Dogfight.
I came back the following night for a double-feature with I Shot Andy Warhol and The Addiction. During her Regis Dialogue with critic and writer B. Ruby Rich, Lili mentioned that The Addiction was a strange turn for her, and the fans of that film are few and far between. I am pleased to note that I am among the “few and far between.” But what I remember most clearly as I left the cinema was that both films made reference to William S. Burrough’s controversial book, Naked Lunch. This stuck in my brain because at that moment, sitting at home on my coffee table, was the film adaptation of the novel by director David Cronenberg. I don’t have any reflections on ‘Naked Lunch’ to offer beyond its tenuous and coincidental connection to my Netflix queue.
Lili Taylor and director Mary Harron on the set of “I Shot Andy Warhol”
Lili Taylor seeks advice from sage vampire Christopher Walken.
There’ll be more to report as the retrospective continues. Tonight is another Nancy Savoca film, Household Saints.
I became a big fan of Lili Taylors after seeing her performance in “Dog Fight”. I already knew of her from other films, but “Dog Fight” gave a young Lili Taylor her chance to really prove herself and boy did she deliver on it.
Playing Rose, in a movie that captured the era to perfection, Lili made the dumpy little girl Rose into a complex and loveable character. River and Lili formed a screen relationship that will never leave my memory. It kind of creeps into your soul and the ending is complex enough to leave you thinking what was said after the credits closed.
If ever an Oscar was deserved, it was deserved by Lili in this role. Nobody could have brought that character to life and make you actually fall in love with her as well as Lili did. The movie itself was of an era before my time, but I came along not so far after that era to know that the Marines played by River and friends were real characters. That was how Mariens and Sailors were at that time, and the male female relations were so much different than today. They captured it to perfection.
I am devoted to all of Lil’s films now, but “Dog Fight” is my favorite movie of all time, and that is saying something.
Filmakers miss out whenever they don’t make roles for women of Lili’s ability. Shows that Hollywood is a bunch of idiots more often than not!
Comment by Robert Bengtsson — 8/20/2007 @ 1:18 pm