Studio execs were terrified by the idea of home video. In their coke-fueled paranoia they thought they’d lose control over their product. They did, but the VHS revolution sparked new enthusiasm for movies. Gaming wasn’t very sophisticated at the time and there were no reels, threads, or Youtube videos. Plus there were no media influencers. Thank God.
VHS exploded in the eighties, and by the nineties the industry was booming. So were the multiplexes. Movies were the number one source of entertainment for most people. Blockbusters ruled the screens and video shelves for a few years, but seeds of rebellion were growing.
Several established directors flirted with independent film. The Coens, David Lynch, John Sayles. Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Stranger Than Paradise, She’s Gotta Have It, and Slacker paved the way for a new type of movie and hip audiences were hungry for it.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction was one of the most influential releases of all time. Suddenly, indie films were in and we waved goodbye to the excesses of eighties movies.
Horror was way out and I was skipping issues of Fangoria. Film Threat and Film Threat Video Guide were my bibles of anti-mainstream film. I went deeper into the realms of the underground than most, but audiences were raving about releases from Miramax, Fineline, and Sony Pictures Classics.
Fans and pros flocked to Sundance, Slamdance, Cannes, and the Chicago Underground Film Festival, hoping to see the future hits. If I had the money, I'd have been right there with them.
The nineties were a fabulous time for movies and in some ways it was my favorite era as a fan.
Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion came just a year after Pulp Fiction, but the independent film world was already ripe with cliches.
Living in Oblivion is a satire of low-budget filmmaking, but I think it’s almost a documentary.
Having shot early Jim Jarmusch films, DiCillo was already well-versed in the subject. Indie film poster boy Steve Buscemi is at his frenzied best as a beleaguered director desperately trying to get his low-budget masterpiece in the can. He certainly has his hands full.
James LeGros is the egotistic star. His leading lady, played by the ever-likeable Catherine Keener, is riddled with self-doubt and anxiety. Dermot Mulroney is the cinematographer. pretentious beret well placed on his head.
Living in Oblivion is Peter Dinklage’s debut, because if David Lynch taught us nothing else, you’ve got to have a dwarf in a surreal dream sequence. I’m not even sure dwarf is the accepted woke (formerly politically correct) term, but that’s the word they used in the movie, so I’m going with it.
This movie is so tense it’s almost like something from the Safdie brothers. Everything goes wrong and Buscemi is boiling over in frustrated rage. It’s funny, in a sadistic way, but Living in Oblivion mostly skewers the myth that filmmaking is glamorous and fun.
Living in Oblivion was the perfect movie at the perfect time. It didn’t make a lot of money, but like most of these little movies, Living in Oblivion was made so cheaply it didn’t need to rake in the big bucks.
Tom DiCillo already had a minor indie hit before Living in Oblivion with Johnny Suede. He went on to make very cool pictures like Box of Moonlight, The Real Blonde, and Delirious. There were some good documentaries, but not much in recent years. I wish he were still directing feature films. I saw DiCillo released an album of music, and I considered ordering the record, but it’s a bit too Nick Cave for me.
Looking back through the soft focus of time and nostalgia, Living in Oblivion perfectly recalls a period before pervasive technology spoiled everything. It all started to go bad, I think, when we became able to carry the internet with us everywhere we went. Thankfully, we have movies like this to help us remember. Get the old DVDs or Blu-ray re-issues and don’t let the streaming demons ruin them, too.
Written by Mark Sieber
VHS exploded in the eighties, and by the nineties the industry was booming. So were the multiplexes. Movies were the number one source of entertainment for most people. Blockbusters ruled the screens and video shelves for a few years, but seeds of rebellion were growing.
Several established directors flirted with independent film. The Coens, David Lynch, John Sayles. Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Stranger Than Paradise, She’s Gotta Have It, and Slacker paved the way for a new type of movie and hip audiences were hungry for it.Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction was one of the most influential releases of all time. Suddenly, indie films were in and we waved goodbye to the excesses of eighties movies.
Horror was way out and I was skipping issues of Fangoria. Film Threat and Film Threat Video Guide were my bibles of anti-mainstream film. I went deeper into the realms of the underground than most, but audiences were raving about releases from Miramax, Fineline, and Sony Pictures Classics.
Fans and pros flocked to Sundance, Slamdance, Cannes, and the Chicago Underground Film Festival, hoping to see the future hits. If I had the money, I'd have been right there with them.
The nineties were a fabulous time for movies and in some ways it was my favorite era as a fan.
Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion came just a year after Pulp Fiction, but the independent film world was already ripe with cliches.
Living in Oblivion is a satire of low-budget filmmaking, but I think it’s almost a documentary.
Having shot early Jim Jarmusch films, DiCillo was already well-versed in the subject. Indie film poster boy Steve Buscemi is at his frenzied best as a beleaguered director desperately trying to get his low-budget masterpiece in the can. He certainly has his hands full.
James LeGros is the egotistic star. His leading lady, played by the ever-likeable Catherine Keener, is riddled with self-doubt and anxiety. Dermot Mulroney is the cinematographer. pretentious beret well placed on his head.
Living in Oblivion is Peter Dinklage’s debut, because if David Lynch taught us nothing else, you’ve got to have a dwarf in a surreal dream sequence. I’m not even sure dwarf is the accepted woke (formerly politically correct) term, but that’s the word they used in the movie, so I’m going with it.
This movie is so tense it’s almost like something from the Safdie brothers. Everything goes wrong and Buscemi is boiling over in frustrated rage. It’s funny, in a sadistic way, but Living in Oblivion mostly skewers the myth that filmmaking is glamorous and fun.
Living in Oblivion was the perfect movie at the perfect time. It didn’t make a lot of money, but like most of these little movies, Living in Oblivion was made so cheaply it didn’t need to rake in the big bucks.
Tom DiCillo already had a minor indie hit before Living in Oblivion with Johnny Suede. He went on to make very cool pictures like Box of Moonlight, The Real Blonde, and Delirious. There were some good documentaries, but not much in recent years. I wish he were still directing feature films. I saw DiCillo released an album of music, and I considered ordering the record, but it’s a bit too Nick Cave for me.
Looking back through the soft focus of time and nostalgia, Living in Oblivion perfectly recalls a period before pervasive technology spoiled everything. It all started to go bad, I think, when we became able to carry the internet with us everywhere we went. Thankfully, we have movies like this to help us remember. Get the old DVDs or Blu-ray re-issues and don’t let the streaming demons ruin them, too.
Written by Mark Sieber
The author does not allow comments to this entry
No comments