In my last post I wrote about film being in its very early stages in the era of Keaton and Chaplin. I just watched The Cameraman last night incidentally, and for an artist unhappy with his lack of creative input with a new studio, Buster shows just how much he still rules the school. Jumping on to the fenders of moving buses for starters.
If there is an area in sports that is still in its infancy, it is the shootout. Yeah, they actually have been around forever, particularly in international and amateur events. I can even remember them from my tween and teen times on the ice. I am a perfect 100%, fyi. One for one. Nothing too fancy. One move deke to the backhand. Shelf. If I recall it was the only move I had. I know that even through those past occurrences we have seen some pretty groundbreaking stuff, my move excluded. Forsberg in Lillehammer and Datsyuk anywhere come to mind. If there is a film parallel, again they are akin to the great comedy shorts or even Melies' A Trip to the Moon.
Since the shootout's inception and obvious added frequency within the era henceforth known as "new" NHL, we have seen variances on things like leg kicks added to the deke. For the most part, it is between this or the pick-your-poison quick shot, to which some players display ridiculous amounts of loyalty. Recently we have seen some somewhat interesting advancements like Rolston with his straight-up blast, but this is still all creativity only on display during the ending of the event. What's that? Where else can we find creativity but in the brief moments before the shot? You need only look as far as Dean Youngblood to find that answer. I know that is a crazy-pretty finish, but he had that Gilles Gratton rip-off beat the moment he skated away from the puck. The shootout attempt begins right after the ref blows the whistle, letting you know it's your turn to shoot, not when you cross the hash marks.
Over the last season or two, we have started to see some players trying the preliminary cut to one side of the rink move, and more advanced variations to varying results, but things really got interesting in the early portion of the program department last weekend. If the players we discussed earlier were Keaton and Melies, then Mike Richards went and pulled out a D. W. Griffith. He dropped The Birth of a Nation on our asses. Only slightly less racist. Should I have said Intolerance? Anyways, it all occurs at the :40 mark of this clip and was met to differing responses from critics. You can hear Dutchie give a gimme-a-break sort of "What's he doing?" in the background. I guess that would put him in the "disapproving" camp.
Richards may not have scored, but his epic length and scope caused immediate ripplings. One night later, enter: pacing. In a game between the Habs and Sens, Maxim Lapierre discovered that this new medium called the shootout is capable of providing an interesting drama with plot twists and a slow but effective finale. It's what Pauline Kael might refer to as "ludicrous at times..." but shows "more spectral atmosphere, more ingenuity, and more imaginative ghoulish ghastliness than any of its successors." Or maybe we've just reached Murnau's Nosferatu.
Btw, notice how Lapierre finished? One move deke to the backhand. Shelf.
You're welcome.
If there is an area in sports that is still in its infancy, it is the shootout. Yeah, they actually have been around forever, particularly in international and amateur events. I can even remember them from my tween and teen times on the ice. I am a perfect 100%, fyi. One for one. Nothing too fancy. One move deke to the backhand. Shelf. If I recall it was the only move I had. I know that even through those past occurrences we have seen some pretty groundbreaking stuff, my move excluded. Forsberg in Lillehammer and Datsyuk anywhere come to mind. If there is a film parallel, again they are akin to the great comedy shorts or even Melies' A Trip to the Moon.
Since the shootout's inception and obvious added frequency within the era henceforth known as "new" NHL, we have seen variances on things like leg kicks added to the deke. For the most part, it is between this or the pick-your-poison quick shot, to which some players display ridiculous amounts of loyalty. Recently we have seen some somewhat interesting advancements like Rolston with his straight-up blast, but this is still all creativity only on display during the ending of the event. What's that? Where else can we find creativity but in the brief moments before the shot? You need only look as far as Dean Youngblood to find that answer. I know that is a crazy-pretty finish, but he had that Gilles Gratton rip-off beat the moment he skated away from the puck. The shootout attempt begins right after the ref blows the whistle, letting you know it's your turn to shoot, not when you cross the hash marks.
Over the last season or two, we have started to see some players trying the preliminary cut to one side of the rink move, and more advanced variations to varying results, but things really got interesting in the early portion of the program department last weekend. If the players we discussed earlier were Keaton and Melies, then Mike Richards went and pulled out a D. W. Griffith. He dropped The Birth of a Nation on our asses. Only slightly less racist. Should I have said Intolerance? Anyways, it all occurs at the :40 mark of this clip and was met to differing responses from critics. You can hear Dutchie give a gimme-a-break sort of "What's he doing?" in the background. I guess that would put him in the "disapproving" camp.
Richards may not have scored, but his epic length and scope caused immediate ripplings. One night later, enter: pacing. In a game between the Habs and Sens, Maxim Lapierre discovered that this new medium called the shootout is capable of providing an interesting drama with plot twists and a slow but effective finale. It's what Pauline Kael might refer to as "ludicrous at times..." but shows "more spectral atmosphere, more ingenuity, and more imaginative ghoulish ghastliness than any of its successors." Or maybe we've just reached Murnau's Nosferatu.
Btw, notice how Lapierre finished? One move deke to the backhand. Shelf.
You're welcome.
I don't entirely agree with your point but am formulating an intelligent argument. In the meantime, please start using the "Open link in a new tab" so I don't lose my place.
ReplyDeleteThank you.