Chinatown, My Chinatown…

Master Class. 

Check out this great photo gallery of Chinatown in the early 80’s at the ever-amazing blog, In Focus.

“Well, I don’t have to tell you that we weren’t trying to write a screenplay that was perfectly-structured. We were just trying to make it make sense. I remember, even without Roman, the first structural question, which may seem absurd now after the fact, was the question of which revelation comes first, the incest or the water scandal? And of course, it was the water scandal. When I realized that, I realized how foolish it was even to have asked the question. But the water scandal was the plot, essentially, and the subplot was the incest. That was the underbelly, and the two were intimately connected, literally and metaphorically: raping the future and raping the land. So it was a really good plot/subplot with a really strong connection. In the first draft, as I recall, it was pretty much a single point-of-view. And in the second draft I tried changing that for purposes of clarification and I think in the end, that’s what made the second draft weaker than the first draft. It’s one of the very, very few detective movies, including ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ which has a singular point-of-view.”–Robert Towne.

Cinephilia and Beyond on Chinatown.

Oh, man, real good stuff on Robert Towne over at Cinephilia and Beyond. And even more at Screenplay How To.

Cinephilia and Beyond gives us this dope post on Chinatown.

Picture by Bags.

From A Continuous Lean, here’s a piece on Nom Wah Tea Parlor, the oldest dim sum jernt in the city.

Picture by Eric Issac.

The Mills Brothers.

[Photo via Holy Friend]

Here’s a selection of some of Jack’s Greatest Hits, the temper-temper blowups. They are obvious, and perhaps uninspired, highlight reel selections, yet  still damned entertaining.

Easy Rider:

Five Easy Pieces:

Carnal Knowledge:

The Last Detail:

Chinatown:

Here’s the ballgame scene in Cuckoo’s Nest.

The Shining:

Terms of Endearment:

Oh, baby, Serious Eats gives us the best soup dumplings in Chinatown.

Peep, don’t sleep.

Here’s a great gift idea for the movie nyerd in your life. Thomson is terrific fun to read even when you don’t agree with him.

Here’s a few other movie books of note…

“Lulu in Hollywood,” By Louise Brooks:

“The Parade’s Gone By,” By Kevin Brownlow.

“Picture,” By Lillian Ross:

“The Pat Hobby Stories,” By F. Scott Fitzgerald:

“Hitchcock,” By Francois Truffaut:

“Chinatown and The Last Detail: Two Screenplays,” By Robert Towne:

Hollyrock Quotables.

Taking the Mrs downtown for a bite today. We’re gunna go slurp some soup dumplings.

[Picture by Bags]