Paul Verhovember Ends

Paul Verhovember flew right by. I cannot believe it’s already over. Over the last month, I watched the only feature film of his I hadn't seen (Business Is Business), rewatched some I hadn't seen in awhile (Turkish Delight, Flesh+Blood, and Total Recall), watched the only early short film of his I could find (A Lizard Too Much), his TV series (Floris), the episode he directed of The Hitchhiker, watched nearly every one of his films with his audio commentary, and got into a heated argument over Showgirls during Thanksgiving dinner. I still plan to listen to the commentaries I didn't get to because they're all fucking great, and they helped me see some of the complexities in his films I had previously missed, and helped me get to know the man himself. Showgirls is the only one he hasn't recorded one for. Hopefully, this will still happen one day because when he mentions it on other commentaries, he doesn't sound ashamed of it, so that's a very good sign.

Two of my favorite things I learned listening to his commentaries are that he "would have liked to have directed My Best Friend's Wedding" and that he has a hysterical cameo in RoboCop (seen above). Apparently, this is footage of him showing people in the club scene how he wanted them to dance, and they decided to actually include a quick shot of it. It happens right after Ray Wise kicks RoboCop in the RoboBalls.

For awhile, I've been thinking that if I ever got a tattoo, I'd like to get "VERHOEVEN" written on my arm somewhere. After Paul Verhovember, I am definitely still considering maybe possibly doing that if I ever decide to get a tattoo, which I most likely will not. In the meantime, I'll stick with naming my cell phone Ver-phone-ven. He is seriously one of the best, most intriguing filmmakers ever, and I encourage everyone to really examine his work.

Films ranked in order of preference:
1. Showgirls (1995)
2. RoboCop (1987)
3. Total Recall (1990)
4. Flesh+Blood (1985)
5. Starship Troopers (1997)
6. Business Is Business (1971)
7. Basic Instinct (1992)
8. Hollow Man (2000)
9. Floris (1969)
10. Spetters (1980)
11. Black Book (2007)
12. Keetje Tippel (1975)
13. Turkish Delight (1973)
14. The 4th Man (1983)
15. Tricked (2012)
16. The Wrestler (1970)
17. Portret van Anton Adriaan Mussert (1968)
18. A Lizard Too Much (1960)
19. Soldier of Orange (1977)

And here's a romantic screencap from Flesh+Blood:


Next month: John Landiscember and Amy Decemberling, which I will be much less obsessive about.