>>2)Heaven's Gate
>A few on here (King
>Friday comes to mind) think it's a fantastic film...

Yep. In terms of its success as a film--that is, as a work of art--I think it's one of the better movies of that period in American Cinema.

As for the decline in Hollywood filmmaking (which started way before Heaven's Gate) and the supposed end of the "director's film", there's a lot more to it than one film's financial failure.

Also, I see the 70s auteur boom in America as a pretty problematic time. That whole era is probably due for a major reassessment, especially in light of certain glowing, back-patting treatments you see of that period in a documentary like Decade Under The Influence.


>>6) When did Iranian cinema become the force that it is today?
>
>>Do you recommend any movies?
>
>I am SO not the dude to ask about this. King Friday is the
>one.

If you'll allow me, sir. . .

While Iranian Cinema has a much longer history, it's the Iranian films made after the 1979 revolution--and particularly the movies of the 1990s on--that have become such a "force" internationally.

And a few movies I would recommend would be:

"A Moment Of Innocence" and "The Cyclist" both directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

"Close-Up" and "Taste Of Cherry" both by Abbas Kiarostami

"The Circle" and "Crimson Gold" by Jafar Panahi