I am, of course, taking your admiration of la Rossellini (Who is a rather amusing Mephistophelean figure into the bargain) for granted.

Also, COYOTE Vs ACME is Actively Good: if your little co-author fancies a trip to the cinema, I can happily recommend it.

Many great cinematographers have a catalog filled with “wait, they also shot THAT?” entries (everyone’s gotta pay the bills). Though I do think Cundey takes the cake. But I had never really looked up just how fast it happened, and you’re right. He shot Jurassic Park (93), then Casper and the Flintstones, then Apollo 13 (95), then an abyss of kids movies and forgettable comedies.

Funny you mention those two points (“Taste” and Rossellini’s near-nudity) as an earlier draft of this had references to BOTH of those that I couldn’t manage to fit in, haha. I enjoy the “Taste” video as well.

Also, it’s just a d*** good movie.

I’ve also never been a fan of the last stretch of it, which drags it down *considerably,* but the first two-thirds or even four-fifths are dynamite.

Dean Cundey’s ascent to the apex of American cinematography on the back of great work for over a decade, and his extremely hard fall afterwards, has always been difficult for me to understand. Like, he still had *a* career, maybe he just fell into 90s kids adventure and didn’t manage to resurface. But you’d think he made a pass at Kate Capshaw or something.