18 October 2007

Cuatro / cinq / et, je t'emmerde, FFC!

Paramount has officially announced the long-overdue documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse for the 20th of November. The film serves as a wonderful companion piece to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now, a lot like Burden of Dreams to Fitzcarraldo (though I don't think Apocalypse Now is shitty, as I do about Fitzcarraldo).

UPDATE: And, Eclipse has announced Akira Kurosawa's I Live in Fear as part of January's Eclipse series, which will include Postwar Kurosawa films.

UPDATE 2: Shut the fuck up Francis Ford Coppola. You've probably heard about him bitching about Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro... and, as I'm sure many people have noted, this reeks of hypocrisy. Sure, any and all cinephiles are probably less-than-pleased with any of the work those three have done in the past decade or so... but, you!? Wasn't your last movie an adaptation of a John Grisham novel? And before that, a shitty comedy with Robin Williams? Wasn't Fran Drescher and Jennifer Lopez in that too? Also, thanks for re-editing and bringing that piece of ass The Legend of Suriyothai to the US. It was groundbreaking... oh wait, no, it just sucked. Stay in your vineyard and shut up, Francis; you're actually making me defend Jack "Anger Management" Nicholson, Al "Simone" Pacino, and Robert "Hide and Seek" De Niro. Thanks a lot.

17 October 2007

Who Knew?

Who knew Fellini would lend so well to gay pornography? Sure, you knew there was bound to be a not-so-clever homage to the director with a title like , but that isn’t his only pornographic adaptation out there. New York-based pornographer Michael Lucas released last year, La dolce vita -- you guessed it, a hard-porn gay remake of the Fellini classic… and with high production values, too. Naturally, Anouk Aimée’s character was recast as a man, but, as seen above, they still used a woman, and not a tranny, for Anita Ekberg. With all of its decadence, can you really say you're surprised at this? Apparently the homosexual community is in high support of renowned world cinema classics, as La dolce vita isn’t the only film to get a queer update, though the only porn as far as I know. In the past year, remakes of both Antonioni’s L’avventura and Max Ophüls’ La ronde have been released on DVD, entitled Phoenix and Nine Lives, respectively. Though I don’t know for sure, I would imagine that Bergman’s Persona or even Cries and Whispers (though that would be really sleazy) would be ripe for a lesbian porn feature… and though a reworking of the classics would normally irk me to no end, I can’t say I don’t find these films, at least, inspired in their ambitious endeavors.

16 October 2007

Number two - and, now, 3!

I had hoped that Criterion would scratch another title off the MIA list with their January releases, and lo and behold, my wishes were granted. They will be releasing Agnès Varda's Le bonheur, along with La pointe-courte and a box with Cleo from 5 to 7 and Vagabond (in a remastered edition, I believe). I would have included Alf Sjöberg's Miss Julie on the list, had Criterion not released it already in the Janus box-set. The DVD will be available, outside of the box, in January as well. As for the rest of the Criterion discs for January: Lindsay Anderson's This Sporting Life with Richard Burton and Cornel Wilde's The Naked Prey.

UPDATE: Number 3 has been announced as well - Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It, which was long believed to be a Criterion property. Well, looks like MGM will be releasing it in January. Don't worry, I won't be making a separate announcement for each of the DVDs I listed, but 3 already is looking good to me.

15 October 2007

What do a scary kid, a lesbian track star, pot brownies, old people making porn, Lars von Trier and Heather Graham have in common?

A couple of the more savvy studios have already announced a handful of titles for the early-2008 DVD schedule. I always wonder why the beginning of the year isn’t a bigger landing ground for interesting DVD releases, as the studios “drop the kids off at the pool” with their theatrical releases around this point. Granted, there’s always those “we opened in NY and LA for one day for Oscar consideration” films that trickle down during these months, but theatre-going in January blows.

Here’s a few of the announced DVDs for January and February of 2008:

Adrift in Manhattan - Available in an “unrated” edition, the film follows a couple of Yanks as they go about their daily subway transit in the Big Apple. Stars William Baldwin and Heather Graham.
Affair to Remember, An - 50th Anniversary Edition
Amateurs, The [aka The Moguls] - A film about a bunch of old farts that decide to make a porn flick with a huge (and weird) cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Tim Blake Nelson, Joe Pantoliano (or Joey Pants, as we like to call him), Ted Danson, Lauren Graham, that beast Jeanne Tripplehorn (I hope she is the lead actress in the porn), Judy Greer, Steven Weber, and that stupid, deep-voiced guy who played Ray Romano’s older brother on that stupid TV show.
Big Bang Love: Juvenile A - Apparently, this is Takashi Miike’s personal favorite of all of his films, even better than it’s a boys-in-love-in-prison film. For Miike to say this is his favorite is a bold statement as I think he releases at least five films a year.
Breaker Morant

Death Sentence - I like Kevin Bacon. I’ll see it. It’s bound to be better than The Brave One.
Eagle vs. Shark
Eugénie de Sade - Jess Franco’s erotic adaptation of the Marquis de Sade, starring the luscious Soledad Miranda.
Golden Door - Seriously, this film is really good; rent it when it comes out. The combination of Agnès Godard’s cinematography and Charlotte Gainsbourg’s presence should be reason alone.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner - 40th Anniversary Edition - Not me.

Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, The - Alan Arkin is a deaf-mute, sentimentality follows.
In the Shadow of the Moon
Joshua - 20th Century Fox buried this film deep, canceling numerous of its releases, all for no good reason, it’s excellent.
King of California - Why do I have to see Evan Rachel Wood in every other film out these days?
Kingdom, The - Series 2

Klimt - I won’t see this… John Malkovich is in it.
Lake Placid 2 - The SciFi channel makes a lot of shit, but here’s hoping that Cloris Leachman belts out the lines like Betty White did in the original: “If I had a dick, this is where I’d tell you to suck it.”
Not for or Against [Ni pour, ni contre] - From the director of that horrid L’Auberge espagnol, with Diane Kruger, Vincent Elbaz.
Personal Best - First time on DVD, see Mariel Hemingway lez it out while running track.
Ritz, The - Terrence McNally’s play is supposed to be much better than this film adaptation, but I love the fact that the main character mistakes Rita Moreno for a drag queen. Also starring Jerry Stiller, F. Murray Abraham, and Treat Williams.

Scenes of a Sexual Nature - A British sex comedy with Hugh Bonneville, Adrian Lester, Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Eileen Atkins, Sophie Okonedo, and Polly Walker.
See How They Fall [Regarde les hommes tomber] - From the director of The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Read My Lips, with Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Yanne, Bulle Ogier, Mathieu Kassovitz.
Sex & Breakfast - Ew, an American sex comedy with Macaulay Culkin, Eliza Dushku, Kuno Becker, Tracie Thoms.
Smiley Face - Gregg Araki’s stoner comedy (yeah, I know) with Anna Faris, Jane Lynch, Adam Brody, John Krasinski, John Cho, Marion Ross, Danny Trejo. The cast is appealing, but I guess Araki didn’t know how to follow up Mysterious Skin.
Sunshine - Danny Boyle’s ode to the beauty of sun and Cillian Murphy.

Tell Me a Riddle - Oscar-winning actress Lee Grant (Shampoo, Valley of the Dolls) directs this road film about old people and death.
Twister - Special Edition - Could you really pair anyone worse than Bill Paxton (I actually typed Bill Pullman, because I really don’t know the difference) and Helen Hunt as a lame couple chasing tornados? Oh, and if you want to barf, check this link to see what Helen Hunt was wearing at the premiere. [I couldn't resist posting the photo above that I found in my google image search for Twister; it's better than the movie]
Yes, but… [Oui, mais…] - French girl comes of age. Count me in.
Zodiac - Director’s Cut - If you haven’t read, it’s only five or so minutes longer. Here’s hoping that certain shit was cut or reedited, because I already sold away my theatrical version DVD.

The 2007 Saint Louis International Film Festival

Cinema St. Louis has officially announced their line-up for this year's International Film Festival, to be held November 8th through the 18th. As usual, the line-up is pretty humdrum (not that I should expect any better in Saint Louis), but Peter Greenaway will be present to receive a lifetime achievement award after a screening, on the 18th, of his lovely Drowning by Numbers. Curiously, Drowning by Numbers will be the only of his films to screen at the festival (which will be nice for those who haven't seen the film, as it's still only available on DVD in Australia). Neither his latest, Nightwatching, or any segment of the Tulse Luper Suitcases will be playing at the fest. The only other rather special event will be held on November 10th, at Webster University, where James Gunn (Slither) will present one of his favorites (and mine), The Naked Kiss.

Other features of note screening this year:
Before the Devil Knows Your Dead - dir. Sidney Lumet - with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, Albert Finney - USA - November 11, 7pm, Plaza Frontenac
Bill - dir. Bernie Goldmann, Melisa Wallack - with Aaron Eckhart, Timothy Olyphant, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Alba - USA - November 13, 9:30, Tivoli [This was filmed partially in Saint Louis]
Crossroads - dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa - Japan - November 10, 7pm, Saint Louis Art Museum
Daisy - dir. Andrew Lau - South Korea/Hong Kong - November 17, 7:15pm, Plaza Frontenac / November 18, 6:30pm, Plaza Frontenac
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The [Scaphandre et le papillon, Le] - dir. Julian Schnabel - with Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Marina Hands, Max von Sydow, Isaach De Bankole, Emma de Caunes, Jean-Philippe Ecoffey - France/USA - November 18, 6pm, Saint Louis Art Museum
Honeydripper - dir. John Sayles - with Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Charles S. Dutton, Vondie Curtis-Hall - USA - November 8, 7pm, Tivoli
Iron Horse, The - dir. John Ford - USA - November 16, 7pm, Saint Louis Art Museum
Juno - dir. Jason Reitman - with Michael Cera, Ellen Page - USA - November 14, 7pm, Tivoli
Persepolis - dir. Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi - France - November 17, 7pm, Plaza Frontenac
Ploy - dir. Pen-ek Ratanaruang - Thailand - November 10, 9:45, Plaza Frontenac / November 12, 7:15, Plaza Frontenac
Walker, The - dir. Paul Schrader - with Woody Harrelson, Lauren Bacall, Lily Tomlin, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ned Beatty, Moritz Bleibtreau, Mary Beth Hurt, Willem Dafoe - USA - November 16, 7pm, Plaza Frontenac / November 17, 9:30pm, Plaza Frontenac

As usual the foreign-language films of the festival look to be socially-conscious, politically-ripe, and downright boring. So, happy festival-going... I will probably go to a few screenings before the fest, hopefully, and have something to say.

12 October 2007

Time-Wasting (in the bad sense of the term)

I’ve been thinking a lot about Sean Penn’s Into the Wild lately, though not because of any haunting quality about the film (my full review will be posted next week here and on Playback's website), but that it has all the makings of one of those over-appreciated films that first-year undergrads cream over. A friend of a friend made a comment about Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire, stating, “it appeals to the undergrad in all of us.” I’ve been thinking lately how that has changed for the worse. I can see where he’s coming from, though I have a guiltless, yet hardly impassioned, liking for the film. I think as time goes by, a film like Wings of Desire has gone over the head of the peons of the pre-graduate collegiate study. Instead, something a bit more manageable and whimsical (a word I hate) like Amèlie and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind have replaced the likes of Eraserhead as standards for these individuals. Alas, I digress. What’s truly unfortunate about Into the Wild is that it pains of the staleness of self-importance. Penn has been running around promoting his ambitiously middling meditation of the existence of man (God, too bad Antonioni had to die before seeing the shallowness of Penn’s perspective), even garnering the attention of Miss Oprah Winfrey, whose taste in literature looks scholarly in comparison to her appreciation of film (shoot me if I’m wrong, but I thought I overheard someone say that she compared Paul Haggis’ abortion-to-turn-Roe-v-Wade Crash to Citizen Kane). Penn is not a filmmaker, and if you need an example of such, notice his pedestrian motif to show the passing of time, which he’s so proud of that he uses at least ten or so times throughout the film. Penn couldn’t even find an actor capable of selling whatever it is that he’s throwing out there, let alone lift the film above its mediocrity. In Emile Hirsch, he finds an actor of a certain sheepish capacity, who apparently performs all of his own stunts, none of which the least bit marvelous. I guess it should say something that Hirsch was outshined by Justin Timberlake in Alpha Dog. Thankfully, Penn enlisted some fine supporting talent, particularly from Catherine Keener, who, even in tripe like Lovely & Amazing, always floats my boat. As Hirsch’s parents, William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden effectively ham it up, and even the usually painstaking Jena Malone makes for a fine occasional narrator (Penn can’t commit to anything here). I’m sure a bunch of young folks (not to mention the members of Oprah’s cult) whose intelligence is exceedingly surpassed by their own egoism will jump all over this, and, I ask, isn’t this upsetting?

On television, at three-in-the-morning last night, some subsidiary of HBO or Cinemax played the finest double-feature in cable television history: The Wiz, not followed by but playing during, Less than Zero. I say finest, because one who lost their remote and bound similar to that scene in A Clockwork Orange wouldn’t have to suffer through both. Plenty of people cite Robert Altman’s Popeye as one of the worst missteps of an acclaimed director, especially in relation to the musical genre, but have they not seen Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz? Oh, it has black people in it, so we can’t be too harsh, right? Dead wrong. The Wiz is… fucking… terrible. My friend commented on this, “how could a film go so wrong with so many good people involved?“ I responded, “you mean so many good people… and Diana Ross.” I’ve always hated Diana Ross, but if you need a solid example of why you should too, see her arm-flailing performance here, fully equipped with a rat’s nest weave to boot. She has the charisma of a worn-down nickel, and I’m just glad Judy Garland was dead by the time this piece of shit came around (there seems to be an unintended theme of: thank-God-they-were-dead-before-seeing-this running through this blog). The only good song in the whole film, “Ease on Down the Road,” occurs way too late in the film to sustain any interest, and also way too far from the end to allow for one to seal the deal. At the very least, one could make plenty of nasty comments about “easing on down the road,” as my friend Mike did when realizing he hadn’t rated the film on Netflix, “ease on down the road to the fucking river and throw in this abortion.” There’s something refreshing about referring to films as abortions.

Now for Less than Zero… what a crock of dead babies (this blog has multi-layered thematic elements). Y’know, say all you want about Bret Easton Ellis, but as a high school nihilist, his books enthralled me to no end (at least Less than Zero, American Psycho and The Rules of Attraction, certainly not his awful collection of short stories entitled The Informers). He certainly captured a sect of society and youth like no one else had, likely because most of the disgustingly rich and emotionally vacant elite didn’t dare speak poorly on their legacies, bank accounts, or filthy secrets (or, they just couldn’t write). But in the film adaptation of Less than Zero, these youths are strikingly similar to those of St. Elmo’s Fire or The Breakfast Club, only with fancier abodes. I really couldn’t bring myself to watch much, as I’d seen and blocked out the film in its entirety previously, and plus, it’s not as fun making fun of Jami Gertz as it is Diana Ross.

Car Wash was also playing, and being the superior of the three aforementioned films, I opted not to watch it, though it’s worth noting that the screenplay was written by Joel Schummacher, who also wrote The Wiz. The film was directed by Michael Schultz, who also directed everyone’s other favorite musical Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club.

In conclusion (I’ve decided not to go on about how much of an… abortion the film The Apple is for now), I now understand the appeal of gay-bashing. With the combination of Schummacher and fifteen-minutes-of-fame-whore/Britney-loony Chrissy Crocker, I caught an episode or two of here! television’s The Lair, apparently a spin-off of one of their more popular gay soaps Dante’s Cove. The show stars a bunch of gay porn stars and the only major cast member of Shortbus not to shuck off his clothes, Peter Stickles, in what I firmly believe to be the biggest horseshit excuse for “entertainment” I’ve seen in… maybe forever. I really doubt gay television stations like here! or Logo are looking for a crossover audience, but I highly doubt their intention was to fuel hatred for the homosexual community. I could go on about gay cinema and its reputation, but that would take forever. In summation though, most queer cinema is dreck, starring chiseled male bodies in place of actors, or on the occasion that a film of said community is of quality (Shortbus, The Raspberry Reich, Poison, The Doom Generation, Presque rien), its anger, sexual explicitness, or “perversion” keeps its larger audience at bay. I digress, again… The Lair follows a self-proclaimed “small-town journalist trying to make it big,” who somehow manages to have a fantastic apartment in wherever the series is supposed to take place. The journalist, who has a seedy shower body-worship sequence early in the series, is aided by an informant to a string of hot-man-murders in town because, as the informant states, he seems like “a decent guy” (read: has a hot body). The show is shockingly free of mood, tension, intrigue -- and most shocking of all -- genuine eroticism. When your program makes David DeCoteau films look like high-art, you should just stop. You should see what the fags who make this bullshit look like, because maybe that would explain why someone would put up money for them to explore their sparkless sexual fantasies on film (or video as it likely is). Oh, well, no one is really holding their breath for true queer cineastes to destroy the stereotype anytime soon.

Save your time with all that’s been mentioned above and rent Tony Richardson’s French melodrama Mademoiselle, starring the incomparable Jeanne Moreau in a script by Jean Genet and Marguerite Duras, featuring sexual repression, arson, animals in peril, and -- best of all -- fishnet gloves.

10 October 2007

M.I.A. for 2008: Part 6, pre-1950

You must forgive this absent list for I lost a number of the titles I had added when my computer acted up... so please remind me of what I've forgotten.

1949
Prison [Fänglese] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - Sweden - UNK
Silence de la mer, Le - dir. Jean-Pierre Melville - France - Criterion?

1948
Eagle Has Two Heads, The [Aigle à deux têtes, L’] - dir. Jean Cocteau - with Jean Marais - France - Water Bearer Films/Criterion?
Eva - dir. Gustaf Molander - with Eva Dahlbeck - Sweden - UNK
Parents terribles, Les - dir. Jean Cocteau - with Jean Marais, Josette Day - France - Water Bearer Films/Criterion?

1947
Boomerang - dir. Elia Kazan - with Dana Andrews - USA - 20th Century Fox [Previously announced and cancelled]

1948
Letter from an Unknown Woman - dir. Max Ophüls - with Joan Fontaine - USA - Lionsgate/Universal/Criterion?

1946
Song of the South - dir. Harve Foster, Wilfred Jackson - USA - Disney [We’ll see]

1944
Cobra Woman - dir. Robert Siodmak - with Maria Montez, Sabu - USA - UNK

1942
Magnificent Ambersons, The - dir. Orson Welles - USA - Warner

1938
Baker’s Wife, The [Femme du boulanger, La] - dir. Marcel Pagnol - France - UNK

1937
Angel - dir. Ernst Lubitsch - with Marlene Dietrich - USA - Universal

1936
Day in the Country, A [Partie de campagne] - dir. Jean Renoir - France - UNK
Crime of Monsieur Lange, The [Crime de Monsieur Lange, Le] - dir. Jean Renoir - France - Kino

1928
Wind, The - dir. Victor Sjöström - with Lillian Gish - USA - Warner

1927
Napoléon - dir. Abel Gance - France - Paramount
Wings - dir. William A. Wellman - with Clara Bow - USA - Paramount

1924
Greed - dir. Erich von Stroheim - USA - Warner

1921
Phantom Carriage, The [Körkarlen] - dir. Victor Sjöström - Sweden - UNK

08 October 2007

M.I.A. for 2008: Part 6, the 1950s

This decade, I think, holds the the largest number of WTF releases, including Johnny Guitar, The African Queen, and a few major Bergman titles. Unfortunately, my expertise in cinema really begins at the beginning of the 1960s, so there may be some unforgivable absences.

1958
Amants, Les - dir. Louis Malle - with Jeanne Moreau - France - New Yorker
Key, The - dir. Carol Reed - with William Holden, Sofia Loren, Trevor Howard - UK - Sony
Magician, The [Ansiktet] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bibi Andersson - Sweden - Criterion
Party Girl - dir. Nicholas Ray - UK - Warner

1956
Bigger Than Life - dir. Nicholas Ray - with James Mason, Walter Matthau - USA - UNK
Death in the Garden [Mort en ce jardin, La] - dir. Luis Buñuel - with Simone Signoret, Michel Piccoli - France/Mexico - UNK
Silent World, The [Monde du silence, Le] - dir. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Louis Malle - France - Sony?

1955
Criminal Life of Archibald de la Cruz, The [Ensayo de un crimen] - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - UNK
Dreams [Kvinnodröm] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse
Grandes manoeuvres, Les - dir. René Clair - France - Water Bearer Films
I Live in Fear - dir. Akira Kurosawa - Japan - Criterion

1954
Illusion Travels by Streetcar [Ilusión viaja en tranvía, La] - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - UNK
Joan of Arc at the Stake [Giovanna d‘Arco al rogo] - dir. Roberto Rossellini - with Ingrid Bergman - Italy - Criterion?
Johnny Guitar - dir. Nicholas Ray - with Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden - USA - Lionsgate
Lesson in Love, A [Lektion I kärlek, En] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Björnstrand, Harriet Andersson - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse
Senso - dir. Luchino Visconti - with Alida Valli - Italy - Wellspring

1953
Earrings of Madame de…, The [Madame de…] - dir. Max Ophüls - with Charles Boyer, Danielle Darrieux, Vittorio de Sica - France/Italy - Criterion
Monika
[Sommaren med Monika] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Harriett Andersson - Sweden - Criterion
Voyage to Italy [Viaggio in Italia] - dir. Roberto Rossellini - with Ingrid Bergman - Italy/France - UNK

1952
El - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - UNK
Life of O-Haru, The - dir. Kenji Mizoguchi - Japan - Criterion?
Plaisir, Le - dir. Max Ophüls - with Jean Gabin, Danielle Darrieux - France - UNK
Secrets of Women [Kvinnors väntan] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Eva Dahlbeck, Gunnar Björnstrand - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse

1951
African Queen, The - dir. John Huston - with Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn - USA/UK - Paramount
Miracle in Milan [Miracolo a Milano] - dir. Vittorio De Sica - Italy - UNK
No Highway in the Sky [aka No Highway] - dir. Henry Coster - with James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich - UK - 20th Century Fox
Summer Interlude [Sommarlek] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse

1950
Olvidados, Los - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - Koch Lorber
Ronde, La - dir. Max Ophüls - with Simone Signoret, Danielle Darrieux - France - Criterion

M.I.A. for 2008: Part 5, the 1960s

Do you know how unimportant this list would be if fucking New Yorker just released their entire catalog?

1969
Amour fou, L’ - dir. Jacques Rivette - with Bulle Ogier, Jean-Pierre Kalfon - France - New Yorker
Blue Movie [aka Fuck] - dir. Andy Warhol - with Viva - USA - UNK
Gentle Woman, A [Une femme douce] - dir. Robert Bresson - with Dominique Sanda - France - New Yorker

Mondo Trasho - dir. John Waters - with Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole - USA - NULL [See Multiple Maniacs]
Rain People, The - dir. Francis Ford Coppola - with James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall - USA - Warner
Rite, The [Riten] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Bergman, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse

1968
Benjamin - dir. Michel Deville - with Catherine Deneuve, Pierre Clémenti - France - Paramount
Birthday Party, The - dir. William Friedkin - UK - UNK
Boom! - dir. Joseph Losey - with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Noel Coward - UK - Universal
Innocence Unprotected [Nevinost bez zastite]- dir. Dusan Makavejev - Yugoslavia - Facets
Isadora - dir. Karel Reisz - with Vanessa Redrgave, James Fox, Jason Robards - UK/France - Universal

Je t’aime, je t’aime - dir. Alain Resnais - France - New Yorker
Memories of Underdevelopment [Memorias del subdesarrollo] - dir. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea - Cuba - New Yorker
Naked Childhood [Enfance nue, L‘]- dir. Maurice Pialat - France - UNK
Negatives - dir. Peter Medak - with Glenda Jackson - UK - UNK
Secret Ceremony - dir. Joseph Losey - with Elizbeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum - UK - Universal

1967
Accident - dir. Joseph Losey - with Dirk Bogarde - UK - UNK
Chinoise, La - dir. Jean-Luc Godard - with Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anne Wiazemsky - France - Lionsgate?
Far from the Madding Crowd - dir. John Schlesinger - with Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch, Alan Bates - UK - Warner
I, a Man - dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol - with Tom Baker, Nico, Valerie Solanis, Ingrid Superstar, Ultra Violet - USA - UNK
Love Affair; or The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator [Ljubavni slucaj ili tragedija sluzbenice P.T.T.] - dir. Dusan Makavejev - Yugoslavia - Facets

Peppermint Frappé - dir. Carlos Saura - with Geraldine Chaplin - Spain - Home Vision
Portrait of Jason, A - dir. Shirley Clarke - USA - UNK
Stranger, The [Straniero, Lo] - dir. Luchino Visconti - with Marcello Mastroianni, Anna Karina - Italy/France/Algeria - Paramount
Thief, The [Voleur, Le] - dir. Louis Malle - with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Geneviève Bujold - France/Italy - MGM/Warner?
Two or Three Things I Know About Her… [Deux ou trois choses que je sais d‘elle] - dir. Jean-Luc Godard - France - Criterion

1966
Chelsea Girls - dir. Paul Morrissey, Andy Warhol - with Nico, Brigid Berlin, Gerard Malanga, Edie Sedgwick, Mary Woronov - USA - UNK
Cul-de-sac - dir. Roman Polanski - with Donald Pleasance, Jacqueline Bisset - UK - UNK
Made in U.S.A. - dir. Jean-Luc Godard - with Jean-Pierre Léaud, Anna Karina, Marianne Faithfull - France - UNK
Rise of Louis XIV, The [Prise de pouvoir par Louis XVI, La] - dir. Roberto Rossellini - France - UNK

1965
Bonheur, Le - dir. Agnès Varda - France - UNK
Chimes at Midnight [Campanulas a medianoche] - dir. Orson Welles - with Welles, Jeanne Moreau, John Gielgud - Spain/France/Switzerland - UNK
Koumiko Mystery, The [Mystère Koumiko, Le] - dir. Chris Marker - France - New Yorker
Man Is Not a Bird [Covek nije tica] - dir. Dusan Makavejev - Yugoslavia - Facets

Nanny, The - dir. Seth Holt - with Bette Davis - UK - 20th Century Fox
Six in Paris [Paris vu par…] - dir. Claude Chabrol, Jean Douchet, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Eric Rohmer, Jean Rouch - with Barbet Schroeder - France - New Yorker
She - dir. Robert Day - with Ursula Andress, Peter Cushing, John Richardson, Christopher Lee - UK - Warner
Simon of the Desert [Simón del desierto] - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - Criterion

1964
All These Women [För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Bibi Andersson, Harriet Andersson, Eva Dahlbeck - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse?
Before the Revolution [Prima della rivoluzione] - dir. Bernardo Bertolucci - Italy - Criterion 08, likely

1963
Child Is Waiting, A - dir. John Cassavetes - with Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Gena Rowlands - USA - MGM
Empty Canvas, The [Noia, La] - dir. Damiano Damiani - with Bette Davis - Italy - UNK
Feut follet, Le - dir. Louis Malle - France/Italy - Criterion
Flaming Creatures - dir. Jack Smith - USA - Who knows? It’ll never be released
Ro.Go.Pa.G. - dir. Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Robert Rossellini - with Orson Welles, Ugo Tognazzi, Laura Betti - Italy - Kino

1962
Autumn Afternoon, An - dir. Yasujuro Ozu - Japan - Criterion
Exterminating Angel, The [Ángel exterminador, El] - dir. Luis Buñuel - Mexico - Criterion

1961
Mother Joan of the Angels [Matka Joanna od aniolów] - dir. Jerzy Kawalerowicz - Poland - Likely Polart

1960
Blood and Roses [Et mourir de plaisir] - dir. Roger Vadim - France/Italy - Paramount
Cruel Story of Youth - dir. Nagisa Oshima - Japan - New Yorker
Devil’s Eye [Djävulens öga] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Bibi Andersson - Sweden - Criterion/Eclipse

Paris nous appartient - dir. Jacques Rivette - France - Criterion
Romeo, Juliet, and Darkness [Romeo, Julia a tma] - dir. Jirí Weiss - Czechoslovakia - Facets
Zazie dans le métro - dir. Louis Malle - France - Criterion

07 October 2007

M.I.A. for 2008: Part 4, the 1970s

This decade has some curiously missing discs: Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Zabriskie Point, The Devils, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Roman Polanski's What?. I'm sure (other than for Ken Russell's The Devils which Warner has been "tweaking with" for years) there are valid explanations, but give us a break. I'll be the first to admit that the 70s will be the first decade where people should run screaming toward me with a pair of scissors... for I'm probably missing a bunch: especially Euro-horror and exploitation. So please, forgive, forget, and don't forget to keep adding to the list!

1979
Agatha - dir. Michael Apted - with Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton - UK - Warner
Amor Bandido - dir. Bruno Barreto - Brazil - UNK
Associate, The [Associé, L’] - dir. René Gainville - with Michel Serrault - France/Hungary/West Germany - First Run Features
Luna, La - dir. Bernardo Bertolucci - with Jill Clayburgh, Alida Valli, Matthew Barry - Italy - 20th Century Fox

Nocturnal Uproar [Tapage nocturne] - dir. Catherine Breillat - with Joe Dallesandro - France - NULL
We Were One Man [Nous étions un seul homme] - dir Philippe Vallois - with Serge Avedikian, Piotr Stanislas - France - UNK
Wise Blood - dir. John Huston - with Brad Dourif, Huston, Harry Dean Stanton - USA/West Germanu - Universal

1978
Behind Convent Walls [Interno di un convento] - dir. Walerian Borowczyk - Italy - UNK
Blood Relatives [Liens de sang, Les] - dir. Claude Chabrol - with Donald Sutherland, Donald Pleasence - France/Canada - MGM
Coming of Sin, The [Visita del vicio, La] [aka Violation of the Bitch, The] - dir. José Ramón Larraz - Spain - UNK
Despair - dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder - with Dirk Bogarde, Andréa Ferréol - West Germany/France - Warner
Diputado, El - dir. Eloy de la Iglesia - Spain - UNK

Green Room, The [Chambre verte, La] - dir. François Truffaut - with Truffaut, Nathalie Baye - France - MGM
Night Full of Rain [Fine del mondo nel nostro solito letto in una notte piena di pioggia, La] - dir. Lina Wertmüller - with Giancarlo Giannini, Candice Bergen - Italy/USA/Canada - Warner
Rendez-vois d’Anna, Les - dir. Chantal Akerman - with Aurore Clément - France - World Artists
Roads to the South [Routes du sud, Les] - dir. Joseph Losey - with Yves Montand, Miou-Miou - France/Spain - UNK

1977
Boyfriend, The - dir. Ken Russell - with Twiggy, Glenda Jackson - UK/USA - Warner
Lacemaker, The [Dentellière, La] - dir. Claude Goretta - with Isabelle Huppert - France/Switzerland/West Germany - Home Vision
Devil, Probably, The [Diable, probablement, Le] - dir. Robert Bresson - France - New Yorker
Looking for Mr. Goodbar - dir. Richard Brooks - with Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, Tom Berenger, Richard Gere - USA - Paramount
News from Home - dir. Chantal Akerman - France - World Artists

One Sings, the Other Doesn’t [Une chante, l’autre pas, L’] - dir. Agnès Varda - France/Belgium/Venezuela - UNK
Providence - dir. Alain Resnais - with Dirk Bogarde, Ellen Burstyn, John Gielgud - France/Switzerland - UNK
This Sweet Sickness [Dites-lui que je l’aime] - dir. Claude Miller - with Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou - France - UNK
Travelling Players, The [Thiasos, O] - dir. Theo Angelopoulos - Greece - UNK
Valentino - dir. Ken Russell - with Rudolf Nureyev, Carol Kane, Seymour Cassel - UK/USA - MGM

1976
Berceau de cristal - dir. Philippe Garrel - with Garrel, Nico, Pierre Clémenti, Anita Wallenberg - France - UNK
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands [Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos] - dir. Bruno Barreto - with Sonia Braga - Brazil - New Yorker
Dracula, Father and Son [Dracula, père et fils] - dir. Edouard Molinaro - with Christopher Lee, Catherine Breillat - France - GoodTimes
Face to Face [Ansikte mot ansikte] - dir. Ingmar Bergman - with Liv Ullman, Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand - Sweden - Paramount
Fellini’s Casanova - dir. Federico Fellini - with Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont - Italy/USA - UNK

I Only Want You to Love Me [Ich will doch nur, daß ihr mich liebt] - dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder - West Germany - Water Bearer Films
Je t’aime moi non plus - dir. Serge Gainsbourg - with Jane Birkin, Joe Dallesandro, Gérard Depardieu - France - UNK
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles - dir. Chantal Akerman - with Delphine Seyrig - France - UNK
Innocente, L’ - dir. Luchino Visconti - with Giancarlo Giannini - Italy/France - UNK
Shadow of Angels [Schatten der Engel] - dir. Daniel Schmid - with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Ingrid Caven, Ulli Lommel, Irm Hermann, Harry Baer - West Germany/Switzerland - UNK

1975
Black Moon - dir. Louis Malle - with Joe Dallesandro - France/West Germany - UNK
Cousin, cousine - dir. John Charles Tacchella - France - Criterion?
Immortal Bachelor, The [A mezzanotte va la ronda del piacere] - dir. Marcello Fondato - with Giancarlo Giannini, Monica Vitti, Claudia Cardinale - Italy - UNK
India Song - dir. Marguerite Duras - with Delphine Seyrig, Mathieu Carrière - France - UNK
Lisztomania - dir. Ken Russell - with Roger Daltry, Ringo Starr - USA/UK - Warner

1974
Céline and Julie Go Boating [Céline et Julie vont en bateau] - dir. Jacques Rivette - France - New Yorker
Conversation Piece [Gruppo di famiglia in un interno] - dir. Luchino Visconti - with Burt Lancaster, Helmut Berger, Silvana Mangano - Italy/France - New Line Cinema
Hautes solitudes, Les - dir. Philippe Garrel - with Jean Seaberg, Nico, Tina Aumont - France - UNK
Je, tu, il, elle - dir. Chantal Akerman - with Akerman - France - World Artists
Karl May - dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg - West Germany - UNK
Profumo di donna - dir. Dino Risi - with Vittorio Gassman - Italy - 20th Century Fox [Remade as Scent of a Woman]

1973
Doll’s House, A - dir. Joseph Losey - with Jane Fonda, Edward Fox, David Warner, Trevor Howard, Delphine Seyrig - UK/France - UNK
Hireling, The - dir. Alan Bridges - with Sarah Miles - UK - Sony
Mother and the Whore, The [Maman et la putain, La] - dir. Jean Eustache - with Jean-Pierre Léaud - France - New Yorker
Wedding in Blood [Noces rouges, Les] - dir. Claude Chabrol - Stéphane Audran, Michel Piccoli - France/Italy - New Line Cinema

1972
China - dir. Michelangelo Antonioni - USA - UNK
Inner Scar, The [Cicatrice intérieure, La] - dir. Philippe Garrel - with Garrel, Nico, Pierre Clémenti - France - UNK
Ludwig - dir. Luchino Visconti - with Helmut Berger, Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano - Italy/France/West Germany - MGM
Ludwig: Requiem for a Virgin King [Ludwig - Requiem für einen jungfräulichen König]- dir. Hans-Jürgen Syberberg - with Harry Baer, Ingrid Caven - West Germany - UNK

Mattei Affair, The [Caso Mattei, Il] - dir. Francesco Rosi - Italy - Paramount
Play It As It Lays - dir. Frank Perry - with Tuesday Weld, Anthony Perkins - USA - Universal
Savage Messiah - dir. Ken Russell - with Helen Mirren - UK - Warner
What? - dir. Roman Polanski - with Marcello Mastroianni - Italy/France/West Germany - UNK

1971
Apprentice, The [Fleur bleue] - dir. Larry Kent - with Susan Sarandon, Steve Fiset, Carole Laure - Canada - Koch
Ciao, Federico! - dir. Gideon Bachman - with Fellini, Roman Polanski, Giulietta Masina, Hiram Keller, Sharon Tate - Italy/USA/Sweden - Mystic Fire Video
Devils, The - dir. Ken Russell - with Vanessa Redgrave, Oliver Reed - UK - Warner
Drive, He Said - dir. Jack Nicholson - with Robert Towne, Karen Black, Henry Jaglom, Bruce Dern - USA - Sony
Family Life - dir. Ken Loach - UK - Sony
Four Nights of a Dreamer [Quatre nuits d‘un rêveur] - dir. Robert Bresson - France - New Yorker

Salamandre, La - dir. Alain Tanner - with Bulle Ogier - Switzerland - New Yorker
Secret Fantasy [Merlo maschio, Il] - dir Pasquale Festa Campanile - Italy - UNK
Taking Off - dir. Milos Forman - with Buck Henry - USA - Universal
Third Part of the Night, The [Trzecia część nocy] - dir. Andrzej Żuławski - Poland - UNK
Willard - dir. Daniel Mann - with Bruce Davison, Ernest Borgnine - USA - Paramount

1970
Boys in the Band, The - dir. William Friedkin - USA - 20th Century Fox
Brewster McCloud - dir. Robert Altman - with Bud Cort, Shelley Duvall - MGM/Warner?
Diary of a Mad Housewife - dir. Frank Perry - with Richard Benjamin, Carrie Snodgrass, Frank Langella - USA - Universal
Dodes’ka-den - dir. Akira Kurosawa - Japan - Criterion?
Dorian Gray - dir. Massimo Dallamano - with Helmut Berger, Herbert Lom, Richard Todd, Maria Rohm - Italy/UK/West Germany - Lionsgate

Go-Between, The - dir. Joseph Losey - with Julie Christie, Alan Bates - UK - Sony
Husbands - dir. John Cassavetes - with Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, Cassavetes, Jenny Runacre - USA - Sony
Ice - dir. Robert Kramer - with Kramer - USA - New Yorker
Jonathan - dir. Hans W. Geissendörfer - West Germany - New Yorker
Landlord, The - dir. Hal Ashby - with Beau Bridges, Lee Grant - USA - MGM/Warner?

Multiple Maniacs - dir. John Waters - with Divine, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole - USA - NULL [John Waters says this will likely never come out on DVD]
Music Lovers, The - dir. Ken Russell - with Glenda Jackson, Richard Chamberlain - UK - MGM/Warner?
Notes for an African Orestes [Appunti per un’Orestiade africana] - dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini - Italy - UNK
Tristana - dir. Luis Buñuel - with Catherine Deneuve - Spain/France/Italy - Criterion?
Zabriskie Point - dir. Michelangelo Antonioni - USA - Warner