I bought that on blu ray when it came out, I love it. The blu ray has some good extras, so if you see them available to watch, they're worth checking out. Garfield's great, his relationships with his family and the femme feel true, and you're right about Curtiz!
Where's everyone been? Latest watches for me - Still looking for a great box set of Hitch's American films. Must be one somewhere out there. If anyone has suggestions, please post! Topsy Turvy (1999, Mike Leigh) Set in the 1880s, the story of how, during a creative dry spell, the partnership of the legendary musical/theatrical writers Gilbert and Sullivan almost dissolves, before they turn it all around and write the Mikado. One of the best movies (and personal faves) about putting on a show. Another great looking edition keeping me subscribed to CC. Nice interview with Leigh from 2000 about the film (above).
Any Doris Wishman fans here? Directed by Doris Wishman “When I die, I’ll make films in hell!” declared exploitation auteur Doris Wishman. Though she may have been the most prolific woman director in the history of American cinema, Wishman has long been overlooked because she worked in the critically disreputable realm of roughies, nudie cuties, and pornography. Nevertheless, her extensive and fascinating body of work is ripe for rediscovery for its singularity of vision (Wishman not only produced and directed but wrote, cast, and edited most of her films), subversive feminist themes, and unique place within the context of experimental and DIY cinema. Provocative, erotic, and often bordering on the surreal, these films from Wishman’s rich 1960s and ’70s period—including the twisted fantasy INDECENT DESIRES and LET ME DIE A WOMAN, an unclassifiable quasi-docmentary about transgender people—are an introduction an innovative director whose work seems to exist in its own wild and wondrously warped parallel universe.
"Her next film, Nude on the Moon, released in 1961, was a science-fiction nudie. The film was banned in New York after the New York State Censorship Board ruled that films featuring nudity in a nudist colony were legally permissible, but nudity in a fantasy filmset in a "nudist colony on the Moon" was not." - Wikipedia Doris Wishman - Wikipedia
This one turns 60 this year... 8½ (1963, Federico Fellini) A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies. Never watched it, though it's widely regarded as Fellini's best. The anniversary's a good reason as any other to finally see it. Nice, if a bit brainy, group discussion of the film and its legacy above.
Watched Call Northside 777 last night, an obscure 1948 noir where Jimmy Stewart plays a reporter who goes up against the powers that be to clear the name of a convicted cop killer. A kind of dark but not overdramatic film that’s a worthwhile watch for genre fans.
As I said about Indecent Desires upthread: that’s some weird, wild stuff. And of course I’ve watched everything Criterion is streaming.
Indeed. Great shots. I neglected to attach this discussion on 8½ last night. One of the better film discussions I've seen:
The Threepenny Opera (1931, G.W. Pabst) In London at the turn of the century, the bandit Mack the Knife marries Polly without the knowledge of her father, Peachum, the 'king of the beggars'. Another classic I'm watching for the first time tonight. Of course, I've seen the play and am familiar with the Weill/Brecht collaborations but not director, Pabst's, adaptation. Nice background video above (included with the supplements on CC).
This was really cool, definitely wasn’t predictable! Judex Directed by Georges Franju • 1963 • France Starring Channing Pollock, Francine Bergé, Edith Scob This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju, is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, JUDEX kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Combining stylish sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, JUDEX is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion.
I find this to be a highly resonant film, if one can accept its datedness at face value. The Shout Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski • 1978 • United Kingdom Starring Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt This entrancing psychosexual puzzle thriller from Jerzy Skolimowski features a memorably unsettling performance from Alan Bates as an enigmatic drifter who insinuates himself into the lives of an experimental electronic composer (John Hurt) and his wife (Susannah York) living in a remote coastal cottage. Claiming to possess knowledge of Aboriginal magic—in particular a scream that can kill anyone who hears it—the mysterious stranger draws the couple into a vortex of desire and control, with the tension immeasurably enhanced by an innovative soundtrack by Michael Rutherford and Tony Banks of the pioneering prog-rock group Genesis.
Every few years I have to re-watch this: The Color of Pomegranates Directed by Sergei Parajanov • 1969 • Soviet Union A breathtaking fusion of poetry, ethnography, and cinema, Sergei Parajanov’s masterwork overflows with unforgettable images and sounds. In a series of tableaux that blend the tactile with the abstract, THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES revives the splendors of Armenian culture through the story of the eighteenth-century troubadour Sayat-Nova, charting his intellectual, artistic, and spiritual growth through iconographic compositions rather than traditional narrative. The film’s tapestry of folklore and metaphor departed from the realism that dominated the Soviet cinema of its era, leading authorities to block its distribution, with rare underground screenings presenting it in a restructured form. This edition features the cut closest to Parajanov’s original vision, in a restoration that brings new life to one of cinema’s most enigmatic meditations on art and beauty.
Criterion added a bunch of Mike Leigh films for the BBC. We have never seen these films. Wife and I have been loving every minute. Mike Leigh at the BBC - The Criterion Channel
How many movies do y’all think you watch on criterion each month? I checked and since I switched from monthly to annual, I watch 1 to 3 a month. Debating if I should pause my membership. It’s still the price of 5 criterions on blu ray if I wait for the sale, so it’s a good deal. Just need to find time to watch stuff!
Party Girl starring Parker Posey. A young woman living in lower Manhattan, 1980's. It's actually a movie about becoming an adult. I thought it was a bit amateurish and except for Posey who I always think is great and Liev Schreiber not much good acting in it. Definitely a must for Parker Posey fans, she's in most every scene.
I've always had the annual membership and I don't worry that much about justifying it with how much I watch, only because I don't subscribe to anything else except Crave and Amazon Prime. It's there when I need it and I got rid of all the regular TV packages from my cable company. Bottom line is I feel that per year I'm paying a lot less than ever before. And there's always something to discover at Criterion, which is not how I feel about Crave and Amazon Prime.
Looked good on paper, but was pretty one note. The mexican desert scenery was cool, but when a 71 minute film feels long... The Hitch-Hiker Directed by Ida Lupino • 1953 • United States Starring Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman Beyond its obvious cultural significance as the only classic film noir directed by a woman, this is simply one of the most nightmarish motion pictures of the 1950s. Inspired by the true-life murder spree of Billy Cook, THE HITCH-HIKER is the tension-laden saga of two men on a camping trip (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) who are held captive by a homicidal drifter (William Talman) who forces them, at gunpoint, to embark on a grim joyride across the Mexican desert. Renegade filmmaking at its finest, THE HITCH-HIKER was independently produced, which allowed Lupino and ex-husband/producer Collier Young to work from a treatment by blacklisted writer Daniel Mainwaring and tackle an incident that was too brutal for the major studios to even consider.