9/17 - I Pugni in Tasca

My pick for Monday is I Pugni in Tasca, or, Fists in the Pocket.

From The New York Times:
Considered one of the great lost classics of Italian neo-realism, this bleak drama was the debut feature of filmmaker Marco Bellocchio. Lou Castel stars as Alessandro, an epileptic from a large family of similarly afflicted siblings, headed up by a blind matriarch (Liliana Gerace). The only healthy member of the family is Alessandro's brother Augusto (Marino Mase), who wants to marry his girlfriend but refuses to saddle a bride with the enormous burden of helping to care for his ailing relatives. Sympathetic to Augusto's plight, Alessandro decides to murder the rest of the family so as to set his brother free and assure him of an inheritance. After hurling his mother into a ravine and drowning his little brother, Alessandro returns home to suffer a seizure. Long hailed by critics and historians as an unjustly ignored film, I Pugni in Tasca (1965) was one of 15 titles selected by New York's Museum of Modern Art for its "Second Act" retrospective of post-war Italian cinema in the spring of 2000.

I'll be showing it at 8 p.m. Monday, unless anyone has a scheduling conflict, and there will be pizza/drinks. I don't think most of you know where my new place is, but I'll get a hold of you to give directions. See you then! (Unless anyone wants to see 3:10 to Yuma this weekend. In that case, give me a call and I'll see you before then.)

9.10.07 Movie Night @ Rory's

Hey everybody. I am still waiting for my bootleg copy of the 1955 Indian film Pather Panchali (dir. by Satyajit Ray). If it doesn't arrive in the mail tomorrow then we'll watch the 1976 film Taxi Driver (dir. by Scorsese), which was just re-released on DVD. If we watch Taxi Driver then we'll watch Pather Panchali for my next pick. I'll explain why I selected the movie (whichever one we end up seeing) in person on Monday night.

Thanks for giving me a reason to clean my apartment. See you at 8 PM on Monday at my tiny hovel on the west side.

New List

beginning September 10th:

Rory
Caitlin
Jason
Brittany
Joe
Austin
Jennifer
Francisco

9/3 - Winter Light

Winter Light

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

80 minutes

Sweden

Berg-man strikes again! After viewing this film 2 weeks ago, I just could not get it out of my head. I empathize with the feelings conveyed by this film. The movie speaks to me.

From Criterion.com:

“God, why did you desert me?” With Winter Light, master craftsman Ingmar Bergman explores the search for redemption in a meaningless existence. In this stark depiction of spiritual crisis, small-town pastor Tomas Ericsson (Gunnar Björnstrand) performs his duties mechanically before a dwindling congregation. When he is asked to assist with a troubled parishioner’s (Max von Sydow) debilitating fear of nuclear annihilation, Tomas is terrified to find that he can provide nothing but his own uncertainty. Beautifully photographed by Sven Nykvist, Winter Light is an unsettling look at the human craving for personal validation in a world seemingly abandoned by God.

It is also one of Bergman's personal favorite:

"I think I have made just one picture that I really like, and that is Winter Light. That is my only picture about which I feel that I have started here and ended there and that everything along the way has obeyed me. Everything is exactly as I wanted to have it, in every second of this picture"

9/3, 8:00pm, Joe's place. Pizza and drinks.

Can I be back in the club?

Hey, guys. It's been a while...
So, I know that I don't regularly attend movie night, but I'd like to be added to the rotation. I can't guarantee that I'll make it every time, but I'll make the ones I host (obviously) and should be able to make it to most others. What do you all think? I'm not sure what the order is, or really even what day you have it on now, but just let me know what weekend works for me to host.
Caitlin

So...

...Movie Night is at my house on Monday night.

I have class until about 7:45, so if you don't mind, please show up around 8:30 instead of eight. This was kind of unexpected, but I did get a copy of the new R. Kelly. So, we can decide between that or a few selections from Cinema 16, the collection of European shorts that Brian sent me a few weeks ago.

See you then.

IFC x R.Kelly

The new chapters of R.Kelly's Trapped In The Closet is set to come out on DVD this week. In the meantime, IFC.com is releasing one new chapter everyday until the DVD hits the store. So go check it out.

IFC and R.Kelly? WTF?

I saw the first three chapters but I have to say it is not as fucking crazy as I hope it would be.

netflix

Netflix is definitely testing my limit. After I reported a disc missing today, they put my account on hold and tell me to call them.

I was thinking, "Is Netflix trying to persuade me to become a Blockbuster customer?"

8/20: Till glädje

Unless the newfound mass interest in Ingmar Bergman's films prevents me from finding this DVD, we'll watch this on MONDAY 8/20 at 8pm, my place:



TO JOY (Till glädje)
a film by Ingmar Bergman
1949, 99 min.

Here's what the american distributor of the DVD has to say about it:
"An orchestra violinist's dreams of becoming a celebrated soloist and fears of his own mediocrity get in the way of his marriage to the patient, caring Marta. Played out to the music of Beethoven, To Joy is a heartbreaking tale of one man's inability to overcome the demons standing in the way of his happiness."

The name To Joy comes from Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy', from his Ninth Symphony (which the horrendous movie Copying Beethoven claims was actually written by Beethoven's copyist, who was - gasp - a woman. I know what you're thinking, "a female copyist?! has the world gone topsy-turvy?!" Well, that's what Beethoven thought at first, too). Anyway, I had originally thought about trying to present this as a companion piece to Amadeus since they both deal with the struggle with mediocrity, self-doubt, and envy (and classical music), but it seems that everyone has either seen Amadeus or doesn't really have much interest in sitting through a 3-hour-long movie about a classical composer.

Anyway, To Joy doesn't need any companion pieces to be a great film. Hopefully everyone will find it truly edifying.

August Tw'elf in the year of our lord 2007

WESTWORLD

I know you guys are all like up on the edge of your seats and shit to see what I pull out of my velvety sack for movie night, but you just have to wait till the last minute for good things sometimes.

Westworld is written and directed by Michael Crichton and based on his 107-page pulp novel with a plot that may sound familiar: a dangerous theme park where nothing could possibly go wrong!

Theme parks like Disneyworld, Legoland and the Vatican contrive a Utopian bubble that ensures a branded experience for every visitor, however we all know what happens to bubbles.

As always, pizza and cola will be provided and the time will be 8.

Thank you and enjoy your visit!

Be Kind Rewind

If you visit yahoo regularly, you probably noticed this new Michel Gondry movie trailer already:

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809761737/trailer


On an unrelated note, this week is Jason's movie night, right?

What's New?

I figured they would have stopped making movies altogether after The Simpsons, but these trailers prove otherwise.

Goya's Ghosts - Milos Forman's new film (first Courtney Love, now Natalie Portman. when is he gonna learn?)

Lust, Caution - Ang Lee's new film starring Tony Leung

The Darjeeling Limited - Wes Anderson

No Country for Old Men - The Coen Brothers

King of Kong – documentary from Seth Gordon

The Boss of it All – a comedy by Lars von Trier

Margot at the Wedding – Noah Baumbach's new film

There Will Be Blood – P.T. Anderson does Days of Heaven

Day Night Day Night - another film (see Paradise Now) about a suicide bomber's last days

2 Days in Paris - another film about Paris

No End In Sight - another film about the U.S.' failed "strategy" in Iraq

This Is England - another film about English skinheads who take in a kid who doesn't fit in anywhere else

8.5.07

If my calculations are correct then it is time for me to select the next film and host the next screening. I have selected the 1944 film "Double Indemnity" directed by Billy Wilder. According to Netflix, I should be getting it in the mail tomorrow. Here is a taste of what is in store for you (from Netflix):

Smitten insurance man Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) plots the perfect murder with femme fatale client Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwyck): Stage her husband's "accidental" death to collect double indemnity on his life insurance, then abscond with the loot. But the lethal duo must first get past a crafty claims investigator (Edward G. Robinson) who senses something isn't kosher. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse game with fatal consequences.

The movie is 108 minutes of classic film-noir. Bring your appetite as pizza will be provided. If you can't come / don't intend to come then please let me know so I will know how much pizza to order. See you at 8:00 PM this Sunday, August 5.

Michelangelo Antonioni 1912-2007

from guardian unlimited:

"Michelangelo Antonioni, one of the most innovative and distinctive film-makers of the 20th century, has died at the age of 94. The Italian director died at his home in Rome on Monday evening, less than 24 hours after the death of Ingmar Bergman - that other great giant of European art-house cinema.

"Alongside his near contemporary Federico Fellini, Antonioni signalled a break with the "neorealist" style that flourished in Italy at the end of the second world war. In contrast to the working class parables of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, his films were cool and stylised, traditionally focusing on the experiences of an alienated bourgeoisie. Antonioni made his film debut with Cronaca di un amore in 1950. International success followed with the release of his classic L'Avventura in 1960."

Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007

from msn.com:

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died Monday, the president of his foundation said. He was 89.

"It's an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally," Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which administers the directors' archives, told The Associated Press.

Bergman died at his home in Faro, Sweden, Swedish news agency TT said, citing his daughter Eva Bergman. A cause of death was not immediately available.

"The Seventh Seal," released in 1957, riveted critics and audiences. An allegorical tale of the medieval Black Plague years, it contains one of cinema's most famous scenes — a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death.

"I was terribly scared of death," Bergman said of his state of mind when making the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award in the best picture category.

MOVIE CHANGED- 7.29.07- Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu)

As you know (if you read this blog), I have trouble getting one of my short films on time. So I decided to pick another film I want to pick-- Sansho the Bailiff (aka Sansho Dayu). I'll postpone the four short films for my next pick.


"When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil." (from the DVD back cover)

"On its French release in 1960, Sansho the Bailiff was ranked by Cahiers du cinéma as the best film of the year, topping such classics as Breathless, L'avventura, and Psycho. Critics were struck by the film's gorgeous photography, elegant camerawork, and exotic settings and by Kenji Mizoguchi's signature use of imagery that quietly evokes a spiritual transcendence above the suffering of the material world. Unlike Akira Kurosawa's frequent use of close-ups and fast-paced editing, Mizoguchi, here as elsewhere, keeps his camera distant and his takes long, resulting in a contemplative style in which the characters' suffering and pain seem vivid, yet small compared with the immutability of the landscape." (allmovie.com)

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
Year: 1954
Length: 124 minutes

8 pm, Joe's place.

P.S.
I don't know how to fix the fucked up fonts on this post. Sorry, I tried.

7.29.2007- Four Selected Short Films

They are not exactly short- all four are approximately in the 30-minute range. These films are not related, but you can probably see some subtle connections between them. Truffaut and Rohmer are both part of the French New Wave. Wong's films are heavely influenced by the New Wave. Surrealist Teshigahara shakes off his usually experimental style in Ako, with a hint of New Wave influence. I have only watched one out of the four (Antoine and Collette).

Antoine and Collette (from the film Love at 20, by Francois Truffaut). The second installments of the Antoine Doinel series by Francois Truffaut follows the 17-year-old Antoine's awkward romantic pursuit of Collette.

The Bakery Girl of Monceau (by director Eric Rohmer). A young university student is initially attracted to a girl he sees on the street. While searching for her over several days, he makes frequent stops to a bakery. When he finally finds the girl and arranges a date, it conflicts with the date he has made with the bakery salesgirl. (from allmovie.com)

Ako- White Morning (by director Hiroshi Teshigahara and writer Kobo Abe). A sixteen-year-old working in a bread factory, as its protagonist, White Morning is a cinema verité-style portrayal of what it was like being young in the sixties (Japan). Based around sketches of Ako’s days off spent with her boyfriend, White Morning is a collage of daily work in the factory and young Ako’s comments on her life.

The Hand (from the film Eros, by director Wong Kar-Wai). A young dressmaker's assistant finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. (from allmovie.com)

A quick poll for a potential pick

I may or may not pick this film, but I am curious to who all has seen the 1984 Disney film Tron with Jeff Bridges? It's the first feature-length film to incorporate CGI, and one of my favorite movies.

Just curious!

7/15 - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

He/She Loves Me, He/She Loves Me Not or effeuiller la marguerite (in French) is a game of French origin, in which one person seeks to determine whether the object of his or her affection returns that affection or not.

Director: Laetitia Colombani
Release Date: March 27 2002 (France)
Running Time: 92 minutes


He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not stars Audrey Tautou as Angelique, a woman in love with a married cardiologist. From two very different perspectives, a romance is revealed which charts the relationship between Angelique, a young French student, and Loic, the married doctor. Though Angelique attempts to get Loic to leave his wife and run away with her to Florence, Loic sees Angelique's "love" in quite a different light.


The film will be showing this Sunday at 5115 Jackson St #2 at 8 p.m. sharp. Good food and ice cold beverages will be provided. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. See you then!

Edward Yang 1947- 2007

Edward Yang, whose movie "Yi Yi" was picked by Rory on movie night, died on Friday June 29. He was 59 years old.

Yang was an engineer before he started making movies. According to Yahoo! News, Yang once said in an interview, "On my 30th birthday, I suddenly said to myself, 'Damn, I'm getting old!' I realized that I had to change my life. I needed to start doing something that I could enjoy and through which I could feel fulfilled."

It is very sad that he died at such a relatively young age. Yi Yi is a phenomenal movie. I also like his 4-hour long epic "A Brighter Summer Day" a lot.

(I'm faster than criterion.com, again)