2011-2020

Quote:
“Classical Period,” the second and (at barely more than an hour) longest feature from the offbeat filmmaker Ted Fendt (“Short Stay”), is technically in English, but it might as well be in liberal-arts-speak. Characters toss off lines like “I’ve never read the Borges book this quote is from” and “It’s actually the most comprehensive book about the freeway revolt in Philadelphia that I’ve read.” Such insights and humblebrags are the bulk of the dialogue. The title evokes the musical era that preceded Romanticism, and this highly original movie has been denatured of romance or even obvious dramatic incident.Read More »

The Films of Jess Franco
Contemporary Approaches to Film and Media Series
Edited by Ian Olney, Antonio Lázaro-Reboll
Paperback: 338 pages
Publisher: Wayne State University Press (June 4, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0814343163
ISBN-13: 978-0814343166Read More »

Quote:
An elderly comedian is buried up to his neck in the Mexican desert. A bitter young woman threatens to pulp his head with a nail bat; the only thing that can stall her are his stories of a mythical threshold behind which lies the absolute truth. Is she in his dream or he in hers? Or were they once the Bonnie-and-Clyde-like couple we keep seeing, exacting their revenge on the world? In this dystopian frame story, nothing is what it seems. “Some stories have no clear beginning or end,” says the old man and his tales of love, fear of death and love’s vulnerability intertwine. Nihilistic, yet wonderfully shot, this narrative offers no solution, but does provide escape routes for a doomed world. Director Gutiérrez calls this, his debut film, his opera prima.

“This bizarre situation detonates a monologue about solitude, emptiness, love, absurdity, fear of death, and the fragility of human passions.”

— FilmAffinityRead More »

Stars: Sten Jacobs, Anna Altmann, Jaspar Fuld, Nina Splettstößer, Stephan Bürgi, Natascha Zimmermann, Felix Witzlau, Tobias Frieben, León Delor

A haunting portrait of a well-established German family living on the outskirts of Berlin in their ideal world, but are slowly shaken by external influences.

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The architect and head of the family Markus Larsen secretly lives out his bisexual tendencies while his wife Christine and their 11-year-old daughter Elisabeth drown in unbearable loneliness. When Markus gets to know the 12-year-old son of a colleague, he feels an immediate affection for the boy. Slowly, Markus begins to approach Johannes and creates an intimacy of which he increasingly loses control. While his wife and daughter are damagingly affected by their symbiotic relationship, Johannes is playing his own secret game which, in the end, leads to disaster for every family member.Read More »

Quote:
“Dark” was filmed in 2013 and released in 2014 under the titled “Dying of the Light.” That film was taken from me after the first director’s cut, re-edited as well as scored and mixed without my input. I offered to revisit the film, cut and mix a new version at my own expense but was denied permission by the producers. This cut, now called “Dark,” was created using work print DVDs. I had no access to the original hi-res footage and unmixed sound. I tried to used those limitations to my advantage when creating this new film. I had been working toward a more aggressive editing style when “Dying of the Light” was taken away. “Dark” represents the direction I was hoping to go. “Dark” was not created for exhibition or personal gain. It is for the historical record. A digital file of the film can be seen by prior request at the UCLA Film Archives in Los Angeles, the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin and the Museum of Modern Art film department in New York City.
-Paul SchraderRead More »

To build and create in a way that is open rather than closed: this stated ideal, heard at the beginning, is good for both art and architecture, and holds also for the film itself in its mysterious, associative construction. The images, in their pictorial diversity (black-and-white and colour, sharp and blurry), centre on Churchill College, home to many innovative thinkers since 1960; also seen are a designer’s drawings, owls and snakes, trees and walls. The soundtrack, with rustles, murmurs and clicks, includes words by John Cage and John Ashbery. There’s no story, no schema: only the openness to sensation and connection.Read More »

Synopsis:
The emotions a married couple can undergo in one day can range from frustration to passionate love. This is true for Danish newlyweds Bruno and Maxine who have just moved into a stylish apartment in Copenhagen. A while later it is clear that Bruno’s love for Maxine is stronger than hers is for him. In fact, his love for Maxine is more like an obsession. He yearns to literary crawl under her skin. After some rough sex games, and as bodily fluids begin to mix, something starts to transform Bruno and his primitive instincts take over. This beast-like transformation intensifies rapidly after he discovers Maxine is having an affair. Director Christoffer Boe has described »Beast« as a cocktail of »Who’s afraid of Virginia Wolf?« and »Alien«, in which love, hate, blood and possessed bodies are the main ingredients. Actor Nicolas Bro, playing Bruno, has collaborated with Boe six times previously. He is a powerhouse in this film, giving an intense performance as the let down husband with a severe case of blood thirst. ~ StockholmfilmfestivalRead More »

Synopsis:
Successful and handsome New Yorker Brandon (Michael Fassbender) seems to live an ordinary life, but he hides a terrible secret behind his mask of normalcy: Brandon is a sex addict. His constant need for gratification numbs him to just about everything else. But, when Sissy (Carey Mulligan), Brandon’s needy sister, unexpectedly blows into town, crashes at his apartment and invades his privacy, Brandon is finally forced to confront his addiction head-on.Read More »

What if a revolution will happen in Turkey? “After Revolution” is discussing ordinary, daily life just after socialist revolution in Turkey. (~IMDb)Read More »