TV

IMDB Synopsis
A notorious outlaw being escorted to prison by a homesteader and his wife turns
out to have satanic powers. He uses them on the man’s wife to try to possess her
and help him escape.
TV version of “3:10 to Yuma” except the arch villain seems to have Svengali-like
powers, and his gang are Native Americans. Nice cast of actors filmed in real
locations, but demon-wannabe Gene Barry looks more like a 70’s pimp with his
bad-ass medallion and leather suit. The movie just doesn’t possess the necessary
outright deviltry as found in, for example, the TV Satan-western “Black Noon”
made the same year. Might raise more chuckles than hackles.Read More »

Influenced and inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, some young french directors (Jean Eustache, Francis Leroi, Jean-Michel Barjol, Romain Goupil, Luc Moullet) are talking about their problems in producing less expensive and more free films in the french industry of cinema of the 60’s.Read More »

October 20, 1971, Woody Allen. At this point he was writing Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, had just finished Bananas, and had only been in analysis for thirteen years.

He appeared a total of seven times on the Dick Cavett Show; the clip in Annie Hall (“In the event of war, I’m a hostage”) is not from any of these appearances, but was staged for the movie – as explained by Dick in the short introduction.

The interview is one hour plus a few minutes for questions from the audience.

Woody: “The thing is, I can only write comedy. When I try to write something serious, it doesn’t come out serious.”Read More »

It’s a two-episode run of the Taiwanese TV anthology series Eleven Women, produced by actress Sylvia Chang. The idea—to have several younger directors make episodes about contemporary Taiwanese life, centering on female protagonists—was modeled after the Hong Kong TV productions (such as Below the Lion Rock) that kickstarted the HK new wave. And indeed, it started the careers of not only Yang but several other important figures who would go on to pioneer the Taiwanese New Wave.

Yang’s episodes were adapted from a short story by Di Yi. The title is “Floating Weeds” (literally, “Duckweed”).Read More »

Here’s a spoiler free review from IMDB:

“There have been a number of excellent films about murder and mayhem occurring in small towns. “They Only Kill Their Masters, “Sherlock Holmes & The Scarlet Claw”, “Winter Kills”, and “Five Card Stud” come to mind, and this 1973 ABC movie-of-the-week has got to be one of the very best ever made.

An increase in the death rate among the older residents of a small New England community is initially labeled as being due to natural causes. But something about it doesn’t feel right to Daniel Barnes, the local chief of police. Barnes, (excellently played by Alan Alda) refuses to believe the official findings and begins an investigation to prove there’s something rotten going on in his little town.Read More »

Quote:
In this radically unconventional television series, Godard and Miéville analyze the political economy of personal and mass media communications in relation to society, culture, family and the individual. Their inquiry focuses “on and beneath” communications in a provocative critique of the power of media images in contemporary culture and everyday life.Read More »

Quote:
Wagner is a giant, unwieldy beast. Eight hours devoted to the German composer, from the age of 35 to his death. Its sheer length allows the screen to play house to his politics, his person and his loves all within the frame of his music. Yet is enacts a precarious balance between the epic and the personal, between reverence and irreverence and between high art and high camp. Indeed, at its centre is not Wagner, nor Richard Burton who portrays the composer, but director Tony Palmer who grapples with the material throughout, sometimes succeeding and sometimes falling flat on his face.Read More »

Written by Helene Hanff (book) & Hugh Whitemore (dramatisation)

Quote:
‘…people going to England find exactly what they go looking for. I said I’d go looking for the England of English Literature…’

When Arthur Dent receives an alien tongue-lashing on arrival at yet another inhospitable planet during The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he observes in exasperation: ‘Why doesn’t anyone ever seem to pleased to see us?’1 One answer to that question might well be: ‘Because drama and comedy rely on conflict to make them work.’ There’s rarely a great deal of mileage to be extracted from people liking one another and generally getting on, but when the trick is pulled off, the results can be delightful and surprising.Read More »

Seventeen-year-old Jennifer recently moved to a new city with her parents, but finds no connection with her new classmates. The dreamy and in social interaction with others insecure and shy girl thinks that her social environment finds her ugly. She takes refuge in the virtual reality of the online game ‘Avalonia’ and spends more and more time in the artificial world. As a result, she completely neglects her obligations at school and at home. Parental prohibitions and sanctions can not keep her from her passion. The desire to play has long become a menacing addiction.Read More »