USA

  • Henry King – The Song of Bernadette [+commentary] (1943)

    1941-1950ClassicsDramaHenry KingUSA

    Synopsis:
    In 1858 France, Bernadette, an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of “a beautiful lady” in the city dump. She never claims it to be anything other than this, but the townspeople all assume it to be the virgin Mary. The pompous government officials think she is nuts, and do their best to suppress the girl and her followers, and the church wants nothing to do with the whole matter. But as Bernadette attracts wider and wider attention, the phenomenon overtakes everyone in the the town, and transforms their lives.Read More »

  • Samuel Fuller – Verboten! (1959)

    1951-1960ActionSamuel FullerUSAWar

    Synopsis:
    A young American serviceman, stationed in Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, jeopardises his position with the Marshall Plan relief effort by breaking the non-fraternisatiom rule and falling in love with a young German woman. He uses his position to obtain food and luxuries for her that are in short supply, and all seems to be going well for the couple. What he doesn’t realise is that the Werewolves, the Nazi guerrilla movement, have plans in which he features heavily.Read More »

  • David Leaf & John Scheinfeld – The Unknown Marx Brothers (1993)

    1991-2000David LeafDocumentaryJohn ScheinfeldTVUSA

    Leslie Nielsen hosts this retrospective of the Marx Brothers, from their early career on stage to their post-film career in television. Their children and co-workers are interviewed, and numerous clips and rare footage being shown.Read More »

  • Andy Warhol – The Life of Juanita Castro (1965)

    1961-1970Andy WarholArthouseExperimentalUSA

    MARCH 22, 1965: CASTRO OPENS.

    Warhol’s film, The Life of Juanita Castro premiered at the Film-Makers Cinematheque. (DB217) It was filmed at WALDO BALART’s apartment on West 10th Street. RONALD TAVEL wrote the script, inspired by Waldo who also appeared in the film and whose sister had been married to FIDEL CASTRO. Fidel had divorced her just before he became Premier. (POP111)Read More »

  • Terrence Malick – Badlands (1973)

    1971-1980DramaTerrence MalickUSA

    Quote:
    An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town and her older greaser boyfriend embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota badlands.

    Roger Ebert, in 1973, wrote:
    They meet for the first time when she is in her front yard practicing baton-twirling. He has just walked off his job on a garbage truck. She thinks he is the handsomest man she’s ever seen — he looks just like James Dean. He likes her because he never knew a fifteen-year-old who knew so much: “She could talk like a grown-up woman, without a lot of giggles.” Within a few weeks, they will be the targets of a manhunt after he has shot down half a dozen victims.Read More »

  • George Cukor – Zaza (1938)

    1931-1940DramaGeorge CukorRomanceUSA

    Synopsis:
    George Cukor’s seldom seen adaptation of David Belasco’s Zaza, this one features Claudette Colbert in the lead role of Zaza a famous singer who falls for a married man played by Herbert Marshall. This one gets little attention in the careers of Colbert and Cukor, but it’s a solid if uneven film, and certainly worth a peak.Read More »

  • Christy Cabanne – Annapolis Salute (1937)

    1931-1940Christy CabanneDramaRomanceUSA

    Synopsis:
    The adventures of three disparate cadets at the US Naval Academy–one the son of a Navy enlisted man, the other the scion of a wealthy family, the third decent but somewhat slow-witted–and their struggles with the rigors of the academy, women, and each other.Read More »

  • Stan Brakhage – Lovemaking (1968)

    1961-1970ArthouseExperimentalQueer Cinema(s)Stan BrakhageUSA

    One of America’s finest filmmakers tackles “lovemaking” in its many varieties (hetrosexual, homosexual as well as various animals having sex). Without a soundtrack (as the artist always thought that sound was an aesthetic error in filmmaking), the film is shot with Brakhage’s characteristic visual rhythmns.Read More »

  • Stephen Dwoskin – Trying to Kiss the Moon (1994)

    USA1991-2000ExperimentalStephen Dwoskin

    This autobiographical film evolves from the perspective of events and images over a period of over 50 years.Read More »

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