• Nobuhiko Obayashi – Cute Devil AKA Kawaii Akuma (1982)

    1981-1990HorrorJapanNobuhiko ObayashiThriller

    Cute Devil (Kawaii Akuma) is a two-hour TV movie directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi that aired on Nippon TV on 10 August 1982.

    It was based on The Bad Seed and starts with a brutal murder that was fairly shocking for network TV at the time and could be easily compared with the first murder in Suspiria. The movie moves on to be the story of a woman who has been released from a mental institution and is to reside with the murderous little girl and her mother in a secluded house. More cruel deaths occur and the mentally ill woman must convince those around her that the child is a psychopath. A pedophile also turns up to keep the proceedings lively.Read More »

  • Les Blank – Burden of Dreams (1982)

    1981-1990ArthouseDocumentaryLes BlankUSAWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    A documentary on the chaotic production of Werner Herzog’s epic Fitzcarraldo (1982), showing how the film managed to get made despite problems that would have floored a less obsessively driven director.

    Quote:
    Les Blank’s “Burden of Dreams” is one of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie. There are at least two reasons for that. One is that the movie being made, Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo,” involved some of the most torturous and dangerous on-location shooting experiences in film history. The other is that the documentary is by Les Blank, himself a brilliant filmmaker, who is unafraid to ask difficult questions and portray Herzog, warts and all.Read More »

  • John Huston – The Misfits (1961)

    1961-1970DramaJohn HustonMarilyn MonroeUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    The final film of stars Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe is an elegy for the death of the Old West from writer Arthur Miller and director John Huston. Gable stars as Gay Langland, an aging hand traveling the byways and working at rodeos with his two comrades, Guido (Eli Wallach) and young Perce Howland (Montgomery Clift). The three men come up with a plan to corral some misfit mustangs and sell them for dog food, but Gay’s new girlfriend Roslyn Taber (Marilyn Monroe), a high-minded ex-stripper who has just divorced her husband Ray (Kevin McCarthy) in Reno, is appalled by the plan. Although both Guido and Perce are also in love with Roslyn, she stands by Gay, sure that in the end he will do the right thing, even as he and his pals begin their planned roundup.
    — Karl WilliamsRead More »

  • Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger – Oh… Rosalinda!! (1955)

    1951-1960ComedyEmeric PressburgerMichael PowellMusicalUSA

    Vienna 1955 – a city under occupation by the four Allied powers. Through the chaos Dr. Falke moves gracefully – an elegant man-about-town and friend to the highest echelon of power. He is decidedly less graceful, however, when he is deposited by a friend at the top of a giant Soviet statue, rather the worse for drink and dressed up as a giant bat.
    Falke swears revenge…Read More »

  • Arthur Penn – The Miracle Worker (1962)

    1961-1970Arthur PennDramaUSA

    Synopsis:
    Young Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute since infancy, is in danger of being sent to an institution. Her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a “half-blind Yankee schoolgirl” named Annie Sullivan to tutor their daughter. Through persistence and love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen’s walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate.Read More »

  • Harmony Korine – Spring Breakers [+commentary] (2012)

    Drama2011-2020ArthouseHarmony KorineUSA

    Quote:
    Spring Breakers, in many regards is not unlike The Great Gatsby. Both deal the downfall of characters due to the disillusioned perception of the American Dream. In Spring Breakers, the characters believe they will find their true selves on spring break. Like many kids in today’s world, the ideal life is a life of carefree fun and parties without any of the repercussions that occur as a result.Read More »

  • André De Toth – Play Dirty (1969)

    1961-1970ActionAndré De TothUnited KingdomWar

    Quote:
    The Dirty Dozen meets the Stiff Upper Lip. A British Petroleum executive (Sir Michael Caine) is assigned to work with the British Army in North Africa handling port duties for incoming fuels. This gives him the official rank of Captain in the British Army. The Colonel (Nigel Green), in charge of the Dirty Dozen, is told he must have a British officer accompany his men on a dangerous mission four hundred miles behind German lines and is saddled with the Petroleum executive, who tries to argue his way out by saying that his contract states he is to only work port duties. Read More »

  • John Sturges – The Magnificent Seven [+commentary] (1960)

    1951-1960ActionJohn SturgesUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    A remake of “The Seven Samurai.” Seven men are picked to defend a Mexican village from banditos that come every now and then to take whatever the town has grown since their last visit. When they are hired, they go to the town and teach the villagers how to defend themselves. When the leader of the bandits comes, they fight him and his men off. The second time he comes, the villagers give the seven to them, due to a heated argument. The leader of the bandits takes their guns and throws them out of town. He gives them horses and gives their guns back to them when they are far out of town. The seven decide that they aren’t going to run, and head back to the village for a final showdown.Read More »

  • Éric Rohmer – La carrière de Suzanne AKA Suzanne’s Career (1963)

    1961-1970DramaEric RohmerFranceRomance

    Synopsis:
    In the second of Rohmer’s moral tales, he examines the relationship between two friends and a girl who at first appears easily exploited. It is a complex tale of feelings and misconceptions, acted out within the head of the main character, as part of Rohmer’s attempt to more easily simulate the mindscape quality of literature within a film.Read More »

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