• Mats Ek & Cullberg Ballet – Giselle (1987)

    1981-1990Cullberg BalletMats EkPerformanceSweden

    Not for the staid traditionalist, Matts EK’s ballet turns expectations on their head. The basic story is there; and Adolphe Adam’s unmistakable music guides us through. But there the similarities end.

    Set in a more modern era, Albrecht is a city sophisticate to Giselle’s rural innocent. And innocent she is, but far from the shy creature of yore, this Giselle is precocious, almost uninhibited. But there’s no suggestion that this excuses Albrecht’s use and abuse of her. The ‘white’ act is very different, too. Set in a lunatic asylum, the choreography will be earily famiar to anyone who has visited one of those places (or even seen One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest).Read More »

  • Sompote Sands & Shohei Tôjô – Urutora 6-kyodai tai kaijû gundan AKA Hanuman vs. 7 Ultramen (1974)

    1971-1980CultSci-FiShohei TôjôSompote SandsThailand

    The Hindu god Hanuman teams up with Ultraman and his brethren against familiar Ultra-foes in this rare Ultraman movie co-produced in Thailand.Read More »

  • J. Lee Thompson – Cape Fear (1962)

    1961-1970Film NoirJ. Lee ThompsonThrillerUSA

    Synopsis:
    Small-town lawyer Sam Bowden’s life becomes torturous when Max Cady re-enters his life. Cady went to jail for 8 years after Bowden testified that Cady attacked a young woman. Now that Cady has been released, he begins to terrorize Bowden and his family, particularly targeting Bowden’s daughter, Nancy. Initially, Cady uses his newfound knowledge of the law (learned in prison) to annoy the Bowdens, then poisons the family dog… Who’s next ?Read More »

  • Jiarui Zhang – Fang xiang zhi lu AKA The Road (2006)

    2001-2010ChinaDramaJiarui Zhang

    Plot Synopsis Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
    Over the course of five decades, a naïve ticket girl living in rural Communist China finds her life gradually shaped by the decrees of her government and the route of the Xiangyang bus in director Zhang Jiarui’s emotionally sweeping tale of loyalty and maturity. Li Chunfen (Zhang Jingchu) is unwaveringly loyal to her government, and always assumes that they have her best interests in mind. A cheerful teen who works aboard a bus that travels the route between Longze and Xiangyang, Li admires crusty driver Old Cui (Fan Wei), and develops a warm puppy love for handsome young doctor Liu Fendou (Nie Yuan).Read More »

  • Cornel Wilde – No Blade of Grass (1970)

    1961-1970Cornel WildeExploitationSci-FiUnited Kingdom

    Quote:
    A strange new virus has appeared, which only attacks strains of grasses such as wheat and rice, and the world is descending into famine and chaos. Architect John Custance, along with his family and friends, is making his way from London to his brother’s farm in Scotland, where hopefully, there will be food and safety for all of them. Along the way, they encounter hostile soldiers, biker gangs, and all manner of people who are all too willing to take advantage of travelers for a mouthful of food.Read More »

  • Bob Fosse – Lenny (1974)

    Drama1971-1980Bob FosseUSA

    Adapted by Julian Barry from his own Broadway play, Lenny manages to be both brutally frank and highly romanticized in detailing the short life and career of influential, controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce. The chronology hops, skips and jumps between Lenny (Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. We watch as up-and-coming comic Bruce courts his “Shiksa goddess,” a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a “safe,” conformist act, but he can’t do it.Read More »

  • Palle Kjærulff-Schmidt – Tænk på et tal AKA Think of a Number (1969)

    1961-1970CrimeDenmarkFilm NoirNordic NoirPalle Kjærulff-Schmidt

    Quote:
    The story opens just before Christmas, when solitary, apathetic bank clerk Flemming Borck uncovers a plot to rob his bank. (It’s a convoluted set-up, so we’ll just leave it at that.) After doing a little rookie recon, Borck identifies the would-be bank robber as a faux shopping-mall Santa Claus, and counter-plots to steal the money himself and let Santa take the blame. This works out about as badly as you might imagine, and our bumbling protagonist spirals further and further away from the carefree, laconic lifestyle he had hoped to ensure for himself.Read More »

  • René Manzor – Le passage AKA The Passage (1986)

    1981-1990FantasyFranceRené ManzorSci-Fi

    In one of the oddest personifications of Death found in the cinema or elsewhere, first-time director (Rene Manzor) creates a Grim Reaper with his own control room, replete with high-tech wizardry in this sci-fi drama. Jean Diaz (Alain Delon) is a filmmaker working on an animated feature that would speak out against violence, when he is suddenly killed in an accident. Diaz comes around after death only to face Death personified, who wants to strike a bargain with him. Diaz can return to life if he agrees to make his film according to Death’s plan for the annihilation of the human race. If Diaz does not agree to these terms, then his young son — now in a coma from the accident — will also die.Read More »

  • Elem Klimov – Idi i smotri AKA Come and See (1985)

    1981-1990DramaElem KlimovUSSRWar

    Quote:
    Ivan Got His Gun. Sam Fuller once declared that the only way for cinema to depict war authentically was to spray the audiences with real bullets, here’s the next best thing. The setting is the Nazi devastation of Belarus, the Exodus and the Apocalypse are the main poles: The 12-year-old protagonist (Alexei Kravchenko) digs up a rifle and eagerly runs to join the partisans in the woods, Elem Klimov proceeds to wipe the smile off the wannabe warrior’s face. Left behind, the boy spends an incongruous idyll with a forest nymph (Olga Mironova), complete with rainbows materializing out of morning rain; a squashed bird’s nest sets the stage for the inferno, which is first glimpsed — casually, mind-scarringly — by the side of a cabin. Bombs and bottles rain from the sky, Klimov’s Steadicam skims supernaturally pale meadows, a full menagerie (stork, cow, lemur, lobster) adds to the surrealism.Read More »

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