The Possibility of an Island, based on a novel by Houllebecq himself in 2005, certainly has an intriguing enough concept: it reads like a disjointed surrealist take on science fiction — a post-apocalyptic mash-up of A Boy and His Dog, Solaris and The Holy Mountain, with cloning and bikini contests thrown in for good measure. Whether or not it will actually succeed is another matter; thus far, critics have not been kind. The Guardian’s Geoffrey MacNab sat down with Houllebecq to discuss the process of moviemaking, how it differs from writing, and whether or not he intends to contune on as a filmmaker. “Maybe it is a superficial motivation,” he says of filming many of the movie’s scenes in Andalucian Spain, “but I always go to the locations when I write a novel. In this case, some of the locations were so impressive that the idea for the film came from that…I enjoyed the preparation of the movie. I mean, the period immediately before the shooting when you choose everything, all the details. When you create the world.”

Whether or not the world he created is one that critics or moviegoers will want to see remains a different affair. It’s received a somewhat frosty reception in France, and no critic of Houllebecq’s work has been harsher than his own mother. Lucie Ceccaldi, who abandoned Houllebecq when he was young, is involved in a big, ugly (and somewhat one-sided) feud with the novelist, calling him a fraud, a pornographer and a “stupid little bastard”. For his part, Houllebecq is loath to discuss her, and tends to avoid press — bad or good — altogether: “It needs discipline not to look at the internet,” says the author (he’s telling us!); “It is human temptation to read what is said about you, but you have to resist.”
– Leonard Pierce

La.Possibilite.D.Une.Ile.FRENCH.SUBFORCED.DVDRiP.XViD.K-SUAL.avi

General
Container:	AVI
Runtime:	1h 25mn
Size:	700 MiB
Video
Codec:	XviD
Resolution:	640x272
Aspect ratio:	2.35:1
Frame rate:	25.000 fps
Bit rate:	1 009 Kbps
Audio
2.0ch MP3 @ 128 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/C0B76C8C57B3610/La.Possibilite.D.Une.Ile.FRENCH.SUBFORCED.DVDRiP.XViD.K-SUAL.avi
https://nitro.download/view/5DEFDBB2C05B556/La_Possibilite_d’une_Ile.English.srt

Language(s):French
Subtitles:French hardcoded for English parts,English

The post Michel Houellebecq – La Possibilité d’une île AKA The Possibility of an Island (2008) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
“Fun and Games (for Everyone): a pitch black and milky white film shot during one of Olivier Mosset’s exhibition openings. A psychedelic game of improvisation joins the Zanzibar group with Salvador Dalí, Barbet Schroeder and Jean Mascolo… the solarized image reminiscent of thick strokes of a paintbrush.” – PHILIPPE AZOURY

“Bard, in this second film, again leaves the field open to an incessant coming and going of Parisians attending the opening of the minimalist painter Olivier Mosset and whose exhibition consisted of 10 paintings, all alike: white with black circles painted in their center. It’s the revolution criticizing art and painting… and Serge criticizing cinema!” – JACKIE RAYNAL

“(On Fun and Games) Light can become volumeless graphic expression and dehumanize the actors until their faces are «absorbed» erasing all detail and creating an attractive environment.” – HENRI ALEKAN

“I had nothing to do with the film, it just was filmed at my exhibition.” – OLIVIER MOSSET
—

1968 was a very good year for Serge Bard alias Abdullah Siradj. At just 21, this Enfant Terrible of the Zanzibar group was lucky enough to be financed by the “art patroness” Sylvina Boissonnas. He made three films in 35mm, very experimental in nature. The first film was called “Destroy Yourselves.” Shot in March 1968, it made headlines in May 1968 in the columns of Maoist filmgoers for its radical Warholian side (long still shots of some superstars – Caroline de Bendern, Alain Jouffroy, Thierry Garrel) and visionary in its anticipation, already in March, of the strikes and demonstrations of May 68. Noblesse oblige, it was one of the Zanzibar group’s first revolutionary films.

“Fun and Games for Everyone,” Serge Bard’s second film shot in 1968, was also filmed in 35mm with Henri Alekan in control of the lights and the camera. Bard, in this second film, again leaves the field open to an incessant coming and going of Parisians attending the opening of the minimalist painter Olivier Mosset and whose exhibition consisted of 10 paintings, all alike: white with black circles painted in their center. It’s the revolution criticizing art and painting… and Serge criticizing cinema! Alekan asked LTC film labs to flash the negative before processing it, giving the film a semi-negative look.

Like Warhol’s screen tests, Bard films people passing back and forth in front of the camera and paintings. Shot with a 50mm lens, we recognize the whole fashionable intelligentsia of the period: Barbet Schroeder, Amanda Lear, Jean Mascolo, Pascal Aubier and the imposing Salvador Dali who exclaims in front of one of the paintings: “It’s WERmeer!”

To further confuse the soundtrack, Serge asked Barney Wilen to compose haunting psychedelic music, very present during this 53-minute film essay. – Jackie Raynal

Serge Bard - Fun and Games for Everyone.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	53 min 15 s
Size: 	1.72 GiB
Video
Codec: 	x264
Resolution: 	1920x1080 
Aspect ratio:  	16:9
Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	4 385 kb/s
BPP: 	0.088
Audio
#1:  	2.0ch AAC LC @ 235 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/1FD20AED99A1AE5/Serge_Bard_-_Fun_and_Games_for_Everyone.mkv

Language(s):French
Subtitles:Not needed

The post Serge Bard – Fun and Games for Everyone (1968) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A Los Angeles telephone operator who tires of mate-swapping and turns to a religious sect for spiritual guidance.

1.26GB | 1h 40m | 858×464 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/9601B67AAEEF2EB/The_Rapture_-_1991_-_Michael_Tolkin.mkv

Language:English
Subtitles:English

The post Michael Tolkin – The Rapture (1991) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

In order to escape from her former lover Marc, Sylvia goes to Brazil where Dr. Santamo transforms her into the beautiful Emmanuelle…

Letterboxd review
Quote:
★★½ Watched by Evan 17 Mar 2019

A few of my favorite things in this wonderfully dumb movie:

– Two theme songs that feature the lyric “New Emmanuelle”

– Constant use of page-turning storybook wipes

– Date-stamps on each major sequence for no reason in particular

– Weirdo dream sequences with Brinke Stevens playing Mia Nygren playing Sylvia Kristel, being ‘educated’ by the actual Sylvia Kristel

– Fragments of scenes clearly meant to be hardcore diversions that were left in for some reason

2.61GB | 1h 32m | 960×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/D16AB0E143CE452/Emmanuelle.IV.1984.576p.BluRay.AAC.x264-PTP.mkv

Language(s):French, English
Subtitles:English

The post Francis Leroi & Iris Letans – Emmanuelle IV (1984) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Following a series of films questioning commitment and politics in America and culminating with Milestones 1975, and a 1977 documentary on Lisbon’s Carnation Revolution, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Portugal, Robert Kramer moved to France with his family. The first film he made there was Guns, an intricate feature which echoed the paranoid films of 1970’s Hollywood. With Guns, Kramer continues his exploration of the militant psyche, while at the same time experimenting with different forms of narration.

“There are two distinct strands of reality in Guns. One deals with the world at large. Tony (Patrick Bauchau), a journalist, speaks of ‘a nonsensical story.’ We no longer have any way to penetrate this wider world. The other strand concerns our intimate and personal experiences, as represented by Margot (Juliet Berto), who has decided to dedicate herself to caring for her dying mother. This strand comprises everything that results from her decision. I used the decline of Margo’s mother as a means of discussing certain things.” (Robert Kramer)

1.36GB | 1h 30m | 932×576 | mkv

https://nitroflare.com/view/14524379289F646/Guns__Robert_Kramer_1980_.mkv
or
https://nitroflare.com/view/9FE41300614BB97/Guns__Robert_Kramer_1980_.part1.rar
https://nitroflare.com/view/6184E44E4764EE9/Guns__Robert_Kramer_1980_.part2.rar

Language:French,English
Subtitles:English

The post Robert Kramer – Guns (1980) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

This low-key, well-acted, underrated and pitch-black comedy didn’t get the recognition it deserved upon it’s (limited) release in 1994, even with director Michael Tolkin’s stature as screenwriter of ‘The Player’ and his freaky directorial debut with ‘The Rapture’. Peter Weller and Judy Davis play wealthy but spirtually bereft professionals in LA who decide to ditch their previous lives and open a store. It goes badly rather quickly. Watch for Adam West, perfectly cast as Peter Weller’s hipster father.

1.32GB | 1 h 53 min | 680×436 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/3A567CA4B49890F/The_New_age_94.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English (muxed)

The post Michael Tolkin – The New Age (1994) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
A robot messenger (Tilda Swinton) is sent to earth to appeal to humans to live in peace. Originally designed to go to MIT, by mistake she ends up in Amman, Jordan during the Black September riots of 1970. Sullivan, a British journalist, (Bill Paterson) comes to her aid when she is found wandering without papers following a bombing and grants her refuge in his hotel room. But there she tells him she is a robot, sent as a peace envoy from another planet. He is not sure whether to believe her story or not, but finds her unusual view of the world appealing. They examine the human condition in a series of incredibly insightful and entertaining conversations.

849MB | 1h 11mn | 756×576 | mkv

https://nitroflare.com/view/9889D7DCCB7CA09/Friendship%27s_Death_%281987%29.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Peter Wollen – Friendship’s Death (1987) first appeared on Cinema of the World.