1. Cria Cuervos- Carlos Saura's tale of a young child dealing with the loss of her parents. There's not much Saura available on DVD, and the ones that are ("Tango" and "Carmen") don't play much to my sensibilities. I have heard great things about this film, though.
2. Kingdom of Heaven- I saw Ridley Scott's film in theaters, but it left little impression on me. Since upgrading to Blu Ray last year and hearing the terrific things about this extended director's cut version which seems to flesh out some of the material more, I've decided to give it another try.
3. Nip Tuck Season 6 Part 2- A soap opera of the highest order. I've been hooked since episode one on FX years ago, so why stop now even though the show has gotten more and more preposterous every season.
4. Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies- Early documentary from comedy director Todd Philips (yes, "Road Trip") about the cult status of punk underground singer GG Allin. Can't say I've heard any of their music, but I'm always open to fascinating subjects.
5. Young Torless- "Based on a heart-wrenching novel by writer Robert Musil, this film, directed by Volker Schlondorff and winner of the International Critics Prize at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, explores what happens when a young man named Thomas Törless (Mathieu Carrière), enrolled at a boarding school in the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the war, does nothing to save a boy (Marian Seidowsky) from constant torture by his classmates." From the Netflix description.
6. Moon In the Gutter- French director Jean Jacques Beineix's cult classic finally got its DVD release earlier this year. While the only Beineix film I've managed to see has been "Diva", I love this type of exposure to a filmmaker previously hidden away. Three other films by Beineix are in the queue as well.
7. Billy Jack- "Billy Jack" on Blu-ray. Believe it. Friends highly recommend this as ass-kicking 70's greatness.
8. Is Paris Burning?- International war film by French director Rene Clement described as "Jean-Paul Belmondo heads the star-studded cast (which includes Charles Boyer, Kirk Douglas and Alain Delon) in this drama directed by Rene Clement and co-written by, among many others, Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal. Although World War II is nearly over, the Germans wage one last effort at destruction in Paris. But the French Resistance won't let them win -- not when Allied victory is so close at hand." Sounds great, but the two star rating on Netflix has me a bit worried?
9. The Messenger- Iraq drama from last Oscar season starring Woody Harrelson that I'm just now catching up with.
10. Robokill Beneath Club Layla- Just look at that title. Do I really need to explain? Ok, it stars director Kiyoshi Kurosawa and is described as the following: When a nightclub opens in Tokyo 45 years after World War II, the clientele have no idea the site once housed a hush-hush military lab. But the secret is about to emerge as a defective generator reactivates half-man, half-machine superwarrior Mikadroid, long thought destroyed by America's firebombing of the city. Next thing you know, disco patrons are turning up dead as the cyborg prowls the cellar in this sci-fi classic starring Yoriko Douguchi.
2 comments:
I'm very curious about "Is Paris Burning?" as well...I recently watched Clement's "La Bataille Du Rail" (The Battle Of The Rails) from 20 years previous and it's quite excellent. The French Resistance picks away at the Germans via the rail system and disturb their transport of equipment. It's done in episodic fashion without really any major acting roles required, but the situations are realized really well and it contains a fantastic train derailment sequence that matches "The General" or anything from Lean.
As for Robokill, how the hell did I miss that on my radar? It's moved to number 1 on my zip.ca list - though it is unfortunately in the current (and rather mysterious) status of "Ready To Order". Thanks for the tip.
Bob,
Battle of the Rails is just a few spots down in the queue. After "Inglorious Bastards" last year, I read an article listing about 30 films that Tarantino cited as an influence, and both of these films were mentioned. I'm also a sucker for any good Resistance film.
Post a Comment