Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Produced and Abandoned Part 7

Ten more titles deserving of a Region 1 DVD release:

1. Obsession (1976)- Brian DePalma's modern reworking of "Vertigo" is a lush, overtly melodramatic homage that often gets overlooked among his films. There is an Australian release of this film, yet its barely shown on TV and the rumored Criterion release is still forthcoming.
2. The Touch (1971)- Ingmar Bergman's very hard to find early 70's film about an American archaeologist (Elliot Gould) entering an affair with a housewife (Bergman muse Bibi Anderson). Ironically, there are several Gould films from the 70's that are hard to find- including "Move" and "Getting Straight"- but what makes this title even more curious is the filmmaking pedigree of Swedish master Bergman. It's one of the few not available.
3. Savage Is Loose (1974)- The second directorial outing from actor George C. Scott, this described chamber drama about a family stuck on a remote island, sounds intriguing. VHS copies go for big bucks.
4. The Nickel Ride (1974)- Written about here, this small scaled, moody film deserves its resurrection. I think it'll find a huge audience.
5. Hell Night (1981)- Linda Blair slasher flick about four teens spending the night with something wicked this way comes. Anchor Bay released a copy of this film (from a bad VHS print apparently) in the early 00's, but its been OOP since.
6. Le Garcu (1995)-French filmmaker Maurice Pialet has been vastly under-represented on DVD. His 1991 film "Van Gogh" is a masterpiece. One of his earlier efforts, "L' Enfance Nue", was just released on DVD two weeks ago so maybe there's hope yet. "Le Garcu", his last film, was regarded by critic Andrew Sarris as one of the very best films of that year.
7. All the Marbles (1981)- Yep, this Robert Aldrich film sounds just crazy enough that I need to see it. Peter Falk managing a female wrestling team. I don't know how good this will be, but if anyone's seen it, please let me know.
8. Sitting Target (1972)- Tarantino is a huge fan of this one, showing it one of the Aint It Cool News Butt-numb-a-thons a few years back, and everything I've read about it describes it as an unrepentantly violent revenge flick. Oliver Reed- and by the way, if you wanna see a bevy of unreleased titles, check out this actor's IMDB page- and Ian Mc Shane bust out of prison to seek revenge on Reed's unfaithful wife. Full of stock British actors, and never released on DVD.
9. The Reflecting Skin (1990)- Director Philip Ridley, one of the few cinematic descendants of David Lynch who doesn't seem to be trying too hard, has a new film which dropped at Toronto this year. "The Reflecting Skin" was one of the first films I can remember seeing on IFC back in the late 90's, and its all but disappeared nowadays. Slow moving at times, it is an atmospheric and weirdly moving coming of age film about a young boy who fears vampires and his own domestic life. Well worth a life on DVD, especially with Ridley back in the director's chair.
10. Trouble Every Day (2001)- Speaking of vampires, Claire Denis' utterly unique take on the horror genre is a startling shock to the system. Vincent Gallo is a scientist who becomes obsessed with some type of blood mutation program and Beatrice Dalle is a mysterious woman who becomes involved with Gallo. Their relationship (literally) consumes each other. The final fifteen minutes of this film are beyond belief, and if you've seen the various stills from "Trouble Every day", it morphs into a bloody and repellant affair. Not an easy film to like, but its baffling that it's not available on DVD.

3 comments:

TALKING MOVIEzzz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Joe Baker said...

Moviezzz, again you set me straight on some corrections! Thanks!

I really need to pay closer attention to the Archive series I suppose. It seems they're slipping some gems under the radar.

Ivan said...

Good news! De Palma's Obsession is listed as available via Netflix insta-view (good news if you subscribe to N-flix...)