Lost Media Archive

So you think it’s all song and dance do you? Here is a...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:12:58 -0600

So you think it’s all song and dance do you? Here is a collection of Bollywood Horror Movie Posters from The Lost Media Archive pt. 1

ISMN: "Gimme Stage 2013" - Tuesday April 30th, 10 PM @ Brewvies in SLC

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:07:00 -0600

DVD/101 Mins/English/Unrated

If you haven’t heard James McAllister and I have re-vamped our old found footage compilation “Gimme Stage” for 2013! We just finished the editing tonight and I think it’s pretty fantastic :)

“Gimme Stage” is our tribute to the human need to perform, no matter how strange or outsider the performance may be.

(Above: Underground Music God - R. Stevie Moore and friend singing in a made up language to Raymond Scott’s “The Playful Drummer” from “Soothing Sounds for Baby”)

Footage has been gathered from the Lost Media Archive gargantuan VHS collection to bring you curious, inventive and smelly gems from:
Home videos
Documented Performance Art
Public Access Television
Thrift Store Videos
Old VHS Trade Circles
as well as the odd donations and submissions we have received over the years for LMA and the Free Form Film Festival.

If you saw our original “Gimme Stage” compilation back in 2007 or so, know that we have dusted it off and that this version now contains over an hour of new footage!!!

(Above: Footage of our dear close friend “Wild Man Fischer” performing on late night TV (his 2nd to last public performance - R.I.P.)

You shall be amazered!

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Time: 10 PM Sharp! (Get there 15 Mins early for the best seats)

Place: Brewvies Cinema and Pub in SLC

Price: FREE!!! - 21 and Over Only

We have several Lost Media film (Frankenstein’s Planet of Monsters) and book (LMA Vinyl) preservation projects in the works so we will have stuff available at our merch table to help fund these archeological endeavors. One of them available only at this event is a highest quality DVD collection of “Stairway to Stardom” Vol.1 - taken from an one of the earliest VHS copies during the video trading days before youtube:

(Above: Our complete Stairway to Stardom Vol. 1 DVD - only available at this event)

Miss out on this one time event and you’ll be hurting for years to come!

ISMN: "Incubus" (1966) - Wednesday April 23rd 7:45 PM @ Art House Mansion

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:29:00 -0600

DVD/78 Mins/B&W/Esperanto w/ English subtitles/Not Rated

Believe it or not, I spent about 3 hours this morning writing a careful review and description for this film. It was all deleted in an instant by a faulty computer :P

It sufficeth to say, I cast votes last week and the winning film turned out to be “Incubus” - the odd psychological gothic horror made by the original “Outer Limits” film crew.

Although I’ve shown this once during a Halloween grindhouse, it has never been an official ISMN selection.

Once thought to be lost film forever when the negative and prints were burned in a lab fire, until a print was salvaged from a theater in Paris during the early 90’s with burned in French subtitles - explaining the now blocky English subtitles blocking the old. The only film completely spoken in Esperanto starring the pre-Star Trek William Shatner.

A true curiosity To me this film comes off as a Roger Corman B Movie disguised as a shiny foreign art film. The cinematography is gorgeous. The atmosphere is moody with a strange feeling of placelessness as if you’re watching a made up culture and people. I still don’t quite know how I feel about this film, but I always loved the rumors of it’s existence. A proclaimed “cursed film” definitely worth checking out.

Description from Amazon:

This black and white horror movie, filmed in California but with dialogue in Esperanto, is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Incubus inverts the usual moral battle of a good person tempted by evil. When a headstrong, blond, young succubus named Kia (Allyson Ames) becomes bored with luring the corrupt and sinful to their ultimate demise, she decides she’s going to tackle a truly good man (in the form of a very young William Shatner, of all people). An older, wiser succubus warns Kia that the good have an uncanny power called love, but Kia recklessly dives in, confident in her seductive powers—until she finds herself spiritually defiled by goodness and must summon an incubus (Milos Milos) to enact revenge. The pacing is slow but eerily effective, as are the stark cinematography and low-budget effects. Shatner’s intonations are just as distinctive in Esperanto as in English, but that only adds to the movie’s overall stylization. Incubusshares a kinship with Carnival of Souls, another low-budget black and white horror film that has more going on than buckets of gore. Though Incubus would seem to be heavily influenced by Ingmar Bergman, director Leslie Stevens has said he was more affected by Japanese samurai films. A strikingly unique and beautifully creepy film. —Bret Fetzer

An obscure oddity well worth seeking out, 25 February 2004

Author: capkronos (capkronos00@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA

Made by some of the same folks who worked on the great Outer Limits television series, this little-known gem (shot entirely in Esperanto, a language conceived to become a universal dialect in the late 19th Century) is definitely one-of-a-kind and worth checking out. William Shatner stars as war vet and all-around good and decent guy who lives with his sister (some Freudian implications are present) in a nameless and nearly-vacant coastal village. He is briefly led astray by a seductive, blonde devil-worshipper (Allyson Ames) under false pretenses…he thinks it’s for the mutual attraction and she is basically plotting to kill him and deliver another soul over to Satan.

The remastering job is a crystal clear b/w print, gorgeously shot by Conrad L. Hall (AMERICAN BEAUTY) around picturesque Big Sur locations. Director Leslie Stevens achieves some amazing shots, throws in some great camera-work and the films has faint echoes of CARNIVAL OF SOULS and many Mario Bava films. The plotting (Shatner falling in love in the course of an afternoon and some heavy-handed religious themes) is often at odds with the is lyrical and poetic tone of the film, but it has many standout sequences (including a winged demon seen only in shadow, a solar eclipse, the human “incubus” rising from the grave, an opening murder of the succubus drowning a drunken man in the ocean…) to recommend it.

A must-see for psychotronic film buffs, 12 June 1999

Author: Pa2rick from Fosston, MN

This gloriously weird film, long thought lost, recently resurfaced when a single print (in excellent condition) was discovered in the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris. It has proved well worth the wait. Want to see a pre-Trek William Shatner woo a sexy demoness entirely in Esperanto? Well here’s your chance (just don’t use this film as a guide to the language — the actors’ Esperanto pronunciation is pretty awful). The cinematography (by Academy Award winner Conrad Hall) is top-notch and makes this film a must-see for any film buff, psychotronic or otherwise.

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Bonus short film:

Haxan - Chapter II (1922)

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Time: Wednesday April 24th @ 7:45 PM

Place: Art City Mansion, Springville

Lots of parking. Friends and new people always welcome.

See you there!

-HR Swelch

ISMN: "Incubus" (1966

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 16:47:07 -0600

ISMN: "Head" (1968) - Thursday April 18th, 7:30 PM @ Art City Mansion

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:40:00 -0600

VHS/86/Comedy-Musical-Fantasy-Surrealism/Rated G

This week: Seriously one of the most drug tripped psyche films you will ever see. This is the ultimate band movie the Beatles wished they could’ve made (or at least I wish they could’ve made).

The first time I personally came across this film was in 9th grade or so and had taped it off of late night TV after midnight without watching it except for a few shots of the intro. This may sound strange but because a girl up the street was obsessed that I had this film and was huge fan, it made me never want to see it and want to lose the tape. Plus I wasn’t a fan of The Monkees. All I really knew was their TV show re-runs and that annoying theme song!

It’s funny, I know other people who also wont touch this feature film because, …well, it’s The Monkees. lol

(Don’t worry this is a positive review.) A couple months ago, I finally swallowed my pride and broke down and watched the Archive’s VHS after the rave reviews from some friends and roommates. And well, I was also a fan of the “Porpoise Song” from this film as covered by Lollypop Train on one of my Siesta records …

Once again my pre-conceptions of a film were completely wrong. I was completely mesmerized, captivated, bewildered, and felt very inspired while watching this film!

The fact that this movie stars the Monkees is completely secondary. I have to say this is the most whitty, and entertaining fluff band film I have ever seen!

This movie is a complete absurdist jigsaw puzzle, and attempts to combine every film genre into one piece of non-sensical madness.

As messy as that sounds, this film completely works! In it’s non-linear non-conformity, the “no-plot” is very complex and somehow makes complete sense!

And the fact is, no photos can do justice or really explain the experience of watching this film.

One you’ve seen this movie, the expression “Head Film” will make more sense. A term I myself have used to describe a drug trip on film. It’s how people described Walt Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland” upon release. …This is where it comes from.

I myself have never taken drugs, except for the time my mom mixed my vitamins with her medication, …but that was not hallucinatory nor intentional. I have no desire to do so, especially if my hallucinations would be similar to the living nightmares I experienced during times of high fever as a child.

Who needs drugs and the side effects when you have movies like this? To me this movie is best example of an enjoyable “trip”, a complete product of it’s era, and even when it does get nightmarish you’re just glad that you’re not actually there.

What else can you say about a film without a plot? In closing, I wished that I had actually watched it in high school, I would’ve loved it!!! Who knows what sort of artistic creations this film would’ve inspired during my youth. If you’re like me, while watching this film, you will wish that you had written it!

Some fave reviews:

Historically important, 23 March 2003

Author: Bruce Corneil from Melbourne, Australia

You would really need to remember the Monkees and have a clear understanding as to where and how they fitted into the second half of the 1960s in order to fully appreciate this movie.

There is no plot as such. Basically, it’s a crazy, mixed up pastiche of various, unrelated sequences. But, it IS interesting AND entertaining in its own peculiar way once you get onto its wavelength. In short, it was a classic, cleverly conceived and well crafted example of late ’60s experimental cinema. It contains some good songs, some ultra-groovy cinematography and plenty of other worthwhile ideas in terms of film technique.

I give it 7 out of 10 for several reasons. First, it took a lot of courage to make such an unorthodox movie in the commercial mainstream where both its stars and its producers were firmly ensconced at the time (whether they liked it or not). It seems that almost everyone who was associated with the project (with the exception of Columbia who paid for it) knew that it was probably not going to be a big money maker. Their reasons for wanting to do it were as unorthodox as the film itself. Secondly, it was, for the most part, a creative success. And, finally, as already mentioned, it is, unquestionably, a classic of the genre and, as such, it is now historically important.

Unfortunately, “Head” came too late in the Monkees career. But, there again, they wouldn’t have been allowed to make it earlier on because it was essentially a very pointed and cynical satire of their own image.

Clearly, the members of the group knew, only too well, that the whole Monkeemania thing had pretty well run its course when they started work on this movie. In a way, it was to be their swan song and they were determined to let it all hang out. They were tired of being treated like mere pawns in the high powered corporate game in which they had been manipulated and exploited over the preceding few years. In short, they “wanted out” and they were going to say a few things before they left.

History, however, has vindicated the band. Let the critics be damned. The Monkees, left behind some of the best, most polished and successful pop records of the decade. Yes, they had plenty of help. But at the end of the day, THEY stood in front of the studio mikes, THEY fronted the movie and TV cameras and THEY did the concerts. They were fun and just a little bit crazy. But, unlike some of their contemporaries, they were never threatening. You could safely introduce a Monkey to your elderly aunt.

Enjoy!

Perfect 60’s oddity, 30 May 2003

Author: Jason Williams from Los Angeles, CA

“Head” is one of those films you’ll have a lot of trouble convincing your friends to see, but once they do they’ll fall in love with it. I don’t know how many times this has happened to me. This film is just so funny and bizarre, really a deconstruction of everything the Monkees had been up to this point in their career. A lot the credit goes to Bob Rafelson who pretty much ended the Monkee’s career with this film. My guess is he wanted to get out of directing the TV show and get into features, which he did in a big way after this one. Micky Dolenz is absolutely hilarious. I can’t believe he didn’t have a second life as a comic actor after this film. This film has a lot of great cameos and a lot of wonderful psychedelic nonsense. I feel like the reputation of this film is continuing to build and it wouldn’t surprise me if it eventually becomes a full on cult classic

(This one seems to confirm some of my statements made above!)

Everything that The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine should have been, 25 June 2005 (Revised)

Author: Brandt Sponseller from New York City

This is one of those films where it is easy to see how some people wouldn’t like it. My wife has never seen it, and when I just rewatched it last night, I waited until after she went to bed. She might have been amused by a couple small snippets, but I know she would have had enough within ten minutes.

Head has nothing like a conventional story. The film is firmly mired in the psychedelic era. It could be seen as filmic surrealism in a nutshell, or as something of a postmodern acid trip through film genres. If you’re not a big fan of those things—psychedelia, surrealism, postmodernism and the “acid trip aesthetic” (assuming there’s a difference between them), you should probably stay away from this film. On the other hand if you are a fan of that stuff, you need to run out and buy Head now if you haven’t already.

Oddly, the film has never received much respect. That probably has a lot to do with preconceptions. After all, it does star The Monkees—Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork—and The Monkees were a musical group of actors put together by producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider to be a kid-friendly, bubble-gummy Beatles for a television series. In their era, they had as much respect as, say, Menudo, New Kids on the Block, The Spice Girls, and so on. As a fellow IMDb reviewer rightly notes—“Perhaps people in 1968, thinking of the Monkees as a silly factory-made pop band rip-off of the Beatles, refused to see (Head)”.

The Monkees and Head have never been quite able to shed that negative public perception. It’s a shame, because there was a lot of talent, both musically and otherwise, in The Monkees. It’s probably odder that Rafelson, who directs here and co-produces with Schneider, and Jack Nicholson (yes, _that_ Jack Nicholson), who wrote the script and also co-produces, decided to take The Monkees in this unusual direction. It’s as if New Kids on the Block suddenly put out an album equivalent to Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma (1969) or Atom Heart Mother (1970). In fact, the songs in Head, written by The Monkees and frequent collaborators such as Carole King and Harry Nilsson, have a Floyd-like quality, somewhere between the Syd Barrett era and the immediate post-Barrett era. This is much more prominent than any Beatles similarity. Some people have complained about the music in the film, but to me, all the songs are gems. For that matter, some people dislike Barrett era (or other) Floyd, which is just as difficult for me to empathize with.

But what _is_ Head about? The basic gist is just that The Monkees are taking a trip through various film genres—there are war scenes, adventure scenes, horror scenes, comedy scenes, drama scenes, western scenes, sci-fi scenes, romance scenes, and on and on. Except, in the film’s reality, this turns out to be happening primarily (if not exclusively) on a studio lot. At root, we’re watching The Monkees shoot a film. Of course all of the scenes in the various genres have something surreal and self-referential about them, and they, and individual shots within a scene, tend to lead to one another using dream logic not dissimilar to the Monty Python television show. As a dream, Head tends to vacillate between a good dream and a nightmare, while often being one that would cause you to laugh in your sleep (something that I frequently do, by the way).

Technically, Rafelson uses a wide variety of techniques to realize the above. There are scenes with extensive negative images, there are a lot of very fast cuts (including a great sequence that features Davy Jones and Tony Basil dancing alternately in a white and a black room, wearing a combination of white and black reversed in each, that occasionally toggles back and forth as quickly as two frames at a time), there are a lot of bizarre segues, there is an animated cow mouth, there are odd editing devices, and so on. For my money, I wish this stuff wasn’t just a relic of the psychedelic era. This is the kind of artistic approach I relish. It seemed like a good idea back then and I still think it’s a good idea. I’d like to see films like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou using (2004) using these types of extended techniques. Now that would make that film surreal.

Interpretationally, some folks who aren’t so in tune with the acid trip aesthetic have complained that it’s basically b.s. to offer meanings for something intended to not have any. I disagree with such a pessimistic/nihilistic view; Head was intended to have a lot of meaning(s), and it’s not just films without conventional plots that have multiple interpretations. Nicholson, Rafelson and Schneider have a lot of interesting things to say about The Monkees—the film postmodernistically comments on their manufactured status; pop stardom—way before Pink Floyd, Head conflates pop stardom and violence, from images of war to images of fans cannibalistically dismantling their idols; and naïve U.S.-oriented ideas of international perceptions and respect—well-armed foreigners in a desert surrender to Micky Dolenz just because he’s an American, then later they blow up a Coke machine (again in the desert) for him because he’s thirsty and can’t gain access. The film comments on many other topics—from big Industry to police, surveys, spectatorship (especially in relation to tragedies), and on and on. Head is full of ideas, appropriately enough, with intelligent, multifaceted things to say about them.

Head deserves to be considered a classic—it’s basically shooting for the same vibe as The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. Both premiered in November of 1968, interestingly enough, and both were intended as something of a summation of the psychedelic aesthetic. Yellow Submarine wasn’t quite successful. Head is everything Yellow Submarine should have been.

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Bonus Short Film: “Haxan: Chapter 1” (1922)

DVD/Tinted B&W/Silent/Documentary-Horror/ Not Rated

I debated on whether to show “Head” or “Haxan” for letter “H”. I decided on “Head” for the main feature because it’s just too good to wait another year or so to share it, and that film deserves attention NOW!

I had a harder time imagining friends sitting through and entire viewing of “Haxan.“ However, Haxan is significant and very worth while. I’ve decided to share “Haxan” as a series of chapters each week since the film is divided into various vignettes of various points of view on it’s subject matter.

The FUNNY thing is, this is a perfect paring of films since Haxan was once re-edited, retitled, given electric jazz-fusion score by Jean Luc Ponty, narration by William Burroughs and re-released in 1968 - the exact same year as HEAD! and auctioned off to audiences as another drug trip film for the era.

Check out this review snippet below. Ready to see the term “Head” in a film description?:

Atmospheric, nightmarish, and even a bit silly, 4 February 2003
Author: David Ross Smith (one801@mindspring.com) from Washington, DC

Directed by Scandinavian filmmaker Benjamin Christensen, ‘Haxan’ / ‘Witchcraft Through the Ages’ (1922) is a head-trippy silent film depicting black magic, witchcraft, and demonology from the middle ages to the 20th century. Shot and presented in documentary form, the film is more akin to a pseudo-scholarly lecture with moving visual aids. Not as intense or as shocking today as upon its initial release, the film is filled with nightmarish images that are certainly profane and explicit, but also humorous and downright silly.

We will be showing HAXAN in it’s original form, for a total of 7 chapters each week. Perhaps we will show the 1968 version in another alphabet later for “W”.

I still can’t get over how the placement of these two films together seems to be destiny!

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Time: Thursday April 18th @ 7:30 PM

Place: Art City Mansion in Springville, next to the train tracks on 300 S off of Main.

BE THERE OR BE HEXAGON.

We often run out of pop corn so feel free to bring extra! Lots of parking. New friends and visitors welcome :)

See you there! Much love,

BC STERRETT

Sigmund gives these films two thumbs up!

A collection of Grey Gardens fan art found on the internet.

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 07:09:42 -0600

A collection of Grey Gardens fan art found on the internet.

Official Trailer for Grey Gardens (1975)

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 20:32:11 -0600

Official Trailer for Grey Gardens (1975)

ISMN: "Grey Gardens" (1975) - Thursday April 11th 7:45 PM @ Art City Mansion

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:36:00 -0600

DVD/100 Mins/Documentary/Rated PG

I’m in love with this film. Possibly one of the most famous examples of “direct cinema”: where the camera is supposed to act like a fly on the wall and just observe. As famous as this film is, it’s definitely unusual enough to make our ISMN line-up.

If you haven’t heard of this film, it is a documentary about two of Jackie Kennedy’s relatives who were once rich high society socialites of Long Island, but found in the mid 1970’s living in squalor and near completely disconnected from the rest of the world around them.

Now living with a multitude of cats, and sometimes racoons and rats, this Mother and Daughter still act and seems as if the 1950’s, 60’s and even 70’s never happened - because they were never part of it!

In spite of their sad situation which conjures questions of mental dis-function and the loss and neglect of life opportunities, these women seem to be happy and at peace with their situation and you cannot help but be strangely charmed by their relationship and distinct personalities.

(Above: Edie Beal in the room of discarded empty cat food cans.)

The most eccentric of the two being “Little Edie Beal” who chose to stay at home with mother instead of having a life and family of her own. Little Edie inventively conjurers up her own outfits out of clothing she has probably owned since the 40’s. These outfits always centered around her head dress which often consist of wearing the neck of a sweater around her face to cover her condition of hair loss.

Both women are a fascinating character study, and you cannot help but but be fascinated by their companionship, even when they are getting on each other’s nerves. There are honestly and truly the items of a time warp, and you really do feel like you are watching people at home from the 1940’s who have traveled through time. Absolutely incredible.

My favorite scene by far, is seeing Little Edie being excited about finding a vinyl record of marching music and then performing a patriotic dance with the American Flag for the camera :) …that and footage of one the cats going to the bathroom behind Big Edie’s glamorous young portrait that’s leaning against a wall.

This movie is without beginning or end and is just a snapshot into the unique lives of two very eccentric and secluded people.

(Above: Outsider fan art?)

Some favorite online reviews:
Grey Gardens was riveting and almost unbelievable!, 8 September 1999

Author: sigis from Oklahoma City

We stumbled upon the documentary, Grey Gardens, last Sunday and got “sucked in” without warning. Everyone who entered the room became transfixed on the television and the haunting images of Edith and Edie who seemed to be living out their lives in practically one room of a large filthy mansion on the beach, eating ice cream and corn on the cob (which was cooked on the bedside table)—and the cat urinating on edith’s bed and her unbelievable words, “i thrive on it [the smell].” We had not seen the beginning and wondered what we were watching and how these aristocratic women managed to get in the position they were in. Spellbinding! a must see!!!!

Very Sad, Very Human, Oft Funny…but with a whiff of exploitation, 15 September 2003

Author: David (davidals@msn.com) from Chapel Hill, NC, USA

I was speechless and devastated after my first viewing of this - many parts of GREY GARDENS are very funny and unbelievably surreal - documentary or not, this really gives Fellini or David Lynch a run for their money in the weirdsville sweepstakes. I kept focusing on how these women (who are clinically way beyond eccentric) reveal their own humanity in the most surprising of ways, and I wonder whether their retreat from the world was prompted by something beyond the stuffiness of life in the unreal blue-blood universe, perhaps some abuse, or perhaps simply a streak of defiance and rebellion that spiralled out of their control and took on a life of its’ own. This might be one of the greatest ever films that comes dangerously close to exploitation, without going completely over the edge - as the Edies do their thing, I kept noting things like the empty gin bottles in the rubble-strewn bedroom, cats urinating on the bed, racoons emerging from holes in the walls, and the final scene seemed incredibly sad - like a child’s birthday party gone seriously wrong. Very definitely worth seeing and seeking out - you’ll never forget it, but very disturbing.

The most beautiful, endearing eccentrics of all!, 20 April 2001 (Condensed)
Author: azeffer from Brooklyn

The first time I viewed Grey Gardens, I was as mesmerized as the other people who have written comments. So many elements of this film are fascinating, there are so many things going on there. The ultimate passive-aggresive relationship of the mother and daughter. So co-dependent. One moment Edie is blaming Edith for her loneliness, the next she is about to swim in the ocean and saying out loud how she hopes her mother does not pass on anytime soon, she would miss her. Yet one has to wonder if Edie really wanted to leave so badly, why didn’t she? Maybe Grey Gardens was where she most wanted to be after all.

Edie never leaves the home or rarely sees anyone, yet she still has the rich, white woman’s concern over her weight. It is hilarious to see her peering at the scale through binoculars. When you see pictures of the women as young beauties, it takes your breath away. Edie is still a beautiful woman, and her coquettish behavior at times makes her seem like a young lady.

The language is entirely witty and it is hilarious to see the two women go on and on.

The cats and racoons are a site to see, as is the faded mansion. A wonderful window into the world of two compelling characters, their lives, and their memories. Yes it is at times sad, but at the same time, these two are fabulous!

In 2006, Grey Gardens was adapted into a stage musical and in 2009 was remade as an HBO movie starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, which probably should’ve been shown on the big screen according to the rave reviews I’ve seen. I would be interested to see how their pasts have been depicted.

We’ve had a strange VHS dub of this film in the archive for the past decade or so. Last year I finally broke down and bought the Criterion release knowing that it was bound for ISMN in the new line-up.

I can’t wait to visit this film again :)
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Bonus short film:
The Garden of Earthly Delights - By Stan Brakhage (1981)
DVD/3 Mins/Silent/Not Rated

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Time: Thursday April 11th th @ 7:45 PM

Place: Art City Mansion in Springville

Lots of parking. New friends welcome :)

See you there!

BC Sterrett

Bonus photos:

ISMN: F for Fake (1973) - Thursday March 4th 7:30 PM @ Art City Mansion

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:29:00 -0600

“F for Fake” (1973)
VHS/Essay Documentary/89 Mins/Color/Rated PG

Included in the ISMN lineup as an another example of as an attempt to create a new genre - “the experimental essay on film.”

This week Orson Welles takes you on a journey through fakeness and forgery, emphasizing that artists, writers and documentarians can pretty much make you believe what they want you to, and questions the ideas of authorship and experts.

Does this film seriously not have a single review on IMDB?

Here are some words about this film from several sources:

“A mockumentary essay about art forger Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, Howard Hughes, (and Welles himself. The editing, which took Welles a solid year to complete, is exceptionally dense and tricky, but the mood is mainly lighthearted.” - Welles historian Jonathan Rosenbaum

Anonymous - “Orson Welles’ free-form documentary about fakery focuses on the notorious art forger Elmyr de Hory and Elmyr’s biographer, Clifford Irving, who also wrote the celebrated fraudulent Howard Hughes autobiography, then touches on the reclusive Hughes and Welles’ own career (which started with a faked resume and a phony Martian invasion). On the way, Welles plays a few tricks of his own on the audience.”

Amazon review excerpts by Bennet Pomerantz

“Orson Welles has a ball examining the nature of what is real and what is fake in the funny, bizarre F FOR FAKE.

The film master stroke is in the editing; from absurd stock footage to shots of Welles smirking into the camera from different locations to scenes with a monkey scurrying about, the film is vastly entertaining to watch.

F FOR FAKE is an underrated, under-appreciated work of comic genius about the nature of reality, celebrity, and art, by a master showman showing a surprisingly wicked sense of humor. Like a good magician, he makes us want more and more.

Welles has been a maverick filmmaker and it shows. Listen to the commentary track on this film, you will see either Welles the genius filmmaker or the madman…take your pick. I pick Genius and I am sticking to it!”

5 out of 5 stars A must-have for any “artist” or Welles fan, September 12, 2007

By Matthew Farrell (Tempe, Arizona)

This review is from: F for Fake (The Criterion Collection) (DVD)

Most movies that I like are in the “not for everyone” category, and since this is one of my favorite films, that caveat is especially appropriate.

F for Fake is an intellectually challenging film that really requires its viewer to pay attention and follow multiple interweaved plots. Actually, “plot” isn’t the right word here: the film explores the theme of “what is real?” (as well as “what is art?”) using several real-life examples: notorious art forger Elmyr, and author Cliff Irving (whose Howard Hughes “autobiography” hoax is legendary in literary circles.) And let’s not forget Welles himself pulled off one of the most notorious hoaxes of the 20th Century: the War of the Worlds broadcast. If you enjoy seeing “con artists” at the top of their game, this is essential viewing.

Much of the movie was filmed “on the fly” as several simultaneous scandals shook the art and publishing world. This can make it difficult to follow for viewers with short attention spans who are used to linear, well-defined plots. Multiple viewings may be required to fully absorb all that is in this.

Although Welles is on-camera much of the time, the real star here was Welles off-camera in the editing room, where his genius really shines through when viewing the final product. Students of cinematography will undoubtedly be awed by his masterful handling of the material.

5.0 out of 5 stars It should get 6 stars, if that were possible, December 2, 2003

MarianaP “marianap” (Lisbon, Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: F for Fake [VHS] (VHS Tape)

“There is no Orson Welles movie, no matter how influential and well regarded, that I love more than this master piece. This is Orson Welles at his best: just chating along in an entertaining, funny, witty, profound way, teaching you so much about himself, about humanity and about Life, as if it was just a walk in the park - he makes it look so easy to be a genius.

If I had to choose the proverbial film I would take with me to a deserted island, this would be the one. This is the guy I want to talk to forever if I’m ever allowed in whatever Paradise he’s in now.

This is all anyone needs to love the movies and Orson Welles. It is the one that will convert you into thinking you can’t really have one without the other.”

Of course not all reviews for this film are positive like the above. As you sift through the various reviewers on Amazon, people are either in love with this film and call it a masterpiece or they really hate it and are bored with it.

I also admit this is not for everyone, especially if you think all film should be linear. To me this film is more of a conversation. It is literally an essay on film, full of musings, fact and fiction, and brilliant editing.

Years ago upon finding this VHS, I knew nothing of it’s background, and very much enjoyed the journey this film gave me upon my first viewing.

Yes, Welles had an ego and much of this film is also commentary upon his own work and career, but you cannot deny his talent and distinct personality. I myself cannot help but be charmed by this work and claim that this is my favorite film by him. It is froth with style, exquisite attention to detail, complex layered editing, and a very fine example of 70’s mod cinema.

I love it and to me this film is like the privilege of spending time with excellent and eccentric company.
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Bonus short film:

Film by Samuel Beckett
VHS/20 Min/B&W/Unrated

IMDB Storyline

A twenty-minute, almost totally silent film (no dialogue or music one ‘shhh!’) in which Buster Keaton attempts to evade observation by an all-seeing eye. But, as the film is based around Bishop Berkeley’s principle ‘esse est percipi’ (to be is to be perceived), Keaton’s very existence conspires against his efforts Written by Michael Brooke

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Time: Thursday April 4th @ 7:45 PM

Place: Art City Mansion in Springville

Lots of parking. Friends welcome :)

See you there!

BC Sterrett

Additional stills and posters from this film:

My Birthday + ISMN: "Little Hero" (1978) - Tuesday March 26th 9:45 PM @ Brewvies

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:22:00 -0600

DVDR/89 Mins/Dubbed/Not Rated

Sometimes after hyping the SLC screenings on facebook, I forget to talk about them on the blog.

This is my birthday screening of ISMN. So to celebrate I’ve chosen an extremely rare film by one of my favorite actresses of all time: Ms. Polly Shang Kwan (Zodiac Fighers, Ghostly Face, Fight for Survival, etc.).

This film seems to be a summary of all her odd films combined into one. Giant mouse traps, tiger people, people inside of pin-balls, giant octopi etc = This is Polly at her weirdest!

Polly is also playing the part of a man, though she doesn’t do a single thing to look like one by western standards. They just call her one. Those weird Taiwanese…

Due to the unavailability of this film, there isn’t a single review or plot line on IMDB.

I don’t have much time to get this out so here is part of the review found on the fantastic Die Danger Die Kill Kill blog:

“Ah, sweet sustenance. Simply put, films like Little Hero are the reason that 4DK exists. Anarchic surrealism worthy of the most dedicated avant-garde provocateur? Check. The type of furious desire to entertain that could only be born of the most mercenary populism? Yep. Total disregard for conventional notions of narrative sense and cohesion? Uh huh. As far as weird-fu goes, this is the hard stuff. And standing at the center of it all, like a human signpost signaling our crossing over into this strange and wonderful territory, is one of the very goddesses of that rarified subgenre, Polly Shang Kwan.

With it’s ridiculous, makeshift costumes, grotesquely cartoonish characters and outlandish action, Little Hero could easily come across as a film designed for the soul purpose of humiliating its actors. That is, if its star showed the slightest signs of being phased by any of that.”

The full Die Danger Die review with more photos can be found here:

http://diedangerdiediekill.blogspot.com/2009/06/little-hero-taiwan-1978.html

PS. Taiwan is also where I served my mission ;)

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Bonus short film:

Valentine’s Date (2013)
DVD/6 Mins/Youtube Film

An odd local film by Joey Daniel and Jordan Harker bringing back my character “Ida” in her first debut film outside of “Craft Lady.”
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Time: Tuesday March 26th @ 9:45 PM
Place: Brewvies Cinema and Pub in SLC
Price: Free (21 and Older)

See you there,

HR Swelch

ISMN: Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974) - Thursday March 21st 7:30 PM @ Art City Mansion

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 17:22:00 -0600

Please notice the time change this week.

VHS/Biography Drama/German with English Subtitles/110 Mins/Not Rated
(Rated PG in other countries)

Kaspar Hauser was a real person. According to wikipedia, his early existence went as follows: “At first it was assumed that he was raised half-wild in forests, but during many conversations with Mayor Binder, Hauser told a different version of his past life, which he later also wrote down in more detail.^[5] According to this story, for as long as he could remember he spent his life totally alone in a darkened cell about two metres long, one metre wide and one and a half high with only a straw bed to sleep on and a horse carved out of wood for a toy.

Knowing how director Herzog is drawn to the insane and extreme examples of unusual human existence, how could he resist not making a biopic film about this?

Plot excerpt from wikipedia (includes spoilers)

The film follows Kaspar Hauser (Bruno Schleinstein), who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.

One day, in 1828, the same man takes Hauser out of his cell, teaches him a few phrases, and how to walk, before leaving him in the town of Nuremberg. Hauser becomes the subject of much curiosity, and is exhibited in a circus before being rescued by Herr Daumer (Walter Ladengast), who patiently attempts to transform him.

Hauser soon learns to read and write, and develops unorthodox approaches to logic and religion, but music is what pleases him most. He attracts the attention of academics, clergy, and nobility, but is then physically attacked by the same unknown man who brought him to Nuremberg. The attack leaves him unconscious with a bleeding head. He recovers but is again mysteriously attacked, this time stabbed in the chest.

Hauser rests in bed describing visions he has had of nomadic Berbers in the Sahara Desert, and then dies.

Some notes about the death of K.H.:

… on 14 December 1833, Hauser came home with a deep wound in his left breast. He said that he was lured to the Ansbach Court Garden and that a stranger stabbed him there while giving him a bag. When Policeman Herrlein searched the Court Garden, he found a small violet purse containing a pencilled note in “Spiegelschrift” (mirror writing). The message read, in German:

“Hauser will be able to tell you quite precisely how I look and from where I am. To save Hauser the effort, I want to tell you myself from where I come _ _ . I come from from _ _ _ the Bavarian border _ _ On the river _ _ _ _ _ I will even tell you the name: M. L. Ö.”

Hauser died of his wound on 17 December 1833.

Inconsistencies in Hauser’s account led the Ansbach court of inquiry to suspect that he stabbed himself and invented a tale about being attacked. The note in the purse that was found in the Court Garden contained one spelling error and one grammatical error, both of which were typical for Hauser, who, on his deathbed, kept muttering incoherencies about “writing with pencil”. Although he was very eager that the purse be found, he did not ask for its contents. The note itself was folded in a specific triangular form, just the way Hauser used to fold his letters, according to Mrs. Meyer. Forensic doctors agreed that the wound could indeed be self-inflicted. Many authors^[16] believe that he wounded himself in a bid to revive public interest in his story and to convince Stanhope to fulfill his promise to take him to England, but that he then stabbed himself more deeply than planned.^[17]

- End of quote

This is an unusual poetic and wonky little film from a very odd true story. Like many of Herzog’s films, this is something that is definitely not for everyone, especially people who like their films to have wrapped up conclusions in a nice tidy package. It may leave you confused, but then again, that may help you to relate to the people who witnessed this life story.

Like most ISMN films, I try to warn you what you are in for. This comic strip excerpt about this week’s film also says it nicely:

Here are a couple IMDB reviews:

Strange masterpiece by master filmmaker

2 November 1999 | by Che

A truely visionary work!!I have always been fascinated with the story that this film tells. Herzog seems to be an expert at showing the way that an outsider relates to the world. Bruno S. is amazing in the lead role , Herzog has definitely made the right casting choice. The movie is just a must for all fans of cinema, even if your not a Herzog fanatic you will still be moved by this extraordinary vision!!!

The story of a soul, 9 February 2000

Author: solitaryman2 from Brescia, Italy

“This is the story of a soul”, someone said and I agree because loneliness is here described through a slow moving plot and endless silences which make us see Kaspar Hauser not as a man but as something more sulfuric, almost a being from outer space. The performance of Bruno S. is simply moving and caused me a lot of tears and the use of time through the narration is perfect for a film of this kind. The poetic vision of Werner Herzog is very peculiar and unique and you can love it or hate it but you cannot ignore it. Herzog doesn’t care about the audience, he tells what it wants in the way he likes and that’s the praise and the defect of European cinema and it’s what makes the difference between European authors and American ones.

(Above: This is what our copy of the film looks like in the archive.)

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Bonus Short Films:

Early Abstractions by Harry Smith

If you loved “Heaven and Earth Magic” you will probably be drooling to see this short display of Harry Smith’s early work.

VHS/22 Mins/Color/Unrated

+

”Eye Myth” by Stan Brakhage

DVD/1 Min/Color/Not Rated

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Time: Thursday March 21st @ 7:30 PM
Place: Art City Mansion, Springville

See you there :)

(Above: An actual drawing by Kaspar - 1829)

Fan music video for this week’s feature:...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:32:47 -0600

Fan music video for this week’s feature: “Daisies” (1966)

Music: Rock and Roll Girl by The Muffs

ISMN: Daisies (1966) - Thursday March 14th 7:30 PM @ Art City Mansion

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:04:00 -0600

DVD/Czech with Subtitles/Multicolored/74 Mins/Unrated

Yes, I know I’ve shown this film before many years ago @ Out/Ex. But never officially at ISMN, so I don’t feel that I’m breaking the “no repeats” rule.

My old review of Daisies seems to be lost forever. All of my old years of “pre-tumblr” film reviews were lost when my account was hi-jacked.

So, instead I’m giving you some fave reviews from IMDB:

Nothing Comes Close

11 June 2008 | by Joseph Sylvers (United States) – See all my reviews

One of the most vibrant and fun art house films you are ever likely to see. Vera Chytilova was merging feminism, nihilism, psychedelic color filters, collage aesthetic, and silent film slapstick into a one of a kind film about two young girls named Marie who decide to self destruct, and be just as wicked as the world. They con men into buying them lunch and ditch them at train stations, get drunk in posh nightclubs, set their beds on fire, and lay siege to whole banquets(this latter bit got the film and the director into a lot of trouble with the Soviet Czech government for “wasting food”). Anyway this is an energetic and vibrant film as you’re likely to find anywhere, and unlike so many great euro art films, this is as fun to watch as it is think about afterwords. I’ve shown this movie to a lot of people and I’ve never had a complaint, it clocks in at just over an hour, so if you’ve got the time, go for it. It’s a one of kind experience(in fact the worst part of this movie is the cover).

(I have only received one complaint from this film. But it was from a guy who only showed up at the last screening to flirt with Secretary Dottie. She wasn’t there. So instead he subjected to a very non-linear Czech experimental art film, while waiting for her to show. I could tell by the end, that this film was too much for him to handle. I often find that people coming to ISMN for the first time, not knowing what they’re in for, have a hard time swallowing what is presented. - BC Sterrett)

(Excerpts from) A rare female voice from the Czech New Wave., 28 May 2001

Author: Alice Liddel (-darragh@excite.com) from dublin, ireland

‘Daisies’ was a product of the Czech New Wave, but seems a million miles away from its most famous contemporaries, …

The plot basically consists of the girls trying to chat up old men who’ll feed them, but what they really do is make a nonsense of plot.

The film mixes monochrome, colour, and unstably tinted scenes. Sequences that begin ‘sensibly’ are broken down, by slapstick, changes of register, ‘impossible’ changes of location or physics, or are turned from natural scenes into the robotic movements of a clockwork toy going out of control. This disruption has a theoretical point - in one scene, the girls find their bodies cut up as they find their identities dissolved by conflicting desires, social expectations and representations. In another, they wander around a dream space, wondering why people pay no attention to them, realising that ‘logically’, they mustn’t exist, because Western culture has no place for them.

….They do to cinema what Ionesco did to literature, cut it into shreds.

The whole thing plays like parody Godard, with Marie II as Anna Karina, with meaningful conversations about love accompanied by the girls cutting up sausages and bananas: the butterfly sequence is a wicked lampoon of ‘Vivre sa Vie’. Where Godard’s heroines remained fixed and stared at, the two Maries laugh, look, escape, see their frame and break it, insist on their body as something more than an object, something they can play with themselves.

Not even the heroines’ liberating subversivess is fixed - their mindless appetite is punished as often as their formal iconoclasm is celebrated. But for all its theoretical rigour, ‘Daisies’ never sacrifices its sense of humour - I first saw it when I was ten, and loved it for its slapstick fun, its narrative unpredictability, its playful soundtrack, and its tireless visual invention. I still love it now.

First you think “what the hell?” and then you think “YEAH!!”, 28 May 2003
Author: spazmodeus from United States

This is really worth seeing. It’s hard to explain why. There is no plot. There is no character development. There is a lot of beautiful surrealism. Like with anything from Dada and related art, the full effect only hits you after you stop asking “Why?” and “Whaa?” and “What the hell?”. When you past that point, you’ll have a great time.

The charming nihilism captured in the movie is something that we couldn’t duplicate nowadays, even if we tried.

Comparisons:
Daisies is some of the most fun you’ll ever have with an experimental film, but very hard to compare to anything else. In my mind I often think of this movie to a female version of something like Herzog’s “Even Dwarfs Started Small” or (another film I shall not mention), possibly because of all the random destruction and nihilistic symbolism. Daisies is much much lighter and playful. More visually experimental but much less mean spirited. That comparison is the best I can do.

The most modern directly influenced film I’ve seen from “Daisies” would be Lisa Duva’s “Cat Scratch Fever” that was screened at The Salt Lake City Film Festival last year :) Which is well worth your while should you ever happen across it.

Yes, Daisies is one of the most overly hipter art films you’ll ever see. It’s easy to obsess over visually. But it’s the real thing and a classic staple of avant garde mod cinema. Daisies is also ageless and feels like it could’ve been made yesterday, especially during the fervor of 1990’s MTV media.

SEE IT!

We own the early Facets DVD, but Daisies is now also recently available in the expensive Criterion Czech New Wave box set. I have not seen the new re-issue to be able to compare.

To me “Daisies” is required viewing, especially for those interested in film making. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and come this Thursday :)

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Bonus Short Films:

Diagram Film by Paul Glabicki
(1978 - 13 Mins/Animated/Not Rated)

+

Destino by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney (2003 - 7 Mins/Rated PG)

I always drooled as a child over the idea of the discarded collaboration of Salvador Dali and Disney Studios. Why did it take me till last week to find out that someone had completed it??? Did I know about this and then forget? It’s pretty great but would’ve been even more awesome without the CGI mixed in and more amazing had it been all hand drawn back in the day, the way it was intended.

I’ll take it as is. Still pretty amazing.

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Time: Thursday March 14th @ 7:30 PM

Place: Art City Mansion in Springville (message me if you don’t know the address)

Parking: Free and lots of it

New friends always welcome :)

See you there,

BC Sterrett

More posters, covers and art from this week’s film:

Coming to ISMN: Thursday March 14th @ 7:30 PM

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:54:11 -0600

Coming to ISMN: Thursday March 14th @ 7:30 PM

Children of the Stars Trailer (2012)

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 09:02:46 -0700

Children of the Stars Trailer (2012)

ISMN: "Children of the Stars" (2012) with special guest Randin Graves - Thursday March 7th @ 7:30 PM

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:52:00 -0700

Special announcement: There will be a Q&A with after this week’s film with local soundtrack composer Randin Graves who created the original soundtrack for “Children of the Stars.”

This week’s feature:

DVDR/78 Mins/Unrated

Our favorite documentary of 2012 comes to ISMN!

I was extremely lucky and honored to be part of the amazing world premiere of this film at the Salt Lake City Film Festival.

I don’t know why this film didn’t do more touring or receive more publicity, because it definitely deserves it. To my knowledge this only played at one other festival before directly going to DVDR online. My fear is that it will also quickly fall into obscurity if more people don’t talk about it.

There are hardly any screen shots of this film online so I took these from the trailer on youtube. And except for the following explanation, this film has NO reviews yet on IMDB:

“Using rare archival footage and interviews, Children of the Stars chronicles a UFO contactee group as they relive their past lives on other planets by making their own science fiction films.” - IMDB

This is a film about the Unarius religion in California that believes that Science Fiction is real, and is truly a recollection of people’s memories of previous lives on other planets.

You may wonder why this film is included in my experimental and art film line up:

1. I just want people to know about this film as soon as possible.

2. One of the main goals of this new alphabet is to share items that challenge the ideas of what film is and what it can be.

This documentary does just that.

Possibly the most fascinating aspect of the Unarius religion is that these people made their OWN sci-fi films! Not necessarily as entertainment, but as a form of therapy and religious ritual.

They believe that creating these films, often without script, were a method of re-living and re-enacting these previous lives in space and on other planets.

Sadly it seems that no clean master prints of these films are available. Only multi-generation VHS tapes dubs passed down by the Unarian members.

The Unarians also await the arrival of people from space whom they predict will come and help this planet, and they hold celebrations, parades and ritual in preparation for such.

I don’t profess to know all about this religion, but I find it absolutely fascinating.

My favorite thing about this film is that it is very respectful. It wasn’t made to make these people look crazy, or to dissect their faith, or to find fault or even contradiction. It seems to have been made to let these people have their own voice and tell their own story.

As an active member of the LDS (aka Mormon) faith that is under constant ridicule and attack for believing in the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, as it was originally structured and practiced before people changed it, I find this angle to be very refreshing.

I find that by letting active members and leaders of a faith tell their own story and why they believe what they believe, is often very different than the info given to the public by reporters, anti religious types, anti-members, and skeptics who are only out to disprove, seek fault or controversy. I think you also find greater respect and understanding of your fellow human beings, by just hearing them out.

So, strange, exotic, and ridiculous as people’s faith might seem to you, it’s nice to let people explain themselves without the fear of instant bashing.

Although there might be slight humor intended by the director and editor of this film, I find this documentary to be very kind to the Unarians and is more informative about the existence of these people rather than trying to give you a pro/con agenda in order to stir debate.

A couple reviews from Amazon.com where this film can now be purchased: http://www.amazon.com/Children-Stars-Bill-Perrine/dp/B009AHNPL0

5.0 out of 5 stars Far out! September 22, 2012

By CM&ES Media

Format:Amazon Instant Video

Children of the Stars is a must see for those who want to get an insight of the history and beliefs of the Unarius intellect. The film maker did a fantastic job interpreting both current and historic footage in his film. Here, you’ll discover great coverage with spectacular and informative interviews. Enjoy!

5.0 out of 5 stars wow September 21, 2012

By Bernard Purdie

Format:Amazon Instant Video

This is a funny and surprisingly touching little film about some endearingly eccentric people and the sci-fi films that may or may not have warped their minds. How do I get a ride in the Space Caddy?

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Bonus short “Vegetable” themed experimental films:

“Celery Stalks at Midnight” (1951) directed by John Whitney Sr.

DVD/ 3 Mins/ Unrated

+

”Carrots and Peas” (1969) - Directed by Hollis Frampton

Criterion DVD/ 5 Minutes/ Unrated

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Time: Thursday March 7th @ 7:30 PM

Place: Art City Mansion in Springville (message me if you need an exact address.)

Free as always with lots of parking. Friends and newbies welcome :)

See you there!

BC Sterrett

PS. Those who show will receive a free MP3 link to this film’s excellent soundtrack which was composed by local Utah soundtrack artist “Randin Graves” - (including some of the altered Star Wars and Star Trek sound-a-like segments + bonus tracks!)

ISMN: The Golden Bat (1966) Tuesday Feb 26th, 10 PM @ Brewvies

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:27:00 -0700

The Golden Bat (1966)
(aka Ôgon batto)

You can read our previous review of “The Golden Bat” here:
http://lostmediaarchive.tumblr.com/post/2808256610/ismn-the-golden-bat-1966-thursday-jan-20th-8-pm

RARE and well paced psychotronic 1960’s sci-fi madness from the Land of the Rising Sun. (In Japanese with English subtitles)

This skull faced super hero was perhaps a little too strange and outlandish to have made it into the hearts of children here in the USA. Golden Bat was one of Japan’s first comic book heroes. (Personally it makes me wish our western super hero mythology was this bizarre.)

Never released in the United States, which is cause for only one review on IDMB (Condensed):

“Golden Bat saves the earth - Fast paced nonsense, 21 February 2007
Author: Chung Mo from NYC

Filmed in glorious black and white, the effects were sometimes better then the color films from the same time.

A teenage boy discovers that the planet Icarus is on a collision course with Earth by gazing through his telescope. Scoffed at by the scientific establishment, the boy is kidnapped and brought to a secret UN base in the Japan alps. He is immediately inducted into the secret program whose mission is to finish the Super-Destruction Beam cannon and destroy Icarus. The cannon is missing a special mineral for the lens. The team heads for a mysterious island in the middle of the Pacific. There they find ancient ruins of Atlantis but they are suddenly attacked by a strange drill shaped metal squid spaceship. It’s commanded by the evil being Nazu who has engineered the collision with Icarus! He doesn’t want to share the universe with humans and he really doesn’t want the cannon finished. The action is on and the team discovers the “Golden Bat” who has been asleep for over 10,000 years awaiting this very moment to save the earth!

It’s very hard to describe the silliness of the film. If you’ve seen other early Japanese super hero films you’ll be prepared for the outlandish wardrobe on display here. The Golden Bat is a strange design for a hero as he resembles the Red Skull of Marvel comics fame. The character is apparently an Osamu Tesuka creation.

The film is well paced and actually photographed better then it needed. At 73 minutes its a good laugh.” -IMDB review

Also of Note: If you show up @ 9:30 my friend Derrick Dean is showing his new short film comedy “Beecher Baby Bouncer” featuring many local actors :)

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Time: Tuesday Jan. 26th @ 10 PM (9:30 for the short)
Place: Brewvies Cinema and Pub in SLC
Price: Free (21 and Older)

See you there!

Love,

Haircut Swelch

Oingo Boingo - Nothing Bad Ever Happens to MeSpot the...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:23:34 -0700

Oingo Boingo - Nothing Bad Ever Happens to Me

Spot the tribute/inspired imagery in this video from “Blood of the Poet.”

You can really tell somebody loves that movie ;) - especially when comparing “Poet” to the early visual stage works of Elfman’s “Mystic Knights.”

Fan made trailer for “Blood of the Poet” with a new...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:25:05 -0700

Fan made trailer for “Blood of the Poet” with a new soundtrack.

Secret Bonus ISMN: "The Blood of a Poet" (1932) - Thursday 7:30 PM @ Art City Mansion

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:33:00 -0700

Well, turns out I’m not going to be in LA this weekend after all. I feel like watching more avant garde films. Since “C” week was re-scheduled due to my trip, I’ll be showing the runner up film for letter “B”. (“Book of Days” was just more rare.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, a secret bonus ISMN for those who are still around this week:

“The Blood of the Poet” (1932)
Directed by Jean Cocteau
DVD/Black and White/55 Mins/Unrated - But is apparently Rated PG in another country according to a VHS case below. (Personally I would give it a PG-13 for violence and a very odd cartoonish sexual innuendo.)

When talking about surreal film making, it doesn’t get much more artsy fartsy than this. Many consider this a huge stepping stone for Avant Garde film history, I feel that it’s definitely one of the notable landmarks.

Made only 3 years after Bunuel’s “Un Chien Andalou”, all that’s basically missing is a razor slitting an eyeball. I find “Poet” to be slightly more linear and cohesive but not by much.

This film tries about every weird camera trick known to man, and recalls the special effect works of Georges Melies. Mostly it seems to be a showcase of Cocteau’s imagination and film effect capability.

Regardless of the ego behind it. It’s a fascinating and unusual fantasy like a more adult and nightmarish Lewis Carroll dream world, with hardly any dialog.

IMDB Summary:

A young artist draws a face at a canvas on his easel. Suddenly the mouth on the drawing comes into life and starts talking. The artist tries to wipe it away with his hand, but when he looks into the hand he finds the living mouth on his palm. He tries to wipe it off on the mouth of an unfinished statue of a young woman. The statue comes into life and tells him that the only way out of the studio is through the looking glass.

The artist jumps into the mirror and comes to the Hotel of Dramatic Lunacies. He peeps through the keyholes of a series of hotel rooms. In the last room he sees desperate meetings of hermaphrodites. One of them has a signboard saying “Mortal danger”.

Back in the studio the artist crushes the statue with a sledgehammer. Because of this he himself becomes a statue, located at the side of a square. Some schoolboys start a snowball fight around the statue. One of the boys is killed by a snowball.

A fashionable couple start playing cards at a table beside the corpse. The woman tells the man that unless he holds the ace of hearts he is doomed. The man takes the ace of hearts from the dead boy. The child’s guardian, a black angel, appears and takes away the corpse as well as the card. Losing the ace of hearts the man shoots himself.

(I have removed the end of this summary as to not give away the end. - H.R.)

Written by Maths Jesperson {maths.jesperson1@comhem.se}

A couple favorite IMDB reviews:

Celluloid Surrealism, 10 August 2001
Author: Schlockmeister from Midnight Movie Land

Excellent example of early surrealism on film. It is like going through a dream in which images come and go unbidden and with little apparent sense. This film is to be viewed in exactly that spirit. Switch off the need within you to make sense of it, to make it fit a linear state of mind and you will get the most out of it, and be a lot closer to what the director intended. Let the images wash over you, respond to them as images, not as tidy stories with beginnings, middles and endings that we are used to seeing in films. Like a dream it has it’s haunting, almost familiar parts that we can know and recognize as well as the parts of our unconscious that we do not see as clearly but still we dream of them. Too bad surrealism in film never took off more than it did. Here we see a hint of the possibilities that still lie before us. Recommended highly.

One of the greatest surrealist films ever made, but prior knowledge of the movement is recommended going in, 6 March 2007

Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA

This is an art film, plain and simple. Its one of those surrealist films that has no actual narrative, just a series of seemingly unconnected bizarre sequences. How much you enjoy “Blood of a Poet” depends on how much you appreciate (or have knowledge of) surrealism. Personally, I’m a big fan of the original movement and “Blood of a Poet” is nearly as compelling as either “Un chien andalou” or “Dreams That May Come True”. Its beautiful, lyrical, and highly emotional and personal (if completely abstract). Its as close as cinema can get to actual poetry. Jean Cocteau has created a truly magnificent piece of work.

This is similar to many other surrealist films in that fact you’re not supposed to get it. You’re supposed to understand the emotion the artist puts into his work and the meaning (if there is any) is entirely open to interpretation. Similar to “El Topo” and “Eraserhead”, the meaning isn’t clear but the feeling completely comes through. Unlike those two previously mentioned films, “Blood of a Poet” is a decidedly more lighthearted work despite some (rather shocking for the time) violence. If you’re into surrealism, by all means check out “Blood of a Poet”. I certainly enjoyed it, but I couldn’t wholeheartedly recommend it to most moviegoers. (8/10)

Various versions of the film’s release:

My personal favorite VHS cover below:

PS. The Blood of the Poet is part of Cocteau’s “Orpheus Trilogy”. This film is my second favorite. The first being “Orpheus” - which we have already shown.

Personally, I don’t like the final film “Testament.” It’s just way too self absorbed in the director’s ego for my taste, so I will probably never show it. But the three films are available in an expensive package together from Criterion.

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Bonus short films:

“B” is for “Brakhage” and the titles of these shorts.

Burial Path (1978)
Directed by Stan Brakhage
DVD/8 Mins/Color/Silent/Not Rated

“A film by Stan Brakhage about the forgetfulness and death.
The opening image of a dead bird in a box and later images of a snowy path suggest that this film was occasioned by the burial of a bird.
Some flows of jarred motifs bank up in elliptical transformations in fleeting, ephemeral, unpredictable imagery.” - Online review

Black Ice (1994)
DVD/3 Min/Color/Not Rated
Directed by Stan Brakhage

“A lateral descent through the midnight blues and blacks of ice and the refracted colors from absorbed oils.” - IMDB

An absolutely memorizing later piece by Brakhage that makes you fell like you’re falling into the screen. - H.R. Swelch

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Time: Thursday Feb. 21st @ 7:30 PM

Place: The Art City Mansion 300 S by the train tracks in Springville.

Lots of parking! Free as always. Friends and visitors welcome.

See you there,

H.R. Swelch

PPS> See you this Tuesday @ Brewvies for “The Golden Bat”!