ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[oilgun]

==Comment==
I had actually played Carny from 1980 - Damn you, Dot-Matrix!  - Which is still not available on DVD, I'd love to see it again.  Anyway I'm quite happy with this 1981 title.

An IMDb Comment: Bertrand Tavernier has taken the novel "POP 1280" by Jim Thompson set in North Carolina and produced a riveting French film noir set in Senegal in 1938. At that time it was a French colony that exhibited similar social and racial patterns as in the American South. The use of color and humor add a new dimension to the genre. Tavernier in his comments about the film on the DVD talks about the change in the light in the late afternoon in west Africa. It becomes less intense so he uses pastel colors. Note the light blue walls and the pink shirt of Philippe Noiret who is superb as the village policeman Cordier. Isabelle Huppert who plays the mistress of Cordier with intensity and humor and the other actors make this a must see film. There is much humor in the film but be aware that there are many violent scenes. This is French film noir at it's best.



Next up: D from 1980

[MaineWriter]

Folks,

We missed 1985 and so we are off a letter!

The reason I started Round 2008 with Australia is so that we wouldn't be playing the same letters for the same years as we did in the previous countdown. I realized the mistake when I was looking for a D movie for 1979 and saw "David" which I remembered playing before.

So...to get this back on track, I'll play D from 1980 and we'll just continue from there.

D --> 1980
E --> 1979

and so on.

Many, many thanks!

Leslie
GameMistress

PS.  If folks want to go back and change their entries (make 1984 --> 1985) and so on, that's fine with me, but I am not going to insist that you have to change them.

L

[southendmd]

Leslie, did I mess things up with my Wildcard X?  I thought you said any film, any year. 

[MaineWriter]

Leslie, did I mess things up with my Wildcard X?  I thought you said any film, any year. 

No, you didn't. The "Y" that followed should have been 1985. That's what got missed.

L

[MaineWriter]

==from Cindelica==

Essentially a documentary about the Sex Pistols' ill-fated US tour of 1978, DOA is much more than a rockumentary - it's also an insight into the bleak landscape of late 70s London.

Director Lech Kowalski filmed the Pistols as they toured the deep south of the US - the crowd, the hostility towards the band and the band themselves - in particular Sid Vicious. The film features the only interview in existence with Sid and Nancy - don't expect any deep insights into their relationship - both seem unable to stay awake, let alone string together a coherent sentence. But elsewhere, there's some great live footage, a bored Rotten (obviously sensing the end in sight) and some (pretty forgettable) interviews with American punk fashionistas of the era.

But this isn't just a Sex Pistols film, it's a film on punk - and the world from which it emerged. Cut into the Pistols footage is a cross section of bands that followed in their wake - Generation X, The Dead Boys, X-Ray Spex and Sham 69. But best of all there's Terry and the Idiots. Apparently, Kowalski got lost on the way to Kings Road, ended up in Hackney and met Terry - an unemployed loser with a newly-formed punk band. Enjoy the band's first gig in the local (the Golden Shoe), watch him get a pint poured on him - then imagine the same thing happening all over the country, as punk bands sprung up in every city - most as bad as Terry and the Idiots, but all with dreams of using punk as a way out of their dull existence.

But that's not all - we get pictures of derelict London in the 70s, violence at National Front marches and of course, footage of the establishment (and Mary Whitehouse) decrying the foul-mouthed youths. It's all too easy to forget the impact of punk, with the word gradually being watered down over the years. Yet, with the possible exception of rave, no music-based movement has ever hit at the core of society as punk did when it burst into the public eye in 1976 - and the reason why DOA is still worth watching today is because it doesn't just show a couple of bands and a few strange haircuts - it shows this fear and the desolate environment that created punk.




Next up: E in 1979

[southendmd]

IMDb trivia:  Fifteen miles of cable were required to reconnect the island to the city's electricity, and a great deal of work was required to restore the prison to its 1963 state. Many of the improvements were kept intact after the film.

Next:  "F" from 1978

[dot-matrix]

From IMDb

A "Z-grade" film in the tradition of Chariots of the Gods. The seventies spawned several other wanna-be speculation documentaries (Outer Space Connection, In Search of Noah's Ark, Amazing World of Ghosts), all of which sought to answer man's most troubling historical mysteries, as well as to tackle many a modern riddle. From Aliens, to Automatic Writing, from U.F.O.s to E.S.P, each of these films did it's part to excite and dismay its audience. The Force beyond is a latecomer, and as such is perhaps the most ridiculous of the whole bunch. In any case, a genre is born.

The Force Beyond promises proof that aliens exist and that the film's Director, a modern day P.T. Barnum, is going to show us the evidence at some time later in the film. While we wait we are treated to a young man recalling dreams sent to him via remote sender who seems to be a psychic of some repute. Soon this is followed by regression therapy (chilling) and with the liberal padding of stock footage (the hallmark of the Genre) a bit of U.F.O. footage is shown to "prove" the existence of life in the universe other than our own. Or is it?

This is an amazing film. But not for the reason it is supposed to be, which is the definition for a cult classic. Unfortunately this film does not quite qualify. To be a cult classic, you need a cult. If this film has a cult I would shudder to meet it's leader.

This film is recommended highly for those who love the films of Sun Classic.



Next Up:  G 1977

=aside=

Hey oilgun     

[MaineWriter]

==comment==

Gizmo! is an irresistible collection of newsreel footage chronicling the inventive spirit in America. We are treated to some of the strangest inventions ever concocted by man, as well as a few forgotten contraptions that seem to make a great deal of sense. Naturally, filmmaker Howard Smith does not let slip the opportunity of showing the inventors at their most foolish, so once again those ubiquitous shots of collapsing one-man airplanes and malfunctioning jet-powered backpacks are trotted out. A documentary about some of the thousands of inventions that did things we never thought needed doing, or in ways we never considered doing them. A respectful, yet humorous tribute to the inventors whose vision, however far-reaching, was just a little off the mark.



Next up: H in 1976

==aside==

No problem, Dot. Thanks to the folks who changed their entries!

L

[oilgun]

An IMDb Comment: Possibly the finest documentary I have seen and I've seen quite a few. Exemplary on how a filmmaker can involve herself, be in everybody's face, get every little thing on camera, but be testifying instead of exploiting. My greatest delight in this film was how articulate and intelligent the miners and their wives were; textbook English is far inferior to their language. Also see "Matewan" by John Sayles for another perfect evocation of struggle. Watching this movie makes my previous semi-respectful estimation of Michael Moore's self-love evaporate. This is how it should be done, and lord if only all such struggles resolved thusly. Lois Scott for president. See this as quickly as you can.

[dot-matrix]

French Romantic Comedy