The Saragossa Manuscript

Link

Link to the official fansite for The Saragossa Manuscript, link.

Coming attraction: Wim Wenders in London & Spain (un)censored

Our friends at NFT or to give it is 'proper' new name: BFI Southbank will be running in January a Wim Wenders season with the man himself coming over on January 10th for a Q&A, I've already bought my ticket (Alice in the Cities) will show earlier that evening. Plus, a great season called 'Spain (un)censored' which looks like it reaches us via MoMa in New York.

Raindance - 15th year

I'm just trying to catch up on stuff I meant to post way back during September, October and November, here is another: Raindance.

Link
Raindance, link.

More missed films...

PiF - PaF or Polska i Film - Polska a Film, which was held at Shepherds Bush Vue 10-13th November, looked like quite a decent showcase of old and new Polish cinema.

Link
PiF-PaF, link.

For the stamp collectors...

Next year Royal Mail will be releasing "Ian Flemming's James Bond" - a very nice looking set of stamps replicating the book jackets from the novels - nice! Available 8th January 2008.

Then on Tuesday 10th June they release another set (no pictures in the booklet they sent me) called 'Classic Carry On and Hammer Films'.

Link
Royal Mail, stamps and collecting, link.

51st London Film Festival

More missed films...

Actually I had planned to go to at least one of the Jacques Demy films but again, missed them all.

Missed attraction

Link
Invitation to a dream was at Ciné lumière (Institut français) but I missed them all, here is the link.

Coming attraction: KM 31 aka Kilómetro 31

Link

IMDB entry for KM 31 aka Kilómetro 31, link.

November 29th...2 months since last post and...

I'm somewhat embarrassed to be posting, a quick look shows I haven’t posted in two months. It’s been a busy two months and my tiny contributions to the blogosphere seem to be decreasing by the week. I aim to try to rectify this with the forthcoming holiday period, all things going to plan.

So last month I took in four films at the London Film Festival. Here is a quick summary, something I had been meaning to write for around about a month:

Rescue Dawn
I went along because I had really enjoyed ‘Little Dieter Needs to Fly’, it hadn’t occurred to me some of the (brief) comments I’d seen later, now that it is on general release that it’s Herzog’s first Hollywood film. I enjoyed it, there is a scene where a dog walks right to left in front of the camera and the actors on it’s hind legs which, for me was a nice, Herzog touch.

Mister Lonely / Harmony Korine Q&A
There was quite a crowd for this one on the Friday I attended. No idea when it is coming out here, other than at some point next year. It has two ‘storylines’ for want of a better word. One of them, the one we see least of was for me the better part of the film.
Sadly I just couldn’t really get into the main part of the film at all, that said it is a concept which not too many people would even try to put on screen. I haven’t had a sniff around online to see what others think of this yet.
The following Sunday was a NFT Q&A interspersed with the usual clips. It was very well attended, some decent questions from the audience and quite a lot of fan-type adulation. I may well post more on this, if I can recall the event but can’t promise, it was after all this time of year I attended a Kenneth Anger Q&A and I still haven’t managed to post about that.

Son of Rambow: A Home Movie

The highlight for me. A small British film, without a release for the UK market, which if audience reaction (I know could be dangerous!) is anything to go by could do very well here, I’m sure people will bandy around comparisons to Shane Meadows, Wes Anderson and maybe a few others. For me it was spot on in it’s depiction of school life in the 80’s, a sort of ‘Grange Hill: The Movie’ but updated, I think many people in their mid 30’s can relate to dodgy pirate copies of ‘First Blood’ and for that reason it will, I hope do well. A US distributor has picked it up and it will get a release in May. Be very interesting to see what American audiences make of this.

Link
Read James Rocarols review of 'Son of Rambow' at Cinema Attraction, link.

Anyway today, is the three year anniversary since I started this, so I thought I had better post something. I’m glad I did, maybe I will get back into it a little more now.

Blogathon: Luis Buñuel

Link

Luis Buñuel blogathon at Flickhead, link.

Blogathon: Luis Buñuel

Luis Buñuel on location for 'Las Hurdes'.

Blogathon: Luis Buñuel

Coming attraction: September at BFI Southbank

Coming attraction: Tribute to Alain Robbe-Grillet

Blogathon's

Well worth checking out will be:

Coming next week - Luis Buñuel blogathon at Flickhead, link.
In November - Film & Faith blogathon at Strange Culture, link.

Tomorrow, for the first time in London: Lebowski Fest UK

Link

Lebowski Fest UK, link.

Today, born on this day: Ingrid Bergman

Real location #7 - The Leather Boys

Although the facia of the Ace Cafe has changed since 'The Leather Boys' was made in the early 1960's the location remains the same. Importantly the A406, or as it is mostly known; the North Circular road, has moved slightly.

In the film we see Reggie (Colin Campbell) race Pete (Dudley Sutton), possibly to Staples Corner and back to the Ace Cafe, they stop underneath a railway bridge with advertising Ferodo products. This remains more or less identical today with the exception that the line, which leads to Euston has been electrified.

Interesting, for me is that at one point the North Circular was what the M25 road is today, an outer-London ring road.

Links

IMDB entry for The Leather Boys, link.

The Ace Cafe, official site, link.

Ace Cafe on a map, link.

A link to some other pictures I took at the Ace Cafe, link.

Wikipedia entry for the North Circular, link.

Jim Jarmusch en España

FICA - Festival Internacional de creación audiovisual, Villanueva de la Serena (Badajoz). A season of Jim Jarmusch films shown during July.

Coming attraction: A Throw Of Dice

Showing in Trafalgar Square, London on Thursday 30th August at 9pm.

Link
IMDB entry for A Throw Of Dice, link.

Version Original Revista de Cine # 141

Version Original - Revista de Cine. Issue # 138 featuring articles on literary translations including articles:

Orgullo y Prejuicio by Toni Montesinos

érase una vez by Ramón Mondero

Capote, la moralidad del artista by Israel Paredes

El libro como vinculo las horas by Rocío Tizón

En el boca del miedo by Rodrigo Arizaga

La última tentación de Cristo by Angel Román

B.S.O. The Emperor's Club by Victor León

Apu y los libros by José María Santiago

El libro iluminado by Israel de Francisco

Todos caem en el cuento by Enrique Pérez

El rompecabezas literario by David Aparicio

El nombre de la rosa by Ma José García Berzosa

Akira Kurosawa

Link
Akira Kurosawa Blog-a-thon, November 15th, link.

Coming attraction: Meet Ken Loach

'It's a Free World' + Ken Loach in conversation at BFI Southbank (previously National Film Theatre), Thursday 13th September at 18.20. Sadly it doesn't look like I can go.

Real location - supplementary entry

Not one I have visited, yet but 'The Culture Show' devoted a special to film locations including 'The Wicker Man', 'Trainspotting', 'Kes' and several others.

Link

Interview with Tony Garnett about the making of Kes and the locations in Barnsley, Yorkshire, link.

Michelangelo Antonioni

Links
BBC obituary, link, a bit more substance than how it was reported on BBC News 24, link.
Downloads of Zabriksie Point soundtrack and track from Blow-Up at Aquarium Drunkard, link.
Andrew Pulver at The Guardian, picks Antonioni's best scenes, link. In fact The Guardian covered his and Bergman's passing rather well, with lots of online content, link.
Green Cine Daily rounds up some links, link.
Wim Wenders poem to Antonioni, link.

Film Stars - the index

A summary of the film stars cards series. I can't seem to find the actual cards so will post a summary of the ones I've posted thus far. If I find more I will post them.

9. June Clyde, link.
8. Mary Carlyle, link.
7. Grace Bradley, link.
6. Joan Blondell, link.
5. Wendy Barrie, link.
4. Rosemary Ashlen, link.
3. Pearl Argyle, link.
2. Rose Asther, link.
1. Adrienne Ames, link.

Back from my trip...

Actually I've been back for a couple of weeks but haven't really had much chance to post stuff here but I'll try and get back into it. The trip was great except when I ran into some people from the criminal underworld, a sort of cross between Bresson and Carol Reed's 'Oliver!' only not very cinematic, unfortunately.

The curtain comes down...

Just like Tony Curtis I'm going to be hitting the road so will be away for a short while. It's going to be similar to last year, only hopefully this year I will be able to communicate a little better.

Film Stars # 9: June Clyde

Links
IMDB entry for June Clyde, link.
Wikipedia entry for June Clyde, link.

Coming attraction

"My favourite of Cassavetes films...very explosive...very raw" Pedro Almodovar.

Links
IMDB entry for Opening Night, link.
Part of the John Cassavetes season at BFI Southbank, link to earlier post.
BFI Southbank, link.

Coming attraction,

Link

IMDB entry for Exiled, link.

Film Stars # 8: Mary Carlyle

Links
Another cigarette card of Mary Carlyle, link.
IMDB entry for Mary Carlisle, link.

Kenneth Anger

...which reminds me, I was supposed to post some thoughts on when Anger came to the London Film Festival last October...

Coming attraction: Charlie Chaplin - Complete Mutuals 1916-17

Here is a rare treat - 12 films made by Charlie Chaplin for Mutual between 1916 and 1917 (restored) with live music from Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, composed and conducted by Carl Davis, intended to be an experience very similar to how they were first shown. Sounds fantastic to me.

Link

Cadogan Hall's website, link.

Coming attraction: Jan Svankmajer

Apologies, I am quite behind on various blog posts, so this isn't so much a coming attraction but something that is currently ongoing. I like the quote from Milos Forman on the front of this - "Disney plus Bunuel equals Svankmajer".

Coming attraction: At the BFI Southbank in July

The big season seems to be Mikio Naruse, of which I'm ashamed to say I haven't seen any although I have been toying with buying the Eurkea/Masters of Cinema set for quite some time but still haven't got 'round to it.

Links
BFI Southbank - 'When a Woman Ascends the Stairs', link.
IMDB entry for Mikio Naruse, link.
Articles on Naruse on 'Senses of Cinema', link and 'Bright Lights Film Journal', link.

Wendy Craig

Ah, the 1960's.... Wendy Craig, 'The Servant', 'I'll Never Forget What's'isname' and I see from a cursory glance at IMDB a Basil Dearden/Dirk Bogarde flick from '62 called 'The Mind Benders' which sounds like it belongs more in the San Francisco-Jack-Peter-Roger Corman canon, anyhow I found the above image ages ago, don't worry I'm not starting a series on Wendy Craig, just thought I'd share this for those who most remember a very different Wendy Craig.

Peter Watkins

Bumper month for fans of Peter Watkins, BFI Southbank (National Film Theatre in old money) is showing 'Privilege' during July (Sunday 29th and Tuesday 31st) along with 'Forgotten Faces'. From the programme "Ahead of the game in '67, Watkins forsees the complete assimilation and exploitation of rock 'n' roll music by 'The Man': in this case the Christian Right. A reluctant, tortured Christ like poster-boy - sharply played by Paul Jones of Manfred Mann - fronts an overblown version of Onward Christian Soldiers alongside giant crucifixes, before he cracks under pressure. Only Jean Shrimpton questions the facade."

Also, I think I saw earlier today that Eurkea/Masters of Cinema were giving their normally excellent treatment to 'Edvard Munch', however I can't seem to see any reference to it on their site.

I quite fancy seeing 'Privilege' on the big screen, it remains one of the hardest British films of the 1960's to actually see.

Links

Peter Watkins's own website, link.

Bright Lights Film Journal article on Privilege by Tom Sutpen, link.

Pan Paperback book cover, link.

Paul Jones sings songs from 'Privilege' (HMV EMI EP front & rear), link.

Film Stars # 7: Grace Bradley

Links

IMDB entry for Grace Bradley, link.

Another picture, link.

Coming attraction: Tell No One

Links
Imdb entry for Tell No One, link.
Official website, link.

Coming attraction: Jindabyne

Link

IMDB entry for Jindabyne, link.

Cassavetes and Falk in the same month...

...well nearly. I found out by accident that Peter Falk was here this week to promote his book 'Just One More Thing' meanwhile over at the NFT they have a Cassavetes season this month (15th-30th June).

Sadly I also found out the book signing event at Piccadilly branch of Waterstone's was cancelled as he had to return to the US. Had I known I might have popped along, I picked up a copy of the book for a browse and it looks decent.

Links
Review of 'Just One More Thing' on the Waterstones site, link.
Cassavetes season at NFT, link.

Film Stars # 6: Joan Blondell

No. 6 Joan Blondell

Links
IMDB entry for Joan Blondell, link.
Wikipedia entry for Joan Blondell, link.