Jun21

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman: Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Winter Light (1962), The Silence (1963) 3 x Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 21st, 2019 at 18:07
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama

A Film Trilogy by Ingmar Bergman
Between 1961 and 1963 Ingmar Bergman made three films which are some times referred to as his Faith Trilogy. This films form an odd collection for the simple reason that they were not originally intended as a trilogy by the director. They have come to be grouped together over time because of their thematic similarities and as a definitive resolution of Bergman's own battles with belief. Bergman's struggle to believe seems largely due to the experience of his austere pastor father and the paradoxical message of love that he preached. Throughout his early films, belief was held onto tenuously with the harsh realities of the world seeming to be a contradiction to a doctrine of love and forgiveness. Often this contradiction was externalised in his characters through which the director had an ongoing dialogue about belief and unbelief, this discourse became resolved with the three films included in this collection.

Each film begins with a prototypically existential situation: Karin (Harriet Andersson) suffers from schizophrenia in Through a Glass Darkly; Tomas (Gunner Bjornstrand) is absorbed by self-hatred and lack of faith in Winter Light; and Ester (Ingrid Thulin) endures illness and a love-hate relationship with her sister Anna (Gunnel Lindblum) in The Silence.

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Jun21

Wanda (1970) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection, DVD9

by movieworld on June 21st, 2019 at 16:33
Posted In: .Other movies, Crime, Drama

Wanda 1970
With her first and only feature film — a hard-luck drama she wrote, directed, and starred in — Barbara Loden turned in a groundbreaking work of American independent cinema, bringing to life a kind of character seldom seen on-screen.

Loden bravely subverts her own sexy (if little known) screen image to play poor Wanda, an aging little girl lost who at movie's start is sleeping on her parents' couch, having left (or been thrown out by) her husband. She shows up late in court to relinquish all rights to her children. She is fired from her factory job for being too slow on the line and is cheated out of the few meager overtime dollars due her. Having taken refuge in a movie theater and fallen asleep, she awakes to find her purse fleeced.

A bad day gets worse when she wanders into an empty bar and fails to realize that the "bartender" is actually a robber who has the real publican tied up on the floor out of view. The robber, played in a constant state of riveting paranoia by Michael Higgins, knows he can't let Wanda just walk out. And so begins their road trip through coal country and dingy motel rooms, culminating at a downtown Scranton bank.

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Jun21

Trollflojten / The Magic Flute (1975) 2 x DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 21st, 2019 at 16:26
Posted In: .Other movies, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Musical, Romance

The Magic Flute 1975
There’s a common misconception that Ingmar Bergman made only glum philosophical dramas, but his work is not without its life-affirming moments and he ventured into a variety of genres over his long career, including comedies. Perhaps the most surprising film in his career however is The Magic Flute, a filmed staging of Mozart’s famous opera for TV.

The Magic Flute is a winsome fairy tale concerning a young prince who is sent to rescue the recently abducted daughter of The Queen of the Night. With the aid of a comic sidekick and a magic flute the prince embarks on a journey of love and self-discovery. The Magic Flute is certainly one of Mozart's most cherished works and among the best-known operas of all time.

BD50, 2xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 02:18:04 | 33 Gb, 12.7 Gb
Language: Swedish
Subtitles: English

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Ulrik Cold, Josef Kostlinger, Irma Urrila
Country: Sweden
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Music, Romance
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Jun21

The Iceman Cometh (1973) 2 x DVD, 2 x Blu-Ray Kino Lorber

by movieworld on June 21st, 2019 at 15:39
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama

The Iceman Cometh 1973
The movie opens on a trickle of beer from a barrel: This must be the Styx, because everything on the other side is hell. The camera tracks to the back room of an Irish saloon in Greenwich Village, summer, 1912, where the regulars are tossed about like sleeping rag dolls. Snores, snorts and cries of terror from fearful dreams. In the corner, one man remains awake, his cynicism too deep to allow easy dreams.

The man's name is Larry, and he used to be a Wobbly before he abandoned the movement for his own personal scorn of faith. The bartender wearily joins him at the table and they wait for the day. There are so many men in the room that is seems impossible we will eventually get to know them all, but we will, and also the three whores upstairs, and especially the man they are all waiting for, the iceman, Hickey.

Hickey arrives, as he does every year to celebrate the birthday of the bar’s proprietor, Harry Hope, buying booze for all around. However this year, Hickey has changed. He’s off the booze and wants to save everyone. Not from the drink as much as from the underlying cause of their problems – the pipe dreams that have led to their disillusionment.

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Jun21

L’une chante l’autre pas / One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 21st, 2019 at 13:31
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama, History

One Sings, the Other Doesn't 1977
Six years after Varda added her name to the Manifesto of the 343 — a declaration by 343 women publicly proclaiming that they had had an abortion, despite the procedure still being illegal in France — she made this remarkable combination of social commentary and musical about a woman's right to choose.

Agnes Varda's very touching film is a bewitching tale about two French women who become friends during a period of rootlessness for each. Pauline leaves home at seventeen to try to make it on her own as a singer; Suzanne is left alone with two small children after her lover commits suicide. Even through the two women have very little in common, they feel good with each other. Theirs is a natural, effortless relationship. At one point, Pauline describes it as "like love, with no heartaches." Over the years they are forced to go in separate directions. Suzanne has to live with her parents on their farm; later she moves to Southern France and sets up a family planning center; Pauline — now calling herself Apple — forms a group of feminist troubadours who practice consciousness raising through their songs.

The two women's interests intersect and they meet ten years later at a rally for women's abortion rights. They pick up where they left off, sharing news of their loves — Apple's for Darius, an Iranian economist, Suzanne's for her lovely children — and their experiences. Through their struggles and successes, director Varda celebrates the particular joys of being a woman. Over thousands of miles (Apple live in Iran for a while) and periods of loneliness and happiness, the two keep in touch with postcards and occasional letters. Their friendship remains a holy bond.

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Jun18

La graine et le mulet / Couscous / The Secret of the Grain (2007) 2 x DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 18th, 2019 at 20:04
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama

The Secret of the Grain 2007
Winner of four Cesar awards, including best picture and director, Abdellatif Kechiche’s The Secret of the Grain is a stirring story about the daily joys and struggles of a bustling French-Arab family. It has the texture of a documentary but a classic, almost Shakespearean structure: when patriarch Slimane acts on his wish to open a port-side restaurant specializing in his ex-wife’s fish couscous, the extended clan’s passions and problems explode in riveting drama, leading to an engrossing, suspenseful climax. With sensitivity and grit, The Secret of the Grain celebrates the role food plays in family life and gets to the core of contemporary immigrant experience.

"The Secret of the Grain" (the French title actually translates to "The Seed and the Mullet") isn't a film that fits into an easy compartment. It's part extensive family yarn, shot in fly on the wall fashion. It's also about a man in between two women and two lives. It could be described as a North African "Big Night." And yet, the last act, where Kechiche slows down the action so that it feels like real time (in order that the audience feel the long, long wait of the characters), it becomes a tragicomedy. It's as messy as life and it's glorious.

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Jun18

I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 18th, 2019 at 19:01
Posted In: .Other movies, Comedy, Musical, Romance

I Wanna Hold Your Hand 1978
In February of 1964, the Sunday variety show of Ed Sullivan (Will Jordan) is a madhouse — The Beatles have landed in America and are going to perform. Converging on Manhattan are thousands of brain-addled Beatles fans, crowding the streets around both the CBS TV theater and the Beatles’ hotel.

The film follows closely six teenagers from New Jersey who head to the Big Apple a day before The Beatles are scheduled to perform at Carnegie Hall. Rosie (Wendy Jo Sperber) is obsessed with the band and literally throws herself out of the car when her friends refuse to stop so that she can make a phone call to a local radio station that is giving away free tickets to anyone that can answer their trivia questions. Janis (Susan Kendall Newman) hates the band and is planning to protest outside their hotel. Grace (Theresa Saldana) wants to interview the band and then use the material to further her journalistic career. Pam (Allen) hasn't had much time to think about the band because she is getting married. Tony (Bobby DiCicco) is just looking for a brawl. Larry (Marc McClure) is the driver, though he does not have a driver's license yet.

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Cast: Nancy Allen, Bobby Di Cicco, Marc McClure
Country: USA
Genre: Comedy, Music, Romance

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Jun17

Funny Games (1997) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 17th, 2019 at 12:13
Posted In: .Other movies, Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller

Funny Games 1997
One of Haneke's better known pictures, Funny Games, follows Georg (Ulrich Muhe) and Anna (Susanne Lohtar) and their young son son Schorschi (Stefan Clapczynski). The three have recently arrived at their house on the lake and Georg is fairly preoccupied with getting his new boat in working order, the key to the success of the family's vacation plans. While Anna is in the kitchen, a strange man wearing white gloves arrives and asks her to borrow a couple of eggs. Things become even more curious when a second man arrives and begins obsessing over Georg's golf clubs.

The two men start referring to one another as Peter and Paul, and it soon becomes obvious that there's something wrong - these guys don't intend to leave. Georg comes back from his boat-related distractions and tries to get the two men out of the home but the conflict soon becomes violent and the family find themselves being held hostage by this pair of unstable criminals bent on forcing the three of them to join in on their funny games...

Director Michael Haneke made a brutal film that stands apart from most of the horror genre. It doesn’t rely on graphic visuals as much as on psychological horror. Haneke avoids falling into exploitation movie territory by putting almost all of the violence off screen, but the audio effects used in place of gory visuals more than make up for the lack of actual on-screen bloodshed.

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Jun17

Demanty noci / Diamonds of the Night (1964) DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 17th, 2019 at 10:37
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama, War

Diamonds of the Night 1964
Two teenage boys (Ladislav Jansky and Antonin Kumbera) manage to escape from a train which is transporting prisoners between concentration camps. They flee for their lives with only the clothes on their backs and their official prison coats to keep them warm. They must evade their pursuers across harsh terrain whilst battling the elements and trying to find food, drink and shelter in a war-ravaged hinterland.

Diamonds of the Night is a thrilling tale of survival, dehumanisation and coming-of-age in Nazi-occupied Europe. Nemec’s uses almost no dialogue, allowing the confusion, chaos and desperation of the two young men to tell its own story. Using a mix of flashbacks, hallucinations and flights of fancy, Diamonds of the Night builds up a history around these escapees. It’s a tense, disturbing and exhilarating film which illustrates the horror as if we’re witnessing it with our own eyes.

Director: Jan Nemec
Cast: Ladislav Jansky, Antonin Kumbera, Ilse Bischofova
Country: Czechoslovakia
Genre: Drama, War

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Jun17

Blue Velvet (1986) 2 x DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

by movieworld on June 17th, 2019 at 09:08
Posted In: .Other movies, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Blue Velvet 1986
Written and directed by David Lynch (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive), Blue Velvet is a powerful and hallucinatory film that documents a young man's coming of age against a backdrop of perversion, sadomasochism, and violence. This is a film that delves into the black side of human nature in a way that few films have ever accomplished. It's a film that will stay with you—like the stuttery twitch-memories of a nightmare—long after its end credits scroll. Blue Velvet is about the moral rot underlying the American Dream.

College student Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers a human ear in a field. He contacts detective John Williams (George Dickerson), hoping that he would assist him in his search for the owner of the ear, but is quickly told to keep his mouth shut.

Together with the detective's daughter, Sandy (Laura Dern), Jeffrey launches his own investigation. Soon after, he meets the beautiful night club singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), who often sees a drug-addicted loner (Dennis Hopper) who loves hurting people. Without realizing, Jeffrey quickly gets sucked up in a dangerous world where everyone has something to hide and life is cheap.

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