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Showing posts from December, 2022

#1176: SILVER, Joan Micklin: Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979)

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SILVER, Joan Micklin (United States) Chilly Scenes of Winter [1979] Spine #1176 Blu-ray The trailblazing Joan Micklin Silver — one of only five women to direct a film for a Hollywood studio in the 1970s — digs fearlessly into the psychology of a thorny relationship in this anti–romantic comedy, based on Ann Beattie’s best-selling novel, about lovelorn civil servant Charles (John Heard) and his married-but-separated coworker Laura (Mary Beth Hurt). Months after their affair has ended, Charles is haunted by memories as he desperately attempts to rekindle a love that perhaps never was. Switching deftly between past and present, Micklin Silver guides this piercing deconstruction of male wish-fulfillment fantasy beyond standard movie-romance tropes into something more complicated and cuttingly truthful. 95 Minutes Color Monaural 1:85:1 Criterion Release 2023 Director/Writers Based on the novel by Ann Beattie . Joan Micklin Silver  was 44 when she wrote and directed  Chilly Scenes of Winte

#1175: LYNCH, David: Inland Empire (2006)

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LYNCH, David (United States) Inland Empire [2006] Spine #1175 Blu-ray “Strange, what love does.”  The role of a lifetime, a Hollywood mystery, a woman in trouble . . . David Lynch’s first digitally shot feature makes visionary use of the medium to weave a vast meditation on the enigmas of time, identity, and cinema itself. Featuring a tour de force performance from Laura Dern as an actor on the edge, this labyrinthine Dream Factory nightmare tumbles down an endless series of unfathomably interconnected rabbit holes as it takes viewers on a hallucinatory odyssey into the deepest realms of the unconscious mind. 180 Minutes Black and White/Color 5.1 Surround in English and Polish 1:85:1 Criterion Release 2023 Director/Writer David Lynch was 60 when he wrote and directed  Inland Empire . Other Lynch films in the Collection: #725: Eraserhead (1977) #1051: The Elephant Man (1980) #977: Blue Velvet (1986) #898: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) #1152: Lost Highway (1997) #779: Mulhollan

#1174: WOO, John: Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979)

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WOO, John (Hong Kong) Last Hurrah for Chivalry [1979] Spine #1174 Blu-ray Before he became known as the master of the bullet-riddled heroic tragedy, John Woo sharpened his trademark themes and kinetic action choreography with this whirlwind  wuxia  spectacle. Unaware they are caught in a deadly game of deception, a pair of rambunctious swordsmen (Wai Pak and Damian Lau) join forces to help a nobleman (Lau Kong) in his quest for vengeance. Paying thrilling homage to his mentor, martial-arts innovator Chang Cheh, Woo delivers both bravura swordplay set pieces and a bloodstained interrogation of the meaning of brotherhood and honor in a world in which loyalty is bought and sold. 106 Minutes Color 5.1 Surround in Cantonese 2:39:1 Criterion Release 2023 Director/Writer John Woo was 33 when he wrote and directed  Last Hurrah for Chivalry . Other Woo films in the Collection: #8: The Killer (1989) #9: Hard Boiled (1992) The Film a Film Rating (0-60): 60 The Extras The Booklet Twelve-page wr