The Filmic 5: Post-Fests, Back to Work Edition
Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley
Thrilled to return after our Fall Film Festival circuit sabbatical- special thanks to the REEL HORRORS Film Fest, DENVER SILENT FILM FESTIVAL and the TELLURIDE HORROR SHOW for all the moments and memories!
Let's get back to work...
I. Film Essay I Am Loving This Week: "Sex, Karate & Videotapes:
The Polish VHS Craze of the 1989 Transformation" by Patryk Zakrzewski
This lovely piece for Culture.PL scratched my nostalgic itch for two of my own personal passions- VHS collecting and Polish history under the Soviet Union. (My first of many trips to my beloved Poland occurred in 1991- just after the fall of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe).
This essay takes a nostalgic look back at this chaotic and exhilarating period in Polish history, when illegal VHS tapes were a valuable and coveted commodity. While under communist rule, these tapes were smuggled into Poland by travelers, stewardesses, and sailors- making it possible for young Slavic cinephiles to experience Western films which had been otherwise unavailable. These video tapes became something much more important than just a curious diversion – they became a symbol of the post-Soviet transformation and a window (for better or worse) to the world of western pop culture.
Check out the translated piece HERE.
II. Film Event I Am Excited For This Week: Turner Classic Movies' NOIRVEMBER!
It's that time of year again- when beautiful dames sit smoking in doorways while fate laughs at criminal enterprise from across the darkened street. "Noirvember" is a monthly celebration of the Film Noir genre that takes place all month long on TCM, featuring a programming lineup of classic noir films hosted by Eddie Muller, the host of Noir Alley.
Need a primer to get ready for the event? Enjoy this short intro to one of my favorite film sub-genres from the man himself- and be sure to catch this year's lineup from our friends at Tuner Classic Movies.
III. Upcoming Film I Am Thrilled About This Week: THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE
"From award-winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shaker's irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers. The Testament of Ann Lee captures the ecstasy and agony of her quest to build a utopia, featuring more than a dozen traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements with choreography by Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and original songs & score by Academy Award winner Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist)."
Enjoy the teaser- CRAZY EXCITED for this one!
IV. Film Score I'm Still Buzzing About This Week: Jerskin Fendrix's BUGONIA Score.
I'm STILL not quite ready to talk about the latest from my beloved auteur Yorgos Lanthimos (save but to assure you all that it is ESSENTIAL viewing)...but I've been unable to get that haunting score out of my head all week. Enjoy this opening salvo and check out the marvelous piece by our friends at Indiewire on the extraordinary journey of making it.
V. Film I'm Gushing Over This Week: CHAINSAW MAN- THE MOVIE: REZE ARC.
Throw the imagination of Tatsuki Fujimoto, a copy of SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD, Sony Animation Studios, some of your favorite mangas, and a WINGS OF DESIRE cassette tape into a blender and you might just get a mere GLIMPSE of the marvelous madness that is CHAINSAW MAN. No words- it simply must be experienced. See it on the best and biggest format you can. In theaters now.
Jack Hanley is a film scholar, podcaster, and critic based in Boulder, CO. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Slamdance's Indies Awards, and the Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast and the founder of the Reel Horrors Short Film Festival. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com