FIrst Rule of Movie Club is: you don't talk about Movie Club. But you do share, because sharing is caring.
Ah, Peter Greenaway- excepting Matthew Barney, he is the most "Art Film" ish Art Filmmaker in the history of Art Films, an obsessive formalist and painter who manages to convert his passions into esoteric, but somehow completely fascinating, works of art on the moving screen. If you've seen his work- from his biggest commercial success, … Continue reading The Early Films of Peter Greenaway (Part 1)
Very little is known about this amazing and moody stop-motion feature film that found itself on the shelves of the more esoteric video rental stores during the mid-90's, but The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb is written, directed, shot and edited by someone named Dave Borthwick- and it's unlike anything you'll ever see. A mixture … Continue reading The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb
Quentin Crisp may have been somewhat forgotten in today's mainstream culture, even though a lot of mainstream culture owes its current shape to him. An unabashedly and flamboyantly gay man living in an era (starting with the 1920's) and a place (England) where such an orientation was not only unaccepted, but expected to be kept … Continue reading The Naked Civil Servant
It's very difficult to tell what, exactly, director Richard Loncraine was going for when he decided to make a feature film adaptation of Dennis Potter's television play, Brimstone & Treacle- it's gothic, but not quite a horror film; it can be quite silly and goofy, but it's not really a comedy; it's dramatic for sure, … Continue reading Brimstone & Treacle
A cute alien lands on Earth, far from his home, only to be discovered by a kid who hides him from the mean ol' adults. Sounds familiar? Before Speilberg charmed his way into America's collective heart, this little British ditty from 1956 charmed its way into England... or not. It's hard to tell how many … Continue reading Supersonic Saucer
"Stylish" isn't usually a word you'd use to describe 1970's British Cinema- usually "drab" is more fitting- but John Mackenzie's Unman, Wittering and Zigo is a stylish thriller right from the very first shot, which I won't describe for fear of spoiling the surprise. Mackenzie, who is probably best known in the U.S. for directing … Continue reading Unman, Wittering and Zigo
Ken Loach has survived decades of obscurity to become one of the world's most well-regarded filmmakers, but most people have probably never seen the majority of his oeuvre. From his early, BBC TV films to his later features, much of his brilliant work deserves a wider audience. This goes double for Raining Stones, a beautiful … Continue reading Raining Stones
No one but no one defines the phrase Art Film with a capital "A" the way Peter Greenaway manages to do; his exquisitely composed frames put Wes Anderson to shame, and his obsession with the human body put Matthew Barney to shame. Everything about him screams excess, and yet... he's such a good filmmaker, he … Continue reading Drowning by Numbers
This is a children's film, to be sure- but it's the trippiest, most insane, nonsensical kid's film to ever come out of 60's British counterculture and yet pass as a respectable, mainstream movie. Made by the dynamic British filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (their last collaboration, actually) I guess you could say … Continue reading The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Monty Python's Terry Jones wrote and directed this brilliant and gorgeous adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's the Wind In the Willows back in the 1990's. It's one of those films that went through distribution hell, getting picked up- and subsequently shelved- by Disney for whatever Mickey Mouse reason, where it received almost no theatrical release (check … Continue reading The Wind in the Willows
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