#Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project

[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: The Housemaid (1960)

The Criterion Channel’s synopsis describes The Housemaid as a “venomous melodrama,” and it certainly earns that label; director Kim Ki-young apparently doesn’t know the definition of the word “subtle.” His camera swoops and soars like a vengeful spirit, pushing in and dollying backwards with relentless, whiplash-inducing speed. His compositions are equally dynamic, fragmenting the image into claustrophobic sub-frames by observing the action through doorways, stair railings, and rain-drenched windowpanes. The music is likewise maximalist, characterized by eerie strings, mournful woodwinds, and a mercilessly abused piano.

The over-the-top visual style and sound design perfectly complement the sensationalistic story, which revolves around the gradual deterioration of an affluent teacher’s idyllic domestic life following a brief affair with the eponymous servant. While the movie’s social commentary isn’t terribly nuanced and its central conflict often comes off as rather misogynistic (the male protagonist, for example, lacks any agency whatsoever in his own downfall; his role in the narrative is akin to driftwood, passively buffeted by the dueling currents of his wife’s materialism and his mistress’ insatiable lust), the plot is nevertheless thoroughly engrossing—bolstered by an irreverent, absurdist tone that frequently borders on darkly humorous (tragedy and comedy are, after all, two sides of the same coin).

The Housemaid is a true cinephile’s delight. Its thematic density and moral ambiguity inspired an entire generation of South Korean filmmakers (its influence on Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook in particular is plainly evident in every shot, every cut, every twist)—and that alone makes it absolutely essential.

#The Housemaid #Kim Ki-young #Kim Ki Young #South Korean cinema #South Korean film #Criterion Channel #Criterion Collection #Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project #film #writing #movie review

[oldfilmsflicker]

#podcast #world cinema project #martin scorsese #screen drafts

[lonesomedreamereccentriclover]

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project No. 4

Established by Martin Scorsese in 2007, The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project has maintained a fierce commitment to preserving and presenting masterpieces from around the globe, with a growing roster of dozens of restorations that have introduced moviegoers to often overlooked areas of cinema history. This collector’s set gathers six important works, from Angola (Sambizanga), Argentina (Prisioneros de la tierra), Iran (Chess of the Wind), Cameroon (Muna moto), Hungary (Two Girls on the Street), and India (Kalpana). Each title is an essential contribution to the art form and a window onto a filmmaking tradition that international audiences previously had limited opportunities to experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES

New 4K digital restorations of Sambizanga, Prisioneros de la tierra, Chess of the Wind, and Muna moto, and 2K digital restorations of Two Girls on the Street and Kalpana, all overseen by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project in collaboration with the Cineteca di Bologna, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks on the Blu-rays

New introductions to the films by World Cinema Project founder Martin Scorsese

New and archival interviews featuring Indian film historian Suresh Chabria and filmmaker Kumar Shahani (on Kalpana); Argentine film historians Paula Félix-Didier and Andrés Levinson (on Prisioneros de la tierra); Two Girls on the Street director André de Toth; and Sambizanga director Sarah Maldoror and Annouchka de Andrade, Maldoror’s daughter

New program by filmmaker Mohamed Challouf featuring interviews with Muna moto director Dikongué-Pipa and African film historian Férid Boughedir

The Majnoun and the Wind (2022), a documentary by Gita Aslani Shahrestani, daughter of Chess of the Wind director Mohammad Reza Aslani, featuring Aslani, members of the film’s cast and crew, and others

New and updated English subtitle translations

PLUS: A foreword and essays on the films by critics and scholars Yasmina Price, Matthew Karush, Ehsan Khoshbakht, Aboubakar Sanogo, Chris Fujiwara, and Shai Heredia

Covers by Century.Studio

#The Criterion Collection #The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project #Martin Scorsese #art films #world cinema

[ferretfyre]

#sambizanga #film #review #criterion collection #criterion channel #martin scorsese’s world cinema project #sarah moldoror

[paulisdead]

This Mclennon Monday, Martin Scorsese's introduced into his World Cinema Project the hit 2000 film Two of Us, making it the first Canadian entry into the series.

#two of us (2000)

[adamwatchesmovies]

Hugo (2011)

Martin Scorsese is not known for his family films. You associate the name with gritty crime stories. So what drew him to Hugo? Perhaps he wanted to try something different? On top of being suitable for the whole family, the picture makes impressive use of 3D and special effects. If you’ve seen Hugo the whole way through, you’ll know why. I suspect Scorsese connected to this story on a deeply personal level.

In 1931 Paris, 12-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) maintains the clocks at Gare Montparnasse railway station. His alcoholic uncle Claude officially does the work but he’s been gone for months and as long as the machines keep the time, Station Inspector Gustave Dasté (Sacha Baron Cohen) won't ask any questions. This means Hugo is free to focus on the automaton he and his father were repairing before he became orphaned. Hugo keeps to himself, occasionally stealing parts from a toy store owner, Georges (Ben Kingsley). After he is caught and his book on the automaton is confiscated, Hugo befriends the toy maker’s goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz). He hopes she can help him get his book back.

There’s no way you can guess where this movie is going. The surprises along the way are a big part of the fun and the screenplay by John Logan (based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick) is in no hurry to get to its big reveals. As Hugo goes about his day, we meet all the characters who frequent the station. Richard Griffiths plays a man pining for a dog owner (played by Frances de la Tour) whose pooch can’t stand him. Shy Inspector Dasté wants to approach a beautiful flower saleslady (Emily Mortimer) but is embarrassed by an old war injury. Christopher Lee plays the owner of a book store who probably knows more than he lets on, Papa Georges is hiding something from Isabelle. And then there’s the automaton Hugo is repairing. How is it tied to his father? There’s enough going on with these characters that it doesn't matter if you don't know where the plot is going. You’re having a great time simply getting to know them, admiring the performances (Moretz does a flawless accent) and enjoying Scorsese's direction. Check out the way the camera moves down chutes, through crowds and then into the secret openings into Hugo’s home or the breathtaking shots of a long-gone Paris.

Ultimately, this is a small, personal story. The world’s fate does not rest in the hands of Hugo. The secrets we uncover deal with very human tragedies but it’s shot like all of reality hinges on the lonely boy finding a friend. After Hugo is over, you remember specific shots, specific characters and the emotions you felt while watching them. These would attract any director but I suspect Scorsese wanted this project specifically because the film contains numerous references to specific events in the history of cinema. We see a clip of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last! and the film’s most iconic shot is re-imagined later on. The Montparnasse derailment of 1895 is reimagined and Scorsese gives us to opportunity to relive the shocked reaction audiences would’ve had while viewing “L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat” - that famous shot of a train coming towards the camera that supposedly had audiences falling out of their seats in terror - by shooting it in 3D - literally having the train come right towards the screen and frighten us. There are many other references to the history of cinema throughout. If you love movies, you’ll get an extra kick out of these scenes.

Hugo is moving, warm, romantic, tragic and exciting. It goes in unexpected directions and the surprises make the movie feel big while also keeping it small and intimate. The performances are excellent, the characters fully realized. The only mark against it comes from the presentation. This movie is meant to be seen on the big screen and in 3D. Few people will be able to see it that way now. If that’s the only flaw you can find in a movie, it's doing a lot of things right. (On Blu-ray, September 25, 2020)

#Hugo #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Martin Scorsese #John Logan #Brian Selznick #Ben Kingsley #Sacha Baron Cohen #Asa Butterfield #Chloe Grace Moretz #Ray Winstone #Emily Mortimer #Jude Law #2011 movies #2011 films

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this week (#169):

3 by forgotten [re-discovered?] Turkish director, Metin Erksan:

🍿  Dry Summer, a mesmerizing 1964 Turkish masterpiece I never heard of before. It tells of a greedy peasant who refuses to share the water on his field with his neighbors, as well as his scheme to steal his younger brother's new bride. (Photo Above). A rustic tragedy featuring one of the most insidious screen villains ever. Highly recommended. 9/10.

It was championed and restored by Martin Scorsese's 'World Cinema Project'. (I'm going to start chewing through their list of preserved classics from around the world.)

🍿 Time to love (1965) is a fetishistic, probably-symbolic, melodrama about a poor house painter who falls in love with a wall portrait of a woman, but who can't or won't love the real person. Lots of brooding while heavy rains keep pouring down, and traditional oud music drones on. Strikingly beautiful black and white cinematography elevates this strange soap opera into something that Antonioni could have shot.

🍿 "May Allah's mercy be upon her! May Allah's mercy be upon her! May Allah's mercy be upon her!"

In 1974 Erksan directed the cheesy Seytan ("Satan"), a plagiarized, unauthorized Turkish rip-off of 'The Exorcist'. It was a schlocky, nearly a shot-by-shot copy, and included the blood spurting, head spinning, cursing, stairs, a young actress that looked strikingly like Linda Blair, and even extensive use of Mike Oldfield's 'Tubular Bells'. But it eliminated the Catholic element and had none of the superb decisions of the William Friedkin's version. 1/10.

🍿  

Agnès Varda's deceivingly blissful drama, Le Bonheur. Exquisite, subversive and beautifully simple, about an uncomplicated man who's completely happy with his idyllic life, his loving wife and two little children. But one summer day he takes on an attractive mistress, while still feeling uncommonly fulfilled and undisturbed. Varda lets the Mozart woodwind score do all the heavy interpretive lifting of this disturbing feminist take of the bourgeoisie. Just WOW! 8/10.

At this point, I should just complete my explorations of Varda's oeuvre, and see the rest of her movies. Also, I'm going to take a deep dive one day into the many terrific movies from 1965 (besides the many I've already seen, 'Red Beard', 'Simon of the desert', 'Repulsion', 'The spy who came in from the cold', 'Juliet of the spirit', 'Pierrot the fool'...).

/ Female Director

🍿

2 by amazing Bulgarian director Milko Lazarov:

🍿 Ága, my first Bulgarian film, but it plays somewhere in Yakutsk, south of the Russian arctic circle. An isolated old Inuit couple lives alone in a yurt on the tundra. Slow and spiritual, their lives unfold in the most unobtrusive way, it feels like a documentary. But the simplicity is deceiving, this is film-making of the highest grade, and once Mahler 5th was introduced on a small transistor radio, it's transcendental. The emptiness touched me deeply.

Together with 93 other movies, this was submitted by Bulgaria to the 2019 Oscars (the one won by 'Parasite'). How little we know; If selected, we might have all be talking about it. Absolutely phenomenal! The trailer represents the movie well. 10/10

(It also reminded me very much of the Bolivian drama 'Utama' from 2022, another moving story of an elderly Indian couple living alone in the desert, tending to their small flock of llamas.)

🍿 Milko Lazarov made only one earlier film, the minimalist Alienation in 2013. It tells of Yorgos, a middle age Greek man, (impassively played by the father from 'Dogtooth'), who crosses the border to Bulgaria to buy a newborn baby. But it's not as bad as it sounds, because he's actually helping the impoverished surrogate mother (who looks like young Tilda Swinton) who can't effort to keep him. Another stark and snail-like drama about quiet people who barely speak, told with the masterful language of a true poet. Like 'Ága', it too opens with a stunning close up of a lengthy incantation in an unfamiliar language. I wish he made more movies. 8/10.

🍿  

2 more arctic dramas:

🍿 The original movie about indigenous Inuks, Nanook of the North, from 1922, was the first feature-length documentary to achieve commercial success. An engaging slice of life of an Inuit family, even if some of the scenes were staged. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes.

🍿 "Many of the scientists involved with climate change agree: The end of human life on this planet is assured."

Another fascinating Werner Herzog documentary, Encounters at the end of the world. About the "professional dreamers" who live and work at McMurdo Station in Antarctica; divers who venture to explore life under the the ice, volcanologists who burrow into ice caves, etc. Herzog's 'secret sauce' is finding the most outrageous, interesting spots on earth, and then just going there and letting his camera do his bidding.

🍿

2 fantastic shorts by Hungarian animator Réka Bucsi:

🍿 Her 2014 Symphony No. 42 consists of 47 short & whimsical vignettes, without any rhyme or rhythm; A farmer fills a cow with milk until it overflows, a zoo elephant draws a "Help me" sign, a UFO sucks all the fish from the ocean, wolves party hard to 'La Bamba', an angry man throws a pie at a penguin, two cowboys holding blue balloons watch a tumbleweed rolls by, a big naked woman cuddle with a seal, etc. Earlier than Don Hertzfeldt's 'World of tomorrow' and my favorite Rúnar Rúnarsson's 'Echo', it's a perfect piece of surrealist chaos. 10/10

My happiest, unexpected surprise of the week!

/ Female Director

🍿 Love (2016), a lovely meditation on nature, poetry and cats in the cosmos. 8/10.

/ Female Director

🍿

Françoise Dorléac X 2:

🍿 Her name was Françoise ("Elle s’appelait Françoise") is a fluff bio-piece about the utterly gorgeous model-actress, who died at a fiery car-crush at 25, and who left a legacy of only a few important films. It includes previously-unseen, enchanting clips and photos from her short life. But then is cuts into her and sister Catherine Deneuve practicing their "Pair of Twins" song-and-dance from 'The Young Girls of Rochefort', the most charming musical in the world, and life is sunny again.

/ Female Director

🍿 That man from Rio, her breakthrough film, was a stupid James Bond spoof, inspired by 'The adventures of Tintin'. Unfortunately, it focused on protagonist Jean-Paul Belmondo, and used Dorléac only as eye-candy. It's the first film I've seen from Brasília, just a few years after it was constructed. 2/10.

🍿

Paintings and Film X 3:

🍿 'Painting Nerds' is a YouTube channel by 2 Scottish artists, putting up intelligent video essays about the art of painting. Paintings In Movies: From '2001: A Space Odyssey' to 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' is an insightful meditation which explores the relationship between the two art forms. Among the many examples it touches on are the canvases in Hitchcock's 'Rebecca' and 'Vertigo', 'The French Dispatch', 'Laura' and 'I'm thinking of ending things'. They even made a Wellesian trailer for that essay, When Citizen Kane met Bambi : The Lost Paintings of Tyrus Wong!

🍿 So I decided to see some of the movies mentioned above, f. ex. Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry from 1955. Famous for being Shirley MacLaine's film debut, his first collaboration with Bernard Herrmann, and this being his only "real" comedy. However, the only engaging element among the idiotic machinations on screen were the stunning VistaVision landscapes, painted in true Vermont autumn colors.

🍿 All the Vermeers in New York is my [5th film about Vermeer, and] my first film by prolific indie director Jon Jost. The Scottish essay above interpretated it as a "Charming mirroring of art and life, but also a deeply sad film... The gallery scene shows the transmission of feeling from painting to person, and ultimately, the vast amount of space between them. It plays out the entire drama of the film in microcosm.." But that Met Gallery scene was the only outstanding one in an otherwise disjointed experiment about the NYC art world. The abrasive stockbroker who falls for a French actress at the museum and mistakes her for a woman from the painting was mediocre and irritating. 3/10.

🍿

First watch: Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, an homage to Melville's Le Samouraï. An RZA mood piece about a ritualistically-chill black assassin / Zen Sensei, who communicates only with carrier pigeons, and who drives alone at night in desolate streets on mafia missions. 'Live by the Code, die by the Code'.

🍿

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Scorsese's only melodrama with a female protagonist (? - haven't seen 'Boxcar Bertha' yet). It opens in a tinted Wizard of Oz scenery, and tells of an ordinary single mom who dreams of becoming a singer. Hardly a feminist story, as she navigates between one unloving husband, an abusive lover and eventually bearded Kris Kristofferson, who ends up beating her son and promises not to do it again. 3/10.

[I finally watched it because of this clip of 15-year-old Jody Foster singing Je t'attends depuis la nuit de temps on French television].

🍿

The new well-made HBO documentary The Truth vs Alex Jones. About the collective mental sickness that is Amerika. It's hard to imagine how insane are the crazies over there. 💯 score on Rotten Tomatoes.

🍿

3 more shorts:

🍿 The Most Beautiful Shots In Movie History, a little mash-up clippy from The "Solomon Society" with an evocative Perfect day cover.

🍿 Joana, a beautiful tribute of a Spanish father to his little daughter. Reminds me of better times and another daughter.

🍿 From hand to mouse, a mediocre 1944 'Looney Tune' short from Chuck Jones, with the same dynamics that the Coyote & Road Runner did much better.

🍿

Ramy Youssef X 3:

🍿 I discovered first-generation Egyptian-American stand-up comedian Ramy Youssef. In his funny 2019 special, Feelings, he comes across as a sweet dude, a sensitive, observant Muslim, on a complicated spiritual quest in New Jersey. Recommended!

🍿 Ramy was his A24 TV-series that expanded on the themes. It had more of a sitcom vibes, reminiscent of 'Master of None', another one that dealt with an unexplored ethnicity, previously marginalized. I only watched the first season, and liked how unapologetic he was in having large part of the dialogue in other languages, Arabic, French, Etc. Episode 7, "Ne Me Quitte Pas", starring his screen-mom Hiam Abbass was a terrific stand-out.

🍿 “Where were you when the floods happened in Pakistan?”

More feelings, his brand new stand up which just dropped is dark and gentle. It opens with some dark truths from his friend Steve who wants to die, and moves right into the situation in Palestine.

(Later: He hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend.)

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

#movies #nuri bilge ceylan

[srbachchan]

DAY 5280

Jalsa, Mumbai                   July 27/28,  2022                 Wed/Thu 8:34 AM

the system changes and changes bring changes in routine .. routine is routed in our system .. the system that runs this Ef connectivity .. they ask me why do you write for five thousand two hundred and eighty days .. EVERY DAY ,  without a break .. ! 

.. and I do not have an answer ..

what is the human routine .. the routine of a human ..

and I say the human routine is this routine .. if it is human it is this too ..

so there was Hyderabad Project K yesterday in Mumbai .. in Mumbai .. crew and Director Producer all came down here to finish around 25 shots that were essential to put together in the sequence that was remaining unfinished .. 

.. i needed to write first .. around 4 in the morning .. i did attempt .. then decided against it .. no prepare to leave for work .. Ef shall understand .. they always do .. 🤪🤪 .. so off to human routine and at work .. after ages the ‘elixir of life’ .. the Vanity, the pouring rain, the covered tents about the shoot floor to protect the AB from MedPicSoPub .. and on to the chair with the multiple pillows behind to rest the head and body as a team of artists convey their artistry on the face .. the face that has for the 69to22 submitted to the artists that design for the cam .. the cam a special this time the ArriAlexa65 .. just 5 of them in the World, never sold only given on rent because they do not share the making tech with any else .. 3 hours of its hair prosthetics and costume and on the floor .. non stop one after another till the hours ring past 10 pm .. another hour to remove the artistry, the drive among traffic and mild personalised piped music, a few chips of the french into the lift of immense convenience and the soup of the red and in company of progeny and .. yes eventually the snizzzzzz .. 

I write because I write .. I connect because I connect .. I do not know the value of the connect .. my value is the sincerity , the dedication of the many that remain the Ef .. many do not .. they have left .. God be with them .. but write I shall irrespective, hopefully .. ever taking cover of hope , because the certainty is illusive .. certainty, illusive .. unsure if it shall happen .. if unsure , doubts .. did the right clause be used .. what was the reason for surety .. how do the many affirmative do strongly commit to being sure .. there is hesitation here .. if it does not be then egg on face and head down embarrassment .. embarrassed body weak and causing uncertainty in other aspects too .. so hope .. hope this reaches you .. hope it is in order .. hope you shall return .. hope .. hope .. 

we exist on hope .. 

hope the routine exists .. existence of routine exists human .. 

we are human are we not .. !

suprbhat  .. सुप्रभात .. the morning of goodness evil hunted life routine existence .. 🌈🌤🌄 ..

.. to express the need to preserve and protect what we do in profession in the 100 year history of film in India .. to build a Museum of Modern Art .. Cinema .. films old and new, detailed booklets of songs magazine posters what ever available and extracted by the Film Heritage Foundation that has the support of many greats - Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan of recent DUNKIRK fame .. and several others .. these greats awarded me for my contribution in this noble cause .. honoured .. humbled .. they are stratospheric in presence .. i am not even ‘pheric’

be well protected and safe .. be well 🌷

Amitabh Bachchan

[hey-scully-itsme]

Martin Scorsese Marvel discourse is going around again so i just wanna say that not only are his comments measured and not particularly accusatory towards anyone except those who keep commissioning the projects (he is respectful towards the people who work on the films!), he puts his money where his mouth is.

For example, if you missed it when the post was going around, that was how he became associated with the whole Goncharov thing – by allowing them to use his name to help market the movie Gomorrah, to give it a better chance of success internationally. He's also more recently supported directors like Joanna Hogg as producer.

Besides supporting smaller directors and smaller projects, he created the Film Foundation (link). Take a look! It has free educational resources (link)! The World Cinema Project has done amazing work (link)!

#because this is tumblr i feel it is necessary to say i'm not saying martin scorsese is perfect and flawless #i just saw tweeted summaries of a few brief interview comments and got mad abt it lol #he said a few mild normal things in an interview in which he also said other mostly more interesting things #and people are reacting like he said everyone who watches marvel movies is a worthless ignorant plebian. again.

[denimbex1986]

'You can now add Martin Scorsese’s hotly anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon to the films undergoing a delay...the eagerly awaited Western crime epic has canceled its limited Oct. 6 release date in the U.S. and will now instead open in wide release on Oct. 20, both in North America and various other global markets, including the UK.

And, curiouser still, the film will also be released in IMAX.

...At a glance the move even raises the question of whether Apple and Paramount believe they have another Oppenheimer on their hands...

Killers of the Flower Moon has of course already enjoyed considerable festival prestige, becoming the toast of Cannes where it made its world premiere in May and has to date accrued a 97 percent “positive” score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Paramount is abandoning the platformed strategy in favor of something that looks an awful lot like when Universal Pictures defiantly put Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer into global cinemas on the same date as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and one week after what was expected to be one of the biggest hits of the summer, Paramount’s own Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

Instead Oppenheimer stunned skeptics who doubted audience interest in a talky, R-rated, and adult-oriented drama with little in the way of CGI spectacle. In fact, Oppenheimer proved to be the biggest IMAX release of 2023 and has grossed $778 million to date, with projections now placing it potentially north of $900 million by the end of its run. The film’s over-performance has also invited speculation as to whether adult audiences are starved for big event films that tackled serious subjects or historical figures (many times both at the same time) after more than a decade of multiplexes becoming consumed with superhero theatrics and space opera imagery.

Apple and Paramount would appear to be putting that theory to the test since only a handful of filmmakers’ names have the cache of Christopher Nolan with modern audiences, and Martin Scorsese is one of them...

So could Killers of the Flower Moon be an R-rated, zeitgeist-grabbing event on the scale of Oppenheimer?

… Probably not quite that. While Scorsese has remained one of the most influential and intensely followed filmmakers of the last half-century, his clout with the mainstream never reached the levels of Nolan or (as a more contemporary comparison) Steven Spielberg in his heyday. It’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see a Scorsese movie flirt with a billion-dollar gross like Oppenheimer currently is...

With Dune vacating early November, Killers of the Flower Moon has a newly formed lane to be the biggest movie in theaters for at least three weeks, ahead of Disney’s The Marvels (assuming that film releases this fall). IMAX therefore has everything to gain by putting Scorsese’s movie on the biggest screens in the world, and the film’s studio and streamer also will earn goodwill in the industry for taking a big swing in support of the theatrical experience. This will prove useful come awards season where Killers of the Flower Moon is widely considered Oppenheimer’s biggest competition at this point...'

#Martin Scorsese #Killers of the Flower Moon #Dune Part Two #Oppenheimer #Christopher Nolan #Steven Spielberg #IMAX #The Marvels #Universal #Greta Gerwig #Barbie #Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One

[wellntruly]

door replied to your post "I made my top ten list for 2022"

for piranesi fans you say

I sure do. For monumental carved figures, lyricism, and a vague sense that you are being manipulated, though you can't figure out which direction it's coming from, and your own heart was made for friendship. The Night of Counting the Years, original Arabic Al-Mummia, a rather medium-low resolution but at least we have it copy available public domain all over; I watched it through YouTube. I cannot teeellll you how much I want to see Martin Scorsese's restored version from his World Cinema Project.

#oh and: #The Night of Counting the Years #for some visuals!! #replies #door #Al Mummia #Shadi Abdel Salam

[albertserra]

martin scorsese world cinema project get some vietnamese films on your roster next

[ferretfyre]

#chess of the wind #film #review #criterion collection #martin scorsese’s world cinema project #mubi #mubi uk

[msclaritea]

"Movie lovers were supposed to breathe a sigh of relief last week when Warner Bros. Discovery announced the un-firing of Turner Classic Movies head programmer, Charles Tabesh. This move was in response to a deafening howl of outrage from a passionate community that, increasingly devoid of quality options at the multiplexes, cherishes the long-running cable channel as a vital outlet for intelligent, well-crafted adult fare from a time when cinema ruled the entertainment roost. It kinda did the trick. Knowing Tabesh, one of the most respected film programmers in the world, would still be around to complement beloved classics with the deepest of cinema cuts meant TCM wouldn't become the "Casablanca"-every-other-day channel.

WB Discovery also continued to hype the programming/curation input of Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson — which is a terrific PR win for embattled CEO David Zaslav but does little to move the needle outside of the industry. It's actually more heartening to know that creative oversight of TCM has shifted from Discovery veteran Kathleen Finch to Warner Bros. Pictures honchos Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy. You'd much rather have the genuine film buff who greenlit "Seven," "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" co-leading TCM than a reality-show-driven exec who lists "90 Day Fiancé" as one of her proudest artistic achievements.

But De Luca and Abdy are movie people tasked with restoring Warner Bros. Pictures to its former glory by making movies. They don't have time to manage TCM, nor does the Spielberg/Scorsese/PTA triumvirate. So if this group is genuinely committed to the survival of the cable network, and venerating the studio's vast, varied library, they've got one screamingly obvious option that'll allow cinephiles the world over to exhale.

A wolf in a movie buff's clothing

Warner Bros

If Zaslav is the classic film fan he repeatedly claims to be, he should be familiar with the observation, "It's no trick to make a lot of money, if all you want to do is make a lot of money." This saying applies to saving money as well.

Zaslav, who inherited a debt-ridden WarnerMedia when the company merged with his thriving Discovery, is currently in slash-and-burn mode to please shareholders and, perhaps, make the studio flippable somewhere in the near-ish future. Per his company's own PR, he's personally due nine-figure compensation if he more than doubles the company's stock price. So he's doing the easy part first: firing as many people as possible, and selling off assets (like half of its music, film and television catalogue).

It's filthy business, but Zaslav has his Hamptons reputation to worry about. Still, as ruthless as he promised to be when he seized control of WarnerMedia, he assured movie lovers that he was one of us. He valued WB's history. He fell in love with movies as a regular, middle-class kid growing up in Brooklyn, and dreamed of running a studio. He works from Jack Warner's desk in his office, where TCM is always playing in the background. He spoke at last April's TCM Classic Film Festival (alongside Spielberg and PTA), and assured the audience the channel's future was secure.

Prioritizing vanity projects

Warner Bros.

His first greenlight after the merger was to blow the dust off of Hamptons lunch-buddy Nicholas Pileggi's "Wise Guys," a gangster project that had been kicking around the studios since the early 1970s; attaching Barry Levinson as director (who hasn't made a commercially successful film since 1997's "Wag the Dog") puzzled several industry insiders with whom I've spoken. It was old Hollywood chumminess that reeked of rich white-guy back-slapping, and this was before Zaslav erased Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah's already finished "Batgirl" movie. Shot on an apparent $50 million budget, the film is in post-production, and has a slated release date of February 2, 2024, although that could always change.

So when Zaslav cleaned house in June by firing five of TCM's top execs, while slashing the staff from somewhere around 90 to around 20, cinephiles were furious. You don't need an MBA to know that a personnel cut that deep is meant to hobble, not sustain. Zaslav didn't care; however, his Hamptons buddy, Steven Spielberg, didn't appreciate being used as a rubber stamp at the TCM Fest. A Zoom call was arranged, which resulted in an empty press release assuring viewers that the three aforementioned filmmakers would mind the short-staffed store. When absolutely no one bought this, Tabesh was reinstalled as head programmer.

Zaslav must make TCM whole again

Warner Bros

Though I'm amused that Zaslav has turned Tabesh into a rock star amongst movie lovers, he is but one man. Tabesh can't do what he's done so brilliantly alone. He needs a team steeped in every facet of film history to help him track down and license those obscure titles that nourish our desire for, ironically, discovery. Basically, he needs everyone Finch and Zaslav axed.

On a practical, strictly corporate level, this should not happen. TCM is currently only available on cable (streaming-wise, no one associated with the channel has anything to do with that embarrassingly shallow hub on Max), and cable is speeding toward total obsolescence. Its 70% profit margin is evidently meaningless to Warner Bros Discovery. If Zaslav hadn't so shamelessly dampened Spielberg's backside over the years, TCM could've easily been shuttered last year.

According to a recent Hollywood Reporter article by Kim Masters, Zaslav underestimated the widespread industry love for TCM (even Ryan Reynolds leaped into the fray). But what jumped out to me in that piece is that he was most miffed that outsiders "were telling him how to run his business," which is not the sentiment of a chastened man. Indeed, that he's still holding firm on the decimation of TCM's staff — which, to give you a sense of the petty scope of this brouhaha, was hastened by a $3 million cut in the channel's budget — suggests that he's still determined to win this battle. And if that's all he wants, TCM is living on borrowed time.

You bought it, you honor it

Warner Bros

What's his endgame? My most charitable read is that he'd like to have a boutique outlet that flaunts his prestigious industry connections, e.g. Scorsese presents "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre." This is where the directors he supposedly worships need, as gently as possible, to remind him that in acquiring WB, he became a steward of Hollywood history. Name-dropping a handful of black-and-white movies as evidence of his love for classic cinema won't get it done. Sitting at Jack Warner's desk is the emptiest of gestures if you're disinterested in sharing his studio's output with the public.

TCM is small potatoes financially, but, as a reflection of the company's dedication to the art that made it what it is today, it's invaluable. You re-staff, eat that $3 million, and declare the channel off-limits. You run it at a (presumably minuscule) loss if need be. If Zaslav does this one, culturally good thing, and once he pays his writers what they're worth, his legacy might not be a disaster in the long term (though I know the short term is where his CEO ilk lives). He also might actually earn the love he seeks from the directors he purports to adore (which will make it so much easier for De Luca and Abdy to lure Christopher Nolan back into the fold, not to mention build out the studio's stable of top-tier filmmakers).

This isn't easy in our fiercely risk-averse age. Because while it's no trick to make a lot of money, it takes vision and fearlessness to make a lot of good movies. It is, however, financially feasible to show a lot of great movies 24/7 on TCM. 

Probably costs less than a summer of fine dining in the Hamptons — and, uh, which card are we using out there, David? Because that's an easy snip..."

Zaslav & Crew are deliberately killing 1000s of Hollywood jobs to hurt the economy and Zaslav gets rewarded with an Academy of Motion Pictures membership.

Academy officers[69]

President – Janet Yang

Vice president – Teri E. Dorman

Vice president / Secretary – Donna Gigliotti

Vice president – Lynette Howell Taylor

Vice president – Larry Karaszewski

Vice president / Treasurer – David Linde

Vice president – Isis Mussenden

Vice president – Kim Taylor-Coleman

Vice president – Wynn P. Thomas

Chief executive officer – Bill Kramer

Governors[69]

Actors Branch – Whoopi Goldberg, Marlee Matlin, Rita Wilson

Casting Directors Branch – Richard Hicks, Kim Taylor-Coleman, Debra Zane

Cinematographers Branch – Dion Beebe, Paul Cameron, Mandy Walker

Costume Designers Branch – Ruth E. Carter, Eduardo Castro, Isis Mussenden

Directors Branch – Susanne Bier, Ava DuVernay, Jason Reitman

Documentary Branch – Kate Amend, Chris Hegedus, Jean Tsien

Executives Branch – Pam Abdy, Donna Gigliotti, David Linde

Film Editors Branch – Nancy Richardson, Stephen E. Rivkin, Terilyn A. Shropshire

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch – Howard Berger, Bill Corso, Linda Flowers

Marketing and Public Relations Branch – Megan Colligan, Laura Kim, Christina Kounelias

Music Branch – Lesley Barber, Charles Bernstein, Charles Fox

Producers Branch – Jason Blum, Lynette Howell Taylor, Jennifer Todd

Production Design Branch – Tom Duffield, Missy Parker, Wynn P. Thomas

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch – Bonnie Arnold, Jon Bloom, Marlon West

Sound Branch – Gary C. Bourgeois, Peter J. Devlin, Teri E. Dorman

Visual Effects Branch – Rob Bredow, Brooke Breton, Paul Debevec

Writers Branch – Larry Karaszewski, Howard A. Rodman, Eric Roth

Governors-at-large[29] (nominated by the President and elected by the board) – DeVon Franklin, Rodrigo García, Janet Yang

#Zaslav #Warner Bros Discovery #DC #Killing Hollywood Jobs #WGA #SAG AFRA #TCW #GQ #GQ Efitor Welch #Movie Contract #SFGATE #CNN #CONDE NAST #Advance Publications #Billionaire Newhouse Brothers #WB Stock Owners #Stock Manipulation

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Looks as if Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project Vol 4 box which I began this past Sunday might take a backseat to the Bill Rebane box. I was astonished to discover that the drastically reduced Weird Wisconsin: The Bill Rebane Collection was a brand new item not at all damaged. Normally it sold on Diabolik for $75 and it was being sold for $25. Jesse Nelson, the owner of the site, had a ton of Arrow boxes and individual titles at drastically reduced prices. I'm almost certain Arrow is involved in these sales, giving Jesse an opportunity to make some money since his site does so well for boutique labels like Arrow.

The other box is Vinegar Syndrome's Piotr Szulkin’s Apocalypse Tetralogy. Four weeks ago I had never heard of Polish director Szulkin, but his work has suddenly become the rage (the hot new boutique label Radiance is releasing their own box of this set in the UK but it will only contain three of the films). This set was initially limited only to Vinegar Syndrome and they sold out almost within two days. I can't say I always understand their sales and methodology for their distribution, because they distinctly claim no individual dealer outside of their website will get certain products. This set is one of those products. Yet, three weeks after seemingly selling out, Jesse has copies! Again, I'd suspect Vinegar Syndrome has deals with Diabolik, because this happens more often than not. I'm pleased because I rely solely on Diabolik for all the movies I purchase outside of Criterion (who I buy directly from because of their point system in which you can earn $50 gift cards) although I do seem to regularly buy from Vinegar Syndrome as well. I'm very excited to watch these four Polish films as I am regularly finding Central Europe to contain some of the finest films I've encountered.

Lastly, the single film Morgiana, is another Czech film from my favorite label, Second Run, who specialize in Central European cinema. Virtually every Polish, Hungarian or Czech Republic film I watch comes from this company.

[mohammadgholami]

Cannes Film Awards: History and Significance of the Cannes Film Awards

Join me as we delve into the rich history and cultural significance of the Cannes Film Awards. From its humble beginnings to becoming one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, we explore how this event has shaped the film industry and impacted global cinema.

hi this is mohammad qolami and Welcome to my podcast. today we're going to take a deep dive into this iconic event that has been celebrating cinema for over 70 years. don't forget to subscribe me.

The Cannes Film Festival, also known as Festival de Cannes, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France. It was first established in 1946 and has since become one of the most important events in the film industry.

The festival takes place over two weeks in May each year and attracts filmmakers, actors, producers, critics, and fans from all over the world. It's a platform for showcasing new films from around the globe and has launched many careers of some of today's most celebrated filmmakers.

But how did it all begin? Let's take a look at the history of this iconic event.

The first Cannes Film Festival was held in 1946 after World War II ended. The festival was created by Jean Zay, who was then France's Minister of National Education and Fine Arts. Zay wanted to create an event that would bring together people from different countries to celebrate cinema as a form of art.

The inaugural festival took place on September 20th, 1946 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes. It featured screenings of films from 16 different countries including France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Great Britain and America.

The first festival was not without controversy though. There were protests against some of the films being shown, and the festival was briefly shut down by the French government due to political tensions.

Despite these challenges, the festival continued to grow in popularity and prestige. In 1951, the Palme d'Or award was introduced as the festival's top prize. The award is a palm-shaped trophy made of gold and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in the film industry.

Over the years, many iconic films have premiered at Cannes. Some of these include Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita," Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now," Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," and Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver."

The festival has also been a platform for launching new talent in the film industry. Directors like Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, and Sofia Coppola all had their breakthroughs at Cannes.

In addition to showcasing films, Cannes has also become a hub for networking and deal-making in the film industry. Many filmmakers attend with hopes of securing distribution deals or financing for their projects.

The Cannes Film Festival has not been without its controversies over the years. In 2018, there was a heated debate over whether Netflix-produced films should be allowed to compete at Cannes. The festival ultimately decided that any film competing for its top prize must have a theatrical release in France.

The festival has also faced criticism for its lack of diversity both on-screen and behind-the-scenes. In response to this criticism, Cannes introduced a gender parity pledge in 2018 which aims to increase representation of women in all aspects of filmmaking.

Despite these challenges, Cannes remains one of the most important events in the film industry. It continues to attract some of today's most celebrated filmmakers and actors while also providing a platform for emerging talent.

Well, that brings us to the end of our podcast on the Cannes Film Awards. We hope you enjoyed learning about the history and cultural significance of this iconic event. Thank you for watching this video. don't forget to subscribe me.

#youtube #CannesFilmAwards

#youtube #CannesFilmAwards #Cannes Film Awards