Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 19, 2009

Categories | News, Books

I grew up in the video age and I’m still in awe of the technology that first allowed me to watch thousands of movies in the privacy of my own home. Call me sentimental and nostalgic, but when I first got wind of Jacques Boyreau’s upcoming book Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box it made me giddy with excitement. From the publisher (Fantagraphics) site:

“Harken back to those thrilling days of yesteryear when the advent of rental videos astonished the movie-going consumer who could only feed his addiction by going to the theater or watching chopped up movies in between commercials on TV. Like vinyl, here is the revenge of another analog cast-off: the VHS is once again insinuating itself into American culture, and this book celebrates the anarchic design art of those early VHS boxes.”

The design of the book is fantastic and Fantagraphics recently released a video that showcases the book’s impressive design that I’ve posted below:

Author Jacques BoyreauIf is responsible for one of my favorite film poster books, Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters, so I suspect Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS will be just as good. If you want to know more about the book I recommend visiting Fantagraphics website where you can pre-order yourself a copy.

Many thanks to Cat for making me aware of the book!

Bonus Material:
- Read About My First VHS Purchase

Comments (4)

Art Film As Fashion Trend

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 17, 2009

Categories | French Cinema, Actresses, Delphine Seyrig, Fashion & Film

In 1962 Alain Resnais’ film Last Year at Marienbad aka L’année dernière à Marienbad (1961) debuted in America and made quite a splash with film critics as well as fashionistas. As the following fashion article from ‘62 makes clear, women were obviously inspired by the lovely Delphine Seyrig and attempted to mimic her look including fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt and American actress Elizabeth Ashley. Today actresses in popular films seem to dictate many fashion trends but I found this fashion piece about Last Year at Marienbad really surprising and a fun read so I thought I’d share it here. Delphine Seyrig’s one of my favorite actresses and I love the idea of her as a smart trendsetting ’60s style icon in the same league as Jean Seberg and Audrey Hepburn. Make way ladies! Here comes Delphine Seyrig…

READ MORE

Comments (11)

Modern Mondays: Gus Van Sant’s “Death Trilogy” 2002-2005

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 16, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, American Cinema, Modern Mondays, Gay Interest

“Ours is a culture notoriously uncomfortable with death. We’ve minimized and sterilized our rituals for processing it; we pack it away in Styrofoam and plastic wrap at the grocery store; we worship our children and pour our resources into the fantasy of postponing old age. Yet it courses into our collective consciousness with renewed insistence every day. Death in Iraq, death in New Orleans, death in Sudan, Afghanistan, Israel, Indonesia. Death on local streetcorners and in apartment buildings down the block. More death than it seems possible to comprehend.”
- Holly Myers

I’ve admired Gus Van Sant’s films since first seeing Drugstore Cowboy (1989) and My Own Private Idaho (1991) in the early ’90s but my relationship with the director’s work has occasionally been strained. I still don’t understand why Gus Van Sant thought remaking Hitchcock’s Psycho (1998) was a good idea and I’ve found some of his films such as Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) unwatchable but I keep coming back to his work. Van Sant has been very active in the last 10 years and his films have received a lot of critical attention but I think his “Death Trilogy” which included the movies Gerry (2002), Elephant (2003) and Last Days (2005) are the director’s most interesting recent films. They’re good movies on their own but together they make up one of the most compelling cinematic experiences I’ve had in the last 10 years.

The three movies that form Van Sant’s “Death Trilogy” are not easy viewing and demand a lot from their audience. They also deserve more attention than I can give them at the moment so I thought I’d share some excerpts from one of my favorite pieces written about the films by the Los Angeles based critic Holly Myers for n+1. In Myers’ lengthy piece called Nothing Happens to No One: The Death Trilogy of Gus Van Sant she brilliantly explains exactly why I find the director’s “Death Trilogy” so intriguing. She also does a terrific job of pointing out the importance of these American films and why they’ve made such a lasting impression on me.

“Like the two subsequent films—Elephant (2003), based on the 1999 Columbine High School shootings, and Last Days (2005), a fictionalized account of the death of Kurt Cobain—Gerry cuts through the shock, the bafflement, the extravagant displays of empathy and moralistic hand-wringing that invariably characterizes Hollywood and the media’s treatment of death-stories by dispensing with the basic conventions of narrative and character. Van Sant does not sensationalize. Instead, in each film we see plot distilled to a single, profound arc: the slow, strange transition of a body from being alive to not being alive. Taking the silence, the mystery, the essential unknowability of death as a given, Van Sant makes no attempt to interrogate or explain. He simply enacts this transition and encourages his viewers to watch.

The result is closer to meditation than to storytelling, and the films are difficult in the way that meditation is difficult, which has made them—Gerry in particular—a hard sell.”

READ MORE

Comments (1)

Modern Mondays: OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (2006)

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 9, 2009

Categories | Movie Reviews, French Cinema, Spies & Secret Agents, Comedies, Modern Mondays

If you’ve been reading Cinebeats for awhile you’re probably well aware of my fascination and fondness for spies. From the smart and exceptional Prisoner to the ridiculously silly Last of the Secret Agents?, I never seem to get tired of watching spy movies or television shows as long as they have a good soundtrack accompanying them. So it should come as no surprise that I think the recent French spy spoof OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies aka OSS 117: Le Caire, Nid d’Espions (2006) is one of the funniest films of the last decade.

The movie was directed and co-written by Michel Hazanavicius who based it on the original OSS 117 spy novels by the prolific French author Jean Bruce. The original books featured an American born spy with French roots named Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath who worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). OSS 117 predated Ian Flemming’s more well-known spy James Bond, alias 007, by 4 years, but both characters seem to share a lot of similarities. I haven’t read any of the original Jean Bruce novels myself or seen the early French films based on the books but according to director Michel Hazanavicius OSS 117 isn’t as ironic or clever as James Bond.

Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath, alias OSS 117, is played brilliantly by the handsome and very funny French actor Jean Dujardin. Dujardin has clearly based his character on Sean Connery’s Bond from the early ’60s as well as other self-assured male spies from the same period and he does a terrific job of mimicking their best and worst qualities. In the film agent OSS 117 is sent to Cairo to investigate the disappearance of his close friend and fellow OSS operative Jack Jefferson (Philippe Lefebvre). Finding his friend won’t be easy and over the course of the film OSS 117 becomes entangled in a web of international espionage involving Nazis, a fundamentalist uprising and two beautiful but dangerous women played by the lovely Bérénice Bejo and Aure Atika.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies takes place in 1955 and the film beautifully replicates the decade it’s boldly taking a jab at. Director Michel Hazanavicius clearly loves the movies he’s emulating and OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies comes across as a thoughtful homage as well as a clever parody. From the detailed set designs, to the stylized fashions and incredible soundtrack, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is a film that knows exactly what it’s doing while delivering a lot of laughs. The humor in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies is slightly more sophisticated than the Austin Power films but the movie should appeal to Pink Panther fans and anyone who enjoys television shows like Get Smart.

READ MORE

Comments (10)

Ghost Story (1974) Comes to DVD

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 6, 2009

Categories | News, Horror, British Cinema, Marianne Faithfull, Barbara Shelley

Marianne Faithfull

Horror film lovers and Marianne Faithfull fans can rejoice! Stephen Weeks’ spooky British thriller Ghost Story (1974) is finally coming to DVD on November 16th from Nucleus Films in the UK. Unfortunately it will only be available in Britain as a Region 2 PAL disc but if you happen to own an all-region DVD player like myself, I recommend getting yourself a copy. Hopefully the film will be released in the US soon.

The new DVD is loaded with terrific extras including an all-new 60 minute featurette that contains interviews with director Stephen Weeks, composer Ron Geesin, actors Larry Dann, Murray Melvin and the fabulous British horror icon Barbara Shelley. Other extras include the film’s original theatrical trailer, an alternate opening credit sequence and 7 of Stephen Weeks’s previously unseen early short films. The film is presented in widescreen for the first time and undoubtedly looks much better than the awful VHS print that I watched when I reviewed the film two years ago.

My only complaint is where is the interview with Marianne Faithfull? I’d love to see what she had to say about the film so it’s a shame that Nucleus Films wasn’t able to convince Marianne to share her thoughts about the production.

It seems like I’ve spent an incredible amount of time focused on Marianne Faithfull here at Cinebeats in the past year but I’m not the only person with Marianne on my mind. Britain’s Q Magazine recently named Marianne the “Icon of the Year” during their annual awards ceremony in October. She’s also been doing a lot of interviews with the British press. I always enjoy reading what Marianne Faithfull has to say because she’s one of the few women in show business who has aged gracefully and is still making great records at age 65.

Last but not least, here are a few links that I thought other Faithfull fans might enjoy including a link to my review of Ghost Story written in 2007.

- My review of Stephen Weeks’ Ghost Story (1974)
- Official Nucleus Films site where you can order the DVD
- Marianne Faithfull is Q Magazine’s Icon of the Year
- A recent Interview with Marianne Faithfull

* Nov. 6th Update: Nucleus Films was kind enough to contact me and let me know that they tried to get in touch with Marianne Faithfull but weren’t able to. I suspected as much but I hope Marianne realizes how wonderful she was in the film and is able to do some kind of promotional interview about Ghost Story once the DVD is released.

Comments (6)

Akira Kobayashi Turns 72

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 4, 2009

Categories | Actors, Japanese Cinema, Joe Shishido, Seijun Suzuki, Kinji Fukasaku, Yasuharu Hasebe, Toshio Masuda, Teruo Ishii, Nikkatsu, Akira Kobayashi

Akira Kobayashi

One of my favorite Japanese actors turned 72 yesterday so I thought I’d make some time to wish Akira Kobayashi a very happy belated birthday. Earlier this year I had planned on paying tribute to Kobayashi during the Japanese Cinema Blogathon but at the last minute I decided to write about director Yasuharu Hasebe instead due to his unfortunate death. After mentioning this I received a few comments and emails from readers who expressed their admiration for Akira Kobayashi and asked if I would write something about him in the future so I thought I’d use his recent birthday to do just that.

Akira Kobayashi is an extremely handsome and multi-talented star who is well-known throughout Japan for his acting chops as well as his singing abilities. Kobayashi was born on November 3rd in Tokyo in 1937 and began acting early in life. At age four he was part of a children’s theatre company and while he was in high-school he became an accomplished Judo champion. His father worked in film as a lighting director so it’s not too surprising that Kobayashi was encouraged to pursue an acting career. Kobayashi joined Nikkatsu Studios in 1956 at age 19 and quickly rose to stardom with a group of young Japaneses hopefuls that included Joe Shishido, Tetsuya Watari and Yujiro Ishihara.

By 1958 Akira Kobayashi was becoming a popular star due to his good looks and obvious acting talents and in 1959 he was teamed up with Joe Shishido for a series of films called the Wandering Guitarist or Rambling Guitarist (aka Wataridori) series. In these popular films Akira Kobayashi and Joe Shishido played wandering heroes that save small villages from gangsters and other criminals. Kobayashi’s character resembled a singing cowboy in the old Hollywood tradition and he’d often whip out his guitar to belt out a tune during the Wandering Guitarist films. The series was so popular that it spawned similar films starring Akira Kobayashi such as The Rambler (aka Nagaremono) series.

READ MORE

Comments (0)

Nicolas Caesar’s Grindhouse Nov. 1-15th

by Kimberly Lindbergs | November 2, 2009

Categories | News, Rants & Raves

Live in the Southern California? Still in the Halloween spirit? Looking for a fun way to celebrate the Day of the Dead aka El Día de los Muertos or All Souls’ Day? Consider stopping by the Hyaena Gallery located in Burbank California Nov. 1-15th and you can enjoy a display of art by my net pal Nicolas Caesar dedicated to Grindhouse Cinema!

From the gallery site:

On Exhibit: Nicolas Caesar’s Grindhouse

Location:
Hyaena Gallery
1928 W. Olive Ave. Burbank, CA 91506
Tel: 1-818-972-2448

Hours of Operation:
Tue - Sat = 11am - 7pm
Sun = Noon - 5pm
Mon = Closed

Comments (0)