New features by two favourites

Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur) being absorbed by the Color in Richard Stanley's Color Out Of Space (2019)

The label “visionary” gets tossed around far too easily, but it does apply to two filmmakers whose work begins in genre conventions yet rises to explore themes of horror and human fallibility in complex and original way: too long absent from the screen, Richard Stanley and Larry Fessenden have returned with some of the best work they’ve ever done – the former with the H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out Of Space and the latter with Depraved, a modern meditation on the narrative and themes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Pandemic viewing, Part Four

Tiny Tim as Mervo tries to entertain Jill (Itonia Salchek) in Bill Rebane's Bloody Harvest (1986)

Social isolation and “working from home” mean a lot of time for movie-watching … and the volume far outstrips my ability to say anything substantive about many of the films I do watch: so here I mostly just acknowledge what I’ve been viewing in the past 4-6 weeks. Part four of four.

One of these things is not like the others

The President (Henry Fonda) trapped in the pressure cooker of Mutually Assured Destruction in Sidney Lumet's Fail-Safe (1964)

In 1964, Sidney Lumet’s serious movie about nuclear paranoia, Fail-Safe, had a tough time competing with Stanley Kubrick’s manic black comedy Dr. Strangelove, but it holds its own today as a portrait of a particular moment in social and political history. Meanwhile, Franklin Adreon’s pair of no-budget time travel thrillers from 1966, Cyborg 2087 and Dimension 5, are empty-headed entertainment which offer a touch of nostalgia to genre fans.

Trawling the Internet

Rats take on human form and infiltrate society in Krsto Papic’s The Rat Savior (1976)

With a little time and patience, it’s possible to dig up obscure and interesting movies on the Internet – some public domain, others no doubt illegitimate, some in pretty poor shape, others looking just fine. Here’s a collection of ones I recently discovered and generally enjoyed.

Smart Sci-Fi

The space elevator carries passengers and cargo to the transport ship Aniara in Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja's Aniara (2018)

Quiet, contemplative character-based science fiction movies feel like a refreshing oasis in a desert of big, loud, empty franchise blockbusters. James Gray’s Ad Astra (2019), Pella Kågerman and Hugo Lilja’s Ad Astra (2018), Sion Sono’s The Whispering Star (2015) and Alex Rivera’s Sleep Dealer (2008) provide satisfaction on many levels.

Blasts from the past

Michael Radford’s adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 (1984)

Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen (The Celebration,1998):
Criterion Blu-ray review

More genre viewing

Frank Borzage’s History is Made at Night (1937):
Criterion Blu-ray review

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