Here is a quick re-cap of this new challenge set by the MovieMan...
Pick twelve movies that you've never seen before and are very difficult to find on video.
...the full write-up and rules on this meme can be found HERE.
Now, I fully understand that many of these movies can be found, on VHS, youtube and some of them are screened at local theatres (I'm lucky to live in Chicago), but bear with me for the fun of it all.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...
MY HOLY GRAIL LIST.
SHOESHINE (1946) SANDRA (1965)
My desire to see SHOESHINE stems from my obsession with Vittorio De Sica. The man was funny, a brilliant actor and even more so, one hell of a director. SANDRA has become an obsession of mine as well. Number one, because I adore Visconti's other work. Number, two the one sheet for the picture is gorgeous and sexy. And also, Claudia Cardinale is gorgeous and sexy.
VOYAGE TO ITALY (1954) PAISA (1946)
I just caught Rosellini's STROMBOLI on TCM. After seeing the brilliance of that film, and knowing a few of his others I decided to dedicate this night's program to him.
BALOCCHI E PROFUMI (1953) THE GOLD OF NAPLES (1954)
Number one, I couldn't even find the poster art, and or a screenshot from the film BALOCCHI E PROFUMI. All I know is my mother tells me her brother took her to see it when she was a small girl, and she cried all the way home. A quick IMDB search shows me Maria Bava photographed the film as well, making my interest peak even more. THE GOLD OF NAPLES is considered a De Sica classic and I have no idea why this has yet to get a release somewhere.
NAPOLEON (1927) GREED (1924)
Two supposed silent masterpieces that I'm more than dying to see.
CHELSEA GIRLS (1966) SANTANTANGO (1994)
Both of these films would take some patience to watch, so why not put them as a double bill. CHELSEA GIRLS is a semi-documentary about the 1960's counterculture, made to be projected in split screens side by side, thus cutting the 8 hour running time down to 4 hours. SANTANTANGO is Bela Tarr's 7 hour dissection of a small desolate town in Hungry.
HAIL MAFIA! (1966) ITALIANAMERICAN (1974)
I tried to see HAIL MAFIA! once, by ordering from a second rate DVD burning website, but they never sent it and charged my credit card. I was pretty upset I never got to see this story of two hitmen out on a job. ITALIANAMERICAN is a documentary made by Martin Scorsese about his parents and New York Sicilians.
Neither one of these are doubtfully ever going to see a big screen re-release. There is a chance we might see ITALIANAMERICAN at a Scorsese retrospective, and someone may decide to show HAIL MAFIA! on a bill with other forgotten crime films of the 1960's, but I'm not holding my breath.
Now it's my turn to tag five other bloggers. But instead I'll just tag their blogs...
18 comments:
Ok, ok ... I'll try to play. But this is much harder than the last 12-movie meme.
By the way, I hate to tell you, but I just got all three discs of "Satantango" in the mail from Netflix.
Dammit! I knew that Facets here in Chicago had a copy of it, but I didn't know it was queue-able.
You just destroyed all my credibility!
Great list, again - at first I thought you were going to stick with the Italian theme (like with the last 12 movie meme) though I see you expanded on it a bit.
I've seen Shoe Shine, Napoleon, and Greed on VHS & Paisa on TCM but I'd love to see Italianamerican. Another Scorsese doc from that era, American Boy, would have been on my list, except I managed to see a VHS of it a few months ago. It was fascinating...
Your "Damnit!" reaction to the news that Satantango was available reminds me of me when I was posting the first post. I kept checking my shortlist up against Netflix and would feel relieved when one of the titles wasn't on there, like "phew, I can don't have to think of another one now."
Then I'd stop myself - wait a second, should I WANT the movie to be on Netflix so I can see it? Maybe we all secretly desire that Holy Grail. Ah, the vagaries of list-making...
Thanks Movieman-
The task you set with this meme was ridiculous. It took me forever to get a list going, but when I was done, I felt good. "THESE ARE THE MOVIES I MUST SEE!" I told myself.
If you want to see ITALIANAMERICAN go here, http://www.youtube.com/user/gulleyjimson
This guy's got that posted as well as AMERICAN BOY.
I think I'm going to watch them now!
What? No Ikiru?
Cool list and thanks for the tag, I agree with Rick though, this is a much harder list. I should have mine up by tomorrow.
Thanks again.
P.S - Any news on the film-a-thon front?
The rules of this Meme prohibited me from listing IKIRU because it's available by the Criterion Collection.
Plus, I will see it shortly. It's pretty close to 1 on my queue.
Film-a-Thon will be back. Just don't know when. I have been very busy trying to be an independent filmmaker. You know, walking around, typing on my Blackberry. Drinking at Hipster bars. The usual.
Note to self - read the bloody rules.
I like this meme! I actually read through this a couple days ago but somehow didn't notice my blog was tagged. When I find some time, I'm in!
You will love "Ikiru" Joe ...
And sorry about that ... I've watched most of the flick now, and it's, well, hard to describe ...
I'm working on my list now - it is nowhere near as inspired as yours, but it's a list. (As you say it is DAMN DIFFICULT to come up with 12 movies that aren't readily available on Netflix -but then, that's sort of a cause to celebrate, too, isn't it?)
adam-
can't wait to see what kind of list YOU'RE coming up with. I'm sure I'll have to add all 12 to my must see list!
rick-
I'm pretty sure I'm going to love IKURU. I'm seen a good amount of Kurosawa and have never, ever been disappointed.
pat-
My list isn't all that inspired. At least I didn't think so. And you're completely right about the cause to celebrate. What a wonderful time for a film lover to be alive! Can't wait to see your list!
Napoleon is really interesting. If you EVER get a chance to see it, do yourself the favor. It's not the best made film ever, but it's quite fascinating to watch.
Scott
he-shot-cyrus.blogspot.com
I almost bought NAPOLEON on three separate occasions on VHS with Amazon, but held back.
When is that DVD coming out!
I got Voyage in Italy on tape. It's available on R2 DVD. Paisan I saw in class at NYU. I caught the revival of Napoleon theatrically which is how you have to see it when there are three screens. I watched part of Chelsea Girls theatrically and gave up. It's also on R2 DVD. And where were you when Greed was shown on TCM?
Me, I'm still waiting for a legal version of It's Trad, Dad.
Peter-
I only have TCM at work and now I'm super pissed they showed that flick.
Also, I need to get a R2 DVD player. I have no excuse for that one.
IT'S TRAD, DAD sounds interesting. I dig Lester, but probalby should see more of his work before I proclaim my love for him.
You don't need to go out of your way to get a R2 player, just find one that can be easily hacked. My Philips pretty much does the job, although for my viewing it's mostly for R3 as I'm more heavily into Asian DVDs which includes Chinese editions of Japanese films since they have English subtitles.
It's funny how much film lovers have to go through to see the movies they want, isn't it Peter.
Great list, many films here just missed my own. Shoeshine and Napoleon are two I've been meaning to see for ages, though I actually have a copy of Napoleon on VHS. Unfortunately it's nearly unwatcheable, taped off television, the quality of the print is terrible, and the VHS itself is in terrible shape. Voyage to Italy never crossed my mind, though it should have... been meaning to see that one for ages.
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