What a fun lineup. I think the Channel’s really nailing the summer feel this year. As always, there’s a palpable absence of Boston Crime collections, but I imagine they’re just waiting for the fall to get into that one.
‘90s Soundtrack Movies is a superb theme. As an 80s kid I have to say I think 80s soundtracks are also excellent; still, the write up is correct, the 90s really brought underground music into the cinematic conversation. The only movie I haven’t seen from this one is Deep Cover and it’s been on my watchlist for other reasons, so there you go; I am thrilled to see Velvet Goldmine and Ghost Dog get a run on the Channel and I would like to rewatch both of them; and So I Married an Axe Murderer is maybe peak Mike Meyers weirdness and worth some time. Also the co-curator here, Yasi Salek, seems cool.
Bit of a mood swap to Bigas Luna’s Outrageous Passions. I’ve been enjoying watching a few more Spanish films here and there the last year or so, so I’m in for Jamón Jamón cause look, Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz? Let’s see what we get. I’m not totally into grotesque for the sake of grotesque but I am into movies that examine the filmmaker’s culture.
It is undeniably true that Sammo Hung Kicks Ass. More Hong Kong representation! Eastern Condors is the cream of the crop here but most of these are worth your time. Brace yourself for broad humor — the Lucky Stars series is unabashed slapstick and I don’t actually love them, for example. Get on Sammo’s wavelength and you’re golden. And his fight scenes are always seriously good.
I know nothing about Maurice Pialat beyond what I just read in the lineup announcement. Contemporary to the New Wave but not part of it is interesting; influential on my beloved Leos Carax is very interesting. I’ll definitely take the time to look through these movies and see what’s intriguing. A mutual of mine on Letterboxd compares Under the Sun of Satan to Possession, which is high praise.
And in Director Spotlights, I find myself once again asking questions like “Why is Bigas Luna’s collection not in this section?” I don’t get the distinction between Director Spotlights and other collections from a specific director, but anyway Michael Roemer has a few movies here; I don’t know his work so I will research a bit. Nothing but a Man does seem worthwhile, particularly as a snapshot of racial attitudes in the 1960s.
OK, on to the non-collection section.
Hey, there’s gonna be a persistent Anime section! Very good. I happen to have been thinking I wanted to see Tamala 2010 because the sequel is showing at Fantasia, so I suppose I’ll find out if I should have seen the sequel retroactively. Other than a nice coincidence, I’m just happy every time the Channel gets a bit broader.
The music films/documentaries star Dig! XX this year. The Dandy Warhol/Brian Jonestown Massacre story is great; I’m intrigued by the update.
Always nice to see a few more from Scorsese’s World Cinema Project. This time around the titles include an Iranian movie and an Argentinian movie and I am very much enjoying the cinema of both those countries at the moment. And good chance they’ll become permanent denizens, I think.
None of the Criterion Collection editions really jazz me other than the two I’ve mentioned, Eastern Condors and Deep Cover. Oh, no, I’ve had Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould on my mental watchlist for ages; sounds like an interesting story. And there’s a discussion with director François Girard and Atom Egoyan? Nice supplement. So OK, three of them jazz me.
On the rediscoveries side, I was jazzed by Ma Mère until I read Letterboxd reviews and now I am not. Huppert can’t always carry a film, I suppose. Psycho Beach Party goes on my list of movies to watch when I’m looking for simple fun. Thomas Gibson before Dharma and Greg and before he came out as an asshole on Criminal Minds — sure.
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