Plato Shrimp » The Youtube Drive-In Theatre is in Bidness

Jinnistan · 11/21/2022 9:16 pm

Minio got me curious about some Jancso.

(I'm trying it with auto-translate subs)

And a couple of freestyle picks.

Rock · 11/21/2022 9:38 pm

Smithereens is good, but I got more enjoyment out of Seidelman’s follow up, Desperately Seeking Susan.

The Pacifist has some of that roving, taking no sides perspective of The Red and the White, but I don’t think it works as well in ‘70s Italy with the far right thugs the heroine brushes up against. That being said, the visual style is pretty interesting on its own (I heard it described as pseudo-3D, which is a good way to summarize its effect), and of course Monica Vitti makes it worth a watch.

Jinnistan · 11/21/2022 10:01 pm

The channel with The Pacifist, Cinema Segreto, has a couple dozen Italian films on there, including several Di Leo films. Worth checking out.

Rock · 11/21/2022 11:55 pm

I'll have to give it a more thorough look. I quite enjoyed The Italian Connection, the Boss and Shoot First, Die Later from Di Leo. I've seen a few others but my memory of those are especially hazy.

Last edited by Rock (11/21/2022 11:55 pm)

Jinnistan · 12/16/2022 3:58 am

Jinnistan · 12/25/2022 8:45 am

Rock · 12/25/2022 11:05 am

Christmas kitsch double feature.

(Btw, both are available on Tubi in nice HD transfers, so would recommend that option if you have it.)

Rock · 12/29/2022 8:08 pm

Rock · 1/10/2023 11:08 pm

Stumbled across this while digging into Shaun Costello's filmography on Letterboxd and saw it linked to in one of the reviews. On the surface, a perfectly serviceable, interesting enough experimental documentary about Time Magazine in the early '90s. Gets a lot more interesting when you realize this might be the only non-pornographic thing directed by the man behind Forced Entry, Water Power and other scuzzy, pre-cleanup NYC dirty movies.

Rock · 1/10/2023 11:21 pm

I watched it on the Criterion Channel, but looks like somebody uploaded the same print onto YouTube.

Jinnistan · 1/11/2023 2:32 am

Thanks for that upgrade, Rock.

I'm also interested in looking into Vera Chytilova's other filmography, but her Fruit of Paradise and Apple Game are not available on Youtube at the moment.

crumbsroom · 1/11/2023 12:03 pm

Jinnistan wrote:

I remember as a child I'd always be disappointed when Days of the Week was on SCTV. Usually, it meant the entire episode would be devoted to it, so I wouldn't be getting any Jackie Rogers Jr. Or Count Floyd. Maybe this wasn't the case in the US because I was shocked to recently discover how different the episodes were Statesside. Completely restructured to the point it almost feels like a different show.

It also probably speaks a lot to how alien humor seemed to me on television when the laughtrack was taken away, which I believe was the case with Days of the Week. That was a horrifying crutch that I'm glad serialized shows have since (mostly) gotten away from.

I think when I rewatched a few episodes of SCTV a couple of years ago, I had a newfound appreciation of their take on the soap opera. Really, they were sort of the greatest. Was always way more of a SCTV person than na SNL one.

Jinnistan · 1/11/2023 5:36 pm

crumbsroom wrote:
I remember as a child I'd always be disappointed when Days of the Week was on SCTV. Usually, it meant the entire episode would be devoted to it, so I wouldn't be getting any Jackie Rogers Jr. Or Count Floyd. Maybe this wasn't the case in the US because I was shocked to recently discover how different the episodes were Statesside. Completely restructured to the point it almost feels like a different show.

It also probably speaks a lot to how alien humor seemed to me on television when the laughtrack was taken away, which I believe was the case with Days of the Week. That was a horrifying crutch that I'm glad serialized shows have since (mostly) gotten away from.

I think when I rewatched a few episodes of SCTV a couple of years ago, I had a newfound appreciation of their take on the soap opera. Really, they were sort of the greatest. Was always way more of a SCTV person than na SNL one.

I'm still more of an SNL guy, admittedly, at least those first seasons.

But I do know what you mean about having to adjust to the SCTV-style humor. Part of that may be due to the lack of laugh-track (because they were very dry) but mostly because the humor was just more mature, and, like soap operas, they were parodying "adult" TV cliches that involved TV that I wasn't familiar enough to always get the jokes. Obviously, early SNL also had a lot of topical jokes (war in Angola?) that went over my childhood head, but I guess I was more invested in then trying to find out what all of that was about. SCTV was an entirely different flavor of humor, an acquired taste but I was also eager to acquire it so I stuck with it until I did.

Jinnistan · 1/20/2023 2:21 pm

Still haven't been able to find much Chytilova on youtube, but here's some other Czech New Wave flicks. I haven't seen any of these yet.

Pearls of the Deep (1966, anthology)

Larks on a String (1969, Jiri Menzel)

Oratorio For Prague (1968, Jan Nemec)

The Joke (1969, Jaromil Jires)

A Jester's Tale (War of the Fools) (1964, Karel Zeman)

Jabberwocky (1971, Jan Svankmajer)

The Cybernetic Grandma (1962, Jiri Trnka)

crumbsroom · 1/20/2023 2:24 pm

The Joke is a good one.

Not so familiar with the others

Rock · 1/20/2023 2:36 pm

I’m hoping at some point this year to dig further into Chytilova and Czech New Wave. There are a bunch of titles on the Criterion Channel (not all of the ones you posted though, will need to look into them). Unfortunately I’ve been getting sidetracked by the usual garbage I watch. (My most watched actor this year so far is Charles Bronson.)

Jinnistan · 1/20/2023 2:44 pm

I have actually seen the last two, but there's not a lot of Svankmajer or Trnka on youtube that I haven't already seen. Look forward to seeing a new Zeman. I read about half of Kundera's The Joke before setting it down and losing track of it.

Since I don't have to post only films I haven't seen, I should go ahead and repost this Czech version of Beauty and the Beast by Juraj Herz.

Jinnistan · 1/23/2023 11:00 am

Why not more Czech? Here's one from 1963 either called The Cassandra Cat or When the Cat Comes or The Cat Who Wore Sunglasses or One Day a Cat, etc etc. We'll just call it Kitty Vasaryova.

Rock · 1/25/2023 12:45 am

Jinnistan · 1/25/2023 12:45 am

Shuji Terayama's Emperor Tomato Ketchup isn't likely to be found on youtube, but this may be the closest thing to it, the 12 minute short film version of that movie called Rock Paper Scissors War.