by Sam Juliano
I’d love to report on some happy developments but sadly we are not yet in such a position. The pandemic continues to rage and numbers are on the rise daily as businesses are taking a second hit this calendar year. Theaters are again closing their doors though I for one have stayed clear since late February. With a lifetime of film going this hiatus is by leaps and bounds the longest ever, and I’m sure many readers can lamentably make the same claim. In the meantime our deranged commander-in-chief continues to promote baseless claims of voter fraud in an election he lost by over 7 million votes while he is doing nothing during this most awful time in our history.
This past week our resident film scholar Jim Clark has added to his monumental Ingmar Bergman series with a probing, comprehensive account of the film master’s early career gem To Joy. Yours Truly has finally begun to explore the films that are being touted as Oscar contenders in 2021. We watched The Trial of the Chicago 7 by Aaron Sorkin Friday night, and I was reasonably impressed. Strong writing and acting in this largely riveting courtroom drama of events that played out in the late 60s.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Friday) netflix- at home streaming
This coming week I have plans to see a bunch from the prepared list and next week will have a full report.
Click on names for archives
Writers/Founders
Wonders in the Dark 
Far and away my favorite actor under the age of 18 is Tippy Walker in The World of Henry Orient. Liza Minnelli auditioned for the role too. Wisely director George Roy Hill gave the part to the delightfully tomboyish Miss Walker. Where is she now?
Berserk! (1968). Crawford’s legs alone are worth the price of admission. And Crawford in the 1960s was the consummate trouper, turning dross like this into either High Camp or Grand Guignol depending on one’s taste.
Better title for the 1973 musical remake of Lost Horizon: Hello, Dalai.
Watched this for the first time recently and I’m still aghast. Since when is the great Liv Ullmann (dubbed here) a songbird?
To avoid the creep of Mickey Mouse cartoon fascism send moolah to Ossoff and Warnock iffin’ ya can.
Walker was wonderful indeed Mark, and I too would love to know where she is at this time. Yes BERSERK! (1968) is absolutely a high camp, grand Guignol hybrid methinks. Yes the legs too! Ha! I have spent a good part of my life fighting the critical establishment on what I have long seen as the unfair treatment of the still for me beautifully scored and mounted LOST HORIZON musical re-make but it seems though a few have answered my call, most are where you are so all I can say is I completely understand. That said, while I liked Peter Finch and a few others, Ullmann was indeed miscast. Yes it is vital Osoff and Warnock win!!! Obnoxious Kelly Loeffler with her continuous “radical liberal Rafael Warnock BS turns my stomach. Thank you my friend!
“With a lifetime of film going this hiatus is by leaps and bounds the longest ever, and I’m sure many readers can lamentably make the same claim.”
Sigh. Indeed, Sam. I am not even sure what shape cinemas will be in 2021. As it was, distribution for foreign and indie films was quite dismal before the pandemic. Not sure what shape things will be going forward for non-mainstream films. The big studio films will still get released, be it in a physical cinema or a streaming platform or VOD. They will find a way to get people to see them. It is those foreign films that will suffer.
When PARASITE won this year (yes, it this year not a decade ago), some wondered if that would open the door for more foreign films to get mainstream traction. Instead, it may well be the last foreign film that gets such attention for a loooonnnnnng time. I would like to be proven wrong but all I see in the horizon is the big studio films picking up slots going all the way till end of 2021 or finding new distribution deals. Although, I should add that some of the fall festival films do look promising. The problem is I am not sure how long I will have to wait to see them.
Sachin, you really hit the nail on the head when you broach the tragic situation of foreign film and independent film releases jettisoned by the spiraling pandemic. These kind of films (which dominate our year end lists dwarfing commercial releases on any compilation worth anything) require theatrical roll out before they can even be considered for streaming (where would demand be without that urgent first step?) and this year we have been deprived of this. But as you note with acute foreboding, where will this all lead us and the film industry? Is recovery possible now? I still say yes, but we are now paying a price and we have no idea how long this terrible situation will continue. You may well be right by pointing to Parasite as the last film for a very long time to get attention comparable to the American made films that for the time being are still streaming. I am most interested in the fall festival films you have high hopes for and will never lose positive expectations but yes there is a reason to be concerned (an understatement). In any event I saw two very good American films last night on netflix (MANK and SOUND OF METAL) which I feel are well worth your time. I do hope we will at some point have a reason to be positive. Thank you my friend!
There are some interesting new foreign language films on Netflix though like A SUN and KALEL,15 ? And extraordinary to see restored films by Youssef Chahine on there, the highlights for me being THE BLAZING SUN and DESTINY
Man, I found this new Sorkin to be unbearable, nearly unwatchable garbage.
Jaimie, sorry to hear it didn’t work for you. The two films I saw last night (MANK and SOUND OF METAL) were far better than THE TRIAL OF CHICAGO 7, which is a 3.5 (or perhaps 3.0) of 5.0 for me, though obviously you will have it much lower. Fair enough. In any case my friend, I am thinking you will quite like MANK and perhaps even SOUND OF METAL.
https://digg.com/2020/aaron-sorkin-trial-of-the-chicago-7
I mean that sort of stuff is stock Sorkin, but shows he’s bereft of ideas and has been for some time.
MANK I still need to finish, but early returns are really lukewarm, but it did get me to revisit CITIZEN KANE so there’s that. I am really excited for SOUND OF METAL, can’t wait. Your praise (I think?) has me even more excited.
Aye Jamie. SOUND OF METAL was very impressive and moving for me and my 4.5 of 5.0 is high praise indeed. Well, let’s see what your final judgement on MANK is, but I am also at 4.5 with it. As to CHICAGO 7 I went with 3 of 5, so I do see and agree with your issue in good measure. Still loved Langella’s performance and some of the tongue in cheek aspects but yes the film has issues. Hoping to see three films today: Spike Lee’s DA 5 BLOODS (netflix), Kelly Reichardt’s FIRST COW (Amazon Prime) and the Shirley Jackson biopic titled SHIRLEY (Hulu) starring Elizabeth Moss who of course was so good in The Handmaid’s Tale. All were very well reviewed but the proof will be in the pudding.