Editorial
Mike Williams gives us an obituary of David Lynch who graces the cover of yet another edition of the magazine. It was only in the September issue that he was there on the front cover, again with the editorial from Mike Williams and a nine page feature. See my post of 26th August 2024. This time there follows thirteen pages in his memory.
Opening Scenes
Ehsan Khoshbakht talks about the Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof 's film The Seed of the Scared Fig. It was never on general release but it was on one evening at the Rex Berkhamsted. "His films are sombre and introspective".
Editor's Choice
Of the six features here, there is a recommended podcast called The Great Political Films: Jeanne Dielman etc. Only on Spotify, Apple and Amazon.
In Production
Ben Wheatley's Normal being filmed in Canada, Robert Eggers might be filming Werewolf and Christopher Nolan planning Homer's Odyssey using brand new IMAX technology.
AI Spy, Obituary, In Conversation, Reader's Letters - nothing worth including.
Mean Sheets
Designer Brian Hung's posters for four of Hong Sangsoo's films that include three with Isabelle Hupert.
The Long Take
Pamela Hutchinson says "it was thanks to VHS that I became a cinephile" and how David Lynch was a huge part of that. She goes on to describe lots of VHS movies from every vintage.
Flick Lit
Nicole Flattery tells us that the film Babygirl inspired her article about affairs with younger men on film. "As much as I enjoyed Babygirl and All Fours I was fascinated by their inability to address either power imbalance".
TV Eye
Andrew Male talks about Star Wars: Skeleton Crew on Disney +. "Of to greener pastures and bluer skies".
David Lynch 1946 to 2025
An obituary over thirteen pages, most of which we have read before. He also graces the front cover as he did in September's issue. Is this all just too much? There is an interview he gave with Chris Auty for the Guardian Lecture at the National Film Theatre in December 1984. And from the Dight and Sound Archives, nine people from the film industry talk about his work.
Phantom Ride
Steven Soderbergh talks to talks to Philip Concannon about his new film Presence. It is filmed from the point of view of the ghost in a suburban house. So the camera is the ghost we never see as it observes the family who have just moved in. With a script by David Koepp. "The challenge of choregraphing the shots. It sounds interesting, a small film on a tiny budget, the opposit of his other new film Black Bag. That has a reported budget of $60 million and stars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett.
My Sister Chantal
I didn't know that Sight and Sound have an Auteurs Series. The latest one hundred page print special is about Chantal Akerman. The director who died in 2015 whose films include Jeanne Dielman etc. Here the director Celine Sciamma (who I now know directed the superb Portrait of a Lady on Fire) writes about how she is influenced by Chantal's work.
Truth Be Told
A six page special about Mike Leigh's new film Hard Truths. But not for me.
The Wound Is Never Closed
Director Walter Salles talks to Geoff Andrew about his new film I'm Still Here. (On at the Rex next week). A woman's husband disappears after his arrest in 1971 Brazil. "A triumphant return" from the director. There is a great piece about the casting of Fernanda Torres in the lead role of the wife and mother to five children. Apparently not for the faint hearted.
Reviews : Films
Already seen Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown - see reviews. Want to see I'm Still Here (see above), Presence and The Seed of the Sacred Fig. No sign of any review for Bridget Jones or Captain America. I'm Still Here is reviewed by Nick James who says "Biopics are rarely to my taste but the power of this film overcame my prejudice". Then Leigh Singer reviews A Complete Unknown and calls Monica Barbaro "excellent" as Joan Baez, and that director James Mangold "nimbly navigates actuality". From South Korea comes By the Stream directed by Hong Sang-Soo's is his thirty second film. The rehearsing of a student play sounds interesting.
DVD and Blu-Ray - nothing of interest.
Rediscovery
Nothing is Sacred: Three Heresies by Louis Bunuel.. Three restored films that sound pretty bleak.
Lost and Found
Freelance is a 1970 movie directed by Francis Megahy who went on to direct episodes of The Professionals (1978) and Minder (1979-89). But his earlier film was about a small time crook played by Ian McShane with whom he went on to direct in TV's Lovejoy (1991-2) and other movies. In Freelance there are typical London locations such as Regent's Canal, alleyways and tower blocks. We can only see part of it on YouTube.
Also in this section is a 1988 German film The Cat and Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love. Better though sounded Akira Kurosawa's High and Low described as a "riveting thriller". One to look for except the DVD's are all too expensive.
Wider Screen and Books
Nothing worth including here.
From the Archive
A Star is Born. (Sight and Sound Autumn 1973). Robert Callen talks about the Danish actress Asta Nielson whose eighty films were all made in the era of silent movies. "One of the all time greats of screen acting and a global icon".
This Month in ..... 1998
The best of seven excerpts from that month's magazine is a review of Good Will Hunting.
Endings
It just had to be a Chantal Akerman film: Golden Eighties from 1986. Set in a Brussels underground shopping mall. But not for me.
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