BruceH Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 And, of course, there's that old crowd-pleaser, Eraserhead (1977). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christiern Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 I forgot to mention a wonderful film, "Stop!", made in 1970 by the late Bill Gunn. It was a frustrating experience for hims (as were other films). Filmed in Puerto Rico, it focuses on two couples and takes place over a weekend. It's a pretty heavy emotional trip in black and white, except for the last scene, where—on the morning after a emotionally drenching night, the characters are having breakfast. The camera, which has been prying all weekend, moves around the table until one of the characters puts out her hand and says "stop!" In the middle of the table, there is a single rose in a vase—it is red and the represents the film's only color. Very effective. BTW, one of the two women is black (as was Bill) but there is nothing in the script about that—she is, simply, black. I recall Bill's frustration when, after seeing the rushes, the white Warner Bros guys in Hollywood asked/told Bill to have her bare her breasts. He was furious and, I'm happy to say, refused the request. This did not sit well with the Warner Bros execs, who refused to release the picture. I don't think it was ever released. Anyone here ever hear of it? Ever hear of Bill (among other accomplishments, he wrote "The Landlord," "The Angel Levine," and wrote/directed "Ganja and Hess.") His experiences with that last one is were horrendous. Bill started as an actor—he was in "Sound and Fury" w. Ethel Waters—his parents toured w. Bessie Smith. We collaborated on a mini-series based on Alberta Hunter's life. I sorely miss him. But now I'm getting carried away—sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 I forgot to mention a wonderful film, "Stop!", made in 1970 by the late Bill Gunn. It was a frustrating experience for hims (as were other films). Filmed in Puerto Rico, it focuses on two couples and takes place over a weekend. It's a pretty heavy emotional trip in black and white, except for the last scene, where—on the morning after a emotionally drenching night, the characters are having breakfast. The camera, which has been prying all weekend, moves around the table until one of the characters puts out her hand and says "stop!" In the middle of the table, there is a single rose in a vase—it is red and the represents the film's only color. Very effective. BTW, one of the two women is black (as was Bill) but there is nothing in the script about that—she is, simply, black. I recall Bill's frustration when, after seeing the rushes, the white Warner Bros guys in Hollywood asked/told Bill to have her bare her breasts. He was furious and, I'm happy to say, refused the request. This did not sit well with the Warner Bros execs, who refused to release the picture. I don't think it was ever released. Anyone here ever hear of it? Ever hear of Bill (among other accomplishments, he wrote "The Landlord," "The Angel Levine," and wrote/directed "Ganja and Hess.") His experiences with that last one is were horrendous. Bill started as an actor—he was in "Sound and Fury" w. Ethel Waters—his parents toured w. Bessie Smith. We collaborated on a mini-series based on Alberta Hunter's life. I sorely miss him. But now I'm getting carried away—sorry. Never heard of the film, Chris, but it sounds very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 (edited) Today I saw Somers Town, a recent film in B&W by British director, Shane Meadows. 'Fraid it wasn't as good as Meadows' last offering, This Is England. Edited August 26, 2008 by BillF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Two quite recent worthy B&W's are 'Control', already mentioned, and 'Overlord'. 'Overlord' isn't a newly made film but I saw it for the first time recently. I couldn't get over the pristine stock footage that is extensively used in a very skillful way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jostber Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 The 400 Blows Wouldn't have picked you as the porn type. Gotta say it's it's the worst ever translation of a french movie title. From IMDB: The title of the film comes from the French idiom "faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to raise hell". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 The 400 Blows Wouldn't have picked you as the porn type. Gotta say it's it's the worst ever translation of a french movie title. From IMDB: The title of the film comes from the French idiom "faire les quatre cents coups", meaning "to raise hell". If 400 Blows is porn, then so are Howard's End and Hard Times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceH Posted August 27, 2008 Report Share Posted August 27, 2008 The War Game by Peter Watkins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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