SCREENING LOG - 6/05/2006-6/11/2006

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Repo Man (1984, Alex Cox)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/
REPO MAN seems like a quintessential kind of fringe movie, one recalls films like KISS ME DEADLY, TWO-LANE BLACKTOP and CITIZENS BAND. Alex Cox grooves on a similar vibe as Terry Gilliam, Barry Sonnenfeld and the Coens - quirky, in-grown subcultures peppered by a pervasive rudeness, often crudely witty. There's an anything goes kind of feel to the movie -- one that unfortunately gives way to silliness by the finale, but has many inspired moments elsewhere. Harry Dean Stanton and Emilio Estevez hold their own individually and as a tandem. And it was great to hear a soundtrack that featured some of LA hardcore's finest, including X and Black Flag.

Personally though, I think THE TERMINATOR qualifies as a more "punk" movie from the same year -- Schwarzenneger as killing machine is more transgressive and anti-social than Cox's entire ensemble of affable outcasts.
yes

Heaven and Earth Magic (1962, Harry Smith)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056060/
The only film still I can find online for this film (http://www.debalie.nl/mmbase/images/27019) doesn't do justice to the whimsy and free movement that grace animation from start to finish. Kind of like an hourlong, black and white version of the cut-out image collage sequences that open Monty Python episodes, the imagery mostly consisting of antiquated turn-of-the century items like hoop skirted women and strongmen. Equally arresting is the soundtrack, which seems to be ambient audio recorded from a carnival - it's a dazzling soundscape experiment that anticipates what the Beatles and Pink Floyd would try years later. I suspect that kids may find themselves more entertained if they watched this instead of CARS.
yes

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