Stuart Cooper

[LightBulbFilm]

Stuart Cooper (1942 - )

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/explore_images/121/cooper-ten_w296.jpg[/img]

Filmography

A Test of Violence (1970) (Short) (Available on The Criterion Collection release of Overlord)

Kelly Country (1973) (Short)

Little Malcolm (1974)

Overlord (1975) - The Criterion Collection Region 1 and Metrodome Region 2 (Digitally Obsessed;DVDTalk;DVDTalk;DVDVerdict)

The Disappearance (1977) - Cinema Club Region 2 (Amazon.co.uk)

"A.D." (1985) (TV mini-series)


The Long Hot Summer (1985) (TV)

Christmas Eve (1986) (TV)

"The Fortunate Pilgrim" (1988) (TV mini-series) - Televista Region 1 (Amazon.com)

Payoff (1991) (TV) 


One Special Victory (1991) (TV)

Rubdown (1993) (TV)

Dancing with Danger (1994) (TV)

Bitter Vengeance (1994) (TV)

Out of Annie's Past (1995) (TV)

Dead Ahead (1996) (TV)

Bloodhounds II (1996) (TV)

The Ticket (1997) (TV)

The Hunted (1998) (TV)

Chameleon (1998) (TV)

The Hustle (2001)
(TV) - Key DVD (20th Century Fox?) Region 1 (Amazon.com)

Magic Man (2009)


Criterion Forum Resources

382 Overlord

Web Resources

Films

Variety: A Camera Instead of A Rifle - Stuart Cooper on the making and release of Overlord

Overlord - The Criterion Collection

Overlord: Man Versus Machine by Kent Jones - The Criterion Collection

Stuart Cooper’s Top 10 - The Criterion Collection

Stuart Cooper on IMDb (Page 1)

Stuart Cooper on IMDb (Page 2)

Monterey County Weekly: From The Ashes by Stuart Thornton

Overlord: The Official Home Page

Books

Overlord:Codename:D-Day, June 6, 1944 on Amazon.com

[LightBulbFilm]

I wrote an essay on Stuart Cooper about a month ago as I was shocked at how little information I could find on him and how he seemed to be a sort of "unknown enigma" to the film community, if that makes sense. Of course many of us know his name simply from the Criterion Overlord released two years ago, maybe some of us have watched the short included A Test of Violence... But a filmmaker so little known, well... We know it's hard to get even some of the more WELL known filmmakers films on DVD. There is a DVD of a TV film it seemed Stuart Cooper directed for release in Germany, and possibly Canada. I bought it as it was only a dollar and change, it lacks any menu or special features, the movie only. The movie though, was not very good. To me it felt as if it were a very recycled heist film, even the synopsis on the back of the box compares them to Bonnie and Clyde. There were no real memorable scenes other then Bobbie Phillips' nice breasts and shaved beaver being watched through a telescope. It was covered in this awkward 90s-00s switchover aesthetic where everything looks a bit more bright and metallic and pant suits and perms were the rage for the up and coming "business woman" breaking free from the male grasp. Other than that his films are very rarely seen it seems, sixteen of them or so being Paramount/UPN TV movies released from the late 80s to mid 90s. The Disappearance with Donald Sutherland has a release in the UK by Cinema Club which is a bit on the expensive side as it is out of print, apparently the transfer is not very good and it is cropped to full frame. On top of all that it's the studio cut, not Cooper's original film. I'd like to know if anyone has seen any of his other films, especially Little Malcolm and Kelly Country or know anything about his history or have any biographical information on him. So far the best resource I've found is a small independent newspaper called Monterey Country Weekly which I supplied in the resource section in his profile.

So let's get this discussion rolling, eh?

[LightBulbFilm]

Please! Does anyone know anything about Stuart Cooper?

[LightBulbFilm]

In an attempt to learn more about Cooper I pre-ordered The Fortunate Pilgrim, released last Tuesday, I received it today. I have yet to watch it, but I have uploaded to my hard drive for back up. While looking at the picture from the stills provided in the program I'm using and watching a short bit, it looks like it's a direct transfer from a VHS quality source. I'm quite disappointed, not only because this one-disc release splitting a 270 minute in three parts forcing it on to one DVD cost me a whopping $35.99, but also because Cooper's films are already sparse on DVD, to release a film of his in this kind of quality is simply ridiculous. A little more time and effort put into lesser-known releases would be nice, specifically for lesser known filmmakers. Regardless I plan on watching this as soon as I have the time and will report back. Has anyone else seen this mini-series or planning on picking it up?