The 1982 Mini-List

[swo17]

Added

[knives]

Thanks so much swo for including Emily Hubley’s Delivery Man on the masterlist. I wouldn’t have known to seek it out otherwise. It’s such a tremendous film packed with a lifetime of emotion as moment by moment collapses onto itself.

[swo17]

I think I've added all the Hubley films available on those Image DVDs or the Jolly Frolics collection

[TMDaines]

King of Comedy should be here, no? It was properly released in Iceland in 1982. Weird, but that is when it came out and it wasn't just a festival.

[knives]

The bright sun and generally cleaner look to Death Wish II had me enjoying this follow up far more than the first film. It’s still an incredibly dumb and racist movie, but by soft rebooting the first film into neon ‘80s trash it at least works whereas I thought the first Death Wish was just all the worst tendencies of the ‘70s rolled into one.

Two Laws is served less well by comparison as it really highlights how hard what Jean Rouch accomplished was. This film tries the same act as Moi Un Noir, but fails despite or perhaps because of a more conscious political effort. This is a film that sees itself as important with aboriginals telling their story, but the political direction given by the filmmakers is dull and often incoherent. The first segment on police brutality is so rushed through that I almost gave up on the film. Taken from the whole it might be the worst film I’ve ever seen. The film picks up in the other segments, but just barely.

A major flaw of this film and other communal films I’ve seen is that it is just so uninterested in engaging people. I’m honestly curious who this film is for as it is so histrionic as to be intended only for some sort of change in these four categories, but who that doesn’t want the change already is going to sit through over two hours of mumbled rhetoric and poorly staged scenes that you have to spend too much energy to understand. Say what you want on Rouch, but at least I was invested in those characters and their plights.

The Last Unicorn is such a gorgeous movie. Between this and their Baum Santa adaptation Rankin Bass really tried to show they’re all at the end of their career. In particular the animation, from a Japanese studio is beautiful beyond belief. There’s something disturbing and decayed going on here that I’ve only seen Japanese animators try. At its best this reminded me of Otomo. The script is also amazing utilizing these designs for a shockingly interior film that doesn’t use its willingness for darkness to be a crutch.

[swo17]

King of Comedy should be here, no? It was properly released in Iceland in 1982. Weird, but that is when it came out and it wasn't just a festival.

Yes, that is weird, which is presumably why a lot of sources consider it a 1983 film regardless. I found some interesting discussion here with Wikipedia editors debating the issue. I could go either way though I'd lean toward 1983 unless several people here feel it belongs in 1982

[TMDaines]

I'd love to actually be able to stand up that release date in Iceland and find out more.

Edit: I trawled through old versions of the Wikipedia article and found this citation! There's a huge advert for it in a local paper. https://timarit.is/page/1567189?iabr=on ... 1/mode/2up

And here's another one I found myself using the same archive: https://timarit.is/page/2470553?iabr=on ... 5/mode/2up

And one more; https://timarit.is/page/4020939?iabr=on ... 1/mode/2up

It's actually listed in the following weeks too, so clearly was a full release in Iceland in December 1982!

[swo17]

That ad for a 18 December release says Einungis boðsgestir a sjálfa = invited guests only. Is there any evidence of a wide release in 1982?

[therewillbeblus]

Personally, I find it challenging when we switch years down to the current project part-way through. Is it possible to be more strict about this to support the structure sought from these lists to begin with - i.e. one can change a film to the 'next' month, or down a month if done proactively at the start of the project, but not after a certain amount of days into it?

I realize this can't really fly as a hardened 'rule' with many titles getting added last minute, but my system requires altering years across several documents and sometimes keeping track of the back-and-forths once I've already created my shortlist is agitating as another thing to keep track of until it's resolved. If this is only bothering me, I'll deal, but felt worth bringing up

[swo17]

I might say that no such changes should be allowed after the 15th of any given month. (If someone remembers a film after that point that isn't in the system at all though, as happened last month with The Prowler, I don't want to put a restriction on adding those.) Also, I do want to be as consistent and accurate as possible with year assignments, but I'm always nervous about that discussion taking focus away from discussion of the films themselves

[therewillbeblus]

If someone remembers a film after that point that isn't in the system at all though, as happened last month with The Prowler, I don't want to put a restriction on adding those.

Yeah, this is what I was talking about - obviously that's important. I do wonder, in cases where these are added at the tail-end of a year, if it's possible to just push them to the next year? That way, anyone who hasn't seen The Prowler (for some reason) can take the time to locate and watch it. The years are obviously not arbitrary, but I think a fair question is: Does assigning the "correct" year by some metric trump the fun aspect of the project that allows people to have more elasticity tracking a film down and consuming it within the parameters of the project. Personally, it wouldn't have bothered me to reassign The Prowler one year later if it meant I had time to revisit it and help make the placement less random and more in the spirit of the project. I don't really care that it's "actually an '81 film."

The 15th works, thanks. For those without back channel access, or who are trying to ethically purchase physical discs to watch for the project, I'm not sure that gives enough time. But that's not always me so I'm not gonna die on that hill.

[swo17]

I'd rather not assign a film to a year that's clearly wrong just so people have longer to see it and include it on a mini-list. If the film is really *that* good, there will always be the opportunity to vote for it in the full decade list

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah I understand that point. I'm thinking of those motivated primarily to participate by year, so it was just a thought in supporting them. That's not me, though, so I'm on board with your rationale.

[TMDaines]

That ad for a 18 December release says Einungis boðsgestir a sjálfa = invited guests only. Is there any evidence of a wide release in 1982?

Yeah, if you check out other papers printed in the week after, it appears to just have multiple daily screenings, like this one here (top right):

https://timarit.is/page/2470805?iabr=on ... 1/mode/1up

I just want to know why. Test market?

[swo17]

Alright, that appears conclusive. Going back to that original Wikipedia link I shared, Jerry Lewis was quite popular outside the U.S. and it seems it was not uncommon for his films to debut in other countries. It's also my understanding that the U.S. release was rather limited so not terribly accessible to most people either. It wasn't a 1983 Oscar contender or anything like that either so I think it makes sense to simply recognize the first theatrical release.

tl;dr: I've made The King of Comedy eligible for this month's 1982 list

[martin]

It's probably pretty obvious by now but I just want to stress that the word "Heimsfrumsýning" from those Icelandic ads means "World premiere". I have no idea why Iceland was chosen though - and so far ahead of any other territory? To test the market seems like a reasonable suggestion.

[knives]

This was a pretty great roundup for the week. I’ll be making a separate post Sunday for all the wonderful shorts I saw. Now onto the feature presentations.

The Green Green Grass of Home is such a warm and lovely film. The kind made better through its visage of simplicity, though it’s storytelling methods especially through characterization are quite complex.

Let’s Spend the Night Together is ultimately only an okay concert film, but there’s a couple of interesting things that give it a new flavour. Ashby is running on speed, and not just the drug, as this movie works quickly with a kind of back to basics feels. There’s no dialogue, interviews, or really anything on the soundtrack beyond the music. It is an album live even more than a concert, but Ashby the editor is having some real fun by contrast slowly moving away from live footage to this sense of absolute montage with skits and scenes. It even has a few acted out shorts. For me this made the experience more exciting than more famous concert films even despite my general indifference to the Stones’ music.

Deathtrap is mostly a lame Sleuth knockoff that in all its twists and turns amps the melodramatics to a point of boredom. Christopher Reeve adds some fun to this overly dry film, which is not funny is the least, but that’s such a small addition in the midsts of such utter mediocrity.

[knives]

Posted my list and it’s weirdly the strongest so far for the decade, but still really oddball to me.

I’ve got 3 almost musicals on it and 5 shorts. 4 of the films are new to me which I feel is a win for my viewing schedule.

[therewillbeblus]

Interesting, I'm having a very different experience. Still have no idea how to structure my top ten, as I feel about the same level of passion for (most of) them as films typically ranked with less tact in the 11-25 slots on previous lists. I like them all a lot though!

One notable variable is that I haven't been watching as many 'new-to-me' films this decade despite plans to do so - but I just got my external hard drive back with about half the files rescued, so hopefully I'll be back on track in the foreseeable future

[knives]

One film you don’t need to put aside too much time for that I highly recommend is Michael Snow’s So is This which is possibly the funniest film I’ve seen so far this year.

[therewillbeblus]

One film you don’t need to put aside too much time for that I highly recommend is Michael Snow’s So is This which is possibly the funniest film I’ve seen so far this year.

I was laughing less than three minutes in - thanks for the rec! Honestly this(..clap) might've moved into my number one slot. It's also not bad purely as a flicker film

[swo17]

Thanks for the thread bump!

Le Jardin des âges (Alain Mazars)

No idea what's going on here (something about butterflies?) but here's zedz:

A prismatic / psychedelic layering of dissolved and reconstituted horror movie tropes, with a Derenian concern for gestures, rituals and thresholds. Brilliant.

Moonlighting (Jerzy Skolimowski)

A real savvy send-up of informational gatekeeping and the political notion of one party thinking they know what's best for others. The specificity to the Polish political climate of the time is all the more impressive when you consider the production schedule detailed by MichaelB here

Ferat Vampire (Juraj Herz)

I wasn't aware that a Ferat was a car, so I was not prepared for this film to go into Titane/Cronenberg territory. (Actually, this model of car was apparently created just for the film, with the name derived from "Nosferatu.") To be clear, this film's villain is a vampire car that drains its victims' blood as they drive it, or perhaps ill-advisedly decide to explore its crevices with their bare hands. A bit more gory than gothic, I think Herz fans would still get a kick out of this.

Images of Liberation (Lars von Trier)

A blatant Tarkovsky ripoff but quite an accomplished one for a student film. This is an extra in Criterion's Europe Trilogy set.

Bad Burns (Paul Sharits)

I too am grateful for knives' last minute rec of the Michael Snow film, though I was a little surprised there when the author started talking about past text-based films and neglected to mention Sharits' Word Movie. Anyway, that's nothing to do with Bad Burns, other than their shared avant-garde interest in pushing the limits of what a film can be. This film, available in the Treasures IV set, is actually outtakes from the film 3rd Degree, which shows the film reel constantly incinerating. From the outtakes it's less clear what's supposed to be happening, but the visuals are compelling without any context.

The Triangle (Priit Pärn)

This is available on the French Priit Pärn Integral set, which is English-friendly and which you'll get more mileage from in upcoming years. Three grotesque caricatures perpetually escape being crushed by life's mundanities, calling to each other all the while. Is this marital bliss?

On Top of the Whale (Raúl Ruiz)

Much of this is more visually straightforward than you might expect from Ruiz, but it still has its share of intoxicated/surreal moments. The film follows a cadre of linguists who discuss various philosophical topics in multiple languages. The English dialogue you can judge for yourself but the parts in Spanish are absolutely filthy!

Thunder (Takashi Itō)

Hopefully I haven't said this before to water down the hyperbole, but this honestly might be the coolest film I've ever seen. It plays with a small bag of tricks that may have been cutting edge at the time but haven't aged a day. This is available on an OOP Takashi Itō Film Anthology DVD set or I suppose you can watch it on YouTube

Toni Basil: You Gotta Problem (Toni Basil & Alan Walsh)

YouTube link. This is part of the "Word of Mouth" video compilation previously mentioned by brundlefly, but to me, this is the clear standout--a Devo cover song paired with the memorable choreography Basil was famous for. What more could you want? Dancing poodles and Basil wearing blinds like a dress? I have good news for you...