We hope to provide provactive, informative and original discussion of any and all cult movies from around the world: FILM NOIR, SCI-FI, DRIVE-IN, EUROCULT, WESTERNS, WAR, SWORD & SANDAL, HORROR, CRIME, EXPERIMENTAL... you name it, we'll try to cover it commentary and reviews. From Roger Corman to Sergio Corbucci, Orson Welles to Kaiju, Ed Wood to Lucio Fulci and beyond...
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COPYRIGHT: Robert Monell and authors of posts-2006.
6 comments:
For in-depth information about the 1956 United Artists documentary motion picture, "UFO," there is an article from the 1970s by Robert Barrow entitled "'UFO Revisited.'" It currently appears on at least four web pages, but the best of them contains photos and may be found --with an additional article about the movie--at http://www.nicap.org/uforevisiteddir.htm. There are two magazine covers shown; simply click on either to see the article that accompanied that issue originally. For French readers, a version translated into French may be found (no pics) at http://ufologie.net/htm/greenerouseufof.htm.
Welcome Doc...Might you start with a chic word of the moment, "noir"? What defines noir? Is it the grainy black and white of Casablanca or The Maltese Falcon or the wet streets and full moon nights of LA Confidential? Everything is referred to as noir these days,how does it play out in our media culture?
Good point, Jeffrey. It's a question of semantics, I think. There are even noir TV commercials. Check out the FILM NOIR READER books where you have some compelling writing on the topic. I think it was Paul Schrader who said that film noir is not a genre so much as an attitude and style. Most date it from THE MALTESE FALCON through the late 50s, at least that's the classic period and there are film noir collections of DVD which include such key titles as OUT OF THE PAST, which is my own favorite. Robert Mitchum and Bogart are the ultimate noir actors. Then you have CHINATOWN and LA CONFIDENTIAL which consciously strive to look and act like film noir, which were made after the genre was identified. I call them neo-noir. In terms of writers, Raymond Chandler seems to sum up the style. The recently deceased Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer novelKISS ME DEADLY and the film based on it is also golden era noir. Orson Welles' last American film TOUCH OF EVIL is maybe the last of the classic noir category, based on an obscure crime novel. I hope to find time to talk about these and many others. For the record my own favorite film noirs: THE PHANTOM LADY, OUT OF THE PAST, POINT BLANK (good example of a noir filmed in color), THE BIG SLEEP (but not the 1970s remake), THE LONG GOODBYE (the 1973 film of the Chandler novel and another example of a color noir), TOUCH OF EVIL, DETOUR, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, DOUBLE INDEMNITY. There's a ton of vintage literature I'd like to find the time to read, especially the complete works of Raymond Chandler and Cornell Woolrich/William Irish. I also like the crime fiction of Jim Thompson. And Welcome to the blog!
Thanks for UFO info and welcome to the blog, anonymous. This rather obscure "documentary" notice the quotes is well worth seeking out. It was probably ahead of its time. Is this on DVD yet?
The Doctor will be displeased to learn that there is no DVD of "UFO" and no plans for one appear to be in the works. A massive e-mailing or letter-writing campaign amongst thousands of fans to MGM/UA would be immensely helpful, though unlikely to occur. - REB
Actually, that's a good idea. They used to have this MIDNITE MOVIE series of DVDs which were less than 10 dollars and featured sci fi from the 50s and 60s like MARS NEEDS WOMEN, EMPIRE OF THE ANTS and Roger Corman Poe double features. I have most of these and they are high quality transfers from vault elements. I could see a double bill of UFO [which is actually a well crafted intelligent approach to the matter and, in ironic counterpoint, RED PLANET MARS, which I've always wanted to see since I appreciate crazed right wing-political-agitprop-sci fi with conservative Christian overtones, like BLOOD FREAK in the horror genre or THE GREEN BERETS in the war genre. Keep your eye on the blog today as we'll be considering more flying saucer cinema lore.
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