Thanks to my sweet son Liam, I have the Criterion Channel for a few months.
Thus far, I’ve had a lot of entertainment!
One small piece, meaning time wise, was Scorsese’s American Boy: The Steven Prince Story. Steven Prince is a wiry Jewish man from NYC who became buddies with Scorsese back in the 70’s and did an acting turn as a gun dealer in Taxi Driver . This is a biographical interview of Steven Prince with rich story telling. Steven tells the real life story that became a scene of Tarantino’s iconic Pulp Fiction. Enough said. Catch it if you can.
Bad Dreams was a preciously sweet indie film written and directed by Dustin Guy Defa, a film fest nominee for several different films (most recently The Adults at the Berlin Film Festival). He also often works with Michael Cera who I think is terrific.
In Bad Fever, an actor I’m about to start stalking (in his movies, not real life) is Kentucker Audley who plays the social anxiety ridden, wanna be stand up comic, Eddie. Heartbreakingly gorgeous acting and an atmospheric run down town (filmed in Salt Lake City 2006) where he teams up with toughie loner Irene, played by Eleonore Hendricks.
Can’t say enough about this one. I’ll be embarking on a more recent Kentucker film called Strawberry Mansion which won an audience award right here in Sarasota in 2021.
In the Realm of the Senses, whoa Nellie, X-rated, from 1976 (that crazy decade) was co-written by Koji Wakamatsu (Cannes nominee and double Berlin Film Award winner) and Nagisha Oshima (Cannes winner in 1978 as well as 4 other nominationns). The latter helped to start the New Wave in Japanese Cinema (wirling my cigar like Groucho, a very wet wave) also directed In the Realm of Senses, which, speaking of awards, won the Chicago Film Fest (kinky sob’s, I joke).
I pulled a DNF half way through as soon as the female lead (Eiko Matsuda who died of brain cancer at 58, Lord) pulled out scissors and suggested castrating her lover played by Tasuya Fuji (who just won, as an 83 year old an award for a movie called Great Absence!) while he was inside of her…Nope! Can’t do violence.
Before that scene, however, I commend the film for going against stereotype. Just when you’d think the male would be the perverted one who can’t get enough, these two writers spin that old story on its head and make her the insatiable villain.
And I had certainly never seen images such as these in a film before. Getting surprised at 60 is always welcome.
