Day: June 9, 2016

I’ve been calling for a Bluray of Ken Russell‘s Women in Love for a long time, and I just noticed today that a BFI Region 2 Bluray will pop on August 22nd. Which means, presumably, that Criterion, Kino, Olive or Twilight Time will release a stateside version before long. Or not. Maybe they don’t care. I’m not waiting — Amazon.uk promises that the BFI Bluray will be at my doorstep by 8.27.

Posted on 2.25.14: Ken Russsell‘s Women in Love (’69), indisputably his greatest film, demands a meticulous high-def remastering, if for no other reason than the cinematography by Billy Williams (Gandhi, On Golden Pond). Women is one of the most sensual films ever made about men, women and relationships (and I’m not just talking about the nude wrestling scene between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates), and one of the most anguished in portraying the sadnesses and frustrations that plague so many relationships and marriages. It’s also one of the first mainstream films to really explore and dramatize the lives and longings of free-spirited, semi-emancipated 20th Century women (i.e., Glenda Jackson‘s Isadora Duncan-like Gudrun and Jennie Linden‘s somewhat more conservative Ursula) in a historical context.

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I chose to miss the 1.22.16 Sundance Film Festival showing of Ezra Edelman‘s O.J.: Made in America because it would have eaten up an entire day. (It runs 464 minutes.) I asked the ESPN guys if I could see it at a later date — they ignored me. It then played at the Tribeca Film Festival but I couldn’t attend that. Then it played theatrically in NY and LA between 5.20 and 5.26, when I was in Cannes and Prague. I wrote the ESPN guys again yesterday and today to see if there’s some kind of way to watch it online, and again they ignored me. It’ll be shown in five parts on the tube this weekend — Part 1: 6.11.16, 9 PM (ABC); Part 2: 6.14.16, 9 PM (ESPN); Part 3: 6.15.16, 9 PM (ESPN); Part 4: 6.17.16, 9 PM (ESPN); Part 5: 6.18.16, 9 PM (ESPN). Eventually it’ll be purchasable via streaming or Bluray. It’s said to be brilliant, but what a chore this whole thing has been, thanks to the ESPN guys.

Last night I saw James Wan‘s The Conjuring 2 (Warner Bros., 6.10) at an Arclight all-media screening, and…okay, it was scary at times. I have to admit that the black-eyed demon nun (played by Bonnie Aarons) got to me. But it was just as Walmart-y as I expected. It’s a horror film made for people who don’t respond to scary stuff unless it’s jolting, grotesque, amplified and super-intense. No subtle pings for Wan and his fans. Because the fans are simply too coarse and insensitive to be receptive to anything that doesn’t grab them by the lapels. They want growls, howls, shrieks, loud thumpings, etc.

Prediction: a sizable percentage of those who will pay to see The Conjuring 2 this weekend (it’s expected to make $35 to $40 million) will complain about Personal Shopper not being scary enough or too oblique or whatever.

The Conjuring 2 is way, way too long. I was watching, waiting…whoa, that was scary!…shifting around, wishing I’d bought some popcorn. Then Patrick Wilson got out the guitar and serenaded the kids with “I Can’t Stop Falling In Love With You.” I looked at my watch at the 105-minute mark and said to myself, “We’re almost at two hours and this thing is still futzing around…when are the narrative strands going to start coalescing into some kind of third-act climax?” Well, the damn thing lasts 134 minutes.

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I’m not saying that Sen. Elizabeth Warren should or will run as Hillary Clinton‘s vice-president during the general campaign. I wouldn’t blame her if she decides to keep her Massachucetts Senate seat. And in a recent NBC interview I’m pretty sure I detected a reluctance on Clinton’s part to even offer the vp slot to Warren, whom she fears would overshadow her. Hillary is correct in this assessment. Warren is our finest embodiment of serious, tough-as-nails progressive change while Hillary is merely a scheming “it’s our turn!” opportunist riding the coattails of the Sanders-Warren movement. I’ll be voting for Hillary in November, but the only way I would do so with any enthusiasm would be if Warren is also on the ticket.

If nothing else, those who catch The Conjuring 2 this weekend will come away humming this 1961 Elvis Presley song, which was first performed in Norman Taurog’s cinematic classic Blue Hawaii. Little-known factoid from Blue Hawaii Wikipage: “Producer Hal Wallis would use the box-office returns from Blue Hawaii to finance an upcoming Wallis film, 1964’s Becket, starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole.”

Seriously — in what ways has Hillary Clinton shown herself to be in league with Elizabeth Warren‘s beliefs in this respect? Deep-pocketed donors and secretive SuperPACs have been the mother’s milk of Hillary’s campaign, and she’s certainly not well known for standing up to Wall Street interests thus far.