{"id":4284,"date":"2012-02-12T13:36:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T18:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=2873"},"modified":"2012-02-12T13:36:41","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T18:36:41","slug":"festivals-a-go-go-robert-bresson-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4284","title":{"rendered":"Festivals-a-Go-Go + Robert Bresson, Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This past Thursday the TIFF Bell Lightbox began their latest series, the much-touted The Poetry of Precision: The Films of Robert Bresson<\/a>, the first retrospective of France\u2019s idiosyncratic director in 15 years, and the offering is every one of his films. (Only his debut, the 1934 comedic short Public Affairs<\/strong> \/ Les affaires publiques<\/strong>, was unavailable).<\/p>\n

The series of 13 films begins with A Man Escaped<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1956), his best-known work, and perhaps the prototypical prison escape \u00a0drama. Naturally, it’s not available on DVD in North America; alongside L\u2019Argent<\/strong> (1983) and Lancelot of the Lake <\/strong>(1974), Escaped<\/strong> was released by New Yorker, but perhaps it may reappear, now that the once-dead label has been resuscitated by new owners.<\/p>\n

The bulk of his key work\u00a0 – Pickpocket<\/strong> (1959), Mouchette<\/strong> (1967), Diary of a Country Priest<\/strong> (1959), Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne<\/strong> (1945), and Au hazard Balthazar<\/strong> (1966) – is out on Criterion, but hefty chunks from his later period remain unavailable on DVD, except in Europe.<\/p>\n

These rarities (all part of the retrospective) include Les Anges du peche<\/strong> (1943), Trial of Joan of Arc <\/strong>(1962), Le Diable probablement <\/strong>(1977), Une femme douce<\/strong> (1969), and Four Nights of a Dreamer<\/strong> (1971), so there\u2019s plenty of material to choose from.<\/p>\n

Those who missed 3D screenings of Steven Spielberg\u2019s The Adventures of Tintin<\/strong> can find it at the Fox Theatre<\/a> this week, whereas folks wanting some documentary substance can find Black History Month selections at the NFB\u2019s Mediatheque<\/a>, and a mix of subjects at The Projection Booth<\/a>, including Nostalgia for the Light<\/strong>, My Perestroika<\/strong>, and The Ponzi Scheme<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Toronto Underground Cinema\u2019s website\u2019s been rather blank for a while, but in addition to NOW listings, the cinema\u2019s Twitter feed<\/a> does provide screening updates, such as this weekend\u2019s I Hate Toronto: A Love Story<\/strong>, which a number of critics seem to really<\/a><\/em> hate<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Adam Neremberg made a mediocre documentary <\/a>of the country\u2019s alleged (confirmed?) hate-on for the city, but apparently there\u2019s no venal tirade within Daniel Wilson\u2019s film about why a character loathes T.O. Not that it isn\u2019t possible to hate T.O., aka Hogtown, aka The Big Smoke, given we have the country\u2019s dumbest mayor who doesn\u2019t believe<\/a> when council votes, he has to abide by its wishes.<\/p>\n

His pre-vote plea to council is filled with repeated keywords and irony (listen for the broad chuckles when he mentions the word “politics<\/a>” around the midpoint), but I’ve never understood why anyone believed his TTC plan was viable. The same inarticulate demeanor, repeated keywords, and vaguely sketched funding plan was evident in his 2010 pre-election YouTube video<\/a>, so we shouldn’t be surprised by his moronic claim about an ‘irrelevant<\/a>‘ council vote this past week.<\/p>\n

‘Nuff said.<\/p>\n

Finally, George Lucas has re-released The Phantom Menace<\/strong> in 3D, as promised years ago when he felt his one-franchise legacy needed another retooling for the masses.<\/p>\n

Does anyone care? Will anyone care when it debuts on Blu-ray in a BR-3D, BR, DVD, Digital Copy package at Xmas? Will anyone go see the second dull entry in 2013 when he repeats the release scheme? Will the world finally acknowledge the prequels are terribly boring films made by a merchandising licensor who was never a good director in the first place?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some irony: whereas Disney uses their ‘vault’ as an excuse to re-release moratorium-shackled films every few years, Lucas just rolls them out in differently treated media formats. The difference: Disney makes new movies <\/em>once in a while and restores them (minus insensitive ethnic minutia), whereas George indulges in the ongoing practice of Lucasification, changing things because he can.<\/p>\n

The prequels are still the same terrible films with bad dialogue, bulbous hairstyles & rattails, and wonky casting. Here\u2019s a posit: if everyone who wanted the films on Blu bought them in 2011, and George has no intention of releasing the original 70s \/ 80s entries in their non-Lucasified versions, what in the hell is he going to sell at Xmas 2012 and 2013?<\/p>\n

Even the Bond franchise needed a reboot (Casino Royale<\/strong>) after a gradual downward spiral, but the promise of a new entry every few years at least offers whatever creative team in charge of Bond film \u201cX\u201d an opportunity to overhaul and improve things now and then (badly needed this time, after the ineptly edited & paced Quantum of Solace<\/a><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

George just has the same 6 films, and way too much time to fiddle when he could try a new franchise. How about The Adventures of Space Potato: Paprika Mash-Up 2045<\/strong>? There\u2019s no way he can Lucasify potatoes 10 years down the line.<\/p>\n

So far, the reviews seem to chime the same tune: even in 3D, the flaws that upset critics and sensible fans alike are<\/a> still<\/a> very<\/a> much<\/a> present<\/a> (except this<\/a> very odd one). What is it the ING barker says on TV? Save your money<\/a>?<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com <\/strong>( Main Site<\/a> \/ Mobile Site<\/a> )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the TIFF Bell Lightbox begins its latest retro – a full-on salute to French filmmaker Robert Bresson – I’ve added a review of A Man Escaped (1956). Also noted: screenings in town, those that ‘hate’ Toronto, Rob Ford’s ‘irrelevant’ fixation, and the latest Lucasified indulgence that no one seems to care about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[6,5],"tags":[887,141,102,1084,658,1085,287],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-176","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4284\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}