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Just a note this morning to comment on the lack of graphics on filmjourney today. We’re experiencing some technical difficulty with our graphics server, but things should be up and running again in a day or two.

Incidentally, we’ve heard from a few people over the months that they’ve experienced difficulty logging-in to the discussion board. This would be a great thread to post such concerns…although, if you could post there wouldn’t be a problem, yes?

Feel free to e-mail Doug directly regarding any technical problems.…

I usually don’t do this sort of thing, but this deal is too good to pass by without mention. Rbcmp3.com, a US e-tailer of Russian media, is apparently offering a buy-one, get-one free deal for two of my favorite films, Andrei Tarkovsky‘s Stalker (1979) and Mirror (1975).

“The first 10 orders for the film Stalker (DVD-NTSC), a
2 DVD Set,
placed today after 12 noon (midday New York time) will receive a
free disc, Tarkovsky’s Mirror (DVD-NTSC).”

Both discs feature excellent transfers (although Stalker has some very subtle “shifting” problems) and, most importantly, the original mono soundtracks in …

Tuesday night, filmmaker Charles Burnett was invited to screen his new documentary, Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, for a class here at Caltech and facilitate a Q&A afterward. A graduate of UCLA, Burnett is one of the most highly-esteemed filmmakers currently working in the US and he continues to be active in independent and black filmmaking circles. Although he has taken a less mainstream–and more ideologically nuanced–approach to his career than popular names like Spike Lee or Larry Clark, Burnett’s films (including 1977’s Killer of Sheep, 1990’s To Sleep With Anger, and 1996’s Nightjohn) are visually …

As a corollary to yesterday’s post, reader John Davies (a critic for MovieMail in the UK), has submitted lists of Great Films, which I’ve added to the Lists section of filmjourney.

In general, the best lists are those which cast the widest possible historical and geographical net. Movies are a global art form over a hundred years old, and definitive lists should reflect this. In addition, the most useful lists don’t merely affirm our tastes, but compel us to seek new horizons. My suggestion is to jot down some of the titles you haven’t seen, and take the list …

Due to the Los Angeles subway workers’ strike currently underway, I managed to ride my bike about 80 miles in two days and caught six feature films over the weekend: Long Gone, Condor: Axis of Evil, Bright Leaves, Dolls, What the Eye Doesn’t See, and The Runner. And I loved five out of six. Stay tuned for reviews…

In the meantime, reader James Tata alerts us to last Sunday’s New York Times article, “When Bad DVD’s Happen to Great Films”, which, like my own response to Columbia’s shabby Apu Trilogy release, criticizes highly-touted …

Argh! One of the most frustrating aspects of seeking revival films and festivals and one-day screenings is when they inevitably pile up together and cruelly force a choice between them.

After what seemed like a mild dry spell for interesting L.A. screenings, the American Film Institute’s international AFI FEST launches tonight, the UCLA Film & Television Archives’ rare Frank Borzage retrospective heats up, and to make matters worse, the sporadic film club here at Caltech (where I work) has decided to plant a screening of the Iranian film The Runner (1985) in the midst of it all this on Sunday, …