Film Journey – Page 59 – world cinema in Los Angeles and beyond

Kuroneko and Jigoku

October 30, 2004 Doug Cummings Film review

While the popularity of Japanese horror films has recently penetrated these shores, the genre has its share of classics, many from the ’50s and ’60s, when Japan’s studio system (like Hollywood’s) was beginning to crumble and smaller studios were experimenting with edgier (and sometimes downright sensationalistic) fare. This weekend, the American Cinematheque has been screening its mini-series, Black Cats and Haunted Castles: Classics of Japanese Horror and the Supernatural, and I’ve managed to see Kaneto Shindo’s atmospheric follow-up to his wonderful 1964 Onibaba (recently released on DVD by Criterion) entitled Black Cat in the Forest (Kuroneko), and …

Updates…

October 28, 2004 Doug Cummings Uncategorized

The gravity of the upcoming US election makes it difficult to concentrate on a lot of movies this week, but stay tuned for at least a couple more reviews. In the meantime:

ïThe new issue of Senses of Cinema is now online.

ïThe excellent Canadian film magazine, Cinema Scope, now has a nice website.

ïWhy I continue to respect Roger Ebert despite the fact that he often subordinates his cinephilia to mainstream mediocrity.

ïLastly, Masters of Cinema has offered its editorial election endorsement.…

Lifeline and Ten Minutes Older

October 25, 2004 Doug Cummings DVD review

Short film compilations commissioned for a theme have been a staple genre of the festival circuit for years, and although they rarely achieve artistic cohesion, they sometimes have their stand-out works and a few of them even manage to get released on video (for example, ’60s collections like Rogopag or Six in Paris or more recent entries like LumiËre and Company or 11’09″01). I’ve watched the first of the two-part Ten Minutes Older (2002) series entitled The Trumpet (the other is The Cello), recently released on DVD in Korea, and found it to be a typical compilation of …

The Cow

October 21, 2004 Doug Cummings Film review, Uncategorized

My friend Mike Hertenstein has outdone himself and written a wonderful review of Dariush Mahrjui’s landmark Iranian film The Cow (1969) as part of his coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival, and to commemorate the film’s release this week on DVD:

“An awareness of at least two sides to every story is a hallmark for Mehrjui ó even a burden; as a director schooled in the West, Mehrjui has been especially attuned to both sides of the old conflict between city and country, clearly overlaid for him with the contrast between Iran and the West. His career after The

White Nights (of a Dreamer)

October 19, 2004 Doug Cummings Film review, Uncategorized

“It is the hour when practically all business, office hours and duties are at an end, and everyone is hurrying home to dinner, to lie down, to have a rest, and as they walk along they think of other pleasant ways of spending the evening, the night, and the rest of their leisure time. . . . and so at that hour our hero, who has not been wasting his time, either, is walking along with the others. But a strange expression of pleasure plays on his pale and slightly crumpled-looking face. It is not with indifference that he looks

Time Out mention

October 15, 2004 Doug Cummings Uncategorized

I’ve mentioned the Time Out Film Guide before as being my favorite capsule review book in print, so it’s a real pleasure that they have included a plug for Masters of Cinema in their newest 13th edition. They also highlight the sites of several friends, including (obviously) DVD Beaver and Acquarello’s Strictly Film School.

It’s great to see the cinephile web community starting to be recognized in print.…