New Pic: Rivette & Birkin

Jacques Rivette and Jane Birkin on the set of Rivette's latest, 36 vues du Pic Saint-Loup (via theauteurs).

"I want my babyback, babyback, babyback-"

"Relax, America! Antichrist Arrives With Genital Mutilation Fully Intact"

If not, Europe's Artificial Eye announced the uncut DVD slated for November.

Hou: The Bar Has Been Set

James Udden's latest work, No Man an Island: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and the Aesthetics of Experience, is the first English language text-book fully donated to Hou Hsiao-hsien and it comes at a time when I'm sure many are craving not just a rich study of the director, but also a means to wash away the taste of Richard Brody's latest happening on Godard .

It's a must-buy!

More Lubitsch on DVD

Universal will release a Claudette Colbert Collection, featuring Ernst Lubitsch's Bluebeard's Eighth Wife. No word yet as to whether or not these films will be available individually, though my gut tells me they wont be.

UPDATE Full specs are now up, and it looks like the disc will also contain Mitchell Leisen's No Time For Love.

This Close!

Tonight on Entourage the four chodes (one of whom does not have a legal license) found themselves speeding around a racetrack while in cars not built for head on collisions. I thought it was finally going to happen. Le sigh.

Esther Doffs a Penis...

... but Freudian analysis does not create significant cinematic events out of average material. Sorry bloggers.

With Posters This Good, Why Film It?

Le Femme de Paul did, however, lead to favorite Masculin Féminin. More on Godard's semi-scrapped project here.

Teaser Watch: Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque

Jane Birkin* should be thrilled by the casting choice (via Living in Cinema).

Martini Movies, With A Vengeance

Jacques Demy's Model Shop, easily the best Martini-themed cover from them.

And more proof that the Martini Movie line is absurd as all hell.

Aldrich's ...All The Marbles Comes to DVD

Just finishing it's run at BAM's "The Late Film" series, Warner Archive will unleash Robert Aldrich's ...All the Marbles onto DVD in a few weeks.

I still haven't seen this, but considering Aldrich's films and their relationship to masculine stereotypes, his film about female wrestlers is a must watch for sure.

Another Judd Apatow Interview

Excerpts from this.

On the original script for Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy:
Basically, it was about anchormen flying to an anchorman convention. Mid-flight, they hit some sort of UPS plane and they crash into a mountain and it becomes like the movie Alive. All the anchormen start dying, they start eating each other. And occasionally, the contents of the UPS plane — which was monkeys and throwing stars — start attacking their base camp. And we sent that around, and it was SO funny, but we couldn't get anyone to make it.

[snip]

On the somewhat disturbing influence of Adam Sandler on his career and writing style:
Adam is very open about certain things. He's the first guy I knew who would talk about masturbating. [...] When I moved in with Adam, he'd be like, "Hey man, let's go to Red Lobster but first I'm gonna go whack off. I'll see you in ten minutes." And then he'd come out and be like, "Okay, let's go." And that threw me. And he had a running thing where he'd would always say, "Let me see the cock. Lemme see. Lemme see what you got." And I was like, "I'm not going to show you my penis." And he was like, "Lemme just see it, let's get it over with." And one day when I was peeing, I saw him standing behind me in the mirror. [Mimes Sandler looking at him quizzically] And then he just goes, "Alright, man, alright."

Below is an uncanny outtake from Sayonara Davey, one of the fake films Sandler's character in Funny People is supposed to have made, though seeing that Apatow's film was at one point pushing three hours, it got cut.

And as Joe knows after seeing my Netflix ratings, I'm kind of a fan of Adam Sandler. Hopefully Funny People is not what industry insiders have been calling it for months: Unfunny People.

Nee How, Onion!

The Onion spoofs American news outlets who have been bought out by foreign investors... with brilliance (video below).

3 Discs???

Artificial Eye's upcoming release of Jacques Rivette's La Belle noiseuse looks to be a MUST-BUY as the 4 hour film will be joined by a third disc... possibly his Divertimento?

Can anyone confirm if this is true?

Trailer Watch: Andrew Bujalski's Beeswax

Beeswax, the latest from Andrew Bujalski will open at NYC's Film Forum on 8/7, and if you like trailers, here's one courtesy of the film's distributor Cinema Guild.

Those familiar with the chick magnet know I'm a huge fan of Bujalski's Mutual Appreciation, but for anyone randomly stumbling across this site and who have not seen or heard of MA, do yourself a favor and rent it, or just blind buy it.

Sometimes Just Pretzels and Beer

An obnoxious corneal syndrome has limited my computer use, but I will be back shortly... stay tuned.

The Whipped Cream June 2009

Top 5 of the Month

Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People

Sidney Lumet's The Anderson Tapes

Andrei Tarkovsky's Mirror

Otto Preminger's Porgy and Bess

Hou Hsiao-hsien's A Summer at Grandpa's

ALL FIRST-TIME SCREENINGS
24 Hour Party People (2002, Michael Winterbottom)
500 Days of Summer (2009, Marc Webb)
Alice or the Last Escapade (1977, Claude Chabrol)
The Anderson Tapes (1971, Sidney Lumet)
Away We Go (2009, Sam Mendes)
Bigger Than Life (1956, Nicholas Ray)
The Blue Gardenia (1953, Fritz Lang)
Casa de Lava (1994, Pedro Costa)
Clash by Night (1952, Fritz Lang)
College Life (2009, Various)
Departures (2008, Yojiro Takita)
Directed by John Ford (2006, Peter Bogdanovich)
Frontier of Dawn (2008, Philippe Garrel)
The Hangover (2009, Todd Phillips)
The Hit (1984, Stephen Frears)
Human Desire (1954, Fritz Lang)
The Human Factor (1979, Otto Preminger)
I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here!: Season 2 (2009, Ingmar Bergman)
Mickey One (1965, Arthur Penn)
Mirror (1975, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Next (2007, Lee Tamahori)
Night Moves (1975, Arthur Penn)
The Ninth Gate (1999, Roman Polanski)
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009, Steve Carr)
Porgy and Bess (1959, Otto Preminger)
Sex and the City (2008, Michael Patrick King)
A Song is Born (1948, Howard Hawks)
A Summer at Grandpa's (1984, Hou Hsiao-hsien)
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009, Tony Scott)
Up (2009, Pete Docter)
Year One (2009, Harold Ramis)