John Wilson’s student film from his days at SUNY Binghamton, an important pivot away from his earlier juvenilia of self-made parodies and inquisitive pranks. In this loosely journalistic, genuinely receptive, no-frills portrait of balloon fetishists, we sense the filmmaker first discovering and cherishing what he would later describe as “that moment you try to stop giggling and get serious.”
Tag: USA
This documentary focuses on AIDS activist, novelist and film writer and National Book Award winner Paul Monette’s life, from his childhood in Massachusetts up to his life in Hollywood and diagnosis and death from AIDS. His story is told in readings from his memoirs and by those who knew him. Narrated by Linda Hunt.
Unconvinced by the Warren Commission’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy, lawyer Mark Lane begins his own investigation. In this documentary, Lane travels to Dallas to interview witnesses, friends of Oswald’s and other people connected with the assassination. Archival footage of the immediate aftermath, an FBI recreation and visits to the scene of the crime are used to argue that the Warren Commission’s report is fundamentally flawed.
Virgil Bliss is a man obsessed with living a normal life, finding a good job, marrying a decent woman and building a family of his own. The only problem is that he is a recently paroled career thief. After his release from prison after nearly a decade he meets Manny Alvarez who takes naive Virgil under his wing and initiates him in the ways of the world. He introduces him to Ruby, a junkie prostitute, with whom Virgil immediately falls in love. Together they form a kind of damaged family, dogged by mistrust, chemical dependency and the weight of their wasted lives. Everything gets even shakier when the psychotic Manny reappears.
Four socialites unexpectedly clash: heiress Brooke Carter runs into gambler Johnny Spanish at the race track while playboy Michael O. Pritchard nearly runs into stage star Kitty O’Kelly with his car. Backstage at Kitty’s show, it turns out she and Brooke are old friends who attended public school together. The foursome do the town, accompanied by Brooke’s companion Elizabeth, who throws herself at Michael’s butler and chauffeur Rodney James.
A seriocomic look at the life of Julie Walker. Bored with her marriage, and encouraged by her friends, she contemplates an affair. Fantasy and reality mix often, leading to complications and headaches.
In 1461, French nobles fearing King Louis XI may seize their lands, join forces with the rebellious Duke of Burgundy to overthrow the king. One of the Duke’s captains suggests enlisting the aid of Francois Villon who is known to oppose the king and is leader of the Vagabonds, a group that robs the rich to aid the poor. In league with Burgundy, Villon and two of his cohorts enter Paris, but are captured by the king’s men. The king, recognizing Villon’s power over the people, proposes that Villon defend Paris against Burgundy and help uncover traitors in the court.
Set in the backyard of a blue-collar South Philadelphia neighborhood early in the summer of 1973, the comedy-drama focuses on the 21st birthday celebration of Harvard student Francis Geminiani. In attendance are his divorced blue collar father Fran and Fran’s widowed girlfriend Lucille, next-door neighbor Bunny Weinberger and her overweight son Herschel, and Francis’ classmates, the wealthy WASP Hastings siblings; Judith (who seeks romance with Francis) and Randy (the object of Francis’ unexpressed affection), who have arrived unexpectedly, much to their friend’s dismay. All are dysfunctional to varying degrees, and the interactions among them provide the play with its comic and dramatic moments.