WELCOME to the Messageboard for the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival and Marathon!!
FULL LINEUP! Note Order: THE MATRIX in 35mm! ONE MILLION YEARS BC in 35mm! LAPSIS, READY PLAYER ONE in 70mm! DREDD, MAD MAX, PREDESTINATION, TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN (aka INVASION), UPGRADE, ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, DEEP BLUE SEA in 35mm! and BLAST FROM THE PAST. Plus! A bonus surprise! And, of course, Duck Dodgers! More to come
SF MARATHON INFO LINKS
SF/49 Official Information Page Click here
Reactions to 2024's SF/49 lineup? POST here
>List of ALL Films that have played the Marathon. Click below
Click here for The History Of The Marathon/Festival

The Next Marathon will be held Presidents' Day Weekend 2024 at the Somerville Theater.
It will be preceded by the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival. For ticket info: www.Bostonsci-fi.com


  Welcome, Guest. Please Login or Register
   
  HomeHelpSearchLoginRegister  
 
 
Pages: 1 2 3 
Ken Russell (Read 28302 times)
Nov 28th, 2011 at 5:46pm

R_F_Fineman   Offline
God Member
Boston

Gender: male
Posts: 688
*****
 
No, not the guy from the 80's "The Thing," Ken Russell was one of Britain's great surrealist directors. "Altered States" played the Marathon.

"Before that he was a sane, likable TV director," (Oliver) Reed said. "Now he's an insane, likable film director." Wink


http://omg.yahoo.com/news/british-film-director-ken-russell-dies-84-092929369.ht...
 

21st Century Man
IP Logged
 
Reply #1 - Nov 28th, 2011 at 5:58pm

Metaluna   Offline
Full Member

Gender: female
Posts: 219
***
 
R_F_Fineman wrote on Nov 28th, 2011 at 5:46pm:
No, not the guy from the 80's "The Thing," Ken Russell was one of Britain's great surrealist directors. "Altered States" played the Marathon.

"Before that he was a sane, likable TV director," (Oliver) Reed said. "Now he's an insane, likable film director." Wink


http://omg.yahoo.com/news/british-film-director-ken-russell-dies-84-092929369.ht...

I don't think Altered States has graced our screens. Plenty of times in the audience perhaps... Lips Sealed
 

"MAKE ME A SERGEANT, CHARGE THE BOOZE!"
IP Logged
 
Reply #2 - Nov 28th, 2011 at 8:44pm

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
Metaluna is correct. Believe it or not, ALTERED STATES has never played the Marathon. A few years back I tried to rectify that by locating a print. I did track one down that had played in L.A..
...
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #3 - Nov 28th, 2011 at 9:30pm

Joe Neff   Offline
Junior Member

Posts: 59
**
 
Agh, what rotten news.  Here's the posting I just made over at the Columbus board:

It's a tremendously sad day for fans of gonzo cinema everywhere, as legendary madman director Ken Russell has shuffled off this mortal coil at the age of 84.  Over the course of his wildly eccentric career, he forged an enduring and tempestuous artistic partnership with fellow worshipper at the altar of excess Oliver Reed, who starred in Russell's film version of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love and co-starred in the day-glo, psychedelic, emotionally powerful screen adaptation of The Who's Tommy.  Russell also reteamed with Roger Daltrey for the bizarre Lizstomania, which echoed his earlier interest in bringing the lives of classical composer to life with the Tchaikovsky-centric The Music Lovers and 1974's Mahler.  You could say that the ebbs and flows, the manic emotions and dramatic lulls of classical music perfectly mirrored Russell's own auteurist bent.

But, of course, the two films that give Russell explicit relevance in this thread are 1988's Lair of the White Worm (which holds the honor of being the first ever premiere at a Columbus Horror Marathon) and none other than what is possibly his strongest collaboration with Reed: The Devils.  In many ways, the film is not a traditional horror film, and there are still longtime Nightmarathoids whose only memory of it involves glimpses of naked nuns invading their half-conscious vision during its late night screening at the 1992 Night of the Living Drexel.  But The Devils remains a deeply disturbing film, ever more relevant as the years pass for its depiction of religious hysteria and some very real human monsters.  It's also one of the more difficult films to see today, never released on legitimate DVD and still scorned by the suits at Warner Brothers (for an excellent look at the enduring controversy, check out longtime friend of the Marathon Marc Edward Heuck's blog post on the topic.)  It's no secret that Bruce and I have been dying to show this again for years; maybe now we'll find some way to make it happen.


Altered States played the Columbus Marathon in 1997.  To say that it was a highlight would be an understatement.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #4 - Nov 28th, 2011 at 10:03pm

David the Projectionist   Offline
Senior Member
The Living Dinosaur at
the Somerville Theatre

Gender: male
Posts: 328
****
 
Joe Neff wrote on Nov 28th, 2011 at 9:30pm:
But The Devils remains a deeply disturbing film, ever more relevant as the years pass for its depiction of religious hysteria and some very real human monsters.  It's also one of the more difficult films to see today, never released on legitimate DVD and still scorned by the suits at Warner Brothers


     I ran an IB Tech print of that at the Harvard Square Theatre, many, many years ago.  The movie is drawn from a stage play, which itself was drawn from Aldous Huxley's only non-fiction book (I believe), The Devils of Loudon, which was first published in 1952.  I have a first edition.
     If you think the movie is disturbing, you should read the book.  You will go blind with outrage & fury.
     Russell, as was his out-sized habit, made something of a mess of things: what with the bathroom tiles for sets & Oliver Reed chewing up the scenery for all he was worth.  But nothing could smash out the power of the play or the book, not even Russell, & the film remains effective in spite of its multitudinous faults.


Quote:
Altered States played the Columbus Marathon in 1997.  To say that it was a highlight would be an understatement.


     Only if you can get me a 70mm print, in MEGASOUND!!!!  I think they were all printed on SP stock, so youd have to find one that was well-stored.
 

I have seen the future, and it is sucky digital....
IP Logged
 
Reply #5 - Nov 29th, 2011 at 1:31pm

Joe Neff   Offline
Junior Member

Posts: 59
**
 
David the Projectionist wrote on Nov 28th, 2011 at 10:03pm:
  The movie is drawn from a stage play, which itself was drawn from Aldous Huxley's only non-fiction book (I believe), The Devils of Loudon, which was first published in 1952. 


Brave New World Revisited!

I bought a copy of Devils of Loudon many years back, but I've never gotten around to reading it.  Maybe now's the time.
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #6 - Nov 29th, 2011 at 1:32pm

Frank   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks

Posts: 541
*****
 


Ken Russell - I dunno all too often his work wanders into the pretentious or preachy  with a few too many dollops of artifice.  I include Tommy, the Devils, The Music Lovers, Lisztomania, Women in Love.  Flashes of genius that never really develop into great movies. 


 

I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
IP Logged
 
Reply #7 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 12:14pm

David the Projectionist   Offline
Senior Member
The Living Dinosaur at
the Somerville Theatre

Gender: male
Posts: 328
****
 
     And dont forget his unexpected appearance as Walter in The Russia House!
     Perfect casting, if you knew who he was (& most people didnt).
 

I have seen the future, and it is sucky digital....
IP Logged
 
Reply #8 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 1:09pm

Jon   Offline
Junior Member
MA

Gender: male
Posts: 76
**
 
...and while we're rambling on, let us not forget that bizarre production of "The Boyfriend" with Tommy Tune and Twiggy!  Smiley
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #9 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 1:53pm

David the Projectionist   Offline
Senior Member
The Living Dinosaur at
the Somerville Theatre

Gender: male
Posts: 328
****
 
Jon wrote on Nov 30th, 2011 at 1:09pm:
...and while we're rambling on, let us not forget that bizarre production of "The Boyfriend" with Tommy Tune and Twiggy!


     If Russell was directing, "bizarre production" was de rigueur!  How many titles of his can you name that were not "bizarre productions?"
     No time limit on this.
     Perhaps RF can use that in the next trivia quiz!
 

I have seen the future, and it is sucky digital....
IP Logged
 
Reply #10 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 8:58pm

L.A. Connection   Offline
YaBB Administrator
SF Rocks

Gender: male
Posts: 1767
*****
 
A nice 35mm print of ALTERED STATES played in L.A. within the last year or so. I will certainly push for it this February.

Ken Russell is certainly an acquired taste. I might agree that he is more eccentric than coherent, but, what eccentricity! I wasn't a big fan of GOTHIC, but LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM is a kinky funky genre film as well as the quite good ALTERED STATES. Russell was too much for even it's screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky to handle, but Paddy's script certainly gave Russell more structure than he often had, and it's a vibrant melange of the two men's styles.
A bit less bizarre (and not a genre film) that folks might want to seek out: SAVAGE MESSIAH.


...
 
IP Logged
 
Reply #11 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 9:20pm

David the Projectionist   Offline
Senior Member
The Living Dinosaur at
the Somerville Theatre

Gender: male
Posts: 328
****
 
L.A. Connection wrote on Nov 30th, 2011 at 8:58pm:
A nice 35mm print of ALTERED STATES played in L.A. within the last year or so. I will certainly push for it this February.


     Altered States in 70mm
ONLY
Not negotiable.  Did you ever hear the SOUND of that movie in 70?  No comparison: 35 hasnt a chance.
     Dont make me hurt you.
 

I have seen the future, and it is sucky digital....
IP Logged
 
Reply #12 - Nov 30th, 2011 at 9:27pm

David the Projectionist   Offline
Senior Member
The Living Dinosaur at
the Somerville Theatre

Gender: male
Posts: 328
****
 
Joe Neff wrote on Nov 29th, 2011 at 1:31pm:
I bought a copy of Devils of Loudon many years back, but I've never gotten around to reading it.  Maybe now's the time.


    You wont be sorry!  In fact, I predict youll thank me if you do sit down & read it all!
 

I have seen the future, and it is sucky digital....
IP Logged
 
Reply #13 - Dec 1st, 2011 at 12:55pm

R_F_Fineman   Offline
God Member
Boston

Gender: male
Posts: 688
*****
 
Dave:
Quote:
How many titles of his (Russell's) can you name that were not "bizarre productions?" No time limit on this.
     Perhaps RF can use that in the next trivia quiz!


Good idea but bizarre is kind of a relative term. Back in the 90's I dated a woman sort of like Amanda Donohue's character in "Lair of The White Worm". Wink

Speaking of bizarre, Garen posted on his facebook page that the theme this year would be "Steampunk". I guess that means for the music I'll have to do a redux of "Big in Japan" and "WTF Was That" Wink
 

21st Century Man
IP Logged
 
Reply #14 - Dec 1st, 2011 at 2:05pm

Frank   Offline
God Member
SF Rocks

Posts: 541
*****
 
R_F_Fineman wrote on Dec 1st, 2011 at 12:55pm:
Good idea but bizarre is kind of a relative term. Back in the 90's I dated a woman sort of like Amanda Donohue's character in "Lair of The White Worm". Wink


That's good bizarre!!!!
 

I bring you peace. It may be the peace of plenty and content or the peace of unburied death.
IP Logged
 
Pages: 1 2 3