Would-Be One-Time Art House Titans

[beamish14]

I’ve been thinking of some filmmakers who had just one or two shots with feature films. It’s amazing how many are African-Americans:


-Billy Woodberry

-Matty Rich

-Charles Lane

-Theodore Witcher

-Leslie Harris

-Wendell Harris

[hearthesilence]

Billy is actually on Facebook and he's active on there. He taught at CalArts for many years, retiring in 2021, but he did do documentary work and even acted in a few films by friends like Charles Burnett and James Benning. I'm not sure if anyone every straight up asked him why he only made one narrative feature, but I imagine the answer is obvious - he would've if he could, but all you have to do is look at the difficulty others have had, including Charles Burnett, and it's likely similar obstacles proved too daunting for him to pursue narrative filmmaking as a career, hence teaching.

When Chameleon Street was restored and returned to circulation a few years ago, Wendell Harris was asked about this when he was interviewed, and he made it clear all the doors he thought were open to him were slammed shut in his face - he couldn't get a viable deal anywhere except for selling the rights to remake Chameleon Street for a modest sum (when it became clear it wasn't going to lead to anything more lucrative), and even that proposed remake never happened, with the deal lapsing and the rights returning back to him.

Really fucking sad, but such is the nature of the American movie business.

[beamish14]

Woodberry and Charles Burnett both taught/teach at Cal Arts (which employs a huge number of notable filmmakers as at least lecturers/adjuncts).

Matty Rich and Charles Lane both made films for Disney/Touchstone during their incredibly unprofitable and tumultuous early 90’s era, and I think both of their films were significantly retooled against their wishes.

One other filmmaker I thought of is Peter Wang, who acted in Chan is Missing before making the well-received A Great Wall (1986) and two other features before decade’s end and then going MIA.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Woodberry and Charles Burnett both taught/teach at Cal Arts (which employs a huge number of notable filmmakers as at least lecturers/adjuncts).

Matty Rich and Charles Lane both made films for Disney/Touchstone during their incredibly unprofitable and tumultuous early 90’s era, and I think both of their films were significantly retooled against their wishes.

One other filmmaker I thought of is Peter Wang, who acted in Chan is Missing before making the well-received A Great Wall (1986) and two other features before decade’s end and then going MIA.

I’ve had friends that studied with Woodbury and Burnett who attest to both being angels. Apparently Burnett’s dream was to get bigger Hollywood productions and the closest he got was The Glass Shield.

What happened to Peter Wang? His films are begging for rediscovery. No one talks about The Laser Man, the very odd mix of American Independent film with Hong Kong cinema produced by Tsui Hark.

[beamish14]

Woodberry and Charles Burnett both taught/teach at Cal Arts (which employs a huge number of notable filmmakers as at least lecturers/adjuncts).

Matty Rich and Charles Lane both made films for Disney/Touchstone during their incredibly unprofitable and tumultuous early 90’s era, and I think both of their films were significantly retooled against their wishes.

One other filmmaker I thought of is Peter Wang, who acted in Chan is Missing before making the well-received A Great Wall (1986) and two other features before decade’s end and then going MIA.

I’ve had friends that studied with Woodbury and Burnett who attest to both being angels. Apparently Burnett’s dream was to get bigger Hollywood productions and the closest he got was The Glass Shield.

What happened to Peter Wang? His films are begging for rediscovery. No one talks about The Laser Man, the very odd mix of American Independent film with Hong Kong cinema produced by Tsui Hark.

Burnett has been trying to get a $20 millionish production off the ground for years. Even getting an honorary Oscar didn’t do a damn thing for him or Euzahn Palcy

Fun, very little-known fact: Burnett turned down at least a million dollar paycheck to direct the Eddie Murphy vehicle The Distinguished Gentleman (1992)

[beamish14]

Nancy Kelly made the wonderful Thousand Pieces of Gold in 1991 and has been very vocal about her inability to get another project funded

[Zot!]

Boxing Helena was always considered a bit of a bomb, and it didn't impress me when I saw it 30 years ago, but it got a lot of press for being controversial in its day. Never even made it to Blu-Ray from what I can tell.

Considering the continued interest in "body horror", Cronenberg, Lanthimos's Poor Things, and The Substance, especially as it involves gender politics and so on, I'm surprised this has managed to stay so successfully forgotten.

[DeprongMori]

Nancy Kelly made the wonderful Thousand Pieces of Gold in 1991 and has been very vocal about her inability to get another project funded

It just went on sale to purchase for streaming on CheapCharts for $4.99.

[Lowry_Sam]

Boxing Helena was always considered a bit of a bomb, and it didn't impress me when I saw it 30 years ago, but it got a lot of press for being controversial in its day. Never even made it to Blu-Ray from what I can tell.

I remember it well from the dvd cover, as it had the distinctive MGM Avant Garde series branding. I picked up many dvds in that series but passed on that one because of its poor reviews. Some others from the series never upgraded to blu that I had wished Criterion picked up: The Adjuster, The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Angels & Insects, Dance With A Stranger, The Hanging Garden, I Shot Andy Warhol, Longtime Companion, & Without You I'm Nothing.

Criterion has released more from the series than anyone else on blu: Blue Velvet, Desert Hearts, Hollywood Shuffle, Mystery Train, Shallow Grave, Sid & Nancy, & Stranger Than Paradise.

Olive released Impromptu, Prick Up Your Ears, Alice's Restaurant & The End Of Violence.

Shout released The Handmaid's Tail, Tank Girl, & Bagdad Cafe (all now OOP) & Jeffrey.

Sandpiper released Boxcar Bertha, Heavy Traffic, It's My Party, Marat/Sade, & River's Edge

Kino released The Party & The Indian Runner.

Scorpion released Fritz The Cat

Vinegar Syndrome released The Belly Of An Architect

MGM released Oleanna themselves.

Capelight released The Lover on UHD (only one I'm aware of).

[beamish14]

Indicator released a terrific disc of Oleanna

I’m a huge fan of Without You I’m Nothing and brought it up in the Nic Roeg thread.

It is very surprising that Longtime Companion continues to languish

[Captain Paranoia]

I believe Mary Harron confirmed that Criterion is working on I Shot Andy Warhol and plans to release it next year.

But yeah I'm kind of Boxing Helena hasn't seen a reappraisal in the same way the oeuvre of the director's father has - ideally, we'd see a 4K restoration of the director's cut with most of if not all the extras from the LaserDisc set.

[CSM126]

Good luck to any label that tries to rehab Boxing Helena. Rewatched it recently and it’s just plain bad. I think it was memory holed for a reason.

[Zot!]

Now you are making me want to rewatch it! As Lowry_Sam mentioned Boxing Helena was, regardless of quality, considered worthy of a prestige "avant garde" banner by MGM at the time with Kim Basinger (at her peak popularity) originally slated and all sorts of "troubled production" press.

[zedz]

When a major label throws around terms like 'avant garde', all it means is "we have absolutely no idea how to market this."

[Zot!]

But yeah I'm kind of Boxing Helena hasn't seen a reappraisal in the same way the oeuvre of the director's father has - ideally, we'd see a 4K restoration of the director's cut with most of if not all the extras from the LaserDisc set.

Holy crap, I forgot all about this....yeah, they released it TWICE on laserdisc, and when you consider that the movie warranted THIS kind of release in its day, it might just be the waning titan champ of the home video era.

[spectre]

It also screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year as part of a surprise "women in horror" double bill (together with Mika Ninagawa's Helter Skelter) and seemed to generate some pretty enthusiastic reviews on Letterboxd at the time!

[beamish14]

Jennifer Chambers Lynch is very active on her father’s subreddit. Someone should ask about a future 4K release