The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)

[TechnicolorAcid]

All of that would reach its best expression in Russell's astonishing rock opera with The Who, Tommy, a few years later, which is perhaps the ultimate satire of the cult of celebrity and how the "deaf, dumb and blind kind who can sure play a mean pinball" is the perfect empty vessel to elevate into Messiah status (Ann-Margaret in Tommy is kind of in the equivalent role of Vanessa Redgrave in The Devils, made even more Oedipally perverse by also being the main character's mother!)

I can see where you’re coming from by describing Ann-Margaret as Tommy’s equivalent to Vanessa Redgrave’s Sister Jeanne because they both serve as the central hysterical woman in both films but I think that’s also ignoring a key difference between them which is that Ann-Margaret serves as the exploiter of Tommy’s condition, basking in the riches brought about by his pinball wizardry while Sister Jeanne is less the exploiter and more the exploited, her own lust for Grandeur being used to justify the destruction of Loudon while she herself is mercilessly violated without a second thought. I would actually argue then that Sister Jeanne’s counterpart in Tommy is Sally Simpson, both women who have a yearning to be with rock star like figures and who are exploited for their adoration until it devolves into apathetic cruelty (which also makes it a bit cheeky to have Grandeur’s actor Oliver Reed, the man lusted after Sister Jeanne, be the one to kick Sally away from Tommy).

[HardNight'sDay]

Clockwork teased a special announcement this last Sunday for this week. Hoping for a physical media announcement but dreading some idiotic merchandise.

I got a good feeling that Clockwork are going to expand US screenings for one more week. I just saw Instagram posts of LA theaters doing the same and I saw additional showtimes in my nearby theater.

[criterionsnob]

I did notice it was being held over for a second week in my local theatre as well.

[HardNight'sDay]

Clockwork teased a special announcement this last Sunday for this week. Hoping for a physical media announcement but dreading some idiotic merchandise.

I got a good feeling that Clockwork are going to expand US screenings for one more week. I just saw Instagram posts of LA theaters doing the same and I saw additional showtimes in my nearby theater.

Confirmed by Clockwork.

[big ticket]

I'm genuinely shocked they finally decided to let this come out and uncut. I quite literally told a friend a few weeks ago I would eat my shoe in the vein of Herzog if they ever did release it properly in any form. I wonder what changed?

Although I was never the most active user on here, I have become far less active in recent years, yet I have always associated user Big Ben with this film. It looks like you haven’t weighed in on anything since this post, but I would love to know if you have gotten the chance to see it? I believe you have also posted, in the past, that you don’t often get the somewhat limited release stuff, so maybe it hasn’t come through your fair town.

I hope this doesn’t come across oddly — I just have a weird memory, and couldn’t help but to ask!

[Finch]

Wouldn't it be glorious if further demand led them to add a third or even fourth week? Considering what else is playing right now, the Holmes documentary aside.

[Lowry_Sam]

Wouldn't it be glorious if further demand led them to add a third or even fourth week? Considering what else is playing right now, the Holmes documentary aside.

Actually the festival favorites have started general release here: Possible Love, Fjord, La Bola Negra, Fatherland & Once Upon A Time In Harlem, Once Upon A Time In The Middle East, Wild Horse Nine, Musk, Naza, Your Mother x3 are still playing too, There is finally some choice.

[HardNight'sDay]

There's going to be a new documentary about Ken Russell directed by his son.

[Big Ben]

I'm genuinely shocked they finally decided to let this come out and uncut. I quite literally told a friend a few weeks ago I would eat my shoe in the vein of Herzog if they ever did release it properly in any form. I wonder what changed?

Although I was never the most active user on here, I have become far less active in recent years, yet I have always associated user Big Ben with this film. It looks like you haven’t weighed in on anything since this post, but I would love to know if you have gotten the chance to see it? I believe you have also posted, in the past, that you don’t often get the somewhat limited release stuff, so maybe it hasn’t come through your fair town.

I hope this doesn’t come across oddly — I just have a weird memory, and couldn’t help but to ask!

I did manage to see it years ago because some brave soul uploaded an absolutely atrocious rip of the film onto Youtube (The BFI DVD maybe?) for the briefest of moments. It looked terrible, sounded terrible and was obviously not the full uncut version. I am very grateful for this because I obviously I don't get the chance to see things like this very often!

On this note does anyone have even the faintest idea as to what changed over at Warner Brothers? I was never really even able to ever get an answer as to why Warner Brothers was so spooked in the first place, only to have them do a complete one eighty on something that for all intents and purposes was treated like a cursed artifact. Preservation concerns? A desire to make money? I'm still not over the whiplash of "This will never, ever come out" to "Here's this cool ass film that we want you to see"!

[Forrest Taft]

Considering they’re also releasing long-unavailable uncut Avery cartoons now, could it not simply be the result of someone in the legal departement having recently retired? A regime change leading them to take a chance on this?

[Never Cursed]

On this note does anyone have even the faintest idea as to what changed over at Warner Brothers? I was never really even able to ever get an answer as to why Warner Brothers was so spooked in the first place, only to have them do a complete one eighty on something that for all intents and purposes was treated like a cursed artifact. Preservation concerns? A desire to make money? I'm still not over the whiplash of "This will never, ever come out" to "Here's this cool ass film that we want you to see"!

I can't give you a specific answer, but it was probably no more complicated than managerial turnover. Even before the now-completed sale to the Ellisons, Warners went through a lot of high-ranking executives in the last ten or so years, and you can see the effects of that turnover in other places, such as their 180 on the Snyder Cut of Justice League and their conscious pivot to big-budget auteur-driven films in their final years. If I had to guess, some old suit who hated the film retired/got replaced by someone apathetic to its supposedly controversial content and who was willing to only look at it as a potential money-maker and vehicle with which to launch Clockwork.

[HardNight'sDay]

If I had to guess, some old suit who hated the film retired/got replaced by someone apathetic to its supposedly controversial content and who was willing to only look at it as a potential money-maker and vehicle with which to launch Clockwork.

I think that was a long standing rumor to the reason why the director's cut never got released until now.