criterionforum.org

Stephen Thrower wrote:When a filmmaker shoots twelve movies in a single year, arranging them in the correct order is a major challenge; if you're not careful you end up with chaos. This question of accurate sequencing vexes me because it's such a basic biographical requirement: can you imagine a book about Woody Allen putting Love and Death after Annie Hall? Unthinkable! The Franco challenge is uniquely difficult: if you're writing about David Cronenberg, for instance, each film arrives as a discreet temporal entity; with Franco you have to dig deep, looking for fleeting clues to divine the chronology...

...You would perhaps expect me to have cooled towards my subject over the years, but no: I still adore the best of Jess Franco, there's much to enjoy in the middle-to-average work, and even the lowliest titles can exert a weird fascination. In Jess's entire career there are probably only fifteen films I never want to watch again, out of a total of 181!

Having seen all the Franco films it's currently possible to see, I find myself looking back fondly at the days when my tally was less comprehensive. I suppose what I'm saying is, enjoy the sensation of not having seen all of Franco's films. It's precious! If you've seen forty or fifty, you're in a truly luxurious position. You're in the coils of a major obsession and still have so much to see! The dream-continent of Franco stretches before you, with its mist-shrouded valleys, brooding coastlines and hidden tribes. Take time to savour the excitement as you head deeper into unexplored territory, like Lina Romay in Shining Sex, "travelling through the portals of space" to "an unknown shore far, far away". As you venture onwards, may Flowers of Perversion be your trusty guide and companion.

Faisal Ahmad wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:59 pm Apart from the Peary books mentioned way back in the early parts of this thread, are there any books worth buying as an intermediate/advanced guide to cult films?

Dr Amicus wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:13 amAnother Mendik (edited) book worth hunting out is Unruly Pleasures: The Cult Film and its Critics - some great articles in there. Also fun is Jonathan Ross's The Incredibly Strange Film Book - Ross can be a bit of a tit at times, but he knows his cult cinema.

Cinephile1 wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:20 am The three greatest books about cinema as an artform: Raymond Francis Carney, Jr. The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies, ... Raymond Francis Carney, Jr., ed., Cassavetes on Cassavetes... Raymond Francis Carney, Jr. Shadows

Godot wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 5:50 pm

Cinephile1 wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:20 am The three greatest books about cinema as an artform: Raymond Francis Carney, Jr. The Films of John Cassavetes: Pragmatism, Modernism, and the Movies, ... Raymond Francis Carney, Jr., ed., Cassavetes on Cassavetes... Raymond Francis Carney, Jr. Shadows

Did you list these because of Carney or Cassavetes (or both)? If it's the former, I prefer his books on Dreyer (Speaking the Language of Desire) and Capra (American Vision) and recommend them to you.

black&huge wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:17 am How is Imogen Sara Smith's In Lonely Places? I only recently discovered her and wanted to check it out.

Dr Amicus wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 8:13 am Another Mendik (edited) book worth hunting out is Unruly Pleasures: The Cult Film and its Critics - some great articles in there. Also fun is Jonathan Ross's The Incredibly Strange Film Book - Ross can be a bit of a tit at times, but he knows his cult cinema.

ianthemovie wrote: Fri Jun 28, 2019 11:09 am Throwing out another essential cult-movie resource: Michael Weldon's Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film. An eclectic compendium of capsule reviews, many of them hilarious, covering a wide range of cult classics, forgotten B-movies, films maudits, exploitation fare, Eurotrash, etc.