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The cloud could be a reference to Assayas' CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA. (A winding, snake-like cloud formation is a central symbol of the film, and I think IFC picked it up for US release.)

Is the splodge on the ground a dead bird of prey?

Rorschach eat your heart out.

bakofalltrades wrote:The cloud could be a reference to Assayas' CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA. (A winding, snake-like cloud formation is a central symbol of the film, and I think IFC picked it up for US release.)

IFC did indeed pick it up. Makes sense. It does look like the Maloja Snake. I kind of thought Criterion might pass on this, but I'm betting you're right.

Feego wrote:To me, the big splotch on the ground by the woman looks more like a sink hole or something rather than blood.

I'm guessing that the two go together, the thing on the ground is fire, and the clue is for The Passion of Joan of Arc.

jedgeco wrote:

Feego wrote:To me, the big splotch on the ground by the woman looks more like a sink hole or something rather than blood.

I'm guessing that the two go together, the thing on the ground is fire, and the clue is for The Passion of Joan of Arc.

No, it has to be Lady Snowblood, Toshiya Fujita has a phantom page and that is obviously snow next to the blood.

The Narrator Returns wrote:

domino harvey wrote:

swo17 wrote:And the rose could be an American Beauty.

Oh God, you may be right. It's with Paramount, and there is some history with the label. I am going with this guess.

It's with Warner Bros. now, thank Christ.

The Blu-ray now has the WB label at the back, but the DreamWorks (live-action at least) catalog up until they went to Disney belongs to Paramount.

And that is definitely Inside Llewyn Davis.

What about Nicholas Ray's JOHNNY GUITAR for the locked and loaded lady?

jedgeco wrote:

Feego wrote:To me, the big splotch on the ground by the woman looks more like a sink hole or something rather than blood.

I'm guessing that the two go together, the thing on the ground is fire, and the clue is for The Passion of Joan of Arc.

When I first glanced at the picture, I too immediately thought of Joan of Arc. But the woman has long, light hair and high heels, so she most certainly is not Dreyer's (or Bresson's) Jeanne d'Arc. I don't doubt that the woman and the splotch might go together, but I don't think that's fire. Whatever it is, it's a horrible rendering, even by wacky standards.

Feiereisel wrote:What about Nicholas Ray's JOHNNY GUITAR for the locked and loaded lady?

Same as above. I don't think they would draw the woman with long, light hair if it was meant to be the close-cropped, dark-haired Joan Crawford or Mercedes McCambridge. Plus, Johnny Guitar is licensed to Olive.

Have we decided the man with the cart = The Merchant of Four Seasons?

SCOTTiE wrote:The frame of the New Years newsletter itself is not typically a clue. For example, the building in 2013 did not reference anything nor the scenario in 2014. If the pattern continues, this won't either.

2010 took place in a Red Desert.
2011 took place on L'Atalante.
2012 took place at a Lonesome Coney Island beach that was Breaking the Waves.
2013 took place in the hellacious burning hotel from Barton Fink. (long delayed)
2014 took place at a Hanging Rock above a Red River and a Bay of Angels.

Any ideas on what the confetti-like items that coming off of the fire/blood/splotch thingy? Surely that would help us with this rendering.

I wonder if the car driving on the treacherous bridge with what may be a blonde woman in the passenger seat is a reference to the opening scene of Carnival of Souls.

bakofalltrades wrote:The cloud could be a reference to Assayas' CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA. (A winding, snake-like cloud formation is a central symbol of the film, and I think IFC picked it up for US release.)

If it is, then this is a record year for modern films. Have they ever done 5?

X's over the gang's mouths = Nil By Mouth?

MongooseCmr wrote:

bakofalltrades wrote:The cloud could be a reference to Assayas' CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA. (A winding, snake-like cloud formation is a central symbol of the film, and I think IFC picked it up for US release.)

If it is, then this is a record year for modern films. Have they ever done 5?

2010 included Che, Revanche, Hunger, Summer Hours, Ride with the Devil, Everlasting Moments, The Secret of the Grain, and The Darjeeling Limited. 2011 brought Fish Tank, Still Walking, White Material, Life During Wartime, Secret Sunshine, and Carlos. Naturally, this all led to predictions of the apocalypse.

Did anybody mention that the river might be referring to...The River?

criterionsnob wrote:King + Eye = The King and I?

Fox just released that on Blu.

Aki Kaurismaki's Drifting Clouds?

I'm pretty sure the eye is for One Eyed Jacks. Jackfish (or Northern Pike) is a pretty common fish species in North America. Nasty things too.

I also agree with the window frame being A Room With a View. I'm too hungover to find the source but I remember reading that Ivory and Merchant sold off their stake in the Merchant-Ivory Co. quite a few years ago when they were having financial problems and the entity that sued Janus films is the purchaser of those rights.

I know it is wishful thinking (and the hair colour is all wrong, more of a Lucy-blonde; and it looks to be out on a cheap Sony Pictures Blu-ray already), but could the lady with guns be Luc Besson's Nikita?

Dressed to Kill seems, to me, to be the most likely candidate for the strapped woman at the bottom.

Would the gang with X's on their mouths be for The Tribe?

FakeBonanza wrote:Dressed to Kill seems, to me, to be the most likely candidate for the strapped woman at the bottom.

Or Femme Fatale, the DVD of which is OOP.

FakeBonanza wrote:Dressed to Kill seems, to me, to be the most likely candidate for the strapped woman at the bottom.

You're probably right, though I did find this Suzuki deep cut: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_ ... nd_the_Gun" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(Also, don't ever Google "naked woman with machine guns" at work.)