Maniac (DVD)
From the husband and wife team that gave you NARCOTIC (1933), comes this film loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe`s The Black Cat. A madman kills a scientist and conducts experiments of his own in his rat-infested basement. Regarded by some as the worst film ever made, the film actually straddles the line between experimental and exploitation. In an attempt to mimic insanity, disturbing imagery- still raw by today`s standards- fills the screen. Along the way, there are touches of necrophilia, a peek into a (real!) farm where cats are turned into fur coats, and double exposures of demons, and some nudity. Too dark to be campy, too strange to be taken seriously, this one is an original.R"
Director: Dwain Esper
ACTORS: Bill Woods, Horace Carpenter, Ted Edwards, Phyllis Diller, Marion Blackton
Wildflower (DVD)
A dramatic situation changes the lives of the people in a rural farming town in this story about trust, new love and what it means to be a family.NR"
What Time Is It There? (DVD)
A lonely street vendor, Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-Sheng), sells watches near a Taipei subway stop. The death of his father (Miao Tien) furthers his isolation as his widowed mother (Lu Yi-Chang) slips into an unhealthy mourning, hoping her dead husband`s spirit will return to her. The street vendor encounters a woman (Chen Shiang-Chyi) seeking a watch for a trip to Paris--one that can display both Taipei time and Paris time. Unimpressed with his watch selection, the woman persistently attempts to buy the watch off the young man`s wrist. After acquiescing, the woman presents him with a token gift that shines a loving light into the street vendor`s dreary, solitary life. Unable to stop thinking about his obstinate customer, the vendor begins obsessively changing every clock he sees to Paris time, beginning with his own watches and culminating with gigantic clocks atop skyscrapers. His customer, meanwhile, endures a rather lonesome and difficult Parisian vacation.
Writer/director Tsai Ming-Liang (THE RIVER; THE HOLE) meditates on obsession and loneliness with this enchanting unrequited romance that combines elements of deep sorrow and ridiculous slapstick comedy. The film makes great use of his strengths such as the lack of musical score and long, often comedic, takes. Jean-Pierre Liaud joins Ming-Liang`s usual ensemble in a memorable cameo.NR"
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
ACTORS: Lee Kang-Sheng, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Jean-Pierre Liaud, Tien Miao, Chen Chao-Jung
Beats of the Heart - No. 17 Cotton Mill Shanghai Blues (DVD)
This thought-provoking documentary examines the ancient musical traditions of China and the near-elimination of them during the Cultural Revolution of the 1980s. Among the subjects observed: one of the less than 100 Chinese citizens who can still play the traditional zither-like instrument known as the ququin, and a wild wedding celebration in Islamic northwest China.NR"
When a Stranger Calls (DVD)
Young babysitter Jill (Carol Kane) is tormented by a series of disturbing phone calls until a cop (Charles Durning) is put on the case to apprehend the caller, who turns out to be a psychotic killer. Seven years later, after the killer is released, he returns to haunt Jill, now a wife and mother. But having learned her lesson as a girl, she`s now prepared to deal with him! Considered to be one of the most suspenseful films ever made, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS features performances and plot twists the rightfully earned it legendary status."
Director: Fred Walton
ACTORS: Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst, Tony Beckley, Ron O`Neal
