reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA (06/19/84)
From: Peter Reiher <reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA>
Filmex is the Los Angeles International Film Exposition, held annually.
This year it's being held in early July (I wonder why? What else could be
going on in LA this July?), and it features a number of science fiction and
fantasy films. Some of these (most of these) are made by independents or
are foreign, and are thus unlikely to get wide distribution. Filmex may be
the only place they're shown. If you're in the Los Angeles area, or are
going to be during July, you might want to look into them. Here is a list
of the obvious Sf/fantasy films (descriptions are direct quotes from the
Filmex brochure):
July 10 "The Company of Wolves"
"Centering on the rich, sensual dreams of a young girl, this
... film ...is a macabre fairy tale set in a world of legend, wonder,
and fear. Angela Lansbury, David Warner, and Stephen Rea star."
(This may be the second hardest film to get into at Filmex. Princess
Anne, you know, the British one, will be appearing before this film
to say something gracious and aristocratic about British film.)
"City Limits"
"Director Aaron Lipstadt and writer/star Don Opper, who made
last year's low-budget sci-fi hit "Android", created this futuristic
adventure story about a fun-loving bunch of kids who have survived
an adult-killing plague. James Earl Jones, Rae Dawn Chong, Kim
Cattrall, and John Stockwell co-star."
July 11 "The Philadelphia Experiment"
"Michael Pare and Karen Allen star in this exciting, action
packed sci-fi thriller, directed by Stewart Raffill, about a secret
navy project in 1943 that goes awry, sending two men through time
to the year 1984, where they become involved in a more dangerous
project that threatens the existence of the universe. New World's
biggest project to date."
July 13 "Eyes of Fire"
"The powers of good and evil clash in this haunting fantasy/
adventure story shot in the beautiful Ozarks of Missouri. Director
Avery Crounse follows a group of Irish pioneers through the 18th-
century American wilderness into an eerie, forbidden valley where
they are attacked by mysterious beings."
"Science Fiction Omnibus"
"The best of short sci-fi films: "The Plant", a lighthearted
fantasy about a most unusual green plant; "The Quest", a modern myth
based on an original Ray Bradbury story; "Renascence", a haunting
B&W film about a woman tormented by a cruel master; "Strange Tangents",
about a modern sorceress, a young magician, and a 3-foot-tall talking
salamander; "The Final Hour", an exciting story of love and death on
a spacecraft in the year 2213."
July 15 "Pessi and Illusia" (Finland)
"In Heikki Partanen's wonderfully imaginative adaptation of
a well-known Finnish fairy tale, Pessi the gnome and Illusia the fairy
fall in love and brave the many dangers and diabolical creatures in a
magical forest that lies in the shadow of war- fought by man. Winner
of the Grand Prize at the Berlin Film Festival's Children's Series."
July 16 "The Plague Dogs"
"As heartbreaking as Lassie pursued by Nazis and as sinister
as "1984", this animated feature by Martin Rosen ("Watership Down"),
based on the Richard Adams book about two dogs who are hunted down
after escaping from a government research facility in England, is a
brilliantly sustained narrative and an experience that will move any
audience."
July 17 "Ring of Power"
"Clive A. Smith's phantasmagorical animated feature about a
diabolical, aging rock 'n' roll superstar is set in a
post-apocalyptic metropolis and features the voices of Paul LeMat
and Catherine O'Hara, and the music of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Deborah
Harry, Cheap Trick, and Earth, Wind, and Fire."
July 19 "Firebird" (Korea)
"Director Eung-Ho Ko's melodrama follows the beautiful
adopted daughter of a sorceress on a small island who believes
that a jealous mountain god will protect her by destroying any
man who tries to haave sexual relations with her. Judging by
what happens to the young artist from Seoul who paints her in the
buff, we have no reason to doubt her."
Those in LA can pick up Filmex calendars a lot of places, including most
record stores and many movie theaters. If anyone outside of LA wants
particulars on ordering tickets, exact times, and locations, send me mail.
I hope to see all of these films (and several others, not sf), and will
post my impressions of the ones I see.
Peter Reiher
ARPA: reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
UUCP: ucbvax!ucla-cs!reihergnome@olivee.UUCP (Gary Traveis) (06/20/84)
Ok, sounds good... What IS Filmex?
boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (06/23/84)
> From: Peter Reiher <reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA> > > July 17 "Ring of Power" > "Clive A. Smith's phantasmagorical animated feature about a > diabolical, aging rock 'n' roll superstar is set in a > post-apocalyptic metropolis and features the voices of Paul LeMat > and Catherine O'Hara, and the music of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Deborah > Harry, Cheap Trick, and Earth, Wind, and Fire." This sounds like a re-titling of ROCK AND RULE, which came out a couple of years ago and ended up a disaster. I never got a chance to see it (I think it lasted only a week in Boston), but considering the reviews it got, I'm not sure that I wasn't fortunate. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...} !decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA
rh@mit-eddie.UUCP (Randy Haskins) (06/24/84)
>> From: Peter Reiher <reiher@UCLA-CS.ARPA> >> >> July 17 "Ring of Power" >> "Clive A. Smith's phantasmagorical animated feature about a >> diabolical, aging rock 'n' roll superstar is set in a >> post-apocalyptic metropolis and features the voices of Paul LeMat >> and Catherine O'Hara, and the music of Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Deborah >> Harry, Cheap Trick, and Earth, Wind, and Fire." >This sounds like a re-titling of ROCK AND RULE, which came out >a couple of years ago and ended up a disaster. I never got a >chance to see it (I think it lasted only a week in Boston), >but considering the reviews it got, I'm not sure that I wasn't >fortunate. > > --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC Maynard, MA) Yes, I would be willing to bet my reputation (such as it is) on it being Rock and Rule in a different package. Rock and Rule was probably a silly name, anyway. Well, one of the advantages of MIT (enter brag mode) is that our Lecture Series Committee does a good job of getting us sneak previews (we've gotten things like "Missing" and "Police Academy") when they are available, and we got to see this flick. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. The people who made it were there and had a little discussion after the flick, asking us what we thought about it and telling us a little about what was behind it. I would consider the animation to be pretty reasonable, and parts of the story are good. The bad things about it: the ending is kinda hokey (like Star Wars, etc.), and the characters are made unnecessarily cute. I was also rooting for the bad guy. Estimated entertainment equivalence (EEE): $1.75. I was very happy to see it for free. -- Randwulf (Randy Haskins); Path= genrad!mit-eddie!rh
RG.JMTURN%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA (07/12/84)
Date: Tuesday, 19 June 1984 15:09-EDT
From: Peter Reiher <reiher at UCLA-CS.ARPA>
To: SF-LOVERS at MIT-MC
Re: sf at Filmex
July 17 "Ring of Power"
"Clive A. Smith's phantasmagorical animated feature
about a diabolical, aging rock 'n' roll superstar is set in
a post-apocalyptic metropolis and features the voices of
Paul LeMat and Catherine O'Hara, and the music of Lou Reed,
Iggy Pop, Deborah Harry, Cheap Trick, and Earth, Wind, and
Fire."
This is almost certainly a re-release of "Rock and Rule", a picture
which bit the big one last year, made by Nelvana, a Canadian animation
house. This, by the way, is the film that convinced Nelvana to stop
doing animated movies (and consequently drop the Elfquest movie...)
James M. Turner
ARPA: RG.JMTURN%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC
JMTURN@MIT-MC
UUCP: Left as an exercise to the reader