From: k206027@smog.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE (Bakayaroo Banzai)
Subject: Re: The Wierd List
Organization: Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum GmbH, Hamburg
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 07:34:37 GMT

In article <1ja0oh$j92@agate.berkeley.edu> annie@garnet.berkeley.edu  (Anne Jessop) writes:
>In article <1993Jan14.142359.7806@news.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE> k206027@smog.DKRZ-Hamburg.DE (Bakayaroo Banzai) writes:
>[in response to Patrick's assertion that Ken Russell is a self indulgent
>twit] 
>>I would have said the same thing about Roeg's early film career. Self-
>>indulgent is certainly a term that would apply to films like 
>>"Performance" and "Man Who Fell to Earth". I can enjoy Russell's films
>>for what they are. Any director who's not self-indulgent is making pap
>>for the masses.  Personally, I find Roeg to be just a *hair*
>>away from unbearably pretentious and some of the violence
>>in "Performance" would probably make Tobe Hooper wince...
>
>I absolutely wholeheartedly agree with you, except that I wouldn't limit
>it to Roeg's early career.  Don't forget _Track 29_ and _Cold Heaven_. 
>The only thing he's done that I halfway liked (and I actually enjoyed this
>one) was _Insignificance_, where Theresa Russell plays "the actress"
>(Marilyn Monroe).  But even that was pretentious.  Roeg has this habit of
>going, "LOOK! HERE COMES SOME SYMBOLISM!!!  DON'T BLINK! IF YOU MISSED IT,
>HERE'S SOME MORE!!!"  I hate that.  Of course, it doesn't help that
>Theresa's acting isoften distractingly bad, and he puts her in almost
>every film he makes (Eureka, Insig., the opening sequence of Aria, Track
>29, Cold Heaven. Note: when looking up her "filmography" to make sure I
>didn't forget anything, I noticed that _The Bare Facts Video Guide_ says
>that she's married to *Ken Russell*.  Boy, you'd think they would check
>their facts a little more closely...) 
>
Yes, Mr. Roeg has that annoying habit of showing you the same images
multiple times. Can we blame him for MTV?..:) I have to admit that
The Man Who Fell to Earth is growing on me (like a tumor...). Maybe
i'm rationalizing the fact that the video cost me 30 bucks. He seems
to be unable to really bring a character to life being rather more
concerned with injecting his films with heavy-handed symbolism.

Didn't he also direct "Don't Look Now" with Donald Sutherland and
Julie Christie? Now *that* was a terrific film, and the symbolism
was entirely appropriate to the plot.

> >How do you feel about Russ Meyer?
>
>The man's a genius.
>
I want to be adopted by Tura Satana!...:)

I saw "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" on cable about a year ago...
Unfortunately, it was on USA so it had been hacked to pieces. The
Freakout Attack of Z-Man/Superwoman had been completely edited out!

Pray for the video release...!

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