Showing posts with label Museum Of Modern Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Museum Of Modern Art. Show all posts

Friday, January 26, 2018

Film Buff Friday: Basket Case


What's in the basket...???



THE TENANT IN ROOM 7 IS VERY SMALL, VERY TWISTED, AND VERY MAD.

The feature debut of director Frank Henenlotter (Brain Damage, Frankenhooker), 1982's Basket Case is perhaps his most revered - a riotous and blood-spattered midnight movie experience, now immortalized in a lavish new 4K restoration by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Duane Bradley is a pretty ordinary guy. His formerly conjoined twin Belial, on the other hand, is a deformed, fleshy lump whom he carries around in a wicker basket. Arriving in the Big Apple and taking up a room at the seedy Hotel Broslin, the pair set about hunting down and butchering the surgeons responsible for their separation. But tensions flare up when Duane starts spending time with a pretty blonde secretary, and Belial's homicidal tendencies reach bloody new extremes.

Filmed on a shoestring budget against the backdrop of 1980s New York (where the movie would become a staple of the infamous 42nd Street grindhouse circuit), Basket Case has clawed its way from its humble origins to become one of the most celebrated cult movies of all time.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Presented from a brand new 4K restoration from the original 16mm negative by MoMA
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
Original Uncompressed Mono Audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with writer/director Frank Henenlotter and star Kevin Van Hentenryck
Basket Case 3-1/2: An Interview with Duane Bradley - Frank Henenlotter revisits Duane Bradley decades after the events of the original Basket Case
Seeing Double: The Basket Case Twins - a brand new interview with Florence and Maryellen Schultz, the twin nurses from Basket Case
Brand new making-of featurette containing new interviews with producer Edgar Ievins, casting person/actress Ilze Balodis, associate producer/effects artist Ugis Nigals and Belial performer Kika Nigals
Blood, BASKET and Beyond - a brand new interview with actress Beverly Bonner
Belial Goes to the Drive-In - a brand new interview with film critic Joe Bob Briggs
Outtakes Featurette
In Search of the Hotel Broslin - archive location featurette
Slash of the Knife (1972) - short film by Frank Henenlotter
Belial's Dream (2017, 5 mins) - brand new Basket Case-inspired animated short by filmmaker Robert Morgan
Behind-the-scenes of Belial's Dream
Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots
Extensive Still Galleries
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck

FIRST PRESSING ONLY
: Collector's booklet with new writing on the film by Michael Gingold

Order on MVDshop.com or Amazon

Thursday, August 25, 2016

TBT: Truth Or Dare

Truth Or Dare Turns 25!
Madonna
Released in 1991 Madonna's Truth or Dare caused quite the ruckus. It was made up of concert footage and captured what went on behind the scenes during her Blonde Ambition Tour. 

The ruckus part? The behind the scenes footage of course! It featured all sorts of taboo content that was not really in the forefront of mainstream media consciousness at the time. Such as boy on boy action, frank discussions about sex and disclosures about ones love life...OK, it addressed sex in an open and provocative manner, which managed to cause a media frenzy surrounding it.

I loved it, and found it not only a brilliant piece of filmmaking, but also marketing. There had been nothing like it at the time and it was a liberating experience for this Madonna fan when he saw it at the theater two times before it hit video.


Cut to 25 years later. It had an anniversary screening for 400 fans at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, where Madonna made a surprise appearance much to her fan's delight!

Also on hand was the films director, Alek Keshishian

Does it hold up today you ask? I have seen the film not too long ago, while it is still entertaining the shock value it once had has faded and become the norm for our chaotic society. It is a film of place and time and it is an important piece of pop culture whose influence vividly has it's fingerprints all over what's going on in entertainment today. 

Throwback Thursday indeed.

Truth Or Dare on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102370/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1