WILL THESE MOVIES EVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY?: 10 RARITIES THAT NEED TO BE RELEASED ON DVD

'Joe's Bedstuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads' (Spike Lee)

Most of us are aware of popular cult films like Donnie Darko & Christmas On Mars or the DVD release of Alejnadro Jodorowsky's work that took forever to come out due to legal issues, being shelved, or sensitive subject matter. But at the end of the day...they finally got released no matter how long it took. There's still quite a few films out there from prominent directors that almost no one has seen (outside of festivals, special screening or bootlegs). And I'm not talking about unfinished movies in limbo, production hell or development hell. I'm talking about movies that have been shot, wrapped and edited yet haven't been released to the general public. With the growing popularity of region 2 DVD's, Eclipse box sets (the criterion collection's sub label that focuses on releasing rarely seen works from important contemporary & classic directors) and theaters like The Museum Of The Moving Image & Anthology Film Archives we're seeing more and more stuff that we thought we'd never see come out on the big screen and on DVD. But there's still plenty more movies that the public (especially dedicated movie nerds like myself) want to see.

'Fight Harm' (Harmony Korine)

So I've selected 10 movies (some of which I've actually had the pleasure of seeing...yes I'm bragging) and broken them up in to 3 categories:

"Who The F*ck Knows" - Movies that pretty much have a 50/50 chance of being released on DVD

"Possibly" - Realistic possibilities. I think the people at the criterion collection should pay close attention to these

"Probably Not" - These will more than likely either never see the light of day or be released on DVD










WHO THE F*CK KNOWS?:

-PROMISES WRITTEN IN WATER (Vincent Gallo)
After screening this at Toronto and Venice, Vincent Gallo suddenly released the following statement regarding his recent film about a man taking care of his terminally ill girlfriend in her final days:
I do not want my new works to be generated in a market or audience of any kind
I'm seriously hoping this is just another publicity stunt/desperate attempt to get attention from PINNLAND EMPIRE favorite-Vincent Gallo. Or maybe due to all the piling hate over the years that the last few movies he's been involved in has received ('The Brown Bunny', 'Tetro', 'Moscow Rising', etc), he's being serious and doesn't wanna deal with all the negativity and hate anymore.

-WANG DANG (Tom Noonan)
I put this in the "who the f*ck knows category" because on some level there has to be a demand for something to get released no matter how obscure or underground it is. Tom Noonan is one of the best characters actors around as well as an underrated director, but he's not exactly a household name. Outside of some film school students and Tom Noonan himself, I don't even think people know this movie exists. The plot sounds great though: A has-been movie director comes to a film school to speak to a class of film students and he eventually gets caught up in an adventure with two grad students.

-LANTON MILLS (Terrence Malick)
Apparently the only way you can view this movie is to schedule an appointment at the A.F.I., who own the only existing copy of Terrence Malick's first movie, for research purposes only. Seriously? Why should anyone have to go through all that just to watch a movie? With the recent popularity of 'Tree Of Life' and the anticipation of his next three movies (which he seems to be working on all at the same time), I'm hoping this will get some kind of attention.

-SCENES FROM FIGHT HARM (Harmony Korine)
You seriously mean to tell me Harmony Korine got the shit beat out of him for NOTHING? This documentary about Harmony Korine trying to provoke fights with random strangers on the street never got released because apparently the footage (shot by his friend David Blaine...yes THAT David Blaine) was unusable. I'm sorry but if I got two concussions and other various injuries for the sake of my film (no matter how stupid it may be) I'm showing it to people now matter how shitty the camerawork is.

'Fraulein: A German Melodrama' (Michael Haneke)

POSSIBLY:


-KEEP IT FOR YOURSELF (Claire Denis)

Here's another rare one starring Vincent Gallo directed by Claire Denis (who's no stranger to rare films herself with stuff like 'U.S. Go Home' and her early/rarely seen documentaries). Given Claire Denis' recent popularity in the indie/art house world these days you'd think this lil gem (which i keep reading about in all the literature i find on her) would make a great special feature on a DVD. And while we're at it, I'd like to see 'U.S. Go Home' & 'No Fear No Die' put out as well.

-JOE'S BEDSTUY BARBERSHOP: WE CUT HEADS (Spike Lee)
New York Directors like Scorsese and Jim Jarmusch have been getting their early/amateur/student works released in the last few years so I think its time for Spike Lee. This short is also a nice little artifact in that not only was it the starting point for Spike Lee, but Ang Lee as well (he was a production assistant on the movie).

-MICHAEL HANEKE'S MADE FOR T.V. MOVIES
Think how awesome this box set would be! Either criterion or kino (who's released a few of his films already) needs to get on this.


-THE EARLY SHORT FILMS OF HAL HARTLEY
Much like Spike Lee, here's another staple in the NYC indie film scene that needs to have his early work put out. To me, this is highly likely since there's already been two collections of shorts by Hal Hartley released already.

'Cremaster Cycle' (Matthew Barney)

PROBABLY NOT:


-A GAME IN THE SAND (Werner Herzog)
When asked if 'A Game In The Sand', an early short film about two little kids and a chicken in a sandbox directed by Werner Herzog that, according to him, Got Out Of Hand, would ever be shown in theaters or released on DVD he said; Not While I'm Alive. I guess that answers that. Moving on...

-THE FILMS OF MATTHEW BARNEY
These aren't the most rare movies in the world, but they still only pop up every once in a while at a theater like The IFC Center or The MOMA. Not everyone lives in New York City, San Francisco or Japan. There's people in this world with good taste who live in the middle of nowhere that cant make it out to a retrospective or a special screening at the MOMA for Matthew Barney's movies which he considers to be unique works of art (like his sculptures) and wont mass produce them on DVD because it cheapens their value. Listen DICK, just put the movies on DVD already!