newcritics - Latest Comments in Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Charles Terenzio — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 14:34:07 -0000

This is one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen. Like many movies that are controversial, it forces you to think. I've just signed the petition.

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Dennis Cozzalio — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:04:43 -0000

Kathleen-- You're absolutely right about the often cruddy behavior one is often subjected to for the privilege of paying $11 for a seat in one of these stadium jobs. All my complaints about that subject could easily be another post! And I've gotten a lot more aggressive in my old age about yapping at offending squawkers and their eerie, glowing cell phones. I do risk getting into a tussle, but so far the main reaction I've got is shock from the person being called out on his/her boorish behavior. I did get into a loud argument once with a woman in Pasadena who must have been convinced her friends couldn't process what was going on during the opening credits of Clear and Present Danger-- "Ohh, look! That's a boat. Mm-hmm, that's what that is!" At times like these, Netflix never seemed so good.

Dan: I will venture to guess The Devils is as grueling as you remember. I came away thinking that it was one of the few films of its time to receive the yet-to-be-purloined-by-pornography X rating that still deserves its original rating today. And I can't wait to see Sitting Target. I remember that one coming around when I was about 12, in 1972 or so, but I was far too young to see it. I imagine it being brutal in a Get Carter kind of way, in the tradition of those absolutely nasty British noirs of the day.

M.A.: There must be something to this, because even in my hometown, when there was only one show nightly, it was common practice when I was young for the projectionist to run the first two reels of the movie again for the benefit of those who wandered in late. Frustrating experience for those who stayed to see it again because the movie was good, only to be cut off 20 minutes in!

Tom: Sign! Sign! And thanks for the invitation to join this keen party. I promise from now on to post often, but not three at a time!

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

M.A. Peel — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:44:19 -0000

I like your intro description about movie-going practices of yesteryear.

From an earlier generation, my mother insists that in Brooklyn in the forties, you never looked for what time a movie was playing, you just went and started watching from whatever point you got there. Which gave rise to the expression, "This is where we came in," and then you left.

So Mom insists.

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Tom Watson — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 13:53:26 -0000

Welcome Dennis!

I never saw The Devils, but this review makes me want to sign the DVD petition.

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Dan Leo — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:46:08 -0000

I remember being completely put through the grinding mill watching this movie at a rep house in the early or mid-70s. By the end I was so jellified I couldn't even stay to watch the last scene. I just didn't want to watch Oliver Reed burning at the stake.

This was not only Ken Russell at his peak but Oliver Reed at his most powerful, and what power Oliver Reed had. I'm still waiting for the DVD release of "Sitting Target" where he plays the best escaped con on a vengeance trip ever.

Re: Ken Russell’s The Devils and Some Thoughts on the Dinosaur Days of Home Video

Kathleen Maher — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:13:11 -0000

Fascinating review: now I'm waiting for my chance to see "The Devils," and I appreciate the chance to sign the petition.
What you didn't mention, however, is how dismally the multiplex experience often compares to the "decadent" (if only this were my worst vice) Netflix DVD.
I live in NYC and for $11 I can sit through a show where the sound track is painfully loud, and yet I still hear the two other sound tracks from the movies playing on either side.
I haven't subjected myself to this enough to know whether getting three movies in one, albeit audibly only, is a skill I should develop.
I loved the point you made about the great works living on, and sometimes they do play at an old fashioned house that has survived. To me, that's the guilty pleasure.