djaybee's - Rented List
-
The six short films directed by legendary designer and filmmaker Saul Bass...
The Searching Eye (1964)The simple actions of a young boy on the beach provide visual metaphors for the normally unseen world. The camera adds a profound dimension to what the boy has seen, giving us a deeper understanding of visual awareness.
Why Man Creates (1968)
Through several amusing live action and animated vignettes, Saul Bass illustrates a fundamental and essential particularity of human nature that keeps us alive and the world turning, evolving and reaching new designs and possibilities: the necessity of creation. And by creation, Bass means everything from art to mundane things, from words and numbers to unusual abstract works.
Bass on Titles (1977)
Saul Bass discusses his most notable work in his own words.
Notes on the Popular Arts (1978)
This series of light-hearted episodes by Saul Bass illuminates the fantasy lives of those who daily watch, listen and dream in the worlds of television, movies, popular music and print. By turns lyrical and funny, it shows how the popular arts serve as vehicles for self-projection, experience, expansion and fantasy fulfillment. The video utilizes a variety of techniques - live action, animation and special effects - to communicate some trenchant ideas on our American involvement with popular culture.
The Solar Film (1980)
On the march for progress, mankind kept wasting plenty of natural resources underground, water and energy, polluting the environment without analyzing the losses and problems human beings would endure while trying to obtain more and more things to preserve life. But half of those resources could be better saved if people would look above their heads and see a great natural possibility that can be used to generate clean energy.
Quest (1984)
On a distant planet, descendants of a crashed spaceship are subjected to mysterious forces that cause them to age and die in just eight days. They must also live in caves to escape the bitter cold of night and the killing heat of day. One young boy is determined to find his way back to the ship that brought them there. But how will accomplish this in the short time left to him?- Director:
- Saul Bass
- Cast:
- Gary Merrill, John Abbott, Noah Hathaway
- Formats:
-
-
During a cricket match at a lunatic asylum, patient Alan Bates relates a strange story to composer John Hurt and his wife played by Susannah York. It seems that Bates once lived with Australian aborigines, who taught him the secret of a deadly shout which has the power to kill anyone within earshot. He moves in with the couple and starts a steamy affair with York. Meanwhile, Hurt who wants to harness the energy of 'the shout' for his music will not rest until he has discovered the truth about his guest's strange powers. - Director:
- Jerzy Skolimowski
- Cast:
- Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt
- Formats:
-
-
Oyu-Sama (1951)Miss Oyu / Lady Ôyu
Another literary adaptation - this time of a story by one of Japan's modern literary masters, novelist Tanizaki Jun'ichiro - Mizoguchi's Oyu-sama (Miss Oyu) is a poignant and contemplative tale of two sisters and their ill-fated relationship with the same man. At the core is Mizoguchi-regular Tanaka Kinuyo as the eponymous Oyu, the older sister who allows marital customs to dictate the lives of those caught up in this complex love triangle... - Director:
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast:
- Kinuyo Tanaka, Nobuko Otowa, Yûji Hori
- Formats:
-
-
Images (1972)Robert Altman's Images
Originally conceived in the mid-sixties, 'Images' concerns a pregnant children's author (Susannah York) whose husband (Rene Auberjonois) may or may not be having an affair. While holidaying in Ireland, her mental state becomes increasingly unstable resulting in paranoia, hallucinations and visions of a doppelgänger. - Director:
- Robert Altman
- Cast:
- Susannah York, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi
- Formats:
-
-
Somewhere in Eastern Europe 1922… Filming F. W. Murnau's classic vampire movie, Noferatu, is being disrupted not only by funding problems, but by rumours of disappearances and deaths amongst and cast and crew. On the first night of shooting, the cameraman mysteriously takes ill and collapses… Some days later, his replacement falls into a trance and never recovers… Leading man Max Shreck (Willem Dafoe) is never introduced to the cast and crew and he is never seen out of character. Hapless actor Gustav (Eddie Izzard) thinks his sinister co-star is the ultimate method actor. In fact, director Murnau (John Malkovich) has sealed a pact with Shreck offering him the neck of his leading lady (Catherine McCormack) at the end of the shoot if he delivers the ultimate performance for the camera. Stranded on an island, the crew must finish the film before Shreck's bloodlust becomes incontrollable. - Director:
- E. Elias Merhige
- Cast:
- John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, Udo Kier
- Formats:
-
-
After an errant satellite crashes to earth near a remote New Mexico village, the recovery team discovers that almost everyone in the town are victims of a horrible death, with the mysterious exception of an infant and an old homeless man. The survivors are brought to a state-of-the-art laboratory descending five stories beneath the ground where the puzzled scientists race against time to determine the nature of the deadly microbe before it wreaks worldwide havoc. A trailblazer in the areas of special effects and inventive sets, 'The Andromeda Strain' is based on Michael Crichton's best-selling novel that created national paranoia for its topical relevance to the first moon landing. - Director:
- Robert Wise
- Cast:
- James Olson, Walker Edmiston, Arthur Hill
- Formats:
-
-
The second volume in a collection of the hottest gay shorts from around the world takes us deep in to hidden male psyches, inside revelations of long-held secrets, to a boys boarding school for the birth of a love affair, in the midst of an explosive internet encounter, and at the center of a teen party where infatuations quickly turn lives upside down.
Shorts Comprise:
- Lost Years (2016) UK
- Salt (2016) Brazil
- Turn It Around (2017) Netherlands
- Like Father (2017) USA
- Beyond Plain Sight (2014) UK- Director:
- Alejandro Beltrán
- Cast:
- Samuel Garcia, John Maher, Jack O'Neill
- Formats:
-
-
Before We Vanish (2017)Sanpo suru shinryakusha
Three aliens on a reconnaissance mission to Earth take over the bodies of human hosts to explore the world they re about to invade. On the way they steal individual concepts from the minds of anyone who crosses their path, from work, to free will, to love, leaving behind them a trail of soulless bodies. In doing so they start to unwittingly define the essential aspects of what it means to be human. The film follows Narumi (Masami Nagasawa), whose husband, Shinji (Ryuhei Matsuda), becomes one of the three hosts. As the invasion grows nearer, Narumi's attempts to save humanity from extinction become increasingly entwined with Shinji's decision on whether to save the humanity within himself. - Director:
- Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Cast:
- Masami Nagasawa, Ryûhei Matsuda, Hiroki Hasegawa
- Formats:
-
-
Paths (2017)Ein Weg
How long is an eternity? A few years, or as fast as the breaking of the waves at the rugged Baltic coast? Andreas (Mike Hoffmann) and Martin (Mathis Reinhardt) have shared all the ups and downs of life, and now that their son has matured and moved out on his own, they have more free time to focus on themselves again. But when they are left alone with only themselves, will the spark still be there? A cautious approach to the traces of a long-term relationship. 'Paths' tells the whole story of the love of two people. From the first kiss to now, and everything in between. - Director:
- Chris Miera
- Cast:
- Mike Hoffmann, Ludwig Bundscherer, Verena Weiss
- Formats:
-
-
Masuoka is a cameraman possessed by the craving to understand fear. In particular, he obsesses over his footage of a grisly suicide in the subway. Returning to the scene to better comprehend the dead man's reasoning, he opens a doorway into a bizarre, cavernous underworld. Here among the ghosts and subterranean creatures he finds a beautiful, mute girl whom he takes home. As days pass he begins to suspect there is something truly inhuman about this girl. When he begins to uncover her horrifying secrets, Masuoka realizes that he has found the key to gaining the terrible knowledge he so craves... - Director:
- Takashi Shimizu
- Cast:
- Shin'ya Tsukamoto, Tomomi Miyashita, Kazuhiro Nakahara
- Formats:
-
-
The first in a collection of the hottest gay shorts from the four corners of the world, 'Testosterone Volume One' will set your pulse racing. From the intense effects of first love, to a deliciously camp tale of a camping trip gone horribly wrong, this collection of four brilliant shorts is sure to stir!
Comprise:
'End of My World'
'Killer Friends'
'The Surf Report'
'It Gets Better'- Director:
- Kamil Krawczycki
- Cast:
- Not Available
- Formats:
-
-
The artist Ian Breakwell (1943-2005) worked in many mediums, with the moving image a constant part of his art-making. This video surveys Breakwell's more than 30 years of filmmaking. Included are his earliest to-camera readings from his written Diaries, Excerpts From The Diary, the film Repertory, his hilarious parody of broadcast television The News, the episodes Growth and The Walking Man from Annalogue's Channel Four Television series Ian Breakwell's Continuous Diary. Also included are two works that reflect his love of the alternative theatre traditions of variety, spectacle and illusion, Auditorium, and his brilliant response to a residency at the National Film and Television Archive, Variety. - Director:
- Not Available
- Cast:
- Ian Breakwell
- Formats:
-
-
A provocative, challenging and bizarrely funny coming-of-age set on the crystal-caked streets of downtown Toronto. On the eve of his 18th birthday, Cliff's (Andre Noble) 12-year-old sister Cookie sends him downtown with a skateboard, a spliff and a direct order to get laid. During the night, Cliff meets handsome hustler Butch (Brendan Fehr) and is quickly initiated into the hilariously dark and drug-fuelled arena of life downtown. The boys eventually discover the perks and perils of each other's worlds; their friendship evolves into romance, yet the notion of intimacy is foreign to them both. Cliff longs for intimacy, but Butch's drug abuse and self-loathing soon eats away at their relationship, and the two boys part company to tragic results... - Director:
- John Palmer
- Cast:
- Andre Noble, Marnie McPhail, Haylee Wanstall
- Formats:
-
-
Sansho Dayu (1954)Sansho the Bailiff
When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi's dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil. - Director:
- Kenji Mizoguchi
- Cast:
- Kinuyo Tanaka, Kisho Hanayagi, Kyôko Kagawa
- Formats:
-
-
Written and directed by cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara, this dark, daring drama tells the story of the fateful final day of the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Having recently finished 'Salo', or '120 Days of Sodom', Pasolini has enraged audiences, critics and politicians with his outspoken views, overt sexuality and the scandal that surrounds his films. Focusing on both his private and professional life, Pasolini explores the inner world of the filmmaker in the hours leading up to his devastatingly brutal death. Starring Willem Dafoe as the great auteur, and featuring Ninetto Davoli, who acted in many of Pasolini's films, Pasolini is a powerful and evocative look into the dark world of one of cinema's most controversial figures, as seen through the eyes of one of modern cinema's most astonishing and surprising directors. - Director:
- Abel Ferrara
- Cast:
- Willem Dafoe, Luca Lionello, Riccardo Scamarcio
- Formats:
-