Seconds (1966)
QFS No. 212 - Long drought of essays will be overcome by finally resuming periodic takes on films! We resume with John Frankenheimer’s Seconds (1966). Frankenheimer helmed some of the landmark films of the 1960s and ’70s and continued working into the 2000s. The great American filmmaker is one in a long line of great directors who started in television, working alongside the legend Sidney Lumet and, like Lumet, was influenced by the storytelling and production rigors required for the small screen.
Terms of Endearment (1983)
QFS No. 175 - For our 175th film, the QFS Selection Committee chose one of the most decorated Oscar-winners in the last quarter of the 20th Century with eleven nominations and five wins, including for Best Picture. Terms of Endearment for a long time has been the most recent Best Picture winner I, your humble curator, have never seen.
Chan is Missing (1982)
QFS No. 173 - Chan is Missing was the first feature film by an Asian American to have a significant theatrical release and critical reception – and it wasn’t all that long ago during most of our lifetime’s, 1982.
Lost Highway (1997)
QFS No. 163 - David Lynch, one of singular, most unique directors in American movie history sadly passed away this past week – a lifetime of cigarette smoking finally catching up to him. Graduate of the American Film Institute’s first-ever class, he was, of course, America’s only even slightly known surrealist or avant-garde filmmaker. Even then, Lynch could never be put into a single category.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
QFS No. 156 - Shaun of the Dead is directed by Edgar Wright, wacky genius behind one of my favorite Quarantine Film Society selections Hot Fuzz (2009, QFS No. 29), selected in our group’s first year. As it is the eve of All Hallow’s Eve, we are once again legally compelled to have a film with some sort of Halloween-appropriate content.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
QFS No. 155 - I deliberately know nothing about Carnival of Souls (1962) but it’s an influential horror film and this is the time of the year for influential horror films.
Death Race 2000 (1975)
QFS No. 146 - The late great Roger Corman produced this film about a dystopic, mayhem-ridden future. And I, for one, have been keen on seeing it. It takes place in the distant future, the year 2000! What will life be like then? Who knows! Well, the late great Roger Corman will tell you!
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
QFS No. 145 - We haven’t yet selected a John Cassavetes film here at Quarantine Film Society and this shortcoming has sent shockwaves throughout the organization.* What’s just as shocking is that I, your humble narrator, have never seen a Cassavetes film. In 2013, The New Yorker, wrote that Cassavetes “may be the most influential American director of the last half century” and A Woman Under the Influence (1974) Cassavetes’ most beloved work.
Black Girl (1966)
QFS No. 141 - Black Girl will be our first ever selection from Senegal, and our first selection of a film by Ousmane Semebene. Sembene is considered the “dean” or father of African cinema. Did I know this before? No. Am I ashamed of that? Yes.
Hard Eight (1996)
QFS No. 140 - This is our first QFS selection of a Paul Thomas Anderson film. You know him from all of his great work over the last 25 years but Hard Eight was his first feature. I’ve seen so many of his films but I’ve never seen the first one so this week’s selection attempts to remedy that.
Past Lives (2023)
QFS No. 134 - What I know about this film approaches zero. I do know it’s from South Korea and that it’s Celine Song’s first film after being a staff writer on a major Amazon series. So, you know – pretty amazing, that!
This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (2019)
QFS No. 124 - I know this will come as a shock to many of you, but this will be our first Quarantine Film Society selection from Lesotho. The country has about 2 million people – which is, I believe, still smaller than what the population of Los Angeles would be if the San Fernando Valley succession happened in 2002.