Cinecouch.com

On-the-Verge Top 50 Films

11

Brief Encounters
Cinecouch's Essential Films

My Childhood

Bill Douglas

My Childhood
1972|UK|46 min|BW|Live Action

- No childhood, just a child.

Social Commentary/Neo-realism
, by

The bruises,
	Soft on the skin,
		Like a rose, akin
			Slowly dying away its sin.
	Oh Why?
		The track leads to no inn.
	Oh Why?
		To fly away needs no wing.
	Oh Why?
		My golden years,
			Are spent with no kin.

12

Jonathan Rosenbaum 1000
Cinecouch's Favorite

The Three-Sided Mirror
(La glace à trois faces)

Jean Epstein

La glace à trois faces
1927|France|45 min|BW|Live Action

- The mirror that reflects your subconscious.

Avant-garde/Surrealism
, by

The loud speaker was on vacation,
	So the speaker replaced it without any hesitation.
The new speaker is on vocation,
	So the speaker takes on his presentation.
He looks at himself in the mirror,
	Facing the same direction as his audience,
		Talking with his head clearer.
				Then, a break,
			In the midst of the speech,
		Take himself out of his own reach.
He turns around, face bleached, hearing his own suffocation.

13

Brief Encounters
Cinecouch's Essential Films

The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
(Die große Ekstase des Bildschnitzers Steiner)

Werner Herzog

The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
1974|West Germany|45 min|Col|Live Action

- The unconcern for what is possible.

Biography/Documentary
, by

The greatest puzzle requires a puzzler and many puzzled.
	The puzzler evokes ecstasy as an enigma.
	    The puzzled receive a riddle as a reward.
	The two never converge.
	    The puzzler never meets the mass of the puzzled,
		    for it is puzzling to the puzzler,
		    	what it could be puzzled about.
	    The puzzled never ask the master of puzzler,
		    for it is puzzling to the puzzled,
		        what it really makes it puzzling.
Every once in a while, a puzzle gets unsolved like this.				

14

TSPDT 1000
Jonathan Rosenbaum 1000
Cinecouch's Essential Films
Cinecouch's Favorite

Seven Chances

Buster Keaton

Seven Chances
1925|USA|56 min|BW|Live Action

- The man is not too bride.

Comedy/Social Satire/Romance
, by

It's seven o'clock.
		Tickling senses around the table.
	Damn those independent journalists,
They always report the right story at the wrong time.
	Why can't I get a peace of mind?
		Instead I get a piece of swine,
			utterly uncooked.
	What a disaster!

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong place for the right woman?
	It's seven o'clock, there is still plenty left.

15

Cinecouch's Essential Films
Cinecouch's Favorite

Dreamwood

James Broughton

Dreamwood
1972|USA|45 min|Col|Live Action

- The bedded queen looking for her audience.

Avant-garde/Surrealism
, by

Recalling last night in the wild,
	She said to me,
		Nothing will quite catch up to the ride.
	She knew well,
		The horse was astray,
			Long time before we start the ride.
A moon shines through the pile,
	Two moons shine past a vile,
		She sat on her back,
			Soaked as if it were Nile.
I look at her, putting down my bag in the aisle.

16

Brief Encounters
Cinecouch's Essential Films
Cinecouch's Favorite

Anticipation of the Night

Stan Brakhage

Anticipation of the Night
1958|USA|42 min|Col|Live Action

- Prepare to leave your sentience.

Avant-garde/Trance
, by

The frame,
	has four edges,
		each edge,
			has a line,
				each line,
					is diminishing,
	each diminishing,
		brings about a different memory,
			each memory,
				stores a private moment,
and that moment is gone, before you can ever realize.

17

Brief Encounters
Cinecouch's Essential Films

Reassemblage
(From the Firelight to the Screen)

Trinh T. Minh-ha

Reassemblage
1982|USA|40 min|Col|Live Action

- Re-imagining a reality.

Ethnography/Avant-garde
, by

Hitting the nails in various directions.

	What do you hear?

The shaking hands,
	The fixing eyes,
		The trembling lips,

Oh
		Hear the world
	Like you have never seen before.

18

Jonathan Rosenbaum 1000
Cinecouch's Essential Films

The War Game

Peter Watkins

The War Game
1965|UK|48 min|BW|Live Action

- Play to live, live the horror.

Faux Documentary/Horror
, by




		 _______________
		/		\
;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;;;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;:;;

19

Brief Encounters

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Todd Haynes

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
1988|USA|43 min|Col|Animation

- When I was young, I listened to the Carpenters.

Music/Biography
, by

Ladies and Gentlemen,
	Boys and Girls,
		Dogs and Cats,
			Muffins and coconuts,
			We are proud to present,
		We are hesistant to say,
	We are worried that,
We are sorry that we have to close today.
(claps)
(stomps)
(cheers)

20

Cinecouch's Essential Films
Cinecouch's Favorite

The Secret Formula
(La fórmula secreta)

Rubén Gámez

La fórmula secreta
1965|Mexico|50 min|BW|Live Action

- The proper way to do coke.

Avant-garde/Commercial Satire
, by


	2oz of nicotine
	1oz of starch-free sugar
	2tbl of urine
	2 large kidneys
	1 banana peel
	16 small pieces of clipped nails
	1 gallon of water from your laundry
	
	Mix with care
	Smoke it on the back end of your car