Category Archives: Cinema, video & DVDs

Schönberg and Sicilia: two more from Straub /Huillet

Posted on March 18, 2017 by barczablog

Tonight’s installment of TIFF’s retrospective “Not Reconciled: the films of  Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet” must have seemed like a remarkable opportunity to James Quandt and the team assembling the schedule.  Each film is almost exactly an hour long, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Politics, Reviews | 5 Comments

Too Early/Too Late: you say you want a revolution?

Posted on March 17, 2017 by barczablog

Too Early/Too Late (1980), the latest installment in “Not Reconciled“, TIFF’s Straub-Huillet retrospective, is aptly titled for at least a couple of reasons.  As a study of revolutions co-opted or hijacked by others, the title is about timing.  But the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Politics, Reviews | 1 Comment

Moses,Aaron, and a few others at TIFF

Posted on March 13, 2017 by barczablog

Today TIFF presented two musically-oriented films from their Straub-Huillet retrospective, introduced with a live performance by Against the Grain Theatre. AtG have boldly gone where opera has not often gone before, taking their productions into bars, TV studios, and now … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | 1 Comment

Toronto Symphony Ratatouille

Posted on February 18, 2017 by barczablog

I’ve been loving the live performances of film-scores accompanying screenings of films presented by the Toronto Symphony over the past couple of years.  They set up a huge screen above the stage, the orchestra assembles in their usual place, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

Thirteen questions for James Quandt, Senior Programmer, TIFF Cinematheque

Posted on February 17, 2017 by barczablog

  James Quandt is the Senior Programmer for TIFF Cinematheque.  He has curated hundreds of directorial retrospectives, national surveys and thematic programmes that have contributed to the interest in and revival of forgotten masters and films, has been with TIFF since the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Interviews, Personal ruminations & essays | 2 Comments

Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach: Straub & Huillet @ tiff

Posted on February 9, 2017 by barczablog

Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach is the original title of the 1967 film by Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, that I just saw on a new 35 mm print, courtesy of TIFF / Bell Lightbox, in anticipation of an upcoming … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Personal ruminations & essays, Press Releases and Announcements | 5 Comments

Perlman’s Cinema Serenade: vol 1 & 2

Posted on November 14, 2016 by barczablog

You think you know someone, what they’re all about, and what they really like. That can be true of your friends, or of famous artists, where they surprise you with a hidden dimension, an unexpected interest. I thought I knew … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Music and musicology, Reviews | Leave a comment

TSO exhibit Elfman – Burton brilliance

Posted on October 31, 2016 by barczablog

While there are still two months left in 2016 I am pretty sure that I just saw the best concert of the year, and I didn’t see it coming.  At the intermission I was musing to myself that I had … Continue reading →

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Kubo, because I promised

Posted on September 18, 2016 by barczablog

I feel very much at cross purposes, having promised I would complain about something in a film that I loved. The film is Kubo and the Two Strings. Let me get the complaint out of the way, as it’s from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Personal ruminations & essays, Reviews | 1 Comment

Love, Marilyn

Posted on August 22, 2016 by barczablog

Ever notice how patterns may appear around you? The two films I saw this week (one on the big screen, one, seen now at least 3 times this past week at home) couldn’t be more different, at least on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals | Leave a comment