Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Buffalo '66 (1998)

WHO: Vincent Gallo wrote, directed, composed and performed underscore, and stars in this.

WHAT: I haven't seen Gallo's debut feature as a director since it came out fifteen years ago, so I don't remember many details other than that it involves an attempt at redemption, a family meal, football bets gone wrong, and vintage progressive rock from the 1970s. But it made enough of a general impression on me that I went to see his next feature The Brown Bunny despite its mixed-to-awful reviews, and sustained my interest in seeing Gallo's future work through that despite a vague sense of agreement with the negative one. I was shocked when his most recent feature Promises Written in Water became one of my favorite films seen on my sole trip to the Toronto Film Festival in 2010, an experience I cherish all the more since the film has never screened publicly anywhere in the world since then. I'd prefer to get a second chance at seeing that, but to see this one on 35mm is not all that much rarer of a treat.

WHERE/WHEN: Tonight only at the Castro Theatre at 9:20.

WHY: Though I don't believe Buffalo '66 is strictly a Thanksgiving film (I may be wrong, but I don't see any turkey on the table in the screen capture above), its wintry setting and football and family connections make it a perfect offbeat choice for a screening the night before. Happy holidays!

HOW: 35mm print, on a double-bill with Jean-Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders; I don't know what the connection between the two films is other than that Godard is said to be a fan of Gallo's feature.

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