Storytelling in The New Hollywood

A landmark work in the history of the cinema, Der letzte Mann represents a breakthrough on a number of fronts. Firstly, it introduced a method of purely visual storytelling in which all intertitles and dialogue were jettisoned, setting the stage for a seamless interaction between film-world and viewer. Secondly, it put to use a panoply of technical innovations that continue to point distinct ways forward for cinematic expression nearly a century later. It guides the silent cinema’s melodramatic brio to its lowest abject abyss — before disposing of the tragic arc altogether. The lesson in all this? That a film can be anything it wants to be… but only Der letzte Mann (and a few unforgettable others) were lucky enough to issue forth into the world under the brilliant command of master director F.W. Murnau.

What if you were supposed to die, but you didn’t? And what if, years later, your precious second chance didn’t turn out anything like you thought it would? That’s the journey Evan Handler experiences, and the one he explores in It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive.

Jennifer Warnes’ lovely 2001 release has been resequenced, remastered, and enhanced for its debut on gold CD. Fully authorized and supervised by the artist, Impex Records’ new 24K gold CD features two new songs, “La Luna Brilla” and “Fool For the Look (In Your Eyes)” plus a rare bonus track “Show Me the Light”, a duet featuring long time friend and legendary vocalist Bill Medley. Remastered by Bernie Grundman using state-of-the-art hardware in his Hollywood mastering house, this new pressing is clearer and more full-bodied, with better presence and more defined bass–all without losing the natural character and dynamism of the original Cisco SACD release. The Well has always been a lyrical meditation on the place and shape of our soul in a changing world and now it has changed its own shape and place, echoing the gracious flow of a life well lived.

It’s 1968, and the whole world is watching. With the U.S. in social upheaval, famed cinematographer Haskell Wexler decided to make a film about what the hell was going on. Medium Cool, his debut feature, plunges us into the moment. With its mix of fictional storytelling and documentary technique, this depiction of the working world and romantic life of a television cameraman (Robert Forster) is a visceral cinematic snapshot of the era, climaxing with an extended sequence shot right in the middle of the riots surrounding the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. An inventive commentary on the pleasures and dangers of wielding a camera, Medium Cool is as prescient a political film as Hollywood has ever produced.

Blithely flinging aside the Victorian manners that kept her disapproving mother corseted, the New Woman of the 1920s puffed cigarettes, snuck gin, hiked her hemlines, danced the Charleston, and necked in roadsters. More important, she earned her own keep, controlled her own destiny, and secured liberties that modern women take for granted. Her newfound freedom heralded a radical change in American culture.