Three months ago, I hatched an absurdly ambitious plan that I'm in the thick of on one front (Cinema Ozu), and finally beginning on another. As P&P are the better-known quantity, I elected to invest most of my time and writing into the still-ongoing Ozu series. Starting today and ending on Friday, I'm doing something fun with the fifteen year partnership between Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
The Ozu series has dealt with his entire filmography: lost films, surviving films, titles available in the U.S., and a pile of others only available via import. With P&P, I decided to specifically program double features of P&P titles available from Criterion in the U.S. Think of the "programs" that appear this week as home theatre recipes waiting patiently on the internet, to be used whenever you feel like trying them out. You may not always be in the mood for a war film or a dance film, but you never know when the craving will strike. My primary guideline is to pair movies that compliment one another really well.
The name of this mini-series is intended to evoke A) the fact that these are double-bill programs, and B) that they're movies done by The Archers, Powell & Pressburger's production company. You may also detect some branding that conjures the image of a new fast food chain menu item. Think of these as low impact, small time investment primers on why you should see these wonderful classic films. I may also include food and drink pairings. It's impossible to please everyone, so don't expect vegetarian and vegan alternatives. That isn't to say meat and meat products will be as prevalent as during an Argentine feast, but there's only so much effort I can put into this.
Todays' entry looks like the most predictable pairing possible, borne out of laziness and blatant whoring for Criterion's re-releases hitting shelves today (at 50% off, no less, if you go to Barnes & Noble). We'll also see a joint review of the new versions of Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. This continues the separation of product reviews from individual appreciations of films, which I find as important as separation of church and state. Back soon.