Plexifilm

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manicsounds · #1 Post by **manicsounds** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:03 am

Is Style Wars out of print?
it seems a lot of online stores arent carrying it.
amazon even has a used copy for $80....

rumz · #2 Post by **rumz** » Mon Jan 03, 2005 12:20 pm

Yes, it is. Shouldn't be so hard to locate, I'm thinking. I've still seen some copies at a few record stores.

neuro · #3 Post by **neuro** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:49 am

From the website:

Plexi to release UK classic RADIO ON

Plexifilm is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a classic of British post-punk filmmaking: RADIO ON. Stunningly photographed in luminous monochrome and driven by a soundtrack drenched in Kraftwerk and Low-era Bowie, Chris Petit's 1979 (anti)road movie is one of the most striking feature debuts in British cinema. Produced by Wim Wenders and featuring one of Sting's earliest acting performances, RADIO ON is austere in narrative and captures the lurking disenchantment of the British youth movements of the time. A restored 35mm print will be screened in select North American theaters starting in June, and the DVD will hit shelves this Fall. "One of the landmark English films of the past 30 years."

=D>

Glad to know they're still alive over there as well...

Gregory · #4 Post by **Gregory** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:31 am

I emailed them a while ago asking what 2005 looked like for them, and they replied that they're doing fine and are catching up on preparations for a bunch of new releases (theatrical and DVD).
Pure speculation, but I keep thinking of three recent films that would be perfect for Plexifilm: The Nomi Song, Bruce Haack: King of Techno, or Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt.
EDIT: Looks like Koch Entertainment is releasing the Bruce Haack film on April 12. Also, it seems Be Here to Love Me is Palm, too. Am I the worst speculator in the world, or what?

ben d banana · #5 Post by **ben d banana** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 4:11 am

the nomi song is palm, i emailed them after seeing it at the viff begging for a dvd release including a second disc of full performances. well, i bet the second part of my request is not going to happen but they said they were going to put it into circulation in 2005 (they have) and release the dvd later in the year.

milk114 · #6 Post by **milk114** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:46 pm

I can't recommend highly enough the Maysles Bros.' 5 Films about Christo & Jeanne-Claude. Especially interesting now with their newest project, The Gates, unveiled last week in New York's Central Park. And Al Maysles is currently making a doc of it, as reported in the New York Times! Since I can't make it to New York City I'll have to watch and rewatch these films until this next doc comes out, hopefully from plexifilms as well. Here's a link about The Gates and Maysles's contributions.

neuro · #7 Post by **neuro** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:10 pm

Not to detour the thread, but I specifically made the hike to NYC just to see Christo's newest work a few days ago, and I can only strongly urge those of you with the capability to see it before it comes down. I saw it at night, in the pouring rain, and it was still a beautiful experience.

Thanks, BTW, for the tip, milk; I'm glad that the Maysles' can preserve those moments for me forever. Their other Christo-related projects are uniformly outstanding.

rumz · #8 Post by **rumz** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:12 pm

commingledcontainers wrote:Does anyone know the latest on Blissfully Yours? Has that been scrapped entirely? I e-mailed them a month or two ago and have yet to receive a reply.

Yep, scrapped entirely. Here's the email I received in response to this very query, made last August:

Unfortunately, we are not releasing Blissfully Yours, at all. The release I sent out way back was based on a preliminary deal which never ended up getting finalized.

That said, Anthology Film Archives here in NYC is opening it for at least
two weeks in September, and I know Joe and the producers are slowly booking dates for it throughout the country.

rumz · #9 Post by **rumz** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:22 pm

Two more from Plexifilm in May (excerpted from the press releases):

MOOG

On May 31, 2005, Plexifilm will release the DVD of MOOG, a brand new documentary on the inventor of the modern synthesizer. Shot on location in Asheville, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tokyo and London, MOOG delves into the inventor's ideas about creativity, interactivity, spirituality, design and his collaborations with musicians over the years. Called "One of the most influential innovators in the history of Rock & Roll" by Nancy Miller in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, Robert Moog is a legendary figure in music and technology and has made prodigious contributions to modern music and culture.

MADE IN SHEFFIELD

On May 31, 2005 Plexifilm will release MADE IN SHEFFIELD on DVD. MADE IN SHEFFIELD documents the rise of the influential post-punk movement that emerged from Sheffield in the late '70s defined by the electronic pop of The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17 and ABC. Their dream was to destroy rock & roll. The result was the creation of some of the most influential sounds in music. Called "A perfect textbook description of how a musical scene develops, flowers and fades" by the LONDON EVENING STANDARD, MADE IN SHEFFIELD is loaded with endearing moments and humor and captures the essence of the seldom portrayed aftermath of punk and the spirit of the early 80s British New Wave movement.

davida2 · #10 Post by **davida2** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:29 pm

rumz wrote:
commingledcontainers wrote:Does anyone know the latest on Blissfully Yours? Has that been scrapped entirely? I e-mailed them a month or two ago and have yet to receive a reply.
Yep, scrapped entirely. Here's the email I received in response to this very query, made last August:
Unfortunately, we are not releasing Blissfully Yours, at all. The release I sent out way back was based on a preliminary deal which never ended up getting finalized.

That said, Anthology Film Archives here in NYC is opening it for at least
two weeks in September, and I know Joe and the producers are slowly booking dates for it throughout the country.

Man - tragic - the Weerasethakul's are THE releases I'e been waiting for from them. Looks as though the wait goes on...

rumz · #11 Post by **rumz** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 4:12 pm

next up: "Low in Europe"

excerpted from press release wrote:On June 28th, 2005, Plexifilm will release LOW IN EUROPE, a documentary which follows American indie rock pioneers Low on a string of tour dates in Germany and the U.K. Premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival and selected for the Gijon and the Sound Unseen Film Festivals, LOW IN EUROPE shows the Duluth, Minnesota trio of Alan Sparhawk, Mimi Parker and Zak Sally on a grueling tour for their critically acclaimed album TRUST.

The honesty they bring to their very personal music is revealed to us through this glimpse into their lives on tour; Mimi and Alan's marriage and child, their beliefs, their dreams and their fears. Playing their hypnotic, celestial and intense music in German rock clubs in Dresden, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin, the film culminates with an enthralling performance at a sold-out show at London's legendary Union Chapel.

Trailer

Director Sebastian Schrade climbed into the tour van with Low, braving sleep deprivation, road hypnosis, warm beer, cold food and 1,000 cigarettes to document last year's tour across Europe and the UK. Told through van ride conversations, backstage banter, hotel room chats and late night revelations, LOW IN EUROPE is an illuminating portrait of a group at the height of its powers, making mesmerizing music with a rabid fan base and cult following.

TechNoir · #12 Post by **TechNoir** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 9:34 pm

I received the new Plexicard info sheet today, and it had two additional titles coming soon. MALA NOCHE from Gus Van Sant, and DUTCH HARBOR from Braden King, and Laura Moya. No other info except the titles, and directors names was on the sheet. From the little info i could get from the IMDB, DUTCH HARBOR sounds quite interesting.

backstreetsbackalright · #13 Post by **backstreetsbackalright** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:12 pm

I'm pretty sure they've been promising those titles since the label launched. At the very least its been listed on their website since way back when Style Wars came out.

analoguezombie · #14 Post by **analoguezombie** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 8:08 am

"Made in Sheffiled" is out and getting excellent reviews. The documentary is only about 50 mins, but the extras are outstanding.

Also "Moog" is out. The film about Bob Moog pioneer of electronic synthesizers. Great footage and interviews. This one is excellent.

Jean-Luc Garbo · #15 Post by **Jean-Luc Garbo** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:13 pm

What does everyone think of made In Sheffield? I'm seriously tempted to buy it.

mbalson · #16 Post by **mbalson** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 10:21 pm

Made in Sheffield is just ok in my opinion. It deals with a movement that doesn't get a lot of coverage and that's it's saving grace. It makes use of too few sources and it's use of period footage is limited to the same few bands being interviewed. Don't get me wrong, it's good but it could have been much better. I get the impression that the makers didn't go as deep as they could or should have.

Gregory · #17 Post by **Gregory** » Thu Jun 16, 2005 8:51 pm

How strange that Moog has been added to neither DVD Price Search nor DVD Price Compare. I'm also not finding it anywhere at DDD.

criterionsnob · #18 Post by **criterionsnob** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:15 pm

Coming August 23 from Plexifilm:

SPEND AN EVENING WITH SADDLE CREEK

The Saddle Creek Records story told through interviews, home movies, rare live performances and never-before-seen archival footage with BRIGHT EYES, THE FAINT, CURSIVE and many others.

In 1993, a group of childhood friends in Omaha, Nebraska released 100 copies of a cassette tape by a 13 year-old singer-songwriter / little brother, Conor Oberst. Two years later, the name Saddle Creek Records was etched in vinyl and what began as a collective local music scene would soon gain attention as a center of independent music in America.

SPEND AN EVENING WITH SADDLE CREEK is the story of the record label as told by the people who made it happen. With extensive interviews, rare performances and archival footage, the film is an oral and visual history of how the combination of talent, dedication and collaboration launched bands like Bright Eyes, Cursive and The Faint into the national eye and has fostered a close-knit family of artists that continues to inspire each other and their fans.

neuro · #19 Post by **neuro** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:30 am

Via plexifilm.com, on Sept. 20 comes Finisterre:

London has always been a source of influence, inspiration and curiosity. Paul Kelly and Kieran Evans' FINISTERRE tries to identify the dreams that London holds for so many, and the reality of the city -- the spaces between the landmarks, the spaces Londoners inhabit.

Presented and scored by Saint Etienne, the film takes us on a journey from the suburbs into the heart of the city over an imaginary 24 hours. Along the way we hear from characters that have influenced or been a part of the Saint Etienne story. FINISTERRE features the observations and reminiscences of Lawrence from Felt/Denim, Mark Perry, the editor of original punk fanzine Sniffin' Glue, as well as Vic Godard from Subway Sect and artist Julian Opie, folk singer Vashti Bunyan, London-centric author Shena Mackay, and Nick Sanderson from Earl Brutus. Through the interviews and imagery we see London from an insider's perspective. The result is a hymn to London, and an extraordinary record of the city today.

Digitally shot and edited, FINISTERRE evolved alongside the Saint Etienne album of the same name. Initially conceived as a way of channelling the money allocated for music videos into something more substantial, it became in every sense an independent production. Its development is unique: early sequences were projected as visuals behind the band during their latest tour, while the film played recently to cinema audiences in London and Tokyo.

As if it wasn't apparent already, Plexifilm is seemingly evolving in a sort of specialty music DVD label. Still, they really ought to bring Mala Noche out its seemingly never-ending limbo.

neuro · #20 Post by **neuro** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 1:29 am

Some great news...coming on Nov. 15:

The Electrifying Conclusion - Guided By Voices: The Final Concert

Plexifilm is proud to release a definitive record of one of the greatest live bands in rock: THE ELECTRIFYING CONCLUSION is a chronicle of the last four hours of Guided By Voices. The film captures Guided By Voices' final concert at Chicago's Metro on New Year's Eve 2004 -- 63 songs, completely uncut. The excitement and nostalgia from both the band and audience are powerfully captured here in performances of GBV classics and special, seldom-played songs.

The DVD contains the 240-minute feature film, plus 20 minutes of additional material including rare live footage of a GBV performance from January 1994 at the Antenna in Memphis, TN, and exclusive footage of Robert Pollard recording demos for Half Smiles of the Decomposed songs. The DVD booklet also includes liner notes by WFMU DJ Tom Scharpling and doubles as a foldout poster of the original set list from the show.

Viewers will be able to witness the past GBV-mates that joined the band on stage (guitarist Tobin Sprout, bassists Jim Greer and Greg Demos, drummers Don Thrasher and Jim MacPherson), some guests stars (Matt Sweeney of Chavez/Zwan/Superwolf, Jon Wurster of Superchunk/Marah, Bob Pollard's brother Jim), the MC/dancer favorite Beatle Bob, and of course, the onstage bar, tended throughout the show by Pollard's buddy Trader Vic.

The release of THE ELECTRIFYING CONCLUSION DVD coincides with the release of the long awaited GBV book, "Guided By Voices: A Brief History" (Grove/Atlantic), written by Jim Greer with a forward by Steven Soderbergh.

neuro · #21 Post by **neuro** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:41 am

Coming Nov. 1:

DRIFT is a collaboration started in 1991 between visual artist Leah Singer and musician and poet Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth. DRIFT is an immersive sonic/visual environment consisting of music, sounds and texts by Ranaldo in response to two 16mm analytical film projectors performed in real time by Singer. Much as a DJ scratches a vinyl record, Singer manipulates her films in a live improvisation with Ranaldo's guitar, poetry and soundscapes.

DRIFT has been performed live in museums, galleries, concert halls and performing arts centers worldwide since 1991 and was recently performed live in Los Angeles at the LA Museum of Contemporary Art as part of a Robert Smithson Retrospective in Oct 2004. DRIFT will be presented as an installation at Gigantic ArtSpace in New York, NY from November 4th, 2005 to January 15th, 2006, including a video projection of the film as well as prints, lightboxes and original drawings based around the concept of DRIFT and extending from it. The installation will tour internationally starting in early 2006.

The DVD is presented with a 5.1 surround sound mix and is accompanied by a 112-page book of full-color images and poetry, a conversation with Ranaldo and Singer, and texts by experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas, artists Sam Durant and Tom Leeser, writer/musician Alan Licht, curator Roland Spekle and DRIFT exhibition curator Lea Rekow.

Gregory · #22 Post by **Gregory** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:17 am

Moog struck me as one out of many recent music documentaries that just don't engage the viewer with much depth of insight into the subject. Don't Look Back, in contrast, has countless scenes one after another after another that capture dead-on exactly who Dylan was and what was going on. Pennebaker knew exactly what to capture and how to put it all together.
Even with that criticism aside, I couldn't believe how little of the musical universe of Moog's instruments was touched on. The work of experimental composers and cutting-edge performers across the globe are barely touched on. Even Jean-Jacques Perrey and Stereolab got about 20 seconds each, while much of the rest was driven into the ground by numerous references, interviews and/or performance clips of Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman. It's not that the director has to share my tastes (and those of just about every other music lover I've ever known) with this type of progressive rock stuff, rather that a far more wider sampling of styles could easily have been portrayed and the film would have been all the more interesting for it.

Gordon · #23 Post by **Gordon** » Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:00 pm

So, I take it that Moog is nowhere near the quality of Steven M. Martin's, Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey?

Gregory · #24 Post by **Gregory** » Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:33 am

Yes, I much prefer Theremin. It has seemed a tad slight to me on some viewings, but most times I love it mainly because the story is so amazing it just carries the film. For those who have not seen it, I like this description of the film from an old catalog I saved:

An unforgettable documentary about the tragic Russian genius who pioneered electronic music four decades ahead of schedule, and then helped usher in high-tech espionage... In his spare time, Professor Leon Theremin also built a motion-sensor security system for Sing-Sing, a light-show dance floor, and a non-contact cello. He was the toast of New York in the 1930s until he was kidnapped by the KGB and whisked back to a Siberian Gulag, where he invented surveillance devices for the Soviets. Believed dead since 1945, the penniless, 94-year-old was located by director Steven Martin in Moscow in 1990, and brought back to America where he was reunited with his former sweetheart and protege Clara Rockmore. In the film's highlight, an exuberant and unmedicated Brian Wilson waxes philosophical on Good Vibrations.

The Wilson segment is somewhat interesting, but for me the highlight is all the various performance footage of Rockmore.

Ashirg · #25 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 4:45 am

Wow, 1 year with no updates.

On November 28 they are releasing Radio On