http://filmjournal.net/czech A guide to Czech cinema on DVD Tue, 05 Jun 2007 16:17:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Since this blog has effectively been in a coma for the last nine months, I've decided to put it out of its misery - and will be shutting it down once I've ported all the (interesting) content over to its successor. In its place, Kinoblog was launched last night, and promises ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2007/06/05/konec/ Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem 1977, colour, 95 mins Director: Jindřich Polák Producer: Jan Šuster Screenplay: Jindřich Polák, Miloš Macourek, based on the short story by Josef Nesvadba Photography: Jan Kališ Editor: Zdeněk Stehlík Design: Milan Nejedlý Music: Karel Svoboda Cast: Petr Kostka (Jan Bureš / Karel Bureš); Jiří Sovák ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/09/18/tomorrow-ill-wake-up-and-scald-myself-with-tea/ Ikarie XB 1 1963, black and white, 87 mins Director: Jindřich Polák Producer: Rudolf Wolf Screenplay: Pavel Juráček, Jindřich Polák Story: Pavel Juráček, Jindřich Polák Photography: Jan Kališ Editor: Josef Dobřichovský Design: Jan Zázvorka Music: Zdeněk Liška Cast: Zdeněk Štěpánek (Vladimír Abajev); František Smolík (Antony Hopkins); Dana Medřická (Nina Kirová); Irena Kačírková (Brigita); Radovan ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/09/17/icarus-xb-1-voyage-to-the-end-of-the-universe/ Démanty noci 1964, black and white, 64 mins Director: Jan Němec Producer: Miloš Bergl Screenplay: Arnošt Lustig, Jan Němec, adapted from Lustig's novella Darkness Casts No Shadow (Tma nemá stín) Photography: Jaroslav Kučera (and Miroslav Ondříček) Editor: Miroslav Hájek, Jitka Šulcová Design: Oldřich Bosák Music: none Cast: Ladislav Janský (first young man), Antonín Kumbera (second young man), ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/08/26/diamonds-of-the-night/ I've just watched a double-bill of Miloš Forman's first proper feature Black Peter/Peter and Pavla (Černý Petr, 1963) and Petr Zelenka's recent Wrong Side Up (Příběhy obyčejného šílenství, 2005) - the latter largely confirming the promise of the delightful Buttoners (Knoflíkáři, 1997), which had a limited release in Britain a ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/08/04/coming-soon/ Surprisingly, considering the company has released relatively few Czech films, the Criterion website has a huge amount of background information about the Czech New Wave, starting with this introduction, and going on to feature:'The Other New Wave' by Peter Cowie'Introduction to Films and Filmmakers in Czechoslovakia' by Antonín Novak10 Czechoslovak ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/07/30/criterion-on-czechoslovakia/ Over the past few days, I've been quietly updating my guide to Czech Cinema on DVD, and while I still haven't come close to covering everything that's available, one milestone has just been passed: it now features the work of fifty filmmakers - and 178 individual films. All of which would ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/07/29/fifty-filmmakers/ Ruka 1965, colour, 18 mins Director: Jiří Trnka Producer: Puppet Film Collective Screenplay: Jiří Trnka Photography: Jiří Šafář Editor: Hana Walachová Puppeteers: Bohuslav Šrámek, Jan Adam Music: Václav Trojan The Film Universally recognised as both the founder and the supreme master of the Czech puppet cinema tradition (an accolade far less trivial within Czech culture than it might seem in ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/07/27/the-hand/ Intimní osvětlení 1965, black and white, 72 mins Director: Ivan Passer Screenplay: Jaroslav Papoušek, Ivan Passer, Václav Šašek Story: Václav Šašek ('Something Else') Photography: Miroslav Ondříček, Josef Střecha Editor: Jiřina Lukešová Design: Karel Černý Music: Oldřich Korte, Josef Hart Cast: Karel Blažek (Bambas); Zdeněk Bezušek (Petr); Věra Křesadlová (Štěpa); Jan Vostrčil (grandfather); Jaroslava Štědrá (Maruš); Vlastimila Vlková (grandmother); ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/07/26/intimate-lighting/ Sorry about that - just getting over the truly eye-wateringly hideous colour scheme of this website. I suspect the reason it hasn't been updated since 1999 is because its creator went blind shortly afterwards (or was driven mad by the accompanying pop-ups - if your browser offers that option, ... http://filmjournal.net/czech/2006/07/21/aaaargh-my-eyes/