26 Palms

[Bikey]

I'm obviously biased, but I think this cover is great.

[rs98762001]

Agreed. It's beautiful.

[Bikey]

Full detailed DVD specs and information on PALMS, are now up at our website

[What A Disgrace]

Wow. That may easily be the most important film of the last decade. Thank you very much for making this available.

I understand that the film is not at all meant to look crisp and clean (it does not), but I was wondering if Bikey could comment on the transfer, and the materials available. I don't think this is tape-sourced, like Mother Joan and Romeo, but its hard to tell due to the very rough nature of the film. Also, I wonder if Bikey knows the identity of the silent films from which clips are shown (rather seamlessly, I feel) throughout the film.

[Macintosh]

The synopsis of the film makes it out to be more intriguing by the day. I will consider this a blind buy.

[rs98762001]

Wow. That may easily be the most important film of the last decade. Thank you very much for making this available.

I just finished watching this, and I have to agree. Palms is absolutely stunning. I cannot recommend this highly enough to anyone searching for an out-of-the-ordinary experience.

[Bikey]

Thank you for your comments.

It's great that a film like Palms is receiving such feedback. It's a challenging film, but we felt it was both an important release and one that is utterly original. your responses affirm our belief in bringing such films out.

[Bikey]

Here's the DVD Beaver review.

We're obviously very happy with this review and the other responses we've received.

[colinr0380]

DVD Times review

[Doug Cummings]

My review.

WAD, I believe the clips are from one of the Italian silent versions of Quo Vadis!, but it would be nice to know for certain.

Amazing film.

[souvenir]

Anyone who is on the fence about ordering this, I would strongly recommend taking the plunge. I'd love to hear more opinions and views. If Criterion had released Palms, it would find its way into so many of your collections. The Second Run disc is roughly the same price, so go ahead and place your orders. It's my favorite Second Run title thus far.

[jbeall]

Wow. That may easily be the most important film of the last decade. Thank you very much for making this available.

I understand that the film is not at all meant to look crisp and clean (it does not), but I was wondering if Bikey could comment on the transfer, and the materials available. I don't think this is tape-sourced, like Mother Joan and Romeo, but its hard to tell due to the very rough nature of the film. Also, I wonder if Bikey knows the identity of the silent films from which clips are shown (rather seamlessly, I feel) throughout the film.

I was only distractedly watching the extra, but I think Aristakisyan says that he got the look by shooting on 16mm and transferring to 35mm.

This was a very difficult film, and the images become almost overwhelming after awhile. I could watch Palms ten more times and not be any closer to saying anything the least bit articulate about it.

Regardless, I'm very glad I bought and watched it. Kudos to SR for putting stuff like this out.

[zedz]

A strange, fascinating film, to be sure. Sort of an experimental fundamentalist Christian documentary about the halt and lame.

Most of the visual material is arresting, but I was less comfortable with the narration's projections and assumptions (is this really a two and a half hour anti-abortion tract?). The interview with the director, who came across as arrogant and opportunistic ("I am the artist and these people are my models"), didn't help matters, but can't really be held against the film.

I had a similar experience seeing Go Shibata presenting Late Bloomer, a pretty amazing Japanese thriller which featured a severely handicapped actor in the lead role. The film itself served as a bold statement about our assumptions regarding handicapped people, but Mr Go didn't appear to have really considered most of the moral and social issues the film raised and the audience asked about.

Nevertheless, I recommend this release to anybody looking for a unique viewing experience.

[knives]

Admittedly I haven't watched the interview, and really don't have interest in doing so, but I thought this was more pro-abortion than against though it all strikes me as rather cheeky a metaphor. The images are obviously the ace of the film, but I thought the narration did a good job of giving it a specified unity that would probably be more abstract silent (I have no clue if this is a good or bad thing). At the very least it built itself to be interesting in the moment and worth thought after.