It Has Been

another boring day, but it was a nice day. Tragically, Easter is no longer a sacred holiday; there are a number of merchants besides the casinos, restaurants, and convenience stores, that are open.

When I was a kid, stores were closed on ALL holidays plus Sundays. Not true anymore. Only Thanksgiving and Christmas are exempt (except for convenience stores and restaurants).

Well, I discovered a celebrated banned documentary from the 1960s, Frederick Wiseman's Titicut Follies, is now available for private purchase directly from his film company for $34.95 plus shipping. Previously, only educational establishments were allowed to purchase it and for the kingly sum of something like $400. Wiseman had to fight the courts for years and years to get it even shown anywhere after its initial release in 1967. It was shown on PBS once, in 1992. A brief explanation about the film is here. It was just released to home video last December. However, according to Zipporah Films, it is available on DVD-R and not pressed copies as you'd get in the store. (You also have to sign an agreement that is legally binding in order to get the DVD.) That is not a good thing for durability. I have a suspicion, though, that once I see this film, which I am going to get, I will probably never watch it again, since the content is disturbing, to say the least.

A recent interview with Wiseman is here.

It'll be like a handful of movies I have encountered over the years that were good or even great, but they were so disturbing to see the first time I could never bring myself to watch them again.