Viva Movies
Viva, also known as Viva Superstar and originally known on her birth certificate as Janet Susan Mary Hoffman, was one of the more famous members of the Andy Warhol entourage. A talented painter and novelist, Viva was less accomplished as an actress, though her screen appearances had the saving grace of humor. In recounting her explicit sex scene in Warhol's F**k (aka Blue Movie,... (read more) 1968), one recalls not the penetration but the foreplay, wherein Viva blithely chatters away on a variety of social and political topics. Her most famous "mainstream" appearances include her semi-autobiographical turn as Greenwich Village reveller Gretchen McAlbertson in Midnight Cowboy (1969), and her portrayal of Jennifer, Woody Allen's nymphomaniac blind date (who, after prattling on about sexual liberation, reacts to Woody Allen's advances by screaming "What kind of a girl do you take me for???") in Play It Again, Sam (1972). Outlasting the fifteen minutes of fame proscribed by her mentor Andy Warhol, Viva was recently seen as Mrs. Cooper in Mel Gibson's Man Without a Face (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Nico-Icon
1995
This German documentary offers a tragic profile of the notorious "death angel," Nico. Long after her death in 1988, the German model and entertainer has remained a darkly...
The Man without a Face
PG13 1993
Mel Gibson made his feature film directing debut with this drama, loosely based on the book by Isabel Holland, which combines elements from The Elephant Man, Mask,...
Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol
NR 1990
Fascinating documentary of artist and filmmaker Andy Warhol, combining rare footage with interviews with his friends and colleagues, including Dennis Hopper, David...
Imagine: John Lennon - The Definitive Film Portrait
R 1988
The personal film archives of Yoko Ono were utilized for this feature-length documentary on the life of John Lennon. Predictably, it downplays Lennon's association...
Der Stand der Dinge
1982
Wim Wenders' The State of Things (Der Stand der Dinge) was financed by one of the director's chief mentors, Francis Ford Coppola. This highly autobiographical work...
Flash Gordon
PG 1980
Heroic earthling Flash Gordon saves the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, intentionally campy adaptation of the famous sci-fi comic strip. The...
Forbidden Zone
R 1980
Oingo Boingo fans and midnight movie mavens will love this bizarre black-and-white feature packed with music, madness, and members of the Elfman clan. The story revolves...
Ciao! Manhattan
R 1972
Edie Sedgwick,1960s heroine of decadence, is exploited from beyond the grave in this clumsily pieced together film taken from two unfinished Sedgwick vehicles -- one by Chuck...
Play It Again, Sam
PG 1972
Herbert Ross directed this adaptation of Woody Allen's hit Broadway play concerning a shy film critic who has trouble with women. Woody Allen plays Allan Felix, a writer...
Cisco Pike
R 1971
This crime-drama follows the exploits of a rock star who is finally freed from prison after being convicted of drug dealing. Though he wants to go straight, he is blackmailed by a...
Langlois
1970
This documentary follows noted film archivist Henri Langlois as he returns to Paris. Over 60,000 prints exist in his Paris museum, with 15,000 in the United States and 6,000 in...
Necropolis
1970
This Italian avant-garde underground film features Viva, Tina Aumont, Pierre Clementi, and Carmelo Bene. Lengthy shots of stationary figures such as Frankenstein, {%Attila...
The Swap
R 1969
A political filmmaker finds himself in Long Island for a weekend where he finds himself entangled with a high-living, jet set crowd. At first it is exciting, but soon he finds...
Keeping Busy
NR 1969
Experimental artist and Factory fixture Michel Auder takes his camera in hand once again, this time to chronicle Louis Waldon and Auder's own love interest at the time,...
Lions Love
1969
Agnes Varda directed this drama which combines formal dramatic structures with the openness of improvisational cinema verite. Independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke...
Midnight Cowboy
R 1969
Based on a James Leo Herlihy novel, British director John Schlesinger's first American film dramatized the small hopes, dashed dreams, and unlikely friendship of two late '60s...
Loves of Ondine
1968
This characteristically offbeat, but tedious, Andy Warhol film was finished just before Warhol was seriously wounded by a gunshot wound inflicted by one of his disgruntled...
Lonesome Cowboys
1968
This experimental western from cult icon Andy Warhol concerns nine people in a ghost town looking for love. A truly twisted improvisational comedy should have emerged, but...
Four Stars
1967
Andy Warhol shows technical improvement in this experimental film with music by the Velvet Underground. He effectively blends multi-printed scenes in an effective display of...
Bike Boy
1967
Joe Spencer plays the title character in this typical experimental film from Andy Warhol. Spencer is the object of sexual desire for several willing females, and...