AV Maniacs readers, particularly those with an affinity for dirty old movies and more recent softcore fare, will definitely want to check out the recently revamped Alternative Cinema home page - check it out here! And if that weren’t enough, they’ve also added a podcast section - want a direct link? Sure you do, and we want to give it to you, cause that’s just how we are.

www.plaguetown.com has upgraded in anticipation of the May 12th DVD and Blu Ray release of the Dark Sky Film production PLAGUE TOWN and includes an EPK, exclusive new stills and screening information.

This Wednesday and Thursday, April 29th and 30th, PLAGUE TOWN will have it’s final East Coast theatrical screenings in New York City and Arlington, VA.

On Wednesday, April 29th PLAGUE TOWN will unspool twice at The Anthology Film Archive at 32 2nd Ave (2nd & 2nd). Screenings are at 7:00PM and 9:30PM and will be followed by cast & crew Q & A with Director David Gregory, Producer Derek Curl and actors Lindsay Goranson and James Warke.

On Thursday, April 30th Dark Sky Films & Severin Films present a shocking double feature of PLAGUE TOWN and THE SINFUL DWARF! At the Arlington Drafthouse (for tickets go here: www.arlingtondrafthouse.com), 2903 Columbia Pike, VA. PT will show at 7:30 followed by a Q&A with Director David Gregory and Co-Writer and DC area native John Cregan. Then a rare 35mm screening of a battered and worn print of the mother of all dwarfsploitation films: THE SINFUL DWARF. Expect guests and giveaways all night. We’re trying to persuade local anti-Sinful Dwarf activist John Dols to come and warn us against the dangers of THE DWARF:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PQV57S7I-s

PLAGUE TOWN will also play at the Deep Red Festival of Fantastic films in Seattle, WA on Friday, May 8th at 7:00PM at the Grand Illusion Cinema.

Magick Lantern Cycle
Kenneth Anger

Self-styled magician Kenneth Anger is one of the most distinctive artists in cinema. On 25 May the BFI releases Anger’s Magick Lantern Cycle – a collection of ten experimental short films – on DVD and on Blu-ray for the first time. Kenneth Anger will be at BFI Southbank on 12 May to introduce a special screening of Rabbit’s Moon.
Renowned as the author of the scandalous best-selling book Hollywood Babylon, Kenneth Anger is a legend in his own time. The mythology that has grown around him has many sources, from his involvement with the occult, astrology and the pop world of Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull and Jimmy Page, to the announcement of his own death in the pages of the Village Voice, and the destruction, loss and banning of his films.

At the heart of all this mythology is a filmmaker of prodigious talent, whose skill and imagination create films of great visual force, influencing filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and RW Fassbinder.

The Magick Lantern Cycle, released in a 2-disc set, contains the following films: Fireworks (1947); Puce Moment (1949); Rabbit’s Moon (1950/1971, the rarely seen 16 mins version); Eaux d’Artifice (1953); Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (1954); Scorpio Rising (1964); Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965); Invocation of My Demon Brother (1969); Rabbit’s Moon (1979); Lucifer Rising (1981). 
 
Special features
• Newly recorded commentaries by Kenneth Anger
• The Man We Want to Hang (2002) – Anger’s film on the art of Aleister Crowley
• Restoration work demo
• Anger Me (2006) – Elio Gelmini’s portrait of Kenneth Anger
• Illustrated booklet containing Modesty and the Art of Film (1951), an original article by Kenneth Anger; The Crowned and Conquering Child (2008), a newly commissioned essay by author Gary Lachman; and film credits

Kenneth Anger Shoots the Moon – BFI Southbank Special Event
Kenneth Anger will introduce a special screening of Rabbit’s Moon (1950 version). After the screening, we welcome Gary Lachman, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard to discuss with Anger his influences and legacy. Tue 12 May 18:20 NFT1 Tickets £9, concs £6.65

NB. We expect Kenneth Anger to be available for interview on 12 May.

Release date: 25 May 2009
RRP: DVD £22.99 / Blu-ray £24.99
USA / 1947 - 1981 / colour and b&w / English / cert 18 / original aspect ratio 1.33:1
DVD: cat. no. BFIVD628 / 186 + 71 mins / DVD9 + DVD5 / Dolby Digital stereo audio
BD: cat. no. BFIB1010 / 188 mins + 71 mins / BD50 + DVD5 / 1080p / 24fps
BFI DVD and Blu-ray titles are available from all good retailers; by mail order from the BFI Filmstore Tel: 020 7815 1350 or online at www.bfi.org.uk/filmstore

Central Bazaar
A film by Stephen Dwoskin

Director, artist and advocate of independent film, Stephen Dwoskin gathered a group of strangers together for five weeks in 1974 and filmed them as they explored their fantasies within a single room. The results of this experiment are seen in this extraordinary and gorgeous looking experimental epic, released for the first time on 25 May.

Inspired by the post-hippy encounter groups that developed on America’s West Coast, this poetic precursor to TV’s Big Brother explores the relationship between intimacy and performance, often to extreme effect. Men and women don make-up, stockings and ceremonial gowns while emotional and physical interactions form and rupture, pushing some participants to their very limits.

Through his involving camerawork and dynamic use of sound – including a compelling drone score by celebrated composer Gavin Bryars – Dwoskin creates a truly unique film that drives us to examine our own sense of ‘fantasy’ and to question our relationships to both the people around us and the film itself.

As well as the DVD release, the BFI is offering a rare opportunity to see the distinctive work of Stephen Dwoskin at BFI Southbank in An Intimate Cinema: The Films of Stephen Dwoskin – a season of films, workshops and a special in conversation event all taking place from 1 – 31 May. Stephen Dwoskin is available for interview.

Working initially as a graphic designer and art director for CBS Records in New York, Dwoskin began making films in 1961, a few years before Andy Warhol, an artist with whom he is often compared. He left the underground US film scene in the mid-Sixties and, on moving to England, quickly became involved in the foundation of the London Filmmakers’ Co-op. His reputation as a bold and distinctive filmmaker was established in this early period and, to this day, remains one of the most visually rich and emotionally intense filmmakers in British cinema.

Special features
• New high definition transfer created from new film elements
• Laboured Party (1974, 20 mins), Dwoskin’s on-set companion piece to Central Bazaar. An unsuspecting Labour Party canvasser calls at the house and falls under the provocative and playful influence of the feature film’s participants
• Illustrated booklet with contributions from Jonas Mekas, Paul Willemen and William Fowler

Release date: 25 May 2009
RRP: £19.99 / cat. no. BFIVD817 / cert 15
UK / 1975 / colour / English / 142 mins / DVD-9 / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / Dolby Digital mono audio (320 kbps)
BFI DVDs are available from all good DVD retailers; by mail order from the BFI Filmstore Tel: 020 7815 1350 or online at www.bfi.org.uk/filmstore