BARBARELLA EVENT

Your summer fling continues with the lovely Barbarella on the big screen! The Castro Theater will project Vadim's classic tomorrow at 3:05 and 7:00 (double feature with Cherry 2000) in glorious 35mm. Although the film suffers from stagey direction and static pacing, the Paco Rabbane influenced costumes (and Fonda's title sequence) are worth the price of admission. I suggest that Spy Vibers make their own triple feature with Roman Coppola's CQ and the remastered David Holzman's Diary. You'll see the connections. 1968 was also the year of Danger Diabolik, Yellow Submarine, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bullitt, Planet of the Apes, Night of the Living Dead, The Green Berets, Petulia, Candy, and The Thomas Crown Affair. Think there was something in the water? See Spy Vibe's review of the 1968 Exhibit at the Oakland Museum here. 

From the Castro: "Director Roger Vadim and star Jane Fonda bring the popular French comic strip character to the big screen in this delightfully colorful sci-fi camp classic. The voluptuous 41st-century outer space agent travels to another galaxy in search of a missing inventor named Durand Durand. Moving from one exotic locale to the next, outfitted in an array of stunning outfits, she embarks on a series of interstellar sexcapades. John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, David Hemmings, Ugo Tognazzi and Milo O'Shea co-star. (1968, 98 min, 35mm 'Scope)."

Scroll down for new editions of our series, For Your Shelf Only, where guests share stories about collecting and show us some of their treasures. More about Spy Vibe creator Agent J at Jason Whiton.

HOLZMAN AT MOMA THIS WEEK

We recently announced the release of David Holzman's Diary (1967) on Blu-ray, a film which offers an interesting window into 1960s youth culture grappling with identity, expression, and the medium of filmmaking. This cult classic begins its 6-day screening at MOMA tonight! Schedule here. A convincing mockumentary, akin to William Klein's Polly Maggoo, David Hozman's Diary was paid homage in Roman Coppola's CQ (2001). In Coppola's film, Jeremy Davies (Lost) takes on the Holzman-role of cinema verite filmmaker who struggles to document his life while working on a sci-spy movie cut from the fabric of Barbarella and Danger Diabolik. I think Spy Vibers would enjoy watching CQ, and then following the trail back to Holzman and the other films that provided inspiration. David Holzman's Diary review at New York Times here. CQ review at fellow COBRAS Permission to Kill here. Stills below from David Holzman's Diary and CQ. Check out 60s experimental: BBC Doctor Who here.

DAVID HOLZMAN'S DIARY

Kino Video and Lorber Films has announced that they will release a Blu-ray edition of Jim McBride's 1967 cult classic, David Holzman's Diary. The film takes the form of a cinema verite project by a young filmmaker, who documents his life and his relationships with the community around him. It's a kind of mockumentary, however believable, that offers an interesting window on art, attitudes, and culture during that era. This is not your Avengers 1967, but an urban tale of the youth generation, first consumers of art house cinema, who struggled to define and understand themselves through the medium. Roman Coppola paid homage to David Holzman's Diary in his sci-spy/drama, CQ (2001), which featured a Holzman-like character (Jeremy Davies/Lost) documenting his life while working on a Barbarella-style genre film. Spy Vibers interested in the art scene of 1967 New York should definitely check it out. The film also features the song A Day in the Life by The Beatles, which was released in June of that year.