$79.95 – $84.95
PLEASE NOTE: This box set is only available from our website for HOME use. If you wish to purchase this collection for a school or library please contact: Criterion
Box Set contains 14 Les Blank films remastered by Criterion (average price $6.25 per film!)
An uncompromisingly independent filmmaker, Les Blank (Burden of Dreams) made documentaries for nearly fifty years, elegantly disappearing with his camera into cultural spots rarely seen on-screen—mostly on the peripheries of the United States, but also occasionally abroad. Seemingly off-the-cuff yet poetically constructed, these films are humane, sometimes wry, always engaging tributes to musicians, food, and all sorts of regionally specific delights. This collector’s set put out by Criterion (see review) provides a diverse survey of Les Blank’s vast output, including the warmly funny The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, about the legendary Texas musician; Always for Pleasure, which captures the vivacious spirit of New Orleans; Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers, a hilarious celebration of the pungent, flavorful “stinking rose” of the title; and eleven other unexpected features, plus eight of Blank’s short films.
FILMS INCLUDED
A Well Spent Life (1971)
Always for Pleasure (1978)
Dry Wood (1973)
Gap-Toothed Women (1987)
Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
God Respects Us When We Work, but Loves Us When We Dance (1968)
Hot Pepper (1973)
In Heaven There Is No Beer? (1984)
Spend It All (1971)
Sprout Wings and Fly (1983)
Sworn to the Drum (1995)
The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins (1968)
The Maestro: King of the Cowboy Artists (1994)
Yum, Yum, Yum (1990)
Release Date: 11/25/2014
Source: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Presentation: Special Edition / Restored / Subtitled / Colorized
Language: English
Time: 9:23
Format: DVD (5 discs) or BluRay (3 discs)
This is a home use license
(Please do not use for public screenings)
We are greatly saddened to share news of Leon Russell’s passing on November 13, 2016.
After seeing Les Blank’s seminal film, The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins, Leon Russell and Denny Cordell wanted to work with him. Les directed, filmed, and edited, A Poem Is A Naked Person during 1972-74, while he was living at the Russell/Shelter Records recording studio compound on Grand Lake Of The Cherokees in NE Oklahoma. This feature-length film includes appearances by Willie Nelson, George Jones, and some amazing characters in Oklahoma, where much of it was shot.
The film was never released, and was rarely shown in public, except at non-profit institutions with Blank in attendance. After Les Blank’s death in 2013, his son Harrod Blank came to terms with Leon Russell in order to re-master and finally release the film, some forty years later. At least two major critics have declared it the best film ever made about Rock and Roll. Criterion and Janus Films are distributing the film in North America.
A film by Les Blank with Maureen Gosling
89 minutes
1974-2015
From Janus/Criterion Films
ISBN: 978-1-68143-118-5
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Les Blank Films Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
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