the reediting of Wong Kar-wai’s seminal 1994 masterpiece that stood the idea of the wuxia and kung fu film on it’s head, to say nothing of the entire catalog of film convention, Redux redoes chronology to resolve the plot eschewed and made elliptical in the original. ultimately, what Redux gains in clarity, it loses in art and artifice and bewildering revelry. still, both films are fantastically gorgeous, due in no small part to Christopher Doyle’s virtuosic cinematography creating a playful dance of color, shadow and light on the screen that i have never seen matched yet to this day. see both films…the original for it’s sheer display of cinematic artfulness, and Redux as WKW’s gift to those who toiled in a labour of love with his pet experiment.

PS – since there has yet to be a quality release of the original on dvd, it’s also nice to see the film in proper glory in the Redux dvd – that is, best you can get outside of the big screen.

Jean Luc Godard – champion of the art cinema and bright shining light of the French New Wave High Point: 1960-1967

Peter Greenaway – underappreciated Brit with a inimitable, fantastical style. High Point: A Zed and Two Noughts

David Gordon Green – has taken steady steps back since his debut, but George Washington was a true landmark piece of cinema that Malick could be proud of. High Point: George Washington

Other Gs to Watch: Terry Gilliam, Christopher Guest, Vincent Gallo, Bahman Ghobadi

Federico Fellini – inimitable master’s style can only be described by his the term coined for him “Felliniesque” High Point: 8 1/2

Rainer Werner Fassbinder – ridiculously prolific German New Waver helped redefine German cinema as well as influence independent filmmakers in future generations. High Point: In A Year of 13 Moons

John Ford – directed nearly 150 films over a 50 year career. much of what film has been and is today owes a large debt of gratitude to Ford. High Point: The Searchers

Other Fs to Watch: David Fincher, Su Friedrich, Hollis Frampton, Mike Figgis, Todd Field, Harun Farocki, Georges Franju

Carl Theodor Dreyer – underappreciated Swedish master was a prime influence on future masters such as Bergman and Bresson. High Point: The Passion of Joan of Arc

Maya Deren – experimental film goddess brought an exotic grace to film. High Point: Meshes of the Afternoon

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne – multiple Cannes winners create stark, realistic films shot similar to dogme style. High Point: Le Fils (The Son)

Sergei Eisenstein – the preeminent Soviet silent filmmaker and popularizer of the montage effect. High Point: Battleship Potemkin

Other Ds and Es to Watch: Claire Denis, Christopher Doyle, Vittorio DeSica, Germaine Dulac, Marcel Duchamp, Atom Egoyan, Victor Erice, Jean Eustache

Jean Cocteau – one of the earliest art filmmakers and still atop the heap of the dream sequence. High Point: Orpheus Trilogy

Vera Chytilova – lesser known but excellent Czech New Wave director, films are wild and quite psychadelic…recommended for fans of cult cinema. High Point: Fruits of Paradise

John Cassavetes – simply put, the greatest filmmaker of all time. High Point: his entire career, but for a recommendation i’ll say A Woman Under the Influence

Francis Ford Coppola – a career full of peaks and valleys, but the peaks are great ones. High Point: The Godfather II

Joel and Ethan Coen – one of the most solid and steady careers going on 25 years in cinema. High Point: Barton Fink

Other C’s to Watch: David Cronenberg, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuaron, Jonathan Caouette, Claude Chabrol, Charles Chaplin, Henri-Georges Clouzot

Ingmar Bergman – the swedish master of the existential crisis. career spanned 6 decades and spawned countless great films. High Point: my personal favorite is Persona

Luis Bunuel – a cornerstone of surrealism and a spanish icon. High Point: The Exterminating Angel

Robert Bresson – uncompromising and oft imitated. French film simply wouldn’t be French film without him. High Point: L’Argent

Stan Brakhage – a true innovator in art and the avant garde. High Point: Dog Star Man

Jiri Barta – extraordinary and underseen Czech animator. Probably my favorite animator of all time. High Point: The Last Theft

Noah Baumbach – for my money, one of the bright shining stars of modern cinema, and a torch bearer for the Woody Allen brand of film. High Point: The Squid and the Whale

Other B’s You Should Watch: Bernardo Bertolucci, Mario Bava, Peter Bogdanovich, Andrew Bujalski, Danny Boyle, Tim Burton, Matthew Barney, Charles Burnett, Walerian Borowczyk

Woody Allen – one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, a comedic genius who was also very skilled with drama, though he made very few dramatic films in his career. forgive the latter day sins. High Point – four year stint of Annie Hall, Interiors, Manhattan and Stardust Memories.

Robert Altman – perhaps the ultimate ensemble director. High Point – the 70s. Altman was money in the 70s, most notably for me with Nashville, Images, McCabe and Mrs. Miller.

Hal Ashby – an underappreciated master of satirical comedy. High Point – again, the 70s, where Ashby could do no wrong. Best Film: Harold and Maude

Pedro Almodovar – Spanish vet of 25 plus years in the film biz and doing his best work ever recently. High Point – for me, Volver and Bad Education were the most skilled films Almodovar has made.

Paul Thomas Anderson – a career that is coming into full bloom. High Point – the masterful There Will Be Blood

Wes Anderson – will be known in future generations for his attention to detail and mastery of comedic melancholy. High Pont – Rushmore

other great A’s: Michelangelo Antonioni, Lindsey Anderson, Theo Angelopolous, Chantal Akerman, Dario Argento, Darren Aronfsky, Judd Apatow

here’s the 2009 albums that are in heavy rotation with the billy right now:::

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

2. Kompakt Records – Pop Ambient 2009

3. Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country

4. Alela Diane – To Be Still

5. Group Bombino – Guitars From Agadez, Vol. 2

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell

a touching portrait of one of the most innovative musicians in modern music. includes some great footage of Russell in the developmental stages of his music from the early folk sounds to disco to ultimately the avant garde cello and voice work that he produced near his untimely death. the interviews provide insight into the life and struggles of one of the most underheard and underappreciated musicians of the past several decades, and provides a great entry point for any that want to familiarize themselves with his work.