BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
01-10-13, 11:39 AM
#26
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
For those interested, Mondotees is currently selling a limited edition VHS of this film:
https://www.mondotees.com/Beyond_the...VHS_p_724.html
https://www.mondotees.com/Beyond_the...VHS_p_724.html
01-10-13, 12:09 PM
#27
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
Does the VHS format have any relevance to the film itself, or is just because it takes place in the 80's so that makes the VHS release nostalgic or something?
01-10-13, 12:24 PM
#28
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
The latter.
Looks cool, but I'm not about to drop $20 on a dead format when I already own the BD.
Looks cool, but I'm not about to drop $20 on a dead format when I already own the BD.
01-12-13, 12:00 AM
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
Anyway, I saw this recently and just wanted to add that I really liked it too. Such a visually strong film. It's refreshing after you see so much stuff that is dialogue and script-based, to get a film that's about visuals and sounds.
04-22-13, 04:28 PM
#30
Banned by request
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I don't think that BtBR is a great film, but it is a wonderfully ambitious one that painstakingly recreates the feel of an '80s sci-fi low budget flick. The B&W flashback is genuinely creepy, and I loved a lot of the imagery and the score. It's definitely worth seeing.
09-07-13, 02:33 PM
#32
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
Saw it today and really liked it. This is the sci-fi equivalent of House of the Devil. A throwback to 60's, 70's & 80's films that reminded me of Kenneth Anger, Stanley Kubrick, Ken Russell & Alejandro Jodorowsky.
06-27-14, 11:12 AM
#33
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I posted this under the music forum but for those that don't frequent that area...
For those interested, the Beyond the Black Rainbow score on vinyl is up for preorder:
http://www.avclub.com/article/previe...ror-sco-206254
For those interested, the Beyond the Black Rainbow score on vinyl is up for preorder:
http://www.avclub.com/article/previe...ror-sco-206254
01-28-19, 11:11 PM
#34
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
In for a penny, in for a pound. I sought out Panos Cosmatos' Mandy through a trial with the streaming service Shudder and when I saw they also had Beyond the Black Rainbow ... well, why not? Here is "why not" -- what the $#*! was that?
Beyond the Black Rainbow is a successful exercise in film making. It is far from a successful film though. Like Mandy, Cosmatos' first film is high on visual stimulation and a synth score that is stunningly appropriate. However, this film is missing any discernible plot. One of my criticisms of Mandy was that it was driven from scene to scene by a connecting thread (not necessarily a progressing story). Black Rainbow is a series of strung together visuals with a reason, but no real connecting thread.
At one point the movie finally provides some plot and shows promise during a very artistic black-goo-and-white sequence that reminded me of Noah Hawley's "Legion" (a.k.a., the best damned thing on TV). Unfortunately for this movie though, that association reminded me that "trippy" visuals and obscure symbolism can be used not just to tell a story successfully, but to give the story new and complex meanings. I hope that Cosmatos develops his storytelling skill. He has a keen sense for visuals, a stunning knack for soundtracks, and a definite understanding and love of cinema ... he just needs to harness these and put them to good use. I didn't like either of his first two films, yet I am eager to see what he does next. The last director I had a similar relationship with was Quentin Tarantino. I may not like all of his work, but Cosmatos is in good company.
Beyond the Black Rainbow is a successful exercise in film making. It is far from a successful film though. Like Mandy, Cosmatos' first film is high on visual stimulation and a synth score that is stunningly appropriate. However, this film is missing any discernible plot. One of my criticisms of Mandy was that it was driven from scene to scene by a connecting thread (not necessarily a progressing story). Black Rainbow is a series of strung together visuals with a reason, but no real connecting thread.
At one point the movie finally provides some plot and shows promise during a very artistic black-goo-and-white sequence that reminded me of Noah Hawley's "Legion" (a.k.a., the best damned thing on TV). Unfortunately for this movie though, that association reminded me that "trippy" visuals and obscure symbolism can be used not just to tell a story successfully, but to give the story new and complex meanings. I hope that Cosmatos develops his storytelling skill. He has a keen sense for visuals, a stunning knack for soundtracks, and a definite understanding and love of cinema ... he just needs to harness these and put them to good use. I didn't like either of his first two films, yet I am eager to see what he does next. The last director I had a similar relationship with was Quentin Tarantino. I may not like all of his work, but Cosmatos is in good company.
01-28-19, 11:28 PM
#35
DVD Talk Hero
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I saw this film way back when they premiered it The Cinefamily in Hollywood. Panos and the Composer where there doing a Q&A. It was great.
01-29-19, 09:44 AM
#37
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I like to pretend (?) that both of these films are set in the same enticingly moody and claustrophobic little universe, or reality, or alternative 1983 or whatever. And I'd be happy to go back again, not necessarily to revisit these pictures right away, but to other eras and communities and genres Cosmatos sees fit explore. While I'm likewise anxious to see what he does next -- and said as much in the other thread -- part of me dreads the thought of Cosmatos being forced to string up a bunch of connective threads or spell out his plots (such as they are, and they are there) in a more conventional manner, least of all using as reference any TV show that can afford to dabble in trippy visuals and obscure symbolism because, really, conventional three-act storytelling will ultimately power it through multiple episodes and seasons for as long as people tune in. I want more one-off, movie-length stories in Cosmatos' bizarro world, stories that don't give me everything right out in the open, but also don't withhold so much or unfold so obliquely that I can't figure out what's going on, stories that I can at least partly intuit as much from how the characters behave, silently, in their quiet moments as I can from what they're given to say by the writer. And definitely more of those eerie soundtracks and hellscape visuals, provided we don't have to wait another eight years for them! Knowing my luck, though, he'll take some Marvel gig or Star Wars spinoff instead. 
Mind you, if he was given the autonomy he's accustomed to, that would be some amazing shit, but we know that'll never happen in the big leagues.
On a very much related note, Panos Cosmatos is thanked in the credits of a little-seen 2016 Canadian horror film called THE VOID -- from the guys behind the gonzo comedy troop Astron 6, though not made under that banner -- that very much seems like what you might get if he connected the threads and spelled out the plots in his own films. It's not a bad film, per se, but it received virtually none of the impassioned love/hate of his own productions (or the Astron 6 shows) because, beneath all the trippy visuals and obscure occult symbolism, it's just a conventionally-told horror story: people stuck in an isolated location fighting off the occult. It was just . . . there, but in an ok sort of way, and with plenty of talk to explain everything. Not sure what Cosmatos' contribution was, but the presence of the owner of a popular horror website-slash-blurb-mill and two then-active TIFF programmers in the producer credits pretty much told me up front that this was less an artistic piece than a commercial piece through and through. Still, if you want a story that feels of a kind with Cosmatos' dark and foggy universe, or possibly even set within it, albeit told in more mainstream fashion, this is it:
Trailer:
Mind you, if he was given the autonomy he's accustomed to, that would be some amazing shit, but we know that'll never happen in the big leagues.On a very much related note, Panos Cosmatos is thanked in the credits of a little-seen 2016 Canadian horror film called THE VOID -- from the guys behind the gonzo comedy troop Astron 6, though not made under that banner -- that very much seems like what you might get if he connected the threads and spelled out the plots in his own films. It's not a bad film, per se, but it received virtually none of the impassioned love/hate of his own productions (or the Astron 6 shows) because, beneath all the trippy visuals and obscure occult symbolism, it's just a conventionally-told horror story: people stuck in an isolated location fighting off the occult. It was just . . . there, but in an ok sort of way, and with plenty of talk to explain everything. Not sure what Cosmatos' contribution was, but the presence of the owner of a popular horror website-slash-blurb-mill and two then-active TIFF programmers in the producer credits pretty much told me up front that this was less an artistic piece than a commercial piece through and through. Still, if you want a story that feels of a kind with Cosmatos' dark and foggy universe, or possibly even set within it, albeit told in more mainstream fashion, this is it:
Trailer:
Spoiler:
01-29-19, 09:56 AM
#38
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
^ I quite liked The Void, even though it had some flaws in the build-up to the end. I need to revisit that one soon. I've only seen one Astron 6 film, and I loved it: The Editor.
01-29-19, 10:02 AM
#39
DVD Talk Hero
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
I like to pretend (?) that both of these films are set in the same enticingly moody and claustrophobic little universe, or reality, or alternative 1983 or whatever. And I'd be happy to go back again, not necessarily to revisit these pictures right away, but to other eras and communities and genres Cosmatos sees fit explore. While I'm likewise anxious to see what he does next -- and said as much in the other thread -- part of me dreads the thought of Cosmatos being forced to string up a bunch of connective threads or spell out his plots (such as they are, and they are there) in a more conventional manner, least of all using as reference any TV show that can afford to dabble in trippy visuals and obscure symbolism because, really, conventional three-act storytelling will ultimately power it through multiple episodes and seasons for as long as people tune in. I want more one-off, movie-length stories in Cosmatos' bizarro world, stories that don't give me everything right out in the open, but also don't withhold so much or unfold so obliquely that I can't figure out what's going on, stories that I can at least partly intuit as much from how the characters behave, silently, in their quiet moments as I can from what they're given to say by the writer. And definitely more of those eerie soundtracks and hellscape visuals, provided we don't have to wait another eight years for them! Knowing my luck, though, he'll take some Marvel gig or Star Wars spinoff instead. Mind you, if he was given the autonomy he's accustomed to, that would be some amazing shit, but we know that'll never happen in the big leagues.
On a very much related note, Panos Cosmatos is thanked in the credits of a little-seen 2016 Canadian horror film called THE VOID -- from the guys behind the gonzo comedy troop Astron 6, though not made under that banner -- that very much seems like what you might get if he connected the threads and spelled out the plots in his own films. It's not a bad film, per se, but it received virtually none of the impassioned love/hate of his own productions (or the Astron 6 shows) because, beneath all the trippy visuals and obscure occult symbolism, it's just a conventionally-told horror story: people stuck in an isolated location fighting off the occult. It was just . . . there, but in an ok sort of way, and with plenty of talk to explain everything. Not sure what Cosmatos' contribution was, but the presence of the owner of a popular horror website-slash-blurb-mill and two then-active TIFF programmers in the producer credits pretty much told me up front that this was less an artistic piece than a commercial piece through and through. Still, if you want a story that feels of a kind with Cosmatos' dark and foggy universe, or possibly even set within it, albeit told in more mainstream fashion, this is it:
Trailer:
Mind you, if he was given the autonomy he's accustomed to, that would be some amazing shit, but we know that'll never happen in the big leagues.On a very much related note, Panos Cosmatos is thanked in the credits of a little-seen 2016 Canadian horror film called THE VOID -- from the guys behind the gonzo comedy troop Astron 6, though not made under that banner -- that very much seems like what you might get if he connected the threads and spelled out the plots in his own films. It's not a bad film, per se, but it received virtually none of the impassioned love/hate of his own productions (or the Astron 6 shows) because, beneath all the trippy visuals and obscure occult symbolism, it's just a conventionally-told horror story: people stuck in an isolated location fighting off the occult. It was just . . . there, but in an ok sort of way, and with plenty of talk to explain everything. Not sure what Cosmatos' contribution was, but the presence of the owner of a popular horror website-slash-blurb-mill and two then-active TIFF programmers in the producer credits pretty much told me up front that this was less an artistic piece than a commercial piece through and through. Still, if you want a story that feels of a kind with Cosmatos' dark and foggy universe, or possibly even set within it, albeit told in more mainstream fashion, this is it:
Trailer:
Spoiler:
I've had The Void in my queue for a while now. I hear it's very Lovecraftian.
01-29-19, 10:12 AM
#40
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
Found this AV Club essay -- among many -- that smokes out some of Cosmatos' inner workings, suggesting why wishing either film was more conventional is probably unnecessary:
https://film.avclub.com/mandy-and-be...tha-1829173194
Most notably:
Each movie spends half its runtime creating an ambient world, with a long, protagonist-free foray into a cult leader’s mind, then a quickening of the violent descent before leaving the protagonist in some mysterious new world. (For Mandy’s Red, it’s some multi-mooned Frazetta dreamscape; for Black Rainbow’s Elena, it’s the ’burbs.) Both end with post-credits shots that layer yet another reality over top, suggesting these were just deeply felt childhood dreams, suffused with a more adult melancholy.
He's also said that Black Rainbow was a response to the death of his father, the director George Cosmatos, and that the film was financed through Tombstone residuals. The elder Cosmatos gave his son his first filmmaking gig in that movie’s second unit, and it’s easy to see this “inhale” and “exhale” as a way to grieve through genre pictures while still celebrating their lurid spectacle—a love and a language shared between generations. (Panos’ favorite film of his father's, for what it’s worth, is Of Unknown Origin, from—you guessed it—1983.)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1UytsnlpmXc" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ktFvrEQKdjw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(again, the audio is reversed in the actual film)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hcfrw9N8TYo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Last edited by Brian T; 01-29-19 at 11:23 AM.
01-30-19, 05:32 PM
#41
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Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
^ Thanks BrianT ... good read but it actually makes me dig my heels in further rather than helping to “bring me around.”
Right now I am viewing Cosmatos as I viewed Quentin Tarantino for many, many years. I appreciate what he is aiming for. I admire his passion for film and the skill that he shows. However his work isn’t clicking with me (yet) due to the fact that he/they are often more enamored with the exercise in film than the actual film itself. For many folks that may come as artistic douchebaggery, but I am not that cynical.
I love films that make the viewer work. For a film of that ilk to work, it must give the viewer enough plot to grab ahold of the first time and then allow the viewer to find the rest of the footholds to climb deeper on subsequent viewings. It can’t be a sheer reflective surface.
Mandy did that. It was a cliched, razor thin revenge story, but there was enough plot to keep the viewer moving forward. Beyond the Black Rainbow has no real discernible story. It has a few plot-driven scenes, but the story itself falls through the gaping cracks.
An unrelated tangent ... during the Black and White scene (which was one of the few parts I enjoyed), I kept thinking this was part of MK Ultra.
Regarding your comments on my “TV comparison” ... have you seen Legion? Yes, it has the luxury (or the curse) of extended time, but it is far from conventional 3-act story telling. However, what Noah Hawley does visually supports and advances the story. It doesn’t supersede it as Cosmatos (and the type of film he is making a homage to) tends to do.
Right now I am viewing Cosmatos as I viewed Quentin Tarantino for many, many years. I appreciate what he is aiming for. I admire his passion for film and the skill that he shows. However his work isn’t clicking with me (yet) due to the fact that he/they are often more enamored with the exercise in film than the actual film itself. For many folks that may come as artistic douchebaggery, but I am not that cynical.
I love films that make the viewer work. For a film of that ilk to work, it must give the viewer enough plot to grab ahold of the first time and then allow the viewer to find the rest of the footholds to climb deeper on subsequent viewings. It can’t be a sheer reflective surface.
Mandy did that. It was a cliched, razor thin revenge story, but there was enough plot to keep the viewer moving forward. Beyond the Black Rainbow has no real discernible story. It has a few plot-driven scenes, but the story itself falls through the gaping cracks.
An unrelated tangent ... during the Black and White scene (which was one of the few parts I enjoyed), I kept thinking this was part of MK Ultra.
Regarding your comments on my “TV comparison” ... have you seen Legion? Yes, it has the luxury (or the curse) of extended time, but it is far from conventional 3-act story telling. However, what Noah Hawley does visually supports and advances the story. It doesn’t supersede it as Cosmatos (and the type of film he is making a homage to) tends to do.
01-30-19, 11:40 PM
#42
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
You need a story, and you’re waiting for Tarantino to change his ways. Got it. 
(btw, wasn’t trying to bring you around. Dig in all you like. Just glad the thread got revived. Didn’t matter by whom)
(btw, wasn’t trying to bring you around. Dig in all you like. Just glad the thread got revived. Didn’t matter by whom)
Last edited by Brian T; 01-30-19 at 11:50 PM.
01-16-20, 05:25 PM
#43
Re: BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (2010?) (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
Finally watching this, and it's an interesting movie. Visuals are magnificent, soundtrack is great, I like the cast. Only thing letting it down is that's a little too abstract and not so much incoherent as purposefully obtuse. By that I mean the director seems to know that the film should feel disjointed and difficult to understand and that this will probably make it more enigmatic. Dont think entirely successful in that department as it needed some semblance of a story to keep it going for the almost 2 hour run time.
