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On this special episode of The Projection Booth we’re looking at Ken Russell’s Tommy. Released in 1975 this is an interpretation of The Who’s Rock Opera of the same name which stars Roger Daltry as the titular Tommy. After witnessing a scene of his mother and her lover killing his father, Tommy is rendered psychosomatically blind, deaf, and mute. He becomes a wiz at pinball, starts a religion, and is eventually brought low as a false prophet.

Our examination of 1969 continues with our first American film we’ve discussed this year, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Directed by Sydney Pollack and based on a novel by Horace McCoy, the film stars Michael Sarrazin as Robert and Jane Fonda as Gloria, a pair who get thrown together in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression.

Just a quick update about some things discussed on Ego Fest 9 along with some other updates on the show. Unless my health or the health of co-hosts changes, things should go on as planned for the podcast. Here’s hoping we can provide some entertainment during this stressful time.

Our look at 1969 continues with a discussion of Jacques Rivette’s L’Amour Fou. The story of a director, Sebastien, and an actress, Claire. We watch them work together on the play Andromaque — seeing the crafting of the production via behind-the-scenes 16mm footage as well as the 35mm film cameras that capture the real behind-the-scenes footage of Sebastien and Claire’s fizzling relationship. <br /><br />Jonathan Owen and Samm Deighan join Mike to discuss this four hour epic which marks a radical change in Rivette’s filmmaking.

Heather Drain joins Mike to take listener questions, rail against the Rondos, and give a peek behind the podcast curtain as we celebrate nine years of The Projection Booth.

Our appreciation of 1969 continues with a look at The Big Dig. Also known as The Blaumilch Canal, the film was written and directed by Ephraim Kishon and stars Bomba Tzur as the titular Blaumilch, an escaped mental patient with a mania for digging. When he finds a jack hammer in downtown Tel Aviv he kicks off a chain of events that demonstrates the absurdity of bureaucracy.

Our exploration of 1969 continues this week as we head from Europe to Argentina to check out Armando Bo’s FUEGO. It’s the story of Laura who’s played by the one and only Isabel Sarli. She is a woman driven by her passions. After she marries Carlos, played by Bo, she realizes what a hopeless nymphomaniac she is. <br /><br />Heather Drain and Rod Lott join Mike in discussing this South American firecracker of a film.

It’s less than two minutes to midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Our Eastern Neighbors are being quarantined from the corona virus. And here we are talking about the end of the world as shown in 1969 by director Marco Ferreri. The Seed of Man / Il seme dell’uomo stars Marzio Margine as Cino and Anne Wiazemsky as Dora, the only lovers left alive after a plague has wiped out most of the world’s population. The two live in a seaside home where Cino has a museum of trivial objects. He feels that he has to repopulate the world but Dora has other ideas.

Our appreciation of 1969 continues with a look at Piero Schivazappa’s Femina Ridens / The Laughing Woman. Also sometimes known as The Frightened Woman, the film stars Phillipe Leroy as Sayer, the head of a charity foundation, and Dagmar Lassander as Maria, one of his employees. She she expresses an interest in writing an article about male sterilization, he takes that as his cue to invite her to his house and enslave her. What else can a good chauvinist do?<br /><br />Elric Kane and Kat Ellinger join Mike to discuss the film, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Men’s Rights, and more.

Our appreciation of 1969 continues with our second look at an adaptation of Edowaga Rampo’s work, Blind Beast. Directed by Yasuzo Masumura, the film stars Mako Midori as Aki Shima, a model, and Eiji Funakoshi as Michio, a blind sculptor who becomes obsessed with her. He and his mother kidnap Aki and keep her in his warehouse studio where the two become engaged in a game of cat and mouse as he tries to create a new form of art that only the blind can appreciate.