Moviedrome Mondays: Gothic (1986) and The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

This Moviedrome Monday entry is yet another double bill – this one features two films involving period settings.

Gothic (1986)

Since I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing flamboyant master filmmaker Ken Russell’s 1986 period horror item Gothic, readers will have to rely on Cox’s intro transcript here. The episode’s original airdate was July 11, 1993 (read here). Even with Cox’s positive reaction to the film, I have a feeling that I love Gothic more than he does. Though Cox does find fault with Thomas Dolby’s soundtrack, I was personally cool with it. Directed by Ken Russell, this fictionalized take on the origin of 19th-century writer Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein is typically (and I mean that as a compliment) idiosyncratic in every way possible. If any of you readers are interested, here is a link to my favorite Ken Russell films (read here).

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Once again I could not find a youtube video link of Moviedrome presenter Alex Cox introducing visionary director Vincent Ward’s idiosyncratic 1988 fantasy adventure The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey, readers will have to rely on Cox’s intro transcript here. The episode’s original airdate was July 12, 1993 (read here). Having not seen this film in the longest time, I am afraid that I can’t agree or disagree with Cox’s comments on it.

Here is a youtube video link to the film’s original theatrical trailer

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My Favorite Ken Russell Films

* * * * (Out of * * * *)

1.   The Devils (1971)
(I saw it online)

2.   Song of Summer (1968)
(Episode of “Omnibus”)
(Television)

3.   Altered States (1980)

4.   Women in Love (1969)

5.   Tommy (1975)

6.   Savage Messiah (1972)

7.   The Boy Friend (1971)

8.   Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1966)
(Television)

9.   The Debussy Film (1965)
(Episode of “Monitor”)
(Television)

10. Elgar (1962)
(Episode of “Monitor”)
(Television)

11. Pop Goes the Easel (1962)
(Episode of “Monitor”)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

12. Always on Sunday (1965)
(Episode of “Monitor”)
(Television)

13. Dante’s Inferno (1967)
(Episode of “Omnibus”)
(Television)

14. Crimes of Passion (1984)

15. The Music Lovers (1971)

16. Mahler (1974)

17. Dance of the Seven Veils (1970)
(Episode of “Omnibus”)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

18. Lisztomania (1975)

19. Valentino (1977)

20. Salome’s Last Dance (1988)
(I saw it on an old VHS tape)

21. The Rainbow (1989)
(I saw it on an old VHS tape)

22. The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
(I saw it on an old VHS tape)

23. Gothic (1986)

24. Whore (1991)
(I saw it on an old VHS tape)

25. Lady Chatterley (1993)
(Miniseries)
(Television)

26. The Planets (1983)
(Television)

27. The Mystery of Dr. Martinu (1992)
(Television)
(I saw it online) 

28. The Secret Life of Arnold Bax (1992)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

29. The Strange Affliction of Anton Bruckner (1990)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

30. Treasure Island (1995)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

31. Elgar: Fantasy of a Composer on a Bicycle (2002)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

32. Ken Russell: In Search of the English Folk Song (1997)
(Documentary)
(Television)
(I saw it online)

33. A British Picture (1989)

* * * * (Out of * * * *) (Short Cinema)

1.   A House in Bayswater (1959)
(I saw it online)

2.   Peepshow (1956)
(I saw it online)

3.   Amelia and the Angel (1958)
(I saw it online)

4.   Aria (1987)
(Segment: “Nessun dorma”)
(Anthology Film)

5.   A Kitten for Hitler (2007)
(I saw it online)