Even diehard Godard fans were a wee bit put off by his late-’80s period. At this point, the auteur’s films felt fairly strained and pedantic. His ’88 comedy, Soigne ta droite! (Keep Your Right Up!), is no exception, a bizarre feature about a filmmaker who must try to complete a feature-length film within 24 hours. (It’s being rereleased this month on VHS and DVD and caught my attention as, like Hollywood Ending, it’s a film by a filmmaker about filmmaking.)
Brought to us via the fine people at Facets Video, the press release describes the film as including “hilarious gags about golf and travel.” Uh… right—and I fall out of my chair laughing every time I see Bergman’s Persona. This is primarily a film for Godard groupies. Called an ode to the work of Jerry Lewis, to me Right Up seemed of primary interest for the performance of Godard himself, who plays the filmmaker-within-the-film, alternately referred to as The Idiot and The Prince (his acting style is obtuse and unique). Others may want to steer clear.

Those of you who missed Richard Linklater’s excellent experimental animated epic, Waking Life, can catch it on video when it’s released this week. A beautiful film, worthy of purchase for any serious animation/alt-cinema buff’s library, without a doubt. :

—Matthew Hays