{"id":30215,"date":"2024-12-01T23:51:11","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T07:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=30215"},"modified":"2024-12-01T23:51:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T07:51:11","slug":"blu-ray-disc-review-scala-or-the-incredibly-strange-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-wildest-cinema-and-how-it-influenced-a-mixed-up-generation-of-weirdos-and-misfits-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=30215","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray Disc Review: SCALA!!! OR, THE INCREDIBLY STRANGE RISE AND FALL OF THE WORLD\u2019S WILDEST CINEMA AND HOW IT INFLUENCED A MIXED-UP GENERATION OF WEIRDOS AND MISFITS (2023)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Blu-ray from Severin Films will be available for purchase on December 3rd, 2024.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Review by James Jay Edwards<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Before there were Angelikas, Alamo Drafthouses, or a New Beverly, there was Scala. It was a cinema in London that, from 1978-1993, hosted oddball films and musical performances. It was an important hub in the British counterculture movement of the time. Now, it\u2019s also the subject of a 2023 documentary with the unruly title Scala!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World\u2019s Greatest Cinema and How it Influenced a Mixed-Up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits <\/em>(which will, from here on out, be referred to as Scala!!!<\/em>) that has been given the Severin Films treatment. And what a treatment it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scala!!! <\/em>is as much a tribute to the fans and patrons of the theater as it is to the cult movies that played there. Directors Ali Catterall and Jane Giles dug up and tracked down a murderer\u2019s row of now-famous audience members for interviews, including everyone from filmmakers (John Waters, Ben Wheatley, Mary Harron) to musicians (Matt Johnson, Thurston Moore, Jah Wobble). There are dozens of interviews in the film which help give a loving, first-hand account of the theater and its goings-on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actual feature presentation looks great, as it should, being a movie that is only a year old. It\u2019s shown in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 with 5.1 and stereo audio tracks. The 3-in-1 disc case slips into a side-loading hard slipcase, and comes packaged with a replica calendar and Scala membership card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But the real fun with this set is the bonus features. And there are a ton of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to containing the Scala!!!<\/em> movie (with an audio commentary by co-directors Catterall and Giles), Disc One also has an introduction to the film from its UK premiere at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on Disc One are a pair of shorter docs about Scala, one from 1990 by director Michael Clifford called, simply, Scala<\/em> (with an introduction by the director) and another from 1992 by Aly Peck and Victor de Jesus called Scala Cinema<\/em> (which also has an audio commentary from Paul R. White which, honestly, completes the film, like it\u2019s the narration that the un-commentaried movie needed to feel whole).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, director Jane Giles takes viewers on a short tour of a bunch of Scala programs from its heyday. Giles also shows off some objects from the Scala Archives in another feature called Cabinet of Curiosities<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, there are extended interviews and outtakes with several of the participants in the documentary, such as the aforementioned Mary Harron, Thurston Moore, and John Waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Then there are a handful of fun artistic shorts. One features cartoonist Davey Jones drawing a piece for Scala with a bunch of sordid characters, and another particularly fun one uses Scala programs in a cool animation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Finally, there\u2019s a trailer for Scala!!!<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s just Disc One.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discs Two and Three are packed with short films that are the type of stuff that one could see at Scala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disc Two includes shorts with titles like Divide and Rule \u2013 Never! <\/em>(1978), Dead Cat<\/em> (1989), The Mark of Lilith<\/em> (1986), Relax<\/em> (1991), Boobs a Lot <\/em>(1968), Kama Sutra Rides Again<\/em> (1971), Coping with Cupid<\/em> (1991),and On Guard<\/em> (1984). There is also a short with director David Lewis remembering back on his short Dead Cat <\/em>which is almost as long as the short itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disc Three has more cool short films, most of which include audio commentaries. There\u2019s Maniac 2: Mr. Robbie<\/em> (1986, with commentary from director Buddy Giovinazzo), Horrorshow <\/em>(1990, with commentary from director Paul Hart-Wilden), both the original and Producer\u2019s Cut of Josh Becker\u2019s Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter<\/em> (1982, with the Producer\u2019s Cut including a commentary from producer Scott Spiegel), and Mongolitos<\/em> (1988, with commentary from director St\u00e9phane Ambiel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Also on Disc Three are some new documentaries. First, there\u2019s The Art of the Calendar<\/em> by Kier-La Janisse, which is a more-interesting-than-it-should-be piece about creating the calendar art for theaters. And then, there\u2019s Splatterfest Exhumed<\/em> by Jasper Sharp about Scala\u2019s legendary 1990 all-night horror fest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a video of Hershall Gordon Lewis\u2019 1989 appearance at Scala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disc Three also has a hidden Easter Egg (that\u2019s not really that hidden). Nestled in with the Short Films in the menu is a choice for Mondo Psychotronic<\/em>, a mini-documentary hosted by Bal Croce. Hint \u2013 it shows up when you scroll to the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Basically, this set is more than you knew you wanted to know about Scala Cinema. It\u2019s packed with content, and there\u2019s something for everyone, so even after the glow from experiencing the Scala!!!<\/em> documentary wears off, there\u2019s still a lot to explore. So dive in.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blu-ray from Severin Films will be available for purchase on December 3rd, 2024. Review by James Jay Edwards Before there were Angelikas, Alamo Drafthouses, or a New Beverly, there was Scala. It was a cinema in London that, from 1978-1993, hosted oddball films and musical performances. It was an important hub in the British […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":30225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[213,3073,5993,6985,12578,14309,16885,17730,17731,17732,21101],"class_list":["post-30215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-213","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-documentary","tag-england","tag-london","tag-movie-house","tag-repertory-theater","tag-scala","tag-scala-2","tag-scala-or","tag-the-incredibly-strange-rise-and-fall-of-the-worlds-greatest-cinema-and-how-it-influenced-a-mixed-up-generation-of-weirdos-and-misfits"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30215\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}