Oddball Cinema

A celebrated opera singer never allows her voice to be recorded. Nonetheless, a young fan sneaks some high-quality equipment into one of her recitals and makes an excellent tape. Bootleg record producers get wind of its existence, and they’re willing to use any means necessary to acquire it. Meanwhile, police and gangsters are on the hunt for a tape that contains evidence that could send a kingpin to prison. Both tapes wind up in the same location, and the two groups collide in a stylish and twisted production described by critics as “the New French New Wave.”

■ Title — Diva
■ Director — Jean-Jacques Beineix
■ Cast — Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Frédéric Andréi, Roland Bertin
■ Rated R for violence and brief partial nudity
■ ©1981 | 1h 57m | Crime, Music, Thriller
■ French dialogue with English subtitles

■ Available free without ads to Kanopy subscribers (details below):
https://www.kanopy.com/en/product/11677952

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■ As with most of our online features, you can watch this one whenever you like. Members who watch at the scheduled time may enjoy exchanging comments with other members on this page. If you post a comment before the show, please avoid spoilers. Comments posted after the show may contain any content, but Oddball Cinema encourages members to always avoid spoilers unless there’s some particularly important details you need to mention.

■ Many of the movies on our online events from as far back as March 2020 are still available for viewing. However, titles sometimes move from one streaming service to another. If you find that the links on an old event no longer work, you can search for the current providers of any title here: https://justwatch.com

In “The Man Who Wasn’t There”, the Coen Brothers deliver a hypnotic neo-noir starring Billy Bob Thornton as a chain-smoking, taciturn barber whose life spirals into chaos after a blackmail scheme goes awry. Shot in stark, chiaroscuro-style black-and-white, the film masterfully blends existential dread with deadpan humor, unfolding like a fever dream of betrayal and fate.

■ Title — The Man Who Wasn't There
■ Director — Joel & Ethan Coen
■ Cast — Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, James Gandolfini, Scarlett Johannson
■ Rating: R
■ ©2001|1hr 58 mins|Film Noir

As Halley’s Comet passes near Earth, pieces break off and enter the atmosphere as meteors. The story is composed of three separate misadventures of people who make wishes upon seeing these shooting stars, wishes that come true in the most unexpected and undesirable ways. Each event is weirder than the last and will make viewers wonder what the writers were eating/drinking/smoking when they came up with this screenplay (and where some can be obtained).

■ Title — Day of the Comet
■ A.K.A. — Le jour de la comète
■ Directors — Hervé Freiburger, Cédric Hachard
■ Cast — Adrien Marik, Yves Arnault, Pascaline Ferrer
■ Unrated, suitable for teens and adults
■ ©2014 | 1h 43m | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
■ French dialogue with English subtitles

■ Watch it free with ads on Plex:
https://watch.plex.tv/movie/le-jour-de-la-comete
■ Watch it free with ads on Tubi:
https://tubitv.com/movies/489515/day-of-the-comet

■ As with most of our online features, you can watch this one whenever you like. Members who watch at the scheduled time may enjoy exchanging comments with other members on this page. If you post a comment before the show, please avoid spoilers. Comments posted after the show may contain any content, but Oddball Cinema encourages members to always avoid spoilers unless there’s some particularly important details you need to mention.

■ Many of the movies on our online events from as far back as March 2020 are still available for viewing. However, titles sometimes move from one streaming service to another. If you find that the links on an old event no longer work, you can search for the current providers of any title here: https://justwatch.com