CORY STRAND "NO ONE EVER CHANGES: THE FILMS OF TODD SOLONDZ" 7 DVD-R + CDR SET (AOW 285)

As i've gotten older, I find myself veering more and more towards a philosophically pessimistic view of life; the cosmos is indifferent to anything any one of us might want to do.  Dreams, hopes, desires, faith-all of it is meaningless and illusory, psychic salves to mask the tedium and pain of being.  Perhaps no filmmaker better chronicles this pessimistic outlook than Todd Solondz, who has consistently followed a cinematic vision of despair that finds much in common with the philosophies of Schopenhauer and Sartre.  My first exposure to Solondz's work was in 1998; I read a review of "Happiness" in the Minneapolis paper and knew I had to see it.  It quickly became, and still is, one of my favorite films of all time; in Solondz i found a patron saint of the dour, a director willing to push past cultural notions of propriety in order to present a vision of humanity that reflects its tendency towards cruelty, selfishness, hatefulness, self-loathing, and aberration.  Since then I've seen all of Solondz's films during their theatrical runs and have been impressed with the consistency and persistence of his pessimistic vision; for me, he represents a niche pinnacle of American independent filmmaking, illustrating the power of creativity to triumph over a Hollywood system that rejects all things truly dark and disturbing.
It is my honor to present this set of recordings dealing with Solondz's filmography; in working with the material, I have sought to preserve the darkness that permeates the films and retain their pessimistic edge; the result is 7 massive blasts of desolate HNW and a shorter, experimental assemblage of audio and noise (the bonus disc.)  Films included: Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, Storytelling, Palindromes, Life During Wartime, Dark Horse, and Fear, Anxiety and Depression.
Packaged as 8 separate albums, each in a DVD case with their own unique artwork, in a limited edition of 5 hand-numbered copies.  No box, no inserts (similar in presentation to my "True Detective" set from several months back.)  $105 ppd. in the United States, $118 rest of world.

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