Zeitgeist Films

Things in the Zeitgeist office are off to a weird start this year, mail-wise. We’ve received a magazine to which no member of this office subscribes, which in itself wouldn’t be so strange of an occurrence - subscription slip-ups happen all the time (thank you thank you thank you to whoever it was whose Entertainment Weekly came to my apartment for the first two months after I moved in).

So what’s our situation? It’s not that we’re mistakenly receiving this magazine:

It’s that (look closer, rotate that image a little bit)… this magazine of “straight talk for new moms” is addressed to…

Derek Jarman? Really? Derek Jarman (1942-1994), director of Caravaggio, Blue,Sebastiane, and more, is posthumously preparing himself for impending motherhood?

Our confusion didn’t stop us from flipping through the magazine though… and man, were there a lot of babies.

Was this guy:

Inspired by this guy?

There were so many babies in this magazine, we started to wonder what a Derek Jarman movie would look like with more babies. 

Something like this, perhaps…?

Okay, probably not. Those costumes are certainly a touch anachronistic. But it’s probably not too far off. 

If anyone from Babytalk is reading this (unlikely, but it’s good to keep our bases covered) - consider unsubscribing Derek Jarman maybe??

Have you seen Daddy Longlegs yet? It’s not too late!

Little synopsis for ya, in case you’re unfamiliar:

“Divorced and alone, Lenny (the perfectly cast Ronald Bronstein) is the father of two young boys he gets to see a couple of weeks a year. He cherishes these days with the kids, being both stern parent and lovable buddy, inventing myths and somehow living them, all while working overtime in the big city. When the going gets tough, Lenny uses some unusual, perhaps even hazardous, techniques to keep the kids safe from the world.”

The film was written and directed by brothers Ben and Josh Safdie, based on many of their own experiences with their father. Lead actor Ronald Bronstein won a Gotham Award for his role in the film, which was an official Sundance Selection. A lot of other great stuff happened to this movie, but the most pressing of these is that Daddy Longlegs has been released on DVD! Well, sort of. Technically it doesn’t come out until December 13, but you can pre-order at this very moment, here, OR you can buy one (or seven, or twenty) of these, in person, from the filmmakers themselves:

Yep, Josh and Ben are throwing a DVD release party, and you’re invited! Yes, you! 

Sure, pre-ordering online is great, and yes, you will have to put on pants (or a skirt, kilt, skort, etc) to attend the party, BUT it’s probably time you left the apartment anyway :/

No, but you will have fun. There will be a screening of the Safdies’ making-of documentary, Second Stop from Jupiter, there will cocktails, and there will be music, described thusly by the filmmakers themselves: 

“Sean Williams and Jake Braff will be playing golden music on wax from their perspective fields of expertise. Come and see what that means for yourself.”

We like the sound of that. It sounds weird and fabulous… but you’ll have to come if you intend to find out, because we will (probably) NOT be describing it in any fashion for those of you who don’t come.

So. Here we have some links: