Never officially released, neither theatrically nor on home media, Tom Schiller's surreal science fiction fantasy Nothing Lasts Forever stars Zach Galligan as an eager young artist struggling to find his creative outlet in a New York City under the tyrannical rule of the Port Authority. Shot in black and white (for the most part) and with the sound recorded in mono, the film replicates the Classical Hollywood style of the late '30s and early '40s to create a dreamlike work that, had it been made during the indie boom of the '90s, would have easily found a cult following. Featuring strong supporting work from the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Lauren Tom, Apollonia van Ravenstein and Bill Murray – not to mention a midpoint shift in narrative that will leave an unsuspecting viewer reeling – Nothing Last Forever is an oddity of a film, perhaps too unusual for its time, that deserves, at the very least, a proper worldwide release.www.azim.org Movie And TV Database

Since a version of this film was "leaked" - if that's the right term -- to YouTube a few days ago, it's had a second life worthy of the film's own protagonist, liberated from a job yelling at bad drivers in the Holland Tunnel to a bravura performance at Carnegie Hall. There have been many evocative or pastiche films of the classic era -- Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo, Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, or Gary Ross's Pleasantville -- but none has more vividly, sweetly, and yet ironically invoked the magic of the movies as has this film. Don't be distracted by the Dan Ackroyd or Bill Murray cameos (fun as they are): keep your eye on the veterans, who've been in more films than you can count, and who bring their considerable powers to bear here: Sam Jaffe (The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bedknobs and Broomsticks); Paul Rogers (Billy Budd, The Homecoming) and the incomparable Imogene Coca, all part of a secret underground league of New York artists who seek to aid any who will give their all, unreservedly, to the cause of art. This film deserves an immediate DVD/BluRay release -- one can only imagine how richly it will shine -- and shame on MGM, Turner, Warner, and all who have kept this gem in their dark, dim, Gollum-like cavern of oblivion.

Fortunately this film doesn't last forever, either. An aspiring "artist" gets to become one when he proves to some (semi-) imaginary underworld hobo-society that he is capable of falling in love with an Asian girl that lives on the moon and does a bit of a hula-hula greeting dance for the geriatric Earth visitors. Sound stupid? It is. This ridiculous mess has maybe one funny moment, the rest consists of boring musical numbers and pointless dialog. The aim was originality, yet manages only to be dull. They tried to create an old-movie feel to it by using a more traditionally-oriented instrumental soundtrack, which is a lot better than the tiresome songs. It also tries to create an old flair by having a wide-eyed, innocent male lead. Excuse me, but how does that image fit in with the scene where he is shown humping the German girl? I hardly think Capra's films would have had the same impact on the viewers if Gary Cooper had been shown being ridden by his female co-stars. (Or that famous scene in "Gone With the Wind": imagine if Gable were coming inside Leigh and she complained about not getting an orgasm, to which he responds "Frankly, dear, I don't give a f***".) And what's with the b&w/colour transition? It makes no sense at all. This film is an example of what happens when a TV producer tries his hand on a feature film. Ackroyd (in a tiny role) and Murray (in a small role) can't help this time-waster, either.

A truly bizarre film, but all the more entertaining because of it. Starts off in the style of a 1930s science fiction, and just seems to get stranger and stranger. I particularly liked the guided tour of the lunar surface for the paying tourists who laughed when their guide made a comment on the crashed Soviet probe she drew their attention to. The idea of native "moon people" (who look like native Hawaiians), also being another nice touch. Obviously, there was a very creative mind at work here.