“Don’t forget, a great impression of simplicity can only be achieved by great agony of body and spirit.”
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
- 9/20/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With the passing of Anna Karina, a curtain has fallen on the French New Wave, that fabled cinematic movement that brought fame to the man who made her name, Jean-Luc Godard. Yes, Godard is still with us, as is “Breathless” star Jean-Paul Belmondo (practically the last of the living New Wave legends), but his moviemaking compatriots François Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette, Jacques Demy, and, most recently, Agnès Varda are gone, and with them the spirit of playful abandon that Karina perfectly embodied.
In such Godard classics as “A Woman is a Woman,” “Pierrot le Fou,” “Alphaville,” and “Made in USA,” Karina appeared as a gamine and a femme fatale at the same time. Not since Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich had there been a director-and-star tandem so potent. The closest to it would be Philippe Garrel’s partnership with Nico — although the avant-garde blue plate specials made by...
In such Godard classics as “A Woman is a Woman,” “Pierrot le Fou,” “Alphaville,” and “Made in USA,” Karina appeared as a gamine and a femme fatale at the same time. Not since Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich had there been a director-and-star tandem so potent. The closest to it would be Philippe Garrel’s partnership with Nico — although the avant-garde blue plate specials made by...
- 12/16/2019
- by David Ehrenstein
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Susan Saiger, Richard Paul | Written by Paul Bartel, Richard Blackburn | Directed by Paul Bartel
Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play David and Sarah Bland, a stuffy married couple who are politely angry at the world for not allowing them to open their restaurant. Money is tight, and to make matters worse, next door is having a swingers party. When one of the partygoers gets the wrong idea and attacks Mary, the Blands kill him. And, wouldn’t you know it, he has a wad of cash on him.
The Blands concoct a plan: They will attract punters to the house with Mary’s charms, and then Paul will kill them. Here’s where Raoul (Robert Beltran) enters stage left. An apparently friendly handyman, he agrees not to blab as long as he can take the bodies (and the cars the grubby victims don...
Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov play David and Sarah Bland, a stuffy married couple who are politely angry at the world for not allowing them to open their restaurant. Money is tight, and to make matters worse, next door is having a swingers party. When one of the partygoers gets the wrong idea and attacks Mary, the Blands kill him. And, wouldn’t you know it, he has a wad of cash on him.
The Blands concoct a plan: They will attract punters to the house with Mary’s charms, and then Paul will kill them. Here’s where Raoul (Robert Beltran) enters stage left. An apparently friendly handyman, he agrees not to blab as long as he can take the bodies (and the cars the grubby victims don...
- 10/21/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Michael Been, Verna Bloom, Harry Dean Stanton | Written by Paul Schrader | Directed by Martin Scorsese
After The Color of Money had proven a box office hit, Martin Scorsese shifted his attention a couple of thousand years, to the life and death of Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe). The ultimate superhero origin story, The Last Temptation of Christ focuses on the Nazarene as he moves from carpentry into public speaking, through a life of celebrity, and ultimately to his death and apotheosis on the cross.
This being Scorsese working from a Paul Schrader script, it is no straight-up Bible story. Based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ 1955 novel, the focus here is on the human aspects of the man: the doubt and desire; the rage and the covetousness. The psychological impact, if you will, of coming to terms with the revelation that you are the son of God.
After The Color of Money had proven a box office hit, Martin Scorsese shifted his attention a couple of thousand years, to the life and death of Jesus Christ (Willem Dafoe). The ultimate superhero origin story, The Last Temptation of Christ focuses on the Nazarene as he moves from carpentry into public speaking, through a life of celebrity, and ultimately to his death and apotheosis on the cross.
This being Scorsese working from a Paul Schrader script, it is no straight-up Bible story. Based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ 1955 novel, the focus here is on the human aspects of the man: the doubt and desire; the rage and the covetousness. The psychological impact, if you will, of coming to terms with the revelation that you are the son of God.
- 4/17/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Jean Seberg in Les hautes solitudes. Courtesy of The Film Desk.It is a raw experience. No title, no credits of any sort. No soundtrack—although I defy anyone to watch it in absolute silence and not “hear” something, at some point, in their head. Just a series of “moving images” (for once the currently fashionable artworld term is correct), portraits in black-and-white, mostly trained on faces, or the upper parts of several bodies. There is no make-up, only minimal lighting and staging, and no post-production effects or clean-up whatsoever. The on-screen participants include Nico, Tina Aumont, Laurent Terzieff. And, most extensively, Jean Seberg—which may come as a shock to viewers not entirely au fait with the biography of the film’s director, Philippe Garrel. “Garrel’s camera sees Seberg honestly,” wrote David Ehrenstein in his book Film: The Front Line 1984, “as if discovering her for the first time,...
- 2/22/2017
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveriesNEWSSeijun SuzukiThe great Japanese studio rabble rouser Seijun Suzuki, best known for his crazed remixes of pulp genre films in the late 1950s and 1960s (Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill) and also for his late career renaissance (Pistol Opera, Princess Raccoon), has died at the age of 92.On the other side of the industry, Time critic and documentary filmmaker Richard Shickel has also passed away.On a more positive note, the second film program for the great Knoxville music festival Big Eats has been announced, and it's a humdinger, ranging from a focus on directors Jonathan Demme and Kevin Jerome Everson to programs of new avant-garde work.Recommended Viewinga researcher in Quebec has identified the only known moving image footage of Marcel Proust, found in a 1904 recording of a wedding.Finally, a view at Terrence Malick's long-in-the-works drama set in the Austin music scene,...
- 2/22/2017
- MUBI
Both an actual film and a mythical cinematic object Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 (sometimes subtitled Noli Me Tangere) was shot in 1971 and premiered that year in a one-time-only screening in La Havre. It didn’t surface again until 1989 at the Rotterdam films festival where it was shown in complete form. That’s because this more-than-magnum opus is 729 minutes long. If this brings Andy Warhol’s twenty-five-hour ****/ Four Stars (1967) to mind it should be pointed out that unlike Andy’s marathon, Out 1 consists of eight parts, roughly ninety minutes in length thus easily digestible over whatever span of time one chooses. In 2007 Out 1 was screened in New York, Los Angeles and Berkeley as a two day presentation (four episodes each day) with suitable allowances for breaks, intermissions, lunch and dinner. It would also be quite suitable for showing as a television mini-series—which was Rivette first had in mind. French TV,...
- 5/14/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Both an actual film and a mythical cinematic object Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 (sometimes subtitled Noli Me Tangere) was shot in 1971 and premiered that year in a one-time-only screening in La Havre. It didn’t surface again until 1989 at the Rotterdam films festival where it was shown in complete form. That’s because this more-than-magnum opus is 729 minutes long. If this brings Andy Warhol’s twenty-five-hour ****/ Four Stars (1967) to mind it should be pointed out that unlike Andy’s marathon, Out 1 consists of eight parts, roughly ninety minutes in length thus easily digestible over whatever span of time one chooses. In 2007 Out 1 was screened in New York, Los Angeles and Berkeley as a two day presentation (four episodes each day) with suitable allowances for breaks, intermissions, lunch and dinner. It would also be quite suitable for showing as a television mini-series—which was Rivette first had in mind. French TV,...
- 5/14/2015
- Keyframe
Ellen (no last name needed) is the American housewife’s best lesbian pal, with her daytime chat show spreading low-key good cheer. At night Modern Family entertains as well with its gay couple who aren’t urban sophisticates of the Will & Grace sort, but rather relaxed suburbanites who live not in “The Gay World” but rather are fully integrated into large and lively ménage of relatives where sexual orientation doesn’t raise a ripple of opposition. What we’re looking at here is the prospect of a social order known as “Post-Gay.” >> - David Ehrenstein...
- 11/15/2014
- Keyframe
Ellen (no last name needed) is the American housewife’s best lesbian pal, with her daytime chat show spreading low-key good cheer. At night Modern Family entertains as well with its gay couple who aren’t urban sophisticates of the Will & Grace sort, but rather relaxed suburbanites who live not in “The Gay World” but rather are fully integrated into large and lively ménage of relatives where sexual orientation doesn’t raise a ripple of opposition. What we’re looking at here is the prospect of a social order known as “Post-Gay.” >> - David Ehrenstein...
- 11/15/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
"What I love about 'Ben' and 'George' is what I love about John and Alfred,," says Ira Sachs evenly. "They have humility and they have confidence as people, which makes you want to be around them." Ever since Love Is Strange premiered at Sundance, people have found a lot to love about these actors and the characters they play in Ira Sachs' film: a gay couple who after having been together for nearly forty years find they are able to marry—which results in a series of complications that force them to love apart. The rise of same-sex marriage makes it very much a film "of the moment," but for Sachs it's a film whose principle characters, while far older than he is, are very close to his heart. On the last lap of what's turned out to be a de facto tour with the film since its premiere,...
- 8/22/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
"What I love about 'Ben' and 'George' is what I love about John and Alfred,," says Ira Sachs evenly. "They have humility and they have confidence as people, which makes you want to be around them." Ever since Love Is Strange premiered at Sundance, people have found a lot to love about these actors and the characters they play in Ira Sachs' film: a gay couple who after having been together for nearly forty years find they are able to marry—which results in a series of complications that force them to love apart. The rise of same-sex marriage makes it very much a film "of the moment," but for Sachs it's a film whose principle characters, while far older than he is, are very close to his heart. On the last lap of what's turned out to be a de facto tour with the film since its premiere,...
- 8/22/2014
- Keyframe
The 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act is this July 2nd, two days before Independence Day commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence of the United States of America from the Kingdom of Great Britain (now officially known as the United Kingdom).
As an independent nation we went our own way even when The Slavery Abolition Act throughout the British Colonies was passed in 1833. Cynically one might say their act was motivated less by altruism than by what had become political and economic realities. However, the abolitionists on both sides of the sea saw it the same way that those of us with eyes are seeing the issues of economic inequality today. It is immoral and unjust that one human should own another, whether in slavery, in economic servitude or in sexual servitude.
However, fifty years ago, such unequal and inhuman treatment of fellow human beings was still being justified and upheld by a powerful elite, and it took almost super-human fortitude for those opposed to persevere to break the stranglehold of that group. As a young girl, a “Freedom Rider” came and spoke to my class at Temple Isaiah Religious School in West L.A. and I was inspired to do all I could for the ongoing fight for civil rights, which of course changed the world for everyone – from it came “women’s lib” and Glbt’s fight for equality (Stonewall was 40 years ago June 29). And yet, the economically poor African American and Latino populations are still objects of discrimination today. The repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the South freeing nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval is seeing discrimination at the polls reasserting itself.
This January when I saw “Freedom Summer” directed by Stanley Nelson in Sundance, I felt inspired once again to do something!
But, all I can do is write and so I take pen to hand and invite others to be aware and to act wherever they are.
At the 2nd Louisiana International Film Festival this spring, “Freedom Summer” won the Best Documentary Award and it will open in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
The Louisiana Ff parenthetically has two cineastes, well-known to all of us film folks, as Artistic Directors: Jeff “The Dude” Dowd and Dan Ireland.
Read: New Louisiana Film Festival to Launch With Dan Ireland & Jeff "The Dude" Dowd as Artistic Directors
Jeff could be subject of a book, but for now, suffice it to say Jeff Dowd ("Zebrahead") is famously the inspiration for the Dude in the Coen Bros.' "The Big Lebowski,"
Dan Ireland on the other hand, is the subject of this blog because he has done something beyond just showing a great film. Dan, a man of action, also co-founded the Seattle Film Festival with Darryl MacDonald who is Director of the Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival. The Seattle Film Festival just had its own anniversary of 40 years and it featured a retrospective of some of Dan’s 22 films which he has exec produced, produced or directed.
And now, he has produced a new film, a short film called “Hate From A Distance” which will be the center piece of a special event this Wednesday, July 2nd, on the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at The Museum of Tolerance in Beverly Hills
The film is an adaptation of a short story inspired by Civil Rights in America, set in Savannah, Georgia in 1963, told through the innocent eyes of an eleven-year old boy who is witness to the bitterness and hatred his father has for an African American dairy farmer living on the other side of a fence, separating physically and racially the very state of America during a most disgraceful and turbulent period in history.
The film was made and dedicated to the memory of and the 50th anniversary of The Civil Rights Act and as a voice that though we live by the Act, there is so much more that needs to be done to establish unity and equal rights in this country and the world.
Seen through the innocent eyes of eleven-year-old Danny Baker, racial tensions run rampant and deep in 1963 rural Georgia. Danny’s father Ned and neighbor Clyde Fellow, once childhood friends, are now divided over a land dispute in an era of inequality. Ned’s escalating anger, fueled by his own distorted righteousness, ultimately destroys his family and tears the community apart.
“ Hate from a Distance” reflects the injustices of a painful chapter of American history while honoring and 50th anniversary (July 2, 1964) of the Civil Rights Act abolishing segregation.
The film had its world premiere Saturday June 7th in a retrospective of Dan's history with “The Whole Wide World”, at Seattle Int’l Film Festival.
It will show again this Wednesday at The Museum of Tolerance in Beverly Hills. The 19 minute screening will be followed by an introduction of the cast and a brief panel discussion and audience Q&A with Dr. Robert and Helen Singleton, Freedom Riders, activists and educators, Dr. Max Felker-Kantor, USC graduate with PhD in History (emphasis on race, civil rights and social movements) and moderated by journalist-author-activist David Ehrenstein. David is an American critic who focuses primarily on Lgbtq issues in cinema. Ehrenstein was born in New York City. His father was a secular Jew with Polish ancestors, and his mother was of African-American and Irish descent.[1] His mother raised him in her religion, Roman Catholicism. Among those invited are educators, students, members of organizations such as Aclu , NAACP , U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, journalists and activists.
Writer/Producer Dennis Yares's grandparents left Poland prior to the German occupation and most remaining relatives perished under Nazi regime. He was born in Israel and moved to N.Y. as a young boy. He made his professional reputation as an art gallerist, in addition, he also wrote the screen adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's classic short story, “Jolene”, which was directed by Dan Ireland.
He wrote a short story as one of his collection of 52 stories and when he realized it was the 50th anniversary this year. He and Dan as the director, stepped up and co-produced the film in the spring - in three weeks.
It features a score by composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Tom Howe, who will also attend the screening.
The short will also qualify for Academy Award consideration after having a short commercial run.
As an independent nation we went our own way even when The Slavery Abolition Act throughout the British Colonies was passed in 1833. Cynically one might say their act was motivated less by altruism than by what had become political and economic realities. However, the abolitionists on both sides of the sea saw it the same way that those of us with eyes are seeing the issues of economic inequality today. It is immoral and unjust that one human should own another, whether in slavery, in economic servitude or in sexual servitude.
However, fifty years ago, such unequal and inhuman treatment of fellow human beings was still being justified and upheld by a powerful elite, and it took almost super-human fortitude for those opposed to persevere to break the stranglehold of that group. As a young girl, a “Freedom Rider” came and spoke to my class at Temple Isaiah Religious School in West L.A. and I was inspired to do all I could for the ongoing fight for civil rights, which of course changed the world for everyone – from it came “women’s lib” and Glbt’s fight for equality (Stonewall was 40 years ago June 29). And yet, the economically poor African American and Latino populations are still objects of discrimination today. The repeal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the South freeing nine states, mostly in the South, to change their election laws without advance federal approval is seeing discrimination at the polls reasserting itself.
This January when I saw “Freedom Summer” directed by Stanley Nelson in Sundance, I felt inspired once again to do something!
But, all I can do is write and so I take pen to hand and invite others to be aware and to act wherever they are.
At the 2nd Louisiana International Film Festival this spring, “Freedom Summer” won the Best Documentary Award and it will open in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
The Louisiana Ff parenthetically has two cineastes, well-known to all of us film folks, as Artistic Directors: Jeff “The Dude” Dowd and Dan Ireland.
Read: New Louisiana Film Festival to Launch With Dan Ireland & Jeff "The Dude" Dowd as Artistic Directors
Jeff could be subject of a book, but for now, suffice it to say Jeff Dowd ("Zebrahead") is famously the inspiration for the Dude in the Coen Bros.' "The Big Lebowski,"
Dan Ireland on the other hand, is the subject of this blog because he has done something beyond just showing a great film. Dan, a man of action, also co-founded the Seattle Film Festival with Darryl MacDonald who is Director of the Palm Springs Int’l Film Festival. The Seattle Film Festival just had its own anniversary of 40 years and it featured a retrospective of some of Dan’s 22 films which he has exec produced, produced or directed.
And now, he has produced a new film, a short film called “Hate From A Distance” which will be the center piece of a special event this Wednesday, July 2nd, on the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act at The Museum of Tolerance in Beverly Hills
The film is an adaptation of a short story inspired by Civil Rights in America, set in Savannah, Georgia in 1963, told through the innocent eyes of an eleven-year old boy who is witness to the bitterness and hatred his father has for an African American dairy farmer living on the other side of a fence, separating physically and racially the very state of America during a most disgraceful and turbulent period in history.
The film was made and dedicated to the memory of and the 50th anniversary of The Civil Rights Act and as a voice that though we live by the Act, there is so much more that needs to be done to establish unity and equal rights in this country and the world.
Seen through the innocent eyes of eleven-year-old Danny Baker, racial tensions run rampant and deep in 1963 rural Georgia. Danny’s father Ned and neighbor Clyde Fellow, once childhood friends, are now divided over a land dispute in an era of inequality. Ned’s escalating anger, fueled by his own distorted righteousness, ultimately destroys his family and tears the community apart.
“ Hate from a Distance” reflects the injustices of a painful chapter of American history while honoring and 50th anniversary (July 2, 1964) of the Civil Rights Act abolishing segregation.
The film had its world premiere Saturday June 7th in a retrospective of Dan's history with “The Whole Wide World”, at Seattle Int’l Film Festival.
It will show again this Wednesday at The Museum of Tolerance in Beverly Hills. The 19 minute screening will be followed by an introduction of the cast and a brief panel discussion and audience Q&A with Dr. Robert and Helen Singleton, Freedom Riders, activists and educators, Dr. Max Felker-Kantor, USC graduate with PhD in History (emphasis on race, civil rights and social movements) and moderated by journalist-author-activist David Ehrenstein. David is an American critic who focuses primarily on Lgbtq issues in cinema. Ehrenstein was born in New York City. His father was a secular Jew with Polish ancestors, and his mother was of African-American and Irish descent.[1] His mother raised him in her religion, Roman Catholicism. Among those invited are educators, students, members of organizations such as Aclu , NAACP , U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, journalists and activists.
Writer/Producer Dennis Yares's grandparents left Poland prior to the German occupation and most remaining relatives perished under Nazi regime. He was born in Israel and moved to N.Y. as a young boy. He made his professional reputation as an art gallerist, in addition, he also wrote the screen adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's classic short story, “Jolene”, which was directed by Dan Ireland.
He wrote a short story as one of his collection of 52 stories and when he realized it was the 50th anniversary this year. He and Dan as the director, stepped up and co-produced the film in the spring - in three weeks.
It features a score by composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Tom Howe, who will also attend the screening.
The short will also qualify for Academy Award consideration after having a short commercial run.
- 7/1/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 10, 2013
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ugo Tognazzi (l.) and Michel Serrault take it as it comes in La Cage aux Folles.
A modest French comedy that became a breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro’s 1978 film La Cage aux Folles inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake The Birdcage.
Renato (La grande bouffe’s Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Diabolique’s Michel Serrault)—a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in St. Tropez—agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato’s son’s fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted farce about the importance of nonconformity and the beauty of being true to oneself.
Filled with period color, hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message,...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Ugo Tognazzi (l.) and Michel Serrault take it as it comes in La Cage aux Folles.
A modest French comedy that became a breakout art-house smash in America, Edouard Molinaro’s 1978 film La Cage aux Folles inspired a major Broadway musical and the blockbuster remake The Birdcage.
Renato (La grande bouffe’s Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Diabolique’s Michel Serrault)—a middle-aged gay couple who are the manager and star performer at a glitzy drag club in St. Tropez—agree to hide their sexual identities, along with their flamboyant personalities and home decor, when the ultraconservative parents of Renato’s son’s fiancée come for a visit. This elegant comic scenario kicks off a wild and warmhearted farce about the importance of nonconformity and the beauty of being true to oneself.
Filled with period color, hilarious performances and ahead-of-its-time social message,...
- 6/19/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Black Sunday: Remastered Edition (1960) Lorber Films Blu-ray and DVD Available Now
One of director Mario Bava’s most acclaimed works, Black Sunday is a strikingly photographed “old dark castle” thriller revolving around witchcraft and possession. Barbara Steele (Piranha) gives a hypnotic performance as Katia, the unfortunate look-alike descendent of a witch who intends to possess her. This highly influential film, also shot by Bava, was the precursor to countless American and European gothic horrors. This is the uncut European print with a few extra minutes of footage, a different English track and Robert Nicolosi’s haunting original score. After years of ugly public domain releases, Black Sunday is finally being presented in its original aspect ratio with a high definition transfer struck from a pristine 35Mm archival print.
Special Features:
• Audio commentary by Tim Lucas (author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark).
• Original Bava theatrical trailers.
One of director Mario Bava’s most acclaimed works, Black Sunday is a strikingly photographed “old dark castle” thriller revolving around witchcraft and possession. Barbara Steele (Piranha) gives a hypnotic performance as Katia, the unfortunate look-alike descendent of a witch who intends to possess her. This highly influential film, also shot by Bava, was the precursor to countless American and European gothic horrors. This is the uncut European print with a few extra minutes of footage, a different English track and Robert Nicolosi’s haunting original score. After years of ugly public domain releases, Black Sunday is finally being presented in its original aspect ratio with a high definition transfer struck from a pristine 35Mm archival print.
Special Features:
• Audio commentary by Tim Lucas (author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark).
• Original Bava theatrical trailers.
- 9/27/2012
- by Bradley Harding
- Planet Fury
This Week’s Must Read: Filmmaker Jesse Malmed has a wonderful in-depth article with fellow filmmaker Julie Perrini up at the art blog Bad At Sports. Yes, you’ll want to read all about Perrini’s work processes and her evolution as a filmmaker, but you’ll really be fascinated to hear why she had to — as the interview’s title says — explain what state smashers are to a grand jury.The Broward Palm Beach New Times ran a good interview with John Waters, not so much about his movies but about his general interests. Best part of the article: He says he loved J.J. Murphy’s recent book on the films of Andy Warhol, The Black Hole of the Camera. Just like us! Seriously, if you haven’t read that book yet, you’re really missing out on something wonderful.Name that Fleshapoid! (Ok, I know technically that’s not a Fleshapoid,...
- 7/22/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 25, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov work their way up to Eating Raoul.
A sleeper hit independent comedy film of the early 1980s that has since gone on to become a cult favorite, Eating Raoul (1982) is a bawdy, gleefully amoral tale of conspicuous consumption.
Warhol superstar Mary Woronov (Rock’n'Roll High School) and co-writer/director Paul Bartel (The Usual Suspects) star as a prudish married couple who feel put upon by the swingers who live in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to simultaneously realize their dream of ridding themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and opening a little restaurant with a very unique menu.
Also starring Robert Beltran (Repo Chick) in the role of the ultimately consumable title character, Eating Raoul is a mix of anything-goes slapstick and clever satire on me-generation self-indulgence
Criterion...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov work their way up to Eating Raoul.
A sleeper hit independent comedy film of the early 1980s that has since gone on to become a cult favorite, Eating Raoul (1982) is a bawdy, gleefully amoral tale of conspicuous consumption.
Warhol superstar Mary Woronov (Rock’n'Roll High School) and co-writer/director Paul Bartel (The Usual Suspects) star as a prudish married couple who feel put upon by the swingers who live in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to simultaneously realize their dream of ridding themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and opening a little restaurant with a very unique menu.
Also starring Robert Beltran (Repo Chick) in the role of the ultimately consumable title character, Eating Raoul is a mix of anything-goes slapstick and clever satire on me-generation self-indulgence
Criterion...
- 6/22/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi deserves attention. His chic revenger's tragedy 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1971) is one possible way in: you get Charlotte Rampling, an Ennio Morricone score that's just a Jacobean riff on his spaghetti western stylings, lashings of sex and gore, and a design sensibility which pays some kind of lip service to period while being deliriously seventies at all times, so that it would not be too surprising if Oliver Tobias donned a set of sixteenth century tinted shades, or a tie-dyed doublet.
An alternative entry point is Identikit (1974), Aka The Driver's Seat, from the novel of that name by Muriel Spark. It's the tale of a mysterious woman wandering through a nameless city, hoping to rendezvous with "a friend" whom she's apparently never met. In a parallel plot thread, apparently taking place a day or two later, the police are interrogating everyone she's come into contact with.
An alternative entry point is Identikit (1974), Aka The Driver's Seat, from the novel of that name by Muriel Spark. It's the tale of a mysterious woman wandering through a nameless city, hoping to rendezvous with "a friend" whom she's apparently never met. In a parallel plot thread, apparently taking place a day or two later, the police are interrogating everyone she's come into contact with.
- 5/3/2012
- MUBI
The Terracotta Far East Film Festival is on in London through the weekend, presenting, as Electric Sheep notes in the introduction to its newish issue, "the UK premiere of Sion Sono's Himizu [review: John Bleasdale], using a comic to tackle the fallout from Fukushima." Es takes "a look at manga adaptations with Takashi Miike's stylized, violent high school movie Crows Zero [comic strip review: Joe Morgan] and Toshiya Fujita's 70s revenge tale Lady Snowblood: Blizzard from the Netherworld [review: Virginie Sélavy]."
Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo, seven years in the making, opens in Japan next week after a run through the festival circuit and, in the Japan Times, Mark Schilling gives it four out of five stars: "Hayao Miyazaki is the obvious point of comparison, but unlike many of Miyazaki's more fanciful landscapes, Okiura's port is vividly, recognizably real — so much so that you can almost smell the salt in the water and feel the warmth of the stones.
Hiroyuki Okiura's A Letter to Momo, seven years in the making, opens in Japan next week after a run through the festival circuit and, in the Japan Times, Mark Schilling gives it four out of five stars: "Hayao Miyazaki is the obvious point of comparison, but unlike many of Miyazaki's more fanciful landscapes, Okiura's port is vividly, recognizably real — so much so that you can almost smell the salt in the water and feel the warmth of the stones.
- 4/13/2012
- MUBI
Chicago – As audiences still catch up with the five-time Oscar-winning “Hugo” from master Martin Scorsese (released on Blu-ray last month), it might provoke a few young people to explore the filmmaker’s history. They will likely start with the widely-recognized classics like “Raging Bull,” “Taxi Driver,” and “GoodFellas,” but they will eventually get to “The Last Temptation of Christ,” recently released in an upgraded Criterion edition and re-released on DVD. The Massive controversy that greeted this film on its release has somewhat clouded its prominence in movie history. This is a great film, a better one than you remember and one of Scorsese’s best.
Blu-ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
“God was a vicious headache that would not go away.” — Paul Schrader, writer of “The Last Temptation of Christ.”
This fascinating quote comes as a part of one of the most interesting commentary tracks I’ve heard in years. It was actually recorded...
Blu-ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
“God was a vicious headache that would not go away.” — Paul Schrader, writer of “The Last Temptation of Christ.”
This fascinating quote comes as a part of one of the most interesting commentary tracks I’ve heard in years. It was actually recorded...
- 3/21/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Via The Seventh Art
"Made in Argentina in 1968, The Hour of the Furnaces (La hora de los hornos) is the film that established the paradigm of revolutionary activist cinema," argues Nicole Brenez in Sight & Sound. "'For the first time,' said one of its writers, Octavio Getino, 'we demonstrated that it was possible to produce and distribute a film in a non-liberated country with the specific aim of contributing to the political process of liberation.' The film is not just an act of courage, it's also a formal synthesis, a theoretical essay and the origin of several contemporary image practices." The New Inquiry points us to the film on YouTube as well as Getino and Fernando Solanas's essay, "Towards a Third Cinema."
In other news. "The BFI has scored a considerable coup, revealing that it has uncovered a copy of what is not only the earliest surviving film...
"Made in Argentina in 1968, The Hour of the Furnaces (La hora de los hornos) is the film that established the paradigm of revolutionary activist cinema," argues Nicole Brenez in Sight & Sound. "'For the first time,' said one of its writers, Octavio Getino, 'we demonstrated that it was possible to produce and distribute a film in a non-liberated country with the specific aim of contributing to the political process of liberation.' The film is not just an act of courage, it's also a formal synthesis, a theoretical essay and the origin of several contemporary image practices." The New Inquiry points us to the film on YouTube as well as Getino and Fernando Solanas's essay, "Towards a Third Cinema."
In other news. "The BFI has scored a considerable coup, revealing that it has uncovered a copy of what is not only the earliest surviving film...
- 3/10/2012
- MUBI
It's an annual event as well as a browse that could suck up an entire weekend: Senses of Cinema's worldwide poll of… well, they're not all critics, so let's just call them friends of cinema. You'll want to scroll up and down the whole thing, but take a look, too, at the best of 2011 according to Notebook editor Daniel Kasman and contributors Celluloid Liberation Front, Christoph Huber, Olaf Möller and Dan Sallitt as well as a major presence here in the Forum and elsewhere, David Ehrenstein.
London. This is the year we'll be seeing the results of Sight & Sound's poll of more friends of cinema regarding the greatest films of all time. It happens only once every ten years and in the magazine's pages, Graham Fuller argues a mighty case for the return of Jean Vigo's L'Atalante (1934) to the top ten. The film's opening today for an extended run at BFI Southbank,...
London. This is the year we'll be seeing the results of Sight & Sound's poll of more friends of cinema regarding the greatest films of all time. It happens only once every ten years and in the magazine's pages, Graham Fuller argues a mighty case for the return of Jean Vigo's L'Atalante (1934) to the top ten. The film's opening today for an extended run at BFI Southbank,...
- 1/20/2012
- MUBI
Blu-ray Release Date: March 13, 2012
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Willem Dafoe stars in The Last Temptation of Christ.
Though it initially engendered enormous controversy when it was released in 1988, drama film The Last Temptation of Christ, by Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island), is now viewed by many as a remarkable, profoundly personal work of faith.
An adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel that imagines an alternate fate for Jesus Christ, the movie stars Willem Dafoe (Platoon), Barbara Hershey (Black Swan), Harvey Keitel (The Last Godfather), Harry Dean Stanton (Alice) and David Bowie (The Hunger).
Featuring striking cinematography by the Michael Ballhaus (Broadcast News) and a memorable score by Peter Gabriel (Live in London), The Last Temptation of Christ was first released on DVD by Criterion back in 2000 (and it’s still available).
Criterion’s Blu-ray edition includes the following special features (all ported over from the DVD):
audio commentary featuring director Martin Scorsese,...
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Willem Dafoe stars in The Last Temptation of Christ.
Though it initially engendered enormous controversy when it was released in 1988, drama film The Last Temptation of Christ, by Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island), is now viewed by many as a remarkable, profoundly personal work of faith.
An adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel that imagines an alternate fate for Jesus Christ, the movie stars Willem Dafoe (Platoon), Barbara Hershey (Black Swan), Harvey Keitel (The Last Godfather), Harry Dean Stanton (Alice) and David Bowie (The Hunger).
Featuring striking cinematography by the Michael Ballhaus (Broadcast News) and a memorable score by Peter Gabriel (Live in London), The Last Temptation of Christ was first released on DVD by Criterion back in 2000 (and it’s still available).
Criterion’s Blu-ray edition includes the following special features (all ported over from the DVD):
audio commentary featuring director Martin Scorsese,...
- 12/19/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
A new issue of Senses of Cinema will always be the top story, any day it appears. As this one's not only the 60th but also a "bumper issue," as Catherine Grant puts it, it's "a timely reminder of just what a valuable publication this online journal is." Without question, it's worthy of your support if you're able to provide it. Among the highlights of this issue are remembrances of Claudine Paquot by Serge Toubiana and Bérénice Reynaud, who finds it "hard to convey the loss experienced by French-speaking readers and cinephiles to the Anglo-Saxon world, how her presence in the editorial staff at Cahiers du cinéma had had a definitive impact on the way cinema is written about."
Samuel Bréan considers the reception of the "Navajo English" subtitles for Godard's Film socialisme. Three disparate moments in the history of German cinema: Alexandria Placido on women and fashion in Weimar cinema,...
Samuel Bréan considers the reception of the "Navajo English" subtitles for Godard's Film socialisme. Three disparate moments in the history of German cinema: Alexandria Placido on women and fashion in Weimar cinema,...
- 10/8/2011
- MUBI
Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
The 5th Quarter: Special Edition (2010)
Synopsis: In February, 2006, young Luke Abbate accepted a ride home from a fellow student following his high-school team practice. In a severe case of irresponsible and reckless teen-age driving, and over the objections of Luke and the other young passengers, the driver lost control of the car at nearly 90 miles-per-hour, spinning off a narrow road and landing in an embankment some seventy feet below. Luke suffered irreparable brain damage, and died in the hospital two days later – just four days before his sixteenth birthday. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features: Making-of Featurette.
Bereavement (2010)
Synopsis: The horrific account of 6 year old Martin Bristol, abducted from his backyard swing and forced to witness the brutal crimes of a deranged madman. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features:
Commentary track with director/writer Stevan Mena Behind the scenes featurette Deleted...
The 5th Quarter: Special Edition (2010)
Synopsis: In February, 2006, young Luke Abbate accepted a ride home from a fellow student following his high-school team practice. In a severe case of irresponsible and reckless teen-age driving, and over the objections of Luke and the other young passengers, the driver lost control of the car at nearly 90 miles-per-hour, spinning off a narrow road and landing in an embankment some seventy feet below. Luke suffered irreparable brain damage, and died in the hospital two days later – just four days before his sixteenth birthday. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features: Making-of Featurette.
Bereavement (2010)
Synopsis: The horrific account of 6 year old Martin Bristol, abducted from his backyard swing and forced to witness the brutal crimes of a deranged madman. (highdefdigest.com)
Special Features:
Commentary track with director/writer Stevan Mena Behind the scenes featurette Deleted...
- 8/29/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.