Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”), John Hannah (“The Mummy”) and British newcomer Alanah Bloor are set to join Turkish lead Can Yaman in “Sandokan,” Lux Vide’s reboot of the cult Italian TV series about the adventures of its titular pirate who, with his motley crew, fights against colonial powers in Southeast Asia.
Shooting is set to start April 22 outside Rome on this high-end reboot of Italian writer Emilio Salgari’s exotic epic. The original “Sandokan,” directed in 1976 by Sergio Sollima, catapulted Indian actor Kabir Bedi to Bollywood stardom, having sold to more than 85 countries around the world.
Fremantle-owned Lux Vide’s new spin on the storied “Sandokan” IP is based on an idea by Lux Vide CEO Luca Bernabei developed for TV by Alessandro Sermoneta (“Devils”); Scott Rosenbaum (“The Shield”); Davide Lantieri (“Monterossi”) and directed by Jan Maria Michelini (“Devils”) and Nicola Abbatangelo (“Doc”).
In an unusual arrangement, “Sandokan...
Shooting is set to start April 22 outside Rome on this high-end reboot of Italian writer Emilio Salgari’s exotic epic. The original “Sandokan,” directed in 1976 by Sergio Sollima, catapulted Indian actor Kabir Bedi to Bollywood stardom, having sold to more than 85 countries around the world.
Fremantle-owned Lux Vide’s new spin on the storied “Sandokan” IP is based on an idea by Lux Vide CEO Luca Bernabei developed for TV by Alessandro Sermoneta (“Devils”); Scott Rosenbaum (“The Shield”); Davide Lantieri (“Monterossi”) and directed by Jan Maria Michelini (“Devils”) and Nicola Abbatangelo (“Doc”).
In an unusual arrangement, “Sandokan...
- 4/18/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Ask most cinephiles about the spaghetti western and Sergio Leone’s name will most likely be invoked. As for those who’ve delved a little deeper into the genre, chances are that they’ll name-drop one or both of the other Sergios: Sergio Corbucci (Django) and Sergio Sollima (The Big Gundown).
Back in 2021, Arrow Video’s Vengeance Trails box set aimed to broaden viewers’ horizons of the spaghetti western by spotlighting works by directors like Lucio Fulci, Massimo Dallamano, and Antonio Margheriti, whose names are more often associated with other genres. Now along comes Blood Money, which unveils several lesser-known yet excellent examples of the genre. The thematic through line this time out concerns the value placed on human life. As the grizzled protagonist of Find a Place to Die puts it: “Madness and greed were in men’s hearts a long time before you came along.”
Romolo Guerrieri’s...
Back in 2021, Arrow Video’s Vengeance Trails box set aimed to broaden viewers’ horizons of the spaghetti western by spotlighting works by directors like Lucio Fulci, Massimo Dallamano, and Antonio Margheriti, whose names are more often associated with other genres. Now along comes Blood Money, which unveils several lesser-known yet excellent examples of the genre. The thematic through line this time out concerns the value placed on human life. As the grizzled protagonist of Find a Place to Die puts it: “Madness and greed were in men’s hearts a long time before you came along.”
Romolo Guerrieri’s...
- 8/2/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Quentin Tarantino crowned Sergio Corbucci as the second-best director of Italian westerns, but our vote goes to Sergio Sollima — this is the most satisfying Spaghetti oater outside of the Leone corral. In his first starring role, Lee Van Cleef is lawman Jonathan Corbett, who pursues Tomas Milian’s killer into Mexico for an American millionaire. Political screenwriter Franco Solinas helped cook up the story, which pitches frontier ethics against ‘establishment’ corruption. The two-disc special edition presents the show in 4 versions, if we count a clever English-Italian language hybrid.
The Big Gundown
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 110, 90, 95 min. / La resa dei conti / Street Date February 13, 2023 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £22.99
Starring: Lee Van Cleef, Tomas Milian, Walter Barnes, Nieves Navarro, Gérard Herter, Manolita Barroso, Robert Camardiel, Ángel del Pozo, Luisa Rivelli, Luis Barboo, Benito Stefanelli.
Cinematography: Carlo Carlini
Set decorators: Carlo Leva, Carlo Simi, Nicola Tamburo
Costumes: Carlo...
The Big Gundown
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 110, 90, 95 min. / La resa dei conti / Street Date February 13, 2023 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £22.99
Starring: Lee Van Cleef, Tomas Milian, Walter Barnes, Nieves Navarro, Gérard Herter, Manolita Barroso, Robert Camardiel, Ángel del Pozo, Luisa Rivelli, Luis Barboo, Benito Stefanelli.
Cinematography: Carlo Carlini
Set decorators: Carlo Leva, Carlo Simi, Nicola Tamburo
Costumes: Carlo...
- 2/7/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This Region-Free import gives us both versions of Gillo Pontecorvo’s fictional tale of colonial misdeeds that sums up old Europe’s attitude toward the New World. Marlon Brando’s agent provocateur and freebooting soldier of fortune foments revolution against the Portuguese and then hires out to reverse everything he’s done for English interests. The big scale production was filmed in several locations across the globe; it has a standout performance from Evaristo Márquez as a charismatic peasant eager to become a conqueror.
Burn!
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 194
1969 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 129, 112 min. / Street Date December 28, 2022 / Available from Viavision / au 79.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Evaristo Márquez, Norman Hill, Renato Salvatori.
Cinematography: Marcello Gatti, Giuseppe Ruzzolini
Production Designer: Sergio Canevari
Art Director: Piero Gherardi
Film Editor: Mario Morra
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Franco Solinas, Giorgio Arlorio
Produced by Alberto Grimaldi
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
The enterprising Italian producer Alberto...
Burn!
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 194
1969 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 129, 112 min. / Street Date December 28, 2022 / Available from Viavision / au 79.95
Starring: Marlon Brando, Evaristo Márquez, Norman Hill, Renato Salvatori.
Cinematography: Marcello Gatti, Giuseppe Ruzzolini
Production Designer: Sergio Canevari
Art Director: Piero Gherardi
Film Editor: Mario Morra
Original Music: Ennio Morricone
Written by Franco Solinas, Giorgio Arlorio
Produced by Alberto Grimaldi
Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo
The enterprising Italian producer Alberto...
- 12/31/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Sergio Sollima sets the template for twenty years of violent action cinema for Rough Tough Charles Bronson. Precise stunt scenes and clever direction are at the service of a script that can’t produce a convincing line of dialogue. It’s a mishmosh of sex, bullets and car chases. Bronson is betrayed by his love for Jill Ireland, and Telly Savalas is shoehorned in as a (surprise!) nasty gangster. Much of it does play like gangbusters — the opening and closing especially — and the dynamic title instrumental is one of maestro Ennio Morricone’s best.
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
- 7/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Writer, director and actor Michael Showalter joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Baxter (2005)
Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)
Runaway Daughters (1994)
Clueless (1995)
Bagdad Cafe (1987)
Coda (2021)
The Long Goodbye (1973) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Sugarbaby (1985)
City Slickers (1991)
Attack! (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Pretty In Pink (1986)
Escape From New York (1981) – Neil Marshall’s trailer commentary
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
The Warriors (1979)
The Thing (1982) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Christine (1983)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Annie Hall (1977) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Big Sick (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Between The Lines...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021)
The Baxter (2005)
Hello, My Name Is Doris (2015)
Runaway Daughters (1994)
Clueless (1995)
Bagdad Cafe (1987)
Coda (2021)
The Long Goodbye (1973) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Jaws (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Sugarbaby (1985)
City Slickers (1991)
Attack! (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985)
Pretty In Pink (1986)
Escape From New York (1981) – Neil Marshall’s trailer commentary
Hamburger: The Motion Picture (1986)
The Warriors (1979)
The Thing (1982) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Christine (1983)
Crossing Delancey (1988)
Annie Hall (1977) – Robert Weide’s trailer commentary
When Harry Met Sally… (1989)
The Fugitive (1993)
The Big Sick (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Between The Lines...
- 4/5/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Maverick director Robert Aldrich’s one foray into grand-scale epic filmmaking is returned to crystal clarity in this fine import disc, a restoration from original Italian film elements. Stewart Granger’s Lot allies his Hebrew tribe with the notorious cities of evil, and almost loses his soul to Anouk Aimée’s wicked Queen Bera. Pier Angeli is the slave who becomes Lot’s wife, and Rossana Podestà is the daughter taken by Stanley Baker’s rapacious prince. Second unit director Sergio Leone whips up a terrific battle scene (maybe), Ken Adam provides the spectacular sets and Miklós Rózsa the powerful music score. And yes, the explosive finish involves hellfire, brimstone and the Biblical Pillar of Salt.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Explosive Media
All-region Blu-ray
1962 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 154 and 117 min. / Street Date December 9, 2021 / Available from Amazon.de /
Starring: Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), Anouk Aimée, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Rik Battaglia,...
Sodom and Gomorrah
Explosive Media
All-region Blu-ray
1962 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 154 and 117 min. / Street Date December 9, 2021 / Available from Amazon.de /
Starring: Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), Anouk Aimée, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Rik Battaglia,...
- 1/1/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Despite the proliferation of streaming services, it’s becoming increasingly clear that any cinephile only needs subscriptions to a few to survive. Among the top of our list are The Criterion Channel and Mubi and now they’ve each unveiled their stellar April line-ups.
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
- 3/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Turkish actor Can Yaman is set to a play fictional late 19th-century pirate in a reboot of cult vintage Italian TV series “Sandokan.”
The show is being produced by Lux Vide, the prominent Italian shingle behind “Medici,” “Devils” and the upcoming “Leonardo” skeins.
Based on a series of popular adventure novels penned by Italian author Emilio Salgari, “Sandokan” chronicles the adventures of the titular pirate who, with his motley crew, fights against the colonial power of the Dutch and British empires in Southeast Asia.
The original “Sandokan,” directed in 1976 by Sergio Sollima, catapulted Indian actor Kebir Bedi to Bollywood stardom, having sold to more than 85 countries around the world.
The reboot, which is the brainchild of Lux CEO Luca Bernabei, will pair Yaman — who besides being a star in Turkey has global fans thanks to the popularity of Turkish dramas — with Italian actor Luca Argentero who will play fellow pirate Yanez,...
The show is being produced by Lux Vide, the prominent Italian shingle behind “Medici,” “Devils” and the upcoming “Leonardo” skeins.
Based on a series of popular adventure novels penned by Italian author Emilio Salgari, “Sandokan” chronicles the adventures of the titular pirate who, with his motley crew, fights against the colonial power of the Dutch and British empires in Southeast Asia.
The original “Sandokan,” directed in 1976 by Sergio Sollima, catapulted Indian actor Kebir Bedi to Bollywood stardom, having sold to more than 85 countries around the world.
The reboot, which is the brainchild of Lux CEO Luca Bernabei, will pair Yaman — who besides being a star in Turkey has global fans thanks to the popularity of Turkish dramas — with Italian actor Luca Argentero who will play fellow pirate Yanez,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with a review of a previously hard to find Gallic Spaghetti Western. Filmed in the Dolomites mountain range and primarily existing as a vehicle for the French rock ‘n’ roll singer Johnny Hallyday, this might well be Corbucci’s best looking Western. The respected French actresses Francoise Fabian and Sylvie Fennec bring a noticeable touch of class to a show that ends with wide shots of dozens of butt naked backsides.
The Specialists
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Gli Specialisti, Drop Them or I’ll Shoot / Street Date May 18, 2020 / £14.99
Starring: Johnny Hallyday, Francoise Fabian, Gaston Moschin, Mario Adorf, Sylvie Fennec, Gino Pernice, Angela Luce, Serge Marquand, Gabriella Tavernese, Andres Jose Cruz, Christian Belaygue, Stefano Cattarossi.
Cinematography: Dario Di Palma
Film Editor: Elsa Armanni
Production Designer: Riccardo Domenici
Original Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Written by Sergio Corbucci and Sabatino Ciuffini
Produced by Edmond Tenoudji,...
The Specialists
Region B Blu-ray
Eureka Entertainment
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Gli Specialisti, Drop Them or I’ll Shoot / Street Date May 18, 2020 / £14.99
Starring: Johnny Hallyday, Francoise Fabian, Gaston Moschin, Mario Adorf, Sylvie Fennec, Gino Pernice, Angela Luce, Serge Marquand, Gabriella Tavernese, Andres Jose Cruz, Christian Belaygue, Stefano Cattarossi.
Cinematography: Dario Di Palma
Film Editor: Elsa Armanni
Production Designer: Riccardo Domenici
Original Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino
Written by Sergio Corbucci and Sabatino Ciuffini
Produced by Edmond Tenoudji,...
- 6/20/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: French poster for Django Kill… If You Live, Shoot!. Artist: Enrico de Seta.Starting today, the Quad Cinema in New York will be playing what must be the most entertaining and esoteric genre series of the summer. In advance of the release of the delirious nuovo spaghetti western crime thriller Let the Corpses Tan, the Quad has invited directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani to program ten personal favorites that have influenced their new film.The resulting curation is a fabulous mix of genres and locations, with films both well known (John Boorman’s Point Blank) and relatively obscure. The majority are from the filmmakers’ favorite period of the late ’60s and early ’70s—as the Quad’s introduction says, “apart from Quentin Tarantino, few writer/directors active in film today have the lifeblood of 1960s and 1970s cinema coursing through their veins as fulsomely as Hélène Cattet and...
- 8/23/2018
- MUBI
Sicario: Day Of The Soldado will next week become the first indie to open day-and-date in Saudi Arabia since the 35-year movie theater ban was lifted. The follow-up to Denis Villeneuve’s gritty 2015 Mexico-set action thriller is again scripted by Taylor Sheridan, with Gomorrah‘s Stefano Sollima directing.
Sony is distributing the Black Label/Thunder Road production domestically on June 29. In Saudi, Italia Film will release Sicario 2 at the AMC Theaters in Riyadh on June 28. Italia, which is Disney’s local sub-distributor, also released Marvel’s Black Panther which launched the break of the ban in April.
Saudi has largely been working with studio tentpole fare, but is quickly expanding the incoming slate. Paramount’s A Quiet Place recently scored a release in the market as the first title for the studio, and the first horror pic. That film was given a +15 certificate while Day Of The Soldado has an...
Sony is distributing the Black Label/Thunder Road production domestically on June 29. In Saudi, Italia Film will release Sicario 2 at the AMC Theaters in Riyadh on June 28. Italia, which is Disney’s local sub-distributor, also released Marvel’s Black Panther which launched the break of the ban in April.
Saudi has largely been working with studio tentpole fare, but is quickly expanding the incoming slate. Paramount’s A Quiet Place recently scored a release in the market as the first title for the studio, and the first horror pic. That film was given a +15 certificate while Day Of The Soldado has an...
- 6/22/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
The Western is the quintessential American movie genre. Its iconography has been seared into our collective conscious: the solitary cowboy riding the endless frontier, towns struggling to survive in a lawless land, the quick-drawing gunfighter. Generations of filmmakers have engaged with those symbols, building an entire cinematic language on a genre that began with the simple premise of good “white hats” vs. bad “black hats.” In doing so, they have created mythologies, torn down legends and subverted what it means to be an American.
My exposure to the West began in the living room of my parents’ house. My father, a Sephardic Jew born and raised in Greece, shared with me the movies he loved as a child. Over the years my enthusiasm for the genre only grew as I became a history buff, a lover of myths, and eventually a filmmaker. In interviews, I’m often asked to name my favorite Western,...
My exposure to the West began in the living room of my parents’ house. My father, a Sephardic Jew born and raised in Greece, shared with me the movies he loved as a child. Over the years my enthusiasm for the genre only grew as I became a history buff, a lover of myths, and eventually a filmmaker. In interviews, I’m often asked to name my favorite Western,...
- 12/14/2017
- by Jared Moshé
- Indiewire
Writer-director Sergio Sollima gives us one of the best 'political' Italo westerns from the pre- May '68 era... with two top stars in great form, Gian Maria Volontè and Tomas Milian. This two-disc German import has both the long and short versions of the movie in HD, with full language options for each. Face to Face (Faccia a faccia; Von Angesicht zu Angesicht) Region A+B Blu-ray Explosive Media (Alive) 1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 93, 112 min. / Street Date April 29, 2016 / available at Amazon.de / E 21,93 Starring Gian Maria Volontè, Tomas Milian, William Berger, Jolanda Modio, Gianni Rizzo, Carole André Ángel del Pozo, Aldo Sambrell, Antonio Casas, Lidia Alfonsi, John Karlsen, Gastone Moschin, G&eacutge;rard Tichy. Cinematography Raphael Pacheco Film Editor Eugenio Alabiso Original Music Ennio Morricone Art Direction and sets Carlo Simi Written by Sergio Donati, Sergio Sollima Produced by Arturo González, Alberto Grimaldi <Directed by Sergio Sollima
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Wow,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Wow,...
- 10/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Lee Pfeiffer
Variety reports that the family of the late director Sergio Leone is developing a six-episode Western TV series titled "Colt" based upon a concept that Leone had planned with his collaborators but which was never realized. His goal was to present the American West in a more realistic manner than had been seen in his classic "spaghetti Westerns". The focus would be on the handgun used by The Man With No Name, portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the classic "A Fistful of Dollars". The episodes would follow the trail of that gun as it passes from owner to owner. The first two episodes will be directed by Stefano Sollima, the high profile Italian filmmaker and son of Sergio Sollima, who directed Lee Van Cleef in the cult Italian Western "The Big Gundown". Stefano will also be writing the scripts for the series. Unlike Sergio Leone's Westerns,...
Variety reports that the family of the late director Sergio Leone is developing a six-episode Western TV series titled "Colt" based upon a concept that Leone had planned with his collaborators but which was never realized. His goal was to present the American West in a more realistic manner than had been seen in his classic "spaghetti Westerns". The focus would be on the handgun used by The Man With No Name, portrayed by Clint Eastwood in the classic "A Fistful of Dollars". The episodes would follow the trail of that gun as it passes from owner to owner. The first two episodes will be directed by Stefano Sollima, the high profile Italian filmmaker and son of Sergio Sollima, who directed Lee Van Cleef in the cult Italian Western "The Big Gundown". Stefano will also be writing the scripts for the series. Unlike Sergio Leone's Westerns,...
- 5/27/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Kino Lorber brings the 1967 spaghetti Western Face to Face to Blu-ray this month, one of director Sergio Sollima’s most notable titles, previously released on DVD as a box-set with the two other titles in Sollima’s trilogy The Big Gundown (1966) and Run, Man, Run (1968). Noted for imbuing his work with a bit of actual social and historical context, there’s a bit more substance than usual for a film relegated to the periphery of a movement dominated by a mere handful of notable names. Though it’s ultimately not at the same level as iconic works by Sergio Leone and hasn’t reached the same level of reappraisal as several other retroactively recuperated directors, it features more nuanced characterizations in its complex narrative structure than is usually evident in other titles of the era.
Boston professor Brad Fletcher (Gian Maria Volonte) is suffering from poor health, and is forced...
Boston professor Brad Fletcher (Gian Maria Volonte) is suffering from poor health, and is forced...
- 8/18/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Not as well-known stateside as other Spaghetti Western Sergios such as Leone and Corbucci, but the passing of director Sergio Sollima is notable to cult film fans. His The Big Gundown (1966) with Lee Van Cleef and Face To Face (1967) are considered classics of the sub-genre but in my book his masterpiece is the gritty 1970 crime thriller Violent City, a film that made it all the way to #3 on my list of ‘Top Ten Charles Bronson Movies’ (read the list Here)
In Violent City, produced in Italy with some New Orleans exteriors, Sollima, working from a script by future art-house helmer Lina Wertmüller, directed Charles Bronson just as he was exiting his career as a character actor and phasing into his role as a megastar. Violent City found Bronson a vengeance-minded hit-man after a former flame (Jill Ireland at her sexiest) and her mob boss boyfriend (Telly Savalas) who’d conspired to send him to prison.
In Violent City, produced in Italy with some New Orleans exteriors, Sollima, working from a script by future art-house helmer Lina Wertmüller, directed Charles Bronson just as he was exiting his career as a character actor and phasing into his role as a megastar. Violent City found Bronson a vengeance-minded hit-man after a former flame (Jill Ireland at her sexiest) and her mob boss boyfriend (Telly Savalas) who’d conspired to send him to prison.
- 7/2/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When he spoke these words, Italian film director Sergio Sollima, who died this week at age 94, was referring to his love of travel, of the ability to visit far-flung parts of the world, observing and absorbing varied and unfamiliar cultures afforded to him by his career. But he always seemed to translate that love of observation and experience to even his grimiest, most disreputable thrillers, infusing his films with vitality and a distinct political thrust that often separated them from the more routine product of the Italian film and television industry of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Sollima was born in Rome in 1921 and as a young man graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, the Italian national film school established in 1935. He started out writing film criticism but soon moved toward crafting plays and screenplays. The first of them to be produced, "Behind Closed Doors" (1951), on which he was one of four writers,...
- 7/2/2015
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Thompson on Hollywood
When I first heard about this list this morning I could have sworn it was old news, but as it turns out, this list of Quentin Tarantino's top 20 spaghetti westerns is a new thing as presented to us bt Spaghetti-Western.net. What I must have been thinking of was a list of spaghetti westerns that influenced Tarantino's Django Unchained, some of which are repeated here such as Sergio Corbucci's The Great Silence (read an essay I wrote on this one here) and the obvious, Django, and Giulio Petroni's Death Rides a Horse. However, this list is more than that and more than just Sergio Leone and Corbucci titles, though those two do make up eight of the twenty films on Tarantino's list. I haven't looked to see how many of the more obscure titles listed here are available on Netflix, but I have a feeling now that...
- 3/26/2015
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
When Spaghetti Western aficionados recommend their favorite films, they will usually introduce people to The “Three Sergios,” that consists of Sergio Leone, Sergio Sollima and Sergio Corbucci. Even those unfamiliar the genre would surely be familiar with the masterworks of Leone, who created two of the greatest Western films of all time. Neither Sollima or Corbucci ever came close to the fame or acclaim of Leone, but stylistic and talented Sollima’s underrated The Big Gundown was politically ambitious and ahead of the curve, while Corbucci embraced a strong pulp sensibility in his ultra violent Django that featured the iconic coffin hauling gunslinger. Later, he showed his political ambitions in his Mexican Revolution trilogy that features Companeros between The Mercenary and What Am I Doing in the Middle of the Revolution?
Companeros came along during a transitional period of Italian genre cinema and Westerns specifically started shifting towards humor. Companeros...
Companeros came along during a transitional period of Italian genre cinema and Westerns specifically started shifting towards humor. Companeros...
- 11/5/2014
- by Sean McClannahan
- DailyDead
By Fred Blosser
72 544x376
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On a windy night, a black-clad stranger rides into Daugherty City, Texas. He flips a coin to a scruffy drunk who is strapped for the price of a drink. He exposes a crooked dice game in the local saloon, where most of the townsfolk seem to be congregated. Then he departs. In the meantime, down the street, a gang of acrobatic robbers breaks into the bank and heists a safe containing $100,000 in Army payroll money. The getaway crew escapes town before a wounded trooper can raise the alarm, but out on the trail they run into the stranger, Sabata, who picks them off with a tricked-out rifle and recovers the stolen money.
Thus, in under 15 minutes of running time, Gianfranco Parolini neatly sets up the events that will drive the remaining 90 minutes of his 1969 Spaghetti Western, "Ehi amico... c'è Sabata,...
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On a windy night, a black-clad stranger rides into Daugherty City, Texas. He flips a coin to a scruffy drunk who is strapped for the price of a drink. He exposes a crooked dice game in the local saloon, where most of the townsfolk seem to be congregated. Then he departs. In the meantime, down the street, a gang of acrobatic robbers breaks into the bank and heists a safe containing $100,000 in Army payroll money. The getaway crew escapes town before a wounded trooper can raise the alarm, but out on the trail they run into the stranger, Sabata, who picks them off with a tricked-out rifle and recovers the stolen money.
Thus, in under 15 minutes of running time, Gianfranco Parolini neatly sets up the events that will drive the remaining 90 minutes of his 1969 Spaghetti Western, "Ehi amico... c'è Sabata,...
- 5/19/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
We previously reported that Sergio Sollima’s The Big Gundown would be released by the good folks at Grindhouse Releasing. Now, we have the fine details. DVDActive reports that Grindhouse Releasing (by the way, it’s great to have them back after a long hiatus) is releasing The Big Gundown starring Lee Van Cleef and Tomas Milian in a 4 disc Blu-Ray & DVD Combo. Read on for the official press release. Can’t wait to see this since it has been a hard film to find.
From DVDActive.com
Sergio Sollima’s Run, Man, Run! has been available on remastered DVD for years, but its superior prequel, The Big Gundown has been missing from the digital home video landscape in the Us…until now. Grindhouse Releasing continues their comeback trail with the first even Us Blu-ray release of this classic film. Alongside Damiano Damiani’s A Bullet for the General, The Big Gundown...
From DVDActive.com
Sergio Sollima’s Run, Man, Run! has been available on remastered DVD for years, but its superior prequel, The Big Gundown has been missing from the digital home video landscape in the Us…until now. Grindhouse Releasing continues their comeback trail with the first even Us Blu-ray release of this classic film. Alongside Damiano Damiani’s A Bullet for the General, The Big Gundown...
- 11/8/2013
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Austin Film Society's "Western All'Italiana" series continues tonight and Sunday with Sergio Sollima's Face To Face from 1967 at the Marchesa. The Les Blank Memorial Fish Fry will be a more intimate gathering on Saturday evening at the Afs Screening Room. There will indeed be a fish fry and beer along with 16mm screenings of several Blank documentaries including 1980's Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (a recent addition to Criterion's Hulu Plus channel if you can't make it).
One of the best things about Afs taking over the Marchesa (and their installation of a new Dcp projection system) is that very niche independent and foreign releases that would otherwise never make it to the big screen in Austin are getting screened. This Sunday afternoon, you won't want to miss Paradise: Love, the first film in Ulrich Seidl's acclaimed and controversial new trilogy. You'll have a chance to see the...
One of the best things about Afs taking over the Marchesa (and their installation of a new Dcp projection system) is that very niche independent and foreign releases that would otherwise never make it to the big screen in Austin are getting screened. This Sunday afternoon, you won't want to miss Paradise: Love, the first film in Ulrich Seidl's acclaimed and controversial new trilogy. You'll have a chance to see the...
- 9/13/2013
- by Matt Shiverdecker
- Slackerwood
I think everyone remembers where they were August 31st, 2003 when they heard that Charles Bronson had died. I was visiting my brother in Atlanta when my nephew knocked on my door and informed me that CNN had announced his death. I collapsed into a sobbing heap. Bronson was my hero, my muse, my role model. Hollywood’s brightest star would shine no more. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone ten years.
Charles Bronson was the unlikeliest of movie stars. Of all the leading men in the history of Hollywood, Charles Bronson had the least range as an actor. He rarely emoted or even changed his expression, and when he did speak, his voice was a reedy whisper. But Charles Bronson could coast on presence, charisma, and silent brooding menace like no one’s business and he wound up the world’s most bankable movie star throughout most of the 1970’s.
Charles Bronson was the unlikeliest of movie stars. Of all the leading men in the history of Hollywood, Charles Bronson had the least range as an actor. He rarely emoted or even changed his expression, and when he did speak, his voice was a reedy whisper. But Charles Bronson could coast on presence, charisma, and silent brooding menace like no one’s business and he wound up the world’s most bankable movie star throughout most of the 1970’s.
- 8/31/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Following are some supplemental sections featuring notable director & actor teams that did not meet the criteria for the main body of the article. Some will argue that a number of these should have been included in the primary section but keep in mind that film writing on any level, from the casual to the academic, is a game of knowledge and perception filtered through personal taste.
****
Other Notable Director & Actor Teams
This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.
Terence Young & Sean Connery
Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).
Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).
Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...
****
Other Notable Director & Actor Teams
This section is devoted to pairings where the duo worked together at least 3 times with the actor in a major role in each feature film, resulting in 1 must-see film.
Terence Young & Sean Connery
Must-See Collaboration: From Russia with Love (1962).
Other Collaborations: Action of the Tiger (1957), Dr. No (1962), Thunderball (1965).
Director Young and actor Connery teamed up to create one of the very best Connery-era James Bond films with From Russia with Love which features a great villainous performance by Robert Shaw...
- 7/14/2013
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
Last year saw the unfortunate passing of one of Grindhouse Releasing’s original founders: Sage Stallone. It was a huge loss for fans of exploitation and cult cinema as Sage was an advocate of uncovering lost films from the 70′s and 80′s and restoring them for new audiences to discover. Sage worked alongside Bob Murawski, a frequent collaborator with Sam Raimi and co-founder of Grindhouse Releasing. Thanks to their hard work and dedication genre fans were treated to releases of Cannibal Holocaust, Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond, and the entertaining and gory slasher Pieces. These are just a few of the many titles the duo resurrected that Destroy the Brain’s monthly program Late Nite Grindhouse were able to show in 35mm over the years. After a two year hiatus which included Bob Murawski working on Raimi’s recent Oz film, Grindhouse Releasing will return with two new titles later...
- 5/14/2013
- by Michael Haffner
- Destroy the Brain
There's no doubt about it; the loss of Sage Stallone struck a true blow to the millions of fans who enjoy the old grindhouse flicks of yesteryear. Thankfully Stallone's legacy and love for these movies is about to live on in a big way!
From the Press Release
Grindhouse Releasing has announced Corruption and An American Hippie In Israel as the first in a series of new Blu-ray, DVD, and theatrical releases. Both movies will arrive on home video on September 10.
Founded by the late Sage Stallone (1976-2012) and Bob Murawski, Grindhouse Releasing has long been considered the Criterion of cult movie labels. In a span of seventeen years, the company has produced lavish restorations of such notorious titles as Cannibal Holocaust, Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, I Drink Your Blood, Pieces, and many more to worldwide acclaim from fans and critics.
"Sage and Bob were pioneers in catering to...
From the Press Release
Grindhouse Releasing has announced Corruption and An American Hippie In Israel as the first in a series of new Blu-ray, DVD, and theatrical releases. Both movies will arrive on home video on September 10.
Founded by the late Sage Stallone (1976-2012) and Bob Murawski, Grindhouse Releasing has long been considered the Criterion of cult movie labels. In a span of seventeen years, the company has produced lavish restorations of such notorious titles as Cannibal Holocaust, Lucio Fulci's The Beyond, I Drink Your Blood, Pieces, and many more to worldwide acclaim from fans and critics.
"Sage and Bob were pioneers in catering to...
- 5/14/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Founded 17 years ago by Sage Stallone and Bob Murawski, Grindhouse Releasing is a beloved institution among horror and exploitation film fans, thanks to their lovingly restored releases of cult classics like Cannibal Holocaust, The Beyond, I Drink Your Blood, Pieces and many more. Grindhouse went on hiatus for a while, partially due to Stallone's death last year and Murawski's commitment to editing Oz the Great and Powerful for Sam Raimi. But the studio has finally resurfaced to announce a massive new slate of movie titles. "After two years in the yellow brick prison of Oz, I am back full-time at Grindhouse Releasing, proudly continuing the important work that Sage and I began back in 1996," Murawski said in the announcement, in which he revealed a list of titles awaiting DVD, Blu-ray and theatrical releases – beginning with the psychedelic obscurity An American Hippie in Israel, which has gained Rocky Horror-like status in...
- 5/14/2013
- by Gregory Burkart
- FEARnet
Italian director whose 1966 film A Bullet for the General, set in revolutionary Mexico, began a wave of 'tortilla westerns'
Damiano Damiani, who has died aged 90, was a director of Italian popular films and television. He was best known for La Piovra (The Octopus, 1984), an internationally successful TV series about the mafia, and made several mafia-themed films and TV movies, but his range was much wider.
Born in Pordenone, north-east Italy, he began his career in the 1940s, working in the art department and directing documentaries. As popular Italian cinema boomed in the 1960s, he began to make personal pictures, westerns, comedies, political thrillers and horror films. If you have only seen Amityville II: The Possession (1982), his one American movie, you have seen Damiani at his least inspired. In that film, the camera followed potential victims around a haunted house in a style made tedious four years earlier by John Carpenter's Halloween.
Damiano Damiani, who has died aged 90, was a director of Italian popular films and television. He was best known for La Piovra (The Octopus, 1984), an internationally successful TV series about the mafia, and made several mafia-themed films and TV movies, but his range was much wider.
Born in Pordenone, north-east Italy, he began his career in the 1940s, working in the art department and directing documentaries. As popular Italian cinema boomed in the 1960s, he began to make personal pictures, westerns, comedies, political thrillers and horror films. If you have only seen Amityville II: The Possession (1982), his one American movie, you have seen Damiani at his least inspired. In that film, the camera followed potential victims around a haunted house in a style made tedious four years earlier by John Carpenter's Halloween.
- 3/12/2013
- by Alex Cox
- The Guardian - Film News
(This article contains some minor spoilers for Django Unchained and be warned that most of the clips included are Nsfw)
Like many of Tarantino’s previous films Django Unchained is filled to the brim with film references. Below I’ve attempted to guide you through some of these references and links to other films.
I’ve only seen the film once at a screening and am sure that given the opportunity to sit down with the film on Blu-ray I will undoubtedly find even more, so the following is in no way definitive but hopefully provides some answers to for those wondering what Tarantino was referencing in Django Unchained. Also, most importantly, hopefully it will lead you to check out some of the films in question.
The most obvious film reference in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is right there in the title. Django was a 1966 ‘spaghetti western’ directed by...
Like many of Tarantino’s previous films Django Unchained is filled to the brim with film references. Below I’ve attempted to guide you through some of these references and links to other films.
I’ve only seen the film once at a screening and am sure that given the opportunity to sit down with the film on Blu-ray I will undoubtedly find even more, so the following is in no way definitive but hopefully provides some answers to for those wondering what Tarantino was referencing in Django Unchained. Also, most importantly, hopefully it will lead you to check out some of the films in question.
The most obvious film reference in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is right there in the title. Django was a 1966 ‘spaghetti western’ directed by...
- 1/18/2013
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Feature Paul Martinovic Jan 18, 2013
With Django Unchained out now in the UK, Paul looks back at Sergio Leone's classic Dollars trilogy that helped inspire it...
Howard Hawks, one of the most successful Western directors of all time and a key influence on Sergio Leone, once said a great movie can be defined as one with "three great scenes, and no bad ones." There can be few directors who understood the power of great scenes quite as strongly as Leone, the director of the Dollars trilogy and de facto godfather of the spaghetti western.
Some might argue his emphasis on great individual moments was to his detriment, as the MacGuffin-laden plots of his films seem to exist mainly as devices on which he can hang his elaborate setpieces, and were subsequently labeled as exercises in pure style. While the artistic and intellectual merits of the three films are up for debate,...
With Django Unchained out now in the UK, Paul looks back at Sergio Leone's classic Dollars trilogy that helped inspire it...
Howard Hawks, one of the most successful Western directors of all time and a key influence on Sergio Leone, once said a great movie can be defined as one with "three great scenes, and no bad ones." There can be few directors who understood the power of great scenes quite as strongly as Leone, the director of the Dollars trilogy and de facto godfather of the spaghetti western.
Some might argue his emphasis on great individual moments was to his detriment, as the MacGuffin-laden plots of his films seem to exist mainly as devices on which he can hang his elaborate setpieces, and were subsequently labeled as exercises in pure style. While the artistic and intellectual merits of the three films are up for debate,...
- 1/17/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
"I remember we used to wear the same dusters from The Wild Bunch or the one James Coburn wore in Duck, You Sucker!" —Francesco Piccioni (Red Brigades member)
Though Euro-centric enthusiasts might have a hard time admitting it, much of post-war continental culture is the child of the Marshall Plan. From the Nouvelle Vague to the Spaghetti Western, none of this would have been possible without the thriving economic situation brought about by what was officially known as the European Recovery Program – Erp. The socio-political alignment with the American way of life and death was achieved not only through military operations but also thanks to the exotic exports coming from across the Atlantic. From rock ‘n’ roll to action movies, whiskey to chewing gum, the Old Continent owes to America much of its luxuriant modernity. Needless to say, cultural hegemony often finds obstacles on its way, and the path to...
Though Euro-centric enthusiasts might have a hard time admitting it, much of post-war continental culture is the child of the Marshall Plan. From the Nouvelle Vague to the Spaghetti Western, none of this would have been possible without the thriving economic situation brought about by what was officially known as the European Recovery Program – Erp. The socio-political alignment with the American way of life and death was achieved not only through military operations but also thanks to the exotic exports coming from across the Atlantic. From rock ‘n’ roll to action movies, whiskey to chewing gum, the Old Continent owes to America much of its luxuriant modernity. Needless to say, cultural hegemony often finds obstacles on its way, and the path to...
- 7/2/2012
- MUBI
by Vadim Rizov
Overviews of the spaghetti western inevitably begin with Sergio Leone, whose presentation of Clint Eastwood as the ultimate laconic Westerner grows more iconic throughout the genre-codifying trilogy of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Time progressively slows to a mythic crawl, as mundane quick-draw showdowns and bounty hunter pursuits become epic set pieces through sheer duration.
Westerns had been made in Italy and Spain before Leone (largely by non-Italians), but his worldwide success was unavoidably influential. Segments of Sergio Sollima's 1966 The Big Gundown anticipate 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West, with another swoony Ennio Morricone score emphasizing similar slow visual coups. A showy tracking shot through an obscure Mexican village starts with two women at market and stops at a criminal's face being lathered in an open-air barber's chair. The man in pursuit...
Overviews of the spaghetti western inevitably begin with Sergio Leone, whose presentation of Clint Eastwood as the ultimate laconic Westerner grows more iconic throughout the genre-codifying trilogy of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Time progressively slows to a mythic crawl, as mundane quick-draw showdowns and bounty hunter pursuits become epic set pieces through sheer duration.
Westerns had been made in Italy and Spain before Leone (largely by non-Italians), but his worldwide success was unavoidably influential. Segments of Sergio Sollima's 1966 The Big Gundown anticipate 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West, with another swoony Ennio Morricone score emphasizing similar slow visual coups. A showy tracking shot through an obscure Mexican village starts with two women at market and stops at a criminal's face being lathered in an open-air barber's chair. The man in pursuit...
- 5/30/2012
- GreenCine Daily
With the Academy Awards for the 2011 film year in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to take a look at one of the event’s most consistently fascinating categories: Best Supporting Actor. The most interesting story in the category this year isn’t who got nominated, it’s who didn’t. More specifically, Albert Brooks was completely robbed of a nomination for his performance as film producer turned lethal gangster Bernie Rose in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive.
As much as I’d like to say I was surprised by this, considering both the quality of performance and Brooks’ slew of nominations from other critical circles, in light of the Academy’s history of overlooking outstanding supporting performances, I simply can’t.
Following is a chronological look at a number of performances richly deserving of a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination.
In some cases, the performances are in films...
As much as I’d like to say I was surprised by this, considering both the quality of performance and Brooks’ slew of nominations from other critical circles, in light of the Academy’s history of overlooking outstanding supporting performances, I simply can’t.
Following is a chronological look at a number of performances richly deserving of a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination.
In some cases, the performances are in films...
- 5/23/2012
- by Terek Puckett
- SoundOnSight
By John Exshaw
Call it A Fistful of Frayling. Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Anyone fortunate enough to be within a day’s ride of Dublin on Tuesday, 1 November, should saddle up bright and early to catch the Irish Film Institute’s 40th anniversary presentation of Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dynamite, to be introduced by Leone biographer and Spaghetti Western top-gun, Sir Christopher Frayling. Also participating in the event will be director John Boorman, who assisted Leone in finding the locations used in the film’s Irish flashback sequences, and Ireland’s top special-effects expert, Gerry Johnston, who worked on the action scenes shot in Toner’s pub in Dublin’s Baggot Street.
Frayling, whose last appearance at the Ifi (introducing Once Upon a Time in the West) was the highpoint of the 2000 season, will use extracts from such films as John Ford’s The Informer...
Call it A Fistful of Frayling. Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Anyone fortunate enough to be within a day’s ride of Dublin on Tuesday, 1 November, should saddle up bright and early to catch the Irish Film Institute’s 40th anniversary presentation of Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dynamite, to be introduced by Leone biographer and Spaghetti Western top-gun, Sir Christopher Frayling. Also participating in the event will be director John Boorman, who assisted Leone in finding the locations used in the film’s Irish flashback sequences, and Ireland’s top special-effects expert, Gerry Johnston, who worked on the action scenes shot in Toner’s pub in Dublin’s Baggot Street.
Frayling, whose last appearance at the Ifi (introducing Once Upon a Time in the West) was the highpoint of the 2000 season, will use extracts from such films as John Ford’s The Informer...
- 10/29/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
After the commercial success of his 1967 western The Big Gundown, the ‘other Sergio’, Sergio Sollima again returned to the genre, reuniting with actor Tomas Milan for Faccia a faccia. Alongside Tomas Milan, as outlaw Solomon Beauregard Bennet, in Faccia a faccia is Gian Maria Volonté as Brad Fletcher, a professor who appears to be slowly dying from a problem with his lungs.
The film begins with the kidnapping of Fletcher by Beauregard, who originally takes Fletcher as a hostage but the two begin to form a friendship and after Fletcher helps Beauregard out of a difficult situation he too becomes an outlaw. Beauregard teaches him how to shoot a gun, introducing him to a violent world he has hitherto been unfamiliar with. Beauregard also introduces him to his gang and the many bandits that surround them.
The narrative progression in Faccia a faccia is dominated by these two characters and...
The film begins with the kidnapping of Fletcher by Beauregard, who originally takes Fletcher as a hostage but the two begin to form a friendship and after Fletcher helps Beauregard out of a difficult situation he too becomes an outlaw. Beauregard teaches him how to shoot a gun, introducing him to a violent world he has hitherto been unfamiliar with. Beauregard also introduces him to his gang and the many bandits that surround them.
The narrative progression in Faccia a faccia is dominated by these two characters and...
- 6/13/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Produced by Sergio Leone’s long-term partner, Alberto Grimaldi, and complete with a score by the iconic Ennio Morricone, Face to Face (aka Faccia a Faccia) is an oft-forgotten spaghetti western from Italian director Sergio Sollima, famous for The Big Gundown (1966).
The film focuses on two protagonists; a history professor, Brad Fletcher (Gian Maria Volonté), and an outlaw, Solomon ‘Beauregard’ Bennett (Thomas Milian). Retiring due to ill health, Fletcher moves to Texas but through an act of kindness becomes entangled with an injured Bennett on the run from the law. Lying low, the health of the men improves, and each becomes fascinated by the contrasting persona of the other. Following a shoot-out, Fletcher is allowed to follow Bennett as he regroups with the 'Wild Gang,’ slowly ingratiating himself with the criminal community.
While Fletcher connects with his more sinister and bestial emotions, Bennett undergoes a crisis of conscious and re-evaluates...
The film focuses on two protagonists; a history professor, Brad Fletcher (Gian Maria Volonté), and an outlaw, Solomon ‘Beauregard’ Bennett (Thomas Milian). Retiring due to ill health, Fletcher moves to Texas but through an act of kindness becomes entangled with an injured Bennett on the run from the law. Lying low, the health of the men improves, and each becomes fascinated by the contrasting persona of the other. Following a shoot-out, Fletcher is allowed to follow Bennett as he regroups with the 'Wild Gang,’ slowly ingratiating himself with the criminal community.
While Fletcher connects with his more sinister and bestial emotions, Bennett undergoes a crisis of conscious and re-evaluates...
- 5/21/2011
- Shadowlocked
John Cassavetes' artistic legacy is largely built around his role as the prototypical American indie filmmaker with works like Shadows, Husbands, and The Killing of A Chinese Bookie. In spite of his directing prowess, Cassavetes mostly made his living as a film and television actor. He was in a lot of great stuff including Rosemary's Baby and The Dirty Dozen. He was also in a lot of dodgy stuff like Incubus.
One of his more obscure roles was in Machine Gun McCain, a 1969 Italian gangster film directed by Giuliano Montaldo. Blue Underground has pulled this film from the depths of obscurity with a new Blu-Ray release. It's an interesting choice because Machine Gun McCain doesn't have the punishing ruthlessness of similar films by Fernando Di Leo or Sergio Sollima. Ultimately, it is a strong but minor work whose biggest draws are the performances of Cassavettes and his cohort Peter Falk.
One of his more obscure roles was in Machine Gun McCain, a 1969 Italian gangster film directed by Giuliano Montaldo. Blue Underground has pulled this film from the depths of obscurity with a new Blu-Ray release. It's an interesting choice because Machine Gun McCain doesn't have the punishing ruthlessness of similar films by Fernando Di Leo or Sergio Sollima. Ultimately, it is a strong but minor work whose biggest draws are the performances of Cassavettes and his cohort Peter Falk.
- 9/19/2010
- Screen Anarchy
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Sam Peckinpah’s The Deadly Companions starring Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith has never been released in Germany in any form other than being shown on television, so Retro ‘regular’ Mike Siegel, one of the world’s foremost experts on the renegade director, was more than pleased when his friend Ulrich Bruckner of Koch-media asked him to co-produce a special edition DVD for the German/Austrian market. Koch-media also specialize in rare and niche titles on DVD, with titles including The Sergio Sollima Western box set, Blindman, and special editions of certain Hammer films, to name but a few.
Siegel had just completed and co-produced the very successful German 2-disc special edition on Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs. Although Bruckner has since left Koch-media, the label owned the rights to The Deadly Companions and Siegel agreed to supply the bonus materials for this new release,...
Sam Peckinpah’s The Deadly Companions starring Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith has never been released in Germany in any form other than being shown on television, so Retro ‘regular’ Mike Siegel, one of the world’s foremost experts on the renegade director, was more than pleased when his friend Ulrich Bruckner of Koch-media asked him to co-produce a special edition DVD for the German/Austrian market. Koch-media also specialize in rare and niche titles on DVD, with titles including The Sergio Sollima Western box set, Blindman, and special editions of certain Hammer films, to name but a few.
Siegel had just completed and co-produced the very successful German 2-disc special edition on Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs. Although Bruckner has since left Koch-media, the label owned the rights to The Deadly Companions and Siegel agreed to supply the bonus materials for this new release,...
- 6/29/2010
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Fresh off the press or you know what I mean is an early teaser poster for writer/director Richard Diaz's upcoming action/thriller Dark Light. Dark Light will starting filming later this summer and into the winter. Be on the lookout for much more on this project soon!
From the Dark Light Facebook page plot outline;
Stemming back to a story I came up with in 2002 but getting a 2010 overhaul 'Dark Light' is an action thriller which in some ways is just a simple revenge story only modeled after the films of Michael Mann, Brian DePalma, Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Sollima, and John Woo.
It is being made much like my previous film 'Distortion' with very little money and no crew but a lot of ambition.
Visit the official Dark Light movie website
Visit the official Dark Light movie Facebook page
Support Indie Films!
From the Dark Light Facebook page plot outline;
Stemming back to a story I came up with in 2002 but getting a 2010 overhaul 'Dark Light' is an action thriller which in some ways is just a simple revenge story only modeled after the films of Michael Mann, Brian DePalma, Quentin Tarantino, Sergio Sollima, and John Woo.
It is being made much like my previous film 'Distortion' with very little money and no crew but a lot of ambition.
Visit the official Dark Light movie website
Visit the official Dark Light movie Facebook page
Support Indie Films!
- 6/15/2010
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
Chicago – The great cult movie studio Blue Underground continues their pattern of excellent Blu-ray releases for unheralded horror gems with the recent releases of the Lucio Fulci zombie film “City of the Living Dead” and one of the most underrated westerns ever made in “Django”. While they don’t have much in common outside of studio and cult status, both are worth a look.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
- 6/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Charles Bronson was the unlikeliest of movie stars. Of all the leading men in the history of Hollywood, Charles Bronson had the least range as an actor. He rarely emoted or even changed his expression, and when he did speak, his voice was a reedy whisper. But Charles Bronson could coast on presence, charisma, and silent brooding menace like no one.s business and he wound up the world’s most bankable movie star throughout most of the 1970’s. Bronson did not rise quickly in the Hollywood ranks. His film debut was in 1951 and he spent the next two decades as a solid character actor with a rugged face, muscular physique and everyman ethnicity that kept him busy in supporting roles as indians, convicts, cowboys, boxers, and gangsters. It wasn’t until he was in his late 40’s, after the international success of Once Upon A Time In The West...
- 6/1/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Cinema Retro issue #13 is now shipping to all subscribers. Among the other great features in the latest issue is entertainment journalist Bruce R. Marshall's fascinating story behind Lee Van Cleef's 1960s cult western The Big Gundown. At this point in his career, Van Cleef was relishing the fact that Sergio Leone's two Dollar westerns had rescued him from financial catastrophe when he could not longer find suitable work in Hollywood. Unlike Clint Eastwood, however, Van Cleef was happy to continue on in the Spaghetti Western genre, making films of varyiing degrees of quality, but always maintaining his position as one of Europe's top movie stars. His 1968 western The Big Gundown teamed him with another popular star of the genre, Tomas Milian under the direction of Sergio Sollima. The film stood out as being a cut above the rest of the pack, but what most fans don't realize is...
- 1/19/2009
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Wednesday – Today’s proceedings started with Sergio Sollima’s masterly ‘The Big Gundown’, with Lee Van Cleef and Tomás Milian, on which I had to pass, having made a loose appointment to interview Sergio Donati at yesterday’s press conference. Donati, who co-wrote ‘The Big Gundown’ with Sollima, turned up at the screening with every intention of watching it again, but when I explained that I would have to leave for another interview before the movie ended, he very kindly agreed to give it a miss too, saying with a smile, “It’s okay, I know the story.” He did, however, ask to watch the opening credit sequence before we left. Was this an example of a screenwriter, even forty-one years after the event, just wanting to make absolutely sure that, no, he hadn’t been screwed out his screen credit, or just a tribute to the film’s wonderful...
- 9/4/2007
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Monday night, watched a 1959 movie called Venezia, la luna e tu (‘Venice, the Moon and You’), in which Alberto Sordi played a gondolier who – you’ve guessed it – gets involved with two silly foreign girls. With only Tonino Delli Colli’s colour photography to recommend it, the main surprise of the film was in seeing Sordi, Nino Manfredi, and director Dino Risi – all of whom, a year or so later, became leading figures in the commedia all’italiana movement which cast a critical eye on contemporary mores in a changing Italy – caught up in such an inconsequential piece of fluff.
Tuesday morning: As there was nothing kicking off on the Lido till the evening, I caught a vaporetto over to Dorsoduro and made my way to the church of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, which Donald Sutherland worked so hard to restore in Don’t Look Now. Obviously, whoever took over...
Tuesday morning: As there was nothing kicking off on the Lido till the evening, I caught a vaporetto over to Dorsoduro and made my way to the church of San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, which Donald Sutherland worked so hard to restore in Don’t Look Now. Obviously, whoever took over...
- 9/1/2007
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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