Although many of us consider ourselves movie experts, our knowledge is often limited to U.S. and British productions, completely ignoring creators from around the world. Knowing this, Martin Scorsese, in response to a young filmmaker named Colin Levy, created a list of 39 international films that you must see.
While 39 may seem like a lot, you can always start with 10 that other people considered the best. Here is the list of the top 10 Martin Scorsese recommendations, according to IMDb rating.
10. Ugetsu monogatari (1953) – 8.2/10
Country: Japan
Set in a rural area during Japan's civil war, this movie follows Genjuro and Tobei, two men driven by the need to make money for their families. Ignoring the signs and possessed by their greed, they make enough to feed everyone but bring devastation and destruction as their punishment.
9. Umberto D. (1952) – 8.2/10
Country: Italy
Umberto D. Ferrari is a retired government clerk living in Rome and struggling to make ends meet.
While 39 may seem like a lot, you can always start with 10 that other people considered the best. Here is the list of the top 10 Martin Scorsese recommendations, according to IMDb rating.
10. Ugetsu monogatari (1953) – 8.2/10
Country: Japan
Set in a rural area during Japan's civil war, this movie follows Genjuro and Tobei, two men driven by the need to make money for their families. Ignoring the signs and possessed by their greed, they make enough to feed everyone but bring devastation and destruction as their punishment.
9. Umberto D. (1952) – 8.2/10
Country: Italy
Umberto D. Ferrari is a retired government clerk living in Rome and struggling to make ends meet.
- 5/24/2024
- by virginia-singh@startefacts.com (Virginia Singh)
- STartefacts.com
When first-time documentary director Leonard Manzella premieres his award-winning “Shoe Shine Caddie” at the Portobello Film Festival in London on September 16, it will represent a kind of return to the former actor’s roots in the international film scene.
A professional family therapist for the past 30 years in California, Manzella’s earlier career began when the native Angeleno left Los Angeles for Rome in 1968 “when everything was burning.” In his early 20s and armed with “no contacts and about $50 bucks in my pocket,” a fortuitous introduction to American actor Brett Halsey got Manzella into movies, first as an extra and eventually as a leading man.
Halsey, who landed in Rome in the ‘60s and worked steadily in Euro crime thrillers and in the burgeoning spaghetti western scene, often toiled under the moniker Montgomery Ford and Leonard Manzella became famous as Leonard Mann.
“I went to Rome to study political science,...
A professional family therapist for the past 30 years in California, Manzella’s earlier career began when the native Angeleno left Los Angeles for Rome in 1968 “when everything was burning.” In his early 20s and armed with “no contacts and about $50 bucks in my pocket,” a fortuitous introduction to American actor Brett Halsey got Manzella into movies, first as an extra and eventually as a leading man.
Halsey, who landed in Rome in the ‘60s and worked steadily in Euro crime thrillers and in the burgeoning spaghetti western scene, often toiled under the moniker Montgomery Ford and Leonard Manzella became famous as Leonard Mann.
“I went to Rome to study political science,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
It's ironic that the most iconic social realist films: “Children of Heaven”, “Umberto D.” and “Factory Boss”, often contend with the most impossible situations. In Zhang Wei's near decade-old treatise on China's manufacturing boom, toy manufacturer Lin Dalin (Yao Anlian) fights tooth and nail to complete a final order that might save his factory from financial collapse. In the week that follows, long drawn repercussions of unethical labor, workplace abuse and exploitative business deals mount on him. Bearing a core goal to humanize, “Factory Boss” portrays a flawed system through the very people within it, who must play their part in order to survive.
Factory Boss is screening at New York Asian Film Festival
With the urgency of a thriller, we open to a burning truck. A warning sign from factory workers to our protagonist, Dalin, that he had better pay up months of overdue wages. Traversing from luxury office to downbeat factory,...
Factory Boss is screening at New York Asian Film Festival
With the urgency of a thriller, we open to a burning truck. A warning sign from factory workers to our protagonist, Dalin, that he had better pay up months of overdue wages. Traversing from luxury office to downbeat factory,...
- 7/17/2023
- by Renee Ng
- AsianMoviePulse
At the height of Umberto Eco’s popularity, it may have been tempting to dismiss the Italian scholar and novelist as too representative of his own time, a purveyor of entertainments for hip intellectuals with a poststructuralist bent. His obsessions with semiotics and fakes, conspiracy theories and heretical Christian sects of the late Middle Ages, seemed quirky, meta, and all in good fun. But in the years since his death in 2016, they’ve turned out to be uncannily prescient, as Davide Ferrario’s Umberto Eco: A Library of the World aims to prove.
This biographical documentary isn’t a peek behind the curtain into a public intellectual’s private life. Rather, it’s a reframing of the preoccupations of a thinker who’s no longer very fashionable. In the process, it becomes a timely epistemological rumination on the difference between knowledge and information, the relationship between memory and technology.
In...
This biographical documentary isn’t a peek behind the curtain into a public intellectual’s private life. Rather, it’s a reframing of the preoccupations of a thinker who’s no longer very fashionable. In the process, it becomes a timely epistemological rumination on the difference between knowledge and information, the relationship between memory and technology.
In...
- 6/25/2023
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
The Imaginary Friend (1994).Unknown to many, Nico D'Alessandria (1941–2003) was one of the most important directors of independent Italian cinema. His stories of outcasts and ghost-like characters create a unique kind of poetic cinema, in which reality becomes a dream and the dream becomes reality. If one could sum up his work and personality in one word, that word would be independence. D’Alessandria’s absolute freedom of thought and action from both mainstream and art-house cinema proved to be too much not only for audiences, but also for producers, distributors and critics, leading to his work being frequently misunderstood if not entirely forgotten. Throughout his career he made only three feature films and his total dedication to his work took him so far as to mortgage his house.D’Alessandria’s films were all shot in the last two decades of the 20th century, but his story as an author and director begins much earlier.
- 1/10/2022
- MUBI
Ramin Bahrani, Oscar-nominated writer/director of The White Tiger, discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
- 4/20/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Montgomery Clift would’ve celebrated his 98th birthday on October 17, 2018. The iconic actor gave only a small number of onscreen performances before his untimely death in 1966 at the age of 45. Yet several of those titles remain classics. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
A product of the Actor’s Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan, Clift had a successful Broadway career before moving to Hollywood. Among his notable stage credits was the role of Henry in Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Skin of Our Teeth.” Like James Dean and Marlon Brando, he was one of the original method actors, calling upon past memories and experiences to inform his performances.
He came to the attention of movie audiences in 1948 with a pair of releases: Howard Hawks‘ western “Red River” and Fred Zinnemann‘s WWII drama “The Search.
A product of the Actor’s Studio, where he studied under Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan, Clift had a successful Broadway career before moving to Hollywood. Among his notable stage credits was the role of Henry in Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Skin of Our Teeth.” Like James Dean and Marlon Brando, he was one of the original method actors, calling upon past memories and experiences to inform his performances.
He came to the attention of movie audiences in 1948 with a pair of releases: Howard Hawks‘ western “Red River” and Fred Zinnemann‘s WWII drama “The Search.
- 10/17/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
If you’re emotionally prepared, the massive 62-film series “Emotion Pictures: International Melodrama” has begun featuring In the Mood for Love, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Letter from an Unknown Woman, The Housemaid, and more this weekend.
Museum of Modern Art
An all-inclusive Michelangelo Antonioni retrospective is still underway.
Metrograph
“Goth...
Film Society of Lincoln Center
If you’re emotionally prepared, the massive 62-film series “Emotion Pictures: International Melodrama” has begun featuring In the Mood for Love, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Letter from an Unknown Woman, The Housemaid, and more this weekend.
Museum of Modern Art
An all-inclusive Michelangelo Antonioni retrospective is still underway.
Metrograph
“Goth...
- 12/15/2017
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The 55th New York Film Festival brought together cinematographers Vittorio Storaro (The Conformist, Apocalypse Now) and Ed Lachman (Carol, The Limey) for a master class on the occasion of both having films in the fest’s main slate. Lachman lensed Todd Haynes’ Centerpiece film Wonderstruck and Storaro did Woody Allen’s Closing Night film Wonder Wheel.
Festival director Kent Jones hosted the two at the Walter Reade Theater on October 11 for an all-encompassing talk of their cinematic philosophies and the cinematographers’ 40-year friendship.
Storaro and Lachman showed clips from films that inspire them and clips of their own work. The clips were a launching pad to discuss the difficult-to-pin cinematic language of photographic storytelling. We’ve included key quotes from their talk and the complete video of masterclass below.
Lachman on Storaro
Vittorio has done more in the last 50 years for the recognition and esteem of cinematography than anybody.
Becoming...
Festival director Kent Jones hosted the two at the Walter Reade Theater on October 11 for an all-encompassing talk of their cinematic philosophies and the cinematographers’ 40-year friendship.
Storaro and Lachman showed clips from films that inspire them and clips of their own work. The clips were a launching pad to discuss the difficult-to-pin cinematic language of photographic storytelling. We’ve included key quotes from their talk and the complete video of masterclass below.
Lachman on Storaro
Vittorio has done more in the last 50 years for the recognition and esteem of cinematography than anybody.
Becoming...
- 11/1/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Loneliness looms over “Wilson,” adapted from the graphic novel by Daniel Clowes (“Ghost World”) by Clowes and director Craig Johnson (“The Skeleton Twins”). In an early scene, it literally hangs over Wilson’s (Woody Harrelson) head as he walks past a movie theater showing Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 classic, “Umberto D.” In that sorrowful, Italian neo-realist masterpiece, the elderly Umberto is the embodiment of loneliness, and suffers a near thorough destitution, his only salve the companionship of a pet dog. Wilson, Umberto’s toxic heir, has a dog, too, but his loneliness is self-imposed: Wilson is an obnoxious jerk. Not that you’d know.
- 3/23/2017
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
As the art film revolution of the late 1950s and 1960s gave way to more populist manifestations of its stylistic inventions, so too did the “foreign language drama” become a codified form. As Bergman, Antonioni, Kurosawa, Fellini, and other renowned directors of that earlier time aged out of their peak years of financial viability, a new class found a framework in which to ground their career. They didn’t always have the training in commercial art that their forerunners had worked in and helped develop before eventually resisting, subverting, or overthrowing, but they had the stamina and the work ethic to invest in the trappings that made earlier more revolutionary works so galvanizing.
Ermanno Olmi made his start in documentary shorts, making more than two dozen from 1953-1959, before making his feature narrative debut with Time Stood Still (1959), an avalanche drama about a generational divide. He gained considerably more acclaim for 1961’s Il Posto,...
Ermanno Olmi made his start in documentary shorts, making more than two dozen from 1953-1959, before making his feature narrative debut with Time Stood Still (1959), an avalanche drama about a generational divide. He gained considerably more acclaim for 1961’s Il Posto,...
- 2/14/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Vittorio de Sica's Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) is playing January 8 - February 6, 2017 in the United States.Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), winner of the 1965 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, is a trio of stories directed by Vittorio De Sica in the omnibus fashion so popular at the time (just the year prior, he had contributed to the similarly structured Boccaccio ‘70, alongside Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli, and Luchino Visconti). Spearheaded by international super-producer Carlo Ponti—helping to ensure global distribution and award-worthy prestige—the film is, first and foremost, a collaborative compendium of what partially defined the popular perception of its versatile director and its two leads, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.The first short, “Adelina,” was written by Eduardo De Filippo and Isabella Quarantotti, the second, “Anna,” by Bella Billa, Lorenza Zanuso, and one of Italian neorealism’s founding fathers,...
- 1/8/2017
- MUBI
‘Toni Erdmann’ (Courtesy: Tiff)
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
By: Carson Blackwelder
Managing Editor
It’s not too often that foreign-language films get recognized for anything at the Oscars beyond the best foreign-language film category — but it does happen. And, believe it or not, it happens more for best original screenplay and best adapted screenplay than many other categories. A prime example of that is Toni Erdmann, Germany’s submission this year that is proving to be a cross-category threat, which could score a nomination — or a win — for its writing.
The story of Toni Erdmann — which has a solid Rotten Tomatoes score of 91% — follows a father who is trying to reconnect with his adult daughter after the death of his dog. It sounds simple enough but, of course, the two couldn’t be more unalike. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016 and where it won the Fipresci Prize. Since then, it...
- 1/4/2017
- by Carson Blackwelder
- Scott Feinberg
Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Mubi is playing General Della Rovere (1959) in the United States September 1 - 30, 2016.For a time, it seemed Roberto Rossellini was ready to leave behind the devastation of World War II, a milieu he as much as anyone helped to indelibly commit to cinematic memory with his Neorealist masterworks. While a traumatized psyche remained in films that followed his trilogy of Rome, Open City (1945), Paisan (1946), and Germany Year Zero (1948), it was revealed via a more subtle manifestation of conflict related angst. Rossellini had moved beyond explicit depictions of the war and its aftermath, even while lingering psychological effects still abound (see his collaborations with Ingrid Bergman). This would change in 1959, with the release of General Della Rovere, Rossellini's first full-fledged wartime film in more than 10 years. While not of the caliber of these earlier titles (not really even in...
- 9/1/2016
- MUBI
For a man who created forward-thinking, boundary-pushing cinema embraced by small, devoted sects of cinephiles, Andrzej Żuławski‘s Sight & Sound list of favorite films is, in so many words, surprisingly traditional. Few would look upon it and say it contains a single bad film on it, but those who’ve experienced his work might expect something other than Amarcord; maybe, in its place, an underground Eastern European horror film that’s gained no real cachet since the Soviet Union’s collapse.
That isn’t to suggest something inexplicable, however. The Gold Rush‘s fall-down comedy could be detected in some of Possession‘s more emphatic moments of physical exhaustion, and, while we’re at it, visual connections between On the Silver Globe and 2001‘s horror-ish stretches aren’t so out-of-bounds. So while this selection may not open your eyes once more to cinema’s many reaches, one might use it...
That isn’t to suggest something inexplicable, however. The Gold Rush‘s fall-down comedy could be detected in some of Possession‘s more emphatic moments of physical exhaustion, and, while we’re at it, visual connections between On the Silver Globe and 2001‘s horror-ish stretches aren’t so out-of-bounds. So while this selection may not open your eyes once more to cinema’s many reaches, one might use it...
- 3/7/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
In six decades of filmmaking and thirty plus titles in his filmography, it’s nearly impossible to determine the weighted importance concerning a number of the influential works from Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, considered by many to be among the most notable directors from Japan, alongside peers such as Mizoguchi and Ozu. Instead, it’s easier to discuss his work in strategic measures regarding theme or motif, such as his famed Shakespearean adaptations or epic Samurai classics, pillaged endlessly by Western filmmakers in proceeding generations. But certainly a definite standout is his 1952 title, Ikiru, which roughly translates as “to live.” A powerfully humanistic title examining the significance of life as something only to be rightly cherished when seen through the lens of death, it stands at the slender end of a filmography generally examining human tendency for apathy, revenge, and other plateaus of self-destructive forces. Moving without being sentimental, Kurosawa...
- 12/1/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Want to see great movies for free? This Friday, Lincoln Center brings Film Foundation-restored titles to you at no cost. Ford‘s Drums Along the Mohawk, Scorsese‘s The King of Comedy, John M. Stahl‘s Leave Her to Heaven, Fosse‘s All That Jazz, Donen‘s Two for the Road,...
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Want to see great movies for free? This Friday, Lincoln Center brings Film Foundation-restored titles to you at no cost. Ford‘s Drums Along the Mohawk, Scorsese‘s The King of Comedy, John M. Stahl‘s Leave Her to Heaven, Fosse‘s All That Jazz, Donen‘s Two for the Road,...
- 9/25/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
It had been so long since I last saw Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves—the last time being long before I started to become involved with movie posters—that I had forgotten that Antonio Ricci’s job at the start of the film, the job he so desperately needs a bicycle for, is pasting up movie posters.Researching De Sica posters to coincide with the current month-long restrospective at New York’s Film Forum I discovered that De Sica’s most famous film centers—as does the Shawshank Redemption, coincidentally—on a poster of Rita Hayworth. I had hoped that it would be a poster by Anselmo Ballester, who painted Hayworth gloriously many times, but the signature on the top right of the poster is clearly that of one T. Corbella. Tito Corbella (1885-1966) was an artist known for his sensuous portraits of Italian divas since the 1910s. Dave Kehr...
- 9/19/2015
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
"What's most remarkable about Chocolat (1988), Claire Denis's first feature, is the degree to which her superb command of the sensuous is already apparent," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. More goings on rounded up today: Retrospectives of work by Curtis Harrington, Maurice Pialat, Lynne Sachs, Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay, an exhibition built around Matthew Barney's epic River of Fundament, "Scintillating 16mm" in San Francisco and capsule reviews of Josef von Sternberg's Underworld, Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. and Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary. » - David Hudson...
- 9/17/2015
- Keyframe
"What's most remarkable about Chocolat (1988), Claire Denis's first feature, is the degree to which her superb command of the sensuous is already apparent," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. More goings on rounded up today: Retrospectives of work by Curtis Harrington, Maurice Pialat, Lynne Sachs, Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay, an exhibition built around Matthew Barney's epic River of Fundament, "Scintillating 16mm" in San Francisco and capsule reviews of Josef von Sternberg's Underworld, Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. and Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary. » - David Hudson...
- 9/17/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
If you live in a decent-sized city, much less a metropolis, you probably see someone like George every day. Having fallen on hard times, George lives on the street; if he's not able to procure a bed at the chaotic, prison-like local shelter, he's apt to be sleeping in a cardboard box or, if he's lucky, the basement of an apartment building he's snuck into. He spends his days shuffling around the city, occasionally panhandling for change. A winter coat he's picked up from a church is pawned for money for a bottle.
- 9/15/2014
- Rollingstone.com
‘Love Is Strange’ movie review: Gay romantic drama is ‘beautiful in every way’ (photo: John Lithgow and Alfred Molina in ‘Love Is Strange’) Love Is Strange is beautiful in every way that a film can be beautiful, and unabashedly so. Yet, despite its willingness to gild the lily for love of ethereal, aesthetic beauty in all its forms, it is a film that reaches for the truth — the deepest truths of what we often call “the human condition.” For all these reasons I love Ira Sachs’ movie as much as it wishes we would love each other. I love the artistry of it. I love what it has to say and that it’s something seldom said. I love that it is forgiving. Without hyperbole, I tell you that Love Is Strange is the stuff of Jean-Luc Godard (Notre Musique and In Praise of Love), Vittorio De Sica (Umberto D....
- 8/24/2014
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
It seems as though opening movies on the weekend isn't enough for the studios during the competitive summertime marketplace. Two films this weekend actually were released on Tuesday night (We're The Millers and Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters) to get a jump on their share of the box-office pie. In addition to several wide releases, there's a new Woody Allen comedy and one of the year's best documentaries hitting town. But first, let's take a look at some of the unique repertory screenings that are happening around town over the next week.
Austin Film Society launches their Films Of Johnnie To series tonight with a 35mm booking of The Mission at the Marchesa. That will play again on Sunday night and there are three more Hong Kong classics on deck in the weeks ahead. The Essential Cinema Pre-Code Stanwyck series packed the house last week for a rare look at early talkie Mexicali Rose.
Austin Film Society launches their Films Of Johnnie To series tonight with a 35mm booking of The Mission at the Marchesa. That will play again on Sunday night and there are three more Hong Kong classics on deck in the weeks ahead. The Essential Cinema Pre-Code Stanwyck series packed the house last week for a rare look at early talkie Mexicali Rose.
- 8/9/2013
- by Matt Shiverdecker
- Slackerwood
Despite not being particularly popular at the moment, foreign films have always held a special place in cinema. Freed from the constraints often found in Hollywood, foreign language films tend to take more risks, deal with more complex topics, and often pay more attention to the human element than English language productions. Despite many people being wary of foreign language films because of subtitles, good movies are good movies regardless of what language they’re in.
The influence of some of the best foreign film directors permeates throughout Hollywood. George Lucas drew on the films of Akira Kurosawa while creating Star Wars, Woody Allen was heavily influenced by the films of Ingmar Bergman, and the examples of other directors inspired by foreign cinema are endless.
The following directors not only made great films that have stood the test of time, but they are also incredibly influential on modern films in...
The influence of some of the best foreign film directors permeates throughout Hollywood. George Lucas drew on the films of Akira Kurosawa while creating Star Wars, Woody Allen was heavily influenced by the films of Ingmar Bergman, and the examples of other directors inspired by foreign cinema are endless.
The following directors not only made great films that have stood the test of time, but they are also incredibly influential on modern films in...
- 5/8/2013
- by Paul Sorrells
- Obsessed with Film
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Like Night of the Hunter, Tod Browning’s Freaks or Leonard Kastle’s The Honeymoon Killers, The Road to Yesterday can be ranked among the UFOs of cinema. It’s place in the heart of Cecil B. DeMille’s work proves to be in itself very distinctive. We know that, during his entire life, DeMille had virtually only one producer—Paramount (the former Famous Players Lasky)—just like Minnelli was MGM’s man and Corman American International’s. Sixty-three of his films (out of seventy) were produced at Paramount. And, oddly enough, it is among the seven outsiders, situated within a brief period from 1925 to 1931, that his best activity is to be found (I’m thinking of Madam Satan, The Godless Girl, and The Road to Yesterday)–his most audacious undertakings. To top it off, for this uncontested king of the box office, his best films were his biggest commercial failures.
- 3/18/2013
- by Luc Moullet
- MUBI
There were two events this last weekend that portend the future of film. One that you all knew about is the worldwide opening of part one of Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. Shot completely in digital using 48 3D Red Epic cameras, The Hobbit is what many film aficionados believe is the future of film whether we like it or not. Lots of cameras, all digital and no film going through the gate at all. Jackson has long been a proponent of the digtial format and has embraced all new technology as the future of cinema. That includes 3D, higher frame rates and the use of Hdr or High Dynamic Range technology. He believes this technology will make images more relistic for the audience. Based on the lukewarm reviews for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, not everyone agrees. The second, less heralded event was Cinefamily's 24 Hour Telethon from the Silent Movie...
- 12/19/2012
- by Bill Cody
- Rope of Silicon
Amazon.com are in the midst of offering the last of their DVD and Blu-ray sales deals for the holiday weekend and for Cyber Monday they seem to be doing something special for lovers of the Criterion Collection.
The prestige label offers its classic film titles on Blu-ray at a retail price of $40 and usually sell online for $35. Every now and then Barnes & Noble will hold half price sales with titles going for at least $20. Today, Amazon is selling various key ones for $18 and $21 a piece.
Amongst the titles on offer there's film classics like "8 1/2," "12 Angry Men," "The 39 Steps," "Antichrist," "Being John Malkovich," "Black Narcissus," "Blow Out," "Brazil," "Carlos," "Charade," "Che," "Cronos," "Days of Heaven," "Diabolique," "The Darjeeling Limited," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "The Game," "Godzilla," "Hunger," "In the Mood for Love," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "M," "Night of the Hunter," "Paths of Glory," "Rashomon," "The Red Shoes,...
The prestige label offers its classic film titles on Blu-ray at a retail price of $40 and usually sell online for $35. Every now and then Barnes & Noble will hold half price sales with titles going for at least $20. Today, Amazon is selling various key ones for $18 and $21 a piece.
Amongst the titles on offer there's film classics like "8 1/2," "12 Angry Men," "The 39 Steps," "Antichrist," "Being John Malkovich," "Black Narcissus," "Blow Out," "Brazil," "Carlos," "Charade," "Che," "Cronos," "Days of Heaven," "Diabolique," "The Darjeeling Limited," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "The Game," "Godzilla," "Hunger," "In the Mood for Love," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "M," "Night of the Hunter," "Paths of Glory," "Rashomon," "The Red Shoes,...
- 11/26/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Few films of the neorealist era are celebrated by cinephiles quite as much as Director Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 film The Bicycle Thief, which depicted one man’s search for the bicycle he needs in order to survive his already strained existence. Separated from The Bicycle Thief by four years and one film, De Sica’s next strongly pointed neorealist film, Umberto D., followed a similar path with an old man’s struggle to pay his backrent so as not to be evicted and left to live his final days on the streets. The film hits many poignant notes as the story heaps obstacles and aristocratic disdain on top of his head, but Umberto always manages to lighten his spirits with a little help from his faithful pooch Flike, the housemaid, and his own determined will not to lose his home.
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- 10/3/2012
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Perhaps remembered foremost for directing what is considered by many to be one of the best films of all time, Bicycle Thieves (1948), one of Italy’s forefathers of neorealism, Vittorio De Sica is arguably not as glorified for the rest of his excellent filmography, as may be the work of some of his peers, like Rossellini or Visconti. Criterion revitalizes one of his other well known neorealist classics, the tender and moving Umberto D. to Blu-ray this month, and it’s easy to see how the film has withstood the tests of time as a beautiful blend of social commentary of post WWII life in Italy, as well as a moving portrait of an affectionate relationship between a man and his dog in a cold, apathetic world.
During a protest demonstration enacted by a group of angry pensioners demanding more money than the meager amount they’re allotted, police officers...
During a protest demonstration enacted by a group of angry pensioners demanding more money than the meager amount they’re allotted, police officers...
- 9/25/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As cinephiles are probably quite aware, the Criterion Collection preserves select films deemed historically important or which represent important works by rising and established auteurs of cinema. To provide audiences with the best possible viewing experience of a film, Criterion restores the films to their highest quality and then produces a litany of featurettes to provide audiences with some context for the films in question. Each month, they increase the depth of their library, releasing a select group of titles onto DVD and Blu-ray, often giving the public a chance to purchase films that would otherwise never become available at big box stores. This September, the Criterion Collection releases Marcel Carné's Children of Paradise and Les Visiteurs du Soir, Paul Bartel's Eating Raoul, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D., and even The Game by David Fincher (The Social Network).
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- 9/13/2012
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Harry Potter Wizard's Collection (Blu-ray) The number to focus on here is $344.99. That's how much it's going to cost you to pick up this 31-disc Blu-ray collection, which also includes DVD and Ultraviolet Digital Copy versions of all eight films along with some new bonus features and some collectible stuff. If you're interested in learning more click the Buy Now button.
Titanic (Blu-ray) You can buy it on 3D Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray or the massive "king of the world" collection you see in the picture as Paramount brings James Cameron's mega-hit home in HD. I already own Titanic on DVD and would like to have a copy of the Blu-ray for myself (if only to have the entire film on one disc), but I'm just not sure I'd return to it often enough to justify the cost ($22.99) and I'm someone who has no problem admitting I like this movie,...
Titanic (Blu-ray) You can buy it on 3D Blu-ray, regular Blu-ray or the massive "king of the world" collection you see in the picture as Paramount brings James Cameron's mega-hit home in HD. I already own Titanic on DVD and would like to have a copy of the Blu-ray for myself (if only to have the entire film on one disc), but I'm just not sure I'd return to it often enough to justify the cost ($22.99) and I'm someone who has no problem admitting I like this movie,...
- 9/4/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
By Allen Gardner
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
Quadrophenia (Criterion) Franc Roddam’s 1979 film based on The Who’s classic rock opera tells the story of working class lad Jimmy (Phil Daniels) struggling to find his identity in a rapidly changing Britain, circa 1965. Jimmy is a “mod,” a youth movement dedicated to wearing snappy suits, driving Vespa motor scooters bedecked with side mirrors, popping amphetamines and obsessed with the new sound of bands like The Who and The Kinks. Their other pastime is engaging in bloody brawls with “rockers,” throwbacks to the 1950s, who listen to Elvis and Gene Vincent, wear leather biker gear, grease in their hair and drive massive motorcycles a la Marlon Brando in “The Wild One.” Often cited as a worthy successor to “Rebel Without a Cause” as the greatest angry youth picture ever made, it is that and more, including a first cousin to the “kitchen sink” dramas of scribes John Osborne,...
- 9/4/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Moviefone's Pick of the Week "The Five-Year Engagement" What's It About? Jason Segel and Emily Blunt play a happily devoted couple whose impending nuptials keep getting delayed by her rising career. See It Because: Segel re-teams with his "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" co-writer and director for another romantic comedy that's very R-rated. It's a little too long, but with a supporting cast including players from "The Office," "Parks & Rec," "30 Rock" and "Community," it's pretty much an all-star team of funny people. (Also Available on Amazon Instant Video) New on DVD & Blu-ray "High School" What's It About? An MIT-bound star scholar tries weed for the first time, the night before his psycho principal (Michael Chiklis) imposes a school-wide drug test. In order to get away with his crime, he concocts a ridiculous plan to get the entire school stoned -- with the help of even more psycho dealer (Adrien Brody). In the end,...
- 8/31/2012
- by Eric Larnick
- Moviefone
Criterion has announced its September Blu-ray line-up. Marcel Carné’s Les visiteurs du soir & Children of Paradise, Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D., Paul Bartel’s Eating Raoul, and David Fincher’s The Game.
- 6/16/2012
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
Long rumored and wished for, "The Game" is finally getting the special edition treatment the rest of David Fincher's films have, joining the director's "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button" in The Criterion Collection. That's right, this September your wallet is going to get a little bit lighter when the refreshed film becomes available from the boutique label.
So, what are you gonna get for the dollars you drop on this? Besides a newly restored transfer, the meaty part of the extras is an audio commentary, previously only available on the Region 2 edition of the DVD, featuring Fincher, Harry Savides, Michael Douglas, screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, digital animation supervisor Richard “Dr.” Baily, production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, visual effects supervisor Kevin Haug, and visual effects producer Robyn D’Arcy. Damn. There's also an hour's worth of fresh behind-the-scenes footage and film-to-storyboard comparisons for four of the film’s major set pieces,...
So, what are you gonna get for the dollars you drop on this? Besides a newly restored transfer, the meaty part of the extras is an audio commentary, previously only available on the Region 2 edition of the DVD, featuring Fincher, Harry Savides, Michael Douglas, screenwriters John Brancato and Michael Ferris, digital animation supervisor Richard “Dr.” Baily, production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, visual effects supervisor Kevin Haug, and visual effects producer Robyn D’Arcy. Damn. There's also an hour's worth of fresh behind-the-scenes footage and film-to-storyboard comparisons for four of the film’s major set pieces,...
- 6/15/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Chicago – One of the nice surprises of the Chicago International Film Festival was the opening night presence of a true Chicago-based film. “The Last Rites of Joe May” stars Dennis Farina as an aging small-time hood, taken in by single mother Jenny Rapp, portrayed by Jamie Anne Allman. The production was directed with sublime power by Joe Maggio.
Allman and Maggio were at the festival, circulating opening night and sitting down for interviews the next day. The film uses the city of Chicago as a character, but you won’t see Wrigley Field or the skyline. What you will see is the bitter winter on streets where people like Joe May live and survive.
HollywoodChicago.com got to talk with both Allman and Maggio, and got their keen insight into this excellent Chicago-based film.
Jamie Anne Allman, Jenny Rapp in “The Last Rites of Joe May”
Ms. Allman was born Jamie Anne Brown,...
Allman and Maggio were at the festival, circulating opening night and sitting down for interviews the next day. The film uses the city of Chicago as a character, but you won’t see Wrigley Field or the skyline. What you will see is the bitter winter on streets where people like Joe May live and survive.
HollywoodChicago.com got to talk with both Allman and Maggio, and got their keen insight into this excellent Chicago-based film.
Jamie Anne Allman, Jenny Rapp in “The Last Rites of Joe May”
Ms. Allman was born Jamie Anne Brown,...
- 12/6/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The movie beat can be a lonely job. Even in a theater with hundreds of people, the film critic is alone in the dark. But personally, I find that the real joy of movies come from sharing them with others. Host Chaz Ebert asserted several times from the stage of the Virginia Theatre that Ebertfest is "all about the movies." But after my first trip to the festival, I would say it's an event as much about a community of movie lovers as the movies themselves.
As Tilda Swinton, star of Ebertfest selection "I Am Love" noted during her Q&A, festivals are about "the collective experience." It's even more true at Ebertfest than at most other film festivals I've attended. Bigger festivals sprawl over numerous venues with dozens of movies: two people could spend the same amount of time at Sundance or Toronto and have two entirely different experiences.
As Tilda Swinton, star of Ebertfest selection "I Am Love" noted during her Q&A, festivals are about "the collective experience." It's even more true at Ebertfest than at most other film festivals I've attended. Bigger festivals sprawl over numerous venues with dozens of movies: two people could spend the same amount of time at Sundance or Toronto and have two entirely different experiences.
- 5/3/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Yesterday I wrote about movie time travel, today someone drove a DeLorean to Ebertfest. I'm quickly beginning to realize it's that sort of film festival: fun, whimsical, and totally dedicated to the movies. It's so relaxed too. Because it's not a market, or a place where new films premiere, there's none of the pressure I typically associate with film festivals. Nobody's here to tell you how they spent four years of their lives and their parents' savings on their movie about the endangered marmot. People really let their hair down.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Day 2 began with its hair up, with a panel dedicated to Ebert's Far-Flung Correspondents, a brigade of writers and critics from all over the world. I tend to shrivel away at the prospect of critics talking about -- and invariably complaining about -- themselves, but this was something different, less a panel discussion...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Day 2 began with its hair up, with a panel dedicated to Ebert's Far-Flung Correspondents, a brigade of writers and critics from all over the world. I tend to shrivel away at the prospect of critics talking about -- and invariably complaining about -- themselves, but this was something different, less a panel discussion...
- 4/29/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
(A Screaming Man was picked up for distribution by Film Movement. It opens theatrically at the Film Forum on Wednesday, April 13, 2011. Visit the film’s official page at the Film Movement website to learn more. )
For the first half of Mahamet-Saleh Haroun’s A Screaming Man, you might think Haroun’s sole mission is to deliver one of those poignant little personal fables that feel warmly contained within their own worlds. But something happens along the way. The news reports of civil unrest that filter through the background of so many early scenes maneuver their way into the forefront, to the point where the film’s scope widens dramatically. But here’s the trick, and it is what most likely resulted in its winning of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival: Even as that external scope widens, A Screaming Man retains its small, personal, internal purpose. Haroun...
For the first half of Mahamet-Saleh Haroun’s A Screaming Man, you might think Haroun’s sole mission is to deliver one of those poignant little personal fables that feel warmly contained within their own worlds. But something happens along the way. The news reports of civil unrest that filter through the background of so many early scenes maneuver their way into the forefront, to the point where the film’s scope widens dramatically. But here’s the trick, and it is what most likely resulted in its winning of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival: Even as that external scope widens, A Screaming Man retains its small, personal, internal purpose. Haroun...
- 4/14/2011
- by Michael Tully
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Flike, Carlo Battisti in Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. Umberto D. Review Part I Still, Vittorio De Sica's film is most of all about human indifference to suffering: The sons of a dying man laugh at his bedside in the hospital; the pound workers blithely take the dogs to their deaths; Umberto's old co-workers look askance at him — as if he's diseased — when he tells them of his need; the nanny of a rich girl cares more about her beau than the girl; a woman beats a rug out her window as a poor man is dirtied by its dust below. Many other such moments abound in Umberto D. On the other hand, there is the oft-commented upon scene where Maria goes through her morning routine, fixing breakfast in the kitchen, smoking out the ants, and grinding coffee beans, only to end as we see her holding back...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Umberto D. (1952) Direction: Vittorio De Sica Cast: Carlo Battisti, Maria-Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari Screenplay: Cesare Zavattini Oscar Movies Flike, Carlo Battisti, Umberto D. By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica Lost between the glare of The Bicycle Thief (1948) and his later films with Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica's 1952 drama Umberto D. stands as an almost forgotten masterpiece of Italian neorealism and one of the last films that could claim to be of that movement alone. Upon its release, Umberto D. was pilloried by a few cineastes who, unable to understand the chasm between true sentiment and false sentimentality, found it too maudlin, and by myopic critics — mostly left-wing dilettantes — who thought that the formerly middle-class civil servant's tale was not "socially conscious" enough for the filmmaker to waste his talents on. Umberto D. flopped, but it has steadily risen in De Sica's pantheon; it is now thought of as [...]...
- 3/14/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
[Update 8/27/10 - I went back to InstantWatcher.com to check on the status of upcoming expiring Criterion films, and it appears that this entire list has disappeared from their listings. I checked on a few of the titles, and it looks like their streaming end dates have been extended! I will be updating this post later, with the correct dates, but it looks like something happened between this post going up, and now.]
Some sad news to report, on the streaming side of things today. I just learned, via the excellent website InstantWatcher.com, that more than a few Criterion Collection films will be expiring from Netflix’s Watch Instantly service on September 22nd.
In total, 66 films from the Criterion Collection will be removed from the line-up, but don’t go canceling your account just yet. Over the past year, on several monthly occasions, a number of Criterion films were added, allowing viewers to stream some of the best titles that Criterion had at their disposal. Netflix has never claimed that everything on Watch Instantly would last forever, and there may be a number of reasons why these titles are going away. Some theories I’m kicking around:
Criterion and Netflix set up a deal, and that deal is coming to an end. Pretty simple. Criterion may be looking at moving more of these titles to Hulu,...
Some sad news to report, on the streaming side of things today. I just learned, via the excellent website InstantWatcher.com, that more than a few Criterion Collection films will be expiring from Netflix’s Watch Instantly service on September 22nd.
In total, 66 films from the Criterion Collection will be removed from the line-up, but don’t go canceling your account just yet. Over the past year, on several monthly occasions, a number of Criterion films were added, allowing viewers to stream some of the best titles that Criterion had at their disposal. Netflix has never claimed that everything on Watch Instantly would last forever, and there may be a number of reasons why these titles are going away. Some theories I’m kicking around:
Criterion and Netflix set up a deal, and that deal is coming to an end. Pretty simple. Criterion may be looking at moving more of these titles to Hulu,...
- 8/24/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Editor Gary Morris, freshly relocated to San Francisco, introduces the new issue of Bright Lights Film Journal and these are just a few of the highlights that leap out to my eye: Alan Vanneman "contributes another fine entry in his epic trek through the work of Fred Astaire, this one on Minnelli's The Band Wagon.... Lesley Chow finds fascinating perversity in the pianist motif in films like Preminger's Angel Face and of course Haneke's The Piano Teacher. Jacob Mikanowski has three articles this time: an ambitious discussion of five experimental films and reviews of the Hitchcock curio Double Take and the woefully underrated King Vidor-Bette Davis masterpiece Beyond the Forest.... New contributor Jonathan Simmons explains why Zizek's reading of The Birds is full of shit.... André Bazin makes another Bl appearance courtesy of Bert Cardullo's translation of everybody's favorite critic's review of De Sica's Umberto D. Frank Tashlin,...
- 8/14/2010
- MUBI
I wanted to mention that on top of movie watching this week I also finally join the ranks of most of you out there as I read J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" for the first time. My literary upbringing was not that impressive and to think of the endless number of classic books I have not read all while having a college degree in print and broadcast journalism is embarrassing. Oh well, you can only try to play catch up in some aspects of life...
As for movies, I also watched several titles I will be reviewing this coming week including the Studio Canal Collection Blu-ray editions of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (excellent film) and Akira Kurosawa's Ran as well as upcoming Warner Home Video Blu-ray releases of the original Clash of the Titans and The Neverending Story. That said, I also have a trio of...
As for movies, I also watched several titles I will be reviewing this coming week including the Studio Canal Collection Blu-ray editions of Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt (excellent film) and Akira Kurosawa's Ran as well as upcoming Warner Home Video Blu-ray releases of the original Clash of the Titans and The Neverending Story. That said, I also have a trio of...
- 2/28/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Maybe it's because I saw De Sica's classic Umberto D. again over the weekend, or maybe it's because I'm excited for tomorrow's release of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Cujo on DVD and Blu-ray, but I've got movie dogs on the brain. Last night I even randomly spent some time watching YouTube clips of my all-time favorite movie dog, Asta, from the Thin Man franchise (played by Skippy, who also appears in Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth).
So it was coincidentally fun this morning learning that the Fido Awards happened over the weekend. The ceremony, nicknamed the "canine Oscars," occurred in London Saturday, when trophies were handed out in five separate categories. To my surprise, the Fidos don't exclude animated dogs, as the talking dog, Dug, from Pixar's Up won the Blockbuster Bowser award, beating out pups from Gran Torino, Inglourious Basterds and another animation, Coraline, in the category.
So it was coincidentally fun this morning learning that the Fido Awards happened over the weekend. The ceremony, nicknamed the "canine Oscars," occurred in London Saturday, when trophies were handed out in five separate categories. To my surprise, the Fidos don't exclude animated dogs, as the talking dog, Dug, from Pixar's Up won the Blockbuster Bowser award, beating out pups from Gran Torino, Inglourious Basterds and another animation, Coraline, in the category.
- 11/23/2009
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films from Criterion
Photo: Criterion Last week in my On DVD Today column I mentioned how the folks at Criterion were clearing off their shelves and offering every item in stock at a 40% discount while supplies lasted. I would assume a majority of the folks that read the article ignored that link since it didn't have any new information on Batman, Iron Man or any other kind of man from a comic book. However, I am hoping this headline brought in the folks that may be interested in such a deal. Of course, the hour is late and the majority of the titles are now gone as the deal ends Monday, November 24, at midnight Est. When I first got the email from Criterion I shuffled over to check out a few titles I had been longing to get and had never wanted to spend the money.
Photo: Criterion Last week in my On DVD Today column I mentioned how the folks at Criterion were clearing off their shelves and offering every item in stock at a 40% discount while supplies lasted. I would assume a majority of the folks that read the article ignored that link since it didn't have any new information on Batman, Iron Man or any other kind of man from a comic book. However, I am hoping this headline brought in the folks that may be interested in such a deal. Of course, the hour is late and the majority of the titles are now gone as the deal ends Monday, November 24, at midnight Est. When I first got the email from Criterion I shuffled over to check out a few titles I had been longing to get and had never wanted to spend the money.
- 11/24/2008
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
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