There’s no point in hiring Nicolas Cage if you’re not going to let him rip with a wackadoodle, Ott performance, and he duly delivers in the sly psychological thriller The Surfer. Calibrating his character’s descent into mental and physical disarray so that it happens by evenly distributed degrees, Cage is in only moderately demented form overall here. That suits director Lorcan Finnegan (Without Name, Vivarium) and screenwriter Thomas Martin’s ambitions to call back to and yet also spoof vintage Australian New Wave films like Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout (1971), dreamtime stories about alienated outsiders.
Toxic masculinity, the Big Bad de nos jours, also seems to be on their mind although the performances and cinematic quirks (zooms, jump cuts, all that jazz) are so hammy and gestural there’s nothing subtle about the critique. But that’s what makes it fun.
Unfolding largely on a beach and its...
Toxic masculinity, the Big Bad de nos jours, also seems to be on their mind although the performances and cinematic quirks (zooms, jump cuts, all that jazz) are so hammy and gestural there’s nothing subtle about the critique. But that’s what makes it fun.
Unfolding largely on a beach and its...
- 5/18/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ascended rock deity David Bowie appeared on TV and in movies as early as 1968, only shortly after the release of his first record. His first leading performance came in 1972 with the release of Nicolas Roeg's sci-fi satire "The Man Who Fell to Earth," a film about an alien who comes to Earth and becomes distracted by drugs, TV, and other unhealthy creature comforts. Bowie later played himself in Uli Edel's harrowing 1981 J.D. flick "Christiane F.," in addition to starring in the smoky vampire film "The Hunger" and terse Pow drama "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence." A younger generation fell in love with Bowie because of 1986's puppet film "Labyrinth," while he was cleverly cast as Pontius Pilate in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ."
In 1993, when director Renny Harlin was preparing to make his mountainside actioner and Sylvester Stallone vehicle "Cliffhanger," he very much wanted Bowie to play the film's villain.
In 1993, when director Renny Harlin was preparing to make his mountainside actioner and Sylvester Stallone vehicle "Cliffhanger," he very much wanted Bowie to play the film's villain.
- 5/17/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
When Donald Cammell's techno-horror "Demon Seed" crept into theaters in 1977, critics were not impressed. From being described as utterly nonsensical to being viciously torn apart as a film with no right to exist, "Demon Seed" was mostly reviled as unwatchable garbage that relied on flagrant shock value to capture audience attention.
Today, the film's critical reappraisal does not quite elevate "Demon Seed" into a cult classic but does approach it with a more balanced lens, where there is some value to be found in its social commentary about technological singularity and the uprooting of female autonomy. Cammell's film is an uncomfortable look into the extent to which those in power wish to control bodily autonomy — a theme that feels especially poignant now. Apart from this, "Demon Seed" also underlines the horrifying extremes of unchecked artificial intelligence, and how it preys on those it perceives as easily exploitable.
Despite being...
Today, the film's critical reappraisal does not quite elevate "Demon Seed" into a cult classic but does approach it with a more balanced lens, where there is some value to be found in its social commentary about technological singularity and the uprooting of female autonomy. Cammell's film is an uncomfortable look into the extent to which those in power wish to control bodily autonomy — a theme that feels especially poignant now. Apart from this, "Demon Seed" also underlines the horrifying extremes of unchecked artificial intelligence, and how it preys on those it perceives as easily exploitable.
Despite being...
- 5/5/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Mike Hughes, Harvey Stevens, Alex Vincent, Paula E. Sheppard, Noah Wiseman, and Milly Shapiro
Screenshot: YouTube
There’s nothing scarier than childhood. Look no further than the movies (or your very own memory palace) for proof. With the upcoming release of Abigail and the recent child-adjacent scares from The First Omen and Imaginary,...
Screenshot: YouTube
There’s nothing scarier than childhood. Look no further than the movies (or your very own memory palace) for proof. With the upcoming release of Abigail and the recent child-adjacent scares from The First Omen and Imaginary,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Matt Schimkowitz, Saloni Gajjar, Tim Lowery, William Hughes, and Jen Lennon
- avclub.com
Carrie Fisher took the virginity of Indiana Jones. At least, that's how she told it while she was alive. Specifically, that's what she told me. In her own words: "I wrote it with George [Lucas.] We wrote Indiana Jones losing his virginity to Mata Hari. It went very well."
I had been asking about her work on the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, so this answer came a bit out of left field. However, it's a little-known fact that Fisher worked as a writer on many George Lucas projects, doing an uncredited polish on the scripts for the prequels and even coming up with adventures for Indiana Jones to go on in his TV series, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles."
So, how did Indiana Jones actually lose his virginity, and what part did Fisher play?
Read more: The 18 Best Action Movie Actors Ranked
Bigger Than Life
"She was a bigger-than-life character and...
I had been asking about her work on the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy, so this answer came a bit out of left field. However, it's a little-known fact that Fisher worked as a writer on many George Lucas projects, doing an uncredited polish on the scripts for the prequels and even coming up with adventures for Indiana Jones to go on in his TV series, "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles."
So, how did Indiana Jones actually lose his virginity, and what part did Fisher play?
Read more: The 18 Best Action Movie Actors Ranked
Bigger Than Life
"She was a bigger-than-life character and...
- 2/13/2024
- by Bryan Young
- Slash Film
The BBC is celebrating the art of the literary adaptation by screening a variety of classics on BBC Four. More details here.
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Christopher Nolan is to receive a BFI Fellowship, the highest honor bestowed by the UK’s lead organization for film.
The award will be presented to the Oppenheimer filmmaker at the BFI Chair’s Dinner in London on February 14, 2024, hosted by BFI Chair Tim Richards. This will be followed on February 15, 2024, by an In Conversation event at BFI Southbank and a special introduction to Tenet at BFI IMAX, for which public tickets will be available. During the visit, Nolan will also visit the BFI National Archive’s Conservation Centre.
Nolan’s films have won 11 Academy Awards and grossed over $6.1 billion worldwide. The release of his latest film, Oppenheimer, in July 2023 took the world by storm, grossing over $950 million globally for Universal Pictures. The pic is Nolan’s biggest film ever at the UK box office, grossing £58.7 million to date, surpassing The Dark Knight and Dunkirk. The film had a rare...
The award will be presented to the Oppenheimer filmmaker at the BFI Chair’s Dinner in London on February 14, 2024, hosted by BFI Chair Tim Richards. This will be followed on February 15, 2024, by an In Conversation event at BFI Southbank and a special introduction to Tenet at BFI IMAX, for which public tickets will be available. During the visit, Nolan will also visit the BFI National Archive’s Conservation Centre.
Nolan’s films have won 11 Academy Awards and grossed over $6.1 billion worldwide. The release of his latest film, Oppenheimer, in July 2023 took the world by storm, grossing over $950 million globally for Universal Pictures. The pic is Nolan’s biggest film ever at the UK box office, grossing £58.7 million to date, surpassing The Dark Knight and Dunkirk. The film had a rare...
- 12/4/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Few directors show their cinematic influences as readily as Todd Haynes. Just watch one of his movies, and the filmmakers that helped shape his style — Douglas Sirk and Nicolas Roeg, to name two — become incredibly apparent. His stylized melodrama and favored themes of social taboos and celebrity carry the DNA of both directors. But at the same time? His work is entirely his own.
Born in Los Angeles during 1961, Haynes studied art at Brown and cinema at Bard College, where he made the short film that first brought him notoriety. Made entirely with dolls, 1987’s “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” tells the story of the titular popular pop singer and her struggles with anorexia. Its unauthorized nature, unflattering portrayal of Carpenter’s brother and music partner Richard, and unlicensed use of the Carpenters’ music made it the subject of a lawsuit, and it remains withdrawn from circulation. Available only via bootleg,...
Born in Los Angeles during 1961, Haynes studied art at Brown and cinema at Bard College, where he made the short film that first brought him notoriety. Made entirely with dolls, 1987’s “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” tells the story of the titular popular pop singer and her struggles with anorexia. Its unauthorized nature, unflattering portrayal of Carpenter’s brother and music partner Richard, and unlicensed use of the Carpenters’ music made it the subject of a lawsuit, and it remains withdrawn from circulation. Available only via bootleg,...
- 11/15/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Australian and New Zealand indie distributor Umbrella Entertainment will launch Brollie, a free of charge, ad-supported streaming service later this month. It will lean on Umbrella’s library of classic content and claims to be the first free streaming platform specializing in Australian film and TV content.
Brollie will launch on Nov. 23 with over 300 titles including: “Babadook”; “Two Hands” (dir. Gregor Jordan, 1999); cult classics “Sweat”; “Erskineville Kings”; and “Cut” starring Kylie Minogue.
Brollie will also have a section for Indigenous Australia, including a collection of films starring Aboriginal screen legend David Gulpilil. These include “Walkabout”; “Storm Boy”; and “The Last Wave”.
A documentary slate includes “Servant or Slave” and “Ablaze”.
Subscribers will be invited to be part of the Brollie Film Club, where Brollie’s in-house team handpicks the best of the catalogue twice a month. Members can terrify themselves with the ‘Australian Nightmares’ collection exploring the best of Aussie...
Brollie will launch on Nov. 23 with over 300 titles including: “Babadook”; “Two Hands” (dir. Gregor Jordan, 1999); cult classics “Sweat”; “Erskineville Kings”; and “Cut” starring Kylie Minogue.
Brollie will also have a section for Indigenous Australia, including a collection of films starring Aboriginal screen legend David Gulpilil. These include “Walkabout”; “Storm Boy”; and “The Last Wave”.
A documentary slate includes “Servant or Slave” and “Ablaze”.
Subscribers will be invited to be part of the Brollie Film Club, where Brollie’s in-house team handpicks the best of the catalogue twice a month. Members can terrify themselves with the ‘Australian Nightmares’ collection exploring the best of Aussie...
- 11/14/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
In one scene early in Todd Haynes’s new film, May December, Joe’s (Charles Melton) face flickers with the grey-blue light of the TV screen playing a commercial for face wash. The commercial stars Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), the TV star who will be playing his wife, Gracie (Julianne Moore), in an upcoming film and who will be visiting their home to do research for the role. The brief shot of Elizabeth’s face, sparkling with water and freshness and something like “realness,” loops on itself over and over again, while Joe’s eyes glaze over.
Later in the film, days into her research into Joe and Gracie’s lives, a lurid scene of an adult woman seducing a 13-year-old pet store employee plays on the television set in Elizabeth’s hotel room, a black bar on the screen boldly stating “Do Not Replicate.” It signals at once a trashiness...
Later in the film, days into her research into Joe and Gracie’s lives, a lurid scene of an adult woman seducing a 13-year-old pet store employee plays on the television set in Elizabeth’s hotel room, a black bar on the screen boldly stating “Do Not Replicate.” It signals at once a trashiness...
- 11/12/2023
- by Kyle Turner
- Slant Magazine
Jeremy Thomas on Martin Scorsese giving gravitas to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger films: “I mean, The Red Shoes, unbelievable! Of course they’re period, Blimp, very period. And Black Narcissus, which I recently saw restored in a square in Bologna with thousands of people.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In the third instalment with producer Jeremy Thomas we discuss Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing leading to a conversation with David Cronenberg wanting to film William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch; Cronenberg’s adaptation of Jg Ballard’s Crash and the author’s reaction; Martin Scorsese reintroducing us to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s masterpieces, which include The Red Shoes, The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp, and Black Narcissus.
Jeremy Thomas on David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Naked Lunch by William Burroughs: “It’s magnificent, original work.”
The Cohen Media Group and Posteritati at their gallery hosted a reception for Jeremy...
In the third instalment with producer Jeremy Thomas we discuss Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing leading to a conversation with David Cronenberg wanting to film William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch; Cronenberg’s adaptation of Jg Ballard’s Crash and the author’s reaction; Martin Scorsese reintroducing us to Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s masterpieces, which include The Red Shoes, The Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp, and Black Narcissus.
Jeremy Thomas on David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Naked Lunch by William Burroughs: “It’s magnificent, original work.”
The Cohen Media Group and Posteritati at their gallery hosted a reception for Jeremy...
- 11/10/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Netflix is finally opening the doors to the newly restored Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood this week, and in a first-look preview ahead of its November 9 reopening, the streamer and its partner, the nonprofit American Cinematheque, highlighted some of the enhancements and a screening schedule through the end of 2023.
The Egyptian will reopen on Nov. 9 with a sold-out screening of David Fincher’s “The Killer,” followed by a Q&a with the director. Throughout November it will showcase a 70mm series that includes titles like Jacques Tati’s “Playtime,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus,” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.”
Announced today were December screenings for “Days of Heaven,” “L’amour Fou,” “Don’t Look Now,” “Imitation of Life,” “Lone Star,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and a new Netflix film for good measure: a 70mm screening of Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire.”
The screenings of...
The Egyptian will reopen on Nov. 9 with a sold-out screening of David Fincher’s “The Killer,” followed by a Q&a with the director. Throughout November it will showcase a 70mm series that includes titles like Jacques Tati’s “Playtime,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus,” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.”
Announced today were December screenings for “Days of Heaven,” “L’amour Fou,” “Don’t Look Now,” “Imitation of Life,” “Lone Star,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and a new Netflix film for good measure: a 70mm screening of Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire.”
The screenings of...
- 11/7/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Skin Kligman director Ronni Thomas, executive producer Frank Szelwach, and star/screenwriter Matt ‘Ugly’ McGlade with Anne-Katrin Titze on screening in Nova Express at London’s Raindance Film Festival: “The program it’s in at Raindance is the perfect thing for it. If you’re doing a short film you should take chances.”
Ronni Thomas’s vital short, Skin Kligman, starring screenwriter Matt ‘Ugly’ McGlade with Jackie Martling as Kligman, executive produced by Frank Szelwach, is a wake-up call for awareness of what is and what is not “informed consent” and what is the real cost of your vanity. In a wide-ranging discussion we touched upon the puppets created by Geppetto Studios for the film; the experiments conducted behind the walls of the Holmesburg Prison; chiseling down the story, and the call for new voices by David Cronenberg’s longtime producer Jeremy Thomas. Strong opinions on Hollywood-type films such as...
Ronni Thomas’s vital short, Skin Kligman, starring screenwriter Matt ‘Ugly’ McGlade with Jackie Martling as Kligman, executive produced by Frank Szelwach, is a wake-up call for awareness of what is and what is not “informed consent” and what is the real cost of your vanity. In a wide-ranging discussion we touched upon the puppets created by Geppetto Studios for the film; the experiments conducted behind the walls of the Holmesburg Prison; chiseling down the story, and the call for new voices by David Cronenberg’s longtime producer Jeremy Thomas. Strong opinions on Hollywood-type films such as...
- 10/26/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
When cinephiles of a certain sensibility talk about the best decades for horror, they’ll probably point to the 1980s with its explosion of cutting-edge special effects and home video-induced demand for material. Or they might point to the era of Universal Pictures’ domination in the 1930s, followed up then by the moody Val Lewton thrillers of the 1940s. Maybe even a very unpopular kid will try to make an argument for the 2010s, at least until everyone pulls the A24 hat over his eyes and kicks him out.
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
But moviegoers would be foolish to overlook the 1960s. The decade saw not only two amazing horror flicks from Alfred Hitchcock but also caught the genre in an interesting time of transition. Filmmakers built on the Gothic approach of previous decades by adding a psychological dimension, finding new chills in an established model. Furthermore, the decade saw the first steps toward the ho,...
- 10/21/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
“Nothing is what it seems.” A seemingly offhand remark made early in Don’t Look Now is slowly revealed to be the theme around which the film revolves.
Nicolas Roeg’s directorial efforts may not have always connected with audiences immediately, but his impressionistic approach has aged like fine wine. Don’t Look Now, in particular, was decades ahead of its time upon its release in 1973.
The screenplay — written by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (The Awakening), based on a 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier — analyzes the psychological effects of trauma through a horror lens; a motif we’ve seen explored many times over in recent years, from Ari Aster’s filmography to David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy.
Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, architect John Baxter and bereaved wife Laura travel from their English country home to Venice to oversee the restoration of a church. After a...
Nicolas Roeg’s directorial efforts may not have always connected with audiences immediately, but his impressionistic approach has aged like fine wine. Don’t Look Now, in particular, was decades ahead of its time upon its release in 1973.
The screenplay — written by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (The Awakening), based on a 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier — analyzes the psychological effects of trauma through a horror lens; a motif we’ve seen explored many times over in recent years, from Ari Aster’s filmography to David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy.
Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, architect John Baxter and bereaved wife Laura travel from their English country home to Venice to oversee the restoration of a church. After a...
- 10/16/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
The acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s short story remains a visually immersive descent and a chilling portrayal of loss
In the opening sequence of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a little girl in a red raincoat drowns in a pond in the English countryside, as her parents are nestled comfortably in a nearby estate. Roeg cuts frantically between the girl tooling around the pond in her boots and her father John (Donald Sutherland) at work inside, examining a projected image of an Italian cathedral he intends to restore. The cutting works as suspense, leaving the audience utterly helpless to stop this inevitable tragedy from happening, but it has a much more sophisticated agenda than goosing our emotions. Through color and montage effects, tied to shots like a spill that bleeds over John’s slide, Roeg dramatizes the present and predicts the future all at once, signaling the heartbreak and terror to come.
In the opening sequence of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a little girl in a red raincoat drowns in a pond in the English countryside, as her parents are nestled comfortably in a nearby estate. Roeg cuts frantically between the girl tooling around the pond in her boots and her father John (Donald Sutherland) at work inside, examining a projected image of an Italian cathedral he intends to restore. The cutting works as suspense, leaving the audience utterly helpless to stop this inevitable tragedy from happening, but it has a much more sophisticated agenda than goosing our emotions. Through color and montage effects, tied to shots like a spill that bleeds over John’s slide, Roeg dramatizes the present and predicts the future all at once, signaling the heartbreak and terror to come.
- 10/16/2023
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now is driven by a crushing sense of emotional desolation. The phrase “psychic thriller,” which was used to market the film, is technically true, but misleading, given that psychics are normally used by directors as springboards for action set pieces or as agents for ushering forth the explicit arrival of ghosts. There are certainly ghosts in Don’t Look Now, and maybe even the kind that populate traditional horror stories, but the prevailing specters here are those that people come to know through disappointment or tragedy as allusions to things lost or desired, which have a way of suddenly opening mental portals to the past, and, in the case of this film and quite a bit of supernatural fiction, the future. Don’t Look Now suggests a ghost story that Faulkner may have written, as it offers characters who’re at the mercy of their streams of consciousness.
- 10/9/2023
- by Chuck Bowen
- Slant Magazine
In the first of a new monthly Observer column on his favourite film-makers, Mark Kermode salutes the elliptical vision of the director of Don’t Look Now, Walkabout, Performance and so much more
This month marks 50 years since the release of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a personal touchstone movie (adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier) that is at once an occult chiller, a poignant portrait of married love, a heartfelt meditation on grief and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail. The anniversary offers film fans an excuse to dust off this classic, alongside other hallowed 1973 movies such as Enter the Dragon, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man, which was originally the supporting feature for Don’t Look Now (how’s that for a double bill). It also allows me to kick off my new column, focusing each month on a different director, with...
This month marks 50 years since the release of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a personal touchstone movie (adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier) that is at once an occult chiller, a poignant portrait of married love, a heartfelt meditation on grief and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail. The anniversary offers film fans an excuse to dust off this classic, alongside other hallowed 1973 movies such as Enter the Dragon, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man, which was originally the supporting feature for Don’t Look Now (how’s that for a double bill). It also allows me to kick off my new column, focusing each month on a different director, with...
- 9/30/2023
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Jeremy Thomas with Anne-Katrin Titze on his next mission, Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder and Me to be directed by Stephen Frears and starring Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder: “We’ve got all the locations in Corfu and Paris where the drama is set. Now I’m looking for eight million dollars more …”
In the first instalment with producer extraordinaire Jeremy Thomas we discuss his work and admiration for Nicolas Roeg, Wim Wenders, and Matteo Garrone.
Jeremy Thomas with Glenn Kenny and Michael Almereyda at the Posteritati Gallery reception Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Karel Reisz’s Everybody Wins (written by Arthur Miller) came to Jeremy’s mind; the connection between Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (winning nine Oscars), Paul Bowles and The Sheltering Sky; Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) plus Glazer’s Martin Amis adaption of The Zone Of Interest (a Main Slate selection of...
In the first instalment with producer extraordinaire Jeremy Thomas we discuss his work and admiration for Nicolas Roeg, Wim Wenders, and Matteo Garrone.
Jeremy Thomas with Glenn Kenny and Michael Almereyda at the Posteritati Gallery reception Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Karel Reisz’s Everybody Wins (written by Arthur Miller) came to Jeremy’s mind; the connection between Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor (winning nine Oscars), Paul Bowles and The Sheltering Sky; Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) plus Glazer’s Martin Amis adaption of The Zone Of Interest (a Main Slate selection of...
- 9/23/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
This October is a Massive month for horror movies on physical media.
The studios and physical media labels tend to save some of their best stuff for spooky season, and this year is no exception. The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and Shout Studios all have a huge selection this month, and studios like Paramount, Universal, and Lionsgate are bringing forward some awesome releases with unique packaging that will appeal to collectors.
If you haven’t jumped back into the world of physical media, this is as good a time as ever to start a horror movie collection.
The Criterion Collection
‘Videodrome’
The team at the Criterion Collection have truly outdone themselves with horror releases for October. First up on October 3rd is Nicolas Roeg’s thriller Don’t Look Now in a new 4K Uhd release from a recent remastering of the film. This is followed by another 4K Uhd release...
The studios and physical media labels tend to save some of their best stuff for spooky season, and this year is no exception. The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and Shout Studios all have a huge selection this month, and studios like Paramount, Universal, and Lionsgate are bringing forward some awesome releases with unique packaging that will appeal to collectors.
If you haven’t jumped back into the world of physical media, this is as good a time as ever to start a horror movie collection.
The Criterion Collection
‘Videodrome’
The team at the Criterion Collection have truly outdone themselves with horror releases for October. First up on October 3rd is Nicolas Roeg’s thriller Don’t Look Now in a new 4K Uhd release from a recent remastering of the film. This is followed by another 4K Uhd release...
- 9/21/2023
- by Jeff Rauseo
- bloody-disgusting.com
In the 1960s, there were few cameramen who shared Nicolas Roeg’s ability to render sirenic, jittery sensuality at 24 frames per second—and this was an era whose dominant culture arguably cracked open and redefined the sensual palate. Even more impressively, Roeg’s gift often manifested itself most lucidly while serving the orgiastic gimmicks of Roger Corman’s The Masque of the Red Mask and the bucolic splendor of John Schlesinger’s Far from the Madding Crowd with the guarded glee of a merry prankster spiking a corporate water cooler with LSD.
But it’s not just that Roeg successfully snuck timely art into the mise-en-scène of those and other studio-centric films, it’s that he seemed incapable of recording anything but subtle art within whatever limitations his aspect ratio enforced. And so while Walkabout may have been his proper directorial debut, it’s far more significantly his final cinematographic statement.
But it’s not just that Roeg successfully snuck timely art into the mise-en-scène of those and other studio-centric films, it’s that he seemed incapable of recording anything but subtle art within whatever limitations his aspect ratio enforced. And so while Walkabout may have been his proper directorial debut, it’s far more significantly his final cinematographic statement.
- 9/20/2023
- by Joseph Jon Lanthier
- Slant Magazine
Netflix typically refuses to release its actual viewership numbers to the public, making its weekly top-10 lists a fascinating peek into how streaming services actually operate. Netflix may pour millions into their original programs, but their ten most popular films or TV tend to (at least partly) be 25-year-old movies experiencing a seemingly random renaissance. Case in point: one of the hottest films on Netflix right now is Danny DeVito's 1996 family film "Matilda" based on the 1988 novel by Roald Dahl.
"Matilda," critically acclaimed upon its release, is about the titular young girl (Mara Wilson) who lives with caustic, greedy, tacky, and abusive parents. Her new school is a bleak, Dickensian nightmare overseen by the bestial, cruel Mrs. Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). The only person who treats Matilda with kindness is the put-upon Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) who sees how bright and gentle Matilda is.
Matilda sees little respite from her...
"Matilda," critically acclaimed upon its release, is about the titular young girl (Mara Wilson) who lives with caustic, greedy, tacky, and abusive parents. Her new school is a bleak, Dickensian nightmare overseen by the bestial, cruel Mrs. Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). The only person who treats Matilda with kindness is the put-upon Miss Honey (Embeth Davidtz) who sees how bright and gentle Matilda is.
Matilda sees little respite from her...
- 9/16/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Depending on who you speak to, Aggro Dr1ft has either been a hideous blight on the fall festival circuit or… Well, currently, there’s not exactly a consensus on what there is to love about Harmony Korine’s in-your-face fantasia, a nightmare vision of Florida made all the more hellish by its refusal to resemble anything you might expect even — or perhaps especially — from the director of Spring Breakers.
Its director claims it isn’t a movie anyway, and that he doesn’t care that much for movies at all any more. But, that said, Aggro Dr1ft has a visceral effect that’s hard to shake, and its images are unexpectedly memorable, ready to loiter in your synapses until a series of Nicolas Roeg-style flashbacks brings them racing back into your mind’s eye, long after the memories of more serious art films have faded.
If there’s a story,...
Its director claims it isn’t a movie anyway, and that he doesn’t care that much for movies at all any more. But, that said, Aggro Dr1ft has a visceral effect that’s hard to shake, and its images are unexpectedly memorable, ready to loiter in your synapses until a series of Nicolas Roeg-style flashbacks brings them racing back into your mind’s eye, long after the memories of more serious art films have faded.
If there’s a story,...
- 9/15/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
From the Nc-17 ménage à trois of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” to James Spader having intercourse with Rosanna Arquette’s leg wound in David Cronenberg’s “Crash,” producer Jeremy Thomas loves a controversy onscreen.
Cinema raconteur Mark Cousins pays homage to the Oscar-winning producer in his 2021 Cannes Classics selection, “The Storms of Jeremy Thomas.” The film follows Cousins on Thomas’ annual pilgrimage to the Cannes Film Festival — literally, the producer drove for decades from England to the fest — and a five-day road movie through France. Together, they remember Thomas’ most acclaimed and provocative films as a producer, from his Oscar-winning “The Last Emperor” to “Crash” and its scandalous opening at the festival in 1996, Nicolas Roeg’s “Bad Timing,” Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Eo,” plus Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch,” Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast,” and Terry Gilliam’s reviled child abuse fairy tale, “Tideland.”
The film includes Thomas’ stories of movie stars like Marlon Brando,...
Cinema raconteur Mark Cousins pays homage to the Oscar-winning producer in his 2021 Cannes Classics selection, “The Storms of Jeremy Thomas.” The film follows Cousins on Thomas’ annual pilgrimage to the Cannes Film Festival — literally, the producer drove for decades from England to the fest — and a five-day road movie through France. Together, they remember Thomas’ most acclaimed and provocative films as a producer, from his Oscar-winning “The Last Emperor” to “Crash” and its scandalous opening at the festival in 1996, Nicolas Roeg’s “Bad Timing,” Jerzy Skolimowski’s “Eo,” plus Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch,” Jonathan Glazer’s “Sexy Beast,” and Terry Gilliam’s reviled child abuse fairy tale, “Tideland.”
The film includes Thomas’ stories of movie stars like Marlon Brando,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Jules is a sci-fi comedy-drama film directed by Marc Turtletaub from a screenplay by Gavin Steckler. The sci-fi film follows the story of an old man who lives a quiet life but his life gets upended when a UFO crashed into his backyard and an alien becomes his houseguest. Soon, his quiet life gets thrown into chaos as his nosy neighbors get involved in his life and the government closes in on the alien’s location. Jules stars the always brilliant Ben Kingsley in the lead role with Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Zoe Winters taking on supporting roles. So, if you loved Jules here are some similar movies for you to check out next.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures
Synopsis: Journey back to the magic and adventure of “one of the great American films” (Leonard Maltin) with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,...
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures
Synopsis: Journey back to the magic and adventure of “one of the great American films” (Leonard Maltin) with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
As the Venice film festival turns 80, we pick the titles that capture the city’s allure, from desolate Don’t Look Now to romantic Summertime and Top Hat’s cheery glamour
This time next week I’ll be packing my bags for Venice, where the 80th edition of its annual film festival will unveil new films by Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Bradley Cooper, the late William Friedkin – an especially glistening lineup for an event never short on gloss. But even without such attractions, Venice would remain my favourite festival: it’s the faintly unreal allure of the city itself, the spray from the Vaporetto as you leave the airport, the sense that you’re arriving into an eternal film location rather than just an industry event.
You can’t arrive on the Lido, the drowsy barrier island where the festival unfolds, and not recall...
This time next week I’ll be packing my bags for Venice, where the 80th edition of its annual film festival will unveil new films by Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Bradley Cooper, the late William Friedkin – an especially glistening lineup for an event never short on gloss. But even without such attractions, Venice would remain my favourite festival: it’s the faintly unreal allure of the city itself, the spray from the Vaporetto as you leave the airport, the sense that you’re arriving into an eternal film location rather than just an industry event.
You can’t arrive on the Lido, the drowsy barrier island where the festival unfolds, and not recall...
- 8/19/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Whenever a producer in recent times has exited their partnership with a star, quite often said producer’s output is not as robust.
It’s a different situation for Bruna Papandrea, who after peeling off from Reese Witherspoon’s Pacific Standard Production Company has been on quite a roll with such TV hits as HBO’s The Undoing, Netflix’s Anatomy of a Scandal and Luckiest Girl Alive, Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers and now the Prime Video limited series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart based on Holly Ringland’s novel. This is all under Papandrea’s six-year-old production banner Made Up Stories, which is devoted to female-centric stories.
On today’s Crew Call podcast, we talk with Papandrea about why she went solo with Made Up Stories, the genesis of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and more.
Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows the story of the title protagonist.
It’s a different situation for Bruna Papandrea, who after peeling off from Reese Witherspoon’s Pacific Standard Production Company has been on quite a roll with such TV hits as HBO’s The Undoing, Netflix’s Anatomy of a Scandal and Luckiest Girl Alive, Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers and now the Prime Video limited series The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart based on Holly Ringland’s novel. This is all under Papandrea’s six-year-old production banner Made Up Stories, which is devoted to female-centric stories.
On today’s Crew Call podcast, we talk with Papandrea about why she went solo with Made Up Stories, the genesis of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and more.
Lost Flowers of Alice Hart follows the story of the title protagonist.
- 8/14/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Something a viewer might instantly note about Christopher Nolan's new hit biopic "Oppenheimer" is that the film's star, Cillian Murphy, doesn't look an awful lot like J. Robert Oppenheimer. Murphy has an intense gaze and a bird-like demeanor, carrying -- in many of his roles -- both a brisk openness and a mysterious threat. Oppenheimer himself, meanwhile, looked more like a beleaguered dad, a scientist who carefully thought about what he said. Eventually, in later interviews, he looked beaten down by the enormity of what he was asked to do. Murphy, an immensely talented actor, captured all the emotional beats correctly and even altered his physical mannerisms, but one would hardly confuse the two men should they be in the same room together.
Murphy has previously spoken about how he had been eagerly awaiting the phone call from Nolan, asking him to appear as a lead in one of the director's movies.
Murphy has previously spoken about how he had been eagerly awaiting the phone call from Nolan, asking him to appear as a lead in one of the director's movies.
- 8/13/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Is there another modern horror movie as influential and enduringly terrifying as The Exorcist?
Some might make a case for the atmospheric chill of works that preceded it, like Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby or Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Others perhaps will point to subsequent hits — the brutal shocks of John Carpenter’s Halloween, for instance, or the mercilessly ratcheted suspense of Ridley Scott’s Alien.
But few, if any, horror films have left such an indelible impression, not only on the genre but on broader popular culture, as the 1973 demonic possession thriller that marked the peak of director William Friedkin’s long career.
Two years earlier, Friedkin, who died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, aged 87, had already reinvented the police procedural with The French Connection, a bristling neo-noir that to this day has few equals in its hurtling car-chase action, its viscerally immersive camerawork, its...
Some might make a case for the atmospheric chill of works that preceded it, like Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby or Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Others perhaps will point to subsequent hits — the brutal shocks of John Carpenter’s Halloween, for instance, or the mercilessly ratcheted suspense of Ridley Scott’s Alien.
But few, if any, horror films have left such an indelible impression, not only on the genre but on broader popular culture, as the 1973 demonic possession thriller that marked the peak of director William Friedkin’s long career.
Two years earlier, Friedkin, who died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, aged 87, had already reinvented the police procedural with The French Connection, a bristling neo-noir that to this day has few equals in its hurtling car-chase action, its viscerally immersive camerawork, its...
- 8/8/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There were always two sides to the Jim Henson Company during Henson's lifetime. On one of them, you have the puppets they created for "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock," shows that are as wholesome and earnest as their googly-eyed stars. On the other one, you have the often frightening and twisted puppets that Henson and his crew invented for "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth," as well as those for even creepier fantasy movies like director Nicolas Roeg's "The Witches." The Muppets, in case you were wondering, straddled the line between the two sides.
More than 30 years after its founder's death, however, Henson's legendary Creature Shop is now working on the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. As anyone even remotely familiar with the premise for the original "Fnaf" video games could tell you, Blumhouse's film adaptation is a far cry from even the darkest projects Henson's company developed under his watch.
More than 30 years after its founder's death, however, Henson's legendary Creature Shop is now working on the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. As anyone even remotely familiar with the premise for the original "Fnaf" video games could tell you, Blumhouse's film adaptation is a far cry from even the darkest projects Henson's company developed under his watch.
- 8/7/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Albert Einstein and his wife ElsaPhoto: Topical Press Agency (Getty Images)
One of the most famous tongues in history is getting a second look. Albert Einstein, the man responsible for the theory of relativity (which determined that a Princeton eight is a Los Alamos 11) somehow leaves Christopher Nolan’s pitch-black...
One of the most famous tongues in history is getting a second look. Albert Einstein, the man responsible for the theory of relativity (which determined that a Princeton eight is a Los Alamos 11) somehow leaves Christopher Nolan’s pitch-black...
- 7/28/2023
- by Matt Schimkowitz
- avclub.com
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and two films explore that abiding Robert Burns proverb this week: Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s IMAX-sized three-hour biopic of the “father of the atomic bomb,” and Barbie, a Mattel-sanctioned deconstruction of the patriarchy from the fertile mind of Greta Gerwig. Only one of these summer blockbusters, however, boasts a number of sex scenes, and it isn’t the one starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Oppenheimer explores the life and times of renowned theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer...
Oppenheimer explores the life and times of renowned theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer...
- 7/21/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
The Criterion Collection is celebrating Halloween with a brand new lineup of horror releases this October, and we’ve got the full scoop straight from Criterion’s website.
Coming this October, “three Pre-code chillers from a master of the morbid; a gothic supernatural tale; & a haunting modern-day fable of cultural dislocation in NYC.”
Those films are Freaks, The Unknown and The Mystic, packaged together in Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers; The Others (2001); and Nanny (2022). Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers will first be added to the Criterion Collection on October 17, followed by Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others on October 24 and Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny on October 31.
Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers:
“The world is a carnival of criminality, corruption, and psychosexual strangeness in the twisted pre-Code shockers of Tod Browning. Early Hollywood’s edgiest auteur, Browning drew on his experiences as a circus performer to create subversive pulp entertainments set amid the world of traveling sideshows,...
Coming this October, “three Pre-code chillers from a master of the morbid; a gothic supernatural tale; & a haunting modern-day fable of cultural dislocation in NYC.”
Those films are Freaks, The Unknown and The Mystic, packaged together in Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers; The Others (2001); and Nanny (2022). Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers will first be added to the Criterion Collection on October 17, followed by Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others on October 24 and Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny on October 31.
Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers:
“The world is a carnival of criminality, corruption, and psychosexual strangeness in the twisted pre-Code shockers of Tod Browning. Early Hollywood’s edgiest auteur, Browning drew on his experiences as a circus performer to create subversive pulp entertainments set amid the world of traveling sideshows,...
- 7/17/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Nowadays a spooktacular Shocktober means 4K restorations––just look at the work from Arrow or Shout Factory (naming only the two most obvious) to elevate that most disreputable genre into incredible resolution and detail. Never one to miss an opportunity, Criterion will upgrade two of the greatest horror films ever made: David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, for those who want explosive tumors and Donald Sutherland’s penis (respectively and respectfully) in the finest possible quality home video affords.
While the Nicole Kidman-led Blockbuster Video classic The Others rounds out 4K selections, the Blu-only Tod Browning set boasts Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic. Lastly, Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance winner Nanny is now among the newer titles in Criterion’s canon.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s October Slate Includes 4K Cronenberg, a Tod Browning Set & More...
While the Nicole Kidman-led Blockbuster Video classic The Others rounds out 4K selections, the Blu-only Tod Browning set boasts Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic. Lastly, Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance winner Nanny is now among the newer titles in Criterion’s canon.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s October Slate Includes 4K Cronenberg, a Tod Browning Set & More...
- 7/17/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I love Powell and Pressburger, so I was very happy to get in a reference to them.”
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
- 7/8/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The thing Aden likes about acting, he tells someone who cares enough to ask, is “how organized it is.” You know where you stand, quite literally, because someone tells you; you’re given things to say, and told how to say them. Order and certainty aren’t typically seen as benefits of the thespian calling, and even Aden doesn’t sound entirely convinced of his own words. But then Aden — played, in a performance of brilliant, diamantine versatility, by Nabhaan Rizwan — is never entirely convinced of himself, period, when he hasn’t a script to follow or a character to inhabit. A simultaneously playful and savagely pointed satire from first-time feature director Naqqash Khalid, “In Camera” traces how its young British-Asian protagonist’s sense of identity is progressively diminished by the cynicism and tokenism of the industry he’s trying to crack — though as it turns out, when you lose yourself entirely,...
- 7/3/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Back in the 1980s, the term “home video” actually referred to movies that had been transferred to honest-to-goodness analog videocassette tape. Keen-eyed genre mavens would excitedly trawl the aisles of their local emporium, often choosing between titles based on little more than lurid cover art and advertising hype.
One of the premier purveyors of the most cherished low-budget, unabashedly lowbrow entertainments was Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, staffed by a tightly knit “band of outsiders” whose names crop up time and again across the studio’s roster of deliriously enjoyable sci-fi and horror films. As it happens, Empire was a pure product of the decade, founded in 1983 and defunct by 1989, when it made way for Band’s next (and still flourishing) endeavor: Full Moon Features. Now, the fine folks at Arrow Video have gathered together a bumper crop of Empire’s output in their lavishly produced box set Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams.
One of the premier purveyors of the most cherished low-budget, unabashedly lowbrow entertainments was Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, staffed by a tightly knit “band of outsiders” whose names crop up time and again across the studio’s roster of deliriously enjoyable sci-fi and horror films. As it happens, Empire was a pure product of the decade, founded in 1983 and defunct by 1989, when it made way for Band’s next (and still flourishing) endeavor: Full Moon Features. Now, the fine folks at Arrow Video have gathered together a bumper crop of Empire’s output in their lavishly produced box set Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams.
- 6/26/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Bet you weren’t expecting the eyebrow-raising TV news of the day to involve a new adaptation of beloved children’s author Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series. But the surprising twist in the BBC’s announcement today didn’t concern the bestselling series of whimsical, jolly-hockey-sticks children’s adventure novels from the 1940s-1960s – rather the creator behind this new series: Nicolas Winding Refn.
Considering this Danish director is famous for stylish but graphically violent films like The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives and Drive, The Famous Five will be somewhat of a left turn for him.
The series will have three 90-minute episodes drawing on Blyton’s 21 Famous Five novels, which detailed the adventures of five daring young explorers – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy – as they spend their school holidays gallivanting around the English countryside and coastline, solving mysteries, finding treasure and catching criminals. Filming...
Considering this Danish director is famous for stylish but graphically violent films like The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives and Drive, The Famous Five will be somewhat of a left turn for him.
The series will have three 90-minute episodes drawing on Blyton’s 21 Famous Five novels, which detailed the adventures of five daring young explorers – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy – as they spend their school holidays gallivanting around the English countryside and coastline, solving mysteries, finding treasure and catching criminals. Filming...
- 6/26/2023
- by Lauravickersgreen
- Den of Geek
The latest all-singing version of Matilda, now on Netflix, joins an impressive library of thoughtful film versions of seminal kids’ books, from Paddington to Kes
The common wisdom that “the book is usually better than the film” is as true of children’s literature as of its adult counterpart: cinema is stacked with adaptations of children’s classics that may be perfectly proficient, but haven’t the inspired individuality of the works at their source.
Devotees of Roald Dahl have learned this a lot over the years. His offbeat humour and offhand storytelling style, so irresistible to kids, rarely translates all the way to screen — it’s thwarted such titans as Steven Spielberg, who whiffed with The Bfg (Netflix), though Wes Anderson’s droll Fantastic Mr Fox succeeded by inventing eccentricities of its own. Best of all, Nicolas Roeg’s very adult sense of the macabre proved a delicious fit...
The common wisdom that “the book is usually better than the film” is as true of children’s literature as of its adult counterpart: cinema is stacked with adaptations of children’s classics that may be perfectly proficient, but haven’t the inspired individuality of the works at their source.
Devotees of Roald Dahl have learned this a lot over the years. His offbeat humour and offhand storytelling style, so irresistible to kids, rarely translates all the way to screen — it’s thwarted such titans as Steven Spielberg, who whiffed with The Bfg (Netflix), though Wes Anderson’s droll Fantastic Mr Fox succeeded by inventing eccentricities of its own. Best of all, Nicolas Roeg’s very adult sense of the macabre proved a delicious fit...
- 6/24/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Physical media buffs, it's that time of the month: The Criterion Collection has announced their releases planned for September 2023. Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout in 4K is the standout title for me, though it may be that Brett Morgan's trippy tribute to David Bowie, Moonage Daydream, also on 4K, will ring your bell. Orson Welles' The Trial should look outstanding in 4K, if that's more your taste. Or Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman, also in 4K, should look lush and beautiful, even if you've already committed every line to memory. As a Mexican-Irish person, I must shout out to La Bamba, though I wonder why it is only available on Blu-ray? It's a 4K digital restoration, so perhaps a 4K edition will be forthcoming. If you aren't set up...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/15/2023
- Screen Anarchy
In 1962 Orson Welles directed The Trial; in 1993 the music video for David Bowie’s “Jump They Say” paid tribute in a characteristically pop-art fashion; in 2022 Brett Morgen’s Moonage Daydream gave a small window into the video’s making; and in 2023 both films––by extension bits of “Jump They Say” to boot––arrive on 4K from Criterion. For Welles it’s all about the deep blacks and luminescent grain; in Morgan’s case (but also Bowie’s) it’s the wealth of archival material and DTS-hd.
Their September slate also boasts two 4K upgrades, one recent and one legacy: The Princess Bride jumps to 2,160 pixels just five years after its Blu-ray edition, while longtime favorite Walkabout ought to look flaberrgastingly sharp. Meanwhile, La Bamba arrives on Blu-ray.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s September Slate Brings Orson Welles, David Bowie, The Princess Bride,...
Their September slate also boasts two 4K upgrades, one recent and one legacy: The Princess Bride jumps to 2,160 pixels just five years after its Blu-ray edition, while longtime favorite Walkabout ought to look flaberrgastingly sharp. Meanwhile, La Bamba arrives on Blu-ray.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s September Slate Brings Orson Welles, David Bowie, The Princess Bride,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Sydney, June 11 (Ians) These days Jane Campion — Palme d’Or and Oscar-winning film director — is celebrated for a vein of heartfelt cinema that is aching and quirky, rather than gushing, writes ‘Variety’.
She’s also an intelligent and determined female pioneer who has had to struggle for her present standing in a male-dominated industry.
The Sydney Film Festival this week is showcasing and contextualising Campion’s body of work, ‘Variety’ reports. Its screening programme includes all nine of her feature films, from “Two Friends” to “The Power of the Dog”, and a selection of her shorts.
“For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. There was no one more appropriate than Jane Campion,” said Sff Director Nashen Moodley in notes ahead of the event.
India, incidentally, is being represented at the Festival,...
She’s also an intelligent and determined female pioneer who has had to struggle for her present standing in a male-dominated industry.
The Sydney Film Festival this week is showcasing and contextualising Campion’s body of work, ‘Variety’ reports. Its screening programme includes all nine of her feature films, from “Two Friends” to “The Power of the Dog”, and a selection of her shorts.
“For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. There was no one more appropriate than Jane Campion,” said Sff Director Nashen Moodley in notes ahead of the event.
India, incidentally, is being represented at the Festival,...
- 6/11/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
These days Jane Campion – Palme d’Or and Oscar-winning film director – is celebrated for a vein of heartfelt cinema that is aching and quirky, rather than gushing. She’s also an intelligent and determined female pioneer who has had to struggle for her present standing in a male-dominated industry.
The Sydney Film Festival this week is showcasing and contextualizing her body of work. Its screening program includes all nine of her feature works, from “Two Friends” to “The Power of the Dog,” and a selection of her short films.
“For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. There was no one more appropriate than Jane Campion,” said Sff director Nashen Moodley in notes ahead of the event.
On Saturday, the festival screened Julie Bertucelli’s 2022 documentary “Jane Campion, the Cinema Woman...
The Sydney Film Festival this week is showcasing and contextualizing her body of work. Its screening program includes all nine of her feature works, from “Two Friends” to “The Power of the Dog,” and a selection of her short films.
“For our 70th edition, we wanted to present a retrospective commensurate with the milestone, reflecting the audacious and boundary pushing filmmaking synonymous with our festival and region. There was no one more appropriate than Jane Campion,” said Sff director Nashen Moodley in notes ahead of the event.
On Saturday, the festival screened Julie Bertucelli’s 2022 documentary “Jane Campion, the Cinema Woman...
- 6/11/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Back in the early '90s, television audiences were treated to "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" — which have now been retitled "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones." These adventures explored the earliest adventures of everyone's favorite archeologist, long before he chose that as his profession.
The series is split with two actors playing Indy. The youngest, Corey Carrier, gets to examine Indiana Jones in his school days, whisked around the world by his parents with a tutor in tow. Those episodes put him in contact with everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to Pablo Picasso and were nothing short of charming. Sean Patrick Flanery took the role of Indiana Jones during his late teens and early 20s, a sliver of the part that was originated by River Phoenix in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
Originally, each episode was bookended with an intro and outro from a one-eyed, 80-year-old Indiana Jones played by George Hall.
The series is split with two actors playing Indy. The youngest, Corey Carrier, gets to examine Indiana Jones in his school days, whisked around the world by his parents with a tutor in tow. Those episodes put him in contact with everyone from Theodore Roosevelt to Pablo Picasso and were nothing short of charming. Sean Patrick Flanery took the role of Indiana Jones during his late teens and early 20s, a sliver of the part that was originated by River Phoenix in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."
Originally, each episode was bookended with an intro and outro from a one-eyed, 80-year-old Indiana Jones played by George Hall.
- 6/1/2023
- by Bryan Young
- Slash Film
Nothing can look pretty gorgeous in widescreen, and there was quite a lot of it in the Australian New Wave of the '70s. The daunting expanse of the Outback provided the canvas for several classic films of the period, such as two masterpieces that were roughly analogous to the folk horror genre emerging in Britain around the same time: Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout" and Ted Kotcheff's controversial "Wake in Fright." In these movies, the stark setting created a dislocating sense that white settlers don't belong in such a harsh and humbling environment, adding to their aura of unease.
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Remember “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles”? No, not the opening sequence of “The Last Crusade” starring River Phoenix as a teenage version of Harrison Ford’s iconic archeologist. We’re talking about the short-lived ’90s series starring Sean Patrick Flanery as the title character. The two-season curiosity has been mostly left behind in its decade, but now Disney has acknowledged it — and is putting it on Disney+, no less.
The news was announced out of The Walt Disney Company’s Upfronts Presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The show will be available to stream on Disney+ starting May 31, in anticipation of the release of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in theaters next month. In addition, all four of the initial “Indiana Jones” movies — “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Temple of Doom,” “The Last Crusade,” and “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” — will also be added to the streamer, after...
The news was announced out of The Walt Disney Company’s Upfronts Presentation on Tuesday afternoon. The show will be available to stream on Disney+ starting May 31, in anticipation of the release of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in theaters next month. In addition, all four of the initial “Indiana Jones” movies — “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Temple of Doom,” “The Last Crusade,” and “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” — will also be added to the streamer, after...
- 5/16/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Richard Loncraine’s The Haunting of Julia is something of a film maudit. Adapted from Peter Straub’s first horror novel, the film was shot around London in late 1976 under the title Full Circle (as its title card still reads), then made the festival rounds throughout 1977, before barely being released in England in 1978. It belatedly turned up in the U.S. three years later, boasting the more genre-friendly title The Haunting of Julia but still failed to find much of an audience. A lot of this has to do with some significant stylistic differences between Loncraine’s film and the wave of slasher movies that dominated the horror market at the time: Above all, its unhurried pace and relatively restrained depiction of violence stand in stark contrast to the slasher’s relentless plotting and unfettered brutality.
From its disturbing opening scene to its unforgettable final shot, The Haunting of Julia...
From its disturbing opening scene to its unforgettable final shot, The Haunting of Julia...
- 5/2/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
One thing most cinephiles can agree on is that Tilda Swinton is a mystifying gift to the film industry. In addition to delivering consistently excellent performances in almost every movie and cast she joins, the Oscar-winning actress has long been a champion of the sort of unique films that without her involvement might otherwise never get made.
From her repeat collaborations with auteurs like Wes Anderson and Bong Joon-ho to her risky roles in experimental projects like “The Souvenir” series, Swinton is an extremely familiar face for fans of arthouse cinema. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton”: a crowd-pleasing George Clooney legal thriller from 2007. And yes, she scared the hell out of millennials as the White Witch in Disney’s “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Hell, she’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But it’s Swinton’s...
From her repeat collaborations with auteurs like Wes Anderson and Bong Joon-ho to her risky roles in experimental projects like “The Souvenir” series, Swinton is an extremely familiar face for fans of arthouse cinema. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton”: a crowd-pleasing George Clooney legal thriller from 2007. And yes, she scared the hell out of millennials as the White Witch in Disney’s “The Chronicles of Narnia.” Hell, she’s in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
But it’s Swinton’s...
- 3/21/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
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