Few films have arrived in theaters saddled with more baggage than "Twilight Zone: The Movie." That the anthology film featuring segments from John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller actually arrived in the first place was something of a surprise -- and for many in the entertainment industry, it wasn't a welcome one.
The production became a wholly avoidable tragedy on June 23, 1982, when a helicopter crashed on the set of Landis' segment, "Time Out," killing Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. The show does not always have to go on, but the movie was nevertheless completed and released (rather insensitively) on June 24, 1983, leading off with "Time Out". For some, it was like watching a snuff film.
How do you not let the realization that you're watching what might be a criminal production -- the National Transportation Safety Board had yet to finish their investigation,...
The production became a wholly avoidable tragedy on June 23, 1982, when a helicopter crashed on the set of Landis' segment, "Time Out," killing Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen. The show does not always have to go on, but the movie was nevertheless completed and released (rather insensitively) on June 24, 1983, leading off with "Time Out". For some, it was like watching a snuff film.
How do you not let the realization that you're watching what might be a criminal production -- the National Transportation Safety Board had yet to finish their investigation,...
- 1/17/2024
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s ’Mother Vera’ and Sarah Lewis’ ’No Ifs Or Buts’ honoured in festival’s works-in-progress section.
Documentary filmmakers scooped the prizes in Locarno Pro’s First Look work-in-progress section, which is dedicated to UK films this year.
Mother Vera, co-directed by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson, won the new Creativity Media First Look Award covering services towards the completion of films in post-production up to the value of € 50,000.
Mother Vera follows a young Orthodox nun making her way from the thick snow of the Belarusian forest to the heat of the reeds in the French Camargue.
Documentary filmmakers scooped the prizes in Locarno Pro’s First Look work-in-progress section, which is dedicated to UK films this year.
Mother Vera, co-directed by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson, won the new Creativity Media First Look Award covering services towards the completion of films in post-production up to the value of € 50,000.
Mother Vera follows a young Orthodox nun making her way from the thick snow of the Belarusian forest to the heat of the reeds in the French Camargue.
- 8/7/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Belarusian-set pic Mother Vera has picked up Locarno’s Creativity Media First Look Award, the biggest prize handed out by the festival’s industry section.
The award comes with a €50,000 cash prize that covers services towards the completion of films in post-production. Filmmakers Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson co-directed the pic with producer Laura Shacham.
Discussing their choice, the Locarno Pro jury — comprised of Ava Cahen, Gaia Furrer, and Eugene Hernandez — said: “From the opening moments of this film, we were immediately drawn to the strikingly photographed stark portrait of a fascinating nun in Belarus who makes a journey to France. We congratulate filmmakers Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson and wish them the best with this new film, Mother Vera.”
Embleton is a London-based filmmaker who has predominantly worked in docs. Her debut film,...
The award comes with a €50,000 cash prize that covers services towards the completion of films in post-production. Filmmakers Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson co-directed the pic with producer Laura Shacham.
Discussing their choice, the Locarno Pro jury — comprised of Ava Cahen, Gaia Furrer, and Eugene Hernandez — said: “From the opening moments of this film, we were immediately drawn to the strikingly photographed stark portrait of a fascinating nun in Belarus who makes a journey to France. We congratulate filmmakers Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson and wish them the best with this new film, Mother Vera.”
Embleton is a London-based filmmaker who has predominantly worked in docs. Her debut film,...
- 8/6/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
It was a good day for female filmmakers – and documentaries – at Locarno Pro, with “Mother Vera” by Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson winning the Creativity Media First Look Award on Sunday at Locarno’s pix-in-post competition, dedicated this year to the U.K.
Dedicated to a young Orthodox nun, “Mother Vera” shows her turbulent past and fragile future as she faces inner conflict after 20 years as a monastic.
“From the opening moments of this film, we were immediately drawn to the strikingly photographed stark portrait of a fascinating nun in Belarus who makes a journey to France,” said jurors Ava Cahen, Gaia Furrer and Eugene Hernandez.
The award covers post production services up to the value of €50,000. Laura Shacham produces “Mother Vera” for She Makes Productions.
“About six years ago, they were working together on Alice’s photographic project documenting Christian pilgrimage sites in Eastern Europe. They saw this striking woman,...
Dedicated to a young Orthodox nun, “Mother Vera” shows her turbulent past and fragile future as she faces inner conflict after 20 years as a monastic.
“From the opening moments of this film, we were immediately drawn to the strikingly photographed stark portrait of a fascinating nun in Belarus who makes a journey to France,” said jurors Ava Cahen, Gaia Furrer and Eugene Hernandez.
The award covers post production services up to the value of €50,000. Laura Shacham produces “Mother Vera” for She Makes Productions.
“About six years ago, they were working together on Alice’s photographic project documenting Christian pilgrimage sites in Eastern Europe. They saw this striking woman,...
- 8/6/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
You know Chucky and Annabelle and Brahms and M3GAN… but do you recall the least famous killer doll of all? Probably not, because then it would be more famous, but you should know more killer dolls! While those aforementioned characters tend to get all the attention, and if you’re reading Den of Geek then you’ve probably seen at least one of the 10,000 Puppet Master movies, there is still a veritable toy store full of pint-sized killers.
It’s not hard to see why. On the surface, there’s nothing particularly scary about dolls, even if they come to life. After all, they’re only a couple feet tall – most of us could boot the stupid things across the room before they could do any damage. But the best killer doll movies use that sense of safety to their advantage, building tension by putting the monster in the room with unsuspecting victims.
It’s not hard to see why. On the surface, there’s nothing particularly scary about dolls, even if they come to life. After all, they’re only a couple feet tall – most of us could boot the stupid things across the room before they could do any damage. But the best killer doll movies use that sense of safety to their advantage, building tension by putting the monster in the room with unsuspecting victims.
- 1/7/2023
- by Kirsten Howard
- Den of Geek
In film history, the anthology genre is the most challenging. Episodic films often have several directors and screenwriters which gives them an inconsistent tone and quality. But the genre’s pitfalls haven’t stopped such filmmakers including Akira Kurosawa (“Dreams”), the Coens (“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”); Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese (“New York Stories”); and Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg (“Twilight Zone: The Movie”).
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
Wes Anderson joined them with his latest film “The French Dispatch,” which received a nine-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. The comedy brings to life three stories from an American magazine published in a fictional French city and features his stock company of actors including Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson.
If you are a fan of the genre, here are the best anthology movies that...
- 10/30/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
With it being seven years since his last live-action film, 2014’s The Grand Budapast Hotel, Wes Anderson is hard at work. Following a Cannes premiere, The French Dispatch finally arrives in limited theaters on October 22 followed by a wide release the following week, and he’s already shooting his next film (recently revealed to have the title Asteroid City) outside of Madrid with Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Rupert Friend, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Tony Revolori, and Matt Dillon.
As is the case with all of his work, Wes Anderson synthesizes cinema history in his own specific language and for The French Dispatch he has provided a list of influences. As revealed in a promotional book sent to The Flim Stage and styled after the film’s magazine, 32 films are listed that “provided inspiration to the filmmakers,...
As is the case with all of his work, Wes Anderson synthesizes cinema history in his own specific language and for The French Dispatch he has provided a list of influences. As revealed in a promotional book sent to The Flim Stage and styled after the film’s magazine, 32 films are listed that “provided inspiration to the filmmakers,...
- 10/12/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In today’s Global Bulletin, Sky Cinema’s “The Amazing Maurice” rounds out its voice cast; the BFI launches a U.S. streaming platform for British cinema and renews its Bursary Award partnership with Iwc Schaffhausen; and the Göteborg Film Festival announces funding for films from four territories where freedom of speech and expression are seen as being under threat.
Casting
David Tennant (“Good Omens”), Ariyon Bakare (“His Dark Materials”) and Rob Brydon (“The Trip”) will join previously announced stars Emilia Clarke and Hugh Laurie in voicing characters for “The Amazing Maurice,” a feature-length animated adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s “Diskworld” book “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.” Julie Atherton (“Avenue Q”) and YouTuber Joe Sugg fill out the previously announced cast including David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton and Hugh Bonneville.
Set to launch on Sky Cinema and streaming service Now next year, “The Amazing Maurice” is co-produced by Sky,...
Casting
David Tennant (“Good Omens”), Ariyon Bakare (“His Dark Materials”) and Rob Brydon (“The Trip”) will join previously announced stars Emilia Clarke and Hugh Laurie in voicing characters for “The Amazing Maurice,” a feature-length animated adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s “Diskworld” book “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.” Julie Atherton (“Avenue Q”) and YouTuber Joe Sugg fill out the previously announced cast including David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton and Hugh Bonneville.
Set to launch on Sky Cinema and streaming service Now next year, “The Amazing Maurice” is co-produced by Sky,...
- 5/7/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
If you’ve been jealous of those across the pond that get access to The British Film Institute’s streaming service BFI Player Classics, one will be delighted to hear it’s now coming to the United States. Launching on May 14, the curated collection––which will have offering distinct from its UK counterpart––will kick off with over 200 British or British co-production films picked by BFI experts.
With work by legendary directors Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, Ken Russell, and Ken Loach, it also includes a number of ground-breaking British filmmakers who deserve more attention, including Horace Ové, Laura Mulvey, Ron Peck; Menelik Shabazz, Sally Potter, Gurinder Chadha (I’m British But… 1989), Waris Hussein, and John Akomfrah.
“BFI Player Classics brings together a collection of British films – the cinematic DNA of the UK – that is essential for anyone who wants to see and understand the best of British film,” said Robin Baker,...
With work by legendary directors Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, Ken Russell, and Ken Loach, it also includes a number of ground-breaking British filmmakers who deserve more attention, including Horace Ové, Laura Mulvey, Ron Peck; Menelik Shabazz, Sally Potter, Gurinder Chadha (I’m British But… 1989), Waris Hussein, and John Akomfrah.
“BFI Player Classics brings together a collection of British films – the cinematic DNA of the UK – that is essential for anyone who wants to see and understand the best of British film,” said Robin Baker,...
- 4/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
BFI Player Classics includes Alexander Mackendrick’s The Ladykillers (1955), Ken Russell’s feature debut French Dressing (1963).
The British Film Institute will launch BFI Player Classics as a stand-alone streaming service in the US featuring a curated roster of classic UK cinema on May 14.
The platform arrives with more than 200 UK or UK co-productions picked by BFI experts, and includes work from as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, Ken Russell, and Ken Loach.
BFI Player Classics includes titles like Alexander Mackendrick’s The Ladykillers (1955), Russell’s feature debut French Dressing (1963), and Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol (1948).
Films not currently available across...
The British Film Institute will launch BFI Player Classics as a stand-alone streaming service in the US featuring a curated roster of classic UK cinema on May 14.
The platform arrives with more than 200 UK or UK co-productions picked by BFI experts, and includes work from as Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell, Ken Russell, and Ken Loach.
BFI Player Classics includes titles like Alexander Mackendrick’s The Ladykillers (1955), Russell’s feature debut French Dressing (1963), and Carol Reed’s The Fallen Idol (1948).
Films not currently available across...
- 4/23/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Six Minutes To Midnight director Andy Goddard with Anne-Katrin Titze on Eddie Izzard and Bexhill-on-Sea: “Eddie used to go there as a child. I think it was a nice close to the circle to film there.”
Earlier in our conversation, Andy Goddard mentioned John Boulting’s Brighton Rock (starring Richard Attenborough), Alberto Cavalcanti’s Went The Day Well?, and Robert Donat’s performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps as references for his historical thriller Six Minutes To Midnight (co-written with Eddie Izzard and Celyn Jones). He also pointed out the innocence reflected in Lionel Jeffries’ The Railway Children and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society. Here the director notes the impact of the countryside of England, with its sunshine and long shadows, shot by Chris Seager, and the production design by Candida Otton.
Miss Rocholl (Judi Dench), headmistress of the Augusta-Victoria College Photo: courtesy of IFC Films
The plot...
Earlier in our conversation, Andy Goddard mentioned John Boulting’s Brighton Rock (starring Richard Attenborough), Alberto Cavalcanti’s Went The Day Well?, and Robert Donat’s performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps as references for his historical thriller Six Minutes To Midnight (co-written with Eddie Izzard and Celyn Jones). He also pointed out the innocence reflected in Lionel Jeffries’ The Railway Children and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society. Here the director notes the impact of the countryside of England, with its sunshine and long shadows, shot by Chris Seager, and the production design by Candida Otton.
Miss Rocholl (Judi Dench), headmistress of the Augusta-Victoria College Photo: courtesy of IFC Films
The plot...
- 3/25/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...
- 2/8/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Can a war movie be reassuring in a time of crisis? Each of the films in this excellent collection stress people working together: to repel invaders, escape from or attack the enemy, and just to survive in sticky situations. All are inspirational in that they see cooperation, organization and leadership doing good work. See: the ‘other’ great escape picture, the original account of Dunkirk, and the aerial bombing movie that inspired the final battle in Star Wars. Plus a tense ‘what if?’ invasion tale, and a desert trek suspense ordeal that’s one of the best war films ever. The most relevant dialogue in the set? Seeing the total screw-up at Dunkirk, Bernard Lee determines that England will have to re-organize with new people in key leadership positions, people who know what they’re doing. I’m all for that Here and Now, fella.
Their Finest Hour 5 British WWII Classics
Went The Day Well,...
Their Finest Hour 5 British WWII Classics
Went The Day Well,...
- 4/4/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Carol Reed filmed his extremely well-cast adaptation of Grahame Greene’s spy novel on location in Havana only three months after Fidel Castro’s January 1959 revolution, and completed it just before Cuba aligned itself with the Soviet Union. Alberto Cavalcanti had explored the idea of directing this in the late ’40s (but set in Estonia) and Alfred Hitchcock was also interested, but former film critic Greene nixed him.
The post Our Man in Havana appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Our Man in Havana appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 12/25/2019
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Dead of Night
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1945 / 1.33 : 1 / 102 Min.
Starring Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Googie Withers
Cinematography by Douglas Slocombe
Directed by Basil Dearden, Alberto Cavalcant, Charles Chrichton, Robert Hamer
Anthology films have been a reliable Hollywood staple since D.W. Griffith’s time-traveling Intolerance and Paramount’s depression-era dramedy If I Had a Million. The short story format has proved especially popular with horror movie fans who prefer their thrills lean, mean and straight to the point.
That humble subgenre contains multitudes – from Masaki Kobayashi‘s elegant Kwaidan to the comic book stylings of Freddie Francis’s Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors to the state of the art shocker Nightmare Cinema – but the great-granddaddy of them all is surely the 1945 classic from Britain’s Ealing Studios – Dead of Night.
Mervyn Johns, the eternal Everyman, plays Walter Craig, a restoration expert whose newest project – a provincial manor called “Pilgrim’s...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1945 / 1.33 : 1 / 102 Min.
Starring Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Googie Withers
Cinematography by Douglas Slocombe
Directed by Basil Dearden, Alberto Cavalcant, Charles Chrichton, Robert Hamer
Anthology films have been a reliable Hollywood staple since D.W. Griffith’s time-traveling Intolerance and Paramount’s depression-era dramedy If I Had a Million. The short story format has proved especially popular with horror movie fans who prefer their thrills lean, mean and straight to the point.
That humble subgenre contains multitudes – from Masaki Kobayashi‘s elegant Kwaidan to the comic book stylings of Freddie Francis’s Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors to the state of the art shocker Nightmare Cinema – but the great-granddaddy of them all is surely the 1945 classic from Britain’s Ealing Studios – Dead of Night.
Mervyn Johns, the eternal Everyman, plays Walter Craig, a restoration expert whose newest project – a provincial manor called “Pilgrim’s...
- 7/9/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
July 9th is bringing all kinds of horror-rific awesomeness our way with this week’s genre-related Blu-ray and DVD releases. Easily one of my most anticipated discs of this year, the new Silent Hill Collector’s Edition from Scream Factory heads home on Tuesday as well as Mill Creek’s stunning Steelbook for Mothra, which looks to be a must-have for any movie monster aficionados out there. In terms of recent films, both Pet Sematary (2019) and Claire Denis’ High Life are hitting various formats this week, and for you Andy Sidaris fans out there, Savage Beach is hitting Blu-ray as well.
Other releases for July 9th include Dead of Night, Division 19, This Island Earth, and Waterworld in 4K.
Dead of Night
A group of strangers, mysteriously gathered at an isolated country estate, recount chilling tales of the supernatural. First, a racer survives a brush with death only to receive...
Other releases for July 9th include Dead of Night, Division 19, This Island Earth, and Waterworld in 4K.
Dead of Night
A group of strangers, mysteriously gathered at an isolated country estate, recount chilling tales of the supernatural. First, a racer survives a brush with death only to receive...
- 7/8/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
You may love “Mad Max: Fury Road” — how could you not? — but you probably don’t love it as much as Edgar Wright. The filmmaker responsible for “Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” and “The World’s End” took to Twitter to reaffirm his admiration of George Miller’s 2015 genre masterpiece, giving it the highest praise possible: “I had to test out a new home projector with a BluRay and I can confirm the results,” he tweeted. “‘Mad Max Fury Road’ is still the best action film of all time.”
This naturally led to a number of “what about…” responses in his mentions, with the filmmaker replying to just one: “Every time I mention anything about superlatives in cinema (action or otherwise), there’s a reply saying ‘What no Predator / Commando?'” Wright said. “Neither are even my fav Arnie action film (both are fun though).”
It’s certainly true...
This naturally led to a number of “what about…” responses in his mentions, with the filmmaker replying to just one: “Every time I mention anything about superlatives in cinema (action or otherwise), there’s a reply saying ‘What no Predator / Commando?'” Wright said. “Neither are even my fav Arnie action film (both are fun though).”
It’s certainly true...
- 4/6/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Anthology films are almost by definition a mixed bag, and even when one of their sort garners strong critical acclaim, as the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs did last November, most reactions end up settling into a “this story is better than this story” sort of comparison game. Horror anthologies tend to be even more wildly variant in quality within their individual films, and British production company Amicus Films released a string of them in the ‘60s to mid ‘70s– titles like Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, And Now the Screaming Starts, The House That Dripped Blood, Asylum and Tales That Witness Madness were a real hit-or-miss selection, with Amicus scoring highest when they adapted EC Comics stories into their big hits Tales from the Crypt (1972) and the follow-up Vault of Horror (1973).
But probably the best horror anthologies—Dead of Night (1945), an atypically creepy release from Britain’s Ealing Studios,...
But probably the best horror anthologies—Dead of Night (1945), an atypically creepy release from Britain’s Ealing Studios,...
- 3/31/2019
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
In his latest interview/podcast, host Stuart Wright delves into 5 Great British Horror Films with film academic and theatre director Richard Hand, instructor for the latest Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies (London). The title of his presentation is: Horror And Hilarity: The Legacy Of The Grand-guignol
It’s at the Horse Hospital on Thursday, 7 February 2019 – 7:00 pm 10:00 pm
Full ticket and venue details here https://www.thehorsehospital.com/events/the-miskatonic-institute-of-horror-studies-horror-and-hilarity
Richard Hand’s choices include:
Dead of Night The Innocents The Stone Tape Theatre of Blood Dreams of a Life...
It’s at the Horse Hospital on Thursday, 7 February 2019 – 7:00 pm 10:00 pm
Full ticket and venue details here https://www.thehorsehospital.com/events/the-miskatonic-institute-of-horror-studies-horror-and-hilarity
Richard Hand’s choices include:
Dead of Night The Innocents The Stone Tape Theatre of Blood Dreams of a Life...
- 2/5/2019
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
A True Original: Alberto Cavalcanti is showing from September 9 – October 12, 2018 in the United States.Champagne CharlieIf Dickensian fiction story of Nicholas Nickleby were to be filmed today, he’d be a young man incessantly searching Craigslist and wondering what college education is really good for. At least that’s the impression one gets watching Alberto Cavalcanti’s lively adaptation, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947), which perfectly captures the angst of urban youth fitted with stellar education and plenty desire for work, but dire economic prospects—an apt topic both today and at a time when Cavalcanti made his British fiction films, during and immediately after the Second World War.In his native Brazil, Cavalcanti has been celebrated for his avant-garde modernist films, including his debut, Nothing But Time (1926), and his collaboration with Walter Ruttman on Berlin: Symphony of a Metropolis (1927), which serves as an important reference in the...
- 9/18/2018
- MUBI
On November 30, 1970, New York City’s Anthology Film Archives opened its doors as the first ever “museum of film” at its original location at 425 Lafayette Street. That was an invitation-only Opening Night event with the first public screening occurring the following night, December 1.
A previous article on the Underground Film Journal uncovered the first five nights of screenings at the Anthology, and the reaction in the NYC press to this unique movie theater.
Digging around in the digital archives of the Village Voice, the Journal has been able to piece together most of the screening lineups for the month of December. Unfortunately, these archives do not contain issues for the last week of November nor the first week of December, so we do not have screening info for December 5-9.
However, below are the screenings for December 10-30. The Anthology’s original plan was to have three screenings every night...
A previous article on the Underground Film Journal uncovered the first five nights of screenings at the Anthology, and the reaction in the NYC press to this unique movie theater.
Digging around in the digital archives of the Village Voice, the Journal has been able to piece together most of the screening lineups for the month of December. Unfortunately, these archives do not contain issues for the last week of November nor the first week of December, so we do not have screening info for December 5-9.
However, below are the screenings for December 10-30. The Anthology’s original plan was to have three screenings every night...
- 8/5/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Your ultimate Halloween horror movie binge is here. Edgar Wright has joined forces with Mubi to list his 100 favorite horror movies, and the collection is full of classics and surprising choices that range from 1922 to 2016. The director, who himself has given the genre a classic title thanks to “Shaun of the Dead,” names recent horror hits like “Raw,” “The Witch,” and “Train to Busan,” as well as classics from horror masters James Whale and Mario Bava.
Read More:Edgar Wright’s 40 Favorite Movies Ever Made (Right Now): ‘Boogie Nights,’ ‘Suspiria’ and More
Wright wrote an introduction to his list, in which he makes it clear this is simply a list of 100 favorite titles and not his definitive list of the best horror films ever. You can read Wright’s statement below:
Here, for Halloween, is a chronological list of my favorite horror movies. It’s not in any way...
Read More:Edgar Wright’s 40 Favorite Movies Ever Made (Right Now): ‘Boogie Nights,’ ‘Suspiria’ and More
Wright wrote an introduction to his list, in which he makes it clear this is simply a list of 100 favorite titles and not his definitive list of the best horror films ever. You can read Wright’s statement below:
Here, for Halloween, is a chronological list of my favorite horror movies. It’s not in any way...
- 10/26/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Based on a short story by Graham Greene, this 1942 “what-if?” war film from the venerable Ealing Studios tells the story of a small British village overrun by invading German soldiers whose inhabitants strike back and violently murder their oppressors.The cast is equally venerable including Leslie Banks, Mervyn Johns and Basil Sydney. The director was Alberto Cavalcanti, who headlined that quintessential horror film omnibus, Dead of Night. Barely released in the Us due to its strong content, it is fairly bracing to watch even today. The original trailer is Mia so we’re using the home video release trailer.
- 7/26/2017
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Since any New York 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.
Museum of the Moving Image
Before his masterful Sunset Song begins its U.S. run, Terence Davies will be given a complete retrospective at MoMI. His self-titled trilogy screens on Saturday and Sunday; the latter day also brings Distant Voices, Still Lives and, with a post-screening Q & A to boot, The Long Day Closes.
Metrograph
“Welcome...
Museum of the Moving Image
Before his masterful Sunset Song begins its U.S. run, Terence Davies will be given a complete retrospective at MoMI. His self-titled trilogy screens on Saturday and Sunday; the latter day also brings Distant Voices, Still Lives and, with a post-screening Q & A to boot, The Long Day Closes.
Metrograph
“Welcome...
- 5/6/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Director best known for his Bond films, The Colditz Story and An Inspector Calls
With four James Bond movies – Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) – among his credits, the director Guy Hamilton, who has died aged 93, was one of Britain’s most bankable film-makers. But his latter-day fame, for these and other commercial blockbusters, detracted in the eyes of many critics from his earlier achievements.
Hamilton’s long career began as an assistant director, a job that most usually led to work in production. He, however, was determined to direct and decided that “the trick was not to be an assistant director, but to become the director’s assistant”, thus gaining valuable experience by tackling those tasks that preoccupied bosses chose to delegate. During a six-year period he became recognised as the best in the business, working for Alberto Cavalcanti, Sidney Gilliat,...
With four James Bond movies – Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Live and Let Die (1973) and The Man With the Golden Gun (1974) – among his credits, the director Guy Hamilton, who has died aged 93, was one of Britain’s most bankable film-makers. But his latter-day fame, for these and other commercial blockbusters, detracted in the eyes of many critics from his earlier achievements.
Hamilton’s long career began as an assistant director, a job that most usually led to work in production. He, however, was determined to direct and decided that “the trick was not to be an assistant director, but to become the director’s assistant”, thus gaining valuable experience by tackling those tasks that preoccupied bosses chose to delegate. During a six-year period he became recognised as the best in the business, working for Alberto Cavalcanti, Sidney Gilliat,...
- 4/21/2016
- by Brian Baxter
- The Guardian - Film News
Shohei Imamura’s brutalist depiction of female resilience in his masterwork of 1963, The Insect Woman, echoes the beloved French filmmaker Marcel L’Herbier‘s monumental silent avant-garde narrative L’inhumaine, which translates to The Inhuman Woman, in both name and loosely, in theme. Centering its Frankensteinian tale of high class love, loss and reanimation around a hardened woman of the world whose apathy toward men of all classes guides her way through parties and performances, L’Herbier’s brilliant collaboration with fellow art deco artists like the painter Fernand Léger, the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, and soon-to-be-filmmakers themselves, designers Alberto Cavalcanti and Claude Autant-Lara, is nothing short of a cinematic masterpiece of modern invention.
Making use of a beautiful and thrilling combination of highly stylized studio sets and on location shoots on the outskirts of Paris, L’inhumaine trains its often matted eye on the famed singer Claire (real life opera star Georgette Leblanc,...
Making use of a beautiful and thrilling combination of highly stylized studio sets and on location shoots on the outskirts of Paris, L’inhumaine trains its often matted eye on the famed singer Claire (real life opera star Georgette Leblanc,...
- 2/23/2016
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Here's something for hardcore cineastes: an incredible restoration of Marcel L'Herbier's avant-garde silent feature, which looks unlike any other movie of its time. The weird story is about a Swedish engineer who wins the hand of famous singer by demonstrating a machine that can revive the dead. The film's designs are by score of famous architects and art notables of the Paris art scene circa 1924. L'Inhumaine Blu-ray Flicker Alley 1924 / Color tints / 1:33 Silent Aperture / min. / Street Date March 1, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Georgette Leblanc, Jacque Catelain, Léonid Walter de Malte, Philippe Hériat, Fred Kellerman, Robert Mallet-Stevens. Cinematography Roche, Georges Specht Art Direction, design, costumes, Claude Autant-Lara, Alberto Cavalcanti, Fernand Léger, Paul Poiret, Original Music Darius Milhaud (originally), Aidje Tafial / Alloy Orchestra Written by Pierre MacOrlan, Marcel L'Herbier, Georgette Leblanc Produced and Directed by Marcel L'Herbier
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Followers of art, architecture, literature and French art movies of the early 1920s...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Followers of art, architecture, literature and French art movies of the early 1920s...
- 2/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'L'Inhumaine': Marcel L'Herbier silent classic stars Jaque Catelain and Georgette Leblanc. Marcel L'Herbier silent 'L'Inhumaine': 'Intense sensory integration of sight' For me, the real jewel in the crown of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival's “A Day of Silents,” held on Dec. 5, '15, at the Castro Theatre, was Marcel L'Herbier's The Inhuman Woman / L'Inhumaine (1924). The screening of this mix of desire and seduction with science fiction turned out to be an intense sensory integration of sight and sound. First, the sight. I had not seen any other films directed by L'Herbier (e.g., L'Argent, La Comédie du bonheur), so L'Inhumaine, with its spectacular visuals, came as a big surprise to me. For instance, the film features a stand-out scene of a car racing down a wooded highway from the driver's point of view, while in a party sequence I really liked the effect of the serving staff wearing sardonic face masks,...
- 12/21/2015
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
Special Mention: Misery
Directed by Rob Reiner
Screenplay by William Goldman
1990, USA
Genre: Thriller
Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, Misery remains one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. Director Rob Reiner is clearly more interested in the dark humour and humanity than the gory detail in King’s novel, but make no mistake about it, Misery is a tough watch soaked in sharp dialogue, a brooding atmosphere, and disturbing bodily harm inflicted on James Caan by sweet old Kathy Bates. I can still feel his pain.
129. Black Sabbath (Three Faces of Fear)
Mario Bava and Salvatore Billitteri
Written by Ennio De Concini and Mario Serandrei
Italy 1960 / Italy 1963
Genre: Horror Anthology
Not to be confused with Black Sunday, Black Sabbath is a horror anthology composed of three atmospheric tales. “The Drop of Water” concerns a nurse who steals a ring off a corpse, only...
Directed by Rob Reiner
Screenplay by William Goldman
1990, USA
Genre: Thriller
Elevated by standout performances from James Caan and Kathy Bates, Misery remains one of the best Stephen King adaptations to date. Director Rob Reiner is clearly more interested in the dark humour and humanity than the gory detail in King’s novel, but make no mistake about it, Misery is a tough watch soaked in sharp dialogue, a brooding atmosphere, and disturbing bodily harm inflicted on James Caan by sweet old Kathy Bates. I can still feel his pain.
129. Black Sabbath (Three Faces of Fear)
Mario Bava and Salvatore Billitteri
Written by Ennio De Concini and Mario Serandrei
Italy 1960 / Italy 1963
Genre: Horror Anthology
Not to be confused with Black Sunday, Black Sabbath is a horror anthology composed of three atmospheric tales. “The Drop of Water” concerns a nurse who steals a ring off a corpse, only...
- 10/17/2015
- by Ricky Fernandes
- SoundOnSight
Best British movies of all time? (Image: a young Michael Caine in 'Get Carter') Ten years ago, Get Carter, starring Michael Caine as a dangerous-looking London gangster (see photo above), was selected as the United Kingdom's very best movie of all time according to 25 British film critics polled by Total Film magazine. To say that Mike Hodges' 1971 thriller was a surprising choice would be an understatement. I mean, not a David Lean epic or an early Alfred Hitchcock thriller? What a difference ten years make. On Total Film's 2014 list, published last May, Get Carter was no. 44 among the magazine's Top 50 best British movies of all time. How could that be? Well, first of all, people would be very naive if they took such lists seriously, whether we're talking Total Film, the British Film Institute, or, to keep things British, Sight & Sound magazine. Second, whereas Total Film's 2004 list was the result of a 25-critic consensus,...
- 10/12/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
(Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer, 1945, Studiocanal, PG)
Portmanteau movies became an established form in 1916 when one of its greatest examples, Dw Griffith's Intolerance, interweaving four stories reaching from ancient Babylon to the early 20th century, was released. They've been appearing ever since, covering a variety of subjects (a shared author, a theme, a genre, a setting), the greatest number produced in the 1950s and 60s when it was a useful device for bringing international moviemakers together.
The greatest portmanteau film came from Ealing Studios and was a collaboration between four staff directors, one celebrated (the Brazilian-born Cavalcanti) and three soon to become well known. It took as its subject the British ghost story or tale of the supernatural, was written by a variety of hands, and went into production in that curious period between D-Day and the end of the last war, though there's no explicit reference to the war.
Portmanteau movies became an established form in 1916 when one of its greatest examples, Dw Griffith's Intolerance, interweaving four stories reaching from ancient Babylon to the early 20th century, was released. They've been appearing ever since, covering a variety of subjects (a shared author, a theme, a genre, a setting), the greatest number produced in the 1950s and 60s when it was a useful device for bringing international moviemakers together.
The greatest portmanteau film came from Ealing Studios and was a collaboration between four staff directors, one celebrated (the Brazilian-born Cavalcanti) and three soon to become well known. It took as its subject the British ghost story or tale of the supernatural, was written by a variety of hands, and went into production in that curious period between D-Day and the end of the last war, though there's no explicit reference to the war.
- 2/16/2014
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Books and films have been joined at the hip ever since the earliest days of cinema, and adaptations of novels have regularly provided audiences with the classier end of the film spectrum. Here, the Guardian and Observer's critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Planet of the Apes
Although the source novel, La Planète des Singes, was written by Frenchman Pierre Boule and originally reached its futureshock climax in Paris, this enduring sci-fi fantasy is profoundly American, putting Charlton Heston's steel-jawed patriotism to incredible use. It also holds up surprisingly well as a jarring allegory for the population's fears over escalating cold war tensions.
Beginning with a spaceship crash-landing on an unknown planet after years of cryogenic sleep, Franklin J Schaffner's film soon gets into gear as Heston's upstanding...
• Top 10 family movies
• Top 10 war movies
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. Planet of the Apes
Although the source novel, La Planète des Singes, was written by Frenchman Pierre Boule and originally reached its futureshock climax in Paris, this enduring sci-fi fantasy is profoundly American, putting Charlton Heston's steel-jawed patriotism to incredible use. It also holds up surprisingly well as a jarring allegory for the population's fears over escalating cold war tensions.
Beginning with a spaceship crash-landing on an unknown planet after years of cryogenic sleep, Franklin J Schaffner's film soon gets into gear as Heston's upstanding...
- 11/15/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Every year, we here at Sound On Sight celebrate the month of October with 31 Days of Horror; and every year, I update the list of my favourite horror films ever made. Last year, I released a list that included 150 picks. This year, I’ll be upgrading the list, making minor alterations, changing the rankings, adding new entries, and possibly removing a few titles. I’ve also decided to publish each post backwards this time for one reason: the new additions appear lower on my list, whereas my top 50 haven’t changed much, except for maybe in ranking. I am including documentaries, short films and mini series, only as special mentions – along with a few features that can qualify as horror, but barely do.
Come Back Tonight To See My List Of The 200 Best!
****
Special Mention:
Wait until Dark
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Robert Carrington
USA, 1967
Directed by Terence Young,...
Come Back Tonight To See My List Of The 200 Best!
****
Special Mention:
Wait until Dark
Directed by Terence Young
Written by Robert Carrington
USA, 1967
Directed by Terence Young,...
- 10/31/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Above: 1968 Hans Hillmann poster for Shadows (John Cassavetes, USA, 1959).
There is an exhibition of the great German graphic designer Hans Hillmann currently running at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany. Devoted entirely to Hillmann’s film posters from 1952 to 1974, the show, called The Title is Continued in the Picture, runs through the 1st of September and I’m sorry that I didn’t know about it sooner. But for those of us who can’t make it to the Ruhr in the next three weeks, the website Kunst + Film has posted a wonderful, almost-as-good-as-being-there video of the show.
The revelation of the video for me is the size of that Seven Samurai poster. Where most of Hillmann’s film posters are 33" x 23" (slightly smaller than a Us one-sheet), and the Cassavetes above is only 16.5" x 23", that glorious Seven Samurai is 93" x 132", or 11 feet wide.
While many of Hillmann’s witty,...
There is an exhibition of the great German graphic designer Hans Hillmann currently running at the Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany. Devoted entirely to Hillmann’s film posters from 1952 to 1974, the show, called The Title is Continued in the Picture, runs through the 1st of September and I’m sorry that I didn’t know about it sooner. But for those of us who can’t make it to the Ruhr in the next three weeks, the website Kunst + Film has posted a wonderful, almost-as-good-as-being-there video of the show.
The revelation of the video for me is the size of that Seven Samurai poster. Where most of Hillmann’s film posters are 33" x 23" (slightly smaller than a Us one-sheet), and the Cassavetes above is only 16.5" x 23", that glorious Seven Samurai is 93" x 132", or 11 feet wide.
While many of Hillmann’s witty,...
- 8/10/2013
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
My friend Cynthia Moody, who has died aged 89, was a film-maker and editor by profession and devoted her retirement to documenting, safeguarding and promoting the work of the sculptor Ronald Moody, her uncle. Ronald's Johanaan, carved in elm in 1936, has frequently been on display since its acquisition by the Tate in 1992. His high standing as a sculptor owes much to Cynthia's astute judgment and persistent diplomacy.
Cynthia was born in London. Her mother, Ruby, was Welsh. Her father, Charles, was born in Jamaica and then became a dentist in Britain. Harold, her eldest uncle, was the founder of the League of Coloured Peoples.
Cynthia spent part of her childhood in Jamaica, returning to Britain aged 13. After secondary school, and a brief spell in the Women's Royal Naval Service, she worked for the Shell Film Unit, receiving a thorough training in all aspects of film. She became a respected director and editor,...
Cynthia was born in London. Her mother, Ruby, was Welsh. Her father, Charles, was born in Jamaica and then became a dentist in Britain. Harold, her eldest uncle, was the founder of the League of Coloured Peoples.
Cynthia spent part of her childhood in Jamaica, returning to Britain aged 13. After secondary school, and a brief spell in the Women's Royal Naval Service, she worked for the Shell Film Unit, receiving a thorough training in all aspects of film. She became a respected director and editor,...
- 7/16/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★☆☆ Even regular films by the Children's Film Foundation are known for a slightly 'detached' quality. As a result those with intentional fantastical themes were positively bizarre. The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961), The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972) and A Hitch in Time (1978), which have been remastered and released on DVD by the BFI under the collective name Weird Adventures, are three such titles. Starring such British stalwarts as Patrick Troughton and Sorcha Cusack, and produced by amongst others Alberto Cavalcanti, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, these films encapsulate an era of British frivolity.
Here are three stories as enchanting as they are downright odd. Featuring a dragon-like monster from Malaysia who causes excitement amongst local inhabitants when he takes up residence in the ponds on Hampstead Heath, a boy who turns yellow when he meets an alien who can travel through the electrical grid system, and a nutty professor who uses...
Here are three stories as enchanting as they are downright odd. Featuring a dragon-like monster from Malaysia who causes excitement amongst local inhabitants when he takes up residence in the ponds on Hampstead Heath, a boy who turns yellow when he meets an alien who can travel through the electrical grid system, and a nutty professor who uses...
- 6/18/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Graceful stage actor who stood out in Doctor Who on TV and the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
In a long and distinguished career, the actor Aubrey Woods, who has died aged 85, covered the waterfront, from West End revues and musicals to TV series and films, most notably, perhaps, singing The Candy Man in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), starring Gene Wilder, and playing the Controller in the Day of the Daleks storyline in Doctor Who (1972).
Tall and well-favoured in grace and authority on the stage, he played Fagin in the musical Oliver! for three years, succeeding Ron Moody in the original 1960 production. He was equally in demand on BBC radio, writing and appearing in many plays, including his own adaptations of the Mapp and Lucia novels by Ef Benson (he was a vice-president of the Ef Benson society).
In the early part of his career he...
In a long and distinguished career, the actor Aubrey Woods, who has died aged 85, covered the waterfront, from West End revues and musicals to TV series and films, most notably, perhaps, singing The Candy Man in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), starring Gene Wilder, and playing the Controller in the Day of the Daleks storyline in Doctor Who (1972).
Tall and well-favoured in grace and authority on the stage, he played Fagin in the musical Oliver! for three years, succeeding Ron Moody in the original 1960 production. He was equally in demand on BBC radio, writing and appearing in many plays, including his own adaptations of the Mapp and Lucia novels by Ef Benson (he was a vice-president of the Ef Benson society).
In the early part of his career he...
- 5/14/2013
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Images Of Black Women Film Festival | London Palestine Film Festival | Marcel L'Herbier: Fabricating Dreams
Images Of Black Women Film Festival, London
This festival has a clear mission: to promote women of African descent, in front of and behind the camera. The result is a spread of films from around the globe that you're unlikely to see anywhere else. Family drama Elza is the first female-directed feature from Guadeloupe; Pariah charts the coming out of a Brooklyn lesbian; and Black is a polished Senegalese action-thriller. There are docs on Nigerian women who protest against oil companies by threatening to strip naked, plus various art and children's events.
Various venues, Sat to 11 May
London Palestine Film Festival
History inevitably weighs heavily on Palestinian culture, but this festival regularly finds fresh perspectives on what feels like an age-old issue, both from the past and the present. Director David Koff revisits his once-controversial...
Images Of Black Women Film Festival, London
This festival has a clear mission: to promote women of African descent, in front of and behind the camera. The result is a spread of films from around the globe that you're unlikely to see anywhere else. Family drama Elza is the first female-directed feature from Guadeloupe; Pariah charts the coming out of a Brooklyn lesbian; and Black is a polished Senegalese action-thriller. There are docs on Nigerian women who protest against oil companies by threatening to strip naked, plus various art and children's events.
Various venues, Sat to 11 May
London Palestine Film Festival
History inevitably weighs heavily on Palestinian culture, but this festival regularly finds fresh perspectives on what feels like an age-old issue, both from the past and the present. Director David Koff revisits his once-controversial...
- 5/4/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Concluding a three-part series on cinema's most flamboyant production designers.
Marcel L'Herbier arguably confused great design with great filmmaking, but he did deliver consistently on the former. And some of the time, influenced by and in rivalry with Abel Gance, he produced the latter.
Years before the moderne/streamline/art deco style conquered Hollywood, L'Herbier was featuring minimalist art nouveau decor and Bauhaus architecture in his French productions. In L'inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman, 1924) he has the services of Alberto Cavalcanti as production designer.
Cavalcanti's career took not only design, but experimental sound editing (Night Mail, 1936), and the production, writing and direction of both documentaries and dramas (Dead of Night, Went the Day Well?) in France, Britain and his native Brazil. And everything he did was touched with genius.
In L'inhumaine, his work is supplemented by the art of Fernand Leger (cubist-tubist-mechanist) and the costumes of future director Claude Autant-Lara.
Marcel L'Herbier arguably confused great design with great filmmaking, but he did deliver consistently on the former. And some of the time, influenced by and in rivalry with Abel Gance, he produced the latter.
Years before the moderne/streamline/art deco style conquered Hollywood, L'Herbier was featuring minimalist art nouveau decor and Bauhaus architecture in his French productions. In L'inhumaine (The Inhuman Woman, 1924) he has the services of Alberto Cavalcanti as production designer.
Cavalcanti's career took not only design, but experimental sound editing (Night Mail, 1936), and the production, writing and direction of both documentaries and dramas (Dead of Night, Went the Day Well?) in France, Britain and his native Brazil. And everything he did was touched with genius.
In L'inhumaine, his work is supplemented by the art of Fernand Leger (cubist-tubist-mechanist) and the costumes of future director Claude Autant-Lara.
- 3/14/2013
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
The Queen enjoys vintage royal footage, while Derek Jacobi's Sidney Turtlebaum character is set to ride again
Royal album
Trash was thrilled to witness the Queen visiting BFI Southbank last week as the old place celebrated its 60th birthday. The Queen appeared to enjoy the film presentation in the venerable National Film Theatre and, dressed in elegant purple coat and hat, flashed a satisfied smile at me – or so I like to think – as she walked along the aisle to the exit. She had just been treated to some lovely stuff from the BFI archive, including Scenes at Balmoral (1896), the first known filmed images of a British monarch, which depicted Queen Victoria and Tsar Nicholas II in the grounds of the Scottish castle.
Her Majesty – it's "Ma'am as in jam", according to the protocol instructions I received – must have then been very moved to see home cine footage from...
Royal album
Trash was thrilled to witness the Queen visiting BFI Southbank last week as the old place celebrated its 60th birthday. The Queen appeared to enjoy the film presentation in the venerable National Film Theatre and, dressed in elegant purple coat and hat, flashed a satisfied smile at me – or so I like to think – as she walked along the aisle to the exit. She had just been treated to some lovely stuff from the BFI archive, including Scenes at Balmoral (1896), the first known filmed images of a British monarch, which depicted Queen Victoria and Tsar Nicholas II in the grounds of the Scottish castle.
Her Majesty – it's "Ma'am as in jam", according to the protocol instructions I received – must have then been very moved to see home cine footage from...
- 10/27/2012
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Ealing Studios' name is synonymous with comedy largely because of three films released on consecutive weeks in 1949: Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore! and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Before then it was associated with the form of realism created by the documentarists Alberto Cavalcanti and Harry Watt, brought in by Michael Balcon early in the second world war to give his studio a greater authenticity. The finest movie in this mode is It Always Rains on Sunday, made in 1947 in grimy, Blitz-scarred east London and being revived in a new print as an example of the darker side of Ealing in the BFI Southbank's Ealing retrospective. Superbly photographed by the great Douglas Slocombe in the Picture Post manner, a style radically different from the elegant Kind Hearts and Coronets, it's 24 hours in the life of Bethnal Green, cleverly dovetailing the lives of some 20 characters ranging from spivs, petty crooks...
- 10/27/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
To celebrate the BFI National Film Theatre's 60th birthday I was invited to a diamond event with a very special guest. But were we just actors in Her Majesty's special film?
It was, in the words of the official invitation, a "double diamond" event. The BFI National Film Theatre on London's South Bank is 60 years old. So is the Queen's reign. BFI officials, film-makers and journalists were therefore requested by BFI chair Greg Dyke to come to the film theatre itself, where Her Majesty herself would be in attendance, and we would watch a newly restored 1953 3D film called Royal Review made at the time of the Coronation. This was going to be the last hurrah for the Jubilympic spirit of 2012.
We milled uncertainly around in the Benugo riverfront bar before the royal arrival. A pianist plinked a subdued sort of dinner jazz while we sipped tea, as if at a funeral.
It was, in the words of the official invitation, a "double diamond" event. The BFI National Film Theatre on London's South Bank is 60 years old. So is the Queen's reign. BFI officials, film-makers and journalists were therefore requested by BFI chair Greg Dyke to come to the film theatre itself, where Her Majesty herself would be in attendance, and we would watch a newly restored 1953 3D film called Royal Review made at the time of the Coronation. This was going to be the last hurrah for the Jubilympic spirit of 2012.
We milled uncertainly around in the Benugo riverfront bar before the royal arrival. A pianist plinked a subdued sort of dinner jazz while we sipped tea, as if at a funeral.
- 10/25/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention:
American Psycho
Directed by Mary Harrron
Written by Mary Harron
2000, USA
Bret Easton Ellis’s dark and violent satire of America in the 1980s was brought to the big screen by director Mary Harron. Initially slapped with the MPAA’s kiss of death (an Nc-17 rating), American Psycho was later re-edited and reduced to a more commercially dependable “R”. Perhaps the film works best as a slick satire about misogyny,...
As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.
****
Special Mention:
American Psycho
Directed by Mary Harrron
Written by Mary Harron
2000, USA
Bret Easton Ellis’s dark and violent satire of America in the 1980s was brought to the big screen by director Mary Harron. Initially slapped with the MPAA’s kiss of death (an Nc-17 rating), American Psycho was later re-edited and reduced to a more commercially dependable “R”. Perhaps the film works best as a slick satire about misogyny,...
- 10/25/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
It always rained for the Ealing Studios director, but with the reissue of a lost noir classic, it's time his talent was recognised
Robert Hamer was the odd man out at Ealing Studios. He wasn't the only falling-down drunk there, and I daresay he wasn't the only unhappily closeted homosexual, but his work as a writer and director has a sharpness and bite lacking in the genial comedies we associate with the studio.
The revival of Hamer's almost forgotten kitchen sink noir classic from 1947, It Always Rains On Sunday, may come as a shock to those who know Hamer only through his comic masterpiece Kind Hearts And Coronets. Kind Hearts lacks exactly that titular quality, being a spiritedly mean-minded account of multiple murder by a spurned minor aristocrat. Likewise Hamer's last film, School For Scoundrels, which was completed by others as Hamer was by then often battling terrifying Dt hallucinations.
Robert Hamer was the odd man out at Ealing Studios. He wasn't the only falling-down drunk there, and I daresay he wasn't the only unhappily closeted homosexual, but his work as a writer and director has a sharpness and bite lacking in the genial comedies we associate with the studio.
The revival of Hamer's almost forgotten kitchen sink noir classic from 1947, It Always Rains On Sunday, may come as a shock to those who know Hamer only through his comic masterpiece Kind Hearts And Coronets. Kind Hearts lacks exactly that titular quality, being a spiritedly mean-minded account of multiple murder by a spurned minor aristocrat. Likewise Hamer's last film, School For Scoundrels, which was completed by others as Hamer was by then often battling terrifying Dt hallucinations.
- 10/19/2012
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Sadie Frost, Gary Kemp, Phil Collins – they all started out in movies from the Children's Film Foundation
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
A forgotten catalogue of hundreds of British children's films, all shot in the school holidays from the 1950s to 1980s, is to be re-released after lying dormant while many of their young stars rose to fame.
Performers such as Phil Collins, Michael Crawford, Leslie Ash, Susan George, Sadie Frost and Gary Kemp all got their first screen work in Children's Film Foundation features, which entertained the nation's youth at Saturday morning cinema screenings. The British Film Institute has announced that it will be releasing the entire catalogue and screening many of the best features at special events which are sure to attract nostalgic fans and social historians.
"The early black-and-white films from the 1950s were rather middle-class and wholesome, so you can imagine the children throwing their ice cream tubs at the screen back then,...
- 6/16/2012
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
In the wake of this past week’s essential Jean Epstein retrospective at New York’s Anthology Film Archives I was searching for posters for Epstein’s films and not having much luck. Two of the best posters I found however were both signed by the same artist, Jean A. Mercier or J.A.M., whom I’ve been wanting to feature for some time and not just for the following personal reason.
On the poster collector site Rue des Collectionneurs, Pierre Tchernia, a producer and TV host known in France as “Monsieur Cinema,” is quoted as saying (and I’ll translate as best I can): “It took a long time for me to discover that the ‘A’ in ‘J.A.M.’, the ‘A’ of Jean A. Mercier, the signature associated with the most beautiful movie posters, the most beautiful films of René Clair, the most beautiful films in general,...
On the poster collector site Rue des Collectionneurs, Pierre Tchernia, a producer and TV host known in France as “Monsieur Cinema,” is quoted as saying (and I’ll translate as best I can): “It took a long time for me to discover that the ‘A’ in ‘J.A.M.’, the ‘A’ of Jean A. Mercier, the signature associated with the most beautiful movie posters, the most beautiful films of René Clair, the most beautiful films in general,...
- 6/8/2012
- MUBI
1948 was a good year for mermaids.
In Britain, producer Betty E. Box presented Miranda, starring Glynis Johns as a Cornish water-nymph who goes on dry land disguised as an invalid, making merry with the menfolk. Six years later, a sequel, Mad About Men, continued the character's amorous adventures in Technicolor.
Meanwhile in America, William Powell romanced mute mermaid Ann Blyth, an apparent manifestation of his mid-life crisis, in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. (Tarzan and the Mermaids, the same year, did not supply any true amphbious ladies.)
What do these fish stories reveal about their respective countries of origin? None of the films' directors have much in the way of auteur credentials—Ken Annakin directed the first Miranda film, staying true to the tradition of innocuous entertainment which was the defining quality of his career, and Ralph Thomas directed the second: though his son Jeremy has produced major films for Bertolucci and Cronenberg,...
In Britain, producer Betty E. Box presented Miranda, starring Glynis Johns as a Cornish water-nymph who goes on dry land disguised as an invalid, making merry with the menfolk. Six years later, a sequel, Mad About Men, continued the character's amorous adventures in Technicolor.
Meanwhile in America, William Powell romanced mute mermaid Ann Blyth, an apparent manifestation of his mid-life crisis, in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid. (Tarzan and the Mermaids, the same year, did not supply any true amphbious ladies.)
What do these fish stories reveal about their respective countries of origin? None of the films' directors have much in the way of auteur credentials—Ken Annakin directed the first Miranda film, staying true to the tradition of innocuous entertainment which was the defining quality of his career, and Ralph Thomas directed the second: though his son Jeremy has produced major films for Bertolucci and Cronenberg,...
- 5/31/2012
- MUBI
★★★★☆ Those who like their films heavily laden with nostalgia are in for a treat with StudioCanal's DVD release of two Dickensian gems. English director Thomas Bentley's The Old Curiosity Shop (1934) featuring Elaine Benson and Hay Petrie, and Ealing Studios' The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947) directed by Brazilian Alberto Cavalcanti and starring Derek Bond, Sally Ann Howes and Cedric Hardwicke, are not only classic interpretations of these well known stories but are also amongst the best examples of early British cinema.
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- 5/15/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
Chief executive of Film London, Adrian Wootton will give one of his Illustrated Film Talks focusing on Charles Dickens in film. The talk is part of Melbourne Celebrates Dickens in association with the Melbourne International Film Festival, held on Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 of August.
The announcement:
Former British Film Institute and London Film Festival Director Adrian Wootton returns to Melbourne for another series of his acclaimed Illustrated Film Talks, this year focusing on Charles Dickens and Film to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the author’s birthday.
The Illustrated Film Talks kick-off a wider Melbourne Celebrates Dickens season running from 17-26 August, as part of the global Dickens 2012 initiative, that combines events from the Melbourne International Film Festival, Miff 37ºSouth Market & Accelerator and The Wheeler Centre, as well as Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Acmi) and the Melbourne Writers Festival.
Presented exclusively in Melbourne by the Melbourne International Film...
The announcement:
Former British Film Institute and London Film Festival Director Adrian Wootton returns to Melbourne for another series of his acclaimed Illustrated Film Talks, this year focusing on Charles Dickens and Film to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the author’s birthday.
The Illustrated Film Talks kick-off a wider Melbourne Celebrates Dickens season running from 17-26 August, as part of the global Dickens 2012 initiative, that combines events from the Melbourne International Film Festival, Miff 37ºSouth Market & Accelerator and The Wheeler Centre, as well as Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Acmi) and the Melbourne Writers Festival.
Presented exclusively in Melbourne by the Melbourne International Film...
- 4/19/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Today sees the opening of "The Cabin In The Woods," one of the freshest, most enjoyable horror movies in years, one that we can only urge you to go see (read our review here). To mark its release, Time Out have polled critics, programmers and filmmakers as to their favorite horror movies, and collated their finds in a mammoth list.
Topped by "The Exorcist," it's an excellent read, and one you'll want to sit down with over the weekend, and as a taste, below you can find the top ten picks of ten of the most notable filmmaker contributors. You can find the full list, as well as picks from many, many more interesting figures, from Antonio Campos and Joe Dante to Simon Pegg and Rob Zombie, over at Time Out's site. And why not weigh in with your own ten picks over in the comments below?
Roger Corman ("The Pit & The Pendulum,...
Topped by "The Exorcist," it's an excellent read, and one you'll want to sit down with over the weekend, and as a taste, below you can find the top ten picks of ten of the most notable filmmaker contributors. You can find the full list, as well as picks from many, many more interesting figures, from Antonio Campos and Joe Dante to Simon Pegg and Rob Zombie, over at Time Out's site. And why not weigh in with your own ten picks over in the comments below?
Roger Corman ("The Pit & The Pendulum,...
- 4/13/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
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