Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about filmmakers! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today, Conor and I have an incredibly interesting and wide-ranging conversation with directing duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. We chat about their new movie Things Heard & Seen (now available on Netflix), then dive back into their eclectic, accomplished career. From the serendipitous way they came to make the doc Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s to the unintentional development of the underrated The Extra Man, starring Kevin Kline and Paul Dano. Their HBO film Cinema Verite is briefly mentioned, a wonderful telling of the making of the groundbreaking PBS documentary An American Family from 1973.
Other topics include a failed reimagining of Bride of Frankenstein, the nightmarish post-production process on The Nanny Diaries thanks to Harvey Weinstein,...
Today, Conor and I have an incredibly interesting and wide-ranging conversation with directing duo Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. We chat about their new movie Things Heard & Seen (now available on Netflix), then dive back into their eclectic, accomplished career. From the serendipitous way they came to make the doc Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen’s to the unintentional development of the underrated The Extra Man, starring Kevin Kline and Paul Dano. Their HBO film Cinema Verite is briefly mentioned, a wonderful telling of the making of the groundbreaking PBS documentary An American Family from 1973.
Other topics include a failed reimagining of Bride of Frankenstein, the nightmarish post-production process on The Nanny Diaries thanks to Harvey Weinstein,...
- 4/29/2021
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” debuted on Netflix on Thanksgiving Eve 2019, and #FilmTwitter was immediately in agreement: The movie was clearly designed to be seen at home (except it should really be seen on the big screen), the digital de-aging effects look much better on TV (except that now they’re more jarring) and it’s absolutely Ok to pause the film and watch it in chapters (except that you are spitting on the filmmakers by doing so).
No one’s having this conversation about, say, how or whether to watch “Avengers Endgame” on Disney+, because of course Scorsese produced “The Irishman” with Netflix’s backing, and certainly kept in mind that an overwhelming majority of viewers would indeed be watching the film on their home theaters.
The “How to Watch ‘The Irishman'” debate is just the latest incarnation of an ongoing rhubarb among moviegoers. No doubt film nerds...
No one’s having this conversation about, say, how or whether to watch “Avengers Endgame” on Disney+, because of course Scorsese produced “The Irishman” with Netflix’s backing, and certainly kept in mind that an overwhelming majority of viewers would indeed be watching the film on their home theaters.
The “How to Watch ‘The Irishman'” debate is just the latest incarnation of an ongoing rhubarb among moviegoers. No doubt film nerds...
- 12/1/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
He’d probably prefer to be tagged for one of the films he wrote, directed, produced and starred in, but “The King of Comedy” is as good a sobriquet for Jerry Lewis as any. And while his brilliant performance in Martin Scorsese‘s acrid 1982 movie about fandom and obsession allowed Lewis to show a darker side of his personality, part of what made his turn as a Johnny Carson-esque talk-show host so brilliant was that it was coming from a performer we had often known to play characters who were adorably clumsy and sweetly innocent. As film critic Danny Peary once.
- 8/20/2017
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Warner Archive has announced the release of Demon Seed (1977), and soon fans can witness Julie Christie versus evil artificial intelligence in remastered HD!
A release date has yet to be announced, but stay tuned to Daily Dead for future updates to this story, and check out the official details and cover art below.
From Warner Archive: "Demon Seed (1977)
New 2017 1080p HD Remaster
BD50
Color - 94 Minutes
Original Aspect Ratio - 2.40:1
DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono-English
English Sdh
Special Features:
Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Susan Harris is alone in the house when, suddenly, doors lock, windows slam shut and the phone stops working. Susan is trapped by an intruder…but this is no ordinary thug. Instead, the intruder is a computer named Proteus, an artificial brain that has learned to reason. And to terrorize. In “one of her finest, most vulnerable performances” (Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic), Julie Christie...
A release date has yet to be announced, but stay tuned to Daily Dead for future updates to this story, and check out the official details and cover art below.
From Warner Archive: "Demon Seed (1977)
New 2017 1080p HD Remaster
BD50
Color - 94 Minutes
Original Aspect Ratio - 2.40:1
DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 Mono-English
English Sdh
Special Features:
Original Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Susan Harris is alone in the house when, suddenly, doors lock, windows slam shut and the phone stops working. Susan is trapped by an intruder…but this is no ordinary thug. Instead, the intruder is a computer named Proteus, an artificial brain that has learned to reason. And to terrorize. In “one of her finest, most vulnerable performances” (Danny Peary, Guide for the Film Fanatic), Julie Christie...
- 2/13/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
When I was not much older than my oldest son is now, either fourth or fifth grade, the older girl next door who spent several years slowly initiating me to both the secret worlds of rock'n'roll and kissing, thus assuring those things would forever be linked in my mind, played me one of the many 45s she kept in a big giant carry-around box with the Rolling Stone lips on the cover. This one, she assured me, was "mind-blowing." She was right. The first time I heard "Space Oddity," it felt like I lifted off the ground with that countdown, infinity in endless mandala opening above me, as that strange voice, so thin at times, so powerful at others, sang with such longing, such powerful desire to both reach back to a humanity left behind and rocket on into whatever cosmic possibilities lay ahead. I must have played that record...
- 1/11/2016
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Burbank, Calif. May 19, 2015 – On June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection – featuring five classic films on Blu-ray™ from the larger-than-life American hero – just in time for Father’s Day. The Collection features two new-to-Blu-ray titles, The Train Robbers and Cahill U.S. Marshal plus fan favorites Fort Apache, The Searchers and a long-awaited re-release of Rio Bravo. The pocketbook box set will sell for $54.96 Srp; individual films $14.98 Srp.
Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, John Wayne first worked in the film business as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer vacations from University of Southern California, which he attended on a football scholarship. He met and was befriended by John Ford, a young director who was beginning to make a name for himself in action films, comedies and dramas. It was Ford who recommended Wayne to director Raoul Walsh for the male lead in the 1930 epic Western,...
Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, John Wayne first worked in the film business as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer vacations from University of Southern California, which he attended on a football scholarship. He met and was befriended by John Ford, a young director who was beginning to make a name for himself in action films, comedies and dramas. It was Ford who recommended Wayne to director Raoul Walsh for the male lead in the 1930 epic Western,...
- 5/13/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A discussion on Kansas City public radio about cult movies prompts this week’s Question. From Kcur.org 89.3Fm:
In his 1981 book, fittingly titled, Cult Movies, film critic Danny Peary defined cult films as “special films which for one reason or another have been taken to heart by segments of the movie audience, cherished, protected, and most of all, enthusiastically championed.”
Our own film professor, Thom Poe, divides up cult films into different areas. Some cult films fall into the “so bad they’re good” category. This would include anything made by Ed Wood or more recently, anything made by The Asylum.
Another category would be considered “quality” cult films. These are films that didn’t get any notice when they were first released, but over the years, have developed very loyal followings. Films like Shock Corridor, Freaks, Donnie Darko, and The Big Lebowski keep audiences returning to theaters year after year.
In his 1981 book, fittingly titled, Cult Movies, film critic Danny Peary defined cult films as “special films which for one reason or another have been taken to heart by segments of the movie audience, cherished, protected, and most of all, enthusiastically championed.”
Our own film professor, Thom Poe, divides up cult films into different areas. Some cult films fall into the “so bad they’re good” category. This would include anything made by Ed Wood or more recently, anything made by The Asylum.
Another category would be considered “quality” cult films. These are films that didn’t get any notice when they were first released, but over the years, have developed very loyal followings. Films like Shock Corridor, Freaks, Donnie Darko, and The Big Lebowski keep audiences returning to theaters year after year.
- 2/3/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Before the video revolution of the 1980s, it was damn near impossible for a suburban kid like myself to see the kinds of movies I read about in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies book. One of the titles Peary wrote about was "Pink Flamingos," a movie so demented, depraved and disgusting I became obsessed with finding out everything I could about the people who made it. Even before seeing any of his films, John Waters became my personal god, and I devoured his autobiographical books "Shock Value" and "Crackpot." I was still a closeted teenager with no tangible connections to gay culture, so John’s sensibility helped to lead me down a path of embracing my own difference. John’s relationship with his leading lady Divine was also inspiring. Their friendship and artistic collaboration gave me hope that I might someday find like-minded people and be able to express my true nature like they did.
- 10/25/2013
- by Jeffrey Schwarz
- Indiewire
Divine in the cult classic “Pink Flamingos”
The documentary I Am Divine made its world premiere at this year's SXSW Film Festival and as the title suggests, it documents the life and times of the iconic Divine, the mother of all drag performers. Divine worshippers and newbies will be happy to know that this movie has all the crazy and outlandish antics expected from the late great performer, but it's also surprisingly intimate, heartfelt, and a bit somber.
All of us remember our first encounter with the lovely Divine (born Harris Glenn Milstead). More than likely, you know her from John Waters' Pink Flamingos (a.k.a. The movie where she eats dog poo). It wasn't any different for Jeffrey Schwarz, director of the film. He was in his teenage years when he started worshipping at the altar of Divine.
“I had read about Pink Flamingos before actually seeing it,...
The documentary I Am Divine made its world premiere at this year's SXSW Film Festival and as the title suggests, it documents the life and times of the iconic Divine, the mother of all drag performers. Divine worshippers and newbies will be happy to know that this movie has all the crazy and outlandish antics expected from the late great performer, but it's also surprisingly intimate, heartfelt, and a bit somber.
All of us remember our first encounter with the lovely Divine (born Harris Glenn Milstead). More than likely, you know her from John Waters' Pink Flamingos (a.k.a. The movie where she eats dog poo). It wasn't any different for Jeffrey Schwarz, director of the film. He was in his teenage years when he started worshipping at the altar of Divine.
“I had read about Pink Flamingos before actually seeing it,...
- 4/9/2013
- by Dino-Ray
- The Backlot
Austin - No horror movie has ever given me the same amount of anxiety before seeing it that "Pink Flamingos" did. The first time I read about the film, I remember recoiling completely at every single part of the description. It was in Danny Peary's book "Cult Movies," and when I picked that book up in 1981, I read through it in about three days, and it started me on a search to see all the films in the book as quickly as possible. The only film that I hesitated about in any way was "Pink Flamingos." It didn't help that...
- 3/12/2013
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
When I was much younger and starting to actively get interested in film, there were a few key books that helped ignite that interest and validate it. First, there was a copy of the Pauline Kael book "For Keeps," a sampler from her other published books of film criticism, that I must have read cover to cover a good four or five times. Her book taught me to dig deeper into a movie, and to be able to articulate why I love something even when no one else does. The Danny Peary "Cult Movies" books also were important to me because...
- 1/9/2012
- Hitfix
"Mothers of America, let your kids go to the movies! ...It's true that fresh air is good for the body but what about the soul that grows in darkness, embossed by silvery images?"—Frank O'Hara, "Ave Maria" (from Lunch Poems, 1964)
During one of my conversations with San Franciscan film historian Matthew Kennedy, I realized that both of us had acquired our love for movies through our mothers, which led me to wonder how many other cinephiles—filmmakers and audience alike—shared a similar experience? In the past year, I have asked several individuals: "Did your mother have any influence on your cinephilia? Did she influence the movies you watched or—in the case of filmmakers—the movies you've made?" Here are some of the generous responses. And I would be delighted to hear any responses from the Mubi community.
Chris Fujiwara, Critic
My mother was a normal moviegoer of her generation,...
During one of my conversations with San Franciscan film historian Matthew Kennedy, I realized that both of us had acquired our love for movies through our mothers, which led me to wonder how many other cinephiles—filmmakers and audience alike—shared a similar experience? In the past year, I have asked several individuals: "Did your mother have any influence on your cinephilia? Did she influence the movies you watched or—in the case of filmmakers—the movies you've made?" Here are some of the generous responses. And I would be delighted to hear any responses from the Mubi community.
Chris Fujiwara, Critic
My mother was a normal moviegoer of her generation,...
- 5/9/2011
- MUBI
Chicago – Is there any better metaphor in the history of film for technology taking over nature than the planes that shoot down King Kong at the end of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s 1933 classic? At the height of the depression, when 25% of the workforce was unemployed, the two adventure-seekers and his team took that metaphor and spun it around an amazingly slice of entertainment that would become one of the most influential and enjoyable films ever made, now available on Blu-ray.
Television Rating: 4.5/5.0
When Peter Jackson remade “King Kong” in 2005, Warner Brothers released a beautiful special edition DVD with physical collectibles, an amazing transfer, newly-discovered footage, and incredible behind-the-scenes detailes captured in a theatrical-length documentary. It was a must-own at the time and it’s somewhat shameful that the company has taken this long to import it to Blu-ray. And that’s essentially what this is: A straight-up import.
Television Rating: 4.5/5.0
When Peter Jackson remade “King Kong” in 2005, Warner Brothers released a beautiful special edition DVD with physical collectibles, an amazing transfer, newly-discovered footage, and incredible behind-the-scenes detailes captured in a theatrical-length documentary. It was a must-own at the time and it’s somewhat shameful that the company has taken this long to import it to Blu-ray. And that’s essentially what this is: A straight-up import.
- 10/4/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
This week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are truly some bankruptcy inducing titles. With two truly epic Blu-ray’s from Criterion to talk about, as well as a slew of new releases and catalog titles from various distributors, you’ll have to choose wisely, or perhaps just take out a loan on your house to pay for them all.
I know, I know. Tuesday was days ago, and we’re almost upon Tuesday again, where we’ll see a whole list of new titles. As those who follow me on Twitter know, I had a rather large event happen on Wednesday, which threw a wrench into my blogging plans. Nevertheless, I wanted to get these titles up, as I think they are incredibly important, and should be considered if you’re looking to drop some cash on DVDs and Blu-rays.
Before I get into this week’s new releases, I...
I know, I know. Tuesday was days ago, and we’re almost upon Tuesday again, where we’ll see a whole list of new titles. As those who follow me on Twitter know, I had a rather large event happen on Wednesday, which threw a wrench into my blogging plans. Nevertheless, I wanted to get these titles up, as I think they are incredibly important, and should be considered if you’re looking to drop some cash on DVDs and Blu-rays.
Before I get into this week’s new releases, I...
- 10/4/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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