What’s most shocking about the fact that it’s been 35 years since Mystery Science Theater 3000 began its run on Ktma in Minneapolis-St. Paul is the fact that it’s been only 35 years. Sporting a premise that’s gained added resonance since Covid redefined what it’s like to watch movies in isolation, the series has existed long enough—and in enough iterations—as to feel almost impervious to time, endlessly redefining itself as technology and media consumption mutate and grow, and, more frequently, as circumstances necessitate.
While the show’s hook—a human and their robots joke their way through bad movies—suggests a cynical outlook, its overriding imagination leaves room enough to enjoy both the films being watched and the jokes made at their expense. The classics that MST3K has yielded far exceed the limitations of this list’s format—to say nothing of the multitude of grace notes contained within,...
While the show’s hook—a human and their robots joke their way through bad movies—suggests a cynical outlook, its overriding imagination leaves room enough to enjoy both the films being watched and the jokes made at their expense. The classics that MST3K has yielded far exceed the limitations of this list’s format—to say nothing of the multitude of grace notes contained within,...
- 11/21/2023
- by Rob Humanick
- Slant Magazine
Sampo
Blu ray
Deaf Crocodile/Vinegar Syndrome
1959 / 2:35:1 / 91 Min.
Starring Anna Orochko, Andris Ošiņš, Eve Kivi
Written by Väinö Kaukonen, Viktor Vitkovich, Grigori Yagdfeld
Directed by Aleksandr Ptushko
Mosfilm’s Sampo, a Russian fantasy from 1959, and Paramount’s White Christmas, a Yuletide bauble released in 1954, were both state of the art products of a big studio system. But each were Cold War entertainments driven by very different agendas: White Christmas was a gung ho military musical prettified by candy canes, VistaVision and Technicolor. Sampo was a movie out of time—a gravely beautiful folktale set in a bone-chilling winter wasteland. In short, America ladled on the optimism while Russia served up existential dread with a little popcorn on the side.
Mosfilm, aka “Russian Hollywood”, was a monolithic entity with the combined creative juice of MGM, Universal, and Paramount under one roof—established in 1920, the studio was a dream factory...
Blu ray
Deaf Crocodile/Vinegar Syndrome
1959 / 2:35:1 / 91 Min.
Starring Anna Orochko, Andris Ošiņš, Eve Kivi
Written by Väinö Kaukonen, Viktor Vitkovich, Grigori Yagdfeld
Directed by Aleksandr Ptushko
Mosfilm’s Sampo, a Russian fantasy from 1959, and Paramount’s White Christmas, a Yuletide bauble released in 1954, were both state of the art products of a big studio system. But each were Cold War entertainments driven by very different agendas: White Christmas was a gung ho military musical prettified by candy canes, VistaVision and Technicolor. Sampo was a movie out of time—a gravely beautiful folktale set in a bone-chilling winter wasteland. In short, America ladled on the optimism while Russia served up existential dread with a little popcorn on the side.
Mosfilm, aka “Russian Hollywood”, was a monolithic entity with the combined creative juice of MGM, Universal, and Paramount under one roof—established in 1920, the studio was a dream factory...
- 8/2/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Accept no substitutes! Aleksandr Ptushko’s fairy-tale folk hero saga is the real deal in medieval spectacle. When the nation calls, warriors rise from the steppes to defend against invaders, even if they have to defy royal authority. The first Soviet film in anamorphic scope and stereophonic sound, Ilya Muromets is an eye-opening series of fantastic characters and storybook episodes, loaded with Ptushko’s amazingly beautiful special effects and jaw-dropping scenes with entire armies filling the scene. The capper is one hell of a fierce dragon — the fire breathing, three-headed Zmey Gorynych!
Ilya Muromets
Blu-ray
Deaf Crocodile / Seagull
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 91 83 min. / Street Date May, 2022 / The Sword and the Dragon, The Epic Hero and the Beast / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 34.98 & 39.98
Starring: Boris Andreyev, Shukur Burkhanov, Andrei Abrikosov, Natalya Medvedeva, Ninel Myshkova, Sergey Martinson, Georgi Dyomin, Aleksandr Shvorin, Nikolai Gladkov, Vladimir Solovyov.
Cinematography: Fyodor Provorov, Yuli Kun
Production Designer: Yevgeni Kumankov...
Ilya Muromets
Blu-ray
Deaf Crocodile / Seagull
1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 91 83 min. / Street Date May, 2022 / The Sword and the Dragon, The Epic Hero and the Beast / Available from Vinegar Syndrome / 34.98 & 39.98
Starring: Boris Andreyev, Shukur Burkhanov, Andrei Abrikosov, Natalya Medvedeva, Ninel Myshkova, Sergey Martinson, Georgi Dyomin, Aleksandr Shvorin, Nikolai Gladkov, Vladimir Solovyov.
Cinematography: Fyodor Provorov, Yuli Kun
Production Designer: Yevgeni Kumankov...
- 5/21/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Unknown Man Of Shandigor (1967) Lands On Video-on-demand March 1St From Deaf Crocodile And Grasshopper Films
Long-Unseen 60s Swiss Black & White Cold War Spy Thriller Stars Marie-France Boyer, Ben Carruthers, Jacques Dufilho, Daniel Emilfork, and Famed Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
Recently restored in 4K from the camera negative by the Cinémathèque suisse with additional digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile, Jean-Louis Roy’s visually stunning The Unknown Man Of Shandigor originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967 and stars legendary French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork. Deaf Crocodile Films and Grasshopper Films will be releasing the long-unseen 60s Cold War super-spy thriller on VOD on March 1st, 2022.
The Unknown Man Of Shandigor is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville, with sly nods to British TV shows like “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who.” The film stars a who’s who of...
Long-Unseen 60s Swiss Black & White Cold War Spy Thriller Stars Marie-France Boyer, Ben Carruthers, Jacques Dufilho, Daniel Emilfork, and Famed Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
Recently restored in 4K from the camera negative by the Cinémathèque suisse with additional digital restoration by Deaf Crocodile, Jean-Louis Roy’s visually stunning The Unknown Man Of Shandigor originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 1967 and stars legendary French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and famed Chilean cult actor Daniel Emilfork. Deaf Crocodile Films and Grasshopper Films will be releasing the long-unseen 60s Cold War super-spy thriller on VOD on March 1st, 2022.
The Unknown Man Of Shandigor is a marvelous and surreal hall of mirrors, part-dr. Strangelove, part-Alphaville, with sly nods to British TV shows like “The Avengers” and “Doctor Who.” The film stars a who’s who of...
- 2/15/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Resistance is useless! I will make you bow to our mighty chief Kalin.”
Deaf Crocodile’s Russian Fantastika collection Includes the 4K Restorations Of Aleksandr Ptushko Fantasy Films “Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon)” (1956) and “Sampo (The Day The Earth Froze)” (1959), and 2K Restoration Of Karen Shakhnazarov’s Satire “Zerograd (Zero City)” (1988)
Deaf Crocodile, in association with distribution partner Seagull Films, announced today the acquisition of a trio of celebrated Russian titles. The companies will jointly release 4K restorations of famed Russian fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko’s stunning 1956 medieval epic Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon), and his mystical 1959 Finnish/Soviet co-production Sampo (The Day The Earth Froze), as well as a 2K restoration of director Karen Shakhnazarov’s 1988 Kafkaesque satire Zerograd (Zero City). Ilya Muromets and Zerograd will be released in collaboration with legendary Russian studio Mosfilm, which restored them recently. Sampo has been restored by Kavi – the Finnish National Audiovisual Institute.
Deaf Crocodile’s Russian Fantastika collection Includes the 4K Restorations Of Aleksandr Ptushko Fantasy Films “Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon)” (1956) and “Sampo (The Day The Earth Froze)” (1959), and 2K Restoration Of Karen Shakhnazarov’s Satire “Zerograd (Zero City)” (1988)
Deaf Crocodile, in association with distribution partner Seagull Films, announced today the acquisition of a trio of celebrated Russian titles. The companies will jointly release 4K restorations of famed Russian fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko’s stunning 1956 medieval epic Ilya Muromets (The Sword & The Dragon), and his mystical 1959 Finnish/Soviet co-production Sampo (The Day The Earth Froze), as well as a 2K restoration of director Karen Shakhnazarov’s 1988 Kafkaesque satire Zerograd (Zero City). Ilya Muromets and Zerograd will be released in collaboration with legendary Russian studio Mosfilm, which restored them recently. Sampo has been restored by Kavi – the Finnish National Audiovisual Institute.
- 1/31/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Legendary Russian fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko’s sweeping, visual FX-filled epic Ilya Muromets (aka "The Sword & The Dragon") is one of his most enchanting achievements: a stunning CinemaScope ballad of heroic medieval knights, ruthless Tugar invaders, wind demons, and three-headed fire-breathing dragons, all set against a mythic landscape of pastoral, unspoiled Russia.
The first CinemaScope film produced in the Soviet Union, Ilya Muromets was released in a truncated, dubbed version in the U.S. as The Sword & The Dragon, that heavily downplayed the epic poetry and lyricism of the original.
This will be the first-ever official U.S. release of the original full-length version of Ilya Muromets (In Russian with English subtitles) courtesy of...
The first CinemaScope film produced in the Soviet Union, Ilya Muromets was released in a truncated, dubbed version in the U.S. as The Sword & The Dragon, that heavily downplayed the epic poetry and lyricism of the original.
This will be the first-ever official U.S. release of the original full-length version of Ilya Muromets (In Russian with English subtitles) courtesy of...
- 1/18/2022
- QuietEarth.us
Films by Todd Solondz, Ralph Fiennes and Andrei Konchalovsky as well as an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s White Nights, starring Daniel Brühl, are among 12 projects to be supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture this year.
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
Solondz, Fiennes and Bekmambetov are set to join director colleagues Avdotya Smirnova, Bakur Bakuradze, Cedric Klapisch, Igor Voloshin, Ilmar Raag and Sam Rockwell in shooting episodes of the omnibus film Petersburg: A Category Of Feelings.
The project, which is to be produced by Lenfilm Studio in cooperation with Sergey Selyanov’s St Petersburg-based production powerhouse Ctb Company, will invite the filmmakers to present their views of the “Venice of the North” through emotions or qualities whose first letters make up the city’s name: Pleasure, Effort, Trust, Envy, Repose, Shrewdness, Bravery, Uncertainty, Refuge and Glee.
The idea for the project originates from Selyanov, and one of the episodes will be directed by actor-director-producer Fedor Bondarchuk who is also serving as the...
- 6/2/2014
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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