Sara Driver retrospective at the Roxy Cinema in New York
The Roxy Cinema in New York this week will be screening with discussions Sara Driver’s You Are Not I with Claire Denis’ Keep It For Yourself, Sleepwalk, When Pigs Fly, Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sara will introduce with Lewie Kloster and Noah Kloster their short Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver and Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise. Alexis Adler and Al Diaz will join Sara following Boom For Real. George Franju’s Judex has been picked by Sara to screen tonight to complement her retrospective On the Bowery: Lost and Found Films of Sara Driver.
Sara Driver with Anne-Katrin Titze: “Sleepwalk is very influenced by Jacques Rivette …”
In the second instalment of my conversation with Sara Driver on Zoom before the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films in 2021, we discussed...
The Roxy Cinema in New York this week will be screening with discussions Sara Driver’s You Are Not I with Claire Denis’ Keep It For Yourself, Sleepwalk, When Pigs Fly, Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years Of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sara will introduce with Lewie Kloster and Noah Kloster their short Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver and Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise. Alexis Adler and Al Diaz will join Sara following Boom For Real. George Franju’s Judex has been picked by Sara to screen tonight to complement her retrospective On the Bowery: Lost and Found Films of Sara Driver.
Sara Driver with Anne-Katrin Titze: “Sleepwalk is very influenced by Jacques Rivette …”
In the second instalment of my conversation with Sara Driver on Zoom before the 50th anniversary edition of New Directors/New Films in 2021, we discussed...
- 2/1/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Extra-special extras adorn this stunning reissue of a modern sci-fi action classic. Paul Verhoeven’s sledgehammer of graphic-novel brutality and wicked political satire (courtesy of a Michael Miner-Ed Neumeier screenplay that should have won awards) hasn’t diminished one iota. We still feel like we’re being subjected to a shockingly ultra-violent entertainment from the future. Both versions are present, along with enough interview extras to make one feel personally involved in the production. Although later entries in the Robo franchise were marketed to children (we have the toys to prove it) this hard-action show expresses an adult-oriented rage against Reagan’s America. The filmmakers could have earned a lot more money making Robo un-political and kid-safe but instead chose to stay true to their radical concept.
Robocop
Blu-ray
Arrow Video Limited Edition Collector’s Set
1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / Available from Arrow Academy
Starring: Peter Weller,...
Robocop
Blu-ray
Arrow Video Limited Edition Collector’s Set
1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / Available from Arrow Academy
Starring: Peter Weller,...
- 11/19/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Girl with Two Faces (aka La Fille aux 2 visages) is new gothic thriller from writer and director Romain Serir, which has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival on Saturday 27th January. I got chance to ask Romain a few questions about what we can expect, his influences behind the style of the film, why he decided to shoot in black and white.
What can we expect from the film?
A very gothic thriller and a strange love story between a sort of a mad scientist and two beautiful girls with the same face. Strange and dark at the same time I hope.
What was your inspiration for writing The Girl with Two Faces?
First it was a homage to George Franju, a famous French director who made The Eyes without a Face (1960) or Judex (1936). But I think I was also very influenced by Pinku, the erotic...
What can we expect from the film?
A very gothic thriller and a strange love story between a sort of a mad scientist and two beautiful girls with the same face. Strange and dark at the same time I hope.
What was your inspiration for writing The Girl with Two Faces?
First it was a homage to George Franju, a famous French director who made The Eyes without a Face (1960) or Judex (1936). But I think I was also very influenced by Pinku, the erotic...
- 12/21/2017
- by Philip Rogers
- Nerdly
Foreplays is a column that explores under-known short films by renowned directors. Jean-Luc Godard & Anne-Marie Miéville's Liberté et Patrie (2002) is free to watch below. Mubi's retrospective For Ever Godard is showing from November 12, 2017 - January 16, 2018 in the United States.I. One of the most beautiful essay films ever made, Liberté et Patrie (2002) turns out to also be one of the most accessible collaborations of Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville. The deeply moving lyricism of this short may astonish even those spectators who arrive to it casually, without any prior knowledge of the filmmakers’s oeuvre. Contrary to other works by the couple, Liberté et Patrie is built on a recognizable narrative strong enough to easily accommodate all the unconventionalities of the piece: a digressive structure full of bursts of undefined emotion; an unpredictable rhythm punctuated by sudden pauses, swift accelerations, intermittent blackouts and staccatos; a mélange of materials where...
- 12/11/2017
- MUBI
The uncanny Georges Franju strikes again, in an Agatha Christie-like thriller imbued with his special mood, the eerie music of Maurice Jarre and some great actors including Jean-Marie Trintignant, Pierre Brasseur, Dany Saval, Marianne Koch and Pascale Audret. If mood is the key, then Franju has found an ideal setting, a beautifully preserved castle in Brittany.
Spotlight on a Murderer
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Academy USA
1961 / Color / 1:37 full frame (1:66 widescreen?) / 92 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / Available from Arrow Video.
Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Pascale Audret, Marianne Koch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dany Saval, Jean Babilée,
Georges Rollin, Gérard Buhr, Maryse Martin, Serge Marquand, Philippe Leroy.
Cinematography: Marcel Fredetal
Film Editor: Gilbert Natot
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Georges Franju, Robert Thomas
Produced by Jules Borkon
Directed by Georges Franju
Until a few years ago most U.S. fans knew of Georges Franju solely through the great...
Spotlight on a Murderer
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Academy USA
1961 / Color / 1:37 full frame (1:66 widescreen?) / 92 min. / Street Date May 30, 2017 / Available from Arrow Video.
Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Pascale Audret, Marianne Koch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dany Saval, Jean Babilée,
Georges Rollin, Gérard Buhr, Maryse Martin, Serge Marquand, Philippe Leroy.
Cinematography: Marcel Fredetal
Film Editor: Gilbert Natot
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Georges Franju, Robert Thomas
Produced by Jules Borkon
Directed by Georges Franju
Until a few years ago most U.S. fans knew of Georges Franju solely through the great...
- 6/3/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Georges Franju’ Spotlight On A Murderer (Pleins feux sur l’assassin – 1961) will be available on Blu-ray May 30th from Arrow Academy.
When the terminally ill Count Herve de Kerloquen (Pierre Brasseur, Goto, Isle of Love) vanishes without trace, his heirs are told that they have to wait five years before he can be declared legally dead, forcing them to devise ways of paying for the upkeep of the vast family chateau in the meantime. While they set about transforming the place into an elaborate son et lumiere tourist attraction, they are beset by a series of tragic accidents if that s really what they are…
The little-known third feature by the great French maverick Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face, Judex) is a delightfully playful romp through Agatha Christie territory, whose script (written by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac of Les Diaboliques and Vertigo fame) is mischievously aware of the...
When the terminally ill Count Herve de Kerloquen (Pierre Brasseur, Goto, Isle of Love) vanishes without trace, his heirs are told that they have to wait five years before he can be declared legally dead, forcing them to devise ways of paying for the upkeep of the vast family chateau in the meantime. While they set about transforming the place into an elaborate son et lumiere tourist attraction, they are beset by a series of tragic accidents if that s really what they are…
The little-known third feature by the great French maverick Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face, Judex) is a delightfully playful romp through Agatha Christie territory, whose script (written by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac of Les Diaboliques and Vertigo fame) is mischievously aware of the...
- 5/22/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Jacqueline Bisset’s in a heck of a fix. Her hubby Alan Alda has been seduced by promises of fame and fortune from creepy concert genius Curt Jurgens, and is responding to weird overtures from Curt’s daughter Barbara Parkins. The pianist’s mansion is stuffed with occult books, and he displays an unhealthy interest in Alda’s piano-ready hands. Do you think the innocent young couple could be in a diabolical tight spot? Nah, nothing to worry about here.
The Mephisto Waltz
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1971 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Brad(ford) Dillman, William Windom, Kathleen Widdoes, Pamelyn Ferdin, Curt Jurgens, Curt Lowens, Kiegh Diegh, Berry Kroeger, Walter Brooke, Frank Campanella.
Cinematography: William W. Spencer
Film Editor: Richard Brockway
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Ben Maddow from a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart
Produced...
The Mephisto Waltz
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1971 / Color /1:85 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Alan Alda, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbara Parkins, Brad(ford) Dillman, William Windom, Kathleen Widdoes, Pamelyn Ferdin, Curt Jurgens, Curt Lowens, Kiegh Diegh, Berry Kroeger, Walter Brooke, Frank Campanella.
Cinematography: William W. Spencer
Film Editor: Richard Brockway
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Ben Maddow from a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart
Produced...
- 5/8/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sometimes a movie is simply too good for just one special edition… Savant reached out to nab a British Region B import of Georges Franju’s horror masterpiece, to sample its enticing extras. And this also gives me the chance to ramble on with more thoughts about this 1959 show that inspired a score of copycats.
Eyes Without a Face (Bfi — U.K.)
Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
Bfi
1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 90 min. / The Horror Chamber of
Dr. Faustus, House of Dr. Rasanoff, Occhi senza volto / Street Date August 24, 2015 / presently £10.99
Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Francois Guérin,
Béatrice Altariba, Juliette Mayniel
Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan
Production Designer: Auguste Capelier
Special Effects: Charles-Henri Assola
Film Editor: Gilbert Natot
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Pierre Gascar, Claude Sautet from a novel by Jean Redon
Produced by Jules Borkon
Directed by Georges Franju
Savant has reviewed Eyes Without a Face twice,...
Eyes Without a Face (Bfi — U.K.)
Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD
Bfi
1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 90 min. / The Horror Chamber of
Dr. Faustus, House of Dr. Rasanoff, Occhi senza volto / Street Date August 24, 2015 / presently £10.99
Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Francois Guérin,
Béatrice Altariba, Juliette Mayniel
Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan
Production Designer: Auguste Capelier
Special Effects: Charles-Henri Assola
Film Editor: Gilbert Natot
Original Music: Maurice Jarre
Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Pierre Gascar, Claude Sautet from a novel by Jean Redon
Produced by Jules Borkon
Directed by Georges Franju
Savant has reviewed Eyes Without a Face twice,...
- 4/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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A quick look at the slinky sleight-of-hand involved in making movies about magic.
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In 1932’s Chandu The Magician, Edmund Lowe plays the titular wizard. What famous boogie man plays his adversary?
Bela Lugosi Boris Karloff Peter Lorre Correct
Lugosi is a lot of fun but the real star of this movie is director William Cameron Menzies whose distinctive visual style graces every scene.
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1953’s Houdini...
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Categories Not categorized 0% Your result has been entered into leaderboard Loading Name: E-Mail: Captcha: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Answered Review Question 1 of 10 1. Question
In 1932’s Chandu The Magician, Edmund Lowe plays the titular wizard. What famous boogie man plays his adversary?
Bela Lugosi Boris Karloff Peter Lorre Correct
Lugosi is a lot of fun but the real star of this movie is director William Cameron Menzies whose distinctive visual style graces every scene.
Incorrect
Question 2 of 10 2. Question
1953’s Houdini...
- 1/23/2017
- by TFH
- Trailers from Hell
An unusual concoction, this 1963 Georges Franju picture, which goes about its business as if the nouvelle vague never existed, among other things. An homage to the 1915 Louis Feuillade serial about an almost super-powered crime fighter who nonetheless has a fairly arduous time bringing the main evildoes to justice (the defining paradox of such serials, I suppose), it honors Feuillade as a surrealist precursor by introducing (or at least we believe we haven't seen him before) the title character as something out of a Max Ernst collage. Having warned the banker villain Favraux that unless he atones for his murderous deeds at midnight he'll be punished, Judex shows up at Favraux's costume party, the eyes of his bird mask more magnificently accusing than any of the others. He produces what seems to be a flock of doves with his bare hands. And soon Favraux collapses. Dead? No. Drugged. It's all part...
- 9/19/2016
- MUBI
It’s a common image in cinema: a beautiful, but vulnerable woman entering a cold and unforgiving world, where good bone-structure and talent become dangerously interchangeable. While navigating the leering male gaze and sometimes heartless competition of female peers, she also must do battle with her own insecurities and self-doubts, all of which can be seemingly cured with the miraculous kiss of success. But for some, that success can lead directly to their downfall. Sometimes, the consequences can even be lethal, the adversary too ruthless to be conquered, and the beauty is left to rust in tragic defeat. And sometimes, it’s more painfully simple. They merely want to cut the poor girl’s throat.
The Neon Demon, the spellbinding new film from director Nicolas Winding Refn, is now playing in theaters nationwide. The plot follows Jesse (Elle Fanning) a 16-year-old girl who arrives in Hollywood with dreams of becoming a successful model.
The Neon Demon, the spellbinding new film from director Nicolas Winding Refn, is now playing in theaters nationwide. The plot follows Jesse (Elle Fanning) a 16-year-old girl who arrives in Hollywood with dreams of becoming a successful model.
- 6/30/2016
- by Tony Hinds
- The Film Stage
Though we’re barely into a new calendar year, Kino Lorber has released one of the year’s most notable Blu-ray restorations, a superb presentation of Louis Feuillade’s famous silent serial Fantômas with a five title set ranging from 1913 to 1914. Surprisingly violent and full of cunning twists (based on the pulp novellas of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre), the criminal overlord was an early template for genre cinema staples, including Feuillade’s later iconic characters such as Irma Vep or the crime fighter Judex (each in turn inspiring an innumerable amount of other auteurs, from Fritz Lang to Georges Franju to Olivier Assayas). But this was Feuillade’s first master of disguise, a cold hearted criminal intent on rending all the jewelry and other worldly goods from Belle Epoch Parisian women he could get his greedy fingers on.
Feuillade remains one of the most prolific auteurs of all time,...
Feuillade remains one of the most prolific auteurs of all time,...
- 1/19/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
One of our favorite directors, Olivier Assayas ("Summer Hours," "Clouds of Sils Maria") has a predictably eclectic Top Ten List, detailed at Criterion, which is actually a much longer list than ten. He offers American entries from Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Michael Mann, Robert Altman, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach! Have you seen them all? I've never seen the director's cut of Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," the TV cut of Ingmar Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander," Sacha Guitry's "Désiré" or "Judex" by Georges Franju. I will have to remedy that. 1. "The Leopard" (Luchino Visconti) 2. "Pickpocket" (Robert Bresson) (tie) "Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky) (tie) "White Material" (Claire Denis) (tie) "A Christmas Tale" (Arnaud Desplechin) (tie) "Chungking Express" (Wong Kar-wai) (tie) "Dazed and Confused"...
- 5/29/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
There nothing better than seeing silent films with live music, especially in the cozy confines of Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 E. Lockwood in Webster Groves). This Sunday, February 15th, at 7pm, Webster University, in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis, will screen the 1927 French film Verdun, Visions Of History from director Léon Poirier accompanied by live music from pianist Hakim Bentchouala-Golobitch. Admission is Free.
Because of the political, social, economic and cultural impact it generated worldwide, the First World War is a singular event in the history of mankind. With 4.4 million soldiers mobilized and a financial contribution of 500 billion today, the United States played a major role in the Great War and the victory of the Triple Entente. The long French-American friendship was strengthened by this conflict.
Since September 2014, as part of the worldwide commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, the Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago,...
Because of the political, social, economic and cultural impact it generated worldwide, the First World War is a singular event in the history of mankind. With 4.4 million soldiers mobilized and a financial contribution of 500 billion today, the United States played a major role in the Great War and the victory of the Triple Entente. The long French-American friendship was strengthened by this conflict.
Since September 2014, as part of the worldwide commemoration of the centenary of the First World War, the Cultural Service at the Consulate General of France in Chicago,...
- 2/11/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Edited by Adam Cook
First up: the summer issue of Cinema Scope has arrived, and aside from Mark Persanson's annual biting take on Cannes (this year's is particularly inspired), there are several pieces available online to read. For the rest (including my review of Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York!), you'll have to pick up the print issue. The latest edition of La Furia Umana is also now available online. Check out Toni D'Angela's editor's note, "The 'Film' of the Visible". From Interview Magazine, Harmony Korine talks to Kenneth Anger!! Interesting takes on Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction are few and far between (hopefully our forthcoming piece on the film will suffice...), but Richard Brody has two measured, insightful articles: one on the film itself, and one on its cultural impact. In Film Comment, Graham Fuller chats with British filmmaker Joanna Hogg:
"Fc: Why did you choose,...
First up: the summer issue of Cinema Scope has arrived, and aside from Mark Persanson's annual biting take on Cannes (this year's is particularly inspired), there are several pieces available online to read. For the rest (including my review of Abel Ferrara's Welcome to New York!), you'll have to pick up the print issue. The latest edition of La Furia Umana is also now available online. Check out Toni D'Angela's editor's note, "The 'Film' of the Visible". From Interview Magazine, Harmony Korine talks to Kenneth Anger!! Interesting takes on Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction are few and far between (hopefully our forthcoming piece on the film will suffice...), but Richard Brody has two measured, insightful articles: one on the film itself, and one on its cultural impact. In Film Comment, Graham Fuller chats with British filmmaker Joanna Hogg:
"Fc: Why did you choose,...
- 7/14/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Crime, Costumes, And Masks
By Raymond Benson
Apparently the French had their own Batman-like character in the early days of silent film. Created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède, Judex (“judge” in Latin) was a crime-fighting avenger that appeared in silent serials in 1916-17. The character was resurrected once in 1934 in a sound feature, and once again in 1963 by celebrated director Georges Franju. The Criterion Collection has seen fit to release Judex, this later version, on Blu-ray and DVD in a dual format package. The results are splendid.
Judex doesn’t bother to disguise his face when he’s in character. He wears a black cape and a Zorro-like hat. You could say he’s kind of like The Shadow. By day, though, he applies old-age makeup and assumes the role of Vallieres, the right-hand man to an evil banker. Judex is in love with the banker’s daughter, Jacqueline,...
By Raymond Benson
Apparently the French had their own Batman-like character in the early days of silent film. Created by Louis Feuillade and Arthur Bernède, Judex (“judge” in Latin) was a crime-fighting avenger that appeared in silent serials in 1916-17. The character was resurrected once in 1934 in a sound feature, and once again in 1963 by celebrated director Georges Franju. The Criterion Collection has seen fit to release Judex, this later version, on Blu-ray and DVD in a dual format package. The results are splendid.
Judex doesn’t bother to disguise his face when he’s in character. He wears a black cape and a Zorro-like hat. You could say he’s kind of like The Shadow. By day, though, he applies old-age makeup and assumes the role of Vallieres, the right-hand man to an evil banker. Judex is in love with the banker’s daughter, Jacqueline,...
- 6/30/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Classic French Film Festival celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the 1980s (with a particular focus on filmmakers from the New Wave), offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema. Judex will screen as part of the festival at 8:30pm Saturday, June 28th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium.
This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju, is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, “Judex” kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Combining stylish ’60s modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, “Judex” is a delightful bit of superhero pulp fiction...
This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju, is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, “Judex” kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Combining stylish ’60s modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, “Judex” is a delightful bit of superhero pulp fiction...
- 6/27/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"The Lego Movie"
What's It About? A boring, regular dude Lego named Emmet (Chris Pratt) is suddenly called upon to save the world. Will Ferrell voices bad guy President Business, Elizabeth Banks as the super cool Wyldstyle, Alison Brie as Princess Unikitty, and Nick Offerman as a pirate named Metal Beard.
Why We're In: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller accomplished the unthinkable -- they made what seemed like a craven toy tie-in into a movie that everyone loves. It's kind of crazy.
Post by Moviefone.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Picnic at Hanging Rock" (Criterion)
What's It About? A group of schoolgirls and their teacher go on a lovely picnic at Hanging Rock, a scenic rock formation in Australia. Their Valentine's Day outing takes a turn for the weird when several of them go missing, leaving a devastated community in their wake.
Why We're In: It's a gorgeous,...
"The Lego Movie"
What's It About? A boring, regular dude Lego named Emmet (Chris Pratt) is suddenly called upon to save the world. Will Ferrell voices bad guy President Business, Elizabeth Banks as the super cool Wyldstyle, Alison Brie as Princess Unikitty, and Nick Offerman as a pirate named Metal Beard.
Why We're In: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller accomplished the unthinkable -- they made what seemed like a craven toy tie-in into a movie that everyone loves. It's kind of crazy.
Post by Moviefone.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Picnic at Hanging Rock" (Criterion)
What's It About? A group of schoolgirls and their teacher go on a lovely picnic at Hanging Rock, a scenic rock formation in Australia. Their Valentine's Day outing takes a turn for the weird when several of them go missing, leaving a devastated community in their wake.
Why We're In: It's a gorgeous,...
- 6/17/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Blu-ray & DVD Release Dates: June 17, 2014
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
A criminal masquerade is perpetrated in Judex.
This 1963 effortlessly cool French crime caper film Judex, directed by Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face), is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention.
Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, Judex kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker (Michel Vitold) by the shadowy crime fighter Judex (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions.
Combining stylish Sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, Judex is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD standalone editions of the movie include the following features:
• New 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray...
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
A criminal masquerade is perpetrated in Judex.
This 1963 effortlessly cool French crime caper film Judex, directed by Georges Franju (Eyes Without a Face), is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention.
Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade’s 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, Judex kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker (Michel Vitold) by the shadowy crime fighter Judex (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions.
Combining stylish Sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, Judex is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD standalone editions of the movie include the following features:
• New 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray...
- 3/25/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
For Beatles fans out there, Criterion is celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of "A Hard Day's Night" by releasing a new 4K digital restoration of the film, with a newly remixed 5.1 surround soundtrack. Among the accompanying special features are a deleted scene, audio commentary, trailers, and a documentary program. The postmodern masterpiece, "L'Eclisse," by famed Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, will also be released, in addition to Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows," Peter Davis's "Hearts and Minds," Georges Franju’s "Judex," and Peter Weir's "Picnic at Hanging Rock."Please find below the details for each film (provided by Criterion): All That Heaven Allows (Dual-format Blu-ray/DVD Edition) This heartbreakingly beautiful indictment of 1950s American mores by Douglas Sirk (Written on the Wind) follows the blossoming love between a well-off suburban widow (Magnificent Obsession’s Jane Wyman) and her handsome and earthy younger gardener (Seconds’...
- 3/18/2014
- by Melina Gills
- Indiewire
Well folks, it’s time to start picking up some extra shifts or sign up for some primo medical experiments because everybody’s favorite home video boutique label has released their sizzling slate for the month of June. First up, on the second Tuesday of the month two older titles will receive Blu-Ray upgrades: the Douglas Sirk iconic melodrama “All The Heaven Allows” and the final chapter of Michelangelo Antonioni’s informal trilogy on contemporary malaise, “L’Eclisse.” The latter film’s upgrade leaves the first film of the so-called trilogy, “L’avventura,” as the sole film without a high definition release. The following week sees a trio of releases from roughly the same era, with refreshed releases of Peter Davis’s blistering 1974 Vietnam documentary “Hearts and Minds” and Peter Weir’s 1975 breakthrough “Picnic at Hanging Rock." Meanwhile Georges Franju delightful “Judex” makes its Criterion debut bringing with it interviews,...
- 3/18/2014
- by Cain Rodriguez
- The Playlist
I just received my review copy of Ingmar Bergman's Pesona (3/25) today so I'm a little high on Criterion love at the moment and only minutes after receiving that in the mail I received today's announcement listing the films coming to the Collection in June. I'm sure many will be excited to see Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock getting the Blu-ray upgrade. The remastered release includes a new piece on the making of the film, a new introduction by film scholar David Thomson as well as Weir's 1971 black comedy Homesdale among other additional features. The disc will hit shelves on June 17. The title I'm most looking forward to is Michelangelo Antonioni's L'eclisse the third film in his informal trilogy that includes L'avventura and La notte. This is the only one of those three I haven't yet seen and what a cast as it tells the story of...
- 3/18/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Criterion Collection has announced two new titles and four Blu-ray upgrades set for release in June. Check out the new cover art along with a full list of extra features for each in the gallery viewer below! Debuting in the collection are both Richard Lester's iconic Beatles film A Hard Day's Night and Georges Franju's 1963 adaptation of the pulp hero Judex . Upgrading to Blu-ray are Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows , Michelangelo Antonioni's L'eclisse , Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock and Peter Davis's documentary Hearts and Minds , returning to the collection after years of being out of print. Special features for the new releases are listed as follows: A Hard Day's Night - New 4K digital film restoration, approved by director Richard Lester,...
- 3/17/2014
- Comingsoon.net
Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2013—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2013 to create a unique double feature.
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2013 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How...
- 1/13/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The eyes have it: Edith Scob stars in Eyes Without a Face.
The 1960 horror film Eyes Without a Face was directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Georges Franju (Judex).
The movie tells the story of a brilliant, obsessive doctor (Pierre Brasseur, Children of Paradise), who, at his secluded chateau in the French countryside, attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s (Edith Scob, Summer Hours) disfigured face. The horrifying price of his mission comes in the form of the faces of other young women, whom he kidnaps so he can use their own features to replace those of his daughter’s.
Eyes Without a Face is rare in horror cinema for its odd mixture of the ghastly and the lyrical, and it has been a major influence on the genre in the decades since its release.
Price: Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
The eyes have it: Edith Scob stars in Eyes Without a Face.
The 1960 horror film Eyes Without a Face was directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Georges Franju (Judex).
The movie tells the story of a brilliant, obsessive doctor (Pierre Brasseur, Children of Paradise), who, at his secluded chateau in the French countryside, attempts a radical plastic surgery to restore the beauty of his daughter’s (Edith Scob, Summer Hours) disfigured face. The horrifying price of his mission comes in the form of the faces of other young women, whom he kidnaps so he can use their own features to replace those of his daughter’s.
Eyes Without a Face is rare in horror cinema for its odd mixture of the ghastly and the lyrical, and it has been a major influence on the genre in the decades since its release.
- 7/25/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
This bold, strange poster for Georges Franju’s 1974 Nuits rouges is one of my all-time favorites, one I’d love to own, though I haven’t seen the film itself. There is something very contemporary (or at least end of last century) about its simple Helvetica tagline announcing “Le Nouveau Franju” and more especially its grid system credit block, also in Helvetica (which reminds me of Spiritualized’s 1997 CD, or the 1996 Trainspotting campaign). The letterman jacket typeface for the title is a bit of an anomaly, but the red letters nicely echo the stunning red mask looming over what at first glance seems to be a cityscape but which turns out to be a pile of crates.
I can’t decipher the artist’s name on the poster (running up the side of one of the crates) so if anyone recognizes it I’d love to know what it is.
I can’t decipher the artist’s name on the poster (running up the side of one of the crates) so if anyone recognizes it I’d love to know what it is.
- 6/22/2012
- MUBI
Cutting off his ties to Hollywood with the blade-bare sinistry of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956), Fritz Lang returned to Germany in the late 1950s to make the final two features of his career, both resumptions, updates and evolutions on subjects and styles that forged Lang's name in Germany. His last film envisioned what German society's arch (fictional) supervillain, Dr. Mabuse, would be up to in 1960, producing the terrifying The 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse. Less internationally known but more extravagant than that film, whose taut black and white sparseness resembles Lang's late work in Hollywood, is the master's "Indian Epic," a two part, three plus hour revision of a Weimar-era superfilm directed by Joe May from a scenario by future Lang wife Thea von Harbou.
The epic, split into two features—The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb (1959)—lacks the reputation of the director's known superfilms of the 1920s (the first Dr.
The epic, split into two features—The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb (1959)—lacks the reputation of the director's known superfilms of the 1920s (the first Dr.
- 6/20/2011
- MUBI
"Fantômas."
"What did you say?"
"I said: Fantômas."
"And what does that mean?"
"Nothing. . . . Everything!"
"But what is it?"
"Nobody. . . . And yet, yes, it is somebody!"
"And what does the somebody do?"
"Spreads terror!"
This extract from the opening of Marcel Allain & Pierre Souvestre's original Fantômas novel crystallizes the character's sinister appeal. Louis Feuillade's first 1913 serial capitalizes on the same abstraction and threat. The title figure is a function, rather than a character. It's fruitless to think in terms of motivation. His actions are all that matters. Despite the period decor, the immediacy of Feuillade's street locations gives his work a modern edge, like a gaslight melodrama gatecrashing a newsreel, and so does his antagonist: the shadowy, violent, incomprehensible force of destruction and terror.
"Criminals who operate in the grand manner have all sorts of things at their disposal nowadays. Science has done much for modern progress, but...
"What did you say?"
"I said: Fantômas."
"And what does that mean?"
"Nothing. . . . Everything!"
"But what is it?"
"Nobody. . . . And yet, yes, it is somebody!"
"And what does the somebody do?"
"Spreads terror!"
This extract from the opening of Marcel Allain & Pierre Souvestre's original Fantômas novel crystallizes the character's sinister appeal. Louis Feuillade's first 1913 serial capitalizes on the same abstraction and threat. The title figure is a function, rather than a character. It's fruitless to think in terms of motivation. His actions are all that matters. Despite the period decor, the immediacy of Feuillade's street locations gives his work a modern edge, like a gaslight melodrama gatecrashing a newsreel, and so does his antagonist: the shadowy, violent, incomprehensible force of destruction and terror.
"Criminals who operate in the grand manner have all sorts of things at their disposal nowadays. Science has done much for modern progress, but...
- 5/12/2011
- MUBI
This staggering artistic montage telling the time in film and TV clips will run on in your thoughts
This week, very late to the party, I visited Christian Marclay's staggering moving-image installation The Clock, a 24-hour montage of thousands of film and television clips with glimpses of clocks, watches, and snatches of people saying what time it is. This incredible installation is set up so that whatever time is shown is, in fact, the correct time as of that instant. So as well as providing food for thought about the nature of time in the cinema, and indeed in life itself, the whole thing itself functions as a gigantic and gloriously impractical clock. By the time you read this, it may be possible to get The Clock as a streaming-video app to download to your iPhone, automatically putting itself in sync with your time setting.
The Clock is now...
This week, very late to the party, I visited Christian Marclay's staggering moving-image installation The Clock, a 24-hour montage of thousands of film and television clips with glimpses of clocks, watches, and snatches of people saying what time it is. This incredible installation is set up so that whatever time is shown is, in fact, the correct time as of that instant. So as well as providing food for thought about the nature of time in the cinema, and indeed in life itself, the whole thing itself functions as a gigantic and gloriously impractical clock. By the time you read this, it may be possible to get The Clock as a streaming-video app to download to your iPhone, automatically putting itself in sync with your time setting.
The Clock is now...
- 4/7/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Above: An heir is electrocuted by an arc light. Smoking.
Pleins feux sur l'assassin, (loosely, "Open Fire at the Killer") is the 1961 film directed by Georges Franju and written by the team of Boileau & Narcejac (Vertigo, Les diaboliques) after Eyes without a Face. As is the way with Franju's oddly disjointed career, the film is as unknown as the previous collaboration is celebrated/infamous (after a screening of Eyes at Edinburgh Film Festival caused several patrons to pass out, Franju tartly remarked "Now I understand why Scotsmen wear skirts,") but it's touched by both its writers' cunning plot mechanics and its director's dark poetry.
Any discussion of Franju ought to begin by admitting that he's one filmmaker whose shorts are better than his features, which is not to disrespect Eyes or La tête contre les murs or Judex, but simply to attest that his short films are among the greatest ever made.
Pleins feux sur l'assassin, (loosely, "Open Fire at the Killer") is the 1961 film directed by Georges Franju and written by the team of Boileau & Narcejac (Vertigo, Les diaboliques) after Eyes without a Face. As is the way with Franju's oddly disjointed career, the film is as unknown as the previous collaboration is celebrated/infamous (after a screening of Eyes at Edinburgh Film Festival caused several patrons to pass out, Franju tartly remarked "Now I understand why Scotsmen wear skirts,") but it's touched by both its writers' cunning plot mechanics and its director's dark poetry.
Any discussion of Franju ought to begin by admitting that he's one filmmaker whose shorts are better than his features, which is not to disrespect Eyes or La tête contre les murs or Judex, but simply to attest that his short films are among the greatest ever made.
- 1/14/2010
- MUBI
Some films, and filmmakers, just can't catch the right kind of breaks as far as international reputation goes. A very smart United States distributor circa 1959 or '60 or so, recognizing this film's potential to be marketed as a kind of companion piece to Truffaut's then red-hot Les quatre-cent coups, could have brought it to the art-house circuit and made a fair profit, and introduced a new (as far as features were concerned) and exciting French director to stateside cinephiles. But that didn't happen, and for years Georges Franju's debut feature, La tête contre les murs, has lived in our imagination as a tantalizing must-see, and at the same time somewhat subordinate to his better-known, more "fantastic" films, such as Les yeux sans visage and his playful rethink of Judex.
- 10/6/2009
- MUBI
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