Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.REMEMBERINGInauguration of the Pleasure Dome.Kenneth Anger has died at the age of 96, as reported this morning by his gallery. "Anger forged a body of work as dazzlingly poetic in its unique visual intensity as it is narratively innovative," wrote Maximilian Le Cain of the pioneering avant-gardist (and devoted occultist) for Senses of Cinema. "Anger’s films are cinematic manifestations of his occult practices. As such, they are highly symbolical, either featuring characters directly portraying gods, forces and demons or else finding an appropriate embodiment for them in the iconography of contemporary pop culture."The Austrian actor Helmut Berger died last week aged 78. He was best known as Luchino Visconti’s muse, unforgettable in The Damned (1969), Ludwig (1973), and Conversation Piece (1974). Among his additional...
- 5/24/2023
- MUBI
Austrian actor Helmut Berger, the groundbreaking star of European cinematic masterpieces such as Luchino Visconti’s “The Damned” and Vittorio De Sica’s “Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” has died at the age of 78. Berger died at home in Austria from natural causes.
In one of European cinema’s most storied and creative periods, the 60s and 70s, Berger boldly established his place in the pantheon of Continental stars via a handful of films directed by Visconti, his one-time romantic partner. “The Damned,” “Ludwig” and “Conversation Piece” were all crafted with standout roles for Berger and the films were hugely successful both at the arthouse box office and with critics and awards groups.
“The Damned”
Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Damned,” which was also nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 1970. No less an authority than the late German filmmaking maestro Rainer Werner Fassbinder called it “perhaps the greatest film,...
In one of European cinema’s most storied and creative periods, the 60s and 70s, Berger boldly established his place in the pantheon of Continental stars via a handful of films directed by Visconti, his one-time romantic partner. “The Damned,” “Ludwig” and “Conversation Piece” were all crafted with standout roles for Berger and the films were hugely successful both at the arthouse box office and with critics and awards groups.
“The Damned”
Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Damned,” which was also nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 1970. No less an authority than the late German filmmaking maestro Rainer Werner Fassbinder called it “perhaps the greatest film,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Helmut Berger, the Austrian actor and regular Luchino Visconti collaborator who become one of the most recognizable faces of European arthouse cinema in the 1960s, has died at the age of 78. The news was announced by the actor’s agent, who wrote that he died “peacefully but nevertheless unexpectedly” on his management company’s website.
Born in Austria in 1944, Berger moved to Rome and began pursuing an acting career after expressing disinterest in following his parents into the hospitality industry. He initially found work as an extra before meeting Visconti in 1964. The “Rocco and His Brothers” director gave Berger a small part in his 1967 film “The Witches,” an omnibus film also directed by the likes of Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Berger and Visconti began a professional and romantic relationship that would go on to shape the European cinema landscape of the subsequent decade.
Berger’s most significant...
Born in Austria in 1944, Berger moved to Rome and began pursuing an acting career after expressing disinterest in following his parents into the hospitality industry. He initially found work as an extra before meeting Visconti in 1964. The “Rocco and His Brothers” director gave Berger a small part in his 1967 film “The Witches,” an omnibus film also directed by the likes of Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Berger and Visconti began a professional and romantic relationship that would go on to shape the European cinema landscape of the subsequent decade.
Berger’s most significant...
- 5/18/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
It’s always best to be upfront and honest about your interests during a first date in this week’s new Focal Point comic! I have no idea what I would do on a first date these days (blessed haven’t had to worry about that for a few years), but I imagine I wouldn’t hold much back: […]
The post Focal Point: First Date Conversation Piece appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
The post Focal Point: First Date Conversation Piece appeared first on Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture..
- 9/11/2020
- by Jordan Maison
- Cinelinx
Luchino Visconti’s handsome final feature adapts a classic Italian novel about an arrogant aristocrat whose selfish double-standard philosophy causes ruin and misery. The 19th century villas and ornate costumes dazzle, but the depressingly fated story will be tough going for sensitive audiences. This new disc encoding highlights the intoxicating atmosphere, and the intense performances of Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli and Jennifer O’Neill.
L’innocente
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 129 112 min. / Street Date July 14, 2020 / 29.95
Starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, Jennifer O’Neill, Rina Morelli, Massimo Girotti, Didier Haudepin, Marie Dubois, Roberta Paladini, Claude Mann, Marc Porel.
Cinematography: Pasqualino De Santis
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Original Music: Franco Mannino
Production Design: Mario Garbuglia
Costumes: Piero Tosi
Written by Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti from the novel by Gabriele D’Annunzio
Produced by Giovanni Bertolucci
Directed by Luchino Visconti
The availability of European art cinema became spotty in the 1970s,...
L’innocente
Blu-ray
Film Movement Classics
1976 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 129 112 min. / Street Date July 14, 2020 / 29.95
Starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, Jennifer O’Neill, Rina Morelli, Massimo Girotti, Didier Haudepin, Marie Dubois, Roberta Paladini, Claude Mann, Marc Porel.
Cinematography: Pasqualino De Santis
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Original Music: Franco Mannino
Production Design: Mario Garbuglia
Costumes: Piero Tosi
Written by Suso Cecchi D’Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti from the novel by Gabriele D’Annunzio
Produced by Giovanni Bertolucci
Directed by Luchino Visconti
The availability of European art cinema became spotty in the 1970s,...
- 8/4/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The early years of David Bowie’s career will be the focus of the upcoming five-disc Conversation Piece. The box set collects the singer’s 1968 and 1969 works, from home recordings to his work with guitarist John “Hutch” Hutchinson and the mime group Feathers to Space Oddity.
In addition to recently released Mercury Demos, Conversation Piece, due out November 15th, features 12 previously unreleased Bowie recordings, ranging from a handful of unheard home demos (“Animal Farm,” “April’s Tooth of Gold”) to early mixes of Space Oddity songs. The set also promises...
In addition to recently released Mercury Demos, Conversation Piece, due out November 15th, features 12 previously unreleased Bowie recordings, ranging from a handful of unheard home demos (“Animal Farm,” “April’s Tooth of Gold”) to early mixes of Space Oddity songs. The set also promises...
- 9/5/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Burt Lancaster in Frank and Eleanor Perry's The Swimmer (1968), based upon the John Cheever short story. Courtesy of Film Forum.For decades, film critics and academics interested in the classical Hollywood cinema have been dutifully studying the canonized big stars—Cary Grant, Garbo, the Hepburns, Bogart and Bacall, Dietrich and Crawford and Monroe—while downplaying one of the most highly varied and fascinating careers of any studio actor: Burt Lancaster. Now, New York’s Film Forum is giving us a great excuse to revisit this actor’s towering body of work—emphasis on “body.” From big-name classics like Louis Malle’s Atlantic City (1980) and John Frankenheimer’s Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) to little-known masterpieces like Carol Reed’s Trapeze (1956) and Luchino Visconti’s late decadent chamber drama Conversation Piece (1974), a meaty, healthy range of Burt is on display for the next four weeks, between July 19 to August 15.Serious film talk...
- 7/23/2019
- MUBI
David Bowie’s 1969 demo tape, recorded in an effort to secure a record contract with Mercury Records, will be released as The Mercury Demos on June 28th.
The 10-song vinyl release, featuring nine unreleased tracks, feature early versions of Space Oddity tracks like “Janine,” “An Occasional Dream,” “Letter to Hermione” and “Space Oddity”; the version of “Space Oddity” here previously featured on the Sound & Vision box set, the lone recording from The Mercury Demos that has been released.
The Mercury Demos, which Bowie recorded alongside guitarist John Hutchison, also features...
The 10-song vinyl release, featuring nine unreleased tracks, feature early versions of Space Oddity tracks like “Janine,” “An Occasional Dream,” “Letter to Hermione” and “Space Oddity”; the version of “Space Oddity” here previously featured on the Sound & Vision box set, the lone recording from The Mercury Demos that has been released.
The Mercury Demos, which Bowie recorded alongside guitarist John Hutchison, also features...
- 4/26/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Italy’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia is ramping up production of restored Italian cinema gems with several high-profile titles set to screen at upcoming festivals including the Taviani Brothers’ “Good Morning Babilonia” which plays Thursday on Locarno’s Piazza Grande, presented by Paolo Taviani.
The fablelike “Babilonia,” which is about two immigrant stonemasons who work on the sets for D. W. Griffith’s ”Intolerance,” has been praised by Locarno artistic director Carlo Chatrian as “not just a homage to the great Italian tradition of art and craft workshops, but also an insightful interpretation of what cinema is about.”
The film’s restoration was supervised by its original cinematographer Beppe Lanci, as Csc chief Felice Laudadio points out.
Laudadio has been instrumental to the current push for more restorations being done by the Csc’s film archives. “The plan from now up to next May is for 12 films, which has never been done before,...
The fablelike “Babilonia,” which is about two immigrant stonemasons who work on the sets for D. W. Griffith’s ”Intolerance,” has been praised by Locarno artistic director Carlo Chatrian as “not just a homage to the great Italian tradition of art and craft workshops, but also an insightful interpretation of what cinema is about.”
The film’s restoration was supervised by its original cinematographer Beppe Lanci, as Csc chief Felice Laudadio points out.
Laudadio has been instrumental to the current push for more restorations being done by the Csc’s film archives. “The plan from now up to next May is for 12 films, which has never been done before,...
- 8/7/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Above: French poster for Ossessione (1943). Artist: Boris Grinsson.To commemorate the complete retrospective of the films of Luchino Visconti starting today at New York's Film Society of Lincoln Center, I decided to choose my favorite poster for each film in Visconti’s titanic body of work (including the three portmanteau films to which he contributed episodes). For many of his films the range of posters are an embarrassment of riches ranging from tempestuous Italian romanticism and beautifully executed French realism to stark German stylization and wry Polish surrealism. Although I think that Italian romanticism certainly suits Visconti best of all in terms of really representing his work—Averardo Ciriello’s stirring portrait of storm-lashed fishermen for La terra trema being a case in point—it is the more gnomic Polish films that I seem to have gravitated to most. There are eight Polish posters here and what is remarkable is...
- 6/8/2018
- MUBI
We all, on some level, regret aging because we fear dying, but there’s something especially poignant about watching artists who celebrated vitality grapple with their mortality. It’s one thing to watch Bergman or Woody Allen settle into their later years, having seen them grapple with those subjects their entire careers. It’s quite another when an artist who once seemed to defy death’s grip can no longer avoid it.
Conversation Piece was Luchino Visconti’s penultimate film, released a little more than a year before his death. He was only 67, and had already suffered a stroke. Remarkable in its formal construction, you can nevertheless feel his regrets, his fears, his very life coming to the fore through his protagonist, a retired professor played by Burt Lancaster. So solitary is his existence that he isn’t even given a name. He’s content in his Italian apartment, taking...
Conversation Piece was Luchino Visconti’s penultimate film, released a little more than a year before his death. He was only 67, and had already suffered a stroke. Remarkable in its formal construction, you can nevertheless feel his regrets, his fears, his very life coming to the fore through his protagonist, a retired professor played by Burt Lancaster. So solitary is his existence that he isn’t even given a name. He’s content in his Italian apartment, taking...
- 7/30/2017
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
★★★☆☆ A 'conversation piece' is an informal family portrait painting, primarily from 18th century Britain. Such a genre of artwork forms a perfect inspiration for Luchino Visconti's penultimate film, Conversation Piece, which echoes both its painterly beginnings and transposes its title more literally into the cinematic medium. It fascinates and stultifies in unexpectedly equal measure, quoting the visual splendour, and arrangement, of the canvases it refers to and settling into recurrent - and on occasion tiresome - dialogue scenes.
- 8/23/2016
- by CineVue
- CineVue
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces Ava DuVernay’s documentary The 13th as the Opening Night selection of the 54th New York Film Festival (September 30 – October 16), making its world premiere at Alice Tully Hall. The 13th is the first-ever nonfiction work to open the festival, and will debut on Netflix and open in a limited theatrical run on October 7.
Chronicling the history of racial inequality in the United States, The 13th examines how our country has produced the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The title of DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing film refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution—“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States . . . ” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass incarceration and...
Chronicling the history of racial inequality in the United States, The 13th examines how our country has produced the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the majority of those imprisoned being African-American. The title of DuVernay’s extraordinary and galvanizing film refers to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution—“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States . . . ” The progression from that second qualifying clause to the horrors of mass incarceration and...
- 7/19/2016
- by Kellvin Chavez
- LRMonline.com
If the languid summer tentpole season has you down, fear not, as the promising fall slate is around the corner and today brings the first news of what we’ll see at the 2016 New York Film Festival. For the first time ever, a non-fiction film will open The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s festival: Ava DuVernay‘s The 13th. Her timely follow-up to Selma chronicles the history of racial inequality in the United States and will arrive on Netflix and in limited theaters shortly after its premiere at Nyff, on October 7.
“It is a true honor for me and my collaborators to premiere The 13th as the opening night selection of the New York Film Festival,” Ava DuVernay says. “This film was made as an answer to my own questions about how and why we have become the most incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard...
“It is a true honor for me and my collaborators to premiere The 13th as the opening night selection of the New York Film Festival,” Ava DuVernay says. “This film was made as an answer to my own questions about how and why we have become the most incarcerated nation in the world, how and why we regard...
- 7/19/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Portrait of an Artist: Corfixen’s Familial Doc an Interesting Conversation Piece
There everyone was, in high anticipation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives about to be unleashed in competition. Two years prior, he had unveiled Drive in the same place, where it took home Best Director for Refn and a wave of international critical praise by the time it had released theatrically later that same year. Reuniting once more with star Ryan Gosling, stakes were impossibly high and Refn seemed determined to do anything but repeat himself, resulting in his decision to tackle an idea he’d had for something decidedly un-commercial. A wave of boos from the fickle Cannes audience greeted Refn, followed by an incredibly divisive response upon its continued release. During the making of the film and right through the premiere, Refn’s wife, actress Liv Corfixen, was filming...
There everyone was, in high anticipation at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, with Nicolas Winding Refn’s Only God Forgives about to be unleashed in competition. Two years prior, he had unveiled Drive in the same place, where it took home Best Director for Refn and a wave of international critical praise by the time it had released theatrically later that same year. Reuniting once more with star Ryan Gosling, stakes were impossibly high and Refn seemed determined to do anything but repeat himself, resulting in his decision to tackle an idea he’d had for something decidedly un-commercial. A wave of boos from the fickle Cannes audience greeted Refn, followed by an incredibly divisive response upon its continued release. During the making of the film and right through the premiere, Refn’s wife, actress Liv Corfixen, was filming...
- 2/25/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Nearly two decades into a career that has since spanned nearly seven, Jeanne Moreau had already worked under the direction of Godard, Malle, Welles, Antonioni, Demy, Ophüls, Frankenheimer and Buñuel, among others, by the time she collaborated again with François Truffaut, who had previously helped make her a star with Jules and Jim. Their third collaboration (the first being 400 Blows), The Bride Wore Black, a psycho-thriller inspired by the work of his hero Alfred Hitchcock again put her in the spotlight, this time as a vengeful seductress to which Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman’s Bride of Kill Bill is much indebted to (though the homage crazed auteur claims to have never seen the film). With incredible bipolar turns, Moreau plays Julie Kohler, a widow on a mission to take revenge on the five men (including Claude Rich, Michel Bouquet, Michael Lonsdale, Daniel Boulanger and Charles Denner) responsible for the death of her husband.
- 2/18/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
So, I’ll be the first to admit that I have never seen this film, nor have I ever heard it mentioned, even on the corners of the internet where friends are obsessed with Italian cinema. However, this is a Raro Video Blu-ray, which means it will be part of my collection. I don’t know if you that are reading have ever purchased a Raro Blu-ray before, but they are fantastic releases, and serve a great purpose of exposing us to some of the best of the criminally ignored entries into the Italian genre film scene. On August 5th, Raro Video, in partnership with Kino Lorber will release the new Raro Video Blu-ray release of Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair, and if you’re a fan of what Raro and Kino do, then you should probably hit this link and pre-order a copy for yourself. Check out the press release below.
- 7/26/2014
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
Raro Video will be releasing the second volume of Fernando Di Leo’s crime films in a three piece set on Blu-Ray or DVD including the films Shoot First, Die Later, Kidnap Syndicate and Naked Violence. For those of you unfamiliar with Di Leo’s films, I have included the trailers & synopses below the official Press Release info. For fans of Reservoir Dogs or just crime & heist films in general, you will find some delight in these Di Leo films. Bravo to Raro for giving these films the TLC that was needed.
Los Angeles - (May 30, 2013) – Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian film label Raro Video announces the company will debut a second volume of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the “Master of mafia mayhem” Fernando Di Leo.
Outstanding in bold, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters,...
Los Angeles - (May 30, 2013) – Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian film label Raro Video announces the company will debut a second volume of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful films of the “Master of mafia mayhem” Fernando Di Leo.
Outstanding in bold, intricately plotted, ultra-violent stories about pimps and petty gangsters,...
- 5/30/2013
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
DVD Release Date: Dec. 11, 2012
Price: DVD $49.98
Studio: Entertainment One
Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider star in Visconti's 1972 epic Ludwig.
Luchino Visconti: Four Films is a five-disc collection that spotlights a quartet of the great Italian filmmaker’s works that span nearly three decades.
Through an impressive and highly acclaimed canon, Luchino Visconti (Senso, Conversation Piece) contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking, earned him the title of “Father of Neorealism” in the process.
The collection’s four films include the following:
La Terra Trema (1948): This a haunting film uses the early neorealism format developed by Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to trace the doom and disintegration of one Sicilian fishing family. Winner of the International Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the movie was a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it ran theatrically in 1965,
Bellissima (1951): Anna Magnani...
Price: DVD $49.98
Studio: Entertainment One
Helmut Berger and Romy Schneider star in Visconti's 1972 epic Ludwig.
Luchino Visconti: Four Films is a five-disc collection that spotlights a quartet of the great Italian filmmaker’s works that span nearly three decades.
Through an impressive and highly acclaimed canon, Luchino Visconti (Senso, Conversation Piece) contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking, earned him the title of “Father of Neorealism” in the process.
The collection’s four films include the following:
La Terra Trema (1948): This a haunting film uses the early neorealism format developed by Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to trace the doom and disintegration of one Sicilian fishing family. Winner of the International Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, the movie was a New York Times Critic’s Pick when it ran theatrically in 1965,
Bellissima (1951): Anna Magnani...
- 11/30/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Dear Danny,
No apologies needed for your rich reportage. One of the nice things about this conversation format is that it allows me to jot down titles that I might have otherwise missed, helping me shine some light into the frequent disorientation of packed, conflicting schedules.
Incidentally, illumination is what the title of Carlos Reygadas’ new film promises. For the opening ten minutes or so, Post Tenebras Lux follows a tiny girl excitedly splashing in a muddy field, dogs and cows meandering around her as an incoming storm rumbles in the distance. The sun disappears behind clouds, and lightning flash silhouettes the lonely toddler. Reygadas is very clever at stuff like this, coming up with a vast, assertive composition and then letting unpredictable elements like children, animals and weather play their part in it. But that’s not enough: He has to further make his hand felt by smearing the...
No apologies needed for your rich reportage. One of the nice things about this conversation format is that it allows me to jot down titles that I might have otherwise missed, helping me shine some light into the frequent disorientation of packed, conflicting schedules.
Incidentally, illumination is what the title of Carlos Reygadas’ new film promises. For the opening ten minutes or so, Post Tenebras Lux follows a tiny girl excitedly splashing in a muddy field, dogs and cows meandering around her as an incoming storm rumbles in the distance. The sun disappears behind clouds, and lightning flash silhouettes the lonely toddler. Reygadas is very clever at stuff like this, coming up with a vast, assertive composition and then letting unpredictable elements like children, animals and weather play their part in it. But that’s not enough: He has to further make his hand felt by smearing the...
- 9/10/2012
- MUBI
Reviewer: Jeffrey M Anderson
Ratings (out of five): ****
In 1974, Luchino Visconti was nearly seventy and had worked as a filmmaker for thirty years. He was in ill health and his most glorious films were behind him. When it came time to make Conversation Piece, which would become his second-to-last film, he needed something fairly simple to shoot, like something that took place in one building.
Having hit upon an idea, he called up some of his favorite actors, including Burt Lancaster, who had starred in Visconti's opulent masterpiece The Leopard (1963). The presence of Lancaster in a much smaller-scale Visconti production can only draw unfavorable comparisons. And, no, Conversation Piece is not nearly as impressive, ambitious, or powerful as The Leopard. But that doesn't make it a bad film.
Ratings (out of five): ****
In 1974, Luchino Visconti was nearly seventy and had worked as a filmmaker for thirty years. He was in ill health and his most glorious films were behind him. When it came time to make Conversation Piece, which would become his second-to-last film, he needed something fairly simple to shoot, like something that took place in one building.
Having hit upon an idea, he called up some of his favorite actors, including Burt Lancaster, who had starred in Visconti's opulent masterpiece The Leopard (1963). The presence of Lancaster in a much smaller-scale Visconti production can only draw unfavorable comparisons. And, no, Conversation Piece is not nearly as impressive, ambitious, or powerful as The Leopard. But that doesn't make it a bad film.
- 4/10/2012
- by weezy
- GreenCine
Welcome back to This Week In DVD! This is actually the third anniversary of my stewardship of the column, and I want to thank all of you for stopping by each and every Tuesday to check out the week’s best and worst DVD releases. I’ve discovered countless fantastic films over the last three years, and I hope some of you can claim the same. Or even just one of you. This week’s releases include an utterly terrible biopic (with great makeup!) of Margaret Thatcher, Werner Herzog’s best documentary from 2011, a bland alien invasion flick set in Moscow, a powerful boys-in-prison drama from Norway and more! As always, if you see something you like, click on the image to buy it. Conversation Piece Burt Lancaster plays a retired American living in Rome whose quiet life is interrupted by a quartet of rude and rambunctious neighbors. They talk their way into renting his upstairs apartment...
- 4/10/2012
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Luchino Visconti's penultimate film, Conversation Piece, is an action packed condensation of his career in a mere two hours. The film follows a wealthy American ex-pat played by Visconti favorite Burt Lancaster (The Leopard), as his life is time and again interrupted by a family who insinuate themselves into his life. The continuing shenanigans of this set of upper crust vulgarians turn The Professor's quiet existence into a constant undulating barrage of intrigue, mystery, and wake him up from his own insulated life.There is an interesting comparison to be drawn between Visconti's masterpiece, The Leopard, and this later work. In The Leopard, Lancaster plays an Italian nobleman who is attempting to shield his family from an increasingly hostile political situation by sheltering them in his...
- 4/9/2012
- Screen Anarchy
While the future of home entertainment may be rapidly moving towards a digital streaming-led future, we can't be the only movie nerds who still love owning a physical copy of something. Sure, BluRay and DVD might be scratchable, easily lost and adorned by terrible box art, but there's something about the feeling of finding an undiscovered gem in the depths of a store, or getting a rarity in the post, that doesn't quite compare to clicking and watching something on Netflix.
As such, starting with this column, every month we're going to pick out five BluRays or DVDs new to the market that no self-respecting cinephile's shelves could do without. Some are shiny new versions of stone-cold classics, some are obscurities, some might even be brand new releases (although less often: those are covered pretty well elsewhere). Read on for more.
"Chinatown" (1974)
Why You Should Care: Simply put, it's one...
As such, starting with this column, every month we're going to pick out five BluRays or DVDs new to the market that no self-respecting cinephile's shelves could do without. Some are shiny new versions of stone-cold classics, some are obscurities, some might even be brand new releases (although less often: those are covered pretty well elsewhere). Read on for more.
"Chinatown" (1974)
Why You Should Care: Simply put, it's one...
- 4/4/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
Blu-ray Release Date: April 10, 2011
Price: Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Raro Video
Burt Lancaster stars in Luchino Visconti's 1974 drama Conversation Piece.
Italian DVD label Raro Video releases the 1974 drama Conversation Piece, Luchino Visconti’s (Senso) penultimate film, one month after issuing the film on DVD in early March, 2012.
Entitled Gruppo di famiglia in un interno in its native Italian, the movie examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa Silvana Mangano, Dune) and her companions – her lover (Helmut Berger, The Romantic Englishwoman), her daughter (Claudia Marsani, The Hired Gun), and jer daughter’s boyfriend (Stefano Patrizi, Lion of the Desert) – he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his home. Before long, the introverted professor’s routine is turned upside down and...
Price: Blu-ray $29.98
Studio: Raro Video
Burt Lancaster stars in Luchino Visconti's 1974 drama Conversation Piece.
Italian DVD label Raro Video releases the 1974 drama Conversation Piece, Luchino Visconti’s (Senso) penultimate film, one month after issuing the film on DVD in early March, 2012.
Entitled Gruppo di famiglia in un interno in its native Italian, the movie examines the solitary life of a retired American professor (Burt Lancaster, Sweet Smell of Success) who lives alone in a luxurious palazzo in Rome. When he is confronted by a vulgar Italian marchesa Silvana Mangano, Dune) and her companions – her lover (Helmut Berger, The Romantic Englishwoman), her daughter (Claudia Marsani, The Hired Gun), and jer daughter’s boyfriend (Stefano Patrizi, Lion of the Desert) – he is forced to rent them an apartment on the upper floor of his home. Before long, the introverted professor’s routine is turned upside down and...
- 3/23/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Christina Hendricks -- My Boobs Are Not a Conversation Piece!!!! One day after she wore a top that shoved her boobs into her chin ... "Mad Men" actress Christina Hendricks Shut Us Down when we asked a Totally Fair question about 'em. Hendricks was out in L.A. Tuesday night when we asked if she ever gets tired about people talking about her gals ... when she refused to answer and walked away from our camera. Of course, Christina hasn't always been so shy about her chest ... and if you're not a blind person, you can see the proof below. News Source: TMZ...
- 9/15/2011
- by tmz
- Gossipvita
Claudia Cardinale, Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, The Leopard Burt Lancaster is Turner Classic Movies' "Summer Under the Stars" featured star today, August 25. TCM is presenting 11 Burt Lancaster movies, including two premieres: The Leopard and Scorpio. [Burt Lancaster Movie Schedule.] A powerful but hammy leading man who developed into a first-rate mature actor-star in movies such as Luchino Visconti's Conversation Piece and Louis Malle's Atlantic City, Lancaster had a long, eclectic, and prestigious career both in Hollywood and abroad. Imagine Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Clark Gable, or John Wayne working with Visconti and Malle, not to mention Bernardo Bertolucci (Novecento / 1900), John Cassavetes (A Child Is Waiting), and Bill Forsyth (Local Hero). TCM is now showing Cassavetes' A Child Is Waiting (1963), quite possibly the director's most accessible — i.e., commercial — effort. Produced by Stanley Kramer, a filmmaker with a strong (at times overly so) sense of (liberal) social commitment, and directed by...
- 8/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Chris Brown put the charms on a parking officer yesterday in L.A. -- successfully dodging an expensive ticket -- but in the process ... he hurled another Nasty homophobic slur. Before sweet-talking the cop, Brown accused several cameramen of alerting parking enforcement officers that his car was illegally parked, ranting, "Y'all n**gas is weak. Did you all call them to try and film me? Y'all N**Gas Is Gay ." It's not the first time Brown publicly disparaged gay people.
- 6/22/2011
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
America’s Baby Cancer Foundation has announced the offer for sale of two music memorabilia items to mark the launch of its new Rock for Kidz charitable program.
For sale are the worldwide publishing rights to a previously unreleased song featuring Willie Nelson, entitled “Indian Paintbrushes, Blue Bonnets and You,” and a limited edition art print by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, entitled “Conversation Piece.” These two items were donated to Rock for Kidz through the generosity of private individuals. The proceeds of the sale will benefit America’s Baby Cancer Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that provides support to the families of children with cancer.
Read more...
For sale are the worldwide publishing rights to a previously unreleased song featuring Willie Nelson, entitled “Indian Paintbrushes, Blue Bonnets and You,” and a limited edition art print by Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, entitled “Conversation Piece.” These two items were donated to Rock for Kidz through the generosity of private individuals. The proceeds of the sale will benefit America’s Baby Cancer Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that provides support to the families of children with cancer.
Read more...
- 5/10/2011
- Look to the Stars
A few months back, we were lucky enough to play the SXSW and Cannes favorite Dogtooth at the Ritz. Seeing this masterpiece on the big screen with sold out crowds was an incredible experience. We knew right away that this was a hit and our scant three showings wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the hungry Austin crowds. After making a request to hold the film over, we discovered that Austin wasn’t the only town in love with Dogtooth – it was booked for a solid two months playing across the country.
Finally, we’ll be able to bring it back to the Alamo, for the first time on glorious 35mm! Starting on Sunday, November 14, the SXSW hit and Prize Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes is playing at the Village for a week of 10pm showings that will make your head spin!
About Dogtooth
Dogtooth is a dreamy film,...
Finally, we’ll be able to bring it back to the Alamo, for the first time on glorious 35mm! Starting on Sunday, November 14, the SXSW hit and Prize Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes is playing at the Village for a week of 10pm showings that will make your head spin!
About Dogtooth
Dogtooth is a dreamy film,...
- 11/3/2010
- by Daniel Metz
- OriginalAlamo.com
SXSW Presents: Dogtooth – Tuesday 9/7 and Wednesday 9/8 at 7pm, and Sunday 9/12 @10:15pm – @Ritz
Advance tickets available here
The Cannes Film Festival, arguably the world’s fanciest film festival, awards the Prize Un Certain Regard every year to a film they find innovative, daring, and different, promising a bright future for a new filmmaker with fresh vision. Last year, that prize went to a Greek satire titled Kyondontas, or in English – Dogtooth.
Dogtooth is a dreamy film, brilliantly directed and acted, and unfolding a story so bizarre and creepy that it’ll scare you. The parents of a pack of young people intentionally shelter their offspring from the outside world, forbidding them from leaving their home with lies and the threat of danger. So deep is their shielded life that even vocabulary is changed to continue the illusion of isolation (“Zombie” is a yellow flower, “Pussy” a big light, “Telephone” a...
Advance tickets available here
The Cannes Film Festival, arguably the world’s fanciest film festival, awards the Prize Un Certain Regard every year to a film they find innovative, daring, and different, promising a bright future for a new filmmaker with fresh vision. Last year, that prize went to a Greek satire titled Kyondontas, or in English – Dogtooth.
Dogtooth is a dreamy film, brilliantly directed and acted, and unfolding a story so bizarre and creepy that it’ll scare you. The parents of a pack of young people intentionally shelter their offspring from the outside world, forbidding them from leaving their home with lies and the threat of danger. So deep is their shielded life that even vocabulary is changed to continue the illusion of isolation (“Zombie” is a yellow flower, “Pussy” a big light, “Telephone” a...
- 9/3/2010
- by Daniel Metz
- OriginalAlamo.com
Lamberto Maggiorani in Vittorio de Sica‘s Bicycle Thieves (aka The Bicycle Thief) Suso Cecchi D’Amico, the only top female screenwriter in the post-war Italian cinema, died today in Rome. She had turned 96 on July 14. According to reports, no cause of death was given. Chiefly among Cecchi D’Amico’s screenwriting contributions — nearly 120 of them — are those for Vittorio de Sica‘s Oscar-winning neo-realist classic Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Cannes Film Festival co-winner Miracle in Milan (1951), and for numerous films directed by Luchino Visconti, among them Bellissima (1951), Senso (1954), Rocco e i suoi fratelli / Rocco and His Brothers (1960), Il Gattopardo / The Leopard (1963), Ludwig (1973), and Conversation Piece (1975). Additionally, Cecchi D’Amico collaborated with a number of other celebrated Italian filmmakers, including Michelangelo Antonioni (Le Amiche / The Girlfriends), Alessandro Blasetti (La fortuna di essere donna / Lucky to Be a Woman), Luigi Zampa (L’onorevole Angelina), [...]...
- 8/1/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A New 'Conversation Piece' video has been released for upcoming action-comedy adventure Knight and Day.
In the clip, stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz talk about the movie, which is released in UK cinemas on August 6. The video is embedded below.
Cruise plays secret agent Roy Miller who goes on a blind date with unlucky-in-love June Havens (Diaz) and ends up pulling her into a mission to save the key to a source of infinite power.
During their glamorous, globetrotting and sometimes deadly adventure, nothing and no one - even the now fugitive couple - are what they seem.
Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the world with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs trust.
The cast is rounded out with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Viola Davis, Jordi Mollà and the film - which was shot in locations including Massachusetts,...
In the clip, stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz talk about the movie, which is released in UK cinemas on August 6. The video is embedded below.
Cruise plays secret agent Roy Miller who goes on a blind date with unlucky-in-love June Havens (Diaz) and ends up pulling her into a mission to save the key to a source of infinite power.
During their glamorous, globetrotting and sometimes deadly adventure, nothing and no one - even the now fugitive couple - are what they seem.
Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the world with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs trust.
The cast is rounded out with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Viola Davis, Jordi Mollà and the film - which was shot in locations including Massachusetts,...
- 6/17/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Claudia Cardinale arrives at the premiere of Luchino Visconti’s Il Gattopardo / The Leopard, which was held at the Palais des Festivals during the 63rd Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2010. (Photo by Venturelli/WireImage) Adapted by Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Enrico Medioli, and Massimo Franciosa, from Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa’s sprawling novel, The Leopard (1963) also featured Alain Delon (you can see part of him in the above photo), Burt Lancaster, Paolo Stoppa, Romolo Valli, Pierre Clémenti, Terence Hill, and Giuliano Gemma. Other Visconti efforts include Ossessione, Senso, Rocco and His Brothers (in which Cardinale has a small role), Sandra (starring Cardinale), Death in Venice, Conversation Piece, Ludwig, and [...]...
- 5/18/2010
- by Joan Lister
- Alt Film Guide
Anouchka Delon and Alain Delon — and Claudia Cardinale’s arm — attend the premiere of Luchino Visconti’s restored 1963 classic Il gattopardo / The Leopard at the Salla DeBussy during the 63rd Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2010 in Cannes, France. (Photo: Swarovski / WireImage.) Adapted by Visconti, Suso Cecchi d’Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Enrico Medioli, and Massimo Franciosa, from Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa’s novel, The Leopard is considered by some the greatest among Visconti’s films. Also in the cast: Burt Lancaster, Paolo Stoppa, Romolo Valli, Pierre Clémenti, Terence Hill, and Giuliano Gemma. Other Visconti efforts include Ossessione, Senso, Rocco and His Brothers, Death in Venice, Conversation Piece, and The Innocent. Click on the photo to [...]...
- 5/18/2010
- by Zhea David
- Alt Film Guide
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.