Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveriesNEWSRadley Metzger's The Lickerish QuartetRadley Metzger, whose groundbreaking erotic films helped set standards of style for both mainstream and arthouse cinema, has died at 88. His classics Camille 2000 (1969) and The Lickerish Quartet (1970) were featured on Mubi last year. Critic and programmer Steve Macfarlane interviewed the director at Slant Magazine for the Film Society of Lincoln Center's 2014 retrospective devoted to Metzger.Recommended VIEWINGThe Cinémathèque française has been on a roll uploading video discussions that have taken place at their Paris cinema. This 34 minute talk is between Wes Anderson and director/producer Barbet Schroeder.The Criterion Collection has recently released a new edition of Michelangelo Antonioni's masterpiece Blow-Up, and has uploaded this stellar clip of actor David Hemmings speaking on a talk show about making the film.Recommended READINGHoward Hawks' ScarfaceHow does Chicago intertwine itself with crime and the culture created in the mix of the two?...
- 4/5/2017
- MUBI
Utilizing a tremendous premise in the most laborious way possible, Josef von Sternberg’s The Last Command has to rank among his least dynamic and interesting films. Taking inspiration from an actual Russian general who fled the motherland and was forced to work as a day-player extra in early Hollywood, the 1928 film only treats its present-day setting as a framing device to house a too-familiar tale. Sergius Alexander (Emil Jannings), grand duke and army commander, had a special fervor for quashing revolutionary movements, but, as he’s living on the brink of the Russian Revolution, this task is sure to overwhelm him. Stretching this exposition across an hour of screentime, even someone of Sternberg’s genius cannot find purchase in anything of interest. There’s nothing distinctive about Sergius’s fall from glory, nor the manner in which he wields his power. Nothing in this section is a fraction as...
- 8/12/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Remember Charlie Chaplin's 'The Killer with a Heart?' You too will be frustrated by this well-produced story of a slum kid who commits an unpardonable crime... except that a do-gooder priest wants to pardon him. Dana Andrews and Farley Granger star but the good work is in the smaller roles of this urban tragedy. Edge of Doom DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date February 9, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 18.59 Starring Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Joan Evans, Robert Keith, Paul Stewart, Mala Powers, Adele Jergens, Harold Vermilyea, John Ridgely, Douglas Fowley, Mabel Paige, Howland Chamberlain, Houseley Stevenson Sr., Jean Inness, Ellen Corby, Ray Teal. Cinematography Harry Stradling Film Editor Daniel Mandell Original Music Hugo Friedhofer Written by Philip Yordan Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Directed by Mark Robson
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What's the most hopeless, depressing, feel-bad film noir on the charts? How about Detour,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What's the most hopeless, depressing, feel-bad film noir on the charts? How about Detour,...
- 5/16/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"What's most remarkable about Chocolat (1988), Claire Denis's first feature, is the degree to which her superb command of the sensuous is already apparent," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. More goings on rounded up today: Retrospectives of work by Curtis Harrington, Maurice Pialat, Lynne Sachs, Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay, an exhibition built around Matthew Barney's epic River of Fundament, "Scintillating 16mm" in San Francisco and capsule reviews of Josef von Sternberg's Underworld, Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. and Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary. » - David Hudson...
- 9/17/2015
- Keyframe
"What's most remarkable about Chocolat (1988), Claire Denis's first feature, is the degree to which her superb command of the sensuous is already apparent," writes Melissa Anderson in the Voice. More goings on rounded up today: Retrospectives of work by Curtis Harrington, Maurice Pialat, Lynne Sachs, Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay, an exhibition built around Matthew Barney's epic River of Fundament, "Scintillating 16mm" in San Francisco and capsule reviews of Josef von Sternberg's Underworld, Alexander Mackendrick's The Sweet Smell of Success, Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. and Mary Lambert's Pet Sematary. » - David Hudson...
- 9/17/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
From The Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1948. Article text Excerpt:
Chaplain Pens Movie
Ministers Accept Roles In ‘Underground’ Film
By Hedda Hopper
Hollywood – Twelve ministers will play themselves in Eagle-Lion’s “Twelve Against the Underworld,” which is based on a story by Dr. Norman Nygaard, a World War I veteran and civilian chaplain in the last war. When he returned to his home in Steubenville, O., in 1945, Nygaard found it overridden with the underworld, so he and 11 other ministers organized to rid the town of gangsters and grafting politicians. Aubrey Schenck will produce and Director Anthony Mann and Cameraman John Alton, who worked together on “T-Man” will be reteamed. The picture will be made entirely on location. It might set an example for other towns throughout America.
Underground Film Journal notes: The film critic Manny Farber is typically credited with inventing the term “underground film” in 1957 for an article in the...
Chaplain Pens Movie
Ministers Accept Roles In ‘Underground’ Film
By Hedda Hopper
Hollywood – Twelve ministers will play themselves in Eagle-Lion’s “Twelve Against the Underworld,” which is based on a story by Dr. Norman Nygaard, a World War I veteran and civilian chaplain in the last war. When he returned to his home in Steubenville, O., in 1945, Nygaard found it overridden with the underworld, so he and 11 other ministers organized to rid the town of gangsters and grafting politicians. Aubrey Schenck will produce and Director Anthony Mann and Cameraman John Alton, who worked together on “T-Man” will be reteamed. The picture will be made entirely on location. It might set an example for other towns throughout America.
Underground Film Journal notes: The film critic Manny Farber is typically credited with inventing the term “underground film” in 1957 for an article in the...
- 10/16/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
It’s official: The Denver Silent Film Festival is now an annual event! An opening gala—at the Seawell Ballroom on September 21st—heralds the start of its second year. This time last year, I was lucky enough to be in Colorado for its launching: three days of screenings (personal favorite: Josef von Sternberg’s 1927 gangster drama Underworld), with musical accompaniment (by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Hank Troy and Donald Sosin) and lively conversation. Alexander Payne took time out from his Descendants commitments to participate in presenting his mentor, David Shepard, with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Payne’s speech, about being a young...
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- 9/17/2012
- by Darwyn Carson
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Bérénice Bejo, Michel Hazanavicius Michel Hazanavicius, Bérénice Bejo Photo; Hazanavicius' Oscar 2012 Q&A Pt.1 Q. [Speaks in French ] Hollywood, next step Hollywood. A. It's not next step. I mean, this movie brings me some opportunities to meet people and some of them propose me send scripts, or told me that they wanted to work with me. And if there's a chance to make a good movie I will do it … with honor and great pleasure because people know how to make movies here. So, there's some beautiful actors, beautiful scriptwriters and, yes, I hope I will make a movie here once. It won't be the next one. And also, I have a wonderful producer who is French and I want to work with him again. And when you have that kind of producer you don't drop him off. You stay — you stuck to him. You stick to him. That's better I think. Q.
- 3/6/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Intrigued by The Artist but don't know where to start exploring the silent film archives? Try these five classics, which lead to plenty more…
It doesn't take long for a novelty to be hailed as a trend. Internet film rental service Lovefilm reports that the buzz around The Artist has sparked a boom in curiosity about early cinema, with a 40% rise in the number of people streaming silent films on its site in the week leading up to the Oscars.
The top 10 most-streamed silents include a clutch of Buster Keaton's ingenious comedies, some heady Hollywood melodrama (A Fool There Was, starring Theda Bara, and The Son of the Sheikh, with Rudolph Valentino) and creepy Swedish horror The Phantom Carriage. There are only two films on the list that seem to bear any relation to Michel Hazanavicius's surprise hit: Frank Borzage's mournful romance Seventh Heaven (which inspired the...
It doesn't take long for a novelty to be hailed as a trend. Internet film rental service Lovefilm reports that the buzz around The Artist has sparked a boom in curiosity about early cinema, with a 40% rise in the number of people streaming silent films on its site in the week leading up to the Oscars.
The top 10 most-streamed silents include a clutch of Buster Keaton's ingenious comedies, some heady Hollywood melodrama (A Fool There Was, starring Theda Bara, and The Son of the Sheikh, with Rudolph Valentino) and creepy Swedish horror The Phantom Carriage. There are only two films on the list that seem to bear any relation to Michel Hazanavicius's surprise hit: Frank Borzage's mournful romance Seventh Heaven (which inspired the...
- 3/2/2012
- by Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
Rebecca [Blu-ray] Movie: Disc: Click here to read the dvd review! "Written by the legendary script doctor Ben Hecht – winner of the first ever writing Oscar for Underworld in 1927 - Notorious is as lean and spare as a haiku. Through just a few laser focused scenes, Hecht and Hitchcock establish their characters’ histories, tendencies and motivations without a single wasted word or gesture. "...
- 2/21/2012
- IONCINEMA.com
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled its list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films in celebration of Michel Hazanavicius’ ode to the silent era, The Artist, which won three Golden Globes® Sunday night, including Best Picture . Musical or Comedy, Best Actor . Musical or Comedy for Jean Dujardin and Best Original Score. The Artist also picked up 12 British Academy Film Award nominations. The Weinstein Company will expand its release of The Artist nationwide on Friday.
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
- 1/18/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Josef von Sternberg, Charles Chaplin, John Ford: Shasta County Silent Film Festival Friday, October 21 6:00 p.m. Angora Love (1929, Laurel & Hardy). Stanley and Oliver are adopted by a runaway goat, whose noise and aroma in turn get the goat of their suspicious landlord. Attempts to bathe the smelly animal result in a waterlogged free-for-all. Pass the Gravy (1928, Max Davidson). Max Davidson plays a widower father who enjoys raising prize flowers. His neighbor, another widower father, raises prize poultry. The two families spat because the chickens are eating Max's flower seeds. In a Romeo and Juliet-like twist, the men's children decide to marry each other, and the fathers decide to hold a celebratory dinner to show no hard feelings. However, the roast chicken on the table looks very suspicious. It's a Gift (1923, Snub Pollard) Along with a Felix the Cat. A group of oil magnates are trying to think of new ways to attract business.
- 10/7/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 6th Annual Silent Film Festival at Shasta County, Calif., to be held October 21-22 at the Shasta County Arts Council's Performance Hall, will feature an eclectic group of silent-movie classics. Those range from Josef von Sternberg's crime drama Underworld (1927) to Carl Theodor Dreyer's marital drama Master of the House (1925). [Full schedule of the Shasta County Silent Film Fest.] Also: Rin Tin Tin in Clash of the Wolves, featuring Charles Farrell (who would later team up with Janet Gaynor to become one of the most popular screen couples of the late silent era/early talkie era); John Ford's ambitious Western The Iron Horse (1924), starring George O'Brien and Madge Bellamy; and the Douglas Fairbanks romantic comedy When the Clouds Roll By (1919), directed by Victor Fleming of Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz fame. Attending the festival will be silent-film restorationist and historian David Shepard and Bay Area Royal Jazz Society's Frederick Hodges. Check out...
- 10/7/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Underworld
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
United States, 1927
Josef von Sternberg’s pre-code gangster picture – the one that started it all – plays akin to the director’s vision throughout his career: hazy deep focus shots, sensuality that anticipates his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, tough guy theatrics, and an eye for poetic framing. Though its more name-famous companion piece, Howard Hawks’ Scarface, was produced five years later and during the Production Code, von Sternberg’s film is surprisingly less violent than Hawks’.
Underworld finds von Sternberg staple George Bancroft in the role of “Bull” Weed – gangster extraordinaire. When Bull happens upon a learned alcoholic itinerant after one of his infamous heists he takes the man under his wing, cleans him up, and nicknames him Rolls Royce (Clive Brook). Rolls Royce’s suave, quiet manner immediately endears him to “Feathers” McCoy (Evelyn Brent), Bull’s girlfriend. While a precarious love triangle develops,...
Directed by Josef von Sternberg
United States, 1927
Josef von Sternberg’s pre-code gangster picture – the one that started it all – plays akin to the director’s vision throughout his career: hazy deep focus shots, sensuality that anticipates his collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, tough guy theatrics, and an eye for poetic framing. Though its more name-famous companion piece, Howard Hawks’ Scarface, was produced five years later and during the Production Code, von Sternberg’s film is surprisingly less violent than Hawks’.
Underworld finds von Sternberg staple George Bancroft in the role of “Bull” Weed – gangster extraordinaire. When Bull happens upon a learned alcoholic itinerant after one of his infamous heists he takes the man under his wing, cleans him up, and nicknames him Rolls Royce (Clive Brook). Rolls Royce’s suave, quiet manner immediately endears him to “Feathers” McCoy (Evelyn Brent), Bull’s girlfriend. While a precarious love triangle develops,...
- 8/16/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
"He's a chin." Such was Josef von Sternberg's summation of Clive Brook, delivered when Marlene Dietrich asked what her leading man in Shanghai Express(1932) was like. Since Brook had already given a sympathetic and subtle performance for Sternberg in Underworld (1927), and since he was one of the few actors who actually liked Sternberg, this remark should perhaps be taken less as an insult, and more as a statement of intent: in Shanghai Express, Sternberg reduces his chum to a chin, rigid and inexpressive.
The real Brook was different, as his sole film as director attests. On Approval (1944) climaxed Brook's acting career (he returned to the screen in 1963 for John Huston, in The List of Adrian Messenger: the rest is silence) and serves as a definitive rebuttal to Sternberg's put-down, as it's a gay, wildly creative, consistently funny comedy. Being based on a play that was then fifty years...
The real Brook was different, as his sole film as director attests. On Approval (1944) climaxed Brook's acting career (he returned to the screen in 1963 for John Huston, in The List of Adrian Messenger: the rest is silence) and serves as a definitive rebuttal to Sternberg's put-down, as it's a gay, wildly creative, consistently funny comedy. Being based on a play that was then fifty years...
- 12/30/2010
- MUBI
Evelyn Brent is one of those actresses deserving greater recognition. To say she is “neglected” would not quite be true – but not quite inaccurate either.Brent had an interesting career, and in the 1920s and 1930s appeared in a number of notable films. She worked alongside other actors still well remembered today (Emil Jannings, William Powell, George Bancroft), as well as under the direction of some of the leading filmmakers of her time (Tod Browning, Frank Tuttle). Just recently, two silent film masterpieces starring Brent and directed by Josef von Sternberg, Underworld...
- 10/4/2010
- by Thomas Gladysz, SF Silent Movie Examiner
- Examiner Movies Channel
Disc 2 episodes are bonus/supplement episodes of The CriterionCast. Rudie Obias, Ryan Gallagher, & James McCormick ramble on and on about movies and movie experiences. “On The Screen” is where they discuss anything and everything that has been on their screens in the week. So anything from TV & movies to music & web junk, everything “On The Screen” is up for grabs. This is what they recommend to you, their listeners.
What do you think of their show? Please send them your feed back: CriterionCast@gmail.com or call their voicemail line @ 347.878.3430 or follow them on twitter @CriterionCast or Comment on their blog, http://CriterionCast.com.
Thank you for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to their podcast and please leave your reviews in their iTunes feed.
They broadcast every episode Live on UStream every Friday @ 8pm Est/5pm Pst. Join in on the conversation @ CriterionCast.com/Live
Our next episode they...
What do you think of their show? Please send them your feed back: CriterionCast@gmail.com or call their voicemail line @ 347.878.3430 or follow them on twitter @CriterionCast or Comment on their blog, http://CriterionCast.com.
Thank you for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe to their podcast and please leave your reviews in their iTunes feed.
They broadcast every episode Live on UStream every Friday @ 8pm Est/5pm Pst. Join in on the conversation @ CriterionCast.com/Live
Our next episode they...
- 9/17/2010
- by Rudie Obias
- CriterionCast
Criterion's December release announcement is brief, but sweet. David Cronenberg's Videodrome is coming to Blu-Ray while Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
- 9/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
by Brian Darr
The Criterion Collection lives up to its name, having in the past twelve years released over five hundred DVDs and box sets, generally with the best available image and sound quality, lovingly lavish packaging and supplemental features, a body of product containing a large proportion of the most noteworthy films in world cinema history. However, for every Jean-Luc Godard or Akira Kurosawa whose filmography has been well-served by Criterion's curatorial mission, there's a whole cinematic realm in which the company falls short. Films directed by women are few and far between, as are films from Asian nations other than Japan. Nothing at all has been released from South America or Africa, unless one counts Europeans' excursions there, such as Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus and Gillo Pontocorvo's The Battle of Algiers.
Surprisingly, the entire silent era, representing over three decades of moviemaking history, has yielded only a...
The Criterion Collection lives up to its name, having in the past twelve years released over five hundred DVDs and box sets, generally with the best available image and sound quality, lovingly lavish packaging and supplemental features, a body of product containing a large proportion of the most noteworthy films in world cinema history. However, for every Jean-Luc Godard or Akira Kurosawa whose filmography has been well-served by Criterion's curatorial mission, there's a whole cinematic realm in which the company falls short. Films directed by women are few and far between, as are films from Asian nations other than Japan. Nothing at all has been released from South America or Africa, unless one counts Europeans' excursions there, such as Marcel Camus' Black Orpheus and Gillo Pontocorvo's The Battle of Algiers.
Surprisingly, the entire silent era, representing over three decades of moviemaking history, has yielded only a...
- 8/28/2010
- GreenCine Daily
Grades: Underworld: B+; The Last Command: A; The Docks Of New York: A Inevitably, any mention of Vienna-born, New York-raised director Josef von Sternberg is tied to his iconic star and muse Marlene Dietrich, and not without cause: Their seven films together, including The Blue Angel, Blonde Venus, Morocco, and The Scarlet Empress, gave her an exotic aura that other actresses and performers have tried to imitate since, with limited success. To take nothing away from Dietrich, a great deal of that aura had to do with von Sternberg’s meticulous craft, characterized by a subtle, caressing lighting scheme that ...
- 8/25/2010
- avclub.com
DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed
Lost - The Complete Collection Well, this TV show is finally over and I never watched anything beyond the fourth season. I was just sort of over it. "Oh, hey! Look! A boat!" Yeah, seen one of those before. "Lost" just became mundane and one giant gimmick. Oh well. The Back-Up Plan Here's the prequel to The Switch. This one made $37 million and opened with $4 million more than The Switch though. Sort of surprising J-Lo and Alex O'Loughlin can pull in better numbers than Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. The Square This was a decent movie (my review), but at the best I'd say it's worth a rental. Survival of the Dead Zombies, along with vampires, appear to be a couple of horror categories that will never die and George A. Romero has exploited that fact more than any other filmmaker I can name.
Lost - The Complete Collection Well, this TV show is finally over and I never watched anything beyond the fourth season. I was just sort of over it. "Oh, hey! Look! A boat!" Yeah, seen one of those before. "Lost" just became mundane and one giant gimmick. Oh well. The Back-Up Plan Here's the prequel to The Switch. This one made $37 million and opened with $4 million more than The Switch though. Sort of surprising J-Lo and Alex O'Loughlin can pull in better numbers than Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman. The Square This was a decent movie (my review), but at the best I'd say it's worth a rental. Survival of the Dead Zombies, along with vampires, appear to be a couple of horror categories that will never die and George A. Romero has exploited that fact more than any other filmmaker I can name.
- 8/24/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
"Criterion's new box set of three silent films by Josef von Sternberg — Underworld (1927), The Last Command (1928) and The Docks of New York (1928) — is self-evidently one of the most important releases of the year," blogs Dave Kehr at his site (setting off, as always, a smart discussion), and hopefully you'll have already taken in Daniel Kasman's essay in text and images on "this most perverse and beautiful of Hollywood directors."...
- 8/24/2010
- MUBI
Above: Betty Compson and George Bancroft in Josef von Sternberg's The Docks of New York (1928). Courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
George Bancroft, that clay lump of an actor, is not Marlene Dietrich; it seems obvious but it's true. Neither is Emil Jannings, another majestically bulky silent star. Yet after the new set of silent films directed by Josef von Sternberg are released by The Criterion Collection, the fickle tides of film history and cinephilia may shift again, away from Sternberg's famed evocations of female glamour and towards heavyset giants lit like Caravaggios under Klieg lights.
No other auteur is so associated in his auteurship with an actor than Sternberg with Dietrich (I often seem to refer to them as Dietrich-Sternberg, like Straub-Huillet); yet these three films—Underworld (1927), The Last Command (1928), and The Docks of New York (1928), with the immovable Bancroft leading the first and the last, sandwiching an Academy...
George Bancroft, that clay lump of an actor, is not Marlene Dietrich; it seems obvious but it's true. Neither is Emil Jannings, another majestically bulky silent star. Yet after the new set of silent films directed by Josef von Sternberg are released by The Criterion Collection, the fickle tides of film history and cinephilia may shift again, away from Sternberg's famed evocations of female glamour and towards heavyset giants lit like Caravaggios under Klieg lights.
No other auteur is so associated in his auteurship with an actor than Sternberg with Dietrich (I often seem to refer to them as Dietrich-Sternberg, like Straub-Huillet); yet these three films—Underworld (1927), The Last Command (1928), and The Docks of New York (1928), with the immovable Bancroft leading the first and the last, sandwiching an Academy...
- 8/23/2010
- MUBI
In November, The Criterion Collection is set to release an eclectic mix of American classics with a bit of European transgression thrown in. A newly restored version of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times is planned for DVD and Blu-Ray. Charles Laughton's stunning black-and-white noir/horror tale Night of the Hunter (1955) is also on the schedule for DVD and Blu-Ray. Lars Von Trier's Antichrist will invade home video players everywhere.
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
- 8/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Crime has not just been good to the criminals; it's been awfully good to Hollywood as well. It so happens I just finished watching Josef Von Sternberg's "Underworld" (1927), the first in a compilation of three silent classics from famed director Josef Von Sternberg, now out via the esteemed Criterion Collection. For those unfamiliar with Von Sternberg, he would become best known later as the director who launched Marlene Dietrich's career in "The Blue Angel" (1930) and "Morocco" (1930). Basically a love triangle involving a crime boss (George Bancroft), the alcoholic former lawyer he saves from the gutter (Clive Brook), and the girl torn between the two men (Evelyn Brent), the movie also features lots of rat-tat-tat action as the mobster rids himself of a key criminal rival. When the film debuted in 1927, at a moment when gangsters were still riding...
- 8/16/2010
- by John Farr
- Huffington Post
Josef von Sternberg's Thunderbolt (1929), his first talkie, is perhaps not so much forgotten as simply hard to see, which means it lives on in the minds of film lovers but in abstracted form, since so few Sternberg fans have managed to get hold of a copy or attend a screening. It's prime Sternberg and deserves to be seen.
On one level a near-remake of Underworld, the so-called "first gangster film", Thunderbolt, like its predecessor (and like altogether lost filmThe Dragnet) it stars George Bancroft as a tougher-than-nails gangster and bank robber who winds up in jail but plots to avenge himself upon his girlfriend's nice-guy lover. Key differences are that Thunderbolt is written by Jules Furthman and his brother Charles—Jules would go on to script several of the Dietrich movies that cemented Sternberg's immortality—rather than by Ben Hecht, so the wisecracking is more philosophical, peculiar and perverse...
On one level a near-remake of Underworld, the so-called "first gangster film", Thunderbolt, like its predecessor (and like altogether lost filmThe Dragnet) it stars George Bancroft as a tougher-than-nails gangster and bank robber who winds up in jail but plots to avenge himself upon his girlfriend's nice-guy lover. Key differences are that Thunderbolt is written by Jules Furthman and his brother Charles—Jules would go on to script several of the Dietrich movies that cemented Sternberg's immortality—rather than by Ben Hecht, so the wisecracking is more philosophical, peculiar and perverse...
- 7/22/2010
- MUBI
The October 2010 batch of Criterion titles brings a few surprises. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory is hitting DVD and Blu-Ray as is Ingmar Bergman's film The Magician. Criterion continues its relationship with Wes Anderson by releasing The Darjeeling Limited on Blu-Ray and DVD. Ok.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
- 7/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The September releases of Breathless on Blu-Ray and The Thin Red Line on Blu-Ray and DVD aren't so much of a surprise. A high-def Breathless release was inevitable and the Malick title leaked out a while ago. Also, Charade is the sort of classic Hollywood auterist fare that Criterion often deals in. No, the big surprise here is Oshima's Happy Birthday Mr. Lawrence. Both this release and the recent Oshima DVD box indicate that Criterion is seriously intent to digging deeper into the director's filmography. Finally, it would be a mistake not to mention the Eclipse box set of Allan King films. The Canadian director's documentaries have never been readily available in the U.S. so this box should expose his work to an entirely new audience (including this writer).
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
- 7/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Fall 2010 brings very interesting news and rumors about releases from The Criterion Collection. First, the label has issued the official list of films for August release. These include two essential documentaries by Terry Zwigoff, Black Orpheus, a box of Josef von Sternberg silent films, and 4 early Akira Kurosawa films that originally appeared in the Ak 100 25 disc box set.
Lots of unofficial information has also begun to surface about future releases. In late April, The New York Times confirmed rumors that Criterion will release Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hausu will in September. Additionally, pre-order pages for Criterion Blu-Rays of Antichrist, The Darjeeling Limited, The Seven Samurai, The Thin Red Line, and Videodrome have popped up on Amazon. Look for official updates in the next Criterion Column.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through August 2010, up-to-date as of May 23, 2010)
August 2010
Akira Kurosawa, Eclipse Series 23: The First Films Of Akira Kurosawa
(Sanshiro Sugata...
Lots of unofficial information has also begun to surface about future releases. In late April, The New York Times confirmed rumors that Criterion will release Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hausu will in September. Additionally, pre-order pages for Criterion Blu-Rays of Antichrist, The Darjeeling Limited, The Seven Samurai, The Thin Red Line, and Videodrome have popped up on Amazon. Look for official updates in the next Criterion Column.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through August 2010, up-to-date as of May 23, 2010)
August 2010
Akira Kurosawa, Eclipse Series 23: The First Films Of Akira Kurosawa
(Sanshiro Sugata...
- 5/22/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Well here we are, another mid-month Criterion Collection New Release announcement extravaganza. A few titles that we suspected, due to rumors and various clues, and new addition to Maurice Pilat’s section of the Criterion Collection.
First off, we’re getting a re-release of a Criterion classic, Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus. This is Criterion #48, so they are keeping in line with their re-releasing older titles, with new features, transfers, and absolutely gorgeous cover art. This Black Orpheus painting is one that I would certainly buy a print of, to hang on my wall. Black Orpheus will be released on August 17th on DVD and Blu-ray
A few weeks back, we told you about how the New York Times, in their Summer DVD column, let loose the idea that Criterion was working on a collection of Josef Von Sternberg titles, and we now have a complete list of the films, along with supplemental materials and artwork.
First off, we’re getting a re-release of a Criterion classic, Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus. This is Criterion #48, so they are keeping in line with their re-releasing older titles, with new features, transfers, and absolutely gorgeous cover art. This Black Orpheus painting is one that I would certainly buy a print of, to hang on my wall. Black Orpheus will be released on August 17th on DVD and Blu-ray
A few weeks back, we told you about how the New York Times, in their Summer DVD column, let loose the idea that Criterion was working on a collection of Josef Von Sternberg titles, and we now have a complete list of the films, along with supplemental materials and artwork.
- 5/14/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
We all know how secretive Criterion is when it comes to their new releases, with Apple like control of what they announce, and when it is unveiled. Whether they’re teasing at upcoming releases in their e-mail newsletter or sending out Twitpic’s with obscured images of what they’re watching, Criterion won’t usually let the cat out of the bag until they’re good and ready, and the release is well on it’s way to production.
Today, the New York Times dropped a small Criterion bomb of Gizomodo-like proportions, towards the end of their “Summer DVD” selections. We aren’t expecting the August 2010 new releases to be announced for a couple more weeks, but we now know what a couple of the titles are likely to be:
Criterion continues its season of releases on Aug. 10 with a collection of Josef von Sternberg silents, including “The Last Command” and “Underworld.
Today, the New York Times dropped a small Criterion bomb of Gizomodo-like proportions, towards the end of their “Summer DVD” selections. We aren’t expecting the August 2010 new releases to be announced for a couple more weeks, but we now know what a couple of the titles are likely to be:
Criterion continues its season of releases on Aug. 10 with a collection of Josef von Sternberg silents, including “The Last Command” and “Underworld.
- 5/3/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the British Film Institute regarding their program of events for the month of December at the Southbank theatre facility in London. For full info and tickets visit the web site by clicking here.
Blonde Venus, one of the films screened as part of the Von Sternberg tribute.
Josef Von Sternberg
This month we will celebrate the career of Josef von Sternberg – one of Hollywood’s most visionary directors – with a complete retrospective of his films. He was the man Marlene Dietrich called her master, and is perhaps best known for Underworld (1927), The Blue Angel (1930) and Macao (1952)
Sally Potter
Sally Potter is one of the UK’s most innovative and original filmmakers, and we look forward to launching our comprehensive study of her career with a screening of Orlando (1993) followed by a Q&A...
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the British Film Institute regarding their program of events for the month of December at the Southbank theatre facility in London. For full info and tickets visit the web site by clicking here.
Blonde Venus, one of the films screened as part of the Von Sternberg tribute.
Josef Von Sternberg
This month we will celebrate the career of Josef von Sternberg – one of Hollywood’s most visionary directors – with a complete retrospective of his films. He was the man Marlene Dietrich called her master, and is perhaps best known for Underworld (1927), The Blue Angel (1930) and Macao (1952)
Sally Potter
Sally Potter is one of the UK’s most innovative and original filmmakers, and we look forward to launching our comprehensive study of her career with a screening of Orlando (1993) followed by a Q&A...
- 12/1/2009
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
I first caught Josef von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927) at the Pacific Film Archive von Sternberg retrospective earlier this year accompanied by Judith Rosenberg on piano. I welcomed the opportunity to watch the film again projected on the Castro’s giant screen with live piano accompaniment by the indefatigable Stephen Horne for the specific intent of savoring the scene where “Feathers” McCoy (Evelyn Brent) first comes to the attention of “Rolls Royce” Wensel (Clive Brook); namely, by way of an ostrich feather shaken loose from McCoy’s outfit, drifting down to Wensel who is sweeping the floor below. Entrances are rarely so insinuating.
Eddie Muller, the “Czar of Noir”, had the honors of introducing Underworld to its Sfsff audience. Often asked—in his capacity as the Czar—what he considers to be the first film noir, Muller admitted he rarely answers the question because he considers trying to pin down the...
Eddie Muller, the “Czar of Noir”, had the honors of introducing Underworld to its Sfsff audience. Often asked—in his capacity as the Czar—what he considers to be the first film noir, Muller admitted he rarely answers the question because he considers trying to pin down the...
- 7/14/2009
- by Michael Guillen
- Screen Anarchy
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