Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The Criterion Channel has unveiled their March 2021 lineup, which includes no shortage of remarkable programming. Highlights from the slate include eight gems from Preston Sturges, Elaine May’s brilliant A New Leaf, a series featuring Black Westerns, Ann Hui’s Boat People, the new restoration of Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi.
They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.
Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.
The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917
Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963
Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916
Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979
Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972
Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...
They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.
Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.
The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917
Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963
Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916
Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979
Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972
Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...
- 2/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", director Albert Lewin's 1951 drama based on the legend of the 'Flying Dutchman', starring Ava Gardner, James Mason, Nigel Patrick, Sheila Sim, Harold Warrender, Mario Cabré and Marius Goring, will be released theatrically in a new 4K restoration, February 7, 2020:
"...in 1930, fishermen in the small Spanish port of 'Esperanza' make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman.
"The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, 'Geoffrey Fielding' (Harold Warrender), to the beach.
"Fielding returns to his villa, and, breaking the 'fourth wall', retells the story of these two people to the audience.
"Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around 'Pandora Reynolds' (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale.
"All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone. She...
"...in 1930, fishermen in the small Spanish port of 'Esperanza' make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman.
"The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, 'Geoffrey Fielding' (Harold Warrender), to the beach.
"Fielding returns to his villa, and, breaking the 'fourth wall', retells the story of these two people to the audience.
"Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around 'Pandora Reynolds' (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale.
"All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone. She...
- 2/6/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", director Albert Lewin's 1951 Brit Technicolor drama based on the legend of the 'Flying Dutchman', starring Ava Gardner, James Mason, Nigel Patrick, Sheila Sim, Harold Warrender, Mario Cabré and Marius Goring, will be released theatrically as a 4K restored release February 7, 2020:
"...in 1930, fishermen in the small Spanish port of 'Esperanza' make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman. The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, 'Geoffrey Fielding' (Harold Warrender), to the beach. Fielding returns to his villa, and, breaking the 'fourth wall', retells the story of these two people to the audience.
"Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around 'Pandora Reynolds' (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale. All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone.
"...in 1930, fishermen in the small Spanish port of 'Esperanza' make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman. The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, 'Geoffrey Fielding' (Harold Warrender), to the beach. Fielding returns to his villa, and, breaking the 'fourth wall', retells the story of these two people to the audience.
"Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around 'Pandora Reynolds' (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale. All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone.
- 1/24/2020
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
The latest installment in the filmmaker's series of journal-films combining iPhone footage and sounds and images from movies. A diary penned with cinema.Journal (6.6.16 - 1.10.17)feat. additional footage from Masha Tupitsyn and Isiah MedinaMy journal-film series (of which this is the third installment) came to be as a means of resolving the points of convergence and departure amongst the environments I occupy and those which I encounter in cinema. I like to view these films as a method of managing the images that take up my thoughts and memories into a new continuity, one in which the distinction between images seen on-screen and those personally experienced is no longer absolute. In dissolving this partition, these films provide a vector for the animation conceptual concerns through cinema - montage fulfilling that which language can only formally describe and vice versa. The following essay outlines some of the concerns this film attempts...
- 3/20/2017
- MUBI
The Barefoot Contessa
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Enzo Staiola, Mari Aldon, Bessie Love.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written, Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
As a teenager, many of my first and strongest movie impressions came not from the movies, but from certain critics. I memorized Robin Wood’s analysis before getting a look at Hitchcock’s Psycho. Raymond Durgnat introduced me to Georges Franju and Luis Buñuel, and I first learned to appreciate a number of great movies including The Barefoot Contessa from Richard Corliss, a terrific critic who championed writers over director-auteurs.
The Barefoot Contessa is a classically structured story, in that it could work as a novel; it’s told from several points of view.
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 130 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Rossano Brazzi, Valentina Cortese, Elizabeth Sellars, Warren Stevens, Enzo Staiola, Mari Aldon, Bessie Love.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written, Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
As a teenager, many of my first and strongest movie impressions came not from the movies, but from certain critics. I memorized Robin Wood’s analysis before getting a look at Hitchcock’s Psycho. Raymond Durgnat introduced me to Georges Franju and Luis Buñuel, and I first learned to appreciate a number of great movies including The Barefoot Contessa from Richard Corliss, a terrific critic who championed writers over director-auteurs.
The Barefoot Contessa is a classically structured story, in that it could work as a novel; it’s told from several points of view.
- 1/6/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cad, bounder, dastard... look those words up in an old casting directory and you'll probably find a picture of George Sanders. Albert Lewin's best movie is a class-act period piece with terrific acting from Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William and many more, and a powerful '40s picture that most people haven't discovered, now handsomely restored. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami Blu-ray Olive Films 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95 Starring George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William, Susan Douglas, Albert Bassermann, Frances Dee, Marie Wilson, Katherine Emery, Richard Fraser. Cinematography Russell Metty Film Editor Joseph Albrecht Original Music Darius Milhaud Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Production Design Gordon Wiles Written by from the novel by Guy de Maupassant Produced by David L. Loew Written Directed by Albert Lewin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 5/14/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Here's something for hardcore cineastes: an incredible restoration of Marcel L'Herbier's avant-garde silent feature, which looks unlike any other movie of its time. The weird story is about a Swedish engineer who wins the hand of famous singer by demonstrating a machine that can revive the dead. The film's designs are by score of famous architects and art notables of the Paris art scene circa 1924. L'Inhumaine Blu-ray Flicker Alley 1924 / Color tints / 1:33 Silent Aperture / min. / Street Date March 1, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Georgette Leblanc, Jacque Catelain, Léonid Walter de Malte, Philippe Hériat, Fred Kellerman, Robert Mallet-Stevens. Cinematography Roche, Georges Specht Art Direction, design, costumes, Claude Autant-Lara, Alberto Cavalcanti, Fernand Léger, Paul Poiret, Original Music Darius Milhaud (originally), Aidje Tafial / Alloy Orchestra Written by Pierre MacOrlan, Marcel L'Herbier, Georgette Leblanc Produced and Directed by Marcel L'Herbier
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Followers of art, architecture, literature and French art movies of the early 1920s...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Followers of art, architecture, literature and French art movies of the early 1920s...
- 2/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The craft stores know something you don’t know. That’s right. It’s time for the 2014 Halloween Season TV Preview! This is where we let you know about the time and channel for everything we can find on TV having to do with Halloween or Horror for the month of October and sometimes late September. This will include holiday specials, horror movies, TV show premier dates and Halloween episodes of your favorite series as well as documentaries that might be considered scary. Anything and everything that might get your ghost good.
I always start with TCM because you can tell they take such care in developing their lineup. Be sure to check out their Thursday nights. This is truly a unique year for that station.
A quick note: We are not going to be able to get it all. So many different markets and channels and providers… it’s...
I always start with TCM because you can tell they take such care in developing their lineup. Be sure to check out their Thursday nights. This is truly a unique year for that station.
A quick note: We are not going to be able to get it all. So many different markets and channels and providers… it’s...
- 9/4/2014
- by Jimmy Terror
- The Liberal Dead
Linda Darnell, Ann Sothern, Jeanne Crain, A Letter to Three Wives DGA Awards vs. Academy Awards Pt.2: Foreign, Small, Controversial Movies Have Better Luck at the Oscars Since pre-1970 Directors Guild Award finalists often consisted of more than five directors, it was impossible to get an exact match for the DGA's and the Academy's lists of nominees. In the list below, the years before 1970 include DGA finalists (DGA) who didn't receive an Academy Award nod and, if applicable, those Academy Award-nominated directors (AMPAS) not found in the — usually much lengthier — DGA list. The label "DGA/AMPAS" means the directors in question received nominations for both the DGA Award and the Academy Award. The DGA Awards vs. Academy Awards list below goes from 1948 (the DGA Awards' first year) to 1952. Follow-up posts will cover the ensuing decades. The number in parentheses next to "DGA" indicates that year's number of DGA finalists if other than five.
- 1/10/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Allegorical War Drama Highlights TCM.s Dec. 14 Salute
to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to make movie history this December when it presents the world television premiere of Fear and Desire (1953), the rarely seen debut film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Premiering Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. (Et), the allegorical war drama from the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980) will be the centerpiece of an extraordinary 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Access at George Eastman House, to present 15 cinematic rarities from one of the country.s leading moving-image archives.
TCM.s Dec. 14 salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House will begin at 6:15 a.m. (Et) with The Blue Bird...
to The George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to make movie history this December when it presents the world television premiere of Fear and Desire (1953), the rarely seen debut film by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Premiering Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. (Et), the allegorical war drama from the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and The Shining (1980) will be the centerpiece of an extraordinary 24-hour marathon honoring the preservation efforts of the Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House. TCM host Robert Osborne will be joined by Jared Case, Head of Cataloguing and Access at George Eastman House, to present 15 cinematic rarities from one of the country.s leading moving-image archives.
TCM.s Dec. 14 salute to the Motion Picture Collection at George Eastman House will begin at 6:15 a.m. (Et) with The Blue Bird...
- 12/5/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Fear and Desire, the 1953 debut film of a young Look magazine photographer named Stanley Kubrick, will have its world television premiere on Turner Classics Movies on Dec. 14 at 8 p.m. Starring Frank Silvera, Paul Mazursky, and Kenneth Harp, Fear and Desire is an existential anti-war drama about a lost platoon whose journey to safety is complicated by an encounter with a mysterious woman.
Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades,...
Kubrick, who shot the film quickly with a crew of about 15 people, was never especially proud of his maiden effort, calling it a “a bumbling amateur film exercise.” It quickly disappeared from theaters despite some critical accolades,...
- 12/1/2011
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside TV
It's risky, imperfect, expensive – and the stuff of a thousand classics. As Tacita Dean's tribute to celluloid opens, some noted movie-makers give thanks for film
Steven Spielberg Director
My favourite and preferred step between imagination and image is a strip of photochemistry that can be held, twisted, folded, looked at with the naked eye, or projected on to a surface for others to see. It has a scent and it is imperfect. If you get too close to the moving image, it's like impressionist art. And if you stand back, it can be utterly photorealistic. You can watch the grain, which I like to think of as the visible, erratic molecules of a new creative language. After all, this "stuff" of dreams is mankind's most original medium, and dates back to 1895. Today, its years are numbered, but I will remain loyal to this analogue artform until the last lab closes.
Steven Spielberg Director
My favourite and preferred step between imagination and image is a strip of photochemistry that can be held, twisted, folded, looked at with the naked eye, or projected on to a surface for others to see. It has a scent and it is imperfect. If you get too close to the moving image, it's like impressionist art. And if you stand back, it can be utterly photorealistic. You can watch the grain, which I like to think of as the visible, erratic molecules of a new creative language. After all, this "stuff" of dreams is mankind's most original medium, and dates back to 1895. Today, its years are numbered, but I will remain loyal to this analogue artform until the last lab closes.
- 10/11/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
A driver on the road is chased by a truck and is run off the road. Dean (Jensen Ackles) gets a call from his old friend, Cassie (Megalyn Echikunwoke) telling him of his death and she's calling cos she needs him. Sam: "You mean you dated someone for more than one night." Which came as a shock to us viewers too, since all the time we saw Dean in the past, he just wanted some 'fun' and nothing more. Dean went out with her in Athens, Ohio, she was finishing college, but it was just a few weeks. Must have been the longest few weeks in Dean's life. Sam's (Jared Padalecki) curious as to how she knows about what they do. Sam is livid Dean told her what they do. "Our big family rule number 1: we do what we do and we shut up about it." Part of the...
- 9/28/2011
- by mhasan@corp.popstar.com (Mila Hasan)
- PopStar
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the nominations for The 37th Annual Saturn Awards. Among others, Director Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic, Inception leads the pack with 9 nominations. Director Joseph Kosinski‘s long-awaited Tron: Legacy pulled in 7 nominations, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 earned 5 nominations.
Check out all the nominees below!
The 37th Annual Saturn Award Nominees
Best Science Fiction Film:
Hereafter (Warner Bros.)
Inception (Warner Bros.)
Iron Man 2 (Paramount/Marvel)
Never Let Me Go (Fox Searchlight)
Splice (Warner Bros.)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)
Best Fantasy Film:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)
Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Universal)
Twilight: Eclipse (Summit Entertainment)
Best Horror/Thriller Film:
The American (Focus)
Black Swan...
Check out all the nominees below!
The 37th Annual Saturn Award Nominees
Best Science Fiction Film:
Hereafter (Warner Bros.)
Inception (Warner Bros.)
Iron Man 2 (Paramount/Marvel)
Never Let Me Go (Fox Searchlight)
Splice (Warner Bros.)
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)
Best Fantasy Film:
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)
Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Universal)
Twilight: Eclipse (Summit Entertainment)
Best Horror/Thriller Film:
The American (Focus)
Black Swan...
- 2/25/2011
- by Jason Moore
- ScifiMafia
It's that time of year again: The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the nominations for its 37th Annual Saturn Awards.
From the Press Release:
Leading the charge is Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller “Inception” with 9 nominations. Overture/Relativity Media’s “Let Me In” and Disney’s “Tron: Legacy” downloaded 7 nominations apiece; Clint Eastwood’s thought-provoking “Hereafter” received 6; while “Alice in Wonderland,” “Black Swan,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” “Never Let Me Go” and “Shutter Island” earned 5 nominations each.
In the television categories, Frank Darabont’s zombie-drama “The Walking Dead” (AMC) came to life with 6 nominations. “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Lost” (ABC) and “Fringe” (Fox) tied with 5 nominations. “Leverage” (TNT) and “True Blood” (HBO) earned 4 apiece, followed by “Dexter” (Showtime) and “V” (ABC) with 3 and “The Closer” (TNT), “Smallville” (CW) and “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (Starz) with 2.
The Academy was founded in 1972 by noted...
From the Press Release:
Leading the charge is Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller “Inception” with 9 nominations. Overture/Relativity Media’s “Let Me In” and Disney’s “Tron: Legacy” downloaded 7 nominations apiece; Clint Eastwood’s thought-provoking “Hereafter” received 6; while “Alice in Wonderland,” “Black Swan,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” “Never Let Me Go” and “Shutter Island” earned 5 nominations each.
In the television categories, Frank Darabont’s zombie-drama “The Walking Dead” (AMC) came to life with 6 nominations. “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Lost” (ABC) and “Fringe” (Fox) tied with 5 nominations. “Leverage” (TNT) and “True Blood” (HBO) earned 4 apiece, followed by “Dexter” (Showtime) and “V” (ABC) with 3 and “The Closer” (TNT), “Smallville” (CW) and “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (Starz) with 2.
The Academy was founded in 1972 by noted...
- 2/24/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
The full list of award nominations have been unleashed for The 37 Annual Saturn Awards. Inception rules the nomination list with nine, Let Me In and Tron: Legacy also took seven nominations each. As for TV The Walking Dead it ended up walking away with the most nominations with six, and Breaking Bad, Lost and Fringe got five noms each. This is an award ceremony all of us geeks can get behind.
The 37th annual Saturn Awards take place in June in Burbank. Heres the complete list of film and TV nominations below:
Film
Best Science Fiction Film
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Never Let Me Go
Splice
Tron: Legacy
Best Fantasy Film
Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Clash of the Titans
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Best Horror/Thriller Film...
The 37th annual Saturn Awards take place in June in Burbank. Heres the complete list of film and TV nominations below:
Film
Best Science Fiction Film
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Never Let Me Go
Splice
Tron: Legacy
Best Fantasy Film
Alice in Wonderland
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Clash of the Titans
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Best Horror/Thriller Film...
- 2/24/2011
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner in Robert Siodmak's The Killers Ava Gardner is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of November. The Gardner film series begins tonight with a presentation of about a dozen movies in which the sultry actress can be seen in starring and supporting roles, and in lots of bit parts as well. I'm not a fan of Robert Siodmak's The Killers (1946), a well-regarded film noir that earned the director an Academy Award nomination, but Gardner is excellent in a star-making turn and so is Elwood Bredell's black-and-white cinematography. Albert Lewin's generally dismissed Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951) I find quite affecting, chiefly because of Gardner's performance as a woman who finds love in death. Though not as gripping or atmospheric, Pandora reminds me of William Dieterle's Portrait of Jennie, released three years earlier. Ava Gardner, in a role intended for Judy Garland...
- 11/4/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Glenn Kenny poses a provocative question over at Mubi.com: "What, finally, is the point of the Blu-ray disc? Not just for cinephiles, but for anyone with a home entertainment setup?" This none-too-rhetorical query came on the heels of Kenny's examination of a new set of Yasujiro Ozu Blu-rays from the British Film Institute. In Kenny's words, the films "do not shimmer" the way many new ones do on Bd (and the way many Bd connoisseurs expect all films to on Bd), largely because Ozu's films weren't filmed with shimmer in mind. In that case: what is the point? If you have a Criterion Collection DVD of "Tokyo Story," do you need to buy it on Blu-ray as well?
It's a question I've been pondering myself recently, having inherited my first HDTV from a friend and bought my first Blu-ray player just a few months ago. At about ten titles,...
It's a question I've been pondering myself recently, having inherited my first HDTV from a friend and bought my first Blu-ray player just a few months ago. At about ten titles,...
- 9/15/2010
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
"The measure of love is what one is willing to give up for it" archeologist Geoffrey Fielding (Harold Warrender) ponderously recalls. So goes the crux of Albert Lewin's lush technicolour fantasy from 1951, now available on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time after years in obscurity. Set in the Spanish port of Esperanza, and shot by legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a stunning curiosity - beautiful, elegiac and fabulously romantic.
James Mason stars as Hendrik, the titular Dutchman condemned to sail the seas for eternity, returning to land for 6 months every 7 years to seek a woman who will love him enough to give up her own life for him, and so break the curse. Ava Gardner is Pandora, a beautiful but manipulative young woman, idolised by all men but unable to fall in love with any of them. Despite finally being engaged to marry motoring enthusiast,...
James Mason stars as Hendrik, the titular Dutchman condemned to sail the seas for eternity, returning to land for 6 months every 7 years to seek a woman who will love him enough to give up her own life for him, and so break the curse. Ava Gardner is Pandora, a beautiful but manipulative young woman, idolised by all men but unable to fall in love with any of them. Despite finally being engaged to marry motoring enthusiast,...
- 8/9/2010
- Screen Anarchy
I Need That Record!
DVD, Wienerworld
The one thing that everyone agrees on in this Us documentary about independent record stores is that they are, basically, just places to sell music. But no one would ever state that's all they are. They are hassle-free places to hang out, to talk rubbish fearlessly, to argue loudly without being asked to move on, to form bands, to see bands, to hand out flyers – even to not buy music. Indie record shops have something the major chains will never replicate no matter how many surveys and spreadsheets they employ: they are cool. Here, customers and workers alike tell tales of arriving before opening hours, of discovering some classic tucked away, of being recommended a life-changing album, of learning they are not the only one in a 1,000-mile radius who likes Minor Threat. This may get more than a little rose-tinted at times, but...
DVD, Wienerworld
The one thing that everyone agrees on in this Us documentary about independent record stores is that they are, basically, just places to sell music. But no one would ever state that's all they are. They are hassle-free places to hang out, to talk rubbish fearlessly, to argue loudly without being asked to move on, to form bands, to see bands, to hand out flyers – even to not buy music. Indie record shops have something the major chains will never replicate no matter how many surveys and spreadsheets they employ: they are cool. Here, customers and workers alike tell tales of arriving before opening hours, of discovering some classic tucked away, of being recommended a life-changing album, of learning they are not the only one in a 1,000-mile radius who likes Minor Threat. This may get more than a little rose-tinted at times, but...
- 8/6/2010
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Barely heralded today among the midcentury Hollywood auteurs, Albert Lewin was as distinct in his personality as Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang or Sam Fuller, and just as much of a terrarium-maker. His micro-worlds, including the new-to-disc 1951 classic Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, had a particularly dreamy vibe. His most-seen film, the 1945 version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, is unforgettable not for its fidelity to Wilde's morality play but for its very strange, doomed-romantic bell-jar effect, a movie seemingly made up entirely from Hurd Hatfield's cheekbones, Angela Lansbury's round eyes, a single Victorian tavern set, and mist.
- 8/6/2010
- Movieline
Hey everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week. There's a ton of movies releasing today onto DVD! So here are the one's I decided to highlight and then I will give ya a link to the rest cause there's literally 32 of them. I hope you all like the one's I did choose to highlight however!
Kick-Ass
Inspired by his love of comic books, high school student Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to transform himself into a masked crime fighter -- a decision that eventually thrusts the teenager into Internet stardom. Soon, Dave's antics inspire a wave of would-be heroes to don costumes and live out their superhero fantasies. Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz also star in this comic book adaptation from director Matthew Vaughn.
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Loved it! Hit-Girl is the best part!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Middle school...
Kick-Ass
Inspired by his love of comic books, high school student Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) decides to transform himself into a masked crime fighter -- a decision that eventually thrusts the teenager into Internet stardom. Soon, Dave's antics inspire a wave of would-be heroes to don costumes and live out their superhero fantasies. Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Chloe Moretz also star in this comic book adaptation from director Matthew Vaughn.
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Loved it! Hit-Girl is the best part!
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Middle school...
- 8/3/2010
- by Mars
- GeekTyrant
Once thought lost forever, the 1951 classic Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, starring Ava Gardner and James Mason, is coming to DVD and Blu-ray next month.
The movie was writer-producer-director Albert Lewin's deliriously romantic and contemporary Technicolor visualisation of the famous maritime folklore tale and starred two of Hollywood's own legends.
Ava Gardner, in what's described as a thinly-veiled portrait of herself, is destructive, demanding Pandora, who falls for charismatic James Mason as Hendrik, a 17th-century seaman. He turns out to be the accursed Flying Dutchman, eternally condemned to sail the oceans until he can find a woman willing to die for him.
Regarded as the quintessential Lewin film, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman was made independently of the Hollywood studios, and its original camera negative had been presumed lost for several decades.
Working from a nitrate separation positive and other sources, George Eastman House supervised a painstaking 35mm restoration of the film,...
The movie was writer-producer-director Albert Lewin's deliriously romantic and contemporary Technicolor visualisation of the famous maritime folklore tale and starred two of Hollywood's own legends.
Ava Gardner, in what's described as a thinly-veiled portrait of herself, is destructive, demanding Pandora, who falls for charismatic James Mason as Hendrik, a 17th-century seaman. He turns out to be the accursed Flying Dutchman, eternally condemned to sail the oceans until he can find a woman willing to die for him.
Regarded as the quintessential Lewin film, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman was made independently of the Hollywood studios, and its original camera negative had been presumed lost for several decades.
Working from a nitrate separation positive and other sources, George Eastman House supervised a painstaking 35mm restoration of the film,...
- 7/15/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Blu-ray review site DoBlu.com [1] has an interview with Kino's producer Bret Wood on their upcoming release of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill Jr. In it, Wood discusses the source of the prints used to produce the disc, including an alternate version called the Killiam cut: "We began the project with only the Killiam 35mm element, which we obtained from Worldview Entertainment, the company that owned the Paul Killiam film collection. We were satisfied with the image quality in comparison with the existing master from our own 1995 release, but were disappointed that it lacked the sharpness, clarity and stability of our recently-upgraded master of The General. Tim Lanza of the Douris Corp. (the company that owns the Keaton library, from whom we have licensed most of the other Keaton titles) volunteered to send me reels from four different elements in their collection, for the sake of comparison." Despite being over 80 years old,...
- 6/27/2010
- by Matt P.
- FilmJunk
To celebrate its 20th Anniversary, it appears as though the Tiff Cinematheque is set to pull out all the stops.
According to Criterion, the Tiff, formerly known as the Cinematheque Ontario, will be bringing out a rather superb and cartoonishly awesome summer schedule, that will include films ranging from Kurosawa pieces, to films from Pier Paolo Pasolini. Other films include a month long series dedicated to James Mason, Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales, a tribute to Robin Wood, and most interesting, a retrospective on the works of one Catherine Breillat.
Personally, while the Kurosawa, Pasolini, and Rohmer collections sound amazing, the Breillat series is ultimately the collective that I am most interested in. Ranging from films like the brilliant Fat Girl, to the superb and underrated Anatomy of Hell, these are some of the most interesting and under seen pieces of cinema of recent memory, and are more than...
According to Criterion, the Tiff, formerly known as the Cinematheque Ontario, will be bringing out a rather superb and cartoonishly awesome summer schedule, that will include films ranging from Kurosawa pieces, to films from Pier Paolo Pasolini. Other films include a month long series dedicated to James Mason, Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales, a tribute to Robin Wood, and most interesting, a retrospective on the works of one Catherine Breillat.
Personally, while the Kurosawa, Pasolini, and Rohmer collections sound amazing, the Breillat series is ultimately the collective that I am most interested in. Ranging from films like the brilliant Fat Girl, to the superb and underrated Anatomy of Hell, these are some of the most interesting and under seen pieces of cinema of recent memory, and are more than...
- 5/26/2010
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Lebanon (15)
(Samuel Maoz, 2009, Israel) Yoav Donat, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov. 93 mins
You can see why they made Top Gun about jet fighters. This is set entirely within the confines of an Israeli tank during the 1982 Lebanon war, and it's not much of a recruitment ad. The gimmick is both the movie's strength and its weakness. The space and visibility restrictions make this a neat minimalist thriller and a nervy, unpredictable combat experience, but it's one safely insulated from the questions – and victims – of the real-life conflict. Despite the sweat and grime, you feel like the really dirty stuff is going on elsewhere.
Robin Hood (12A)
(Ridley Scott, 2010, Us) Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max Von Sydow, Mark Strong. 140 mins
Scott attempts to pull another Gladiator, ditching the familiar tights and tropes and reimagining the legend through a combination of mangled history, epic set pieces and deadly earnest heroism. It's more of a prequel,...
(Samuel Maoz, 2009, Israel) Yoav Donat, Oshri Cohen, Michael Moshonov. 93 mins
You can see why they made Top Gun about jet fighters. This is set entirely within the confines of an Israeli tank during the 1982 Lebanon war, and it's not much of a recruitment ad. The gimmick is both the movie's strength and its weakness. The space and visibility restrictions make this a neat minimalist thriller and a nervy, unpredictable combat experience, but it's one safely insulated from the questions – and victims – of the real-life conflict. Despite the sweat and grime, you feel like the really dirty stuff is going on elsewhere.
Robin Hood (12A)
(Ridley Scott, 2010, Us) Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max Von Sydow, Mark Strong. 140 mins
Scott attempts to pull another Gladiator, ditching the familiar tights and tropes and reimagining the legend through a combination of mangled history, epic set pieces and deadly earnest heroism. It's more of a prequel,...
- 5/14/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
Four Lions (15)
(Chris Morris, 2010, UK) Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali. 102 mins
Still grasping the nettles others would rather strim over, Morris returns with a suicide-bomb-com that both makes you laugh, and makes you wonder if you should be laughing. Tracking an inept Sheffield terrorist cell with big plans, it's packed with priceless lines and inspired absurdity in an Ealing comedy-meets-In The Loop sort of way. But we're not let off that lightly. These are more than simple caricatures, and as their mission becomes increasingly real, in every sense, we laugh at our peril.
The Back-Up Plan (12A)
(Alan Poul, 2010, Us) Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin. 104 mins
J-Lo returns to reclaim her title as lightweight romcom champion, with another surreally dumb relationship souffle that should have Jennifer Aniston quaking in her fluffy slippers.
Cameraman: The Life And Work Of Jack Cardiff (Nc)
(Craig McCall, 2010, UK) 90 mins
Self-explanatory doc about the pioneering British cinematographer,...
(Chris Morris, 2010, UK) Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali. 102 mins
Still grasping the nettles others would rather strim over, Morris returns with a suicide-bomb-com that both makes you laugh, and makes you wonder if you should be laughing. Tracking an inept Sheffield terrorist cell with big plans, it's packed with priceless lines and inspired absurdity in an Ealing comedy-meets-In The Loop sort of way. But we're not let off that lightly. These are more than simple caricatures, and as their mission becomes increasingly real, in every sense, we laugh at our peril.
The Back-Up Plan (12A)
(Alan Poul, 2010, Us) Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin. 104 mins
J-Lo returns to reclaim her title as lightweight romcom champion, with another surreally dumb relationship souffle that should have Jennifer Aniston quaking in her fluffy slippers.
Cameraman: The Life And Work Of Jack Cardiff (Nc)
(Craig McCall, 2010, UK) 90 mins
Self-explanatory doc about the pioneering British cinematographer,...
- 5/7/2010
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
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