Stars: Karlheinz Bohm, Maxine Audley, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Brenda Bruce, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Michael Goodliffe, Jack Watson, Shirley Anne Field | Written by Leo Marks | Directed by Michael Powell
Released 64 years ago (!!!), a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom, is getting a special edition 4K release this year after being restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with StudioCanal.
This was a first-time watch for me, and my immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.” It then remained...
Released 64 years ago (!!!), a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom, is getting a special edition 4K release this year after being restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with StudioCanal.
This was a first-time watch for me, and my immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.” It then remained...
- 1/29/2024
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
To celebrate Studiocanal’s Release Brand New 4K Restoration of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray & DVD on 29 January, we have a 4K Uhd copy to give away to a lucky winner!
Studiocanal are proud to announce the release of a spectacular 4K restoration of Michael Powell’s iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with Studiocanal. Written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York), this influential cinematic masterpiece will be available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray and DVD with 32-page booklet and 90 mins of brand new extra content from 29 January 2024.
Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent.
Studiocanal are proud to announce the release of a spectacular 4K restoration of Michael Powell’s iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with Studiocanal. Written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York), this influential cinematic masterpiece will be available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray and DVD with 32-page booklet and 90 mins of brand new extra content from 29 January 2024.
Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent.
- 1/22/2024
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
One of the most unassuming filmmakers of Britain’s early period, Michael Powell entered the golden age of his career with The Edge of the World. Though he had already made over 20 films by 1937, it represented one of his first successfully realized and self-actualized stabs at what would become one of his chief directorial strengths: the ability to film a very specific and localized environment in a manner that emphasizes its otherworldly fantasias and, paradoxically, remains faithful to the area’s ethnographical features.
To watch the film is to bear witness to Powell’s unique alchemy. Throughout, he infuses a weather-battered island community off the coast of Scotland on the verge of abandonment with off-kilter camera angles, dreamily gauzy cinematography, and a becalmed detachment that lets the characters and scenario do the work for him.
Which isn’t to say that Powell occasionally indulges in a few melodramatic flourishes that...
To watch the film is to bear witness to Powell’s unique alchemy. Throughout, he infuses a weather-battered island community off the coast of Scotland on the verge of abandonment with off-kilter camera angles, dreamily gauzy cinematography, and a becalmed detachment that lets the characters and scenario do the work for him.
Which isn’t to say that Powell occasionally indulges in a few melodramatic flourishes that...
- 10/20/2023
- by Eric Henderson
- Slant Magazine
"Dr. Cawley was thin to the point of emaciation. Not quite the swimming bones and cartilage Teddy had seen at Dachau, but definitely in need of several good meals." Such is the introduction to Dr. Cawley in Dennis Lehane's 2003 novel "Shutter Island." Set in 1954, the thriller concerns a pair of U.S. Marshals assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a treatment facility for the violent mentally ill. Cawley, as orchestrator of Ashecliffe Hospital's treatment program, aims for "a moral fusion between law and order and clinical care" — to heal his criminally insane patients more than punish them.
When Martin Scorsese picked up Laeta Kalogridis' adapted screenplay for "Shutter Island" (which would release in 2010), Ben Kingsley was cast in the role of the good doctor. The two Marshals, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, find the doctor looking and sounding slightly different from his demeanor on...
When Martin Scorsese picked up Laeta Kalogridis' adapted screenplay for "Shutter Island" (which would release in 2010), Ben Kingsley was cast in the role of the good doctor. The two Marshals, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, find the doctor looking and sounding slightly different from his demeanor on...
- 9/21/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
“I am insane. And you are my insanity.”
Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys (1995) will be available on 4K Ultra HD April 26th from Arrow Video.
Following the commercial and critical success of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam next feature would turn to science fiction and a screenplay by Janet and David Peoples inspired by Chris Marker’s classic short film La Jetée.
In 1996, a deadly virus is unleashed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, destroying much of the world’s population and forcing survivors underground. In 2035, prisoner James Cole is chosen to go back in time and help scientists in their search for a cure.
Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Brad Pitt (Fight Club) as mental patient Jeffrey Goines, Twelve Monkeys would become Gilliam’s most successful film and is now widely regarded as a sci-fi classic. Arrow Films are proud to...
Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys (1995) will be available on 4K Ultra HD April 26th from Arrow Video.
Following the commercial and critical success of The Fisher King, Terry Gilliam next feature would turn to science fiction and a screenplay by Janet and David Peoples inspired by Chris Marker’s classic short film La Jetée.
In 1996, a deadly virus is unleashed by a group calling themselves the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, destroying much of the world’s population and forcing survivors underground. In 2035, prisoner James Cole is chosen to go back in time and help scientists in their search for a cure.
Featuring an Oscar-nominated turn by Brad Pitt (Fight Club) as mental patient Jeffrey Goines, Twelve Monkeys would become Gilliam’s most successful film and is now widely regarded as a sci-fi classic. Arrow Films are proud to...
- 4/4/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Don’t forget, a great impression of simplicity can only be achieved by great agony of body and spirit.”
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
- 9/20/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The biggest box office hit in the history of the Soviet Union was an early 1970s Mexican romance so obscure in its home country that even many experts on the era haven’t heard of it. Host Rico Gagliano talks with several who have, including esteemed cinema historian Ian Christie, Concordia University’s Masha Salazkina, and actress Emoé de la Parra, the daughter of the hugely successful author Yolanda Vargas Dulché behind the comic book and telenovela on which the film was based.The first season of the Mubi Podcast, titled “Lost in Translation,” spotlights movies that were massive cultural phenomena in one country, but nowhere else. We explore why these films fascinated so many people in one place, at one time. With episodes spanning nearly every continent, tune in weekly to discover unique film stories from around the globe.Listen to episode 5 below or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsStitcherSpotifyGoogle PodcastsMoreEach episode,...
- 7/1/2021
- MUBI
Anyone who has done more than a little research into the career of Raúl Ruiz (1941-2011) knows that his filmography is full of holes—and mysteries. No matter which version of that list you consult, there are works, short or long, that precious few people have seen; as well as some whose very existence is difficult to verify. Visions and Marvels of the Christian Religion? Responso? Mirror of Tunisia? Agathopedia? Some of these I have actually seen; others I am still chasing. I recall the advice given to me by British film historian Ian Christie, while Ruiz was still in our world: “You need to hang out with him for a while, until he mentions some secret project you’ve never heard about before …”Ruiz made films in every possible situation, and with every kind of technology. Some he shot at home with friends, on video or Super-8. Others—the ones we know best,...
- 5/17/2019
- MUBI
Ryan Lambie Dec 23, 2016
Editor Thelma Schoonmaker talks to us about Martin Scorsese’s new film, Silence, taking risks in filmmaking and lots more...
Name a great Scorsese movie, and it’ll almost certainly have been edited by Thelma Schoonmaker. From 1980 onwards, the pair have been inseparable, with Schoonmaker cutting such classics as Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, After Hours, Goodfellas, Casino and Gangs Of New York. Scorsese’s latest film is Silence, a powerful, heartfelt period piece about the limits of faith. Starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as a pair of Jesuit priests who witness the torture and execution of Christians in 17th century Japan, the movie is a stark tonal contrast to The Wolf Of Wall Street, Scorsese’s wilfully gaudy, giddy account of drug-addled millionaire corporate crook Jordan Belfort.
See related John Carney interview: Sing Street, X-Men, Hitchcock & more Den Of Geek films of the year:...
Editor Thelma Schoonmaker talks to us about Martin Scorsese’s new film, Silence, taking risks in filmmaking and lots more...
Name a great Scorsese movie, and it’ll almost certainly have been edited by Thelma Schoonmaker. From 1980 onwards, the pair have been inseparable, with Schoonmaker cutting such classics as Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, After Hours, Goodfellas, Casino and Gangs Of New York. Scorsese’s latest film is Silence, a powerful, heartfelt period piece about the limits of faith. Starring Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver as a pair of Jesuit priests who witness the torture and execution of Christians in 17th century Japan, the movie is a stark tonal contrast to The Wolf Of Wall Street, Scorsese’s wilfully gaudy, giddy account of drug-addled millionaire corporate crook Jordan Belfort.
See related John Carney interview: Sing Street, X-Men, Hitchcock & more Den Of Geek films of the year:...
- 12/22/2016
- Den of Geek
These were only meant to be seen once. These explosive, unwieldy, nearly unprecedented and almost peerless essay films, densely packed with images so resonant they have been studied for nearly one hundred years, were only meant to be seen once. This observation comes from Adrian Martin on the excellent commentary track accompanying Man with a Movie Camera (1929), easily Dziga Vertov’s most important film. The other four films on the set were produced contemporaneously – Kino-Eye in 1924, Kino-Pravda #21 in 1925, Enthusiasm: Symphony of the Donbass in 1931, and Three Songs About Lenin in 1934. The latter two are sound films. The silent films – Movie Camera, Kino-Eye, and Kino-Pravda #21 feature musical accompaniment, none more accomplished than Alloy Orchestra’s landmark work.
For viewers in my generation, and I would imagine for a great many older than I, Alloy Orchestra’s score for Man with a Movie Camera is as important a component to the film as anything else.
For viewers in my generation, and I would imagine for a great many older than I, Alloy Orchestra’s score for Man with a Movie Camera is as important a component to the film as anything else.
- 8/4/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
In the decades since its premiere, The French Lieutenant’s Woman is now most commonly discussed for its placement in the extensive awards resume of its star Meryl Streep, since it was her follow-up to her Best Supporting Actress win for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer and would serve as netting her first nomination in a leading category (it’s also interesting to note Streep won the Golden Globe but ultimately, perhaps ironically, lost to Katharine Hepburn, the iconic performer who previously held the most nominations record). But at the time of its release, the final product was the result of a decade long ordeal, seeing many auteurs, actors, and screenwriters attempting to adapt the notoriously ‘unfilmable’ 1969 novel by John Fowles, an experiment in form termed “post-modern historical fiction.” Directed by Karel Reisz, the Czech-born British auteur a British New Wave progenitor of the realist strain of filmmaking, it remains one of his most prolific works.
- 8/11/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The River
Written by Rumer Godden and Jean Renoir
Directed by Jean Renoir
France/India/USA, 1951
As the camera looks down upon an ornamental design created from rice powder and water, the narrator (voiced by June Hillman), who speaks throughout the film, welcomes us to the world of The River. This is Bengal, “where the story really happened,” and this is Harriet speaking, reflecting back on her life at a very confusing and significant time. For all intents and purposes, The River is primarily her story. And in this, the film is an intimately personal cinematic memoir. But The River is also something else. In its depiction of the “river people” who inhabit this region of India, the film also takes on an ethnographic appeal, capturing the “flavor” of the setting and its inhabitants.
Guiding this journey is the great French director Jean Renoir, fresh off a tumultuous sojourn in Hollywood,...
Written by Rumer Godden and Jean Renoir
Directed by Jean Renoir
France/India/USA, 1951
As the camera looks down upon an ornamental design created from rice powder and water, the narrator (voiced by June Hillman), who speaks throughout the film, welcomes us to the world of The River. This is Bengal, “where the story really happened,” and this is Harriet speaking, reflecting back on her life at a very confusing and significant time. For all intents and purposes, The River is primarily her story. And in this, the film is an intimately personal cinematic memoir. But The River is also something else. In its depiction of the “river people” who inhabit this region of India, the film also takes on an ethnographic appeal, capturing the “flavor” of the setting and its inhabitants.
Guiding this journey is the great French director Jean Renoir, fresh off a tumultuous sojourn in Hollywood,...
- 5/6/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
UK mentor scheme received seventeen applications for each place.
Actor-director Kenneth Branagh and writer-director Hossein Amini are among mentors for training programme Guiding Lights, run by Brighton-based cultural agency Lighthouse.
The 15 mentees include directors, writers, producers and, for the first time, exhibitors, as a result of a new partnership with Film Hub South East, part of the BFI Film Audience Network.
They will receive nine months of personal mentoring.
This year there were seventeen applications for each place on the scheme, which requires candidates to demonstrate experience in their field and their potential for the future.
The scheme began in 2006 and is sponsored by Creative Skillset and Studiocanal. Previous years’ mentors include Danny Boyle, Abi Morgan, Lone Scherfig and Julian Fellowes.
Kevin Macdonald, director of The Last King of Scotland, is taking part for the third time this year. He said: “What I really love about [Guiding Lights] is that I learn as much – maybe more – from the mentee...
Actor-director Kenneth Branagh and writer-director Hossein Amini are among mentors for training programme Guiding Lights, run by Brighton-based cultural agency Lighthouse.
The 15 mentees include directors, writers, producers and, for the first time, exhibitors, as a result of a new partnership with Film Hub South East, part of the BFI Film Audience Network.
They will receive nine months of personal mentoring.
This year there were seventeen applications for each place on the scheme, which requires candidates to demonstrate experience in their field and their potential for the future.
The scheme began in 2006 and is sponsored by Creative Skillset and Studiocanal. Previous years’ mentors include Danny Boyle, Abi Morgan, Lone Scherfig and Julian Fellowes.
Kevin Macdonald, director of The Last King of Scotland, is taking part for the third time this year. He said: “What I really love about [Guiding Lights] is that I learn as much – maybe more – from the mentee...
- 12/17/2014
- by Laurence.Bartleet@city.ac.uk (Larry Bartleet)
- ScreenDaily
Xan Brooks's account of his emotional engagement with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's A Canterbury Tale (A pilgrim's progress, Review, 10 August) captures beautifully what many feel about this evocative film. Unfortunately, he plays down two important elements that make the film what it is. Most important is the contribution of Pressburger, who was much more than Powell's "regular collaborator", but a full partner in all departments except directing on this and 16 other features.
Having organised the first full retrospective of their work for the BFI, I can testify that they considered the film a "failure", but were gratified when the BBC's restoration of the truncated original premiered to acclaim at the Nft in 1978. Emeric later introduced the film at MoMA in New York and spoke about trying to create the conditions for "magic" to happen on screen – his contribution shouldn't be downgraded. The other vital ingredient was the non-professional Sgt John Sweet,...
Having organised the first full retrospective of their work for the BFI, I can testify that they considered the film a "failure", but were gratified when the BBC's restoration of the truncated original premiered to acclaim at the Nft in 1978. Emeric later introduced the film at MoMA in New York and spoke about trying to create the conditions for "magic" to happen on screen – his contribution shouldn't be downgraded. The other vital ingredient was the non-professional Sgt John Sweet,...
- 8/16/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Before the legendary British filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger lensed the classics The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus or A Matter of Life & Death, they raised quite a stir with their life long tale of an aging army officer, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The directors were working as hired guns on British war propaganda films in the midst of World War II when they started work on the picture. Featuring the well-known British cartoon icon created by David Low, Colonel Blimp was a satirical symbol of low brow soldiery and politics of the time, and when Powell and Pressburger decided to recast the character as Clive Candy, placed by the amorphous Roger Livesey, and have him befriend a German soldier, a sworn enemy of the state at the time, British officials, including Winston Churchill himself, were outraged and tried desperately to dissuade the film’s completion.
- 4/2/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
(Alexander Mackendrick, 1951, Studiocanal, U)
Last September marked the centenary of the birth of Alexander Mackendrick (1912-93). Born in the States, raised in Scotland, he was, with Richard Hamer, one of the two truly great products of Ealing Studios. Their output was small (each made made five movies under Michael Balcon's aegis), but distinguished and distinctive and always digging beneath Ealing's cosy Little England ethos. Oscar-nominated for its screenplay (by Mackendrick, his brother-in-law the playwright Roger MacDougall and John Dighton, Hamer's collaborator on Kind Hearts and Coronets), The Man in the White Suit is arguably Mackendrick's most trenchant comedy.
It stars Alec Guinness as Sidney Stratton, a dreamily eccentric inventor who develops an artificial fibre that's indestructible and resistant to dirt. Apparently a boon to humanity, this fabric spreads alarm in a Lancashire mill town whose prosperity the invention threatens. Management and workers unite against the starry-eyed idealist Stratton, who...
Last September marked the centenary of the birth of Alexander Mackendrick (1912-93). Born in the States, raised in Scotland, he was, with Richard Hamer, one of the two truly great products of Ealing Studios. Their output was small (each made made five movies under Michael Balcon's aegis), but distinguished and distinctive and always digging beneath Ealing's cosy Little England ethos. Oscar-nominated for its screenplay (by Mackendrick, his brother-in-law the playwright Roger MacDougall and John Dighton, Hamer's collaborator on Kind Hearts and Coronets), The Man in the White Suit is arguably Mackendrick's most trenchant comedy.
It stars Alec Guinness as Sidney Stratton, a dreamily eccentric inventor who develops an artificial fibre that's indestructible and resistant to dirt. Apparently a boon to humanity, this fabric spreads alarm in a Lancashire mill town whose prosperity the invention threatens. Management and workers unite against the starry-eyed idealist Stratton, who...
- 12/16/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Everyone knows the classic Hitchcocks: Psycho, The Birds, The Lady Vanishes. But the summer-long retrospective also includes wonderful films you may not have heard much about; here's 10 often-overlooked Hitchcocks you won't want to miss
Born in Leytonstone, east London, but destined to be the toast of Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock learned the business of film-making in London, not La. The business at that time was silent cinema, and the young Hitchcock had a full apprenticeship.
He spent years at Gainsborough Pictures in Islington, north London (or Famous Players-Lasky as it was when he arrived) crafting caption cards, editing scripts and designing sets before he was given the chance to direct his own films. His early features are far more accomplished, and more personal, than many a director's debut. And if you're familiar with his famous sound movies, you'll find much in them that prefigures his most celebrated suspense-filled sequences.
The British...
Born in Leytonstone, east London, but destined to be the toast of Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock learned the business of film-making in London, not La. The business at that time was silent cinema, and the young Hitchcock had a full apprenticeship.
He spent years at Gainsborough Pictures in Islington, north London (or Famous Players-Lasky as it was when he arrived) crafting caption cards, editing scripts and designing sets before he was given the chance to direct his own films. His early features are far more accomplished, and more personal, than many a director's debut. And if you're familiar with his famous sound movies, you'll find much in them that prefigures his most celebrated suspense-filled sequences.
The British...
- 7/4/2012
- by Tony Paley, Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
The problem with writing daily updates for a film festival such as Il Cinema Ritrovato is that you never find time to do it! The screenings start from 9 in the morning and continue ceaselessly till the evening, and then you can go for the outdoor projection which starts at 10 pm, and if it is something like the restored version of Roman Polanski's Tess, then the end of screening would be on the following day.
To begin, let’s start with a cinephile, rather than the films: Olaf Möller is a hard-to-miss cinephile who dresses in black (but his beard distinguished him from Johnny Cash), and when he talks about Mosfilm director, Ivan Pyr’ev whose retrospective Möller curated, it looks as if he discovered Solomon's mines. Olaf’s aim is to go beyond the officially acknowledged names in the Soviet Union cinema. In the technical mastery of Pyr’ev,...
To begin, let’s start with a cinephile, rather than the films: Olaf Möller is a hard-to-miss cinephile who dresses in black (but his beard distinguished him from Johnny Cash), and when he talks about Mosfilm director, Ivan Pyr’ev whose retrospective Möller curated, it looks as if he discovered Solomon's mines. Olaf’s aim is to go beyond the officially acknowledged names in the Soviet Union cinema. In the technical mastery of Pyr’ev,...
- 6/28/2012
- MUBI
Charlie Brooker is certainly right that we remember eras in cinematic style (What is the difference between The Hobbit and the news? Not as much as there should be, G2, 30 April), and he could even push this back to the frozen monochrome of Victorian photography. But why does he have to spoil it by blaming the hand-cranked cameras of the 1920s for speeded-up footage from that period? Many cameras – though not all – were hand-cranked, and deliberately at different rates, and what they filmed was shown at different speeds too, until the talkies imposed a standard projection rate of 24 frames per second. When we see speeded-up footage today, this is because whoever transferred it couldn't be bothered to adjust the transfer rate – or thought it looked quaint not to. And when Brooker evokes "lush Eastmancolor", I suspect he means late Technicolor, which was certainly lush compared with its cheaper replacement that...
- 5/1/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Funny faces to lost gems, war horses to strange censorship, silent film is a wondrous way to immerse oneself in history
A trip to the British silent film festival is a unique opportunity to wallow in some unfamiliar waters. Four days immersed in silent cinema is time spent in the company of many films that have been forgotten or misremembered, films that have only been seen before by archivists and researchers, and that may never get a public airing again. Some of these films are great, but even those that aren't are fascinating, as cinema history, and as a glimpse of what it was like to live in Britain 100 years ago.
1. "They didn't need dialogue, they had faces"
We're all familiar with Gloria Swanson's famous line in Sunset Boulevard, but she was talking about the blandly beautiful people of Hollywood. The faces of British silent cinema may not be attached to famous names,...
A trip to the British silent film festival is a unique opportunity to wallow in some unfamiliar waters. Four days immersed in silent cinema is time spent in the company of many films that have been forgotten or misremembered, films that have only been seen before by archivists and researchers, and that may never get a public airing again. Some of these films are great, but even those that aren't are fascinating, as cinema history, and as a glimpse of what it was like to live in Britain 100 years ago.
1. "They didn't need dialogue, they had faces"
We're all familiar with Gloria Swanson's famous line in Sunset Boulevard, but she was talking about the blandly beautiful people of Hollywood. The faces of British silent cinema may not be attached to famous names,...
- 4/24/2012
- by Pamela Hutchinson
- The Guardian - Film News
"In 1962 Pier Paolo Pasolini received a suspended sentence for his allegedly blasphemous contribution to the portmanteau film Rogopag, a brilliant sketch satirizing biblical movies," writes Philip French in his brief review of the new Masters of Cinema release of The Gospel According to St Matthew in today's Observer. "Two years later the gay, Marxist atheist showed the world how a life of Christ should be made, and it is a magnificent achievement, far superior to Scorsese's or Gibson's films."
David Jenkins in Little White Lies: "Essentially a 'straight' retelling of the life of Christ (who is played with fervent intensity by Enrique Irazoqui), which, on its surface, seldom editorializes or strays towards controversy, the film was fully embraced by the religious community to the extent that a colorized version was made to capitalize on the Bible belt buck. General familiarity of with the text makes this one of Pasolini's most easily approachable films,...
David Jenkins in Little White Lies: "Essentially a 'straight' retelling of the life of Christ (who is played with fervent intensity by Enrique Irazoqui), which, on its surface, seldom editorializes or strays towards controversy, the film was fully embraced by the religious community to the extent that a colorized version was made to capitalize on the Bible belt buck. General familiarity of with the text makes this one of Pasolini's most easily approachable films,...
- 4/8/2012
- MUBI
Actor whose unpredictability never undermined his electrifying talent
Nicol Williamson, whose death of oesophageal cancer at the age of 73 has been announced, was arguably the most electrifying actor of his generation, but one whose career flickered and faded like a faulty light fitting. Tall and wiry, with a rasping scowl of a voice, a battered baby face and a mop of unruly curls, he was the best modern Hamlet since John Gielgud, and certainly the angriest, though he scuppered his own performance at the Round House, north London, in 1969, by apologising to the audience and walking off the stage. The experience was recycled in a 1991 Broadway comedy called I Hate Hamlet, in which he proved his point and fell out badly with his co-star.
Williamson's greatest performance was as the dissolute and disintegrating lawyer Bill Maitland in John Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence at the Royal Court theatre in 1964. It was...
Nicol Williamson, whose death of oesophageal cancer at the age of 73 has been announced, was arguably the most electrifying actor of his generation, but one whose career flickered and faded like a faulty light fitting. Tall and wiry, with a rasping scowl of a voice, a battered baby face and a mop of unruly curls, he was the best modern Hamlet since John Gielgud, and certainly the angriest, though he scuppered his own performance at the Round House, north London, in 1969, by apologising to the audience and walking off the stage. The experience was recycled in a 1991 Broadway comedy called I Hate Hamlet, in which he proved his point and fell out badly with his co-star.
Williamson's greatest performance was as the dissolute and disintegrating lawyer Bill Maitland in John Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence at the Royal Court theatre in 1964. It was...
- 1/27/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 27, 2012
Price: DVD $79.95, Blu-ray $99.95
Studio: Criterion
Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson embark on a Brief Encounter.
In the 1940s, playwright Noël Coward (Design for Living) and filmmaker David Lean (Doctor Zhivago) worked together in one of cinema’s greatest writer-director collaborations, celebrated in the four-film Blu-ray and DVD collection David Lean Directs Noël Coward.
Beginning with the 1942 wartime military drama movie In Which We Serve, Coward and Lean embarked on a series of literate, socially engaged and undeniably entertaining movies that ranged from domestic epic (This Happy Breed) to whimsical comedy (Blithe Spirit) to poignant romance (Brief Encounter).
Here’s a brief run-down on each of the classic British films in the David Lean Directs Noël Coward DVD and Blu-ray collection, all of which created a lasting testament to Coward’s legacy and introduced Lean’s talents to the world:
In Which We Serve (1942)
This action...
Price: DVD $79.95, Blu-ray $99.95
Studio: Criterion
Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson embark on a Brief Encounter.
In the 1940s, playwright Noël Coward (Design for Living) and filmmaker David Lean (Doctor Zhivago) worked together in one of cinema’s greatest writer-director collaborations, celebrated in the four-film Blu-ray and DVD collection David Lean Directs Noël Coward.
Beginning with the 1942 wartime military drama movie In Which We Serve, Coward and Lean embarked on a series of literate, socially engaged and undeniably entertaining movies that ranged from domestic epic (This Happy Breed) to whimsical comedy (Blithe Spirit) to poignant romance (Brief Encounter).
Here’s a brief run-down on each of the classic British films in the David Lean Directs Noël Coward DVD and Blu-ray collection, all of which created a lasting testament to Coward’s legacy and introduced Lean’s talents to the world:
In Which We Serve (1942)
This action...
- 12/16/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, produced by Peter Jackson, saw its North American premiere last week when it closed this year's edition of the AFI Fest. Though it won't open wide in the States until December 21, when it goes up against David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Brad Bird's Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and, a few days later, Spielberg's own War Horse — as Michael Cieply reports in the New York Times, it's going to be "a hot and crowded holiday at the box office" — it's been dominating 40-some-odd other markets since it began rolling out a little over two weeks ago. I thought we'd quickly check in on how things have been going for Tintin since our first roundup sort of petered out and lost interest a few days after the world premiere in Brussels.
The first...
The first...
- 11/14/2011
- MUBI
Pablo Ferro is "more popularly known for his work as a master title sequence designer (Dr Strangelove and The Thomas Crown Affair among countless others) and occasionally an actor as well (Greaser's Palace)," writes Marcus Herring in an entry punctuated with clips and exclamations, "but Pablo also crafted a number of the most memorable trailers of all time…. The Cinefamily is devoting an entire evening to showcasing the genius of Pablo Ferro on Tuesday September 27th, with Pablo himself in attendance! He'll bring loads of unavailable commercials (Beachnut Gum!), rare 35mm trailers (the Japanese version of A Clockwork Orange!), lost animations, and of course, his famous title sequences. We'll finish everything off with an ultra-rare presentation of Pablo's 1969 short The Inflatable Doll, starring one of our favorite on-screen strangemen, Don Calfa!" More on Pablo Ferro from Holly Willis; plus, three sites dedicated to his work: 1, 2 and 3.
"Greece, of course,...
"Greece, of course,...
- 9/24/2011
- MUBI
Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
The Battle Of Algiers: The Criterion Collection (1966)
Synopsis: One of the most influential political films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafe’s, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. Pontecorvo’s tour de force has astonishing relevance today. (criterion.com)
Special Features:
High-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Marcello Gatti (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition). Gillo Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth,...
The Battle Of Algiers: The Criterion Collection (1966)
Synopsis: One of the most influential political films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafe’s, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. Pontecorvo’s tour de force has astonishing relevance today. (criterion.com)
Special Features:
High-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Marcello Gatti (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition). Gillo Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth,...
- 8/8/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, a dilapidated canal boat has been transformed into 12-seat theatre that navigates east London's waterways. Sarfraz Manzoor takes a cinematic tour ...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
It is possibly the only cinema in the UK equipped with life jackets and buoyancy aids – and it is in the vanguard of the cultural events that will surround the Olympics. Two years ago the Cole was a tattered narrowboat with no roof, plumbing or electrics: now it has been transformed into a 12-seat floating cinema that for the next two months will be navigating the waterways of east London.
The Floating Cinema is funded by the Arts Council and commissioned by the Olympic Delivery Authority and it is the brainchild of curator Emma Underhill. "The waterways are the arteries that run through the Olympic parks," she said, "so when we were invited to put forward a proposal for a project that would engage the...
- 7/29/2011
- by Sarfraz Manzoor
- The Guardian - Film News
As told through the eyes of Mia, a mouthy 15-year-old aspiring hip-hop dancer, Fish Tank plays like a grittier, low-class version of An Education. Though both are British films, the worlds their characters inhabit could not be more different.
Mia doesn't seem to care about anything besides dancing and acting tough. Her wardrobe consists entirely of track suits and she drinks like a seasoned pro, both in her mother's scuzzy apartment and in the vacant one to where she escapes to practice her dancing. Both Mia and her younger sister curse without hesitation at their perpetually wasted mother (Kierston Wareing), who can't be a minute older than 30.
When her mother brings home a slimy, yet charming new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds and Hunger), Mia instantly becomes smitten when he compliments the way she dances along with a Ja Rule music video.
Writer/director Andrea Arnold originally...
Mia doesn't seem to care about anything besides dancing and acting tough. Her wardrobe consists entirely of track suits and she drinks like a seasoned pro, both in her mother's scuzzy apartment and in the vacant one to where she escapes to practice her dancing. Both Mia and her younger sister curse without hesitation at their perpetually wasted mother (Kierston Wareing), who can't be a minute older than 30.
When her mother brings home a slimy, yet charming new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender of Inglourious Basterds and Hunger), Mia instantly becomes smitten when he compliments the way she dances along with a Ja Rule music video.
Writer/director Andrea Arnold originally...
- 3/8/2011
- by Kevin Blumeyer
- Rope of Silicon
Chicago – Andrea Arnold might be the best working filmmaker that you haven’t yet heard of. She won an Oscar for her short film “Wasp” and followed that up with the excellent “Red Road” and the even-better “Fish Tank,” a great drama now included in The Criterion Collection and available on Blu-ray and DVD.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
It’s a sad fact that we live in a movie marketplace where films like “Fish Tank” struggle to find an audience. “Fish Tank” made $375,000 stateside and only about $2 million more internationally. (Then again, both those numbers are double “Red Road.”) “Little Fockers” made almost that much in just its 10th weekend in release. It can be disheartening if one really thinks about it.
Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection
But that’s one of the things I love the most about The Criterion Collection.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
It’s a sad fact that we live in a movie marketplace where films like “Fish Tank” struggle to find an audience. “Fish Tank” made $375,000 stateside and only about $2 million more internationally. (Then again, both those numbers are double “Red Road.”) “Little Fockers” made almost that much in just its 10th weekend in release. It can be disheartening if one really thinks about it.
Fish Tank was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on February 22nd, 2011
Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection
But that’s one of the things I love the most about The Criterion Collection.
- 3/1/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Reviewer: Steve Dollar
Rating (out of 5): ****
One of 2010's most notable releases, and a critic's favorite at Cannes (where it won the 2009 Jury Prize), Fish Tank is a must-see for anyone addicted to what might be called "visceral realism" in cinema. Those words are suggested by the late Argentine novelist Robert Bolano, writing in an utterly different context in The Savage Detectives, but they are usefully reappropriated as a coinage for director Andrea Arnold's aesthetic. You can read Ian Christie's thoughtful essay in the booklet that accompanies the new Criterion Collection DVD, which lays out Arnold's connections with the long tradition of British kitchen-sinkism (from The Lonliness of the Long-Distance Runner through Ken Loach and Mike Leigh).
Rating (out of 5): ****
One of 2010's most notable releases, and a critic's favorite at Cannes (where it won the 2009 Jury Prize), Fish Tank is a must-see for anyone addicted to what might be called "visceral realism" in cinema. Those words are suggested by the late Argentine novelist Robert Bolano, writing in an utterly different context in The Savage Detectives, but they are usefully reappropriated as a coinage for director Andrea Arnold's aesthetic. You can read Ian Christie's thoughtful essay in the booklet that accompanies the new Criterion Collection DVD, which lays out Arnold's connections with the long tradition of British kitchen-sinkism (from The Lonliness of the Long-Distance Runner through Ken Loach and Mike Leigh).
- 3/1/2011
- by GreenCineStaff
- GreenCine
This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s. Due Date (Blu-ray available as 'Blu-ray only' and 'Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy') I wasn't nearly as impressed by The Hangover as the rest of the world seemed to be, nor was I as dismayed by Due Date. In my estimation, the primary reason Todd Phillips' latest comedy fell short of his previous effort is novelty—as much in premise as character dynamic and comedic set pieces. Given enough time, I think both films will appear similarly tired. Until then though, Due Date remains a moderately enjoyable Planes, Trains and Automobiles retread, afforded more vibrancy than it's worth due to its affable leads. Robert Downey Jr. plays the easily irritated straight man, and Zach Galifianakis plays the eccentric,...
- 2/24/2011
- by Adam Quigley
- Slash Film
Mark Kermode, the Observer's DVD critic, picks the releases that deserved greater attention, from Restrepo to the re-released Peeping Tom
Two intriguing titles slipped under this column's radar because their DVD releases coincided with their terrestrial TV premieres. Arguably the finest documentary of the year, Restrepo (2010, Dogwoof, E) provides an intimate account of life on the front-line in Afghanistan, where the battle for "hearts and minds" clashes with the harsh reality of chaotic violence, military and insurgent. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger embed themselves among Us soldiers stationed in the Korangal valley in 2008 and watch them endure boredom, terror, adrenaline rushes, loss, confusion and exhilaration in roughly equal measure. Over a year, the film-makers earned the trust of their astonishingly youthful subjects, whose responses to their life-and-death situations are as honest as they are humbling. Intercutting raw outpost footage with more melancholic post-battle interviews that reveal still unhealed wounds, Restrepo...
Two intriguing titles slipped under this column's radar because their DVD releases coincided with their terrestrial TV premieres. Arguably the finest documentary of the year, Restrepo (2010, Dogwoof, E) provides an intimate account of life on the front-line in Afghanistan, where the battle for "hearts and minds" clashes with the harsh reality of chaotic violence, military and insurgent. Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger embed themselves among Us soldiers stationed in the Korangal valley in 2008 and watch them endure boredom, terror, adrenaline rushes, loss, confusion and exhilaration in roughly equal measure. Over a year, the film-makers earned the trust of their astonishingly youthful subjects, whose responses to their life-and-death situations are as honest as they are humbling. Intercutting raw outpost footage with more melancholic post-battle interviews that reveal still unhealed wounds, Restrepo...
- 12/19/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Powell’s notorious Peeping Tom returns to cinemas this week ahead of the new Blu-ray release on the 22nd of November to celebrate the film’s fiftieth anniversary.
While it has gathered a rabid fanbase the forthcoming cinema and home entertainment release from Optimum will be the first chance many will have had to experience the film.
Peeping Tom enjoys a relatively scandalous reputation and there’s little doubt that audiences of 1960 would have found the film provocative and uncomfortable, indeed seeing it again today there are images in the film which still get me. The scenes towards the end have moments I felt genuinely unsettled by so the film certainly retains its power.
Whether it has anything deeper to say about voyeurism and violence it is hard to say – it works as a psychological thriller, offering a portrait (perhaps sometimes painted with a broad brush) of a disturbed...
While it has gathered a rabid fanbase the forthcoming cinema and home entertainment release from Optimum will be the first chance many will have had to experience the film.
Peeping Tom enjoys a relatively scandalous reputation and there’s little doubt that audiences of 1960 would have found the film provocative and uncomfortable, indeed seeing it again today there are images in the film which still get me. The scenes towards the end have moments I felt genuinely unsettled by so the film certainly retains its power.
Whether it has anything deeper to say about voyeurism and violence it is hard to say – it works as a psychological thriller, offering a portrait (perhaps sometimes painted with a broad brush) of a disturbed...
- 11/18/2010
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
I love it when I read comments from readers declaring a certain director as the best director in the world. Lars von Trier feels the same way about himself, which makes me imagine the conversation should von Trier have to argue with a Christopher Nolan devotee about who is better. It would be a fascinating discussion to say the least, and most likely one that would cause von Trier's head to explode.
I don't mention this in an attempt to say von Trier is the best director and Nolan isn't, but to point out what you're getting into when you purchase and begin to watch Criterion's presentation of von Trier's highly controversial and very personal film, Antichrist. Because a presentation is really what this is, as the production of this disc seems to be nothing more than a collection of elements provided by von Trier's Zentropa DVD production company, Electric Parc.
I don't mention this in an attempt to say von Trier is the best director and Nolan isn't, but to point out what you're getting into when you purchase and begin to watch Criterion's presentation of von Trier's highly controversial and very personal film, Antichrist. Because a presentation is really what this is, as the production of this disc seems to be nothing more than a collection of elements provided by von Trier's Zentropa DVD production company, Electric Parc.
- 11/15/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A cloud of sensationalism and hyperbole has followed Antichrist around ever since it screened at Cannes in 2009. This is unfortunate as Antichrist is a complicated work that can't be reduced to a goofy catchphrase or a list of shocking scenes. In this regard, The Criterion Collection is the perfect company for the film's home video release. The splendid and respectful presentation emphasizes the film's artistic and technical complexity while pushing aside the sensationalism.
In the film, a couple -- He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) -- are devastated by the accidental death of their son. The experience causes a rift in the marriage and causes She to suffer a mental breakdown. He, who is a psychiatrist, thinks his wife's doctor isn't really helping the situation. He thinks that She's problems are psychosomatic. Like a fool, He decides that the best path to recovery isn't medicine, but an extensive course...
In the film, a couple -- He (Willem Dafoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg) -- are devastated by the accidental death of their son. The experience causes a rift in the marriage and causes She to suffer a mental breakdown. He, who is a psychiatrist, thinks his wife's doctor isn't really helping the situation. He thinks that She's problems are psychosomatic. Like a fool, He decides that the best path to recovery isn't medicine, but an extensive course...
- 11/10/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Michael Powell’s 1960 classic, Peeping Tom, is released in cinemas from 19th November and makes its Blu-ray debut on 22nd November. To celebrate the release of this absolute masterpiece of British cinemas, we’ve teamed up with Optimum Releasing to give away three copies of the film on Blu-ray!
Peeping Tom was much derided on its original release – by the tabloid press, at least – and it has taken over forty plus years for its reputation to be restored, thanks to the likes of film critic and historian Ian Christie, Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell. Now restored and released for the first time on Blu-ray – and packed with extras – this is an absolute must for fans of Powell and British cinema.
Synopsis:
From Michael Powell, the brilliant and acclaimed director of A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus comes a controversial masterpiece now recognised as one of the supreme achievements of British horror cinema.
Peeping Tom was much derided on its original release – by the tabloid press, at least – and it has taken over forty plus years for its reputation to be restored, thanks to the likes of film critic and historian Ian Christie, Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker-Powell. Now restored and released for the first time on Blu-ray – and packed with extras – this is an absolute must for fans of Powell and British cinema.
Synopsis:
From Michael Powell, the brilliant and acclaimed director of A Matter of Life and Death and Black Narcissus comes a controversial masterpiece now recognised as one of the supreme achievements of British horror cinema.
- 11/8/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
There are two major releases this week on DVD and Blu-Ray. Danish director Lars Von Trier's Antichrist is making its way onto both DVD and Blu-Ray November 9th. There are a whole slew of extra features on this title including: commentaries, interviews, and documentaries. The second title is Image Entertainment's Damned by Dawn, which releases on the same day. This title will offer a commentary and making of video only. Numerous contacts with Image Entertainment to screen this title have gone unanswered. So, this reviewer will search for a review copy locally, as this title offers both Celtic and Australian ghost themes. Director Brett Anstey has been interviewed (here) on this title and all the special features for both films can be found inside.
The synopsis for Damned by Dawn is here:
"After receiving a mysterious gift from her dying grandmother, Claire takes her new boyfriend home to...
The synopsis for Damned by Dawn is here:
"After receiving a mysterious gift from her dying grandmother, Claire takes her new boyfriend home to...
- 11/8/2010
- by 28DaysLaterAnalysis@gmail.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
The feel good movie of the year, Lars von Trier's critically acclaimed and controversial Antichrist, is coming home by way of the Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-ray, and we've got the goods on what to expect once it gets here!
According to High Def Digest the Criterion Collection has announced Antichrist for a Blu-ray release on November 9. This disturbing psychological thriller premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and stars Willem Dafoe and Cannes best actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith; video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg; a collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage; Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, a...
According to High Def Digest the Criterion Collection has announced Antichrist for a Blu-ray release on November 9. This disturbing psychological thriller premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and stars Willem Dafoe and Cannes best actress Charlotte Gainsbourg. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a DTS-hd Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith; video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg; a collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage; Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009, a...
- 8/19/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
It looks like Lars von Trier's bitter pill, Antichrist, will see a gorgeous release on DVD and blu-ray from the Criterion Collection November 9. For those of you who haven't seen the film, we reccomend it with a caution that it's not for the faint of heart or the skeptical of arthouse.
Disc Features include:
- A new, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Lars von Trier and supervised by director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle (with DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
- Audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith
- Video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
- A collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage.
- "Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009," a documentary on the film’s world premiere,...
Disc Features include:
- A new, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Lars von Trier and supervised by director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle (with DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
- Audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith
- Video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
- A collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage.
- "Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival 2009," a documentary on the film’s world premiere,...
- 8/19/2010
- QuietEarth.us
There is a trend these days amongst some film goers, in which they actively avoid trailers, as well as any kind of plot spoilers regarding upcoming films. I won’t go so far as to say that this is a recent trend, but it has certainly appeared on my radar a lot over the past few years. People want to keep that magic of the surprise, when it comes to upcoming media. At the same time, there is an abundance of information about everything media related thanks to the internet.
One aspect of the Criterion Collection that we all have come to accept, and learn to love in a holiday package opening sense, is their secrecy regarding upcoming releases. We have joked about how they are almost at Apple-like levels of secrecy, and when something gets out, Criterion fans jump on it.
I think we all want to know what...
One aspect of the Criterion Collection that we all have come to accept, and learn to love in a holiday package opening sense, is their secrecy regarding upcoming releases. We have joked about how they are almost at Apple-like levels of secrecy, and when something gets out, Criterion fans jump on it.
I think we all want to know what...
- 8/16/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Red Shoes (1948) is an adult fairy tale with a operatic romanticism that is completely absent from contemporary cinema. It remains a singular work that continues to influence cinema (just look at the recent stills from Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan). Criterion released a fine DVD of the film in 1999. A new Blu-Ray with a restored transfer renders that old standard-def release completely and utterly obsolete.
Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) is a passionate young ballerina who becomes a protégé of a domineering ballet director named Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Lermontov molds and shapes Victoria into his image of a perfect dancer. He also takes on Julian Craster (Marius Goring), a cocky musician who is obsessed with becoming a great composer. Boris Lermontov offers these two young artists the chance to make their names in an adaption of Hans Christian Anderson's The Red Shoes,...
Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) is a passionate young ballerina who becomes a protégé of a domineering ballet director named Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Lermontov molds and shapes Victoria into his image of a perfect dancer. He also takes on Julian Craster (Marius Goring), a cocky musician who is obsessed with becoming a great composer. Boris Lermontov offers these two young artists the chance to make their names in an adaption of Hans Christian Anderson's The Red Shoes,...
- 8/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
DVD Playhouse—July 2010
By
Allen Gardner
Two From Powell/Pressburger Criterion releases gorgeous new transfers of two of the greatest films to come out of post-war Britain, from that period’s greatest filmmaking team: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Black Narcissus was originally released in 1947 and caused a sensation with its explosive story about a nun (Deborah Kerr), cloistered in a remote convent in the Himalayas, who must battle elements both external (the punishing weather) and internal (temptations of the flesh over duty to the spirit). Also features stellar turns by England’s greatest actresses at the time: Flora Robson, Kathleen Byron and a young Jean Simmons. One of the most dazzling films ever made, bolstered by Oscar-winning cinematography from Jack Cardiff. Bonuses: New transfer, supervised by Cardiff, editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell; Introduction by filmmaker Bernard Tavernier; Commentary by Powell and Martin Scorsese; Featurettes; Documentaries and interviews; Trailer. The Red Shoes,...
By
Allen Gardner
Two From Powell/Pressburger Criterion releases gorgeous new transfers of two of the greatest films to come out of post-war Britain, from that period’s greatest filmmaking team: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Black Narcissus was originally released in 1947 and caused a sensation with its explosive story about a nun (Deborah Kerr), cloistered in a remote convent in the Himalayas, who must battle elements both external (the punishing weather) and internal (temptations of the flesh over duty to the spirit). Also features stellar turns by England’s greatest actresses at the time: Flora Robson, Kathleen Byron and a young Jean Simmons. One of the most dazzling films ever made, bolstered by Oscar-winning cinematography from Jack Cardiff. Bonuses: New transfer, supervised by Cardiff, editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell; Introduction by filmmaker Bernard Tavernier; Commentary by Powell and Martin Scorsese; Featurettes; Documentaries and interviews; Trailer. The Red Shoes,...
- 7/27/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Chicago – Can an old movie look too good on Blu-ray? This has been the subject of much debate, most notably in the over-removal of natural film grain by some production studios and the purists who think sometimes HD damages the original look of the film by coating it with too much polish. Watching the six-decades-old “The Red Shoes” from the incredibly influential Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I was reminded once again of this controversy by a video transfer that’s simply jaw-dropping in its crystal clear quality.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Part of the reason “The Red Shoes” makes such a striking statement on Blu-ray is that the film’s bright, vibrant Technicolor has always been an essential ingredient in the dramatic proceedings. The film was released in an era where color filmmaking was still new enough that seeing these bright reds, yellows, and blues was as revolutionary as “Avatar” is today.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Part of the reason “The Red Shoes” makes such a striking statement on Blu-ray is that the film’s bright, vibrant Technicolor has always been an essential ingredient in the dramatic proceedings. The film was released in an era where color filmmaking was still new enough that seeing these bright reds, yellows, and blues was as revolutionary as “Avatar” is today.
- 7/21/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Cop Out
I missed Kevin Smith's homage to the buddy cop genre and can't wait to pick this up. His movies always have great extras as well.
Extras include:
"Maximum Comedy Mode" - Picture-in-Picture walk-ons, stretches of audio and video commentary, more than an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, additional behind-the-scenes footage, wisdom from the Shit Bandit, pop-up production factoids, storyboards, etc.Focus Point featurettes:a Couple of DicksThe New Buddy Cop DuoKevin Pollak - Man of a Thousand Voices and InterestsImprovising - Now That's FunnyPoh Boy's Diamond VaultStunts-Brooklyn StyleTracy Morgan Speaks SpanglishDave's Calling CarKevin Smith DirectsThe individual Shit Bandit wisdom shorts
The Losers
Got mixed reviews but as a fan of the comic I wanna check it out.
Extras include:
Zoe and The LosersBand of Buddies: Ops TrainingAction-Style StorytellingAlternate EndingFirst Look - Batman: Under the Red Hood
The Runaways
Have heard good things about this Joan Jett biopic.
I missed Kevin Smith's homage to the buddy cop genre and can't wait to pick this up. His movies always have great extras as well.
Extras include:
"Maximum Comedy Mode" - Picture-in-Picture walk-ons, stretches of audio and video commentary, more than an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, additional behind-the-scenes footage, wisdom from the Shit Bandit, pop-up production factoids, storyboards, etc.Focus Point featurettes:a Couple of DicksThe New Buddy Cop DuoKevin Pollak - Man of a Thousand Voices and InterestsImprovising - Now That's FunnyPoh Boy's Diamond VaultStunts-Brooklyn StyleTracy Morgan Speaks SpanglishDave's Calling CarKevin Smith DirectsThe individual Shit Bandit wisdom shorts
The Losers
Got mixed reviews but as a fan of the comic I wanna check it out.
Extras include:
Zoe and The LosersBand of Buddies: Ops TrainingAction-Style StorytellingAlternate EndingFirst Look - Batman: Under the Red Hood
The Runaways
Have heard good things about this Joan Jett biopic.
- 7/21/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
“Sorrow will pass, believe me.
Life is so unimportant.
And from now onwards, you will dance like nobody ever before.”
When sitting down to watch a film that you not only love to death but call one of your top 10 films of all time is a hard one to review. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes‘ is a much beloved film by countless critics and filmmakers, the most prominent one being Martin Scorsese, who helped with the restoration process for this film. So how does one give this film the credit it so rightly deserves?
[Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Red Shoes.]
The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name and follows the rise of dancer Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) who just wants to dance and be the best in the world. She meets Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who is the charismatic and ruthless Svengali-esque head of the Ballet Lermontov,...
Life is so unimportant.
And from now onwards, you will dance like nobody ever before.”
When sitting down to watch a film that you not only love to death but call one of your top 10 films of all time is a hard one to review. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes‘ is a much beloved film by countless critics and filmmakers, the most prominent one being Martin Scorsese, who helped with the restoration process for this film. So how does one give this film the credit it so rightly deserves?
[Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Red Shoes.]
The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name and follows the rise of dancer Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) who just wants to dance and be the best in the world. She meets Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who is the charismatic and ruthless Svengali-esque head of the Ballet Lermontov,...
- 7/13/2010
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
The Red Shoes
On July 20th, the studio will release Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's classic The Red Shoes (1948) on DVD/Blu-ray with a new, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
Extras include:
Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and filmmaker Martin ScorseseIntroductory restoration demonstration with ScorseseProfile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000), a 25-minute documentaryVideo interview with Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell's widowGallery from Scorsese's collection of The Red Shoes memorabiliaThe 'Red Shoes' Sketches, an animated film made from Hein Heckroth's painted storyboardsReadings by actor Jeremy Irons of excerpts from Powell and Pressburger's novelization of The Red Shoes and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy taleTheatrical trailerA booklet featuring an essay by Ian Christie
Black Narcissus
On July 20th, they will also release...
On July 20th, the studio will release Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's classic The Red Shoes (1948) on DVD/Blu-ray with a new, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
Extras include:
Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and filmmaker Martin ScorseseIntroductory restoration demonstration with ScorseseProfile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000), a 25-minute documentaryVideo interview with Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell's widowGallery from Scorsese's collection of The Red Shoes memorabiliaThe 'Red Shoes' Sketches, an animated film made from Hein Heckroth's painted storyboardsReadings by actor Jeremy Irons of excerpts from Powell and Pressburger's novelization of The Red Shoes and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy taleTheatrical trailerA booklet featuring an essay by Ian Christie
Black Narcissus
On July 20th, they will also release...
- 4/17/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
DVD Playhouse—September 2009
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
By
Allen Gardner
The Human Condition (Criterion) Masaki Kobayashi’s epic (574 minutes) adaptation of Junpei Gomikawa’s six-volume novel was originally made and released as three separate films (1959-61), and is rightfully regarded as a landmark of Japanese cinema. Candide-like story of naïve, good-hearted Kaiji (Japanese superstar Tatsuya Nakadai) from labor camp supervisor, to Imperial Army solider, to Soviet Pow, and Kaiji’s struggle to maintain his humanity throughout. Unfolds with the mastery of a great novel, beautifully-shot, and a stunning example of cinematic mastery on the part of its makers. Four-disc set bonuses include: Interview with Kobayashi; Interview with Nakadai; Featurette; Trailer; Essay by critic Philip Kemp. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
State Of Play (Universal) Russell Crowe stars as a veteran Washington D.C. political reporter investigating the murder of an aide to a rising congressional star (Ben Affleck), who also happens to be an old friend.
- 9/26/2009
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
We've just uploaded 5 new audio clips to the Fangoria Podcast on iTunes, bringing the amount of Free content up to 84 downloads! Featured this week are highlights from a recent installment of Fangoria Radio, originally airing on Sirius Xm Stars. See the list of new clips after the jump!
Director Dennis Iliadis (The Last House On The Left) I Sell The Dead director Glenn McQuaid and producer/star Larry Fessenden Ian Christie, author of Sound Of The Beast: The Headbanging History Of Heavy Metal Brooklyn horror/glam band Witches in Bikinis Dee Snider's Birthday Bash Click here to open iTunes and subscribe to our Podcast, where you'll be able to download over 84 Free MP3's from Fangoria Radio, along with other exclusive content from Fangoria Entertainment. More clips are added every week!
All clips are listed in the iTunes Store under the "Podcasts" tab, simply search for "Fangoria".
Director Dennis Iliadis (The Last House On The Left) I Sell The Dead director Glenn McQuaid and producer/star Larry Fessenden Ian Christie, author of Sound Of The Beast: The Headbanging History Of Heavy Metal Brooklyn horror/glam band Witches in Bikinis Dee Snider's Birthday Bash Click here to open iTunes and subscribe to our Podcast, where you'll be able to download over 84 Free MP3's from Fangoria Radio, along with other exclusive content from Fangoria Entertainment. More clips are added every week!
All clips are listed in the iTunes Store under the "Podcasts" tab, simply search for "Fangoria".
- 3/26/2009
- Fangoria
It’s another Friday the 13th, and Dee Snider’s birthday, so it’ll be a hell of a party tonight on Fangoria Radio. On tonight’s show (airing on Sirius Xm Stars satellite radio, Sirius channel 102/Xm channel 155, from 10 p.m.-1 a.m., with a repeat immediately after), hosts Dee and Debbie Rochon will talk remakes, period pieces and everyone’s favorite pastime, head-banging:
• Dennis Iliadis was hand-picked by Wes Craven to remake the master’s Last House On The Left (pictured, and out today), and he’ll tell us all about updating the parental-revenge story for 2009
• I Sell The Dead director Glenn McQuaid and producer/star Larry Fessenden will be in the studio to talk up their 18th-century creeper, which is playing this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival and has a special screening at New York City’s IFC Center
• Ian Christie, author of Sound Of The...
• Dennis Iliadis was hand-picked by Wes Craven to remake the master’s Last House On The Left (pictured, and out today), and he’ll tell us all about updating the parental-revenge story for 2009
• I Sell The Dead director Glenn McQuaid and producer/star Larry Fessenden will be in the studio to talk up their 18th-century creeper, which is playing this year’s Philadelphia Film Festival and has a special screening at New York City’s IFC Center
• Ian Christie, author of Sound Of The...
- 3/13/2009
- Fangoria
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