One could say it’s a “by-the-numbers” summer with “Despicable Me 4,” “Inside Out 2”” and “A Quiet Place: Day One” among the top box office films. But one of the masterpieces of the 20th century, Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai,” is back in theaters for its 70th anniversary in a limited release in a new 4K restoration. The acclaimed, influential epic is set in a 16th century Japanese village of poor farmers who hire the seven samurai to protect them from invading bandits intent on stealing their barley crop.
The film stars two members of Japanese filmmaker’s stock company — Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. “Samurai” as noted in the press notes for the new restoration “virtually redefined Japanese cinema’s sword play and period genres, proving Kurosawa a master of both visually thrilling and dramatically complex storytelling.”
Though “Seven Samurai” was released in Japan on April 26, 1954, and was...
The film stars two members of Japanese filmmaker’s stock company — Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. “Samurai” as noted in the press notes for the new restoration “virtually redefined Japanese cinema’s sword play and period genres, proving Kurosawa a master of both visually thrilling and dramatically complex storytelling.”
Though “Seven Samurai” was released in Japan on April 26, 1954, and was...
- 7/17/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, announced today that it has acquired what its curators describe as “a significant collection of items and archives” from the late filmmaker Sam Peckinpah, best known for Western cinema classics such as “The Wild Bunch,” “Ride the High Country” and “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.”
The donation to the Museum comes courtesy of filmmaker/historian Lathan McKay, who Michael R. Grauer, curator of the Museum’s Cowboy Collections and Western Art, describes as “incredibly dedicated to Sam Peckinpah’s legacy,” and who chose the Oklahoma City institution because of the Museum’s commitment to ensure Peckinpah’s belongs and papers would be “preserved, cataloged, researched, interpreted and studied with great respect.”
McKay, who is also the nation’s premier collector of personal effects of the late legendary daredevil Evel Knievel, concurs with Grauer’s description of his motivations in...
The donation to the Museum comes courtesy of filmmaker/historian Lathan McKay, who Michael R. Grauer, curator of the Museum’s Cowboy Collections and Western Art, describes as “incredibly dedicated to Sam Peckinpah’s legacy,” and who chose the Oklahoma City institution because of the Museum’s commitment to ensure Peckinpah’s belongs and papers would be “preserved, cataloged, researched, interpreted and studied with great respect.”
McKay, who is also the nation’s premier collector of personal effects of the late legendary daredevil Evel Knievel, concurs with Grauer’s description of his motivations in...
- 6/28/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
The great Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar is a rabid fan of the Western genre but until now he had never made one. He had also only dabbled in directing an English-language film with the exception of the 2020 short The Human Voice, which starred Tilda Swinton.
His latest movie is also a short, just 31 minutes, but he finally got to do his Western in English. It’s a nice homage to the form and those great directors who created it, but it is safe to say this homage could only have come from this master of cinema.
Almodóvar brought the finished product to its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and, if flattered by the attention, the ghosts of John Ford, Howard Hawks, John Sturges, Anthony Mann, Raoul Walsh and Sam Peckinpah may be surprised at the twist that this 73-year-old fanboy has given Strange Way of Life.
His latest movie is also a short, just 31 minutes, but he finally got to do his Western in English. It’s a nice homage to the form and those great directors who created it, but it is safe to say this homage could only have come from this master of cinema.
Almodóvar brought the finished product to its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday and, if flattered by the attention, the ghosts of John Ford, Howard Hawks, John Sturges, Anthony Mann, Raoul Walsh and Sam Peckinpah may be surprised at the twist that this 73-year-old fanboy has given Strange Way of Life.
- 5/17/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Richard Widmark reportedly used his clout to amp up this revisionist western, but the result seems forced at best, and hampered by Universal’s TV-grade production values. The sober screenplay brings in good ideas but the execution can’t quite hold its own with the more progressive westerns of the genre-changing years 1968-’69. A cast of familiar faces makes much of it look fresh: Carroll O’Connor’s venal saloon keeper steals the show, while interesting casting gives us Lena Horne as Widmark’s romantic partner.
Death of a Gunfighter
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / working title Patch / Street Date February 27, 2023 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, Carroll O’Connor, David Opatashu, Kent Smith, Jacqueline Scott, Morgan Woodward, Larry Gates, Dub Taylor, John Saxon, Darleen Carr, Michael McGreevey, Royal Dano, James (Jimmy) Lydon, Kathleen Freeman, Harry Carey Jr., Walter Sande, Victor French.
Cinematography:...
Death of a Gunfighter
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 94 min. / working title Patch / Street Date February 27, 2023 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Richard Widmark, Lena Horne, Carroll O’Connor, David Opatashu, Kent Smith, Jacqueline Scott, Morgan Woodward, Larry Gates, Dub Taylor, John Saxon, Darleen Carr, Michael McGreevey, Royal Dano, James (Jimmy) Lydon, Kathleen Freeman, Harry Carey Jr., Walter Sande, Victor French.
Cinematography:...
- 3/7/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The relationship between fathers and sons is complicated. It can be tough, tender, loving, combative, disappointing, violent, the stuff of Shakespearean and even Greek tragedy. It’s little wonder there have been countless films exploring fathers and sons including “East of Eden,” “Finding Nemo,” “Back to the Future,” “Field of Dreams,” “Nebraska,” “Fences,” “Beginners” and “Kramer vs. Kramer.”
One of the most indelible is Martin Ritt’s “Hud,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary. And time hasn’t diminished the power of this unapologetic drama starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and Brandon De Wilde.
Newman had played characters of questionable morality such as his Oscar-nominated turn “Fast” Eddie Felsen in 1961’s “The Hustler,” but he had never played anyone quite like Hud, the ultimate heel who never met a bottle of booze he wouldn’t drink or a married woman he didn’t seduce. Living on a cattle ranch in a tiny,...
One of the most indelible is Martin Ritt’s “Hud,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary. And time hasn’t diminished the power of this unapologetic drama starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal and Brandon De Wilde.
Newman had played characters of questionable morality such as his Oscar-nominated turn “Fast” Eddie Felsen in 1961’s “The Hustler,” but he had never played anyone quite like Hud, the ultimate heel who never met a bottle of booze he wouldn’t drink or a married woman he didn’t seduce. Living on a cattle ranch in a tiny,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Much has been made of titles being quietly removed from HBO Max over the last few week, but while the number of films departing the service in September is substantial, at least subscribers have a heads up.
As is the case every month, various movies are due to leave HBO Max in September, and below we’ve got the full list of which films are leaving and when so you can prioritizing some viewing options. Noteworthy removals include the 2021 Warner Bros. thriller “The Little Things” starring Denzel Washington (leaving Sept. 16), the 2020 “Freaky Friday” horror riff “Freaky,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films, the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, “Super 8,” “Tootsie” and the Nancy Meyers classic “The Holiday.”
Check out the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max in September below.
September 4
Meet the Patels, 2014
September 5
Turner Classic Movies: Follow the Thread, 2022
September 8
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, 2018
September 9
Horrible Bosses 2,...
As is the case every month, various movies are due to leave HBO Max in September, and below we’ve got the full list of which films are leaving and when so you can prioritizing some viewing options. Noteworthy removals include the 2021 Warner Bros. thriller “The Little Things” starring Denzel Washington (leaving Sept. 16), the 2020 “Freaky Friday” horror riff “Freaky,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” films, the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, “Super 8,” “Tootsie” and the Nancy Meyers classic “The Holiday.”
Check out the full list of what’s leaving HBO Max in September below.
September 4
Meet the Patels, 2014
September 5
Turner Classic Movies: Follow the Thread, 2022
September 8
Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, 2018
September 9
Horrible Bosses 2,...
- 9/1/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
This June on HBO and HBO Max will play host to a new season of “Westworld,” a new adaptation of “Father of the Bride” and much more.
The big new Warner Bros. release on HBO and HBO Max this month is “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which actually debuted on the HBO Max streaming service on May 30. The third film in the Wizarding World prequel franchise first hit theaters in April, and is now available to stream in 4K.
There’s also the updated version of “Father of the Bride” premiering on June 16, while a pair of noteworthy documentaries are coming on the early side this month: “The Janes” premieres June 8 and follows unlikely outlaws in pre-Roe v. Wade America who defied state legislation that banned abortion, while “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” debuts on June 9.
As for original series, the fourth season of “Westworld” premieres on June...
The big new Warner Bros. release on HBO and HBO Max this month is “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” which actually debuted on the HBO Max streaming service on May 30. The third film in the Wizarding World prequel franchise first hit theaters in April, and is now available to stream in 4K.
There’s also the updated version of “Father of the Bride” premiering on June 16, while a pair of noteworthy documentaries are coming on the early side this month: “The Janes” premieres June 8 and follows unlikely outlaws in pre-Roe v. Wade America who defied state legislation that banned abortion, while “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” debuts on June 9.
As for original series, the fourth season of “Westworld” premieres on June...
- 6/1/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
With its list of new releases for June 2022, HBO Max is joining in what should be a TV summer to remember.
Not content to let Netflix’s Stranger Things or Prime Video’s The Boys to dominate the summer TV landscape, HBO is coming through with a new season of one of its big hits. Westworld season 4 is set to premiere June 26 on both HBO and HBO Max. What will this season of the increasingly confusing sci-fi drama be about? Per HBO’s synopsis it will be “A dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on earth.” So you know, only that.
Irma Vep is the only other Max Original of note this month. Based on a 1996 cult classic of the same name, this limited series stars Alicia Vikander as a disillusioned movie star looking to remake the early 20th century French silent film serial Les Vampires.
It’s...
Not content to let Netflix’s Stranger Things or Prime Video’s The Boys to dominate the summer TV landscape, HBO is coming through with a new season of one of its big hits. Westworld season 4 is set to premiere June 26 on both HBO and HBO Max. What will this season of the increasingly confusing sci-fi drama be about? Per HBO’s synopsis it will be “A dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on earth.” So you know, only that.
Irma Vep is the only other Max Original of note this month. Based on a 1996 cult classic of the same name, this limited series stars Alicia Vikander as a disillusioned movie star looking to remake the early 20th century French silent film serial Les Vampires.
It’s...
- 6/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
While TikTok has long been a conduit for comedy, its live platform is getting set to debut its first fully produced sketch comedy series, the Sam Grey-backed Stapleview.
Beginning Thursday, the show will stream along with a dedicated channel on TikTok Live, with subsequent distribution across social media. The official announcement of the venture describes Stapleview as “a modern take on sketch comedy and variety show formats featuring a collection of popular individual content creators.”
Grey, who is Stapleview’s creator and executive producer, is a former manager and producer at Management 360 and Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. He executive produced Tina Fey feature comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and the upcoming comedy Sacramento. His late father, Brad Grey, was a noted comedy manager who went on to become CEO of Paramount Pictures.
The aim of Stapleview is to offer TikTok users the best in social media and influencer comedy with segments,...
Beginning Thursday, the show will stream along with a dedicated channel on TikTok Live, with subsequent distribution across social media. The official announcement of the venture describes Stapleview as “a modern take on sketch comedy and variety show formats featuring a collection of popular individual content creators.”
Grey, who is Stapleview’s creator and executive producer, is a former manager and producer at Management 360 and Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. He executive produced Tina Fey feature comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot and the upcoming comedy Sacramento. His late father, Brad Grey, was a noted comedy manager who went on to become CEO of Paramount Pictures.
The aim of Stapleview is to offer TikTok users the best in social media and influencer comedy with segments,...
- 3/2/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
There is a distinct flavor of the brawnily austere Westerns that comprise Budd Boetticher’s cult-favorite Ranown Cycle — and more than a hint of another showcase for the great Randolph Scott, Sam Peckinpah’s “Ride the High Country” — in director Michael Feifer’s “Last Shoot Out,” a small-budget indie that aims to please the currently underserved niche audience for oaters.
To be sure, no one will ever confuse this slow-paced concoction with one of the classics that so obviously influence it. But it’s definitely a cut above some of the recent streaming-ready attempts to sustain the genre — indeed, it’s a marked improvement over Feifer’s own “Catch the Bullet,” released just last September — and it features a ferociously nasty turn by Bruce Dern in a role that recalls a character from yet another golden oldie, Walter Brennan’s vicious Old Man Clanton in “My Darling Clementine.”
Dern doesn...
To be sure, no one will ever confuse this slow-paced concoction with one of the classics that so obviously influence it. But it’s definitely a cut above some of the recent streaming-ready attempts to sustain the genre — indeed, it’s a marked improvement over Feifer’s own “Catch the Bullet,” released just last September — and it features a ferociously nasty turn by Bruce Dern in a role that recalls a character from yet another golden oldie, Walter Brennan’s vicious Old Man Clanton in “My Darling Clementine.”
Dern doesn...
- 12/3/2021
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
MGM sends James Stewart and Anthony Mann to Colorado high country locations for their third big-ticket western, a tight & tense psychological drama with a select cast: Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker and Millard Mitchell. Stewart’s anguished bounty hunter is a sick man on a mission he knows is self-destructive and just plain wrong; it’s the actor’s most fraught western performance. The landscape itself is psychological, with treacherous rocky outcroppings and a dangerous river. Even more impressive is the new restoration from Technicolor elements: this is one of the most beautiful westerns yet out on disc.
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
The Naked Spur
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 91 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date September 21, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker, Millard Mitchell.
Cinematography: William C. Mellor
Art Directors: Cedric Gibbons, Malcolm Brown
Film Editor: George White
Production Illustrator: Mentor Heubner
Stunt Performers: Virginia Bougas, Ted Mapes,...
- 11/6/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program has set its latest cohort of 20 films receiving Documentary Fund Grants, doling out a total of $600,000 in unrestricted support to projects in varying stages of production and distribution, including eight in development, eight in production, three in post-production, and one in post-production and impact.
Grantees currently at the development stage include Aída Bueno Sarduy’s Anna Borges do Sacramento, Ricardo Ruales’ The Broken R, Damon Davis’ Chain of Rocks, Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig’s Colors of White Rock, Gerardo del Valle’s The Past is Waiting Up Ahead, Set Hernandez Rongkilyo’s unseen, and Farid Ahmad’s Waiting For Winter.
Recipients at the production stage include Pascale Appora-Gnekindy and Ningyi Sun’s Eat Bitter, Chan Hau Chun and Chui Chi Yin’s Heatroom, Basel Al Adarra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Balal, and Rachel Shor’s No Other Land, Kit Vincent’s Red Herring (working title), Weichao Xu...
Grantees currently at the development stage include Aída Bueno Sarduy’s Anna Borges do Sacramento, Ricardo Ruales’ The Broken R, Damon Davis’ Chain of Rocks, Khoroldorj Choijoovanchig’s Colors of White Rock, Gerardo del Valle’s The Past is Waiting Up Ahead, Set Hernandez Rongkilyo’s unseen, and Farid Ahmad’s Waiting For Winter.
Recipients at the production stage include Pascale Appora-Gnekindy and Ningyi Sun’s Eat Bitter, Chan Hau Chun and Chui Chi Yin’s Heatroom, Basel Al Adarra, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Balal, and Rachel Shor’s No Other Land, Kit Vincent’s Red Herring (working title), Weichao Xu...
- 10/27/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The great director discusses some of his favorite movies with host Josh Olson.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)
Memory (Tbd)
The Protégé (2021)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
GoldenEye (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Salt (2010)
Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Oliver Twist (1948)
Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Guns Of Navarone (1962)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review
The Spy Who Loved Me...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)
Memory (Tbd)
The Protégé (2021)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
GoldenEye (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Salt (2010)
Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Oliver Twist (1948)
Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Guns Of Navarone (1962)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review
The Spy Who Loved Me...
- 8/27/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
It’s a new deluxe Limited Edition of Sam Peckinpah’s mangled masterpiece, the third fancy boxed set in as many years. Arrow’s presentation is certainly got the edge in graphic elegance. They’ve also strived to include as many earlier extras as possible, plus new analytical-critical takes on the picture, and an excellent (and wickedly funny) visual essay from David Cairns. The disc has both of my commentaries, including the comprehensive one that details the missing scenes with information taken directly from Sam Peckinpah and Oscar Saul’s screenplay. And hey, you never know: this could be the year that Mitch Miller’s Singalong Gang makes an incredible comeback, and we can All fall in behind the Major.
Major Dundee
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 136, 122 min. / (2-Disc Limited Edition) / Street Date June 29, 2021 / 59.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, Michael Anderson Jr., Brock Peters,...
Major Dundee
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 136, 122 min. / (2-Disc Limited Edition) / Street Date June 29, 2021 / 59.95
Starring: Charlton Heston, Richard Harris, James Coburn, Senta Berger, Jim Hutton, Michael Anderson Jr., Brock Peters,...
- 7/3/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: Israeli filmmaker Rotem Shamir is set to direct Savior, an action thriller script by Todd Komarnicki that will be financed by Oakhurst Entertainment and Capstone Group. Shamir directed the second season of the acclaimed Israeli espionage series, and is co-creator and writer of the Indian TV series Hostages, for Disney+ Hotstar. He’s also co-creator and director of the Israeli drama Line In The Sand and most recently set the 8-part thriller Diamonds with Netflix and Belgium’s Vrt. Now he’s stepping up to features.
Savior centers on Vincent Will, a cold-blooded killer and mercenary working for a secret organization called the twelve disciples. Their master plan is to trigger a world war through what appears to be a string of individual terror acts. None of the mercenaries know anything but their own mission. Komarnicki’s credits include Sully and The Professor and the Madman.
Oakhurst Entertainment’s...
Savior centers on Vincent Will, a cold-blooded killer and mercenary working for a secret organization called the twelve disciples. Their master plan is to trigger a world war through what appears to be a string of individual terror acts. None of the mercenaries know anything but their own mission. Komarnicki’s credits include Sully and The Professor and the Madman.
Oakhurst Entertainment’s...
- 4/28/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Disney+ Star Wars series Obi-Wan Kenobi is adding PEN15 star and co-creator Maya Erskine, we can reveal.
The Insecure and Scoob! actress will have a supporting role in at least three episodes, we hear. Erskine has been nominated for multiple WGA Awards and a 2019 Emmy for Hulu Original comedy PEN15, which she fronts with Anna Konkle.
Previously announced for Obi-Wan Kenobi are Ewan McGregor (as Obi-Wan), Hayden Christen (as Darth Vader), Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma (as we first revealed), Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.
Plot details are being kept under wraps on the series, which takes place 10 years after Revenge Of The Sith and nine years before A New Hope, in an era after the Jedi Order has been all but wiped out. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has teased the “rematch of the century”, presumably between Obi-Wan and his pupil-turned-enemy Vader.
The Insecure and Scoob! actress will have a supporting role in at least three episodes, we hear. Erskine has been nominated for multiple WGA Awards and a 2019 Emmy for Hulu Original comedy PEN15, which she fronts with Anna Konkle.
Previously announced for Obi-Wan Kenobi are Ewan McGregor (as Obi-Wan), Hayden Christen (as Darth Vader), Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Moses Ingram, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma (as we first revealed), Rupert Friend, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie.
Plot details are being kept under wraps on the series, which takes place 10 years after Revenge Of The Sith and nine years before A New Hope, in an era after the Jedi Order has been all but wiped out. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has teased the “rematch of the century”, presumably between Obi-Wan and his pupil-turned-enemy Vader.
- 4/22/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Arrested Development alum Michael Cera has been cast as a series regular opposite Amy Schumer in Hulu’s original comedy series Life & Beth, created, directed, written, executive produced by and starring Schumer, from Endeavor Content.
In Life & Beth, Beth’s life looks pretty great on paper. Impressive to everyone she grew up with. She makes a good living as a wine distributor. She’s in a long term relationship with an attractive, successful guy and lives in Manhattan. When a sudden incident forces Beth to engage with her past, her life changes forever. Through flashbacks to her teen self, Beth starts to learn how she became who she is and who she wants to become. We’ll go on her journey towards building a more authentic life. Learning to express herself and living in an intentional way. A trip down memory lane is a strong source of trauma,...
In Life & Beth, Beth’s life looks pretty great on paper. Impressive to everyone she grew up with. She makes a good living as a wine distributor. She’s in a long term relationship with an attractive, successful guy and lives in Manhattan. When a sudden incident forces Beth to engage with her past, her life changes forever. Through flashbacks to her teen self, Beth starts to learn how she became who she is and who she wants to become. We’ll go on her journey towards building a more authentic life. Learning to express herself and living in an intentional way. A trip down memory lane is a strong source of trauma,...
- 4/12/2021
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: A century and a half before Kamala Harris became the first woman on an winning U.S. presidential ticket, Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to run for president. The remarkable story of the feminist icon is the subject of a limited series, with Katherine Heigl set to portray Woodhull and executive produce. The project, titled Woodhull, hails from Oakhurst Entertainment and is currently out to showrunners.
The series will be based on multiple biographies chronicling the life of Woodhull, which Oakhurst, founded by former Brillstein Entertainment manager Jai Khanna and producer Marina Grasic, acquired earlier this year.
In 1872, Woodhull became the first woman to run for president from the Equal Rights Party, supporting women’s suffrage and equal rights; her running mate was abolitionist leader Frederick Douglas. She was the first woman to address the U.S. Congress and, with her sister Tennessee, the two...
The series will be based on multiple biographies chronicling the life of Woodhull, which Oakhurst, founded by former Brillstein Entertainment manager Jai Khanna and producer Marina Grasic, acquired earlier this year.
In 1872, Woodhull became the first woman to run for president from the Equal Rights Party, supporting women’s suffrage and equal rights; her running mate was abolitionist leader Frederick Douglas. She was the first woman to address the U.S. Congress and, with her sister Tennessee, the two...
- 12/8/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
“Cowboys” taps directly into the myth of the American male, with his leather boots and blue jeans, square jaw and wide stance, as immortalized in the collective imagination by painter Frederick Remington, director John Ford and decades of Marlboro tobacco advertising. But it does so with a twist: This debut feature from Anna Kerrigan explores how that tough-guy archetype impresses itself on a gender-nonconforming child. Who says that cowboys have to be boys? And that girls must stay girls?
Originally destined to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, until it was canceled by the coronavirus, “Cowboys” surfaced instead at Outfest and Frameline, two showcases whose LGBTQ focus tipped audiences that this picturesque run for the border isn’t your typical father-and-son wilderness trek. Here, the younger man has chosen that identity for himself, while the other struggles with bipolar disorder; they flee together on horseback across the Montana frontier for Canada,...
Originally destined to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, until it was canceled by the coronavirus, “Cowboys” surfaced instead at Outfest and Frameline, two showcases whose LGBTQ focus tipped audiences that this picturesque run for the border isn’t your typical father-and-son wilderness trek. Here, the younger man has chosen that identity for himself, while the other struggles with bipolar disorder; they flee together on horseback across the Montana frontier for Canada,...
- 8/28/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection
Blu ray
Severin Films
1965 – 1989 / 2841 min.
Starring Russ Tamblyn, Regina Carrol, Lon Chaney
Cinematography by Gary Graver, Vilmos Zsigmond, László Kovács
Directed by Al Adamson, David Gregory
The titles grab you by the collar like a desperate carny barker – Psycho A Go-Go, Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan’s Sadists – then something for the raincoat crowd – Girls For Rent, Nurses For Sale, The Naughty Stewardesses. The rant turns political, incendiary: Black Heat, Mean Mother, Black Samurai. His last gasp – Cinderella 2000, Nurse Sherri, The Happy Hobo. The Happy Hobo?
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection is an alarming new release from Severin Films presenting 32 of the director’s misbegotten “masterpieces” in beautifully restored transfers with enough added attractions to choke a horse. It’s the story of one man’s twenty year run in exploitation cinema that may be too exhausting for the casual viewer to contemplate. But...
Blu ray
Severin Films
1965 – 1989 / 2841 min.
Starring Russ Tamblyn, Regina Carrol, Lon Chaney
Cinematography by Gary Graver, Vilmos Zsigmond, László Kovács
Directed by Al Adamson, David Gregory
The titles grab you by the collar like a desperate carny barker – Psycho A Go-Go, Blood of Ghastly Horror, Satan’s Sadists – then something for the raincoat crowd – Girls For Rent, Nurses For Sale, The Naughty Stewardesses. The rant turns political, incendiary: Black Heat, Mean Mother, Black Samurai. His last gasp – Cinderella 2000, Nurse Sherri, The Happy Hobo. The Happy Hobo?
Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection is an alarming new release from Severin Films presenting 32 of the director’s misbegotten “masterpieces” in beautifully restored transfers with enough added attractions to choke a horse. It’s the story of one man’s twenty year run in exploitation cinema that may be too exhausting for the casual viewer to contemplate. But...
- 6/23/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
James Drury, who starred in one of the longest running Westerns in TV history, “The Virginian,” has died. He was 85.
His assistant, Karen Lindsey, shared the news on Facebook Monday, writing that he “passed away this morning of natural causes.” TheWrap reached out to his agent for additional comment.
While his most famous role was “The Virginian,” Drury also starred in Westerns on the big screen, including 1959’s “Good Day for Hanging,” 1960’s “Ten Who Dares” and “Ride the High Country.” His other credits include “Love Me Tender,” alongside Elvis Presley, and “Bernardine,” opposite Pat Boone.
Also Read: Shirley Douglas, Mother of Kiefer Sutherland, Dies at 86
“The Virginian” was based on Owen Wister’s 1902 novel of the same name and ran on NBC for nine seasons, from 1962 to 1971. It was launched by executive producer Roy Huggins and his father-in-law Frank Price, who would go on to run Columbia and Universal Pictures.
His assistant, Karen Lindsey, shared the news on Facebook Monday, writing that he “passed away this morning of natural causes.” TheWrap reached out to his agent for additional comment.
While his most famous role was “The Virginian,” Drury also starred in Westerns on the big screen, including 1959’s “Good Day for Hanging,” 1960’s “Ten Who Dares” and “Ride the High Country.” His other credits include “Love Me Tender,” alongside Elvis Presley, and “Bernardine,” opposite Pat Boone.
Also Read: Shirley Douglas, Mother of Kiefer Sutherland, Dies at 86
“The Virginian” was based on Owen Wister’s 1902 novel of the same name and ran on NBC for nine seasons, from 1962 to 1971. It was launched by executive producer Roy Huggins and his father-in-law Frank Price, who would go on to run Columbia and Universal Pictures.
- 4/6/2020
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
James Drury, who starred as the no-name, no-nonsense foreman of the Shiloh Ranch on The Virginian, one of the longest-running Westerns in the history of television, died Monday of natural causes. He was 85.
Drury died at his home in Houston, his assistant, Karen Lindsey, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Preparing for his most famous role, Drury appeared in several Westerns on the big screen, including Good Day for a Hanging (1959) with Fred MacMurray, Ten Who Dared (1960) at Disney and Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962), working opposite Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea (who starred in the 1946 film The Virginian).
Drury ...
Drury died at his home in Houston, his assistant, Karen Lindsey, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Preparing for his most famous role, Drury appeared in several Westerns on the big screen, including Good Day for a Hanging (1959) with Fred MacMurray, Ten Who Dared (1960) at Disney and Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962), working opposite Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea (who starred in the 1946 film The Virginian).
Drury ...
James Drury, who starred as the no-name, no-nonsense foreman of the Shiloh Ranch on The Virginian, one of the longest-running Westerns in the history of television, died Monday of natural causes. He was 85.
Drury died at his home in Houston, his assistant, Karen Lindsey, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Preparing for his most famous role, Drury appeared in several Westerns on the big screen, including Good Day for a Hanging (1959) with Fred MacMurray, Ten Who Dared (1960) at Disney and Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962), working opposite Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea (who starred in the 1946 film The Virginian).
Drury ...
Drury died at his home in Houston, his assistant, Karen Lindsey, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Preparing for his most famous role, Drury appeared in several Westerns on the big screen, including Good Day for a Hanging (1959) with Fred MacMurray, Ten Who Dared (1960) at Disney and Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962), working opposite Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea (who starred in the 1946 film The Virginian).
Drury ...
Acclaimed stuntman and action director extraordinaire Jesse V. Johnson joins us to discuss the U.S. based action films and filmmakers that have influenced him the most.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
On The Waterfront (1954)
Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)
Undisputed (2002)
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)
Boyka: Undisputed (2016)
The Killer Elite (1975)
Convoy (1978)
The Osterman Weekend (1983)
Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Birdcage (1996)
Cross of Iron (1977)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)
Easy Rider (1969)
Fail Safe (1964)
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Ride The High Country (1962)
Major Dundee (1965)
Jinxed! (1982)
Beowulf (2007)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
The Girl Hunters (1963)
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
Point Blank (1967)
Falling Down (1993)
M (1951)
M (1931)
The Black Vampire (1953)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Scum (1979)
Elephant (1989)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
On The Waterfront (1954)
Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)
Undisputed (2002)
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)
Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)
Boyka: Undisputed (2016)
The Killer Elite (1975)
Convoy (1978)
The Osterman Weekend (1983)
Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)
Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Birdcage (1996)
Cross of Iron (1977)
Electra Glide in Blue (1973)
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)
Easy Rider (1969)
Fail Safe (1964)
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
Ride The High Country (1962)
Major Dundee (1965)
Jinxed! (1982)
Beowulf (2007)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
The Girl Hunters (1963)
Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)
Point Blank (1967)
Falling Down (1993)
M (1951)
M (1931)
The Black Vampire (1953)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Scum (1979)
Elephant (1989)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...
- 3/24/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
There’s never a bad time to be reminded of and introduced to great cinematic works and their authors and filmmakers, but 2020 is turning out to be a particularly necessary time for cultural enrichment and artistic nourishment. At home.
So the timing couldn’t be better for Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan’s new tome, “Cinema ’62,” an examination and celebration of 1962, which they boldly proclaim was “The Greatest Year at the Movies.”
For those cineastes who might challenge that proclamation, and substitute, say, 1939, 1999 or my particular favorite, 1969, for that vaunted honor, the book thankfully opens with an astute and succinct preface by Oscar-winning writer-
director Bill Condon.
“I’ve found that a cineaste’s ‘greatest year’ more often than not lines up with the early years of his or her adolescence,” observes Condon, expressing a theory I’d always assumed was mine alone. So with the question of subjectivity and...
So the timing couldn’t be better for Stephen Farber and Michael McClellan’s new tome, “Cinema ’62,” an examination and celebration of 1962, which they boldly proclaim was “The Greatest Year at the Movies.”
For those cineastes who might challenge that proclamation, and substitute, say, 1939, 1999 or my particular favorite, 1969, for that vaunted honor, the book thankfully opens with an astute and succinct preface by Oscar-winning writer-
director Bill Condon.
“I’ve found that a cineaste’s ‘greatest year’ more often than not lines up with the early years of his or her adolescence,” observes Condon, expressing a theory I’d always assumed was mine alone. So with the question of subjectivity and...
- 3/18/2020
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
By Todd Garbarini
Film historian Douglas Dunning has informed Cinema Retro that Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 and Ahrya Fine Arts will be presenting the 50th anniversary screening of Sam Peckinpah’s influential 1969 film The Wild Bunch and special guests are scheduled to appear at both locations. The film stars William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmund O’Brien, Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Jaime Sanchez, Bo Hopkins, Strother Martin, Albert Decker, Emilio Fernandez, and Alfonso Arau and runs 145 minutes.
Please Note:
Screening #1 is on February 26th at the Playhouse 7 at 7:00 pm, and at press time W.K. Stratton, the author of a new book, The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film, will participate in a discussion after the screening. He will also sign copies of his book at the theater.
Screening #2 is at the Ahrya Fine Arts on March 2nd at 7:30 pm.
Film historian Douglas Dunning has informed Cinema Retro that Laemmle’s Playhouse 7 and Ahrya Fine Arts will be presenting the 50th anniversary screening of Sam Peckinpah’s influential 1969 film The Wild Bunch and special guests are scheduled to appear at both locations. The film stars William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmund O’Brien, Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Jaime Sanchez, Bo Hopkins, Strother Martin, Albert Decker, Emilio Fernandez, and Alfonso Arau and runs 145 minutes.
Please Note:
Screening #1 is on February 26th at the Playhouse 7 at 7:00 pm, and at press time W.K. Stratton, the author of a new book, The Wild Bunch: Sam Peckinpah, a Revolution in Hollywood, and the Making of a Legendary Film, will participate in a discussion after the screening. He will also sign copies of his book at the theater.
Screening #2 is at the Ahrya Fine Arts on March 2nd at 7:30 pm.
- 2/14/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It’s the great Anthony Mann-James Stewart western that Mann didn’t direct: Stewart goes it alone, over-filling a good western idea with ‘cute’ scenes and conservative messages Mann had no use for. But it’s an exciting picture, and one of co-star Audie Murphy’s best — and it’s the first feature in the splendid oversized format known as Technirama.
Night Passage
Blu-ray
Explosive Media (De)
1957 / color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / available at Amazon.de / Die Uhr ist abgelaufen /Street Date August 10, 2017 / Eur 17,99
Starring: James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Herbert Anderson, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont, Jack Elam, Olive Carey, Ellen Corby, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: William Daniels
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Written by Borden Chase
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by James Neilson
Universal-International didn’t spare the production values for their big-screen western Night Passage.
Night Passage
Blu-ray
Explosive Media (De)
1957 / color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / available at Amazon.de / Die Uhr ist abgelaufen /Street Date August 10, 2017 / Eur 17,99
Starring: James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Herbert Anderson, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont, Jack Elam, Olive Carey, Ellen Corby, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: William Daniels
Film Editor: Sherman Todd
Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin
Written by Borden Chase
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Directed by James Neilson
Universal-International didn’t spare the production values for their big-screen western Night Passage.
- 12/12/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sam Peckinpah was a fine director of actors when the material was right, and his first collaboration with Steve McQueen is an shaded character study about a rodeo family dealing with changing times. Joe Don Baker and Ben Johnson shine, but the movie belongs to Ida Lupino and Robert Preston.
Junior Bonner
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Special Edition / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, Ben Johnson, Mary Murphy, Dub Taylor, Don ‘Red’ Barry, Bill McKinney.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Film Editors: Frank Santillo, Robert L. Wolfe
Second Unit Director: Frank Kowalski
Bud Hurlbud: Special Effects
Original Music: Jerry Fielding
Written by Jeb Rosebrook
Produced by Joe Wizan
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
I suppose there were plenty of successful rodeo-themed westerns back in the day, perhaps the kind interrupted by a cowboy song every ten minutes or so.
Junior Bonner
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Special Edition / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, Ben Johnson, Mary Murphy, Dub Taylor, Don ‘Red’ Barry, Bill McKinney.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Film Editors: Frank Santillo, Robert L. Wolfe
Second Unit Director: Frank Kowalski
Bud Hurlbud: Special Effects
Original Music: Jerry Fielding
Written by Jeb Rosebrook
Produced by Joe Wizan
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
I suppose there were plenty of successful rodeo-themed westerns back in the day, perhaps the kind interrupted by a cowboy song every ten minutes or so.
- 10/17/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Straw Dogs and Eight Million Ways to Die: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Picks
It’s been a good few months for Sam Peckinpah fans, as several films that were previously only available on standard-def DVDs with serviceable transfers have started appearing on Blu-ray. In an earlier column I recommended Warner Archive’s exquisite pressing of Ride the High Country, and now the label has released an upgrade of another essential Peckinpah film, The Ballad of Cable Hogue. Released in 1970 on the heels of The Wild Bunch, it’s a softer, more humanist movie than audiences were expecting from “Bloody Sam” — a sweet, reflective tale of the rise and fall of an American dreamer (beautifully […]...
- 6/24/2017
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The laid-back, plot challenged non-violent western gets a boost in this folksy comedy about two aging cowboys with less sense than the horses they tame. Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda star together for the first time, leaving behind their older images… they’re too tender-hearted for their own good. If the sex comedy wasn’t quite so dated, Burt Kennedy’s picture might be a classic.
The Rounders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Film Editor: John McSweeney
Original Music: Jeff Alexander
From the Novel by Max Evans
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy
Producer Richard E. Lyons is...
The Rounders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Film Editor: John McSweeney
Original Music: Jeff Alexander
From the Novel by Max Evans
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy
Producer Richard E. Lyons is...
- 4/22/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Before he became the flag bearer for cinema violence, Sam Peckinpah made his reputation with this unique western, a marvelous rumination on ethics, morality and personal responsibility. MGM all but threw it away in the summer of 1962 but it immediately became a critical favorite.
Ride the High Country
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, R.G. Armstrong, Jenie Jackson, James Drury, L.Q. Jones, John Anderson, John Davis Chandler, Warren Oates.
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
Art Direction Leroy Coleman, George W. Davis
Film Editor Frank Santillo
Original Music George Bassman
Written by N.B. Stone Jr.
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
MGM’s western Ride the High Country put Sam Peckinpah on the map with critics and the foreign cinema literati — although it didn’t do big box office when new,...
Ride the High Country
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring Randolph Scott, Joel McCrea, Mariette Hartley, Ron Starr, Edgar Buchanan, R.G. Armstrong, Jenie Jackson, James Drury, L.Q. Jones, John Anderson, John Davis Chandler, Warren Oates.
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
Art Direction Leroy Coleman, George W. Davis
Film Editor Frank Santillo
Original Music George Bassman
Written by N.B. Stone Jr.
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
MGM’s western Ride the High Country put Sam Peckinpah on the map with critics and the foreign cinema literati — although it didn’t do big box office when new,...
- 4/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Bill Pullman might not be the most obvious choice for a western hero at this stage of his career, but that’s exactly what makes him ideal for “The Ballad of Lefty Brown,” which isn’t about an obvious Western hero. As the titular Lefty, Pullman plays a 63-year-old sidekick in the wilds of late 19th century Montana, where he’s forced to take charge when the traditional hero (Peter Fonda) is suddenly killed. By giving the spotlight to an archetype usually relegated to the background, writer-director Jared Moshé puts a revisionist spin on the familiar oater, but everything else about “The Ballad of Lefty Brown” is by the book.
Moshé’s sophomore effort further illustrates his obsession and deep familiarity with the classic Western mold. His debut, 2012’s “Dead Man’s Burden,” was a taut, minimalist tale of a family battling to save its land from a greedy mining...
Moshé’s sophomore effort further illustrates his obsession and deep familiarity with the classic Western mold. His debut, 2012’s “Dead Man’s Burden,” was a taut, minimalist tale of a family battling to save its land from a greedy mining...
- 3/13/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
By John M. Whalen
Back in the 1950s, before he became a legend, filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (“The Wild Bunch,” “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,” and “The Killer Elite”) wrote scripts for TV westerns, including “Gunsmoke,” “The Rifleman,” and “Tombstone Territory.” His reputation grew and in 1957 he wrote his first screenplay entitled “The Glory Guys” which was based on Hoffman Birney’s novel, “The Dice of God.” The book was a fictional account of Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, with all names changed. The script went unproduced for almost eight years, and in the meantime Sam had moved on, directing features including “The Deadly Companions” (1960), “Ride the High Country” (1962) and “Major Dundee” (1965).
You would think that with that growing resume, Peckinpah would have been able to direct anything he wanted to, but such was far from the case. “Bloody Sam,” as he was called, affectionately by his fans,...
Back in the 1950s, before he became a legend, filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (“The Wild Bunch,” “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,” and “The Killer Elite”) wrote scripts for TV westerns, including “Gunsmoke,” “The Rifleman,” and “Tombstone Territory.” His reputation grew and in 1957 he wrote his first screenplay entitled “The Glory Guys” which was based on Hoffman Birney’s novel, “The Dice of God.” The book was a fictional account of Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, with all names changed. The script went unproduced for almost eight years, and in the meantime Sam had moved on, directing features including “The Deadly Companions” (1960), “Ride the High Country” (1962) and “Major Dundee” (1965).
You would think that with that growing resume, Peckinpah would have been able to direct anything he wanted to, but such was far from the case. “Bloody Sam,” as he was called, affectionately by his fans,...
- 12/30/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Robert Altman, Warren Beatty and Julie Christie join together for one of the great westerns, a poetic account of the founding of a town and the way big business preys on foolish little guys. Raw and cluttered, the show gives the genre a new look, with a dreamy mix of snowflakes, opium and the music of Leonard Cohen. McCabe & Mrs. Miller Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 827 1971 / Color / 2:40 widescreen / 121 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 11, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, Rene Auberjonois, William Devane, John Schuck, Bert Remsen, Shelley Duvall, Keith Carradine, Michael Murphy, Antony Holland, . Cinematography Vilmos Zsigmond Production Designer Leon Ericksen Film Editing and Second Unit Director Louis Lombardo Original Music Leonard Cohen Written by Robert Altman, Brian McKay from the novel McCabe by Edmund Naughton Produced by Mitchell Brower, David Foster Directed by Robert Altman
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Robert Altman films run hot and cold for this reviewer.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Robert Altman films run hot and cold for this reviewer.
- 10/22/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Do you like my choice of leading image? 'We're the Glory Guys! Eee-Yow!' What is surely the most generic cavalry western of all time is actually from a screenplay by Sam Peckinpah. Twilight Time's extras have a lot to say about that, and so does Savant. The Glory Guys Blu-ray Twilight Time 1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Street Date September 6, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95 Starring Tom Tryon, Harve Presnell, Senta Berger, James Caan, Andrew Duggan, Slim Pickens, Peter Breck, Jeanne Cooper, Michael Anderson Jr., Adam Williams, Wayne Rogers, Michael Forest, Paul Birch, Stephen Chase, Claudio Brook. Cinematography James Wong Howe Cinematography Ernst R. (Tom) Rolf, Melvin Shapiro Original Music Riz Ortolani Written by Sam Peckinpah from the novel by Hoffman Birney Produced by Arthur Gardner, Arnold Laven, Jules V. Levy Directed by Arnold Laven
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Glory Guys is as generic and standard-issue...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Glory Guys is as generic and standard-issue...
- 9/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The icon-establishing performances Marilyn Monroe gave in Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) are ones for the ages, touchstone works that endure because of the undeniable comic energy and desperation that sparked them from within even as the ravenous public became ever more enraptured by the surface of Monroe’s seductive image of beauty and glamour. Several generations now probably know her only from these films, or perhaps 1955’s The Seven-Year Itch, a more famous probably for the skirt-swirling pose it generated than anything in the movie itself, one of director Wilder’s sourest pictures, or her final completed film, The Misfits (1961), directed by John Huston, written by Arthur Miller and costarring Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift.
But in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) she delivers a powerful dramatic performance as Nell, a psychologically devastated, delusional, perhaps psychotic young woman apparently on...
But in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) she delivers a powerful dramatic performance as Nell, a psychologically devastated, delusional, perhaps psychotic young woman apparently on...
- 4/11/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
By Doug Oswald
Randolph Scott plays a bounty hunter returning a former Indian captive in “Comanche Station,” a 1960 Columbia release directed by Bud Boetticher and written by western regular Burt Kennedy.
Jefferson Cody (Scott) trades rifles and other items with a group of Comanche Indians in exchange for a captive settler, Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates). Her husband has offered a large reward for her return. After the exchange they’re met by outlaw Ben Lane (Claude Akins) and his sidekicks Frank (Skip Homeier) and Dobie (Richard Rust) who help Cody during an Indian attack at Comanche Station. Lane and Cody are old enemies and he and his men have been searching for Nancy. Lane wants a piece of the $5,000 reward in return for helping protect Nancy on the journey to her husband. Cody reluctantly agrees and forms an uneasy alliance due to the Indian threat.
Cody befriends Dobie, who wants...
Randolph Scott plays a bounty hunter returning a former Indian captive in “Comanche Station,” a 1960 Columbia release directed by Bud Boetticher and written by western regular Burt Kennedy.
Jefferson Cody (Scott) trades rifles and other items with a group of Comanche Indians in exchange for a captive settler, Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates). Her husband has offered a large reward for her return. After the exchange they’re met by outlaw Ben Lane (Claude Akins) and his sidekicks Frank (Skip Homeier) and Dobie (Richard Rust) who help Cody during an Indian attack at Comanche Station. Lane and Cody are old enemies and he and his men have been searching for Nancy. Lane wants a piece of the $5,000 reward in return for helping protect Nancy on the journey to her husband. Cody reluctantly agrees and forms an uneasy alliance due to the Indian threat.
Cody befriends Dobie, who wants...
- 3/8/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
First-time director Richard Wilson's B&W '50s western is different. Robert Mitchum is on-task as a town tamer with believable problems, both in exterminating gunslingers Claude Akins and Leo Gordon, and with making peace with his estranged wife, Jan Sterling. That's not to mention Mitchum's attraction for pacifist Karen Sharpe, and ditzy showgirl Barbara Lawrence. And don't forget an incredibly young Angie Dickinson. Man with the Gun Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1955 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Deadly Peacemaker / Street Date September 25, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, Karen Sharpe, Henry Hull, Emile Meyer, John Lupton, Barbara Lawrence, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, James Westerfield, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Joe Barry, Norma Calderón, Angie Dickinson, Mara McAfee, Maidie Norman, Robert Osterloh, Maudie Prickett, Stafford Repp. Cinematography Lee Garmes Film Editor Gene Milford Original Music Alex North Written by N.B. Stone Jr., Richard Wilson Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr....
- 9/22/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By John M. Whalen
When the “hardware widow” (Allyn Ann McClerie) asks Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin) if he’d gotten used to the idea of his long-time partner Chet Rollins (Jack Palance) and her being married, Monte says: “I never had so many things to get used to in my whole life, as now.” That line of dialogue in the middle of William Fraker’s “Monte Walsh” (1970) pretty much sums up this first and best film adaptation of Jack Schaeffer’s novel about the end of the Old West in general and the cowboy life in particular. It’s a true classic and even though it features two of the toughest tough guy actors of the sixties and seventies, it’s not a melodramatic shoot-em-up, full of violence, sound and fury. Rather it’s an elegiac portrait of the way it must have really happened, presented in a style as...
When the “hardware widow” (Allyn Ann McClerie) asks Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin) if he’d gotten used to the idea of his long-time partner Chet Rollins (Jack Palance) and her being married, Monte says: “I never had so many things to get used to in my whole life, as now.” That line of dialogue in the middle of William Fraker’s “Monte Walsh” (1970) pretty much sums up this first and best film adaptation of Jack Schaeffer’s novel about the end of the Old West in general and the cowboy life in particular. It’s a true classic and even though it features two of the toughest tough guy actors of the sixties and seventies, it’s not a melodramatic shoot-em-up, full of violence, sound and fury. Rather it’s an elegiac portrait of the way it must have really happened, presented in a style as...
- 9/13/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Let's hear it for the great westerns -- not the Ford and Hawks classics, but the fascinating marginal gems that see The West in a different way. Do you like Sam Peckinpah? Robert Parrish's evocation of Texas and Mexico in the 1880s will be pleasantly familiar -- a testing ground of personal codes and shifting loyalties in a treacherous land. The Wonderful Country Savant Blu-ray Review Kl Studio Classics 1959 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 29, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Pedro Armendariz, Gary Merrill, Jack Oakie, Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw, Leroy "Satchel" Paige. Cinematography Floyd Crosby Film Editor Michael Luciano Production Design Harry Horner Original Music Alex North Written by Robert Ardrey from the book by Tom Lea Produced by Chester Erskine Directed by Robert Parrish
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Jerzy Flisak’s 1972 poster for The Ballad of Cable Hogue (Sam Peckinpah, USA, 1970)To coincide with the complete retrospective of the films of Sam Peckinpah currently running at the Locarno Film Festival, I thought I might try to select the best posters of one of my favorite directors. But when I looked at all the posters for Peckinpah’s films it was clear that the best Peckinpah posters were made in Poland. There are a couple of great American one sheets from the 1970s—those stark black and white photographs for Straw Dogs and The Getaway—but nothing quite matches these six Polish designs for visual panache. Jerzy Flisak’s typically witty and playful poster for the most light-hearted of Peckinpah Westerns, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, is one of Flisak’s greatest designs and one that beautifully encapsulates the story of an old prospector exploiting a well in the Arizona desert.
- 8/9/2015
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
This article by Fernando Ganzo is an excerpt from Capricci's monograph Sam Peckinpah, edited by Ganzo, which accompanies this year's retrospective at the Locarno Film Festival.Warren Oates in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. © Park Circus / MGM“Don’t ever ruin your career as a loser with a shitty success.”—Jorge OteizaThere is only one thing that can be said about a person as erratic, contradictory, mythomaniac, complex and profound as Sam Peckinpah: here is a director who was made in the image of his characters, those men who belong to a different era, born too late, in a world that opposed all freedom and eccentricity. We like to describe Peckinpah as one of the fathers of New Hollywood, of the baroque aesthetic of the 1970s, as someone who had a primordial and often regrettable influence on that particular style. This is not completely false. However, this...
- 8/4/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Hong Sang-soo's Right Now, Wrong Then.The lineup for the 2015 festival has been revealed, including new films by Hong Sang-soo, Andrzej Zulawski, Chantal Akerman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes dedicated to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Cimino, Bulle Ogier, and much more.Piazza GRANDERicki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme, USA)La belle saison (Catherine Corsini, France)Le dernier passage (Pascal Magontier, France)Der staat gegen Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume, Germany)Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua, USA)Trainwreck (Judd Apatow, USA)Jack (Elisabeth Scharang, Austria)Floride (Philippe Le Guay, France)The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, UK/USA)Erlkönig (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland)Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)Bombay Velvet (Anurag Kashyap, India)Pastorale cilentana (Mario Martone, Italy)La vanite (Lionel Baier, Switzerland/France)The Laundryman (Lee Chung, Taiwan)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA) I pugni ni tasca (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Heliopolis (Sérgio Machado, Brazil)Amnesia (Barbet Schroeder,...
- 7/20/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
It's fitting that Clint Eastwood and John Wayne both have the same birthday week. (Wayne, who died in 1979, was born May 26, 1907, while Eastwood turns 85 on May 31). After all, these two all-American actors' careers span the history of that most American of movie genres, the western.
Both iconic actors were top box office draws for decades, both seldom stretched from their familiar personas, and both played macho, conservative cowboy heroes who let their firearms do most of the talking. Each represented one of two very different strains of western, the traditional and the revisionist.
As a birthday present to Hollywood's biggest heroes of the Wild West, here are the top 57 westerns you need to see.
57. 'Meek's Cutoff' (2010)
Indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt and her frequent leading lady, Michelle Williams, are the talents behind this sparse, docudrama about an 1845 wagon train whose Oregon Trail journey goes horribly awry. It's an intense...
Both iconic actors were top box office draws for decades, both seldom stretched from their familiar personas, and both played macho, conservative cowboy heroes who let their firearms do most of the talking. Each represented one of two very different strains of western, the traditional and the revisionist.
As a birthday present to Hollywood's biggest heroes of the Wild West, here are the top 57 westerns you need to see.
57. 'Meek's Cutoff' (2010)
Indie filmmaker Kelly Reichardt and her frequent leading lady, Michelle Williams, are the talents behind this sparse, docudrama about an 1845 wagon train whose Oregon Trail journey goes horribly awry. It's an intense...
- 5/26/2015
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Editor's Note: We're proud to announce that we are now the North American home for Locarno Film Festival Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian's blog. Chatrian has been writing thoughtful blog entries in Italian on Locarno's website since he took over as Director in late 2012, and now you can find the English translations here on Notebook as they're published. To kick things off, we're posting his piece on Sam Peckinpah, who was recently announced to be the subject of the festival's epic retrospective this year. The Locarno Film Festival will be taking place August 5th to 15th. ***The life of Sam Peckinpah sits like a splendid diamond set between two glorious eras for American cinema, one already on the decline and the other still to come. Retracing his career means looking as much at the great classical tradition that preceded him as at the new directors currently leaving their mark on the imagination.
- 3/22/2015
- by Carlo Chatrian
- MUBI
The last of seven collaborations between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott (under Scott’s production company Ranown ) is one of their best. Scott plays a (typically) lone gunman, a bounty hunter who specializes in retrieving women abducted by hostile tribesmen. The 62-year-old Scott made only one more movie after this, Sam Peckinpah’s lyrical tribute to the cowboy careers of Scott and Joel McCrea, Ride The High Country.
The post Comanche Station appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Comanche Station appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/15/2014
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Randolph Scott Westerns, comedies, war dramas: TCM schedule on August 19, 2013 See previous post: “Cary Grant and Randolph Scott Marriages — And ‘Expect the Biographical Worst.’” 3:00 Am Badman’S Territory (1946). Director: Tim Whelan. Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Ann Richards. Bw-98 mins. 4:45 Am Trail Street (1947). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Bw-84 mins. 6:15 Am Return Of The Badmen (1948). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene aka Richard Powers, Robert Bray, Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey, Dean White, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Lew Harvey, Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombell, Warren Jackson, Robert Clarke, Jason Robards Sr., Ernie Adams, Lane Chandler, Dan Foster, John Hamilton, Kenneth MacDonald, Donald Kerr, Ida Moore, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Harry Shannon, Charles Stevens. Bw-90 mins. 8:00 Am Riding Shotgun (1954). Director: André De Toth. Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris,...
- 8/20/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Lee Pfeiffer
Twilight Time has released the 2005 restored version of Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee as on Blu-ray, providing both the "improved" version of the film along with the controversial original cut. Peckinpah had won respect as a fine director of TV Westerns and his 1962 feature film, Ride the High Country, earned critical praise, particularly in Europe. Columbia hired Peckinpah to direct his first big budget film, Major Dundee, which top-lined two big stars: Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. As would prove to be the case throughout his career, Peckinpah's fiercely independent nature, combined with his propensity for snaring defeat from the jaws of victory, found him over his head on the production even before shooting started. Filmed in some inhospitable areas of Mexico, Peckinpah began shooting before the script was finalized (always a recipe for disaster). Midway through the film, Columbia was going to fire him for going...
Twilight Time has released the 2005 restored version of Sam Peckinpah's Major Dundee as on Blu-ray, providing both the "improved" version of the film along with the controversial original cut. Peckinpah had won respect as a fine director of TV Westerns and his 1962 feature film, Ride the High Country, earned critical praise, particularly in Europe. Columbia hired Peckinpah to direct his first big budget film, Major Dundee, which top-lined two big stars: Charlton Heston and Richard Harris. As would prove to be the case throughout his career, Peckinpah's fiercely independent nature, combined with his propensity for snaring defeat from the jaws of victory, found him over his head on the production even before shooting started. Filmed in some inhospitable areas of Mexico, Peckinpah began shooting before the script was finalized (always a recipe for disaster). Midway through the film, Columbia was going to fire him for going...
- 8/19/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Randolph Scott movies: From Westerns to Cary Grant / Irene Dunne comedy Handsome, granite-faced Randolph Scott is Turner Classic Movies’ next great choice in its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. Monday, August 19, 2013, is Randolph Scott Day, which begins and ends with Westerns. That shouldn’t be surprising, for although Scott was initially cast in a variety of roles and movie genres (including Westerns), he became exclusively a Western star in the late ’40s, sticking to that genre until his retirement in 1962 following the release of Sam Peckinpah’s elegiac Ride the High Country, which TCM will be showing on Monday evening. Joel McCrea at his very best and Mariette Hartley co-star. (See “On TCM: Randolph Scott Westerns.”) (Photo: Randolph Scott ca. 1945.) Many of Scott’s Westerns were routine fare, including Badman’s Territory (1946), which kicks off Randolph Scott Day. Some, however, have become classics of the genre, especially his late...
- 8/19/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Wasteland:
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
Television is a gold goose that lays scrambled eggs;
and it is futile and probably fatal to beat it for not laying caviar.
Lee Loevinger
When people argue over the quality of television programming, both sides — it’s addictive crap v. underappreciated populist art — seem to forget one of the essentials about commercial TV. By definition, it is not a public service. It is not commercial TV’s job to enlighten, inform, educate, elevate, inspire, or offer insight. Frankly, it’s not even commercial TV’s job to entertain. Bottom line: its purpose is simply to deliver as many sets of eyes to advertisers as possible. As it happens, it tends to do this by offering various forms of entertainment, and occasionally by offering content that does enlighten, inform, etc., but a cynic would make the point that if TV could do the same job televising fish aimlessly swimming around an aquarium,...
- 7/22/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
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