In December of 1973, two movies that would change the face of horror and the ways it dealt with religion and spirituality were released. One was an instant hit, immediately changing the landscape of the genre forever. The other was severely cut by executives who simply did not understand it and unceremoniously slapped into the B-picture slot on double bills with Don’t Look Now, where it seemed to die a quick death. Over time, it grew from an underground cult discovery to a genre-defining masterpiece. The former is, of course, William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, which remains a terrifying and inimitable masterpiece. The latter is Robin Hardy and Anthony Schaffer’s The Wicker Man, a truly remarkable film that became a flashpoint for an emerging subgenre—Folk Horror. Though both films deal in religion, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man could not be more divided in their approach to the subject.
- 5/9/2024
- by Brian Keiper
- bloody-disgusting.com
Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights ahead of Cannes to financial thriller The Panic with Donald Sutherland attached to join Carey Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna.
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Blue Fox Entertainment has picked up worldwide rights ahead of Cannes to financial thriller The Panic with Donald Sutherland, Carey Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Justin Chatwin, and Cristiana Dell’Anna attached to star.
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
Daniel Adams, whose credits include The Walk and The Golden Boys, wrote and will direct the feature, which is based on a true story and takes place in 1907 in New York as real-life bankers J. P. Morgan and Charles Barney grapple with a financial crisis sparked by Barney’s failed attempt to manipulate the copper market.
As Morgan strives to safeguard his empire he becomes entangled in a clandestine struggle involving his brilliant mistress,...
- 5/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
Donald Sutherland has written his autobiography, which goes by the name Made Up, But Still True. More details on it here.
In a film career that’s covered seven decades, Donald Sutherland hasn’t been shy of memorable roles and terrific performances. For the most part though, he’s been letting his acting do the talking. Now though, he’s telling his life story in his autobiography, which is going to be on sale before the year is out.
Entitled Made Up, But Still True, we’re promised a book that’s going to be candid and unpredictable, and also one that reflects on an incredible career.
It’s being published by Penguin in the UK on 12th November 2024, and it’s gone up for pre-order now.
You can find out more on the book, and order a copy, right here.
Penguin has issued a synopsis for the book too,...
In a film career that’s covered seven decades, Donald Sutherland hasn’t been shy of memorable roles and terrific performances. For the most part though, he’s been letting his acting do the talking. Now though, he’s telling his life story in his autobiography, which is going to be on sale before the year is out.
Entitled Made Up, But Still True, we’re promised a book that’s going to be candid and unpredictable, and also one that reflects on an incredible career.
It’s being published by Penguin in the UK on 12th November 2024, and it’s gone up for pre-order now.
You can find out more on the book, and order a copy, right here.
Penguin has issued a synopsis for the book too,...
- 4/30/2024
- by Simon Brew
- Film Stories
Luca Guadagnino’s tennis relationship drama “Challengers” (Amazon MGM) opens Friday amidst chatter that it represents the rarest of films — a wide-release American sex sizzler, an erotically charged story with young actors with sexual impulses central to its plot.
The marketing forebears for “Challengers” are akin to movies that we’ve not seen in a long time like “Carnal Knowledge,” “Body Heat,” “Don’t Look Now,” and “Fatal Attraction.” These films, where sex can be sweaty and dangerous, were elevated by big stars who dared to play off their images. Other examples include Kevin Costner (“No Way Out”), Debra Winger (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver (“The Year of Living Dangerously”), Jane Fonda (“Klute”), and Warren Beatty.
In the “Challengers” press tour, Zendaya (also a producer here) — with six of her previous seven live-action theatrical releases having domestic grosses of $100 million or more — took pains to dispel...
The marketing forebears for “Challengers” are akin to movies that we’ve not seen in a long time like “Carnal Knowledge,” “Body Heat,” “Don’t Look Now,” and “Fatal Attraction.” These films, where sex can be sweaty and dangerous, were elevated by big stars who dared to play off their images. Other examples include Kevin Costner (“No Way Out”), Debra Winger (“An Officer and a Gentleman”), Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver (“The Year of Living Dangerously”), Jane Fonda (“Klute”), and Warren Beatty.
In the “Challengers” press tour, Zendaya (also a producer here) — with six of her previous seven live-action theatrical releases having domestic grosses of $100 million or more — took pains to dispel...
- 4/25/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Mike Hughes, Harvey Stevens, Alex Vincent, Paula E. Sheppard, Noah Wiseman, and Milly Shapiro
Screenshot: YouTube
There’s nothing scarier than childhood. Look no further than the movies (or your very own memory palace) for proof. With the upcoming release of Abigail and the recent child-adjacent scares from The First Omen and Imaginary,...
Screenshot: YouTube
There’s nothing scarier than childhood. Look no further than the movies (or your very own memory palace) for proof. With the upcoming release of Abigail and the recent child-adjacent scares from The First Omen and Imaginary,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Matt Schimkowitz, Saloni Gajjar, Tim Lowery, William Hughes, and Jen Lennon
- avclub.com
In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to with The Gothic Book Club’s Colin McCracken about a sample of books that will introduce you to The Gothic Book Club and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life,” which include:
Harvey (1950) Don’T Look Now (1973) The Boogeyman (1980)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
Powered by RedCircle...
Harvey (1950) Don’T Look Now (1973) The Boogeyman (1980)
“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.
Powered by RedCircle...
- 3/20/2024
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
I’ve always felt that the 1979 horror film Tourist Trap (watch it Here) deserves a lot more respect and attention than it gets – and that star Chuck Connors (best known for The Rifleman) deserved the “genre icon” career he was aiming for when he signed on for the movie. Barbara Crampton is someone who did achieve a genre icon career, and she clearly believes there was something great going on with Tourist Trap, because our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that she is producing a remake of the film!
Crampton is the Vice President of Production & Development at Alliance Media Partners, and the company has just acquired the rights to make a new version of Tourist Trap. Crampton will be producing the film alongside Bob Portal, who is Amp’s Managing Director & Head of Production.
Produced by Full Moon founder Charles Band, the original Tourist Trap stars Connors as Mr.
Crampton is the Vice President of Production & Development at Alliance Media Partners, and the company has just acquired the rights to make a new version of Tourist Trap. Crampton will be producing the film alongside Bob Portal, who is Amp’s Managing Director & Head of Production.
Produced by Full Moon founder Charles Band, the original Tourist Trap stars Connors as Mr.
- 3/18/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Last month, the Motion Picture Association ratings board announced that they had given the psychological horror film Immaculate, which reunites Sydney Sweeney with Michael Mohan, who directed her in the erotic thriller The Voyeurs and the Netflix series Everything Sucks!, an R rating for strong and bloody violent content, grisly images, nudity and some language. Now, in an interview with Variety, Mohan has promised that the film gets extreme, just like that rating explanation indicated.
Scripted by Andrew Lobel, Immaculate sees Sweeney taking on the role of Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Her warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside is soon interrupted as it becomes clearer to Cecilia that her new home harbors some dark and horrifying secrets.
Simona Tabasco (The White Lotus), Alvaro Morte (Money Heist), Benedetta Porcaroli (Baby), and Dora Romano (The Hand of God...
Scripted by Andrew Lobel, Immaculate sees Sweeney taking on the role of Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Her warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside is soon interrupted as it becomes clearer to Cecilia that her new home harbors some dark and horrifying secrets.
Simona Tabasco (The White Lotus), Alvaro Morte (Money Heist), Benedetta Porcaroli (Baby), and Dora Romano (The Hand of God...
- 3/13/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Sydney Sweeney is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, but fans are sure to be shocked by her wild new horror movie that pushes her creativity in front of and behind the camera to new extremes.
“Immaculate” is the third project that director Michael Mohan and Sweeney have collaborated on, after the 2018 series “Everything Sucks!” and the 2021 thriller “The Voyeurs.” Their newest creative vision is a project filled with twists, blood and a surprising amount of horniness for a movie set at an Italian convent. Sweeney plays Cecilia, an American nun who transfers to Italy and is forced to face a lot of dark secrets hidden in the walls of the gorgeous nunnery. Sweeney is also a producer on the film, which is set to debut on Tuesday at this year’s South by Southwest festival.
Mohan spoke with Variety about the unlikely genesis of the project, the importance of...
“Immaculate” is the third project that director Michael Mohan and Sweeney have collaborated on, after the 2018 series “Everything Sucks!” and the 2021 thriller “The Voyeurs.” Their newest creative vision is a project filled with twists, blood and a surprising amount of horniness for a movie set at an Italian convent. Sweeney plays Cecilia, an American nun who transfers to Italy and is forced to face a lot of dark secrets hidden in the walls of the gorgeous nunnery. Sweeney is also a producer on the film, which is set to debut on Tuesday at this year’s South by Southwest festival.
Mohan spoke with Variety about the unlikely genesis of the project, the importance of...
- 3/13/2024
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
The BBC is celebrating the art of the literary adaptation by screening a variety of classics on BBC Four. More details here.
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
The BBC is quite rightly celebrated for its rich history of book to screen adaptations, such as the iconic 1995 version of Jane Austen’a Pride And Prejudice to Cbbc’s hugely successful adaptation of Dame Jacqueline Wilson’s Tracy Beaker series.
It has now put together a season of 14 adaptations from the BBC archive, some of which have rarely been seen since their original broadcast.
The dramas are:
The Great Gatsby
Toby Stephens, Mira Sorvino and Paul Rudd lead the cast in this 2000 BBC adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel on the American dream in the jazz age.
Small Island
Naomie Harris, Ruth Wilson, David Oyelowo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ashley Walters star in this 2009 TV version of Andrea Levy’s novel focusing on the lives and...
- 2/6/2024
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Exclusive: Good Trouble star Michael Galante is leading a first-of-its-kind comedy series featuring a host of visually impaired and low vision actors.
The Don’t Look Now comedy pilot has been forged to showcase visually impaired actors in leading roles and has been financed by author and visually impaired advocate Rebecca S. Meadows.
Set in an underfunded non-profit training center for the visually impaired, Don’t Look Now revolves around a diverse group of dedicated teachers and staff as they navigate the daily challenges of their work.
Galante, who played Brian in Freeform’s Good Trouble and has also had roles in Will & Grace and Boy Meets Girl, stars alongside an ensemble including Nathan Hurd (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Hannah Taragan (Grown-ish), Nimo Liré (Gift of Fear), Jamie H. Jung (Them), Patrick Agada (Kappa Force), Mikaylee Mina (The Black Mass), Diana Villegas (Dead For a Dollar), Ramona Dubarry (The Curse), Olga Itsenko and Brian McCarthy.
The Don’t Look Now comedy pilot has been forged to showcase visually impaired actors in leading roles and has been financed by author and visually impaired advocate Rebecca S. Meadows.
Set in an underfunded non-profit training center for the visually impaired, Don’t Look Now revolves around a diverse group of dedicated teachers and staff as they navigate the daily challenges of their work.
Galante, who played Brian in Freeform’s Good Trouble and has also had roles in Will & Grace and Boy Meets Girl, stars alongside an ensemble including Nathan Hurd (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law), Hannah Taragan (Grown-ish), Nimo Liré (Gift of Fear), Jamie H. Jung (Them), Patrick Agada (Kappa Force), Mikaylee Mina (The Black Mass), Diana Villegas (Dead For a Dollar), Ramona Dubarry (The Curse), Olga Itsenko and Brian McCarthy.
- 1/30/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
"Euphoria" and "The White Lotus" star Sydney Sweeney has been having a pretty stellar moment. While the actor has been performing since childhood, her star has been shooting across the sky in the last few years. Just last year, she starred in the thrilling drama "Reality" for HBO and the box office smash hit "Anyone But You," and is kicking off her 2024 by entering Sony's Spider-Man Universe with "Madame Web." But becoming Spider-Woman isn't the only exciting venture on Sweeney's horizon. She's also reteaming with director Michael Mohan once again, this time for the horror film "Immaculate."
With a script by Andrew Lobel, "Immaculate" is a psychological horror film wherein Sweeney plays Cecilia, a nun who is given the opportunity to join an illustrious convent in Italy. Her new home seems absolutely perfect until strange things begin happening around the convent, including what appears to be an immaculate conception.
With a script by Andrew Lobel, "Immaculate" is a psychological horror film wherein Sweeney plays Cecilia, a nun who is given the opportunity to join an illustrious convent in Italy. Her new home seems absolutely perfect until strange things begin happening around the convent, including what appears to be an immaculate conception.
- 1/26/2024
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Contagion 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.
Contagion will infect 4K Ultra HD on February 27 via Warner Bros. The 2011 thriller has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, overseen by director Steven Soderbergh, with High Dynamic Range.
The ensemble cast features Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) wrote the script.
Three previously released featurettes are included: “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives,” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”
Body Double Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records
The soundtrack from Brain De Palma’s Body Double is coming to vinyl for $40 from Waxwork Records.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Contagion 4K Uhd from Warner Bros.
Contagion will infect 4K Ultra HD on February 27 via Warner Bros. The 2011 thriller has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative, overseen by director Steven Soderbergh, with High Dynamic Range.
The ensemble cast features Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Sanaa Lathan. Scott Z. Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) wrote the script.
Three previously released featurettes are included: “The Reality of Contagion,” “The Contagion Detectives,” and “Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World.”
Body Double Vinyl Soundtrack from Waxwork Records
The soundtrack from Brain De Palma’s Body Double is coming to vinyl for $40 from Waxwork Records.
- 1/12/2024
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
The newly restored Egyptian Theatre is welcoming a series of festive double features for cinephiles.
The Los Angeles-based theater is transforming into a holiday wonderland for acclaimed features, ranging from “Eyes Wide Shut” to “The Killer.” IndieWire exclusively announces the programming of curated double features that select “favorite new movies paired with classics ready for another moment in the spotlight,” per the Egyptian. The inaugural holiday series reflects on the best films of the year, pairing features with their creative inspirations.
Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” will screen Christmas Day after Netflix’s erotic thriller “Fair Play,” with Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein ode “Maestro” screening side by side with the 1961 film “West Side Story” in Ib Technicolor 35mm from the Academy Film Archive, featuring Bernstein’s music. Natalie Portman pulls double duty with “Black Swan” and Netflix’s “May December,” both screening December 27.
All double-bills are only $13, with...
The Los Angeles-based theater is transforming into a holiday wonderland for acclaimed features, ranging from “Eyes Wide Shut” to “The Killer.” IndieWire exclusively announces the programming of curated double features that select “favorite new movies paired with classics ready for another moment in the spotlight,” per the Egyptian. The inaugural holiday series reflects on the best films of the year, pairing features with their creative inspirations.
Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” will screen Christmas Day after Netflix’s erotic thriller “Fair Play,” with Bradley Cooper’s Leonard Bernstein ode “Maestro” screening side by side with the 1961 film “West Side Story” in Ib Technicolor 35mm from the Academy Film Archive, featuring Bernstein’s music. Natalie Portman pulls double duty with “Black Swan” and Netflix’s “May December,” both screening December 27.
All double-bills are only $13, with...
- 12/15/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Deadline reports that Adam McKay is developing a climate-related movie which he’s considering making his next directorial project, but it has come at the cost of his star-studded serial killer dramedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Pattinson.
Adam McKay pitched Average Height, Average Build earlier this year, with Netflix scooping up the project a month later. The film would have starred Robert Pattinson as a serial killer who enlists a lobbyist (Amy Adams) to change laws that would allow him to get away with murder easily. Robert Downey Jr. would have played a “retired cop who won’t give up on the murders, and the killer tries to prevent him from dogging his trail now that he’s hung up his gun. The serial killer turns himself into a cause celebre, a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington figure shielding his true motives.” Adam McKay is no longer attached to Average Height,...
Adam McKay pitched Average Height, Average Build earlier this year, with Netflix scooping up the project a month later. The film would have starred Robert Pattinson as a serial killer who enlists a lobbyist (Amy Adams) to change laws that would allow him to get away with murder easily. Robert Downey Jr. would have played a “retired cop who won’t give up on the murders, and the killer tries to prevent him from dogging his trail now that he’s hung up his gun. The serial killer turns himself into a cause celebre, a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington figure shielding his true motives.” Adam McKay is no longer attached to Average Height,...
- 12/4/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Netflix is finally opening the doors to the newly restored Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood this week, and in a first-look preview ahead of its November 9 reopening, the streamer and its partner, the nonprofit American Cinematheque, highlighted some of the enhancements and a screening schedule through the end of 2023.
The Egyptian will reopen on Nov. 9 with a sold-out screening of David Fincher’s “The Killer,” followed by a Q&a with the director. Throughout November it will showcase a 70mm series that includes titles like Jacques Tati’s “Playtime,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus,” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.”
Announced today were December screenings for “Days of Heaven,” “L’amour Fou,” “Don’t Look Now,” “Imitation of Life,” “Lone Star,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and a new Netflix film for good measure: a 70mm screening of Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire.”
The screenings of...
The Egyptian will reopen on Nov. 9 with a sold-out screening of David Fincher’s “The Killer,” followed by a Q&a with the director. Throughout November it will showcase a 70mm series that includes titles like Jacques Tati’s “Playtime,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Spartacus,” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.”
Announced today were December screenings for “Days of Heaven,” “L’amour Fou,” “Don’t Look Now,” “Imitation of Life,” “Lone Star,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and a new Netflix film for good measure: a 70mm screening of Zack Snyder’s upcoming “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire.”
The screenings of...
- 11/7/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Several more December screenings from the American Cinematheque and Netflix have joined the initial slate of programming at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.
From Dec. 8 to 14, classic film buffs can catch the Los Angeles premiere of brand new restorations of “Days of Heaven” and “L’amour Fou.” Also featured is a 50th anniversary screening of “Don’t Look Now” with a 35mm Ib Tech print. A 35mm presentation of Douglas Sirk’s 1959 “Imitation of Life” will be followed by a Q&a with actor Susan Kohner along with a book signing by Foster Hirsch in connection with “Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties.”
A new 4k restoration of “Lone Star” will include a Q&a with director John Sayles.
From Dec. 15 to Dec. 21, the theater will feature a 70mm run of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire” ahead of its Netflix premiere. Just in time for Christmas,...
From Dec. 8 to 14, classic film buffs can catch the Los Angeles premiere of brand new restorations of “Days of Heaven” and “L’amour Fou.” Also featured is a 50th anniversary screening of “Don’t Look Now” with a 35mm Ib Tech print. A 35mm presentation of Douglas Sirk’s 1959 “Imitation of Life” will be followed by a Q&a with actor Susan Kohner along with a book signing by Foster Hirsch in connection with “Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties.”
A new 4k restoration of “Lone Star” will include a Q&a with director John Sayles.
From Dec. 15 to Dec. 21, the theater will feature a 70mm run of Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire” ahead of its Netflix premiere. Just in time for Christmas,...
- 11/7/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay and Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Fans of legendary actor Donald Sutherland will soon have the opportunity to lick his backside, as the 88-year-old will be honored with a stamp from Canada Post.
Speaking with The Canadian Press (via CTV News), Donald Sutherland was undoubtedly humbled and showed that, despite being on the cusp of his 90s, he still has a sense of humor. “It’s the biggest thing to me…I kept saying: ‘I’m a Canadian and now I’m a Canadian stamp…This is really something. I think just now when I said it, all the hair stood up on my arms. But it is cold in here.”
The stamp, which you can see below, shows a profile of Donald Sutherland behind with a list of some of his notable films – Klute, M*A*S*H, Klute, Fellini’s Casanova, Ordinary People, The Italian Job, and The Hunger Games – along with French translations.
On their decision to honor Donald Sutherland,...
Speaking with The Canadian Press (via CTV News), Donald Sutherland was undoubtedly humbled and showed that, despite being on the cusp of his 90s, he still has a sense of humor. “It’s the biggest thing to me…I kept saying: ‘I’m a Canadian and now I’m a Canadian stamp…This is really something. I think just now when I said it, all the hair stood up on my arms. But it is cold in here.”
The stamp, which you can see below, shows a profile of Donald Sutherland behind with a list of some of his notable films – Klute, M*A*S*H, Klute, Fellini’s Casanova, Ordinary People, The Italian Job, and The Hunger Games – along with French translations.
On their decision to honor Donald Sutherland,...
- 10/22/2023
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
You can smell what’s happening in “Starve Acre” before you puzzle the rest of it out. The grassy, peaty dampness of its rural Yorkshire setting seems to hit the olfactory glands without any scratch-and-sniff assistance, only intensifying as the film unearths its literally deep-buried secrets. Daniel Kokotajlo’s impressive second feature unfolds in a vein of British folk horror that has been popular of late — with films from Ben Wheatley’s “A Field in England” to Mark Jenkins’s “Enys Men” all tapping into that retro “Wicker Man” eeriness — but rarely with such rattling sensory specificity or formal refinement. Starring Morfydd Clark and Matt Smith as former townies unprepared for the full burden of lore they inherit with their desolate farmhouse, it’s a tale of quite outlandish fantastical leaps, grounded by the chills it also finds in common weather and wildlife.
Premiering in the main competition at this year’s London Film Festival,...
Premiering in the main competition at this year’s London Film Festival,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
“Nothing is what it seems.” A seemingly offhand remark made early in Don’t Look Now is slowly revealed to be the theme around which the film revolves.
Nicolas Roeg’s directorial efforts may not have always connected with audiences immediately, but his impressionistic approach has aged like fine wine. Don’t Look Now, in particular, was decades ahead of its time upon its release in 1973.
The screenplay — written by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (The Awakening), based on a 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier — analyzes the psychological effects of trauma through a horror lens; a motif we’ve seen explored many times over in recent years, from Ari Aster’s filmography to David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy.
Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, architect John Baxter and bereaved wife Laura travel from their English country home to Venice to oversee the restoration of a church. After a...
Nicolas Roeg’s directorial efforts may not have always connected with audiences immediately, but his impressionistic approach has aged like fine wine. Don’t Look Now, in particular, was decades ahead of its time upon its release in 1973.
The screenplay — written by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (The Awakening), based on a 1971 short story by Daphne du Maurier — analyzes the psychological effects of trauma through a horror lens; a motif we’ve seen explored many times over in recent years, from Ari Aster’s filmography to David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy.
Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, architect John Baxter and bereaved wife Laura travel from their English country home to Venice to oversee the restoration of a church. After a...
- 10/16/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
The acclaimed adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s short story remains a visually immersive descent and a chilling portrayal of loss
In the opening sequence of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a little girl in a red raincoat drowns in a pond in the English countryside, as her parents are nestled comfortably in a nearby estate. Roeg cuts frantically between the girl tooling around the pond in her boots and her father John (Donald Sutherland) at work inside, examining a projected image of an Italian cathedral he intends to restore. The cutting works as suspense, leaving the audience utterly helpless to stop this inevitable tragedy from happening, but it has a much more sophisticated agenda than goosing our emotions. Through color and montage effects, tied to shots like a spill that bleeds over John’s slide, Roeg dramatizes the present and predicts the future all at once, signaling the heartbreak and terror to come.
In the opening sequence of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a little girl in a red raincoat drowns in a pond in the English countryside, as her parents are nestled comfortably in a nearby estate. Roeg cuts frantically between the girl tooling around the pond in her boots and her father John (Donald Sutherland) at work inside, examining a projected image of an Italian cathedral he intends to restore. The cutting works as suspense, leaving the audience utterly helpless to stop this inevitable tragedy from happening, but it has a much more sophisticated agenda than goosing our emotions. Through color and montage effects, tied to shots like a spill that bleeds over John’s slide, Roeg dramatizes the present and predicts the future all at once, signaling the heartbreak and terror to come.
- 10/16/2023
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
London film festival Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark play an unhappy couple who have moved to the moors with their young son, and soon become entwined in the occult
Award-winning director Daniel Kokotajlo made a real impression five years ago with his fiercely distinctive debut feature, Apostasy, set in an enclosed religious world. Here is his diverting but frankly more generic follow-up, adapted from the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley. It is billed as contemporary folk horror but borders on film-school pastiche, and “contemporary” means set in the era of The Wicker Man in the early 70s – a British world of brown corduroy, Austin 1100s, no central heating, odd locals and a persistent, sinister encroaching gloom in the countryside. The movie teeters on a knife-edge between scary and silly, and yet without that weird flavour of silly, the scares wouldn’t mean as much.
Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark, two...
Award-winning director Daniel Kokotajlo made a real impression five years ago with his fiercely distinctive debut feature, Apostasy, set in an enclosed religious world. Here is his diverting but frankly more generic follow-up, adapted from the novel by Andrew Michael Hurley. It is billed as contemporary folk horror but borders on film-school pastiche, and “contemporary” means set in the era of The Wicker Man in the early 70s – a British world of brown corduroy, Austin 1100s, no central heating, odd locals and a persistent, sinister encroaching gloom in the countryside. The movie teeters on a knife-edge between scary and silly, and yet without that weird flavour of silly, the scares wouldn’t mean as much.
Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark, two...
- 10/12/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now is driven by a crushing sense of emotional desolation. The phrase “psychic thriller,” which was used to market the film, is technically true, but misleading, given that psychics are normally used by directors as springboards for action set pieces or as agents for ushering forth the explicit arrival of ghosts. There are certainly ghosts in Don’t Look Now, and maybe even the kind that populate traditional horror stories, but the prevailing specters here are those that people come to know through disappointment or tragedy as allusions to things lost or desired, which have a way of suddenly opening mental portals to the past, and, in the case of this film and quite a bit of supernatural fiction, the future. Don’t Look Now suggests a ghost story that Faulkner may have written, as it offers characters who’re at the mercy of their streams of consciousness.
- 10/9/2023
- by Chuck Bowen
- Slant Magazine
In the first of a new monthly Observer column on his favourite film-makers, Mark Kermode salutes the elliptical vision of the director of Don’t Look Now, Walkabout, Performance and so much more
This month marks 50 years since the release of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a personal touchstone movie (adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier) that is at once an occult chiller, a poignant portrait of married love, a heartfelt meditation on grief and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail. The anniversary offers film fans an excuse to dust off this classic, alongside other hallowed 1973 movies such as Enter the Dragon, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man, which was originally the supporting feature for Don’t Look Now (how’s that for a double bill). It also allows me to kick off my new column, focusing each month on a different director, with...
This month marks 50 years since the release of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, a personal touchstone movie (adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier) that is at once an occult chiller, a poignant portrait of married love, a heartfelt meditation on grief and a shaggy dog story with a grisly sting in its tail. The anniversary offers film fans an excuse to dust off this classic, alongside other hallowed 1973 movies such as Enter the Dragon, The Exorcist and The Wicker Man, which was originally the supporting feature for Don’t Look Now (how’s that for a double bill). It also allows me to kick off my new column, focusing each month on a different director, with...
- 9/30/2023
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
This October is a Massive month for horror movies on physical media.
The studios and physical media labels tend to save some of their best stuff for spooky season, and this year is no exception. The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and Shout Studios all have a huge selection this month, and studios like Paramount, Universal, and Lionsgate are bringing forward some awesome releases with unique packaging that will appeal to collectors.
If you haven’t jumped back into the world of physical media, this is as good a time as ever to start a horror movie collection.
The Criterion Collection
‘Videodrome’
The team at the Criterion Collection have truly outdone themselves with horror releases for October. First up on October 3rd is Nicolas Roeg’s thriller Don’t Look Now in a new 4K Uhd release from a recent remastering of the film. This is followed by another 4K Uhd release...
The studios and physical media labels tend to save some of their best stuff for spooky season, and this year is no exception. The Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, and Shout Studios all have a huge selection this month, and studios like Paramount, Universal, and Lionsgate are bringing forward some awesome releases with unique packaging that will appeal to collectors.
If you haven’t jumped back into the world of physical media, this is as good a time as ever to start a horror movie collection.
The Criterion Collection
‘Videodrome’
The team at the Criterion Collection have truly outdone themselves with horror releases for October. First up on October 3rd is Nicolas Roeg’s thriller Don’t Look Now in a new 4K Uhd release from a recent remastering of the film. This is followed by another 4K Uhd release...
- 9/21/2023
- by Jeff Rauseo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Director’s latest film has more explicit scenes than almost all modern studio-backed features
From 1970s classics such as The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now to 1990s erotic thrillers Basic Instinct and Eyes Wide Shut, cinema history is rife with sexually explicit scenes and full-frontal nudity.
But with superhero movies dominating the box office in recent years, directors fearing accusations of coercion and younger audiences supposedly becoming more prudish, some have lamented the death of the sex scene.
From 1970s classics such as The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now to 1990s erotic thrillers Basic Instinct and Eyes Wide Shut, cinema history is rife with sexually explicit scenes and full-frontal nudity.
But with superhero movies dominating the box office in recent years, directors fearing accusations of coercion and younger audiences supposedly becoming more prudish, some have lamented the death of the sex scene.
- 9/1/2023
- by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent
- The Guardian - Film News
Jules is a sci-fi comedy-drama film directed by Marc Turtletaub from a screenplay by Gavin Steckler. The sci-fi film follows the story of an old man who lives a quiet life but his life gets upended when a UFO crashed into his backyard and an alien becomes his houseguest. Soon, his quiet life gets thrown into chaos as his nosy neighbors get involved in his life and the government closes in on the alien’s location. Jules stars the always brilliant Ben Kingsley in the lead role with Jane Curtin, Harriet Sansom Harris, and Zoe Winters taking on supporting roles. So, if you loved Jules here are some similar movies for you to check out next.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures
Synopsis: Journey back to the magic and adventure of “one of the great American films” (Leonard Maltin) with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,...
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – Universal Pictures
Synopsis: Journey back to the magic and adventure of “one of the great American films” (Leonard Maltin) with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
As the Venice film festival turns 80, we pick the titles that capture the city’s allure, from desolate Don’t Look Now to romantic Summertime and Top Hat’s cheery glamour
This time next week I’ll be packing my bags for Venice, where the 80th edition of its annual film festival will unveil new films by Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Bradley Cooper, the late William Friedkin – an especially glistening lineup for an event never short on gloss. But even without such attractions, Venice would remain my favourite festival: it’s the faintly unreal allure of the city itself, the spray from the Vaporetto as you leave the airport, the sense that you’re arriving into an eternal film location rather than just an industry event.
You can’t arrive on the Lido, the drowsy barrier island where the festival unfolds, and not recall...
This time next week I’ll be packing my bags for Venice, where the 80th edition of its annual film festival will unveil new films by Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay, Yorgos Lanthimos, David Fincher, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Bradley Cooper, the late William Friedkin – an especially glistening lineup for an event never short on gloss. But even without such attractions, Venice would remain my favourite festival: it’s the faintly unreal allure of the city itself, the spray from the Vaporetto as you leave the airport, the sense that you’re arriving into an eternal film location rather than just an industry event.
You can’t arrive on the Lido, the drowsy barrier island where the festival unfolds, and not recall...
- 8/19/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
When Emmett arrives at the house he has inherited after his mother’s death, the legacy that emerges is deeply unsettling, and brilliantly depicted
This is a find. Writer-director Laurence Vannicelli’s follow-up to his little-seen debut Vera represents a classy, spare shard of quasi-horror so elevated it’s barely horror at all despite the deployment of a few supernatural bangs and whizzes. It’s more in the tradition of psychological thrillers from the old days that critics still pine for, such as Don’t Look Now (1973) or Obsession (1976), all teasing ambiguity and deep dives into the messier corners of lovers’ psyches. In this case, Mother, May I? goes sniffing around the dark cellars of the mind where men keep complicated feelings about their mothers locked up, but which break out and play havoc with romantic relationships in the present.
The mother at this heart of this story, Tracy (Robin Winn Moore...
This is a find. Writer-director Laurence Vannicelli’s follow-up to his little-seen debut Vera represents a classy, spare shard of quasi-horror so elevated it’s barely horror at all despite the deployment of a few supernatural bangs and whizzes. It’s more in the tradition of psychological thrillers from the old days that critics still pine for, such as Don’t Look Now (1973) or Obsession (1976), all teasing ambiguity and deep dives into the messier corners of lovers’ psyches. In this case, Mother, May I? goes sniffing around the dark cellars of the mind where men keep complicated feelings about their mothers locked up, but which break out and play havoc with romantic relationships in the present.
The mother at this heart of this story, Tracy (Robin Winn Moore...
- 8/15/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
In what may be one of the most powerful and stirring episodes of the entire run of FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” the series this week took on the horror of assimilation “Indian boarding schools” — and attempt by the government in the 19th and 20th centuries to erase Native culture from the country.
It’s another dark chapter that is well known by most people with Indigenous heritage, but something that most non-Natives have either never heard about, or only have a passing knowledge of it. For “Reservation Dogs” co-creator Sterlin Harjo, there was a responsibility to tell the story right.
“We have an opportunity to tell some truths, and that’s what the show has been about — telling the truth about who we are,” Harjo says. “I just wanted to make something that represented that experience, to show people what the reality was. To show people how it must have felt,...
It’s another dark chapter that is well known by most people with Indigenous heritage, but something that most non-Natives have either never heard about, or only have a passing knowledge of it. For “Reservation Dogs” co-creator Sterlin Harjo, there was a responsibility to tell the story right.
“We have an opportunity to tell some truths, and that’s what the show has been about — telling the truth about who we are,” Harjo says. “I just wanted to make something that represented that experience, to show people what the reality was. To show people how it must have felt,...
- 8/9/2023
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Is there another modern horror movie as influential and enduringly terrifying as The Exorcist?
Some might make a case for the atmospheric chill of works that preceded it, like Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby or Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Others perhaps will point to subsequent hits — the brutal shocks of John Carpenter’s Halloween, for instance, or the mercilessly ratcheted suspense of Ridley Scott’s Alien.
But few, if any, horror films have left such an indelible impression, not only on the genre but on broader popular culture, as the 1973 demonic possession thriller that marked the peak of director William Friedkin’s long career.
Two years earlier, Friedkin, who died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, aged 87, had already reinvented the police procedural with The French Connection, a bristling neo-noir that to this day has few equals in its hurtling car-chase action, its viscerally immersive camerawork, its...
Some might make a case for the atmospheric chill of works that preceded it, like Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby or Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. Others perhaps will point to subsequent hits — the brutal shocks of John Carpenter’s Halloween, for instance, or the mercilessly ratcheted suspense of Ridley Scott’s Alien.
But few, if any, horror films have left such an indelible impression, not only on the genre but on broader popular culture, as the 1973 demonic possession thriller that marked the peak of director William Friedkin’s long career.
Two years earlier, Friedkin, who died Monday at his home in Los Angeles, aged 87, had already reinvented the police procedural with The French Connection, a bristling neo-noir that to this day has few equals in its hurtling car-chase action, its viscerally immersive camerawork, its...
- 8/8/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Museum of Modern Art
Films by Olivier Assayas, Jacques Rivette, Park Chan-wook, and Bong Joon-ho screen on 35mm as part of “Views from the Vault.”
IFC Center
A series on sex scenes brings Crash, Cruising, Don’t Look Now, Persona and more; Twilight and A Nightmare on Elm Street have late showings, while The Wicker Man plays in a new restoration.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Nagisa Ōshima, including the David Bowie-led Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, are subject of a retrospective that has its final weekend.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of Jackass Number Two, Go, and Tokyo Drift screen, while the restoration of Raging Bull and Juliet Berto’s Neige plays.
Film at Lincoln Center
The Mother and the Whore continues in a 4K restoration.
Film Forum
A massive Billy Wilder retrospective is underway; Godard’s Contempt and Midnight Cowboy play in 4K restorations.
Museum of Modern Art
Films by Olivier Assayas, Jacques Rivette, Park Chan-wook, and Bong Joon-ho screen on 35mm as part of “Views from the Vault.”
IFC Center
A series on sex scenes brings Crash, Cruising, Don’t Look Now, Persona and more; Twilight and A Nightmare on Elm Street have late showings, while The Wicker Man plays in a new restoration.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Nagisa Ōshima, including the David Bowie-led Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, are subject of a retrospective that has its final weekend.
Roxy Cinema
35mm prints of Jackass Number Two, Go, and Tokyo Drift screen, while the restoration of Raging Bull and Juliet Berto’s Neige plays.
Film at Lincoln Center
The Mother and the Whore continues in a 4K restoration.
Film Forum
A massive Billy Wilder retrospective is underway; Godard’s Contempt and Midnight Cowboy play in 4K restorations.
- 7/21/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Nowadays a spooktacular Shocktober means 4K restorations––just look at the work from Arrow or Shout Factory (naming only the two most obvious) to elevate that most disreputable genre into incredible resolution and detail. Never one to miss an opportunity, Criterion will upgrade two of the greatest horror films ever made: David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, for those who want explosive tumors and Donald Sutherland’s penis (respectively and respectfully) in the finest possible quality home video affords.
While the Nicole Kidman-led Blockbuster Video classic The Others rounds out 4K selections, the Blu-only Tod Browning set boasts Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic. Lastly, Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance winner Nanny is now among the newer titles in Criterion’s canon.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s October Slate Includes 4K Cronenberg, a Tod Browning Set & More...
While the Nicole Kidman-led Blockbuster Video classic The Others rounds out 4K selections, the Blu-only Tod Browning set boasts Freaks, The Unknown, and The Mystic. Lastly, Nikyatu Jusu’s 2022 Sundance winner Nanny is now among the newer titles in Criterion’s canon.
Find artwork below and more at Criterion.
The post The Criterion Collection’s October Slate Includes 4K Cronenberg, a Tod Browning Set & More...
- 7/17/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
In 1983, audiences watched Tom Cruise dance in his parents’ living room in Paul Brickman’s adolescent drama “Risky Business.” The film became a cultural touchstone — with Cruise’s dance often imitated but never duplicated — that has endured for 40 years. Cruise took that success and has now become the biggest, if not the last, global movie star. But when this author watches “Risky Business,” it’s the story of Lana, the teenage sex worker who propels Cruise’s Joel on his quest towards running a brothel, that sticks out.
Actress Rebecca De Mornay was in her early twenties when she made “Risky Business” and has never truly gotten her flowers for it. It’s even more frustrating to consider that the actress went on to star in hits in her own right, including the 1992 thriller “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and Disney’s 1993 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.” De Mornay...
Actress Rebecca De Mornay was in her early twenties when she made “Risky Business” and has never truly gotten her flowers for it. It’s even more frustrating to consider that the actress went on to star in hits in her own right, including the 1992 thriller “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” and Disney’s 1993 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.” De Mornay...
- 7/12/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Mr. Wilder And Me author Jonathan Coe with Anne-Katrin Titze: “I love Powell and Pressburger, so I was very happy to get in a reference to them.”
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
With Film Forum’s Written and Directed By Billy Wilder tribute, programmed by Bruce Goldstein, starting next week in New York, Jonathan Coe’s Mr. Wilder And Me is the perfect summer read.
Jonathan Coe on Fedora: “The imagery always reminds me of that Georges Franju film Eyes Without A Face.”
In the first instalment with the author we discuss Christoph Waltz as Billy Wilder in Stephen Frears’ yet-to-be-filmed adaptation of Jonathan’s novel; meeting Volker Schlöndorff just before the Covid lockdown; the images of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now staying with him; a connection between Georges Franju’s [film id=13604]Eyes Without A...
- 7/8/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Back in the 1980s, the term “home video” actually referred to movies that had been transferred to honest-to-goodness analog videocassette tape. Keen-eyed genre mavens would excitedly trawl the aisles of their local emporium, often choosing between titles based on little more than lurid cover art and advertising hype.
One of the premier purveyors of the most cherished low-budget, unabashedly lowbrow entertainments was Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, staffed by a tightly knit “band of outsiders” whose names crop up time and again across the studio’s roster of deliriously enjoyable sci-fi and horror films. As it happens, Empire was a pure product of the decade, founded in 1983 and defunct by 1989, when it made way for Band’s next (and still flourishing) endeavor: Full Moon Features. Now, the fine folks at Arrow Video have gathered together a bumper crop of Empire’s output in their lavishly produced box set Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams.
One of the premier purveyors of the most cherished low-budget, unabashedly lowbrow entertainments was Charles Band’s Empire Pictures, staffed by a tightly knit “band of outsiders” whose names crop up time and again across the studio’s roster of deliriously enjoyable sci-fi and horror films. As it happens, Empire was a pure product of the decade, founded in 1983 and defunct by 1989, when it made way for Band’s next (and still flourishing) endeavor: Full Moon Features. Now, the fine folks at Arrow Video have gathered together a bumper crop of Empire’s output in their lavishly produced box set Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams.
- 6/26/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Bet you weren’t expecting the eyebrow-raising TV news of the day to involve a new adaptation of beloved children’s author Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series. But the surprising twist in the BBC’s announcement today didn’t concern the bestselling series of whimsical, jolly-hockey-sticks children’s adventure novels from the 1940s-1960s – rather the creator behind this new series: Nicolas Winding Refn.
Considering this Danish director is famous for stylish but graphically violent films like The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives and Drive, The Famous Five will be somewhat of a left turn for him.
The series will have three 90-minute episodes drawing on Blyton’s 21 Famous Five novels, which detailed the adventures of five daring young explorers – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy – as they spend their school holidays gallivanting around the English countryside and coastline, solving mysteries, finding treasure and catching criminals. Filming...
Considering this Danish director is famous for stylish but graphically violent films like The Neon Demon, Only God Forgives and Drive, The Famous Five will be somewhat of a left turn for him.
The series will have three 90-minute episodes drawing on Blyton’s 21 Famous Five novels, which detailed the adventures of five daring young explorers – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy – as they spend their school holidays gallivanting around the English countryside and coastline, solving mysteries, finding treasure and catching criminals. Filming...
- 6/26/2023
- by Lauravickersgreen
- Den of Geek
The satirical masterpiece goes well beyond what one expects from folk horror, with Edward Woodward as the priggish cop sent to investigate a pagan island
After 50 years, here is a re-release for that gamey satirical masterpiece of folk horror – although “prog horror” is perhaps a better description. Folk horror, like film noir, is a term that seems to have been first used by critics before film-makers themselves, but The Wicker Man is so much better and more distinctive than any film that comes under the folk-horror heading that it’s virtually a one-movie genre in itself. It now appears billed as a “final cut”: a restoration complete with the footage that was excised when it was released as a B-picture support to Don’t Look Now in 1973.
It is a brilliant conspiracy-chiller set on May Day on a remote fictional island off the Scottish coast, ruled over by the haughty...
After 50 years, here is a re-release for that gamey satirical masterpiece of folk horror – although “prog horror” is perhaps a better description. Folk horror, like film noir, is a term that seems to have been first used by critics before film-makers themselves, but The Wicker Man is so much better and more distinctive than any film that comes under the folk-horror heading that it’s virtually a one-movie genre in itself. It now appears billed as a “final cut”: a restoration complete with the footage that was excised when it was released as a B-picture support to Don’t Look Now in 1973.
It is a brilliant conspiracy-chiller set on May Day on a remote fictional island off the Scottish coast, ruled over by the haughty...
- 6/21/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Boogeyman, directed by Rob Savage (Host), is out in theaters this Friday, June 2, 2023. The adaptation of Stephen King’s short story stars Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”) as Sadie Harper, a grieving teen at the center of the supernatural horror.
Sadie begins the story still reeling from her mother’s unexpected passing, compounded by her father’s emotional detachment and her younger sister’s extreme phobia of the dark. All provide fertile ground for terror when the Boogeyman permeates their home.
Ahead of The Boogeyman’s release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Sophie Thatcher about her first trip into the Stephen King Universe. Above all, it was the character that drew Thatcher to the role. She explains of Sadie, “For me, as an actor at this point in my career, I’m just trying to find roles that I think will be challenging and that are layered and have something to overcome.
Sadie begins the story still reeling from her mother’s unexpected passing, compounded by her father’s emotional detachment and her younger sister’s extreme phobia of the dark. All provide fertile ground for terror when the Boogeyman permeates their home.
Ahead of The Boogeyman’s release, Bloody Disgusting spoke with Sophie Thatcher about her first trip into the Stephen King Universe. Above all, it was the character that drew Thatcher to the role. She explains of Sadie, “For me, as an actor at this point in my career, I’m just trying to find roles that I think will be challenging and that are layered and have something to overcome.
- 5/31/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Richard Loncraine’s The Haunting of Julia is something of a film maudit. Adapted from Peter Straub’s first horror novel, the film was shot around London in late 1976 under the title Full Circle (as its title card still reads), then made the festival rounds throughout 1977, before barely being released in England in 1978. It belatedly turned up in the U.S. three years later, boasting the more genre-friendly title The Haunting of Julia but still failed to find much of an audience. A lot of this has to do with some significant stylistic differences between Loncraine’s film and the wave of slasher movies that dominated the horror market at the time: Above all, its unhurried pace and relatively restrained depiction of violence stand in stark contrast to the slasher’s relentless plotting and unfettered brutality.
From its disturbing opening scene to its unforgettable final shot, The Haunting of Julia...
From its disturbing opening scene to its unforgettable final shot, The Haunting of Julia...
- 5/2/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
With a long and successful career spanning genres, Mia Farrow may not be considered a horror icon, but she’s certainly deserving of the title in terms of quality over quantity. The two genre efforts in which she starred are exemplary horror movies of their respective eras; while Rosemary’s Baby has been widely lauded since its release in 1968 (Roman Polanski’s personal life controversies notwithstanding), The Haunting of Julia – known internationally as Full Circle – is a hidden gem ripe for rediscovery.
Based on Peter Straub’s 1975 novel Julia, the 1977 British film is directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Dave Humphries (Quadrophenia), with Xtro filmmaker Harry Bromley Davenport receiving a “based on an adaptation by” credit. Although ostensibly a haunted house tale, its ambiguity also allows it to be viewed as a dramatic character study. Scream Factory shines a well-needed light on the atmospheric chiller with a new 4K Uhd + Blu-ray edition.
Based on Peter Straub’s 1975 novel Julia, the 1977 British film is directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Dave Humphries (Quadrophenia), with Xtro filmmaker Harry Bromley Davenport receiving a “based on an adaptation by” credit. Although ostensibly a haunted house tale, its ambiguity also allows it to be viewed as a dramatic character study. Scream Factory shines a well-needed light on the atmospheric chiller with a new 4K Uhd + Blu-ray edition.
- 4/27/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Donald Sutherland is the latest addition to the cast of the Bass Reeves series currently in the works at Paramount+.
The show is now officially titled “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” and is now described as an anthology series with future installments to follow other iconic lawmen who have impacted history in subsequent seasons.
The logline for the Bass Reeves season states it will “bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.”
Sutherland will appear in a recurring role as Judge Isaac Parker, described as “an imposing and commanding judge in the Fort Smith Courthouse with a complicated legacy.”
David Oyelowo will star as Reeves, with other series regulars including Lauren E. Banks, Forrest Goodluck,...
The show is now officially titled “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” and is now described as an anthology series with future installments to follow other iconic lawmen who have impacted history in subsequent seasons.
The logline for the Bass Reeves season states it will “bring the legendary lawman of the wild west to life. Reeves, known as the greatest frontier hero in American history, worked in the post-Reconstruction era as a federal peace officer in the Indian Territory, capturing over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals without ever being wounded.”
Sutherland will appear in a recurring role as Judge Isaac Parker, described as “an imposing and commanding judge in the Fort Smith Courthouse with a complicated legacy.”
David Oyelowo will star as Reeves, with other series regulars including Lauren E. Banks, Forrest Goodluck,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Julie Christie is an Oscar-winning actress who has been largely absent from movie screens this century, enjoying a semi-retirement that finds her returning for the odd performance here and there. Yet she’s always finding new fans as younger generations discover her cinematic classics. Let’s take a look at 20 of her greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born on April 14, 1940, Christie rose to prominence for her work in London, starting with a breakthrough performance in John Schlesinger‘s “Billy Liar” (1963). She won the Oscar as Best Actress just two years later for Schlesinger’s “Darling” (1965), playing a fashion model who sleeps her way to the top. That same year, she shot to stardom thanks to David Lean‘s romantic epic “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), which casts her as a political activist’s wife who falls in love with a physician (Omar Sharif) during the Russian Revolution.
She earned a second Best...
Born on April 14, 1940, Christie rose to prominence for her work in London, starting with a breakthrough performance in John Schlesinger‘s “Billy Liar” (1963). She won the Oscar as Best Actress just two years later for Schlesinger’s “Darling” (1965), playing a fashion model who sleeps her way to the top. That same year, she shot to stardom thanks to David Lean‘s romantic epic “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), which casts her as a political activist’s wife who falls in love with a physician (Omar Sharif) during the Russian Revolution.
She earned a second Best...
- 4/7/2023
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
In director Mark Jenkin’s new Cornish folk horror film Enys Men, pronounced “Ennis Mane,” routine is unsettling. Set in 1973 on the uninhabited, eponymous “Stone Island” — as translated from Cornish — each day a nameless Volunteer (played by Mary Woodvine) starts up a generator, makes tea, checks wildflowers, measures soil temperature, and drops a stone in a mine shaft as she listens to hear it drop below. Then she records “No change” in a journal. But then things do begin to change.
The concept of time begins to fluctuate, even from the film’s early moments for the very observant viewer. Though she is meant to be on the island alone, she begins to encounter, and interact with, either strange visitors, or phantoms. Then there are the lichens. The composite organism appears on the flowers, and begins to appear on her own body. This all takes place as a large stone...
The concept of time begins to fluctuate, even from the film’s early moments for the very observant viewer. Though she is meant to be on the island alone, she begins to encounter, and interact with, either strange visitors, or phantoms. Then there are the lichens. The composite organism appears on the flowers, and begins to appear on her own body. This all takes place as a large stone...
- 4/7/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
The title is Cornish for “Stone Island,” a forbidding slab of land located off the coast of England’s southern tip. The year is 1973 — the same horror-cinema annus mirabilis of The Wicker Man and Don’t Look Now, for those of you playing along at home. The only current resident seems to be a woman (Mary Woodvine), who is never named; she’s simply referred to as “The Volunteer” in the end credits. Every day, she treks out past the lighthouse and the stone statue that stands in for some vaguely hinted-at collective grief (and which,...
- 3/30/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Phenomena is a substantially different movie depending on how you first saw it. Audiences in its native Italy were able to see the original 116-minute film as director Dario Argento intended for its initial release in 1985. That cut was pruned down to 110 minutes for international release. In America, however, New Line Cinema cut the picture to 83 minutes before putting it out under the title Creepers in 1986. Finding its audience in the VHS rental market, this was the only version available in the US until DVD came around.
Each version has its advantages and disadvantages. The original integral cut contains everything, but it drags a bit in the middle and there are a few moments that were never dubbed into English. The international version is a bit tighter, mostly trimming frames and sacrificing only a few lines of dialogue. Those who grew up with the Creepers cut may prefer its punchier pace,...
Each version has its advantages and disadvantages. The original integral cut contains everything, but it drags a bit in the middle and there are a few moments that were never dubbed into English. The international version is a bit tighter, mostly trimming frames and sacrificing only a few lines of dialogue. Those who grew up with the Creepers cut may prefer its punchier pace,...
- 3/14/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
It might be obvious to say, but a film getting nominated for an Oscar doesn’t automatically make it good.
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
- 3/3/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
It might be obvious to say, but a film getting nominated for an Oscar doesn’t automatically make it good.
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
- 3/3/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
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