Plot: A detective (Benicio del Toro) living in New England with his wife (Alicia Silverstone) investigates the gruesome death of a local real estate magnate’s (Justin Timberlake) wife.
Review: There’s a version of Reptile that could have been a standard cop noir. After all, how many movies have we seen about a rumpled detective investigating a murder that implicates a well-connected family? Yet, director Grant Singer seems less interested in making the straight-laced neo-noir this could have been and instead turns this into a quirky, darkly comedic riff on the genre that almost functions as a spoof at times. After all, a movie that uses Bob Dylan’s ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door” for a gunfight can’t expect us to take it entirely seriously.
Reptile is a weird but wonderful surprise. The odd vibe will turn some off, and it took me about thirty minutes to finally...
Review: There’s a version of Reptile that could have been a standard cop noir. After all, how many movies have we seen about a rumpled detective investigating a murder that implicates a well-connected family? Yet, director Grant Singer seems less interested in making the straight-laced neo-noir this could have been and instead turns this into a quirky, darkly comedic riff on the genre that almost functions as a spoof at times. After all, a movie that uses Bob Dylan’s ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door” for a gunfight can’t expect us to take it entirely seriously.
Reptile is a weird but wonderful surprise. The odd vibe will turn some off, and it took me about thirty minutes to finally...
- 9/22/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
“The Silence of the Lambs” executive producer Gary Goetzman has been a major player in Hollywood for the last four decades (especially after he followed that Best Picture-winner by co-founding Playtone with Tom Hanks in 1998), but many in and around the film industry were unfamiliar with his story until Paul Thomas Anderson made a movie about it. “That was some version of my story, at least,” Goetzman chuckled when I asked him about “Licorice Pizza” during a recent Zoom interview from his office in Los Angeles, where he’s putting the finishing touches on “Masters of the Air,” a high-altitude Apple miniseries in the tradition of “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” “So many events in ‘Licorice Pizza,’ are true, but everything around it is kind of not.”
Specifics notwithstanding, Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy — set in the San Fernando Valley circa 1973 and starring Cooper Hoffman as 15-year-old “Gary Valentine” — certainly...
Specifics notwithstanding, Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy — set in the San Fernando Valley circa 1973 and starring Cooper Hoffman as 15-year-old “Gary Valentine” — certainly...
- 8/18/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
A couple months after spotlighting the world’s greatest actress, the Criterion Channel have taken a logical next step towards America’s greatest actress. May (or: next week) will bring an eleven-film celebration of Jennifer Jason Leigh, highlights including Verhoeven’s Flesh + Blood, Miami Blues, Alan Rudolph’s Mrs. Parker, her directorial debut The Anniversary Party, and Synecdoche, New York, and a special introduction from Leigh. Another actor’s showcase localizes directorial collaborations: Jimmy Stewart’s time with Anthony Mann, an eight-title series boasting the likes of Winchester ’73 and The Man from Laramie. Two more: a survey of ’80s Asian-American cinema (Chan Is Missing being the best-known) and 14 movies by Seijun Suzuki.
That would be enough for one month (or two), but No Bears and Cette maison will have their streaming premieres, while Criterion Editions offers the Infernal Affairs trilogy (plus its packed set), Days of Heaven, and the aforementioned Chan Is Missing.
That would be enough for one month (or two), but No Bears and Cette maison will have their streaming premieres, while Criterion Editions offers the Infernal Affairs trilogy (plus its packed set), Days of Heaven, and the aforementioned Chan Is Missing.
- 4/20/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
(Welcome to Best Actor Ever, an ongoing series where we explore the careers and performances of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen.)
There is not an actor in the history of moving pictures who has been more egregiously taken for granted by her industry than Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Critics have always had her back. The New York Times' Janet Maslin got it from the jump when she singled Leigh out as "the only thing worth seeing" in her film debut "Eyes of a Stranger." The better-than-average 1981 slasher film set the tone for Leigh's career in that she plays a victim. Her character is a blind-deaf mute whose condition was brought on by being kidnapped and raped at an early age. The 19-year-old Leigh projects sweetness and innocence, but this young woman is all serrated edges. Because she isn't just a victim. She's a survivor.
Roger Ebert was also an early admirer of Leigh,...
There is not an actor in the history of moving pictures who has been more egregiously taken for granted by her industry than Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Critics have always had her back. The New York Times' Janet Maslin got it from the jump when she singled Leigh out as "the only thing worth seeing" in her film debut "Eyes of a Stranger." The better-than-average 1981 slasher film set the tone for Leigh's career in that she plays a victim. Her character is a blind-deaf mute whose condition was brought on by being kidnapped and raped at an early age. The 19-year-old Leigh projects sweetness and innocence, but this young woman is all serrated edges. Because she isn't just a victim. She's a survivor.
Roger Ebert was also an early admirer of Leigh,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Fred Ward, a prolific actor best known for roles in The Right Stuff, Tremors, Miami Blues, True Detective and many others, died May 8. He was 79.
His death was announced by his publicist. No cause or place of death was disclosed.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Ward, a San Diego native, began his professional career with small roles in 1970s episodic television before making a strong impression in his breakthrough film Southern Comfort, directed by Walter Hill and released in 1981. Two years later, he’d star as astronaut Gus Grissom in the hit film The Right Stuff.
Featured roles would quickly follow, including in such films as Silkwood, Swing Shift, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors, Henry & June, the Robert Altman movies The Player and Short Cuts Errol Morris’ The Dark Wind and Michael Apted’s Thunderheart. He starred in and exec-produced the 1990 film Miami Blues, directed by...
His death was announced by his publicist. No cause or place of death was disclosed.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Ward, a San Diego native, began his professional career with small roles in 1970s episodic television before making a strong impression in his breakthrough film Southern Comfort, directed by Walter Hill and released in 1981. Two years later, he’d star as astronaut Gus Grissom in the hit film The Right Stuff.
Featured roles would quickly follow, including in such films as Silkwood, Swing Shift, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Tremors, Henry & June, the Robert Altman movies The Player and Short Cuts Errol Morris’ The Dark Wind and Michael Apted’s Thunderheart. He starred in and exec-produced the 1990 film Miami Blues, directed by...
- 5/13/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Fred Ward, the versatile character actor who starred in films like Tremors, The Right Stuff and Henry & June during a career that spanned five decades, has died at the age of 79. Ward’s rep, Ron Hoffman, confirmed the actor’s May 8 death in a statement, though no cause of death was provided.
An Air Force veteran and amateur boxer before becoming an actor — his tough guy look and gruff exterior was attained thanks to a few broken noses in the ring — Ward was equally adept when featuring in dramas,...
An Air Force veteran and amateur boxer before becoming an actor — his tough guy look and gruff exterior was attained thanks to a few broken noses in the ring — Ward was equally adept when featuring in dramas,...
- 5/13/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Fred Ward, iconic character actor and star of films like “The Right Stuff,” “Tremors,” “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues,” and “Henry & June,” has died. He passed away on Sunday, May 8, as confirmed by his representatives. The Golden Globe winner was also known for starring in Robert Altman films like “The Player” and “Short Cuts.”
Fred Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and his son, Django Ward.
On screens since the early 1970s after serving in the U.S. Air Force and stints as an order cook, boxer, and a lumberjack in Alaska, Ward was known for his versatility in both comic and dramatic roles. He could play author Henry Miller in “Henry & June,” the world’s first Nc-17 movie, or a dirt bike rider in “Timerider: The Aventure of Lyle Swann.” But his first major role came in Clint Eastwood’s 1979 “Escape from Alcatraz...
Fred Ward is survived by his wife of 27 years, Marie-France Ward, and his son, Django Ward.
On screens since the early 1970s after serving in the U.S. Air Force and stints as an order cook, boxer, and a lumberjack in Alaska, Ward was known for his versatility in both comic and dramatic roles. He could play author Henry Miller in “Henry & June,” the world’s first Nc-17 movie, or a dirt bike rider in “Timerider: The Aventure of Lyle Swann.” But his first major role came in Clint Eastwood’s 1979 “Escape from Alcatraz...
- 5/13/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Fred Ward, who starred in films including “Henry and June,” “Tremors,” “The Right Stuff” and “The Player,” died May 8, his publicist confirmed to Variety. He was 79.
Among his other prominent roles were parts in “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues” and “Short Cuts.”
There was a certain retro quality to the actor’s persona that made Ward seem more akin to Humphrey Bogart or John Garfield (although not quite with those actors’ level of charisma) than to his contemporaries, and it did not seem at all affected. He appeared to be the sort of fellow who hailed from the South Side of Chicago or Hell’s Kitchen, but he was actually from San Diego.
Ward most recently appeared in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective” as Eddie Velcoro, the retired cop father of Colin Farrell’s Det. Ray Velcoro.
He recurred on NBC’s “ER” as the...
Among his other prominent roles were parts in “Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins,” “Miami Blues” and “Short Cuts.”
There was a certain retro quality to the actor’s persona that made Ward seem more akin to Humphrey Bogart or John Garfield (although not quite with those actors’ level of charisma) than to his contemporaries, and it did not seem at all affected. He appeared to be the sort of fellow who hailed from the South Side of Chicago or Hell’s Kitchen, but he was actually from San Diego.
Ward most recently appeared in the second season of HBO’s “True Detective” as Eddie Velcoro, the retired cop father of Colin Farrell’s Det. Ray Velcoro.
He recurred on NBC’s “ER” as the...
- 5/13/2022
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Update, 2:12 Pm: Alec Baldwin’s attempt at indemnification over the fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins may have just blown up in his face, at least morally.
The indie Western star and producer’s ill-considered inclusion of his interaction with now widower Matt Hutchins in an arbitration filing against his fellow Rust producers has now incurred the wrath of the Hutchins’ estate lawyer. “Shameful” is what Brian Panish is calling Baldwin’s legal non sequitur and disclosures of personal correspondence.
Having filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin, other Rust producers and crew members last month, Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi attorney has put The Cooler actor on a different kind of notice – as you can see below:
Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on Oct 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins, as demonstrated by...
The indie Western star and producer’s ill-considered inclusion of his interaction with now widower Matt Hutchins in an arbitration filing against his fellow Rust producers has now incurred the wrath of the Hutchins’ estate lawyer. “Shameful” is what Brian Panish is calling Baldwin’s legal non sequitur and disclosures of personal correspondence.
Having filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin, other Rust producers and crew members last month, Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi attorney has put The Cooler actor on a different kind of notice – as you can see below:
Alec Baldwin once again is trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on Oct 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins, as demonstrated by...
- 3/11/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
While the other streaming services set up recurring franchises, Hulu has opted to get a bit more experimental with its original offerings in August 2021.
Hulu’s list of new releases this month is highlighted by three original series concepts with promise. Reservation Dogs premieres on August 9. Co-created by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), this story will follow four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma as they stave off boredom and adulthood. Next up is Nine Perfect Strangers on August 18. This miniseries, based on a book of the same name, is produced by David E. Kelley and features staggering cast of Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, and more.
Only Murders in the Building is likely the biggest thing to look forward to in August though. Premiering on August 31, this comedy stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three true crime-obsessed friends who stumble into a true crime of their own.
Hulu’s list of new releases this month is highlighted by three original series concepts with promise. Reservation Dogs premieres on August 9. Co-created by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), this story will follow four indigenous teenagers in Oklahoma as they stave off boredom and adulthood. Next up is Nine Perfect Strangers on August 18. This miniseries, based on a book of the same name, is produced by David E. Kelley and features staggering cast of Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Samara Weaving, and more.
Only Murders in the Building is likely the biggest thing to look forward to in August though. Premiering on August 31, this comedy stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez as three true crime-obsessed friends who stumble into a true crime of their own.
- 8/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Legendary stuntman Buddy Joe Hooker joins Josh and Joe to discuss the movies that made him.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Harold And Maude (1971)
White Lightning (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
White Line Fever (1975)
Bound For Glory (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Outsider (1980)
Freebie And The Bean (1978)
Sharky’s Machine (1981)
First Blood (1982)
Night Shift (1982)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Against All Odds (1984)
To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)
F/X (1986)
Tucker The Man And His Dream (1988)
Sea of Love (1989)
Miami Blues (1990)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Demolition Man (1993)
The Crow (1994)
Waterworld (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn(1996)
Grosse Point Blank (1997)
Django Unchained (2012)
Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park (1978)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
The Fugitive (1993)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
The Fast And The Furious (2001)
The Strongest Man In The World (1975)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Bullitt (1968)
Robbery (1967)
S.O.B. (1981)
Vanishing Point...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Harold And Maude (1971)
White Lightning (1974)
Blazing Saddles (1974)
White Line Fever (1975)
Bound For Glory (1976)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Outsider (1980)
Freebie And The Bean (1978)
Sharky’s Machine (1981)
First Blood (1982)
Night Shift (1982)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Against All Odds (1984)
To Live And Die In L.A. (1985)
F/X (1986)
Tucker The Man And His Dream (1988)
Sea of Love (1989)
Miami Blues (1990)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Demolition Man (1993)
The Crow (1994)
Waterworld (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn(1996)
Grosse Point Blank (1997)
Django Unchained (2012)
Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park (1978)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Kagemusha (1980)
Ran (1985)
The Fugitive (1993)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Casino Royale (2006)
Quantum of Solace (2008)
The Fast And The Furious (2001)
The Strongest Man In The World (1975)
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Bullitt (1968)
Robbery (1967)
S.O.B. (1981)
Vanishing Point...
- 8/11/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Summer used to be the time for blockbusters, but the slow creep of all-summer-movies-all-year-long means that we know get a new Pixar film, a live action adaptation of a Disney classic and a sequel to a 2018 horror hit in…March. Also this month: a buddy film involving two frontiersmen and a cow; a sports movie doubling as a fallen star’s potential comeback vehicle; and a film deemed too hot for 2019. Here’s what’s coming soon to a theater near you.
The Burnt Orange Heresy (Mar. 6th)
The tough,...
The Burnt Orange Heresy (Mar. 6th)
The tough,...
- 2/28/2020
- by Keith Phipps
- Rollingstone.com
The 37th edition of Miami Dade College's Miami Film Festival returns to downtown Miami with more than 125 feature films, documentaries, and short films from 30 countries, screening March 6-15. This year's edition opens with The Burnt Orange Heresy (pictured), directed by Giuseppe Capotondi and starring Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Debicki, and Claes Bang. It's the fifth screen adaptation of the late Miami noir novelist Charles Willeford; the festival will also screen a 35mm print of another Willeford adaptation, George Armitage's Miami Blues, starring Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh, to mark the film's 30th anniversary. The festival closes with Cristina Constantini and Kareem Tabsch's documentary Mucho Mucho Amor, about the late Puerto Rican astrologer Walter Mercado, a flamboyant figure who charmed many with his televised horoscopes....
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/4/2020
- Screen Anarchy
The Miami Film Festival will open on March 6 with “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” starring Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Debicki and Claes Bang.
Miami Dade College’s festival, now in its 37th edition and running March 6-15, will screen more than 125 narrative features, documentaries and shorts from 30 countries.
“Charles Willeford’s classic 1971 art world noir thriller ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ has been updated by director Giuseppe Capotondi and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Scott Smith into a biting satire of the world of contemporary high art and the attendant, controversial role of art criticism that swirls around it – an apt examination for Miami’s current major destination status on the international art market,” said festival director Jaie Laplante. “The film is swanky, steamy and sexy, with Willeford’s jet-black, cruelly ironic humor firmly intact.”
A 30th anniversary screening of “Miami Blues,” also adapted from a Willeford story,
will screen during the festival,...
Miami Dade College’s festival, now in its 37th edition and running March 6-15, will screen more than 125 narrative features, documentaries and shorts from 30 countries.
“Charles Willeford’s classic 1971 art world noir thriller ‘The Burnt Orange Heresy’ has been updated by director Giuseppe Capotondi and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Scott Smith into a biting satire of the world of contemporary high art and the attendant, controversial role of art criticism that swirls around it – an apt examination for Miami’s current major destination status on the international art market,” said festival director Jaie Laplante. “The film is swanky, steamy and sexy, with Willeford’s jet-black, cruelly ironic humor firmly intact.”
A 30th anniversary screening of “Miami Blues,” also adapted from a Willeford story,
will screen during the festival,...
- 2/3/2020
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
HanWay Films has closed out worldwide sales on “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the art-heist film that screened in Venice and Toronto. The movie stars Mick Jagger, Claes Bang, and Donald Sutherland. It closed the Venice Film Festival.
In addition to North America, where Giuseppe Capotondi’s film will open in spring 2020, Spc has acquired rights in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latin America, South Africa, and Thailand.
“The Burnt Orange Heresy” is based on the screenplay written by Academy Award nominee Scott B. Smith (“A Simple Plan”), which has been adapted from Charles Willeford’s cult novel “Miami Blues.” Set in present-day Italy, it follows art critic James Figueras (Bang) who has fallen from grace. Wealthy art dealer Joseph Cassidy (Jagger) summons James to his villa on Lake Como and asks him to steal a painting from the reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Sutherland).
HanWay has also...
In addition to North America, where Giuseppe Capotondi’s film will open in spring 2020, Spc has acquired rights in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Latin America, South Africa, and Thailand.
“The Burnt Orange Heresy” is based on the screenplay written by Academy Award nominee Scott B. Smith (“A Simple Plan”), which has been adapted from Charles Willeford’s cult novel “Miami Blues.” Set in present-day Italy, it follows art critic James Figueras (Bang) who has fallen from grace. Wealthy art dealer Joseph Cassidy (Jagger) summons James to his villa on Lake Como and asks him to steal a painting from the reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Sutherland).
HanWay has also...
- 9/23/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
A kooky, disposable caper that’s light on charm and heavy on nonsense, Hadi Hajaig’s “Blue Iguana” was conceived as a throwback to the golden age of VHS crime-comedies — as the kind of freewheeling late-80s’ fare in which anything could happen because everything turned a profit on home video. And maybe, if you squint really hard, you can see the faintest shades of films like “Something Wild” or “Miami Blues” mixed into this manic parade of dumb criminals and even dumber plotting. Alas, anybody who watches Hajaig’s movie that closely will be more transfixed by the enormous gap between what the writer-director was going for and what he ultimately got.
Harkening back to John Lafia’s 1988 “The Blue Iguana” (a forgotten video store treasure starring Dylan McDermott as a bounty hunter) and Michael Radford’s more recent “Dancing at the Blue Iguana” (a Daryl Hannah/Sandra Oh...
Harkening back to John Lafia’s 1988 “The Blue Iguana” (a forgotten video store treasure starring Dylan McDermott as a bounty hunter) and Michael Radford’s more recent “Dancing at the Blue Iguana” (a Daryl Hannah/Sandra Oh...
- 8/20/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
After her break out role in the ’80s classic “Fast Times At Ridgemont High,” the enigmatic and darkly charming Jennifer Jason Leigh has charted a course in film unlike any other. This month, the Alamo Drafthouse honors her varied and galvanizing career in a much deserved retrospective, aptly titled “Jennifer Jason Leigh!”
The series, which began last night and continues into May, spans Leigh’s decades-long career, which includes David Cronenberg’s “eXistenZ,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Flesh + Blood,” and Joel and Ethan Coen’s “The Hudsucker Proxy.” One of her most recognizable films opened the series, Stephen King’s “Dolores Claiborne,” in which she went head to head opposite Kathy Bates in a bear of a role.
Read More: ‘Raw’ Review: This Tasty Art Horror Is David Cronenberg For Teen Feminists
Of particular note is the criminally under-appreciated “The Anniversary Party,” which she wrote, produced, and directed with her friend...
The series, which began last night and continues into May, spans Leigh’s decades-long career, which includes David Cronenberg’s “eXistenZ,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Flesh + Blood,” and Joel and Ethan Coen’s “The Hudsucker Proxy.” One of her most recognizable films opened the series, Stephen King’s “Dolores Claiborne,” in which she went head to head opposite Kathy Bates in a bear of a role.
Read More: ‘Raw’ Review: This Tasty Art Horror Is David Cronenberg For Teen Feminists
Of particular note is the criminally under-appreciated “The Anniversary Party,” which she wrote, produced, and directed with her friend...
- 3/31/2017
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 79 min. / Street Date October 18, 2016 / Gas-s-s-s / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Elaine Giftos, Robert Corff, Cindy Williams, Bud Cort, Ben Vereen, Tally Coppola, Lou Procopio.
Cinematography: Ron Dexter
Film Editor: George Van Noy
Original Music: Country Joe and the Fish
Written and Produced by George Armitage
Directed by Roger Corman
Roger Corman finally accepted himself as an iconic filmmaker for this, his final show for A.I.P.. Barely released and long considered a failure, Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It sees Corman and his writer associate George Armitage attempting a Mad magazine- like amalgam of all the counterculture trends of the late 1960s. That tactical mistake becomes eighty minutes of unfocused and unfunny satire. Armitage’s script and dialogue might occasionally hit some serendipitous notes,...
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1970 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 79 min. / Street Date October 18, 2016 / Gas-s-s-s / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98
Starring: Elaine Giftos, Robert Corff, Cindy Williams, Bud Cort, Ben Vereen, Tally Coppola, Lou Procopio.
Cinematography: Ron Dexter
Film Editor: George Van Noy
Original Music: Country Joe and the Fish
Written and Produced by George Armitage
Directed by Roger Corman
Roger Corman finally accepted himself as an iconic filmmaker for this, his final show for A.I.P.. Barely released and long considered a failure, Gas-s-s-s – Or – It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It sees Corman and his writer associate George Armitage attempting a Mad magazine- like amalgam of all the counterculture trends of the late 1960s. That tactical mistake becomes eighty minutes of unfocused and unfunny satire. Armitage’s script and dialogue might occasionally hit some serendipitous notes,...
- 1/17/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
2016 is coming. No matter what your mood is when the clock strikes midnight, we've got your streaming needs covered for that cold, cold morning of January 1. Lighthearted acceptance: "Meet the Fockers" (Netflix) I prefer to think of "Meet the Fockers" as a tag team Celebrity Deathmatch: Robert De Niro and Blythe Danner vs. Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. Whose wisecracks land hardest? Whose anxiety-inducing jabs make Greg Focker tweak hardest? It's hard to say. I feel like conventional wisdom tells you this movie is inferior to the original, but Dustin and Barbra are wholly original, hilarious characters. Along with "The Guilt Trip," this makes two times Barbra Streisand has played believable, quirky Jewish mothers who don't seem all that much like Barbra Streisand. Unthinkable devastation: "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (Netflix) Tilda Swinton's kid is a born psychopath. I know we're supposed to find his wrath horrifying,...
- 12/31/2015
- by Louis Virtel
- Hitfix
The advertising promised a surfeit of sleaze -- but the film is a superior thriller about a real-life, low-rent serial killers from back in the late 1940s. Tony Lo Bianco and the great Shirley Stoler are Ray and Martha, mixed-up lovers running a Merry Widow racket through the personals ads in romance magazines. Leonard Kastle's film is dramatically and psychologically sound, while the disc extras detail the true crime story, which is far, far, sleazier. The Honeymoon Killers Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 200 1969 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 29, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Shirley Stoler, Tony Lo Bianco, Mary Jane Higby, Doris Roberts, Kip McArdle, Marilyn Chris, Dortha Duckworth, Barbara Cason, Ann Harris Cinematography Oliver Wood Film Editor Richard Brophy, Stanley Warnow Music Gustav Mahler Produced by Warren Steibel Written and Directed by Leonard Kastle
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The ad campaign for this crime shocker...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The ad campaign for this crime shocker...
- 9/29/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Miami Blues: Riches’ Sophomore Effort Back Pedals
At its core, perhaps The Strongest Man could best be described as a character study concerning one man finding his voice and coming into his own. Except, we never really get to learn terribly too much about him, despite an overabundance of omnisciently shared inner thoughts. This sophomore effort of director Kenny Riches attempts to convey an alternative perspective in its depiction of growing up in the Us with immigrant parents, at least in what we’re accustomed to in these types of films about adolescent minded adults riding the fine line between fun and annoying. But the film’s tone fluctuates between buddy comedy, immigrant story, classist critique, character odyssey, and ultimately, romance, to the degree where none of these elements end satisfactorily.
Beef (Robert Lorie) works in construction with his best bud Conan (Paul Chamberlain). They’ve been friends since they were youths,...
At its core, perhaps The Strongest Man could best be described as a character study concerning one man finding his voice and coming into his own. Except, we never really get to learn terribly too much about him, despite an overabundance of omnisciently shared inner thoughts. This sophomore effort of director Kenny Riches attempts to convey an alternative perspective in its depiction of growing up in the Us with immigrant parents, at least in what we’re accustomed to in these types of films about adolescent minded adults riding the fine line between fun and annoying. But the film’s tone fluctuates between buddy comedy, immigrant story, classist critique, character odyssey, and ultimately, romance, to the degree where none of these elements end satisfactorily.
Beef (Robert Lorie) works in construction with his best bud Conan (Paul Chamberlain). They’ve been friends since they were youths,...
- 6/26/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Click here for a complete list of our essays. How to decide in the grand scheme of things which film year stands above all others? History gives us no clear methodology to unravel this thorny but extremely important question. Is it the year with the highest average score of movies? So a year that averages out to a B + might be the winner over a field strewn with B’s, despite a few A +’s. Or do a few masterpieces lift up a year so far that whatever else happened beyond those three or four films is of no consequence? Both measures are worthy, and the winner by either of those would certainly be a year not to be sneezed at. But I contend the only true measure of a year’s...
- 4/27/2015
- by Richard Rushfield
- Hitfix
Bernie Casey strides purposefully through Hit Man, his flamboyant hat tilted at a rakish angle over a graying Afro, his ex-professional-football player frame squeezed into a series of tight trousers. If he emerges as Hit Man’s hero, it’s only because his brutally efficient enforcer qualifies as marginally less evil than the human parasites around him. Miami Blues and Grosse Pointe Blank director George Armitage directed this 1972 blaxploitation adaptation of Jack’s Return Home, the Ted Lewis novel that previously inspired the seminal British gangster film Get Carter. He strands Casey’s grittily charismatic protagonist in some of ...
- 6/23/2010
- avclub.com
For an actress who's been working regularly for more than 35 years (since the age of 9), and who comes from a Hollywood family (her father was actor Vic Morrow and her mother is screenwriter Barbara Turner), the great Jennifer Jason Leigh seems severely taken for granted. It's possibly fitting that outside her Best Villain win at the 1992 MTV Movie Awards, her most prestigious non-critic or non-festival-based awards have come through being part of ensembles. Unlike some great performers regularly likened to chameleons, she's more comparable to a camouflaging lizard for her ability not to stand out too much while doing her job perfectly -- I don't consider it bad that I forgot she's in Synecdoche, New York, for instance.
Try to name her best performance, or her best movie. It's not easy, whether because she's consistently brilliant or because she's not exactly in many truly brilliant films. And honestly, I may...
Try to name her best performance, or her best movie. It's not easy, whether because she's consistently brilliant or because she's not exactly in many truly brilliant films. And honestly, I may...
- 3/16/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Neil Labute will write and direct an adaptation of "The Burnt Orange Heresy," Charles Willeford's crime novel set in the world of modern art, with William Horberg ("The Kite Runner") producing.According to Variety, the project re-teams Labute with Horberg after the duo worked on the remake of "Death at a Funeral."Willeford's novel, set in Palm Beach, centers on a corrupt art critic's attempts to arrange an interview with a legendary but reclusive French painter.Horberg noted that he was an associate producer on "Miami Blues," another Willeford adaptation, bringing the project to Jonathon Demme and George Armitage at the start of his career. He was an executive producer on "Milk" and is currently executive producing "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"...
- 8/19/2009
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
Neil Labute will re-team with his Death at a Funeral producer William Horberg to direct an adaptation of Charles Willeford's art world crime novel The Burnt Orange Heresy, according to Variety. This isn't the first time Willeford's work has made it to the screen; he scripted Cockfighter (Monte Hellman! Warren Oates!) from his own novel, and Horberg previously produced an adaptation of Willeford's Miami Blues, starring a young Alec Baldwin. The Burnt Orange Heresy, published in 1971, was Willeford's first hardcover original after a string of pulp paperbacks. Not that the book isn't lurid; "crossing the art world with the underworld!" is from one description. Story follows a womanizing art critic, Jacques Figueras, who advances his art career with shady dealings: blackmail, burglary, assassination. Figueras gets into trouble when he begins to work for an art collector who has no boundaries when it comes to how his pieces are collected.
- 8/19/2009
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
- Indie producer William Horberg is going full circle. Commencing his career as a producer with Alec Baldwin pic called Miami Blues, which I never saw, but distinctly remember the cover box because of Alec Baldin's chest hair, Horberg is returning to American author Charles Willeford source material for his next producing gig. Variety reports that Horberg is re-teaming with his Death at a Funeral director Neil Labute on a book you could probably find in the 99 cent bins at your local used bookstore. Horberg produced the distinctly Brit version (Frank Oz) and the upcoming African American comedy due out next year. The Burnt Orange Heresy is set in Palm Beach and centers on a corrupt art critic's attempts to finagle an interview with a legendary but reclusive French painter. I know that some folks in my circle of friends have given up hope the director who once gave us
- 8/19/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
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