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There's something about historical fiction and fantasy which go hand-in-hand. Take The Last Kingdom, a series of excellent novels by Bernard Cornwell. These books feature epic medieval battles, political scheming, a cast of memorable characters, and yes, even a healthy dose of magic. Fantasy series like George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire have drawn on the same well of history as The Last Kingdom, but spun things even farther into the fantastical and imaginative.

The BBC and Netflix adapted The Last Kingdom into an excellent television series which ran for five seasons and a movie. They told the tale of a warlord named Uhtred of Bebbanburg, who fought to reclaim his ancestral home during the height of the Viking invasions into England in the 9th and 10th century. It was a rock solid series, and I still miss watching Uhtred and his allies on the screen year after year.

Fans already know Sergio Leone is the father of the "Spaghetti Western" and has had a significant impact on cinema. There will truly be no greater masterpiece in the sub-genre than The Good, The Bad and the Ugly or a more masterful body of work than the Dollars Trilogy. Leone shaped the direction of Westerns worldwide in the '60s and then continued to prove he was one of the greatest auteurs of all time throughout the rest of his career. He's usually the only Sergio fans think of when they think of Spaghetti Westerns. However, there was another Sergio who had just as big an impact on the sub-genre. In fact, Sergio Corbucci made more Spaghetti Westerns in his career than Sergio Leone.

Perhaps his most iconic film is the 1966 film Django, which got mainstream publicity after Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained. However, Corbucci made several great Spaghetti...

When director Quentin Tarantino started making movies, he came with an incredible knowledge of cinema and cinema history. This meant that a lot of his films would look to tell new and interesting stories in famous genres stylistically different from other films and honoring the films in the genre that came before. As a fan of crime dramas, Hong Kong cinema and Westerns, Tarantino's films embodied all the greatest aspects of these genres. His admiration for Spaghetti Westerns specifically cannot be overlooked.

In 2012, he made one of the greatest Spaghetti Westerns of all time when he made Django Unchained at a time when nobody was making films in the sub-genre. Spaghetti Westerns are not commonly made films but Tarantino makes sure his audiences know how entertaining and artful they are. Many of Tarantino's films pay homage to the iconic classics in the genre from the '60s and '...

At long last, the year that was January is over. There's something about that first month of the year that feels like it stretches on and on, and in 2025 that was more the case than usual. But lo! Now we leave it behind, and look ahead to all the fantasy and science fiction books coming out in February.

Whether you want dark fantasy, steamy (or silly) romantasies, hard sci-fi or fae-laden mythic tales, there are a lot of books hitting the market this month. That includes the end of a trilogy from a master of the thriller genre who's made the leap to epic fantasy, a new book from one of sci-fi's most insightful and timely writers, and even a tie-in novel for the League of Legends show Arcane.

Get out your Goodreads or Storygraph, or a piece of pen and paper if that's more your style, and let's find you your next favorite book.

The Western genre is known for its duels, fist fights, and shootouts. Most of the time, these moments are presented as high-adrenaline action sequences to keep audiences drawn to their screens, anxiously awaiting the outcome. However, other times, these fights hold a lot more weight in the story being told, removing any semblance of fun that may have been present beforehand.

As seen time and time again, the Western genre can present some truly human stories to viewers. Unlike the spaghetti westerns of yesteryear, the gritty, realistic glimpses this genre offers into the lifestyle often make for difficult watching. Some fights last with viewers long after they finish their movie-going experience -- and a lot of the time, that's due to their troubling nature.

The Great Silence's Final Shootout Ends On A Desperately Dour Note The Great Silence (1968)

Released: November 1968 Directed by: Sergio Corbucci Starring: Jean-Louis Trintignant as "Silence," Klaus Kinski as Loco,...

January is officially underway, and the previous year is fading in the rearview. It's going to be an interesting year ahead to say the least...but one thing we can count on, even in strange times, is that more books will come along to transport us to imaginative dreamscapes and far-off worlds.

There are a lot of intriguing titles on the way this year in the fantasy and science fiction space. Whether you're looking for a wildly unique tale or a return to a beloved fictional universe, a grimdark saga or a cozy fantasies, or science fiction that will melt your brain into a puddle with its inventive concepts, there are plenty of options to feast on in 2025.

We've rounded up 16 of the fantasy and sci-fi books we're most excited to read in 2025. Reading is subjective, and these are just according to my own personal taste. Let us know in...

Quick Links What is The Great Silence About? The Great Silence Has Alternate Endings The Great Silence Was Hated Upon Release

The Western is a genre that has been rehashed, reinvented, and repurposed a countless number of times. From early Hollywood westerns from the likes of John Ford and Howard Hawks to the glorious explosion of European Spaghetti Westerns in the '60s, all the way to modern neo-westerns from cinematic legends like Clint Eastwood, the Coen brothers, and Taylor Sheridan. Fans of the Western genre are more dedicated than any fan base out there. While some movie lovers compare and debate over which era is the best, western fans tend to respect their elders and appreciate what paved the way for their more recent favorites. Every movie lover knows to appreciate the contributions of John Ford, John Wayne, Sergio Leone, and Clint Eastwood, but one Spaghetti Western pioneer has been left by the wayside.

Since the dawn of Hollywood, Westerns have been some of the most acclaimed, respected, and best-written stories in Hollywood, from classics like High Noon to modern hits like Django Unchained. Focusing on everything from sheriffs and bounty hunters to outlaws and even ghosts, the genre has one of the best-defined formulas in film. From beloved tropes to repetitive clichs, the Old West still knows how to please audiences.

While the use of the Western formula can sometimes make even the best movies feel predictable, some things happen so often that they're expected as part of the experience. Although some movies master these tropes better than others, audiences still enjoy seeing them all the same. From locations to character motivations, the Wild West wouldn't be what it is without certain ingredients keeping it familiar.

Someone Forms A Posse

Best Westerns Based on True Stories

1 - Tombstone

2 - The Revenant

3 - The Searchers

In the Wild West,...

The Next Nordic Generation competition strand of the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund is where some of the most gifted talents from the Nordics such as Gustav Møller (“The Guilty”) or Katrine Brocks (“The Great Silence”) pitched their graduation films in recent years, before making their international breakthroughs.

This year’s curated program of 10 graduation films from Nordic film schools will be showcased Aug. 21 in Haugesund, Norway.

The 10 short films were selected by a jury consisting of producer Elisa Fernanda Pirir of Stær Film, filmmakers Gunnbjörg Gunnarsdóttir (“Victoria Must Go”) and Fredrik S. Hana (“Code Name: Nagasaki”), in association with program coordinator Christian Høkaas.

“Fear, confusion, dark humor, power, anxiety and love. Anger, love, power. This year’s slate offers a lot of strong emotions, in-keeping with the Scandinavian tradition of dark humour and relationship drama,” said Pirir who’s enjoyed the “playful and daring selection.”

Norway is out in force with five fiction films,...

While Sergio Leone's "Man With No Name" trilogy climaxed in the mid-1960s with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, another Spaghetti Western director was experiencing his own international success story. 1966's Django made such a huge splash for director Sergio Corbucci that nearly 40 other Spaghetti Westerns set to release in the following years were renamed to include the name "Django" and ride on the coattails of Corbucci's success. Of course, it also went on to inspire 2012's Django Unchained written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, and the 2023 series from Sky/Canal+. In 1987, Corbucci would eventually direct the only official sequel, Django Strikes Again, but his true follow-up came only two years after Django when he made Il Grande Silenzio — also known as The Great Silence.

Spaghetti Western classics like "A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof" and "The Great Silence" have cold, intense opening scenes. "Django Unchained" and "A Fistful of Dollars" feature dramatic desert action sequences setting the tone for the films. Films like "Unforgiven" and "Rio Bravo" showcase how opening scenes can foreshadow the intensity and grit of Western movies.

Some Western films are renowned for having excellent opening sequences that lead into a great movie, but a few movies are considered the best right from the first moments. From a musical number featuring singer Tex Ritter to a epic shootout on a stagecoach, there is no shortage of action in the opening sequence of a Western. Many of these films also featured classic Western stars such as John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, adding to the mythos of the genre.

Every Western is different, and no two opening sequences are alike, which...

Classic Western films have provided audiences with exciting and shocking plot twists that can elevate a good movie into a great one. Some of the best Western plot twists come from films like "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence," "The Great Silence," and "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." These plot twists subvert genre clichés, challenge audience expectations, and add complexity to characters and narratives. They leave viewers completely shocked and make a lasting impact.

The Western genre has always been one full of exciting twists and turns that left viewers completely dumbfounded and shocked. With tales of bounty-hunting bandits, gold-digging gunslingers, and outrageously trigger-happy outlaws, the lawless nature of the Wild West has provided ample opportunity for narrative twists, character turns, and shocking surprises. From cowboy heroes to vicious villains, a clever Western plot twist can turn a good movie into a truly great one and remain in...

The Western genre often portrays heroes standing up for what's right, but a few rare movies end with the villains victorious. Films like The Great Silence and No Country For Old Men challenge the traditional Western narrative by killing off the hero and letting the villains prevail. From brutal revenge stories to bleak anti-Westerns, these movies provide unexpected twists and endings that deviate from the genre's tropes.

It is extremely rare for Western movies to end with their villains victorious, but this has happened on occasion. The Western genre has been through numerous cycles from the B-movies of the 30 and ’40s, to the Golden Age of the ’50s, to the spaghetti Westerns of the ‘60s, to the downbeat revisionist Westerns of the ‘70s. Even now, new post-modern Western movies are being released in the 2020s, with hits like 2021’s The Power of the Dog and The Harder They Fall keeping the genre alive.

International filmmakers brought a fresh, critical perspective to the American western genre, showcasing morally gray antiheroes and blood-soaked violence. Films like Sukiyaki Western Django and El Topo took the western genre to new, dark, and twisted places, blending different cultural influences and unconventional storytelling. Directors like Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Leone pushed the boundaries of the western genre, creating subversive and truly iconic films like The Great Silence and Once Upon a Time in the West.

The western is a traditional American genre, but from The Salvation to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, some of the greatest westerns ever made were produced internationally. The earliest westerns directed by American pioneers like John Ford and Howard Hawks told clear-cut black-and-white stories about good triumphing over evil. When international filmmakers got their hands on the western genre, they had no emotional connection to the United States and therefore depicted the...

Director Sergio Corbucci may be best known for his film Django, though his most respected Western work is arguably in fact The Great Silence, which subverts the genre of the Western on almost every level, deconstructing its mythmaking with a heavy dose of stark reality and pointed political allegory. Though only the second most well-known ‘Sergio’ in Spaghetti Western filmmaking, Corbucci’s films were known more prominently for their political content, containing within them heavy leftist and anti-authoritarian views synonymous with the counterculture of the 60s. This is in direct contrast to the more conservative values championed by the likes of John Ford, who viewed the West as a return to the values that defined America during the pioneer days, even if those values have become problematic in the retrospective view of colonialism.

You can approach old classics just like new films, argued participants during Locarno’s Heritage Monday panel.

“I talked to an exhibitor in Paris and they don’t consider repertory cinema to be different from contemporary cinema. They are collapsing both models into one and it’s very interesting,” said K.J. Relth-Miller of the Academy Museum.

Swiss Film Archive director Frédéric Maire noted that they also mix “fresh” films with older titles. “This idea of separating them can be useful for communication, but we try to avoid it. Yesterday, I was watching [Daniel Schmid’s 1974 film] ‘La Paloma’ [at the festival] and it felt modern and new. I don’t want to make these distinctions in terms of cultural perspective,” he said.

Such an approach can be beneficial also when it comes to raising audience’s awareness, argued Film Movement’s Erin Farrell.

“When we talk about ‘heritage films’ in the same breath as our new releases,...

Western movies often feature thrilling shootout sequences as a prominent trope, culminating in high-octane gunfights between heroes and villains. The tone of these shootout scenes varies, from triumphant and celebratory to subversive and unsettling, reflecting different perspectives on the act of killing. Shootout scenes in classic Western movies have influenced the depiction of gunplay in modern action cinema, shaping the way it is portrayed in films today.

From the saloon standoff at the end of Shane to the cemetery showdown at the end of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, there are plenty of exciting shootout sequences in classic Western movies. Shootout scenes are one of the most prevalent tropes of the Western genre, along with bar fights, cattle drives, and train robberies. Almost every Western movie culminates in a high-octane gunfight between the heroes and villains. Even the most subversive anti-Westerns, like The Great Silence and McCabe and Mrs. Miller,...

Exclusive: Black Bear’s management arm has signed Danish-American actor Elliott Crosset Hove for representation.

Hove is best known for the well-received Danish/Icelandic feature Godland, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

His lauded performance in the picture earned him Best Male Actor at Denmark’s 2023 Bodil Awards, as well as a Best Actor nomination at the European Film Awards.

Hove’s previous feature roles include Rasmus Heisterberg’s 2016 feature film In the Blood, for which Hove was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Bodil Awards, and Hlynur Pálmason’s Winter Brothers, which won him a Danish Robert Award and Best Actor at the Locarno Film Festival. He has also appeared in Journal 64, Before the Frost, Parents and Wildland.

Most recently, Hove starred in Katrine Brocks’ The Great Silence and Simon Jaquemet’s Electric Child, which is currently in post-production, alongside Rila Fukushima.

Director Sergio Corbucci may be best known for his film Django, though his most respected Western work is arguably in fact The Great Silence, which subverts the genre of the Western on almost every level, deconstructing its mythmaking with a heavy dose of stark reality and pointed political allegory. Though only the second most well-known ‘Sergio’ in Spaghetti Western filmmaking, Corbucci’s films were known more prominently for their political content, containing within them heavy leftist and anti-authoritarian views synonymous with the counterculture of the 60s. This is in direct contrast to the more conservative values championed by the likes of John Ford, who viewed the West as a return to the values that defined America during the pioneer days, even if those values have been become problematic in retrospective view of colonialism.

The first titles to be released under the deal will be Cannes 2022 selection Godland.

Scanbox Entertainment has added Aurora Studios as its exclusive Finnish theatrical distribution partner through its distribution subsidiary Cinemanse.

The deal covers all Scanbox titles, both acquisitions (usually made on a pan-Nordic basis) and its in-house productions, which are ramping up.

The collaboration will boost Scanbox’s connections to local productions in Finland while giving Aurora and Cinemanse an expansion of their theatrical slate.

The first titles to be released under the deal will be Cannes 2022 selection Godland by Hlynur Pálmason followed by The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Hettie Macdonald.

Monolit Film, the Danish banner behind “The Great Silence,” is developing “Wannabe,” the feature debut of “Bad Bitch” director Patricia Bbaale Bandak, and “After the Sun,” a dystopia based on a short story featured in The New Yorker in 2021.

“Wannabe,” which was pitched at the Nordic Film Market in Goteborg as part of the Discovery program, is inspired by Bbaale Bandak’s own life. The film follows Patricia, a 13 year-old Ugandan refugee who moves into an underprivileged town of Denmark. Over the course of a summer in 1995, Patricia, who is eager to fit in, joins a group of girls to participate in a look-alike music contest launched by a popular kids TV show.

“The story is told through the eyes of this 13 year-old girl and tells her coming of age but it also talks about the brutality of assimilation and the complexity of Danish society,” said Victor Rocha da Cunha,...

Festival runs October 12-23.

Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Alice Diop’s Saint Omer, and Sergei Loznitsa’s The Natural History Of Destruction are among the international competitions line-up at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival next month.

This year’s competitions include 10 films receiving their North American premiere and 17 getting their US premiere as the entries vie for the festival’s Gold Hugo award in the categories of international feature, international documentary, and new directors.

The festival runs October 12-23. The full international competition line-ups are below.

Playing in International Feature Competition are: The Beasts (Sp-Fr), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, US premiere; Before,...

After several acclaimed shorts, Katrine Brocks’ feature film debut “The Great Silence” (“Den Store Stilhed”) is set to premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival in competition at the New Directors strand.

The film follows Alma who is about to take her vows as a nun in a Catholic convent, when her estranged brother Erik arrives. His presence unearths a tragedy from their past and with the ceremony approaching, Alma is increasingly haunted by resurfacing trauma.

The cast includes Kristine Kujath Thorp (“Ninjababy”), Elliott Crosset Hove (“Godland”) and Karen-Lise Mynster (“C4”).

The film’s central themes stem from Brocks’ upbringing in a Christian community, where Jesus was the ultimate role model.

“With ‘The Great Silence’ I want to explore the existential struggle between the flawed and the flawless, the saint and the sinner and the basic human instinct to hide our ugliest, darkest sides away. Clinging to the light in...

For many years now Venice has been a respectful platform for those big-name directors of the 1970s and early ’80s who are happy to go back into the fray long after those juicy studio budgets dried up: Brian De Palma, William Friedkin, Paul Verhoeven, John Carpenter and — to a lesser extent — George Romero all found a home here for their late-period passion projects. Walter Hill, now 80, joins their ranks with an improbably youthful horse opera, and while it shows up the limitations of both writing and shooting a Western in the modern age, it’s nevertheless a wickedly enjoyable genre romp and full of violent surprises.

Hill dedicates his film to Budd Boetticher, which is a shame as it has already given critics permission not to think any harder...

Abel Ferrara, Shia Labeouf And Steve Buscemi Head To Venice Sidebar Giornate Degli Autori

Abel Ferrara’s Padre Pio, starring Shia Labeouf as the controversial 20th-Century monk, will be among the 10 films world premiering in competition in parallel Venice sidebar Giornate degli Autori (August 31 to September 10). Other contenders include Canadian filmmaker Graham Foy’s teen tragedy The Maiden, U.K.-Moroccan director Fyzal Boulifa’s mother and son tale The Damned Don’t Cry; Algerian costume drama The Last Queen by Adila Bendimerad and Damien Ounouri and opening film Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous, a Beirut-set love story involving a Syrian refugee and Eritrean careworker tale by French-Lebanese director Wissam Charaf. The films will compete for the GdA Director’s Award, which is decided by a jury of 27 young European cinephiles, presided over this year by French director Céline Sciamma, under the coordination of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) director Karel Och.

Click here to read the full article.

Thirteen productions from 15 countries are in the running for this year’s Kutxabank-New Directors Award at the San Sebastian Festival, Spain’s premiere film festival.

San Sebastian on Thursday unveiled its New Directors lineup of titles from first and second-time directors. The 2022 program features 12 debuts from across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Indian moviemaker Parth Saurabh heads to San Sebastian with On Either Side of the Pond, a drama that follows a couple forced by the economic difficulties caused by the pandemic to return from Delhi to their hometown, who sees their relationship start to unravel.

European first-timers in the lineup include the 90s-set black comedy Carbon from Moldovan director Ion Borș, which won last year’s Wip Europa Industry and Wip Europa awards; The Great Silence from Danish director Katrine Brocks, the story of a novice nun who receives an awkward visit...

Award comes with €50,000 prize.

Thirteen films will compete for the Kutxabank-New Directors Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, which runs from September 16-24.

More titles are expected to be added to the competition, which comes with a €50,000 prize to be divided equally between the director and the distributor of the film in Spain.

Turkey’s Jeanne Aslan and France’s Paul Saintillan co-directed Spare Keys, the tale of a teenager who establishes a relationship with her girlfriend’s brother during summer.

Nicaragua’s Laura Baumeister Daughter Of Rage is the story of an eight-year-old girl who gets by as...

Three buzzy titles, all turning on women carving out their own destinies – Carmen Jaquier’s “Thunder,” Laura Baumeister’s “Daughter of Rage” and Dinara Drukarova’s “Grand Marin” – feature in the 13-title lineup of San Sebastian’s 2022 New Directors section.

Also making the New Directors’ cut – now firmly consolidated as the most important sidebar at the highest-profile film festival in the Spanish-speaking world – is “Tobacco Barns,” the awaited and second feature from Spain’s Rocío Mesa, as well as Jeong Ji-hye’s Jeonju Festival winner “Jeong-sun” which has its director hailed as a talent to track.

Eight of the 13 features are directed by women who also serve as protagonists in most of the section’s films. Their themes range wide, however, from the absurdity of Moldova’s past (“Carbon”) to an allegorical portrait of civil conflict (“Carbide”) to cybershaming (“Jeong-sun”) and women’s love of literature (“To Books and Women...

Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, based in Los Angeles, brings dark humor – and body horror – to Cannes’ Un Certain Regard with “Sick of Myself.” The film was acquired by Memento International.

Signe and Thomas (“Ninjababy” breakout Kristine Kujath Thorp and Eirik Sæther) are an attractive young couple in Oslo. They also happen to bring out the worst in each other. When his career starts to take off, Signe tries to get some attention as well – by making herself sick.

“I definitely recognize the pettiness, the competitiveness, all of these things. I have experienced mini-versions of these arguments and these feelings,” says Borgli, also behind 2017 curio “Drib” combining fact and fiction, and an energy drink campaign.

“I wanted them to be watchable, not likeable. Also, I find it much funnier when the characters in the movie are not in on the joke. When they are stuck inside all this drama the audience...

Cast includes Kristine Kujath Thorp (Ninjababy) and Elliott Crosset Hove (Winter Brothers)

TrustNordisk has boarded international sales on Danish writer/director Katrine Brocks’ debut feature The Great Silence, now in post.

Kristine Kujath Thorp (Ninjababy) and Elliott Crosset Hove (Winter Brothers) star in the story of a 29-year-old woman about to take her perpetual vows at a convent, whose alcoholic brother unexpectedly shows up, unearthing a secret family tragedy.

Pernille Tornøe of Copenhagen-based Monolit Film produces; the script is co-written with Marianne Lentz.

The Danish Film Institute’s New Danish Screen is backing the film, which Scanbox will release locally...

With a top prize of $44,000 it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.

Denmark won big with the two Dragon awards handed out in Goteborg on February 5, with Tea Lindeburg’s As In Heaven winning the prize for best Nordic film. With a prize of $44,000, it is one of the world’s most lucrative film awards.

The film, which previously won best director and best actress at San Sebastian, is about a girl in the 19thcentury who hopes to leave her family’s farm to be the first in her family to study. Her future prospects change...

18 works in progress by some of the Nordic region’s biggest names – Bille August, Björn Runge, the multi-prized Jp Valkeapää and Malou Reymann will be showcased at the hybrid Nordic Film Market (Feb. 3-6), along with some Sundance and Rotterdam competition entries.

The Nfm runs parallel to the final stretches of the Göteborg Film Festival (Jan.28-Feb.6).

So far, over 450 international delegates have signed up for the major Nordic film confab. Only 250 will be able to attend in-person, due to Covid restrictions in Sweden.

“We’ve received a huge interest from professionals to attend in-person, following the decision of Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin’s European Film Market to go online. It’s been very difficult to say ‘no’ to people, but our priority is to guarantee a safe event,” said Göteborg head of industry Cia Edström who underlines the various safety measures to be implemented at the Nfm, from vaccination checks,...

Recently spotlighted at the Finnish Film Affair, where it was given the Best Nordic Project Award, Danish production “The Great Silence” will head straight to the convent, where Sister Alma (played by “Ninjababy” lead Kristine Kujath Thorp) is preparing to take her perpetual vows. But once her recovering alcoholic brother shows up, stirring up memories of a family secret, Alma begins to question her choices.

The film, currently shooting in Copenhagen and produced by Pernille Tornøe of newly founded Monolit Film, will mark helmer Katrine Brocks’ feature debut, inspired by her religious upbringing in a Christian community and co-written with Marianne Lentz, also behind her Robert Award-winning short “In the Blink of an Eye.”

“My parents met at a Bible camp. Religion has always been the backdrop of my childhood, it was the foundation of everything” she says, admitting that her “very personal relationship with God” changed once she started her teens.

The 10th edition of the Finnish Film Affair took place as a hybrid event from Helsinki.

Denmark’s The Great Silence was inaugural winner of the best Nordic project award at the 10th edition of the Finnish FIlm Affair (Ffa) which took place as a hybrid event from Helsinki this week,

The Great Silence is the directorial debut of Katrine Brocks and is produced by Pernille Tornøe of Monolit Film. The pair pitched remotely because they are currently shooting the film The drama is about siblings , played by Ninjababy’s Kristine Kujath Thorp and Winter Brothers’ Elliott Crosset Hove, coming...

The Finnish Film Affair industry event awarded the upcoming feature “Bubble” with top honors for its fiction in progress pitch on Thursday, capping a competition in which six projects presented a wide range of stories, settings and styles.

Mainly Finnish productions pitched their films, some seeking international partners, with most hoping for sales, festival and distribution deals.

“Bubble,” the story of a teenage girl whose life is turned upside down when her mother announces she is divorcing her father to be with her lesbian lover, was described by director Aleksi Salmenperä as a heartwarming dramedy focusing on the challenges facing teens in dealing with departures from their comfort zones.

While the protagonist of the story, 16-year-old Eveliina, is, like most teens, liberal in her beliefs, “this liberal thinking doesn’t extend to her parents,” as producer Minna Haapkylä put it.

In scenes that are both tense but also tinged with ironic humor,...

WarnerMedia’s New Singapore Base

WarnerMedia has unveiled its new regional hub for Asia (excluding China and Japan). Officially opened today by Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information, the office signals the full integration of WarnerMedia’s business in the region that includes Warner Bros., HBO and Turner brands. It also houses HBO Max, which is expected to launch in its first Asian markets in the near future. The 40,000sq ft office sits across two floors at Solaris in Fusionopolis, the city state’s media and tech business park. Clement Schwebig, Managing Director of WarnerMedia for India, Southeast Asia and Korea, said: “Our new flagship office is truly spectacular. More than just a new workspace, it brings together the most incredible parts of our diverse business – from Harry Potter’s Wizarding World to Looney Tunes, Game of Thrones and Wonder Woman – under one roof for the first time.

As the end of the first decade of the Finnish Film Affair nears, the industry event’s director, Maria Pirkkalainen, who also heads Nordic Flair, notes its phenomenal growth, with more than 200 Finnish film projects showcased, more than 500 international guests brought to Helsinki, and the establishment of a major platform and networking forum for locals.

And things keep evolving, she says: “We are thrilled to now branch out to offer this to filmmakers from our neighboring Nordic countries as well. Not to mention we’ve curated over 2,000 meetings between our guests during all these years. And introduced hundreds of people to the art of sauna.”

The traditional sweat-soaked industry mixer, just one of the signature events of Finnish Film Affair, is typical of the creative approaches Pirkkalainen and her team have embraced in her three years leading the event.

The key driver, she says, is a focus on learning and...

Sergio Corbucci, described by Quentin Tarantino in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” as the second-best director of Italian westerns, sure knew how to end a movie. He could serve up thrillingly bloody catharsis in the original “Django,” his 1966 breakout that proved the global commercial viability of spaghetti westerns extended beyond the films of Sergio Leone. He could do an operatically sprawling three-way shootout on Leone’s level, as with the ending of “The Mercenary.” He could end his films with a punchline, like the comedic Mexican Revolution tale “Compañeros.” Or he could serve up the most grim, depressing denouement you’ve ever seen for any “hero’s journey” tale, like he did with the “The Great Silence.”

But knowing how to end a movie is not a skill demonstrated in “Django & Django,” a new documentary about the spaghetti auteur by Luca Rea at its best when Quentin Tarantino gives...

Italian sales company True Colours has secured a seven-title slate of pics premiering in Venice across various sections, including Mario Martone’s competition entry “The King of Laughter” and high-profile doc “Django and Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained,” in which Quentin Tarantino talks about the influential Spaghetti Westerns director.

Martone (“Capri Revolution”), who is a Lido aficionado, will once again vye for the Golden Lion with “King of Laughter,” a drama about Neapolitan theatre luminary Edoardo Scarpetta, played by Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”). Italy’s 01 Distribution will release the film in Italian theaters in September.

Another Venice competition title that True Colours is handling –– in this case in tandem with Rai Com –– is “Freaks Out,” the new genre-bender by Gabriele Mainetti, known for off-kilter 2016 superhero pic “They Call Me Jeeg.” Mainetti’s latest is set in 1943 Rome where four “freaks” who work in a circus are left to their...

When it comes to releasing unique and collectible Blu-ray box sets (such as their Al Adamson: The Masterpiece Collection), Severin Films has done an amazing job preserving horror history, and this summer they'll continue to do so with The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection, featuring Umberto Lenzi's collaborations with Carroll Baker:

"On June 30th, Severin Films is bringing together the complete collaborative works of two cult film legends with The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection, which includes superlative editions of Orgasmo, So Sweet… So Perverse, A Quiet Place To Kill, and Knife Of Ice.

Italian writer/director Umberto Lenzi helmed popular peplums, created extreme poliziotteschi, and invented the Italian cannibal phenomenon. Hollywood actress Carroll Baker was the Golden Globe® winning/Academy Award® nominated star of Baby Doll, Giant and The Carpetbaggers. Together in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, they made four landmark films that changed the erotic thriller and giallo genres forever.

"What's the plan? You always have a plan..." An official trailer has debuted online for an indie drama titled Before the Fire, formerly called The Great Silence, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Charlie Buhler. This just premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival and is still looking for distribution. The plot couldn't be more coincidental with what's happening in the world right now. Which might be why they're releasing this trailer. When a global pandemic forces a TV actress to escape to her rural hometown, an intruder from her past proves as dangerous as the encroaching virus. "The viruses in the present and of her past both lurk around." Sounds extra frightening. Before the Fire stars Jenna Lyng Adams, who also wrote the screenplay for the film, as Ava, plus Jackson Davis, Ryan Vigilant, Charlie Buhler, and Tim Driscoll. Looks exactly like what you'd expect - a woman trying...

By Fred Blosser

In Sergio Corbucci’s 1967 Italian Western, “The Hellbenders” (1967), now available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, embittered Colonel Jonas (Joseph Cotten) devises a plan to avenge the outcome of the Civil War. Where today’s cultural conservatives mostly express their nostalgia for the Old South by gathering to protest the removal of Confederate monuments, Jonas takes more extreme measures. He and his three sons -- the remnant of his old command, known as the Hellbenders -- ambush a military convoy transporting $1.5 million in greenbacks. Slaughtering the convoy’s cavalry escort, they transfer the stolen money to a makeshift coffin supposedly containing the remains of Jonas‘ “son-in-law” Ambrose Allen, another Confederate officer killed in action at the Battle of Nashville. In truth, an officer named Ambrose Allen died at Nashville, but he wasn’t Jonas’ son-in-law, and his corpse isn’t in the coffin. Jonas picked his name off...

How does Hollywood sell a gritty, realistic western? With a sexy shot of star Tina Louise! Viewers will be surprised: this fine western is a showcase for the elemental ruthlessness we associate with director André de Toth — its convincing snowbound setting is so intense, we can almost feel the cold. Slick writer Philip Yordan sets up an impossible conflict as a blizzard moves in on a tiny town… Robert Ryan must sort out his feelings for the town beauty Tina Louise, as he negotiates with the he-boss of the killer crooks, Burl Ives. It looks as if Ryan has no choice but to volunteer for a suicide journey — but nature has the last word.

Day of the Outlaw

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert,...

High Octane Pictures sets skinless creatures loose in your cabin this May with Winterskin! From acclaimed filmmaker Charlie Steeds, and starring David Lenik (Escape From Cannibal Farm) and Rowena Bentley (The House Of Violent Desire).

Gunned down in the snowy wilderness and desperate for shelter, Billy Cavanagh is taken in by kooky old lady Agnes, unaware that her isolated log cabin is being stalked by a bloodthirsty skinless creature hellbent on getting inside. From Dark Temple Films, and also starring Barrington De La Roche, Peter Cosgrove, Kate Davies-Speak, John Lomas, Harrison Nash and Dylan Curtis, Winterskin available now on digital.

We got a chance to interview producer Charlie Steeds about Winterskin, his latest frostbitten frightfest that snatches the breath.

How's things, Charlie?

Charlie Steeds: Things are very good and very busy, which is how I like things! I'm currently in production on my 6th horror film, Death Ranch, which is...

We've teamed up with Film Movement Classics to offer up to you one of three copies of Sergio Corbucci's classic Western, The Great Silence. Widely recognized as one of the greatest spaghetti Westerns ever made, The Great Silence has been remastered by Film Movement from a brand new 2K scan and released on Blu-ray this month. Here are the details of this marvelous disc: Synopsis   This June, Film Movement Classics commemorates the landmark spaghetti western, The Great Silence, with a stunning 50th Anniversary Restoration. Restored in 2K from original elements, the film, heralded as "one of the finest westerns ever[1]," directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski will be available for cineastes everywhere in both Blu-ray and DVD formats. The...

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We've teamed up with Film Movement Classics to offer up to you one of three copies of Sergio Corbucci's classic Western, The Great Silence. Widely recognized as one of the greatest spaghetti Westerns ever made, The Great Silence has been remastered by Film Movement from a brand new 2K scan and released on Blu-ray this month. Here are the details of this marvelous disc: Synopsis   This June, Film Movement Classics commemorates the landmark spaghetti western, The Great Silence, with a stunning 50th Anniversary Restoration. Restored in 2K from original elements, the film, heralded as "one of the finest westerns ever[1]," directed by Sergio Corbucci and starring Jean-Louis Trintignant and Klaus Kinski will be available for cineastes everywhere in both Blu-ray and DVD formats. The...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“They call him “Silence.” Because wherever he goes, the silence of death follows.”

The Great Silence (1968) directed by Sergio Corbucci, screens Friday June 29th through Sunday July 1st at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The film starts at 7:30pm all three nights.

Sergio Corbucci’s masterpiece The Great Silence (1968) is more than just one of the greatest Westerns of all-time. Unlike Corbucci’s earlier classic Django (which recenetly played as part of Webster U’s ‘Strange Brew’ series), a violent Spaghetti Western filled with dark humor, The Great Silence is a downbeat and completely serious movie from beginning to end, a brutal tale about misery, greed and selfishness, about injustice and the desire for revenge.

The Great Silence is set in the winter of 1898, in the mountain town of Snow Hill, Utah. People who were forced to steal in order to survive an ice cold winter, are...

Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with coverage of two well-regarded wuxia films (period martial arts movies set in ancient China). One is an intense action flick from the Shaw Brothers Studio that places a heavy emphasis on bloody and gory depictions of swordplay. The second is a wuxia film with a difference: rather than fancy sword moves or flamboyant punching techniques, the mystical fighters attack each other with incantations and magical musical instruments.

One-Armed Swordsman

Region B Blu-ray

88 Films

1967 / Color / 2.35 / 111 min. / Du bei dao / Street Date, 26 March 2018 / £12.99

Starring: Yu Wang, Chiao Chiao, Ti Tang, Chih-Ching Yang, Feng Tien, Yin-Tze Pan, Feng Ku.

Cinematography: Yuan Chen San

Film Editor: Chiang Hsing-Loong

Art Director: Ching-Shen Chen

Original Music: Foo-Ling Wang

Written by Cheh Chang, Kuang Ni

Produced by Runme Shaw

Directed by Cheh Chang

Reviewed by Lee Broughton

The bandit leaders Long-Armed Devil (Chi-Ching Yang) and Smiling Tiger (Ti Tang) are determined...

Sergio Corbucci’s landmark Spaghetti Western, The Great Silence, will make its North American Blu-ray debut on June 5th from Film Movement Classics just in time for the film’s 50th anniversary. The release features a brand-new 2K restoration from the original film elements and a load of special features that will include rarely seen alternate endings. Given that The […]...

Fresh from its critically lauded theatrical revival, Sergio Corbucci's classic Spaghetti Western The Great Silence is heading to home video from Film Movement Classics this June. Starring the great Klaus Kinski and Jean-Louis Trintignant in one of the bleakest of the Italian westerns ever made, The Great Silence has long been underappreciated in favor of the grander films of Sergio Leone and even Corbucci's flashier work, like Django. However, The Great Silence is often mentioned among the titans of the genre by fans who know, so it is very exciting to see this 2K restoration on its way to Blu-ray and DVD on June 5th.  Take a look at what's in store from the press release below "[Corbucci's] West was the most violent, surreal and...

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