The most striking aspect of the commemorative events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June 2019 was the testimony of the veterans who participated in the conflict and who spoke eloquently and movingly about the events of 6 June 1944.
These interviews should be compulsory viewing so people understand the courage and sacrifice of a generation of men and women who displayed the “unconquerable resolve” the Queen spoke about during her speech in Portsmouth.
The film world has, of course, brought us many depictions of the Normandy landings and the subsequent battles. You will find a number of those titles in this list of the 20 greatest Second World War films.
These 20 movies only scratch the surface of the countless number made about the momentous event, but remind us of the horrors and sacrifices made during the devastating global conflict.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the 20 greatest war films:...
These interviews should be compulsory viewing so people understand the courage and sacrifice of a generation of men and women who displayed the “unconquerable resolve” the Queen spoke about during her speech in Portsmouth.
The film world has, of course, brought us many depictions of the Normandy landings and the subsequent battles. You will find a number of those titles in this list of the 20 greatest Second World War films.
These 20 movies only scratch the surface of the countless number made about the momentous event, but remind us of the horrors and sacrifices made during the devastating global conflict.
Scroll through the gallery below to see the 20 greatest war films:...
- 1/29/2023
- by Graeme Ross
- The Independent - Film
The legendary punk god joins us to talk about movies he finds unforgettable. Special appearance by his cat, Moon Unit.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Tapeheads (1988)
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary
A Face In The Crowd (1957) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Meet John Doe (1941)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Bachelor Party (1984)
Dangerously Close (1986)
Videodrome (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
F/X (1986)
Hot Rods To Hell (1967)
Riot On Sunset Strip (1967)
While The City Sleeps (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Spider-Man (2002)
The Killing (1956) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
Serpent’s Egg (1977)
The Thin Man (1934)
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
The Hidden Eye (1945)
Eyes In The Night (1942)
Sudden Impact (1983) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary
Red Dawn (1984)
Warlock (1989)
The Dead Zone (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
Secret Honor (1984)
The Player (1992) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary,...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Tapeheads (1988)
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary
A Face In The Crowd (1957) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Meet John Doe (1941)
Bob Roberts (1992)
Bachelor Party (1984)
Dangerously Close (1986)
Videodrome (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
F/X (1986)
Hot Rods To Hell (1967)
Riot On Sunset Strip (1967)
While The City Sleeps (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Spider-Man (2002)
The Killing (1956) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary
Serpent’s Egg (1977)
The Thin Man (1934)
Meet Nero Wolfe (1936)
The Hidden Eye (1945)
Eyes In The Night (1942)
Sudden Impact (1983) – Alan Spencer’s trailer commentary
Red Dawn (1984)
Warlock (1989)
The Dead Zone (1983) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
Secret Honor (1984)
The Player (1992) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary,...
- 6/22/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Comedian Bert Kreischer has found the force for his feature film The Machine as Mark Hamill has closed a deal to co-star in the Legendary film opposite Kreischer in the film inspired by his hit story. Kreischer and Judi Marmel are producing the project.
Described as The Hangover meets Midnight Run, the film is a genre-bending comedy inspired by Bert’s real-life adventures and subsequent breakout stand-up routine “The Machine”, which has been viewed over 85 million times. Bert’s drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.
Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies and reprised his role in both the sequels and the second season of The Mandalorian He also starred and co-starred in the films Corvette Summer,...
Described as The Hangover meets Midnight Run, the film is a genre-bending comedy inspired by Bert’s real-life adventures and subsequent breakout stand-up routine “The Machine”, which has been viewed over 85 million times. Bert’s drunken past catches up with him 20 years down the road when he and his father are kidnapped by those Bert wronged 20 years ago while drunk on a college semester abroad in Russia.
Hamill is best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars movies and reprised his role in both the sequels and the second season of The Mandalorian He also starred and co-starred in the films Corvette Summer,...
- 4/13/2021
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
Set to premiere at Berlin International Film Festival’s Forum section this week is From Where They Stood (aka À pas aveugles), which takes a unique look at Holocaust history through archival photographs and real-life locations. During the war, a handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs and document the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. In the vestiges of the camps, director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs, composing as such an archeology of images as acts of defiance. Ahead of the premiere, we’re pleased to present the first teaser.
“The discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, camera in hand, created an aperture for cinematic representation. In The Big Red One, Samuel Fuller stages his own discovery of the Falkenau concentration camp.
“The discovery of the Nazi concentration camps, camera in hand, created an aperture for cinematic representation. In The Big Red One, Samuel Fuller stages his own discovery of the Falkenau concentration camp.
- 3/3/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Film producer Gene Corman, who frequently collaborated with his older brother Roger Corman, died at his home on Sept. 28. He was 93.
Roger Corman confirmed Gene Corman’s passing and said, “My brother was a great man, both as a producer and as a family man.”
Gene Corman was born in Detroit in 1927, 17 months after his brother. In 1940, the family moved from Detroit to Beverly Hills and both attended Beverly Hills High School and Stanford University.
Gene Corman broke into the entertainment business as an agent at McA, where his clients included Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Harry Belafonte, Richard Conte and Nicholas Ray. He also arranged the distribution deal for Roger Corman’s first film, “Monster From the Ocean Floor,” in 1954.
The brothers first collaborated on the 1958 film “Hot Car Girl,” followed by “Night of the Blood Beast,” “Beast From Haunted Cave,” “Premature Burial,” and “Tower of London.” The...
Roger Corman confirmed Gene Corman’s passing and said, “My brother was a great man, both as a producer and as a family man.”
Gene Corman was born in Detroit in 1927, 17 months after his brother. In 1940, the family moved from Detroit to Beverly Hills and both attended Beverly Hills High School and Stanford University.
Gene Corman broke into the entertainment business as an agent at McA, where his clients included Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Ray Milland, Harry Belafonte, Richard Conte and Nicholas Ray. He also arranged the distribution deal for Roger Corman’s first film, “Monster From the Ocean Floor,” in 1954.
The brothers first collaborated on the 1958 film “Hot Car Girl,” followed by “Night of the Blood Beast,” “Beast From Haunted Cave,” “Premature Burial,” and “Tower of London.” The...
- 10/9/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
In the first 72 years of the Academy Awards (1927-99), 14 fact-based movies won the best-picture prize, or 19%. In the 21st century, fact-based films have won 33% of the time.
Last year, three of 2018’s four acting winners were playing real-life characters. And six of the eight best-picture contenders were fact-based, including winner “Green Book.”
For whatever reasons, based-on-reality films are clearly increasing, and are increasingly finding favor from awards-givers. At the same time, there has also been a boost in a sub-category: the autobiographical film. Last year’s “Roma” fit into that category and the auto-truth group has multiplied this year.
In 2019 there have been so many reality-based tales that it’s possible (but unlikely) that every Oscar nominee will be from a fact-based film. In alphabetical order, the list includes “The Aeronauts,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Bombshell,” “Dark Waters,” “Dolemite Is My Name,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Harriet,” “A Hidden Life,...
Last year, three of 2018’s four acting winners were playing real-life characters. And six of the eight best-picture contenders were fact-based, including winner “Green Book.”
For whatever reasons, based-on-reality films are clearly increasing, and are increasingly finding favor from awards-givers. At the same time, there has also been a boost in a sub-category: the autobiographical film. Last year’s “Roma” fit into that category and the auto-truth group has multiplied this year.
In 2019 there have been so many reality-based tales that it’s possible (but unlikely) that every Oscar nominee will be from a fact-based film. In alphabetical order, the list includes “The Aeronauts,” “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Bombshell,” “Dark Waters,” “Dolemite Is My Name,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Harriet,” “A Hidden Life,...
- 12/24/2019
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Cinematographer Adam Greenberg, who earned an Oscar nomination for his work on James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” began to learn the craft of filmmaking working in the Israeli Army’s photo section.
Landing a technician job in a one-room production lab in Tel Aviv, he used his downtime wisely. “Reading old copies of Cinematographer magazine was my training,” says Greenberg (born Grinberg), who wound up in the Middle East at age 3, after fleeing from the Nazi war machine in his native Krakow in 1942 with his two sisters. “The articles taught me how to shoot newsreels.” Using “short ends” — partial rolls of unexposed film stock left in a camera — he applied techniques he learned from the magazine and processed the film himself.
Eventually earning an assistant’s job, Greenberg interned on David Perlov’s seminal 1963 short documentary “In Jerusalem.” That led to work on Israel Becker’s far-out Hebrew-language musical comedy “The Flying Matchmaker.
Landing a technician job in a one-room production lab in Tel Aviv, he used his downtime wisely. “Reading old copies of Cinematographer magazine was my training,” says Greenberg (born Grinberg), who wound up in the Middle East at age 3, after fleeing from the Nazi war machine in his native Krakow in 1942 with his two sisters. “The articles taught me how to shoot newsreels.” Using “short ends” — partial rolls of unexposed film stock left in a camera — he applied techniques he learned from the magazine and processed the film himself.
Eventually earning an assistant’s job, Greenberg interned on David Perlov’s seminal 1963 short documentary “In Jerusalem.” That led to work on Israel Becker’s far-out Hebrew-language musical comedy “The Flying Matchmaker.
- 11/29/2019
- by James C. Udel
- Variety Film + TV
Great news for fans of obscure old action films. The Daredevil Drivers (1938) is available on DVD From Warner Archives
Racecar driver Bill Foster (Dick Purcell) has the talent to collect racing trophies, but his reckless stunts on the track get him banned from the racing association altogether. Hitting the road with his loyal sidekick, mechanic “Stub” Wilson (vaudeville veteran Charley Foy), Bill crashes into a bus owned by Neeley Transport. Bill is determined to sock Neeley’s president in the nose because of the damage to his race car, only to discover that the president is the attractive Jerry Neeley (Beverly Roberts) – a woman immune to Bill’s charms. Bill goes to work for Tommy Burnell (Donald Briggs), the owner of a rival bus company that is sabotaging Neeley Transport. Once Bill learns he’s working for the wrong side, he goes out of his way to help Jerry save her company.
Racecar driver Bill Foster (Dick Purcell) has the talent to collect racing trophies, but his reckless stunts on the track get him banned from the racing association altogether. Hitting the road with his loyal sidekick, mechanic “Stub” Wilson (vaudeville veteran Charley Foy), Bill crashes into a bus owned by Neeley Transport. Bill is determined to sock Neeley’s president in the nose because of the damage to his race car, only to discover that the president is the attractive Jerry Neeley (Beverly Roberts) – a woman immune to Bill’s charms. Bill goes to work for Tommy Burnell (Donald Briggs), the owner of a rival bus company that is sabotaging Neeley Transport. Once Bill learns he’s working for the wrong side, he goes out of his way to help Jerry save her company.
- 8/6/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Great news for fans of director Sam Fuller. His 1962 classic Merrill’S Marauders is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives
Writer/Director and decorated Army Veteran Sam Fuller lends his considerable storytelling talent and gift for hard-charging understatement to the true tale of one of the most extraordinary and harrowing military campaigns in human history. Brigadier General Frank Merrill (Jeff Chandler) leads Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), deep behind enemy lines and through miles of dank, dense, disease ridden jungle in a desperate bid to ensure the enemy will never have the ability to link up. Ty Hardin Will Hutchins and Claude Akins play some of the dogfaces that were part of this all-volunteer force in this Sam Fuller production that stands alongside Steel Helmet and The Big Red One as boots-on-the-ground recreations of the misery and the heroics of military life. And all the glory...
Writer/Director and decorated Army Veteran Sam Fuller lends his considerable storytelling talent and gift for hard-charging understatement to the true tale of one of the most extraordinary and harrowing military campaigns in human history. Brigadier General Frank Merrill (Jeff Chandler) leads Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), deep behind enemy lines and through miles of dank, dense, disease ridden jungle in a desperate bid to ensure the enemy will never have the ability to link up. Ty Hardin Will Hutchins and Claude Akins play some of the dogfaces that were part of this all-volunteer force in this Sam Fuller production that stands alongside Steel Helmet and The Big Red One as boots-on-the-ground recreations of the misery and the heroics of military life. And all the glory...
- 8/5/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Is this Samuel Fuller’s biggest production? He tries to convey the harrowing reality of a military campaign that tested the limits of endurance and punishment that troops could absorb. In his last movie, Jeff Chandler is the famed commander who must ask his special forces to march hundreds of miles in the unforgiving jungle, and then fight a pitched battle. Although Warners interfered with the final cut, it’s still a fine picture.
Merrill’s Marauders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Pancho Magalona.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Milton Sperling, Sam Fuller from a book by Charlton Ogburn Jr.
Produced by Milton Sperling
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Writer/producer/director Samuel Fuller must...
Merrill’s Marauders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Pancho Magalona.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Milton Sperling, Sam Fuller from a book by Charlton Ogburn Jr.
Produced by Milton Sperling
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Writer/producer/director Samuel Fuller must...
- 7/27/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Looking to look back on some history this Memorial Day? Critics and audiences alike didn’t think “Pearl Harbor” did WWII justice, but here are 29 other films that scored a 7/10 rating or higher on IMDb.
“Pearl Harbor” (2001).
The Michael Bay-directed film starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale and follows the story of two best friends as they go off to war.
“Saving Private Ryan” (1998).
Starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns, the film follows a group of U.S. soldiers that go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper.
“The Thin Red Line” (1998).
Terrence Malick‘s adaptation of James Jones’ 1962 novel stars Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn and Nick Nolte, and focuses on the conflict at Guadalcanal.
“A Midnight Clear” (1992).
The film starring Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon and Arye Gross tells the story of the American intelligence unit which finds a German platoon wishing to surrender.
“Pearl Harbor” (2001).
The Michael Bay-directed film starred Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale and follows the story of two best friends as they go off to war.
“Saving Private Ryan” (1998).
Starring Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore and Edward Burns, the film follows a group of U.S. soldiers that go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper.
“The Thin Red Line” (1998).
Terrence Malick‘s adaptation of James Jones’ 1962 novel stars Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn and Nick Nolte, and focuses on the conflict at Guadalcanal.
“A Midnight Clear” (1992).
The film starring Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon and Arye Gross tells the story of the American intelligence unit which finds a German platoon wishing to surrender.
- 11/11/2018
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
She was well-known for her long creative partnership with husband Claude Chabrol.
French actress Stéphane Audran, who starred in The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie and Babette’s Feast, has died aged 85.
Their son, actor Thomas Chabrol, told Afp: “She had been ill for some time. She had been in hospital for 10 days and she had returned home. She died peacefully at around 2 am [on Tuesday 27 March]”.
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie and Babette’s Feast both won best foreign film at the Oscars. She won best actress at the Baftas for the former and was nominated again for the latter.
French actress Stéphane Audran, who starred in The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie and Babette’s Feast, has died aged 85.
Their son, actor Thomas Chabrol, told Afp: “She had been ill for some time. She had been in hospital for 10 days and she had returned home. She died peacefully at around 2 am [on Tuesday 27 March]”.
The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie and Babette’s Feast both won best foreign film at the Oscars. She won best actress at the Baftas for the former and was nominated again for the latter.
- 3/27/2018
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
Siegfried Rauch, the German actor who portrayed Steve McQueen's ruthless racing rival Erich Stahler in the 1971 classic film Le Mans, has died. He was 85.
Rauch died Sunday night as a result of a fall in his hometown of Untersochering, Bavaria, his agency announced.
Rauch also appeared in the war films Patton (1970), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner; John Sturges' The Eagle Has Landed (1976); George P. Cosmatos' Escape to Athena (1979); and Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980).
Le Mans, directed by Lee H. Katzin, tells the story of the Porsche and Ferrari rivalry through the eyes...
Rauch died Sunday night as a result of a fall in his hometown of Untersochering, Bavaria, his agency announced.
Rauch also appeared in the war films Patton (1970), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner; John Sturges' The Eagle Has Landed (1976); George P. Cosmatos' Escape to Athena (1979); and Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980).
Le Mans, directed by Lee H. Katzin, tells the story of the Porsche and Ferrari rivalry through the eyes...
- 3/12/2018
- by Rhett Bartlett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Review by Roger Carpenter
During the first half of the 60’s Mario Bava created several genuine horror classics that remain high-water marks in the genre over a half century later. Films such as Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963), The Whip and the Body (1963), and Blood and Black Lace (1964) either pushed the boundaries of horror or helped to establish cinematic tropes still used in modern horror. Always saddled with shoestring budgets and bad deals, Bava nevertheless remained optimistic in the face of his cinematic struggles. A case in point is the troubled production of Kill, Baby…Kill! which ran out of money midway through the shoot. The cast and crew were so loyal to Bava they worked for free to finish the film—a film, by the way, which only had a 30-page script with no dialogue when filming commenced. Bava had the actors make up their own lines, preferring to resolve...
During the first half of the 60’s Mario Bava created several genuine horror classics that remain high-water marks in the genre over a half century later. Films such as Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963), The Whip and the Body (1963), and Blood and Black Lace (1964) either pushed the boundaries of horror or helped to establish cinematic tropes still used in modern horror. Always saddled with shoestring budgets and bad deals, Bava nevertheless remained optimistic in the face of his cinematic struggles. A case in point is the troubled production of Kill, Baby…Kill! which ran out of money midway through the shoot. The cast and crew were so loyal to Bava they worked for free to finish the film—a film, by the way, which only had a 30-page script with no dialogue when filming commenced. Bava had the actors make up their own lines, preferring to resolve...
- 11/7/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Todd Garbarini
Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, which opened on Friday, July 18, 1980, had stiff competition at the box office: Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Friday the 13th, The Blue Lagoon, The Big Red One, Dressed to Kill, Fame, and The Blues Brothers were all in major release at the time. While Next Movie and did respectable business, it went on to gross even more moola when Universal released is on a double bill with John Landis’s beloved Blues Brothers later. The film picks up sometime after Cheech and Chong’s maiden cinematic outing, Up in Smoke, left off two years earlier. Written by the slapdash and seemingly always high dynamic duo and directed by the latter of the two, Next Movie plays out like their comedy album routines (“Dave” from their self-titled 1971 debut album is one of their best-known and funniest bits) which is exactly...
Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie, which opened on Friday, July 18, 1980, had stiff competition at the box office: Airplane!, The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Friday the 13th, The Blue Lagoon, The Big Red One, Dressed to Kill, Fame, and The Blues Brothers were all in major release at the time. While Next Movie and did respectable business, it went on to gross even more moola when Universal released is on a double bill with John Landis’s beloved Blues Brothers later. The film picks up sometime after Cheech and Chong’s maiden cinematic outing, Up in Smoke, left off two years earlier. Written by the slapdash and seemingly always high dynamic duo and directed by the latter of the two, Next Movie plays out like their comedy album routines (“Dave” from their self-titled 1971 debut album is one of their best-known and funniest bits) which is exactly...
- 6/28/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Martin Scorsese has shared his thoughts on Richard Schickel, the influential film critic who passed away at 84 on Saturday. Schickel wrote dozens of books, most recently his 2015 memoir “Keepers: The Greatest Films — and Personal Favorites — of a Moviegoing Lifetime,” and served as film critic for Time from 1965–2010. Read Scorsese’s statement below.
Read More: Martin Scorsese Reveals the Status of His Upcoming Film ‘Devil in the White City’ With Leonardo DiCaprio
“Richard Schickel was a very perceptive critic and a wonderful writer and documentary filmmaker,” writes the filmmaker. “As a person he was, to use a once popular term, ‘crusty,’ and he could be brutally funny. But it’s his deep and abiding love of movies that I’ll always remember about him. His early 70s PBS series ‘The Men Who Made the Movies,’ his 2004 restoration of Sam Fuller’s ‘The Big Red One,’ his wonderful little book about ‘Double Indemnity,...
Read More: Martin Scorsese Reveals the Status of His Upcoming Film ‘Devil in the White City’ With Leonardo DiCaprio
“Richard Schickel was a very perceptive critic and a wonderful writer and documentary filmmaker,” writes the filmmaker. “As a person he was, to use a once popular term, ‘crusty,’ and he could be brutally funny. But it’s his deep and abiding love of movies that I’ll always remember about him. His early 70s PBS series ‘The Men Who Made the Movies,’ his 2004 restoration of Sam Fuller’s ‘The Big Red One,’ his wonderful little book about ‘Double Indemnity,...
- 2/20/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Episode Links Past Wish List Episodes Episode 63.9 – Disc 3 – Top Criterion Blu-ray Upgrades for 2011 Episode 110 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2012 Episode 136 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2013 Episode 146 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2014 Episode 154 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2015 Episode 169 – Criterion Collection Blu-ray Upgrade Wish List for 2016 DVD to BluRay Wish Lists Aaron: The Shop on Main Street Pickup on South Street Arik: Cleo from 5 to 7 Berlin Alexanderplatz Mark: Taste of Cherry Sisters David: Do the Right Thing Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters Ld to Blu-Ray Wish Lists Aaron: Blue Velvet (Announced as Ld Spine #219 but never released) Early Hitchcock Box (Sabotage, The Secret Agent, Young and Innocent, The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much) Arik: A Night at the Opera Singin’ in the Rain Mark: 2001: A Space Odyssey The Producers David: I Am Cuba Letter From an Unknown Woman...
- 12/30/2016
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
It’s safe to say Oliver Stone isn’t exactly fashionable these days, a matter apparent in how the trailer for Snowden instantly became a punching bag on this writer’s Twitter feed. Yet film critic Matt Zoller Seitz’s behemoth of a book, The Oliver Stone Experience, should, with any luck, shift the conversation. Framed as a series of interviews with Stone conducted over the past half-decade or so and interspersed with everything from personal photos to studio-executive notes to archival reviews, this feels like the definitive text on someone once at the center of American cinema. It might not change anyone’s mind on Stone’s films, but with the man being such a raconteur, you’ll still find yourself tearing through it.
We were lucky enough to chat with Seitz over the phone about his undertaking, as well as some thoughts on American politics and cinema in general.
We were lucky enough to chat with Seitz over the phone about his undertaking, as well as some thoughts on American politics and cinema in general.
- 9/15/2016
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
We change things up by focusing on a boutique label, Twilight Time, that has found success through a unique business model. Mark and Aaron happen to be big fans, and feel that we have directly contributed towards some of their profits. We talk about the company, their business model, why they have succeeded, and we address some common critiques. We also review a few discs each, and finally count down our favorite Twilight Time titles.
About Nick Redman:
London-born Nick Redman, one of Hollywood’s leading producers of movie music, is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. An Academy Award nominee as producer of the 1996 Warner Brothers documentary, The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage, he went on to write, produce, and direct A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers (1998), which became a prize-winner at multiple film festivals.
As a consultant to the Fox Music...
About Nick Redman:
London-born Nick Redman, one of Hollywood’s leading producers of movie music, is also an award-winning documentary filmmaker. An Academy Award nominee as producer of the 1996 Warner Brothers documentary, The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage, he went on to write, produce, and direct A Turning of the Earth: John Ford, John Wayne and The Searchers (1998), which became a prize-winner at multiple film festivals.
As a consultant to the Fox Music...
- 9/13/2016
- by Aaron West
- CriterionCast
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock,...
Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock,...
- 8/30/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The irrepressible Sam Fuller fashions a crime thriller for German TV with his expected eccentricity: old-fashioned hardboiled scripting, freeform direction and bits of graffiti from the French New Wave. Christa Lang is the femme fatale and Glenn Corbett is the twofisted American hero, whose name is Not Griff. And yes, a pigeon does bite the pavement on Beethoven Street, and I tell you, that's one dead pigeon. Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street Blu-ray Olive Films 1974 / Color / 1:33 flat full frame (for German TV / 127 min. / Tote Taube in der Beethovenstraße / Street Date April 19, 2016 / / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95 Starring Glenn Corbett, Christa Lang, Sieghardt Rupp, Anton Diffring, Stéphane Audran, Alexander D'Arcy, Anthony Chinn. Cinematography Jerzy Lipman Film Editor Liesgret Schmitt-Klink Original Music The Can German dialogue by Manfred R. Köhler Produced by Joachim von Mengershausen Written and Directed by Samuel Fuller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Not that it helped Sam Fuller's career much,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Not that it helped Sam Fuller's career much,...
- 4/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Each year, the Library of Congress selects 25 films to be named to the National Film Registry, a proclamation of commitment to preserving the chosen pictures for all time. They can be big studio pictures or experimental short films, goofball comedies or poetic meditations on life. The National Film Registery "showcases the extraordinary diversity of America’s film heritage and the disparate strands making it so vibrant" and by preserving the films, the Library of Congress hopes to "a crucial element of American creativity, culture and history.” This year’s selections span the period 1913 to 2004 and include a number of films you’re familiar with. Unless you’ve never heard of "Saving Private Ryan," "The Big Lebowski," “Rosemary’s Baby” or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Highlights from the list include the aforementioned film, Arthur Penn’s Western "Little Big Man," John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, “Luxo Jr.," 1953’s “House of Wax,...
- 12/17/2014
- by Matt Patches
- Hitfix
Spanning the years 1913-2004, the 25 films to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for 2014 include Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man, John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski. The annual selection helps to ensure that the movies will be preserved for all time. This year’s list brings the number of films in the registry to 650.
Also on the list are John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, Luxo Jr; the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder; and Howard Hawks’ classic 1959 Western Rio Bravo. Documentaries and silent films also make up part of the selection which represents titles that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant; they must also each be at least 10 years old. Check out the rundown of all 25 movies below:
2014 National Film Registry...
Also on the list are John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, Luxo Jr; the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder; and Howard Hawks’ classic 1959 Western Rio Bravo. Documentaries and silent films also make up part of the selection which represents titles that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant; they must also each be at least 10 years old. Check out the rundown of all 25 movies below:
2014 National Film Registry...
- 12/17/2014
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline
A photograph of Samuel Fuller in "the shack."
It is always well to remember that documentaries are first of all films like other films, meaning that no less than fictional narrative movies, they too have a narrative shaped by the vision of their maker and are not only about their subjects but also are that vision and the individual elements that make it up. So, in A Fuller Life there are a number of choices that Samantha Fuller as director has made, for example to film in “the shack”—the bungalow her father kept as office and filled with his memorabilia from his days as a crime reporter, an infantryman in WWII, a writer and filmmaker; or to use her “readers” (including both actors—mostly from Fuller’s movies—and some well-chosen directors) dramatically, effectively acting their readings from Fuller’s posthumous autobiography A Third Face; or, very simply, to...
It is always well to remember that documentaries are first of all films like other films, meaning that no less than fictional narrative movies, they too have a narrative shaped by the vision of their maker and are not only about their subjects but also are that vision and the individual elements that make it up. So, in A Fuller Life there are a number of choices that Samantha Fuller as director has made, for example to film in “the shack”—the bungalow her father kept as office and filled with his memorabilia from his days as a crime reporter, an infantryman in WWII, a writer and filmmaker; or to use her “readers” (including both actors—mostly from Fuller’s movies—and some well-chosen directors) dramatically, effectively acting their readings from Fuller’s posthumous autobiography A Third Face; or, very simply, to...
- 11/21/2014
- by Blake Lucas
- MUBI
Dave Worrall reports from London, where the film is scheduled to open this week.
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There was no laughter in the audience following this morning's press show for David Ayer's WWII drama Fury - just stunned silence, as we all walked out feeling battered and bruised after watching two hours of the most brutal and realistic scenes of war ever captured on film. Set in the last month of the European theatre of war in April 1945, as the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany, we are introduced to the world of four tough GI's and their new rookie, who go into battle in their tank named 'Fury'. It's dark and grim, and portrays the horrors of war similar to that of the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan - but far worse. As the film unfolds you...
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There was no laughter in the audience following this morning's press show for David Ayer's WWII drama Fury - just stunned silence, as we all walked out feeling battered and bruised after watching two hours of the most brutal and realistic scenes of war ever captured on film. Set in the last month of the European theatre of war in April 1945, as the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany, we are introduced to the world of four tough GI's and their new rookie, who go into battle in their tank named 'Fury'. It's dark and grim, and portrays the horrors of war similar to that of the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan - but far worse. As the film unfolds you...
- 10/19/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
From October 8 to 19, the 43rd edition of the Festival du nouveau cinéma will run. This year’s lineup of 380 films (152 features and 228 shorts from 55 countries) includes 40 world premieres, 51 North American premieres and 41 Canadian premieres. The festival opens with the English language debut of Philippe Falardeau, The Good Lie and closes with the feature documentary The Salt of the Earth co-directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
Always balancing the best of local and world cinema, this year’s line-up features favourites of the festival circuit including a number of key world premieres. Some key releases include, Félix and Meira (winner of best Canadian feature at Tiff), Adieu au langage (Jean- Luc Godard), Horse Money (Pedro Costa), Hard to Be a God (Aleksey German), Jauja (Lisandro Alonso), Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg), P’tit Quinquin (Bruno Dumont), Wild (Jean-Marc Vallee), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour...
Always balancing the best of local and world cinema, this year’s line-up features favourites of the festival circuit including a number of key world premieres. Some key releases include, Félix and Meira (winner of best Canadian feature at Tiff), Adieu au langage (Jean- Luc Godard), Horse Money (Pedro Costa), Hard to Be a God (Aleksey German), Jauja (Lisandro Alonso), Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg), P’tit Quinquin (Bruno Dumont), Wild (Jean-Marc Vallee), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour...
- 9/23/2014
- by Justine Smith
- SoundOnSight
Samuel Fuller didn't do anything halfway, either in his life, or with his movies. His filmography reads like punch after punch of hard-hitting films — "Park Row," "Underworld U.S.A.," "Shock Corridor," "The Naked Kiss," "The Big Red One" — and it was 1982's "White Dog" that got him in particular trouble. The controversial film about dog trained to attack black people unsurprisingly found him at odds with Paramount, so Fuller went into self-imposed exile in France, where among his many activities, he turned to novel writing. It's something he had always done throughout his career, and even you might know his "The Dark Page" though the film version, "Scandal Street" (that was not directed by Fuller). However, "Brainquake," written during his foray abroad, fell through the cracks. The book was released overseas, published only in French and Japanese, and rather remarkably, never saw an English...
- 8/26/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
In 1993, disillusioned with the film industry and living in France, Sam Fuller - director of I Shot Jesse James, The Big Red One and White Dog - set pen to paper with the tale of a brain damaged mafia bagman trying to help a dead colleague's widow. The result, titled Brainquake, would prove to be the final effort in Fuller's long literary career and yet would never actually make it into print, not until now. Titan Books are releasing Fuller's lost final effort on August 12th and we've got an exclusive excerpt for you below. Find your own copy here.------------------------ Word was spreading there was not just a gun but a bomb under the baby's ass. Barricades had been rushed in, hastily erected, barely...
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[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 8/11/2014
- Screen Anarchy
"In the end, they would hose out the blood, slap on some paint, and grab some cooks and clerks to crew up the vehicle again," David Ayer tells Michael Cieply at the New York Times, referring to his new film Fury, which several Oscar pundits were much higher on than I was initially, but this new editorial has me singing a different tune. As much as I loved Ayer's End of Watch (it made my top ten in 2012), his films have never been Oscar fodder. Even Training Day, which AYer wrote and Antoine Fuqua directed, saw Denzel Washington win an Oscar and Ethan Hawke also nominated. It didn't, however, earn a Best Picture or screenplay nomination. Add to that the dismal reaction to Ayer's Sabotage earlier this year from critics and audiences alike (I've still yet to see it) and it just appears he's a filmmaker with a touch outside the Oscar realm.
- 8/4/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
As we continue with the list, we still see a lot of World War II, but throw in some World War I and Persian Gulf War, too. While some of the films in this portion of the list spin the war film into something a little more ingenious, it doesn’t completely rule out the idea of a patriotic call to arms film. We also see a few more foreign language films on the list, as well as some Oscar winners for their work. Without further ado, let’s light this candle.
courtesy of toutlecine.com
30. Black Book (2006)
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Conflict: World War II
In 2008, the Dutch public named it the greatest Dutch film ever made. Who am I to argue? A surprisingly complete film from a director who has Showgirls and Hollow Man under his belt (and Starship Troopers and Robocop…I can’t be too hard...
courtesy of toutlecine.com
30. Black Book (2006)
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Conflict: World War II
In 2008, the Dutch public named it the greatest Dutch film ever made. Who am I to argue? A surprisingly complete film from a director who has Showgirls and Hollow Man under his belt (and Starship Troopers and Robocop…I can’t be too hard...
- 6/18/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
So, I guess there's a bit of a problem with making these things harder, which is not many of you want to even try. At the same time, if I make it too easy, then you guess it right away. I'm not sure what the best option is with this because I really like this game, but it's no fun if someone gets them right away, nor is it fun if not many of you guess. Oh well, my problem I guess... That said, here are the answers to this latest graphic. If you want to browse the graphic before seeing the answers don't scroll below the image below or just click here or on the picture for a larger look in another window. Otherwise, I have posted the answers just below the picture. Thanks for participating! ... and here's the color version... Mr. & Mrs. Smith The Sword of Doom Tropic Thunder...
- 6/6/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Big Red One
Written and directed by Samuel Fuller
USA, 1980
When a director like Samuel Fuller finally gets the chance to make his passion project, rest assured, there’s going to be more than a little of the man himself in the movie. With Fuller, this would have undoubtedly been the case no matter what type of film it was, but when the film is an autobiographical World War II yarn about the first infantry division — the “fighting first” — the filmmaker’s stamp is evident from start to finish. The Big Red One is an episodic chronicle of this military assembly, here focused on The Sergeant (Lee Marvin, adding classic film respectability), and the “four horsemen,” Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill, adding contemporary film marketability), Pvt. Zab (Robert Carradine), Pvt. Vinci (Bobby Di Cicco), and Pvt. Johnson (Kelly Ward). The men who make up the four horsemen, a label that...
Written and directed by Samuel Fuller
USA, 1980
When a director like Samuel Fuller finally gets the chance to make his passion project, rest assured, there’s going to be more than a little of the man himself in the movie. With Fuller, this would have undoubtedly been the case no matter what type of film it was, but when the film is an autobiographical World War II yarn about the first infantry division — the “fighting first” — the filmmaker’s stamp is evident from start to finish. The Big Red One is an episodic chronicle of this military assembly, here focused on The Sergeant (Lee Marvin, adding classic film respectability), and the “four horsemen,” Pvt. Griff (Mark Hamill, adding contemporary film marketability), Pvt. Zab (Robert Carradine), Pvt. Vinci (Bobby Di Cicco), and Pvt. Johnson (Kelly Ward). The men who make up the four horsemen, a label that...
- 5/23/2014
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
(Samuel Fuller, 1982; Eureka!, 15)
One of American cinema's true mavericks, Samuel Fuller (1912-97), had two major careers first as a crime reporter for New York tabloids, then as a much-decorated Us infantry sergeant in the second world war before becoming a writer-director. His heyday was the 1950s, making bold thrillers, westerns and war movies, mostly on small budgets. Later he fell on hard times with films aborted, abandoned, butchered and shelved. But he also became a cult figure, revered by European critics and younger filmmakers, the latter giving him cameo roles.
In the early 80s, however, he got to make two highly personal movies, though neither was well handled by their distributors. The Big Red One, his second world war memoir starring Lee Marvin, was well received at Cannes but not widely shown in Fuller's version until after his death. The other, White Dog, is an allegorical melodrama based on an...
One of American cinema's true mavericks, Samuel Fuller (1912-97), had two major careers first as a crime reporter for New York tabloids, then as a much-decorated Us infantry sergeant in the second world war before becoming a writer-director. His heyday was the 1950s, making bold thrillers, westerns and war movies, mostly on small budgets. Later he fell on hard times with films aborted, abandoned, butchered and shelved. But he also became a cult figure, revered by European critics and younger filmmakers, the latter giving him cameo roles.
In the early 80s, however, he got to make two highly personal movies, though neither was well handled by their distributors. The Big Red One, his second world war memoir starring Lee Marvin, was well received at Cannes but not widely shown in Fuller's version until after his death. The other, White Dog, is an allegorical melodrama based on an...
- 4/26/2014
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
One of Hollywood's true maverick filmmakers, Sam Fuller was never a man to shy away from tackling important social and political issues in his films. Famously, he was the first American filmmaker to tackle the Korean War, in The Steel Helmet, mental illness (among other issues) in Shock Corridor, and child abuse in The Naked Kiss. So when Paramount executives Jon Davison and Don Simpson were scrambling to get a bunch of projects through production ahead of an upcoming writers' strike in 1981, who better to take on the long-gestating White Dog than Fuller, hot again after the recent success of The Big Red One.White Dog is adapted from an autobiographical novel written by Romain Gray, which told the story of how he and his...
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- 4/14/2014
- Screen Anarchy
Stars: Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield, Jameson Parker, Helen Siff, Christa Lang, Vernon Weddle, Paul Bartel | Written by Samuel Fuller, Curtis Hanson | Directed by Samuel Fuller
In 1982, the late Massachusetts film-maker, Samuel Fuller (The Big Red One, Shock Corridor) took his place behind the camera to tell a story of racism, hope, neglect and terror in the wonderful, chilling, poignant and ruthless film, White Dog.
Based on a true life story that was published at one time in Life Magazine in the 1970′s, White Dog follows the character of Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) who accidentally hits a dog with her car while on a night drive in a secluded forest-heavy area of the Hollywood hills. She takes in the dog after being informed that the pound would put him to sleep, and soon finds that the dog, a white German Shepard, though loyal to her, has a dark and violent tendency...
In 1982, the late Massachusetts film-maker, Samuel Fuller (The Big Red One, Shock Corridor) took his place behind the camera to tell a story of racism, hope, neglect and terror in the wonderful, chilling, poignant and ruthless film, White Dog.
Based on a true life story that was published at one time in Life Magazine in the 1970′s, White Dog follows the character of Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) who accidentally hits a dog with her car while on a night drive in a secluded forest-heavy area of the Hollywood hills. She takes in the dog after being informed that the pound would put him to sleep, and soon finds that the dog, a white German Shepard, though loyal to her, has a dark and violent tendency...
- 4/12/2014
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
While Sam Fuller is best known for being the filmmaker behind such classics as "Naked Kiss," "Pickup On South Street," "Shock Corridor," "The Big Red One" and more, he was also an author. Not only did he pen novelizations for some of his films, he also wrote a small handful of original works too, and one that has never seen the light of day in the English language is now coming. Titan and Hard Case Crime are bringing "Brainquake" to shelves this September. It was penned by Fuller while he was in self-imposed exile in France, fighting with Paramount over the cut of "White Dog." And it sounds like another perfectly pulpy tale from the writer/director. Check out the synopsis and artwork for the book below. And be sure to check out our feature on Fuller's essential films. The bagmen who transport money for organized crime live by a...
- 2/13/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
It seems James Franco is now the hardest-working man in show-business -- if you look back at his 2013, that is.
Franco's multi-tasking started to seem like a Joaquin Phoenix-style put-on a couple years ago; not only was he writing, directing, and starring in various films, but he was also, it seemed, studying for graduate degrees at several universities at once. But then, it became apparent that he really was spreading himself too thin when he practically fell asleep onstage while co-hosting the 2011 Oscars. He took a lot of flak for that, but he hardly seems to have lessened his pace.
Indeed, the Oscar jokes ceased once Franco returned to the good graces of moviegoers with the 2013 smash "Oz the Great and Powerful."
According to IMDb, Franco worked on some 49 film and TV projects in 2013, and while many of those were just guest spots on talk shows, that still means that,...
Franco's multi-tasking started to seem like a Joaquin Phoenix-style put-on a couple years ago; not only was he writing, directing, and starring in various films, but he was also, it seemed, studying for graduate degrees at several universities at once. But then, it became apparent that he really was spreading himself too thin when he practically fell asleep onstage while co-hosting the 2011 Oscars. He took a lot of flak for that, but he hardly seems to have lessened his pace.
Indeed, the Oscar jokes ceased once Franco returned to the good graces of moviegoers with the 2013 smash "Oz the Great and Powerful."
According to IMDb, Franco worked on some 49 film and TV projects in 2013, and while many of those were just guest spots on talk shows, that still means that,...
- 12/26/2013
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Like most right-minded film fans we're big fans of Sam Fuller (check out our list of essential films from the director). Kicking of his career as a crime reporter and novelist, Fuller soon found his way to Hollywood and after serving in World War Two as an infantryman, became a film director. Generally favoring low-budget and independently-produced pictures, but not averse to working within the studio system (he had a good relationship with Daryl Zanuck), he knocked out a string of genre classics — from "Pickup On South Street" and "Forty Guns" to "Shock Corridor" and his epic autobiographical masterpiece "The Big Red One" — that quietly influenced many of your favourite directors. So to say we were excited to see "A Fuller Life" tucked away in the Venice program would be an understatement. Directed by the great filmmaker's daughter Samantha, a former glass artist, it promised to dig into the man's fascinating life and tremendous work,...
- 9/2/2013
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Every time I see a Jean Grémillon film, I write about it for The Forgotten. I'm now going to break with tradition slightly, because thanks to the Edinburgh Film Festival's Grémillon retrospective, subtitled Symphonies of Life, I've now seen too many films to catch up on except through a kind of overview, which I will now attempt. I should stress that the retrospective isn't over yet, I haven't been able to see all of it, and anyway there are some films not showing. So this should be considered a work in progress.
Between La petite Lise (1930), which deserves to be considered alongside Lang's M when early sound cinema is discussed, and Gueule d'amour (1937), a magnificent melodrama that works along far more stylistically conventional lines, it's been hard to see exactly what kind of filmmaker Grémillon is. A great one, certainly, but what qualities unite his work?
This is now a bit clearer to me.
Between La petite Lise (1930), which deserves to be considered alongside Lang's M when early sound cinema is discussed, and Gueule d'amour (1937), a magnificent melodrama that works along far more stylistically conventional lines, it's been hard to see exactly what kind of filmmaker Grémillon is. A great one, certainly, but what qualities unite his work?
This is now a bit clearer to me.
- 7/8/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
I probably could have waited to post the following graphic on Monday and had more takers, but I never intended to post it in the first place as it merely came out of the result of me working on a new feature for the site. That said, many of you still got in the game and I had a lot of fun on Twitter last night with people guessing some of the more difficult titles. As it turns out, it was numbers 13, 19, 22 and 23 that gave people the most trouble, 13 proving to be the hardest of the lot as only Andre Marques got that right in the comments (as of 9 Am Pst this morning) and one person on Twitter last night finally guessed it after several hints and attempts. I applaud all of you for your efforts! I was astonished how many people got #33 correct and quite honestly, surprised any of you got #22. That said,...
- 6/30/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 363 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies, the Up docs and Decalogue) and of those 363, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I've mentioned before how several years ago I created a list using Roger Ebert's Great Movies, Oscar Best Picture winners, IMDb's Top 250, etc. and began going through them doing my best to see as many of the films on these lists that I had not seen as I possibly could to up my film I.Q. Well, someone has gone through the exhaustive effort to take all of the films Roger Ebert wrote about in his three "Great Movies" books, all of which are compiled on his website and added them to a Letterbxd list and I've added that list below. I'm not positive every movie on his list is here, but by my count there are 362 different titles listed (more if you count the trilogies and Decalogue) and of those 362, I have personally seen 229 and have added an * next to those I've seen. Clearly I have some work to do,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Attention war film buffs: there are three exciting, scheduled new releases to put in your diaries for 2013. Each is based on a true story, two from WW2 and one from Vietnam, so it will be interesting to see – if you are a stickler for ‘authenticity’ like me – just how closely each sticks to the historical facts.
First up is The Railway Man from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky (Better Than Sex, 2000; Burning Man, 2011), which stars Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is currently in post-production, and is set for release in Australia in April 2013 and then worldwide in May.
It tells the story of Eric Lomax, a young British Army signals officer who was captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore in 1942 then forced to work as a slave-labourer on the notorious Burma-Thailand railway – and promises to be a much more ‘authentic’ film than David Lean’s 1957 blockbuster, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
First up is The Railway Man from Australian director Jonathan Teplitzky (Better Than Sex, 2000; Burning Man, 2011), which stars Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is currently in post-production, and is set for release in Australia in April 2013 and then worldwide in May.
It tells the story of Eric Lomax, a young British Army signals officer who was captured by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore in 1942 then forced to work as a slave-labourer on the notorious Burma-Thailand railway – and promises to be a much more ‘authentic’ film than David Lean’s 1957 blockbuster, The Bridge on the River Kwai.
- 11/29/2012
- by Roger Bourke
- SoundOnSight
It’S Sold Out!!! That means if you are holding or have ordered your copy of the the 199o Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead as released by Twilight Time you are holding a thing of value, clearly collectible and highly in demand. Your dilemma now, before you open it, is if you wanna pawn it on Ebay to make a quick $200 or do you wanna rip open the packaging, smell the beautiful 8 page booklet inside and be a part of an elite club of 3000 folks who “got in” while the getting was good. There’s no guarantee that you won’t see another pressing of this release; Twilight Time is more than clear about that always being a potential. What should be fair to say is that if you are fan of this movie and you love Blu-ray, this is a disc that you should have in your collection.
- 10/5/2012
- by Jimmy Terror
- The Liberal Dead
Few writer-directors in the history of American cinema fit the definition of “maverick” better than the late Samuel Fuller. Brash and bold, he used his experiences as a newsboy, reporter, and infantryman to inform his best movies, from Park Row and The Steel Helmet to The Big Red One. If you admire his films and haven’t read his autobiography, A Third Face, you have a real treat in store. Fuller’s daughter Samantha has set out to make a documentary about her father to commemorate his 100th birthday this year, making use of material that hasn’t been mined in the existing docs that cover his colorful life and career. Like so many filmmakers (and...
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- 9/28/2012
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Samuel Fuller's Bell and Howell Camera / © Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California, Coll. Christa Fuller John Ford, George Stevens, and Samuel Fuller entertained audiences with American cinema classics like The Grapes of Wrath, Shane, and The Big Red One. But their most important contribution to history was their work in the U.S. Armed Forces and Secret Services. The Museum of Jewish Heritage's new exhibition, Filming the Camps: John Ford, Samuel Fuller, George Stevens: From Hollywood to Nuremberg, presents rare footage of the liberation of Dachau with detailed directors' notes and the documentary produced as evidence for the Nuremberg trials. One fascinating thing about the exhibit is that it enables us to view the footage in its historical context and read the accompanying narratives written by the cameramen and writers, practically in real-time, as soon as they finished shooting for the day.
- 5/1/2012
- TribecaFilm.com
Yes, those enigmatic cinematics are back with the launch of Season 2 of their popular podcast. So far this season the Crew has release three episodes as well as a Halloween Music Special, and there’s no stopping them now.
Here’s what’s been unleashed so far…
Episode 1
Well, they’re back… with a whole new look, a streamlined format, and a bunch of new contributors… all designed to slap your face and call you “Shirley.”
Ok, so… Season 2 Episode 1. First off, as always, there’s the Mighty Canuck Andrew Mack bringing you all the news that fit to cruise in his Twitch News of the Week. Next up, Sean and Thom go over a few of the films they’ve watched (and these by no means even scratch the surface of the amount of cinema these guys watch) over the break. After that, there’s Jonathan Lloyd Walker fresh...
Here’s what’s been unleashed so far…
Episode 1
Well, they’re back… with a whole new look, a streamlined format, and a bunch of new contributors… all designed to slap your face and call you “Shirley.”
Ok, so… Season 2 Episode 1. First off, as always, there’s the Mighty Canuck Andrew Mack bringing you all the news that fit to cruise in his Twitch News of the Week. Next up, Sean and Thom go over a few of the films they’ve watched (and these by no means even scratch the surface of the amount of cinema these guys watch) over the break. After that, there’s Jonathan Lloyd Walker fresh...
- 11/3/2011
- by Carnell
- DreadCentral.com
This year's Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Lafca) Career Achievement Award recipient Doris Day is only the fourth woman to be so honored, following Barbara Stanwyck (1981), Myrna Loy (right, 1983), and Dede Allen (1999). [Los Angeles Film Critics Career Achievement Award Winners.] The selection of Doris Day for the 2011 Career Achievement Award is unusual for a couple of reasons. First of all, Day is a woman. Whether in Los Angeles or elsewhere, whether we're talking about film critics' groups, film academies, or film festivals, men are the ones who almost invariably have their contributions to motion pictures recognized. The issue here is not political correctness on my part; anyone who has read my posts on this website knows I despise and fear political correctness the way I despise and fear any sort of illness that corrodes the mind. It's just that I'm not going to argue with the facts. As for the other reason that makes Day's selection unusual, a...
- 10/30/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Velvet Bullets and Steel Kisses: Celebrating the Nikkatsu Centennial was a sidebar at this year's New York Film Festival that Dan Sallitt, writing a couple of weeks ago, found "so exciting that it threatens to overshadow the main slate: a retrospective of the Japanese studio Nikkatsu, whose opportunistic shifts of focus always seemed to open doors for some of Japan's most creative filmmakers. Compare film magazine Kinema Junpo's 1999 and 2009 lists of all-time greatest Japanese films to the Lincoln Center series schedule, and count the overlaps." Last year in the Notebook, Dan reviewed one of the 37 films in the series, Tomu Uchida's Earth (1939).
"The sidebar is peppered with nearly impossible to see rediscoveries," notes Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "early silent films like 1927's A Diary of Chuji's Travels and harshly realistic World War II dramas like Mud and Soldiers. Shot on location in China in 1939, the latter film blends...
"The sidebar is peppered with nearly impossible to see rediscoveries," notes Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "early silent films like 1927's A Diary of Chuji's Travels and harshly realistic World War II dramas like Mud and Soldiers. Shot on location in China in 1939, the latter film blends...
- 10/16/2011
- MUBI
Samuel Fuller was a real hero. Long before he ever directed a movie, he had already had an extremely rich and colorful life. He was a crime reporter for a New York tabloid, a published novelist, and then a corporal throughout America’s involvement in World War II, going wherever the First Infantry (known as “The Big Red One”) went, which was practically every major theater of operation in the western hemisphere. Sammy was on the beach at Normandy on D-Day, and at the liberation of concentration camps. Wherever he was, he usually carried a 16mm camera and filmed a great…...
- 10/5/2011
- Blogdanovich
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