News

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Banel & Adama (Ramata-Toulaye Sy)

A directorial debut programmed into the main Cannes competition is typically viewed with suspicion, if not overlooked altogether. Very rare is that lightning-in-a-bottle moment like the arrival of Son of Saul some years back. Typically, the only conversation these debuts generate is the critical debate as to why they’ve been elevated to the top of the pile when there are far more striking debuts buried deeper within the festival. This often means that accomplished films are overlooked and underappreciated by those on the ground, who may be subconsciously comparing a striking feature to the work of more established names it’s competing against for the Palme d’Or, approaching each debut with a “show me” attitude it...

Writing on Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island in 2010, Anthony Lane whipped a quote from Umberto Eco: “Two cliches make us laugh but a hundred clichés move us, because we sense dimly that the clichés are talking among themselves, celebrating a reunion.” Eco’s words resonate even stronger in Christmas Eve at Miller’s Point, a fascinating simulacrum of festive movies in which references to annual favorites are thrust together with about as much delicacy as the family it tenderly depicts. The island isn’t Shutter but Long, specifically a small town in Suffolk County where we meet four generations of the Bolsanos, a blue-collar family going through the motions and rituals of their annual get-together, adoring and enduring each other as best they can in what might be their last year in the family home. The filmmaker behind this delicate, strange, reflective bauble is Tyler Taormina, co-founder of the...

.

Where do you look when trying to reinvent “Pinocchio?” How do you bring Carlo Collodi’s novel to the modern world when another, beloved animated version has existed for over 80 years? You look outside of animation, of course. For “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” cinematographer Frank Passingham took inspiration from live-action to give a brand new look to the the tale of a wooden boy brought to life.

“There was one film in particular I wanted my lighting camera people to watch, and that was ‘The Godfather,'” Passingham told IndieWire. “I’m a big fan of Gordon Willis because he has a very naturalistic approach that emphasizes and brings out drama.” For Passingham, Willis’ work on Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” and its sequel became the key to subverting what audiences expect “Pinocchio” to look and feel like. Though the film still features a talking cricket, magical beings,...

Spartacus

Spartacus, 3.10pm, ITV4, Monday, August 29

Sword and sandals epics don't come much more stylish than this tale of slave revolt in Rome from Stanley Kubrick. And heroes don't get much more iconic than Kirk Douglas' Thracian slave with a passion for freedom, with the declaration: "I'm Spartacus!" still holding cultural weight 60 years on. It's not just Douglas who holds the attention, there's plenty of depth in the cast, from Peter Ustinov, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for turn as gladiator dealer Bataitus (Douglas missed out on a nomination), to Charles Laughton and Laurence Olivier as scheming senators and Jean Simmons as the love interest. The gladiatorial scenes are where the film really grabs the attention, however, still gripping despite the passage of time and shot with verve by Russell Metty, who also won a cinematography Oscar for his efforts.

The Queen, 8pm, ITV, Tuesday, August...

It’s one of the best cop shows of the 1960s! Detective Madigan’s police .38 is stolen by a mad-dog killer, forcing him to take extra risks just as more problems personal and professional close in on him. Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens and Harry Guardino give sterling performances, and the assured direction of Don Siegel keeps us on edge throughout. Siegel’s editing is extra-kinetic, and for warped screen villainy, Steve Ihnat’s maniac has no equal.

Madigan

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen (Techniscope) / 101 min. / Street Date September 12, 2022 / available through Powerhouse / £15.99

Starring: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Steve Ihnat, Don Stroud, Sheree North, Warren Stevens, Raymond St. Jacques, Bert Freed, Harry Bellaver, Frank Marth, Lloyd Gough, Virginia Gregg, Woodrow Parfrey, Conrad Bain.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Milton Shifman

Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock

Original Music: Don Costa...

Click here to read the full article.

On July 2, 1946, director-star Orson Welles unveiled noir film The Stranger in Los Angeles. The film went on to earn a nomination in the writing category at the 19th Academy Awards. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review, titled “‘The Stranger’ Will Know High Boxoffice Returns,” is below:

In The Stranger, International Pictures delivers the sixth and final feature for release through Rko-Radio. It is an entertainment of the same high quality that has distinguished previous product by the Leo Spitz-William Goetz organization which will schedule future releases through United World Pictures. Produced by S. P. Eagle and directed by Orson Welles, who with Edward C. Robinson and Loretta Young comprise the trio of stars, boxoffice expectancies are exceptionally strong for this tense and suspenseful melodrama. It starts out on the note of a chase, thoughtfully develops every possible punch, builds legitimate interest in the...

One of Orson Welles’ best has arrived in 4K! Kino Lorber has revived Universal’s 3-version study of the bordertown crime & corruption drama, that knocks us out with Welles’ colorful, weird characters, intricate scene blocking and infinitely creative camera work. Almost all of the extras from the earlier DVD and Blu-ray editions are here, with added expert commentary (the tally of tracks is now five). The performances are superb — Welles won’t lay off the candy bars, Janet Leigh wisely avoids the motel shower and Charlton Heston is actually fine as a ‘pretty unlikely’ Mexican. We’ve seen this show ten times — it’s so dense that each viewing brings new revelations.

Touch of Evil 4K

4K Ultra HD

Kl Studio Classics

1958-1998 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 96, 109, 111 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Joseph Calleia, Akim Tamiroff, Ray Collins, Joanna Moore,...

Spartacus Spartacus, 2.10pm, ITV4, Monday, May 2

Few films scream "perfect Bank Holiday viewing" more than this stylish sword and sandals epic from Stanley Kubrick. And heroes don't get much more iconic than Kirk Douglas' Thracian slave with a passion for freedom, with the declaration: "I'm Spartacus!" still holding cultural weight 60 years on. It's not just Douglas who holds the attention in this tale of slave revolt in Rome, there's plenty of depth in the cast, from Peter Ustinov, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for turn as gladiator dealer Bataitus (Douglas missed out on a nomination), to Charles Laughton and Laurence Olivier as scheming senators and Jean Simmons as the love interest. The gladiatorial scenes are where the film really grabs the attention, however, still gripping despite the passage of time and shot with verve by Russell Metty, who also won a cinematography Oscar for his efforts.

Two Faces of.

“I’m filthy — period!” With an ideal cast — Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone — director Douglas Sirk tells a tale with everything the ’50s wouldn’t allow — lust, nymphomania, impotence, the works. It’s perhaps Sirk’s most accomplished, self-contained masterpiece — a glamorous soap with absorbing characters caught in a cycle of unfulfilled desires. An oil dynasty comes tumbling down because the heir is “tortured by a secret that made him lash out at all he loved!” I keep expecting bathos, but this great show makes its world come alive.

Written on the Wind

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 96

1956 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 1, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Edward Platt, Harry Shannon, John Larch, Joseph Granby, Roy Glenn, Maidie Norman, William Schallert, Kevin Corcoran, Cynthia Patrick.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Art Directors: Robert Clatworthy,...

Burt Lancaster and Edward G. Robinson are excellent in this adaptation of Arthur Miller’s award-winning Broadway play, about a family torn apart by the denial of dark secrets from the WW2 homefront. Mady Christians is the mother who refuses to accept her son’s death, and Louisa Horton and Howard Duff the brother and sister trying to understand how their father could ship defective war materiel responsible for needless combat deaths. The show is powerful, even with Miller’s social message muted — and director Irving Reis gets it all on screen.

All My Sons

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 94 min. / Street Date January 4, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Burt Lancaster, Mady Christians, Louisa Horton, Howard Duff, Lloyd Gough, Harry Morgan, Arlene Francis, Elisabeth Fraser.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Art Directors: Hilyard Brown, Bernard Herzbrun

Film Editor: Ralph Dawson

Original Music: Leith Stevens

Written for...

This dubious mix of war combat and faith-based inspiration is as well directed as any of Douglas Sirk’s films, even if literally every scene seems to be saying the wrong thing. Combat pilot Col. Dean Hess helped found and publicize a major orphanage in South Korea, but as personified by a pious Rock Hudson his story comes off as a public relations gambit. A fine cast empowers the grandstanding bid for sainthood, where ‘Killer Hess’ channels his guilt into good works. The aerial footage is outstanding — Sirk really loved his airplanes.

Battle Hymn

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date April 27, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Rock Hudson, Dan Duryea, Anna Kashfi, James Edwards, Martha Hyer, Philip Ahn, James Hong, Don DeFore, Jock Mahoney, Carl Benton Reid, Alan Hale Jr., Bartlett Robinson, Carleton Young, William Hudson.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth

Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen,...

This show has everything going for it, in fact, it has Too much going for it: tragic drama, silly comedy, bland heart-tugs and saucy romance. Everybody’s working across purposes, with ‘stunt’ guest star Bobby Darin preening for awards attention. Angie Dickinson, Tony Curtis and Eddie Albert are terrific but are acting in different movies; and Gregory Peck seems out of his depth altogether. Does it keep our attention? You bet. Does it work? I’m not so sure.

Captain Newman, M.D.

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1963 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 126 min. / Street Date January 5, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Gregory Peck, Tony Curtis, Angie Dickinson, Bobby Darin, Eddie Albert, Robert Duvall, Bethel Leslie, Dick Sargent, James Gregory, Larry Storch, Jane Withers, Vito Scotti, Gregory Walcott, Ann Doran, Martin West, David Winters.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Alma Macrorie

Music: Frank Skinner

Written by Richard L. Breen, Phoebe & Henry Ephron from...

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

“Lurid Love And Noir”

By Raymond Benson

Film historian Jeremy Arnold, who provides the excellent audio commentary as a supplement for the terrific Blu-ray release of Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, says the movie’s title is remarkably “lurid.” The Production Code people obviously had a problem with the title and tried to get it changed, but an appeal from up and coming star Burt Lancaster, whose newly formed production company (co-founded with Harold Hecht) made the picture, resulted in the “lurid” title staying in place.

The film does not live up to the implied sensationalism. While we do get a dark, at times brutal, and cynical piece of film noir, we also get an atypical love story at the picture’s heart.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands, from 1948, is based on a novel by Gerald Butler, and was adapted by...

Today’s noir forecast is vice, kidnapping, murder, suicide, narcotics and a sleazy stolen baby racket! Kino’s third volume of Universal-International pix contains two seldom-screened quality urban noirs. Expect genuine dark themes in these sizable-budget location noirs filmed before Universal pulled most production back onto its one-size-fits-all backlot sets. Barbara Stanwyck dominates one show, while noir stalwarts Richard Conte and Dennis O’Keefe anchor the other two dramas, with dynamic showings by Coleen Gray, Edith Barrett, Peggy Dow, Jeanette Nolan, Meg Randall and especially Gale Storm.

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema III

Abandoned, The Lady Gambles, The Sleeping City

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1949-50 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 79,99,86 min. / Street Date June 9, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.99

Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Gale Storm, Jeff Chandler, Meg Randall, Raymond Burr, Marjorie Rambeau, Jeanette Nolan, Mike Mazurki, Will Kuluva, David Clarke; Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Preston, Stephen McNally, Edith Barrett, John Hoyt,...

Although only one of these 1950s B&w thrillers falls within a mile of a hard definition of film noir, all give us glamorous actresses in interesting roles. Claudette Colbert takes her turn at playing a nun, Merle Oberon tries a femme fatale role on for size and Hedy Lamarr does very well for herself as a man-hungry movie star. Kino gives all three excellent transfers, and one comes with an appropriately gossipy audio commentary.

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II

Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95

Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...

Great 3-D thrills — Hollywood was working to perfect 3-D movies just as the craze died out. An impeccable Blu-ray 3-D restoration, the glory of young Rock Hudson and some of the best Utah scenery in depth makes this a very enjoyable disc. Director Douglas Sirk was itching to do a western, and the swiftly rising star Rock Hudson wanted to work for him again, even though it meant playing another Indian role. Were these men that desperate to get out of Hollywood for a month? At least they avoided filming in nuclear test sites…

Taza, Son of Cochise

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 2.00:1 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date May 26, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Gregg Palmer, Rex Reason, Morris Ankrum, Eugene Iglesias, Richard H. Cutting, Ian MacDonald, Robert Burton, Joe Sawyer, Lance Fuller, Charles Horvath, Jeff Chandler, William Leslie, Barbara Burck, most of Utah.

Cinematography:...

Act Like a Man is a column examining male screen performers past and present, across nationality and genre. If movie stars reflect the needs and desires of their audience in any particular era, examining their personas, popularity, fandom, and specific appeals has plenty to tell us about the way cinema has constructed—and occasionally deconstructed—manhood on our screens.For a generation of returning veterans, actor Robert Montgomery was the thinking man’s GI. In his roles in post-war American movies, whether they be war dramas or film noirs that he would both star in and direct, he carried an air of earned macho authority. He had a sort of inarguable stature that was supported as much by his real life as it was by his ironclad screen presence. A to-the-manor-born son from a failed business empire, Robert’s father Henry was head of the New York Rubber Company, making...

One of the more satisfying costume adventures of the ‘sixties is also one of its star’s best vehicles. Charlton Heston was born to play bigger-than-life historical types, and his Norman knight in this film has the benefit of an intelligent screenplay and a terrific supporting ensemble. This hero’s armor doesn’t shine — he’s more than willing to risk everything to possess a pagan woman with whom he’s become infatuated. Many would-be epics want us to think that the charms of unlikely damsels like Virginia Mayo and Claudette Colbert changed the course of history, but this show makes it seem more than possible. Plus, it features great action scenes and a terrific music score by Jerome Moross.

The War Lord

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 123 min. / Special Edition / Street Date January 21, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Charlton Heston, Richard Boone, Rosemary Forsyth, Maurice Evans, Guy Stockwell,...

Manhattan detective Richard Widmark is up the creek without his .38 special — a maniac killer has stolen it. He’s desperate to get it back, while his personal and professional problems pile up. Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens and Harry Guardino give sterling performances, but the assured direction of Don Siegel is what keeps us on edge throughout. The classic crime saga pushed the limits of the incoming Ratings System — yet provided a style template for a decade of Universal cop shows. Siegel utilizes blunt jarring cutting effects to make its violence feel extra-intense — and for warped screen villainy, Steve Ihnat’s Barney Benesch has no equal — he has less than three minutes of screen time, but you’ll never forget him.

Madigan

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen (Techniscope) / 101 min. / Street Date November 12, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark,...

Now that we can read the real story of the great silent actor and makeup magician Lon Chaney, the inaccuracies are fairly glaring in this well-received biopic about his career heights and difficult personal life. But it remains a compelling James Cagney movie, allowing the actor to try on different acting styles (and even a dancing style). The dramatic conflicts may be invented, but they’re compelling just the same. The movie works even as it represents Chaney’s original fantastic makeup creations with a series of ever-worsening rubber masks. Excellent supporting performances from Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer and Celia Lovsky. This one carries a good Tim Lucas commentary as well.

Man of a Thousand Faces

Blu-ray

Arrow Video

1957 / B&w / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date October 29, 2019 / Available from Arrow Video / 34.95

Starring: James Cagney, Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer, Marjorie Rambeau, Jim Backus, Robert Evans, Celia Lovsky, Jeanne Cagney, Jack Albertson.

One of the strangest ‘uplifting moral tales’ of the 1950s was a huge hit, and launched Rock Hudson as a major star. Criterion’s deluxe presentation puts it on a par with world cinema, mawkish Kitsch-o-Rama and all. Comes with a restored copy of the slightly less head-spinning 1935 version, too. Co-stars Jane Wyman, Barbara Rush, Agnes Moorehead, and Otto Kruger, whose moral guidance has something to do with ‘contacting one’s power source.’ Oh, it’s about recharging my iPhone!

Magnificent Obsession

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 457

1954 / Color / 2.00:1 anamorphic widescreen / 108 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 20, 2019 / 39.95

Starring: Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush, Agnes Moorehead, Otto Kruger.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Milton Carruth

Original Music: Frank Skinner

Written by Robert Blees from an original screenplay by Victor Heerman, Sarah Y. Mason, George O’Neil from the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas

Produced by Ross Hunter

Directed...

Man Without a Star

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1955/ 2.00:1 / 89 min.

Starring Kirk Douglas, William Campbell, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor

Cinematography by Russell Metty

Directed by King Vidor

King Vidor, the director behind the bucolic Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz and the histrionics of Duel in the Sun, has it both ways in 1955’s Man Without a Star starring Kirk Douglas.

Douglas follows his director’s lead – acting primarily with his teeth, the eager to please ham gives a performance almost as broad as his wayward sailor in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. But as screenwriter Borden Chase slowly pulls back the masks on his characters, Douglas settles into a more reasonable approximation of a human being.

Closing in on 40, the irrepressible show-off plays a wandering cowpoke named Dempsey Rae who follows constellations for clues to his destiny and so far he’s come up empty – the “man without a star.

Ross Hunter, Hollywood’s glossiest producer and Doris Day, Hollywood’s perennially cheery star, team up for this soap-operatic mix of Gaslight and Sorry, Wrong Number. Day is being stalked by a faceless killer and she finds little solace from her friends and family who assume she’s headed for a nervous breakdown. The dog-eared plot isn’t helped by the upscale decor and high-priced fashion (which are pure Hunter) but Rex Harrison, as Day’s duplicitous hubby, brings a welcome element of creepy ambiguity to the well-photographed (by Russell Metty) proceedings. Remade as a TV movie in 1981.

The post Midnight Lace appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

In celebration of its 100th anniversary, the American Society of Cinematographers has released a list of the 100 best shot films of the 20th century.

This list was released to "showcase the best of cinematography as selected by professional cinematographers.” Here's how the list was put together:

The process of cultivating the 100 films began with Asc members each submitting 10 to 25 titles that were personally inspirational or perhaps changed the way they approached their craft. “I asked them — as cinematographers, members of the Asc, artists, filmmakers and people who love film and whose lives were shaped by films — to list the films that were most influential,” Fierberg explains. A master list was then complied, and members voted on what they considered to be the most essential 100 titles.

Here's a little sizzle reel that was cut together showcasing some of the films on the list:

It's hard to argue with the Top 10 films,...

Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955) is showing April 16 - May 16, 2018 in the many countries around the world as part of the series In the Realm of Melodrama: A Douglas Sirk Retrospective."The studio loved the title All That Heaven Allows. They thought it meant you could have everything you wanted. I meant it exactly the other way round. As far as I am concerned, heaven is stingy."—Douglas SirkUntil very recently, Douglas Sirk remained in a kind of critical limbo. In the last couple of years some valuable and novel material has appeared, covering many aspects of his work. The most important element so far left unstudied is Sirk’s relationship to the melodrama, the genre he most used during both his German period (1935-37) in feature films, and in his second American period, at Universal (1950-58).Two reasons, certainly, have contributed to the neglect of Sirk. One...

Guest Reviewer Lee Broughton is back, with a rodent roundup of horror, or more accurately, psychological suspense interrupted by a few salacious slayings. What would Mickey say?

The brief synopses of Daniel Mann’s Willard and Phil Karlson’s Ben that appeared in the horror movie books and magazines that kids in the UK loved to pore over during the late 1970s always gave the impression that this pair of killer rat films were hardcore horror shows.

In truth, the actual horror content of both films is relatively mild and infrequent. In spite of this, Willard and Ben still tend to be discussed in terms of their relation to the often more extreme movies that appeared in the “animals attack” cycle of horror films that flourished during the 1970s.

That particular subgenre represents something of a niche interest area that is governed by a pretty tight set of boundaries. The...

These days, major cinematographers like Emmanuel Lubezki and Ed Lachman are as much of a draw to serious moviegoers as the directors they work with. Currently, Roger Deakins’ masterful work in the visually stunning “Blade Runner 2049” has led to one recurring question above all: Will Roger finally win the Oscar? Among the more striking aspects of Deakins’ accomplishment is the use of color: Virtually every shot has a different palette.

It feels like something we’ve never seen before, but have we? How does today’s best cinematography stack up against the great color films of the past?

Since the early 20th century, there have always been experimentations with color cinematography, but it wasn’t until the late ’30s, with the massive success of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind,” that color films became a staple of international cinema. With films stretching from 1947 to 2011, from masters like Jack Cardiff to Lubezki,...

Edward G. Robinson uncovers another killer, but this time he’s after a Nazi mass murderer, not an insurance salesman. Orson Welles’ most conventional thriller is a masterpiece of style and judgment, with a good sense of time and place – and a lot of expressive shadows. How does this new Blu-ray shape up in comparison to earlier presentations?

The Stranger

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1946 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 95 min. / Street Date August 29, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young, Orson Welles, Philip Merivale, Richard Long, Konstantin Shayne, Billy House.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Production Design: Perry Ferguson

Art Direction: Albert S. D’Agostino

Film Editor: Ernest Nims

Original Music: Bronislau Kaper

Written by Anthony Veiller, Decla Dunning, Victor Trivas

Produced by Sam Spiegel

Directed by Orson Welles

Up pops Olive Films with another Blu-ray of Orson Welles’ impressive The Stranger, for the first time an HD scan...

Today would have been Stanley Kubrick’s 89th birthday. The director passed away in 1999 as he was completing his 13th and final feature film, “Eyes Wide Shut,” at the age of 70.

In honor of the great director’s career, eight members of the IndieWire staff — William Earl, Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, Michael Nordine, Zack Sharf, Anne Thompson, and this author — individually ranked the director’s films, which have been averaged together to result in the following list. While Kubrick only made 13 films over a 46-year span, he made more than his fair share of masterpieces. As a sign of just how deep the quality of this list runs, six different titles received first-place votes, while in the final tally the difference between #1 and #7 was razor thin.

Read More Why David Lynch Has Become the Most Important Actor on ‘Twin Peaks’

13. “Fear and Desire” (1953)

At the age of 23, Kubrick...

“This isn’t the real Mexico. You know that. All border towns bring out the worst in a country. I can just imagine your mother’s face if she could see our honeymoon hotel.”

Touch Of Evil screens Wednesday May 10th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar in ‘The Loop’) as part of their new ‘Classics in the Loop’ Crime & Noir film series. The movie starts at 7pm and admission is $7. It will be on The Tivoli’s big screen.

Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) is a Mexican detective who gets caught up in the strange case of a car being blown up in an America-Mexico border town. Not only does the ethical Vargas have to deal with criminal factions in the area, he must butt heads with the domineering Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles), a celebrated police detective. Vargas must prove that Quinlan isn’t the hero that others make him out to be,...

By Todd Garbarini

This weekend of August 12 through 14th, the Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a series of classic western films that will also feature special guests who are scheduled to come and speak about their work in the films. We strongly suggest checking with the theatre’s schedule to see which other guests are added.

From the press release:

Anniversary Classics Western Weekend

August 12-14 at the Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills

5 Classic Westerns with special guests throughout the weekend

Laemmle’s Anniversary Classics presents our tribute to the sagebrush genre with the Anniversary Classics Western Weekend, a five film round-up ​of some of the most celebrated westerns in movie history. The star-studded lineup features John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan, Kevin Costner, Montgomery Clift, Natalie Wood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef and others.

Cad, bounder, dastard... look those words up in an old casting directory and you'll probably find a picture of George Sanders. Albert Lewin's best movie is a class-act period piece with terrific acting from Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William and many more, and a powerful '40s picture that most people haven't discovered, now handsomely restored. The Private Affairs of Bel Ami Blu-ray Olive Films 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95 Starring George Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William, Susan Douglas, Albert Bassermann, Frances Dee, Marie Wilson, Katherine Emery, Richard Fraser. Cinematography Russell Metty Film Editor Joseph Albrecht Original Music Darius Milhaud Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Production Design Gordon Wiles Written by from the novel by Guy de Maupassant Produced by David L. Loew Written Directed by Albert Lewin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...

Rko's morale-building wartime thriller adds an element of sexual perversion to its story of Nazi crimes against children, thus creating one of the studio's all-time biggest hits. Bonita Granville is the victim Tim Holt her Nazi-youth heartthrob, and Otto Kruger provides the perverted sneers. Hitler's Children DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1943 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 82 min. / Street Date December 1, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Tim Holt, Bonita Granville, Kent Smith, Otto Kruger, H.B. Warner, Lloyd Corrigan, Erford Gage, Hans Conried, Gavin Muir, Nancy Gates, Egon Brecher, Peter van Eyck, Edward Van Sloan. Cinematography Russell Metty Film Editor Joseph Noriega Original Music Roy Webb Written by Emmet Lavery from the book Education for Death by Gregor Ziemer Produced by Edward A. Golden Directed by Edward Dmytryk

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Perhaps the most popular anti-Nazi info-propaganda thriller of the war, Hitler's Children is a very well made shocker that...

Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2004, they’ve now reached 675 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.

Today they’ve unveiled their 2015 list, which includes classics such as Douglas Sirk‘s melodrama Imitation of Life, Hal Ashby‘s Being There, and John Frankenheimer‘s Seconds. Perhaps the most popular picks, The Shawshank Redemption, Ghostbusters, Top Gun, and L.A. Confidential were also added. Check out the full list below.

Being There (1979)

Chance, a simple-minded gardener (Peter Sellers) whose only contact with the outside world is through television, becomes the toast of the town following a series of misunderstandings. Forced outside his protected environment by the death of his wealthy boss, Chance subsumes his late employer’s persona,...

Most of us love the Trumbo-Douglas-Kubrick thinking man's leftist gladiator epic, and after several iffy disc presentations this exacting digital restoration follows through on the photochemical reconstruction done 25 years ago. It looks incredibly good, almost too good to be a Blu-ray. Kirk contributes a new featurette interview, telling us that this is the show he'll be remembered for. Spartacus Blu-ray + Digital HD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 1960 / Color / 2:20 widescreen / 197 min. / Street Date October 6, 2015 / 19.98 Starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis, Woody Strode, John Gavin, Nina Foch, Herbert Lom, Charles McGraw, John Ireland, Nick Dennis, John Dall, Herbert Lom, Joanna Barnes, Harold J. Stone, Peter Brocco, John Hoyt, Richard Farnsworth, George Kennedy. Cinematography by Russell Metty Music by Alex North Edited by Robert Lawrence Produced by Kirk Douglas and Edward Lewis Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo Based on the novel by Howard Fast Produced by...

Spartacus

Written by Dalton Trumbo

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

USA, 1960

There is a lot to sift through when it comes to Spartacus, before even getting to the film itself. There is the controversial credit bestowed to previously blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. There is the firing of original director Anthony Mann about three weeks into the shoot (some say he asked to leave), followed by the subsequently hasty hiring of Stanley Kubrick over the course of a weekend. There is then the ensuing animosity between the obstinate Kubrick and the headstrong star/producer Kirk Douglas. Finally, there is the film’s placement in popular culture, with ubiquitous spoofs and spinoffs. If one is able to look beyond the noise of its tumultuous production, however, Spartacus remains one of the finest epics to ever emerge from the Hollywood studio system.

Available now on a newly remastered Blu-ray from Universal, this latest home...

The ultimate gladiator action blockbuster, Spartacus returns in an all-new fully restored Blu-ray™ with Digital HD on October 6, 2015, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Starring film legend Kirk Douglas as the defiant slave-turned-revolutionary, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, 2001: A Space Odyssey) and written by Oscar-winner Dalton Trumbo (Roman Holiday, The Brave One), Spartacus: Restored Edition celebrates the film’s 55th anniversary with a new extensive restoration of the 1991 reconstructed version of the film which features 12 additional minutes of footage.

The highly anticipated Blu-ray also includes two all-new bonus featurettes including a brand new interview with screen legend Kirk Douglas plus 7.1 audio for the first time ever.

The genre-defining epic from director Stanley Kubrick is the legendary tale of a bold gladiator (Kirk Douglas) who led a triumphant Roman slave revolt. Newly restored from large format 35mm original film elements, the action-packed spectacle won four Academy Awards,...

Robert Montgomery’s 1947 sophomore film, Ride the Pink Horse is an exciting film noir gem ripe for rediscovery, available on Blu-ray for the first time courtesy of Criterion’s digital restoration. Best known as a comedic actor and Oscar nominated for roles in Night Must Fall (1937) and Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941), Montgomery would eventually direct a handful of titles mostly neglected by the passage of time with the exception of his first directorial credit, the experimental noir Lady in the Lake (as the film is presented entirely from the point of view of its protagonist, as if we’re looking directly through his eyes), an adaptation of a Raymond Chandler novel. Lady premiered earlier in the very same year, and though it is often referenced for its structural technique, it’s his follow-up title that’s more impressive, as unique and off kilter as its enigmatic title.

Former GI Lucky...

Top Five Chris Rock's movie was one of the better comedies last year and it took me a couple times to realize this so definitely give it a chance and after that first viewing, if you aren't entirely convinced, give it a second spin.

Penguins of Madagascar Never saw it, never intend to. However, the penguin characters were the best part of the first two Madagascar movies, which in and of themselves, weren't very good.

Ride the Pink Horse (Criterion Collection) I have a copy of this, but haven't yet watched it, though I'm looking forward to it and will share some thoughts down the road. For now, here's Criterion's description: Hollywood actor turned idiosyncratic auteur Robert Montgomery directs and stars in this striking crime drama based on a novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. He plays a tough-talking former GI who comes to a small New Mexico town to...

“Border Town Noir”

By Raymond Benson

Most film noir pictures take place in urban centers—New York City, Los Angeles—where the big city is as much a character as the unhappy humans in these often bleak and brutal, sometimes brilliant, Hollywood crime films that spanned the early forties to the late fifties. Film noir peaked in the latter half of the forties, with an abundance of the classic titles released between 1946-1948.

One of the more unique things about Ride the Pink Horse is that the urban setting is gone. Instead, the action is set in a border town in New Mexico, where there is indeed danger, to be sure, but there’s also a little less pessimism among the inhabitants—unlike in the urban noirs in which everyone’s a cynic. Interestingly, one might say that the “border town noir” could be a sub-set of the broader category,...

Stumbling across that list of best-edited films yesterday had me assuming that there might be other nuggets like that out there, and sure enough, there is American Cinematographer's poll of the American Society of Cinematographers membership for the best-shot films ever, which I do recall hearing about at the time. But they did things a little differently. Basically, in 1998, cinematographers were asked for their top picks in two eras: films from 1894-1949 (or the dawn of cinema through the classic era), and then 1950-1997, for a top 50 in each case. Then they followed up 10 years later with another poll focused on the films between 1998 and 2008. Unlike the editors' list, though, ties run absolutely rampant here and allow for way more than 50 films in each era to be cited. I'd love to see what these lists would look like combined, however. I imagine "Citizen Kane," which was on top of the 1894-1949 list,...

Ride the Pink Horse

Written by Ben Hecht, Charles Lederer

Directed by Robert Montgomery

U.S.A., 1947

Set in the small New Mexican town of San Pablo during a locally popular festival, actor-director Robert Montgomery’s Ride the Pink Horse begins as a lonely stranger, Gagin (Montgomery), arrives in town by bus, takes a moment at the station to rent a locker into which he stashes a cheque, and then commences his search for one Frank Hugo (Fred Clark), wealthy businessman and the one responsible for the death of Gagin’s wartime friend. More than claim vengeance through blood, Gagin concocts a scheme to blackmail Frank, the aforementioned cheque holding particular importance in the ordeal. A stubbornly stern individual, Gagin is not easy to make friends with, but in a town where almost everybody is after his skin, including Frank, the latter’s main squeeze Marjorie (Andrea King) and FBI...

Day is being stalked by a faceless killer and she finds little solace from her friends and family who assume she’s headed for a nervous breakdown. The dog-eared plot isn’t helped by the upscale decor and high-priced fashion (which are pure Hunter) but Rex Harrison, as Day’s duplicitous hubby, brings a welcome element of creepy ambiguity to the well-photographed (by Russell Metty) proceedings. Remade as a TV movie in 1981.

Chicago—The word “melodrama” has become a lazy one for too many critics who use it as a way to dismiss films that deal with extreme emotions. For a film to be melodramatic, it must be flawed. Any fan of Douglas Sirk will tell you that this is a fallacy. Melodrama can be a heartbreaking, genuine form of artistic expression, arguably never more so than in Sirk’s most beloved film, “All That Heaven Allows,” recently released on Criterion Blu-ray.

With a gorgeous 2k digital restoration that really allows Sirk’s colorful compositions room to pop while not presenting an overly plastic remaster that would have drained the film of its humanity and fascinating special features that include the entirety of “Rock Hudson’s Home Movies,” “All That Heaven Allows” is one of the stronger Criterion releases of 2014. It’s a film that too many have been quick to dismiss...

All That Heaven Allows

Directed by Douglas Sirk

Written by Peg Fenwick

USA, 1955

If ever there was a movie to reap the visual benefits of a Criterion Collection Blu-ray digital restoration, it is Douglas Sirk’s 1955 film, All That Heaven Allows. This lushly photographed work is Sirk’s most scathing and insightful commentary on subversive Hollywood cinema and the sociocultural norms it sought to challenge. With venerable cinematographer Russell Metty behind the camera, the film is radiant with rich, pulsating color, giving visual vibrancy to lives of complacency and routine. It was Sirk’s follow-up to his successful Magnificent Obsession from the year before, which has similar themes and tones and was another gorgeous melodrama. Universal kept what worked, bringing back Rock Hudson, Jane Wyman, and Metty. In many ways though, it’s All That Heaven Allows that stands as the defining work of Sirk’s career, the greatest of...

Between the time he directed his last film – Imitation of Life, in 1959 — and his death in 1987, Douglas Sirk managed to see his critical stock rise considerably. His work, specifically his 1950s work for Universal, went from being dismissed as soapy fluff to being reevaluated as sly, barbed condemnations of the social values of contemporary America. 1954′s All That Heaven Allows, newly restored and re-released by the Criterion Collection, finds Sirk working firmly within his wheelhouse: a colourful, sensitive piece of melodramatic fiction bolstered by strong direction and fine performances.

Jane Wyman stars as Cary Scott, a widower who lives in an almost comically depressing Wasp-verse composed of country-club functions, strained politeness, and empty opulence. She falls in love with Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson), a rugged, affable blue-collar type who is (a) immune to the hollow vanities of the upper-middle class, and (b) younger than her by a walk. Not only...

Oh, The Scandal!

By Raymond Benson

Director Douglas Sirk was known primarily for his “adult” melodramas of the 1950s that usually dealt with bucking the small-town America social mores of the times. All That Heaven Allows is a prime example. In lush, bold Technicolor (the superb cinematography is by Russell Metty), Sirk tells the story of a May-September romance between an “older” widow and a younger man (in actuality, star Jane Wyman was only 38 when the film was made, and her paramour in the picture, Rock Hudson, was 30; obviously the intention was that Wyman’s character is even older, say, in her 40s, since she has college-age children). The couple must face gossip, scorn, and ultimate rejection from Wyman’s society friends and even her grown children. The message of acceptance and tolerance hits one over the head like a hammer, to be sure, but, granted, at the time the...

If the dissolve has traditionally been thought of as little more than a glue connecting scenes in a conventional dramaturgy, a functional symbol of time’s passage, the technique’s employment by Douglas Sirk always aimed at a more complex dimension. In Sirk’s films, the moment of the dissolve—often suspended for three or four seconds—becomes a composition in itself, a vital carrier of subtext. Less about division (1 happens, then 2 happens) than unity (1 affects or produces 2), Sirk’s dissolves—so tinged with import that they must have been the product of close collaborations with his editors and his regular cinematographer Russell Metty—reveal the psychological connective tissue that spreads across the course of a narrative. Temporal expanses have little relevance in this context; the dissolve becomes a way of demonstrating the coexistence of the past, present, and possible futures.

All That Heaven Allows (1955), simultaneously one of the leanest...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 10, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95

Studio: Criterion

Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in All That Heaven Allows.

All That Heaven Allows is a heartbreakingly beautiful indictment of 1950s American mores from filmmaker Douglas Sirk (Written on the Wind).

The 1955 drama follows the blossoming love between a well-off suburban widow (Jane Wyman, Magnificent Obsession) and her handsome and earthy younger gardener (Rock Hudson, Seconds). After their romance prompts the scorn of her selfish children and snooty country club friends, she must decide whether to pursue her own happiness or carry on a lonely, hemmed-in existence for the sake of the approval of others.

With the help of ace cinematographer Russell Metty (Spartacus), Sirk imbued nearly every shot with a vivid and distinct emotional tenor. A pinnacle of expressionistic Hollywood melodrama, this profoundly felt film about class and conformity in small-town America.

Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD combo edition...

While undercut by his intent to show studio execs his ability to keep budgets under control above all else, Orson Welles' 1946 thriller “The Stranger” remains quite a taut and entertaining genre entry. Starring Welles himself alongside Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young, at no point does the film reach the heights of other works like “Touch of Evil” (which Dp Russell Metty also shot), instead going for a more staid brand of Wellesian tomfoolery, but now it's been revealed that another genre director will attempt his own route with an update of the material. Jack and Joseph Nasser's company Ngn Releasing have announced a remake of the Welles-directed flick, and have brought on a well-versed champion of the genre, Joseph Ruben (“Sleeping With The Enemy”) to helm it as well. Screenwriter Alanna Belak wrote the script for the new offering, which will retain the original film's central narrative -- itself a reworking of.