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It is my experience that one gets a far richer, stranger cinema education in pursuing the careers of actors, that group defined first by (assuming luck shines upon them) two or three era-defining films and then so much that dictates their industry—pet projects, contractual obligations, called-in favors alimony payments, auteur one-offs, and on and on. Few embody that deluge of circumstance better than Michelle Yeoh and Isabelle Huppert, both of whom are receiving spotlights in March. The former’s is a who’s-who of Hong Kong talent, new favorites (The Heroic Trio), items we can at least say are of interest (Trio‘s not-great sequel Executioners), etc.

Huppert’s series runs longer, and notwithstanding certain standards that have long sat on the channel it adds some heavy hitters: Hong’s In Another Country, Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate, Breillat’s Abuse of Weakness, Hansen-Løve’s Things to Come. And, of course,...

Rarely one finds a friend on the Criterion Channel—discounting the parasitic relationship we form with filmmakers, I mean—but it’s great seeing their March lineup give light to Sophy Romvari, the <bias>exceptionally talented</bias> filmmaker and curator whose work has perhaps earned comparisons to Agnès Varda and Chantal Akerman but charts its own path of history and reflection. It’s a good way to lead into an exceptionally strong month, featuring as it does numerous films by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the great Japanese documentarian Kazuo Hara, newfound cult classic Arrebato, and a number of Criterion editions.

On the last front we have The Age of Innocence, Bull Durham, A Raisin in the Sun, The Celebration, Merrily We Go to Hell, and Design for Living. There’s always something lingering on the watchlist, but it might have to wait a second longer—March is an opened floodgate.

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Revisiting last year's introduction when putting together 2021's favorites, it is with a shock to realize how little has changed in the wildly disrupted world of cinema under the shroud of the pandemic. The urge to copy-and-paste the whole shebang is quite tempting indeed.What can we say about this year, 2021? We got a little more used to long-term instability. Cinemas and festivals re-opened, only for some to close again. We, like many, ventured carefully out into the world to finally see films again with audiences, all kinds: nervous ones, uproarious ones, spartan ones, and delighted ones. It was an experience both anxious and joyous. We also doubled down on the challenges, but also the pleasures, of home viewing: of virtual cinemas and virtual festivals, of straight to streaming premieres, of trying to capture a social joy in semi-isolation by connecting with others over experiences shared and disparate.The long...

Marriage, social pressure, professional disappointment — and if you want to be really unhappy, add alcohol to that mix. Fredric March and Sylvia Sidney are convincing sophisticates but also vulnerable people negotiating fragile lives. What can be done when one’s mate is dissolving in booze and drawn to the arms of another? Dorothy Arzner’s best picture shows us a woman who won’t give up on her marriage, for the right reasons. It’s a serious and adult pre-Code drama, the kind that sounds more salacious than it is. Sylvia Sydney crafts a portrait of a fine woman under pressure, who maintains her dignity even in an attempt at an ‘open marriage.’ The unusual title is a light-hearted toast reflecting inner despair. The disc comes with excellent extras on director Dorothy Arzner.

Merrily We Go to Hell

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1076

1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / available through...

Too many of the women who made their mark in the early years of cinema have been forgotten; lost to time, lack of proper archiving, and sexism, we know at least from some sources that women contributed to vitrually all fields of cinematic creation. As well, due to the power of the Hays Code over the early years of sound pictures, we tend to think of early black and white films as being rather chaste in outlook and situation. Happily, on both fronts, Criterion has issued its second film directed by Dorothy Arzner, Merrily We Go to Hell (1932). Arzner was the only women director working in Hollywood in this decade, and this film, a story of love, betrayal, alcoholism, polyamory, and hedonism was both...

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Plus ‘Crestone,’ ‘F.T.A.,’ ‘The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,’ ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High,’ ‘Merrily We Go to Hell,’ ‘Trances,’ ‘Masculin Feminin,’ ‘Smile,’ ‘The Hot Spot,’ ‘Tank,’ ‘Sweet Liberty,’ ‘All-American Murder,’ ‘The Cellar,’ ‘Winterbeast,’ ‘Horizons West,’ and ‘The Wages of Sin.’

Continue reading The Best Movies To Buy Or Stream This Week: ‘The Good, The Bad & The Ugly,’ ‘The Mitchells Vs. The Machines’ & More at The Playlist.

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May has arrived! And this month’s offering of Criterion releases contain the collection’s signature mix of high and lowbrow content, with an ‘80s high school sex comedy sharing space with a nearly 10-hour Japanese drama. Each release has been remastered, so you know you’ll be getting the best video quality available.

In honor of Asian American Heritage month, Asian cinema is particularly well represented in May’s Criterion drops with the Taiwanese classic “Flowers of Shanghai,” and the Japanese epic “The Human Condition,” among the most notable releases. Plus, Criterion’s bonus features and interviews with the cast and directors serve as indispensable pieces of film history.

All of Criterion...

Building up a towering body of work over the last four decades, it’s remarkable that Hou Hsiao-hsien hadn’t had a film in The Criterion Collection––until now. Their May 2021 lineup features the stunning new restoration of his 1998 masterpiece Flowers of Shanghai, which I had the opportunity to see at last year’s New York Film Festival and features one of Tony Leung’s most dashing performances.

Also arriving in the collection is the original of the brilliantly dark noir Nightmare Alley, well-timed before Guillermo del Toro’s new adaptation of William Lindsay Gresham novel, as well Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Dorothy Arzner’s Merrily We Go to Hell, and Ahmed El Maanouni’s Trances.

See the cover art below for each title, and more details on each release on Criterion’s site.

The post Hou Hsiao-hsien Joins The Criterion Collection for the First Time...

As the coronavirus pandemic still rages on, precious few remain skeptical about going to the movies. But while your AMCs and others claim some godlike safety from Covid, there remains a chunk of people still uncomfortable hitting up theaters. To them, we bring you the September 2020 Criterion Channel lineup.

It starts off with quite the swath of content too. Béla Tarr’s Sátántangó hits the service on September 1, and its seven-plus hours should take up a large chunk of your day. Coming soon after is a collection of more than a dozen Joan Blondell starrers from the pre-Code era, including Howard Hawks’ The Crowd Roars, three collaborations with Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Enright & Busby Berkeley’s Dames.

For some stuff released almost a century later, the service also sees the addition of documentary bender Robert Greene. His Actress, Kate Plays Christine, and Bisbee ’17 join soon after. Janicza Bravo, director of Lemon,...

New York’s Anthology Film Archives has announced the lineup for its ambitious Woman With a Movie Camera: Female Film Directors Before 1950,” which runs September 15 — 28. Among the spotlighted filmmakers are Gene Gauntier, Lois Weber and Alice Guy-Blaché, though many more will be featured during the two-week series as well. Full lineup below.

“The Girl Spy Before Vicksburg” (Sidney Olcott & Gene Gauntier)

“Further Adventures of the Girl Spy” (Sidney Olcott)

“The Colleen Bawn” (Sidney Olcott & Gene Gauntier)

“Broadway Love” (Ida May Park)

“The Adventures of Prince Achmed” (Lotte Reiniger)

Read More: The Rock Named World’s Highest-Paid Actor, Earning Nearly $20 Million More Than Highest-Paid Actress, Jennifer Lawrence

“The Rosary” and “Suspense” (Lois Weber & Phillips Smalley)

“Shoes” (Lois Weber)

“The Holy Night” (Elvira Notari)

“Humankind” (Elvira Giallanella)

“The Drunken Mattress” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The Strike” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The New Love and the Old” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The Roads That Lead Home” (Alice Guy-Blaché)

“The...

Merle Oberon movies: Mysterious star of British and American cinema. Merle Oberon on TCM: Donning men's clothes in 'A Song to Remember,' fighting hiccups in 'That Uncertain Feeling' Merle Oberon is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of March 2016. The good news: the exquisite (and mysterious) Oberon, whose ancestry has been a matter of conjecture for decades, makes any movie worth a look. The bad news: TCM isn't offering any Oberon premieres despite the fact that a number of the actress' films – e.g., Temptation, Night in Paradise, Pardon My French, Interval – can be tough to find. This evening, March 18, TCM will be showing six Merle Oberon movies released during the first half of the 1940s. Never a top box office draw in the United States, Oberon was an important international star all the same, having worked with many of the top actors and filmmakers of the studio era.

Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) was one of a kind in the history of American cinema, the only woman to carve out a professional career as a director in Hollywood's Golden Age. In its 62nd edition, the San Sebastian Festival pays homage to the work of Arzner, today considered a pioneer in women's incorporation to the film industry, proclaimed as a filmmaker of strong style and personality for which she earned undeniable prestige within the Hollywood studio system.

Born in San Francisco but raised in Los Angeles, Dorothy Arzner made her directorial debut with "Fashions for Women" (1927), going on the following year to become the first women ever to direct a talkie with Manhattan Cocktail (1928). Arzner directed 15 films throughout the 30s and the early 40s, working with Hollywood stars such as Clara Bow, Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Rosalind Russell, Claudette Colbert, Maureen O'Hara and Joan Crawford in comedies and melodramas with particular focus on female characters. In 1933 she became the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America and was its only female member for several decades. Although her name was progressively forgotten, Arzner's career was ratified in the 60s by feminist movements and received numerous tributes, including one by the Directors Guild of America in 1975. Today her films are not only newly appreciated for being an unusual exception in the history of American film, but also f or their intrinsic values. Arzner left her stamp on several films of refined visual style that questioned traditional sexual roles and the part played by women in society or which, according to certain critics, introduced veiled homosexual undertones to the rigid Hollywood structure of the time.

The retrospective dedicated by the San Sebastian Festival to Dorothy Arzner will feature her twelve surviving films. It is organised together with Filmoteca Española. To accompany the cycle, a bilingual (English and Spanish) book will be published on the filmmaker, written by Judith Mayne.

The Wild Party  Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1929 The explosive Clara Bow (in her first talkie) and the man who would become one of Arzner's favourite actors, Fredric March, star in this surprising and brazen film shot before the Hays Code of censorship was imposed upon Hollywood.

Sarah and Son  Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1930 A melodrama that earned the leading lady, Ruth Chatterton, an Academy Award nomination for her part as an opera singer searching for the son she lost many years ago.

Anybody's Woman  Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1930 A rather daring romantic comedy for its day; a lawyer and a chorus girl waken man and wife after a night on the tiles. All sorts of confusions ensue.

Honor Among Lovers Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1931 A luxury cast (Claudette Colbert, Fredric March and Ginger Rogers) for a melodrama in which Dorothy Arzner looked at a rather unusual subject for films of the time: sexual harassment in the working environment.

Working Girls  Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1931 Adaptation of a play by the author popular in her day, Vera Caspary, this film represents yet another shrewd look at the world of women by Dorothy Arzner seen through the portrayal of two friends in search of work and a husband.

Merrily We Go to Hell Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1932 The tale of an alcoholic author and the woman who rescues him is turned in Dorothy Arzner's hands into a romantic comedy taking yet another look at the role of women in a couple's relations.

Christopher Strong Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1933 Katharine Hepburn embodies one of her typical spirited female characters in this eye-opening melodrama from Arzner, a full-on snub of the nose to the usual roles played by women in classic movies: the love affair between an MP and an aviatrix.

Nana Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1934 Dorothy Arzner adapted Émile Zola's classic novel into a film to flatter a would-be star soon forgotten by Hollywood, Anna Sten. Set in 19th century Paris, this is a curious foray by the director into period melodrama.

Craig's Wife Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1936 This melodrama sees another of the big Hollywood stars who worked under the orders of Dorothy Arzner, Rosalind Russell, play a domineering woman who marries a wealthy man for money and power.

The Bride Wore Red Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1937 Joan Crawford and a spectacular red dress by the famous designer Adrian star in one of Dorothy Arzner's most popular romantic comedies, a tale of love and luxury once again featuring an unforgettable female character.

Dance, Girl, Dance Dorothy Arzner  (USA) 1940 Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball wrangle in a professional and sentimental duel set in the world of show business and spiced up with musical numbers.

First Comes Courage Dorothy Arzner (USA) 1943 Dorothy Arzner's last film was her contribution to the warring efforts of the allies during World War II; a spy story where Merle Oberon brings life to an anti-Nazi resistance worker in Norway who must choose between love and duty.

As the only woman to carve out a professional career as a director in Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) was one of a kind in the history of American cinema. During its 62nd edition, the San Sebastian Festival will pay homage to the work of Arzner, today considered a pioneer in women’s incorporation to the film industry, proclaimed as a filmmaker of strong style and personality for which she earned undeniable prestige within the Hollywood studio system.

Born in San Francisco but raised in Los Angeles, Dorothy Arzner’s parents ran a café popular with the famous actors and movie directors of the time, including Charles Chaplin, William S. Hart and Erich von Stroheim. Having obtained a degree at the University of Southern Carolina and after a stint as an ambulance driver in World War I, Arzner began a career in the world of journalism. However, introduction by a mutual friend to the director William C. de Mille (brother of the famous Cecil B. DeMille) was to forever change the direction of her life: following a visit to a film studio, she decided to become a film director. Her first work in the film industry was as a stenographer at the Players-Lasky studios (later to become Paramount), transcribing film scripts. Her skills and strong nature opened the way to works of greater responsibility: script writer, script girl and, finally, editor. It was there in the editing room that Arzner earned her excellent reputation i n the Hollywood movie industry, working on 52 films and assiduously collaborating with the filmmaker, James Cruze. In the famous motion picture starring Rudolph Valentino, Blood and Sand (1922), apart from her brilliant editing work, Arzner helmed the second unit crew for the bull-fighting scenes. She also worked as a script writer on some of Cruze’s films.

The tenacious artist pressed Paramount to let her direct a film, threatening the studio bosses with the acceptance of an offer from their rivals at Columbia. Finally, she made her directorial debut on Fashions for Women (1927), and the following year became the first woman ever to direct a talkie, Manhattan Cocktail (1928). Arzner went on to helm another 15 films in the 30s and early 40s, working with some of the greatest Hollywood stars like Clara Bow, Katharine Hepburn, Fredric March, Rosalind Russell, Claudette Colbert, Maureen O'Hara and Joan Crawford in comedies and dramas powerfully focused on women characters: The Wild Party (1929), Anybody's Woman (1930), Sarah and Son (1930), Honor Among Lovers (1931), Working Girls (1931), Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), Christopher Strong (1933), Nana (1934), Craig's Wife (1936) and The Bride Wore Red (1937).

In 1933 she became the first woman member of the Directors Guild of America and indeed remained its only female associate for several decades. She also went down in history as the inventor of the first boom mike for having used a microphone attached to a fishing rod when filming the early talkies.

Although she gradually fell from prominence, Arzner’s career was championed in the 60s by the feminist movements and she received several tributes, including one by the Directors Guild of America in 1975. Today her filmography is not only newly appreciated as an extremely unusual exception in the history of American film, but also for its intrinsic values. Arzner left her mark through a series of movies of refined visual style that questioned the traditional sexual roles of the time and the part played by woman in society or which, according to certain critics, introduced veiled lesbian undertones to the rigid Hollywood structure of the moment.

The retrospective dedicated by the San Sebastian Festival to Dorothy Arzner will be organized in collaboration with Filmoteca Española. The cycle will be complemented with a publication on her figure and work.

DVD Playhouse—April 2009

By

Allen Gardner

Milk (Universal) Sean Penn deservedly captured his second Best Actor Oscar (and Dustin Lance Black a statuette for his original screenplay) in director Gus Van Sant’s portrait of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to hold public office in the U.S. Alternately heartbreaking, infuriating and very funny, a film that both captures a bygone era and is still very timely. Fine support from Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, James Franco and Emile Hirsch. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Three featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.

Slumdog Millionaire (20th Century Fox) The Best Picture of 2008 is a kinetic, clever audience-pleaser about a determined lad (Dev Patel) from the slums of Mumbai, who has his chance at literal and financial redemption as a contestant on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Best Director Danny Boyle dazzles...

Okay folks, here goes…

The following interview is a must read for fans of trash, cult and generally outlandish cinema. And sex. See, Viva, a mind blowing recreation of early Playboy magazine gloss and the sexploitation melodramas of Russ Meyer and H.G. Lewis fell onto my happy lap last week and, popping it in my player, I immediately fell in love.

The incredible, experimental, hilarious and hotter than hell in June psuedo-feminist exploitation film is Not horror, I know this, so quit your slit eyed gawking. But if you, like me, kneel at the sticky alter of drive in and grindhouse cinema than baby, you will flip your wig over this brilliant boob riddled masterstroke of experimental filmmaking.

The picture - out now on DVD courtesy of Anchor Bay (in Unrated & R-rated editions) - is the brainchild of writer, producer, director and star Anna Biller. It's a bold gamble that...