News

How now, what news: the Criterion Channel’s July lineup is here. Eight pop renditions of Shakespeare are on the docket: from movies you forgot were inspired by the Bard (Abel Ferrara’s China Girl) to ones you’d wish to forget altogether (Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing), with maybe my single favorite interpretation (Michael Almereyda’s Hamlet) alongside Paul Mazursky, Gus Van Sant, Baz Luhrmann, Derek Jarman, and (of course) Kenneth Branagh. A neonoir collection arrives four months ahead of Noirvember: two Ellroy adaptations, two from De Palma that are not his neonoir Ellroy adaptation, two from the Coen brothers (i.e. the chance to see a DVD-stranded The Man Who Wasn’t There in HD), and––finally––a Michael Winner picture given Criterion’s seal of approval.

Columbia screwballs run between classics to lesser-seens while Nicolas Roeg and Heisei-era Godzilla face off. A Times Square collection brings The Gods of Times Square,...

Cinematography retrospectives are the way to go—more than a thorough display of talent, it exposes the vast expanse a Dp will travel, like an education in form and business all the same. Accordingly I’m happy to see the Criterion Channel give a 25-film tribute to James Wong Howe, whose career spanned silent cinema to the ’70s, populated with work by Howard Hawks, Michael Curtz, Samuel Fuller, Alexander Mackendrick, Sydney Pollack, John Frankenheimer, and Raoul Walsh.

Further retrospectives are granted to Romy Schneider (recent repertory sensation La piscine among them), Carlos Saura (finally a chance to see Peppermint frappe!), the British New Wave, and groundbreaking distributor Cinema 5, who brought to U.S. shores everything from The Man Who Fell to Earth and Putney Swope to Pumping Iron and Scenes from a Marriage.

September also yields streaming premieres for the recently restored Bronco Bullfrog, Ang Lee’s Pushing Hands,...

Robert Morse, a legend of the New York stage who had a late-in-life resurgence as the eccentric businessman Bertram Cooper on “Mad Men,” is dead at the age of 90. His death was made public by writer-producer Larry Karaszewski on Twitter.

My good pal Bobby Morse has passed away at age 90. A huge talent and a beautiful spirit. Sending love to his son Charlie & daughter Allyn. Had so much fun hanging with Bobby over the years – filming People v Oj & hosting so many screenings pic.twitter.com/H1vCD3jjul

— Larry Karaszewski (@Karaszewski) April 21, 2022

Morse had some small roles on the boards beginning in the mid-1950s, then got his big break in “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” in 1961. Indeed, this iconic Camelot-era musical later reworked into a film in which Morse also starred, worked as a significant wink to insiders when Morse appeared in “Mad Men” decades later.

Think, “I Was a Teenage Empress.” A trio of movies tell an optimized version of the life of a 19th century Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. It’s fuzzy history designed to prop up German morale, but the film is graced with the incredible presence of a teenaged Romy Schneider, whose beauty and personality became a sensation in the European film world.

The Sissi Collection:

Sissi

Sissi The Young Empress

Sissi The Fateful Years of an Empress

The Story of Vickie

Blu-ray

Film Movement

1955, 1956, 1957 / Color / 1:78 widescreen & 1:33 flat full frame / 102, 107, 109 min. / Street Date November 14, 2017 / 74.95

Starring: Romy Schneider, Karlheinz Böhm, Magda Schneider, Uta Franz, Vilma Degischer, Josef Meinrad, Gustav Knuth.

Cinematography: Bruno Mondi

Film Editor: Alfred Srp

Original Music: Anton Profes

Produced by Karl Erlich, Ernst Marischka

Written and Directed by Ernst Marischka

I’m fascinated by National Epics, movies that individual countries might take as a film...

Need a break from violence, misery, and injustice? Or maybe just the network TV news? Billy Wilder’s last great comic romance is an Italian vacation soaked in music, food, scenery and sunshine. It’s the best movie ever about Love and Funerals.

Avanti!

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1972 / Color/ 1:85 widescreen / 140 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Lemmon, Juliet Mills, Clive Revill, Edward Andrews, Harry Ray, Guidarino Guidi, Franco Acampora, Sergio Bruni, Ty Hardin.

Cinematography: Luigi Kuveiller

Film Editor: Ralph Winters

Art direction: Ferdinando Scarfiotti

Music Arranger: Carlo Rustichelli

Italian standards by Gino Paoli, Giuseppi Capaldo, Vittoriao Fassone, Don Backy, Detto Mariano, Sergio Brui, Salvatore Cardillo, Umberto Bertini, Paolo Marchetti.

Written by I.A.L Diamond and Billy Wilder from a play by Samuel L. Taylor

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder

When Billy Wilder was reaching advanced old age, good friends rallied to make sure...

Quinn O'Hara, the Scottish-born sex kitten who starred in the 1960s movies A Swingin' Summer and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini, has died. She was 76.

O’Hara had "multiple medical issues" and died Friday at her home in Los Angeles, her friend, Joel B. Gibson, told The Hollywood Reporter.

An attractive redhead, O’Hara also portrayed Jack Lemmon's sexy secretary in Good Neighbor Sam (1964), and Jerry Lewis employed her in three of his films: The Errand Boy (1961), her big-screen debut; Who’s Minding the Store? (1963); and The Patsy (1964).

O’Hara was one...

'Year of the Month' will never have a ring to it. I know this but I love themes. Don't hate me because I'm thematical. This month we're having a 50th anniversary party for 1964... (next month it's 1989's 25th) which is a fancy way of counting down to Monday, June 30th's Supporting Actress Smackdown wherein we'll be looking at performances from Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Chalk Garden, My Fair Lady, The Night of the Iquana and Zorba the Greek. 

So get to watching those movies so you can vote in the reader ballot!

But before we get to all that: 1964's vintage in list form (we did this once before for 1983 if you remember) since you always want lists, yes? Let's savor 1964's aged cinematic crop....

Best Movies According To...

Oscar: Becket, Dr Strangelove, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady* and Zorba the Greek were the best picture nominees. They sucked...

Sosie Bacon may only be 21, but she has a lot going for her. On top of being 2014's Miss Golden Globe, through her father Kevin Bacon, she is connected to nearly everyone in Hollywood - including every other previous Miss Golden Globe, most of whom are also the daughters (or sons) of industry power players. And while some have a connection through their famous parents, others, such as Laura Dern (who happens to have famous parents), are also connected through their own work. Don't believe us? Here's how you get from young Ms. Bacon to all of her famous predecessors,...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Bitter Feast"

Directed by Joe Maggio

Released by Mpi Home Video

When a food critic ("Humpday"'s Justin Leonard) takes a butcher knife to the restaurant of a celebrity chef (James LeGros), the chef plots the ultimate revenge in this gory satirical thriller from director Joe Maggio. (My review from the Los Angeles Film Festival is here.)

"Case 39"

Directed by Christian Alvart

Released by Paramount

2010 is probably a year best forgotten by Renee Zellweger, who not only appeared in the execrable "My Own Love Song," which went straight to Netflix, but also this thriller that was filmed in 2006, but didn't see a release until last fall. Zellweger stars as a social worker whose latest case involving a child (Jodelle Ferland) that she believes is a victim of abuse leads to something far more terrifying. Bradley Cooper and Ian McShane co-star.

"Catfish...

 

Provine played against her usual perky image in the starring role in The Bonnie Parker Story (1958)

Actress Dorothy Provine died last week at age 75. Provine was a sexy blonde whose career was somewhat sidelined by critics who felt she was an imitation Doris Day. Her perky on-screen personality landed her prominent roles in films such as Good Neighbor Sam, Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die, That Darn Cat! and Who's Minding the Mint? Provine also was the female lead in the Man From U.N.C.L.E. feature film One Spy Too Many. Her most memorable role was in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World as the reluctant participant in a treasure hunt who ironically discovers where the fortune is buried. Provine was also a singer who scored two pop chart singles in the UK in the 1960s. For more click here...

Actress Dorothy Provine has died after a battle with emphysema.

The star passed away on Sunday at a hospice in Bremerton, Washington at the age of 75, reports Reuters.

Her career began after she landed the title role in 1958's The Bonnie Parker Story - just three days after moving from a small town in South Dakota to Hollywood.

She later went on to star in The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock with Lou Costello, and played Jack Lemmon's wife in Good Neighbor Sam.

Provine also appeared in 1963 comedy It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World as well as Live Fast, Die Young and Never a Dull Moment, opposite Dick Van Dyke.

She is survived by her husband, TV director Robert Day.

Sony has released a six-dvd boxed set tribute to Jack Lemmon, marking the first-time release of these films in the DVD format. Here is the official press release. Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 In a career that spanned half a century, Jack Lemmon was truly America’s Everyman. Although he worked in every genre from musical to western, he truly excelled at comedy, turning in a series of nuanced performances that garnered worldwide acclaim. On June 9, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Sphe) honors one of the most versatile and accomplished actors in Hollywood history with The Jack Lemmon Film Collection, in partnership with Chris Lemmon, Jack’s son and biographer. This must-have six-disc boxed set features five classic performances from the gifted two-time Academy Award® winner for Save the Tiger (1973) and Mister Roberts (1955). The set includes Phffft! featuring Kim Novak, Operation Mad Ball, featuring the film debut of Ernie Kovacs,...

Actor and author Chris Lemmon.

Chris Lemmon Sheds Light On Jack Lemmon: The Man Behind The Magic

By

Alex Simon

Contrary to popular belief, not all movie stars’ offspring had dysfunctional lives filled with drug abuse, domestic violence and self-destruction. Some children of stars have even gone on to live “normal” lives outside of La-la land, and hold their famous parents in high esteem. Take the case of Chris Lemmon. Born June 22, 1954 in L.A., Chris is the son of two-time Oscar winning actor Jack Lemmon and actress Cynthia Stone. Although his parents divorced when he was young, Chris remained close to both throughout their lives and penned a tribute to his father, (who passed in 2001) called A Twist of Lemmon in 2006, published by Algonquin Books.

A successful actor in his own right and a graduate of Cal Arts, Chris Lemmon most recently has collaborated with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment...

DVD Playhouse—June 2009

By

Allen Gardner

The International (Sony) An Interpol agent (Clive Owen) joins forces with a Manhattan D.A. (Naomi Watts) to bring down an arms dealing ring and a corrupt global banking cartel that’s funding them. Superlative thriller was oddly ignored by critics and audiences alike, but expertly blends intelligence (courtesy screenwriter Eric Warren Singer’s masterfully-crafted script) and full-throttle action (director Tom Tykwer stages one of the great film shoot-outs in New York’s iconic Guggenheim Museum), making this dynamite thriller reminiscent of the best work from masters such as John Frankenheimer and Robert Aldrich. Armin Mueller-Stahl is wonderful as a world-weary covert op. Bonuses: Extended scene; Featurettes; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.

The Jack Lemmon Film Collection(Sony) Five films from the two-time Oscar winning actor, focusing on his early career: Phfft! is a zippy comedy from 1954, one of Lemmon’s earliest films, in which...