News

Whatever you might think of the series as a whole Agatha All Along was a proper success, and the numbers confirm it. The series provided us with a brilliant continuation of the storyline started in WandaVision, and aside from the great plot, we also got to see some breakout characters in the series.

We all knew Agatha was going to be amazing, and the Teen was also expected to have a significant impact on the show. But, when news of it broke initially, the fans did not expect Aubrey Plaza’s Rio Vidal to be such an important and beloved character, but it turned out to be exactly like that!

Namely, not only did the revelation that Rio Vidal is Lady Death help boost the character’s popularity, but her story in the series was also handled well, and Aubrey Plaza turned out to be a great casting choice for the famous Marvel character.

There is no show out there like RuPaul’s Drag Race. A reality drag competition series that has run for 16 seasons with repeated Emmy nominations, year after year? “Drag Race is so unique it almost shouldn’t exist,” says EP Tom Campbell. “The fact that it does is so much about RuPaul and his vision and his drive and his ability to market drag for the world.” The series has received 10 Emmy nominations this year, bringing the main series total to 71.

RuPaul’s Drag Race opened their doors to give Deadline a tour of their set and sit down with some of their Emmy-nominated creative team and winner of season 16 Nymphia Wind. Our visit starts with the Werk Room, where contestants prepare for all of their challenges, and where we are treated to a video of RuPaul introducing us to the “gag-worthy” tour and warning us “not to slip on the charisma,...

On Wednesday 24 July 2024, Channel 4 broadcasts Suspect!

Sapphire Season 2 Episode 5 Episode Summary

In this episode of “Suspect” on Channel 4, the psychological crime drama deepens as Susannah delves further into the mystery surrounding her daughter’s tragic death. Titled “Sapphire,” the episode unravels with Susannah uncovering devastating truths that shed light on the circumstances surrounding the loss of her loved one. As she grapples with these revelations, Susannah faces a chilling realization about who might be the next target in this gripping narrative of suspense and intrigue.

“Suspect” continues to captivate viewers with its intense storytelling and compelling characters. Against a backdrop of suspenseful twists and emotional revelations, the episode delves into the complexities of personal tragedy and the pursuit of justice. As Susannah navigates through the shadows of suspicion and uncertainty, the tension mounts, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats.

Join Channel 4 for “Suspect: Sapphire,” where the quest...

On Wednesday, 24 July 2024, Channel 4 will air the fifth and sixth episodes of the gripping psychological crime drama Suspect. In “Sapphire,” airing at 9:00pm Susannah (Anne-Marie Duff) tracks down Sapphire (Céline Buckens), a crucial witness who met with Louisa (Vinette Robinson) before her death. This encounter reveals shocking truths about her daughter’s demise, […]

Suspect: Sapphire and Joseph...

Four-time Grammy winner Lenny Kravitz has been tapped to deliver the “In Memoriam” performance at the 95th Oscars. Following the broadcast tribute, more than 200 filmmakers, artists and executives will feature in an extended photo gallery on A.frame, the Academy’s digital magazine.

Executive producers and showrunners Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner and executive producer Molly McNearney announced the music icon’s participation.

With a resume that includes 11 studio albums that have sold over 40 million copies worldwide, Kravitz has also appeared in various film and television projects such as “The Hunger Games,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”

The producers will continue to announce talent joining the show in the lead-up to the ceremony.

Four Oscar-nominated song performances will feature in this year’s ceremony.

“Naatu Naatu” from “Rrr” will be performed at the ceremony on March 12 by singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, ESPN scores Laliga rights for the next eight years; the U.K. government looks to unload Channel 4; Bavaria Fiction wraps principle shooting on its Netflix horror feature “The Privilege”; and London to get 1,575-seater theater.

Sports

In a Disney earnings call on Tuesday evening, it was announced that ESPN had picked up a raft of sports broadcast and streaming rights in the U.S., including the next eight seasons of Spain’s top soccer competition Laliga.

With all matches to be made available live and on demand via ESPN Plus, several of the higher-profile games will also air across ESPN networks each season and be covered on established ESPN programs such as Sports Center and ESPN Fc, among others. ESPN Plus will also host complimentary programming including match previews and highlight shows.

The deal includes both English and Spanish-language broadcast and streaming rights and...

The Composers Diversity Collective, which represents composers of diverse backgrounds working in visual media, this week releases an album showcasing the music of a dozen of its members.

It’s a co-production with the Helix Collective, a chamber-music ensemble that has been active in live-to-picture film-music presentations in Los Angeles. Called “Shoutout,” it’s “an opportunity for members who might not otherwise have an outlet to write and record music they can share with the world,” says Tony Morales of the CDC.

It’s an appropriately diverse collection of music, all performed by the five-member Helix Collective — oboe, flute, cello, piano and percussion — that the CDC hopes will “shine a light” on that segment of the Hollywood music community that has often been overlooked by filmmakers.

This wasn’t the original plan. The Helix Collective had hoped to perform CDC members’ music in a live concert. When the pandemic put those plans on hold,...

Exclusive: Eternals and American Animals star Barry Keoghan is set to lead new UK drama-thriller Sapphire, from writer-directors Daniel and Matthew Wolfe, and Small Axe and Benediction producer Mike Elliott.

Rising Irish actor Keoghan will play a world-champion snooker player plagued by gambling addiction who escapes to China in search of a fresh start only to become indebted to illegal bookmakers and forced into a mortal dilemma; throw the biggest match of his life or save his soul.

The film is currently in pre-production with filming scheduled for fall 2021 in Taiwan. Bankside Films will launch sales at the upcoming virtual EFM.

Sapphire will mark Daniel Wolfe’s second feature after his 2014 directorial debut Catch Me Daddy, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival. The drama scored five BIFA nominations and won the Best Newcomer Award at the London Film Festival. Wolfe is also well known for his...

During a three-hour discussion on a recent episode of “The Empire Film Podcast,” Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino revealed the existence of their makeshift quarantine movie club over the last 9 months. As Wright explained, “It’s nice. We’ve kept in touch in a sort of way that cinephiles do. It’s been one of the very few blessings of this [pandemic], the chance to disappear down a rabbit hole with the hours indoors that we have.” Tarantino added, “Edgar is more social than I am. It’s a big deal that I’ve been talking to him these past 9 months.”

A bulk of the film club was curated by none other than Martin Scorsese, who sent Wright a recommendation list of nearly 50 British films that Scorsese considers personal favorites. In the five months Wright spent in lockdown before resuming production on “Last Night in Soho” — and before he received the...

The ten Indigenous-led productions due to participate in Bunya Talent Lab LA will each receive development funding and participate in a companion writing program with Netflix.

Originally scheduled for May 2020 in LA, the five-day incubator program was delayed due to travel restrictions but will now take place virtually in early February 2021.

In order for the creatives to maintain momentum and utilise the extra time ahead of the event, Screen Australia’s Indigenous department and Netflix will give each team development funding to further develop their projects with Bunya producers.

As part of the hub, each project will also receive one-on-one international mentorship for their production from Australians in Film (AiF).

A final pitch session to Netflix commissioners in early 2021 will see one of the projects land a formal development deal with Netflix, with Bunya Productions engaged as producers.

Projects include a range of feature film and TV series ideas encompassing comedy,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has launched a series of virtual panels aimed at addressing issues of race and gender equity in conversations led by Whoopi Goldberg, Lee Daniels and others.

The series called “Academy Dialogues: It Starts With Us” is part of the Academy Aperture 2025 equity and inclusion initiative and is a step toward the Oscars’ continued push for more diversity. The series kicked off with a virtual chat between Goldberg and civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson that was held on July 21 and is available online now.

Other panelists included in the series are Victoria Alonso, Lisa Cortés, Debra Martin Chase, Carmen Cuba, DeVon Franklin, Nadia Hallgren, Taraji P. Henson, Franklin Leonard, Delroy Lindo, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Bao Nguyen, Dawn Porter, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ivette Rodriguez, Bird Runningwater, Misan Sagay, Bryan Stevenson, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Ligiah Villalobos, Lulu Wang, Emil Wilbekin and Roger Ross Williams.

Also Read: Oscars...

Whoopi Goldberg, Lee Daniels, Marvel executive Victoria Alonso and more Hollywood heavyweights are on board for a new virtual conversation series from the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The series, titled “Academy Dialogues: It Starts With Us,” is part of the group’s Aperture 2025 equity and inclusion initiative. Topics will include race, ethnicity, gender, history, opportunity and the art of filmmaking.

“With our ‘Academy Dialogues’ series, the Academy is creating a space for our members — and the public — to talk about inclusion in a way that is timely, relevant and allows for a meaningful exchange on how to bring systemic change to Hollywood,” said Lorenza Muñoz, exec VP of member relations and awards. “These conversations may be uncomfortable for some, but they are necessary to broaden the stories that are getting told and increase opportunities for those who have been excluded.”

First up is a chat with...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is taking part of its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative public by expanding its in-house conversation series “Academy Dialogues: It Starts With Us” to include access not only for their entire membership but also the public — which, of course, includes a larger swath of the non-member industry members as well.

Aimed to provide discussions on race, ethnicity, gender, history, opportunity and the art of filmmaking, the series notably included one edition in July featuring AMPAS board member Whoopi Goldberg interviewing civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson on the “Power of Narrative.” It is available for view now on YouTube, but AMPAS is ramping up the volume, as it were, as these issues move front and center in a more urgent way, not only for the Academy...

Here’s a bumper crop of the weird and the British – streaming service Britbox, which is home to a wide selection of BBC, ITV and Channel 4 series including classic Doctor Who, is fortifying its sci-fi ranks. From Thursday the 20th of August, a host of new additions will be joining the classic and modern British fare, including cult series The Prisoner and the complete collection of Sapphire & Steel.

Here’s the full list of new arrivals, known collectively on BritBox as the ‘Out of this World Collection’…

The Prisoner (1967)

All 17 episodes of the television drama created by and starring Patrick McGoohan. A former British secret agent is abducted and held captive in a strange coastal village while those who captured him try to discover the truth of why he suddenly resigned from his position.

Sapphire & Steel (1979)

The complete collection featuring all six seasons and 34 episodes from the...

Earl Cameron, one of the first major Black actors in British cinema, died on Friday at his home in England, his representative confirmed to Variety. He was 102.

Cameron was born in Pembroke, Bermuda, on Aug. 8, 1917, and joined the British Merchant Navy before pursuing a career in theater and film.

“Pool of London,” directed by Basil Dearden in 1951, was Cameron’s first film role. He played a sailor named Johnny Lambert who has a relationship with a white woman, played by Susan Shaw. The noir crime film is best known for portraying the first interracial romance in a British film.

Dearden and Cameron teamed up again in 1959 on the crime drama “Sapphire,” which examined racism in London toward immigrants from the West Indies. The film was progressive for its time and won the BAFTA Award for best film.

“Unless it was specified that this was a part for a Black actor,...

Earl Cameron, widely considered “Britain’s first Black film star,” died in his sleep on Friday. He was 102.

Born in Bermuda on August 8, 1917, Cameron served in the British Merchant Navy before transitioning to acting. After some time as a stage actor on the West End, Cameron made his onscreen debut as the star of 1951’s “Pool of London,” a noir crime drama about the crew members of a merchant ship. In the film, Cameron played a sailor who romances a white woman (Susan Shaw).

“Pool of London” was credited as the first British film to feature an interracial relationship, as well as the first mainstream British film with a major role for a Black actor.

From there, Cameron went on to have major roles in both film and television, in projects like “Sapphire,” “The Dark Man,” “The Prisoner,” and Sidney Poitier’s “A Warm December.” In 1965, after originally being considered...

Bermudian-born actor rose to prominence in the 1950s in films such as Pool of London and Sapphire, as well as appearing in the 007 film Thunderball

Earl Cameron, who with his debut role in the 1951 film Pool of London, became one of the first significant black actors in British cinema, has died aged 102. His agent confirmed the news to the Guardian, saying “he passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his wife and family” on Friday in Kenilworth in Warwickshire.

Cameron’s significance to the current generation of black British actors was underlined by tributes on social media. David Harewood described him as “a total legend”, while Paterson Joseph wrote: “His generation’s pioneering shoulders are what my generation of actors stand on. No shoulders were broader than this gentleman with the voice of god and the heart of a kindly prince.” Historian David Olusoga added: “A remarkable and wonderful man.

For having the distinction of presenting one of cinema’s first interracial relationships between a black man and a white woman, Basil Dearden’s 1951 socially conscious film noir Pool of London seems woefully neglected. Of course, Dearden himself was a director difficult to classify or tie into a particular movement or period.

Having begun his career as a director through Ealing Studios, his most notable features would bluntly tackle race relations and homosexuality, while his penchant for genre includes his contributions to the 1945 omnibus Dead of Night, the bizarre The Mind Benders (1963) and underrated crime drama Woman of Straw (1964).…...

I’d never heard of this gem of a British production; now it goes on my list of highly recommended titles. A dock area on the Thames is ‘the pool,’ and the sailors that disembark from the cargo ships are susceptible to the temptations of black market trade. A single eventful weekend traces the fates of a half-dozen young people, the women that like the sailors, and the sailor that gets mixed up in a deadly serious crime. Director Basil Dearden’s excellent cast is mostly unfamiliar to us Yanks, but we get really tied up in their problems. This picture should be much better known. It’s the first English movie to depict an interracial romance, and it does so without sensationalism or special pleading. The best new extra is an interview with actor Earl Cameron, who at 103 years of age has his act (and his memories) totally together.

Rob Leane Jul 30, 2019

The Nintendo DS provided ample opportunity for Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to shine...

Pokémon Diamond and Pearl came as a very pleasant surprise when it released in Japan in 2006 and everywhere else in 2007 as the first titles in the RPG franchise to release on the Nintendo DS. More than a decade later, this pairing of console and concept works just wonderfully.

After years of squinting at non-backlit Game Boy and Game Boy Advance screens, playing Pokémon on the dual LCD screens of the DS feels like heaven. The characters and their critters are more visible and vibrant than ever, and the touch screen functionality of the bottom screen is an absolute godsend when it comes to rummaging in your bag for items or picking your next move in battle. Using WiFi rather than a Link Cable to connect with your friends also feels like a huge leap in playability.

Rob Leane Jun 21, 2019

Coming at a time when Poké-Mania appeared to be ending, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire faced an uphill struggle

This article comes from Den of Geek UK. 

Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire, which launched in 2002, and faced an uphill battle leading up to its release. Game Freak's Junichi Masuda, who's directed several installments in the series, has openly admitted that these Gen-3 Pokemon games were "very stressful" to make, presenting one of the biggest challenges in the franchise's history.

After all, Pokémon Red and Blue had already delivered a brilliant proof-of-concept, and Pokémon Gold and Silver perfected the formula shortly afterward. With the Star Wars prequels hoovering up pop culture attention and hogging toy shop shelves, making a mark was no easy feat for Game Freak with Ruby and Sapphire. Did the world need another Pokémon game, or was this a fad nearing its end?

Starting a new game in Sapphire now,...

Having watched his previous film, “Sapphire”, I had high hopes for “Steel Angie”, since the director showed a knack for the extreme action with female protagonist category. Let us see if my expectations were met.

“Steel Angie” screened at Japan Film Fest Hamburg

The story is somewhat messy. It revolves around Angelica, codenamed Margarita, a Russian Interpol agent, who is tasked with infiltrating the Russian mafia to take back a secret serum called Rc, which gives super powers and has been stolen from her government. However, she is captured and injected with the Rc, but because her body does not have the necessary antibodies, she must be injected with another type of Rc or she dies. The plot also involves a Yakuza organization named San Mon Kai, who has been hired by a military company called West Night, Angelica’s step father Inaba, a master swordsman, her childhood friend Alex...

Director Toshinari Yonishi (“Sapphire“) has completed production on his most recent production “Steel Angie”. The film stars Angelina Varlakova as the titular character, along with Vlad Volkhin, Ken Kensei, Megumi Sekine.

Ken Kensei is a Japanese actor working mostly in Hollywood, having participated in films like “Black Rain” and “Letters from Iwo Jima”. In “Steel Angie” he is the coordinator of the sword action.

The films will be making its debut at Japan Film-fest Hamburg running from May 19th, to the 29th, 2019 . A trailer for the film was previously released through West Night Films.

The Russian Icpo Investigator Angelica, Code name Margarita, was ordered to investigate the Russian Mafia who stole a secret weapon Rc from the Russian Government. She infiltrated the Russian Mafia, but was caught later in a Russian forest, when the Russian Mafia was dealing with the Japanese Yakuza, San Mon Kai that was hired by West Night Company,...

Pokémon (Pocket Monsters) was released in 1996 on the Nintendo Game Boy as Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green, or Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue outside of Japan. Pokémon Green would eventually be released outside of the United States as well, followed by another variation of the game, Pokémon Yellow.

The game put the player in the role of an intrepid child who has been tasked with catching, evolving, and cataloguing 150 fantastical creatures, Pokémon. At the same time, the player is able to use their team of Pokémon to battle other Pokémon Trainers in order to become a Pokémon Master. In an added twist, some of the 150 Pokémon were exclusive to either the Red or Green (Blue) version of the game, and as a result, players needed to use the Game Boy Link Cable to trade Pokémon with other players in order to get all 150 Pokémon.

Due to the success of the original games,...

It’s a big day for awards nominations… but before we get to the Emmy noms, The Crown, Peaky Blinders and The Handmaid’s Tale are going head-to-head against German series Babylon Berlin in the Rose D’Or awards.

The four shows have been nominated for the European television awards, which cover a broad range of scripted and non-scripted genres.

The nominations (below) comes as the European Broadcasting Union revealed that Absolutely Fabulous star Joanna Lumley will be given a Lifetime Achievement award at the event, which takes place on September 19. She will be honored for her work on TV, which also includes Sapphire and Steel, as well as film roles including Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as well as the more recent The Wolf Of Wall Street.

“I am so thrilled and honored to receive the Rose d’Or in September”, said Lumley. “I can’t...

To celebrate a brand new restoration of the 1951 Ealing classic Pool Of London on Blu-Ray, DVD & Est, Studiocanal are supplying 3 copies of the Blu-Ray to give away to some lucky winners. Directed by Basil Dearden (The Blue Lamp; Dead of Night) and starring Bonar Colleano (Dance Hall; The Man Inside) and legendary Earl Cameron Cbe (Sapphire; Thunderball), […]

The post Win Pool of London on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Visage...

Voice...

Vitaphone...

In Dimitri Kirsanoff's Menilmontant a destitute waif, betrayed and abandoned by the man who seduced her, sits on a park bench with her newborn infant. Beside her is an old man eating a sandwich. This wordless exchange is one of the greatest moments ever committed to film. Nadia Sibirskaia’s face reveals all of life’s cruel mysteries as she gazes upon a crust of bread.

The persistence of hope is the dark angel that underlies despair, and here it taunts her mercilessly. A whole series of fluctuations of expression and movement in reaction to anguish, physical pain involving hesitation, dignity, ravenous hunger, survival, self-contempt, modesty, boundless gratitude. All articulated with absolute clarity without hitting notes (without touching the keys). Chaplin could have played either the old man on the bench (his mustache is a sensory device!) or Nadia. And it would have been masterful and deeply affecting,...

The definition of a slasher film varies depending on who you ask, but in general, it contains several specific traits that feed into the genre’s formula. Author Vera Dika rather strictly defines the sub-genre in her book Games of Terror by only including films made between 1978 and 1984. In other words, she saw it as a movement. When someone describes Brick, they don’t define it as a noir, but instead neo-noir . In other words, it’s a modern motion picture that prominently utilizes elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in those from the 1940s and 1950s. So does one consider Scream a slasher film or a neo-slasher, or simply put, a modern slasher?

Some consider Thirteen Women to be the earliest slasher – released all the way back in 1932. Personally I think that is rubbish. Thirteen Women is more like Desperate Housewives on sedatives.

UK films in the 1950s and 60s led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy

In these troubled times, when the phone-hacking scandal has heaped ignominy on the police, it is worth pointing out that British cinema has led the way in suggesting the boys in blue are less than trustworthy. In fact, so complete was the turnaround in the two decades between The Blue Lamp, in 1950, and The Offence, from 1972, it almost constitutes a social history in its own right.

Made partly to alleviate a recruitment crisis, and partly to acknowledge a wave of teen delinquency just after the war, The Blue Lamp was the first British film made with the full co-operation of the Metropolitan police. The Met lent the makers their stations, their patrol cars and even their own officers to play small roles. The plot – a neurotic young spiv, played by Dirk Bogarde,...

Actor turned teacher, he quit the screen at the height of his fame

There are some actors who, having disappeared from the public gaze early in their careers, always prompt the question, "Whatever happened to ... ?" The answer, in the case of Paul Massie, who has died of lung cancer aged 78, is that, at the height of his fame on films and television, he gave it up at the age of 40 to teach drama at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

The son of a Baptist minister, Massie was born Arthur Massé in the city of St Catharines, in the Niagara region of Ontario. Although he was brought up in Canada, almost his entire 16-year acting career was in Britain. In fact, the only film he made in Canada was his first, Philip Leacock's High Tide at Noon (1957), a Rank Organisation melodrama shot in Nova Scotia. Although it was a bit part,...

Tuesday, DVD roundup day, is a fine day for taking a look at the new Summer 2011 issue of Cineaste, particularly since, among the online samplings this time around, DVD reviews outnumber all other types of articles combined.

To begin, Darragh O'Donoghue on Harun Farocki's Still Life (1997): "Five aphoristic essays on 17th-century Dutch still-life painting, of about three minutes each, bracket four documentary sequences of photographers creating modern still lifes for magazine advertisements. These two levels, though defined by opposites — stasis/motion, tell/show — are linked by visual motifs and rhymes, just as the modern products echo the subjects of the paintings. The documentary sequences have no commentary, mostly last ten to fifteen minutes, and take their cue from Farocki's earlier An Image (Ein bild, 1983). In that short, he recorded the shooting of a German Playboy centerfold spread, from the building of sets and the arrangement of props (including...

I just finished watching this jazz-infused 1962 psychodrama from British filmmaker Basil Dearden, titled All Night Long; it’s basically a retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello, set in a 1960s London jazz club, taking place over the course of one eventful evening.

As interracial couple, and band mates, Aurelius Rex (played by Paul Harris) and Delia Lane (played by Marti Stevens), celebrate their first wedding anniversary, jealous, ambitious drummer, Johnny Cousin (Patrick McGoohan), who wants Delia for himself to headline his own burgeoning band, works feverishly to tear the couple apart, with lies and deception. A familiar story of jealousy and treachery.

And by the time the night draws to a close, the previously-happily married Aurelius has been deceived into trying to murder his beloved wife, and her believed to be lover.

It’s provoking, especially for a film of its time. Not a film that I’d expect to be...

Last week this column featured a review from the most recent Eclipse Series release, Silent Naruse. Sharp-eyed, or perhaps somewhat obsessive-compulsive, readers may have taken note that I had not yet made any mention in this space of the Eclipse set that preceded Silent Naruse. There’s a simple reason for that: I was waiting for the late 50s/early 60s films included in Eclipse Series 25: Basil Dearden’s London Underground to come up in the meticulous chronological sequence I use in my main blog, Criterion Reflections, where I’ve just recently advanced to the movies of 1959. (And with that disclosure, those same sharp-eyed readers are now wondering just who I am to call anyone else “somewhat obsessive-compulsive.”) Well, since I’ve moved past the double feature of First Man Into Space and Corridors of Blood, that point in the timeline has been reached. This week, I’m buffing up and polishing Sapphire.

"The title of Basil Dearden's London Underground, a four-dvd Eclipse Series box set from Criterion Collection covering the late 50s and early 60s work of the British director, is a bit deceptive," finds Steve Erickson in Gay City News. "To be fair, Dearden's work was often prescient about the coming rebellions of the 1960s, depicting the beginnings of the black and gay civil rights movements. However, he did so from a well-intentioned but square outsider's perspective. There's a world of difference between Dearden's visions of interracial couples in Sapphire and All Night Long and the excoriations of Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, recently honored with his own Eclipse box set, aimed at his country's discrimination against Koreans. Dearden's noble politics are often expressed through plodding filmmaking. Still, he beat a seemingly more progressive director like Oshima to the punch in one respect. Dearden took on the subject of homosexuality when...

DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed

Broadcast News (Criterion Collection) This arrived on Monday afternoon so I've only had the chance to remove the cellophane. However, this was my most anticipated title from Criterion this January as I've heard so much about this film from James Brooks but have never seen it. The disc comes with a brand new audio commentary with Brooks and film editor Richard Marks as well as deleted scenes and an alternate ending with commentary from Brooks. I should have a full review within the next week. Dogtooth I didn't know this one was coming out today until I was putting together this article and I'm sure Kino is half-excited and half-upset at the prospect it's landing the same day as the Oscar nominations are announced. On one hand it's nice to hit shelves the same day you could possibly be...

"Dogtooth" (2009)

Directed by Giorgos Lanthimos

Released by Kino

"Enter the Void" (2010)

Directed by Gaspar Noé

Released by Mpi Home Video

Somehow it's fitting that two of last year's most dangerous films will be hitting DVD shelves the same week, both being favorites of the IFC.com staff. "Dogtooth," Lanthimos' much-debated Un Certain Regard winner from Cannes, concerns the lives of three culturally isolated children -- two daughters and a son, who range from mid-teens to early 20s -- fenced in by their parents' country home, who receive a reeducation when their lone connection to the outside world, a female security guard for their parents' business, introduces them to the joys of sex and Sylvester Stallone films. Meanwhile, "Irreversible" provocateur Noé's latest is a wildly ambitious 155-minute extravaganza set inside the mind of a drug dealer told from the first-person perspective. Nathaniel Brown and "Boardwalk Empire" star Paz de la Huerta...

DVD Playhouse: January 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (20th Century Fox) Sequel to the seminal 1980s film catches up with a weathered, but still determined Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas, who seems to savor every syllable of Allan Loeb and Stephen Schiff’s screenplay) just out of jail and back on the comeback trail. In attempting to repair his relationship with his estranged daughter (Carey Mulligan), Gekko forges a reluctant alliance with her fiancé (Shia Labeouf), himself an ambitious young turk who finds himself seduced by Gekko’s silver tongue and promise of riches. Lifeless film is further evidence of director Oliver Stone’s decline. Once America’s most exciting filmmaker, Stone hasn’t delivered a film with any teeth since 1995’s Nixon. Labeouf and Mulligan generate no sparks on-screen, and the story feels forced from the protracted opening to the final, Disney-esque denouement. Only a brief cameo by Charlie Sheen,...

I wrote about this British 1959 “doozy” of a film directed by Basil Dearden on S & A back in June Here and which deals with the murder investigation of a light skinned woman passing for white. I suggest anyone to go back and read that extensive piece about Sapphire which is truly a fascinating film with a truly skewed view of black life and people, though it was then, and still is by some, considered to be an important and (dare I say it) realistic and honest film.

I lamented that the film had never been available here on DVD (or even VHS for that matter) in the U.S., but I’ve just discovered that it will finally be available on DVD on Criterion’s lower priced Eclipse label on Jan 25. The catch however is that the DVD will is not available separately, but as part of Eclipse’s Basil Dearden...

Criterion has burned through all of its 2010 release announcements. What will the new year bring? If January is an accurate indicator, 2011 might be the year of the Blu-Ray upgrade. 

Sam Fuller's Shock Corridor and Naked Kiss are getting the high-def treatment with cover art and illustrations from Daniel Clowes. Jean Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows and Bryan Haskin's classic science-fiction tale Robinson Crusoe on Mars are also receiving Blu-Ray upgrades. 

Finally, there are two new entries. Criterion is making a rare nod to 80s Hollywood with a Blu-Ray and DVD release of James L. Brook's Broadcast News. A 4 DVD box set from Eclipse entitled Basil Dearden's London Underground will explore the work of (can you guess?) English director Basil Dearden.

The Criterion Collection 2011 Release Calendar (updated 10/17/2010)

January 2011

Jean Pierre Melville, Army Of Shadows, Bd, 1/11/2011, Us & English speaking Canada only

Bryan Haskin, Robinson Crusoe Of Mars, Bd, 1/11/2011, Us &Canada

Sam Fuller,...

Last month when I wrote a piece about the wacky and one of a kind 1960 British racial murder mystery Sapphire, I’ve been meaning to follow up with a piece about the other, and far better, British racial drama made around the same time, in 1961, and also obviously inspired by the 1958 Notting Hill race riots in London, Flame in the Streets.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film is basically what Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner with Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier (released six years later in 1967) might have been if it had the guts.

The film centers around a union steward in a furniture company (John Mills) who prides himself on being liberal and open minded and who oversees an integrated workforce at the factory. Though he seems to be somewhat oblivious to the racial tensions among his workers just bubbling beneath the surface. When he...

Of course we all know by now the author Sapphire who wrote the book Push, which in turn became the movie Precious. But only today it occurred to me about that other Sapphire, which also deals with racial issues. (It would have occurred to me a lot sooner if my wits were about me like they used to) The other Sapphire I’m referring is the 1959 British mystery detective film directed by Basil Dearden who specialized, during the late 50’s and 60’s, in films with controversial subjects.

It’s very hard to see now. It’s never been available on DVD (or VHS for that matter) here in the U.S., though I suppose it’s much easier to see it in the U.K. I only know it because my local PBS station many years ago would show it occasionally on late night weekends, but it’s been ages...