News

A brand new “The Boys” spinoff series, the second season of “Wheel of Time” and football highlight a robust lineup of new movies and shows coming to Amazon Prime Video in September. “Gen V,” a spinoff of “The Boys” set at a college, premieres on Sept. 29, while new episodes of “The Wheel of Time” Season 2 are rolling out all month long after the season premiere on Sept. 1.

Thursday Night Football is streaming starting Sept. 14, and a whole host of library movies worth checking out – from “Four Weddings and a Funeral” to “Dracula” to “10 Things I Hate About You” – are now streaming.

There’s also the premiere of the original film “Cassandro” starring Gael Garcia Bernal as a gay wrestler, and the acclaimed drama “A Thousand and One” comes to Prime Video on Sept. 19.

Check out the full list of what’s new on Amazon Prime Video in September 2023 below.

It’s a deceptively big month on Prime Video in September! To kick things off, The Wheel of Time will be back for a second season on the service, while a live-action The Boys spinoff series called Gen V will be capping off the original series content later in the month.

But there are also some interesting new projects lined up between those two biggies. On September 15, Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen star in what is sure to be a delicious tale of revenge. Wilderness, based on B.E. Jones’ novel of the same name, stars Coleman as a heartbroken wife who discovers her husband has been cheating on her after she gives up her whole life to move over to America with him and support his career.

You should also keep an eye out for Cassandro, landing on Prime Video on the same day. The film, which has been...

Legally embattled actor Alec Baldwin has asked fans to focus on late Hollywood outcast Robert Blake’s contributions to film and TV rather than Blake’s “legal entanglements.”

“Robert Blake has died. I realize that many people have had harsh feelings toward him,” Baldwin wrote on Instagram. “His life seemed to involve many dramatic legal entanglements.”

Baldwin continued, “Today, I want [to] remember him as the incredibly gifted actor he was. A child actor who made countless films in the ’40s.” He went on to name the films Treasure of the Sierra Madre, A Town Without Pity, Electra Glide in Blue, and more, as well as Blake’s Emmy-winning role in the ABC detective series Baretta.

According to Baldwin, however, Blake’s performance in 1967’s In Cold Blood “cemented his place in movie history.” He added, “The brooding, baby-faced Blake had a difficult life. However, when you watch In Cold Blood,...

The love affair between Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund and the Cannes Film Festival continues.

The 48-year-old director will return to the scene of his recent triumph, as it was just last year that his “Triangle of Sadness” came away with the coveted Palme d’Or, the top prize at the most prestigious festival in world cinema. (Don’t tell Venice I said that.)

“I am happy, proud, and humbled to be trusted with the honor of jury president for this year’s competition at the Festival de Cannes,” he wrote in an announcement released by the festival early Tuesday morning. “I am sincere when I say that cinema culture is in its most important period ever,” he continued.

Östlund’s “Triangle” is, of course, currently a long-shot Oscar candidate in three categories: Best Director (a nomination for Östlund), Best Original Screenplay (another nomination for Östlund), and Best Picture (a nomination...

Hookers! Devil worshippers! A naughty teenage voyeur! A deadly knife, a lethal sedan and a chainsaw-wielding psychopath! Nasal Spray! CineSavant breaks with the disc-reviewing norm and abandons journalistic integrity. Well, not really, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to finally review a film I edited 32 years ago, on a happy moviemaking money-losing vacation from Cannon Films’ advertising department.

Night Visitor

Blu-ray

Scorpion Releasing

1989 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date June (?), 2020 / available through Ronin Flix and Diabolik DVD / 22.99

Starring: Allen Garfield, Elliott Gould, Derek Rydall, Michael J. Pollard, Shannon Tweed, Richard Roundtree, Teresa Van der Woude, Teri Weigel, Scott Fults, Brooke Bundy, Henry Gibson, Kathryn Kimler, Kathleen Bailey.

Cinematography: Peter Jenson

Film Editor: Glenn Erickson

Original Music: Parmer Fuller

Art Direction: Gyongyver Sovago

Still Photographer: Elizabeth Ward

Unit Production Manager, Associate Producer: Richard J. Abramitis

Written by Randal Viscovich

Produced by Alain Silver

Directed by Rupert Hitzig...

In our 100th episode, Edgar Wright takes us on a musical journey through some of his favorite cinematic needle drops.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

Baby Driver (2017)

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Vanishing Point (1971)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Deja Vu (2006)

Man On Fire (2004)

The Bourne Supremacy (2004)

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

Alien (1979)

The Mexican (2001)

Gremlins (1984)

American Graffiti (1973)

Star Wars (1977)

Jaws (1975)

The Exorcist (1973)

Halloween (1978)

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Deep Red (1976)

Suspiria (1977)

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

The Long Goodbye (1973)

The Evil Dead (1983)

Face/Off (1997)

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

Mandy (2018)

The Hallow (2015)

The Nun (2018)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Christine (1983)

Blue Collar (1978)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Mauvais Sang (1986)

Frances Ha (2012)

The Lovers On The Bridge (1991)

Holy Motors (2012)

Annette (Tbd)

Goodfellas (1990)

Mean Streets (1973)

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

Raging Bull (1980)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max (1979)

Babe (1995)

Happy Feet (2006)

Dr. Strangelove...

Acclaimed stuntman and action director extraordinaire Jesse V. Johnson joins us to discuss the U.S. based action films and filmmakers that have influenced him the most.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

On The Waterfront (1954)

Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)

Undisputed (2002)

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

The Killer Elite (1975)

Convoy (1978)

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Birdcage (1996)

Cross of Iron (1977)

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)

Easy Rider (1969)

Fail Safe (1964)

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Ride The High Country (1962)

Major Dundee (1965)

Jinxed! (1982)

Beowulf (2007)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Girl Hunters (1963)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Point Blank (1967)

Falling Down (1993)

M (1951)

M (1931)

The Black Vampire (1953)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Scum (1979)

Elephant (1989)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...

(This is the first in an occasional series in which I remember some of the best double features I’ve been lucky enough to see projected in a theater.)

The New Beverly Cinema, the oldest surviving revival theater in Los Angeles, has this week dished up a time-capsule glimpse into America’s popular obsession with Cb, or citizen’s band, radio and the largely mythological outlaw trucker culture through which it crackled. If you’re of a certain age (mine), and you ever cruised around town or down the highway jabbering to friends and strangers on an open channel frequency (I did—my handle was The Godfather!), given the opportunity I don’t see how you could possibly resist the chance to see the ultimate trucker-cb action-comedy pairing, Hal Needham’s Smokey and the Bandit and Sam Peckinpah’s Convoy. (I couldn’t!) As of this writing, the morning of...

Cinema’s Hidden Pearls – Part II

By Alex Simon

One of nature’s rarest items, a pearl is produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a clam, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. Truly flawless pearls are infrequently produced in nature, and as a result, the pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable and valuable.

Hidden pearls exist in the world of movies, as well: films that, in spite of being brilliantly crafted and executed, never got the audience they deserved beyond a cult following.

Here are a few more of our favorite hidden pearls in the world of film:

1. Massacre at Central High (1976)

Dutch director, and former cameraman for the legendary Russ Meyer, Rene Daalder was hired by producers to direct an exploitation...

By

Alex Simon

Hollywood, like any place that is more about its lore than the actual sum of its parts, is full of unsung heroes who have given audiences some of their most cherished cinematic moments. Odds are if you’re a movie buff, you’ll remember the car chases in iconic films like Bullitt, The French Connection and The Seven-Ups. Stuntman, stunt driver and later, stunt coordinator Bill Hickman was one of those people who remained virtually anonymous during his lifetime, but is responsible for some of cinema’s most iconic, and hair-raising moments.

The Los Angeles native was born in 1921 and had been working in Hollywood for ten years before landing his first (visible) role in Stanley Kramer’s legendary The Wild One, the 1953 film that cemented star Marlon Brando’s status as an icon of post-war teen rebellion. Hickman can be seen as one of Brando’s...

How would you program this year's newest, most interesting films into double features with movies of the past you saw in 2014?

Looking back over the year at what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2014—in theatres or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2014 to create a unique double feature.

All the contributors were given the option to write some text explaining their 2014 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch...

Director of the mystical road movie Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point was one of a crop of existential road movies in the early 1970s – the others included Two-Lane Blacktop and Electra Glide in Blue – which quickly gained cult status. Its director, Richard C Sarafian, who has died aged 83, never made another film that struck such a resounding chord with audiences, countercultural or otherwise. No matter: the appeal of Vanishing Point was enduring enough to make him a noted, even influential, figure. Quentin Tarantino thanked Sarafian in the closing credits of his own four-wheeled thriller, Death Proof (2007), and the Scottish band Primal Scream signalled their admiration for Vanishing Point by naming a 1997 album after the movie. "It's always been a favourite of the band," said the singer Bobby Gillespie. "We love the air of paranoia and speed-freak righteousness."

This 1971 film concerns the Vietnam veteran Kowalski (played by Barry Newman after the studio overruled Sarafian's first choice,...

LPs are arguably the music aficionado's format of choice – but what are the best movie moments featuring those hypnotic black discs?

This week's Clip joint is by James Arden, a writer and filmmaker who divides his time between London and York. Visit his website or follow him on twitter @jnarden. If you've got an idea for a future Clip joint, drop an email to adam.boult@guardian.co.uk.

The image of the needle on the spinning record, and the accompanying crackling sound, offers a unique visual and auditory opportunity for filmmakers to explore. It can build tension, create dreamy atmospheres, conjure memories or just look cool. Let's also not forget those unbeatable giant record sleeves. This week on Clip joint, we're looking for your best clips about vinyl.

Brighton Rock

In John Boulting's 1947 adaptation of Graham Greene's 1938 novel, Richard Attenborough stars as Pinkie, a psychopathic young gangster in Brighton.

Three Takes is a new column dedicated to the art of short-form criticism. Each week, three writers—Calum Marsh, Fernando F. Croce, and Joseph Jon Lanthier—offer stylized capsules which engage, in brief, with classic and contemporary films.

James William Guerico's

Electra Glide In Blue (1973)

The prologue’s interplay of fetishistic close-ups (shells loaded into shotguns, faded stars and stripes, gleaming buckles and zippers) and spacious vistas (a dissolve to the highway stretching into the distance, the frame divided between asphalt and majestic rocky formations) suggests the unlikely alliance of Kenneth Anger and John Ford. Electra Glide in Blue is, appropriately, the work of a rock ‘n’ roll alchemist with a fondness for Westerns, the only film directed by James William Guercio, an ambitious music industry impresario luxuriating in the possibilities of New Hollywood. People seem extra small in the wide open spaces of Arizona’s Monument Valley, and nobody...

This article is dedicated to Andrew Copp: filmmaker, film writer, artist and close friend who passed away on January 19, 2013. You are loved and missed, brother.

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Looking at the Best Actor Academy Award nominations for the film year 2012, the one miss that clearly cries out for more attention is Liam Neeson’s powerful performance in Joe Carnahan’s excellent survival film The Grey, easily one of the best roles of Neeson’s career.

In Neeson’s case, his lack of a nomination was a case of neglect similar to the Albert Brooks snub in the Best Supporting Actor category for the film year 2011 for Drive(Nicolas Winding Refn, USA).

Along with negligence, other factors commonly prevent outstanding lead acting performances from getting the kind of critical attention they deserve. Sometimes it’s that the performance is in a film not considered “Oscar material” or even worthy of any substantial critical attention.

Part of the Tony Scott: A Moving Target critical project. Go here for the project's description, index and links to project's other movement.

This is one "movement" of our exquisite corpse-style critical project, Tony Scott: A Moving Target, which coincidentally begins with a look at Crimson Tide, the same movie that begins the other movement. As outlined in the introduction to the entire project, this project began in my mind, as something fairly simple: a snaking continuum of scene analysis. This is only in part what resulted.

The varied responses I got back from my group—"mine" in the sense that it is the one I participated in, since Gina's contribution closes Movement B—seem to say as much about the participating critics as they do about Tony Scott's films and the overlap between the two: the perception of Scott's films and career. Thus many entries, including my own,...

This article is part of the critical project Tony Scott: A Moving Target in which an analysis of a scene from a Tony Scott film is passed anonymously to the next participant in the project to respond to with an analysis of his or her own.

<- the previous analysis | movement index | the next analysis ->

"Visually the film is quite impressive, something like a confetti storm in which the spectator never gets to rest."

–Manny Farber, 1968

Participating in this writing game is a little like being crossed between Robert Bresson’s A Man Escaped (1956) and Jean Genet’s Un chant d’amour (1950). Both prison films, both about Men on Fire. One implicitly gay, the other explicitly so. Alone in my cell, like in Bresson, I am doing my bit to chip my way through to collective freedom and enlightenment. And, meanwhile, I am being presented, like in Genet, with things—all kinds of things—to help me along,...

Electra Glide In Blue

Directed by James William Guercio

USA 1973

114min.

16mm | English

Friday, March 18th

Doors: 7:45pm

Film: 8:30pm

16mm Print!

Head over to Blue Shunshine this week and check out Electra Glide in Blue a 1973 film starring Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop in Arizona and Billy Green Bush as his partner. The name stems from the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide motorcycle issued to traffic cops at the time.The one and only film ever produced and directed by James William Guercio (who is best known as the producer of Chicago’s first eleven albums), the film was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, but was loathed by critics. Strangely, Robert Blake was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance and the film garnered a great deal of critical acclaim upon its nationwide release. Whilst it saw only limited commercial success, it was given cult status for many years.

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

The Disappearance Of Alice Creed - Review/Giveaway

One of the things that struck me as I watched The Disappearance of Alice Creed, a ferocious first feature from writer/director J Blakeson, was that even though a lot of this was shot in a confined space it does not take away one iota from the thrill of what the movie aims to accomplish. What it aims for, you understand, is to have a story so good that it could all take place on a theater stage without nary a change in scenery.

Many films, like David Fincher’s Panic Room, have tried to use minimalism as a means to telegraph the claustrophobic insanity that can happen when a human being in confined in a tight space.