Despite the proliferation of streaming services, it’s becoming increasingly clear that any cinephile only needs subscriptions to a few to survive. Among the top of our list are The Criterion Channel and Mubi and now they’ve each unveiled their stellar April line-ups.
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
Over at The Criterion Channel, highlights include spotlights on Ennio Morricone, the Marx Brothers, Isabel Sandoval, and Ramin Bahrani, plus Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard, Frank Borzage’s Moonrise, the brand-new restoration of Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk, and one of last year’s best films, David Osit’s Mayor.
At Mubi (where we’re offering a 30-day trial), they’ll have the exclusive streaming premiere of two of the finest festival films from last year’s circuit, Cristi Puiu’s Malmkrog and Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Labyrinth of Cinema, plus Philippe Garrel’s latest The Salt of Tears, along with films from Terry Gilliam, George A. Romero,...
- 3/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
At Il Cinema Ritrovato, the festival of restored and rediscovered films in Bologna, one intriguing item was a short season of the films noir of Felix E. Feist, with Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951) advertised as the best of these. A couple-on-the-run movie in the melancholy vein of Nicholas Ray's They Live By Night, it benefits from strong performances from its unusual leads, and Feist, intermittently a striking stylist, seems fully engaged.From the start, when anti-hero Steve Cochran is paroled from the prison he's spent eighteen years in since killing his brutal father as a teenager, low angles make the hero hulking and threatening. But then, released into an uncaring and alien society, he wanders for silent minutes, observed by a crafty newsman, but not speaking, merely staring in bewilderment at the modern cars and fashions.Then he wanders into a diner and orders three different types of pie,...
- 7/11/2019
- MUBI
Italy’s Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival, which is dedicated to cinematic treasures of the past, last week wrapped its 33rd edition with a record-breaking turnout. Long a summer fixture for vintage film geeks and distributors it also draws prominent contemporary cinema personalities. This year these included Academy president John Bailey, Francis Ford Coppola, Nicolas Winding Refn, Jane Campion, Thierry Fremaux, and Philippe Le Guay. The fest is the brainchild of Gianluca Farinelli, also chief of the Bologna Film Archives and its film restoration lab known globally as a prime film preservation entity. Farinelli spoke to Variety about the fest’s easy co-existence with his friend Thierry Fremaux’s similar but younger Lumière Festival in Lyon, how they both drive this market segment, and singled out some gems of this edition starting from the world’s first film with a gay narrative. Excerpts.
What makes Il Cinema Ritrovato different from the Lumière fest in Lyon?...
What makes Il Cinema Ritrovato different from the Lumière fest in Lyon?...
- 7/3/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Film Noir Foundation has helped revive yet another difficult-to-see noir gem — the murder cover-up tale begins with a shooting in a mansion and races across San Francisco to a finale given classic lines by director Felix Feist. And the casting: Saggy Lee J. Cobb as a romantic leading man? Sunny Jane Wyatt as a duplicitous killer? Bring it on!
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Blu-ray + DVD
Flicker Alley
1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 81 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde, Tito Vuolo, Charles Arnt, Marjorie Bennett.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: David Weisbart
Production Design: Van Nest Polglase
Original Music: Louis Forbes
Written by Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller from his story.
Produced by Jack M. Warner
Directed by Felix E. Feist
In the late ’40s film noir was the default vehicle for ambitious filmmaking — after producing two early Anthony Mann noirs,...
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Blu-ray + DVD
Flicker Alley
1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 81 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Jane Wyatt, John Dall, Lisa Howard, Harlan Warde, Tito Vuolo, Charles Arnt, Marjorie Bennett.
Cinematography: Russell Harlan
Film Editor: David Weisbart
Production Design: Van Nest Polglase
Original Music: Louis Forbes
Written by Philip MacDonald, Seton I. Miller from his story.
Produced by Jack M. Warner
Directed by Felix E. Feist
In the late ’40s film noir was the default vehicle for ambitious filmmaking — after producing two early Anthony Mann noirs,...
- 9/15/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A few years ago, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of influential film critic Pauline Kael, I wrote the following:
“I think (Kael) did a lot to expose the truth… that directors, writers and actors who often work awfully close to the surface may still have subterranean levels of achievement or purpose or commentary that they themselves may be least qualified to articulate. It’s what’s behind her disdain for Antonioni’s pontificating at the Cannes film festival; it’s what behind the high percentage of uselessness of proliferating DVD commentaries in which we get to hear every dull anecdote, redundant explication of plot development and any other inanity that strikes the director of the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com to blurt out breathlessly; and it is what’s behind a director like Eli Roth, who tailors the subtext of something like Hostel Part II almost as...
“I think (Kael) did a lot to expose the truth… that directors, writers and actors who often work awfully close to the surface may still have subterranean levels of achievement or purpose or commentary that they themselves may be least qualified to articulate. It’s what’s behind her disdain for Antonioni’s pontificating at the Cannes film festival; it’s what behind the high percentage of uselessness of proliferating DVD commentaries in which we get to hear every dull anecdote, redundant explication of plot development and any other inanity that strikes the director of the latest Jennifer Aniston rom-com to blurt out breathlessly; and it is what’s behind a director like Eli Roth, who tailors the subtext of something like Hostel Part II almost as...
- 4/2/2017
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Do rediscovered ‘lost’ movies always disappoint? This Depression-era pre-Code science fiction disaster thriller was unique in its day, and its outrageously ambitious special effects –New York City is tossed into a blender — were considered the state of the art. Sidney Blackmer and a fetching Peggy Shannon fight off rapacious gangs in what may be the first post-apocalyptic survival thriller.
Deluge
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1933 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 67 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Peggy Shannon, Lois Wilson, Sidney Blackmer, Lane Chandler, Samuel S. Hinds, Fred Kohler, Matt Moore, Edward Van Sloan .
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Film Editor: Martin G. Cohn, Rose Loewinger
Special Effects: Ned Mann, Williams Wiliams, Russell Lawson, Ernie Crockett, Victor Scheurich, Carl Wester
Original Music: Val Burton
Written by Warren Duff, John F. Goodrich from the novel by Sydney Fowler Wright
Produced by Samuel Bischoff, Burt Kelly, William Saal
Directed by Felix E. Feist...
Deluge
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1933 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 67 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Peggy Shannon, Lois Wilson, Sidney Blackmer, Lane Chandler, Samuel S. Hinds, Fred Kohler, Matt Moore, Edward Van Sloan .
Cinematography: Norbert Brodine
Film Editor: Martin G. Cohn, Rose Loewinger
Special Effects: Ned Mann, Williams Wiliams, Russell Lawson, Ernie Crockett, Victor Scheurich, Carl Wester
Original Music: Val Burton
Written by Warren Duff, John F. Goodrich from the novel by Sydney Fowler Wright
Produced by Samuel Bischoff, Burt Kelly, William Saal
Directed by Felix E. Feist...
- 2/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– L.A.-based outfit Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to Michael O’Shea’s Cannes premiere “The Transfiguration.” The film was sold by Protagonist Pictures at Toronto, and it marks the feature debut of writer-director Michael O’Shea. The atmospheric feature puts a new spin on the vampire movie.
“Mr. O’Shea’s film is a unique hybrid that audiences and critics will be compelled by,” said Strand Releasing’s partner Jon Gerrans, who discovered the film at Cannes. No word yet on release plans.
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that Joel Potrykus’s latest dark comedy, “The Alchemist Cookbook,” will be available worldwide for pay-what-you-wish via BitTorrent Now on October 7, before it screens in select theaters across the country.
– L.A.-based outfit Strand Releasing has acquired U.S. rights to Michael O’Shea’s Cannes premiere “The Transfiguration.” The film was sold by Protagonist Pictures at Toronto, and it marks the feature debut of writer-director Michael O’Shea. The atmospheric feature puts a new spin on the vampire movie.
“Mr. O’Shea’s film is a unique hybrid that audiences and critics will be compelled by,” said Strand Releasing’s partner Jon Gerrans, who discovered the film at Cannes. No word yet on release plans.
– Oscilloscope Laboratories has announced that Joel Potrykus’s latest dark comedy, “The Alchemist Cookbook,” will be available worldwide for pay-what-you-wish via BitTorrent Now on October 7, before it screens in select theaters across the country.
- 9/16/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
March 22nd’s Blu-ray and DVD releases are an eclectic bunch, featuring a handful of cult classics, a thriller with the likes of Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen, Goth Katie Holmes fighting against the oppressive nature of her educational system, cowboys taking on prehistoric creatures, and a special edition of Fear the Walking Dead’s inaugural season. Yes, there’s truly something for almost every genre fan.
Notable home entertainment releases arriving this Tuesday include Disturbing Behavior (from The X-Files alum David Nutter), The Black Sleep, Donovan’s Brain, Kill Me Again, All Hell Breaks Loose, Curse of the Poltergeist, Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs, and as mentioned above, Fear The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season Special Edition.
The Black Sleep (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
Newly remastered in HD! The masters of classic horror, Basil Rathbone (Tales of Terror), Bela Lugosi (Dracula, White Zombie), Lon Chaney, Jr. (The Wolf Man) and...
Notable home entertainment releases arriving this Tuesday include Disturbing Behavior (from The X-Files alum David Nutter), The Black Sleep, Donovan’s Brain, Kill Me Again, All Hell Breaks Loose, Curse of the Poltergeist, Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs, and as mentioned above, Fear The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season Special Edition.
The Black Sleep (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray)
Newly remastered in HD! The masters of classic horror, Basil Rathbone (Tales of Terror), Bela Lugosi (Dracula, White Zombie), Lon Chaney, Jr. (The Wolf Man) and...
- 3/22/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Both of the Siodmak brothers made indelible contributions to genre filmmaking, particularly Robert Siodmak’s sterling film noir titles. His brother, Curt Siodmak was more recognizable as a screenwriter, penning a variety of B horror titles such as The Wolf Man (1941) and usually assigned to pen sequels to a number of other franchises, such as The Invisible Man, Dracula, and Frankenstein. Oddly, his 1942 science fiction novel Donovan’s Brain would receive three separate cinematic adaptations of its own (including The Lady and the Monster in 1944 and The Brain in 1962), all informed by particular topical elements of the decade they were mounted in, though none of them particularly astounding in their rudimentary illustrations of science gone wrong.
Dr. Patrick Corey (Lew Ayres) is experimenting on brains out of his lab from the privacy of his country home. Assisted by Dr. Frank Schratt (Gene Evans) and his complacent wife Janice (Nancy Regan...
Dr. Patrick Corey (Lew Ayres) is experimenting on brains out of his lab from the privacy of his country home. Assisted by Dr. Frank Schratt (Gene Evans) and his complacent wife Janice (Nancy Regan...
- 3/8/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blinded by science! And no, it's not a sequel to Donovan's Reef. Lew Ayres yanks the living brain out of a dying millionaire, plugs it into his mad lab gizmos, and is soon obeying the know-it-all noggin's telepathic commands to scheme and murder. Gene Evans and Nancy Reagan assist in Curt Siodmak's creative, compelling tale of possession by mental remote control. Donovan's Brain Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1953 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date March 22, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Lew Ayres, Gene Evans, Nancy Reagan, Steve Brodie, Tom Powers, Lisa K. Howard, James Anderson, Victor Sutherland, Harlan Warde, John Hamilton. Cinematography Joseph H. Biroc Film Editor Herbert L. Strock Production Design Boris Leven Original Music Eddie Dunstedter Written by Felix Feist, Hugh Brooke from the novel by Curt Siodmak Produced by Allan Dowling, Tom Gries Directed by Felix E. Feist
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sci-fi and horror...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sci-fi and horror...
- 3/1/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Anne Marie here with one of the foundational building blocks of the legend that is Judy. This week it's the story you've probably heard: young Judy Garland sings in a two-reel with another mostly-unknown MGM child actor named Deanna Durbin. Mayer sees the short and decides to dump one of the girls. Which he chooses and why is up for debate, but the practical fallout turns one girl into a big star at a small studio, and puts the other on the road towards a mythmaking career.
The Movie: "Every Sunday" (MGM, 1936)
The Songwriter: Roger Eden
The Players: Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin directed by Felix E. Feist
The Story: When young Judy had signed with MGM, she had done so without a screentest. The powers that be decided to rectify that in 1936, casting Judy with Deanna Durbin, another girl singer whose classical style contrasted nicely with Judy's big,...
The Movie: "Every Sunday" (MGM, 1936)
The Songwriter: Roger Eden
The Players: Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin directed by Felix E. Feist
The Story: When young Judy had signed with MGM, she had done so without a screentest. The powers that be decided to rectify that in 1936, casting Judy with Deanna Durbin, another girl singer whose classical style contrasted nicely with Judy's big,...
- 1/20/2016
- by Anne Marie
- FilmExperience
Brains on Ice! week continues at Trailers from Hell with director and Tfh creator Joe Dante introducing "Donovan's Brain," starring Lew Ayres, who achieved stardom as the benevolent Dr. Kildare, here playing yet another kindly doctor who nurtures a living brain (kept alive in a fish tank) only to have its sinister personality consume him. Curt Siodmak’s oft-adapted science fiction novel receives a no-frills treatment at the hands of director Felix Feist (The Devil Thumbs A Ride) that nonetheless captures its essence better than other attempts, which include The Lady And The Monster (1944) and The Brain (1962).
- 9/4/2013
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Kirk Douglas movies: The Theater of Larger Than Life Performances Kirk Douglas, a three-time Best Actor Academy Award nominee and one of the top Hollywood stars of the ’50s, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" featured star today, August 30, 2013. Although an undeniably strong screen presence, no one could ever accuse Douglas of having been a subtle, believable actor. In fact, even if you were to place side by side all of the widescreen formats ever created, they couldn’t possibly be wide enough to contain his larger-than-life theatrical emoting. (Photo: Kirk Douglas ca. 1950.) Right now, TCM is showing Andrew V. McLaglen’s 1967 Western The Way West, a routine tale about settlers in the Old American Northwest that remains of interest solely due to its name cast. Besides Douglas, The Way West features Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Lola Albright, and 21-year-old Sally Field in her The Flying Nun days.
- 8/30/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Paul Henreid: From Eleanor Parker to ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ (photo: Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker in ‘Between Two Worlds’) Paul Henreid returns this evening, as Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. In Of Human Bondage (1946), he stars in the old Leslie Howard role: a clubfooted medical student who falls for a ruthless waitress (Eleanor Parker, in the old Bette Davis role). Next on TCM, Henreid and Eleanor Parker are reunited in Between Two Worlds (1944), in which passengers aboard an ocean liner wonder where they are and where the hell (or heaven or purgatory) they’re going. Hollywood Canteen (1944) is a near-plotless, all-star showcase for Warner Bros.’ talent, a World War II morale-boosting follow-up to that studio’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, released the previous year. Last of the Buccaneers (1950) and Pirates of Tripoli (1955) are B pirate movies. The former is an uninspired affair,...
- 7/24/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Man Who Cheated Himself
Written by Seton I. Miller and Philip MacDonald
Directed by Felix E. Feist
U.S.A. 1950
Underestimation is arguably one of Man’s greatest flaws. Once an individual has settled into a false sense of security, or is perhaps convinced of his or her own superiority against all possible odds, the lone variable to disrupt that security shall always arrive with the worst possible timing. Anybody would be hard pressed to not admit to a time when that most unwise habits befell them. Even when weighing the opposition and potential variables, the factor that shall ultimately prove to be their undoing can easily be the least anticipated. In crime movies, the culprits frequently attempt to plan the perfect caper or murder, only to be undone by the simplest of clues left behind. The unexpected harbinger of doom could be a piece of evidence, just as it might be a person,...
Written by Seton I. Miller and Philip MacDonald
Directed by Felix E. Feist
U.S.A. 1950
Underestimation is arguably one of Man’s greatest flaws. Once an individual has settled into a false sense of security, or is perhaps convinced of his or her own superiority against all possible odds, the lone variable to disrupt that security shall always arrive with the worst possible timing. Anybody would be hard pressed to not admit to a time when that most unwise habits befell them. Even when weighing the opposition and potential variables, the factor that shall ultimately prove to be their undoing can easily be the least anticipated. In crime movies, the culprits frequently attempt to plan the perfect caper or murder, only to be undone by the simplest of clues left behind. The unexpected harbinger of doom could be a piece of evidence, just as it might be a person,...
- 2/15/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Somewhat ironically, Jane Fonda, well known for her liberal politics, may end up playing Nancy Reagan, known for her marriage to a right-wing president, in Lee Daniels' White House-set film project The Butler. According to Variety's Jeff Sneider, the Oscar-nominated Precious director has asked Fonda to join his all-star ensemble. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker will likely play butler Eugene Allen, who served an array of U.S. presidents, from Harry Truman in 1952 to Ronald Reagan in 1986. Co-written by Daniels and Danny Strong, The Butler is based on Wil Haygood's report for the Washington Post. Among The Butler's other stellar possibilities are The Color Purple / Beloved's Oprah Winfrey as the butler's wife (Winfrey was one of Precious' credited executive producers), Rise of the Planet of the Apes / The Help's David Oyelowo as Allen's son, Schindler's List / Kinsey's Liam Neeson as Lyndon B. Johnson, and 2012 / The Grifters...
- 3/26/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Turner Classic Movies' look at Arabs in Hollywood movies continues this evening with six movies. Why exactly Gabriel Pascal's film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) is one of the six, I don't know. Caesar was a Roman-born emperor; Cleopatra, a descendant of Greek royalty, was an Egyptian queen long before the Arab conquest of Egypt. Now, I may be puzzled about its inclusion, but Caesar and Cleopatra is very much worth watching chiefly thanks to Claude Rains' brilliant performance as the first half of the title role and Vivien Leigh's highly theatrical but enjoyable star turn as the second half of the title role. Kismet (1944) would have been more enjoyable had it been directed by Henry Hathaway, Michael Curtiz, Frank Lloyd, or even Lloyd Bacon. William Dieterle, best known for several ponderous Warner Bros. biopics of the '30s, had a heavy hand...
- 7/20/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The B Noir festival is a hit! It's always a delight to hear about retrospective programming doing well. There are still people out there interested in and trying out old movies in theaters. Or maybe the San Francisco noir crowd is just that strong. I'd written about "I Wake Up Dreaming" a couple of weeks back (read it here); I have since went and saw some of the movies they're playing.
If you're in the Bay Area and you haven't spared the time, there's good news. The festival was supposed to end this Thursday, but I have just been informed that since it is selling out so well, they've decided to add another week of showings!
The list of extra screenings is at the bottom, but before that, I want to recommend trying to get to this Friday's showing of The Devil Thumbs a Ride, which I managed to catch on the fest's opening night.
If you're in the Bay Area and you haven't spared the time, there's good news. The festival was supposed to end this Thursday, but I have just been informed that since it is selling out so well, they've decided to add another week of showings!
The list of extra screenings is at the bottom, but before that, I want to recommend trying to get to this Friday's showing of The Devil Thumbs a Ride, which I managed to catch on the fest's opening night.
- 5/27/2009
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
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