The Coen brothers broke up four years ago, and it has taken them a while to come out with solo albums that define their identities. In 2021, Joel Coen directed “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” which was a dazzling black-and-white pastiche of a Shakespeare drama. It was well-done but felt like a one-off, a decision by Coen to serve the material. One year later, Ethan Coen came out with “Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind,” a small-scale rock ‘n’ roll documentary that he made during the pandemic; it was a YouTube clip job, and on those terms expertly crafted — but even after Jerry Lee died (five months after the film’s Cannes premiere), it took ages for the film to be released.
Now, though, we finally have a Coen movie in which one of the brothers puts his solo stamp on filmmaking. “Drive-Away Dolls,” directed by Ethan Coen, is a crime-speckled road-trip...
Now, though, we finally have a Coen movie in which one of the brothers puts his solo stamp on filmmaking. “Drive-Away Dolls,” directed by Ethan Coen, is a crime-speckled road-trip...
- 2/21/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
A lot of articles exist on the internet listing the movies Martin Scorsese considers to be the best films of all time, but he’s not actually in favor of such rankings. Speaking to Time magazine for a video interview (see below), the “Taxi Driver” and “The Departed” icon said he is generally against top 10 best lists.
“I’ve tried to make lists over the years of films I personally feel are my favorites, whatever that means,” Scorsese said. “And then you find out that the word ‘favorite’ has different levels: Films that have impressed you the most, as opposed to films you just like to keep watching, as opposed to those you keep watching and learning from, or experiencing anew. So, they’re varied. And I’m always sort of against ’10 best’ lists.”
Scorsese gathered his favorite films into a list as recently as last December, when he participated...
“I’ve tried to make lists over the years of films I personally feel are my favorites, whatever that means,” Scorsese said. “And then you find out that the word ‘favorite’ has different levels: Films that have impressed you the most, as opposed to films you just like to keep watching, as opposed to those you keep watching and learning from, or experiencing anew. So, they’re varied. And I’m always sort of against ’10 best’ lists.”
Scorsese gathered his favorite films into a list as recently as last December, when he participated...
- 9/13/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
While we’ve known the results of Jeanne Dielman Tops Sight and Sound‘s 2022 Greatest Films of All-Time List”>Sight & Sound’s once-in-a-decade greatest films of all-time poll for a few months now, the recent release of the individual ballots has given data-crunching cinephiles a new opportunity to dive deeper. We have Letterboxd lists detailing all 4,400+ films that received at least one vote and another expanding the directors poll, spreadsheets calculating every entry, and now a list ranking how many votes individual directors received for their films.
Tabulated by Genjuro, the list of 35 directors, with two pairs, puts Alfred Hitchcock back on top, while Chantal Akerman is at number two. Elsewhere in the top ten are David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Orson Welles, Yasujirō Ozu, and Stanley Kubrick, and tied for the tenth spot is Wong Kar Wai and Ingmar Bergman.
Check out the list below,...
Tabulated by Genjuro, the list of 35 directors, with two pairs, puts Alfred Hitchcock back on top, while Chantal Akerman is at number two. Elsewhere in the top ten are David Lynch, Francis Ford Coppola, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Orson Welles, Yasujirō Ozu, and Stanley Kubrick, and tied for the tenth spot is Wong Kar Wai and Ingmar Bergman.
Check out the list below,...
- 3/5/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 "Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures"Every "Star Wars" Project Coming in 2023"Star Wars: The Bad Batch" Review & BreakdownStar Wars Podcast Round-UpAnd More!Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023
Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 recently announced the first of many guests attending the convention, which will be held April 7-10, 2023, at ExCeL London. Anthony Daniels — the only actor to appear in all 11 "Star Wars" movies — will be returning, alongside "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" voice actors Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and Dee Bradley Baker. Giancarlo Esposito ("The Mandalorian") and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" stars Indira Varma and Vivien Lyra Blair will also be in attendance.
Check out StarWarsCelebration.com for more information.
Star Wars Galaxy Of Creatures
"Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures," the Star Wars Kids series of animated shorts, is back with two new episodes all about the Convor (above) and Gergilla (below):...
Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 "Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures"Every "Star Wars" Project Coming in 2023"Star Wars: The Bad Batch" Review & BreakdownStar Wars Podcast Round-UpAnd More!Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023
Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 recently announced the first of many guests attending the convention, which will be held April 7-10, 2023, at ExCeL London. Anthony Daniels — the only actor to appear in all 11 "Star Wars" movies — will be returning, alongside "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" voice actors Ashley Eckstein, Matt Lanter, and Dee Bradley Baker. Giancarlo Esposito ("The Mandalorian") and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" stars Indira Varma and Vivien Lyra Blair will also be in attendance.
Check out StarWarsCelebration.com for more information.
Star Wars Galaxy Of Creatures
"Star Wars Galaxy of Creatures," the Star Wars Kids series of animated shorts, is back with two new episodes all about the Convor (above) and Gergilla (below):...
- 1/27/2023
- by Adam Frazier
- Slash Film
Film festival unveils 27 world premieres and three international premieres.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has announced the line-up of 33 features for its 56th edition, which includes Jake Paltrow’s Ukraine-shot Adolf Eichmann feature June Zero.
The Czech festival will take place from July 1-9 and the selection includes 27 world premieres, three international premieres and three European premieres.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The 12 titles in the Crystal Globe Competition are all world premieres, with the exception of Anna Kazejak’s Fucking Bornholm; Sophie Linnenbaum’s The Ordinaries; and Jonás Trueba’s You Have To Come And See It – all international premieres.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff) has announced the line-up of 33 features for its 56th edition, which includes Jake Paltrow’s Ukraine-shot Adolf Eichmann feature June Zero.
The Czech festival will take place from July 1-9 and the selection includes 27 world premieres, three international premieres and three European premieres.
Scroll down for full list of titles
The 12 titles in the Crystal Globe Competition are all world premieres, with the exception of Anna Kazejak’s Fucking Bornholm; Sophie Linnenbaum’s The Ordinaries; and Jonás Trueba’s You Have To Come And See It – all international premieres.
- 5/31/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Thirty-three films comprise the eclectic lineup for the 56th Karlovy Vary Intl. Film Festival, the programming team led by the artistic director Karel Och revealed Tuesday. The selection includes 27 world premieres, three international premieres, and three European premieres, covering five continents.
In addition to the Crystal Globe Competition and Special Screenings section, Kviff’s new competition, Proxima, will make its debut in this year’s edition. Proxima aims to be “an inclusive space for pictures by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike, presenting bold works that defy categorization,” the festival said. In contrast to the East of the West competition, which it replaces, Proxima has no geographical restrictions.
Thirteen titles in the official selection are directed by filmmakers who have competed in Kviff before. Nine films are debut features. Melodramas, dystopian sci-fis, romantic comedies and essay documentaries are part of the wide-ranging lineup.
“From the 1,500 films that have been submitted this year,...
In addition to the Crystal Globe Competition and Special Screenings section, Kviff’s new competition, Proxima, will make its debut in this year’s edition. Proxima aims to be “an inclusive space for pictures by young filmmakers and renowned auteurs alike, presenting bold works that defy categorization,” the festival said. In contrast to the East of the West competition, which it replaces, Proxima has no geographical restrictions.
Thirteen titles in the official selection are directed by filmmakers who have competed in Kviff before. Nine films are debut features. Melodramas, dystopian sci-fis, romantic comedies and essay documentaries are part of the wide-ranging lineup.
“From the 1,500 films that have been submitted this year,...
- 5/31/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The series finale of “Black-ish” will air Tuesday, April 19 on ABC. After eight seasons and 175 episodes, the Johnson family will say farewell in the “Homegoing” episode, which is sure to be emotional for fans of the influential comedy series.
As part of their homegoing celebration, the cast of “Black-ish” participated in PaleyFest earlier this month to discuss their groundbreaking sitcom as well as some of their favorite episodes. Below you can read which episodes Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Marsai Martin, Miles Brown and Jenifer Lewis loved most. The conversation was opened up following a screening of the series’ penultimate episode from Season 8, “If a Black Man Cries in the Woods…”
See ‘Abbott Elementary’ could net overdue Sheryl Lee Ralph her first Emmy nomination
“It’s something I don’t think we’ve seen on television in quite some time,” Anderson stated. “Generations of Black men...
As part of their homegoing celebration, the cast of “Black-ish” participated in PaleyFest earlier this month to discuss their groundbreaking sitcom as well as some of their favorite episodes. Below you can read which episodes Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Marsai Martin, Miles Brown and Jenifer Lewis loved most. The conversation was opened up following a screening of the series’ penultimate episode from Season 8, “If a Black Man Cries in the Woods…”
See ‘Abbott Elementary’ could net overdue Sheryl Lee Ralph her first Emmy nomination
“It’s something I don’t think we’ve seen on television in quite some time,” Anderson stated. “Generations of Black men...
- 4/18/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Nehemiah Persoff, an actor who went from the uncredited role of a cab driver in On The Waterfront‘s iconic “coulda been a contender” scene to become one of the busiest character actors in television and film for five decades, died Tuesday at a rehabilitation facility in San Luis Obispo, California. He was 102.
Persoff had retired from acting in recent decades after suffering a stroke and other health issues. His death was reported to Deadline by a family friend.
Born in Jerusalem, Palestine, Persoff and his family moved to the United States in 1929, and after serving in the U.S. Army in World War II he relocated to New York to pursue a career in theater. He became a member of the famed Actors Studio in the late 1940s, studying with Elia Kazan, who would pay him a reported 75 to play the silent cab driver in Waterfront.
Persoff was also performing...
Persoff had retired from acting in recent decades after suffering a stroke and other health issues. His death was reported to Deadline by a family friend.
Born in Jerusalem, Palestine, Persoff and his family moved to the United States in 1929, and after serving in the U.S. Army in World War II he relocated to New York to pursue a career in theater. He became a member of the famed Actors Studio in the late 1940s, studying with Elia Kazan, who would pay him a reported 75 to play the silent cab driver in Waterfront.
Persoff was also performing...
- 4/6/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
In the 18 feature films he has made with his brother Ethan, Joel Coen has proved himself, over and over again, to be as fetishistically visual a director as anyone from the independent film world of the last four decades. Wes Anderson might be a more extreme example, but even there it would be hard to imagine the Wes Anderson life-as-a-dollhouse school had it not been for the example of the Coen brothers: the obsession they’ve always had with rendering a story in meticulously organized images, with each shot framed just so, the sets designed almost like dioramas, the whole sense of camera placement and cutting and spatial dynamics creating a heightened graphic-novel approach that, for the Coens, often seems to be the main reason they’re making the movie.
So it’s no surprise that in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” an adaptation of the Shakespeare play that is Joel...
So it’s no surprise that in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” an adaptation of the Shakespeare play that is Joel...
- 9/24/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Lionsgate’s Pilgrim Media Group is building up its portfolio of home and property shows with a first-look deal with Dantar Productions, founded by Dani Behr, former host of iconic British series The Word, and ex-wme agent Tara Joseph.
The deal will see Dantar develop and produce unscripted television series across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. They have kicked off their partnership with multiple series in development in the home and property space.
Pilgrim, which is best known for making shows such as Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna and ABC’s The Ultimate Surfer, has produced series in the home and property space including A&e’s Zombie House Flipping and TLC’s Making It Home: Greenburg, while owner Lionsgate, whose non-fiction TV business is now run by Pilgrim CEO and Chair Craig Piligian, makes series such as Netflix hit Selling Sunset.
Dantar Productions was founded in 2018 by Behr and Joseph.
The deal will see Dantar develop and produce unscripted television series across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. They have kicked off their partnership with multiple series in development in the home and property space.
Pilgrim, which is best known for making shows such as Nat Geo’s Wicked Tuna and ABC’s The Ultimate Surfer, has produced series in the home and property space including A&e’s Zombie House Flipping and TLC’s Making It Home: Greenburg, while owner Lionsgate, whose non-fiction TV business is now run by Pilgrim CEO and Chair Craig Piligian, makes series such as Netflix hit Selling Sunset.
Dantar Productions was founded in 2018 by Behr and Joseph.
- 7/13/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: It’s the end of another era for American Idol.
Showrunner Trish Kinane is stepping down and retiring from the ABC show with exec producer Megan Michaels Wolflick moving up to take the big chair.
It comes ahead of the finale of season four on May 23 and after it was renewed for season five.
Kinane has been showrunner of American Idol since 2016 with season 15, its last on Fox, and the four seasons on ABC since 2018. She has been an exec producer of American Idol since its launch in the U.S. She has also held a dual role of President of Entertainment Programming for Fremantle and will also be stepping down from that position.
She will stay on as a consultant and exec producer on the show.
Megan Michaels Wolflick, who has been Kinane’s right hand for the last few years, has worked in various roles on the show for over 15 years.
Showrunner Trish Kinane is stepping down and retiring from the ABC show with exec producer Megan Michaels Wolflick moving up to take the big chair.
It comes ahead of the finale of season four on May 23 and after it was renewed for season five.
Kinane has been showrunner of American Idol since 2016 with season 15, its last on Fox, and the four seasons on ABC since 2018. She has been an exec producer of American Idol since its launch in the U.S. She has also held a dual role of President of Entertainment Programming for Fremantle and will also be stepping down from that position.
She will stay on as a consultant and exec producer on the show.
Megan Michaels Wolflick, who has been Kinane’s right hand for the last few years, has worked in various roles on the show for over 15 years.
- 5/20/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Charles “Chuck” Fries, whose career as a television and film producer included a long list of classic shows, series and films, died Wednesday, his family announced. He was 92. No cause of death was given.
During a prolific career that spanned more than 60 years, he participated in the production of more than 5,000 series episodes, 140 television movies and miniseries and more than 40 theatrical films. His producing credits range from Tales of the Crypt and The Call of the Wild to TV’s The Amazing Spider-Man and The Martian Chronicles to Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, Troop Beverly Hills and Screamers.
Born on September 30, 1928, in native of Cincinnati, Fries began his career at Ziv Television in 1952, where he worked on legendary syndicated shows like The Cisco Kid, Highway Patrol, Bat Masterson, and Sea Hunt. He moved to Screen Gems in 1960, where he was involved in the production of such classics as Naked City,...
During a prolific career that spanned more than 60 years, he participated in the production of more than 5,000 series episodes, 140 television movies and miniseries and more than 40 theatrical films. His producing credits range from Tales of the Crypt and The Call of the Wild to TV’s The Amazing Spider-Man and The Martian Chronicles to Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, Troop Beverly Hills and Screamers.
Born on September 30, 1928, in native of Cincinnati, Fries began his career at Ziv Television in 1952, where he worked on legendary syndicated shows like The Cisco Kid, Highway Patrol, Bat Masterson, and Sea Hunt. He moved to Screen Gems in 1960, where he was involved in the production of such classics as Naked City,...
- 4/23/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Believe it or not, the Golden Globes will wield even more influence than usual this year. With Oscar voting for nominees set to take place March 5-10, the Feb. 28 Globes ceremony falls just five days before Academy members receive their ballots.
The Globes are going to carry more weight because the normal all-telling industry groups — such as the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild, the American Society of Cinematographers and BAFTA — will announce their nominations in the middle of the Oscar voting window. And American Cinema Editors, always a strong indicator for the best picture nominees and winners, will announce its noms after the voting period has closed on March 11.
Whichever films and performances the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. selects will have an impact on Academy voters, since they won’t have ballots in their possession, and the Globes will be the last televised industry event to take place before they receive them.
The Globes are going to carry more weight because the normal all-telling industry groups — such as the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild, the American Society of Cinematographers and BAFTA — will announce their nominations in the middle of the Oscar voting window. And American Cinema Editors, always a strong indicator for the best picture nominees and winners, will announce its noms after the voting period has closed on March 11.
Whichever films and performances the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. selects will have an impact on Academy voters, since they won’t have ballots in their possession, and the Globes will be the last televised industry event to take place before they receive them.
- 2/25/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Just a few days after Miley Cyrus’ delivered a shattering cover of Hole’s “Doll Parts,” Courtney Love took to Instagram to respond to the rendition.
Love acknowledged the cover in a previous post, but provided a more detailed caption on Tuesday. “As Lana Del Rey says, ‘My legacy is my lovemaking,’ the motto of the soft feminist illuminati…and I couldn’t agree more,” she wrote. “Can someone please translate our motto into Latin? I may get a tattoo of it.”
Love shared a video of Nirvana performing on the U.
Love acknowledged the cover in a previous post, but provided a more detailed caption on Tuesday. “As Lana Del Rey says, ‘My legacy is my lovemaking,’ the motto of the soft feminist illuminati…and I couldn’t agree more,” she wrote. “Can someone please translate our motto into Latin? I may get a tattoo of it.”
Love shared a video of Nirvana performing on the U.
- 12/8/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Cathy Rodda has relaunched her shingle Cathartic Pictures, with a range of dramas and docs in development.
The move comes after four years a production investment manager at Film Victoria – a role Rodda regards as a “sabbatical”.
“I needed a break from the trenches of feature producing, and now I’m back, with deeper knowledge of industry, business, storytelling and formats other than features,” Rodda tells If of her decision to reboot the company, which previously produced Bullets for the Dead.
“There are opportunities in the chaos of our times, and there are still new stories to tell and underserved audiences to reach.”
Cathartic Pictures will have a focus on female-driven horror and sci-fi, multicultural drama and environmental impact.
On the drama slate is Common Ground (working title), a 8 x 1 hour TV drama that tells the story of African refugees from rural backgrounds who return to the land when they move to regional Victoria.
The move comes after four years a production investment manager at Film Victoria – a role Rodda regards as a “sabbatical”.
“I needed a break from the trenches of feature producing, and now I’m back, with deeper knowledge of industry, business, storytelling and formats other than features,” Rodda tells If of her decision to reboot the company, which previously produced Bullets for the Dead.
“There are opportunities in the chaos of our times, and there are still new stories to tell and underserved audiences to reach.”
Cathartic Pictures will have a focus on female-driven horror and sci-fi, multicultural drama and environmental impact.
On the drama slate is Common Ground (working title), a 8 x 1 hour TV drama that tells the story of African refugees from rural backgrounds who return to the land when they move to regional Victoria.
- 11/18/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
“Anchors, rigging, shackles,” lists Katy Wix down the phone, “poop deck, wheelhouse, three sheets to the wind…” The comedian and writer has had a productive year. Filming wrapped on Ghosts series two just as UK lockdown began. Since then, she’s finished one book – Delicacy: A Memoir – due out next April, is pitching another, writing a TV show, and thanks to a new-found obsession with Netflix yacht-based reality show Below Deck, has also managed to acquire an enviable grasp of nautical terminology.
Wix is an established UK comic actor, with credits across the board, starting with cult hit Time Trumpet and going mainstream as witless, lovable Daisy in BBC mega-sitcom Not Going Out. She’s currently part of Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, the hottest comedy around, fresh from multiple Bafta wins. She plays Fergie in royal satire The Windsors, and was among the comedian-contestants in series nine of Taskmaster.
Wix is an established UK comic actor, with credits across the board, starting with cult hit Time Trumpet and going mainstream as witless, lovable Daisy in BBC mega-sitcom Not Going Out. She’s currently part of Channel 4’s Stath Lets Flats, the hottest comedy around, fresh from multiple Bafta wins. She plays Fergie in royal satire The Windsors, and was among the comedian-contestants in series nine of Taskmaster.
- 9/18/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
Exclusive: Arturo Sampson will be the new Head of Production at Isaac Lee’s Exile Content Studios, which focuses on acquiring and developing premium original content for audiences across the U.S. and Latin America.
Based in Mexico, Sampson will oversee scripted and unscripted projects in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and the U.S. With Sampson on board, Exile Content will build out its production arm for exclusive branded content as well as a production services arm to non-Exile projects.
“We are very excited to welcome Arturo as our new Head of Production,” said Daniel Eilemberg, Exile’s President of Content. “His addition adds a physical production component to our work, further ensuring the highest quality on all our projects. I am looking forward to working closely with him on upcoming projects.”
Alejandro Uribe, Exile’s CEO, adds, “Arturo’s hire sets Exile Content up for further success, solidifying our...
Based in Mexico, Sampson will oversee scripted and unscripted projects in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and the U.S. With Sampson on board, Exile Content will build out its production arm for exclusive branded content as well as a production services arm to non-Exile projects.
“We are very excited to welcome Arturo as our new Head of Production,” said Daniel Eilemberg, Exile’s President of Content. “His addition adds a physical production component to our work, further ensuring the highest quality on all our projects. I am looking forward to working closely with him on upcoming projects.”
Alejandro Uribe, Exile’s CEO, adds, “Arturo’s hire sets Exile Content up for further success, solidifying our...
- 8/3/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Always bold to some degree, seldom less than ambitious, William Friedkin’s career as a filmmaker has seen countless awards won; box offices records broken; and left us with more than a few classics. While the director can tell a story behind the camera, he’s also a knowledgeable, entertaining personality in front of one. Gifted with a voice worthy of sports broadcasting, he manages to appear even larger than his resume–in the same way his contemporary Peter Bogdanovich often does, another director who kept a foot in both “New Hollywood” and the gilded past of cinema history. Yet Friedkin is perhaps the only filmmaker so intrinsically linked with both the birth of New Hollywood and, unwittingly, with its ideological demise.
This irresistible combo of charisma, auteurism, and historical clout has inspired a number of documentary filmmakers in recent years. Francesco Zippel’s 2018 movie Friedkin Uncut provided a rollicking career overview,...
This irresistible combo of charisma, auteurism, and historical clout has inspired a number of documentary filmmakers in recent years. Francesco Zippel’s 2018 movie Friedkin Uncut provided a rollicking career overview,...
- 6/10/2020
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The star and the writer/director of Sea Fever talk about a diverse array of influential films in a double episode.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Sea Fever (2020)
Soldier (1998)
Unforgiven (1992)
Blade Runner (1982)
Gladiator (2000)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Wonder Woman (2017)
Ordet (1955)
Ditte, Child of Man (1946)
Frances (1982)
The Accused (1988)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
My American Uncle (1980)
8 ½ (1963)
Ikiru (1952)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Europa (1991)
Diva (1981)
The Sacrifice (1986)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The Party (1968)
Westworld (1973)
The Searchers (1956)
Alien (1979)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Contagion (2011)
Idiocracy (2006)
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Mona Lisa (1986)
King Kong (1933)
Arrival (2016)
In The Cut (2003)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Mandy (2018)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Dune (1984)
Dune (2020… maybe)
Bright Star (2009)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Innerspace (1987)
American Gigolo (1980)
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Wild Things (1998)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Life of Pi (2012)
Hulk (2003)
Die Hard (1988)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Psycho (1960)
1917 (2019)
Shane (1953)
Other Notable Items
Brendan McCarthy
David Peoples
Kurt Russell
Lars Von Trier
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Bjarne Henning-Jensen...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Sea Fever (2020)
Soldier (1998)
Unforgiven (1992)
Blade Runner (1982)
Gladiator (2000)
The Ice Harvest (2005)
Wonder Woman (2017)
Ordet (1955)
Ditte, Child of Man (1946)
Frances (1982)
The Accused (1988)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
My American Uncle (1980)
8 ½ (1963)
Ikiru (1952)
Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Europa (1991)
Diva (1981)
The Sacrifice (1986)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
The Party (1968)
Westworld (1973)
The Searchers (1956)
Alien (1979)
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
The Exterminating Angel (1962)
Contagion (2011)
Idiocracy (2006)
The Company of Wolves (1984)
Mona Lisa (1986)
King Kong (1933)
Arrival (2016)
In The Cut (2003)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Mandy (2018)
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Dune (1984)
Dune (2020… maybe)
Bright Star (2009)
Basic Instinct (1992)
Innerspace (1987)
American Gigolo (1980)
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Wild Things (1998)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Life of Pi (2012)
Hulk (2003)
Die Hard (1988)
The Hurt Locker (2009)
Psycho (1960)
1917 (2019)
Shane (1953)
Other Notable Items
Brendan McCarthy
David Peoples
Kurt Russell
Lars Von Trier
Carl Theodor Dreyer
Bjarne Henning-Jensen...
- 4/28/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
As someone who loves to dig into The Exorcist multiple times a year, when Alexandre O. Philippe mentioned to me during a 2019 interview that he was collaborating with the legendary William Friedkin for a deep dive into the maestro’s landmark cinematic achievement, I knew it was going to be right up my proverbial alley. And I’m pleased to report that Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist absolutely delivers an endlessly compelling examination of not only Friedkin’s process in making one of the most seminal feats of cinematic greatness ever, but also explores many of Friedkin’s own artistic influences and shares some intriguing anecdotes about The Exorcist that I had not heard before (and there is one tidbit that the doc’s central figure admits is something he’s never discussed before).
In a day and age when it feels like all stones have...
In a day and age when it feels like all stones have...
- 1/31/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Killer nurse Annie Wilkes was just one of many familiar characters introduced in the second season of Hulu's new take on the charming (and sinister) town featured in many of Stephen King's stories, and following its premiere on the streaming service, Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season is coming to Digital on January 21st, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on May 19th from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment:
Press Release: Burbank, CA – Get set for another visit to Castle Rock, the small town that’s inhabited by author Stephen King’s most infamous literary characters, when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) releases Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season, on Blu-ray™ and DVD May 19, 2020. The release of the second season of Warner Bros. Television’s critically acclaimed series will feature all 10 episodes, plus all-new bonus content. Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season is priced to own at...
Press Release: Burbank, CA – Get set for another visit to Castle Rock, the small town that’s inhabited by author Stephen King’s most infamous literary characters, when Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) releases Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season, on Blu-ray™ and DVD May 19, 2020. The release of the second season of Warner Bros. Television’s critically acclaimed series will feature all 10 episodes, plus all-new bonus content. Castle Rock: The Complete Second Season is priced to own at...
- 1/14/2020
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
46 years on from its release, “The Exorcist” is not exactly a film that wants for analysis; it’s also not a film people are likely to stop analyzing any time soon. William Friedkin’s horror masterclass is, well, just that: one of its genre’s most irresistibly teachable works, with a clear, clean command of form and theme that lends itself to limitless scholarly scrutiny and interpretation. Alexandre O. Philippe’s simply styled documentary “Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on ‘The Exorcist'” has a lot more of that to offer;Essentially a single interview with Friedkin interspersed with repeatedly revisited clips, “Leap of Faith” chiefly examines — per its title — the film’s spiritual allusions and illusions, distinguishing it from just any old making-of doc.
Not that you’d expect anything quite so standard from Philippe, the Swiss filmmaker who has carved out his own auteurist niche in the realm of cinema-studies documentary,...
Not that you’d expect anything quite so standard from Philippe, the Swiss filmmaker who has carved out his own auteurist niche in the realm of cinema-studies documentary,...
- 10/10/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
When Christians use cinema to share the conviction of their beliefs, we get what is known as a “faith-based movie.” But what do we call the opposite? What can be made of a film born of skepticism, which approaches religious institutions from a place of fundamental doubt, further complicating the matter through the inclusion of ambiguous miracles? Swiss director Simon Jaquemet’s coolly intellectual “The Innocent” is such a movie. It dedicates nearly two hours to questioning the kind of evangelical Christianity that a woman has used to cope for the past 20 years, only to end with a moment in which her prayers are answered before our eyes.
The woman in question is named Ruth, which can be no accident, considering how her experience loosely echoes that of the Old Testament character, a widow who accepted God and was rewarded with a new husband. Along similar lines, this Ruth (played...
The woman in question is named Ruth, which can be no accident, considering how her experience loosely echoes that of the Old Testament character, a widow who accepted God and was rewarded with a new husband. Along similar lines, this Ruth (played...
- 10/1/2018
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Blu ray
Criterion
1928 / 1:33 / 81 Min. / Street Date March 20, 2018
Starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugene Silvain
Cinematography by Rudolph Maté
Written by Joseph Delteil, Carl Dreyer
Music by Richard Einhorn, Will Gregory, Adrian Utley
Edited by Carl Dreyer, Marguerite Beaugé
Produced and directed by Carl Dreyer
For over a century the story of Joan of Arc has been catnip to an army of filmmakers ranging from DeMille to Bresson. Surrounded by meddlesome producers and difficult divas, maybe those weary moviemakers saw something of themselves in the embattled heroine – but no director had better insight into God’s own rabble-rouser than Carl Dreyer.
90 years on, The Passion of Joan of Arc continues to astonish. Combining the grim-faced piety of Renaissance art with the unvarnished intimacy of depression era portraits, Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece still has the power to transform the lowliest grindhouse into a cathedral.
In 1417 a trio...
Blu ray
Criterion
1928 / 1:33 / 81 Min. / Street Date March 20, 2018
Starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti, Eugene Silvain
Cinematography by Rudolph Maté
Written by Joseph Delteil, Carl Dreyer
Music by Richard Einhorn, Will Gregory, Adrian Utley
Edited by Carl Dreyer, Marguerite Beaugé
Produced and directed by Carl Dreyer
For over a century the story of Joan of Arc has been catnip to an army of filmmakers ranging from DeMille to Bresson. Surrounded by meddlesome producers and difficult divas, maybe those weary moviemakers saw something of themselves in the embattled heroine – but no director had better insight into God’s own rabble-rouser than Carl Dreyer.
90 years on, The Passion of Joan of Arc continues to astonish. Combining the grim-faced piety of Renaissance art with the unvarnished intimacy of depression era portraits, Dreyer’s 1928 masterpiece still has the power to transform the lowliest grindhouse into a cathedral.
In 1417 a trio...
- 3/13/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Of all the legendary early horror films Carl Theodor Dreyer’s vampire nightmare was once the most difficult to appreciate — until Criterion’s restoration of a mostly intact, un-mutilated full cut. Dreyer creates his fantasy according to his own rules — this pallid, claustrophobic horror is closer to Ordet than it is Dracula or Nosferatu.
Vampyr
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 437
1932 / Color / 1:19 Movietone Ap. / 73 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 3, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Julian West (Baron Nicolas De Gunzberg), Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Art Direction: Hermann Warm
Film Editor: Tonka Taldy
Original Music: Wolfgang Zeller
Written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Christen Jul from In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu
Produced by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Julian West
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr is a tough row to hoe for horror fans, many of whom just...
Vampyr
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 437
1932 / Color / 1:19 Movietone Ap. / 73 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 3, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Julian West (Baron Nicolas De Gunzberg), Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel, Sybille Schmitz, Jan Hieronimko, Henriette Gérard.
Cinematography: Rudolph Maté
Art Direction: Hermann Warm
Film Editor: Tonka Taldy
Original Music: Wolfgang Zeller
Written by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Christen Jul from In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu
Produced by Carl Theodor Dreyer, Julian West
Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr is a tough row to hoe for horror fans, many of whom just...
- 9/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In honor of “The Trip to Spain,” what is the best movie trilogy?
Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Far be it from me to choose between Antonioni’s non-trilogy “L’Avventura,” “La Notte,” and “L’Eclisse” and Kiarostami’s explicitly-denied “Koker” trilogy of “Where Is the Friend’s Home?,” “Life and Nothing More,” and “Through the Olive Trees” (and I’m tempted to make a trilogy of trilogies with Carl Theodor Dreyer’s “Day of Wrath,” “Ordet,” and “Gertrud”), but if I put Kiarostami’s films first, it’s because he puts their very creation into the action. Reflexivity isn’t a...
This week’s question: In honor of “The Trip to Spain,” what is the best movie trilogy?
Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow), The New Yorker
Far be it from me to choose between Antonioni’s non-trilogy “L’Avventura,” “La Notte,” and “L’Eclisse” and Kiarostami’s explicitly-denied “Koker” trilogy of “Where Is the Friend’s Home?,” “Life and Nothing More,” and “Through the Olive Trees” (and I’m tempted to make a trilogy of trilogies with Carl Theodor Dreyer’s “Day of Wrath,” “Ordet,” and “Gertrud”), but if I put Kiarostami’s films first, it’s because he puts their very creation into the action. Reflexivity isn’t a...
- 8/14/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Looking back on this still-young century makes clear that 2007 was a major time for cinematic happenings — and, on the basis of this retrospective, one we’re not quite through with ten years on. One’s mind might quickly flash to a few big titles that will be represented, but it is the plurality of both festival and theatrical premieres that truly surprises: late works from old masters, debuts from filmmakers who’ve since become some of our most-respected artists, and mid-career turning points that didn’t necessarily announce themselves as such at the time. Join us as an assembled team, many of whom were coming of age that year, takes on their favorites.
“Amen” is the first word uttered in Silent Light — an appropriate and reverent punctuation to follow the glory that director Carlos Reygadas unveils in the film’s opening minutes. Beginning in a milky, celestial darkness that then...
“Amen” is the first word uttered in Silent Light — an appropriate and reverent punctuation to follow the glory that director Carlos Reygadas unveils in the film’s opening minutes. Beginning in a milky, celestial darkness that then...
- 4/25/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
She could never be a saint, but she thought she could be a martyr if they killed her quick.—Flannery O’Connor The mist uncovers Japanese soldiers as well as the grim sight of severed heads by the side of the hot springs where Catholic priests are being tortured. A priest kneels down in horror, almost catatonic, unable to bring himself to believe in the evilness of these men, the men of the Inquisitor. Why are these priests, who came to this “swamp of Japan” to spread the Word of the Lord, suffering so immensely on the hands of these soldiers?To the modern, secular audience, the theme of Silence (2016) is of great irony: the all-powerful Catholic Church, the institution that spread terror across Europe for 700 years with her bonfires and witch hunts and enforcing an almost maddening outlook at faith and personal behavior, comes to an unconquerable land where...
- 3/28/2017
- MUBI
He’s been working as a director for over a decade, but 2016 heralds the international break-out for Pablo Larraín. Not only did the Chilean filmmaker’s subversive drama The Club finally get a U.S. release earlier this year — the Berlinale premiere of which led to talking with jury member Darren Aronofsky, who would present him with what would be his Hollywood debut, Jackie — he also has two more features arriving in December. Along with the aforementioned Natalie Portman-led drama coming this week, he also has Chile’s Oscar entry, the formally thrilling Neruda starring Gael García Bernal, hitting theaters two weeks later.
It’s ideal time, then, to take a look at the films that have most influenced him. Culling from his submission of his top 10 films for the latest BFI Sight & Sound poll, his selections are a Film School 101 of formally distinctive landmarks. Featuring classics from Kubrick,...
It’s ideal time, then, to take a look at the films that have most influenced him. Culling from his submission of his top 10 films for the latest BFI Sight & Sound poll, his selections are a Film School 101 of formally distinctive landmarks. Featuring classics from Kubrick,...
- 11/29/2016
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
This article was published in response to Tales of Cinema: The Films of Hong Sang-soo, a complete retrospective at New York's Museum of the Moving Image. On June 23rd, Hong Sang-soo's Golden Leopard winning Right Now, Wrong Then will receive a theatrical release from Grasshopper Film. You can also read Christopher Small and Daniel Kasman's interview with Hong Sang-soo from the Locarno Film Festival here.With her back to the camera, pencil-like frame aping the posture of a nearby lighthouse that guards the border with the sea, Isabelle Huppert’s atypical protagonist in In Another Country (2012), while dozily imagining yet another iteration of the story's romantic dynamics, becomes a typical image by Hong Sang-soo: a character whose momentary break from their own dreamy game of interchangeable personalities we are suddenly, inexplicably privy to. It’s a day-dream moment that can only be reversed by a structural shift in the story; when Anne's lover,...
- 7/5/2016
- MUBI
★★☆☆☆ Scottish director Scott Graham follows up his impressive, underseen debut Shell with Iona, a similarly sombre tale of isolation and familial relations. A film inspired as much by the dark sophistication of Carl Theodor Dreyer's Ordet as the spiritual clash of cultures in Peter Weir's Witness, Graham's rural study of guilt, faith and redemption is swaddled in an alluring mist of mystery yet lacking in narrative lucidity. The film's title refers to both its central character and its Hebridean setting. The story begins with Iona (Ruth Negga) and her son Billy (Ben Gallagher) on the run, travelling to the remote island she's named after.
- 3/25/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Who is the outlaw in Day of the Outlaw? Undoubtedly Burl Ives’ villainous Jack Bruhn – he leads a band of bad guys into the remote Wyoming town, holding everyone there loosely as hostages until he decides to move along. But he’s not an outlaw the way we typically understand it; for one thing, he wears a Union (not even Confederate!) officer’s uniform, and his legacy of shame is more rooted in military than more overtly criminal activities. His band of men are far more outlaws than he, but there is no singular one.
Instead, I want to pivot attention to Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan), the ostensible hero of the story, who starts the film ready to murder a farmer (Alan Marshal) over the latter’s desire to put fences around his land, which Blaise is used to running his cattle through a couple times a year. That Blaise...
Instead, I want to pivot attention to Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan), the ostensible hero of the story, who starts the film ready to murder a farmer (Alan Marshal) over the latter’s desire to put fences around his land, which Blaise is used to running his cattle through a couple times a year. That Blaise...
- 2/18/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
"The enjoyment of a work of art, the acceptance of an irresistible illusion, constituting, to my sense, our highest experience of "luxury," the luxury is not greatest, by my consequent measure, when the work asks for as little attention as possible. It is greatest, it is delightfully, divinely great, when we feel the surface, like the thick ice of the skater's pond, bear without cracking the strongest pressure we throw on it. The sound of the crack one may recognise, but never surely to call it a luxury." —Henry James, from The Preface to The Wings of the Dove (1909) "[The critic’s] choice of best salami is a picture backed by studio build-up, agreement amongst his colleagues, a layout in Life mag (which makes it officially reasonable for an American award), and a list of ingredients that anyone’s unsophisticated aunt in Oakland can spot as comprising a distinguished film. This prize picture,...
- 7/27/2015
- by Greg Gerke
- MUBI
Debbie Tucker Green’s dreamy, ambiguous urban parable is rooted in utterly believable performances
Miracles may be an everyday occurrence, but in a secular age they can be less of a blessing than a curse. Films as diverse as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, Denys Arcand’s Jesus of Montreal and, more recently, Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross have wrestled with the anachronistic intersection between the domestic and the allegedly divine, with results ranging from comedy to tragedy. In terms of subject matter, playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s beautifully ambiguous debut feature perhaps bears comparison with Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 oddity Quinceañera (aka Echo Park La), in which a Mexican-American girl approaching her 15th birthday discovers she is pregnant, despite her certainty that she is still a virgin.
In Second Coming, Jackie (Nadine Marshall) is a middle-aged mum with a history of miscarriages whose family life...
Miracles may be an everyday occurrence, but in a secular age they can be less of a blessing than a curse. Films as diverse as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, Denys Arcand’s Jesus of Montreal and, more recently, Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross have wrestled with the anachronistic intersection between the domestic and the allegedly divine, with results ranging from comedy to tragedy. In terms of subject matter, playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s beautifully ambiguous debut feature perhaps bears comparison with Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 oddity Quinceañera (aka Echo Park La), in which a Mexican-American girl approaching her 15th birthday discovers she is pregnant, despite her certainty that she is still a virgin.
In Second Coming, Jackie (Nadine Marshall) is a middle-aged mum with a history of miscarriages whose family life...
- 6/7/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Debbie Tucker Green’s dreamy, ambiguous urban parable is rooted in utterly believable performances
Miracles may be an everyday occurrence, but in a secular age they can be less of a blessing than a curse. Films as diverse as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, Denys Arcand’s Jesus of Montreal and, more recently, Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross have wrestled with the anachronistic intersection between the domestic and the allegedly divine, with results ranging from comedy to tragedy. In terms of subject matter, playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s beautifully ambiguous debut feature perhaps bears comparison with Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 oddity Quinceañera (aka Echo Park La), in which a Mexican-American girl approaching her 15th birthday discovers she is pregnant, despite her certainty that she is still a virgin.
In Second Coming, Jackie (Nadine Marshall) is a middle-aged mum with a history of miscarriages whose family life...
Miracles may be an everyday occurrence, but in a secular age they can be less of a blessing than a curse. Films as diverse as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet, Denys Arcand’s Jesus of Montreal and, more recently, Dietrich Brüggemann’s Stations of the Cross have wrestled with the anachronistic intersection between the domestic and the allegedly divine, with results ranging from comedy to tragedy. In terms of subject matter, playwright Debbie Tucker Green’s beautifully ambiguous debut feature perhaps bears comparison with Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s 2006 oddity Quinceañera (aka Echo Park La), in which a Mexican-American girl approaching her 15th birthday discovers she is pregnant, despite her certainty that she is still a virgin.
In Second Coming, Jackie (Nadine Marshall) is a middle-aged mum with a history of miscarriages whose family life...
- 6/7/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
The new issue of Artforum features Hito Steyerl and Laura Poitras in conversation, J. Hoberman on Jack Smith and Amy Taubin on Crystal Moselle's The Wolfpack. Also in today's roundup: Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme discuss Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case; Jonathan Rosenbaum on Abbas Kiarostami; Adrian Martin on horror; Alyssa Rosenberg on The Wire and Baltimore; Geoffrey O'Brien on Jean-Pierre Melville's Le silence de la mer; Thomas Vinterberg on taking Ingmar Bergman's advice; Ian Tan on Carlos Reygadas's Silent Light and Carl Theodor Dreyer's Ordet; Erich Kuersten on John Carpenter's Escape from New York, Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine twenty years on—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 5/4/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Artforum features Hito Steyerl and Laura Poitras in conversation, J. Hoberman on Jack Smith and Amy Taubin on Crystal Moselle's The Wolfpack. Also in today's roundup: Glenn Kenny and Farran Smith Nehme discuss Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case; Jonathan Rosenbaum on Abbas Kiarostami; Adrian Martin on horror; Alyssa Rosenberg on The Wire and Baltimore; Geoffrey O'Brien on Jean-Pierre Melville's Le silence de la mer; Thomas Vinterberg on taking Ingmar Bergman's advice; Ian Tan on Carlos Reygadas's Silent Light and Carl Theodor Dreyer's Ordet; Erich Kuersten on John Carpenter's Escape from New York, Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine twenty years on—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 5/4/2015
- Keyframe
★★★★☆ Carl Theodor Dreyer may be the titan of Danish of cinema but for a whole host of international cineastes, knowledge of his films doesn't stretch far beyond the likes of The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), Vampyr (1932) and Ordet (1955). Indeed, in an essay that accompanies the British Film Institute's fantastic new Blu-ray box set, the Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection, Casper Tybjerg suggests that many people are more familiar with the great director's name than much of his work. That can be remedied, of course. The BFI's new high definition-only release includes four features, half a dozen shorts and a wealth of additional material to fill in any gaps.
- 4/20/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Are film directors like cupids? Are they armed with a bow and arrow, shooting their particular and peculiar vision of life at the audience so some spell can begin? If so, Eric Rohmer's arrows are philosophically tinged, though aimed more at the heart and the many-tiered prejudices surrounding it than the head. Sometimes mistakenly branded intellectual, his cinema is the personification of the Shakespearian invocation at the beginning of Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on...” His music is talk and the talk is of love, and though it can stray into discussions of Plato, Pascal, and Kant, its end is the heart because the fleshy fist ultimately decides who we stay with and who we leave, who's in and who's out—the fist answers Rohmer's main question, Who, out of all the people I attract or I'm attracted to, is my type?
Rohmer's least seen,...
Rohmer's least seen,...
- 12/19/2014
- by Greg Gerke
- MUBI
Final paintings, final books, and final films are often read into because of their terminating chronology. Did the artist know they were close to death? How is that shown in the art? When he died in 1968, Carl Dreyer had many projects lined up, including Medea and Jesus of Nazareth, which he had been preparing and researching for years, to the point of learning Hebrew. His last films, Ordet in 1955 and Gertrud in 1964, embody the exacting visual style he forged during his fifty-five-year career—a style he explicated in short essays written ten and twenty years before Gertrud. Being a director who worked with and without sound, we should trust Dreyer when he says film “first and foremost directs itself to the eye, and that the picture far, far more easily than the spoken word penetrates deeply into a spectator’s consciousness.”1 Gerturd is as much about the eponymous character's face...
- 12/18/2014
- by Greg Gerke
- MUBI
We move into the top 20 now, where the films become incredibly spiritual. One major component seen in many of these religious films: the overtones meant to instill a sense of mystery and wonder. You see it in films set in both sweeping landscapes and intimate settings. Whether or not any of the films on this list are condoning the acceptance or rejection of faith and religion is almost beside the point. The real point is that it is so influential on our culture that movies will always be made about it.
courtesy of lassothemovies.com
20. Babette’s Feast (1987)
Directed by Gabriel Axel
The 1987 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner (beating Au Revoir Les Enfants), Babette’s Feast is the story of two devout Christian sisters whose father – the leader of a small Christian sect in Denmark – has died. Unfortunately, Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodjil Kjer) find they have no way to gain new members,...
courtesy of lassothemovies.com
20. Babette’s Feast (1987)
Directed by Gabriel Axel
The 1987 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner (beating Au Revoir Les Enfants), Babette’s Feast is the story of two devout Christian sisters whose father – the leader of a small Christian sect in Denmark – has died. Unfortunately, Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa (Bodjil Kjer) find they have no way to gain new members,...
- 4/14/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
What makes films about religion so interesting is the way some manage to tread a line between support and criticism, while some are vehemently anti-religion or pro-religion. When all is said and done, it’s up to the audience to decide whether or not the film (or the faith portrayed) is a respectful or perceptive study on faith and the dogmatic principles that may or may not surround it. Not every religious film is uplifting. In fact, there are plenty of non-religious films that do a better job of building viewers’ faith. But that’s another list for another time.
30. Beyond the Hills (2012)
Directed by Cristian Mingiu
Five years after his punishing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Christian Mingiu delivered an interesting look at a lifelong friendship formed at an orphanage. Beyond the Hills tells the story of two women, based on non-fiction novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran: Alina (Cristina Flutur) has fled to Germany,...
30. Beyond the Hills (2012)
Directed by Cristian Mingiu
Five years after his punishing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Christian Mingiu delivered an interesting look at a lifelong friendship formed at an orphanage. Beyond the Hills tells the story of two women, based on non-fiction novels by Tatiana Niculescu Bran: Alina (Cristina Flutur) has fled to Germany,...
- 4/7/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Screwball comedy movies, rare screenings of epic box office disaster: Library of Congress’ Packard Theater in April 2014 (photo: Cary Grant and Irene Dunne in ‘The Awful Truth’) In April 2014, the Library of Congress’ Packard Campus Theater in Culpeper, Virginia, will celebrate Hollywood screwball comedy movies, from the Marx Brothers’ antics to Peter Bogdanovich’s early ’70s homage What’s Up, Doc?, a box office blockbuster starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O’Neal. Additionally, the Packard Theater will present a couple of rarities, including an epoch-making box office disaster that led to the demise of a major studio. Among Packard’s April 2014 screwball comedies are the following: Leo McCarey’s Duck Soup (Saturday, April 5) — actually more zany, wacky, and totally insane than merely "screwball" — in which Groucho Marx stars as the recently (un)elected dictator of Freedonia, abetted by siblings Harpo Marx and Chico Marx, in addition to Groucho’s perennial foil,...
- 3/27/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It's Amir here, brining you this month's poll. It's October so we're obligated to take you to the dark depths of cinematic greatness with a list of horror goodies. We're looking at the best horror films of all time, with a twist. We chose The Exorcist (1973) as our milestone since it's the first horror film nominated for the best picture Oscar and about to celebrate its 40th anniversary. So we've split the Best list in half, with The Exorcist as cleaver. Part two comes next Tuesday, but for now
The Top Ten Best
Pre-Exorcist Horror Films
There really isn't much I can add by way of introduction, aside from pointing out that the boundaries of what is or isn't within the limits of this particular genre are blurry. Can Freaks still be considered a horror film today, removed from the initial shock of seeing circus performers with deformities on the...
The Top Ten Best
Pre-Exorcist Horror Films
There really isn't much I can add by way of introduction, aside from pointing out that the boundaries of what is or isn't within the limits of this particular genre are blurry. Can Freaks still be considered a horror film today, removed from the initial shock of seeing circus performers with deformities on the...
- 10/16/2013
- by Amir S.
- FilmExperience
Looking for any excuse, Landon Palmer and Scott Beggs are using the 2012 Sight & Sound poll results as a reason to take different angles on the best movies of all time. Every week, they’ll discuss another entry in the list, dissecting old favorites from odd angles, discovering movies they haven’t seen before and asking you to join in on the conversation. Of course it helps if you’ve seen the movie because there will be plenty of spoilers. This week, they try to understand religion through the beautiful eyes of Carl Theodor Dreyer‘s The Word (Ordet). In the #24 (tied) movie on the list, a family in a rural spot in Denmark asks, “to believe or not to believe?” as they confront their own internal tensions and the friction that different faiths create. But why is it one of the best movies ever? Scott: So Dreyer’s Ordet is a bizarre movie that should be praised...
- 5/29/2013
- by FSR Staff
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
There was plenty of discussion across the movie blogosphere following last week's announcement that Vertigo had dethroned Citizen Kane as the greatest film of all time according to Sight & Sound's decennial poll. In addition to revealing the top 50 as determined by critics, they also provided a top 10 based on a separate poll for directors only. In the print version of the magazine, they have taken it a step further by reprinting some of the individual top 10 lists from the filmmakers who participated, and we now have some of them here for your perusal. Among them, we have lists from legends like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Quentin Tarantino, but there are also some unexpected newcomers who took part including Richard Ayoade (Submarine), Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know) and Sean Durkin (Martha Marcy May Marlene). Some of these lists aren't all that surprising (both Quentin Tarantino...
- 8/6/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
I think the only thing to really say about today's unveiling of Sight & Sound's latest installment in their decennial list of the 50 greatest films of all time is to acknowledge it as a list of truly great films. The hubbub over the ordering is a little like pissing in the wind as the major headline is Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo capsizing the 50 year reign of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, which has been the number one film on the list since it began in 1952. So Vertigo sits at number one, climbing steadily in the eyes of the participants of the every-ten-year poll made up of 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors. A secondary poll of 358 film directors from all over the world -- including Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola, Woody Allen and Mike Leigh -- and they didn't go with Kane either, or Vertigo for that matter. Nope, Yasujiro Ozu's...
- 8/1/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
I fondly remember the glee I had at xeroxing from library archives a good chunk of Sight & Sound’s top favorite list back in 92′ when cinephilia officially took over me and with further research I learned that any year that ends in a “2″ meant that it was time to revisit the official order. Over the past three polls (80′s, 90′s and 00′s) Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 classic progressively moved up the rankings making its way as announced today to the number one spot dislodging Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. My prediction for 2022: Another Brit filmmaker will continue to make strides in the top ten list – Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey should move up several spots.
Based on 846 critics’ top-ten lists and a Directors’ poll of 358 entries it is Vertigo who ends a five decade reign of the iconic snow globe and the name “Rosebud”. If anythin the list inspires a long-lasting debate,...
Based on 846 critics’ top-ten lists and a Directors’ poll of 358 entries it is Vertigo who ends a five decade reign of the iconic snow globe and the name “Rosebud”. If anythin the list inspires a long-lasting debate,...
- 8/1/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Every 10 years the British film magazine Sight & Sound draws up a list of the 50 Greatest Films Ever Made. It is a list that is held with very high regard in the industry as it compiles and compares lists from esteemed critics and filmmakers from around the world. Every time that the list has been compiled since 1962, Orson Welles’ perennial classic Citizen Kane has topped the poll. But now its reign as “the Greatest Film Ever Made” has been toppled by none other than Alfred Hitchcock.
The official list, drawn up by 846 academics/critics (including Roger Ebert), names Vertigo, the 1958 classic thriller from Alfred Hitchock, as the greatest film ever made with Citizen Kane in second. When the list was compiled in 2002, Vertigo missed out on the top spot by 5 votes, which marked a change in film tastes and the arrival of a new wave of film critics. In this poll,...
The official list, drawn up by 846 academics/critics (including Roger Ebert), names Vertigo, the 1958 classic thriller from Alfred Hitchock, as the greatest film ever made with Citizen Kane in second. When the list was compiled in 2002, Vertigo missed out on the top spot by 5 votes, which marked a change in film tastes and the arrival of a new wave of film critics. In this poll,...
- 8/1/2012
- by Will Chadwick
- We Got This Covered
The director and writer has learned from the greats – and with his latest, Le Havre, he proves that he's earned his place among them, says John Patterson
With Aki Kaurismäki's movies, as with Yasujirô Ozu's, familiarity breeds contentment. Taken cumulatively, they extol and embody the pleasures of repetition – the comforts of familiarity – without ever seeming repetitious or familiar themselves, even though Kaurismäki basically tells the same stories over and over again.
Returning to the Finn's work after 20 years of not seeing it (he was poorly distributed here in the Us for much of that time), my first impression was of an old, reliable and rewarding vibe-cum-sensibility still chugging along productively, the work perhaps wiser and kinder now, always evolving in tiny ways here and there, but always offering the same combination of deadpan fatalism (1988's Ariel has the funniest suicide in the history of cinema) amid a rigorously...
With Aki Kaurismäki's movies, as with Yasujirô Ozu's, familiarity breeds contentment. Taken cumulatively, they extol and embody the pleasures of repetition – the comforts of familiarity – without ever seeming repetitious or familiar themselves, even though Kaurismäki basically tells the same stories over and over again.
Returning to the Finn's work after 20 years of not seeing it (he was poorly distributed here in the Us for much of that time), my first impression was of an old, reliable and rewarding vibe-cum-sensibility still chugging along productively, the work perhaps wiser and kinder now, always evolving in tiny ways here and there, but always offering the same combination of deadpan fatalism (1988's Ariel has the funniest suicide in the history of cinema) amid a rigorously...
- 3/30/2012
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
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