This year’s Best Director lineup is filled with familiar names for cinephiles: Martin Scorsese and Alexander Payne are old pros at this point, Bradley Cooper has long been famous as an actor, and Jonathan Glazer — despite only making four films — has been a known quantity since 2000’s “Sexy Beast.” That just makes it all the more impressive that in this (very male) lineup, Justine Triet not only made it into the category, but was nominated with a film that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with her heavyweight competitors’ works.
Although Triet made her feature debut “Age of Panic” in 2013, it took her a decade to obtain her true breakout moment when her fourth feature “Anatomy of a Fall” premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2023. Starring a never-better Sandra Hüller as a successful writer who is tried for the sudden death of her husband, a fellow creative, the film is a marital drama...
Although Triet made her feature debut “Age of Panic” in 2013, it took her a decade to obtain her true breakout moment when her fourth feature “Anatomy of a Fall” premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2023. Starring a never-better Sandra Hüller as a successful writer who is tried for the sudden death of her husband, a fellow creative, the film is a marital drama...
- 1/31/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Disney opens animation ‘Wish’; indie titles include ‘The Eternal Daughter’, ‘Girl’.
Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon becomes the widest release ever in the UK and Ireland for Sony, starting in 716 cinemas this weekend.
The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the early 19th century French leader, tops the 690-location opening of Whitney Houston biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody from December 2022.
Written by David Scarpa – who previously collaborated with Scott on All The Money In The World – Napoleon tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power, and his relationship with Empress Josephine, played in the film...
Ridley Scott’s historical epic Napoleon becomes the widest release ever in the UK and Ireland for Sony, starting in 716 cinemas this weekend.
The film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the early 19th century French leader, tops the 690-location opening of Whitney Houston biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody from December 2022.
Written by David Scarpa – who previously collaborated with Scott on All The Money In The World – Napoleon tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise to power, and his relationship with Empress Josephine, played in the film...
- 11/24/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Annie Cordy, a Belgian actress and singer who starred in a number of titles including Le Chat and Cigarettes, Whiskey and Wild Women, has died. She was 92.
Cordy, who was also known for lending her voice to Grandmother Willow in the French version of Disney’s 1995 animated classic Pocahontas, died Friday in France. Disney France confirmed the Cordy’s passing on Twitter, writing that that actress brought her wisdom and unique voice to the cartoon character.
Born Léonie Cooreman in 1928, Cordy started her acting career in Sacha Guitry’s 1954 Royal Affairs in Versailles, where she played Madame Langlois. Cordy went on to star in a number of titles throughout the 1950s including Hello Smile!, Le Chanteur de Mexico and Cigarettes, Whiskey and Wild Women.
Additional film credits from Cordy’s decades-long career are Gates of Fire, Souvenir of Gibraltar and High Street. The actress also appeared in multiple TV series including Orages d’ete,...
Cordy, who was also known for lending her voice to Grandmother Willow in the French version of Disney’s 1995 animated classic Pocahontas, died Friday in France. Disney France confirmed the Cordy’s passing on Twitter, writing that that actress brought her wisdom and unique voice to the cartoon character.
Born Léonie Cooreman in 1928, Cordy started her acting career in Sacha Guitry’s 1954 Royal Affairs in Versailles, where she played Madame Langlois. Cordy went on to star in a number of titles throughout the 1950s including Hello Smile!, Le Chanteur de Mexico and Cigarettes, Whiskey and Wild Women.
Additional film credits from Cordy’s decades-long career are Gates of Fire, Souvenir of Gibraltar and High Street. The actress also appeared in multiple TV series including Orages d’ete,...
- 9/5/2020
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
A central figure in French cinema, Bertrand Tavernier has an encyclopedic knowledge of the craft of filmmaking akin to the likes of Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. The sense of history he possesses is seen in both his narrative and documentary, the latter of which is perhaps best exemplified in his recent film My Journey Through French Cinema. Clocking in at 3.5 hours, that 2016 documentary has now received a follow-up expansion with an eight-part series and we’re pleased to debut the U.S. trailer.
Titled Journeys Through French Cinema, the director-writer-actor-producer explores the filmmakers that most influenced him, how the cinema of France changed when the country was German occupation, the unknown films and filmmakers he admires (with a focus on female directors), and much more. From better-known filmmakers such as Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson, and Jacques Demy to ones in need of (re)discovery such as Raymond Bernard, Maurice Turner,...
Titled Journeys Through French Cinema, the director-writer-actor-producer explores the filmmakers that most influenced him, how the cinema of France changed when the country was German occupation, the unknown films and filmmakers he admires (with a focus on female directors), and much more. From better-known filmmakers such as Jacques Tati, Robert Bresson, and Jacques Demy to ones in need of (re)discovery such as Raymond Bernard, Maurice Turner,...
- 12/27/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Paris — A True Renaissance Man of French cinema, director, historian and film preservationist Bertrand Tavernier can now claim another title – maestro.
For the past several months, the filmmaker has been working on a project honoring several pioneering French composers, restoring several pieces and putting together a program that he presents on Saturday January 19 in conjunction with UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema.
To be held in Paris’ Maison de la Radio, the concert, called “May the Music Begin!” will pay tribute to several classic French films and their composers. As an added lure, the show will premiere three restorations of scores never before played in concert.
The director sat down with Variety to explain both his process and goals on this new venture.
What are the roots of this project?
This project sprung from my passion for music and from the two documentaries that I made, the feature film “My...
For the past several months, the filmmaker has been working on a project honoring several pioneering French composers, restoring several pieces and putting together a program that he presents on Saturday January 19 in conjunction with UniFrance’s Rendez-Vous With French Cinema.
To be held in Paris’ Maison de la Radio, the concert, called “May the Music Begin!” will pay tribute to several classic French films and their composers. As an added lure, the show will premiere three restorations of scores never before played in concert.
The director sat down with Variety to explain both his process and goals on this new venture.
What are the roots of this project?
This project sprung from my passion for music and from the two documentaries that I made, the feature film “My...
- 1/15/2019
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSJia Zhangke's Ash is Purest White.Just in case you missed it, the multiple lineups for the various festivals at Cannes this year have been announced. You can find all of the announcements on Notebook: the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight, Critics Week, and Acid. Additionally, Cannes has also announced the jury tending to the official selection: Cate Blanchett (President), Chang Chen, Ava DuVernay, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve, and Andrey Zvyagintsev. After a truly eventful life (which includes being kidnapped by Kim Jong-il) and phenomenal career in cinema, the Korean screen legend Choi Eun-hee has died. Screen International provides a thorough obituary.Czech New Wave luminary and New Hollywood transplant Miloš Forman has died. Duane Byrge honors the man and artist with an obituary for The Hollywood Reporter.
- 4/18/2018
- MUBI
Oft compared to British playwright Noel Coward (most likely because he’s the closest composite in the English-speaking hyper-articulate realm), France’s Sacha Guitry rose to cinematic prominence in the age of the talkie. Starring in many adaptations of his own plays in the 1930s, Guitry was a celebrated wordsmith whose reputation eventually became tarnished by the specter of Nazi collaboration during the Occupation, which would significantly affect not only his reputation but his filmography. Although Guitry worked steadily through the 1950s, his later works were not the frivolous bon mots of the 1930s (as is evidenced by the wickedly entertaining indictment…...
- 4/10/2018
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This March will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Friday, March 2
Friday Night Double Feature: The Ladykillers and La poison
Criminal schemes take unlikely targets in these two pitch-dark comedies from the 1950s. In Alexander Mackendrick’s Ealing Studio farce The Ladykillers (1955), a team of thieves (led by Alec Guinness) descends on a boardinghouse run by an elderly widow, who becomes the victim of their misdeeds. In Sacha Guitry’s brisk, witty, and savage La poison (1951), a gardener (Michel Simon) and his wife, fed up after thirty years of marriage, find themselves plotting each other’s murder.
Tuesday, March 6
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: Art* and In...
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Friday, March 2
Friday Night Double Feature: The Ladykillers and La poison
Criminal schemes take unlikely targets in these two pitch-dark comedies from the 1950s. In Alexander Mackendrick’s Ealing Studio farce The Ladykillers (1955), a team of thieves (led by Alec Guinness) descends on a boardinghouse run by an elderly widow, who becomes the victim of their misdeeds. In Sacha Guitry’s brisk, witty, and savage La poison (1951), a gardener (Michel Simon) and his wife, fed up after thirty years of marriage, find themselves plotting each other’s murder.
Tuesday, March 6
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: Art* and In...
- 3/1/2018
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Recommended Viewinga completely charming trailer for Greta Gerwig's directorial debut Lady Bird.Following his Palme d'Or winner The Square (read our review from Cannes), Ruben Östlund's Berlinale award-winning short Incident By a Bank (2009)—which was featured on Mubi in 2010—has been made free to watch on Vimeo. Another beguiling cinematic experience, it is a single-shot recreation of a bank robbery which took place in Stockholm.Richard Linklater teams up with what looks to be an incredible ensemble as seen in the trailer for his latest, Last Flag Flying, set to premiere at the New York Film Festival this fall.Frederick Wiseman continues his exploration of American institutions with Ex Libris, which delves into The New York Public Library.Takashi Miike is back with his 100th film, Blade of the Immortal. (Read our...
- 9/6/2017
- MUBI
La Poison
Blu-ray
Criterion
1951 / 1:33 / Street Date August 22, 2017
Starring: Michel Simon, Germaine Reuver
Cinematography: Jean Bachelet
Film Editor: Raymond Lamy
Written by Sacha Guitry
Produced by Jean Le Duc, Alain Poiré
Music: Louiguy
Directed by Sacha Guitry
One of the most insightful commentaries on Sacha Guitry’s La Poison can be found right there on the cover of Criterion’s beautiful new blu ray release, a typically “warts and all” portrait by Drew Freidman of the film’s stars, Michel Simon and Germaine Reuver. The film’s diabolic mix of humor and horror is illuminated by Freidman’s precise rendering of Simon’s sagging jowls, Reuver’s venomous stare and the dingy trappings of the cramped little kitchen that threatens to suffocate these damned souls before they can get around to killing each other.
Filmed in just eleven days in 1951 by the speedy Guitry, La Poison tells the story of...
Blu-ray
Criterion
1951 / 1:33 / Street Date August 22, 2017
Starring: Michel Simon, Germaine Reuver
Cinematography: Jean Bachelet
Film Editor: Raymond Lamy
Written by Sacha Guitry
Produced by Jean Le Duc, Alain Poiré
Music: Louiguy
Directed by Sacha Guitry
One of the most insightful commentaries on Sacha Guitry’s La Poison can be found right there on the cover of Criterion’s beautiful new blu ray release, a typically “warts and all” portrait by Drew Freidman of the film’s stars, Michel Simon and Germaine Reuver. The film’s diabolic mix of humor and horror is illuminated by Freidman’s precise rendering of Simon’s sagging jowls, Reuver’s venomous stare and the dingy trappings of the cramped little kitchen that threatens to suffocate these damned souls before they can get around to killing each other.
Filmed in just eleven days in 1951 by the speedy Guitry, La Poison tells the story of...
- 9/4/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The great Michel Simon stars in Sacha Guitry's 1961 black comedy, now available from Criterion!
- 8/25/2017
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Groucho Marx once drolly remarked, “Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?” Such is the state of the cursed union at the center of Sacha Guitry’s 1951 dark comedy La Poison, an acid-tongued condemnation of a contract designed for until death do you part—which is the literal interpretation of the matter.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
- 8/22/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Watching Sacha Guitry’s Blu-ray debut in the Criterion Collection provokes a bittersweet sensation, on multiple levels. First and foremost, there’s the acerbic theme and humorous treachery of La Poison itself – a pitch-black comedy that wittily dissects the miseries inherent in a marriage of French peasant folk that endures far longer than either of the bedraggled spouses are capable of withstanding. As a man who happily celebrated my 33rd wedding anniversary over the past weekend, nevertheless, I’m more than familiar with the unique strains that can develop between two persons over the course of a few decades lived in close proximity to each other. Even though I’ve never approached the point of murderous intentions that afflict the couple at the heart of this story, the basic impulses that drove them to such desperate measures are well within my frame of reference. And all things considered, there’s...
- 8/22/2017
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Names you won’t hear in Bertrand Tavernier’s personal history of French cinema: Abel Gance, Marcel Pagnol, Sacha Guitry, Alain Resnais, Philippe Garrel. Don’t expect to hear about any directors who got started after the ’60s either: Tavernier begins with a solid overview of the glories of Jacques Becker, the first director to make an impression on him (“At age six, I could have chosen worse”) and ends with an equally lengthy tribute to Claude Sautet — along with Jean-Pierre Melville, one of his two professional fairy godmother gateways to the production side of French cinema. There is, to be sure, plenty of […]...
- 6/20/2017
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
No longer out of reach, Marcel Pagnol’s stunning 3-feature saga of love and honor in a French seaport is one of the great movie experiences — and the most emotional workout this viewer has seen in years. The tradition of greatness in the French sound cinema began with gems like these, starring legendary actors that were sometimes billed only with their last names: Raimu, Charpin. Those two, Pierre Fresnay and Orane Demazis are simply unforgettable — it’s 6.5 hours of dramatic wonderment.
Marcel Pagnol’s The Marseille Trilogy
Marius * Fanny * César
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 881-884
1931 – 1936 / B&W / 1:19 flat full frame, 1:19 flat full frame, 1:37 flat full frame / 127 * 127 * 141 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 20, 2017 / 79.96
Starring: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe, Paul Dullac, Robert Vattier, André Fouché.
Cinematography: Ted Pahle, Nicolas Toporkoff, Willy Faktorovitch
Original Music: ?, Vincent Scotto, Vincent Scotto
Written by Marcel Pagnol
Produced by Ted Pahle,...
Marcel Pagnol’s The Marseille Trilogy
Marius * Fanny * César
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 881-884
1931 – 1936 / B&W / 1:19 flat full frame, 1:19 flat full frame, 1:37 flat full frame / 127 * 127 * 141 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 20, 2017 / 79.96
Starring: Raimu, Pierre Fresnay, Orane Demazis, Fernand Charpin, Alida Rouffe, Paul Dullac, Robert Vattier, André Fouché.
Cinematography: Ted Pahle, Nicolas Toporkoff, Willy Faktorovitch
Original Music: ?, Vincent Scotto, Vincent Scotto
Written by Marcel Pagnol
Produced by Ted Pahle,...
- 6/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Late summer is all about reflection over at The Criterion Collection, as the library is spending August offering up a handful of unsung classics and new look at some longtime favorites.
Michael Curitz’s “The Breaking Point,” a mostly overlooked Hemingway adaptation, starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time, while Sacha Guitry’s “La poison” arrives on home video for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Mike Leigh’s revelatory “Meantime” is getting a 2K restoration, all the better to enjoy the early work of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. That’s not all for Oldman fans, however, as Alex Cox’s “Sid & Nancy” hits the collection with a brand new 4K digital restoration. Finally, Walter Matthau stars in the charming comedy “Hopscotch,” also available on Blu-ray in a 2K digital restoration.
Below is the complete list of August additions, with descriptions provided by Criterion.
Michael Curitz’s “The Breaking Point,” a mostly overlooked Hemingway adaptation, starring John Garfield and Patricia Neal, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time, while Sacha Guitry’s “La poison” arrives on home video for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Mike Leigh’s revelatory “Meantime” is getting a 2K restoration, all the better to enjoy the early work of Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. That’s not all for Oldman fans, however, as Alex Cox’s “Sid & Nancy” hits the collection with a brand new 4K digital restoration. Finally, Walter Matthau stars in the charming comedy “Hopscotch,” also available on Blu-ray in a 2K digital restoration.
Below is the complete list of August additions, with descriptions provided by Criterion.
- 5/16/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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: Inspired by Baby Groot’s “Mr. Blue Sky” dance sequence at the beginning of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” what movie has the best opening credits sequence?
April Wolfe (@awolfeful), La Weekly
Hands down, it’s R.W. Fassbinder’s “The Marriage of Maria Braun.” I watch the opening sequence at least three times a year and show it to every filmmaker I can. I love any film that begins with a bang, and this one does quite literally: We open up on an explosion that rips out a hunk of brick wall, exposing a German couple in the middle of a rushed marriage ceremony.
This week’s question: Inspired by Baby Groot’s “Mr. Blue Sky” dance sequence at the beginning of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” what movie has the best opening credits sequence?
April Wolfe (@awolfeful), La Weekly
Hands down, it’s R.W. Fassbinder’s “The Marriage of Maria Braun.” I watch the opening sequence at least three times a year and show it to every filmmaker I can. I love any film that begins with a bang, and this one does quite literally: We open up on an explosion that rips out a hunk of brick wall, exposing a German couple in the middle of a rushed marriage ceremony.
- 5/8/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Constance Cummings: Stage and film actress ca. early 1940s. Constance Cummings on stage: From Sacha Guitry to Clifford Odets (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Flawless 'Blithe Spirit,' Supporter of Political Refugees.”) In the post-World War II years, Constance Cummings' stage reputation continued to grow on the English stage, in plays as diverse as: Stephen Powys (pseudonym for P.G. Wodehouse) and Guy Bolton's English-language adaptation of Sacha Guitry's Don't Listen, Ladies! (1948), with Cummings as one of shop clerk Denholm Elliott's mistresses (the other one was Betty Marsden). “Miss Cummings and Miss Marsden act as fetchingly as they look,” commented The Spectator. Rodney Ackland's Before the Party (1949), delivering “a superb performance of controlled hysteria” according to theater director and Michael Redgrave biographer Alan Strachan, writing for The Independent at the time of Cummings' death. Clifford Odets' Winter Journey / The Country Girl (1952), as...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Each week, the fine folks at Fandor add a number of films to their Criterion Picks area, which will then be available to subscribers for the following twelve days. This week, the Criterion Picks focus on eight delightful French films.
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
Three decades of exceptional French cinema in the service of that most intoxicating, unpredictable and stubborn of muscles, to which laws of convention and commitment prove no barrier: the heart.
Don’t have a Fandor subscription? They offer a free trial membership.
Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne
Poetic realism reached sublime heights with Children Of Paradise, widely considered one of the greatest French films of all time. This nimble depiction of nineteenth-century Paris’s theatrical demimonde, filmed during World War II, follows a mysterious woman loved by four different men (all based on historical figures): an actor, a criminal, a count, and, most poignantly, a mime (Jean-Louis Barrault,...
- 9/22/2015
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
One of our favorite directors, Olivier Assayas ("Summer Hours," "Clouds of Sils Maria") has a predictably eclectic Top Ten List, detailed at Criterion, which is actually a much longer list than ten. He offers American entries from Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater, Michael Mann, Robert Altman, Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach! Have you seen them all? I've never seen the director's cut of Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," the TV cut of Ingmar Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander," Sacha Guitry's "Désiré" or "Judex" by Georges Franju. I will have to remedy that. 1. "The Leopard" (Luchino Visconti) 2. "Pickpocket" (Robert Bresson) (tie) "Andrei Rublev (Andrei Tarkovsky) (tie) "White Material" (Claire Denis) (tie) "A Christmas Tale" (Arnaud Desplechin) (tie) "Chungking Express" (Wong Kar-wai) (tie) "Dazed and Confused"...
- 5/29/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Simone Simon: Remembering the 'Cat People' and 'La Bête Humaine' star (photo: Simone Simon 'Cat People' publicity) Pert, pretty, pouty, and fiery-tempered Simone Simon – who died at age 94 ten years ago, on Feb. 22, 2005 – is best known for her starring role in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic Cat People (1942). Those aware of the existence of film industries outside Hollywood will also remember Simon for her button-nosed femme fatale in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938).[1] In fact, long before Brigitte Bardot, Annette Stroyberg, Mamie Van Doren, Tuesday Weld, Ann-Margret, and Barbarella's Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm – with a tad of puppy dog wistfulness – in a film career that spanned two continents and a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both...
- 2/20/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Quadrille is frequently viewed as one of Sacha Guitry’s more effervescent films—an accomplishment given the French director’s penchant for cinematic gossamery. But airiness doesn’t necessarily imply minor, even if the film itself is so diligent in making a subject like adultery a feathery matter. The film’s irreverent tone is not a trick, to get us to take it less seriously, but a considerate attempt on Guitry’s behalf to temper the seriousness of the subject, to reveal a more playful and bittersweet side to relationships.>> - Tina Hassannia...
- 2/10/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Quadrille is frequently viewed as one of Sacha Guitry’s more effervescent films—an accomplishment given the French director’s penchant for cinematic gossamery. But airiness doesn’t necessarily imply minor, even if the film itself is so diligent in making a subject like adultery a feathery matter. The film’s irreverent tone is not a trick, to get us to take it less seriously, but a considerate attempt on Guitry’s behalf to temper the seriousness of the subject, to reveal a more playful and bittersweet side to relationships.>> - Tina Hassannia...
- 2/10/2015
- Keyframe
'Cat People' 1942 actress Simone Simon Remembered: Starred in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie classic (photo: Simone Simon in 'Cat People') Pert, pouty, pretty Simone Simon is best remembered for her starring roles in Jacques Tourneur's cult horror movie Cat People (1942) and in Jean Renoir's French film noir La Bête Humaine (1938). Long before Brigitte Bardot, Mamie Van Doren, Ann-Margret, and (for a few years) Jane Fonda became known as cinema's Sex Kittens, Simone Simon exuded feline charm in a film career that spanned a quarter of a century. From the early '30s to the mid-'50s, she seduced men young and old on both sides of the Atlantic – at times, with fatal results. During that period, Simon was featured in nearly 40 movies in France, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Hollywood. Besides Jean Renoir, in her native country she worked for the likes of Jacqueline Audry...
- 2/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Danielle Darrieux turns 97: Darrieux has probably enjoyed the longest film star career in history (photo: Danielle Darrieux in ‘La Ronde’) Screen legend Danielle Darrieux is turning 97 today, May 1, 2014. In all likelihood, the Bordeaux-born (1917) Darrieux has enjoyed the longest "movie star" career ever: eight decades, from Wilhelm Thiele’s Le Bal (1931) to Denys Granier-Deferre’s The Wedding Cake / Pièce montée (2010). (Mickey Rooney has had a longer film career — nearly nine decades — but mostly as a supporting player in minor roles.) Absurdly, despite a prestigious career consisting of more than 100 movie roles, Danielle Darrieux — delightful in Club de femmes, superb in The Earrings of Madame De…, alternately hilarious and heartbreaking in 8 Women — has never won an Honorary Oscar. But then again, very few women have. At least, the French Academy did award her an Honorary César back in 1985; additionally, in 2002 Darrieux and her fellow 8 Women / 8 femmes co-stars shared Best Actress honors...
- 5/1/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Versatile actor at Berlin's Schaubühne theatre who made films with Wim Wenders and Eric Rohmer
The German actor Otto Sander, who has died aged 72 after suffering from cancer, made his name as one of the members of Peter Stein's Schaubühne theatre in Berlin, where he developed a versatile but precise stage presence that he brought to all kinds of roles. Sander also had more than 100 credits in film and TV productions, most notably Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (The Boat, 1981), as a drunk and disillusioned U-boat captain, and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 1987), as one of the two angels in Wim Wenders's magical survey of the divided city.
Born in Hanover, Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated from the Friederichsgymnasium in 1961. He did his military service as a naval reserve officer. In 1965, in his first engagement at the Düsseldorf Kammerspiele, he showed a natural...
The German actor Otto Sander, who has died aged 72 after suffering from cancer, made his name as one of the members of Peter Stein's Schaubühne theatre in Berlin, where he developed a versatile but precise stage presence that he brought to all kinds of roles. Sander also had more than 100 credits in film and TV productions, most notably Wolfgang Petersen's Das Boot (The Boat, 1981), as a drunk and disillusioned U-boat captain, and Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire, 1987), as one of the two angels in Wim Wenders's magical survey of the divided city.
Born in Hanover, Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated from the Friederichsgymnasium in 1961. He did his military service as a naval reserve officer. In 1965, in his first engagement at the Düsseldorf Kammerspiele, he showed a natural...
- 9/13/2013
- by Hugh Rorrison
- The Guardian - Film News
Apart from the three sneak screening titles that will stir up the buzz in the coming days, Julie Huntsinger and Tom Luddy’s 40th edition of the Telluride Film Festival excels in bringing a concentration of solid docus from the likes of Errol Morris and Werner Herzog who this year cuts the ribbon on a theatre going by his name and introduces Death Row, a pinch of Berlin Film Fest items (Gloria, Slow Food Story, Fifi Howls from Happiness) Palme d’Or winner (this year Abdellatif Kechiche will be celebrated), upcoming Sony Pictures Classics items (Tim’s Vermeer, The Lunchbox), Venice to Telluride to Tiff titles (Bethlehem, Tracks and Under the Skin), the latest Jason Reitman film (Labor Day) and the barely known docu-home-movie whodunit (by helmers Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine) The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden which features narration from the likes of Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger and Connie Nielsen.
- 8/28/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Actor with a natural and rebellious style, she helped to launch the French New Wave
Bernadette Lafont, who has died aged 74, could have claimed to be the first female star of the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut chose the sensual, dark-haired, 18-year-old Lafont and her new husband, Gérard Blain, to play lovers in the director's first professional film, Les Mistons (The Mischief-Makers, 1957). In this charming short, shot in Nîmes one summer, a group of pubescent boys spy on Lafont and Blain's lovemaking in the fields. Blain and Lafont were also picked to appear in arguably the first French New Wave feature, Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958). In this film, about a young man returning to his childhood home, Lafont played the "village vamp".
Lafont's fresh look and performance style crystallised the movement's ideological and cinematic ambitions. Truffaut and his colleagues found mainstream stars inadequate to their needs, using instead unknown and non-professional actors,...
Bernadette Lafont, who has died aged 74, could have claimed to be the first female star of the Nouvelle Vague. François Truffaut chose the sensual, dark-haired, 18-year-old Lafont and her new husband, Gérard Blain, to play lovers in the director's first professional film, Les Mistons (The Mischief-Makers, 1957). In this charming short, shot in Nîmes one summer, a group of pubescent boys spy on Lafont and Blain's lovemaking in the fields. Blain and Lafont were also picked to appear in arguably the first French New Wave feature, Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge (1958). In this film, about a young man returning to his childhood home, Lafont played the "village vamp".
Lafont's fresh look and performance style crystallised the movement's ideological and cinematic ambitions. Truffaut and his colleagues found mainstream stars inadequate to their needs, using instead unknown and non-professional actors,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
(Sacha Guitry, 1951; Eureka!, PG)
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Directed by the prolific actor, screenwriter and playwright Sacha Guitry (1885-1957), a film-maker much admired by the Nouvelle Vague, La Poison is a calculatedly amoral black comedy set in an undistinguished, impoverished French village. He wrote it for Michel Simon (1895-1975), the plug-ugly, gravel-voiced, ungainly, infinitely expressive Swiss-born actor, France's Charles Laughton. Simon plays Paul Braconnier, unhappily married for 30 years to the noisome, charmless alcoholic, Blandine. Both are contemplating murder, Blandine using rat poison, Paul employing information craftily acquired from a lawyer celebrated for winning acquittal for murder suspects. It's a cleverly plotted film, wittily mocking the French legal system, conventional morality and horrors of small-town life. It was made at a time when divorce was almost unthinkable among the poor, and the guillotine was standard punishment for murder.
Simon's outrageously misogynistic Paul is a remarkable creation,...
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
Directed by the prolific actor, screenwriter and playwright Sacha Guitry (1885-1957), a film-maker much admired by the Nouvelle Vague, La Poison is a calculatedly amoral black comedy set in an undistinguished, impoverished French village. He wrote it for Michel Simon (1895-1975), the plug-ugly, gravel-voiced, ungainly, infinitely expressive Swiss-born actor, France's Charles Laughton. Simon plays Paul Braconnier, unhappily married for 30 years to the noisome, charmless alcoholic, Blandine. Both are contemplating murder, Blandine using rat poison, Paul employing information craftily acquired from a lawyer celebrated for winning acquittal for murder suspects. It's a cleverly plotted film, wittily mocking the French legal system, conventional morality and horrors of small-town life. It was made at a time when divorce was almost unthinkable among the poor, and the guillotine was standard punishment for murder.
Simon's outrageously misogynistic Paul is a remarkable creation,...
- 3/3/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
After gawking at the wonders of nature -- the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, the Valley of the Gods, and Monument Valley -- and no moving images, I was more than ready to immerse myself in celluloid once again. Once I arrived in town, I found myself wishing I’d thrown that Criterion boxed set of Sacha Guitry into my luggage. I’m not the Telluride regular I wish I was – the person that always seems to be next to me in the line-up that has been to every Show since 1974 – but I seem to remember that, even a few years ago, I never knew a thing until the little catalogues were passed out on Friday morning. This year I get the Press Release at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning in my email inbox, and within seconds, it seems, there are links all over Facebook. I’m overwhelmed by the riches of the line-up.
- 9/1/2012
- by Meredith Brody
- Thompson on Hollywood
Above: Remorques (Jean Gremillon, 1941). Artist: Henry Monnici.
When I heard that Film Forum was putting on a show called “The French Old Wave” I was hoping that it was going to be a revisionist look at the films that Truffaut and his compadres in the nouvelle vague famously dismissed as “Le cinéma de papa” or the “le cinéma de qualité.” In his epoch-making 1954 essay “Une certaine tendance du cinéma français”, the essay which gave rise to the phrase “la politique des auteurs” and thus the Auteur Theory, Truffaut asserted that the worst of Jean Renoir’s movies would always be more interesting than the best of the movies of Jean Delannoy.
While Delannoy has two films in the series (L’eternel retour from 1943 and La symphonie pastorale from 1946), Renoir has six, so the series is less of a revisionist look at the films that the New Wave lambasted, and more...
When I heard that Film Forum was putting on a show called “The French Old Wave” I was hoping that it was going to be a revisionist look at the films that Truffaut and his compadres in the nouvelle vague famously dismissed as “Le cinéma de papa” or the “le cinéma de qualité.” In his epoch-making 1954 essay “Une certaine tendance du cinéma français”, the essay which gave rise to the phrase “la politique des auteurs” and thus the Auteur Theory, Truffaut asserted that the worst of Jean Renoir’s movies would always be more interesting than the best of the movies of Jean Delannoy.
While Delannoy has two films in the series (L’eternel retour from 1943 and La symphonie pastorale from 1946), Renoir has six, so the series is less of a revisionist look at the films that the New Wave lambasted, and more...
- 8/20/2012
- MUBI
In the wake of this past week’s essential Jean Epstein retrospective at New York’s Anthology Film Archives I was searching for posters for Epstein’s films and not having much luck. Two of the best posters I found however were both signed by the same artist, Jean A. Mercier or J.A.M., whom I’ve been wanting to feature for some time and not just for the following personal reason.
On the poster collector site Rue des Collectionneurs, Pierre Tchernia, a producer and TV host known in France as “Monsieur Cinema,” is quoted as saying (and I’ll translate as best I can): “It took a long time for me to discover that the ‘A’ in ‘J.A.M.’, the ‘A’ of Jean A. Mercier, the signature associated with the most beautiful movie posters, the most beautiful films of René Clair, the most beautiful films in general,...
On the poster collector site Rue des Collectionneurs, Pierre Tchernia, a producer and TV host known in France as “Monsieur Cinema,” is quoted as saying (and I’ll translate as best I can): “It took a long time for me to discover that the ‘A’ in ‘J.A.M.’, the ‘A’ of Jean A. Mercier, the signature associated with the most beautiful movie posters, the most beautiful films of René Clair, the most beautiful films in general,...
- 6/8/2012
- MUBI
A Prophet star Tahar Rahim joins the latest resistance movie
For French film-makers, the German occupation of their country between 1940 and 1944 has been, for nearly 70 years now, fertile if painful territory, offering an ocean of stories, a multiplicity of perspectives. The latest entry in the field of the occupation movie is Free Men, which examines the hitherto overlooked story of Muslims from France's north African colonial possessions, involved in the Paris black market and the selling of forged documents, who came to transcend the enmity between Muslims and Jews in order to better aid the latter. It stars Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), as an illiterate Algerian immigrant, blackmailed by the Germans into surveilling his local mosque, who ends up shooting Nazis and collaborators in the streets – all in a war that isn't really his (and yet … as one politically clued-up Muslim co-conspirator advises him: "Today this, tomorrow Algeria"). The film...
For French film-makers, the German occupation of their country between 1940 and 1944 has been, for nearly 70 years now, fertile if painful territory, offering an ocean of stories, a multiplicity of perspectives. The latest entry in the field of the occupation movie is Free Men, which examines the hitherto overlooked story of Muslims from France's north African colonial possessions, involved in the Paris black market and the selling of forged documents, who came to transcend the enmity between Muslims and Jews in order to better aid the latter. It stars Tahar Rahim (A Prophet), as an illiterate Algerian immigrant, blackmailed by the Germans into surveilling his local mosque, who ends up shooting Nazis and collaborators in the streets – all in a war that isn't really his (and yet … as one politically clued-up Muslim co-conspirator advises him: "Today this, tomorrow Algeria"). The film...
- 5/18/2012
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The Festival has changed over the decades from a low-profile venue for small-budget, independent creators from outside the Hollywood system to a media extravaganza for Hollywood celebrity actors, paparazzi, and luxury lounges set up by companies that are not affiliated with Sundance.
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the jury members for this year’s Festival. They include Shari Berman, Scott Burns, Charles Ferguson, Nick Fraser, Mike Judge, Justin Lin, Anthony Mackie, Cliff Martinez, Julia Ormond, Dee Rees and Lynn Shelton.
Here is the official press release:
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the 22 members of the six juries awarding prizes at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,...
Now the festival is getting ready for the 2012 edition and today they announced the jury members for this year’s Festival. They include Shari Berman, Scott Burns, Charles Ferguson, Nick Fraser, Mike Judge, Justin Lin, Anthony Mackie, Cliff Martinez, Julia Ormond, Dee Rees and Lynn Shelton.
Here is the official press release:
Park City, Ut — Sundance Institute announced today the 22 members of the six juries awarding prizes at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival,...
- 1/10/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
Arguably the two most perfect British movies were made in the same year, 1949 – Carol Reed's The Third Man and Robert Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets. In Hamer's movie, Dennis Price, the gay, Oxford-educated son of a brigadier-general, gives his greatest performance as the aggrieved Edwardian shop assistant revenging himself on the establishment for his mother's humiliation, and he's certainly not overshadowed by Alec Guinness's protean virtuosity.
His sequence with Guinness as his senile, snobbish clerical victim is exquisitely funny and most beautifully lit by Douglas Slocombe. Equally good are Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood as the two women waiting for Price when he's released from the condemned cell.
Hamer had a particular liking for the late-Victorian/Edwardian world and was a great Francophile. Both passions are reflected by two classic black comedies that influenced the film: Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, which Oscar Wilde wrote just after reading Crime and Punishment,...
His sequence with Guinness as his senile, snobbish clerical victim is exquisitely funny and most beautifully lit by Douglas Slocombe. Equally good are Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood as the two women waiting for Price when he's released from the condemned cell.
Hamer had a particular liking for the late-Victorian/Edwardian world and was a great Francophile. Both passions are reflected by two classic black comedies that influenced the film: Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, which Oscar Wilde wrote just after reading Crime and Punishment,...
- 8/20/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
In a world that is getting more and more used to streaming their TV shows, their movies and even their lives, one company is known as the king of it all, and that’s Netflix. But Hulu, being around since 2007, has started to gain some steam this past year alone. Then Hulu Plus came along officially in November 2010, and as a monthly paid subscription promised subscribers full seasons of television shows, more episodes of series that were already on the site. When Criterion announced they were partnering with Hulu to showcase their films on the site, we here at CriterionCast were a bit skeptical.
A bit might be treading lightly. As fans, we first thought it was the biggest mistake they could have made. It was from the mindset that the ‘only’ streaming sight out there was Netflix and any other choice was a poor one. Myself being one that...
A bit might be treading lightly. As fans, we first thought it was the biggest mistake they could have made. It was from the mindset that the ‘only’ streaming sight out there was Netflix and any other choice was a poor one. Myself being one that...
- 4/29/2011
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
With 2010 only a week over, it already feels like best-of and top-ten lists have been pouring in for months, and we’re already tired of them: the ranking, the exclusions (and inclusions), the rules and the qualifiers. Some people got to see films at festivals, others only catch movies on video; and the ability for us, or any publication, to come up with a system to fairly determine who saw what when and what they thought was the best seems an impossible feat. That doesn’t stop most people from doing it, but we liked the fantasy double features we did last year and for our 3rd Writers Poll we thought we'd do it again.
I asked our contributors to pick a single new film they saw in 2010—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they saw in 2010 to create a unique double feature.
I asked our contributors to pick a single new film they saw in 2010—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they saw in 2010 to create a unique double feature.
- 1/10/2011
- MUBI
Criterion's December release announcement is brief, but sweet. David Cronenberg's Videodrome is coming to Blu-Ray while Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
The Videodrome Blu-Ray seems to be sourced from same master as the 2004 Criterion DVD. Extras are largely same. Cronos is newly restored and packed with extras, including a previously unreleased short film called Geometria. Check the links in the calendar for full specifications.
Finally, as mentioned in the last Criterion Column, the DVD release of the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story comes out on December 14th. The Blu-Ray will be released on November 23rd.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (January through December 2010, up-to-date as of September 16, 2010)
December 2010
David Cronenberg, Videodrome, Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
Guillermo del Toro, Cronos, 2-disc DVD & Bd, 12/7/2010, Us & Canada
November 2010
Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times, 2-dsc DVD & Bd, 11/16/10, Us & Canada
Charles Laughton, Night Of The Hunter, 2-disc DVD & 2-disc Bd,...
- 9/16/2010
- Screen Anarchy
In November, The Criterion Collection is set to release an eclectic mix of American classics with a bit of European transgression thrown in. A newly restored version of Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times is planned for DVD and Blu-Ray. Charles Laughton's stunning black-and-white noir/horror tale Night of the Hunter (1955) is also on the schedule for DVD and Blu-Ray. Lars Von Trier's Antichrist will invade home video players everywhere.
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
Those are great releases, but highlight of the November list is the America Lost and Found: The Bbs Story box set, which features 6 films from Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider's production company Bbs during the 60s-70s. Titles include: Head, Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Drive He Said, The Last Picture Show, and The King Of Marvin Gardens. Think about the scope of this release for a second. This is six films by Dennis Hopper, Henry Jaglom, Jack Nicholson Bob Rafelson,...
- 8/21/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Grade: The Story Of A Cheat: A; The Pearls Of The Crown: A-; Désiré: B; Quadrille: B Sacha Guitry made a name for himself in the French theater in the early 20th century as an actor, director, and playwright, and when cinema entered the sound era, he reluctantly tried his hand, first by turning out stagey adaptations of his plays. Then in 1936, he wrote, directed, and starred in The Story Of A Cheat, and his approach to the medium changed. Working from his own novel, Guitry recounts the multiple rises and falls of an orphan turned croupier, and ...
- 8/11/2010
- avclub.com
Hey everyone! Sorry I was not around last week I took a mini vacay but now I am back! I am sure you all had plenty to read with Comic-Con and all! Anyways, there's not too much coming out this week but here's a few for you!
Clash of the Titans
If he is to save the life of the beautiful Princess Andromeda (Alexa Davalos), the valiant Perseus (Sam Worthington) -- born to a god but raised as a man -- must lead a team of intrepid warriors on a quest to battle a host of powerful, beastly enemies. This sweeping fantasy epic, a remake of the 1981 hit, also stars Liam Neeson as Zeus, Ralph Fiennes as Hades, Danny Huston as Poseidon and Gemma Arterton as Io.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Alexa Davalos
Director: Louis Leterrier
This was not as good as the first one in my opinion. Worth a watch though.
- 7/27/2010
- by Mars
- GeekTyrant
This week's DVD and Blu-ray releases seem to have an overabundance of testosterone starting with the two biggest titles Clash of the Titans starring Sam Worthington, and Repo Men starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. Also hitting stores today we have the latest Warner animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood, kung fu biopic Ip Man starring Donnie Yen, and the Dtv comedy Operation: Endgame starring Zach Galifianakis and Rob Corddry. Clearly the most anticipated title of the week, however, is the Blu-ray extended cut of Rambo -- now with 20% more throat ripping! Will you be buying or renting anything this week? Clash of the Titans (2010) [1] (+ Blu-ray [2]) Repo Men [3] (+ Blu-ray [4]) Operation: Endgame [5] (+ Blu-ray [6]) Vincere [7] Accidents Happen [8] (+ Blu-ray [9]) Ip Man [10] (+ Blu-ray [11]) The Job [12] Jesse Stone: No Remorse [13] Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated [14] Ray Bradbury's Chrysalis [15] Eclipse Series 22 Presenting Sacha Guitry: Criterion Collection [16] The Secret of the Grain:...
- 7/27/2010
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
DVD Links: DVD News | Release Dates | New Dvds | Reviews | RSS Feed
Clash of the Titans Seeing people talk about this new release on Twitter after watching it on Blu-ray is quite comical. For all the hatred thrown in this film's direction upon its release I'm seeing a bunch of people saying, "Hey, it's not that bad," after watching it on Blu-ray. Well, it wasn't all that bad in the first place, it was just corny. Too many people allowed the crummy 3D to cloud their vision as they began judging the film based on something that didn't matter. I gave the film a B- upon its release and I'd say it's still hovering around that grade. Either that or a C+, but more importantly, this is just mindless fun and at home it's much easier to enjoy such a film. However, the special features are junk. The Maximum Movie Mode on the Blu-ray is distracting,...
Clash of the Titans Seeing people talk about this new release on Twitter after watching it on Blu-ray is quite comical. For all the hatred thrown in this film's direction upon its release I'm seeing a bunch of people saying, "Hey, it's not that bad," after watching it on Blu-ray. Well, it wasn't all that bad in the first place, it was just corny. Too many people allowed the crummy 3D to cloud their vision as they began judging the film based on something that didn't matter. I gave the film a B- upon its release and I'd say it's still hovering around that grade. Either that or a C+, but more importantly, this is just mindless fun and at home it's much easier to enjoy such a film. However, the special features are junk. The Maximum Movie Mode on the Blu-ray is distracting,...
- 7/27/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The October 2010 batch of Criterion titles brings a few surprises. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory is hitting DVD and Blu-Ray as is Ingmar Bergman's film The Magician. Criterion continues its relationship with Wes Anderson by releasing The Darjeeling Limited on Blu-Ray and DVD. Ok.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is headed for Blu-Ray with a new restored high-def transfer. If the quality of Criterion's other Kurosawa Blu-Ray discs (e.g. Kagemusha, Sanjuro and Yojimbo) are any indication, it is time to ditch the DVDs. This one should look spectacular.
Finally, Nobuhiko Obayashi's House is making its way to Blu-Ray and DVD just in time for Halloween. There are a few things to note here. First, the fact that Criterion is releasing this on Blu-Ray with a restored transfer and uncompressed mono sound is kind of a surprise. This is a very good thing. The other curious thing is the extras.
- 7/17/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The September releases of Breathless on Blu-Ray and The Thin Red Line on Blu-Ray and DVD aren't so much of a surprise. A high-def Breathless release was inevitable and the Malick title leaked out a while ago. Also, Charade is the sort of classic Hollywood auterist fare that Criterion often deals in. No, the big surprise here is Oshima's Happy Birthday Mr. Lawrence. Both this release and the recent Oshima DVD box indicate that Criterion is seriously intent to digging deeper into the director's filmography. Finally, it would be a mistake not to mention the Eclipse box set of Allan King films. The Canadian director's documentaries have never been readily available in the U.S. so this box should expose his work to an entirely new audience (including this writer).
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through September 2010, up-to-date as of July 7, 2010)
September 2010
Jean-Luc Godard, Breathless, DVD & Bd, 9/14/10, Us...
- 7/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Fall 2010 brings very interesting news and rumors about releases from The Criterion Collection. First, the label has issued the official list of films for August release. These include two essential documentaries by Terry Zwigoff, Black Orpheus, a box of Josef von Sternberg silent films, and 4 early Akira Kurosawa films that originally appeared in the Ak 100 25 disc box set.
Lots of unofficial information has also begun to surface about future releases. In late April, The New York Times confirmed rumors that Criterion will release Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hausu will in September. Additionally, pre-order pages for Criterion Blu-Rays of Antichrist, The Darjeeling Limited, The Seven Samurai, The Thin Red Line, and Videodrome have popped up on Amazon. Look for official updates in the next Criterion Column.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through August 2010, up-to-date as of May 23, 2010)
August 2010
Akira Kurosawa, Eclipse Series 23: The First Films Of Akira Kurosawa
(Sanshiro Sugata...
Lots of unofficial information has also begun to surface about future releases. In late April, The New York Times confirmed rumors that Criterion will release Nobuhiko Obayashi's Hausu will in September. Additionally, pre-order pages for Criterion Blu-Rays of Antichrist, The Darjeeling Limited, The Seven Samurai, The Thin Red Line, and Videodrome have popped up on Amazon. Look for official updates in the next Criterion Column.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through August 2010, up-to-date as of May 23, 2010)
August 2010
Akira Kurosawa, Eclipse Series 23: The First Films Of Akira Kurosawa
(Sanshiro Sugata...
- 5/22/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Another month brings another set of titles from The Criterion Collection. July 2010 releases include two early films by Yasujrio Ozu, Secrets of the Grain, a Sacha Guitry box set, and long awaited digitally-restored versions of The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
An earlier column mentioned the availability of 6 Zaitoichi films for free streaming on Hulu. Within the past few days, Criterion added 12 more Zaitoichi titles as well Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water to Hulu. The link to all of the free Criterion Hulu titles is featured in the "Related Links" section of this post.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through July 2010, up-to-date as of 4/19/2010)
July 2010
Yasujiro Ozu, The Only Son/There Was A Father: Two Films By Yasujiro Ozu, 2 DVD Box, 7/13/2010, Us & English speaking Canada
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, Black Narcissus, DVD & Bd, 7/20/10, Us & Canada
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, The Red Shoes,...
An earlier column mentioned the availability of 6 Zaitoichi films for free streaming on Hulu. Within the past few days, Criterion added 12 more Zaitoichi titles as well Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water to Hulu. The link to all of the free Criterion Hulu titles is featured in the "Related Links" section of this post.
The Criterion Collection 2010 Release Calendar (Covers January through July 2010, up-to-date as of 4/19/2010)
July 2010
Yasujiro Ozu, The Only Son/There Was A Father: Two Films By Yasujiro Ozu, 2 DVD Box, 7/13/2010, Us & English speaking Canada
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, Black Narcissus, DVD & Bd, 7/20/10, Us & Canada
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, The Red Shoes,...
- 4/20/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Well all you lucky tax-payers, you have all new Criterion Collection releases to spend that hard earned tax return on. It feels like only yesterday we were posting the June 2010 new releases from Criterion, and here we are with July’s!
First up, we’re getting two Powell and Pressburger films that have been long rumored: The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. The Red Shoes restored print that has been making it’s way around the country has been of much talk on our podcast over the last several months, and has even found it’s way onto Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature. Soon to be available on DVD and Blu-ray, these are two titles that are clearly worth a revisiting. The restored print of The Red Shoes screened last December in Austin at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, and our own James McCormick joined us on this early bonus episode, to discuss his thoughts on the screening.
First up, we’re getting two Powell and Pressburger films that have been long rumored: The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. The Red Shoes restored print that has been making it’s way around the country has been of much talk on our podcast over the last several months, and has even found it’s way onto Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature. Soon to be available on DVD and Blu-ray, these are two titles that are clearly worth a revisiting. The restored print of The Red Shoes screened last December in Austin at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, and our own James McCormick joined us on this early bonus episode, to discuss his thoughts on the screening.
- 4/15/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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