Cinema Retro columnist Tom Lisanti co-authored (with Louis Paul) the book "Femme Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962-1973" for McFarland publishers. The book has just been issued in a softcover edition, revised and updated. Here is Tom Lisanti's story behind the creation of the book.
It was a long time coming, fifteen years in fact, but McFarland and Company finally released a soft cover edition of the very popular and well-received Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Film & Television, 1962-1973 by Louis Paul and myself. The book profiles 107 dazzling women (Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Dahlia Lavi, Carol Lynley, Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate, among them) who worked in the swinging sixties spy genre on the big and small screens. Some include interviews with these sexy spy gals. This new edition contains some profile revisions and updates and a few new photos.
The idea for this book was all Louis Paul’s.
It was a long time coming, fifteen years in fact, but McFarland and Company finally released a soft cover edition of the very popular and well-received Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Film & Television, 1962-1973 by Louis Paul and myself. The book profiles 107 dazzling women (Ursula Andress, Raquel Welch, Dahlia Lavi, Carol Lynley, Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate, among them) who worked in the swinging sixties spy genre on the big and small screens. Some include interviews with these sexy spy gals. This new edition contains some profile revisions and updates and a few new photos.
The idea for this book was all Louis Paul’s.
- 2/6/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Flamboyant artist Ken Russell was eventually sidelined for what the industry calls 'excess,' but he was a genuine artist, as indicated by this, his last American film. Absolutely beyond the pale in terms of polite viewing, it's by turns awkward and insightful, profane... and more profane. Crimes of Passion Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112, 107 min. / Street Date July 12, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK 39.95 Starring Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, Annie Potts, Bruce Davidson, John Laughlin. Cinematography Dick Bush China Blue's dress Ruth Myers Original Music Rick Wakeman Written and Produced by Barry Sandler Directed by Ken Russell
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What separates exploitation trash from progressive film art? They say it's an artist's vision, and Ken Russell certainly has plenty of that. I can admire Russell's house brand of outrageousness but I also find much of his work just too fussy, too indulgent. He's excellent when trying...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
What separates exploitation trash from progressive film art? They say it's an artist's vision, and Ken Russell certainly has plenty of that. I can admire Russell's house brand of outrageousness but I also find much of his work just too fussy, too indulgent. He's excellent when trying...
- 7/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As the latest John Le Carré film shows, the worlds of George Smiley, James Bond and Harry Palmer have never been closer
Is it just me or are the John le Carré and James Bond movie franchises slowly converging? At the very least, these two still-distinct, venerable, 1960s-era espionage universes are talking to each other, if only in a wink-wink fashion. In the Craig years, the 007 franchise has arguably acquired a soupçon – no more than that – of the emotional urgency and squalid moral compromise that animates Le Carré’s spooks.
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the fact that in the latest Le Carré adaptation, Our Kind Of Traitor, one of the leads is played by Miss Moneypenny herself, Naomie Harris? Or of that phone number handed to Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager: 44 7007 707070? Or that Zermatt, the Swiss town in that series, is shot so as to...
Is it just me or are the John le Carré and James Bond movie franchises slowly converging? At the very least, these two still-distinct, venerable, 1960s-era espionage universes are talking to each other, if only in a wink-wink fashion. In the Craig years, the 007 franchise has arguably acquired a soupçon – no more than that – of the emotional urgency and squalid moral compromise that animates Le Carré’s spooks.
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the fact that in the latest Le Carré adaptation, Our Kind Of Traitor, one of the leads is played by Miss Moneypenny herself, Naomie Harris? Or of that phone number handed to Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager: 44 7007 707070? Or that Zermatt, the Swiss town in that series, is shot so as to...
- 5/9/2016
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
As the latest John Le Carré film shows, the worlds of George Smiley, James Bond and Harry Palmer have never been closer
Is it just me or are the John le Carré and James Bond movie franchises slowly converging? At the very least, these two still-distinct, venerable, 1960s-era espionage universes are talking to each other, if only in a wink-wink fashion. In the Craig years, the 007 franchise has arguably acquired a soupçon – no more than that – of the emotional urgency and squalid moral compromise that animates Le Carré’s spooks.
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the fact that in the latest Le Carré adaptation, Our Kind Of Traitor, one of the leads is played by Miss Moneypenny herself, Naomie Harris? Or of that phone number handed to Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager: 44 7007 707070? Or that Zermatt, the Swiss town in that series, is shot so as to...
Is it just me or are the John le Carré and James Bond movie franchises slowly converging? At the very least, these two still-distinct, venerable, 1960s-era espionage universes are talking to each other, if only in a wink-wink fashion. In the Craig years, the 007 franchise has arguably acquired a soupçon – no more than that – of the emotional urgency and squalid moral compromise that animates Le Carré’s spooks.
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the fact that in the latest Le Carré adaptation, Our Kind Of Traitor, one of the leads is played by Miss Moneypenny herself, Naomie Harris? Or of that phone number handed to Jonathan Pine in The Night Manager: 44 7007 707070? Or that Zermatt, the Swiss town in that series, is shot so as to...
- 5/9/2016
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
British filmmaker Guy Hamilton has died in Majorca at the age of 93. Hamilton set the template for the James Bond franchise when he helmed 1964's iconic "Goldfinger".
He returned to the franchise in the early 1970s for Sean Connery's final outing with "Diamonds are Forever," and then ushered in Roger Moore's start to the series with "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun".
In a statement, Bond series producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson say: "We mourn the loss of our dear friend Guy Hamilton who firmly distilled the Bond formula in his much celebrated direction of 'Goldfinger' and continued to entertain audiences with 'Diamonds Are Forever,' 'Live and Let Die' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun.' We celebrate his enormous contribution to the Bond films."
Hamilton's work stretched far beyond Bond as well including directing "Funeral in Berlin,...
He returned to the franchise in the early 1970s for Sean Connery's final outing with "Diamonds are Forever," and then ushered in Roger Moore's start to the series with "Live and Let Die" and "The Man with the Golden Gun".
In a statement, Bond series producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson say: "We mourn the loss of our dear friend Guy Hamilton who firmly distilled the Bond formula in his much celebrated direction of 'Goldfinger' and continued to entertain audiences with 'Diamonds Are Forever,' 'Live and Let Die' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun.' We celebrate his enormous contribution to the Bond films."
Hamilton's work stretched far beyond Bond as well including directing "Funeral in Berlin,...
- 4/21/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
By Lee Pfeiffer
Cinema Retro mourns the loss of Sir Ken Adam, the ingenious, Oscar-winning production designer who has passed away at age 95. Adam's work helped redefine films in terms of the elaborate and creative designs he invented, particularly for the James Bond franchise. Adam's work on the first 007 film, "Dr. No" in 1962 was deemed to be nothing less than remarkable, considering that the entire film was shot on a relatively low budget of just over $1 million. His exotic designs so impressed Stanley Kubrick that he hired Adam as production designer on his 1964 classic "Dr. Strangelove." For that film, Adam created the now legendary "War Room" set which many people believe actually exists at the Pentagon. In fact when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as President in 1981 he asked to see the War Room, only to be told that it was a fictional creation. Reagan acknowledged that he had been intrigued...
Cinema Retro mourns the loss of Sir Ken Adam, the ingenious, Oscar-winning production designer who has passed away at age 95. Adam's work helped redefine films in terms of the elaborate and creative designs he invented, particularly for the James Bond franchise. Adam's work on the first 007 film, "Dr. No" in 1962 was deemed to be nothing less than remarkable, considering that the entire film was shot on a relatively low budget of just over $1 million. His exotic designs so impressed Stanley Kubrick that he hired Adam as production designer on his 1964 classic "Dr. Strangelove." For that film, Adam created the now legendary "War Room" set which many people believe actually exists at the Pentagon. In fact when Ronald Reagan was inaugurated as President in 1981 he asked to see the War Room, only to be told that it was a fictional creation. Reagan acknowledged that he had been intrigued...
- 3/11/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Oscar winning production designer Ken Adam died today in London at the age of 95 according to The BBC.
Adam is most famous for creating the iconic and sprawling lairs of the supervillains who populated the Sean Connery and Roger Moore-era James Bond films. His designs included the Crab Key complex in "Dr. No," the Fort Knox interiors on "Goldfinger," the volcano lair of "You Only Live Twice," Stromberg's supertanker and Atlantis sets in "The Spy Who Loved Me," and Drax's space station in "Moonraker". He also did the production design on "Thunderball" and "Diamonds Are Forever".
Adams' work extended well beyond the Bond franchise though, such as two films in the anti-Bond Harry Palmer film series with Michael Caine - "The Ipcress File" and "Funeral in Berlin". He was a favorite of Stanley Kubrick following his design of the famous war room for "Dr. Strangelove". He was offered "2001" but turned it down,...
Adam is most famous for creating the iconic and sprawling lairs of the supervillains who populated the Sean Connery and Roger Moore-era James Bond films. His designs included the Crab Key complex in "Dr. No," the Fort Knox interiors on "Goldfinger," the volcano lair of "You Only Live Twice," Stromberg's supertanker and Atlantis sets in "The Spy Who Loved Me," and Drax's space station in "Moonraker". He also did the production design on "Thunderball" and "Diamonds Are Forever".
Adams' work extended well beyond the Bond franchise though, such as two films in the anti-Bond Harry Palmer film series with Michael Caine - "The Ipcress File" and "Funeral in Berlin". He was a favorite of Stanley Kubrick following his design of the famous war room for "Dr. Strangelove". He was offered "2001" but turned it down,...
- 3/10/2016
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
European Film Academy to award “long overdue” honour to veteran British actor.
Sir Michael Caine is to be presented with the Honorary Award of the Efa President and Board at the 28th European Film Awards - only the third time the honour as been bestowed in nearly 30 years.
The British actor, whose 60-year career has run from Alfie and The Italian Job to The Dark Knight trilogy, will accept the award at the EFAs on Dec 12 in Berlin.
Caine is also nominated for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. He was previously nominated in 2001 for Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.
In a joint statement, Efa Board chair Agnieszka Holland and Efa President Wim Wenders said: “We have come to the decision that we are long overdue on paying special tribute to Sir Michael Caine.
“This recognition to an outstanding film personality is coming from the bottom of our hearts and has only been presented twice in the...
Sir Michael Caine is to be presented with the Honorary Award of the Efa President and Board at the 28th European Film Awards - only the third time the honour as been bestowed in nearly 30 years.
The British actor, whose 60-year career has run from Alfie and The Italian Job to The Dark Knight trilogy, will accept the award at the EFAs on Dec 12 in Berlin.
Caine is also nominated for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. He was previously nominated in 2001 for Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.
In a joint statement, Efa Board chair Agnieszka Holland and Efa President Wim Wenders said: “We have come to the decision that we are long overdue on paying special tribute to Sir Michael Caine.
“This recognition to an outstanding film personality is coming from the bottom of our hearts and has only been presented twice in the...
- 12/8/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
European Film Academy to award “long overdue” honour to veteran British actor.
Sir Michael Caine is to be presented with the Honorary Award of the Efa President and Board at the 28th European Film Awards - only the third time the honour as been bestowed in nearly 30 years.
The British actor, whose 60-year career has run from Alfie and The Italian Job to The Dark Knight trilogy, will accept the award at the EFAs on Dec 12 in Berlin.
Caine is also nominated for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. He was previously nominated in 2001 for Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.
In a joint statement, Efa Board chair Agnieszka Holland and Efa President Wim Wenders said: “We have come to the decision that we are long overdue on paying special tribute to Sir Michael Caine.
“This recognition to an outstanding film personality is coming from the bottom of our hearts and has only been presented twice in the...
Sir Michael Caine is to be presented with the Honorary Award of the Efa President and Board at the 28th European Film Awards - only the third time the honour as been bestowed in nearly 30 years.
The British actor, whose 60-year career has run from Alfie and The Italian Job to The Dark Knight trilogy, will accept the award at the EFAs on Dec 12 in Berlin.
Caine is also nominated for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. He was previously nominated in 2001 for Fred Schepisi’s Last Orders.
In a joint statement, Efa Board chair Agnieszka Holland and Efa President Wim Wenders said: “We have come to the decision that we are long overdue on paying special tribute to Sir Michael Caine.
“This recognition to an outstanding film personality is coming from the bottom of our hearts and has only been presented twice in the...
- 12/8/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
It's no surprise that "Bridge of Spies" (October 16) is a well-made '50s spy thriller that recalls a familiar John le Carré Cold War world. Blink and we could be watching Harry Palmer dig a nail into his palm in "The Ipcress File." But this true Berlin Wall spy exchange story isn't about the usual intricacies of cloak-and-dagger plotting. What Spielberg is after is a character study of an everyman--embodied by his go-to-star Tom Hanks--who is decent, steadfast and true. James Donovan represents what's best about the United States of America, a lawyer who isn't shady, a stand-up guy you can trust--even if you are a Russian spy like Brooklyn painter Rudolf Abel, ably played with quiet finesse by Brit theater ace Mark Rylance ("Wolf Hall"). "It doesn't matter what people think," Donovan says at one point. "It matters what you did." With his first feature since 2012's "Lincoln,...
- 10/5/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Ahead of American Ultra's arrival in UK cinemas, here's our pick of the 25 finest, sneakiest secret agents in film...
Operatives. Spies. Moles. Infiltrators. Secret agents go by many names. In fact, Britain's national security agency doesn't even call them agents - they're covert human intelligence sources, or simply “officers".
Whatever we choose to call them, secret agents lead necessarily furtive and obscure lives - so obscure that most of what we know about them is defined by what we've seen and read in books and movies.
During the Cold War, the image of the secret agent as a well-groomed sophisticate in a suit proliferated all over the world, and even in the high-tech landscape of the 21st century, that image still stands - just look at such movies as Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and, of course, the Bond franchise. But secret agents can come in many other guises,...
Operatives. Spies. Moles. Infiltrators. Secret agents go by many names. In fact, Britain's national security agency doesn't even call them agents - they're covert human intelligence sources, or simply “officers".
Whatever we choose to call them, secret agents lead necessarily furtive and obscure lives - so obscure that most of what we know about them is defined by what we've seen and read in books and movies.
During the Cold War, the image of the secret agent as a well-groomed sophisticate in a suit proliferated all over the world, and even in the high-tech landscape of the 21st century, that image still stands - just look at such movies as Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and, of course, the Bond franchise. But secret agents can come in many other guises,...
- 8/27/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Sam Riley ("Maleficent," "Control") is in talks to star in a BBC film adaptation of acclaimed espionage thriller author Len Deighton's "SS-gb" which James Bond film series regular scribes Neil Purvis and Robert Wade are writing.
The story is set in a UK conquered and occupied by Germany during World War II. Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer, a British homicide detective assigned to Scotland Yard, is called in to investigate a murder of a well-dressed man.
To his surprise, the case draws the attention of the highest levels of the German government and he finds himself in the middle of a struggle between powerful forces.
Award-winning German director Philipp Kadelbach ("Generation War") is attached to direct the prestige project for the Beeb which Patrick Schweitzer will produce. Shooting begins this Fall.
Deighton penned several notable period spy thriller novels including the "Hook, Line and Sinker," "Faith, Hope and Charity"" and "Game,...
The story is set in a UK conquered and occupied by Germany during World War II. Detective Superintendent Douglas Archer, a British homicide detective assigned to Scotland Yard, is called in to investigate a murder of a well-dressed man.
To his surprise, the case draws the attention of the highest levels of the German government and he finds himself in the middle of a struggle between powerful forces.
Award-winning German director Philipp Kadelbach ("Generation War") is attached to direct the prestige project for the Beeb which Patrick Schweitzer will produce. Shooting begins this Fall.
Deighton penned several notable period spy thriller novels including the "Hook, Line and Sinker," "Faith, Hope and Charity"" and "Game,...
- 8/7/2015
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Parole Inc.
Written by Sherman L. Lowe
Directed by Alfred Zeisler
U.S.A. 1948
Undercover FBI agent Richard Hendricks (Michael O’Shea) starts the film very much undercover, covered in bandages whilst resting in a hospital bed that is. He narrates into a recorder his most recent assignment, taking viewers back to when he was convened to a meeting by police commissioner Huges (Lyle Talbot) and the governor of California in preparation for a harrowing case that aims to shed light on presumed corruption within the parole board in prison. As it presently stands, an alarmingly high number of parole hearings conclude with obviously dangerous individuals being sent out into to roam the streets freely. Hendricks begins his investigation at a nearby restaurant owned by Jojo Dumont (Evelyn Ankers), who uses the establishment as a front for her dealings with the criminal underworld as well as corrupt, higher-ranking lawyers and officials.
Written by Sherman L. Lowe
Directed by Alfred Zeisler
U.S.A. 1948
Undercover FBI agent Richard Hendricks (Michael O’Shea) starts the film very much undercover, covered in bandages whilst resting in a hospital bed that is. He narrates into a recorder his most recent assignment, taking viewers back to when he was convened to a meeting by police commissioner Huges (Lyle Talbot) and the governor of California in preparation for a harrowing case that aims to shed light on presumed corruption within the parole board in prison. As it presently stands, an alarmingly high number of parole hearings conclude with obviously dangerous individuals being sent out into to roam the streets freely. Hendricks begins his investigation at a nearby restaurant owned by Jojo Dumont (Evelyn Ankers), who uses the establishment as a front for her dealings with the criminal underworld as well as corrupt, higher-ranking lawyers and officials.
- 7/18/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Sneak Peek new images of actor Michael Caine looking 40 years younger, similar to his classic spy movie character 'Harry Palmer', from a VFX-tweaked deleted sequence that will be available on the Blu-ray release of director Matthew Vaughn's "Kingsman: The Secret Service":
"...the images show Caine's character 'Arthur' the head of the spy agency in 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', when he was a young ruthless spy...
"...looking like British secret agent 'Harry Palmer' from the 1960's spy features 'The Ipcress File'...
"...'Funeral in Berlin'...
"...and 'Billion Dollar Brain", based on the novels by author Len Deighton..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and Michael Caine as 'Harry Palmer'...
"...the images show Caine's character 'Arthur' the head of the spy agency in 'Kingsman: The Secret Service', when he was a young ruthless spy...
"...looking like British secret agent 'Harry Palmer' from the 1960's spy features 'The Ipcress File'...
"...'Funeral in Berlin'...
"...and 'Billion Dollar Brain", based on the novels by author Len Deighton..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Kingsman: The Secret Service" and Michael Caine as 'Harry Palmer'...
- 2/26/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Although Winter’s in its deadly frozen final gasps, down at the ole’ multiplex it’s “spy time”. Not pining for kinky billionaires? Well, then the fine folks at Fox films have an arresting alternative. It’s not the gritty undercover antics of Jason Bourne or Tinker, Tailor’s men, although a member of the latter group stars here. Nor is it quite as grim as the latest entries in 007’s long franchise. Oddly, you might say this is both light and dark Bond. Its sense of humor almost verges on satire and parody, but it is a dark, almost black sense of humor. After all, this new flick is rated R and goes out of its way to earn that letter, almost wearing it as a badge of honor. So, let’s leave reality and seriousness out in the parking lot. Suit up and join those dangerous dapper dudes...
- 2/13/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Lee Pfeiffer
I have seen virtually every James Bond clone released by major studios during the 1960s but "Assignment K" had eluded me until it was released as a burn-to-order title by the Sony Choice Collection. I was expecting another low-brow effort done on a small budget and perhaps affording some guilty pleasures throughout. However, "Assignment K" was a pleasant surprise. It's an intelligently written, well-acted espionage yarn that goes to some lengths to avoid Bondisms in favor of a realistic scenario populated by realistic characters. The film was directed by the woefully under-rated Val Guest, whose talents were generally dismissed at the time as workmanlike competence but which today seem much more impressive. (Guest had some spy movie experience, having previously directed key segments of the multi-director farce "Casino Royale".)
Stephen Boyd stars as Philip Scott, a high-powered executive of a London-based toy company. When we first meet him,...
I have seen virtually every James Bond clone released by major studios during the 1960s but "Assignment K" had eluded me until it was released as a burn-to-order title by the Sony Choice Collection. I was expecting another low-brow effort done on a small budget and perhaps affording some guilty pleasures throughout. However, "Assignment K" was a pleasant surprise. It's an intelligently written, well-acted espionage yarn that goes to some lengths to avoid Bondisms in favor of a realistic scenario populated by realistic characters. The film was directed by the woefully under-rated Val Guest, whose talents were generally dismissed at the time as workmanlike competence but which today seem much more impressive. (Guest had some spy movie experience, having previously directed key segments of the multi-director farce "Casino Royale".)
Stephen Boyd stars as Philip Scott, a high-powered executive of a London-based toy company. When we first meet him,...
- 2/1/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A Colin Firth action sequence, a Mark Hamill cameo and a lisping Samuel L. Jackson. What's not to love?
Some people sit back and complain about the state of comic book movies, and then carry on making films in the same vein. For the third time in his career, director Matthew Vaughn has actively gone out of his way to do something about it.
The first such occasion was the commendably Daily Mail-baiting Kick-Ass, a film that beneath its energy, ideas, music and fruity language had real substance to it, and plenty of rewatch value. Oh, and an 18 certificate. I fondly remember such things.
Then his X-Men film, X-Men: First Class, put character firmly at the fore, at least until the special effects moved in for a large chunk of the final act. In both cases, there was a real sense that Vaughn had taken the films on because there...
Some people sit back and complain about the state of comic book movies, and then carry on making films in the same vein. For the third time in his career, director Matthew Vaughn has actively gone out of his way to do something about it.
The first such occasion was the commendably Daily Mail-baiting Kick-Ass, a film that beneath its energy, ideas, music and fruity language had real substance to it, and plenty of rewatch value. Oh, and an 18 certificate. I fondly remember such things.
Then his X-Men film, X-Men: First Class, put character firmly at the fore, at least until the special effects moved in for a large chunk of the final act. In both cases, there was a real sense that Vaughn had taken the films on because there...
- 1/26/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Eight out of Ten Cats Does Countdown: Channel 4, 9pm
Jimmy Carr hosts a Christmas edition of the mix-matched panel show's version of the words-and-numbers quiz.
Team captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson are joined by guests including Kathy Burke, Alex Horne and David Mitchell, plus Countdown's in-house maths maverick Rachel Riley and lexical expert Susie Dent.
Al Murray's Great British Spy Movies: BBC Four, 9pm
Al casts a (golden)eye over great British spy movies past and present.
He also recalls some of the screen's most famous spies, such as Harry Palmer, George Smiley and the one and only James Bond. Contributors include former MI5 chief Stella Rimington.
Made in Chelsea: E4, 9pm
In this reunion special, Rick Edwards is joined by the Chelsea residents to discuss the dramas, hook-ups and break-ups of the past series.
Expect fireworks as viewers find out the latest news on the series' biggest relationships.
Jimmy Carr hosts a Christmas edition of the mix-matched panel show's version of the words-and-numbers quiz.
Team captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson are joined by guests including Kathy Burke, Alex Horne and David Mitchell, plus Countdown's in-house maths maverick Rachel Riley and lexical expert Susie Dent.
Al Murray's Great British Spy Movies: BBC Four, 9pm
Al casts a (golden)eye over great British spy movies past and present.
He also recalls some of the screen's most famous spies, such as Harry Palmer, George Smiley and the one and only James Bond. Contributors include former MI5 chief Stella Rimington.
Made in Chelsea: E4, 9pm
In this reunion special, Rick Edwards is joined by the Chelsea residents to discuss the dramas, hook-ups and break-ups of the past series.
Expect fireworks as viewers find out the latest news on the series' biggest relationships.
- 12/29/2014
- Digital Spy
James Bond, Austin Powers, and Harry Palmer are just a few of the most famous fictional British spies to date. So consider Colin Firth the new kid on the block as he plays a spy in the upcoming Kingsman: The Secret Service. We chatted with Colin at Comic-Con about everything secret spy related, including what it was like to do his own stunts. Are you excited to check out the film when it hits theaters in October?...
- 7/29/2014
- by Matthew Rodrigues
- Popsugar.com
Fox hosted a starry, two-hour Hall H presentation that featured Guillermo del Toro, Colin Firth and Samuel Jackson, the cast from The Maze Runner and a surprise appearance by rapper Biz Markie who performed his hit Just A Friend.
Ya adaptation The Maze Runner kicked off proceedings on Friday (25) as director Wes Ball, author James Dashner and stars Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario introduced several sequences from the September 19 release.
O’Brien plays Thomas, a youngster in post-apocalyptic times who must try to help a community of boys escape a mysterious field via a hazardous maze.
“All the favourite scenes the fans have in the book will be in the movie,” said Ball, who later showed concept art from The Scorch Trials, the sequel he hoped to shoot later this year or in early 2015.
“It’s great following [Thomas’] journey starting as the newbie and his utter defiance throughout the film and not letting his fear...
Ya adaptation The Maze Runner kicked off proceedings on Friday (25) as director Wes Ball, author James Dashner and stars Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario introduced several sequences from the September 19 release.
O’Brien plays Thomas, a youngster in post-apocalyptic times who must try to help a community of boys escape a mysterious field via a hazardous maze.
“All the favourite scenes the fans have in the book will be in the movie,” said Ball, who later showed concept art from The Scorch Trials, the sequel he hoped to shoot later this year or in early 2015.
“It’s great following [Thomas’] journey starting as the newbie and his utter defiance throughout the film and not letting his fear...
- 7/25/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Fox hosted a starry, two-hour Hall H presentation that featured Guillermo del Toro, Colin Firth and Samuel Jackson, the cast from The Maze Runner and a surprise appearance by rapper Biz Markie who performed his hit Just A Friend.
Ya adaptation The Maze Runner kicked off proceedings on Friday (25) as director Wes Ball, author James Dashner and stars Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario introduced several sequences from the September 19 release.
O’Brien plays Thomas, a youngster in post-apocalyptic times who must try to help a community of boys escape a mysterious field via a hazardous maze.
“All the favourite scenes the fans have in the book will be in the movie,” said Ball, who later showed concept art from The Scorch Trials, the sequel he hoped to shoot later this year or in early 2015.
“It’s great following [Thomas’] journey starting as the newbie and his utter defiance throughout the film and not letting his fear...
Ya adaptation The Maze Runner kicked off proceedings on Friday (25) as director Wes Ball, author James Dashner and stars Dylan O’Brien, Will Poulter and Kaya Scodelario introduced several sequences from the September 19 release.
O’Brien plays Thomas, a youngster in post-apocalyptic times who must try to help a community of boys escape a mysterious field via a hazardous maze.
“All the favourite scenes the fans have in the book will be in the movie,” said Ball, who later showed concept art from The Scorch Trials, the sequel he hoped to shoot later this year or in early 2015.
“It’s great following [Thomas’] journey starting as the newbie and his utter defiance throughout the film and not letting his fear...
- 7/25/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Hardboiled! kicks off this week at Trailers from Hell, with filmmaker Neil Marshall introducing "Get Carter."Directed by Mike Hodges and starring Michael Caine, the shocking and stylish Get Carter is the crème de la crème of 70′s British gangster movies. As the vengeful mobster Jack Carter, Caine retains the cool, sardonic nature of his Harry Palmer character but with a distinctly ruthless violent streak. Roy Budd’s jazz-infused funk score has developed as much of a fan base as the movie itself.
- 2/17/2014
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Michael Caine's early films defined the look of an era, but with scores by John Barry, Quincy Jones and Sonny Rollins they also defined its soundrack
There is a kind of music in Michael Caine's voice: deceptively flat, barely inflected, emitting just the tiniest glints of detached insolence and laconic menace as it maps the area between the pre-war docklands community of Rotherhithe, his birthplace, and Elephant and Castle, where his family was rehoused in a prefab built on bomb-damaged land not far from the location of Shakespeare's theatres. Few people alive know more about the actor's craft than Caine, none is more gifted in the art of underplaying, and that voice is integral to his virtuosity.
But there is music of a more conventional kind in the films that made him famous – when the former Maurice Micklewhite rather unexpectedly became the model of a new kind of English leading man,...
There is a kind of music in Michael Caine's voice: deceptively flat, barely inflected, emitting just the tiniest glints of detached insolence and laconic menace as it maps the area between the pre-war docklands community of Rotherhithe, his birthplace, and Elephant and Castle, where his family was rehoused in a prefab built on bomb-damaged land not far from the location of Shakespeare's theatres. Few people alive know more about the actor's craft than Caine, none is more gifted in the art of underplaying, and that voice is integral to his virtuosity.
But there is music of a more conventional kind in the films that made him famous – when the former Maurice Micklewhite rather unexpectedly became the model of a new kind of English leading man,...
- 1/31/2014
- by Richard Williams
- The Guardian - Film News
Fiction sometimes seems to contain almost as many recipes as cookery, but which are the most appetising?
James Bond was always fussy about his food – remember that breakfast in Casino Royale with "half a pint of iced orange juice, three scrambled eggs and bacon, and a double portion of coffee without sugar". Now William Boyd has taken 007's foodie fetishism to a new level with a footnoted recipe for salad dressing.
It opens up a whole new perspective on your bookshelves – what if you tried to live off the recipes buried between the covers of your favourite fiction? There's an old joke about Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (1927) – you might not enjoy the novel, but you can certainly learn how to make the French classic dish boeuf en daube. But this is completely untrue: the dish is made by Mildred (a cook who seems to spend most of her time...
James Bond was always fussy about his food – remember that breakfast in Casino Royale with "half a pint of iced orange juice, three scrambled eggs and bacon, and a double portion of coffee without sugar". Now William Boyd has taken 007's foodie fetishism to a new level with a footnoted recipe for salad dressing.
It opens up a whole new perspective on your bookshelves – what if you tried to live off the recipes buried between the covers of your favourite fiction? There's an old joke about Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse (1927) – you might not enjoy the novel, but you can certainly learn how to make the French classic dish boeuf en daube. But this is completely untrue: the dish is made by Mildred (a cook who seems to spend most of her time...
- 11/8/2013
- by Moira Redmond
- The Guardian - Film News
By Lee Pfeiffer
The three Harry Palmer feature films (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) have had a rather cluttered history in terms of their video releases. Surprisingly, producer Harry Saltzman didn't stick with one studio in terms of their theatrical releases, as he did with the James Bond films which he co-produced with Cubby Broccoli. Instead, each of the Palmer films was financed by and released by a different studio. Thus, in the ensuing decades, the video rights to these films have been convoluted. The titles have remained consistently available to consumers in some countries, while in others (including the USA), they have appeared and disappeared from the marketplace for years at a time. Now the Warner Archive has reissued Paramount's original DVD version of Funeral in Berlin as a burn-to-order title. The original film, The Iprcress File, was internationally acclaimed as the "thinking man's 007" movie.
The three Harry Palmer feature films (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin and Billion Dollar Brain) have had a rather cluttered history in terms of their video releases. Surprisingly, producer Harry Saltzman didn't stick with one studio in terms of their theatrical releases, as he did with the James Bond films which he co-produced with Cubby Broccoli. Instead, each of the Palmer films was financed by and released by a different studio. Thus, in the ensuing decades, the video rights to these films have been convoluted. The titles have remained consistently available to consumers in some countries, while in others (including the USA), they have appeared and disappeared from the marketplace for years at a time. Now the Warner Archive has reissued Paramount's original DVD version of Funeral in Berlin as a burn-to-order title. The original film, The Iprcress File, was internationally acclaimed as the "thinking man's 007" movie.
- 11/1/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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