Mickey Gilbert, the fearless stunt performer who jumped off a cliff for Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and doubled for Gene Wilder in films including Blazing Saddles, Silver Streak and The Frisco Kid, has died. He was 87.
Gilbert died Monday of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California, his oldest son, Tim Gilbert, also a stunt performer, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Early in his career, Gilbert was a horse wrangler in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and a bank robber in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Years later, he took the lumps for Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers on the 1981-86 ABC action show The Fall Guy.
Though they weren’t friends at the time, Gilbert and Redford were in the same class at Van Nuys High School, graduating in 1954. They got together on George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when Redford...
Gilbert died Monday of natural causes at his home in Camarillo, California, his oldest son, Tim Gilbert, also a stunt performer, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Early in his career, Gilbert was a horse wrangler in William Wyler’s Ben-Hur (1959) and a bank robber in Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch (1969). Years later, he took the lumps for Lee Majors’ Colt Seavers on the 1981-86 ABC action show The Fall Guy.
Though they weren’t friends at the time, Gilbert and Redford were in the same class at Van Nuys High School, graduating in 1954. They got together on George Roy Hill’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) when Redford...
- 2/6/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nothing can look pretty gorgeous in widescreen, and there was quite a lot of it in the Australian New Wave of the '70s. The daunting expanse of the Outback provided the canvas for several classic films of the period, such as two masterpieces that were roughly analogous to the folk horror genre emerging in Britain around the same time: Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout" and Ted Kotcheff's controversial "Wake in Fright." In these movies, the stark setting created a dislocating sense that white settlers don't belong in such a harsh and humbling environment, adding to their aura of unease.
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
Most of the notable films of the Aussie New Wave were set in the past or present but, as the '80s beckoned, the biggest hit of the bunch looked to the future in George Miller's "Mad Max." Unlike "Walkabout" and "Wake in Fright," which were both shot in the heart of the Outback,...
- 5/29/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Writer/director Eskil Vogt joins hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante to discuss a few of his favorite movies.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Worst Person In The World (2021)
The Innocents (2022)
The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Trust (1990)
Fight Club (1999)
Evil Dead II (1987) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Getaway (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
The Getaway (1994)
Junior Bonner (1972) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Star Wars (1977)
The Limey (1999)
Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Out of Sight (1998)
The Hunger (1983)
Providence (1977)
Blind (2014)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
The Card Counter (2021)
First Reformed (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary
Light Sleeper (1992)
American Gigolo (1980)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Torn Curtain (1966)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Lolita (1997)
Deep Water...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Worst Person In The World (2021)
The Innocents (2022)
The Godfather Part II (1974) – Katt Shea’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Breakfast Club (1985)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
Trust (1990)
Fight Club (1999)
Evil Dead II (1987) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review
Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Getaway (1972) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
The Getaway (1994)
Junior Bonner (1972) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Star Wars (1977)
The Limey (1999)
Point Blank (1967) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Out of Sight (1998)
The Hunger (1983)
Providence (1977)
Blind (2014)
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985)
The Card Counter (2021)
First Reformed (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary
Light Sleeper (1992)
American Gigolo (1980)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
Torn Curtain (1966)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Lolita (1997)
Deep Water...
- 5/10/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The great director discusses some of his favorite movies with host Josh Olson.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)
Memory (Tbd)
The Protégé (2021)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
GoldenEye (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Salt (2010)
Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Oliver Twist (1948)
Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Guns Of Navarone (1962)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review
The Spy Who Loved Me...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Alzheimer Case a.k.a. Memory of a Killer (2003)
Memory (Tbd)
The Protégé (2021)
You Only Live Twice (1967)
Cast A Deadly Spell (1991)
The Mask Of Zorro (1998)
GoldenEye (1995)
Casino Royale (2006)
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)
Slap Shot (1977) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Salt (2010)
Atomic Blonde (2017) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Oliver Twist (1948)
Dr. No (1962) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Guns Of Navarone (1962)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s 70mm reissue review
The Spy Who Loved Me...
- 8/27/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
No matter how many streaming platforms seem to pop up and demand your attention and subscription dollars, there are incredibly still movies that are just…missing. Not for streaming, not for rental, not for digital purchase, nothing. These movies are simply unavailable digitally. Maybe you can catch a cable broadcast or can find a DVD lying around, because chances are you’re not seeing a repertory screening of these either right now.
For years there were Disney movies, Studio Ghibli films, art house classics and James Cameron blockbusters that had no home, though that’s changed even within the last few months as HBO Max, Disney+. Criterion Channel and Peacock have all emerged, but there are still plenty that are not available at the push of a button. It can do with how Hollywood treats its film history, legal puzzles in terms of who owns what or the financial reality...
For years there were Disney movies, Studio Ghibli films, art house classics and James Cameron blockbusters that had no home, though that’s changed even within the last few months as HBO Max, Disney+. Criterion Channel and Peacock have all emerged, but there are still plenty that are not available at the push of a button. It can do with how Hollywood treats its film history, legal puzzles in terms of who owns what or the financial reality...
- 10/22/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Above: The Great Train RobberyThe western has been around since nearly the advent of cinema. Some of Thomas Edison’s earliest films incorporated standard conventions of the genre, established in preceding works of popular fiction, and other key tropes were solidified in Edwin S. Porter’s pioneering The Great Train Robbery (1903). Primarily originating on the East Coast, American motion picture production soon made its general migration west where the geographic consequences only amplified the form, enticing the likes of producers and directors including Thomas Ince and Cecil B. DeMille. The western swiftly flourished as an exuberant, manifold survey of idealized, often exaggerated themes concerning heroism, progress, and the myth of the American dream. The genre became a beloved compendium of cultural dichotomies, iconic symbols, locations, and character types, evincing countless variations alongside the tried and true.
- 7/21/2020
- MUBI
Gonzalo “Chalo” Gonzalez-Rubio died March 20 at Verdugo Hospital in Glendale of complications from a bacterial infection. He was 95.
The close associate of Sam Peckinpah worked as a prop master and graduated to film roles, including in 2006’s Sundance award-winning “Quinceanera.”
Producer Katy Haber, a Peckinpah associate from 1970 to 1977 used a military term to say: “Wherever Sam was, so was Chalo. Chalo had Sam’s 6 as they say.”
David Weddle, author of “If They Move… Kill ‘Em! The Life and Times of Sam Peckinpah,” writes: “Chalo Gonzalez played a pivotal role in the making of an American masterpiece, ‘The Wild Bunch.’ He was involved in all aspects of the production and was trusted implicitly by the film’s director, Sam Peckinpah. It was Chalo who advocated that the movie should be shot in Parras, Mexico, near the sites of several pivotal battles of the Mexican Revolution. This was one of the...
The close associate of Sam Peckinpah worked as a prop master and graduated to film roles, including in 2006’s Sundance award-winning “Quinceanera.”
Producer Katy Haber, a Peckinpah associate from 1970 to 1977 used a military term to say: “Wherever Sam was, so was Chalo. Chalo had Sam’s 6 as they say.”
David Weddle, author of “If They Move… Kill ‘Em! The Life and Times of Sam Peckinpah,” writes: “Chalo Gonzalez played a pivotal role in the making of an American masterpiece, ‘The Wild Bunch.’ He was involved in all aspects of the production and was trusted implicitly by the film’s director, Sam Peckinpah. It was Chalo who advocated that the movie should be shot in Parras, Mexico, near the sites of several pivotal battles of the Mexican Revolution. This was one of the...
- 3/27/2020
- by Edgar Pablos
- Variety Film + TV
One might expect an interrogation of nostalgia in an American movie set among rodeo riders of South Dakota, but Chloé Zhao’s second film, The Rider, avoids grand questions about the status of American myths. Instead, Zhao grounds her setting of a dwindling cowboy culture in a humble and intimate story of a young injured rider, Brady (Brady Jandreau), during his pride-bruised recovery. Tying his identity to the cowboy ethos—not the thrill, the money, or the fame, but something deeper, if more vague—and with his mother dead, his father an old cowboy (Tim Jandreau) softened by drink and age, and a clique of comrades whose culture is to man up, Brady has few people he can tell of his worries. The lonesomeness of the Western hero becomes the simple shame of a young man not able to do what he thinks is expected of him, what he's built his satisfaction around.
- 4/12/2018
- MUBI
The poster tagline states, “Heaven help us all when The Devil’S Rain!”, and if that grammatical train wreck doesn’t break your brain, I promise you the following 86 minutes will. The Devil’s Rain (1975) is a glorious curiosity, a personal favorite, and thanks to Severin Films’ spectacular new Blu-ray release, one of the best reissues I’ve ever seen.
Meet The Prestons: Mark (William Shatner – Kingdom of the Spiders), his mom (Ida Lupino – Junior Bonner), and their ranch hand John (Woody Chambliss – Gargoyles) all await the return of Mark’s dad, and when he finally shows up, his eyes are missing and he starts melting in the rain (how bad is the humidity in the desert, anyway?). It turns out a fella by the name of Corbis (Ernest Borgnine – Deadly Blessing) is looking for a very special book in the Preston family’s possession, a ledger of souls for...
Meet The Prestons: Mark (William Shatner – Kingdom of the Spiders), his mom (Ida Lupino – Junior Bonner), and their ranch hand John (Woody Chambliss – Gargoyles) all await the return of Mark’s dad, and when he finally shows up, his eyes are missing and he starts melting in the rain (how bad is the humidity in the desert, anyway?). It turns out a fella by the name of Corbis (Ernest Borgnine – Deadly Blessing) is looking for a very special book in the Preston family’s possession, a ledger of souls for...
- 11/3/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Sam Peckinpah was a fine director of actors when the material was right, and his first collaboration with Steve McQueen is an shaded character study about a rodeo family dealing with changing times. Joe Don Baker and Ben Johnson shine, but the movie belongs to Ida Lupino and Robert Preston.
Junior Bonner
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Special Edition / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, Ben Johnson, Mary Murphy, Dub Taylor, Don ‘Red’ Barry, Bill McKinney.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Film Editors: Frank Santillo, Robert L. Wolfe
Second Unit Director: Frank Kowalski
Bud Hurlbud: Special Effects
Original Music: Jerry Fielding
Written by Jeb Rosebrook
Produced by Joe Wizan
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
I suppose there were plenty of successful rodeo-themed westerns back in the day, perhaps the kind interrupted by a cowboy song every ten minutes or so.
Junior Bonner
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / Special Edition / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, Joe Don Baker, Ben Johnson, Mary Murphy, Dub Taylor, Don ‘Red’ Barry, Bill McKinney.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Film Editors: Frank Santillo, Robert L. Wolfe
Second Unit Director: Frank Kowalski
Bud Hurlbud: Special Effects
Original Music: Jerry Fielding
Written by Jeb Rosebrook
Produced by Joe Wizan
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
I suppose there were plenty of successful rodeo-themed westerns back in the day, perhaps the kind interrupted by a cowboy song every ten minutes or so.
- 10/17/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Dear Kelley and Fern,We are all on the same page for John Woo's Manhunt, no doubt—a film that casts my mind back with wry, chuckling nostalgia to first discovering the action maestro's days of glory. Such backward glances have been common to me this week. I must admit, it's been more than a bit hard to be present at Toronto—my heart, mind and soul still feels battered aghast from last week’s devastating, gaping conclusion of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks: The Return. The 25 years that separate that series from the show’s second season are a gulf of time, a void of aging and loss that you feel in every shot—a span, the finale implies, that is ultimately impossible to surmount.This gap was very much in my mind watching Youth, a nostalgic re-envisioning of the Cultural Revolution in the...
- 9/10/2017
- MUBI
Straw Dogs
Blu-ray
Criterion
1971 / 1:85 / Street Date June 27, 2017
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George
Cinematography: John Coquillon
Film Editors: Paul Davies, Tony Lawson, Roger Spottiswoode
Written by David Zelag Goodman and Sam Peckinpah
Produced by Daniel Melnick
Music: Jerry Fielding
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Adrift from civilization, an attractive young couple find themselves threatened, assaulted, and eventually compelled to defend themselves in a bloody showdown. That is the basic premise of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, released in 1971 and inspired by some of the same movies then crowding the legendary dives of 42nd street. On its surface Straw Dogs is pure exploitation but its lasting power resides in Peckinpah’s transformation of those visceral grindhouse cliches into an appalling examination of human nature.
Straw Dogs begins with the seemingly benign introduction of David Sumner, a young man with an even younger wife, arriving in a tiny hamlet in the north of England,...
Blu-ray
Criterion
1971 / 1:85 / Street Date June 27, 2017
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George
Cinematography: John Coquillon
Film Editors: Paul Davies, Tony Lawson, Roger Spottiswoode
Written by David Zelag Goodman and Sam Peckinpah
Produced by Daniel Melnick
Music: Jerry Fielding
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
Adrift from civilization, an attractive young couple find themselves threatened, assaulted, and eventually compelled to defend themselves in a bloody showdown. That is the basic premise of Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs, released in 1971 and inspired by some of the same movies then crowding the legendary dives of 42nd street. On its surface Straw Dogs is pure exploitation but its lasting power resides in Peckinpah’s transformation of those visceral grindhouse cliches into an appalling examination of human nature.
Straw Dogs begins with the seemingly benign introduction of David Sumner, a young man with an even younger wife, arriving in a tiny hamlet in the north of England,...
- 7/15/2017
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The laid-back, plot challenged non-violent western gets a boost in this folksy comedy about two aging cowboys with less sense than the horses they tame. Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda star together for the first time, leaving behind their older images… they’re too tender-hearted for their own good. If the sex comedy wasn’t quite so dated, Burt Kennedy’s picture might be a classic.
The Rounders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Film Editor: John McSweeney
Original Music: Jeff Alexander
From the Novel by Max Evans
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy
Producer Richard E. Lyons is...
The Rounders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Henry Fonda, Sue Ane Langdon, Hope Holiday, Chill Wills, Edgar Buchanan, Kathleen Freeman, Joan Freeman, Denver Pyle, Barton MacLane, Doodles Weaver, Peter Fonda, Peter Ford, Bill Hart, Warren Oates, Chuck Roberson.
Cinematography: Paul Vogel
Film Editor: John McSweeney
Original Music: Jeff Alexander
From the Novel by Max Evans
Produced by Richard E. Lyons
Written and Directed by Burt Kennedy
Producer Richard E. Lyons is...
- 4/22/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
To celebrate the release of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia – out 23rd January on Blu-ray – we are giving away a copy courtesy of Arrow Video!
Sam Peckinpah’s most personal movie, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is often regarded as his last great masterpiece, concluding the period in which he also made The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a beautiful and heartbreaking film with astonishing performances from its two leads, Warren Oates and Isela Vega. Their love story plays out against Peckinpah’s trademark violence as they embark on a manhunt in order to make their fortune. Their commitment to their roles never wavers and they bring their characters to life extraordinarily, giving us a glimpse of the underbelly of humanity.
This gripping film is released with a brand new 4K restoration created exclusively for this limited edition Blu-ray,...
Sam Peckinpah’s most personal movie, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is often regarded as his last great masterpiece, concluding the period in which he also made The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs.
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a beautiful and heartbreaking film with astonishing performances from its two leads, Warren Oates and Isela Vega. Their love story plays out against Peckinpah’s trademark violence as they embark on a manhunt in order to make their fortune. Their commitment to their roles never wavers and they bring their characters to life extraordinarily, giving us a glimpse of the underbelly of humanity.
This gripping film is released with a brand new 4K restoration created exclusively for this limited edition Blu-ray,...
- 1/11/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
The icon-establishing performances Marilyn Monroe gave in Howard Hawks’ Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) and in Billy Wilder’s Some Like It Hot (1959) are ones for the ages, touchstone works that endure because of the undeniable comic energy and desperation that sparked them from within even as the ravenous public became ever more enraptured by the surface of Monroe’s seductive image of beauty and glamour. Several generations now probably know her only from these films, or perhaps 1955’s The Seven-Year Itch, a more famous probably for the skirt-swirling pose it generated than anything in the movie itself, one of director Wilder’s sourest pictures, or her final completed film, The Misfits (1961), directed by John Huston, written by Arthur Miller and costarring Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift.
But in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) she delivers a powerful dramatic performance as Nell, a psychologically devastated, delusional, perhaps psychotic young woman apparently on...
But in Don’t Bother to Knock (1952) she delivers a powerful dramatic performance as Nell, a psychologically devastated, delusional, perhaps psychotic young woman apparently on...
- 4/11/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
The parameters, mutually agreed upon by my editor Danny Kasman and myself, are these: A bi-weekly (every two weeks) column, entitled "On Mubi / Off," covering two films—one currently available on the Mubi streaming platform in the United States, the other screening offsite (in theaters, on VOD, Blu-ray/DVD, etc). The movies may share some similarities in approach, execution and theme, or they may not. Mostly, my own interests and curiosity will dictate what films are covered and in what way, and I hope you'll find the prose, the pairings, and/or the analysis compelling enough to follow along.On MUBITerminal Island (Stephanie Rothman, 1973)Sight unseen, I thought Stephanie Rothman's 1973 exploitation cheapie Terminal Island would make for a good inaugural article lead-off—something Z-grade disreputable to complement the A-level sleaze (not necessarily a criticism) of the other movie covered in this column. (We'll get to you momentarily, Mr. Bond.
- 11/23/2015
- by Keith Uhlich
- MUBI
Chis Marker's Chat écoutant la musiqueThere are dog people and there are cat people, this we know, and there are even people who claim to be of both—though latent sympathies remain unspoken, like with a parent and which child is their favorite. With the Vienna Film Festival welcoming me with a tumbling collection of dog and cat short films spanning cinema's history—the Austrian Film Museum, an essential destination each year collaborating with the Viennale, is hosting a “a brief zoology of cinema” throughout the festivities—it is clear that filmmakers, too, have their preference. Silent cinema decidedly prefers the more easily trained and exhibited canine, with 1907’s surreal favorite Les chiens savants as a certain kind of cruel pinnacle. For the cats, Chris Marker, already the presiding figure over so much in 20th century art, I think we can easily claim is the cine-laureate. One need not know...
- 11/8/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Dear Fernando,You are done with the festival I know, but I since I have finally caught up with Anomalisa, I wanted to answer you about it. Back in Cannes you may recall how much I enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos's The Lobster, but wondered if the second time around it would carry such a punch—in other words, how founded the experience of that film is on the first encounter. This is the very question I asked myself again after sitting through Duke Johnson and Charlie Kaufman's animated puppet drama, a wonderfully unsettling viewing experience of constant awkwardness, drawn-out deadtime, halted humor, and a truly never ending awareness that at no point did I have any idea what kind of movie this was or where it might be going. Isn't that wild? So used to genres and conventions, signposts, patterns, throwbacks and homages, it often feels like few films come as a true surprise.
- 9/21/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
Jinxed!I am leaving the Locarno Film Festival with two final movies in my heart, wonderful, punched-around old films that felt sunshine fresh. Sam Peckinpah's effortless, laconic rodeo family drama, Junior Bonner (1971), and Don Siegel's brash, one-of-a-kind comedy of Reno luck and murder, Jinxed! (1981), embodied for me the relaxed ease of this festival that allows its attendees to avoid the bullshit of the red carpet, of the film industry, of the all-pervasive hype machine, and embrace the too often unseen, unsung corners of cinema: the madcap, the modest, the experimental, the cracked-and-scratched old and the still-wet young.Floating in the placid center of Lake Maggiore or lifted high by funicular, gondola and ski lift to the top of Locarno's highest point, the over-lapped peaks of Swiss mountains completely ensconce this festival with nuzzling immensity, but also give the sense of an unusual isolation and remoteness to such a culturally essential event.
- 8/17/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
This article by Fernando Ganzo is an excerpt from Capricci's monograph Sam Peckinpah, edited by Ganzo, which accompanies this year's retrospective at the Locarno Film Festival.Warren Oates in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. © Park Circus / MGM“Don’t ever ruin your career as a loser with a shitty success.”—Jorge OteizaThere is only one thing that can be said about a person as erratic, contradictory, mythomaniac, complex and profound as Sam Peckinpah: here is a director who was made in the image of his characters, those men who belong to a different era, born too late, in a world that opposed all freedom and eccentricity. We like to describe Peckinpah as one of the fathers of New Hollywood, of the baroque aesthetic of the 1970s, as someone who had a primordial and often regrettable influence on that particular style. This is not completely false. However, this...
- 8/4/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Hong Sang-soo's Right Now, Wrong Then.The lineup for the 2015 festival has been revealed, including new films by Hong Sang-soo, Andrzej Zulawski, Chantal Akerman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes dedicated to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Cimino, Bulle Ogier, and much more.Piazza GRANDERicki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme, USA)La belle saison (Catherine Corsini, France)Le dernier passage (Pascal Magontier, France)Der staat gegen Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume, Germany)Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua, USA)Trainwreck (Judd Apatow, USA)Jack (Elisabeth Scharang, Austria)Floride (Philippe Le Guay, France)The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, UK/USA)Erlkönig (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland)Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)Bombay Velvet (Anurag Kashyap, India)Pastorale cilentana (Mario Martone, Italy)La vanite (Lionel Baier, Switzerland/France)The Laundryman (Lee Chung, Taiwan)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA) I pugni ni tasca (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Heliopolis (Sérgio Machado, Brazil)Amnesia (Barbet Schroeder,...
- 7/20/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run was pivotal in launching his career as a credible actor and leading man. Although considered a comedy classic today, the 1969 film actually lost money at the time of its release.
By Brian Hannan
All you need is top stars and top directors and making movies is easy. Surely you couldn’t miss with a line-up that included Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Lee Marvin, Omar Sharif, and directors of the calibre of Robert Aldrich (hot after The Dirty Dozen), John Boorman (Point Blank) and Woody Allen. Or so ABC must have thought when it set up a movie division in the late 1960s. Delving into the archives recently, I discovered that Sam Peckinpah’s rodeo picture Junior Bonner (1972) starring Steve McQueen was a box office stinkeroo. The picture lost $2.8m (about $15m in today’s money). Not just on domestic release,...
By Brian Hannan
All you need is top stars and top directors and making movies is easy. Surely you couldn’t miss with a line-up that included Sean Connery, Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman, Lee Marvin, Omar Sharif, and directors of the calibre of Robert Aldrich (hot after The Dirty Dozen), John Boorman (Point Blank) and Woody Allen. Or so ABC must have thought when it set up a movie division in the late 1960s. Delving into the archives recently, I discovered that Sam Peckinpah’s rodeo picture Junior Bonner (1972) starring Steve McQueen was a box office stinkeroo. The picture lost $2.8m (about $15m in today’s money). Not just on domestic release,...
- 7/21/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Supporting actor who seesawed from menacing villain to comic fool
Many of Clint Eastwood's hit films of the 1970s and 80s were made with a stock company of distinctive supporting actors. This kooky troupe included the elfin Sondra Locke, the wild-eyed Geoffrey Lewis and the effortlessly villainous Bill McKinney, who has died of cancer aged 80. Switching between westerns, comedies and thrillers, McKinney was seldom called upon for more than a few minutes of screen time but had the seasoned character actor's knack of making a memorable first impression. In Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), the first of his seven films with Eastwood, he appears as a gibbering driver with a caged raccoon by his side and a boot full of white rabbits.
He was subsequently cast as the bloodthirsty Terrill, who oversees the massacre of Eastwood's family in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976); as an oily, sex-crazed constable coolly ridiculed by Locke...
Many of Clint Eastwood's hit films of the 1970s and 80s were made with a stock company of distinctive supporting actors. This kooky troupe included the elfin Sondra Locke, the wild-eyed Geoffrey Lewis and the effortlessly villainous Bill McKinney, who has died of cancer aged 80. Switching between westerns, comedies and thrillers, McKinney was seldom called upon for more than a few minutes of screen time but had the seasoned character actor's knack of making a memorable first impression. In Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), the first of his seven films with Eastwood, he appears as a gibbering driver with a caged raccoon by his side and a boot full of white rabbits.
He was subsequently cast as the bloodthirsty Terrill, who oversees the massacre of Eastwood's family in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976); as an oily, sex-crazed constable coolly ridiculed by Locke...
- 12/8/2011
- by Chris Wiegand
- The Guardian - Film News
Character actor Bill McKinney, who featured in one of the most iconic and disturbing scenes in movie history, has died, aged 80.
Billed as Mountain Man, the actor starred in Deliverance's "Squeal like a pig" scene, where his character and a backwoods friend rape Ned Beatty's adventurer Bobby.
McKinney, who also appeared in seven Clint Eastwood movies, died at the Valley Presbyterian Hospice in California after a long battle with lung cancer, according to TMZ.com.
A statement on his Facebook.com page reads, "An avid smoker for 25 years of his younger life, he died of cancer of the esophagus. He was 80 and still strong enough to have filmed a Doritos commercial 2 weeks prior to his passing, and he continued to work on his biography with his writing partner."
McKinney also appeared in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner, The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones, First Blood and The Green Mile as well as a string of popular TV series like The A-Team, Baywatch and The Fall Guy.
Billed as Mountain Man, the actor starred in Deliverance's "Squeal like a pig" scene, where his character and a backwoods friend rape Ned Beatty's adventurer Bobby.
McKinney, who also appeared in seven Clint Eastwood movies, died at the Valley Presbyterian Hospice in California after a long battle with lung cancer, according to TMZ.com.
A statement on his Facebook.com page reads, "An avid smoker for 25 years of his younger life, he died of cancer of the esophagus. He was 80 and still strong enough to have filmed a Doritos commercial 2 weeks prior to his passing, and he continued to work on his biography with his writing partner."
McKinney also appeared in Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner, The Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean, blaxploitation classic Cleopatra Jones, First Blood and The Green Mile as well as a string of popular TV series like The A-Team, Baywatch and The Fall Guy.
- 12/2/2011
- WENN
Joe Don Baker was marketed as a martial arts star in the 1974 actioner Golden Needles, a movie I saw at the Des Peres 4 Cinema back when it was new and haven’t been able to track down since. It had never been released on VHS or DVD so I was psyched to see it’s now out as part of the “MGM Limited Edition” DVD-r series . Before starring in the hit Walking Tall in 1973, Baker had bounced around Hollywood mostly doing TV work . After Kris Kristofferson turned down the role of Buford Pusser, producers offered the role to Baker who had made an impression as Steve McQueen’s younger brother in Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner in 1972.Walking Tall, a true tale about a Tennessee sheriff confronting corruption and gangsters with a large wooden club and a mean attitude, was a surprise success and Baker was soon starring in a...
- 11/29/2011
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Okay, yes, "The Expendables," ended up being better as an "idea" than a reality. Sylvester Stallone gathered a bunch of over-the-hill action stars (including his "Rocky IV" opponent, Dolph Lundgren, and his "Get Carter" pal, Mickey Rourke) for a bloody shoot-'em-up designed to show all the young whippersnappers out there that the old men still got it. The resulting film had its moments but was ultimately too confusing, too haphazard and too, well, expendable.
But what are sequels for if not a chance to make things all better (don't answer that)? Stallone has gathered an even more impressive cast for "The Expendables 2" -- Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme will be contributing to the mayhem this time around, and Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom only had cameo appearances in the original film, will have much larger roles in the new adventure. And, of course, all of the old gang is back,...
But what are sequels for if not a chance to make things all better (don't answer that)? Stallone has gathered an even more impressive cast for "The Expendables 2" -- Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme will be contributing to the mayhem this time around, and Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom only had cameo appearances in the original film, will have much larger roles in the new adventure. And, of course, all of the old gang is back,...
- 9/15/2011
- by IFC
- ifc.com
Ben Johnson on TCM: War Drums, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am 3 Godfathers (1948) Three outlaws on the run risk their freedom and their lives to return a newborn to civilization. Dir: John Ford. Cast: John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz, Harry Carey Jr. C-106 mins. 8:00 Am Fort Defiance (1951) A Civil War veteran returns to his hometown to avenge his brother's death. Dir: John Rawlins. Cast: Dane Clark, Ben Johnson, Peter Graves. C-82 mins. 9:30 Am Wild Stallion (1952) A horse hunter pursues a white colt that ran off when his parents were killed. Dir: Lewis D. Collins. Cast: Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Martha Hyer. C-70 mins. 11:00 Am War Drums (1957) A white trader and an Apache chief fall for the same woman. Dir: Reginald LeBorg. Cast: Lex Barker, Joan Taylor, Ben Johnson. C-75 mins. 12:30 Pm Cheyenne Autumn (1964) A reluctant calvary Captain must...
- 8/11/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ben Johnson isn't exactly what one would call a movie icon; Johnson isn't even a Western icon, despite his presence in numerous Old (and not-so-Old) West movies during his 50+-year career. Johnson's semi-obscurity today is a great reason to celebrate Turner Classic Movies' devoting one whole day to him as part of its "Summer Under the Stars" film series. [Ben Johnson Movie Schedule.] TCM will be presenting 12 Ben Johnson movies, including one premiere, the 1957 Western War Drums, directed by Viennese filmmaker Reginald Le Borg (Voodoo Island, Sins of Jezebel), and starring former Tarzan Lex Barker. The movie sounds like a hoot: Mexican gal Riva (Joan Taylor, actually from Geneva, Illinois) is wanted and desired by both a white trader (Johnson) and an Apache chief named Mangas Coloradas (Barker). Barker playing an Apache should be, ahem, interesting enough, but one named Mangas Coloradas? Here's wondering if that translates as "Colored Mangoes." Anyhow, War Drums sounds like a must-see.
- 8/11/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Hollywood actor who shot to fame as Marlon Brando's girlfriend in The Wild One
Co-starring with Marlon Brando in his prime is a bonus for any actor's filmography. The fame of Mary Murphy, who has died aged 80, was boosted considerably when she played his love interest in The Wild One (1953). Tame by today's standards, it was the film in which the brooding, rebellious, black-leather-clad Brando, as the leader of a motorcycle gang, emerged fully as a sex symbol.
The pretty, clean-cut Murphy, never considered a sex symbol herself, served as an excellent foil to Brando who, when asked what he is rebelling against, replies: "What've you got?" As the sheriff's daughter, she immediately attracts the attention of Brando when he comes in for a beer at the diner where she works. Gradually, the attraction becomes mutual as he rides his large, phallic motorcycle with her clutching his waist, her...
Co-starring with Marlon Brando in his prime is a bonus for any actor's filmography. The fame of Mary Murphy, who has died aged 80, was boosted considerably when she played his love interest in The Wild One (1953). Tame by today's standards, it was the film in which the brooding, rebellious, black-leather-clad Brando, as the leader of a motorcycle gang, emerged fully as a sex symbol.
The pretty, clean-cut Murphy, never considered a sex symbol herself, served as an excellent foil to Brando who, when asked what he is rebelling against, replies: "What've you got?" As the sheriff's daughter, she immediately attracts the attention of Brando when he comes in for a beer at the diner where she works. Gradually, the attraction becomes mutual as he rides his large, phallic motorcycle with her clutching his waist, her...
- 6/3/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood producer Joe Wizan has passed away at the age of 76.
Wizan died of natural causes after a long illness on Monday in Westlake Village, California.
He began his career at top talent agency William Morris and helped to guide the careers of actor/director Sydney Pollack and moviemaker Robert Altman, before moving into film production.
His movie credits include 1970s pictures Junior Bonner with Steve McQueen, Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford, and Robert Wise thriller Audrey Rose.
Wizan also worked on 1984's Romancing the Stone and 1992 action comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!, as well as the film adaptations of James Patterson's Alex Cross book Kiss the Girls (1997) and its 2001 sequel Along Came a Spider - the producer's final shoot.
He is survived by his wife Melanie, a son and a daughter, and two step-sons.
Wizan died of natural causes after a long illness on Monday in Westlake Village, California.
He began his career at top talent agency William Morris and helped to guide the careers of actor/director Sydney Pollack and moviemaker Robert Altman, before moving into film production.
His movie credits include 1970s pictures Junior Bonner with Steve McQueen, Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford, and Robert Wise thriller Audrey Rose.
Wizan also worked on 1984's Romancing the Stone and 1992 action comedy Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!, as well as the film adaptations of James Patterson's Alex Cross book Kiss the Girls (1997) and its 2001 sequel Along Came a Spider - the producer's final shoot.
He is survived by his wife Melanie, a son and a daughter, and two step-sons.
- 3/25/2011
- WENN
Denim in cinema has been popularised by some of the great screen icons of the twentieth century. From Marlon Brando (The Wild One) to Steve McQueen (Junior Bonner), Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke) to John Travolta (Urban Cowboy), Grace Kelly (Rear Window) to Brigitte Bardot (And God Created Woman).
Similar to the business suit, denim is a sartorial way of life that confers immediate personality on a person without them having to do or say anything; this personality has evolved through time and trends, though one facet remains intact: rebelliousness.
Denim’s symbolism has been created on film from real life frontier mythology. Art imitates life; imitates art. At one time Brando wore jeans like the cowboys, now the cowboys wear jeans like Brando. It is not difficult to understand how James Dean in a pair of Lee 101 Riders jeans was the birth of the American teenager. As Jim Stark...
Similar to the business suit, denim is a sartorial way of life that confers immediate personality on a person without them having to do or say anything; this personality has evolved through time and trends, though one facet remains intact: rebelliousness.
Denim’s symbolism has been created on film from real life frontier mythology. Art imitates life; imitates art. At one time Brando wore jeans like the cowboys, now the cowboys wear jeans like Brando. It is not difficult to understand how James Dean in a pair of Lee 101 Riders jeans was the birth of the American teenager. As Jim Stark...
- 7/1/2010
- by Chris Laverty
- Clothes on Film
The British Film Institute's South Bank Theatre will host an exciting tribute to the films and career of Sam Peckinpah, commencing in January. The following is from the official press release:
Recoil: The Films of Sam Peckinpah
We mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Sam Peckinpah (1925 - 1984) with a complete season of his films, including an extended run of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Peckinpah was the West’s great elegist, a screen poet whose name became synonymous with violence. But there was much more to him than slow-motion carnage.
We’re perilously numb to the word ‘violence’ these days – and that’s the very last thing Sam Peckinpah was after. When he started shooting pictures in 1961 with The Deadly Companions (rarely screened since the ‘70s in the UK), Hollywood still had qualms about showing blood. The Wild Bunch (1969) changed everything; it was probably changing anyway...
Recoil: The Films of Sam Peckinpah
We mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Sam Peckinpah (1925 - 1984) with a complete season of his films, including an extended run of Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). Peckinpah was the West’s great elegist, a screen poet whose name became synonymous with violence. But there was much more to him than slow-motion carnage.
We’re perilously numb to the word ‘violence’ these days – and that’s the very last thing Sam Peckinpah was after. When he started shooting pictures in 1961 with The Deadly Companions (rarely screened since the ‘70s in the UK), Hollywood still had qualms about showing blood. The Wild Bunch (1969) changed everything; it was probably changing anyway...
- 12/3/2008
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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