The Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the official poster for its 77th edition.
Cannes likes to evoke cinematic history in its official merch, and this year’s poster is no exception. It features a scene from Rhapsody in August, Japanese classic from the late Akira Kurosawa, which premiered out of competition in Cannes in 1991.
In the film, Kurosawa’s penultimate feature as a director, a grandmother who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing passes on her faith in love and integrity as a bulwark against war and violence to her grandchildren and her American nephew.
The poster chimes nicely with what is becoming a bit of a Japanese theme at this year’s Cannes festival. Earlier this week, Cannes announced it would present an honorary Palme d’Or this year to Japanese anime house Studio Ghibli (The Boy and the Heron, Spirited Away), the first time the French festival...
Cannes likes to evoke cinematic history in its official merch, and this year’s poster is no exception. It features a scene from Rhapsody in August, Japanese classic from the late Akira Kurosawa, which premiered out of competition in Cannes in 1991.
In the film, Kurosawa’s penultimate feature as a director, a grandmother who was a victim of the Nagasaki bombing passes on her faith in love and integrity as a bulwark against war and violence to her grandchildren and her American nephew.
The poster chimes nicely with what is becoming a bit of a Japanese theme at this year’s Cannes festival. Earlier this week, Cannes announced it would present an honorary Palme d’Or this year to Japanese anime house Studio Ghibli (The Boy and the Heron, Spirited Away), the first time the French festival...
- 4/19/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Prior to making headlines the next day after a short-lived health scare that required a brief stay in hospital, Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins arrived at Dublin’s Complex arts center last Wednesday to present the Dublin film festival’s highest honor to Steve McQueen. Introduced in 2007 and named the Volta Award, after the first commercial cinema set up in Dublin in 1909 by writer James Joyce, its previous recipients include Daniel Day Lewis, Claudia Cardinale and Al Pacino. The famously serious director was in high spirits, enthusing that “festivals are about passion, a passion for film.” “There’s always a buzz, isn’t there?” he continued. “[As you] go to the next picture, the next film, you tend to give people tips and say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to see this, you’ve got to see that…’”
McQueen was in and out of the festival, flying home the same night, fueling...
McQueen was in and out of the festival, flying home the same night, fueling...
- 3/4/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Although collecting physical media doesn’t have the convenience appeal of streaming films, there is now sort of a stigma with purchasing movies through online platforms. Although its possible to compile a collection of movies through an online library, consumers will ultimately be at the whim of the service should it choose to keep the title available on their server. The seemingly iron-clad way to have a movie ready-to-watch is if you can have it at your fingertips. Additionally, there are a number of titles that don’t happen to find their way to have streaming access and physical media distributors like Shout and Vinegar Syndrome have dedicated their business to some overlooked titles.
There are also classic, prestige movie titles that studios are proud to remaster for a new, modern way of viewing. You can now catch a new upcoming release of Once Upon a Time in the West...
There are also classic, prestige movie titles that studios are proud to remaster for a new, modern way of viewing. You can now catch a new upcoming release of Once Upon a Time in the West...
- 2/21/2024
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
The Janus-headed The Facts of Murder looks back to the earlier neorealist docudramas of director, co-writer, and star Pietro Germi, while also presaging the sharply observed satirical outlook of films like Divorce Italian Style and Seduced and Abandoned. In the film, the comedic elements are mostly limited to the broad, almost caricatural handling of bumbling secondary characters. The primary storyline, involving an investigation into two ostensibly related crimes, is handled more like a police procedural along the lines of Jules Dassin’s The Naked City, albeit without that film’s authoritative narration.
The Facts of Murder’s central location is an apartment block. Quickly sketching in a number of characters and their relationships in the aftermath of the opening burglary, the film codes the victim, Commendatore Anzaloni (Ildebrando Santafe), as gay, and it’s suggested that the criminal might’ve been one of his pickups. But the focus of...
The Facts of Murder’s central location is an apartment block. Quickly sketching in a number of characters and their relationships in the aftermath of the opening burglary, the film codes the victim, Commendatore Anzaloni (Ildebrando Santafe), as gay, and it’s suggested that the criminal might’ve been one of his pickups. But the focus of...
- 1/4/2024
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Netflix on Tuesday unveiled four new Italian originals – two feature films and two series – that confirm its continued investment in Italy as local subscribers grow. The new projects also bolster the fact that the bulk of the streamer’s Italian productions are not high end and have a primarily local focus.
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta – affectionately known as Tinny – who is Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.”
Andreatta, who owing to having caught Covid-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflix’s lineup as being characterised by “Authentic stories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.”
According to data released last month by Italy’s...
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta – affectionately known as Tinny – who is Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.”
Andreatta, who owing to having caught Covid-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflix’s lineup as being characterised by “Authentic stories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.”
According to data released last month by Italy’s...
- 9/19/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
If American filmgoers are at all aware of the work of filmmaker Damiano Damiani, it’s likely because of his deranged “Zapata western” A Bullet for the General, or else his bonkers horror sequel Amityville II: The Possession, which easily surpasses its more famous predecessor in sheer Wtf factor. Neither of those films are necessarily indicative of Damiani’s serious-minded approach to the titles included in Radiance Films’s Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales by Damiano Damiani, but they do illustrate Damiani’s determination to pepper his works with pungent social commentary. The three films in this new box set may illuminate very different aspects of the mafia’s tentacular grip on Sicilian society, but they’re united in their bleak, often hopeless diagnoses of these social ills.
The Day of the Owl, from 1968, pits carabiniere Captain Bellodi (Nero) against mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb...
The Day of the Owl, from 1968, pits carabiniere Captain Bellodi (Nero) against mafia boss Don Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb...
- 8/14/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Exclusive: Wavelength’s documentary Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer is proving a hot property. The Emmy-winning film production company headed by Jenifer Westphal today announced Shout! Studios has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and MetFilm has acquired international rights.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
- 7/18/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix has released first-look images of limited series “The Leopard,” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date.
Production on the lavish historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” – and potential to make a global mark – is currently underway in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. The show is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The movie, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Published posthumously in 1958, “The Leopard” chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the 19th century unification of Italy, known as the Risorgimento. It became the top-selling novel in modern Italian literature of its day and was translated into more than 40 different languages.
Production on the lavish historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” – and potential to make a global mark – is currently underway in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. The show is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The movie, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
Published posthumously in 1958, “The Leopard” chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the 19th century unification of Italy, known as the Risorgimento. It became the top-selling novel in modern Italian literature of its day and was translated into more than 40 different languages.
- 7/10/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Locarno Film Festival will fete Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård with its Honorary Career Leopard award at the upcoming edition, running August 2 to 12.
The award ceremony will take place August 4 at the Piazza Grande, followed by an audience Q&a at the Spazio Cinema on August 5, while the actor’s 1990 pic Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg by Kjell Grede, will screen on August 3.
Alongside his work with European filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, for whom he starred five times, including Breaking The Waves, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, Skarsgård is known for his roles in big Hollywood films such as Pirates of the Caribbean films, Mamma Mia!, Thor, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune — the second part of which will be released this fall.
Also active in television, Skarsgård won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a miniseries in the HBO drama Chernobyl. He recently starred in...
The award ceremony will take place August 4 at the Piazza Grande, followed by an audience Q&a at the Spazio Cinema on August 5, while the actor’s 1990 pic Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg by Kjell Grede, will screen on August 3.
Alongside his work with European filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, for whom he starred five times, including Breaking The Waves, which won the Jury Prize at Cannes, Skarsgård is known for his roles in big Hollywood films such as Pirates of the Caribbean films, Mamma Mia!, Thor, and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune — the second part of which will be released this fall.
Also active in television, Skarsgård won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a miniseries in the HBO drama Chernobyl. He recently starred in...
- 7/10/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, the arthouse darling known for works including Venice Golden Lion winner “Vive L’Amour” and “The River,” which scored the Berlin Silver Bear, will be celebrated by the Locarno Film Festival with its Honorary Leopard achievement award.
The iconoclastic auteur, who is a key figure in Taiwan’s so-called Second New Wave, will receive the prize from the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema during an Aug. 6 ceremony held on its 8,000-seat outdoor Piazza Grande venue.
The tribute to Tsai Ming-liang will also involve an onstage conversation with the director on the future of cinema and a screening of the helmer’s 2020 film “Days” (Rizi), as well as an art gallery exhibition of his experimental works.
The Malaysian-born Tsai made his debut in the early 1990s, breaking out internationally with “Vive L’Amour” 1994, followed by “The River” in 1996 and “The Hole,” which bowed in Cannes in 1998. His “The Wayward Cloud...
The iconoclastic auteur, who is a key figure in Taiwan’s so-called Second New Wave, will receive the prize from the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema during an Aug. 6 ceremony held on its 8,000-seat outdoor Piazza Grande venue.
The tribute to Tsai Ming-liang will also involve an onstage conversation with the director on the future of cinema and a screening of the helmer’s 2020 film “Days” (Rizi), as well as an art gallery exhibition of his experimental works.
The Malaysian-born Tsai made his debut in the early 1990s, breaking out internationally with “Vive L’Amour” 1994, followed by “The River” in 1996 and “The Hole,” which bowed in Cannes in 1998. His “The Wayward Cloud...
- 6/20/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The Locarno Film Festival will fete multi-award-winning Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang with an Honorary Career Leopard award at the upcoming edition running from August 2 to 12.
Regarded as a key figure in the Second New Wave of Taiwanese cinema, Malaysian-born Tsai Ming-liang made his debut in the early 1990s, breaking out internationally with Vive L’Amour, which won Venice’s Golden Lion in 1994.
Other award-winning titles include with The River, which won the Jury Award at Berlin in 1996, while in 2009, his work Visage (Face) became the first film to be included in the collection of the Louvre Museum’s “Le Louvre s’offre aux cineastes”.
Tsai’s connections with the art world have grown over the years and he has been invited to participate in various art exhibitions and festivals, while he developed aesthetic ideas such as “Hand-sculpted Cinema” and “The removal of industrial processes from art making”.
The festival’s celebration...
Regarded as a key figure in the Second New Wave of Taiwanese cinema, Malaysian-born Tsai Ming-liang made his debut in the early 1990s, breaking out internationally with Vive L’Amour, which won Venice’s Golden Lion in 1994.
Other award-winning titles include with The River, which won the Jury Award at Berlin in 1996, while in 2009, his work Visage (Face) became the first film to be included in the collection of the Louvre Museum’s “Le Louvre s’offre aux cineastes”.
Tsai’s connections with the art world have grown over the years and he has been invited to participate in various art exhibitions and festivals, while he developed aesthetic ideas such as “Hand-sculpted Cinema” and “The removal of industrial processes from art making”.
The festival’s celebration...
- 6/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Pink Panther franchise is one of the most iconic and beloved series in film history. From its debut in 1963 with the original movie to its most recent installment in 2009, the Pink Panther has been a staple of comedy-mystery films for generations.
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
Inspector Clouseau’s misadventures have captivated audiences worldwide and left them laughing, guessing, and wanting more.
The films were mainly created by Blake Edwards and had theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Other forms of media, such as books, comic books, video games, and animated series, were later produced based on the elements and characters from the films.
With its unique blend of slapstick humor, witty dialogue, and clever mysteries, it’s no wonder why this franchise has become so popular over the years. In this blog post, we’ll look at all the Pink Panther movies in order...
Related: 10 Best Comedies of All Time, Ranked by Viewers
Inspector Clouseau’s misadventures have captivated audiences worldwide and left them laughing, guessing, and wanting more.
The films were mainly created by Blake Edwards and had theme music composed by Henry Mancini. Other forms of media, such as books, comic books, video games, and animated series, were later produced based on the elements and characters from the films.
With its unique blend of slapstick humor, witty dialogue, and clever mysteries, it’s no wonder why this franchise has become so popular over the years. In this blog post, we’ll look at all the Pink Panther movies in order...
- 6/18/2023
- by Israr Ahmed
- buddytv.com
Beyond the Fulcis, Bavas and Argentos of the world, I have to confess that my experience of Italian cinema is very limited, so I’m coming to this boxset of Damiano Damiani and Franco Nero’s collaborations with not just fresh eyes, but little context for what to expect beyond the basics laid out by the description ‘three mafia tales’. You’ll have to pardon me if I miss some context to these films that having seen more, or knowing more about this late ’60s and early ’70s in Italian film, would allow.
The Films
The Day of the Owl begins with one of the film’s best sequences. As the credits come up, we see what we assume is a hunter, hiding on the side of a road on a hill. We never see his face, and when a truck carrying a load of cement rounds the hill, he fires,...
The Films
The Day of the Owl begins with one of the film’s best sequences. As the credits come up, we see what we assume is a hunter, hiding on the side of a road on a hill. We never see his face, and when a truck carrying a load of cement rounds the hill, he fires,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Sam Inglis
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Shooting has kicked off in Rome on limited series “The Leopard” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks Netflix’s most ambitious Italian original to date.
Production on the lavish period piece will take place in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse, Catania as well as the Italian capital over the next four months.
The historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown,” and potential to make a global mark, is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The six-episode epic set against the backdrop of social revolution in 1860s Sicily will star top model Deva Cassell – who is Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter – as Angelica Sedara,...
Production on the lavish period piece will take place in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse, Catania as well as the Italian capital over the next four months.
The historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown,” and potential to make a global mark, is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The six-episode epic set against the backdrop of social revolution in 1860s Sicily will star top model Deva Cassell – who is Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter – as Angelica Sedara,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Movie star John Wayne has quite the history when it comes to his involvement with the Oscars. He understood the politics that went on behind the scenes with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but he still sought the validation of his peers. As a result, Wayne still played the game and recognized his own works that he felt were most worthy. Wayne once introduced an iconic comedian at the 1970 Oscars, describing him as having “true grit.”
John Wayne was a regular Oscars attendee L-r: John Wayne and Barbra Streisand | Getty Images
Wayne regularly showed up to the Oscars, even though many of his critics thought that he only had the skill to play the same, single character. Nevertheless, he brought a certain star power to the show that only the Western actor could bring. His peers even erupted into thunderous applause when he had his final public speech at the 1979 Oscars ceremony.
John Wayne was a regular Oscars attendee L-r: John Wayne and Barbra Streisand | Getty Images
Wayne regularly showed up to the Oscars, even though many of his critics thought that he only had the skill to play the same, single character. Nevertheless, he brought a certain star power to the show that only the Western actor could bring. His peers even erupted into thunderous applause when he had his final public speech at the 1979 Oscars ceremony.
- 4/9/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
‘A friend,’ recalls director Jerzy Skolimowski, ‘told me a story about a diamond that was lost for ever after being dropped in snow. I thought: “But you could grab the snow, melt it and get it back.” It seemed a great idea for a film’
I had problems in Poland with my film Hands Up! It had a strong anti-Stalinist message and the government withdrew it from the Venice film festival and banned it. I was told I couldn’t make that kind of film any more in Poland. So I took the first available project, just to make a living. This was an expensive comedy, The Adventures of Gerard, shooting in Rome with Claudia Cardinale and Peter McEnery. It was going terribly and it was my fault: I just didn’t know how to make a film like that.
I had problems in Poland with my film Hands Up! It had a strong anti-Stalinist message and the government withdrew it from the Venice film festival and banned it. I was told I couldn’t make that kind of film any more in Poland. So I took the first available project, just to make a living. This was an expensive comedy, The Adventures of Gerard, shooting in Rome with Claudia Cardinale and Peter McEnery. It was going terribly and it was my fault: I just didn’t know how to make a film like that.
- 3/27/2023
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Influential Italian auteur Francesco “Citto” Maselli who worked with Lucia Bosé, Claudia Cardinale, Shelley Winters and Valeria Golino on films that combined his political passion with his bent for female-centered dramas, has died in Rome.
Maselli, who was known for making left-wing militant cinema, was 92.
The director’s death was announced to Italian news agency Ansa by Maurizio Acerbo, leader of Italy’s small Communist Refoundation Party, the group of die-hard Italian leftists that Maselli championed, and confirmed by the director’s wife. The exact cause of Maselli’s death was not revealed.
Born into a cultured family originally from Italy’s Southern Molise region and raised in an intellectually stimulating environment – his father was an art critic – Maselli participated at a very early age in Italy’s partisan Resistance movement against fascists and German occupiers and as a young man started asserting his belief in Communism.
After graduating from...
Maselli, who was known for making left-wing militant cinema, was 92.
The director’s death was announced to Italian news agency Ansa by Maurizio Acerbo, leader of Italy’s small Communist Refoundation Party, the group of die-hard Italian leftists that Maselli championed, and confirmed by the director’s wife. The exact cause of Maselli’s death was not revealed.
Born into a cultured family originally from Italy’s Southern Molise region and raised in an intellectually stimulating environment – his father was an art critic – Maselli participated at a very early age in Italy’s partisan Resistance movement against fascists and German occupiers and as a young man started asserting his belief in Communism.
After graduating from...
- 3/21/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
I don't think I'll ever tire of rhapsodizing about the shootouts in the movies of Sergio Leone. He was a director fascinated by the infinite possibilities of the showdown -- the critical few moments before the duelists draw their guns and try to shoot each other dead. With extreme close-ups, he studied faces as time stretched out to impossible lengths. And then, the matter was settled in a brief flurry of violence.
Leone's obsession with the waiting period reached its artistic peak in "Once Upon a Time in the West." Here, the timer for the showdown begins well before the logical starting point -- when all the adversaries are present and facing each other. For eight breathless minutes, three villains stand around and do nothing at a dusty train station in the middle of nowhere. One cracks his knuckles. Another tries to take a nap but is bothered by a fly.
Leone's obsession with the waiting period reached its artistic peak in "Once Upon a Time in the West." Here, the timer for the showdown begins well before the logical starting point -- when all the adversaries are present and facing each other. For eight breathless minutes, three villains stand around and do nothing at a dusty train station in the middle of nowhere. One cracks his knuckles. Another tries to take a nap but is bothered by a fly.
- 2/12/2023
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
Claudia Squitieri with her mother Claudia Cardinale on Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo: “it’s one of her most adventurous experiences.” Photo: courtesy of Claudia Squitieri
In the second instalment with Claudia Squitieri we discuss more of the films her mother, Claudia Cardinale, starred in. Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Mick Jagger, Jason Robards, Thomas Mauch, My Best Fiend, and filming Fitzcarraldo; encountering Fernando Trueba (The Artist And Model) in Deauville and reconnecting with Jean Rochefort; Manoel de Oliveira and an “atmosphere of mysticality” during the making of Gebo and the Shadow with Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale, shot by Renato Berta; Blake Edwards and The Pink Panther, the problem with sequels and playing Roberto Benigni’s mother in Son Of The Pink Panther all came up in our conversation.
Claudia Squitieri from Paris on Roberto Benigni with Claudia Cardinale: “He was going “Claudia!!!!” Jumping around every time he saw my mother.
In the second instalment with Claudia Squitieri we discuss more of the films her mother, Claudia Cardinale, starred in. Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Mick Jagger, Jason Robards, Thomas Mauch, My Best Fiend, and filming Fitzcarraldo; encountering Fernando Trueba (The Artist And Model) in Deauville and reconnecting with Jean Rochefort; Manoel de Oliveira and an “atmosphere of mysticality” during the making of Gebo and the Shadow with Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale, shot by Renato Berta; Blake Edwards and The Pink Panther, the problem with sequels and playing Roberto Benigni’s mother in Son Of The Pink Panther all came up in our conversation.
Claudia Squitieri from Paris on Roberto Benigni with Claudia Cardinale: “He was going “Claudia!!!!” Jumping around every time he saw my mother.
- 2/11/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Claudia Squitieri with Manuel Maria Perrone at the Italian Cultural Institute book launch for Claudia Cardinale. L’indomabile. The Indomitable (Cinecittà and Electa Editore) Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Luigi Comencini's La Ragazza Di Bube opened Cinecittà and the Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective celebrating Claudia Cardinale on Friday. Pietro Germi’s Un Maledetto Imbroglio; Mauro Bolognini’s Il Bell’Antonio, La Viaccia, and Senilità; Valerio Zurlini’s La Ragazza Con La Valigia; Luchino Visconti’s Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli, Il Gattopardo Sandra (1965); Federico Fellini’s Otto E Mezzo; Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West (1968); Marco Bellocchio’s Enrico IV; Pasquale Squitieri’s Atto Di Dolore (1990), and Manoel de Oliveira’s O Gebo E A Sombra are some of the many highlights.
Claudia Squitieri with Anne-Katrin Titze on Claudia Cardinale shooting The Leopard and 81/2 at the same time: “Visconti wanted her hair very dark and not...
Luigi Comencini's La Ragazza Di Bube opened Cinecittà and the Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective celebrating Claudia Cardinale on Friday. Pietro Germi’s Un Maledetto Imbroglio; Mauro Bolognini’s Il Bell’Antonio, La Viaccia, and Senilità; Valerio Zurlini’s La Ragazza Con La Valigia; Luchino Visconti’s Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli, Il Gattopardo Sandra (1965); Federico Fellini’s Otto E Mezzo; Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West (1968); Marco Bellocchio’s Enrico IV; Pasquale Squitieri’s Atto Di Dolore (1990), and Manoel de Oliveira’s O Gebo E A Sombra are some of the many highlights.
Claudia Squitieri with Anne-Katrin Titze on Claudia Cardinale shooting The Leopard and 81/2 at the same time: “Visconti wanted her hair very dark and not...
- 2/5/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Japan Society
A series celebrating Seijun Suzuki’s centennial begins with imported 35mm prints.
Roxy Cinema
35mm showings of Happiness continue; a Sara Driver series brings Stranger Than Paradise and Sleepwalk on 35mm, as well as Boom for Real.
Museum of Modern Art
A series on Claudia Cardinale begins, including Rocco and His Brothers this Saturday.
Film Forum
Dino Risi’s Una Vita Difficile has begun playing in a 4K restoration, while Howl’s Moving Castle screens on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on awards-snubbed films continues with Sirk, Cukor, and The Night of the Hunter.
IFC Center
28 Days Later, The Big Lebowski, Eraserhead, The Witches, and Psycho play.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Seijun Suzuki, Sara Driver, Claudia Cardinale & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
Japan Society
A series celebrating Seijun Suzuki’s centennial begins with imported 35mm prints.
Roxy Cinema
35mm showings of Happiness continue; a Sara Driver series brings Stranger Than Paradise and Sleepwalk on 35mm, as well as Boom for Real.
Museum of Modern Art
A series on Claudia Cardinale begins, including Rocco and His Brothers this Saturday.
Film Forum
Dino Risi’s Una Vita Difficile has begun playing in a 4K restoration, while Howl’s Moving Castle screens on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on awards-snubbed films continues with Sirk, Cukor, and The Night of the Hunter.
IFC Center
28 Days Later, The Big Lebowski, Eraserhead, The Witches, and Psycho play.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Seijun Suzuki, Sara Driver, Claudia Cardinale & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 2/3/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Above: Italian poster for The Lovemakers. Illustration by Mauro Innocenti.Over the past ten years I’ve surveyed the illustrated likenesses of stars like Lauren Bacall, Kirk Douglas, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Bruno Ganz and Monica Vitti as in memoriams after their passing, so I am happy to say that the occasion of this look at Claudia Cardinale in movie posters is simply that, starting today, the 84-years-young Ms. Cardinale is being fêted with a three-week, 23-film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art.Claudia Cardinale is one of my favorite actors, but while exploring her career for this piece I realized that my affection for her really comes down to one film, albeit one of my all-time favorites: Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). The fact that she is the focus of perhaps my favorite single shot in all cinema—Sergio Leone's magnificent crane shot as Cardinale’s Jill...
- 2/2/2023
- MUBI
The "Pink Panther" film series reached its peak silliness in the 1970s and was all the better for it. Come "The Pink Panther Strikes Again," Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers had dropped the usual business of framing Inspector Clouseau's bumbling antics with a wider crime caper and just focused on him and his arch-nemesis, former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus (Herbert Lom). Dreyfus, having had it up to here after years of Clouseau's ineptitude, builds a vanishing ray and threatens the world with annihilation if the clueless detective isn't assassinated.
You can see the jokes coming from a mile away, but it hardly matters when you have a comic talent like Sellers delivering the gags. This is the period when all the elements of Clouseau that literally had me rolling on the floor laughing as a kid were cranked up to epic proportions; his penchant for zany disguises; the apartment-trashing fights...
You can see the jokes coming from a mile away, but it hardly matters when you have a comic talent like Sellers delivering the gags. This is the period when all the elements of Clouseau that literally had me rolling on the floor laughing as a kid were cranked up to epic proportions; his penchant for zany disguises; the apartment-trashing fights...
- 12/24/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
This story about the best international film schools first appeared in the College Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
- 11/2/2022
- by TheWrap Staff
- The Wrap
Quentin Tarantino visited “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday to hawk his new book “Cinema Speculation,” to name-drop Claudia Cardinale within the first 30 seconds, to repeat the goofy “Dinosaur Walk” song he sings to his toddler son, and, ultimately, defend himself over claims about his Academy Award-winning film “Django Unchained.”
His book, an essay about favorite movies, also serves as something of an autobiography. While jawing with Jimmy Kimmel, he dished that his mother, Connie Zastoupil, used to date a number of sports celebrities. He mentioned Happy Hairston as who never took Qt to the movies, the same as a much more famous athlete, Wilt Chamberlain. Though the 13x NBA All-Star was, shall we say, notable for scoring on and off the court, the “Pulp Fiction” director claimed that Chamberlain and Tarantino’s mom were together for a few years and, while they were never exclusive, she was, for a spell,...
His book, an essay about favorite movies, also serves as something of an autobiography. While jawing with Jimmy Kimmel, he dished that his mother, Connie Zastoupil, used to date a number of sports celebrities. He mentioned Happy Hairston as who never took Qt to the movies, the same as a much more famous athlete, Wilt Chamberlain. Though the 13x NBA All-Star was, shall we say, notable for scoring on and off the court, the “Pulp Fiction” director claimed that Chamberlain and Tarantino’s mom were together for a few years and, while they were never exclusive, she was, for a spell,...
- 10/28/2022
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era Cinema Italiano works, is getting a reboot and reviving its production side with several projects in development, including a contemporary sequel of Dario Argento’s supernatural chiller “Phenomena.”
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after Luchino Visconti’s lavish Sicily-set costumer “The Leopard” (1963), starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, went way over budget. Since the mid-1980s the studio’s output has been on a much smaller scale, and primarily for TV.
Now led by former Disney Italy marketing chief Stefano Bethlen, who is Titanus’ general manager, the company – which has a 400-title library comprising early works by Italian masters such as Federico Fellini, and Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare – is ramping up...
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after Luchino Visconti’s lavish Sicily-set costumer “The Leopard” (1963), starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, went way over budget. Since the mid-1980s the studio’s output has been on a much smaller scale, and primarily for TV.
Now led by former Disney Italy marketing chief Stefano Bethlen, who is Titanus’ general manager, the company – which has a 400-title library comprising early works by Italian masters such as Federico Fellini, and Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare – is ramping up...
- 10/16/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Rob Zombie evokes a ... let's say passionate response from film-goers. His fans love him for all the wild swings he takes and his detractors feel just as passionately about the quality of said swings. However, if there's one thing most can agree on it's that his sophomore effort, 2005's "The Devil's Rejects," is the best movie.
"The Devil's Rejects" stands apart from the rest of his filmography, thanks mostly to its throwback style, rooted heavily in the 1970s. All his work has some influence from that era of horror, but what makes "The Devil's Rejects" different from, say, "Halloween" is that Zombie pulled from more than just the horror genre. Like just about every movie Zombie has made, "Rejects" has a good amount of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" in its DNA, but Zombie also decided if he was going to do a sequel to his divisive and super gnarly...
"The Devil's Rejects" stands apart from the rest of his filmography, thanks mostly to its throwback style, rooted heavily in the 1970s. All his work has some influence from that era of horror, but what makes "The Devil's Rejects" different from, say, "Halloween" is that Zombie pulled from more than just the horror genre. Like just about every movie Zombie has made, "Rejects" has a good amount of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" in its DNA, but Zombie also decided if he was going to do a sequel to his divisive and super gnarly...
- 8/28/2022
- by Eric Vespe
- Slash Film
In Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West," Henry Fonda played against type as the black-hatted gunslinger, Frank, a villain who subverted Fonda's all-American screen image in classic films like "The Grapes of Wrath" and "12 Angry Men." Yet the film also marked another sort of departure for Fonda in that it saw him taking part in a love scene. As it turns out, that scene was awkward for more than one reason.
"Once Upon a Time in the West" costars Claudia Cardinale as Jill McBain, who is forced to share a bed at one point with Frank, the man who killed her husband and wants to take control of his Sweetwater ranch in the town of Flagstone. Jill has a background as a brothel worker in New Orleans, but she married Brett McBain before arriving in town, which makes her the heir to Sweetwater.
It's not...
"Once Upon a Time in the West" costars Claudia Cardinale as Jill McBain, who is forced to share a bed at one point with Frank, the man who killed her husband and wants to take control of his Sweetwater ranch in the town of Flagstone. Jill has a background as a brothel worker in New Orleans, but she married Brett McBain before arriving in town, which makes her the heir to Sweetwater.
It's not...
- 8/27/2022
- by Joshua Meyer
- Slash Film
Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" is an elegy for a genre that has died countless deaths. The Western has passed in and out of favor many times since the advent of the motion picture, and is currently ticking anew thanks to Taylor Sheridan's "Yellowstone" franchise. But as the 1970s approached, there was a realization that the stars and filmmakers who'd transformed the oater into the most American of movie genres were on their way out. John Ford had been driven into retirement. John Wayne was dying. Anthony Mann was dead. A glorious, yet complicated era was drawing to a close.
This was the perfect moment for Sergio Leone to go once more to the Western well with a mythic send-off to the films on which he'd built his international reputation. But his scope wasn't limited to "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More...
This was the perfect moment for Sergio Leone to go once more to the Western well with a mythic send-off to the films on which he'd built his international reputation. But his scope wasn't limited to "A Fistful of Dollars," "For a Few Dollars More...
- 8/19/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The Locarno Film Festival will pay tribute to Greek-French director Costa-Gavras with its Pardo alla carriera lifetime achievement award.
The longtime Paris-based master of politically engaged cinema will be on hand at the prominent Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking to receive the prize during a ceremony on its Piazza Grande square on Aug. 11 followed by an audience-led conversation the next day.
Locarno will also host screenings of two of Costa Gravras’ lesser known films: “Un homme de trop” (“Shock Troops”) from 1967, and “Compartiment tueurs” (“The Sleeping Car Murders”), which is his 1965 debut feature.
In a career spanning nearly 60 years, Costa-Gavras — which is short for Konstantinos Gavras — has become known for highly political works, such as 1969’s “Z,” about the military’s coup d’etat in Greece, which won the foreign film Oscar in 1969; and 1982’s “Missing,” which starred Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek in a story inspired by the...
The longtime Paris-based master of politically engaged cinema will be on hand at the prominent Swiss fest dedicated to indie filmmaking to receive the prize during a ceremony on its Piazza Grande square on Aug. 11 followed by an audience-led conversation the next day.
Locarno will also host screenings of two of Costa Gravras’ lesser known films: “Un homme de trop” (“Shock Troops”) from 1967, and “Compartiment tueurs” (“The Sleeping Car Murders”), which is his 1965 debut feature.
In a career spanning nearly 60 years, Costa-Gavras — which is short for Konstantinos Gavras — has become known for highly political works, such as 1969’s “Z,” about the military’s coup d’etat in Greece, which won the foreign film Oscar in 1969; and 1982’s “Missing,” which starred Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek in a story inspired by the...
- 6/8/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Jacques Perrin as the grown-up filmmaker in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso Photo: Filmitalia With a career that spanned contributions both behind and in front of the camera producer, director and actor Jacques Perrin, who has died at the age of 80, had been a fixture in European and global cinema over the decades.
Bleached blonde and youthful: Jacques Perrin in Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort Photo: UniFrance Many will recall him fondly as the grown-up filmmaker Salvatore looking back on his childhood in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning nostalgia trip Cinema Paradiso. He started out as an actor in the 1950s, winning his first main role opposite Claudia Cardinale in Valerio Zurlini’s Girl With A Suitcase, which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. And he was still just 20 when he appeared with Marcello Mastroianni in Family Diary in 1962. Three years later he won the Coppa...
Bleached blonde and youthful: Jacques Perrin in Jacques Demy’s The Young Girls of Rochefort Photo: UniFrance Many will recall him fondly as the grown-up filmmaker Salvatore looking back on his childhood in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning nostalgia trip Cinema Paradiso. He started out as an actor in the 1950s, winning his first main role opposite Claudia Cardinale in Valerio Zurlini’s Girl With A Suitcase, which was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. And he was still just 20 when he appeared with Marcello Mastroianni in Family Diary in 1962. Three years later he won the Coppa...
- 4/25/2022
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
French actor, director and producer Jacques Perrin, a fixture for decades in both French and Italian cinema — where he was best known for his role in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning “Cinema Paradiso” — has died. He was 80.
“The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris. He passed away peacefully,” Perrin’s family announced in a statement sent to news agency Agence France Press by his son, Mathieu Simonet. The cause of death was not specified.
Born in Paris on July 13, 1941, Perrin, starting in the 1950s, starred in more than 70 films and co-directed others, including the Oscar-nominated “Winged Migration” (2001), in tandem with Philippe Labro, about the voyage of migratory birds which used in-flight cameras and was a box office hit.
The soft-spoken thesp had landed his first leading role starring opposite Italy’s Claudia Cardinale in Valerio Zurlini...
“The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris. He passed away peacefully,” Perrin’s family announced in a statement sent to news agency Agence France Press by his son, Mathieu Simonet. The cause of death was not specified.
Born in Paris on July 13, 1941, Perrin, starting in the 1950s, starred in more than 70 films and co-directed others, including the Oscar-nominated “Winged Migration” (2001), in tandem with Philippe Labro, about the voyage of migratory birds which used in-flight cameras and was a box office hit.
The soft-spoken thesp had landed his first leading role starring opposite Italy’s Claudia Cardinale in Valerio Zurlini...
- 4/22/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
French actor and filmmaker Jacques Perrin has died at the age of 80. His family confirmed the news to Agence France Presse, no cause of death was given.
The Paris-born performer was known for playing Salvatore ‘Totò’ Di Vita in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso. His career saw him rack up more than 70 feature film credits, with other notable roles including in Costa-Gavras’ Oscar-winning Z, and Girl with a Suitcase opposite Claudia Cardinale.
Perrin was comfortable acting in both French and Italian cinema, and also worked behind the camera, including directing several documentaries, such as 2001’s Winged Migration, about the migratory patterns of birds.
He achieved more than 50 credits as a producer, including the recent family pic The Wolf and the Lion.
“The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris. He passed away peacefully,...
The Paris-born performer was known for playing Salvatore ‘Totò’ Di Vita in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso. His career saw him rack up more than 70 feature film credits, with other notable roles including in Costa-Gavras’ Oscar-winning Z, and Girl with a Suitcase opposite Claudia Cardinale.
Perrin was comfortable acting in both French and Italian cinema, and also worked behind the camera, including directing several documentaries, such as 2001’s Winged Migration, about the migratory patterns of birds.
He achieved more than 50 credits as a producer, including the recent family pic The Wolf and the Lion.
“The family has the immense sadness of informing you of the death of filmmaker Jacques Perrin, who died on Thursday, April 21 in Paris. He passed away peacefully,...
- 4/22/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Monica Vitti, the Italian screen icon known for a string of 1960s classics, died Wednesday at 90, according to reports in Italy.
The news was conveyed by writer, director and politician Walter Veltroni on behalf of Vitti’s husband, Roberto Russo:
Roberto Russo, il suo compagno di tutti questi anni, mi chiede di comunicare che Monica Vitti non c’è più. Lo faccio con dolore, affetto, rimpianto.
— walter veltroni (@VeltroniWalter) February 2, 2022
The feted actress, best known for movies including L’Avventura (1960), Red Desert (1964), L’Eclisse (1962) and La Notte (1961), had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for two decades.
Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli on November 3, 1931, in Rome, Vitti acted in amateur productions as a teenager then trained at Rome’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts.
The actress shot to global fame following spectacular collaborations with legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Vitti starred in L’Avventura as a detached and...
The news was conveyed by writer, director and politician Walter Veltroni on behalf of Vitti’s husband, Roberto Russo:
Roberto Russo, il suo compagno di tutti questi anni, mi chiede di comunicare che Monica Vitti non c’è più. Lo faccio con dolore, affetto, rimpianto.
— walter veltroni (@VeltroniWalter) February 2, 2022
The feted actress, best known for movies including L’Avventura (1960), Red Desert (1964), L’Eclisse (1962) and La Notte (1961), had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for two decades.
Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli on November 3, 1931, in Rome, Vitti acted in amateur productions as a teenager then trained at Rome’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts.
The actress shot to global fame following spectacular collaborations with legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Vitti starred in L’Avventura as a detached and...
- 2/2/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
If you haven't subscribed for Season 17 of Cinema Retro, here's what you've been missing:
Issue #49
Lee Pfeiffer goes undercover for Robert Vaughn's spy thriller "The Venetian Affair" .
Cai Ross goes to hell for "Damien- Omen II"
Ernie Magnotta continues our "Elvis on Film" series with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"..
Robert Leese scare up some memories of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls"
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer look back on the 1976 Sensurround sensation "Midway"
Remembering Sir Sean Connery
James Sherlock examines Stanley Kramer's pandemic Cold War classic "On the Beach".
Dave Worrall goes in search of the Disco Volante hydrofoil from "Thunderball"
Raymond Benson's Cinema 101 column
Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column
Darren Allison reviews the latest soundtrack releases
Issue #50
50th anniversary celebration of "The French Connection" : Todd Garbarini interviews director William Friedkin
"Scars of Dracula": Mark Cerulli interviews stars Jenny Hanley and...
Issue #49
Lee Pfeiffer goes undercover for Robert Vaughn's spy thriller "The Venetian Affair" .
Cai Ross goes to hell for "Damien- Omen II"
Ernie Magnotta continues our "Elvis on Film" series with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"..
Robert Leese scare up some memories of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls"
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer look back on the 1976 Sensurround sensation "Midway"
Remembering Sir Sean Connery
James Sherlock examines Stanley Kramer's pandemic Cold War classic "On the Beach".
Dave Worrall goes in search of the Disco Volante hydrofoil from "Thunderball"
Raymond Benson's Cinema 101 column
Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column
Darren Allison reviews the latest soundtrack releases
Issue #50
50th anniversary celebration of "The French Connection" : Todd Garbarini interviews director William Friedkin
"Scars of Dracula": Mark Cerulli interviews stars Jenny Hanley and...
- 11/26/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Ridley Scott’s pantomimey soap entertainingly tracks fractures in the fashion world as Patrizia Reggiano plots to kill her ex, Maurizio Gucci
Ridley Scott’s fantastically rackety, messy soap opera about the fall of the house of Gucci is rescued from pure silliness by Lady Gaga’s glorious performance as Patrizia Reggiani, the enraged ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the fashion-house founder Guccio Gucci. She singlehandedly delivers the movie from any issues about Italianface casting: only she can get away with speaking English with the comedy foreign-a accent-a. Every time Gaga comes on screen, you just can’t help grinning at her sly elegance, mischief and performance-iq, channelling Gina Lollobrigida or Claudia Cardinale in their early-50s gamine styles. There is a truly magnificent scene in which Patrizia is wearing nothing but weapons-grade lingerie in the marital bathroom – and yet somehow Maurizio, played by Adam Driver, is even more...
Ridley Scott’s fantastically rackety, messy soap opera about the fall of the house of Gucci is rescued from pure silliness by Lady Gaga’s glorious performance as Patrizia Reggiani, the enraged ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, grandson of the fashion-house founder Guccio Gucci. She singlehandedly delivers the movie from any issues about Italianface casting: only she can get away with speaking English with the comedy foreign-a accent-a. Every time Gaga comes on screen, you just can’t help grinning at her sly elegance, mischief and performance-iq, channelling Gina Lollobrigida or Claudia Cardinale in their early-50s gamine styles. There is a truly magnificent scene in which Patrizia is wearing nothing but weapons-grade lingerie in the marital bathroom – and yet somehow Maurizio, played by Adam Driver, is even more...
- 11/22/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
1962 found Great Britain and West Germany collaborating on an action picture, Station Six Sahara. The movie is a remake of 1938’s S.O.S. Sahara. Carroll Baker plays a beautiful woman who turns up at a tiny oil pipeline station in the desert. She and her husband just happen to be driving along, three days from anywhere, when he crashes the car. Wrong turn? “Shoulda made a left at Albakoykee.”
His attempt at killing both of them lands him in the sick bay, where he can only imagine what his estranged bombshell wife is doing with the five men who work there. They leer at her the way the cartoon wolf saw sheep as mutton, and she leers back. The film’s sexual heat is as real as that of the desert, which surprised at least one critic, since the British were involved.
The movie was shot in Libya, which...
His attempt at killing both of them lands him in the sick bay, where he can only imagine what his estranged bombshell wife is doing with the five men who work there. They leer at her the way the cartoon wolf saw sheep as mutton, and she leers back. The film’s sexual heat is as real as that of the desert, which surprised at least one critic, since the British were involved.
The movie was shot in Libya, which...
- 9/26/2021
- by Randy Fuller
- Trailers from Hell
If Jean-Paul Belmondo had gotten his way, he would have been a stage actor. He applied to the Conservatoire de Paris three times before the illustrious drama school accepted him and spent the 1950s trying to launch a theater career.
Lucky for world cinema, Belmondo had greater success on screen, thanks to his role in 1960’s “Breathless,” the movie that launched the French New Wave — and instantly rendered everything Hollywood had been doing old-fashioned. In “Breathless,” Belmondo wasn’t playing a gangster so much as someone who had seen too many gangster movies, a self-styled tough guy who took Humphrey Bogart as his model. His crime spree feels more improvised than scripted, while his doesn’t-care, screw-society attitude effectively thumbed its nose at all the good reasons on-screen criminals had used to justify their actions before.
Godard’s film made Belmondo the face of the New Wave — a handsome mug...
Lucky for world cinema, Belmondo had greater success on screen, thanks to his role in 1960’s “Breathless,” the movie that launched the French New Wave — and instantly rendered everything Hollywood had been doing old-fashioned. In “Breathless,” Belmondo wasn’t playing a gangster so much as someone who had seen too many gangster movies, a self-styled tough guy who took Humphrey Bogart as his model. His crime spree feels more improvised than scripted, while his doesn’t-care, screw-society attitude effectively thumbed its nose at all the good reasons on-screen criminals had used to justify their actions before.
Godard’s film made Belmondo the face of the New Wave — a handsome mug...
- 9/7/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Jean-Paul Belmondo, the French cinema star best known for his performance in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” in 1959, has died, his lawyer confirmed to the news agency Afp on Monday. He was 88.
A cause of death has not been made public.
Belmondo skyrocketed to international fame after appearing in Godard’s 1959 New Wave French classic “Breathless,” and became one of the country’s biggest stars throughout the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
Born in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the young Belmondo started out as an amateur boxer and, in fact, had an undefeated record. But after spending years pursuing a career as a fighter, he later recalled, “I stopped when the face I saw in the mirror began to change.”
His spent his later teen years at a private drama school and started to perform comedy sketches in the French provinces. After studying for three years at the Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts,...
A cause of death has not been made public.
Belmondo skyrocketed to international fame after appearing in Godard’s 1959 New Wave French classic “Breathless,” and became one of the country’s biggest stars throughout the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
Born in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine, the young Belmondo started out as an amateur boxer and, in fact, had an undefeated record. But after spending years pursuing a career as a fighter, he later recalled, “I stopped when the face I saw in the mirror began to change.”
His spent his later teen years at a private drama school and started to perform comedy sketches in the French provinces. After studying for three years at the Conservatoire of Dramatic Arts,...
- 9/6/2021
- by Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of the most iconic French actors of the 20th century and a leading face of the French New Wave, has died at the age of 88.
The actor’s agent confirmed the news to the Afp news agency. French press reported he died peacefully at his home in Paris.
Belmondo began acting in the theater in the 1950s before breaking into film later that decade. His first collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard came in the 1958 short Charlotte And Her Boyfriend. Shortly after, while having success on stage, he began to be offered lead roles in film, appearing in the 1960 gangster movie Consider All Risks with Lino Venture.
His next lead role was in Godard’s debut feature Breathless, which cemented the actor’s position as a leading man of the French New Wave movement. Starring Belmondo as a wandering criminal named Michel, the film was an instant hit, and...
The actor’s agent confirmed the news to the Afp news agency. French press reported he died peacefully at his home in Paris.
Belmondo began acting in the theater in the 1950s before breaking into film later that decade. His first collaboration with Jean-Luc Godard came in the 1958 short Charlotte And Her Boyfriend. Shortly after, while having success on stage, he began to be offered lead roles in film, appearing in the 1960 gangster movie Consider All Risks with Lino Venture.
His next lead role was in Godard’s debut feature Breathless, which cemented the actor’s position as a leading man of the French New Wave movement. Starring Belmondo as a wandering criminal named Michel, the film was an instant hit, and...
- 9/6/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Giannetto De Rossi tragically, has left us, as a result of the same plague that has cut short the lives of many. He leaves behind a mammoth filmography which, with roughly 163 films, contains plenty of contradictions and surprises and further outlines the career of a true independent, a bona fide iconoclast, and the third generation of a family to leave a lasting mark on the film industry, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Camillo De Rossi, considered by many historians Italy’s first make-up artist, and his father, Alberto De Rossi. Giannetto, however, will be the first De Rossi to delve deep into the world of practical special effects, and his legacy lives on in the work of one of his two daughters, Lorella. To truly put into perspective the incredibly multi-faceted career of this giant, let us briefly go through a handful of the many diverse directors he...
- 4/19/2021
- by Eugenio Ercolani
- DailyDead
Issue #51
Dave Worrall chronicles the challenges of bringing Cleopatra to the big screen in a 14 page Film in Focus feature loaded with rare photos.
John Harty looks at the ambitious but disastrous Soviet/Italian co-production of "The Red Tent" starring Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale and Peter Finch
Terence Denman rides tall in the saddle with his story behind "The Savage Guns", the only Western ever made by Hammer Films
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer unveil the secrets of "Ice Station Zebra" starring Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan and Jim Brown
Rare original U.S. drive-in movie theater adverts
Brian Davidson's exclusive interview with David McGillivray (aka McG), screenwriter of 1970s horror flicks and looks back at "Hoffman", the bizarre film that Peter Sellers wanted destroyed.
Nicholas Anez examines the underrated thriller "The Night Visitor" starring Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Per Oscarsson and Trevor Howard
Plus regular columns by Raymond Benson,...
Dave Worrall chronicles the challenges of bringing Cleopatra to the big screen in a 14 page Film in Focus feature loaded with rare photos.
John Harty looks at the ambitious but disastrous Soviet/Italian co-production of "The Red Tent" starring Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale and Peter Finch
Terence Denman rides tall in the saddle with his story behind "The Savage Guns", the only Western ever made by Hammer Films
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer unveil the secrets of "Ice Station Zebra" starring Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan and Jim Brown
Rare original U.S. drive-in movie theater adverts
Brian Davidson's exclusive interview with David McGillivray (aka McG), screenwriter of 1970s horror flicks and looks back at "Hoffman", the bizarre film that Peter Sellers wanted destroyed.
Nicholas Anez examines the underrated thriller "The Night Visitor" starring Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Per Oscarsson and Trevor Howard
Plus regular columns by Raymond Benson,...
- 12/20/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era works from Cinema Italiano, has inked a global distribution deal with pubcaster Rai’s sales unit Rai Com for its entire library of roughly 400 titles.
The landmark agreement, besides distribution, entails a collaboration to restore and preserve the Titanus library, which is a treasure trove comprising early works by Italo masters such as Federico Fellini and Francesco Rosi, and Luchino Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare including cult horror helmers Dario Argento and Mario Bava.
It’s a mix of classics and more rarely seen pics featuring a wide array of late and living Italo stars, comprising Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale (pictured).
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after...
The landmark agreement, besides distribution, entails a collaboration to restore and preserve the Titanus library, which is a treasure trove comprising early works by Italo masters such as Federico Fellini and Francesco Rosi, and Luchino Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare including cult horror helmers Dario Argento and Mario Bava.
It’s a mix of classics and more rarely seen pics featuring a wide array of late and living Italo stars, comprising Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale (pictured).
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after...
- 12/4/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
"If something bad happened to me, what would you do?" Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for a French action thriller titled Rogue City, written & directed by Olivier Marchal. Set in the city of Marseille in the South of France, the film is about a "complex case of rivalry between gangs and a group of cops." Caught in the crosshairs of police corruption as well as Marseille's warring gangs, a loyal cop must protect his squad by taking matters into his own hands. Described as a "dark and intense thriller." Starring Lannick Gautry, Stanislas Merhar, Kaaris, David Belle, Jean Reno, Claudia Cardinale, Gérard Lanvin, Patrick Catalifo, Moussa Maaskri, and Catherine Marchal. This film looks like the most cliche and derivative gritty French action thriller, with all the usual cheesy lines and scenes. But damnit - stills looks entertaining. Here's the new official trailer (+ poster) for Olivier Marchal's Rogue City, from...
- 10/12/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: London-based production studio Pulse Films is expanding its global footprint with the addition of an office in Milan, Italy.
The move is part of a larger partnership with local indie Indiana Production, which has recent credits including Liam Neeson pic Made In Italy and The Burnt Orange Heresy. The endeavor will see Pulse produce Italian content across film, docs, TV, music and commercials under the banner Pulse Films Italia.
Kicking off the venture is a feature documentary about legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, which will be made in co-production with the Leone Film Group. Francesco Zippel is directing and writing the pic, which will chronicle how Leone became one of the most influential directors of his era. In particular, Leone is noted for his pioneering Spaghetti Western movies A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,...
The move is part of a larger partnership with local indie Indiana Production, which has recent credits including Liam Neeson pic Made In Italy and The Burnt Orange Heresy. The endeavor will see Pulse produce Italian content across film, docs, TV, music and commercials under the banner Pulse Films Italia.
Kicking off the venture is a feature documentary about legendary Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, which will be made in co-production with the Leone Film Group. Francesco Zippel is directing and writing the pic, which will chronicle how Leone became one of the most influential directors of his era. In particular, Leone is noted for his pioneering Spaghetti Western movies A Fistful Of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly,...
- 6/18/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Los Angeles-based production-distribution house Cinema Libre Studio has acquired U.S. rights to Frédéric Choffat and Julie Gilbert’s “My Little One,” in the wake of its U.S. premiere at the Miami Film Festival.
The deal was closed by Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre Studio chairman and Loic Magneron, founder of Paris’ Wide Management, the film’s sales agent.
Produced by Anne Deluz and Jessica Huppert Berman for Luc Peter’s Intermezzo Films and Les Films du Tigre, and co-produced by public broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (Rts), “My Little One” has been seen to date, of festivals, at Germany’s Frankfurt Biennal, Tübingen and Stuttgart and Mannheim-Heidelberg, as well as France’s Beaujolais French-Language Cinema Meetings and Switzerland’s Solothurn Film Festival, before its theatrical release in Switzerland.
“My Little One” has been licensed to South Korea in an all rights deal and to Eastern Europe, for premium pay TV and VOD.
The deal was closed by Philippe Diaz, Cinema Libre Studio chairman and Loic Magneron, founder of Paris’ Wide Management, the film’s sales agent.
Produced by Anne Deluz and Jessica Huppert Berman for Luc Peter’s Intermezzo Films and Les Films du Tigre, and co-produced by public broadcaster Radio Télévision Suisse (Rts), “My Little One” has been seen to date, of festivals, at Germany’s Frankfurt Biennal, Tübingen and Stuttgart and Mannheim-Heidelberg, as well as France’s Beaujolais French-Language Cinema Meetings and Switzerland’s Solothurn Film Festival, before its theatrical release in Switzerland.
“My Little One” has been licensed to South Korea in an all rights deal and to Eastern Europe, for premium pay TV and VOD.
- 3/11/2020
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Actress Joyce Gordon, the first woman to serve as President of a branch of the Screen Actors Guild, has died. She was 90. As an actor, she was best known as a pioneering performer in early TV commercials and network promos. But her true calling was as a union leader and supporter of her fellow actors.
In the 1950s, she became the first woman to do network promos, and the first woman announcer for a political convention on network television. In 1959, during Howard Keel’s SAG presidency, she was part of the first dozen branch members to serve on the guild’s national board – the sole woman in that group of 12. In 1966, she was elected president of SAG’s New York branch, a first for a woman in any branch of the guild.
In all, she served the union for more than four decades, was a trustee of the SAG-aftra Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund,...
In the 1950s, she became the first woman to do network promos, and the first woman announcer for a political convention on network television. In 1959, during Howard Keel’s SAG presidency, she was part of the first dozen branch members to serve on the guild’s national board – the sole woman in that group of 12. In 1966, she was elected president of SAG’s New York branch, a first for a woman in any branch of the guild.
In all, she served the union for more than four decades, was a trustee of the SAG-aftra Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund,...
- 2/29/2020
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi has been cast as a morally and economically bankrupt matron in Italian director Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli’s movie adaptation of “The Time of Indifference,” author Alberto Moravia’s scathing critique of the Fascist-era bourgeoisie.
Seràgnoli, a young helmer known for “Last Summer” and “Likemeback” – which bowed at the Rome and Locarno fests, respectively – has started shooting his contemporary take on the widely translated novel in Rome. First published in 1929, when Moravia was 21, “Gli Indifferenti” captured the middle-class malaise of its time and established Moravia as a world-class writer.
The story sees members of an upper-crust Rome family reacting to a financial crisis that is undermining their social status. Mariagrazia, played by Bruni Tedeschi, is a widow with an unscrupulous lover, Leo, played by Edoardo Pesce (“Dogman”). She has two children by her dead husband: Carla, whom Leo has the hots for, and Michele, who is aware that...
Seràgnoli, a young helmer known for “Last Summer” and “Likemeback” – which bowed at the Rome and Locarno fests, respectively – has started shooting his contemporary take on the widely translated novel in Rome. First published in 1929, when Moravia was 21, “Gli Indifferenti” captured the middle-class malaise of its time and established Moravia as a world-class writer.
The story sees members of an upper-crust Rome family reacting to a financial crisis that is undermining their social status. Mariagrazia, played by Bruni Tedeschi, is a widow with an unscrupulous lover, Leo, played by Edoardo Pesce (“Dogman”). She has two children by her dead husband: Carla, whom Leo has the hots for, and Michele, who is aware that...
- 9/26/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Egyptian film critic Youssef Cherif Rizkallah, who as a TV personality helped promote quality Hollywood and international movies across the Middle East and led the Cairo Film Festival for decades amid frequent political turbulence, has died. He was 76.
His death was announced by the Cairo Film Festival. The cause of death was related to a kidney ailment, press reports said.
After graduating with a degree in political science from Cairo University in 1966, Rizkallah started out as a news editor at the state Egyptian Radio and TV Union, where he rapidly veered towards cinema, his real passion.
Rizkallah soon began attending major film festivals around the world, becoming a fixture on the circuit, and launched and hosted hugely popular film-review shows on Egyptian television. They included “Cinema Club” and “Oscar TV” in 1975 and 1980, respectively, and then “Telecinema” and “The Magic Lantern.” On these shows he introduced Hollywood and European stars, such...
His death was announced by the Cairo Film Festival. The cause of death was related to a kidney ailment, press reports said.
After graduating with a degree in political science from Cairo University in 1966, Rizkallah started out as a news editor at the state Egyptian Radio and TV Union, where he rapidly veered towards cinema, his real passion.
Rizkallah soon began attending major film festivals around the world, becoming a fixture on the circuit, and launched and hosted hugely popular film-review shows on Egyptian television. They included “Cinema Club” and “Oscar TV” in 1975 and 1980, respectively, and then “Telecinema” and “The Magic Lantern.” On these shows he introduced Hollywood and European stars, such...
- 7/15/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Page Three Media and Artemis Productions, which backed “The Danish Girl,” announced in Cannes “Second to Nun,” a new feature from Golden Globe winning director Alain Berliner.
Berliner’s decades-ahead-of-its-time “Ma Vie en Rose,” the tale of a young transgender girl with dreams of growing into a mature woman and marrying the boy next door, was a breakout hit at Cannes, nominated at the Baftas and the French Academy César Awards and won a Golden Globe in 1997.
“Second to Nun” is a U.S., Belgium and France co-production which features a star international cast including Brigitte Fossey (“Cinema Paradiso”), Claudia Cardinale (“Once Upon a Time in the West”) Rossy de Palma (“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”), Raul Torres (“Wonderstruck”) and Larry Cech (“Absinthe”). According to its producers, further cast additions are forthcoming.
Set in the South of France during the Cannes Film Festival, “Second to Nun” will...
Berliner’s decades-ahead-of-its-time “Ma Vie en Rose,” the tale of a young transgender girl with dreams of growing into a mature woman and marrying the boy next door, was a breakout hit at Cannes, nominated at the Baftas and the French Academy César Awards and won a Golden Globe in 1997.
“Second to Nun” is a U.S., Belgium and France co-production which features a star international cast including Brigitte Fossey (“Cinema Paradiso”), Claudia Cardinale (“Once Upon a Time in the West”) Rossy de Palma (“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”), Raul Torres (“Wonderstruck”) and Larry Cech (“Absinthe”). According to its producers, further cast additions are forthcoming.
Set in the South of France during the Cannes Film Festival, “Second to Nun” will...
- 5/22/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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