On what would be his 100th birthday, Marlon Brando remains synonymous not with acting, but great acting — even if this ranked list of all his performances represents what may be the most wildly uneven filmography for any talent of his caliber. But that’s the power of Brando: A handful of his performances are so great and influential they shook up the art of acting forever. Even among his lesser performances, there’s compelling work deserving of rediscovery.
In order to best exemplify what made him such a singular onscreen presence, we ranked all 39 of his films (and one TV appearance), reflecting a spectrum as wide as the man’s broad shoulders. Based on the quality of Brando’s performances rather than the overall films themselves, there are some placements that may surprise you; for example, as great as Brando is in “The Godfather,” it’s still just the fourth-best...
In order to best exemplify what made him such a singular onscreen presence, we ranked all 39 of his films (and one TV appearance), reflecting a spectrum as wide as the man’s broad shoulders. Based on the quality of Brando’s performances rather than the overall films themselves, there are some placements that may surprise you; for example, as great as Brando is in “The Godfather,” it’s still just the fourth-best...
- 4/3/2024
- by Wilson Chapman and Noel Murray
- Indiewire
Mike Flanagan threw viewers a bit of a curveball with the second entry in his "Haunting" anthology series, 2020's "The Haunting of Bly Manor." Where the show's revered first outing, 2018's "The Haunting of Hill House," is horror through and through, its mostly well-received but slightly more divisive second entry is really a gothic romance that just happens to include literal ghosts. Yes, I'm using what you might call the "Crimson Peak" defense, but it applies here all the same.
Perhaps even more than "Hill House," "Bly Manor" plays fast and loose with its source material. Mainly a retelling of Henry James' classic 1898 gothic horror novella "The Turn of the Screw," the series adds elements from James' other works while also filling in the gaps in the romance between doomed lovers Peter Quint and Miss Jessel prior to the story's events. Interestingly, though, it wasn't the first off-shoot of James' novella to do this.
Perhaps even more than "Hill House," "Bly Manor" plays fast and loose with its source material. Mainly a retelling of Henry James' classic 1898 gothic horror novella "The Turn of the Screw," the series adds elements from James' other works while also filling in the gaps in the romance between doomed lovers Peter Quint and Miss Jessel prior to the story's events. Interestingly, though, it wasn't the first off-shoot of James' novella to do this.
- 9/6/2022
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Hello, everyone! We have a brand new assortment of horror and sci-fi headed home this week, and there are plenty of offerings that should undoubtedly make for great additions to your Halloween season viewing plans. Universal is showing some love to a trio of classics, as it is set to release John Carpenter’s The Thing as well as Rear Window and Vertigo from Alfred Hitchcock all on 4K Ultra HD today. Kino Lorber has put together new Blu-ray presentations for both The Tomb of Ligeia and Theatre of Blood, and if you’re looking to catch up with some newer horror, both Great White and Slaxx arrive today courtesy of Rlje Films.
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for September 7th include Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe’s War, Hellbox, Witches of Blackwood, Skinwalker, and War of the God Monsters.
Great White
A blissful tourist trip turns into a nightmare for five...
- 9/7/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
It’s a great time to be a horror fan. Not only are Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and Shudder awash with all kinds of horror movies old and new, but the Criterion Channel is getting in on the gruesome action with a month’s worth of horror titles from the 1970s.
The subscription service is the digital offshoot of the Criterion Collection, which for more than 35 years has been providing definitive archival home video versions of classic and contemporary films from around the world. Criterion launched its streaming service last year as a way to offer a curated cross-section of its library of films online.
Horror has always had a respectful home at Criterion, with the company publishing definitive editions of a number of the genre’s landmark films. The October rollout of horror movies for the Halloween season is similar to what other companies are doing, but the focus is the difference here.
The subscription service is the digital offshoot of the Criterion Collection, which for more than 35 years has been providing definitive archival home video versions of classic and contemporary films from around the world. Criterion launched its streaming service last year as a way to offer a curated cross-section of its library of films online.
Horror has always had a respectful home at Criterion, with the company publishing definitive editions of a number of the genre’s landmark films. The October rollout of horror movies for the Halloween season is similar to what other companies are doing, but the focus is the difference here.
- 10/1/2020
- by Don Kaye
- Den of Geek
The Criterion Channel’s stellar offerings are continuing next month with a selection of new releases, retrospective, series, and more. Leading the pack is, of course, a horror lineup perfectly timed for Halloween, featuring ’70s classics and underseen gems, including Abel Ferrara’s The Driller Killer (pictured above), Tobe Hopper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, early films by David Cronenberg, Wes Craven, and Brian De Palma, Bill Gunn’s Ganja & Hess, and more.
Also of note is a New Korean Cinema retrospective, featuring a new introduction by critic Grady Hendrix and a conversation between directors Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook, whose Barking Dogs Never Bite, The Host, Mother, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance are part of the lineup, as well as Lee Myung-se’s Nowhere to Hide, and more titles to be announced. Bong’s short Influenza will also arrive, paired with Michael Haneke’s Caché.
Also of note is a New Korean Cinema retrospective, featuring a new introduction by critic Grady Hendrix and a conversation between directors Bong Joon Ho and Park Chan-wook, whose Barking Dogs Never Bite, The Host, Mother, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Lady Vengeance are part of the lineup, as well as Lee Myung-se’s Nowhere to Hide, and more titles to be announced. Bong’s short Influenza will also arrive, paired with Michael Haneke’s Caché.
- 9/29/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Henry James’s novella “The Turn of the Screw” has inspired many screen adaptations, most notably Jack Clayton’s “The Innocents,” which starred Deborah Kerr, and a live TV version with Ingrid Bergman that was directed by John Frankenheimer. In the early ’70s, Marlon Brando headlined a memorably nasty prequel called “The Nightcomers,” and movies from this story have been made all over the world. You have to go out of your way to screw up this material.
“The Turning” is an adaptation of “The Turn of the Screw” that takes place in 1994; we hear over the radio that Kurt Cobain has just committed suicide as we meet our heroine Kate (Mackenzie Davis), a cheerful, slightly nerdy woman who has just received a job as a nanny to an orphaned young girl and boy. In most versions of this story, the governess goes to meet the uncle of these orphans,...
“The Turning” is an adaptation of “The Turn of the Screw” that takes place in 1994; we hear over the radio that Kurt Cobain has just committed suicide as we meet our heroine Kate (Mackenzie Davis), a cheerful, slightly nerdy woman who has just received a job as a nanny to an orphaned young girl and boy. In most versions of this story, the governess goes to meet the uncle of these orphans,...
- 1/23/2020
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
If you read my piece on The Innocents from last October, then you know that I’m a pretty big fan of both Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw as well as Jack Clayton’s timeless 1961 adaptation, which means that I am the prime audience for Floria Sigismondi’s new take on this classic tale, The Turning. And for the most part, I really enjoyed what Sigismondi as well as screenwriters Carey and Chad Hayes were able to bring to the table here, with Floria’s visual flair adding a lot to the material, and a trio of strong performances from the film’s lead actors: Mackenzie Davis, Brooklynn Prince, and Finn Wolfhard.
Where The Turning ended up falling a bit short for me was in its finale, where the pieces of the narrative’s puzzle don’t quite all lock together in the film’s final moments. But overall,...
Where The Turning ended up falling a bit short for me was in its finale, where the pieces of the narrative’s puzzle don’t quite all lock together in the film’s final moments. But overall,...
- 1/23/2020
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
England’s swingin’ ’60s were more than A Hard Day’s Night, the Mersey Beat and slapstick in the street with Rita Tushingham. Michael Winner got the scene off to an early start with this beach-set tale of ‘clever lads’ that cooperate to score with vacationing girls. Oliver Reed gives a sterling performance as Tinker, a photo-snapper who takes on a tall target — an independent, posh model with her own amorous agenda. The romance proceeds in a positive direction… or is Tinker fooling himself?
The System (The Girl-Getters)
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1964 / B&w / 1:85 / 90 min. / / Street Date September 23, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Oliver Reed, Jane Merrow, Barbara Ferris, Julia Foster, Harry Andrews, Ann Lynn, Guy Doleman, David Hemmings.
Cinematography: Nicholas Roeg
Film Editor: Fred Burnley
Original Music: Stanley Black
Songs: The Searchers, The Marauders, The Rocking Berries
Written by Peter Draper
Produced by Kenneth Shipman
Directed by Michael...
The System (The Girl-Getters)
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1964 / B&w / 1:85 / 90 min. / / Street Date September 23, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99
Starring: Oliver Reed, Jane Merrow, Barbara Ferris, Julia Foster, Harry Andrews, Ann Lynn, Guy Doleman, David Hemmings.
Cinematography: Nicholas Roeg
Film Editor: Fred Burnley
Original Music: Stanley Black
Songs: The Searchers, The Marauders, The Rocking Berries
Written by Peter Draper
Produced by Kenneth Shipman
Directed by Michael...
- 9/28/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
May 7th is a relatively quiet day of genre-related Blu-ray and DVD releases, so I’ll keep this installment of our ongoing home media column series on the short and sweet side. If you dig creepy kid horror and you happened to miss it in theaters earlier this year, Nicholas McCarthy’s The Prodigy comes home on Tuesday, and for those of you who might be more into nunsploitation stories, St. Agatha is set to arrive on both formats this week. Cult film fans can finally add The Nightcomers and The Man Who Haunted Himself (featuring Roger Moore) to their Blu-ray collections, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army is making its 4K debut on May 7th as well.
The Nightcomers
Two Children… Two Adults… One Unspeakable Crime! Captivating and disturbing, this highly intense psychological drama with its haunting, twisted notion of sexuality puts a new spin on the characters from Henry James’ celebrated ghost story,...
The Nightcomers
Two Children… Two Adults… One Unspeakable Crime! Captivating and disturbing, this highly intense psychological drama with its haunting, twisted notion of sexuality puts a new spin on the characters from Henry James’ celebrated ghost story,...
- 5/7/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The Nightcomers
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1971 / 1:85:1 / 96 Min.
Starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham
Written by Michael Hastings
Cinematography by Robert Paynter
Directed by Michael Winner
Between 1944 and 1992 Jack Clayton directed just nine movies but they included some of the most elegant yet clear-eyed films to come out of post-war Britain – from the hard-knock realism of Room at the Top to the broken-marriage reverie of The Pumpkin Eater. A man of letters as well as cinema, his relatively brief career was spent collaborating with writers like Wolf Mankowitz, Harold Pinter and Truman Capote.
Born in London, Michael Winner showed a talent for free-wheeling and mildly racy movies like The Girl-Getters and I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘isname – cheeky entertainments that helped define the myth of sexy swinging London for stateside audiences.
It was in the early 70s that Winner began to traffic in distinctly American product like Chato’s...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1971 / 1:85:1 / 96 Min.
Starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham
Written by Michael Hastings
Cinematography by Robert Paynter
Directed by Michael Winner
Between 1944 and 1992 Jack Clayton directed just nine movies but they included some of the most elegant yet clear-eyed films to come out of post-war Britain – from the hard-knock realism of Room at the Top to the broken-marriage reverie of The Pumpkin Eater. A man of letters as well as cinema, his relatively brief career was spent collaborating with writers like Wolf Mankowitz, Harold Pinter and Truman Capote.
Born in London, Michael Winner showed a talent for free-wheeling and mildly racy movies like The Girl-Getters and I’ll Never Forget What’s ‘isname – cheeky entertainments that helped define the myth of sexy swinging London for stateside audiences.
It was in the early 70s that Winner began to traffic in distinctly American product like Chato’s...
- 5/4/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Less than an hour after the renewal for The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix was announced, the theme of the second installment has been revealed. It will be called The Haunting of Bly Manor. As part of this morning’s renewal announcement, it became clear that the horror series from Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy would become an anthology, with the second installment chronicling a new story with all new characters. The Haunting of Bly Manor is set to debut in 2020.
Bly mansion is the setting for the Henry James psychological gothic horror novella The Turn of the Screw, which takes place almost entirely at the old country mansion. It is there where two young orphans are looked after by a young governess and by whom most of the story is narrated by.
There have been multiple adaptations and reworkings of The Turn of the Screw in various media,...
Bly mansion is the setting for the Henry James psychological gothic horror novella The Turn of the Screw, which takes place almost entirely at the old country mansion. It is there where two young orphans are looked after by a young governess and by whom most of the story is narrated by.
There have been multiple adaptations and reworkings of The Turn of the Screw in various media,...
- 2/21/2019
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Maisie goes to Manhattan in this fine modern-day adaptation of Henry James's novel of irresponsible parenting
Henry James famously failed in his attempts to become a popular playwright in the 1890s and apparently never thought, like his friend Joseph Conrad, to engage with the new medium of the cinema. But starting some 30 years after his death, his fiction has reached a larger audience as a source of screenplays. Immediately after the second world war The Aspern Papers, shot in Hollywood on stylised Venetian sets, became the underrated The Lost Moment (the only film directed by the actor Martin Gabel) and was followed by William Wyler's highly regarded The Heiress (a version of Washington Square). Since then there have been a dozen or more James movies, adapting such complex books as The Golden Bowl, The Portrait of a Lady and The Wings of the Dove, and "the Master" has...
Henry James famously failed in his attempts to become a popular playwright in the 1890s and apparently never thought, like his friend Joseph Conrad, to engage with the new medium of the cinema. But starting some 30 years after his death, his fiction has reached a larger audience as a source of screenplays. Immediately after the second world war The Aspern Papers, shot in Hollywood on stylised Venetian sets, became the underrated The Lost Moment (the only film directed by the actor Martin Gabel) and was followed by William Wyler's highly regarded The Heiress (a version of Washington Square). Since then there have been a dozen or more James movies, adapting such complex books as The Golden Bowl, The Portrait of a Lady and The Wings of the Dove, and "the Master" has...
- 8/24/2013
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Winner was among the stars who were not honoured at last night's Academy Awards (February 24).
The late Death Wish director - who died last month aged 77 - did not feature in the ceremony's annual In Memoriam tribute.
New York Times reporter Michael Cieply has claimed that snubs may occur if the family of a deceased filmmaker or actor does not campaign for the inclusion as much as others.
Cieply said that "there's no shortage of input from out there in the community", adding that the full list of the deceased is expanded on the Oscars website.
Dallas actor Larry Hagman, actress Phyllis Diller and actor Robin Sachs were also among the stars not featured in the tribute, which saw Barbra Streisand perform 'The Way We Were'.
Cieply also quotes late Mash actor Harry Morgan's son Charley talk about his father's snub at the tribute in 2012.
He...
The late Death Wish director - who died last month aged 77 - did not feature in the ceremony's annual In Memoriam tribute.
New York Times reporter Michael Cieply has claimed that snubs may occur if the family of a deceased filmmaker or actor does not campaign for the inclusion as much as others.
Cieply said that "there's no shortage of input from out there in the community", adding that the full list of the deceased is expanded on the Oscars website.
Dallas actor Larry Hagman, actress Phyllis Diller and actor Robin Sachs were also among the stars not featured in the tribute, which saw Barbra Streisand perform 'The Way We Were'.
Cieply also quotes late Mash actor Harry Morgan's son Charley talk about his father's snub at the tribute in 2012.
He...
- 2/25/2013
- Digital Spy
Academy awards In Memoriam section fails to include British film director despite his prolific Hollywood career
The Oscars snubbed British film director Michael Winner as – surprisingly – he failed to be acknowledged in the 85th Academy Awards' traditional In Memoriam section.
Winner, who died just over a month ago, was responsible for a major Hollywood hit, Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson, which was one of the most successful films of 1974.
But, while the Academy honoured the likes of Ernest Borgnine and Tony Scott, as well as cult talents such as Chris Marker, Tonino Guerra and Erland Josephson, no place was found for Winner.
Arguably Winner's most productive years were the string of films he made in the 60s in the UK, including The Jokers and I'll Never Forget What's'isname. The success of the war picture Hannibal Brooks saw him picked up by the Hollywood studios and a series of films with major stars,...
The Oscars snubbed British film director Michael Winner as – surprisingly – he failed to be acknowledged in the 85th Academy Awards' traditional In Memoriam section.
Winner, who died just over a month ago, was responsible for a major Hollywood hit, Death Wish, starring Charles Bronson, which was one of the most successful films of 1974.
But, while the Academy honoured the likes of Ernest Borgnine and Tony Scott, as well as cult talents such as Chris Marker, Tonino Guerra and Erland Josephson, no place was found for Winner.
Arguably Winner's most productive years were the string of films he made in the 60s in the UK, including The Jokers and I'll Never Forget What's'isname. The success of the war picture Hannibal Brooks saw him picked up by the Hollywood studios and a series of films with major stars,...
- 2/25/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Some may have thought that British movie director Michael Winner died years ago. He stopped making films in the ‘90s and even wrote his own joke obituary which was picked up on by some media and taken seriously. Winner continued to live in London and found a new career as a film critic with the long-running “Winner’s Dinners” column in the Sunday UK Times newspaper. Winner is remembered in the film industry as well as the restaurant scene for his abrasive personality,
He directed Charles Bronson in six films including three, The Mechanic, Death Wish, and Death 3, that landed in my Top Ten Tuesday: The Best of Charles Bronson list from July 2010 http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2010/06/top-ten-tuesday-charles-bronson/). His other Bronson collaborations were Death Wish 2, Chato’S Land, and The Stone Killer. Death Wish was a monstrous hit for both the star and director, yet in his autobiography Winner Takes All...
He directed Charles Bronson in six films including three, The Mechanic, Death Wish, and Death 3, that landed in my Top Ten Tuesday: The Best of Charles Bronson list from July 2010 http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2010/06/top-ten-tuesday-charles-bronson/). His other Bronson collaborations were Death Wish 2, Chato’S Land, and The Stone Killer. Death Wish was a monstrous hit for both the star and director, yet in his autobiography Winner Takes All...
- 1/29/2013
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Flamboyant film director, best known for Death Wish, and later an outspoken restaurant critic and bon vivant
Michael Winner, who has died aged 77, supplied interviewers with a list of more than 30 films he had directed, not always including the early travelogue This Is Belgium (1956), mostly shot in East Grinstead. But his enduring work was himself – a bravura creation of movies, television, journalism, the law courts and a catchphrase, ''Calm down, dear", from an exasperating series of television commercials.
He was born in London, the only child of George and Helen Winner, who were of Russian and Polish extraction respectively. His builder father made enough money propping up blitzed houses to invest in London property. The profits funded his wife's gambling, which, her son complained, so distracted "Mumsie" that he was never paid due attention. She left him in the bedroom with the mink coats of guests who came to his...
Michael Winner, who has died aged 77, supplied interviewers with a list of more than 30 films he had directed, not always including the early travelogue This Is Belgium (1956), mostly shot in East Grinstead. But his enduring work was himself – a bravura creation of movies, television, journalism, the law courts and a catchphrase, ''Calm down, dear", from an exasperating series of television commercials.
He was born in London, the only child of George and Helen Winner, who were of Russian and Polish extraction respectively. His builder father made enough money propping up blitzed houses to invest in London property. The profits funded his wife's gambling, which, her son complained, so distracted "Mumsie" that he was never paid due attention. She left him in the bedroom with the mink coats of guests who came to his...
- 1/22/2013
- by Veronica Horwell
- The Guardian - Film News
By Lee Pfeiffer
Director Michael Winner has died in his native England at age 77. Winner's star rose in the early to mid 1960s with a string of innovative comedies such as The Jokers and I'll Never Forget What's'isname, that perfectly tapped into the emerging London "mod scene". His eclectic range of movies covered many genres, from Westerns to WWII to urban crime thrillers. Among his more notable titles were Lawman, Chato's Land, Scorpio, Hannibal Brooks, The Games, The Sentinel, The Nightcomers, The Mechanic and The Stone Killer. His greatest and most unexpected success was the 1974 film Death Wish starring Charles Bronson which was released at a time when societies worldwide were bristling at an explosion of urban crime and the perception that the current laws were not protecting them. The film tapped into a vigilante sentiment in its depiction of a New York liberal who takes the law into his...
Director Michael Winner has died in his native England at age 77. Winner's star rose in the early to mid 1960s with a string of innovative comedies such as The Jokers and I'll Never Forget What's'isname, that perfectly tapped into the emerging London "mod scene". His eclectic range of movies covered many genres, from Westerns to WWII to urban crime thrillers. Among his more notable titles were Lawman, Chato's Land, Scorpio, Hannibal Brooks, The Games, The Sentinel, The Nightcomers, The Mechanic and The Stone Killer. His greatest and most unexpected success was the 1974 film Death Wish starring Charles Bronson which was released at a time when societies worldwide were bristling at an explosion of urban crime and the perception that the current laws were not protecting them. The film tapped into a vigilante sentiment in its depiction of a New York liberal who takes the law into his...
- 1/21/2013
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Earlier this month David R. Ellis passed away while preparing to shoot his next film in South Africa and now this week it appears that we've lost another well-liked genre filmmaker. British director Michael Winner has reportedly died at his home in Kensington, west London, after a long battle with liver cancer. Winner was probably best known for his work with Charles Bronson including the first three Death Wish films and The Mechanic (which was recently remade with Jason Statham). He was also a well-known personality outside of the film industry, acting as a restaurant critic for the Sunday Times and also starring in a series of commercials for insurance company esure. He was 77 years old. Winner's career as a director spanned almost four decades, starting with the crime thriller Shoot to Kill and the comedy Some Like it Cool before moving on to a series of Oliver Reed comedies.
- 1/21/2013
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Michael Winner: Death Wish director has died Michael Winner, best remembered for directing the Charles Bronson action hit Death Wish, died earlier today at his home in Kensington, London. According to reports, Winner had been suffering from (an unspecified) liver disease. He was 77. (Photo: Michael Winner.) Born in London (on Oct. 30, 1935) to a well-to-do family of Eastern European Jews — his father was Russian, his mother was Polish — Winner studied law and economics at Cambridge University. Following a stint as a gossip columnist (reportedly at the age of 14), he proceeded to study journalism and film criticism. He began working in the field in the mid-’50s. Michael Winner movies Michael Winner’s directorial career also took off in the mid-’50s, when he began directing several documentary and live-action shorts, a couple of which featured well-known names such as A.E. Matthews and Dennis Price. Winner progressed to features in the early ’60s,...
- 1/21/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Andrew Pulver looks back through some of the key films of director Michael Winner, who has died aged 77
Play It Cool (1962)
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After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
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Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
Play It Cool (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
After a string of short films, Winner broke into features in the early 60s, with low budget thrillers and trendy pop musicals. Quite a few of them had "cool" in the title – including the nudie pic Some Like It Cool. The Billy Fury pic Play It Cool was considerably more commercially viable, no doubt inspired by the success of Cliff Richard's Young Ones film. Fury – in a real stretch – plays an up-and coming rocker called Billy Universe; Anna Palk the heiress who he might or might not get together with, and Dennis Price (!) as her overbearing dad.
The Cool Mikado (1962)
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view video
Frankie Howerd led the line for Winner's followup, produced by Howard Baim,...
- 1/21/2013
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Winner, the film director, food critic and TV personality famed for his "calm down" Esure adverts, passed away today at the age of 77. Born in Hampstead, London, in 1935, Winner started his career as a showbiz newspaper columnist before moving into filmmaking in the early '60s. Early movies saw him direct Frankie Howerd musical The Cool Mikado and comedy The System, the first of six films in which he worked with Oliver Reed.
Winner made the switch to Hollywood with Lawman and The Nightcomers before teaming up with Charles Bronson for brutal vigilante drama Death Wish. He directed two more Death (more)...
Winner made the switch to Hollywood with Lawman and The Nightcomers before teaming up with Charles Bronson for brutal vigilante drama Death Wish. He directed two more Death (more)...
- 1/21/2013
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
Michael Winner, director of the Death Wish movie series and A Chorus of Disapproval, who later found fame as a restaurant critic, has died at the age of 77.
Michael Winner, bon viveur, restaurant critic and arguably one of the best known British film-makers of the 20th century has died at the age of 77. "A light has gone out of my life," his wife Geraldine Lynton-Edwards said. "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous."
Winner had been in ill health for a number of years and almost died after contracting a bacterial infection while holidaying on Barbados in January 2007.
Born to a wealthy family in north London, Winner cut his teeth at the BBC before making his debut as a writer-director with the 1960 crime thriller Shoot to Kill. His freewheeling 1964 sex comedy The System established him as a key chronicler of swinging 60s London and gave rise to a...
Michael Winner, bon viveur, restaurant critic and arguably one of the best known British film-makers of the 20th century has died at the age of 77. "A light has gone out of my life," his wife Geraldine Lynton-Edwards said. "Michael was a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous."
Winner had been in ill health for a number of years and almost died after contracting a bacterial infection while holidaying on Barbados in January 2007.
Born to a wealthy family in north London, Winner cut his teeth at the BBC before making his debut as a writer-director with the 1960 crime thriller Shoot to Kill. His freewheeling 1964 sex comedy The System established him as a key chronicler of swinging 60s London and gave rise to a...
- 1/21/2013
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Author and playwright best known for his literary drama Tom and Viv
Michael Hastings, who has died aged 74, shot to prominence in the first wave of new playwrights at the Royal Court in the 1950s. His best known play, Tom and Viv, about the difficult marriage of Ts Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood, was presented there in 1984, by which time he was well established as a novelist, biographer and author of short stories. He was an unclassifiable writer, despite his sporadic allegiance over the years to the Royal Court. Much of his work is imbued with his experience of travelling in Spain, Kenya and Brazil. The fractured domestic relationships which he documented in Tom and Viv, and in his last West End play, Calico (2004), reflect his own difficult childhood and a lifetime interest in psychoanalysis.
Hastings was brought up by his mother, Marie, in a council flat in Brixton, south London.
Michael Hastings, who has died aged 74, shot to prominence in the first wave of new playwrights at the Royal Court in the 1950s. His best known play, Tom and Viv, about the difficult marriage of Ts Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood, was presented there in 1984, by which time he was well established as a novelist, biographer and author of short stories. He was an unclassifiable writer, despite his sporadic allegiance over the years to the Royal Court. Much of his work is imbued with his experience of travelling in Spain, Kenya and Brazil. The fractured domestic relationships which he documented in Tom and Viv, and in his last West End play, Calico (2004), reflect his own difficult childhood and a lifetime interest in psychoanalysis.
Hastings was brought up by his mother, Marie, in a council flat in Brixton, south London.
- 12/1/2011
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
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Hello Lee Pfeiffer and Crew:
I purchased the current issue of Cinema Retro on the promise of its insights into the obscure film, Candy. Instead, I was punished with a four-page rant by Dean Brierly who, in his brief bio, could not supply the name of a single film he liked (his "favourite films are the ones nobody's heard of") nor the name of any article of note. You do list magazines he's written for, including Men's Health. Why I make mention of his scarce credentials is because he so severely botched the opportunity to discover in a film its many treasures -- foregoing the requisite fairness called upon when assessing someone else's work.
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For one, Brierly fails to mention the inspired Dave Grusin soundtrack (in fact, so inspired that Steven Soderbergh uses it in Ocean's Twelve), which makes effective use of Steppenwolf prior to Easy Rider. The music serves...
Hello Lee Pfeiffer and Crew:
I purchased the current issue of Cinema Retro on the promise of its insights into the obscure film, Candy. Instead, I was punished with a four-page rant by Dean Brierly who, in his brief bio, could not supply the name of a single film he liked (his "favourite films are the ones nobody's heard of") nor the name of any article of note. You do list magazines he's written for, including Men's Health. Why I make mention of his scarce credentials is because he so severely botched the opportunity to discover in a film its many treasures -- foregoing the requisite fairness called upon when assessing someone else's work.
.
For one, Brierly fails to mention the inspired Dave Grusin soundtrack (in fact, so inspired that Steven Soderbergh uses it in Ocean's Twelve), which makes effective use of Steppenwolf prior to Easy Rider. The music serves...
- 6/30/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
This Week’s New Instant Releases…
Promised Lands (1974)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Documentary
Director: Susan Sontag
Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.
Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)
Streaming Available: 04/19/2011
Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles
Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...
- 4/20/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Amanda Reyes
In this newfound grey area of defined roles, or lack thereof, The Innocents delves into an exploration on dualism, showcasing both possible endings in one, because the reality of the ghosts and Miss Giddens’ apparent insanity do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. — Friedrich Nietzsche
All things truly wicked start from an innocence. — Ernest Hemingway
Henry James’ late nineteenth century novella “The Turn of the Screw” and Jack Clayton’s early 1960s cinematic adaptation The Innocents denotes both the broadness and intimacy of intertextuality. The Innocents is at once a devoted adaptation of James’ shocking horror story about corruption and yet, at the same time it becomes its own beast of repressed sexuality. The challenges presented...
In this newfound grey area of defined roles, or lack thereof, The Innocents delves into an exploration on dualism, showcasing both possible endings in one, because the reality of the ghosts and Miss Giddens’ apparent insanity do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look long into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you. — Friedrich Nietzsche
All things truly wicked start from an innocence. — Ernest Hemingway
Henry James’ late nineteenth century novella “The Turn of the Screw” and Jack Clayton’s early 1960s cinematic adaptation The Innocents denotes both the broadness and intimacy of intertextuality. The Innocents is at once a devoted adaptation of James’ shocking horror story about corruption and yet, at the same time it becomes its own beast of repressed sexuality. The challenges presented...
- 12/14/2010
- by Amanda By Night
- Planet Fury
Michael Jackson, Thriller Cinematographer Robert Paynter, a frequent Michael Winner and John Landis collaborator among whose credits include the Michael Jackson music video Thriller, died last Oct. 20, The Guardian reported yesterday. Paynter (born in London on March 12, 1928) was 82. Directed by Landis, the 14-minute Thriller (1983) mixed hip dancing and visual effects — Michael Jackson metamorphosing into a werewolf and a zombie — to bring the music video a horror-movie feel. Thriller remains in all likelihood Paynter's best-known and most widely seen effort. Paynter's first feature-film work was on Winner's Hannibal Brooks (1969), in which a British Pow and Lucy the elephant escape across the Alps into Switzerland. Oliver Reed played the latter-day Hannibal. Among Paynter's other efforts in various genres were Winner's spooky The Nightcomers (1971), Landis' comedy blockbuster Trading Places (1983), Richard Lester's fantasy-adventure Superman II (1980), and Frank Oz's cartoonish musical Little Shop of Horrors (1986).
- 11/19/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
UK cinematographer with credits including Thriller and Superman
The film directors Michael Winner and John Landis have every reason to be grateful to the British cinematographer Robert Paynter, who has died aged 82. Paynter helped visualise 10 of Winner's films and five by Landis, one of which is considered the most popular music video in history. Directed by Landis, the 14-minute video for Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983) vividly merged a pop song, innovative dancing and horror movie. Shot on 35mm stock, it featured Jackson metamorphosing into a werewolf and a zombie. Both Paynter, who created the eerie mood, and Rick Baker, credited with the stunning makeup effects, had previously teamed up effectively for Landis on An American Werewolf in London (1981).
Paynter was born in south London and educated at Mercer's school, Holborn, before being evacuated to Horsham, West Sussex, during the second world war. While still in his teens, he became a camera...
The film directors Michael Winner and John Landis have every reason to be grateful to the British cinematographer Robert Paynter, who has died aged 82. Paynter helped visualise 10 of Winner's films and five by Landis, one of which is considered the most popular music video in history. Directed by Landis, the 14-minute video for Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983) vividly merged a pop song, innovative dancing and horror movie. Shot on 35mm stock, it featured Jackson metamorphosing into a werewolf and a zombie. Both Paynter, who created the eerie mood, and Rick Baker, credited with the stunning makeup effects, had previously teamed up effectively for Landis on An American Werewolf in London (1981).
Paynter was born in south London and educated at Mercer's school, Holborn, before being evacuated to Horsham, West Sussex, during the second world war. While still in his teens, he became a camera...
- 11/18/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Self-made Hollywood producer best known for adapting novels
Elliott Kastner, who has died of cancer aged 80, was the model of a film producer, working his way up from the mailroom at the William Morris Agency in New York to Los Angeles, where he joined another powerful talent agency, McA, in 1959. He soon became vice-president of Universal Pictures, but after two years he risked everything to become an independent producer, a move that paid off.
This achievement required a certain amount of ruthlessness, and Kastner was relentless in his pursuit of getting what he wanted. Mostly he wanted to entice well-known playwrights and novelists to write screenplays, or gain the rights of those works whose authors were no longer around to cajole.
Kastner persuaded William Inge (Bus Riley's Back in Town, 1965), Iris Murdoch (A Severed Head, 1970), Edna O'Brien (Zee and Co, 1972) and Peter Shaffer (Equus, 1977) to adapt their works for the screen,...
Elliott Kastner, who has died of cancer aged 80, was the model of a film producer, working his way up from the mailroom at the William Morris Agency in New York to Los Angeles, where he joined another powerful talent agency, McA, in 1959. He soon became vice-president of Universal Pictures, but after two years he risked everything to become an independent producer, a move that paid off.
This achievement required a certain amount of ruthlessness, and Kastner was relentless in his pursuit of getting what he wanted. Mostly he wanted to entice well-known playwrights and novelists to write screenplays, or gain the rights of those works whose authors were no longer around to cajole.
Kastner persuaded William Inge (Bus Riley's Back in Town, 1965), Iris Murdoch (A Severed Head, 1970), Edna O'Brien (Zee and Co, 1972) and Peter Shaffer (Equus, 1977) to adapt their works for the screen,...
- 7/29/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Producer Elliott Kastner has died at age 80. Known for his humorous personality and penchant for off-color jokes, Kastner was a larger-than-life character. Although born in America, he made England his home through much of his career and maintained an office at Pinewood Studios until the end of his life. Kastner moved from the music industry into film production with his first credit as producer on the 1965 film Bus Riley's Back in Town. He was one of the first producers to secure independent financing for his films, then sell the distribution rights to major studios. Kastner had many high profile films to his credit including Harper with Paul Newman, The Missouri Breaks and The Nightcomers- both with Marlon Brando, and perhaps most notably the 1969 MGM WWII film Where Eagles Dare...
- 7/1/2010
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The notorious film director on cheating death, the awfulness of restaurants – and how he can't stand boring people
It is with a mixture of fear and exhilaration that I approach Michael Winner's large house – he likes to describe it as a mansion – in London's fashionable Holland Park. God knows how much it's worth – £25m maybe. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin lives next door, in an even bigger house. An attractive, slightly forbidding young woman answers the door – I later discover she is a resting actress called Ruby – and she shows me into Winner's private cinema, filled with memorabilia from half a lifetime of movie-making and an entire lifetime of trouble-making.
There are seats for 30 people, a bar, a director's chair with Winner's name on it, the Winner puppet from Spitting Image, a signed photograph of Marilyn Monroe, pictures of some scantily clad starlets, and hundreds of photographs of stars...
It is with a mixture of fear and exhilaration that I approach Michael Winner's large house – he likes to describe it as a mansion – in London's fashionable Holland Park. God knows how much it's worth – £25m maybe. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin lives next door, in an even bigger house. An attractive, slightly forbidding young woman answers the door – I later discover she is a resting actress called Ruby – and she shows me into Winner's private cinema, filled with memorabilia from half a lifetime of movie-making and an entire lifetime of trouble-making.
There are seats for 30 people, a bar, a director's chair with Winner's name on it, the Winner puppet from Spitting Image, a signed photograph of Marilyn Monroe, pictures of some scantily clad starlets, and hundreds of photographs of stars...
- 11/16/2009
- by Stephen Moss
- The Guardian - Film News
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