Wedged in the back half of the final season of "The Twilight Zone," during an era that saw Rod Serling's classic sci-fi series begin to wind down after five influential years, "I Am the Night -- Color Me Black" features a deceptively simple premise. In the half-hour episode, a probably innocent man is due to be hanged, and as locals relish the idea of a public execution, the sun refuses to rise over the town in which he's imprisoned.
The man in question is called Jagger (Terry Becker), and it soon becomes clear that there's more to his case than meets the eye. The self-proclaimed activist, we learn, killed a member of the KKK who had previously participated in bombings and attacked at least one person of color. He also aimed to injure the man who ended up killing him, as a local reporter notes that the dead man...
The man in question is called Jagger (Terry Becker), and it soon becomes clear that there's more to his case than meets the eye. The self-proclaimed activist, we learn, killed a member of the KKK who had previously participated in bombings and attacked at least one person of color. He also aimed to injure the man who ended up killing him, as a local reporter notes that the dead man...
- 6/29/2024
- by Valerie Ettenhofer
- Slash Film
David Rooney: We’re nearing the middle of one of the most contentious election years in America’s history, with bitter divisions making a mockery of the increasingly obsolete appellation, “United States.” People are Anxious as they weigh a presidential vote destined to fuel the rage of one side or the other, potentially inciting violence.
That climate would seem to make this the ideal time for Alex Garland’s Civil War, which set a house record for A24 with its $25.7 million opening weekend and held strong at No. 1 in its second weekend. You can’t argue with those numbers. But what’s more interesting is the debate the film has ignited as to whether its fuzzy politics are a cop-out.
In probably the most rah-rah American movie of recent years, 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, the foreign enemy with a uranium enrichment plant that needs bombing was identified with vague allusions at best,...
That climate would seem to make this the ideal time for Alex Garland’s Civil War, which set a house record for A24 with its $25.7 million opening weekend and held strong at No. 1 in its second weekend. You can’t argue with those numbers. But what’s more interesting is the debate the film has ignited as to whether its fuzzy politics are a cop-out.
In probably the most rah-rah American movie of recent years, 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, the foreign enemy with a uranium enrichment plant that needs bombing was identified with vague allusions at best,...
- 4/23/2024
- by David Rooney and Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kobi Libii’s debut feature The American Society of Magical Negroes starts on a promising note. Aren, a spindly and awkward artist (an endearing Justice Smith) loiters near a yarn sculpture in a gallery. He seems lost in the sea of roving patrons and bustling waiters. It takes a second for us to realize that Aren created the meditative wool work and is struggling to sell it to the mostly white collectors attending this group show. They find the abstract piece illegible; they repeatedly ask about the material (“Is it … yarn?”) while maintaining a distance. These brief encounters are a clever jab by Libii at a visual art world historically enamored of Black figurative artists.
Minor drama ensues after Aren is mistaken for a server by a patron and unceremoniously fired by his gallerist. Before he can think straight, the dejected artist finds himself touring the gothic halls of The American Society of Magical Negroes,...
Minor drama ensues after Aren is mistaken for a server by a patron and unceremoniously fired by his gallerist. Before he can think straight, the dejected artist finds himself touring the gothic halls of The American Society of Magical Negroes,...
- 3/29/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Although he only made two fiction features, filmmaker Michael Roemer benefited greatly from an early rediscovery in the 1990s, thanks to the fortuitous unearthing of a film he made in 1969, The Plot Against Harry, a wry, dry comedy starring Martin Priest. His other film, 1964’s Nothing But a Man, is often compared by critics to the slicker, middle-America-friendly films that Sidney Poitier was making during the same era. Almost without exception, film about the minority experience in ’60s America were smoothed-over paeans to “the triumph of the human spirit,” starring or co-starring whites whose presence is required as witnesses, arbiters, and the final, thankful beneficiaries of growth and change. Bland but well-meaning, films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and A Patch of Blue, seeking to instruct the white moviegoer by giving them a diagrammatic path to sociopolitical enlightenment, had a funny habit of discounting, even nullifying, the Black experience.
- 2/22/2024
- by Jaime N. Christley
- Slant Magazine
Robert M. Young, the adventurous director who called the shots for Edward James Olmos in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Farrah Fawcett in Extremities and Tom Hulce and Ray Liotta in Dominick and Eugene, died Feb. 6, his son Andrew announced. He was 99.
After getting his start in educational and documentary films, Young also directed the 1969 Peabody-winning CBS telefilm J.T., written by Jane Wagner. Revolving around a Harlem youngster (Kevin Hooks) and an alley cat, it bowed on a Saturday afternoon and was repeated in primetime as the network preempted its most popular show, Gunsmoke.
Young also served as cinematographer, producer and co-writer with director Michael Roemer on the critically acclaimed drama Nothing But a Man (1964), featuring Ivan Dixon and jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln as a struggling young Black couple in Alabama.
Young made his feature directorial debut with Short Eyes (1977), which starred Bruce Davison, José Pérez and several real-life prisoners...
After getting his start in educational and documentary films, Young also directed the 1969 Peabody-winning CBS telefilm J.T., written by Jane Wagner. Revolving around a Harlem youngster (Kevin Hooks) and an alley cat, it bowed on a Saturday afternoon and was repeated in primetime as the network preempted its most popular show, Gunsmoke.
Young also served as cinematographer, producer and co-writer with director Michael Roemer on the critically acclaimed drama Nothing But a Man (1964), featuring Ivan Dixon and jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln as a struggling young Black couple in Alabama.
Young made his feature directorial debut with Short Eyes (1977), which starred Bruce Davison, José Pérez and several real-life prisoners...
- 2/13/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert M. Young, one of the pioneers of American independent cinema whose work began nearly 70 years ago, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. The news was announced via a Facebook post from his son Andy.
In a career that lasted from 1956 to 2011 he directed documentaries, narrative features, both independent and studio releases, and even episodes of “Battlestar: Gallactica.” Two of his films have recently been added to the Library of Congress Film Registry. “¡Alambrista!” (1977), as timely today as when it was made, about the life of undocumented Mexican immigrant won the Camera d’or for best first film at Cannes. “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” (1982), one of Young’s eight films with actor Edward James Olmos, produced by American Playhouse but released theatrically, has also been included. Both films are also part of the Criterion Collection.
Though perhaps not as well known as some pre-Sundance independent American directors like John Cassavetes,...
In a career that lasted from 1956 to 2011 he directed documentaries, narrative features, both independent and studio releases, and even episodes of “Battlestar: Gallactica.” Two of his films have recently been added to the Library of Congress Film Registry. “¡Alambrista!” (1977), as timely today as when it was made, about the life of undocumented Mexican immigrant won the Camera d’or for best first film at Cannes. “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” (1982), one of Young’s eight films with actor Edward James Olmos, produced by American Playhouse but released theatrically, has also been included. Both films are also part of the Criterion Collection.
Though perhaps not as well known as some pre-Sundance independent American directors like John Cassavetes,...
- 2/10/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Oscar Contender
Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor (“The Elephant Whisperers”) and Michelin-starred chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna (“The Last Color”) have boarded Oscar-qualified animated short “American Sikh” as executive producers.
The film tells the true story of an American-born, turban-wearing Sikh illustrator, writer, performance artist, diversity speaker and creator of Sikhtoons.com, Vishavjit Singh, who after a lifetime of facing prejudice, self-doubt and violence, finally finds acceptance in a superhero costume. Singh is publicly known for his Captain America persona — a turbaned and bearded Sikh — fighting against bigotry, intolerance and perceptions of what an American should look like post 9/11.
“American Sikh” was created in partnership with Singh as the director-producer and director Ryan Westra. It was animated by Studio Showoff, a Melbourne-based production house founded by Ivan Dixon and Sean Zwan that has produced work for Childish Gambino, HBO and Cartoon Network.
The film has won best short animation at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham,...
Oscar-winning producer Guneet Monga Kapoor (“The Elephant Whisperers”) and Michelin-starred chef and filmmaker Vikas Khanna (“The Last Color”) have boarded Oscar-qualified animated short “American Sikh” as executive producers.
The film tells the true story of an American-born, turban-wearing Sikh illustrator, writer, performance artist, diversity speaker and creator of Sikhtoons.com, Vishavjit Singh, who after a lifetime of facing prejudice, self-doubt and violence, finally finds acceptance in a superhero costume. Singh is publicly known for his Captain America persona — a turbaned and bearded Sikh — fighting against bigotry, intolerance and perceptions of what an American should look like post 9/11.
“American Sikh” was created in partnership with Singh as the director-producer and director Ryan Westra. It was animated by Studio Showoff, a Melbourne-based production house founded by Ivan Dixon and Sean Zwan that has produced work for Childish Gambino, HBO and Cartoon Network.
The film has won best short animation at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Robert Clary, the French actor, singer and Holocaust survivor who portrayed Corporal LeBeau on the World War II-set sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 96.
Clary, who was mentored by famed entertainer Eddie Cantor and married one of his five daughters, died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles, his granddaughter Kim Wright told The Hollywood Reporter.
CBS’ Hogan’s Heroes, which aired over six seasons from September 1965 to April 1971, starred Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, an American who led an international group of Allied prisoners of war in a convert operation to defeat the Nazis from inside the Luft Stalag 13 camp.
As the patriotic Cpl. Louis LeBeau, the 5-foot-1 Clary hid in small spaces, dreamed about girls, got along great with the guard dogs and used his expert culinary skills to help the befuddled Nazi Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer...
Robert Clary, the French actor, singer and Holocaust survivor who portrayed Corporal LeBeau on the World War II-set sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 96.
Clary, who was mentored by famed entertainer Eddie Cantor and married one of his five daughters, died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles, his granddaughter Kim Wright told The Hollywood Reporter.
CBS’ Hogan’s Heroes, which aired over six seasons from September 1965 to April 1971, starred Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, an American who led an international group of Allied prisoners of war in a convert operation to defeat the Nazis from inside the Luft Stalag 13 camp.
As the patriotic Cpl. Louis LeBeau, the 5-foot-1 Clary hid in small spaces, dreamed about girls, got along great with the guard dogs and used his expert culinary skills to help the befuddled Nazi Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer...
- 11/16/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When discussing representation, we emphasize the necessity of Black people living in this moment and seeing themselves onscreen. But in the past, Black audiences had a much stronger need to visualize a different, more prosperous future in the wake of the violent realities of Jim Crow, segregation, and the Civil Rights movement. They needed to see a world where Black people were allowed to meet their full potential as artists, thinkers, and craftspeople.
In the opening lines of the new documentary “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” director Elvis Mitchell speaks of his grandmother, remarking that “movies changed the way she dreamed.” For people in her generation, those dreams could be life-changing.
But most of the faces she saw onscreen at the movies were white. For the Black cinephile in the early years of Hollywood, projecting oneself onto characters was necessary. And yet, there were filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux and,...
In the opening lines of the new documentary “Is That Black Enough for You?!?,” director Elvis Mitchell speaks of his grandmother, remarking that “movies changed the way she dreamed.” For people in her generation, those dreams could be life-changing.
But most of the faces she saw onscreen at the movies were white. For the Black cinephile in the early years of Hollywood, projecting oneself onto characters was necessary. And yet, there were filmmakers like Oscar Micheaux and,...
- 10/11/2022
- by Jourdain Searles
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAnne Heche in Psycho.Anne Heche has died at the age of 53, one week after sustaining critical injuries in a car accident. At Vulture, Matt Zoller Seitz offers a tribute to her "elastic," unclassifiable talent over 35 years of screen roles.Best known for Half of a Yellow Sun, an adaptation of the Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie novel, Nigerian director and novelist Biyi Bandele died aged 54 last week. His second feature, Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.In New York, the Downtown Community Television Center (Dctv) will open a documentary cinema in lower Manhattan's Chinatown district, screening first-run debuts and curated programs starting on September 22.Mid-century Italian screen icon Gina Lollobrigida has said she will run for the Sovereign and Popular Italy party (ISP...
- 8/16/2022
- MUBI
Click here to read the full article.
Mary Alice, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actress who starred in the original Broadway production of Fences, portrayed the mother of three singing daughters in Sparkle and appeared as The Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions, has died. She was 85.
Alice died Wednesday in her Manhattan apartment, an NYPD spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
In 1990 films, Alice played Nurse Margaret opposite Robin Williams and Robert De Niro in Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall; the family matriarch dealing with a disruptive guest (Danny Glover) in Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger; and a woman whose son was struck by a car in the South Bronx in Brian De Palma’s The Bonfire of the Vanities.
The onetime Chicago schoolteacher received back-to-back Emmy nominations in 1992 and ’93 — winning in the second year — for her supporting turn as Marguerite Peck, whose child is murdered, on the Atlanta-set NBC legal drama I’ll Fly Away,...
Mary Alice, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actress who starred in the original Broadway production of Fences, portrayed the mother of three singing daughters in Sparkle and appeared as The Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions, has died. She was 85.
Alice died Wednesday in her Manhattan apartment, an NYPD spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
In 1990 films, Alice played Nurse Margaret opposite Robin Williams and Robert De Niro in Awakenings, directed by Penny Marshall; the family matriarch dealing with a disruptive guest (Danny Glover) in Charles Burnett’s To Sleep With Anger; and a woman whose son was struck by a car in the South Bronx in Brian De Palma’s The Bonfire of the Vanities.
The onetime Chicago schoolteacher received back-to-back Emmy nominations in 1992 and ’93 — winning in the second year — for her supporting turn as Marguerite Peck, whose child is murdered, on the Atlanta-set NBC legal drama I’ll Fly Away,...
- 7/28/2022
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
No two ways about it: April’s a great month for the Criterion Channel, which (among other things; more in a second) adds two recent favorites. We’re thrilled at the SVOD premiere of Hamaguchi’s entrancing Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, our #3 of 2021, and Bruno Dumont’s lacerating France, featuring Léa Seydoux’s finest performance yet.
Ethan Hawke’s Adventures in Moviegoing runs the gamut from Eagle Pennell’s Last Night at the Alamo to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, while a 14-film John Ford retro (mostly) skips westerns altogether. And no notes on the Delphine Seyrig retro—multiple by Akerman, Ulrike Ottinger, Duras, a smattering of Buñuel, and Seyrig’s own film Be Pretty and Shut Up! That of all things might be the crown jewl.
See the full list of April titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
—
3 Bad Men, John Ford, 1926
Aar paar, Guru Dutt,...
Ethan Hawke’s Adventures in Moviegoing runs the gamut from Eagle Pennell’s Last Night at the Alamo to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, while a 14-film John Ford retro (mostly) skips westerns altogether. And no notes on the Delphine Seyrig retro—multiple by Akerman, Ulrike Ottinger, Duras, a smattering of Buñuel, and Seyrig’s own film Be Pretty and Shut Up! That of all things might be the crown jewl.
See the full list of April titles below and more on the Criterion Channel.
—
3 Bad Men, John Ford, 1926
Aar paar, Guru Dutt,...
- 3/25/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The comedian and former The Daily Show correspondent talks about his favorite Blaxploitation movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Castle (1997)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary
Pressure (1976)
Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
Boss (1975)
Django Unchained (2012) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Thing With Two Heads (1972) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary
The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)
The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)
Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)
Black Samurai (1977)
Truck Turner (1974)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Judas And The Black Messiah (2021)
Friday Foster (1975)
That Man Bolt (1973)
Blacula (1972)
Foxy Brown (1974) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary
Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)
Willie Dynamite (1973) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Billy Jack (1971)
John Wick (2014)
The Matrix (1999)
Cleopatra Jones...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Castle (1997)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973) – Bill Duke’s trailer commentary
Pressure (1976)
Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964) – Mick Garris’s trailer commentary
Boss (1975)
Django Unchained (2012) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Thing With Two Heads (1972) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary
The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant (1971)
The Liberation of L.B. Jones (1970)
Last of the Mobile Hot Shots (1970)
Black Samurai (1977)
Truck Turner (1974)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Black Caesar (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Hell Up In Harlem (1973) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
Judas And The Black Messiah (2021)
Friday Foster (1975)
That Man Bolt (1973)
Blacula (1972)
Foxy Brown (1974) – Jack Hill’s trailer commentary
Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)
Willie Dynamite (1973) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Billy Jack (1971)
John Wick (2014)
The Matrix (1999)
Cleopatra Jones...
- 8/17/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Ramin Bahrani, Oscar-nominated writer/director of The White Tiger, discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
- 4/20/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
By Lee Pfeiffer
Yaphet Kotto, the distinctive and distinguished actor, has passed away at age 81. Kotto was born in Harlem and began to study acting at age 16. He made his big screen debut in 1964 in the acclaimed race-themed drama "Nothing But a Man" opposite Ivan Dixon, a fellow African-American whose star would rise on the basis of the film. Kotto also appeared in "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and was a regular presence in guest star roles on top TV series such as "Gunsmoke", "Daniel Boone", "Night Gallery", "The Big Valley", "Hawaii Five-0", "Mannix" and "The High Chapparal". He was nominated for an Emmy award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 1976 TV production of "Raid on Entebbe". Kotto simultaneously kept landing good parts in major movies such as "5 Card Stud", "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" and "Across 110th Street". In 1973, he appeared in what is perhaps his most memorable role,...
Yaphet Kotto, the distinctive and distinguished actor, has passed away at age 81. Kotto was born in Harlem and began to study acting at age 16. He made his big screen debut in 1964 in the acclaimed race-themed drama "Nothing But a Man" opposite Ivan Dixon, a fellow African-American whose star would rise on the basis of the film. Kotto also appeared in "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and was a regular presence in guest star roles on top TV series such as "Gunsmoke", "Daniel Boone", "Night Gallery", "The Big Valley", "Hawaii Five-0", "Mannix" and "The High Chapparal". He was nominated for an Emmy award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 1976 TV production of "Raid on Entebbe". Kotto simultaneously kept landing good parts in major movies such as "5 Card Stud", "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" and "Across 110th Street". In 1973, he appeared in what is perhaps his most memorable role,...
- 3/16/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The confused, frightened, complying face of a young black boy as two Metropolitan police stop, search, and humiliate him on the street: This is one of the first things we see in Red, White, and Blue, the third in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe pentalogy, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. It’s an image that grows even more charged in hindsight, a few scenes (spanning years) later, when the boy’s father — who’d swooped in to save him in that earlier encounter — is badly beaten by the police...
- 12/5/2020
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
Easily the best family-oriented black experience movie of the early 1970s, the Third World Cinema Corporation’s first film features Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones in a funny, endearing saga of life in the welfare system, with human feeling and compassion to spare. But the triumphant socially progressive movie fails the 2020 diversity test — its primary producer, cameraman, writers and director are white. Are we still allowed to enjoy it?
Claudine
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1052
1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 13, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Tamu Blackwell, David Kruger, Yvette Curtis, Eric Jones, Socorro Stephens.
Cinematography: Gayne Rescher
Film Editor: Louis San Andres
Original Music: Curtis Mayfield
Written by Lester Pine and Tina Pine
Produced by J. Lloyd Grant, Hannah Weinstein
Directed by John Berry
In 1974 Claudine impressed this viewer quite a bit. I hadn’t seen many really good...
Claudine
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1052
1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 13, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Diahann Carroll, James Earl Jones, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Tamu Blackwell, David Kruger, Yvette Curtis, Eric Jones, Socorro Stephens.
Cinematography: Gayne Rescher
Film Editor: Louis San Andres
Original Music: Curtis Mayfield
Written by Lester Pine and Tina Pine
Produced by J. Lloyd Grant, Hannah Weinstein
Directed by John Berry
In 1974 Claudine impressed this viewer quite a bit. I hadn’t seen many really good...
- 10/17/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s not part of our Movies You Never Heard Of series but Tom Stern and Lane Slate’s Clay Pigeon certainly qualifies. This low budget indie about a Vietnam vet-turned undercover informer has more than enough quirky qualities to recommend it. Stern also stars as the shaggy-haired decoy and Telly Savalas is the manipulative agent who masterminds the scheme. A terrific supporting cast seals the deal: Burgess Meredith, Robert Vaughn and Ivan Dixon.
The post Clay Pigeon appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Clay Pigeon appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 10/12/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
This weekend marks the 49th anniversary of the release of “Shaft.” Released in 1971, it grossed about $90 million in adjusted prices — a huge success, more than 25 times its cost. More importantly, it forced studios to acknowledge the Black audience segment that was long taken for granted.
Hollywood studio filmmaking is 105 years old. But it took more than half of those years for major studios to release a film from a Black director. There were Black directors, but they were too few and far between. And The first Black director was silent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, whose parents were former slaves. In the sound era, the first Black director was Spencer Williams, an actor best known as Andy of Amos n’ Andy. And while films in the 1960s began to tell Black stories such as “Lilies of the Field” and “A Raisin In the Sun,” they inevitably reflected white perspectives and denied Black...
Hollywood studio filmmaking is 105 years old. But it took more than half of those years for major studios to release a film from a Black director. There were Black directors, but they were too few and far between. And The first Black director was silent filmmaker Oscar Micheaux, whose parents were former slaves. In the sound era, the first Black director was Spencer Williams, an actor best known as Andy of Amos n’ Andy. And while films in the 1960s began to tell Black stories such as “Lilies of the Field” and “A Raisin In the Sun,” they inevitably reflected white perspectives and denied Black...
- 7/5/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
The rage and anger at police violence and systemic racism is not just a week, a year, or even decades old. It is centuries in the making. And in order to understand and meaningfully contribute to the movement, audiences will need to educate themselves on the racist and socioeconomic inequities that nurture the environment that allows these injustices to thrive.
From Oscar Micheaux’s “Within Our Gates” (1920), to Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” filmmakers have tackled this subject with tense and angry films made in reaction to the status quo. They unpack the onscreen racist ideology that began with D.W. Griffith’s incendiary “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), and highlight the realities of a society in which racial disparities permeate and undermine an entire system’s effectiveness.
These are bold and provocative films that serve as overdue tonic for a society that has long been saturated with incomplete depictions of black people,...
From Oscar Micheaux’s “Within Our Gates” (1920), to Jordan Peele’s “Get Out,” filmmakers have tackled this subject with tense and angry films made in reaction to the status quo. They unpack the onscreen racist ideology that began with D.W. Griffith’s incendiary “The Birth of a Nation” (1915), and highlight the realities of a society in which racial disparities permeate and undermine an entire system’s effectiveness.
These are bold and provocative films that serve as overdue tonic for a society that has long been saturated with incomplete depictions of black people,...
- 6/3/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Normally, IndieWire’s Stream of the Day feature focuses on movies that you can watch at home. Today, we’re using this space to call out a few that should be available, but aren’t. At one time or another, we have all probably experienced this frustrating conundrum: You want to watch a movie or TV show that sneaks its way into your consciousness, or was recommended by a trusted source, and, like most people, you first try the streaming services — especially in the current environment — but none of them carry it, not even as a rental or purchase on Amazon or iTunes. That’s especially true for films from black filmmakers.
For example, none of the films from key L.A. Rebellion filmmaker, Haile Gerima are available to stream on any platform, nor is Ivan Dixon’s classic “The Spook Who Sat By the Door” (1973), or Jessie Maple’s 1981 film “Will,...
For example, none of the films from key L.A. Rebellion filmmaker, Haile Gerima are available to stream on any platform, nor is Ivan Dixon’s classic “The Spook Who Sat By the Door” (1973), or Jessie Maple’s 1981 film “Will,...
- 5/7/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: The final season of Empire debuts tonight on Fox, but co-creator Lee Daniels is planning for the post-Lyons future with a new version of a seminal satire and thriller for FX.
Having optioned Sam Greenlee’s spy novel The Spook Who Sat By The Door in the summer of 2018 for a potential TV series, Lee Daniel’s production company has now named Leigh Dana Jackson to adopt the CIA tale for the small screen, I’ve learned. The 24: Legacy producer and Raising Dion co-ep will executive producer the intended series, as well as write it.
This new Tswsbtd is currently in development at the now Disney-owned John Landgraf-run cabler.
Having been born in 1969 as an acclaimed novel of the first African-American brought on board by the Agency and the tokenism and discrimination at the heart of that hire, the often scathing and provocative Tswsbtd was also made into a controversial 1973 film.
Having optioned Sam Greenlee’s spy novel The Spook Who Sat By The Door in the summer of 2018 for a potential TV series, Lee Daniel’s production company has now named Leigh Dana Jackson to adopt the CIA tale for the small screen, I’ve learned. The 24: Legacy producer and Raising Dion co-ep will executive producer the intended series, as well as write it.
This new Tswsbtd is currently in development at the now Disney-owned John Landgraf-run cabler.
Having been born in 1969 as an acclaimed novel of the first African-American brought on board by the Agency and the tokenism and discrimination at the heart of that hire, the often scathing and provocative Tswsbtd was also made into a controversial 1973 film.
- 9/24/2019
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
“Hogan’s Heroes” is the latest classic TV series seeking the reboot treatment, with a sequel series from original series co-creator Al Ruddy in the works.
The new single-camera comedy would be set in present-day and would center on the descendants of the original characters as they team up for a global treasure hunt. No writer or network is currently attached to the project.
Ruddy will serve as an executive producer on the project, alongside “Vice Principals” trio Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jody Hill. Brandon James of Rough House Pictures and Alix Jaffe and Adam Dunlap of Village Roadshow will also executive produce.
Also Read: 'Battlestar Galactica' Reboot From Sam Esmail in the Works for NBCUniversal Streaming Service
The original “Hogan’s Heroes” ran for six seasons and 168 episodes on CBS from 1965 to 1971. Bob Crane, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon and Larry Hovis starred as...
The new single-camera comedy would be set in present-day and would center on the descendants of the original characters as they team up for a global treasure hunt. No writer or network is currently attached to the project.
Ruddy will serve as an executive producer on the project, alongside “Vice Principals” trio Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jody Hill. Brandon James of Rough House Pictures and Alix Jaffe and Adam Dunlap of Village Roadshow will also executive produce.
Also Read: 'Battlestar Galactica' Reboot From Sam Esmail in the Works for NBCUniversal Streaming Service
The original “Hogan’s Heroes” ran for six seasons and 168 episodes on CBS from 1965 to 1971. Bob Crane, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon and Larry Hovis starred as...
- 9/17/2019
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Sidney Poitier’s films of the 1950s and ’60s almost always put a statement about race in the forefront, and even when the message was obvious, his work as ambassador across the race divide made a big difference. This sweet tale of a possible romance across social barriers came at a time when interracial pairing was still illegal in some states. Poitier is his sweet self, but the film was stolen by young Elizabeth Hartman, a major talent with a tragic life story.
A Patch of Blue
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date June, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Hartman, Wallace Ford, Ivan Dixon, Elisabeth Fraser, John Qualen.
Cinematography: Robert Burks
Film Editor: Rita Roland
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
From the novel Be Ready With Bells and Drums by Elizabeth Kata
Produced by Pandro S. Berman
Written and Directed by...
A Patch of Blue
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1965 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date June, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Shelley Winters, Elizabeth Hartman, Wallace Ford, Ivan Dixon, Elisabeth Fraser, John Qualen.
Cinematography: Robert Burks
Film Editor: Rita Roland
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
From the novel Be Ready With Bells and Drums by Elizabeth Kata
Produced by Pandro S. Berman
Written and Directed by...
- 6/8/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Stars: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Louis Gossett Jr, Ivan Dixon | Written by Lorraine Hansberry | Directed by Daniel Petrie
In the early 1960s, in a Chicago ghetto apartment, a black family is on the cusp of great change. It’s all because of an insurance cheque that the grandmother is about to receive. Ten thousand dollars – but what to do with it? She wants to buy a bigger home to contain three generations of her family. Her son, Walt (Sidney Poitier), the passionate patriarch, is thinking bigger. He doesn’t want to hide in the suburbs; he wants to push forward the fate of the “coloured” man.
The arguments over the purpose of the windfall are the maguffin to the real regrets and resentments hiding just below the surface of this borderline impoverished family. Walt’s wife, Ruth (Ruby Dee), is caught between two worlds: the hope...
In the early 1960s, in a Chicago ghetto apartment, a black family is on the cusp of great change. It’s all because of an insurance cheque that the grandmother is about to receive. Ten thousand dollars – but what to do with it? She wants to buy a bigger home to contain three generations of her family. Her son, Walt (Sidney Poitier), the passionate patriarch, is thinking bigger. He doesn’t want to hide in the suburbs; he wants to push forward the fate of the “coloured” man.
The arguments over the purpose of the windfall are the maguffin to the real regrets and resentments hiding just below the surface of this borderline impoverished family. Walt’s wife, Ruth (Ruby Dee), is caught between two worlds: the hope...
- 10/2/2018
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
Lorraine Hansberry’s play has been given a masterful film adaptation, with the emotional truth of her words left intact. We’re told of some superficial compromises, but they do not diminish the play’s powerful clash between old and new ideas in a Southside Chicago family struggling to escape poverty. This may be Sidney Poitier’s best screen performance, but the honors are shared with a superlative cast.
A Raisin in the Sun
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 945
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 128 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, John Fiedler, Louis Gossett Jr., Stephen Perry, Joel Fluellen, Louis Terrel, Roy Glenn.
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr.
Film Editors: William A. Lyon, Paul Weatherwax
Original Music: Laurence Rosenthal
Written by Lorraine Hansberry, from her play
Produced by David Susskind, Philip Rose
Directed by Daniel Petrie
In more than...
A Raisin in the Sun
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 945
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 128 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 25, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Ruby Dee, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, John Fiedler, Louis Gossett Jr., Stephen Perry, Joel Fluellen, Louis Terrel, Roy Glenn.
Cinematography: Charles Lawton Jr.
Film Editors: William A. Lyon, Paul Weatherwax
Original Music: Laurence Rosenthal
Written by Lorraine Hansberry, from her play
Produced by David Susskind, Philip Rose
Directed by Daniel Petrie
In more than...
- 9/29/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Actor Ivan Dixon was a favorite of Rod Serling's, who cast him in The Twilight Zone twice. Dixon was black, and Serling fought to get minorities on TV in roles that weren't defined only by race. Dixon went on to become a prolific TV director himself, and made two features. Trouble Man (1972) is a not-particularly-ambitious blacksploitation pic that does everything it sets out to do with efficiency. The following year's The Spook Who Sat by the Door aims much, much higher, telling an epic, politically-charged story spanning years and leaping from Langley to Chicago. "Spook": racist epithet for an African American. Slang term for a spy. The set-up: a beleaguered politician decides to divert criticism by accusing the CIA of racism: they have no Black agents. So a recruitment drive is started, but many within the organization don't intend to allow any of the applicants to succeed. Most...
- 9/5/2018
- MUBI
Childish Gambino released “Feels Like Summer” as a promotional single back in July, but it wasn’t widely discussed until September 2, when Childish premiered a new music video for the song. Directed by Childish himself Donald Glover, along with Ivan Dixon and Greg Sharp, the animated clip shows the hip-hop artist walking down a street while observing those around him, who you might not notice at first are a who’s-who of black public figures. Watch the video above.
The video features everyone from Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey to Beyonce and Janelle Monae. There are even political figures. Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum appears with a bowl of melted ice cream that has been interpreted as a reference to slain rapper XXXTentacion. And Michelle Obama shows up to comfort Kanye West, who is crying and wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap.
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter...
The video features everyone from Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey to Beyonce and Janelle Monae. There are even political figures. Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum appears with a bowl of melted ice cream that has been interpreted as a reference to slain rapper XXXTentacion. And Michelle Obama shows up to comfort Kanye West, who is crying and wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap.
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter...
- 9/4/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
In Childish Gambino’s music video for “Feels Like Summer” to the very socially poetic and aggressive “This Is America”, he gives us a fantasy neighborhood populated by some of today’s most popular rappers and prominent black figures in pop culture.
As Donald Glover’s rap alias, Childish Gambino’s new track, as the title suggests embodies pure summer vibes a la the Fresh Prince’s classic hit “Summertime.” Directed by the Atlanta creator and star as well as Ivan Dixon & Greg Sharp, the animated video is a game of spotting your favorite hip hop artists and icons.
One of the most-talked-about cameos is a crying Kanye West in a “Make America Great Again” hat being comforted by Michelle Obama. We also catch a glimpse of Beyonce donning a “Rip Fredo Santana” T shirt, honoring the young rapper that died earlier this year. The video also features Florida gubernatorial...
As Donald Glover’s rap alias, Childish Gambino’s new track, as the title suggests embodies pure summer vibes a la the Fresh Prince’s classic hit “Summertime.” Directed by the Atlanta creator and star as well as Ivan Dixon & Greg Sharp, the animated video is a game of spotting your favorite hip hop artists and icons.
One of the most-talked-about cameos is a crying Kanye West in a “Make America Great Again” hat being comforted by Michelle Obama. We also catch a glimpse of Beyonce donning a “Rip Fredo Santana” T shirt, honoring the young rapper that died earlier this year. The video also features Florida gubernatorial...
- 9/4/2018
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Just before summer comes to an end, Childish Gambino provides a playful, Easter Egg-filled animated overview of the hip-hop scene in his new “Feels Like Summer” video, featuring cameos by illustrated versions of many of Gambino’s rap counterparts.
As the animated Gambino walks down the street listening to music, he briefly encounters the rappers in his neighborhood, including 21 Savage, Chance the Rapper, Migos shooting hoops in a driveway, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott competitively playing with children’s blocks and Will Smith washing his car.
Drake then chases...
As the animated Gambino walks down the street listening to music, he briefly encounters the rappers in his neighborhood, including 21 Savage, Chance the Rapper, Migos shooting hoops in a driveway, Nicki Minaj and Travis Scott competitively playing with children’s blocks and Will Smith washing his car.
Drake then chases...
- 9/2/2018
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Lee Daniels Entertainment has optioned Sam Greenlee’s spy novel The Spook Who Sat By The Door to develop as a series based on the book and the 1970s cult classic blakxpoitation film of the same name, with Fox 21 Television Studios.
A search is out for a writer. Based on the book, the potential series looks at the fictional story of Dan Freeman, the first African American CIA officer hired by the agency in the late 1960s. The story chronicles the quest of Freeman, who was recruited as part of an affirmative-action program. After a very competitive selection process he trains in high-level combat and espionage. However, following this arduous training, this model recruit is rewarded with a post in the reprographics (aka photocopying) department, ‘left by the door’ as a token of the CIA’s ‘racial equality’.
Greenlee’s novel was first published in March 1969 by Allison & Busby in the UK,...
A search is out for a writer. Based on the book, the potential series looks at the fictional story of Dan Freeman, the first African American CIA officer hired by the agency in the late 1960s. The story chronicles the quest of Freeman, who was recruited as part of an affirmative-action program. After a very competitive selection process he trains in high-level combat and espionage. However, following this arduous training, this model recruit is rewarded with a post in the reprographics (aka photocopying) department, ‘left by the door’ as a token of the CIA’s ‘racial equality’.
Greenlee’s novel was first published in March 1969 by Allison & Busby in the UK,...
- 8/15/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
“Spook” being both a racial slur and slang for CIA agent, Ivan Dixon’s filmization of Sam Greenelee’s 1969 novel is one of the most astonishing Hollywood films of the Nixon era. Not merely subversive but a genuinely revolutionary call to arms, it’s not exactly polished but it is passionate. Original distributor UA pulled it from circulation for years.
- 1/5/2018
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Two pixel artists have created their own couch gag sequence for The Simpsons. It's full of fun detail and series references...
You could probably devote an entire website to all the homages and parodies made out Lego or pixel art, but this one's simply too good not to share.
Created by pixel artists Paul Robertson and Ivan Dixon, and featuring a soundtrack by Jeremy Dower, it's a 16-bit-style version of The Simpsons' opening credits. The attention to detail is exquisite - references to episodes past can be found in every scene - and, unusually, it just keeps getting better as it goes along.
Indeed, we wouldn't be too surprised if Fox didn't commission the artists to create something similar for the actual TV show. See for yourself...
Polygon
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
Other Viral Video Ryan...
You could probably devote an entire website to all the homages and parodies made out Lego or pixel art, but this one's simply too good not to share.
Created by pixel artists Paul Robertson and Ivan Dixon, and featuring a soundtrack by Jeremy Dower, it's a 16-bit-style version of The Simpsons' opening credits. The attention to detail is exquisite - references to episodes past can be found in every scene - and, unusually, it just keeps getting better as it goes along.
Indeed, we wouldn't be too surprised if Fox didn't commission the artists to create something similar for the actual TV show. See for yourself...
Polygon
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
Other Viral Video Ryan...
- 2/2/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
In Michael Roemer's superb and little-seen 1964 drama Nothing But a Man — playing October 8 and 9 as part of Film Forum's seven-movie Roemer tribute — Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln play a young couple striving to make a life for themselves in small-town Alabama. Lincoln's Josie, serene and self-possessed, is a preacher's daughter and a college-educated schoolteacher who refuses to let white people define her identity. Dixon's Duff Anderson, a former railroad worker whose independence and intelligence threaten the white male authority figures in the town where he's chosen to settle, doesn't have the same emotional fortitude. His circumstances are different, for reasons Josie understands: "It's not as hard on a girl," she tells him, trying to soothe him after he's lost...
- 10/8/2014
- Village Voice
Just when you thought you’d seen everything… here comes another 55 insane trailers to whip you into a frenzy in this collection of sick, depraved and hysterically brilliant movie previews from the golden age of Grindhouse cinema in Grindhouse Trailer Classics 4.
Following the successful and critically-acclaimed release of Grindhouse Trailer Classics 1, 2 & 3, Nucleus Films will once again take you on trip back to the “gory days” of cult and exploitation cinema with their latest unseen compilation of audacious theatrical trailers from the sleazy cinematic sub-genre known as “grindhouse”.
I’m a Huge fan of this series (check out this pic of my signed copies of the first 3 releases) so I’m super-excited to see what stupefyingly awesome trailers this collection has to offer. According to the press release, all of the trailers in this collection have been sourced from ultra-rare 35mm prints, many of which haven’t been seen since they...
Following the successful and critically-acclaimed release of Grindhouse Trailer Classics 1, 2 & 3, Nucleus Films will once again take you on trip back to the “gory days” of cult and exploitation cinema with their latest unseen compilation of audacious theatrical trailers from the sleazy cinematic sub-genre known as “grindhouse”.
I’m a Huge fan of this series (check out this pic of my signed copies of the first 3 releases) so I’m super-excited to see what stupefyingly awesome trailers this collection has to offer. According to the press release, all of the trailers in this collection have been sourced from ultra-rare 35mm prints, many of which haven’t been seen since they...
- 4/16/2014
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Here at S&A we’ve covered Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise And Fall of The Spook Who Sat By The Door a number times, before and after it gained prominence in the film market. For those unaware, this documentary tells the story behind the making of the cult-favorite movie The Spook Who Sat By The Door, with interviews centering around Sam Greenlee, the writer of the original book and screenplay, along with film co-stars Paul Butler, J.A. Preston and the late director Ivan Dixon’s wife Berlie Dixon, among other notables. The directors of this telling documentary are Christine Acham and Cliff Ward. Christine Acham received her PhD in Critical Studies from the USC School of...
- 3/19/2014
- by Curtis Caesar John
- ShadowAndAct
It won’t take a historian to convince you how turbulent the political atmosphere was in the 1960s — simply look at the American cinema for proof. There had been an influx of the film with the residue of McCarthyism (The Manchurian Candidate), spy thrillers with the looming threat of the Russians (From Russia with Love), and the deep-seated fear of nuclear apocalypse (Dr. Strangelove). These were films about professionals and about the jobs the men in high positions carried out with our voices and votes at a passive distance. The United States’ personal struggle, one dealt with on a day-to-day basis by the average citizen, was the civil rights movement, a stark attempt of reconciliation of the nation’s troubled past by affirming a real equality for black citizens — a cultural as well as legal battle. Cinema’s visual representation for African Americans at this point was throwing Sidney Poitier into a Hollywood production,...
- 11/7/2013
- by Zach Lewis
- SoundOnSight
A compelling new film documenting Muhammad Ali's battle against the Vietnam war draft shows the fighter's ongoing relevance, in and out of the ring
"Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan" was how the record company's slogan put it back in the 1960s. Equally, nobody plays Ali like Ali, then or now. So it was sensible of the director Stephen Frears and the screenwriter Shawn Slovo to mix original newsreel footage with newly shot material when putting together their film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, which they presented to an audience at the British Film Institute on Tuesday night.
Its Us premiere took place 24 hours later in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali's home town, kicking off Three Days of Greatness, a gala at which humanitarian awards were presented in the boxer's name to recipients including Jimmy Carter and Christina Aguilera. No one who saw it on either side of the Atlantic this week could doubt that if any sceptic,...
"Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan" was how the record company's slogan put it back in the 1960s. Equally, nobody plays Ali like Ali, then or now. So it was sensible of the director Stephen Frears and the screenwriter Shawn Slovo to mix original newsreel footage with newly shot material when putting together their film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, which they presented to an audience at the British Film Institute on Tuesday night.
Its Us premiere took place 24 hours later in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali's home town, kicking off Three Days of Greatness, a gala at which humanitarian awards were presented in the boxer's name to recipients including Jimmy Carter and Christina Aguilera. No one who saw it on either side of the Atlantic this week could doubt that if any sceptic,...
- 10/4/2013
- by Richard Williams
- The Guardian - Film News
He fled the Nazis for a British boarding school – then made a shocking drama about segregation in the deep south. Michael Roemer talks fate, family and sadistic governesses
The first time Michael Roemer set foot in the American south, something pinged in his brain. He had never been there before; he grew up in Germany and Britain, but that day in segregated Alabama in the early 1960s, "I recognised everything. It was immediate. I said, 'Oh, I know this. I know what this feels like.'"
In the last 10 days, I have seen three films by Roemer: two documentaries and Nothing But a Man, his first feature, shot in 1963. The documentaries – Dying, a short piece following three people in the last few months of their lives; and Cortile Cascino, a study of a slum in Palermo, Sicily – are 40 years old and hard to get hold of. Nothing But a Man...
The first time Michael Roemer set foot in the American south, something pinged in his brain. He had never been there before; he grew up in Germany and Britain, but that day in segregated Alabama in the early 1960s, "I recognised everything. It was immediate. I said, 'Oh, I know this. I know what this feels like.'"
In the last 10 days, I have seen three films by Roemer: two documentaries and Nothing But a Man, his first feature, shot in 1963. The documentaries – Dying, a short piece following three people in the last few months of their lives; and Cortile Cascino, a study of a slum in Palermo, Sicily – are 40 years old and hard to get hold of. Nothing But a Man...
- 10/2/2013
- by Emma Brockes
- The Guardian - Film News
Blue Jasmine | Prisoners | Greedy Lying Bastards | Mister John | Hannah Arendt | Runner Runner | It's A Lot | Girl Most Likely | Smash & Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panther | Austenland
Blue Jasmine (12A)
(Woody Allen, 2013, Us) Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard. 98 mins
In the downward trajectory of late-era Allen comes a startling spike to remind us how great he still can be, especially when it comes to women's roles. This show belongs to Blanchett, playing a Manhattan one-percenter brought down to earth. Propped up by alcohol, drugs and her sister, she's an accident that's already happening, and a magnificent, tragicomic creation.
Prisoners (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2013, Us) Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano. 153 mins
A kidnapping case refuses to crack in this weighty, slippery whodunit.
Greedy Lying Bastards (12A)
(Craig Scott Rosebraugh, 2012, Us) 90 mins
Climate-change deniers get a dose of their own medicine, as this impassioned doc lays out a history of hypocrisy.
Mister John (15)
(Christine Molloy,...
Blue Jasmine (12A)
(Woody Allen, 2013, Us) Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard. 98 mins
In the downward trajectory of late-era Allen comes a startling spike to remind us how great he still can be, especially when it comes to women's roles. This show belongs to Blanchett, playing a Manhattan one-percenter brought down to earth. Propped up by alcohol, drugs and her sister, she's an accident that's already happening, and a magnificent, tragicomic creation.
Prisoners (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2013, Us) Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano. 153 mins
A kidnapping case refuses to crack in this weighty, slippery whodunit.
Greedy Lying Bastards (12A)
(Craig Scott Rosebraugh, 2012, Us) 90 mins
Climate-change deniers get a dose of their own medicine, as this impassioned doc lays out a history of hypocrisy.
Mister John (15)
(Christine Molloy,...
- 9/28/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
This subtle, delicately judged, pioneering 1964 drama about African American life is a joy
This rerelease of the 1964 film Nothing But a Man, the pioneering drama about African-American life, is an enormous pleasure. The performances are so fresh and natural – yet so subtle and delicately judged. The direction is superb in its control and the cinematography creates a gripping docu-realist vision. Why has this passionate and involving love story been relatively overlooked? Could there have been a politically correct reluctance to endorse a film about black people made by a white man? Michael Roemer is a German-born immigrant whose Jewish background and experience of Nazi persecution gave him what he felt was a heightened sensitivity to America's racial injustice. Well, it is a joy to see this film now. Duff (Ivan Dixon) is an Alabama railroad worker who falls in love with a schoolteacher, Josie (Abbey Lincoln). The couple encounter racism...
This rerelease of the 1964 film Nothing But a Man, the pioneering drama about African-American life, is an enormous pleasure. The performances are so fresh and natural – yet so subtle and delicately judged. The direction is superb in its control and the cinematography creates a gripping docu-realist vision. Why has this passionate and involving love story been relatively overlooked? Could there have been a politically correct reluctance to endorse a film about black people made by a white man? Michael Roemer is a German-born immigrant whose Jewish background and experience of Nazi persecution gave him what he felt was a heightened sensitivity to America's racial injustice. Well, it is a joy to see this film now. Duff (Ivan Dixon) is an Alabama railroad worker who falls in love with a schoolteacher, Josie (Abbey Lincoln). The couple encounter racism...
- 9/26/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Here at S&A we’ve covered Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise And Fall of The Spook Who Sat By The Door a number times, before and after it gained prominence in the film market. For those unaware, this documentary tells the story behind the making of the cult-favorite movie The Spook Who Sat By The Door, with interviews centering around Sam Greenlee, the writer of the original book and screenplay, along with film co-stars Paul Butler, J.A. Preston and the late director Ivan Dixon’s wife Berlie Dixon, among other notables. The directors of this telling documentary are Christine Acham and Cliff Ward. Christine Acham received her PhD in Critical Studies from the USC...
- 2/25/2013
- by Curtis Caesar John
- ShadowAndAct
Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat by the Door is screening on the Documentary Channel (Dish Network Channel 197; Direct TV Channel 267) tomorrow Friday 8th 8:00-9:15pm and 11:00-12:15pm. It will also screen on Wednesday 13th 10-11:15 a.m. and 2-3:15 p.m. Please tune in!!!!!! Words from the film's Facebook page, so an opportunity to see it, if you haven't, and if you have the Documentary Channel. University of California-Davis film professor, Christine Acham's documentary on the making of the Ivan Dixon-directed political firebrand of a film, The Spook Who Sat by the Door, adapted from Sam Greenlee's novel, is titled Infiltrating...
- 2/13/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Looking back at 2012 on what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2012—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2012 to create a unique double feature.
All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2012 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How would you program some...
All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2012 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.
How would you program some...
- 1/9/2013
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
The National Film Registry has added 25 more films that will be preserved in the Library of Congress. To be included in the registry the film needs to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” They have to be at least ten years old and are chosen from a list of films nominated by the public.
There's some great films that have been added this year. We've got the original 3:10 to Yuma, The Matrix, A Christmas Story, A League of Their Own, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dirty Harry, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and several more.
Check out the full list of films that were added this year below, and you can head over to the Registry website to nominate films that you think should be added in 2013!
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Considered to be one of the best westerns of the 1950s, “3:10 to Yuma” has gained in stature since its original release as...
There's some great films that have been added this year. We've got the original 3:10 to Yuma, The Matrix, A Christmas Story, A League of Their Own, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dirty Harry, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and several more.
Check out the full list of films that were added this year below, and you can head over to the Registry website to nominate films that you think should be added in 2013!
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
Considered to be one of the best westerns of the 1950s, “3:10 to Yuma” has gained in stature since its original release as...
- 12/20/2012
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
After all the debates, controversies, and stereotype accusations have cleared, looking back on Blaxploitation cinema today it’s easy to see healthy portions of the crime and action genres. Using these genres and the struggles of the black community, these films were created for those that wanted to see African American characters on the big screen not taking shit from the man, “getting over”, and–above all else—being the heroes in movies. In the documentary Baad Asssss Cinema, Samuel L. Jackson gives his take on the heroes of Blaxploitation: “We were tired of seeing the righteous black man. And all of a sudden we had guys who were…us. Or guys who did the things we wanted those guys to do.”
The unsung supporting players in these films that backed Fred Williamson and Pam Grier and many other stars were people acting and making a living off of it.
The unsung supporting players in these films that backed Fred Williamson and Pam Grier and many other stars were people acting and making a living off of it.
- 12/4/2012
- by Gregory Day
- SoundOnSight
Los Angeles – Richard Dawson, who had distinction in two areas of television – in his supporting role on the 1960s sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes” and as a game show host in the 1970s with his trademark of kissing contestants on “Family Feud” – died Saturday from complications due to cancer. He was 79.
Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm to an American father and English Mother in Gosport, Hampshire, England in 1932. After running away from a poverty-ridden childhood to join the Merchant Marines at the age of 14, Dawson pursued boxing and entertaining once he was discharged. He first went on stage as comedian Dickie Dawson, but revised the name to Richard Dawson once he became established.
Survey Says!: Host Richard Dawson on the Set of the Game Show ‘Family Feud’
Photo credit: ABC-tv
Gaining popularity as a comedian in England, Dawson married Diana Dors – called the British Marilyn Monroe – in 1959 (the marriage...
Dawson was born Colin Lionel Emm to an American father and English Mother in Gosport, Hampshire, England in 1932. After running away from a poverty-ridden childhood to join the Merchant Marines at the age of 14, Dawson pursued boxing and entertaining once he was discharged. He first went on stage as comedian Dickie Dawson, but revised the name to Richard Dawson once he became established.
Survey Says!: Host Richard Dawson on the Set of the Game Show ‘Family Feud’
Photo credit: ABC-tv
Gaining popularity as a comedian in England, Dawson married Diana Dors – called the British Marilyn Monroe – in 1959 (the marriage...
- 6/3/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The folks behind the St. Louis Black Film Festival Presents a Classic Black Film Festival for Black History Month at Landmark’s Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar in St. Louis’ Loop) each Thursday in February. Last year the St. Louis Black Film Festival presented a series of new films by black filmmakers, but this year are going back into the vaults and digging out some vintage cinema for audiences with an interest in black history to enjoy on the big screen.
This offerings for this Thursday, February 9th are Carmen Jones at 5pm and Car Wash at 7pm.
Carmen Jones (1954) was produced and directed by Otto Preminger from Oscar Hammerstein’s update of the Bizet opera. It stars Dorothy Dandridge as the title character, a free-spirited, free-loving parachute factory worker whose romantic entanglement with conflicted Joe(Harry Belafonte), who’s engaged to sweet Cindy Lou and about to go into pilot training for the Korean War,...
This offerings for this Thursday, February 9th are Carmen Jones at 5pm and Car Wash at 7pm.
Carmen Jones (1954) was produced and directed by Otto Preminger from Oscar Hammerstein’s update of the Bizet opera. It stars Dorothy Dandridge as the title character, a free-spirited, free-loving parachute factory worker whose romantic entanglement with conflicted Joe(Harry Belafonte), who’s engaged to sweet Cindy Lou and about to go into pilot training for the Korean War,...
- 2/7/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.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.
Sorry, folks… there are simply too many great films streaming this week to post an image for them all, but that’s a good thing, eh? You’ve got your movie watching work cut out for you, due in great part to Miramax releasing damn near their entire catalog of films on one day!
B. Monkey (1999)
Streaming Available: 05/01/2011
Director: Michael Radford
Synopsis: Good-hearted schoolteacher Alan Furnace (Jared Harris) desperately wants some excitement in his life — and he may just get some. One lonely night at a London bar, Alan spies the raven-haired beauty Beatrice (Asia Argento) arguing with two friends, Paul (Rupert Everett) and Bruno (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). Beatrice quickly befriends Alan and...
Sorry, folks… there are simply too many great films streaming this week to post an image for them all, but that’s a good thing, eh? You’ve got your movie watching work cut out for you, due in great part to Miramax releasing damn near their entire catalog of films on one day!
B. Monkey (1999)
Streaming Available: 05/01/2011
Director: Michael Radford
Synopsis: Good-hearted schoolteacher Alan Furnace (Jared Harris) desperately wants some excitement in his life — and he may just get some. One lonely night at a London bar, Alan spies the raven-haired beauty Beatrice (Asia Argento) arguing with two friends, Paul (Rupert Everett) and Bruno (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). Beatrice quickly befriends Alan and...
- 4/29/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
We at Mubi think that celebrating the films of 2010 should be a celebration of film viewing in 2010. Since all film and video is "old" one way or another, we present Out of a Past, a small (re-) collection of some of our favorite of 2010's retrospective viewings.
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This is a list of older movies I saw for the first time in 2010—not necessarily the best, but the ones that gave me the greatest sense of discovery. It’s a sad commentary on contemporary film culture that only five of the twelve films I mention are available on Netflix.
Routine Pleasures (Jean-Pierre Gorin, USA, 1986)
An essay film from the Godard’s former collaborator during his leftist Dziga Vertov Group days. The movie begins as a documentary about a group of model train enthusiasts in San Diego who have constructed an elaborate imaginary world with enormous and minutely detailed landscapes and a...
***
This is a list of older movies I saw for the first time in 2010—not necessarily the best, but the ones that gave me the greatest sense of discovery. It’s a sad commentary on contemporary film culture that only five of the twelve films I mention are available on Netflix.
Routine Pleasures (Jean-Pierre Gorin, USA, 1986)
An essay film from the Godard’s former collaborator during his leftist Dziga Vertov Group days. The movie begins as a documentary about a group of model train enthusiasts in San Diego who have constructed an elaborate imaginary world with enormous and minutely detailed landscapes and a...
- 1/5/2011
- MUBI
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