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The Skeleton Dance.George Eastman Museum senior curator Peter Bagrov was buying time for a projector to be repaired before the Nitrate Picture Show’s opening-night screening of Intolerance (1916). He told the audience that a fellow archivist had once compared the event, held annually at the Museum’s Dryden Theatre, to a feast where the bourgeoisie dine on otherwise extinct animals. That archivist isn’t the festival’s only critic: I have heard others liken the wide-eyed worship of cinema’s mostly defunct physical materials to a necrophilia of sorts. After all, if nitrate prints are the last vestiges of an otherwise forgotten industry standard, the best indicator of what a film was supposed to look like, does their projection to enthused cinephiles over a long weekend in Rochester, New York, not constitute the defilement of some of film history’s most precious materials? Even if the prints do not go up in flames,...

Stars: George Eastman, Annie Belle, Charles Borromel, Katya Berger, Kasimir Berger, Hanja Kochansky, Ian Danby, Ted Rusoff, Edmund Purdom | Written by George Eastman | Directed by Joe D’Amato

Absurd (1981), also known as Horrible and Rosso Sangue, is an Italian horror film directed by Joe D’Amato. The film serves as a loose follow-up to D’Amato’s earlier work, Anthropophagus. It features George Eastman reprising a similar role, this time as a near-immortal killer who regenerates from his injuries, leaving a trail of brutal murders in his wake, building on the themes and shock value established in Anthropophagus, pushing the boundaries of gore and violence even further. Absurd opens with the brutal pursuit and impalement of Eastman’s character, setting the tone for a relentless parade of bloodshed. The plot revolves around this indestructible killer terrorizing a suburban family, turning their home into a battleground of survival.

Much like its predecessor,...

Underway now through July 16, Severin Films‘ annual summer sale is the most ambitious in the company’s history. The Dario Argento’s Opera five-disc box set — which you can preview in an exclusive clip below — is the headliner, but there are nine more releases in addition to exclusive merchandise and big savings on past inventory.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Severin Summer Sale…

Opera

In my eyes — held open with needles, of course — Opera is Argento’s last true masterpiece. While the Italian maestro attained fleeting moments of greatness later in his oeuvre, Opera is the last of his efforts that can hold its own alongside his earlier, career-defining work like Suspiria, Deep Red, Tenebrae, and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Co-written by Argento and frequent collaborator Franco Ferrini, the giallo stars Cristina Marsillach as Betty, a young opera singer whose big break...

Stars: Tisa Farrow, Saverio Vallone, George Eastman, Serena Grandi, Margaret Mazzantini, Mark Bodin, Bob Larson, Rubina Rey | Written by Joe D’Amato, George Eastman | Directed by Joe D’Amato

Anthropophagus, also known as The Grim Reaper, is a notorious Italian horror film directed by Joe D’Amato. The plot centres on a group of tourists who become stranded on a deserted island, only to discover that they are being hunted by a deranged, cannibalistic killer, played with ferocious intensity by George Eastman.

Anthropophagus is a film that has cemented its place in horror history not only for its content but also for the controversy it sparked. As a piece of cinema, it embodies the visceral, unflinching approach to horror that Italian filmmakers of the time were known for. The film’s atmosphere is one of relentless dread, enhanced by its hauntingly desolate island setting and a sparse, eerie score that lingers...

Director Sergio Martino (All the Colors of the Dark) combines a monster reptile with an all-star EuroCult cast for The Great Alligator, one of the most outrageously entertaining Italian Jungle Carnage movies of them all, now in Uhd for the first time ever. At the opening of a tropical resort, a photographer (Claudio Cassinelli of Slave of the Cannibal God), an anthropologist (Barbara Bach of The Spy Who Loved Me) and an arrogant hotelier (Mel Ferrer of Eaten Alive!) are besieged by hostile natives, obnoxious tourists and a gargantuan river beast that intends to devour them all. Romano Puppo (Robowar), Richard Johnson (Zombie), and Silvia Collatina (The House by the Cemetary) co-star in this “top ten killer alligator/crocodile movie” (JoBlo), co-written by George Eastman (Anthropophagous), Cesare Frugoni (Spider Labyrinth), and Ernesto Gastaldi (Almost Human), newly scanned in 4K from the original negative.

The Great Alligator is available on 4K...

Rochester, NY – The last week of the “job well done” certainly applies to the career of Legacy Curator Kathy Connor of the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. After 42 years she retires as of March 31st, after overseeing the renovations and expansion to the Victorian mansion and the preservation efforts of George Eastman’s photography and film heritage.

George Eastman was in essence the inventor of at-home photography. As described in the Podtalk, he found a way to take the mechanics of picture taking from the studios of the era to the hands of everyone, as he evolved the photo/movie film formats through the years and compacted them further. Even as he passed away in 1932, the Rochester-based “Kodak” company (an invented name by Eastman) continued to innovate home photography and motion pictures for many years afterward. He was also a generous benefactor, providing $100 million dollars of his fortune...

Instead of letting old film reels languish and gather dust in warehouses, Jesse Brunt and his wife Michelle Sloey decided to give new life to these films and make art out of them, which in turn gets the film displayed again for the world to see.

The duo, who collaborate under the company name Jm Film Resins, have found film from movies like The Wizard of Oz (in technicolor), Pulp Fiction, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, My Cousin Vinny, The Devil Wears Prada, Gladiator, The Graduate … basically any film you love, they’ll have made a film resin art piece out of it.

“Every single film we find is a true treasure,” Brunt tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Every time, it’s like a mini miracle.”

The couple take prints, either up to one second, one second, or two seconds depending on the size of the work, encase them in...

Chicago – Jessica Lange’s long career as actor is on the record … from “King Kong” to “American Horror Story.” But her new book “Dérive” focuses on the photo artist in her, and she discussed it at the the 2022 Chicago Humanities Festival (Chf) on November 12th. Photographer Joe Arce of HollywoodChicago.com was there to get the Exclusive Portrait.

When the beginning of the pandemic locked down New York City, Jessica Lange grabbed her camera and went outside. In “Dérive,” Lange shares the photographs she took in those early days and what inspires her artistic practices. The moderator at the Chf event was Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune.

Jessica Lange at Chicago Humanities Festival, November 12th, 2022

Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Lange was born in Minnesota, and came of age in the perfect era to live a bohemian life style. She married in 1970 at age...

UK correspondent Lee Broughton returns with coverage of a well-realised Spaghetti Western, Michele Lupo’s irony-laden semi-comedy Ben & Charlie. The film’s eponymous anti-heroes are played by fan favourites Giuliano Gemma and George Eastman and the duo receive great support from a number of familiar faces including Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell and Giacomo Rossi Stuart.

Ben & Charlie

Region-Free Blu-ray

Explosive Media GmbH

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 113 min. / Amigo, Stay Away; Amico, stammi lontano almeno un palmo / Street Date, 28 October 2021 / Available from Explosive Media / £22.99

Starring: Giuliano Gemma, George Eastman, Vittorio Congia, Luciano Lorcas, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Remo Capitani, Nello Pazzafini, Marisa Mell, Aldo Sambrell, Roberto Camardiel.

Cinematography: Aristide Massaccesi

Production Designer: Dario Micheli

Film Editor: Antonietta Zita

Original Music: Gianni Ferrio

Written by Luigi Montefiori and Sergio Donati

Produced by Lucio Bompani

Directed by Michele Lupo

Charlie (George Eastman) patiently waits outside of a Mexican prison so that he can give his...

After viewing horror for decades (watch yer tongue), it just dawned on me how little truck international pictures – especially low budget horror – hold for purity of subgenre. Case in point: Mexico’s Cemetery of Terror (1985); a film set up as a Halloween clone, except Michael is a serial killer Satanist, and then it becomes a zombie film, and a kid’s flick that’s also really gory. All this, and Hugo Stiglitz to boot! They’re not wrong, of course; why have less genres when you can have more? It’s also stupidly fun.

Released in July Stateside with a homeland release the following December, Cemetery of Terror all but came and went, and I don’t even remember this thing in video stores.

But enough about VHS statistics from the ‘80s; let’s talk about this ultimately somewhat unique batfuckery of a film: As every horror should, we open...

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death last Thursday on the set of Rust is the latest in a long list of camera crew members who have been killed on the job, making camera work far and away the most dangerous work in Hollywood, more deadly than even stunts.

In the last 10 years, four members of camera teams have been killed on the set in the US – twice the number of stunt fatalities.

Camera crews work directly in front of the action, with nothing but their cameras between them and a speeding car, train or bullet. They’ve been killed in airplane and helicopter crashes; washed overboard and drowned in the ocean; struck and killed by a runaway stunt car; and crushed to death in a camera truck rollover.

The death of 27-year-old camera assistant Sarah Jones, who was killed on Feb.20, 2014 by a speeding freight train while filming a scene for Midnight Rider in Georgia,...

Sex and violence, beauty and madness, shoulder pads and pitchforks being stuck in eyeball-faced models. All signs point to Italy in the ‘80s, and Lamberto Bava’s Delirium (1987) fits the bill with murder, mystery, and bee-faced models. What, you think eyeballs get all the fun?

Delirium was released by Medusa Distribuzione in its homeland in April under its original title, Le Foto Di Gioia, and stars Serena Grandi (Antropophagus) as Gioia, the owner of a men’s magazine called Pussycat. When her models start turning up dead, she must figure out who is killing everyone around her, and if she’s the final target. A perfectly normal thriller for the time, yes?

Hold tight, pardner. First, this is a giallo, which means we’re going to need a few things: As many red herrings as possible (check); gratuitous nudity (double check); and a completely nonsensical resolution. Now, one could say...

Shopping for a shutterbug can be tricky. Whether they’re into digital or analog, your favorite photog likely already has their go-to camera setup and lenses. If you’re eyeing the best gifts for photographers, but aren’t too familiar with the art of photography yourself, we’ve gathered some of the coolest gear that your beloved paparazzo will find useful.

From sleek backpacks and vintage-inspired straps, to retro kits for film lovers, keep reading for our top gift ideas for photography enthusiasts.

1. Car Seat Camera Strap

If modern straps...

A bona fide film classic, George Stevens’ movie is less revered as an excellent adaptation of Theodore Dreiser than for its intense, almost hallucinatory romantic scenes between Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. A guileless poor boy tries to succeed above his economic background and entangles himself between two very different women. I guess the Academy wasn’t ready to take the glamorous young MGM beauty seriously: both Clift and their co-star Shelley Winters received acting nominations, but not Liz. Stevens’ first ‘fifties picture is perhaps the most balanced of his ‘heavy’ and ‘important’ works, a tragedy that’s too deeply felt to be merely ponderous.

A Place in the Sun

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 8

1951 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 122 min. / Street Date August, 2020 /

Starring: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters, Anne Revere, Keefe Brasselle, Fred Clark, Raymond Burr, Walter Sande, Ted de Corsia, Kathleen Freeman, Kasey Rogers, Douglas Spencer, Ian Wolfe.

Cinematography: William C. Mellor...

Stars: Linda Blair, David Hasselhoff, Hildegard Knef, Catherine Hickland, Annie Ross, Leslie Cumming, Robert Champagne, Rick Farnsworth, Michael Manchester, Frank Cammarata, Victoria Biggers, Ely Coughlin, Kara Lynch, Jamie Hanes, Richard Ladenburg | Written by Harry Spalding, Daniele Stroppa | Directed by Fabrizio Laurenti

If you grew up reading Darkside Magazine in the early 90s and regularly frequented your local video rental shop, as I did, you couldn’t help but know all about the UK VHS label Colourbox. Not a huge distributor, at least compared to others at the time, Colourbox were probably one of the most iconic – at least for me – VHS labels the UK had; and that’s mainly thanks to the fantastic line-up of films they released on VHS: Bad Blood, Bad Taste, Creepozoids, Dr. Alien, The Imp, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (though without the word “chainsaw” in the title thanks to stupid UK censorship at the time), the ever-awesome Intruder and Ghosthouse.

Harry Townsend's Last Standa new play written by George Eastman The Snow Job Bitter Exchange and directed by Karen Carpenter Love, Loss and What I Wore Handle With Care, has extended its limited run through April 5th due to enormous response from critics and audience alike, it was announced today by producerDennis Grimaldi A Gentlemen's Guide... Love Letters, Angels in America, Other People's Money. This is the final extension and the play must close on that date.

Harry Townsend's Last Stand www.HarryTownsendsLastStand.com a new play written by George Eastman The Snow Job Bitter Exchange and directed by Karen Carpenter Love, Loss and What I Wore Handle With Care, just opened at New York City Center Stage II 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues and is produced by Dennis Grimaldi A Gentlemen's Guide... Love Letters, Angels in America, Other People's Money. Starring Three time Tony Award Nominee and Tony Award winner, Len Cariou title role in Sweeney Todd A Little Night Music with Glynis Johns and Hermione Gingold Applause starring Lauren Bacall 'Blue Bloods' and Craig Bierko Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee, Music Man 'The Long Kiss Goodnight, 'UnREAL,' 'Blue Bloods'.

Harry Townsend's Last Stand www.HarryTownsendsLastStand.com a new play written by George Eastman The Snow Job Bitter Exchange and directed by Karen Carpenter Love, Loss and What I Wore Handle With Care, is currently playing at New York City Center Stage II 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues and is produced by Dennis Grimaldi A Gentlemen's Guide... Love Letters, Angels in America, Other People's Money. Starring Three time Tony Award Nominee and Tony Award winner, Len Cariou title role in Sweeney Todd A Little Night Music with Glynis Johns and Hermione Gingold Applause starring Lauren Bacall 'Blue Bloods' and Craig Bierko Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominee, Music Man 'The Long Kiss Goodnight, 'UnREAL,' 'Blue Bloods', Harry Townsend's Last Stand opens on Wednesday, December 4.

Exclusive: Tony winner and Blue Bloods star Len Cariou and UnREAL‘s Craig Bierko will co-star in Harry Townsend’s Last Stand, a new Off Broadway play set for a limited run this fall at New York City Center.

Written by George Eastman and directed by Karen Carpenter, the new play is set for City Center’s Stage II for a strictly limited engagement beginning previews November 18 and opening December 4.

Producer Dennis Grimaldi announced the production today.

Harry Townsend’s Last Stand follows 85-year-old Harry Townsend (Cariou), a widower, living alone in the Lakeside home he built in Vermont. While he still possesses a sharp mind and a dry wit, he is getting up there in age. Beside his daughter, Sarah, the one happiness in his life is his son, Alan (Bierko), who is finally coming home after an 18-month absence. Yet Alan’s...

The connoisseurs of all things sleazy at Severin Films have blessed genre film fans with a duo of Blu-ray releases sure to satisfy the most discerning gorehounds this Fall. A double feature of gut-munching, ultra gore masterpieces by Italian legend Joe D'amato, Anthropophagous (Aka Antropophagus, Aka The Grim Reaper) and Absurd, both written by and starring the devilishly handsome George Eastman....

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Yes folks, it’s a Joe D’Amato double feature as the twisted minds at Severin Films have seen fit to release two of his most notorious shockers, Anthropophagous (1980) and Absurd (1981) simultaneously for the horror crowd curious and rabid (rabidly curious?) to find out what all the fuss was about when these were originally banned way back in the day.

Banned? Indeed, they were part of the first wave of Great Britain’s infamous early ‘80s “Video Nasties”, a group of horror films that were yanked from shops and prosecuted; many would return to shelves wounded and neutered, or never make it back to the storefronts at all until many years later. Bless Severin Films then, for once again bringing viewers the greasy goods uncut and restored to their former, well beauty may be a strong word. These are D’Amatos we’re talking about.

These two particular films are...

The first drive-in movie reviewed by Joe Bob Briggs (read Daily Dead's interview with the horror host here for more on that story), the Italian horror movie Anthropophagous is coming to Blu-ray, along with 1981 film Absurd, aka Anthropophagous 2, uncut this September from the fine folks at Severin Films, and we have a look at the cover art and full list of special features for both releases.

Press Release: On September 25th, Severin Films is regurgitating two of the gutsiest of grim grails ever forged by Italy’s most infamous anti-human maestro, Joe D’Amato. Anthropophagous (1980) and Absurd (1981) are coming to Blu-Ray fully uncut and packed with special features to make you lose your lunch! To celebrate these gut-wrenching releases, Severin has also created epically upsetting merchandise that includes an Anthropophagous plush toy with entrails that pull out of his stomach just like real innards! The toy is safe for children...

The current kings of cult movie overkill, Severin Films, revealed their latest upcoming releases today. Next up for these heroes is a duo of cannibal classics from director Joe D'Amato and writer/star George Eastman, the legendary Video Nasties, Anthropophagous and Absurd. Not only are these two films coming to Blu-ray for the first time in the Us with an incredible host of bonus material including interviews with the director and his leading man along with other principals of the production, Severin have also gone insane with their latest collector's bundle. Over the last year Severin Films have formed the habit of supporting their high profile releases with exclusive merchandise like enamel pins, plush dolls (The Sinful Dwarf), pendants (Devil's Rain), t-shirts, and rubber balls (The...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

The latest Merchant Ivory film to get the full restoration treatment from Charles S. Cohen and his Cohen Media Group is the sumptuous 1965 drama “Shakespeare Wallah,” combining the legendary production duo’s love of family drama, canny political commentary, and a hearty dose of literally Shakespearean entanglements. It’s just one of the 30 films being re-released by Cohen as part of a remastered library includes 21 feature films and 9 shorts and documentaries.

Merchant Ivory Productions was founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory — together, they produced 44 films. Founder and Oscar-nominated director Ivory has collaborated with Cohen, and serves as creative director, on the restoration, re-release, and promotion of each of the 30 films. Other recent titles of note include “Howards End” and “Maurice,” with plenty more to come.

Read More:Merchant Ivory Films’ Sumptuous Re-Release Gets A Star-Filled New Trailer — Watch

This new “Shakespeare Wallah” restoration came from the 35Mm...

One of 39 titles to be successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Acts in 1984, Joe D’Amato’s Absurd (aka Horrible aka Rosso Sangue) massaged the erogenous zones of gore hounds across the globe upon release. Centered around a tense, unforgettable melody, Carlo Maria Cordio’s score is a compelling mix of high-strung grindhouse funk and synthesized splinters of Italian flair. As part of Death Waltz’s video nasty series, the label commissioned the canvas work of Wes Benscoter, whose grizzly graphical style violently epitomized the film's dark, bloodthirsty aesthetic.

Creating cadaverous cover arts for many of heavy metal's legendary acts (his portfolio includes Slayer’s Divine Intervention and Black Sabbath’s The Dio Years), it was only a matter of time before Death Waltz became a regular client of Benscoter. “After [the cover art for] New Barbarians was finished, I mentioned to Spencer [Hickman, head of Death Waltz] that if they ever do Antropophagus that I’d love to do the cover art,...

He’s fast on his feet, quick with a gun, and faster with the to-die-for beauties that only existed in the swinging ’60s. The superspy exploits of Oss 117 were too big for just one actor, so meet all three iterations of the man they called Hubert Bonisseur de La Bath . . . seriously.

Oss 117 Five Film Collection

Blu-ray

Oss 117 Is Unleashed; Oss 117: Panic in Bangkok; Oss 117: Mission For a Killer; Oss 117: Mission to Tokyo; Oss 117: Double Agent

Kl Studio Classics

1963-1968 / B&W and Color / 1:85 widescreen + 2:35 widescreen / 528 min. / Street Date September 26, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 59.95

Starring: Kerwin Matthews, Nadia Sanders, Irina Demick, Daniel Emilfork; Kerwin Matthews, Pier Angeli, Robert Hossein; Frederick Stafford, Mylène Demongeot, Perrette Pradier, Dominique Wilms, Raymond Pellegrin, Annie Anderson; Frederick Stafford, Marina Vlad, Jitsuko Yoshimura; John Gavin, Margaret Lee, Curd Jurgens, Luciana Paluzzi, Rosalba Neri, Robert Hossein, George Eastman.

Cinematography: Raymond Pierre Lemoigne...

A happy discovery! This is a major late- silent-era gem on the order of Von Sternberg’s Docks of New York — a special treat that will please fans of director William Wellman — he revisited parts of it in a later talkie. It’s also a key movie in our education/adoration of the maverick actress Louise Brooks, the erotic sensation too hot and too independent for Hollywood.

Beggars of Life

Blu-ray

Kino Classics

1928 / B&W / 1:33 Silent Aperture / 81 min. / Street Date August 22, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Wallace Beery, Richard Arlen, Louise Brooks, Blue Washington, Roscoe Karns, Robert Perry, Guinn ‘Bog Boy’ Williams.

Cinematography: Henry Gerrard

Film Editor: Alyson Shaffer

Assistant Director: Charles Barton

Music: The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

Written by Jim Tully and Benjamin Glazer from a novel by Jim Tully

Produced by Jesse L. Lasky, Adolph Zukor, William A. Wellman

Directed by William A. Wellman

Director...

Review by Roger Carpenter

The spaghetti western subgenre is littered with series-headlining characters like Sabata, Sartana, and Ringo. But for sheer popularity as well as film volume, no one beats Django.

Director Sergio Corbucci introduced Django to an international audience in 1966. Starring Franco Nero as the titular character, the film was so immensely popular across the globe that it spawned at least 60 unofficial sequels with titles like Django the Bastard, Viva! Django, Django Kill…If You Live Shoot!, Django Kills Softly, and literally dozens of others. There was even a comedy western entitled Nude Django. The name continues to live on with Takashi Miike’s Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (2012), which not only sports the original “Django” theme song but also a small part for Django himself, Franco Nero, as a bettor during a Mandingo fight.

The Italians are famous for jumping onto any cinematic bandwagon,...

Gambling, backstabbing, accidental brilliance, industrial sabotage, and suspicious disappearances all had a role in the birth of film. This is a look at the Victorian-era men who played vital roles in making movies possible.

The transition of film from still photography to the burgeoning industry that it is today did not happen overnight. Moving pictures began as a novelty act. In the mid 19th century, photographers would place successive metal film prints into spinning disks to create pictures that “moved”. Later, it was a wager by railroad tycoon Leland Stanford that gave moving pictures their first practical application. In 1878, he wanted to see if a horse ever had all of its legs off the ground when it ran, and a set-up of cameras in quick succession by Eadweard Muybridge gave him the answer of “yes”. Muybridge would develop this idea further, into a spinning lantern called the Zoopraxiscope to study the movement of animals.

Nick Aldwinckle Mar 2, 2017

Vampires, Ghosts Of Mars and the super-tense Creepy lead our latest round-up of horror DVDs and Blu-rays...

Any regular readers (there must be a few of you; there must be) will be more than aware of this writer’s borderline obsessive love for the movies of one John Carpenter. You’ve got your Halloween, The Thing, They Live or The Fog, but everyone knows the real quality comes in the form of the later films in this cult film-maker, lord of the synth and accomplished ‘tache-wearer’s career and the classics that are Escape From L.A and his TV-movie take on Village Of The Damned. No? Ok, those are both more than a little iffy, but with the latest Blu-ray release of two other generally maligned late efforts in Carpenter’s body of work, we ask the age-old question 'Was Vampires really that bad?'

Yes,...

Stars: Daniel Greene, Janet Agren, John Saxon, Claudio Cassinelli, Geroge Eastman, Roberto Bisacco, Andrea Coppola, Donald O’Brien, Amy Werba | Written by Sergio Martino, Elisa Briganti | Directed by Sergio Martino

As someone who grew up reading The Dark Side magazine I was privileged to be made aware of a myriad of genre films that, had I just stuck to the shelves of my local video store, I would never have heard of. Of course this was during a turbulent period in UK cinema history that, much like the video nasties era before it, saw horror films treated with disdain. Which meant that unlike today – where you can walk into HMV and buy former video nasty Anthropophagus on Blu-ray or order films from around the world online – it was a struggle to find a lot of the movies I read about. It’s not that I didn’t try, and thankfully...

Back when Sony released Rob Marshall’s overwrought and glossy $85-million flop “Memoirs of a Geisha,” I remember saying, “Merchant Ivory could have made a better version of this for $12 million.”

The production company founded by the late, great New York producer Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, his directing partner for 40 years, produced a remarkable collection of low-budget indie dramas from 1963 through 2005, the year Merchant died. Their films were so instantly recognizable that “Merchant Ivory” became not only a brand but also a description of an art film genre often identified in ads with ivy trellises.

Cohen Media recently acquired (with some difficulty) the rights to most of their library (21 films, 10 shorts and several documentaries). New York cinephile and real estate mogul Charles Cohen said he acquired the Merchant Ivory brand “to raise the profile in the minds of a new audience and remind older audiences of the high quality films Merchant Ivory embodied.

Back when Sony released Rob Marshall’s overwrought and glossy $85-million flop “Memoirs of a Geisha,” I remember saying, “Merchant Ivory could have made a better version of this for $12 million.”

The production company founded by the late, great New York producer Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, his directing partner for 40 years, produced a remarkable collection of low-budget indie dramas from 1963 through 2005, the year Merchant died. Their films were so instantly recognizable that “Merchant Ivory” became not only a brand but also a description of an art film genre often identified in ads with ivy trellises.

Cohen Media recently acquired (with some difficulty) the rights to most of their library (21 films, 10 shorts and several documentaries). New York cinephile and real estate mogul Charles Cohen said he acquired the Merchant Ivory brand “to raise the profile in the minds of a new audience and remind older audiences of the high quality films Merchant Ivory embodied.

“My leading men had been dogs and horses.”

That’s Elizabeth Taylor referring to her various co-stars up until she was cast opposite Montgomery Clift in director George Stevens’ 1951 melodrama A Place in the Sun.

Taylor, the child star of MGM films such as Lassie Come Home and National Velvet, was just 17 when Stevens asked her to play Angela Vickers, the wealthy socialite who falls in love with George Eastman (Clift), an ambitious, but poor, young man who is already engaged to pregnant factory worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). Desperate to get rid of Alice, George resorts to extreme measures.

Although still a teenager, Taylor exudes a worldly sexuality that is unsettling for one so young, but she would mature into and harness that magnetic sex appeal, and emerge as one of Hollywood’s most celebrated stars.

A Place in the Sun screens as part of Cineplex’s Classic Film Series on July 10th,...

Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.

Dan Sallitt has published his extensive companion on the films of Mikio Naruse.

A lost Marx Brothers musical has found its way back on stage, The New Yorker reports.

Watch a video on Pedro Almodóvar‘s obsession with the color red:

Los Angeles Plays Itself director Thom Andersen names his 10 favorite films of the last 10 years at Grasshopper Film.

Vox‘s Aja Romano on the strange story of how a machine was trained to “watch” Blade Runner:

Broad’s goal was to apply “deep learning” — a fundamental piece of artificial intelligence that uses algorithmic machine learning — to video; he wanted to discover what kinds of creations a...

Section to include world premiere of Bertrand Tavernier doc; a cinema masterclass with William Friedkin and a tribute to documentary giants Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman.

Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).

The revered French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”

Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.

As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored prints of 20 international classics including rare gems...

Section to include a cinema masterclass with William Friedkin, the 70th anniversary of the Fipresci prize, a tribute to documentary giants Raymond Depardon and Frederick Wiseman and the double Palme d’Or of 1966.

Bertrand Tavernier’s documentary about French cinema Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français will receive a world premiere at the Cannes Classic section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22).

The legendary French filmmaker has described his latest work as an expression of “gratitude to all the filmmakers, writers, actors and musicians that have appeared suddenly in my life.”

Voyage à Travers le Cinéma Français is a Little Bear-Gaumont-Pathé co-production and was made in participation with Canal+, Cine+ and the Sacem, with the support of Région Ile-de-France and Cnc. Gaumont will handle international sales and Pathé have distribution in France. The film will be released in theaters in October 2016.

As in previous years, Cannes Classic will also feature nine documentaries about cinema and restored...

Now that most of the Cannes Film Festival 2016 line-up has been settled when it comes to new premieres, their Cannes Classics sidebar of restored films is not only a treat for those attending, but a hint at what we can expect to arrive at repertory theaters and labels like Criterion in the coming years.

Today they’ve unveiled their line-up, which is toplined by Bertrand Tavernier‘s new 3-hour and 15-minute documentary about French cinema, Voyage à travers le cinéma français. They will also be screening William Friedkin‘s Sorcerer following his masterclass. Along with various documentaries, both classics in the genre and ones about films, they will also premiere new restorations of Andrei Tarkovsky‘s Solaris, Jean-Luc Godard‘s Masculin féminin, two episodes of Krzysztof Kieślowski‘s The Decalogue, as well as films from Kenji Mizoguchi, Marlon Brando, Jacques Becker, Mario Bava, and more.

Check out the line-up below.

Academy Award winner Michael Douglas is donating his personal film collection, of more than three dozen film prints, to Rochester’s George Eastman Museum. The collection includes both 35 mm and 16 mm prints, totaling 37 films, most of which he stared in or produced. The George Eastman Museum, a photography museum, is located on the New […]

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Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation is among the organsiations working with India’s Film Heritage Foundation on a film preservation workshop that kicks off this week (Feb 26-March 6).

Overseas partners also include The International Federation of Film Archives (Fiaf), George Eastman Museum, the Selznick School of Film Preservation and Italy’s L’Immagine Ritrovata. In addition to Film Heritage Foundation, established by Indian filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, local organisers include the National Film Archive of India (Nfai) and Viacom18.

“The language of cinema is universal,” said Scorsese, announcing the workshop. “In a time of great divisions, conflicts, transformations, it’s really crucial to preserve and share our cultural patrimonies and to ensure that this universal language will speak to future generations around the world.”

The 10-day workshop, which will take place at Nfai’s headquarters in Pune, covers the technology and ethics involved in film preservation as India races to save its film heritage. “This is a unique...

Feast your eyes this Valentine's Day on a livestream horror movie marathon featuring some of Scream Factory's cult classic films for free. Also in this round-up: a new teaser for A&E's Damien, The Girl in the Photographs release details, a gallery of images from 6:66 Pm, and release date / trailer for Nailed Down.

Love Is in the Scare Livestream: Press Release: "Have no fear, love is in the scare. This Valentine’s Day, ditch the roses and keep the box of chocolates for yourself while you watch Love Is in the Scare, a marathon of Scream Factory classics streaming free on Sunday, February 14th, from noon to midnight Pt at loveisinthescare.com.

Brace yourself for 12 hours of heart-stopping shocks from seven terrifying films including the Shout! Factory TV premiere screenings of Beyond Darkness, Ghosthouse, Metamorphosis, Nomads, Class of 1984, Witchery and The Editor. The marathon event serves as...

The late ‘80s signaled the end of my first golden age of horror. Which is to say two things: adulthood beckoned, and horror films – especially slashers - were running low on inspiration (remember the early ‘90s wasteland? Brr.). However, looking across the waters, some veteran Italian filmmakers weren’t throwing in the towel yet. Michele Soavi’s Stage Fright (1987) stands apart from the crowd because it proved that not only was the beaten and flogged sub-genre alive, it was still capable of surprising fans with enough fresh blood pumping through its weary veins to make you sit up and notice. Just when you thought you couldn’t survive another hack ‘em up, Stage Fright made you a believer again.

Stage Fright, Aka StageFright: Aquarius, Deliria, and Bloody Bird, whatever you’d like to call it – is a triumphant call back to a half decade earlier when slashers were full of kinetic energy,...

The world's oldest museum dedicated to photography as well as housing one of the world's oldest film archives, The George Eastman Museum, has acquired five films directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, to add to their impressive collection of 28,000 titles from across the globe. Lagaan, which found its place among films like Caddyshack, Field of Dreams, Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, Rocky and other such classics in Time Magazine's list of 25 All-Time Best Sports Films, is one of the films in the Museum's recently acquired contemporary Indian cinema collection. Jodhaa Akbar, the epic romance which won awards at both the Golden Minbar International Film Festival and the Sao Paulo International Film Festival while also sweeping all the Indian film awards that year has also been added to the collection. Swades, a film that was critically acclaimed and went on to find immense appreciation internationally, has also been added to the Museum's collection...

Stars: Michael Sopkiw, Valentina Forte, George Eastman, Stefano Mingardo, Ottaviano Dell’Acqua, Massimo Vanni, Elizabeth Forbes, Carl Savage, Michele Soavi, George Williams | Written by Luca De Rita, Massimo De Rita, Morando Morandini Jr., Dardano Sacchetti | Directed by Lamberto Bava

Number four in 88 Films Italian Collection, Blastfighter is one of those movies that, at least amongst cult movie fans, has gained legendary status, even for those that have never so much as seen the film! This is the type of action flick that fans of the genre hail as the pinnacle of insane, over the top, no-holds-barred Rambo/Deliverance knock-offs – for that is obviously where this film takes its inspiration. But this is backwoods-style vigilante justice with an Italian twist of course! Which is undoubtedly why the film has gained such a cult status.

Directed by Lamberto Bava, son of Giallo master Mario Bava and the man behind the 80s cult classic Demons,...

"The music seemed extraordinarily fresh and genuine still. It might grow old-fashioned, he told himself, but never old, surely, while there was any youth left in men. It was an expression of youth–that, and no more; with sweetness and foolishness, the lingering accent, the heavy stresses–the delicacy, too–belonging to that time."—"The Professor's House," Willa CatherHis last words, in a hospital four months later, are said to have been 'Mind your own business!' addressed to an enquirer after the state of his bowels. Friends got to the studio just before the wreckers' ball. Pictures, a profusion, piles of them, littered the floor: of 'a world that will never be seen except in pictures'"—"The Pound Era," Hugh Kenner***Heart Of FIREOften when I go to a movie, usually one made before 1960, I think about the opening scene of The Red Shoes, of Marius Goring and his...

Scream Factory’s new Blu-ray release of two Italian films from 1990, the mad scientist creature feature Metamorphosis and the haunted house movie Beyond Darkness, may very well be the first time many horror fans have ever heard of either movie. The major common factor between the two is the presence of actor Gene Lebrock as the lead in both. In fact, these movies represent two of his seven credited acting roles, which means that by picking up Scream Factory’s double feature Blu-ray disc, you will effectively own more than 20% of Gene Lebrock’s filmography. It’s important to set goals.

In 1990’s Metamorphosis, he plays Dr. Peter Houseman, a brilliant scientist trying to perfect a serum that will stop the aging process. In order to test his experiment, Houseman administers the serum to himself and before you can say “Brundlefly,” begins undergoing a… what’s the word?… not “change”… not “transformation”… at any rate,...

Scream Factory's unleashing Italian-crafted scares on Blu-ray today with their double feature release of Metamorphosis / Beyond Darkness, and to give you an idea of what to expect, we have clips and trailers from the high-definition horror films.

"Metamorphosis (1989, Rated R)

First up is the science-fiction/horror of Metamorphosis! When his experiments in genetics are mocked by his colleagues, maverick scientist Dr. Peter Houseman takes extreme measures to prove that his untested anti-aging serum works. Injecting himself with his miracle "cure," he soon experiences a terrifying change within himself that threatens not only the lives of those around him, but also his own sanity. From cult cinema mainstay George Eastman, Metamorphosis proves that nightmares may change, but fear is forever!"

Beyond Darkness (1990, Not Rated)

Next, take a terrifying trip into a world beyond fear, beyond belief… Beyond Darkness. When a man of God and his loving family move into a new house,...

The last week of August features an eclectic array of titles that should be of interest to horror and sci-fi fans. In order to give viewers a chance to revisit last season before the next run of the series begins in October, Anchor Bay Entertainment is releasing season five of The Walking Dead on Blu-ray and DVD this week. Scream Factory has put together another killer cult classic double feature with their Blu-ray presentation of Metamorphosis and Beyond Darkness, and for those of you Clive Barker enthusiasts out there, you’ll finally have a chance to own the Master of Horror’s visionary short films, Salome and The Forbidden, for the first time ever this Tuesday.

Other titles arriving on August 25th include Blu-ray releases for The Sender and Student Bodies from Olive Films, newer indie horror films like Beg, Morbid and Atom the Amazing Zombie Killer, and both Jacob...

A professor's gruesome transformation and a house haunted by sinister spirits are showcased in Scream Factory's Metamorphosis and Beyond Darkness double feature Blu-ray. With the double dose of Italian horror hitting shelves tomorrow, we've been provided with three copies to give away.

"Metamorphosis (1989, Rated R)

First up is the science-fiction/horror of Metamorphosis! When his experiments in genetics are mocked by his colleagues, maverick scientist Dr. Peter Houseman takes extreme measures to prove that his untested anti-aging serum works. Injecting himself with his miracle "cure," he soon experiences a terrifying change within himself that threatens not only the lives of those around him, but also his own sanity. From cult cinema mainstay George Eastman, Metamorphosis proves that nightmares may change, but fear is forever!

Beyond Darkness (1990, Not Rated)

Next, take a terrifying trip into a world beyond fear, beyond belief… Beyond Darkness. When a man of God and his loving...

I’m so thankful for Mad Max: Fury Road—not because it’s a great film or brought back a beloved character from my misspent youth or any other such bullsh*ttery. I’m thankful because it made those sexy bastards o’er at Blue Underground realize that us fiendish fans of ol’ Max would be chompin’ at the bit for more post-apocalyptic monkey-nannigans, and man have they delivered with a 3-course pasta dinner of cinematic gold: Maestro Enzo G. Castellari’s The New Barbarians, 1990: The Bronx Warriors, and Escape From The Bronx—all on Blu-ray/DVD combo packs!

Now before we get into lookin’ at each one of these babies, I’m just going to say in advance that you need each and e’ery one of these flicks in your collection immediately if you are as big a fan of outrageous, over-the-top, flat-out fun-as-hell drive-in flicks as yours cruelly is.