A meeting of two great masters of horror, Creepshow blends George A. Romero’s macabre brand of satire with Stephen King’s darkly moral vision of the world. The anthology film doesn’t blossom out from the nihilism that marks Romero and King’s more famous works, but from audience-friendly parody and their shared love of the infamous publisher EC Comics, one of the earliest targets and casualties of the Comics Code Authority. Comic-book aesthetics dominate the film, from vivid splashes of color to animated effects like frames divided into panels and page-flip transitions between segments. With Creepshow, Romero and King stepped far enough outside their creative comfort zones to find fruitful common ground in the film’s five stories, and without one artist’s personality outweighing the other’s.
Creepshow’s five stories are linked by a through line of sardonic moralism, a sense of reckoning redolent of Flannery O’Connor’s anti-fables.
Creepshow’s five stories are linked by a through line of sardonic moralism, a sense of reckoning redolent of Flannery O’Connor’s anti-fables.
- 7/28/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
In Tom Gormican's 2022 film "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," Pedro Pascal plays Javi Gutierrez, a fun-loving playboy billionaire living in Majorca, Spain. Javi is a huge fan of actor Nicolas Cage and hires him to hang out for a weekend. Cage, playing himself, cautiously accepts the offer, having found himself in a bit of a creative rut; a younger version of Cage appears in visions to lambaste his older self that he is no longer the massive movie star he once was. Javi will spend a great deal of time heaping praise on Cage and eventually reveals that he has a secret collectibles vault full of Cage-related memorabilia. Cage, meanwhile, will be secretly approached by the CIA, and told that Javi is actually a dangerous arms dealer that might be involved in an ongoing kidnapping plot. The film is bright, whimsical, and enjoyable. Cage, as he always does,...
- 3/9/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Though this blog platform is usually reserved for writing about movies, Howard Rodman’s novel is totally filmic and he himself has served as President of the Writers Guild of American, so that is close enough. Moreover after spending a total of two years in Berlin in the past three years and going into my next six months here, this ode to Berlin is particularly pleasing to me. This novel is a fictional account of Fritz Lang’s last year in Berlin, in 1933. Not a very good year. He is estranged from his wife — long time collaborator on his best films, M, Metropolis, Doctor Mabuse… Though they still share living quarters, she is having an affair with an American. He is hurt within and is also suffering from a toothache adding to the interior pain in the life of this great German director, son of a Jewish mother who converted the Catholicism and raised him strictly as a Catholic. Taking place in Weimar Berlin, we see the fashion, the glitz, the clubs, the cars, the interior decoration, and as alluded to before, the interior life of Fritz as he watches his friends and colleagues leaving Germany for U.S. and France, and in the case of Bertolt Brecht, his wife Helen Weigel and their son, for Hungary. The kicker is midway in when Fritz Lcang invites his wife Thea to the UFA screening room where Harold Nebenthal and Edward Ulmer, just back from, and about to return to Hollywood, are together and discover that, because of new Jewish laws, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse’s theatrical release at the UFA Palast has been replaced by Wounded Germany This blog is quite expressionistic, beginning with my quoting off the flyleaf of the book cover here as Howard speaks best for himself. Berlin, the last day of February, 1933. The Reichstag lies in smoldering ruins. A new world is about to spring from its ashes. For German filmmakers, there is a choice. To stay, work with the new order, a government which truly believes in the power of film; or to leave, without looking back. Destiny Express is the story of Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou. Together, they made some of the greatest films of all time. M, Metropolis, Doctor Mabuse. Married more than a decade, Lang and von Harbou are the most intimate of friends, the closest of enemies. Now, as day after day is torn from the calendar, they watch, as if paralyzed, as one by one. Bert Brecht, Max Ophuls, Billy Wilder take the next train out. Fritz Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou in their Berlin apartment, in 1923 or 1924 (which is, when the script for Metropolis was prepared). The photograph is from a series about this famous couple. Public Domain. At once exhaustively researched and wildly imagined, Destiny Express follows Lang, von Harbou, a host of real and fictional others — American cafe Surrealist Sam Harrison, novelist-turned-minister-of-culture Joseph Goebbels, Mercedes-racing champ Otto Merz, film star Rudolf Klein-Rogge, a pair of not-so-secret police — as their paths converge, intertwine, separate across the grid of Berlin, from the artificial daylight of the UFA soundstage to the artificial night of Berlin’s most exclusive clubs. Both protagonists have separate personal agendas they are following and they try not to get into each other’s way. As we watch the action, the inner life we witness of Fritz Lang as he weighs his options, thinks about his wife — his love and yet his nemesis — thinks about leaving, wishes they could be together, plays the tough guy; and in the end goes his way as she goes hers; these are the keynotes of the novel. Howard Rodman writes with a flair for visuals and for being able to show us the interior of the minds of creatives as if they were the outward reality. He is also able to reveal inward thoughts which run on separate tracks at the same time. This talent is what gives the novel a special edge. Add the expressionistic elongation of shadows, the sounds of heels clicking on the pavements, as in: On Konigstrasse her heels struck the cobbles with a high, flinty click which came back to her in syncopation from the building frontage. the silent river running through Berlin, cars, clubs, cafes, UFA Studios, Prussian apartments, paintings by Otto Dix…a dynamic Berlin, known in a nostalgic way, comes to life Cars: At once the blacktop rejoined Konigstrasse, and Lang slid the Lancea adeptly into the stream of traffic… Howard reminded me he had not been in Berlin when he wrote this making it all the more extraordinary… Shadows: Midway between two lamps Thea cast shadows of equal length before and behind. The shadow in front of her elongated, became more vague, as she approached the next lamp. The echo seemed to come back fractionally later than she’d been anticipating, and she stopped, to see if there were another set of footsteps dogging her own, but there were not. Thoughts running parallel to each other: And finally, as Lang leaves Berlin on the train, “There were fewer tracks. The lines were branching out, each with its specific destination…Then there was just one set of tracks, the one the train was reeling out behnd it. The glow of the train’s rear lights, a dense crimson, did not penetrate to where the rails converged. by raising his eyes a bit, Lang could feel them coming together, as he left all behind. Howard A. Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, novelist, and educator. He was President of Writers Guild of America West 2015–2017; is professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs; a member of the executive committee of the Writers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. His films include Savage Grace, starring Julianne Moore, — official selection Cannes Film Festival in 2007 — and August with Josh Hartnett, Rip Torn, and David Bowie. Son of Howard Rodman and Dorothy Rodman. Stepson of Norma Connolly. Brother of Adam Rodman. Howard A. Rodman has been married to Mary Beth Heffernan since June 25, 2017. He was previously married to Anne Friedberg (24 June 1990–9 October 2009) ( her death) with whom he had one child. · President, Writers Guild of America West, 2015–2017. · Named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the Republic of France, 2013. · Inducted into FinalDraft’s Screenwriters Hall of Fame, 2018. Writer (6 credits) 2008 August (written by) 2007 Savage Grace (screenplay) 2000 Takedown (screenplay) 2000 Joe Gould’s Secret (screenplay) 1997 The Hunger (TV Series) (screenplay — 1 episode — which he also directed!), - The Swords (1997) … (screenplay) 1993–1995 Fallen Angels (TV Series) (teleplay — 3 episodes) - The Professional Man (1995) … (teleplay) - The Frightening Frammis (1993) … (teleplay) - The Quiet Room (1993) … (teleplay) As a writer, Howard has had plenty to live up to as his father’s bio, written by Howard himself attests: Howard Rodman, Sr. was an American writer and story editor of such critically acclaimed series such as Naked City (1958) and Route 66 (1960). A Brooklyn native, the son of immigrant parents, Rodman began his career in the 1950s writing for such noted anthology series as Studio One, Alcoa Theater, and Goodyear Theater. He contributed to Have Gun — Will Travel (1957) and was an associate producer on Peyton Place (1964). In the subsequent decades he won a trio of Writer’s Guild awards for his scripts for Naked City: Today the Man Who Kills Ants Is Coming (1962), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: The Game with Glass Pieces (1964), and for the NBC/Universal Television drama, The Neon Ceiling (1971). As a feature writer, he scripted the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward racing film, Winning (1969), and co-wrote three iconic feature films for director Don Siegel: Madigan (1968), Coogan’s Bluff (1968), and Charley Varrick (1973). Rodman also wrote the teleplay adaptation of Martin Caidin’s novel, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, essentially creating the television version of the character as well as supplying the format for the subsequent series. Dissatisfied with the final product he removed his name and substituted his pseudonym Henri Simoun, a frequent practice. Rodman was once quoted as saying, “The script isn’t finished until the name comes off”. Rodman also created the David Janssen private eye series Harry O (1973). In 1976, he was presented with the Writers Guild’s Laurel Award for lifetime achievement in television. His final project was the made-for-tv movie Scandal Sheet (1985), starring Burt Lancaster. He died of complications following heart surgery in Los Angeles at age 65. He was survived by his second wife, actress Norma Connolly, and his children: Howard A. Rodman (a writer), Adam Rodman (a writer), Phillip Rodman, and Tiahna Skye. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Howard A. Rodman #Berlin #Movies #Book Review #Nazis #Cinema...
- 3/5/2023
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
This time on the podcast, Ryan is joined by Arik Devens to discuss Fritz Lang’s The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.
Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the criminal mastermind Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has scribbled his last will and testament: a manifesto establishing a future empire of crime. When the document’s nefarious writings start leading to terrifying parallels in reality, it’s up to Berlin’s star detective, Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke, reprising his role from M) to connect the most fragmented, maddening clues in a case unlike any other.
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Episode Links The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) – The Criterion Collection The Testament of Dr. Mabuse – From the Current – The Criterion Collection Fritz Lang – Explore – The Criterion Collection Watch The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Online at Hulu The Testament of Dr. Mabuse...
Locked away in an asylum for a decade and teetering between life and death, the criminal mastermind Doctor Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge) has scribbled his last will and testament: a manifesto establishing a future empire of crime. When the document’s nefarious writings start leading to terrifying parallels in reality, it’s up to Berlin’s star detective, Inspector Lohmann (Otto Wernicke, reprising his role from M) to connect the most fragmented, maddening clues in a case unlike any other.
Subscribe to the podcast via RSS or in iTunes
Purchase the Film
Episode Links The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) – The Criterion Collection The Testament of Dr. Mabuse – From the Current – The Criterion Collection Fritz Lang – Explore – The Criterion Collection Watch The Testament of Dr. Mabuse Online at Hulu The Testament of Dr. Mabuse...
- 11/8/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
He's back and more diabolically ruthless than ever! Berlin cowers under the influence of a gambler-mastermind, the secret architect of an 'Empire of Crime.' Restored to near its full length (4.5 hours!), Fritz Lang's monumental pulp masterpiece is a Euro-classic lover's delight. Dr. Mabuse The Gambler Blu-ray Kino Lorber Classics 1922 / B&W / 1:33 flat Full Frame / 270 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Alfred Abel, Aud Egede Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Bernhard Goetzke, Robert Forster-Larrinaga, Paul Richter Cinematography Carl Hoffmann Art Direction Otto Hunte, Erich Kettelhut, Karl Stahl-Urach, Karl Vollbrecht Writing credits Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou & Norbert Jacques from the novel by Norbert Jacques Produced by Erich Pommer Directed by Fritz Lang
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Fritz Lang really upped his game, directing-wise, between his 1921 fantasy epic Destiny and his next thriller extravaganza Dr. Mabuse The Gambler. Transcending contemporary notions of a popular release, the...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Fritz Lang really upped his game, directing-wise, between his 1921 fantasy epic Destiny and his next thriller extravaganza Dr. Mabuse The Gambler. Transcending contemporary notions of a popular release, the...
- 9/12/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
On the Return to Montauk set with Volker Schlöndorff, Nina Hoss (his Barefoot Contessa), and Bronagh Gallagher at Lincoln Center Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Konrad Wolf’s I Was Nineteen (Ich War Neunzehn) co-written with Wolfgang Kohlhaase; Marlen Khutsiev’s It Was In May (Byl Mesyats May) starring Pyotr Todorovskiy; Louis Malle's The Fire Within (Le Feu Follet) based on the novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle with Maurice Ronet, Jeanne Moreau and Alexandra Stewart; Joseph Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart; Jean-Pierre Melville's Les Enfants Terribles, adapted from Jean Cocteau’s novel with Nicole Stéphane and Édouard Dermit; and Fritz Lang's Spies (Spione) featuring Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Gerda Maurus, are the six films selected by Volker Schlöndorff as Guest Director of the 43rd Telluride Film Festival.
Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point was one of Alexander Payne's picks in 2009 Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Alexander Payne,...
Konrad Wolf’s I Was Nineteen (Ich War Neunzehn) co-written with Wolfgang Kohlhaase; Marlen Khutsiev’s It Was In May (Byl Mesyats May) starring Pyotr Todorovskiy; Louis Malle's The Fire Within (Le Feu Follet) based on the novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle with Maurice Ronet, Jeanne Moreau and Alexandra Stewart; Joseph Mankiewicz’s The Barefoot Contessa starring Ava Gardner and Humphrey Bogart; Jean-Pierre Melville's Les Enfants Terribles, adapted from Jean Cocteau’s novel with Nicole Stéphane and Édouard Dermit; and Fritz Lang's Spies (Spione) featuring Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Gerda Maurus, are the six films selected by Volker Schlöndorff as Guest Director of the 43rd Telluride Film Festival.
Michael Curtiz's The Breaking Point was one of Alexander Payne's picks in 2009 Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Alexander Payne,...
- 9/1/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Death doesn't take a holiday in this, the granddaddy of movies about the woeful duties of the Grim Reaper. Fritz Lang's heavy-duty Expressionist fable is as German as they get -- a morbid folk tale with an emotionally powerful finish. Destiny Blu-ray Kino Classics 1921 / B&W / 1:33 flat / 98 min. / Street Date August 30, 2016 / Der müde Tod / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Lil Dagover, Walter Janssen, Bernhard Goetzke, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Georg John. Cinematography Bruno Mondi, Erich Nitzschmann, Herrmann Saalfrank, Bruno Timm, Fritz Arno Wagner Film Editor Fritz Lang Written by Fritz Lang, Thea von Harbou Produced by Erich Pommer Directed by Fritz Lang
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari takes the prize for the most influential work of early German Expressionism, but coming in a close second is the film in which Fritz Lang first got his act (completely) together, 1921's Destiny (Der müde Tod). A wholly cinematic...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari takes the prize for the most influential work of early German Expressionism, but coming in a close second is the film in which Fritz Lang first got his act (completely) together, 1921's Destiny (Der müde Tod). A wholly cinematic...
- 8/6/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Roland Emmerich's (More Creative) Predecessor: Lang Was Early Cinema's Foremost Master of Spectacles
'Die Nibelungen: Siegfried': Paul Richter as the dragon-slaying hero of medieval Germanic mythology. 'Die Nibelungen': Enthralling silent classic despite complex plot and countless characters Based on the medieval epic poem Nibelungenlied, itself inspired by the early medieval Germanic saga about the Burgundian royal family, Fritz Lang's two-part Die Nibelungen is one of those movies I can enjoy many times without ever really understanding who's who and what's what. After all, the semi-historical, fantasy/adventure epic is packed with intrigue, treachery, deceit, hatred, murder, and sex. And that's just the basic plotline. As seen in Kino's definitive two-disc edition, artistically and cinematically speaking Die Nibelungen contains some of the greatest visual compositions I've ever seen. Filmed mostly in long shots that frame the imaginative sets and high ceilings, each static shot is meticulously composed with such symmetry and balance that, even though Die Nibelungen takes the viewer through a mythical fantasia,...
- 6/22/2016
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
Guns! Bombs! Assassinations! Blackmail! Fritz Lang invents the escapist super-spy thriller! To seize a set of political documents the evil Haghi dispatches the seductive agents Kitty and Sonya to neutralize a Japanese security man and our own top spy No. 236. (that's 007 x 33,714.2857!) It's a top-rank silent winner from the maker of Metropolis. Spies (Spione) Blu-ray Kino Classics 1928 / B&W /1:33 Silent Aperture / 150 min. / Street Date February 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Gerda Maurus, Lien Deyers, Willy Fritsch, Lupu Pick, Hertha von Walther, Fritz Rasp, Craighall Sherry, Hans Heinrich von Twardowsky, Gustl Gstettenbaur. Cinematography Fritz Arno Wagner Art Directors Otto Hunte, Karl Vollbrecht Set Designer Edgar G. Ulmer (reported) Original Music Werner R. Heymann (original) Neil Brand piano score on this disc. Written by Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou from her novel Produced by Erich Pommer Directed by Fritz Lang
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How did Fritz Lang...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
How did Fritz Lang...
- 3/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Metropolis (entire movie, above), the 1927 silent film directed by Fritz Lang, is regarded as one of the most important and influential films of all time. The world’s first epic science fiction movie, it continues to serve as inspiration for countless films, and forced humanity to look critically at it’s increasingly complex relationship to industrial and technological growth. In cinematic terms, evidence of its influence can be seen everywhere from to Soylent Green to Snowpiercer.
Aesthetically, it's influence is still present in popular culture, with contemporary artists like Guy Maddin and Tim Burton liberally borrowing stylistic elements from Metropolis is also a film that contains serious cultural and political messages. For example, the dystopian society it portrays was direct commentary on the possible result of the industrial revolution. Metropolis has also proved itself to be prophetic, as many of the themes it explored almost a century ago are as relevant,...
Aesthetically, it's influence is still present in popular culture, with contemporary artists like Guy Maddin and Tim Burton liberally borrowing stylistic elements from Metropolis is also a film that contains serious cultural and political messages. For example, the dystopian society it portrays was direct commentary on the possible result of the industrial revolution. Metropolis has also proved itself to be prophetic, as many of the themes it explored almost a century ago are as relevant,...
- 7/12/2014
- by Brandon Engel
- www.culturecatch.com
This month, one of Fritz Lang’s first epic masterpieces, Die Nibelungen gets a lush Blu-ray treatment from Kino, and it has to be one of the most exciting remasters of the year. Sandwiched in-between his seminal crime classic Dr. Mabuse: the Gambler (1922) and Metropolis (1927), Lang’s expansive rendering of the Nordic legend is a technical achievement that rivals the likes of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and was thus split into two parts, Siegfried and Kreimheld’s Revenge (and is not based on Wagner’s opera). Fans of Lang’s oeuvre should be salivating at the chance to experience these beautiful remastered prints, and even though Lang had his fair share of subpar titles, there’s no denying his innate genius here, with what stands as one of the most impressive feats of filmmaking before and after the advent of sound.
Siegfried (Paul Richter), is the son of King Siegmund,...
Siegfried (Paul Richter), is the son of King Siegmund,...
- 11/20/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has unveiled its list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films in celebration of Michel Hazanavicius’ ode to the silent era, The Artist, which won three Golden Globes® Sunday night, including Best Picture . Musical or Comedy, Best Actor . Musical or Comedy for Jean Dujardin and Best Original Score. The Artist also picked up 12 British Academy Film Award nominations. The Weinstein Company will expand its release of The Artist nationwide on Friday.
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
TCM’s list of 10 Most Influential Silent Films spans from the years 1915 to 1928 and features such remarkable films as D.W. Griffith’s groundbreaking (and controversial) The Birth of a Nation (1915), which revolutionized filmmaking techniques; Nanook of the North (1922), a film frequently cited as the first feature-length documentary; Cecil B. DeMille’s epic silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923); Sergei Eisenstein’s oft-imitated Battleship Potemkin (1925), which took montage techniques to an entirely new level; and Fritz Lang’s...
- 1/18/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Complete Metropolis [Blu-Ray]
The Film
I had only seen the film that featured the futuristic city that would inspire Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989) once before sitting down for the Fritz Lang's restored, "complete," two and half hour Metropolis (1927). It was a film, like D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) or Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), that I had always appreciated with regard to its influence on film style and storytelling and felt deserving of a redemption beyond it's original reception. Like Intolerance, Metropolis, despite its mold-breaking craftsmanship, imploded at the box office. Budgeted at 5 million Reichsmarks (I believe that is roughly 16 billion dollars today, given that $1 dollar bought 4.2 Reichsmarks in 1927, that budget would have been just over $1 million dollars at the time). The large budget of the film and its meager return at the international box office nearly bankrupted the German film studio Ufa,...
The Film
I had only seen the film that featured the futuristic city that would inspire Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989) once before sitting down for the Fritz Lang's restored, "complete," two and half hour Metropolis (1927). It was a film, like D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916) or Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now (1979), that I had always appreciated with regard to its influence on film style and storytelling and felt deserving of a redemption beyond it's original reception. Like Intolerance, Metropolis, despite its mold-breaking craftsmanship, imploded at the box office. Budgeted at 5 million Reichsmarks (I believe that is roughly 16 billion dollars today, given that $1 dollar bought 4.2 Reichsmarks in 1927, that budget would have been just over $1 million dollars at the time). The large budget of the film and its meager return at the international box office nearly bankrupted the German film studio Ufa,...
- 11/30/2010
- by Drew Morton
Starring: Alfed Abel, Gustav Frolich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Brigitte Helm
Director: Fritz Lang
The Scoop: (1927) Lang’s masterpiece has long been considered one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema. Now this ode to the futures — and the dangers of technology — gets updated for Blu-ray, with nearly 30 min. of previously unseen footage carefully restored. The result is a grander look at not just how Fritz predicted today’s problems, but how he shaped the cinema of tomorrow as well.
Special Features: Extended version, feature-length doc, behind-the-scenes interview
Unrated, 153 min. | Watch the trailer...
Director: Fritz Lang
The Scoop: (1927) Lang’s masterpiece has long been considered one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema. Now this ode to the futures — and the dangers of technology — gets updated for Blu-ray, with nearly 30 min. of previously unseen footage carefully restored. The result is a grander look at not just how Fritz predicted today’s problems, but how he shaped the cinema of tomorrow as well.
Special Features: Extended version, feature-length doc, behind-the-scenes interview
Unrated, 153 min. | Watch the trailer...
- 11/23/2010
- by NextMovie Staff
- NextMovie
Chicago – One of the cinematic highlights of my life happened earlier this year when I was lucky enough to see “The Complete Metropolis” on the big screen. Fritz Lang’s legendary film is not only riveting by virtue of being one of the most influential of all time but the story that developed after it was made is a historically fascinating one. Almost a century after it was released, we can now see “Metropolis,” recently released on Blu-ray, in a more complete manner than ever before.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
The fact is that most early filmmakers and film watchers had no concept of where we would be today in terms of the longevity of the medium. Most historians estimate that a majority of the films released before 1930 are completely gone, likely destroyed and never to be found. Even the films we do have from that era are often truncated with whole reels lost to history.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
The fact is that most early filmmakers and film watchers had no concept of where we would be today in terms of the longevity of the medium. Most historians estimate that a majority of the films released before 1930 are completely gone, likely destroyed and never to be found. Even the films we do have from that era are often truncated with whole reels lost to history.
- 11/18/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
It is by far the most influential film in the history of science fiction and following a triumphant tour of the freshly restored version assembled after the discovery of twenty five minutes of footage long believed to be lost, Fritz Lang's Metropolis is hitting BluRay all buffed and polished and restored back to the form it was in when originally released.
With its dizzying depiction of a futuristic cityscape and alluring female robot, Metropolis is among the most famous of all German films and the mother of sci-fi cinema (an influence on Blade Runner and Star Wars, among countless other films). Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang (M, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, The Big Heat, etc.), its jaw-dropping production values, iconic imagery, and modernist grandeur - it was described by Luis Buñuel as "a captivating symphony of movement" - remain as powerful as ever.
Drawing on - and defining - classic sci-fi themes,...
With its dizzying depiction of a futuristic cityscape and alluring female robot, Metropolis is among the most famous of all German films and the mother of sci-fi cinema (an influence on Blade Runner and Star Wars, among countless other films). Directed by the legendary Fritz Lang (M, Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, The Big Heat, etc.), its jaw-dropping production values, iconic imagery, and modernist grandeur - it was described by Luis Buñuel as "a captivating symphony of movement" - remain as powerful as ever.
Drawing on - and defining - classic sci-fi themes,...
- 10/8/2010
- Screen Anarchy
The Complete Metropolis Directed by: Fritz Lang Written by: Thea von Harbou Starring: Gustav Frölich, Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Rudolf Klein-Rogge Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was the first film I ever rented from Netflix. The (then) two-hour German expressionist science-fiction masterpiece carried an immediate appeal for me I know not many will share. Nevertheless, I was excited at the prospect of seeing the film again, and on the big screen this summer, now "complete" with 25 minutes of newly integrated footage uncovered in Buenos Aires in 2008. Other than that the experience was marred by a crummy digital projection, the new cut of the film is nothing short of revelatory for fans and cinephiles. The restored scenes, which were cut in 1927 following early criticism, expand the scope and breadth of the narrative, rounding out a much more human film. It’s a shame so little could be done to spruce up the supplemental material.
- 7/29/2010
- by Colin
- FilmJunk
Silent film fans rejoice. The 1927 classic Metropolis has gotten even better! One of the most ambitious movies of the silent era, Metropolis, which has often been called the first great science fiction film was last released theatrically in 2001 in a newly restored version but since then, 25 more minutes have been excavated, bringing the running time up to 148 minutes and now they.re calling it The Complete Metropolis. The sets, cinematography, art design, and special effects of Metropolis have influenced countless subsequent movies, and are still most impressive today. Metropolis is a futuristic city run by industrialist Fredersen (Alfred Abel), whose pampered son Freder (Gustav Frohlich) becomes interested in the welfare of workers after he becomes smitten with Maria (Brigitte Helm), a mysterious quasi-religious figure, and follows her into Metropolis’ subterranean depths where he discovers the army of slaves that really make Metropolis run. Meanwhile, Fredersen is plotting with deranged scientist...
- 7/23/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
There’s a musical quality when Hans Zimmer speaks. Sometimes stammering his way through sentences, the native German sounds equal parts Rudolf Klein-Rogge and Jeremy Irons in Die Hard with a Vengeance. All of that is lifted by a sunshine sense of humor that seems to get out in front of him and lead the way. Over a three decade career, Zimmer has built a reputation for quality in film scoring. It could easily be said that he’s had the privilege of working with some of the best directors in the business, but it could just as easily be said that it is they who have had the privilege of working with him. His most recent work can be heard through the booms, haunting piano keys, and ever-present synth modulations that support Leonardo Dicaprio as he steals around the dreams of Inception. Yesterday, it was I who had the privilege of speaking with the composer about...
- 7/13/2010
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
The TCM Classic Film Festival closed out an incredible weekend last night with a bang, with the North American premiere of The Complete Metropolis, the definitive restoration of Fritz Lang’s science fiction masterpiece, incorporating footage discovered in Buenos Aires in 2008. Nearly a half an hour has been restored into the film, seen here (almost) complete for the first time since the film’s Berlin premiere in 1927.
Immediately after the premiere, German distributor Ufa re-cut the film from 153 minutes to 114 minutes, and it was this version that was distributed internationally, including American release through Paramount Pictures, who performed their own editing job on the picture, excising content to fit the film into a 90 minute slot as well as to tone down the political themes at the core of the film. This is the version that had been available to audiences for nearly 80 years. In 2001, Kino International released a superb restoration of what was then available,...
Immediately after the premiere, German distributor Ufa re-cut the film from 153 minutes to 114 minutes, and it was this version that was distributed internationally, including American release through Paramount Pictures, who performed their own editing job on the picture, excising content to fit the film into a 90 minute slot as well as to tone down the political themes at the core of the film. This is the version that had been available to audiences for nearly 80 years. In 2001, Kino International released a superb restoration of what was then available,...
- 4/26/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Well folks, it’s been a while, but Netflix has finally added several more Criterion Collection films to their Watch Instantly streaming options. Back in December we saw a rather large group of films added, with each following month adding fewer and fewer Criterion films. This past week has seen the addition of 8 films (one on April 1st, and 7 on the 3rd), all of which you should add to your Queue.
We recently reported that Jean Luc Godard’s Breathless would be re-released in theaters with a new transfer this month as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival, with a general release at the end of May in New York, and a national roll out afterwards. You can now see the film that made our writer James McCormick’s Top Ten Jean Paul Belmondo Film list, via Watch Instantly. It will be interesting to see if this print of...
We recently reported that Jean Luc Godard’s Breathless would be re-released in theaters with a new transfer this month as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival, with a general release at the end of May in New York, and a national roll out afterwards. You can now see the film that made our writer James McCormick’s Top Ten Jean Paul Belmondo Film list, via Watch Instantly. It will be interesting to see if this print of...
- 4/3/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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