At the recently concluded 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival we got to sit down with filmmaker Susan Ray and discuss the subject of her 2011 documentary “Don’t Expect Much” (here’s our review from Nyff ’11) and late husband, director Nicholas Ray. Nicholas Ray began as an apprentice to famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright and then decided to move out to Hollywood, and the rest is cinematic history -- as early as 1953, Jean-Luc Godard wrote, “cinema is Nicholas Ray.” The director put his stamp on a number of films, including the landmark noir “In A Lonely Place,” the Joan Crawford-starring camp classic “Johnny Guitar” and “Rebel Without A Cause,” which ushered in a whole new era of Hollywood (check out our The Essentials: 5 Great Films By Nicholas Ray), before the quality projects began to dry up and he turned to teaching film. Suffice to write, Nicholas Ray has had a lasting...
- 5/14/2013
- by Diana Drumm
- The Playlist
Tinseltown is ready to greet film fans from around the world again for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival.
Beginning this Thursday, April 25 and running through Sunday, April 28 in Hollywood, the festival will open with a gala presentation of the newly restored musical classic Funny Girl (1968).
Over four big days, TCM will welcome legendary stars, award-winning filmmakers and classic movie fans for the cinematic celebration, which this year will center on the theme Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.
But first on the schedule is Funny Girl!
Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography Funny Girl. Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Funny Girl for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th,...
Beginning this Thursday, April 25 and running through Sunday, April 28 in Hollywood, the festival will open with a gala presentation of the newly restored musical classic Funny Girl (1968).
Over four big days, TCM will welcome legendary stars, award-winning filmmakers and classic movie fans for the cinematic celebration, which this year will center on the theme Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.
But first on the schedule is Funny Girl!
Legendary superstar Barbra Streisand demonstrates why she’s the greatest star in her Academy Award winning role (Best Actress, 1968) as “Fanny Brice” in the celebrated musical biography Funny Girl. Commemorating its 45th anniversary, the classic film was meticulously restored from the original negative by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release Funny Girl for the first time on Blu-ray April 30th,...
- 4/22/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival (April 25-28) continues to add more stars and screenings to its slate, including Mel Brooks in conversation following "The Twelve Chairs," Mickey Rooney and Jonathan Winters appearing with epic nutty ensemble comedy "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and the already announced Max von Sydow tribute has added a new screening of Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor." Meanwhile, actress Coleen Gray will appear in person with Stanley Kubrick's "The Killing," and actor Theodore Bikel will be on hand for John Huston's "The African Queen." Susan Ray, widow to Nicholas Ray, will present a screening of the director's proto-"Bonnie and Clyde" noir "They Live By Night"; "Saturday Night Live" comedian Bill Hader will intro George Stevens' classic Western "Shane" and 1955's "The Ladykillers," by Alexander Mackendrick. More details on the new and ongoing additions to the fest are here.
- 3/14/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival continues to expand, with newly added appearances by legendary stars at screenings of some of their most memorable films, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Polly Bergen,Coleen Gray, Theodore Bikel and Norman Lloyd, as well as producer Stanley Rubin, Clara Bow biographer David Stenn, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) film collections manager Katie Trainor and director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray. In addition, TCM’s Essentials Jr. host and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader will present screenings of Shane (1953) and The Ladykillers(1955).
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
- 3/13/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Fans of our regular series highlighting filmmaking tips from great directors ought to be interested in a project that’s in the works called Action! Master Class With Nicholas Ray. The legend behind Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar and In a Lonely Place would have been 100 years old in 2011, and to mark the occasion The Nicholas Ray Foundation has been honoring the man’s legacy through the Nicholas Ray Centenary Project, which consists of a triptych of films focused on the final ten years of his life. The first was a digital restoration of the most complete version of his ultimately unfinished experimental work We Can’t Go Home Again. The second is a documentary companion to that called Don’t Expect Too Much, which was directed by the filmmaker’s widow, Susan Ray. Those are presently available on a disc from Oscilloscope. Susan Ray is also at the helm of this third effort, another...
- 1/19/2013
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Above: A 35mm still image from We Can't Go Home Again.
Mubi is currently showing throughout most of the world two wonderful Nicholas Ray films. One is his final film, uncompleted but beautifully restored and reconstructed, We Can't Go Home Again (1973). The other is a new documentary by Susan Ray, the filmmaker's widow, Don't Expect Too Much, that is a companion piece to this wildly experimental, collaborative feature. We are showing these two features to celebrate Ray and bring attention to The Nicholas Ray Foundation's Kickstarter project funding a new documentary on the filmmaker, Action! Master Class with Nicholas Ray.
Update: After not making the previous project goal, a new Kickstarter projection for Action! can be found here. We highly encourage you to donate your support. From the project's description:
"In Action! you'll encounter Nick's charismatic presence as he shares his knowledge of what he called "the cathedral of the arts.
Mubi is currently showing throughout most of the world two wonderful Nicholas Ray films. One is his final film, uncompleted but beautifully restored and reconstructed, We Can't Go Home Again (1973). The other is a new documentary by Susan Ray, the filmmaker's widow, Don't Expect Too Much, that is a companion piece to this wildly experimental, collaborative feature. We are showing these two features to celebrate Ray and bring attention to The Nicholas Ray Foundation's Kickstarter project funding a new documentary on the filmmaker, Action! Master Class with Nicholas Ray.
Update: After not making the previous project goal, a new Kickstarter projection for Action! can be found here. We highly encourage you to donate your support. From the project's description:
"In Action! you'll encounter Nick's charismatic presence as he shares his knowledge of what he called "the cathedral of the arts.
- 1/8/2013
- by Notebook
- MUBI
News.
The great Manoel de Oliveira turned 104 yesterday! (For more on his most recent feature, see Boris Nelepo's article.) Issue 65 of Senses of Cinema is now online, featuring a piece on Koji Wakamatsu, a conversation with Nicolas Rey, and a look at Marcel Hanoun's Une simple histoire. The resolute Susan Ray has turned to Kickstarter to help fund Action!, a documentary featuring Nicholas Ray's insights into filmmaking that "will be edited mostly from Nick’s film, video, and audio archive—tens of thousands of feet of picture, and hundreds of hours of audio recordings of interviews, classes, lectures, private conversations, journal entries, and an oral history—with supplementary footage licensed from the studios or acquired through research." Susan needs to raise $35 000 by January 2nd, so, if you're able, give generously (it's tax deductible!) so we can see this project realized. There are some impressive goodies available to backers: posters,...
The great Manoel de Oliveira turned 104 yesterday! (For more on his most recent feature, see Boris Nelepo's article.) Issue 65 of Senses of Cinema is now online, featuring a piece on Koji Wakamatsu, a conversation with Nicolas Rey, and a look at Marcel Hanoun's Une simple histoire. The resolute Susan Ray has turned to Kickstarter to help fund Action!, a documentary featuring Nicholas Ray's insights into filmmaking that "will be edited mostly from Nick’s film, video, and audio archive—tens of thousands of feet of picture, and hundreds of hours of audio recordings of interviews, classes, lectures, private conversations, journal entries, and an oral history—with supplementary footage licensed from the studios or acquired through research." Susan needs to raise $35 000 by January 2nd, so, if you're able, give generously (it's tax deductible!) so we can see this project realized. There are some impressive goodies available to backers: posters,...
- 12/12/2012
- by Adam Cook
- MUBI
The 2012 installment of the Edinburgh International Film Festival runs from June 20th to July 1st, and marks the return of major awards of incarnations prior to 2011′s edition. This year’s line-up is distinctive in its feeling of being a heavily curated affair courtesy of artistic director Chris Fujiwara, rather than just a selection of films out in a few months time (though there’s still a few of those, obviously). I will be providing Sound on Sight’s first ever coverage of Eiff over the coming weeks, and this year’s line-up is an especially enticing blend of buzz films, intriguing retrospectives, global or international premieres, and an array of eclectic content.
The Michael Powell Award honours the best British film selected from the British Gala section, and the competition will include documentaries for the first time. Documentary The Imposter, a hit at Sundance, receives its UK premiere, as...
The Michael Powell Award honours the best British film selected from the British Gala section, and the competition will include documentaries for the first time. Documentary The Imposter, a hit at Sundance, receives its UK premiere, as...
- 6/10/2012
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- SoundOnSight
Cannes is now over which means it’s time to move to Britain as the Edinburgh Film Festival kicks off!
We’ve just been sent the full line-up for the 2012 Edinburgh Film Festival which is now in it’s 66th year. We have our people (Jamie, Steven and Emma) on the ground at the event right now ready to catch as many films as they possible can throughout the next wee or two as we get to see 121 new features and 19 world premieres.
I’ll let the full press release below do the talking but let us know what you’re looking forward to in the comments section below.
World Premieres:
Berberian Sound Studio Borrowed Time Day Of The Flowers Exit Elena Flying Blind Fred Future My Love Guinea Pigs Here, Then Leave It On The Track The Life And Times Of Paul The Psychic Octopus Life Just Is Mnl...
We’ve just been sent the full line-up for the 2012 Edinburgh Film Festival which is now in it’s 66th year. We have our people (Jamie, Steven and Emma) on the ground at the event right now ready to catch as many films as they possible can throughout the next wee or two as we get to see 121 new features and 19 world premieres.
I’ll let the full press release below do the talking but let us know what you’re looking forward to in the comments section below.
World Premieres:
Berberian Sound Studio Borrowed Time Day Of The Flowers Exit Elena Flying Blind Fred Future My Love Guinea Pigs Here, Then Leave It On The Track The Life And Times Of Paul The Psychic Octopus Life Just Is Mnl...
- 5/30/2012
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The full programme for the 66th edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff), which runs from 20 June to 1 July, has been officially announced and will feature nineteen World premieres and thirteen International premieres.
The Festival will showcase one hundred and twenty-one new features from fifty-two countries, including eleven European premieres and seventy-six UK premieres in addition to the World and International premieres. Highlights include the World premieres of Richard Ledes’ Fred; Nathan Silver’s Exit Elena and Benjamin Pascoe’s Leave It On The Track and European premieres of Lu Sheng’s Here, There and Yang Jung-ho’s Mirage in the maiden New Perspectives section; and the International premiere of Benicio Del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Gaspar Noé, Juan Carlos Tabio and Laurent Cantet’s 7 Days In Havana and the European premiere of Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America in the Directors’ Showcase. In addition to the new features presented,...
The Festival will showcase one hundred and twenty-one new features from fifty-two countries, including eleven European premieres and seventy-six UK premieres in addition to the World and International premieres. Highlights include the World premieres of Richard Ledes’ Fred; Nathan Silver’s Exit Elena and Benjamin Pascoe’s Leave It On The Track and European premieres of Lu Sheng’s Here, There and Yang Jung-ho’s Mirage in the maiden New Perspectives section; and the International premiere of Benicio Del Toro, Pablo Trapero, Julio Medem, Elia Suleiman, Gaspar Noé, Juan Carlos Tabio and Laurent Cantet’s 7 Days In Havana and the European premiere of Bobcat Goldthwait’s God Bless America in the Directors’ Showcase. In addition to the new features presented,...
- 5/30/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Berlin's festival of American independent film, Unknown Pleasures, runs from January 1 through 15 at the Babylon, and co-programmers Hannes Brühwiler and Andrew Grant have put together a lineup for this fourth edition that's a little more adventurous that the first three:
Dustin Guy Defa's Bad Fever Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene Todd Haynes's Mildred Pierce Monty Hellman's Road to Nowhere Azazel Jacobs's Terri Aaron Katz's Cold Weather Laurel Nakadate's The Wolf Knife Mike Ott's Littlerock Tristan Patterson's Dragonslayer Matt Porterfield's Putty Hill Peter Bo Rappmund's Psychohydrography Lee Anne Schmitt's The Last Buffalo Hunt Joe Swanberg's Silver Bullets Sophia Takel's Green Frederick Wiseman's Boxing Gym Zach Weintraub's Bummer Summer
There are also two special programs, one highlighting Martin Scorsese's recent documentaries (George Harrison: Living in the Material World, A Letter to Elia and Public Speaking). And for the other,...
Dustin Guy Defa's Bad Fever Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene Todd Haynes's Mildred Pierce Monty Hellman's Road to Nowhere Azazel Jacobs's Terri Aaron Katz's Cold Weather Laurel Nakadate's The Wolf Knife Mike Ott's Littlerock Tristan Patterson's Dragonslayer Matt Porterfield's Putty Hill Peter Bo Rappmund's Psychohydrography Lee Anne Schmitt's The Last Buffalo Hunt Joe Swanberg's Silver Bullets Sophia Takel's Green Frederick Wiseman's Boxing Gym Zach Weintraub's Bummer Summer
There are also two special programs, one highlighting Martin Scorsese's recent documentaries (George Harrison: Living in the Material World, A Letter to Elia and Public Speaking). And for the other,...
- 12/22/2011
- MUBI
“I didn’t know who to believe—my parents or the television set.” — We Can’t Go Home Again ('73 cut)
“On the one hand, Ray has a knack for disrupting smooth sequences with odd interpolations… a sense of trying to carve out some space for immediacy and spontaneity inside institutionalized patterns of construction. But against this is a proclivity for heavy symbolic underlining and general schematization, which place the individual movements of the films within thickly determined contours” — B. Kite, Bigger Than Life: Somewhere in Suburbia
“Salvation is a private affair.” — Jacques Rivette, On Imagination
Some thoughts crystallized around We Can’t Go Home Again.
***
In retrospect, Nicholas Ray can seem as much like the last great Hollywood romantic as the first serious parodist of a generation, Godard, Oshima, Ruiz, still to come: anatomizing genre structure and hallmarks not to show the extension of personal philosophy into any...
“On the one hand, Ray has a knack for disrupting smooth sequences with odd interpolations… a sense of trying to carve out some space for immediacy and spontaneity inside institutionalized patterns of construction. But against this is a proclivity for heavy symbolic underlining and general schematization, which place the individual movements of the films within thickly determined contours” — B. Kite, Bigger Than Life: Somewhere in Suburbia
“Salvation is a private affair.” — Jacques Rivette, On Imagination
Some thoughts crystallized around We Can’t Go Home Again.
***
In retrospect, Nicholas Ray can seem as much like the last great Hollywood romantic as the first serious parodist of a generation, Godard, Oshima, Ruiz, still to come: anatomizing genre structure and hallmarks not to show the extension of personal philosophy into any...
- 10/4/2011
- MUBI
"Sunday night at 9, the place to be is the New York Film Festival to see Nicholas Ray's film We Can't Go Home Again," declares the New Yorker's Richard Brody. At the top of its roundup, Alt Screen notes that "Ray himself worked on the film from its premiere in 1973, to his death in 1979; this restoration was undertaken by his widow, Susan Ray. Susan presents Don't Expect Too Much, her own film on Nick's life and work on Monday, Oct 3 at 8:30." Both films will return to the City for a single evening at Film Forum on Oct 17. Start with the Alt Screen roundup, then swing by the one from Venice. Here's a quick sampling of a few of the reviews that have appeared since both of them.
"Eight years after essentially collapsing on the set of 1963's 55 Days at Peking and long after having exhausted studio goodwill with his drug use and erratic reliability,...
"Eight years after essentially collapsing on the set of 1963's 55 Days at Peking and long after having exhausted studio goodwill with his drug use and erratic reliability,...
- 10/3/2011
- MUBI
Rain isn’t stopping reviewers and critics alike from getting their first tastes of the 49th annual New York Film Festival. With cups of coffee readily in hand, the New York mentality is definitely in the air as the festival is showing the domestic debut of the restored version of We Can’t Go Home Again, the final film of Nicholas Ray compiled by his students in the early 1970s at Suny Binghamton right here in upstate New York. More of a “behind-the-scenes” experiment as Ray documents his group of novice filmmakers making a feature film, the film aims in capturing history through a time of liberation and expressionism.
Filmed through unconventional methods, including multi-frame projection and colorized saturations, the film surely reflects its time period through its chaotic means. Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories and supervised by his wife Susan, Ray’s last film is quoted in being a “bold...
Filmed through unconventional methods, including multi-frame projection and colorized saturations, the film surely reflects its time period through its chaotic means. Released by Oscilloscope Laboratories and supervised by his wife Susan, Ray’s last film is quoted in being a “bold...
- 9/21/2011
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
Where does a maverick film-maker such as Nicholas Ray go after directing Rebel Without a Cause? Back to school, says Geoffrey Macnab
Nicholas Ray wasn't the sort of film-maker ever to go quietly into retirement. The maverick director behind Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar and Bigger Than Life possessed a notoriously cussed temperament and, despite being one of Hollywood's best-paid directors in the 1950s, was perennially broke. Dogged by financial and health problems until his death in 1979, the last few years of his life were especially turbulent. Nonetheless, as a world premiere of the restored version of his experimental film, We Can't Go Home Again, at the Venice film festival has made clear, the 1970s were far from a lost decade for Ray. In fact, amid the chaos, he undertook some of his most radical and adventurous work.
We Can't Go Home Again is just what you would expect...
Nicholas Ray wasn't the sort of film-maker ever to go quietly into retirement. The maverick director behind Rebel Without a Cause, Johnny Guitar and Bigger Than Life possessed a notoriously cussed temperament and, despite being one of Hollywood's best-paid directors in the 1950s, was perennially broke. Dogged by financial and health problems until his death in 1979, the last few years of his life were especially turbulent. Nonetheless, as a world premiere of the restored version of his experimental film, We Can't Go Home Again, at the Venice film festival has made clear, the 1970s were far from a lost decade for Ray. In fact, amid the chaos, he undertook some of his most radical and adventurous work.
We Can't Go Home Again is just what you would expect...
- 9/8/2011
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- The Guardian - Film News
A month ago today, an announcement appeared that had Twitter all aflutter: "On the occasion of the centennial of the birth of acclaimed film director and Hollywood legend Nicholas Ray (Galesville, 7 August 1911 - New York, 16 June 1979), the Venice Film Festival announces the world premiere screening on Sunday 4 September at the Lido of the restored/reconstructed copy of We Can't Go Home Again, the definitive version that is faithful to the original idea of Ray's posthumous masterpiece." A panel followed yesterday's screening, "with the participation of American director and actor James Franco and Spanish director Victor Erice, author with Jos Oliver of the book Nicholas Ray y su tiempo (Madrid, 1986). Also invited at the panel are the acclaimed visual artist and filmmaker Douglas Gordon, and Henry Hopper — the son of Dennis Hopper, who starred in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and accompanied Nicholas Ray in several of his subsequent artistic endeavors. Henry Hopper...
- 9/6/2011
- MUBI
THR has the exciting news that Oscilloscope will release We Can’t Go Home Again, a movie from the influential, late director Nicholas Ray. Originally shot in the early ’70s, this documentary follows Ray as he teaches “filmmaking to a novice crew” — who were his students at Suny Binghamton — which he did during the making of a feature. Its premiere was held at the Cannes Film Festival in 1973, although he kept shooting additional parts and editing the whole thing up to his death in 1979. This late release more or less makes it his final film, an honor previously held by Lightning Over Water, a documentary he co-directed with Wim Wenders. An appearance at Venice and Nyff is expected, with a general opening set for this fall.
Also coming to us from Oscilloscope in the near future is a documentary on Ray, titled Don’t Expect Too Much. Directed by his wife,...
Also coming to us from Oscilloscope in the near future is a documentary on Ray, titled Don’t Expect Too Much. Directed by his wife,...
- 8/31/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
This year’s line-up for the 68th Venice Film Festival, taking place between 31st August and 10th September, has been announced by the festival’s official website, and as expected, it’s more than a little bit fantastic, with a brilliant line-up of films set to screen in Italy.
Heading the jury this year will be director Darren Aronofsky, the BBC reported back in April, who won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, back in 2008 for The Wrestler.
The list, as you can imagine, is a bit of a long one, so I’ve highlighted some of the hottest tipped to look out for beneath. Playing in competition will be:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold Texas Killing Fields, directed by Ami Canaan Mann The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney Quando La Notte, directed by Cristina Comencini Terraferma,...
Heading the jury this year will be director Darren Aronofsky, the BBC reported back in April, who won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, back in 2008 for The Wrestler.
The list, as you can imagine, is a bit of a long one, so I’ve highlighted some of the hottest tipped to look out for beneath. Playing in competition will be:
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, directed by Tomas Alfredson Wuthering Heights, directed by Andrea Arnold Texas Killing Fields, directed by Ami Canaan Mann The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney Quando La Notte, directed by Cristina Comencini Terraferma,...
- 7/29/2011
- by Kenji Lloyd
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Bigger Than Life Directed by: Nicholas Ray Written by: Cyril Hume and Richard Maibaum Starring: James Mason, Barbara Rush, Walter Matthau, Robert Simon Nicholas Ray's 'Bigger Than Life' is a sort-of Cortisone version of Reefer Madness (Cortisone Madness?) with one discernible difference: Reefer Madness is shitty and boring whereas Bigger Than Life is most definitely not. Thanks to Criterion, Ray's vibrant visuals get the treatment they deserve with this blu ray special edition release. After suffering from potentially deadly inflamed arteries, teacher and family man Ed Avery (James Mason) is prescribed a new experimental drug, Cortisone. While the doctors warn of some potential side effects, they insist that Ed could be faced with death if he doesn't continue medicating himself for the rest of his life. The Avery family agrees to go through with the drug plan and are met with quick and positive results. Ed is...
- 4/8/2010
- by Jay C.
- FilmJunk
Chicago – “God was wrong!” This line, spoken by the legendary James Mason in the remarkable “Bigger Than Life,” must have sent shockwaves through the audiences that heard it in 1956 and it’s not surprising that the film was shunned, buried, and only recently unearthed as a classic of its era. Directed by Nicholas Ray (“Rebel Without a Cause”), the film is the latest addition to the Criterion Collection and it’s stunningly good.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
With echoes of themes that David Lynch would explore thirty years later, “Bigger Than Life” is a masterful examination of the lies perpetrated by the white picket fence of suburbia displayed on shows like “Leave It to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best”. It is about the dissolution of a nuclear family but it is also about So much more. Above all else, Ray’s drama is a masterfully made piece of cinema with perfect performances,...
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
With echoes of themes that David Lynch would explore thirty years later, “Bigger Than Life” is a masterful examination of the lies perpetrated by the white picket fence of suburbia displayed on shows like “Leave It to Beaver” or “Father Knows Best”. It is about the dissolution of a nuclear family but it is also about So much more. Above all else, Ray’s drama is a masterfully made piece of cinema with perfect performances,...
- 4/2/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson does Roald Dahl with excellent results. One of my favorite films of last year. It's a funny, odd, sweet, visual masterpiece. Cussin' buy it!
Extras include:
The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox (Bd-exclusive)From Script to ScreenThe Puppet Makers (Bd-exclusive)Still Life: Puppet AnimationThe Cast (Bd-exclusive)Bill and His Badger (Bd-exclusive)A Beginner's Guide to Whack-BatFantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl (Bd-exclusive)
Brothers
Missed it in theaters, but heard its got some great performances so i'll have to check it out.
Extras include:
CommentaryRemade In The USAJim Sheridan - Film and Family
Mad Men: Season Three
The return of Don Draper. One of the best shows on TV right now.
Extras include:
Commentaries for all episodes'Medgar Evers: An Unsung Hero'Up In Smoke - a visual depiction of the juxtaposition between the world of advertising and big tobaccoWe Shall Overcome: The March on Washington - Dr.
Wes Anderson does Roald Dahl with excellent results. One of my favorite films of last year. It's a funny, odd, sweet, visual masterpiece. Cussin' buy it!
Extras include:
The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox (Bd-exclusive)From Script to ScreenThe Puppet Makers (Bd-exclusive)Still Life: Puppet AnimationThe Cast (Bd-exclusive)Bill and His Badger (Bd-exclusive)A Beginner's Guide to Whack-BatFantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl (Bd-exclusive)
Brothers
Missed it in theaters, but heard its got some great performances so i'll have to check it out.
Extras include:
CommentaryRemade In The USAJim Sheridan - Film and Family
Mad Men: Season Three
The return of Don Draper. One of the best shows on TV right now.
Extras include:
Commentaries for all episodes'Medgar Evers: An Unsung Hero'Up In Smoke - a visual depiction of the juxtaposition between the world of advertising and big tobaccoWe Shall Overcome: The March on Washington - Dr.
- 3/23/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
Having only seen Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause and none of his other films I feel as if I wasn't necessarily prepared as much as students of Ray's work would like me to be for Bigger than Life. However, such a scenario could cause for interesting discussion seeing how there is a lot more beneath the surface of Bigger than Life than I originally saw the first time and only came to notice after listening to the included audio commentary by Geoff Andrew, author of "The Films of Nicholas Ray" and included interview featurettes and archived television interview with the director. It was also strange how one played off the other and contradictions can even be found, but a bit more on that in a second.
The film is based on an article from The New Yorker by Berton Roueche and published in September 1955 (download it here) centering...
The film is based on an article from The New Yorker by Berton Roueche and published in September 1955 (download it here) centering...
- 3/23/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Ah Tuesdays, when our new release thirst is quenched yet again.
This week from Criterion we get some more Akira Kurosawa on Blu-ray, in the form of the re-released Yojimbo and Sanjuro, in both boxed, and non-boxed form. Also receiving a re-release on Blu-ray is Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. We recently reported a rumor that The Thin Red Line would be receiving the Criterion Blu-ray treatment, and I can safely say that after overhearing some chatter at SXSW, it’s more than just a rumor. Finally, we’re treated to an incredible performance by James Mason in Nicholas Ray’s Bigger than Life, on both DVD and Blu-ray.
All of these releases are packed with supplemental materials, showing the DVD and Blu-ray world that Criterion will remain a name to be reckoned with, no matter how much online streaming increases.
You can find our initial post, announcing these March Releases here.
This week from Criterion we get some more Akira Kurosawa on Blu-ray, in the form of the re-released Yojimbo and Sanjuro, in both boxed, and non-boxed form. Also receiving a re-release on Blu-ray is Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven. We recently reported a rumor that The Thin Red Line would be receiving the Criterion Blu-ray treatment, and I can safely say that after overhearing some chatter at SXSW, it’s more than just a rumor. Finally, we’re treated to an incredible performance by James Mason in Nicholas Ray’s Bigger than Life, on both DVD and Blu-ray.
All of these releases are packed with supplemental materials, showing the DVD and Blu-ray world that Criterion will remain a name to be reckoned with, no matter how much online streaming increases.
You can find our initial post, announcing these March Releases here.
- 3/22/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
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