Much has been made about the smoky sexiness of Luca Guadagnino's "Challengers," notably the brief threesome scene near the beginning of the movie. While the scene is plenty sexy, it constitutes the bulk of the on-screen physicality of "Challengers," and it is, perhaps disappointingly, relegated to about 90 seconds of tongue kissing; Guadagnino's film is not the bisexual throuple film the ad campaign would have you believe it is.
Instead, it's a soapy, recognizably classical love triangle about three bitter souls who were never able to get over that fateful make-out session. The three players involved were promising tennis champions in high school. There's Tashi (Zendaya), the hotshot celebrity that is already being courted by marketers. There's Patrick (Josh O'Connor), the rough-hewn, stubble-encrusted stud. And there's Art (Mike Faist), the talented jokester whose magic shell quickly hardens into a crunchy layer of jealousy. "Challengers" follows them, via flashbacks, through their...
Instead, it's a soapy, recognizably classical love triangle about three bitter souls who were never able to get over that fateful make-out session. The three players involved were promising tennis champions in high school. There's Tashi (Zendaya), the hotshot celebrity that is already being courted by marketers. There's Patrick (Josh O'Connor), the rough-hewn, stubble-encrusted stud. And there's Art (Mike Faist), the talented jokester whose magic shell quickly hardens into a crunchy layer of jealousy. "Challengers" follows them, via flashbacks, through their...
- 4/26/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In his lofty and lengthy directorial debut, author, curator, film historian and former Viennale and Austrian Film Museum Director, Alexander Horwath, takes on a monumental task, superimposing the biographies of two giants: that of acting icon Henry Fonda and that of the United States of America. It is a personal essay about the United States of America perceived through the life and work of the Hollywood actor.
It is not the first time that Horwath has tackled the subject of Henry Fonda. In 2020, he curated an eponymous programme for Il Cinema Ritrovato, exploring the political persona of Henry Fonda through films that trace this particular narrative. A programme composed of films that outlined Fonda's legacy even if only partially, with some of his greatest films, including The Lady Eve, My Darling Clementine, Once Upon A Time In The West, Jezebel, Jesse James, 12 Angry Men and On Golden...
It is not the first time that Horwath has tackled the subject of Henry Fonda. In 2020, he curated an eponymous programme for Il Cinema Ritrovato, exploring the political persona of Henry Fonda through films that trace this particular narrative. A programme composed of films that outlined Fonda's legacy even if only partially, with some of his greatest films, including The Lady Eve, My Darling Clementine, Once Upon A Time In The West, Jezebel, Jesse James, 12 Angry Men and On Golden...
- 2/23/2024
- by Tara Karajica
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Scribbled on a chalkboard in director Lulu Wang’s kitchen is a list of films and TV shows she and her partner, Barry Jenkins, have yet to see. As is tradition, their friends, many of them fellow filmmakers, come through their Silver Lake home and jot down suggestions for the pair. On this morning, the list features projects new and old, from the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses to the 1941 comedy The Lady Eve.
Not that Wang has had much time to get lost in the works of others lately. On Jan. 26, she’ll release Expats, her first project since she won over Hollywood (and critics) with her 2019 film, The Farewell, a fictionalized account of her family’s efforts to shield her grandma from a bleak diagnosis. The new series, her foray into TV, is an adaptation of the 2016 novel from Janice Y. K. Lee, who also was in Wang’s all-female writers room.
Not that Wang has had much time to get lost in the works of others lately. On Jan. 26, she’ll release Expats, her first project since she won over Hollywood (and critics) with her 2019 film, The Farewell, a fictionalized account of her family’s efforts to shield her grandma from a bleak diagnosis. The new series, her foray into TV, is an adaptation of the 2016 novel from Janice Y. K. Lee, who also was in Wang’s all-female writers room.
- 1/22/2024
- by Lacey Rose
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Remembering ‘Remember the Night’: A Christmas movie classic with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray
Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray sizzled as the duplicitous lovers in Billy Wilder’s exceptional 1944 film noir “Double Indemnity.” But that classic based on James M. Cain’s novel wasn’t their first pairing. Four years earlier, they played very different lovers in “Remember the Night,” which was penned by the brilliant Preston Sturges and directed by Mitchell Leisen. The exquisite holiday film, ironically released in January of 1940, has become a Christmas favorite thanks to TCM, streaming services and DVDs.
MacMurray stars as Jack, a young New York City assistant district attorney. Stanwyck’s Lee has seen her share of bad breaks is on trial before Christmas for shoplifting a bracelet at a jewelry store. MacMurray decides to bail her out of jail for the holidays and ends up taking her back to his Indiana family farm where she is warmly welcomed by his mother and aunt. His mother (Beulah Bondi...
MacMurray stars as Jack, a young New York City assistant district attorney. Stanwyck’s Lee has seen her share of bad breaks is on trial before Christmas for shoplifting a bracelet at a jewelry store. MacMurray decides to bail her out of jail for the holidays and ends up taking her back to his Indiana family farm where she is warmly welcomed by his mother and aunt. His mother (Beulah Bondi...
- 12/11/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Leighton Meester and Robbie Amell play ex-fiancés in a war to win the title of best ex in Amazon Freevee’s upcoming holiday movie “EXmas,” lending itself to the battle of the sexes themes found in 1930s and ’40s screwball comedies.
“I thought the idea of two exes under one roof really was reminiscent of the films I’ve loved recently, whether it’s a movie like a ‘Bringing Up Baby,’ ‘The Lady Eve’ or ‘The Philadelphia Story,'” director Jonah Feingold told TheWrap, jokingly adding that he “tricked” Freevee and Buzzfeed into making a Cary Grant-esque movie.
In “EXmas,” which is now streaming on Amazon Freevee, exes Ali (Meester) and Graham (Amell) find themselves stuck in the same house after Graham’s family invites Ali for the holidays after Graham tells them he’ll be stuck at work for Christmas. When Graham surprises his family, he’s shocked...
“I thought the idea of two exes under one roof really was reminiscent of the films I’ve loved recently, whether it’s a movie like a ‘Bringing Up Baby,’ ‘The Lady Eve’ or ‘The Philadelphia Story,'” director Jonah Feingold told TheWrap, jokingly adding that he “tricked” Freevee and Buzzfeed into making a Cary Grant-esque movie.
In “EXmas,” which is now streaming on Amazon Freevee, exes Ali (Meester) and Graham (Amell) find themselves stuck in the same house after Graham’s family invites Ali for the holidays after Graham tells them he’ll be stuck at work for Christmas. When Graham surprises his family, he’s shocked...
- 11/18/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Among the myriad reasons we could call the Criterion Channel the single greatest streaming service is its leveling of cinematic snobbery. Where a new World Cinema Project restoration plays, so too does Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight. I think about this looking at November’s lineup and being happiest about two new additions: a nine-film Robert Bresson retro including L’argent and The Devil, Probably; and a one-film Hype Williams retro including Belly and only Belly, but bringing as a bonus the direct-to-video Belly 2: Millionaire Boyz Club. Until recently such curation seemed impossible.
November will also feature a 20-film noir series boasting the obvious and the not. Maybe the single tightest collection is “Women of the West,” with Johnny Guitar and The Beguiled and Rancho Notorious and The Furies only half of it. Lynch/Oz, Irradiated, and My Two Voices make streaming premieres; Drylongso gets a Criterion Edition; and joining...
November will also feature a 20-film noir series boasting the obvious and the not. Maybe the single tightest collection is “Women of the West,” with Johnny Guitar and The Beguiled and Rancho Notorious and The Furies only half of it. Lynch/Oz, Irradiated, and My Two Voices make streaming premieres; Drylongso gets a Criterion Edition; and joining...
- 10/24/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
She was one of the hardest working, most versatile actresses of the Golden Era of Hollywood, lauded by directors, costars and crew members for her professionalism and pleasant demeanor. During a time when most actors were typecasts, her most famous roles included a range of characters from society lady to sassy con artist, working class girl to helpless invalid and from heartbroken mother to one of the most infamous femme fatales of film noir.
Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, NY. Orphaned very young, Ruby dropped out of school at the age of 14, starting a series of odd jobs, eventually working for the telephone company. However, she had big dreams, and was soon a chorus girl in several shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1926, she had a part in the moderately successful play “The Noose,” and decided to change her name – “Barbara” was the name of her character,...
Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on July 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, NY. Orphaned very young, Ruby dropped out of school at the age of 14, starting a series of odd jobs, eventually working for the telephone company. However, she had big dreams, and was soon a chorus girl in several shows, including the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1926, she had a part in the moderately successful play “The Noose,” and decided to change her name – “Barbara” was the name of her character,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Susan Pennington, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Director James Mangold drew from classic films, both contemporary and from the studio era, for the latest Indiana Jones film, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” This latest — and last — turn for Harrison Ford’s famed archaeologist gave Mangold many features to pull inspiration from, starting with 1981’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” as directed by Steven Spielberg.
“When we talk about the ‘Raiders’ film, and even Steven’s work in general, which has always been a big influence on me, you have to kind of understand that Steven himself is highly influenced and inspired by the classical, Golden Age, Hollywood style,” Mangold told TheWrap. “So you’re talking about a compendium of influences.”
But when it came to crafting the character of Helena, played by “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mangold went back to the 1940s screwball world of director Preston Sturges. “I had very much in mind Barbara Stanwyck...
“When we talk about the ‘Raiders’ film, and even Steven’s work in general, which has always been a big influence on me, you have to kind of understand that Steven himself is highly influenced and inspired by the classical, Golden Age, Hollywood style,” Mangold told TheWrap. “So you’re talking about a compendium of influences.”
But when it came to crafting the character of Helena, played by “Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mangold went back to the 1940s screwball world of director Preston Sturges. “I had very much in mind Barbara Stanwyck...
- 6/26/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Barbara Stanwyck is an early-Hollywood icon. The actor overcame a challenging childhood to become a performer of remarkable range, equally praised for her work in screwball comedies, Westerns, and film noirs. Unfortunately, the Big Valley star’s personal life was as fraught as some of her more complicated characters, but her artistic legacy made her a wealthy woman and a timeless on-screen presence.
Barbara Stanwyck grew up an orphan and began working as a pre-teen Barbara Stanwyck in ‘The Big Valley’ | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The youngest of five children, Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on Jul. 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Tragedy struck early in her life. Her mother, Catherine, died after a drunk passenger pushed her off a moving streetcar in 1911. Two weeks after the funeral, Stanwyck’s father, Byron, left to join a work crew digging the Panama Canal and...
Barbara Stanwyck grew up an orphan and began working as a pre-teen Barbara Stanwyck in ‘The Big Valley’ | ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The youngest of five children, Barbara Stanwyck was born Ruby Catherine Stevens on Jul. 16, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York. Tragedy struck early in her life. Her mother, Catherine, died after a drunk passenger pushed her off a moving streetcar in 1911. Two weeks after the funeral, Stanwyck’s father, Byron, left to join a work crew digging the Panama Canal and...
- 3/8/2023
- by Sam Hines
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Henry Fonda was one of the most famous actors of the last century, with a career that spanned the ’20s to the ’80s. People around the world loved his work, but Fonda wasn’t always welcoming to fans. In a recent interview, his daughter, Jane Fonda, revealed his true feelings about his supporters.
Henry Fonda’s career as an actor spanned 60 years
The elder Fonda began acting when he was 20 years old, appearing in local theater shows. In 1935, he headed to Hollywood and soon became a star, appearing in movies like You Only Live Once, Jezebel, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Lady Eve.
He enlisted in the Navy during WWII and, after returning, took a break from acting. Fonda returned in the late 40s and never stopped working afterward. Some of his biggest acting credits include 12 Angry Men, Once Upon a Time in the West, On Golden Pond,...
Henry Fonda’s career as an actor spanned 60 years
The elder Fonda began acting when he was 20 years old, appearing in local theater shows. In 1935, he headed to Hollywood and soon became a star, appearing in movies like You Only Live Once, Jezebel, The Grapes of Wrath, and The Lady Eve.
He enlisted in the Navy during WWII and, after returning, took a break from acting. Fonda returned in the late 40s and never stopped working afterward. Some of his biggest acting credits include 12 Angry Men, Once Upon a Time in the West, On Golden Pond,...
- 2/18/2023
- by India McCarty
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Jane Fonda has opened up about her feelings on death, saying she is “not scared” of it.
She also recalled “forgiving” her father, Henry Fonda, before he died in 1982.
The Hollywood star’s father was 31 when she was born in 1937, and was on his way to becoming one of the most famous actors in the world.
Soon after she was born, Henry starred in Jezebel (1938), Young Mr Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and The Lady Eve (1941).
Over the years, Fonda, 85, has been open about the strained relationship she had with her father, which improved towards the end of his life.
Their story was echoed in 1980 film On Golden Pond, the rights to which Fonda bought in the hopes that her dad would star alongside her.
He did so, and the film became a huge box office success and received 10 Oscar nominations.
Fonda described it as “a gift to my father that was so unbelievably successful.
She also recalled “forgiving” her father, Henry Fonda, before he died in 1982.
The Hollywood star’s father was 31 when she was born in 1937, and was on his way to becoming one of the most famous actors in the world.
Soon after she was born, Henry starred in Jezebel (1938), Young Mr Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940) and The Lady Eve (1941).
Over the years, Fonda, 85, has been open about the strained relationship she had with her father, which improved towards the end of his life.
Their story was echoed in 1980 film On Golden Pond, the rights to which Fonda bought in the hopes that her dad would star alongside her.
He did so, and the film became a huge box office success and received 10 Oscar nominations.
Fonda described it as “a gift to my father that was so unbelievably successful.
- 2/17/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film Forum
A Preston Sturges retrospective continues, with The Palm Beach Story, The Lady Eve, and Sullivan’s Travels all playing on 35mm this weekend.
Roxy Cinema
35mm showings of Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse begin a Todd Solondz retro; the Leonard Cohen concert film Bird on a Wire screens this Saturday, as does Jonas Mekas’ Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol.
Museum of Modern Art
Always a highlight of the repertory year, To Save and Project presents the best in restored cinema; a Guillermo del Toro retrospective of his features and inspirations has its final weekend, marking your last chance to see Puss In Boots at MoMA.
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on awards-snubbed films continues with Sirk, Ray, and McCarey; the rare Greek feature My Friend, Lefterakis screens this Sunday.
IFC Center
28 Days Later,...
Film Forum
A Preston Sturges retrospective continues, with The Palm Beach Story, The Lady Eve, and Sullivan’s Travels all playing on 35mm this weekend.
Roxy Cinema
35mm showings of Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse begin a Todd Solondz retro; the Leonard Cohen concert film Bird on a Wire screens this Saturday, as does Jonas Mekas’ Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol.
Museum of Modern Art
Always a highlight of the repertory year, To Save and Project presents the best in restored cinema; a Guillermo del Toro retrospective of his features and inspirations has its final weekend, marking your last chance to see Puss In Boots at MoMA.
Museum of the Moving Image
A series on awards-snubbed films continues with Sirk, Ray, and McCarey; the rare Greek feature My Friend, Lefterakis screens this Sunday.
IFC Center
28 Days Later,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
On the April 28, 2021 episode of /Film Daily, /Film senior writer Ben Pearson is joined by managing editor Jacob Hall, weekend editor Brad Oman, and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to gather around the virtual water cooler and talk about what they’ve been up to. At The Water Cooler: What we’ve been Doing: […]
The post Water Cooler: Shadow and Bone, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, The Lady Eve, Haunted: Latin America, and More appeared first on /Film.
The post Water Cooler: Shadow and Bone, The Mitchells vs. The Machines, The Lady Eve, Haunted: Latin America, and More appeared first on /Film.
- 4/28/2021
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)
Superlatives are fatuous, but Mads Mikkelsen’s final dance in Another Round was possibly one of the finest scenes of the year. It is here that Thomas Vinterberg tips his hand: in turns devastating and rambunctious, his latest neither glorifies nor condemns the magic––and sorrows––of day-drinking, but conjures a surprisingly sober study of a midlife crisis, climaxing in this moment of blissful catharsis. As a character-defining moment, it’s up there with Denis Lavant’s pirouettes at the end of Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. – Leonardo G.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Audrey (Helena Coan)
Despite her status as one of the most iconic movie stars in history,...
Another Round (Thomas Vinterberg)
Superlatives are fatuous, but Mads Mikkelsen’s final dance in Another Round was possibly one of the finest scenes of the year. It is here that Thomas Vinterberg tips his hand: in turns devastating and rambunctious, his latest neither glorifies nor condemns the magic––and sorrows––of day-drinking, but conjures a surprisingly sober study of a midlife crisis, climaxing in this moment of blissful catharsis. As a character-defining moment, it’s up there with Denis Lavant’s pirouettes at the end of Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. – Leonardo G.
Where to Stream: Hulu
Audrey (Helena Coan)
Despite her status as one of the most iconic movie stars in history,...
- 3/19/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
From 1941’s The Lady Eve to the Kill Bill franchise, check out 25 of the greatest revenge movies of all time.
“As Khan Noonien Singh once said, ‘revenge is a dish best served cold,’ and cinema is filled with stories where vengeance and retribution get served with chilling brutality and precision. There is a natural impulse to see one’s enemies, or even just the people who wronged us, punished for their misdeeds, or have karma visited upon them.”
Read more at Mental Floss.
WandaVision‘s use of the sitcom formula is perfect for the story the Marvel series wanted to tell.
“Admittedly, when the first trailer for WandaVision dropped, I wasn’t sure what to make of the self-aware television sitcom angle they were going for. Sure, sitcoms are a good medium for that idyllic suburban lifestyle (and fit with the comics the series draws inspiration from), but the series...
“As Khan Noonien Singh once said, ‘revenge is a dish best served cold,’ and cinema is filled with stories where vengeance and retribution get served with chilling brutality and precision. There is a natural impulse to see one’s enemies, or even just the people who wronged us, punished for their misdeeds, or have karma visited upon them.”
Read more at Mental Floss.
WandaVision‘s use of the sitcom formula is perfect for the story the Marvel series wanted to tell.
“Admittedly, when the first trailer for WandaVision dropped, I wasn’t sure what to make of the self-aware television sitcom angle they were going for. Sure, sitcoms are a good medium for that idyllic suburban lifestyle (and fit with the comics the series draws inspiration from), but the series...
- 3/3/2021
- by Ivan Huang
- Den of Geek
The Criterion Channel has unveiled their March 2021 lineup, which includes no shortage of remarkable programming. Highlights from the slate include eight gems from Preston Sturges, Elaine May’s brilliant A New Leaf, a series featuring Black Westerns, Ann Hui’s Boat People, the new restoration of Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi.
They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.
Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.
The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917
Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963
Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916
Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979
Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972
Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...
They will also add films from their Essential Fellini boxset, series on Dirk Bogarde and Nelly Kaplan, and Luchino Visconti’s The Damned and Death in Venice, and more. In terms of recent releases, there’s also Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century and Claire Denis’ Let the Sunshine In.
Check out the lineup below, along with the teaser for the Black Westerns series. For weekly streaming updates across all services, bookmark this page.
The Adventurer, Charles Chaplin, 1917
Bandini, Bimal Roy, 1963
Behind the Screen, Charles Chaplin, 1916
Black Jack, Ken Loach, 1979
Black Rodeo, Jeff Kanew, 1972
Blood Simple, Joel and Ethan Coen,...
- 2/26/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Sony Classics’ “The Father” is an act of daring; it could have gone wrong in so many ways, but it works like gangbusters.
The film marks the movie debut of writer-director Florian Zeller, whose background is as a novelist and playwright; in many cases, that would send warning signals.
What’s more, it all takes place in one location, the apartment of Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), so it might have turned out to be a photographed stage play. Third, it toys with the audience, keeping them off-balance about what is real and what’s not.
Those are potential danger areas, but the film is so good that it defies all logic.
Movie adaptations of plays, from Eugene O’Neill to Neil Simon, usually look like filmed theater, and that’s Ok; they’re still enjoyable. But it’s magic when a filmmaker can set his movie in one space, yet it seems like pure cinema.
The film marks the movie debut of writer-director Florian Zeller, whose background is as a novelist and playwright; in many cases, that would send warning signals.
What’s more, it all takes place in one location, the apartment of Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), so it might have turned out to be a photographed stage play. Third, it toys with the audience, keeping them off-balance about what is real and what’s not.
Those are potential danger areas, but the film is so good that it defies all logic.
Movie adaptations of plays, from Eugene O’Neill to Neil Simon, usually look like filmed theater, and that’s Ok; they’re still enjoyable. But it’s magic when a filmmaker can set his movie in one space, yet it seems like pure cinema.
- 12/18/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
The film world loves to discover a new director with a strong voice. That’s what Francis Lee created with “God’s Own Country,” a rare look at rural working-class men in love. Lee knew the terrain: He grew up gay in the Northern Yorkshire moors depicted in the film, and still lives there. Without being able to afford film school, he figured out that acting would be his best shot at breaking into writing and directing. “I did not have a great education or access to it,” he said.
Lee studied drama, struggled with an acting career (including two lines in Mike Leigh’s 1999 “Topsy-Turvy”), and worked at a junkyard as he figured out how to cobble together financing to make a series of shorts and then “God’s Own Country.” The movie broke out at Sundance 2017 and launched actors Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Alec Secareanu (“Strike Back”) on the world stage.
Lee studied drama, struggled with an acting career (including two lines in Mike Leigh’s 1999 “Topsy-Turvy”), and worked at a junkyard as he figured out how to cobble together financing to make a series of shorts and then “God’s Own Country.” The movie broke out at Sundance 2017 and launched actors Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Alec Secareanu (“Strike Back”) on the world stage.
- 11/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The film world loves to discover a new director with a strong voice. That’s what Francis Lee created with “God’s Own Country,” a rare look at rural working-class men in love. Lee knew the terrain: He grew up gay in the Northern Yorkshire moors depicted in the film, and still lives there. Without being able to afford film school, he figured out that acting would be his best shot at breaking into writing and directing. “I did not have a great education or access to it,” he said.
Lee studied drama, struggled with an acting career (including two lines in Mike Leigh’s 1999 “Topsy-Turvy”), and worked at a junkyard as he figured out how to cobble together financing to make a series of shorts and then “God’s Own Country.” The movie broke out at Sundance 2017 and launched actors Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Alec Secareanu (“Strike Back”) on the world stage.
Lee studied drama, struggled with an acting career (including two lines in Mike Leigh’s 1999 “Topsy-Turvy”), and worked at a junkyard as he figured out how to cobble together financing to make a series of shorts and then “God’s Own Country.” The movie broke out at Sundance 2017 and launched actors Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”) and Alec Secareanu (“Strike Back”) on the world stage.
- 11/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Lady Eve
Blu ray
Criterion
1941/ 94 min.
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, William Demarest
Cinematography by Victor Milner
Directed by Preston Sturges
In The Lady Eve a wealthy ophiologist named Charlie Pike and a sexy card shark named Jean Harrington fall in love. It’s a rapid-fire romance fueled by equal portions of love and lust and when the affair crashes and burns, director Preston Sturges simply restarts the movie: Jean reintroduces herself to Charlie as a British socialite named Eve and la affaire d’amour begins anew. The brazenness of her charade is part and parcel of Sturges’s own impudent take on the Human Comedy – the result is a screwball work of art.
Henry Fonda is Charlie and Barbara Stanwyck plays Jean – they meet aboard a cruise ship where Jean’s father, an avuncular but remorseless con man played by Charles Coburn, has pigeonholed Charlie as a sucker par excellence.
Blu ray
Criterion
1941/ 94 min.
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, William Demarest
Cinematography by Victor Milner
Directed by Preston Sturges
In The Lady Eve a wealthy ophiologist named Charlie Pike and a sexy card shark named Jean Harrington fall in love. It’s a rapid-fire romance fueled by equal portions of love and lust and when the affair crashes and burns, director Preston Sturges simply restarts the movie: Jean reintroduces herself to Charlie as a British socialite named Eve and la affaire d’amour begins anew. The brazenness of her charade is part and parcel of Sturges’s own impudent take on the Human Comedy – the result is a screwball work of art.
Henry Fonda is Charlie and Barbara Stanwyck plays Jean – they meet aboard a cruise ship where Jean’s father, an avuncular but remorseless con man played by Charles Coburn, has pigeonholed Charlie as a sucker par excellence.
- 7/25/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
I had the chance to speak to Tom Sturges, the son of director Preston Sturges, to converse about the comically inclined films of his auteur father whose works came to define American cinema and sentiments of the 1940s. For the occasion of the Criterion Collection’s re-release of the 1941 classic The Lady Eve on Blu-ray (which is also a newly restored 4K digital transfer), Sturges shared illuminating asides about how his father’s personal experiences shaped some aspects of the film (which are also detailed in his 2019 publication Preston Sturges: The Last Years of Hollywood’s First Writer-Director).…...
- 7/17/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
“Pratfalls And A Zoom Supplement”
By Raymond Benson
The brilliance of Preston Sturges’ brilliant screwball comedy aside, what is striking about the new Blu-ray edition of the filmmaker’s 1941 The Lady Eve from The Criterion Collection is the supplement that is a Zoom conversation between Tom Sturges (Preston’s son), filmmakers Peter Bogdanovich, James L. Brooks, and Ron Shelton, and critics Leonard Maltin, Kenneth Turan, and Susan King. While it’s unclear if this is the first acknowledgment of the Covid-19 pandemic in the production of home video supplementary features, this reviewer found the inclusion to be revelatory. How amazing it is to see these personages in the Brady Bunch-style squares all discussing Sturges and the film, and mirroring what many of us are doing while working at home. At one point, Brooks’ internet connection fails and his image freezes. All the others...
“Pratfalls And A Zoom Supplement”
By Raymond Benson
The brilliance of Preston Sturges’ brilliant screwball comedy aside, what is striking about the new Blu-ray edition of the filmmaker’s 1941 The Lady Eve from The Criterion Collection is the supplement that is a Zoom conversation between Tom Sturges (Preston’s son), filmmakers Peter Bogdanovich, James L. Brooks, and Ron Shelton, and critics Leonard Maltin, Kenneth Turan, and Susan King. While it’s unclear if this is the first acknowledgment of the Covid-19 pandemic in the production of home video supplementary features, this reviewer found the inclusion to be revelatory. How amazing it is to see these personages in the Brady Bunch-style squares all discussing Sturges and the film, and mirroring what many of us are doing while working at home. At one point, Brooks’ internet connection fails and his image freezes. All the others...
- 7/16/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The saga continues, featuring Adam Rifkin, Robert D. Krzykowski, John Sayles, Maggie Renzi, Mick Garris and Larry Wilmore with special guest star Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
- 4/17/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
We already got details on The Criterion Collection’s major release this July–a seven-disc Bruce Lee box set–but that’s not all of the cinematic goodness they will be serving up this summer.
They’ve now unveiled the rest of their July releases, some of which are Blu-ray upgrades, including the Abbas Kiarostami masterpiece Taste of Cherry and their first Netflix release, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.
Also in the lineup is the Preston Sturges classic screwball comedy The Lady Eve, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda as well as Byron Haskin’s Technicolor adaptation of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. Check out full details on all the releases below.
Taste of Cherry
The first Iranian film to win the Palme d’Or, this austere, emotionally complex drama by the great Abbas Kiarostami follows the middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) as he drives around...
They’ve now unveiled the rest of their July releases, some of which are Blu-ray upgrades, including the Abbas Kiarostami masterpiece Taste of Cherry and their first Netflix release, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story.
Also in the lineup is the Preston Sturges classic screwball comedy The Lady Eve, starring Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda as well as Byron Haskin’s Technicolor adaptation of H. G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds. Check out full details on all the releases below.
Taste of Cherry
The first Iranian film to win the Palme d’Or, this austere, emotionally complex drama by the great Abbas Kiarostami follows the middle-aged Mr. Badii (Homayoun Ershadi) as he drives around...
- 4/15/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
When a neighbour offered up DVDs of a trio of classic films, our writer discovered that amid the laughter they forced him to think about sexual, social and political attitudes
Read all the What I’m really watching choicesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation
How to fill the evenings in these desolate times? A colleague told me she will be delving into her BFI playlist of Ingmar Bergman and Werner Herzog. I hope to emulate her ambition, but I was even more thrilled when a kindly cineaste neighbour turned up at my door with DVDs of a trio of Hollywood comedies: Design for Living (1933) directed by Ernst Lubitsch and two Preston Sturges classics, The Lady Eve (1941) and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).
For a few happy hours, I was able to suspend the feelings of dread and boredom we are all currently experiencing. Watching them on successive evenings, I was struck by several things.
Read all the What I’m really watching choicesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation
How to fill the evenings in these desolate times? A colleague told me she will be delving into her BFI playlist of Ingmar Bergman and Werner Herzog. I hope to emulate her ambition, but I was even more thrilled when a kindly cineaste neighbour turned up at my door with DVDs of a trio of Hollywood comedies: Design for Living (1933) directed by Ernst Lubitsch and two Preston Sturges classics, The Lady Eve (1941) and Hail the Conquering Hero (1944).
For a few happy hours, I was able to suspend the feelings of dread and boredom we are all currently experiencing. Watching them on successive evenings, I was struck by several things.
- 4/13/2020
- by Michael Billington
- The Guardian - Film News
Here are many more movies to watch when you’re staying in for a while, featuring recommendations from Steven Canals, Larry Karaszewski, Gareth Reynolds, and Alan Arkush with special guest star Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Kung Fu Mama a.k.a. Queen of Fist (1973)
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (1974)
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
In The Mood For Love (2000)
Hunger (2008)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Fargo (1996)
Night of the Lepus (1971)
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Soylent Green (1973)
Silent Running (1972)
Canyon Passage (1946)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
The Professionals (1966)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Carrie (1952)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Hello Down There (1969)
The Brass Bottle (1964)
The Trouble With Angels (1966)
Pollyanna (1960)
Tiger Bay (1959)
The Parent Trap (1961)
Endless Night (1972)
The Family Way (1966)
Take A Girl Like You (1970)
Freddy Got Fingered...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976)
Groundhog Day (1993)
Kung Fu Mama a.k.a. Queen of Fist (1973)
Ali: Fear Eats The Soul (1974)
Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (2019)
In The Mood For Love (2000)
Hunger (2008)
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Fargo (1996)
Night of the Lepus (1971)
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Soylent Green (1973)
Silent Running (1972)
Canyon Passage (1946)
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
The Professionals (1966)
Ride Lonesome (1959)
Carrie (1952)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
Hello Down There (1969)
The Brass Bottle (1964)
The Trouble With Angels (1966)
Pollyanna (1960)
Tiger Bay (1959)
The Parent Trap (1961)
Endless Night (1972)
The Family Way (1966)
Take A Girl Like You (1970)
Freddy Got Fingered...
- 4/10/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Mubi's series Screwball Now & Then is showing November 21–December 21, 2019 in the United Kingdom.Preston Sturges was a writer and director who could pass muster as a percussionist; his deliciously black-hearted screwball comedies of the forties moved at a clip that would tongue-tie most screen performers today. Rhythm is integral to Sturges’ comedies and his characters move and speak so quickly they can get away with all kinds of things. In his beloved series of films of that decade—The Lady Eve (1941), The Palm Beach Story (1942), The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero (both 1944), among others—Sturges would help to perfect a very particular form of romantic comedy. That venerated form, known as screwball, reached its apotheosis in the late 1930s and early ‘40s, characterized by sharp verbal sparring, chaotic plot twists, and snappy pacing that veered from witticism to pratfalling as it pleased. In The Palm Beach Story,...
- 11/22/2019
- MUBI
Why so serious? While some filmmakers get their start making cheaply made B-movies or horror films, there’s a new crop of directors emerging who previously cut their teeth making classic comedies. And while most haven’t abandoned their sense of humor entirely, they’ve finally been recognized at both the box office and awards circuit by veering into prestige pictures. The latest example is Todd Phillips, the director of “Joker,” which as the darkly disturbed origin story of the iconic Batman villain is no laughing matter. Here are some other directors who have re-emerged as more than just funny men.
Preston Sturges – Comedy Classic: “The Lady Eve”/Dramatic Turn: “Sullivan’s Travels”
Preston Sturges, one of the signature directors of Old Hollywood, would likely still be admired today based solely on the success of his screwball comedies like “The Great McGinty” and “The Lady Eve.” But he took a...
Preston Sturges – Comedy Classic: “The Lady Eve”/Dramatic Turn: “Sullivan’s Travels”
Preston Sturges, one of the signature directors of Old Hollywood, would likely still be admired today based solely on the success of his screwball comedies like “The Great McGinty” and “The Lady Eve.” But he took a...
- 10/2/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Henry Fonda would’ve celebrated his 114th birthday on May 16, 2019. The Oscar-winning thespian made a name for himself playing the affable, aw-shucks guy next door who at times becomes an unlikely hero, yet showed his range in a series of classic titles. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1905, Fonda first came to prominence as a Broadway star, moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His first Oscar nomination as Best Actor came for John Ford‘s landmark “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), adapted from John Steinbeck‘s novel about poor farmers during the Dust Bowl. As Tom Joad, a reformed killer turned union organizer, Fonda cemented his screen persona as the ordinary man standing up for what’s right.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
Surprisingly, he didn’t compete at...
Born in 1905, Fonda first came to prominence as a Broadway star, moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His first Oscar nomination as Best Actor came for John Ford‘s landmark “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), adapted from John Steinbeck‘s novel about poor farmers during the Dust Bowl. As Tom Joad, a reformed killer turned union organizer, Fonda cemented his screen persona as the ordinary man standing up for what’s right.
SEEOscar Best Actor Gallery: Every Winner in Academy Award History
Surprisingly, he didn’t compete at...
- 5/16/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Henry Fonda would’ve celebrated his 114th birthday on May 16, 2019. The Oscar-winning thespian made a name for himself playing the affable, aw-shucks guy next door who at times becomes an unlikely hero, yet showed his range in a series of classic titles. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 25 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1905, Fonda first came to prominence as a Broadway star, moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His first Oscar nomination as Best Actor came for John Ford‘s landmark “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), adapted from John Steinbeck‘s novel about poor farmers during the Dust Bowl. As Tom Joad, a reformed killer turned union organizer, Fonda cemented his screen persona as the ordinary man standing up for what’s right.
Surprisingly, he didn’t compete at the Oscars again for acting until 41 years later, when he...
Born in 1905, Fonda first came to prominence as a Broadway star, moving to Hollywood in the mid-1930s. His first Oscar nomination as Best Actor came for John Ford‘s landmark “The Grapes of Wrath” (1940), adapted from John Steinbeck‘s novel about poor farmers during the Dust Bowl. As Tom Joad, a reformed killer turned union organizer, Fonda cemented his screen persona as the ordinary man standing up for what’s right.
Surprisingly, he didn’t compete at the Oscars again for acting until 41 years later, when he...
- 5/16/2019
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Joe Cornish returns with his second feature.
Joe Cornish’s sophomore feature The Kid Who Would Be King opens in UK cinemas this weekend, with Warner Bros’ sequel The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part currently holding the number one spot.
Cornish previously directed 2011 inner city sci-fi Attack The Block starring Screen Star of Tomorrow 2011 John Boyega. The film opened to £1.1m in May 2011 with a £3,221 screen average, going on to hit £2.5m in the UK.
Fantasy adventure The Kid Who Would Be King stars Louis Ashbourne Serkis (son of actor Andy Serkis) as a young boy who discovers he...
Joe Cornish’s sophomore feature The Kid Who Would Be King opens in UK cinemas this weekend, with Warner Bros’ sequel The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part currently holding the number one spot.
Cornish previously directed 2011 inner city sci-fi Attack The Block starring Screen Star of Tomorrow 2011 John Boyega. The film opened to £1.1m in May 2011 with a £3,221 screen average, going on to hit £2.5m in the UK.
Fantasy adventure The Kid Who Would Be King stars Louis Ashbourne Serkis (son of actor Andy Serkis) as a young boy who discovers he...
- 2/15/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Stanwyck is brilliant as a woman of mystery aboard a cruise ship in Preston Sturges’s glorious screwball comedy of 1941
‘I suppose you know I am very rich?” “Aren’t we all?” This pert exchange typifies the throwaway attitude to wealth in Preston Sturges’s glorious screwball comedy from 1941, now revived in selected UK cinemas as part of the Barbara Stanwyck retrospective at London’s BFI Southbank. Being rich, wanting to be rich and wanting to stay rich are desires that are all immersed in a champagne punchbowl of musical-comedy fantasy innocence. All the cynicism is removed and replaced with something childlike.
The Lady Eve is a film that sports with events in the Garden of Eden. It is a world away from unpleasantness. Or almost. When someone does a Hitler impression to show what dishonesty looks like, the historical context is restored with a jolt.
‘I suppose you know I am very rich?” “Aren’t we all?” This pert exchange typifies the throwaway attitude to wealth in Preston Sturges’s glorious screwball comedy from 1941, now revived in selected UK cinemas as part of the Barbara Stanwyck retrospective at London’s BFI Southbank. Being rich, wanting to be rich and wanting to stay rich are desires that are all immersed in a champagne punchbowl of musical-comedy fantasy innocence. All the cynicism is removed and replaced with something childlike.
The Lady Eve is a film that sports with events in the Garden of Eden. It is a world away from unpleasantness. Or almost. When someone does a Hitler impression to show what dishonesty looks like, the historical context is restored with a jolt.
- 2/14/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Preston Sturges’ screwball masterpiece is typical for the director, mixing outlandish slapstick with colorful characters and outrageous plot twists worthy of Mark Twain and Voltaire. There’s a touch of melancholy about the duplicitous romance between Barbara Stanwyck’s luscious but two-faced card shark and Henry Fonda’s hopelessly naive beer magnate but it’s mitigated by another stellar Sturges supporting cast including the magnificent William Demarest who has the (literal) last word: “Positively the same dame!”
The post The Lady Eve appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post The Lady Eve appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 11/7/2018
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Preston Sturges's Sullivan's Travels (1941) is showing August 27 – September 26 and The Lady Eve (1941) from August 28 – September 27, 2018 in the United Kingdom as part of a Preston Sturges double feature.How to capture the mixture of cynicism and romance in the best films of writer-director Preston Sturges? One way is to note that the writing of The Lady Eve (1941)—one of the funniest and most romantic of Hollywood rom-coms—overlapped with a certain trip to Reno. Sturges had not been getting along with his personal secretary and companion, Bianca Gilchrist, who decided to take off to Mexico to put space between them. While she was away, Sturges fell in love with another woman. Her name was Louise Tevis, and she was already married but separated from her husband. After a courtship, Sturges reportedly approached her husband, took a bow, and said,...
- 8/31/2018
- MUBI
Imagine a concoction mixing "Dracula", "The Adams Family", "National Lampoon's Vacation", "L'Atalante", and "The Lady Eve". And why not while were at it, add in Adam Sandler and his crew of genial cockeyed buddies who have made a living off jokes on the subject of, well you know, the first half of the term "cockeyed". Sound like a forgone titanic disaster? You may have been on to something, if it wasn't for the puerile urgency , not to mention bliss, director Genndy Tartakovsky brings to the enterprise. That isn't to say his commentary on the alienated monsters doesn't come without its fare share of target audience pollution. However, the message on equality and family is as pure as ever--with the exception of a few fart jokes. But it's the vibrant and...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/24/2018
- Screen Anarchy
Superman star whose performance as the go-getting reporter Lois Lane brought pizzazz to the blockbuster superhero films
“You’ll believe a man can fly,” promised the advertising campaign for the 1978 blockbuster Superman: The Movie. None of that technical razzle-dazzle would have counted for much, though, without the lively rapport between the film’s stars: Christopher Reeve as Superman and his alter-ego Clark Kent, and Margot Kidder, who has died aged 69, as the go-getting, chain-smoking reporter Lois Lane. They brought a screwball vivacity reminiscent of The Lady Eve to their scenes together, with Kidder playing Barbara Stanwyck to Reeve’s Henry Fonda. Her smart, sassy performance never allowed Lois to become merely the love interest or damsel in distress, even when those were her superficial functions in the script. In her hands, Lois was nobody’s fool, give or take her inability, necessary to the narrative, to spot that only a...
“You’ll believe a man can fly,” promised the advertising campaign for the 1978 blockbuster Superman: The Movie. None of that technical razzle-dazzle would have counted for much, though, without the lively rapport between the film’s stars: Christopher Reeve as Superman and his alter-ego Clark Kent, and Margot Kidder, who has died aged 69, as the go-getting, chain-smoking reporter Lois Lane. They brought a screwball vivacity reminiscent of The Lady Eve to their scenes together, with Kidder playing Barbara Stanwyck to Reeve’s Henry Fonda. Her smart, sassy performance never allowed Lois to become merely the love interest or damsel in distress, even when those were her superficial functions in the script. In her hands, Lois was nobody’s fool, give or take her inability, necessary to the narrative, to spot that only a...
- 5/15/2018
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
The Awful Truth
Blu ray
Criterion
1937 / 1:33 / 91 Min. / Street Date April 17, 2018
Starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy
Cinematography by Joseph Walker
Written by Viña Delmar
Edited by Al Clark
Produced and directed by Leo McCarey
Thanks to Louis Armstrong and his fellow geniuses, the Jazz Age transformed a generation and dominated pop culture for close to two decades; Vanity Fair and Life recorded the nightlife of hot-to-trot sophisticates while early risers followed the seesaw romance of a willowy flapper named Blondie Boopadoop and her paramour Dagwood Bumstead, a lovesick Dick Powell wannabe.
It was Powell who helped popularize the uptempo rhythms pervading the fast and loose musicals of the era, in particular Paramount’s raucous output which flaunted hot jazz on the soundtrack whether it starred Crosby as a college crooner or W.C. Fields as a double-dealing misanthrope. Even Norman McLeod’s Alice In Wonderland began with a bouncy...
Blu ray
Criterion
1937 / 1:33 / 91 Min. / Street Date April 17, 2018
Starring Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Ralph Bellamy
Cinematography by Joseph Walker
Written by Viña Delmar
Edited by Al Clark
Produced and directed by Leo McCarey
Thanks to Louis Armstrong and his fellow geniuses, the Jazz Age transformed a generation and dominated pop culture for close to two decades; Vanity Fair and Life recorded the nightlife of hot-to-trot sophisticates while early risers followed the seesaw romance of a willowy flapper named Blondie Boopadoop and her paramour Dagwood Bumstead, a lovesick Dick Powell wannabe.
It was Powell who helped popularize the uptempo rhythms pervading the fast and loose musicals of the era, in particular Paramount’s raucous output which flaunted hot jazz on the soundtrack whether it starred Crosby as a college crooner or W.C. Fields as a double-dealing misanthrope. Even Norman McLeod’s Alice In Wonderland began with a bouncy...
- 4/7/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
It feels a little bit like Christmas morning around the house this morning, even though we’ve still got a week and change to go before the actual day, and that’s undoubtedly because all the women here are rousing themselves a bit early to get ready for what amounts to Christmas 2017, Hollywood style. (The cats have been up for some time already, and they too are very excited, but you know, that’s just their way.) You see, in a couple hours we’re all piling into the car and making the pilgrimage up the hill to Universal City to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi. When it comes to buying advance tickets for a big movie for the whole family to see together my dear wife knows no restraints, and if the movie is prefixed with the words “Star Wars,” then all bets are most assuredly off.
- 12/16/2017
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
On Monday, August 28, 2017, Turner Classic Movies will devote an entire day of their “Summer Under the Stars” series to the late, great Louis Burton Lindley Jr. If that name doesn’t sound familiar, well, then just picture the fella riding the bomb like a buckin’ bronco at the end of Dr. Strangelove…, or the racist taskmaster heading up the railroad gang in Blazing Saddles, or the doomed Sheriff Baker, who gets one of the loveliest, most heartbreaking sendoffs in movie history in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Lindley joined the rodeo circuit when he was 13 and soon picked up the name that would follow him throughout the length of his professional career, in rodeo and in movies & TV. One of the rodeo vets got a look at the lank newcomer and told him, “Slim pickin’s. That’s all you’re gonna get in this rodeo.
Lindley joined the rodeo circuit when he was 13 and soon picked up the name that would follow him throughout the length of his professional career, in rodeo and in movies & TV. One of the rodeo vets got a look at the lank newcomer and told him, “Slim pickin’s. That’s all you’re gonna get in this rodeo.
- 8/27/2017
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
After polling critics from around the world for the greatest American films of all-time, BBC has now forged ahead in the attempt to get a consensus on the best comedies of all-time. After polling 253 film critics, including 118 women and 135 men, from 52 countries and six continents a simple, the list of the 100 greatest is now here.
Featuring canonical classics such as Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, Duck Soup, Playtime, and more in the top 10, there’s some interesting observations looking at the rest of the list. Toni Erdmann is the most recent inclusion, while the highest Wes Anderson pick is The Royal Tenenbaums. There’s also a healthy dose of Chaplin and Lubitsch with four films each, and the recently departed Jerry Lewis has a pair of inclusions.
Check out the list below (and my ballot) and see more on their official site.
100. (tie) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese,...
Featuring canonical classics such as Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, Duck Soup, Playtime, and more in the top 10, there’s some interesting observations looking at the rest of the list. Toni Erdmann is the most recent inclusion, while the highest Wes Anderson pick is The Royal Tenenbaums. There’s also a healthy dose of Chaplin and Lubitsch with four films each, and the recently departed Jerry Lewis has a pair of inclusions.
Check out the list below (and my ballot) and see more on their official site.
100. (tie) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese,...
- 8/22/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (Awfj) debuts the first in its countdown of the most fascinating, inspiring and singular fictional female characters who have appeared in movies as selected by the Awfj membership. The project, Awfj’s Wonder Women, commemorates the 10th anniversary of the organization’s founding.
Numbers 55-44 as voted by the Awfj membership are Olivia Evans from “Boyhood,” Elle Reid from “Grandma,” Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games” series, Mammy from “Gone with the Wind,” Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich from “The Lady Eve,” Laine Hanson from “The Contender,” Ada McGrath from “The Piano,” Tess McGill from “Working Girl,” Jane Craig from “Broadcast News,” Lucy Honeychurch from “A Room with a View,” Sally Bowles from “I Am a Camera/Cabaret” and The Bride from “Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2.”
The Wonder Women list appends Awfj’s Top 100 Films list, published in June 2007, in response to AFI’s 100 Years.
Numbers 55-44 as voted by the Awfj membership are Olivia Evans from “Boyhood,” Elle Reid from “Grandma,” Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games” series, Mammy from “Gone with the Wind,” Jean Harrington/Lady Eve Sidwich from “The Lady Eve,” Laine Hanson from “The Contender,” Ada McGrath from “The Piano,” Tess McGill from “Working Girl,” Jane Craig from “Broadcast News,” Lucy Honeychurch from “A Room with a View,” Sally Bowles from “I Am a Camera/Cabaret” and The Bride from “Kill Bill: Vols. 1 & 2.”
The Wonder Women list appends Awfj’s Top 100 Films list, published in June 2007, in response to AFI’s 100 Years.
- 8/1/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Summer’s in full swing with big family gatherings and social events. It’s the perfect time for some raunchy laughs at the multiplex. Eleven years ago (no, really!) R-rated movie comedies made a big, big comeback when Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson were Wedding Crashers. Four years later, the lead up to nuptials ignited a comic trilogy with The Hangover. Then the ladies got in on the act just two years later with Bridesmaids. This weekend’s new flick doles out a bit from all those entrees in the funny flick buffet, expanding on a comedy staple (or main course in the food analogy), namely the comic team. This doesn’t quite harken back to Stan and Ollie or Bud and Lou, rather the inspiration may be a bit over twenty years ago to Harry and Lloyd, those Dumb & Dumber dudes, continuing through Harold and Kumar, on to various unions of Rogen,...
- 7/8/2016
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Relatively few films from Fox Pictures (before they became Twentieth Century Fox) are readily available: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans is the big one. The modest caper Black Sheep wouldn't be high on the list for reissue: stars Edmund Lowe and Claire Trevor aren't too well-remembered, though he's in Dinner at Eight and she's in Stagecoach. Despite a large cast of supporting players, rotund character man Eugene Pallette is the only other really familiar figure, though founding Keystone Kop Ford Sterling has a good bit as a ship's detective.We're on a transatlantic liner, see, and there are warnings posted about professional gamblers: The Lady Eve territory, before Sturges thought of it. Lowe is such a gambler, but he's a swell guy really. Trevor plays an actress, which is no stretch, and the two have real chemistry. He has a debonair manner and a mellifluous voice—and a drunk scene,...
- 5/18/2016
- MUBI
I find it impossible to believe anyone called Hobart Henley could ever be a great film director, but on the other hand, I also find it impossible to dislike a film director called Hobart Henley. It's too much fun reading his name in a credits sequence.Henley had been an actor, which seems to account for his preposterous, alliterative name, except it seems that really was his name, not a stage contrivance. He directed numerous silent films from the teens on, all of them obscure, but his late-career outpouring of a few cute pre-Codes is better remembered. Night World (1932) is enjoyable, and Roadhouse Nights (1930) is remarkable for being the only official adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest (unofficial source material for Yojimbo, A Fistful of Dollars, Last Man Standing...), only you wouldn't know it because it reached the screen as a Jimmy Durante musical. The only thing it has...
- 4/14/2016
- by David Cairns
- MUBI
David here. There are many things about The Lady Eve we could discuss to celebrate its 75th anniversary today - it is, after all, one of Hollywood’s most perfect films - but there’s one particular delight that we’re treated to right off the bat.
Warner Bros. employed Leon Schlesinger’s animation studio - the masterminds behind the Looney Tunes cartoon - to craft the genius opening credits sequence starring the cheeriest snake you’ll ever meet. Even in these halcyon days where the credits came at the film’s beginning, the brevity of them meant you rarely got much beyond an ornate border. Here, though, the snake winding his way across the screen is practically a fully rounded character in himself - just witness his pure joy as he shakes his maraca, and his venomous indignity as he’s conked on the head.
With this minute and a half of introductory magic,...
Warner Bros. employed Leon Schlesinger’s animation studio - the masterminds behind the Looney Tunes cartoon - to craft the genius opening credits sequence starring the cheeriest snake you’ll ever meet. Even in these halcyon days where the credits came at the film’s beginning, the brevity of them meant you rarely got much beyond an ornate border. Here, though, the snake winding his way across the screen is practically a fully rounded character in himself - just witness his pure joy as he shakes his maraca, and his venomous indignity as he’s conked on the head.
With this minute and a half of introductory magic,...
- 2/25/2016
- by Dave
- FilmExperience
Sturges’s screwball comedies play with big ideas and serious themes. So what makes them some of the funniest films ever made?
It was a sprint worthy of his greatest farces: between 1937 and 1944, Preston Sturges made some of the funniest films Hollywood ever produced, including The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero. Then suddenly, as if his frantic, frenzied comedies had exhausted not only himself but his form, Sturges ran out of steam. Blending the comical and serious, farcical and cerebral, high and low, Sturges found catalytic energy in mixing formulas like a madcap scientist; as if he had released actual kinetic energy, he went ricocheting through Hollywood cinema, until he fell to earth with a thud. Happily, the BFI season celebrating Sturges offers audiences the chance to rediscover golden-era Hollywood’s minister of misrule.
It was a sprint worthy of his greatest farces: between 1937 and 1944, Preston Sturges made some of the funniest films Hollywood ever produced, including The Great McGinty, The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Palm Beach Story, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, and Hail the Conquering Hero. Then suddenly, as if his frantic, frenzied comedies had exhausted not only himself but his form, Sturges ran out of steam. Blending the comical and serious, farcical and cerebral, high and low, Sturges found catalytic energy in mixing formulas like a madcap scientist; as if he had released actual kinetic energy, he went ricocheting through Hollywood cinema, until he fell to earth with a thud. Happily, the BFI season celebrating Sturges offers audiences the chance to rediscover golden-era Hollywood’s minister of misrule.
- 2/12/2016
- by Sarah Churchwell
- The Guardian - Film News
“I need him like the ax needs the turkey!”
The Lady Eve screens this Saturday morning, February 13th at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117) as part of their Classic Film Series.
Barbara Stanwyck should have been court-ordered to keep a safe distance from any future cast member of My Three Sons. In Double Indemnity she cons the future Pa Douglas (Fred McMurray) into a deadly scheme. In the 1941 Preston Sturges comedy The Lady Eve, she messes with William Demarest, Uncle Charley himself, by whisking gullible Henry Fonda from under his protective glare.
Fonda plays the young heir to the Pike’s Pale Ale brewery fortune, who prefers spending his time chasing snakes in South America while his guardian Muggsy (Demarest) looks on. On a boat for home, young Pike catches the eye of Jean Harrington (Stanwyck) who sets out to scam the boy but winds up falling in love with him instead.
The Lady Eve screens this Saturday morning, February 13th at The Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo 63117) as part of their Classic Film Series.
Barbara Stanwyck should have been court-ordered to keep a safe distance from any future cast member of My Three Sons. In Double Indemnity she cons the future Pa Douglas (Fred McMurray) into a deadly scheme. In the 1941 Preston Sturges comedy The Lady Eve, she messes with William Demarest, Uncle Charley himself, by whisking gullible Henry Fonda from under his protective glare.
Fonda plays the young heir to the Pike’s Pale Ale brewery fortune, who prefers spending his time chasing snakes in South America while his guardian Muggsy (Demarest) looks on. On a boat for home, young Pike catches the eye of Jean Harrington (Stanwyck) who sets out to scam the boy but winds up falling in love with him instead.
- 2/9/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Let’s end the year with a celebration of the funniest comedy scripts ever written. The Writer’s Guild of America has chosen the 101 best laugh-getting screenplays. Keep in mind that this is all about the writing, not the cast or the director.
1.Annie Hall (1977)
2. Some Like it Hot (1959)
3. Groundhog Day (1993)
4. Airplane! (1980)
5. Tootsie (1982)
6. Young Frankenstein (1974)
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
8. Blazing Saddles (1974)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
10. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
11. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Producers (1967)
13. The Big Lebowski (1998)
14. Ghostbusters (1984)
15. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
16. Bridesmaids (2011)
17. Duck Soup (1933)
18. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
19. The Jerk (1979)
20. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
21. His Girl Friday (1940)
22. The Princess Bride (1987)
23. Raising Arizona (1987)
24. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
25. Caddyshack (1980)
26. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
27. The Graduate (1967)
28. The Apartment (1960)
29. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
30. The Hangover (2009)
31. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
32. The Lady Eve...
1.Annie Hall (1977)
2. Some Like it Hot (1959)
3. Groundhog Day (1993)
4. Airplane! (1980)
5. Tootsie (1982)
6. Young Frankenstein (1974)
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
8. Blazing Saddles (1974)
9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
10. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
11. This is Spinal Tap (1984)
12. The Producers (1967)
13. The Big Lebowski (1998)
14. Ghostbusters (1984)
15. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
16. Bridesmaids (2011)
17. Duck Soup (1933)
18. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
19. The Jerk (1979)
20. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
21. His Girl Friday (1940)
22. The Princess Bride (1987)
23. Raising Arizona (1987)
24. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
25. Caddyshack (1980)
26. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
27. The Graduate (1967)
28. The Apartment (1960)
29. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
30. The Hangover (2009)
31. The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
32. The Lady Eve...
- 1/1/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Rob Young)
- Cinelinx
I miss hilarious monologues. Comedy of the 21st century is a science of awkward pauses and ratatat dialogue, and thus the great tradition of cinematic monologuing has been largely resigned to dramas. Worse, it's usually only male characters whose rants are lionized; Al Pacino in "Dog Day Afternoon" or Alec Baldwin in "Glengarry Glen Ross" spring immediately to mind when I think of celebrated speechifying. So today I'm toasting the opposite of those dead-serious, dude-driven monologues: These are 10 hilarious monologues by actresses. Enjoy. And then enjoy again. 1. Madeline Kahn, "Paper Moon" Trixie Delight just wants to get in the car and have a little fun, but Addie here is holding out. Using some coaxing and a little bit of frustration, Trixie prevails. It is basically ridiculous that we watch movies without Madeline Kahn in them. 2. Alicia Silverstone, "Clueless" Leave it to Cher Horowitz to perfectly understand violence in the media.
- 12/11/2015
- by Louis Virtel
- Hitfix
Woody Allen's groundbreaking 1977 comedy Annie Hall triumphed over 100 other films – including a handful of the director's other works – to land at Number One on the Writers Guild of America's list of the 101 Funniest Screenplays. The comedy's Allen- and Marshall Brickman-penned script beat out a Top Five that included 1959's Some Like It Hot (Number Two), 1993's Groundhog Day (Three), 1980's Airplane! (Four) and 1982's Tootsie.
In total, Allen placed seven scripts on the 101 Funniest Screenplays list, with Sleeper, Bananas, Take the Money and Run, Love and Death, Manhattan...
In total, Allen placed seven scripts on the 101 Funniest Screenplays list, with Sleeper, Bananas, Take the Money and Run, Love and Death, Manhattan...
- 11/12/2015
- Rollingstone.com
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