Notizie

Writer/director Martin McDonagh and actors Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson have become the holy trinity of Irish films thanks to the critical and commercial success of 2008’s “In Bruges” for which Farrell won a Golden Globe, and their current collaboration “The Banshees of Inisherin,” which won best screenplay and actor for Farrell at Venice this past September. Since then, the Oscar buzz surrounding “Banshees” has become deafening.

During his four decade film career, John Ford made classic Westerns and dramas (“The Grapes of Wrath” and “How Green Was My Valley”; he won best director for both). But the no-nonsense filmmaker born John Feeney in Cape Elizabeth, Maine to Irish immigrant parents always revisited his Irish heritage.

The year 1924 saw the release of “The Shamrock Handicap” of which Variety noted “Ford loves everything Irish, and he made the most of the little human-interest touches.” His best-known Irish films, and for...

It’s Fritz Lang versus CinemaScope, for the first and last time. The format suited to snakes and funerals effectively hamstrings the great filmmaker’s expressive camera direction, yet the movie is one of the best of MGM’s last-gasp ’50s costume dramas. Corrupt smuggler Stewart Granger is redeemed by the faith of a young boy who believes in him; in this story the words “He’s my friend” take on a big significance. Come see director Lang struggle to adapt the wide-wide screen to accommodate his brand of real cinema.

Moonfleet

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 87 min. / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Stewart Granger, Jon Whiteley, George Sanders, Joan Greenwood, Viveca Lindfors, Liliane Montevecchi, Melville Cooper, Sean McClory, Alan Napier, John Hoyt, Donna Corcoran, Jack Elam, Dan Seymour, Ian Wolfe.

Cinematography: Robert H. Planck

Film Editor: Albert Akst

Original Music: Miklos Rozsa

Written by Jan Lustig,...

Stars: Deborah Foreman, Sam J. Jones, Sean McClory, Howard Hesseman, E. G. Marshall, Penn Jillette, Teller, John O’Leary, Julius Harris, Laurie Main | Written and Directed by David Beaird

Casey Meadows (Deborah Foreman) is a young and free-spirited girl who although full of spunk and ambition – is trapped in a Californian restaurant cleaning dishes as well as trying to clean the crust off the idea of the American Dream. With seemingly no hope aside from sinking evermore deeper in to the scummy dishwater before her – Casey’s life may be on the up. One day at work, she receives a letter from a company named Brentwood Limousine Agency – the Rolls-Royce of Limousine Services – offering her a role as one of their drivers. Excited by the prospect of being part of such a prestigious organisation (and all that sick dough of course!), Casey takes no time in turning up for her first day of work.

I'll trade you two RKOs for two Warners', an even swap! This quartet of movie-magic wonderments offer a full course on old-school film effects wizardry at its best. Willis O'Brien passes the baton to disciple Ray Harryhausen, who dazzles us with his own effects magic for the first '50s giant monster epic. And the best monster thriller of the decade is offered at its original widescreen aspect ratio. It's all special enough to merit a mid-week review. Special Effects Collection Blu-ray The Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them! Warner Home Video 1933-1954 / B&W / 1:37 Academy - 1:85 widescreen / 335 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / 54.96 or 19.98 separately Starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack,, Frank Reicher, Victor Wong; Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Frank McHugh; Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef; James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens,...

Them!

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Written by Ted Sherdeman

1954, USA

In that filled-to-bursting canon of 1950s science fiction cinema, movies range from true film classics – like the Hawksian The Thing from Another World (1951), and that alarm bell about human desensitization, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) – to cheapie craptasmagoriums like Beginning of the End (1957 – giant grasshoppers crawling over photographs of downtown Chicago), and It Conquered the World (1956 – “It” being an alien that looks like a devil-faced carrot with lobster claws). I’d go as far as to say the consensus is probably there’s just a few of the former, and a whole stinking pile of the latter. But scattered (thinly, I’d have to say) between those poles are movies neither classic nor crap, but made with enough craftsmanship to be eminently and repeatably watchable. You know: just good, damned fun! One of my faves from that group: Them! (1954).

A...

"John Huston Week!" continues at Trailers from Hell, today with director Dan Ireland introducing Huston's rich, languidly paced adaptation of James Joyce's novella, featuring a career-best performance from daughter Angelica. John Huston didn't live to see his final film released, but it's one of his most impressive. James Joyce's 1914 novella is considered one of the greatest stories ever written, yet Huston's meticulous movie does it full justice. Stately, elegant and richly observed, with a poignant climactic punch that sneaks up on you. Among the Abbey Players seen to advantage herein are Hollywood stalwarts Dan O'Herlihy and Sean McClory but It's Angelica Huston's movie to steal, and she does.

Chicago – The DVD Round-Up is back! Did you miss us? HollywoodChicago.com’s intermittent column designed to serve as a safety net for releases that may otherwise fall without notice is back with a motley crew of titles that have nearly nothing in common. Classic TV, drama, horror, copious sex, and Justin Timberlake. You make the connections.

“The Fugitive: Season Three, Volume One” was released on October 27th, 2009

“The Dead” was released on November 3rd, 2009.

“Spread” was released on November 10th, 2009.

“The Canyon,” “Open Road” and “Train” were released on November 17th, 2009

“The Fugitive: Season Three, Volume One”

Photo credit: Paramount

Synopsis: “The hit series The Fugitive is back, featuring the first 15 Season Three episodes, on DVD for the first time ever! Golden Globe Award winner David Janssen expertly portrays Dr. Richard Kimble, the pediatrician falsely accused of killing his wife, who needs to prove his innocence by leading the obsessive Lt.