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Kino reaches into the Universal Vault for vintage Paramount and Universal thrillers. This ‘noir’ collection surprises us — it contains one terrific example of the style, newly-hatched and looking very different for its year. The other two titles are in B&w (check), and revolve around murders (check). But if there were a TV quiz show called ‘Noir or Not Noir’ they’d shape up as third-tier also-rans. The talent on view is impressive, especially the leading ladies: Claire Trevor, Louise Platt, Merle Oberon, Ella Raines, and Gale Sondergaard. Kino appoints the film with good commentators: Jason A. Ney, Anthony Slide, Kelly Robinson.

Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema VIII

Street of Chance, Enter Arsene Lupin, Temptation

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1942-1946 / 1:37 Academy / 266 minutes / Street Date July 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95

Starring: Burgess Meredith, Claire Trevor; Charles Korvin, Ella Raines; Merle Oberon, George Brent.

Directed by Jack Hively, Ford Beebe,...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Sony Pictures Classics have announced they have acquired the rest of Pedro Almodóvar’s full library of films, including “Pepi, Luci, Bom”; “Labyrinth of Passion”; “Dark Habits”; “What Have I Done to Deserve This?”; “High Heels” and “Kika.” Spc will release his latest, “Julieta,” in theaters on December 21.

Based on short stories by Nobel laureate Alice Munro, “Julieta” is “about a mother’s struggle to survive uncertainty. It is also about fate, guilt complexes and that unfathomable mystery that leads us to abandon the people we love, erasing them from our lives as if they had never meant anything, as if they had never existed. The cast includes Adriana Ugarte, Emma Suárez and Rossy de Palma. It...

ArtMattan Films, the films distribution arm of ArtMattan Productions, has announced its acquisition of Daniel Nearing’s experimental period drama, “Hogtown.” Nearing, who made the previously critically-acclaimed 2009 indie drama “Chicago Heights,” shot “Hogtown” in black and white with Herman Wilkins and Diandra… Continue Reading →...

Once again, before 2013 officially comes to a close, I want to bring to your attention the very interesting upcoming indie period drama Hogtown.Vanessa and I have a few times before written about Chicago-based writer and director Daniel Nearing’s ambitious new film project Hogtown, with images from the film and a teaser trailer. Now the first full length trailer from the film was released yesterday. Nearing, who made the previously critically-acclaimed 2009 indie drama Chicago Heights, shot Hogtown in black and white with Herman Wilkins and Diandra Lyle playing the leads in a multi-racial cast of more than 70.The film could be described as an experimental period drama, set...

I first wrote about Chicago-based writer and director Daniel Nearing’s ambitious new film project Hogtown back in April 2012, and now we finally get to see our teasing first look at the film. Currently deep in post-production, Nearing, who made the previously critically-acclaimed 2009 drama Chicago Heights, shot Hogtown in black and white with Herman Wilkins and Diandra Lyle playing the leads in a mutli-racial cast of more than 70.The film is a experimental period drama set during the backdrop of the notorious 1919 Chicago race riots - a city which, as anyone familiar with it knows, has a long, bloody and painful history of racial tensions.Nearing says that his film’s plot “relates...

Here's a project that Sergio first profiled back in April; an experimental black-and-white feature film set during the 1919 Chicago race riots that we're curious about and eagerly anticipating. To recap, Hogtown, helmed by Chicago area writer/director Daniel Nearing (2009's Chicago Heights), stars Herman Wilkins and Diandra Lyle playing the leads in a mutli-racial cast of more than 70. Close to finishing production, Hogtown incorportates several iconic figures including a young unplished Ernest Hemingway. According to Nearing, the film will be "period-less;" he oped to shoot Hogtown in undisguised Chicago locations, hence the experimental quality. Hogtown...

This is the last of my lists of the best films of 2010, and the hardest to name. Call it the Best Art Films. I can't precisely define an Art Film, but I knew I was seeing one when I saw these. I could also call them Adult Films, if that term hadn't been devalued by the porn industry. These are films based on the close observation of behavior. They are not mechanical constructions of infinitesimal thrills. They depend on intelligence and empathy to be appreciated.

They also require acting of a precision not necessary in many mass entertainments. They require directors with a clear idea of complex purposes. They require subtleties of lighting and sound that create a self-contained world. Most of all, they require sympathy. The directors care for their characters, and ask us to see them as individuals, not genre emblems. That requires us to see ourselves as individual viewers,...

It took a while, but finally the complete and final 2010 Black Harvest Film Festival in Chicago has been announced. Over 40 movies in every category from feature film to shorts, documentaries, dramas (such as Bilal’s Stand pictured), comedies and everything else in between. All the films will be screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago located at 164 N. State St in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Opening night is Friday August 6th and the festival continues throughout the month until Thursday Sept. 2 with a special advance screening of Tanya Hamilton’s Night Captures Us with Ms. Hamilton present. Of course I will be there too on most nights, so if you ever had the desire to punch me out for any of my articles on S & A now here’s your chance. (Not that I encourage it though…)

The complete list below:

The Gene Siskel Film Center welcomes...

Believe or not we’re still looking at submissions (they come in thick and fast around the deadline date) so the official list of films at this year’s Black Harvest Film Festival 2010 in Chicago can’t be announced yet, but it will be soon. However it can be confirmed as of today that Tanya Robinson’s film Night Catches Us with Anthony Mackie and Kerry Washington will be screened at this year’s festival before it’s November theatrical release by Magnolia Pictures. Director Tanya Robinson will be attending the screening in person, and hopefully both Mackie and Washington as well.

(On second thought maybe just Washington. I’ve met her once before and I swear I think she flirted me with me. Yeah I know. I find that hard to believe too even with a face like mine, but I swear I think she did. Scouts honor. Maybe...

Montreal, September 7, 2009 – Telefilm Canada is pleased to announce that nine Canadian feature films have been officially selected for the 14th edition of the Pusan International Film Festival, which takes place in Pusan, South Korea from October 8 to 19, 2009.

“Telefilm recognizes Pusan as a valuable venue for Canadian filmmakers to showcase their work to international audiences,” states Sheila de la Varende, Director, International & National Business Development. “Participation in Pusan supports our efforts to increase foreign sales, encourage co-production, and raise the profile of Canada’s industry on the international scene, all of which are critically important to building a sustainable, vibrant film industry in this country.”

In 14 years, Pusan has become one of Asia’s most important film festivals, to which a market component, the Asian Film Market, was added in 2006. Telefilm has been organizing screenings for Pusan’s selection committee and facilitating the selection of Canadian films...