Norman Spencer, the British producer, production manager and screenwriter who worked alongside famed director David Lean on films including Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, has died. He was 110.
Spencer died Aug. 16 in Wimbledon three days after his birthday, the European Supercentenarian Organisation announced.
Apart from Lean, Spencer produced Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Katharine Hepburn; Richard C. Sarafian’s Vanishing Point (1971), the car chase movie that starred Barry Newman; and Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom (1987), starring Denzel Washington.
Spencer was Lean’s unit manager on the ghost comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), based on the Noël Coward play, and served as his production manager on his adaptations of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).
He produced Lean’s The Passionate Friends (1949) and the Hepburn-starring, Venice-set Summertime (1955); worked on a rewrite of the script for...
Spencer died Aug. 16 in Wimbledon three days after his birthday, the European Supercentenarian Organisation announced.
Apart from Lean, Spencer produced Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Katharine Hepburn; Richard C. Sarafian’s Vanishing Point (1971), the car chase movie that starred Barry Newman; and Richard Attenborough’s Cry Freedom (1987), starring Denzel Washington.
Spencer was Lean’s unit manager on the ghost comedy Blithe Spirit (1945), based on the Noël Coward play, and served as his production manager on his adaptations of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948).
He produced Lean’s The Passionate Friends (1949) and the Hepburn-starring, Venice-set Summertime (1955); worked on a rewrite of the script for...
- 9/5/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Now up for grabs in Region A, it’s the Robert Aldrich movie that wins over all that see it. The epitome of Men In Peril adventures, the tale of 14 random oil men marooned in the Sahara is brutal yet optimistic about human cooperation — please, the world needs more of that right now. James Stewart is at his best, stretching his hard-bitten loner persona and tapping into his flying experience. Also with an English-language-best performance from Hardy Krüger. The male group dynamics are absorbing and the suspense powerful — especially when seen cold. No spoilers here!
The Flight of the Phoenix
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1116
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 22, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc...
The Flight of the Phoenix
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1116
1965 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 142 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 22, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: James Stewart, Richard Attenborough, Peter Finch, Hardy Krüger, Ernest Borgnine, Ian Bannen, Ronald Fraser, Christian Marquand, Dan Duryea, George Kennedy, Gabriele Tinti, Alex Montoya, Peter Bravos, William Aldrich, Barrie Chase.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc...
- 3/19/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Above: Italian poster for The Girl with a Pistol. Artist: Giorgio Olivetti.Monica Vitti, who died on February 2nd at the age of 90, was an icon of modern cinema—one of its most famous and most beautiful faces—but she is best known outside Italy for just four films, all of which she made for her one-time partner Michelangelo Antonioni. In the original Italian poster for L’avventura (1960), the film that made both their names, her head is tilted to the side, her face barely visible: she is mostly a shock of blonde hair. But in the posters that were created as that film travelled the globe, and in her ensuing posters for Antonioni's La notte (1961), L’eclisse (1962), and Red Desert (1964), she gets her close-up, usually staring into the middle distance or directly at the viewer. Always impassive, never smiling. But of course, in a career that lasted another 25 years there were many more films,...
- 2/17/2022
- MUBI
Monica Vitti, one of Italy's most honored film stars, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 90. Known for her collaborations and love affair with director Michelangelo Antonioni, Vitti became one of the "it" actresses of the 1960s and her image graced the covers of countless magazines. In the 1960s, Vitti was perfectly poised to be part of the mod generation and was widely photographed in the latest fashions. She was also enlisted in the spy movie craze of the period, starring in the title role in "Modesty Blaise" and in Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolik". The above video, created in 2021, provides interesting insights about her life and career. For more, click here.
- 2/4/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Monica Vitti, the Italian star of Michelangelo Antonioni’s film masterpieces, including his trilogy “L’avventura,” “La Notte” and “L’Eclisse,” has died. She was 90.
Vitti’s death was announced by Walter Veltroni, a former film critic and mayor of Rome, who said that her partner of many years Roberto Russo asked him to communicate the news.
“Roberto Russo, [her] partner of all these years, asks me to communicate that Monica Vitti is no longer there. I do it with pain, affection, regret,” Veltroni wrote in a tweet.
In Antonioni’s 1960 art-house classic “L’avventura,” Vitti portrayed a woman searching for her best friend along with her friend’s lover after she goes missing on a boating trip. The film and her performance is a moody, detached masterpiece that would define art-house cinema worldwide in the ’60s and made her an international star, even landing Vitti a BAFTA nomination.
“L’avventura” was the first of...
Vitti’s death was announced by Walter Veltroni, a former film critic and mayor of Rome, who said that her partner of many years Roberto Russo asked him to communicate the news.
“Roberto Russo, [her] partner of all these years, asks me to communicate that Monica Vitti is no longer there. I do it with pain, affection, regret,” Veltroni wrote in a tweet.
In Antonioni’s 1960 art-house classic “L’avventura,” Vitti portrayed a woman searching for her best friend along with her friend’s lover after she goes missing on a boating trip. The film and her performance is a moody, detached masterpiece that would define art-house cinema worldwide in the ’60s and made her an international star, even landing Vitti a BAFTA nomination.
“L’avventura” was the first of...
- 2/2/2022
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Monica Vitti, the Italian screen icon known for a string of 1960s classics, died Wednesday at 90, according to reports in Italy.
The news was conveyed by writer, director and politician Walter Veltroni on behalf of Vitti’s husband, Roberto Russo:
Roberto Russo, il suo compagno di tutti questi anni, mi chiede di comunicare che Monica Vitti non c’è più. Lo faccio con dolore, affetto, rimpianto.
— walter veltroni (@VeltroniWalter) February 2, 2022
The feted actress, best known for movies including L’Avventura (1960), Red Desert (1964), L’Eclisse (1962) and La Notte (1961), had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for two decades.
Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli on November 3, 1931, in Rome, Vitti acted in amateur productions as a teenager then trained at Rome’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts.
The actress shot to global fame following spectacular collaborations with legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Vitti starred in L’Avventura as a detached and...
The news was conveyed by writer, director and politician Walter Veltroni on behalf of Vitti’s husband, Roberto Russo:
Roberto Russo, il suo compagno di tutti questi anni, mi chiede di comunicare che Monica Vitti non c’è più. Lo faccio con dolore, affetto, rimpianto.
— walter veltroni (@VeltroniWalter) February 2, 2022
The feted actress, best known for movies including L’Avventura (1960), Red Desert (1964), L’Eclisse (1962) and La Notte (1961), had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for two decades.
Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli on November 3, 1931, in Rome, Vitti acted in amateur productions as a teenager then trained at Rome’s National Academy of Dramatic Arts.
The actress shot to global fame following spectacular collaborations with legendary director Michelangelo Antonioni in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Vitti starred in L’Avventura as a detached and...
- 2/2/2022
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Au Hasard Balthazar
Blu ray
Criterion
1966 / 1:66 / Street Date May 29, 2018
Starring Anne Wiazemsky, François Lafarge
Cinematography by Ghislain Cloquet
Directed by Robert Bresson
At moments in his career Robert Bresson, the filmmaker behind The Trial of Joan of Arc and The Diary of a Country Priest, seemed to be directing from the pulpit. Likewise, Au Hasard Balthazar, his 1966 film about a messianic donkey, just begs to be canonized – unlike most grabs for cinematic sanctitude, Balthazar deserves its pedestal.
A movie out of time, Balthazar‘s somber black and white landscape rebuffs its own era – a pop art wonderland that produced Blow Up, Modesty Blaise and Our Man Flint. Jean-Luc Godard, rule-breaking bomb-thrower of brightly colored social satires, heaped on the praise – “… this film is really the world in an hour and a half.” On the other hand, Ingmar Bergman, not exactly a popcorn munching thrill-seeker, thought it was a “bore...
Blu ray
Criterion
1966 / 1:66 / Street Date May 29, 2018
Starring Anne Wiazemsky, François Lafarge
Cinematography by Ghislain Cloquet
Directed by Robert Bresson
At moments in his career Robert Bresson, the filmmaker behind The Trial of Joan of Arc and The Diary of a Country Priest, seemed to be directing from the pulpit. Likewise, Au Hasard Balthazar, his 1966 film about a messianic donkey, just begs to be canonized – unlike most grabs for cinematic sanctitude, Balthazar deserves its pedestal.
A movie out of time, Balthazar‘s somber black and white landscape rebuffs its own era – a pop art wonderland that produced Blow Up, Modesty Blaise and Our Man Flint. Jean-Luc Godard, rule-breaking bomb-thrower of brightly colored social satires, heaped on the praise – “… this film is really the world in an hour and a half.” On the other hand, Ingmar Bergman, not exactly a popcorn munching thrill-seeker, thought it was a “bore...
- 6/12/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
One Million Years B.C.
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91, 100 min. / Street Date February 14, 2017 / Available from Kino Lorber 29.95
Starring: Raquel Welch, John Richardson, Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Special visual effects: Ray Harryhausen
Art Direction: Robert Jones
Film Editor: Tom Simpson
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written by: Michael Carreras from a 1940 screenplay by George Baker
Produced by: Michael Carreras, Hal Roach, Aida Young
Directed by Don Chaffey
Here’s a title we haven’t seen in a while, and that we’ve never seen at this level of quality. Hammer Films’ most successful release ever, One Million Years B.C. launched a new film star. I count myself among the zillions of kids that pinned her poster on my bedroom wall. At age fifteen, the release of a new Harryhausen film was so important to me that I begged my slightly older neighbor to take me to the drive-in,...
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1966 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91, 100 min. / Street Date February 14, 2017 / Available from Kino Lorber 29.95
Starring: Raquel Welch, John Richardson, Percy Herbert, Robert Brown, Martine Beswick
Cinematography: Wilkie Cooper
Special visual effects: Ray Harryhausen
Art Direction: Robert Jones
Film Editor: Tom Simpson
Original Music: Mario Nascimbene
Written by: Michael Carreras from a 1940 screenplay by George Baker
Produced by: Michael Carreras, Hal Roach, Aida Young
Directed by Don Chaffey
Here’s a title we haven’t seen in a while, and that we’ve never seen at this level of quality. Hammer Films’ most successful release ever, One Million Years B.C. launched a new film star. I count myself among the zillions of kids that pinned her poster on my bedroom wall. At age fifteen, the release of a new Harryhausen film was so important to me that I begged my slightly older neighbor to take me to the drive-in,...
- 2/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In this episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of August 23rd, 2016.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Notes & Links News The Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Upcoming Indicator Blu-ray Releases Indicator Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Blu-ray Kino Lorber: Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise Prepped for Blu-ray Metropolis (2001) Blu-ray Death in the Garden Blu-ray Upcoming 88 Films Blu-ray Releases The DePatie-Freleng Blu-ray Collection Sony Announces First Waves of Mod (Manufacture on Demand) Blu-ray Releases. The Venture Bros: Season Six Blu-ray The Almodóvar Blu-ray Collection Detailed Links to Amazon 3 Bad Men American Dreamer The Bloodstained Butterfly City on Fire The Huntsman: Winter’s War Midnight Run Modesty Blaise Psycho IV: The Beginning Ratchet & Clank The Spiders The Strain Season 2 Sunset Song A Taste of Honey The Walking Dead, Season 6 Wiener-Dog Woman in the Dunes...
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Notes & Links News The Middle-Earth Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Upcoming Indicator Blu-ray Releases Indicator Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders Blu-ray Kino Lorber: Ridley Scott’s 1492: Conquest of Paradise Prepped for Blu-ray Metropolis (2001) Blu-ray Death in the Garden Blu-ray Upcoming 88 Films Blu-ray Releases The DePatie-Freleng Blu-ray Collection Sony Announces First Waves of Mod (Manufacture on Demand) Blu-ray Releases. The Venture Bros: Season Six Blu-ray The Almodóvar Blu-ray Collection Detailed Links to Amazon 3 Bad Men American Dreamer The Bloodstained Butterfly City on Fire The Huntsman: Winter’s War Midnight Run Modesty Blaise Psycho IV: The Beginning Ratchet & Clank The Spiders The Strain Season 2 Sunset Song A Taste of Honey The Walking Dead, Season 6 Wiener-Dog Woman in the Dunes...
- 8/24/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Joseph Losey doesn't normally make trendy, lighthearted genre films, and in this SuperSpy epic we find out why -- an impressive production and great music don't compensate for a lack of pace and dynamism, not to mention a narrow sense of humor. Yet it's a lounge classic, and a perverse favorite of spy movie fans. Modesty Blaise Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1966 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 119 min. / Street Date August 23, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Monica Vitti, Terence Stamp, Dirk Bogarde, Harry Andrews, Michael Craig, Clive Revill, Alexander Knox, Rossella Falk, Scilla Gabel, Tina Marquand Cinematography Jack Hildyard Production Designer Richard MacDonald, Jack Shampan Film Editor Reginald Beck Original Music John Dankworth Written by Evan Jones from a novel by Peter O'Donnell and a comic strip by Jim Holdaway Produced by Joseph Janni Directed by Joseph Losey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I first reviewed a DVD of Modesty Blaise fourteen years ago,...
- 7/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Mad doctors! Mortiferous maidens! Horrifying hallucinations! A key early Euro-horror and one of the very first in color, this French-Italian production is a medical horrorshow crossed with a folk tale -- its centerpiece is a vintage carillon attraction in an old mill; creepy Scilla Gabel is the minatory seducer who bridges the gap between life and death. Mill of the Stone Women Region A+B Blu-ray Subkultur / Media Target Distribution GmbH 1960 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 90, 95, 96 min. / Die Mühle der versteinerten Frauen / Street Date June 30, 2016 / Amazon.de Eur 24,99 Starring Pierre Brice, Scilla Gabel, Wolfgang Preiss, Robert Boehme, Dany Carrel Cinematography Pier Ludovico Pavoni Production Designer Arrigo Equini Film Editor Antonietta Zita Original Music Carlo Innocenzi Written by Remigio Del Grosso, Giorgio Ferroni, Ugo Liberatore, Giorgio Stegani from Flemish Stories by Peter Van Weigen (possibly apocryphal) Produced by Giampaolo Bigazzi Directed by Giorgio Ferroni
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
2016 is shaping up as a...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
2016 is shaping up as a...
- 7/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
If there is a reliable truism that can coexist alongside the American film industry’s dance of death with economically insane budgets that now routinely soar north of $200 million, it is that (most) critics and potential ticket-buyers can be counted on to review bad buzz and publicized woes of dollars and production instead of the actual movie once it finally finds its way to a screen. And it may in fact be true that the drama behind the scenes often outstrips the quality of the wide-screen finished product, though certainly this is not always the case. The reception of big-budget box-office flops like John Carter, The Lone Ranger, Jupiter Ascending and Oliver Stone’s Alexander are but some late examples of our number-crunching obsession with pop culture minutiae and the fascination of a behemoth’s preordained fall. Most who trudged out to see any of these films during their theatrical...
- 5/28/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
In this episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Twilight Time Quantity Updates: Used Cars and Center of the Earth Ryan is out of space, but still buying box sets! (Buyers remorse vs unwatched stuff) Hertzfeldt Kickstarter Arrivals News Star Trek: Digital Bits News (Animated Series on Blu-ray, Khan Uhd) Kino Lorber: Fathom, Star Slammer, Modesty Blaise, Gold (1934) Code Red: House on the Edge of the Park, Truck Stop Women, Hot Moves …bucket list fever! Scorpion: The Rift (from the director of Pieces) Blue Underground: Circus of Fear/5 Golden Dragons & The Shape of Things to Come Misc Links Larry Karaszewski on After The Fox Night of the Comet vinyl Kickstarter Links to Amazon After the Fox Bandits Black Mama, White Mama The Black Sleep Breaker! Breaker!
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Twilight Time Quantity Updates: Used Cars and Center of the Earth Ryan is out of space, but still buying box sets! (Buyers remorse vs unwatched stuff) Hertzfeldt Kickstarter Arrivals News Star Trek: Digital Bits News (Animated Series on Blu-ray, Khan Uhd) Kino Lorber: Fathom, Star Slammer, Modesty Blaise, Gold (1934) Code Red: House on the Edge of the Park, Truck Stop Women, Hot Moves …bucket list fever! Scorpion: The Rift (from the director of Pieces) Blue Underground: Circus of Fear/5 Golden Dragons & The Shape of Things to Come Misc Links Larry Karaszewski on After The Fox Night of the Comet vinyl Kickstarter Links to Amazon After the Fox Bandits Black Mama, White Mama The Black Sleep Breaker! Breaker!
- 3/23/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Displaying a transparency that few filmmakers of his fame and / or caliber would even bother with, Steven Soderbergh has, for a couple of years, been keen on releasing lists of what he watched and read during the previous twelve months. If you’re at all interested in this sort of thing — and why not? what else are you even doing with your day? — the 2015 selection should be of strong interest, this being a time when he was fully enmeshed in the world of creating television.
He’s clearly observing the medium with a close eye, be it what’s on air or what his friends (specifically David Fincher and his stillborn projects) show him, and how that might relate to his apparent love of 48 Hours Mystery or approach to a comparatively light slate of cinematic assignments — specifically: it seems odd that the last time he watched Magic Mike Xxl, a...
He’s clearly observing the medium with a close eye, be it what’s on air or what his friends (specifically David Fincher and his stillborn projects) show him, and how that might relate to his apparent love of 48 Hours Mystery or approach to a comparatively light slate of cinematic assignments — specifically: it seems odd that the last time he watched Magic Mike Xxl, a...
- 1/6/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
'Saint Joan': Constance Cummings as the George Bernard Shaw heroine. Constance Cummings on stage: From sex-change farce and Emma Bovary to Juliet and 'Saint Joan' (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Frank Capra, Mae West and Columbia Lawsuit.”) In the mid-1930s, Constance Cummings landed the title roles in two of husband Benn W. Levy's stage adaptations: Levy and Hubert Griffith's Young Madame Conti (1936), starring Cummings as a demimondaine who falls in love with a villainous character. She ends up killing him – or does she? Adapted from Bruno Frank's German-language original, Young Madame Conti was presented on both sides of the Atlantic; on Broadway, it had a brief run in spring 1937 at the Music Box Theatre. Based on the Gustave Flaubert novel, the Theatre Guild-produced Madame Bovary (1937) was staged in late fall at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre. Referring to the London production of Young Madame Conti, The...
- 11/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I’m a fossil. I know it. Proof positive: I read the daily newspaper. Not on a pad or tablet or my computer, I go out and actually buy the blamed thing. I read it during breakfast. Yes, I still get a certain percentage of my news from the computer and/or Jon Stewart and The Daily Show but I like having the physical newspaper, just as I prefer actual books to an e-reader. If I don’t get to read the paper, I get cranky. Or crankier.
I think I got that from my father, Joel W. Ostrander Sr. He was always the first up in the morning but, during my high school years, I was up second. We’d both be at breakfast and we would read the newspaper. I’d get the sections he was done with; that’s where I learned to be possessive about my newspaper.
I think I got that from my father, Joel W. Ostrander Sr. He was always the first up in the morning but, during my high school years, I was up second. We’d both be at breakfast and we would read the newspaper. I’d get the sections he was done with; that’s where I learned to be possessive about my newspaper.
- 1/4/2015
- by John Ostrander
- Comicmix.com
The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and specialty items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.
Alternative Comics
Hawd Tales #1, $4.99
Andrews McMeel
Baby Blues Collection Wetter Louder Stickier Tp, $18.99
Antarctic Press
Gold Digger #215, $3.99
Archie Comic Publications
Jughead And Archie Comics Digest #7, $4.99
Sabrina #1 (Robert Hack 2nd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99
Sonic The Hedgehog #266 (Rafa Knight Super Smash Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99
Sonic The Hedgehog #266 (Tracy Yardley Regular Cover), $3.99
Avatar Press
Crossed Badlands #65 (Gabriel Andrade Torture Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Gabriel Andrade Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover), Ar
Crossed Badlands #65 (Jacen Burrows Regular Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Michael Dipascale Fatal Fantasy Cover), $3.99
Black Library
Warhammer 40K Gods Of Mars Hc, $24.99
Book Palace
Art Of Modesty Blaise Sc (not verified by Diamond), $39.99
Illustrators Magazine #8, $24.99
Boom! Studios
Amazing World Of...
Alternative Comics
Hawd Tales #1, $4.99
Andrews McMeel
Baby Blues Collection Wetter Louder Stickier Tp, $18.99
Antarctic Press
Gold Digger #215, $3.99
Archie Comic Publications
Jughead And Archie Comics Digest #7, $4.99
Sabrina #1 (Robert Hack 2nd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99
Sonic The Hedgehog #266 (Rafa Knight Super Smash Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99
Sonic The Hedgehog #266 (Tracy Yardley Regular Cover), $3.99
Avatar Press
Crossed Badlands #65 (Gabriel Andrade Torture Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Gabriel Andrade Wraparound Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover), Ar
Crossed Badlands #65 (Jacen Burrows Regular Cover), $3.99
Crossed Badlands #65 (Michael Dipascale Fatal Fantasy Cover), $3.99
Black Library
Warhammer 40K Gods Of Mars Hc, $24.99
Book Palace
Art Of Modesty Blaise Sc (not verified by Diamond), $39.99
Illustrators Magazine #8, $24.99
Boom! Studios
Amazing World Of...
- 11/9/2014
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and specialty items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.
3D Total Publishing
Digital Art Masters Volume 9 Sc (not verified by Diamond), $49.99
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising #26, $3.99
Adhouse Books
Youth Is Wasted Gn (not verified by Diamond), $14.95
Airship Entertainment
Girl Genius Volume 13 Agatha Heterodyne And The Sleeping City Hc, $50.00
Girl Genius Volume 13 Agatha Heterodyne And The Sleeping City Sc, $25.00
Alternative Comics
Magic Whistle #14 (not verified by Diamond), $4.99
Ritual Three Vile Decay (One Shot), $6.95
Antarctic Press
64-Bit Zombie #1, $3.99
Arcana Studio
Kade Tribal Sun Gn, $14.95
Archie Comic Publications
Archie Comics Spectacular Summer Daze Tp, $5.99
Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #239, $4.99
Jughead And Archie Double Digest #3, $3.99
Mega Man #38 (Ben Bates Character Packed Variant Cover), $2.99
Mega Man #38 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
Sonic Mega Man Worlds Collide Volume 3 Chaos Clash Tp, $11.99
Aspen Comics
All...
3D Total Publishing
Digital Art Masters Volume 9 Sc (not verified by Diamond), $49.99
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising #26, $3.99
Adhouse Books
Youth Is Wasted Gn (not verified by Diamond), $14.95
Airship Entertainment
Girl Genius Volume 13 Agatha Heterodyne And The Sleeping City Hc, $50.00
Girl Genius Volume 13 Agatha Heterodyne And The Sleeping City Sc, $25.00
Alternative Comics
Magic Whistle #14 (not verified by Diamond), $4.99
Ritual Three Vile Decay (One Shot), $6.95
Antarctic Press
64-Bit Zombie #1, $3.99
Arcana Studio
Kade Tribal Sun Gn, $14.95
Archie Comic Publications
Archie Comics Spectacular Summer Daze Tp, $5.99
Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #239, $4.99
Jughead And Archie Double Digest #3, $3.99
Mega Man #38 (Ben Bates Character Packed Variant Cover), $2.99
Mega Man #38 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
Sonic Mega Man Worlds Collide Volume 3 Chaos Clash Tp, $11.99
Aspen Comics
All...
- 6/23/2014
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
Twenty years ago today, Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein unveiled the filmmaker’s sophomore movie — an ambitious anthology of crime stories, all interconnected and metatextualized — at a late Saturday night screening at the Cannes Film Festival. A little over three hours later, as the crowd staggered out of the Palais des Festivals, they knew they had an audience favorite on their hands. Soon, they would be able to add Palme d’Or winner, Best Picture Oscar nominee, the first indie film to break the $100 million mark, a gamechanger and a modern classic to the list.
- 5/21/2014
- Rollingstone.com
DC Entertainment
When you think of the great comic book characters who’ve never had their own movie, it makes you wonder why some of those who did managed to get the green light.
Very few of the movies granted to obscure comic book characters have been a success… yet the movie studios keep pumping them out like nobody’s business. Of course, having a more popular comic book character as the titular star doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good movie – there’s no reason why Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Spawn or Green Lantern shouldn’t have been given a good movie, for example. Done right, they could have been great. Unfortunately, in most cases, they were pretty horrendous.
But it’s not these types of characters we’re looking at here; it’s the characters for which there are reasons why their movies shouldn’t have happened; Unknown characters, boring characters,...
When you think of the great comic book characters who’ve never had their own movie, it makes you wonder why some of those who did managed to get the green light.
Very few of the movies granted to obscure comic book characters have been a success… yet the movie studios keep pumping them out like nobody’s business. Of course, having a more popular comic book character as the titular star doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good movie – there’s no reason why Daredevil, Ghost Rider, Spawn or Green Lantern shouldn’t have been given a good movie, for example. Done right, they could have been great. Unfortunately, in most cases, they were pretty horrendous.
But it’s not these types of characters we’re looking at here; it’s the characters for which there are reasons why their movies shouldn’t have happened; Unknown characters, boring characters,...
- 4/1/2014
- by Kev Stewart
- Obsessed with Film
C’mon. You can trust me, you know you can. Just tell me your secret – whisper it in my ear…
Secrecy is a’riding the autumn air. Bradley Manning, who revealed hush-hush information while in the Army, was sentenced to 30 years; Edward Snowden, who leaked details of government surveillance programs to the press, is hiding out in Russia; and the lid has been pried off J.D. Salinger’s long reclusion.
We all be watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., an ABC show based on Marvel’s 60s-era secret agent comic book. At least, I think the SHIELDers were supposed to be secret, though I don’t know how secret the organization could have been since its HQ was a giant helicopter held aloft by a pair of oversized rotors fore and aft. (And how did they ever keep the thing fueled?) S.H.I.E.L.D fills the spyguy hole in...
Secrecy is a’riding the autumn air. Bradley Manning, who revealed hush-hush information while in the Army, was sentenced to 30 years; Edward Snowden, who leaked details of government surveillance programs to the press, is hiding out in Russia; and the lid has been pried off J.D. Salinger’s long reclusion.
We all be watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., an ABC show based on Marvel’s 60s-era secret agent comic book. At least, I think the SHIELDers were supposed to be secret, though I don’t know how secret the organization could have been since its HQ was a giant helicopter held aloft by a pair of oversized rotors fore and aft. (And how did they ever keep the thing fueled?) S.H.I.E.L.D fills the spyguy hole in...
- 9/26/2013
- by Dennis O'Neil
- Comicmix.com
Dirk Bogarde: ‘Victim’ star took no prisoners in his letters to Dilys Powell Letters exchanged between film critic Dilys Powell and actor Dirk Bogarde — one of the most popular and respected British performers of the twentieth century, and the star of seminal movies such as Victim, The Servant, Darling, and Death in Venice — reveals that Bogarde was considerably more caustic and opinionated in his letters than in his (quite bland) autobiographies. (Photo: Dirk Bogarde ca. 1970.) As found in Dirk Bogarde’s letters acquired a few years ago by the British Library, among the victims of the Victim star (sorry) were Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (Julia), a "ninny" who was “so utterly beastly to [Steaming director Joseph Losey] that he finally threw his script at her face”; and veteran stage and screen actor — and Academy Award winner — John Gielgud (Arthur), who couldn’t "understand half of Shakespeare" despite being renowned for his stage roles in Macbeth,...
- 9/23/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and specialty items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.
AC Comics
Golden Age Greats Spotlight Volume 12 Outrageous Girls Strike Back Tp, $29.95
Antarctic Press
Victorian Secret Agents Owls Of The Ironwork Isle #1 (Of 5), $3.95
Archie Comic Publications
Betty And Veronica #265 (Dan Parent Regular Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica #265 (Renae De Liz Variant Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #233, $3.99
Knuckles The Echidna Archives Volume 4 Tp (not verified by Diamond), $9.99
Sonic Universe #51 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
Sonic Universe #51 (Patrick Spaziante Variant Cover), $2.99
World Of Archie Double Digest #28, $3.99
Aspen Comics
Idolized #5 (Cover A Pasquale Qualano), $3.99
Idolized #5 (Cover B Rachel Clark Photo), $3.99
Idolized #5 (Cover C Rachel Clark Photo), Ar
Jirni #1 (Of 5)(Paolo Pantalena Aspen Reserved Cover), $1.00
Jirni #1 (Of 5)(Paolo Pantalena Direct Market Cover), $1.00
Avatar Press
Crossed Badlands #27 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover...
AC Comics
Golden Age Greats Spotlight Volume 12 Outrageous Girls Strike Back Tp, $29.95
Antarctic Press
Victorian Secret Agents Owls Of The Ironwork Isle #1 (Of 5), $3.95
Archie Comic Publications
Betty And Veronica #265 (Dan Parent Regular Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica #265 (Renae De Liz Variant Cover), $2.99
Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #233, $3.99
Knuckles The Echidna Archives Volume 4 Tp (not verified by Diamond), $9.99
Sonic Universe #51 (Patrick Spaziante Regular Cover), $2.99
Sonic Universe #51 (Patrick Spaziante Variant Cover), $2.99
World Of Archie Double Digest #28, $3.99
Aspen Comics
Idolized #5 (Cover A Pasquale Qualano), $3.99
Idolized #5 (Cover B Rachel Clark Photo), $3.99
Idolized #5 (Cover C Rachel Clark Photo), Ar
Jirni #1 (Of 5)(Paolo Pantalena Aspen Reserved Cover), $1.00
Jirni #1 (Of 5)(Paolo Pantalena Direct Market Cover), $1.00
Avatar Press
Crossed Badlands #27 (Jacen Burrows Red Crossed Incentive Cover...
- 4/14/2013
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
We here at Sound on Sight are artists. We review works, slave over articles and record podcasts all on our own time and all for one reason; we love art. We also love the internet. While I could go on and on about how important it is (which it is) the internet has also been a haven for artists of all types, and a God-send. Artist do not make a lot of money, and it is very diffucult to even get a person to look at your work let, alone get money off them. That’s what is so amazing about Kickstarter. Now artists can get the funding they need for their projects from people who truly support talent.
Goldtiger is just one of those projects that has me excited! But what is Goldtiger?
Writer, Guy Adams and artist Jimmy Broxton have launched a new project on Kickstarter, unveiling the...
Goldtiger is just one of those projects that has me excited! But what is Goldtiger?
Writer, Guy Adams and artist Jimmy Broxton have launched a new project on Kickstarter, unveiling the...
- 3/9/2013
- by Sean Tonelli
- SoundOnSight
Relapse/Recovery: Sheen’s Demure Turn Wallows In Coppola’s Schizophrenic Film Gesture
Fans of Joseph Losey’s 1966 failed experiment, Modesty Blaise, (of which there are quite a few), may find something to rejoice in with Roman Coppola’s latest film, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Where Losey took Italian beauty Monica Vitti and plopped her into a zany, harebrained caper flick set in London’s swinging sixties, Coppola zaps cultural pariah Charlie Sheen into a mid-life crises comedy treatment with a vintage homage to the styles and sophistication of the 1970s, where imperfect male characters got to make small but noticeable advancements with themselves and enhance the lives of those in their orbit. For a film that actually makes use of its ‘everything and the kitchen sink,’ motif, there’s a surprising lack of life in Coppola’s confusingly styled dive into the life of...
Fans of Joseph Losey’s 1966 failed experiment, Modesty Blaise, (of which there are quite a few), may find something to rejoice in with Roman Coppola’s latest film, A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III. Where Losey took Italian beauty Monica Vitti and plopped her into a zany, harebrained caper flick set in London’s swinging sixties, Coppola zaps cultural pariah Charlie Sheen into a mid-life crises comedy treatment with a vintage homage to the styles and sophistication of the 1970s, where imperfect male characters got to make small but noticeable advancements with themselves and enhance the lives of those in their orbit. For a film that actually makes use of its ‘everything and the kitchen sink,’ motif, there’s a surprising lack of life in Coppola’s confusingly styled dive into the life of...
- 2/6/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
We’re going old school cult classic for a Monday, so prepare for a new years encounter with murderous witch finders, vampires, lusty warrior women and murderous magicians because Medium rare Entertainment are releasing four icons of cult/classic/horror, from the like of Jess Franco, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. All are being released in January 2013 in the UK on DVD for the very first time. Here’s the low down on each.... The Bloody Judge (1970/ 18/ 89mins) Directed by Jess Franco, with Christopher Lee, Maria Rohn, Leon Gunn. Christopher Lee swops his cape for a wig and gown to play the notorious Judge Jeffreys, a real-life 17th century witchfinder who showed a ruthless, sadistic justice. His growing obsession with a local wench (Maria Rohm) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Franco, Lee, Maria Rohm are reunited after The Vengeance of Fu Manchuin this lavishly murderous...
- 12/3/2012
- 24framespersecond.net
We’re going old school cult classic for a Monday, so prepare for a new years encounter with murderous witch finders, vampires, lusty warrior women and murderous magicians because Medium rare Entertainment are releasing four icons of cult/classic/horror, from the like of Jess Franco, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. All are being released in January 2013 in the UK on DVD for the very first time. Here’s the low down on each.... The Bloody Judge (1970/ 18/ 89mins) Directed by Jess Franco, with Christopher Lee, Maria Rohn, Leon Gunn. Christopher Lee swops his cape for a wig and gown to play the notorious Judge Jeffreys, a real-life 17th century witchfinder who showed a ruthless, sadistic justice. His growing obsession with a local wench (Maria Rohm) fuels a jaw-dropping spree of torture, brutality and flesh-ripping perversion. Franco, Lee, Maria Rohm are reunited after The Vengeance of Fu Manchuin this lavishly murderous...
- 12/3/2012
- 24framespersecond.net
The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and special items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.
12-gauge Comics
Ice Volume 1 Tp (not verified by Diamond), $14.99
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising Volume 2 Fear No Malus Tp, $16.99
Terry Moore’s How To Draw Sc, $16.99
Action Lab Entertainment
Princeless Short Stories For Warrior Women #1 (One Shot), $3.99
Amryl Entertainment
Cavewoman 2010 Heroes Con Sketchbook (Signed Edition), $8.75
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Complete Calvin And Hobbes Sc (Slipcase Edition)(not verified by Diamond), $100.00
Dr Seuss The Cat Behind The Hat Hc, $75.00
Antarctic Press
Last Zombie Before the After #2, $3.99
Archaia Entertainment
Elegy For Amelia Johnson Hc (Leatherbound Edition), $29.95
Grand Duke Hc, $24.95
Last Days Of An Immortal Hc (resolicited), $24.95
Archie Comics
Archie Double Digest #235, $3.99
Betty And Veronica Double Digest #207, $3.99
Sonic Super Special Magazine #5, $9.99
Sonic The Hedgehog Legacy Volume 2 Sc, $14.99
Sonic Universe #46, $2.99
Ardden Entertainment
Heroes Of...
12-gauge Comics
Ice Volume 1 Tp (not verified by Diamond), $14.99
Abstract Studios
Rachel Rising Volume 2 Fear No Malus Tp, $16.99
Terry Moore’s How To Draw Sc, $16.99
Action Lab Entertainment
Princeless Short Stories For Warrior Women #1 (One Shot), $3.99
Amryl Entertainment
Cavewoman 2010 Heroes Con Sketchbook (Signed Edition), $8.75
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Complete Calvin And Hobbes Sc (Slipcase Edition)(not verified by Diamond), $100.00
Dr Seuss The Cat Behind The Hat Hc, $75.00
Antarctic Press
Last Zombie Before the After #2, $3.99
Archaia Entertainment
Elegy For Amelia Johnson Hc (Leatherbound Edition), $29.95
Grand Duke Hc, $24.95
Last Days Of An Immortal Hc (resolicited), $24.95
Archie Comics
Archie Double Digest #235, $3.99
Betty And Veronica Double Digest #207, $3.99
Sonic Super Special Magazine #5, $9.99
Sonic The Hedgehog Legacy Volume 2 Sc, $14.99
Sonic Universe #46, $2.99
Ardden Entertainment
Heroes Of...
- 11/18/2012
- by Adam B.
- GeekRest
Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
The British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a severely disabled 10-year-old girl in a wheelchair on to the stage of the Glasgow Citizens in May 1967 and proceeded to make satirical jokes about the medical profession while his marriage was disintegrating. The play was Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, which transformed the way disability was discussed on the stage. It made the names overnight of its author, the director Michael Blakemore, and Melia. Albert Finney took over the role of Bri on Broadway.
Flat-footed, slightly hunched, always leaning towards a point of view, Melia, who has died aged 77, was a distinctive and compassionate actor who brought a strain of the music hall to the stage, a sense of being an outsider.
- 11/7/2012
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
As this summer’s blockbuster season reminds us comic book adaptations are big business with the latest incarnations of heroes old and new filling the local picturehouse and running merry riot over box office records.
Given the twin benefits of a wealth of material on which to draw and a ready audience primed to see their favourites fleshed out and thrown onto a movie screen it seems that we’ll be seeing many more familiar, and some less familiar, cartoon characters in movies of their own.
Jean Dujardin turned the world into a swooning mess when he led Michel Hazanavicius’ award magnet The Artist last year and in this article Anwar Brett takes a look at another of the actor’s roles, that of Lucky Luke in James Huth’s adaptation of the comic book by Morris, which is out now on DVD, as well as nine other cartoon heroes...
Given the twin benefits of a wealth of material on which to draw and a ready audience primed to see their favourites fleshed out and thrown onto a movie screen it seems that we’ll be seeing many more familiar, and some less familiar, cartoon characters in movies of their own.
Jean Dujardin turned the world into a swooning mess when he led Michel Hazanavicius’ award magnet The Artist last year and in this article Anwar Brett takes a look at another of the actor’s roles, that of Lucky Luke in James Huth’s adaptation of the comic book by Morris, which is out now on DVD, as well as nine other cartoon heroes...
- 5/29/2012
- by Guest
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Modesty Blaise: Live Bait
Written by Peter O’Donnell | Art by Enric Badia Romero | Published by Titan Books | Format: 104pp, Paperback
Reading a graphic novel that is made up out of comic strips can be a strange thing. When it’s designed to be taken in in tiny chunks it’s quite strange to see them all put together in one long format, this can often lead to it feeling quite bitty. With Modesty Blaise: Live Bait this could have been a trap for it to fall into as the cult icon moves from to novel form.
Live Bait is a collection of three stories (Samantha and the Cherub, Milord and Live Bait) with all three featuring the theme of kidnap and connecting to Blaise’s past through characters that are connected to her. Using stereotypical bad guys and scenarios such as the hells angels, snuff movies and...
Written by Peter O’Donnell | Art by Enric Badia Romero | Published by Titan Books | Format: 104pp, Paperback
Reading a graphic novel that is made up out of comic strips can be a strange thing. When it’s designed to be taken in in tiny chunks it’s quite strange to see them all put together in one long format, this can often lead to it feeling quite bitty. With Modesty Blaise: Live Bait this could have been a trap for it to fall into as the cult icon moves from to novel form.
Live Bait is a collection of three stories (Samantha and the Cherub, Milord and Live Bait) with all three featuring the theme of kidnap and connecting to Blaise’s past through characters that are connected to her. Using stereotypical bad guys and scenarios such as the hells angels, snuff movies and...
- 2/13/2012
- by Pzomb
- Nerdly
With the next Sherlock Holmes movie on the horizon, David looks at a few other literary heroes that deserve a fresh chance on the big screen…
Classic suspense heroes are getting a lot of Hollywood attention at the moment. Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows will be released in December, and Robert Downey Jr wants to similarly reinvent Perry Mason, while Miss Marple will apparently turn into Jennifer Garner.
Meanwhile, The Saint, as played by James Purefoy, will return to the small-screen in a TV movie called The Saint In New Orleans. With this in mind, here are a few other classic characters that could be similarly adapted.
Sexton Blake
Originally a Holmes pretender, this character evolved into a hybrid of Holmes, James Bond and Indiana Jones, going on to become the most documented fictional character in the history of the English language, with over two thousand stories and novels published.
Classic suspense heroes are getting a lot of Hollywood attention at the moment. Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows will be released in December, and Robert Downey Jr wants to similarly reinvent Perry Mason, while Miss Marple will apparently turn into Jennifer Garner.
Meanwhile, The Saint, as played by James Purefoy, will return to the small-screen in a TV movie called The Saint In New Orleans. With this in mind, here are a few other classic characters that could be similarly adapted.
Sexton Blake
Originally a Holmes pretender, this character evolved into a hybrid of Holmes, James Bond and Indiana Jones, going on to become the most documented fictional character in the history of the English language, with over two thousand stories and novels published.
- 10/10/2011
- Den of Geek
Modesty Blaise: Million Dollar Game
Written by Peter O’Donnell | Art by Enric Badia Romero | Published by Titan Books | Format: Paperback, 104pp
For those that aren’t familiar with the character, Modesty Blaise and her partner Willie Garvin are “retired” ex-cons who are given the chance by British Spymaster Sir Gerald Tarrant to hit the adventure trail once more – this time on the side of good. Originally published in the Evening Standard in the 1960s, Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise mixes pulp crime, adventure tales, spy stories, racketeering and a 60s vibe, and has over the years become synonymous with sexy spy glamour.
Modesty Blaise: Million Dollar Game is the latest bumper volume from Titan Books and collects three more classic Modesty Blaise newspaper strip adventures: Butch Cassidy Rides Again, in which Modesty meets the legendary outlaw; Million Dollar Game, which sees Modesty take on game poachers...
Written by Peter O’Donnell | Art by Enric Badia Romero | Published by Titan Books | Format: Paperback, 104pp
For those that aren’t familiar with the character, Modesty Blaise and her partner Willie Garvin are “retired” ex-cons who are given the chance by British Spymaster Sir Gerald Tarrant to hit the adventure trail once more – this time on the side of good. Originally published in the Evening Standard in the 1960s, Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty Blaise mixes pulp crime, adventure tales, spy stories, racketeering and a 60s vibe, and has over the years become synonymous with sexy spy glamour.
Modesty Blaise: Million Dollar Game is the latest bumper volume from Titan Books and collects three more classic Modesty Blaise newspaper strip adventures: Butch Cassidy Rides Again, in which Modesty meets the legendary outlaw; Million Dollar Game, which sees Modesty take on game poachers...
- 8/31/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
It’s another jam-packed week of DVD and Blu-ray releases, here’s the rundown of what’s available to buy from today, May 16th 2011.
Gulliver’s Travels (DVD/Blu-ray)
A fast-paced comedy adventure showing what can happen when you go up in the world….literally! Jack Black stars as Lemur Gulliver, an underachieving mail room worker who finds himself washed ashore the fantasy land of Lilliput, populated by a tiny civilization known as Lilliputians. With the Lilliputians having no idea of the modern world Gulliver is able to reinvent himself as their hero by impressing them with his size, superior knowledge and incredible inventions like the iPod.
The Walking Dead – Season 1 (DVD/Blu-ray)
After waking from a coma in an abandoned hospital, police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) finds the world he knew gone – ravaged by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Nearby, on the outskirts of Atlanta, a small...
Gulliver’s Travels (DVD/Blu-ray)
A fast-paced comedy adventure showing what can happen when you go up in the world….literally! Jack Black stars as Lemur Gulliver, an underachieving mail room worker who finds himself washed ashore the fantasy land of Lilliput, populated by a tiny civilization known as Lilliputians. With the Lilliputians having no idea of the modern world Gulliver is able to reinvent himself as their hero by impressing them with his size, superior knowledge and incredible inventions like the iPod.
The Walking Dead – Season 1 (DVD/Blu-ray)
After waking from a coma in an abandoned hospital, police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) finds the world he knew gone – ravaged by a zombie epidemic of apocalyptic proportions. Nearby, on the outskirts of Atlanta, a small...
- 5/16/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Movie Review: Fair Game
Nov 19, 2010
As female spy stories go, Valerie Plame's is no Modesty Blaise or Mata Hari, but it is one of great significance and enduring controversy in the recent history of the United States. Her tale of betrayal at the whims of top government and the press is at the center of the new thriller from director Doug Liman, the deft hand at the helm of the energetic and smart The Bourne Identity. Though he didn't stick around to see that franchise reach its lucrative heights, he returns to the breathless political actioner with Fair Game. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...
As female spy stories go, Valerie Plame's is no Modesty Blaise or Mata Hari, but it is one of great significance and enduring controversy in the recent history of the United States. Her tale of betrayal at the whims of top government and the press is at the center of the new thriller from director Doug Liman, the deft hand at the helm of the energetic and smart The Bourne Identity. Though he didn't stick around to see that franchise reach its lucrative heights, he returns to the breathless political actioner with Fair Game. ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...
- 11/20/2010
- CinemaNerdz
Mother
DVD & Blu-Ray, Optimum
You can tell a lot about a movie from its opening shot. Here, a glum, rather ordinary woman in her late 60s wanders into a remote area. Checking no one is around to see her, she steals a few precious moments while enjoying a guilty dance. This deceptively simple, low-key shot tells us plenty: this woman has lived a life, and she's a person – not just an "old person". Most of all, it tells us the director really knows what he's doing; this will be a story that, although unconventional in delivery, will be well-told and engaging. That last fact won't be news to anyone who has seen Korean director Bong Joon-ho's previous films, such as the merciless police procedural thriller Memories Of Murder or his off-kilter monster movie The Host. The mother of the title (the incredible Kim Hye-ja) has her life turned upside down...
DVD & Blu-Ray, Optimum
You can tell a lot about a movie from its opening shot. Here, a glum, rather ordinary woman in her late 60s wanders into a remote area. Checking no one is around to see her, she steals a few precious moments while enjoying a guilty dance. This deceptively simple, low-key shot tells us plenty: this woman has lived a life, and she's a person – not just an "old person". Most of all, it tells us the director really knows what he's doing; this will be a story that, although unconventional in delivery, will be well-told and engaging. That last fact won't be news to anyone who has seen Korean director Bong Joon-ho's previous films, such as the merciless police procedural thriller Memories Of Murder or his off-kilter monster movie The Host. The mother of the title (the incredible Kim Hye-ja) has her life turned upside down...
- 9/17/2010
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
"When a director dies, he becomes a cinematographer." That softly devastating one-liner, initially applied, I believe, to Josef von Sternberg, perhaps comes from a prejudice against the purely visual and formal elements of film, a feeling that they should never be allowed to dominate the dramatic elements, the plot and performances. But what about directors who started life as cinematographers?
Carlo Di Palma, best known for his shiny, cool, hypnotic work with Antonioni in the sixties and after, and for a long string of Woody Allens in the eighties and nineties, directed only a few films. Blonde in Black Leather (1975), his second, offers clues as to why, as well as making one regret that he wasn't more prolific. Co-written with Barbara Alberti & Amedeo Pagani (who previously collaborated on The Night Porter), it's a female buddy road movie with one foot in the western genre, another in the gangster flick, and...
Carlo Di Palma, best known for his shiny, cool, hypnotic work with Antonioni in the sixties and after, and for a long string of Woody Allens in the eighties and nineties, directed only a few films. Blonde in Black Leather (1975), his second, offers clues as to why, as well as making one regret that he wasn't more prolific. Co-written with Barbara Alberti & Amedeo Pagani (who previously collaborated on The Night Porter), it's a female buddy road movie with one foot in the western genre, another in the gangster flick, and...
- 8/26/2010
- MUBI
Author Peter O'Donnell, who created the action hero Modesty Blaise, has died at age 90. O'Donnell's character was a popular success through his adventure novels and a long-running series of comic strips that ran in the 1960s and which have been reissued in recent years as graphic novels by Titan publishers. O'Donnell also wrote the screenplay for the 1967 big screen version of Modesty Blaise that starred Monica Vitti. For more click here...
- 5/12/2010
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Writer Peter O'Donnell has passed away at the age of 90 after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. The scribe is best known as the creator of the catsuit-wearing heroine Modesty Blaise, who appeared in an Evening Standard strip between 1963 and 2002. According to editor and fellow author Steve Holland, O'Donnell "kept in touch with fans and continued to pen introductions for Titan's (more)...
- 5/5/2010
- by By Mark Langshaw
- Digital Spy
Peter O'Donnell, one of the greatest of comics writers, died last night at the age of 90. He is best known for his creation Modesty Blaise, which ran in newspapers from 1963 to 2001, initially drawn by Jim Holdaway. He also created Romeo Brown (again, with Holdaway) and for many years authored the classic time-travelling adventure strip Garth. O'Donnell also adapted Ian Fleming's Dr. No to comic strips.
Peter also wrote 11 Modesty Blaise novels and two short story collections, as well as nine gothic romance/adventure novels under the name Madeleine Brent.
A serious, considered and and gentle man, O'Donnell was quite the fan of tennis and was a regular at the annual Wimbledon championships.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of editing Peter on his graphic novel adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise story, drawn by the late Dick Giordano. It was something of an intimidating experience for me,...
Peter also wrote 11 Modesty Blaise novels and two short story collections, as well as nine gothic romance/adventure novels under the name Madeleine Brent.
A serious, considered and and gentle man, O'Donnell was quite the fan of tennis and was a regular at the annual Wimbledon championships.
On a personal note, I had the privilege of editing Peter on his graphic novel adaptation of the first Modesty Blaise story, drawn by the late Dick Giordano. It was something of an intimidating experience for me,...
- 5/4/2010
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Zoe Saldana in search of all the usual action.
Zoe Saldana in "The Losers"
Photo: Warner Bros.
"The Losers" is the kind of action movie in which two bikini babes can inexplicably pop up in the middle of a firefight and everybody onscreen is too busy dying to even notice. It's also the kind of action movie in which the sight of a helicopter being shot down while carrying small children to safety is followed by a close-up of a teddy bear smoldering in the wreckage. I'm not sure exactly what kind of action movie that is, but this is it.
It's a comic book picture (Andy Diggle's Vertigo series ran from 2003 to 2006), but one that's a little too short on wild satire (as opposed to zingy one-liners) to be outrageous fun, and a little too underfunded to offer any state-of-the-art fireballs or other techno-hubbub.
Zoe Saldana in "The Losers"
Photo: Warner Bros.
"The Losers" is the kind of action movie in which two bikini babes can inexplicably pop up in the middle of a firefight and everybody onscreen is too busy dying to even notice. It's also the kind of action movie in which the sight of a helicopter being shot down while carrying small children to safety is followed by a close-up of a teddy bear smoldering in the wreckage. I'm not sure exactly what kind of action movie that is, but this is it.
It's a comic book picture (Andy Diggle's Vertigo series ran from 2003 to 2006), but one that's a little too short on wild satire (as opposed to zingy one-liners) to be outrageous fun, and a little too underfunded to offer any state-of-the-art fireballs or other techno-hubbub.
- 4/23/2010
- MTV Movie News
by Lindsay Wallace
It's a well-known fact that Hollywood directors tend to possess a list of movies that they've played around with but were never quite able to pull together. Quentin Tarantino is notorious for this, primarily because his excitement is so infectious.
Last week, Michael Madsen spoke on the radio about the "Vega Brothers" moviem a long-rumored "Reservoir Dogs"/"Pulp Fiction" spin-off framing Madsen's and John Travolta's characters as brothers. We've decided to run through other Tarantino near-movies that never were, and may well never be.
"Kill Bill" Threequel
Although (**Spoiler Alert**) Bill's dead, Tarantino himself has said that, “The Bride will fight again!” He's frequently been quoted in the past as saying that he'd like to revisit Beatrix Kiddo and her adventures after 10 years has passed, which means we should get more around 2014.
"James Bond: Casino Royale"
Believe it or not, before Daniel Craig wowed us all...
It's a well-known fact that Hollywood directors tend to possess a list of movies that they've played around with but were never quite able to pull together. Quentin Tarantino is notorious for this, primarily because his excitement is so infectious.
Last week, Michael Madsen spoke on the radio about the "Vega Brothers" moviem a long-rumored "Reservoir Dogs"/"Pulp Fiction" spin-off framing Madsen's and John Travolta's characters as brothers. We've decided to run through other Tarantino near-movies that never were, and may well never be.
"Kill Bill" Threequel
Although (**Spoiler Alert**) Bill's dead, Tarantino himself has said that, “The Bride will fight again!” He's frequently been quoted in the past as saying that he'd like to revisit Beatrix Kiddo and her adventures after 10 years has passed, which means we should get more around 2014.
"James Bond: Casino Royale"
Believe it or not, before Daniel Craig wowed us all...
- 4/12/2010
- by MTV Movies Team
- MTV Movies Blog
Dick Giordano was a leading figure in the comic book industry for half a century, who was best known for his long association with DC Comics as an editor and artist.
Giordano was born in Lower East Side of Manhattan on July 20, 1932, and became fascinated with comics from an early age. He studied at the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan in his teens. He joined Chartlon Comics as a freelance artist in 1952, drawing numerous covers and working as an inker. He rose to the position of editor-in-chief by 1965, where he oversaw the creation or revitalization such characters as Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, the Question, Thunderbolt, and the Peacemaker as part of the company’s Action Hero line.
Giordano moved to DC in 1967, where he worked as an editor and artist. He edited such titles as Secret Six, Beware the Creeper, Bomba the Jungle Boy, Deadman, The Spectre, Blackhawk, The Witching Hour,...
Giordano was born in Lower East Side of Manhattan on July 20, 1932, and became fascinated with comics from an early age. He studied at the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan in his teens. He joined Chartlon Comics as a freelance artist in 1952, drawing numerous covers and working as an inker. He rose to the position of editor-in-chief by 1965, where he oversaw the creation or revitalization such characters as Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, the Question, Thunderbolt, and the Peacemaker as part of the company’s Action Hero line.
Giordano moved to DC in 1967, where he worked as an editor and artist. He edited such titles as Secret Six, Beware the Creeper, Bomba the Jungle Boy, Deadman, The Spectre, Blackhawk, The Witching Hour,...
- 4/7/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
It is with profound personal regret that I report comics legend Dick Giordano died this morning.
The man who guided two comics companies, Charlton and then DC, to greatness and served as collaborator, friend and mentor to more people than I'd have capacity to recall in a week – Neal Adams, Dennis O'Neil, Jim Aparo, Joe Rubinstein, Terry Austin, Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin, Klaus Janson, Al Milgrom, Bob Layton, Steve Skeates, and every young artist, writer and editor who passed through Continuity Associates and DC Comics during his tenure at those companies, to name but a very few. His own gifts as an editor and artist were nothing short of breathtaking.
Dick always defended creative freedom and aesthetic opportunity, sometimes putting him heads-on with management powers, often representing not his own work but that of the editors in his charge, most certainly including myself, for which I will be forever grateful.
The man who guided two comics companies, Charlton and then DC, to greatness and served as collaborator, friend and mentor to more people than I'd have capacity to recall in a week – Neal Adams, Dennis O'Neil, Jim Aparo, Joe Rubinstein, Terry Austin, Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin, Klaus Janson, Al Milgrom, Bob Layton, Steve Skeates, and every young artist, writer and editor who passed through Continuity Associates and DC Comics during his tenure at those companies, to name but a very few. His own gifts as an editor and artist were nothing short of breathtaking.
Dick always defended creative freedom and aesthetic opportunity, sometimes putting him heads-on with management powers, often representing not his own work but that of the editors in his charge, most certainly including myself, for which I will be forever grateful.
- 3/27/2010
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
Greetings gang. Sorry for the geographically localized post, but I wanted to let viewers in the greater Los Angeles area know of a few screenings of this ridiculous-hilarious-sexy-crazy movie I saw called Scream of the Bikini that will be playing in town this weekend!
A lost classic from South American director Fernando Fernandez, Scream of the Bikini is an action spy thriller thought lost to the ages in the 1960s, recently discovered, then translated into English by Germans where something obviously got lost in the translation. (Sort of like what they did with the Metropolis restoration, but with more bikinis and sexy intrigue). The film focuses on the adventures of supermodels by day/sexy secret agents by night Jasmine Orosco and Paola Apanapel who engage in intrigue, espionage, adventure, excitement, vespas, and pillow fights! Pajama-clad pillow fights! Between two gorgeous girls!
I feel the need to repeat the Hot Lady Pillow Fight Action,...
A lost classic from South American director Fernando Fernandez, Scream of the Bikini is an action spy thriller thought lost to the ages in the 1960s, recently discovered, then translated into English by Germans where something obviously got lost in the translation. (Sort of like what they did with the Metropolis restoration, but with more bikinis and sexy intrigue). The film focuses on the adventures of supermodels by day/sexy secret agents by night Jasmine Orosco and Paola Apanapel who engage in intrigue, espionage, adventure, excitement, vespas, and pillow fights! Pajama-clad pillow fights! Between two gorgeous girls!
I feel the need to repeat the Hot Lady Pillow Fight Action,...
- 2/18/2010
- MoviesOnline.ca
Celebrated figure of British jazz with a 60-year career as a performer, composer, bandleader and educationist
Late last November, Sir John Dankworth, who has died aged 82, elicited the most heartfelt standing ovation of his 60-year career in music for what was possibly his briefest and quietest performance. He had been taken to hospital during the run-up to the London Jazz Festival show for him and his singer wife, Cleo Laine, at the South Bank. But the frail Dankworth emerged in a wheelchair just before the interval. Laine, his daughter Jacqui, a singer-actress, his bassist son Alec and a good many of the big band looked as if they could hardly bear to watch the old star slowly bring the alto saxophone to his lips. Then the opening notes of the Duke Ellington ballad Tonight I Shall Sleep filled the hall, vibrating gently with Dankworth's delicate, richly clarinet-like ballad sound and everybody breathed out.
Late last November, Sir John Dankworth, who has died aged 82, elicited the most heartfelt standing ovation of his 60-year career in music for what was possibly his briefest and quietest performance. He had been taken to hospital during the run-up to the London Jazz Festival show for him and his singer wife, Cleo Laine, at the South Bank. But the frail Dankworth emerged in a wheelchair just before the interval. Laine, his daughter Jacqui, a singer-actress, his bassist son Alec and a good many of the big band looked as if they could hardly bear to watch the old star slowly bring the alto saxophone to his lips. Then the opening notes of the Duke Ellington ballad Tonight I Shall Sleep filled the hall, vibrating gently with Dankworth's delicate, richly clarinet-like ballad sound and everybody breathed out.
- 2/7/2010
- by John Fordham
- The Guardian - Film News
Director explains he's 'still kind of emotionally' involved with 'Inglourious Basterds.'
By Eric Ditzian
Quentin Tarantino
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ FilmMagic
When is it too soon to start talking about a filmmaker's next project? Before the current movie arrives in theaters? After it's finished up its theatrical run? And do any of those questions matter when it comes to an auteur whose every flick is awaited with emotion that ranges from breathless anticipation to "How dare you deprive us any longer!"
Sure, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" is still in theaters abroad — with a global box-office tally over $300 million and counting — but here in the States, attention has already turned to what the writer/director's next project will be. When MTV News had the chance to chat with Qt recently, we had to get the lowdown from the man himself.
"I'm thinking about a few different things right now,...
By Eric Ditzian
Quentin Tarantino
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ FilmMagic
When is it too soon to start talking about a filmmaker's next project? Before the current movie arrives in theaters? After it's finished up its theatrical run? And do any of those questions matter when it comes to an auteur whose every flick is awaited with emotion that ranges from breathless anticipation to "How dare you deprive us any longer!"
Sure, Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" is still in theaters abroad — with a global box-office tally over $300 million and counting — but here in the States, attention has already turned to what the writer/director's next project will be. When MTV News had the chance to chat with Qt recently, we had to get the lowdown from the man himself.
"I'm thinking about a few different things right now,...
- 12/2/2009
- MTV Movie News
Insiders: Volume One: Chechen Guerrilla by Jean-Claude Bartoll; illustrated by Renaud Garetta (Cinebook, tpb, 96 pp, $19.95)
It’s easy to see why Jessica (Dark Angel, Fantastic Four) Alba is interested in starring in an Insiders movie. Chechen Guerrilla is an action-packed political thriller with an international setting featuring an intelligent, capable female lead.
Heroine Najah Cruz a.k.a. Isabel Mendoza is a Columbian orphan. Raised by a Medellin drug cartel family and trained to become one of their soldiers, Najah disappears after her adopted family falls victim to the crossfire in a Medellin feud. After reappearing in Chechnya fighting with the rebels, she’s blackmailed by the U.S. President into joining his secret war on the international mafia.
Whew! That’s a lot of plot for 96 pages, but Bartoll makes it work. He grounds Chechen Guerrilla in real-world politics and movements—even footnoting the countries and names—that give...
It’s easy to see why Jessica (Dark Angel, Fantastic Four) Alba is interested in starring in an Insiders movie. Chechen Guerrilla is an action-packed political thriller with an international setting featuring an intelligent, capable female lead.
Heroine Najah Cruz a.k.a. Isabel Mendoza is a Columbian orphan. Raised by a Medellin drug cartel family and trained to become one of their soldiers, Najah disappears after her adopted family falls victim to the crossfire in a Medellin feud. After reappearing in Chechnya fighting with the rebels, she’s blackmailed by the U.S. President into joining his secret war on the international mafia.
Whew! That’s a lot of plot for 96 pages, but Bartoll makes it work. He grounds Chechen Guerrilla in real-world politics and movements—even footnoting the countries and names—that give...
- 11/6/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (Penny Kenny)
- Starlog
Insiders: Volume One: Chechen Guerrilla by Jean-Claude Bartoll; illustrated by Renaud Garetta (Cinebook, tpb, 96 pp, $19.95)
It’s easy to see why Jessica (Dark Angel, Fantastic Four) Alba is interested in starring in an Insiders movie. Chechen Guerrilla is an action-packed political thriller with an international setting featuring an intelligent, capable female lead.
Heroine Najah Cruz a.k.a. Isabel Mendoza is a Columbian orphan. Raised by a Medellin drug cartel family and trained to become one of their soldiers, Najah disappears after her adopted family falls victim to the crossfire in a Medellin feud. After reappearing in Chechnya fighting with the rebels, she’s blackmailed by the U.S. President into joining his secret war on the international mafia.
Whew! That’s a lot of plot for 96 pages, but Bartoll makes it work. He grounds Chechen Guerrilla in real-world politics and movements—even footnoting the countries and names—that give...
It’s easy to see why Jessica (Dark Angel, Fantastic Four) Alba is interested in starring in an Insiders movie. Chechen Guerrilla is an action-packed political thriller with an international setting featuring an intelligent, capable female lead.
Heroine Najah Cruz a.k.a. Isabel Mendoza is a Columbian orphan. Raised by a Medellin drug cartel family and trained to become one of their soldiers, Najah disappears after her adopted family falls victim to the crossfire in a Medellin feud. After reappearing in Chechnya fighting with the rebels, she’s blackmailed by the U.S. President into joining his secret war on the international mafia.
Whew! That’s a lot of plot for 96 pages, but Bartoll makes it work. He grounds Chechen Guerrilla in real-world politics and movements—even footnoting the countries and names—that give...
- 11/6/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (Penny Kenny)
- Starlog
By Scott Weinberg (reprinted from January 2009 -- Sundance Film Festival)
The spoof (aka broad parody) sub-genre is a schizophrenic beast. At its best, the spoof can treat you to something as sublime as Airplane!, as mindlessly amusing as the Scary Movie series, or as stunningly worthless as Epic Movie. But the spoof remains the comedy sub-genre for filmmakers who are also movie geeks. Basically, you need to have seen a lot of Airport movies to write Airplane!, and you need to have some solid experience with blaxploitation movies to produce something like Hollywood Shuffle, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, or this newest arrival: The slightly overlong but consistently giggle-worthy Black Dynamite, which aims to do to Shaft and Superfly what The Naked Gun did to police procedurals.
And for the most part, the experiment works like a charm. What I found most appealing about Black Dynamite is that, while it...
The spoof (aka broad parody) sub-genre is a schizophrenic beast. At its best, the spoof can treat you to something as sublime as Airplane!, as mindlessly amusing as the Scary Movie series, or as stunningly worthless as Epic Movie. But the spoof remains the comedy sub-genre for filmmakers who are also movie geeks. Basically, you need to have seen a lot of Airport movies to write Airplane!, and you need to have some solid experience with blaxploitation movies to produce something like Hollywood Shuffle, I'm Gonna Get You Sucka, or this newest arrival: The slightly overlong but consistently giggle-worthy Black Dynamite, which aims to do to Shaft and Superfly what The Naked Gun did to police procedurals.
And for the most part, the experiment works like a charm. What I found most appealing about Black Dynamite is that, while it...
- 10/17/2009
- by Cinematical staff
- Cinematical
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