Giant

"A critical and box-office success, “Giant” earned ten Academy Award nominations (winning one), and set the record as Warner Brothers’ highest grossing film ever (a record it held until the late 1970s). Decades later, the American Film Institute (AFI) named it the 82nd Greatest American Movie of All-Time. This mighty film is one you certainly don’t want to miss." - Jay Jacobson

I agree with this 100% I have seen it and you truly don't want to miss it. Head on over to my buddy Jay Jacobson's Classic Movie Blog for his in depth thoughts & facts on this masterpiece of cinema.

https://www.jaysclassicmovieblog.com/post/giant-1956

Bonnie and Clyde

Tis the season for classic cinema (say "classic cinema" three times fast, I dare ya) - Thus I bequeath to you, straight outta Jay's Classic Movie Blog: Bonnie and Clyde.

Hey, it was 1967 when this groundbreaking film came out and I need to revisit it as I watched it when I was too young for it to really land in my underdeveloped mind. I believe it is currently on Netflix, unless it isn't any longer...

Also the two leads, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway are terrific eye candy.

Wanna know more saunter over to Jay's Classic Movie Blog by tapping the link below. Ya know, the link.

https://www.jaysclassicmovieblog.com/post/bonnie-and-clyde-1967  

Film Buff Friday: Cruising

In keeping with Pride Month I present to you a divisive film from the annals of the history of queer cinema, Cruising. No matter what your take on it, it is a culturally relevant film...

A crime thriller set against the backdrop of the 1970s leather scene, Cruising is a polarizing film with a complicated legacy. When it came out in 1980, mainstream audiences and gay rights activists alike were scandalized—the former due to the graphic sexuality and the latter on the grounds that it portrayed the LGBTQ community in a bad light. (By contrast, director William Friedkin alleges that much of New York’s leather/S&M community actively supported the film and participated en masse as extras.) In recent years, though, the film—which features Al Pacino as a New York cop who goes undercover in the city’s S&M scene to investigate a serial killer targeting gay men—has been reevaluated and is now considered by many as a classic. Love it or hate it, Cruising is a touchstone of queer cinema history.

Cruising on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruising_(film)  

Jesus Christ Movie Star

BearManor Media Announces June 7 Release

Of Jesus Christ Movie Star, a New Book by Phil Hall

BearManor Media is proud to present Jesus Christ Movie Star, the new book by the award-winning film historian and podcaster Phil Hall. The 176-page illustrated book will be available beginning on June 7 in a $22.00 paperback edition and a $32.00 hardcover edition.

 

The life of Jesus Christ has challenged and inspired filmmakers from the pioneering works of the late 1890s through today’s digital cinema. No other life story has been the subject of so many films, with so many wildly different interpretations. 

 

The big screen Jesus has traveled through multimillion dollar epics and microbudget underground films, recreating the miracles of the Gospels while also advocating for modern political issues. Moviegoers have seen Jesus walk on water and conquer death, and also break into show tunes and play straight man to a zany Bette Midler. Films about Jesus have inspired a diverse range of controversies, ranging from a groundbreaking copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Thomas Edison to an intellectual scandal that rocked the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair to accusations of anti-Semitism against Mel Gibson’s distinctive interpretation of the New Testament. 

 

Phil Hall, author of the critically acclaimed books The History of Independent Cinema and In Search of Lost Films and host of the award-winning podcast The Online Movie Show, takes the reader on the most extraordinary odyssey in cinematic studies by tracing how filmmakers from across the years and around the world have sought to fill theaters with the story of Jesus. Beloved classics and bizarre curios are part of this memorable journey as the “light of the world” brings illumination through the lens of a movie projector.

www.bearmanormedia.com

Saturday Sinema: The Last Starfighter

Greetings Starfighter! You have been recruited by Arrow Video to experience the 1984 sci-fi classic as you've never experienced it before! Directed by Nick Castle, the man behind the Michael Myers mask in the original Halloween, The Last Starfighter tells the story Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), an arcade game whizz-kid whose wildest dreams comes true when he finds himself enlisted to fight in an interstellar war. Now newly restored from a 4K scan of the original negative and featuring a 4.1 mix originally created for the film's 70mm release - never included on previous home video formats - The Last Starfighter arrives loaded with brand new and archival bonus features. Strap yourself in: the Blu-ray adventure of a lifetime is about to begin!

Bonus Materials

• Brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Uncompressed 2.0 stereo, 5.1 DTS-HD MA and 4.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with Mike White of The Last Projection Booth podcast
• Archival audio commentary with director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb
• Heroes of the Screen – archival featurette
• Crossing the Frontier: The Making of The Last Starfighter – archival 4-part documentary
• Image Galleries
• Theatrical and Teaser Trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Ferguson
• PLUS MORE NEW EXTRAS TO BE ANNOUNCED!!!
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY
• Limited Edition O-Card
• Limited Edition Reversible Poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Amanda Reyes and sci-fi author Greg Bear’s never-before-published Omni magazine article on Digital Productions, the company responsible for the CGI in The Last Starfighter

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV323  

Sunday Sinema: Ivansxtc

Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Lisa Enos star in this biting satire on the behind-the-scenes of the Hollywood film industry, with all its drink and drug-fueled excess, from director Bernard Rose (Candyman, Paperhouse). Opening with the death of its titular protagonist, ivansxtc goes back in time to chart the final days of hot-shot Tinseltown agent Ivan Beckman (Huston) and his fast-paced, wheeler-dealer lifestyle, which will ultimately lead him to an early grave after a shock cancer diagnosis. Loosely based on Leo Tolstoy's celebrated 1886 novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and featuring a searing performance by Danny Huston at its core and wonderfully sleazy turn from Peter Weller as Ivan's biggest client, ivansxtc is a powerful meditation on life, death and morality set against the glitzy backdrop of La La Land.

Media

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing by Robert J Simpson
• Extended Party Sequence Outtakes
• Charlotte's Story - a brand new documentary on the making of the film from Lisa Enos
• Q&A with Lisa Enos, director Bernard Rose, actors Danny Huston, Peter Weller and Adam Krentzman from a 2018 screening at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Peter Strain
• Archival interviews with Lisa Enos and Bernard Rose from the 2001 Santa Barbara Film Festival
• Theatrical Cut presented in two versions; the preferred director's version and the producer's version, with 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Extended Producer's Cut with Stereo DTS-HD Master Audio, presented for the first time
• Brand new commentary for the Extended Cut with co-writer/producer/ actor Lisa Enos and filmmaker Richard Wolstencroft

Oder Here:

https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV290

Film Buff Friday: Zombie For Sale

An infectiously funny slice of modern Korean cinema where Train to Busan, The Quiet Family and Warm Bodies collide to create a memorable rom-zom-com from first time director Lee Min-jae. When the illegal human experiments of Korea's biggest Pharmaceutical company go wrong, one of their "undead" test subjects escapes and ends up in a shabby gas station owned by the Park family - a band of misfits spanning three generations who hustle passers-by to make ends meet. When the Park family uncover their undead visitor, he bites the head of their household, who instead of transforming into an undead ghoul becomes revitalised and full of life! The family then hatch a plan to exploit this unexpected fountain of youth, allowing locals to pay to be bitten too, until things go wrong... With a cabbage-munching zombie who prefers ketchup over blood, and a dysfunctional family that gives the Kim family of Parasite a run for their money, Zombie for Sale will warm the deadest of hearts and breathe some new life into the zombie genre.

Media

 Watch trailer »

Bonus Materials

• High-Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed Stereo and 5.1 DTS-HD MA options
• Newly-translated English subtitles
• Brand new audio commentary with filmmakers and critics Sam Ashurst and Dan Martin
• Q&A with director Lee Min-jae from a 2019 screening at Asian Pop-Up Cinema in Chicago, moderated by film critic and author Darcy Paquet
• Eat Together, Kill Together: The Family-in-Peril Comedy - brand new video essay by critic and producer Pierce Conran exploring Korea's unique social satires
• Making-Of Featurette
• Behind-the-Scenes footage
• Original Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by Mike Lee-Graham
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Josh Hurtado

Order Here:

https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV279

Saturday Sinema: Deadly Manor

An old, dark house... A maniac on the loose... An orgy of bloodlust! All the hallmarks of late master of Spanish macabre José Ramón Larraz (Edge of the Axe, Vampyres) are present and correct in 1990's Deadly Manor - the final horror movie from one of the genre's most unheralded filmmakers. Whilst en route to a lake, a group of youngsters make an unscheduled stop-off at a remote, seemingly abandoned mansion where they plan to spend the night. But the property is full of foreboding signs - a blood-stained car wreck in the garden, coffins in the basement, scalps in the closet, and photographs of a beautiful but mysterious woman adorning every corner of the house. Before daybreak, the group will unwittingly uncover the strange and terrifying truth that lurks behind the walls of this dreadful place. The last in a trio of transcontinental slice-and-dice co-productions helmed by Larraz towards the end of the 80s (all of which which he directed under the anglicized moniker of Joseph Braunstein), Deadly Manor - released on VHS in the US under the title Savage Lust - is a fitting capper to the director's prolific career in fear, now finally unearthed for the first time on Blu-ray.

Bonus Materials

• Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original uncompressed mono audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
• Newly-filmed interview with actress Jennifer Delora
• Making a Killing - a newly-filmed interview with producer Brian Smedley-Aston
• Extract from an archival interview with Jose Larraz
• Original “Savage Lust” VHS trailer
• Image Gallery
• Original Script and Shooting Schedule (BD-ROM content)
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais (TO BE REVEALED)
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author John Martin

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV257

Saturday Sinema: One Missed Call Trilogy

One Missed Call

An iconic trilogy of J-horror films comes to Blu-ray for the first time! Tapping into the same brand of terror as the Ring and Grudge movies, visionary director Takashi Miike (Audition, Blade of the Immortal) presents a modern, high-tech twist on that mainstay of Japanese folklore, the yurei or vengeful spirit, in the form of its own iconic antihero - the terrifying Mimiko. In the first installment in the trilogy, 2003's One Missed Call, student Yoko (Anna Nagata, Battle Royale) receives a phone message from her future self, ending with her own death scream. Two days later, she dies in a horrific rail collision. As the mysterious phone curse spreads, claiming more young lives, Yoko's friend Yumi (Ko Shibasaki, Battle Royale, 47 Ronin) joins forces with detective Hiroshi (Shinichi Tsutsumi, Space Battleship Yamato), whose sister met the same gruesome fate. But can they unravel the mystery before the clock runs out on the next victim - Yumi herself? Mimiko's curse continues to wreak bloody havoc in two sequels - 2005's One Missed Call 2 and 2006's One Missed Call: Final, in addition to spawning a TV series and an American remake. This lavish collection from Arrow Video gathers together the original trilogy and a swathe of in-depth bonus features for the ultimate spine-tingling experience.

Bonus Materials

• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations
• Lossless Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles
• New audio commentary on One Missed Call by Miike biographer Tom Mes
• The Making of One Missed Call, an hour-long archival documentary on the film’s production
• Archival interviews on One Missed Call with actors Ko Shibasaki, Shinichi Tsutsumi and Kazue Fukiishi, and director Takashi Miike
• Archival interview on One Missed Call with director Takashi Miike
• Archival footage from the One Missed Call premiere
• Live or Die TV special
• A Day with the Mizunuma Family
• One Missed Call alternate ending
• The Making of One Missed Call 2, a half-hour archival documentary on the film’s production
• Gomu, a short film by One Missed Call 2 director Renpei Tsukamoto
• One Missed Call 2 deleted scenes
• One Missed Call 2 music video
• The Making of One Missed Call: Final, an hour-long archival documentary on the film’s production
• Maki and Meisa, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette on One Missed Call: Final with actresses Maki Horikita and Meisa Kuroki
• Behind the Scenes with Keun-Suk Jang, an archival featurette with One Missed Call: Final’s South Korean star
• The Love Story, a short film tie-in for One Missed Call: Final
• Candid Mimiko, an archival location tour with the series’ iconic villain
• Theatrical trailers and TV spots
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV222

Saturday Sinema: Black Angel

Elegantly directed by Hollywood veteran Roy William Neill (best known for his 11 Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone), Black Angel is an underappreciated film noir treasure, adapted from a novel by the acclaimed crime writer Cornell Woolrich (Phantom Lady). When the beautiful singer Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is slain in her chic apartment, the men in her life become suspects. There is Martin Blair (Dan Duryea, Scarlet Street), her alcoholic musician ex-husband, nursing a broken heart; there is the shady nightclub owner Marko (Peter Lorre, Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon) who has been sneaking around her place, and there is Kirk Bennett (John Phillips), the adulterer who found his mistress's dead body and fled the scene. When Bennett is convicted and sentenced to death, his long-suffering wife Catherine (June Vincent) joins forces with the heartbroken pianist Martin Blair to uncover the truth... Black Angel is a consummate 1940s crime thriller which boats a suspenseful narrative, strong performances and atmospheric, meticulously lit cinematography. Roy William Neill's film is presented here in a sumptuous restoration, with several illuminating new extras.

Bonus Materials

• Brand new restoration from original film elements by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by the writer and film scholar Alan K. Rode
• A Fitting End, a new video appreciation by the film historian Neil Sinyard
• Original trailer
• Gallery of original stills and promotional materials
• Reversible sleeve featuring two artwork options
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Philip Kemp

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AA054

Saturday Sinema - Vengeance: A Love Story

Sometimes U Need Vengeance -

On the Fourth of July, single mother Teena is brutally assaulted by a local gang in front of her 12-year-old daughter Bethie. Despite Bethie's ability to identify the attackers, the defense hires a local hot-shot attorney who manipulates the law to their advantage. When the criminals are set free, Gulf War veteran and detective John Dromoor (Nicolas Cage) is dismayed at the lack of justice and plots revenge against the men on Teena's behalf. Blu-ray includes 5.1 surround sound, stereo and English subtitles for the deaf and hearing-impaired.

Order It Here:
https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/MVD2029BR

Film Buff Friday: Audition

The notorious "Audition" hits the streets on Blu-ray 2/12/19 - can you stomach it?!

One of the most shocking J-horror films ever made, Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris. Recent widower Shigeharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, so he seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. They take advantage of their position in a film company by staging an audition to find the perfect woman. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and twisted turn as we find that Asami isn't what she seems to be... Pulling the audience into a story that will lead to one of the most harrowing climaxes in cinema history, Miike twists and turns us through delirious editing and shocking visuals for one of the most depraved nightmares of all time!

Bonus Materials

• Brand new 2K restoriation of original vault elements
• Original 5.1 Dolby Surround Audio
• Optional English subtitles
• Audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan
• Brand new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes examining the film and its source novel
• Introduction by Miike
• Ties that Bind – A brand new interview with Takashi Miike
• Interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi
• Damaged Romance: An appreciation by Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns

• Trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matthew Griffin
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Anton Bitel

Order Here: https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV187

Just Because...Robert Redford & Sissy Spacek

Feels :Like The First Time (It Is!)
Sissy Spacek & Robert Redford

Just Because he's The Sundance Kid, Just Because she's Carrie White & Just Because they have a new movie The Old Man & The Gun hitting theaters September 28th. Heeeeere's Robert Redford & Sissy Spacek!

These were two of the biggest movie stars of my youth. Both of them essayed many great films and roles. Well they are back in a big way damn it with a movie that goes like this: 

"Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford), from his audacious escape from San Quentin at the age of 70 to an unprecedented string of heists that confounded authorities and enchanted the public. Wrapped up in the pursuit are detective John Hunt (Casey Affleck), who becomes captivated with Forrest's commitment to his craft, and a woman (Sissy Spacek), who loves him in spite of his chosen profession."

And aren't you happy? I know I am. It will be great to see the first time pairing of these two, "yes" it's their first time peeps. This is what we would refer to as epic in my days of yore, the source material pretty much seems like a slam dunk for this duo.

What's in your local cinema?

The Old Man & The Gun on IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2837574/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_1 

Sunday Schwing! Ewan McGregor

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Sex In Cinema, The Year In Review

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