Why the Artist Is the Perfect Movie for These Times
I saw The Artist in The Paris Theater. For New Yorkers, The Paris Theater is iconic. It’s across the street from the Plaza Hotel and right next to Bergdorf Goodman, and it gets all the great and unusual movies, and…
J. Edgar Hoover and the Curse of the G-Man
So J. Edgar was stiffed when the Oscar nominations were announced. Obviously, there’s a conspiracy afoot! When I was growing up, the bulldog face of J. Edgar Hoover was as iconic as the presidential heads on Mt. Rushmore. He always…
Roger Corman: Hearts and Flowers on St. Valentine’s Day
It’s February 14, so of course I’m thinking of Roger Corman’s St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. It details what led up to the famous mob-land killing in which Al Capone’s boys wiped out a rival Chicago gang. The film was released…
Spielberg, A Nervous Wreck
Director Steven Spielberg, 65, more than anyone in the film industry, can afford to take risks on ideas, projects, fantasies. He seems to have carte blanche to turn whatever he touches into gold. His films include Jaws, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,…
Laura
After success in the American theatre, a few acting roles on the screen and a series of false starts as a movie director, Otto Preminger, the Austrian protege of Max Reinhardt, suddenly revealed himself as a master when he took…
Black Gold
Financed largely by Arab countries and shot on location in Tunisia and Qatar, Black Gold is an Arabian Nights fable about the settlement of a long rivalry between two emirs on the Arabian peninsula at some unspecified time in the…
Millenium Bug
When the Haskin family seeks refuge from Y2K hysteria in the isolated forests of the Sierra Diablos mountains, madness and terror find them there. Abducted by a vicious hillbilly clan, the Haskins fight for survival, but neither they nor the…
Rare Exports
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is a 2010 Finnish fantasy film directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near the Korvatunturi mountain who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. The film is based on a 2003 short film “Rare Exports…
Everyone Mondo
“Mondo,” being the Italian word for world, should be a neutral noun. Yet go to any modern dictionary and find a variety of definitions far from the original. “Adjective: enormous; huge; extremely unconventional or bizarre.” “Adverb: Used in reference to…
A Little Night Beast
During his 17 year career as an animator at Walt Disney, Wes Sullivan lent his artistic talents to a slew of Disney features including: Pocahontas, Hercules, Tarzan, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Fantasia 2000, The Goofy Movie, The Lion King, Treasure Planet,…
R.I.P. Zalman King, King Of Softcore Cinema
The Hollywood Reporter has news of the death of Zalman King, the actor turned director and producer behind such mainstream softcore staples as Two Moon Junction, Wild Orchid, Red Shoe Diaries, and 9 1/2 Weeks. King died of cancer at…
Andy X
Twenty-five years ago this week, Andy Warhol died in New York City hospital. Many publications have been posting pieces about the artist’s life and work — here’s a compilation of his Polaroid portraits, for example — but one creation that…
Dracula 3D
Hollywood welcomed the Italian master of horror Dario Argento with a standing ovation during the inaugural evening of the Los Angeles Italia Festival. Argento presented a world premiere 25-minute preview of his latest film Dracula 3D, starring the Roman director’s…
Blowing In The Wind Of Chernobyl
What are you doing right now? Whatever’s going on, table your plans immediately and watch this absolutely amazing short movie about a futuristic nuclear clean-up project gone awry. Titled GAMMA, this atmospheric creature feature was filmed near the industrial wreckage…
Day of The El Toro
Guillermo del Toro signed on this week to produce the animated film Day of the Dead, a star-crossed romance that revolves around the Mexican holiday, EW has confirmed. The independent animation studio Reel FX is behind the film, and is…
Trailers From Hell
If you dig B-movies, you may want to hop over to Trailers from Hell, a fun website that celebrates the trailers for these low-budget films. John Landis, Eli Roth, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Labute and Edgar Wright are just a…
Vampira
Vampira, undisputed Queen of the horror scene, started out her life in Finland with her given name Maila Syrjanieme Nurmi (She is the niece of famed Olympic runner Paavo Nurmi). She was two years old when her father moved the…
Enter The Killer Klowns
Killer Klowns from Outer Space, which is one of the most popular cult classics around. Even your grandma has heard about this one. It also happens to be another one of my favorites. While I have surpassed the ability to…
Stuart Gordon
An American director, writer, producer Gordon burst on to the horror scene with RE-ANIMATOR, a farcially gory adaptation of Lovecraft’s ‘Herbert West – Re-Animator’ (1922). He has an extensive and controversial background in theatre dating back to obscenity charges levelled…
Twickenham Film Studios to Close
Twickenham Film Studios, the venerable British studio founded in 1913 and used for the Beatles’s “Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!,” among other classic films, is set to close by June because of financial troubles. Gerald Krasner, the administrator handling the…