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17 articles from 2009
Review: The Box – can’t get no satisfaction
7 December 2009 7:43 AM, PST
| t5m.com
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Richard Kelly, who wrote and directed Donnie Darko, is behind The Box, and it is essentially another confusing, metaphysical period piece filled with sci-fi sensibilities and half-formed ideas powered by lofty ambitions. Whilst Donnie Darko worked because it integrated this into a story that was essentially about teenage angst and romance, The Box has no such anchoring narrative. As such it drifts into the absurd, feeling inconsistent, incomprehensible and worst of all tedious.
Set in 1976, The Box follows the financially troubled family of a Nasa scientist (a character based on the life and work of Kelly’s own father if IMDb is to be believed, and played by James Marsden) whose wife (Cameron Diaz) receives a visit from a disfigured stranger bearing a gift. That gift is a box with a button in it, and instructions on its use. She is told that if the button is pressed within 24 hours
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- Joe West
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Birthday Suits: Good Hair, and Good Music.
14 November 2009 7:29 AM, PST
| FilmExperience
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Celebrating the birthdays of the film-famous. If it's your birthday, we'll sing you a happy one in the comments.
Louise Brooks, Veronica Lake and Josh Duhamel
1906 Louise Brooks, dancer, silent film actress, icon, quotable diva, film critic, memoirist, ...Lost Girl, Lulu. Her hair is legend.
1908 Joseph McCarthy, he saw only Red(s). He's been a villainous figure in movies ever since, whether seen, unseen or fictionalized. See: Guilty by Suspicion, The Way We Were, The Manchurian Candidate, Good Night, and Good Luck. and many more...
1919 Veronica Lake, femme fatale, purveyor of the peek-a-boo bang (her hair also being legend). Kim Basinger didn't even have to get "cut" to look like this goddess in La Confidential. She just had to sell those glorious blonde waves.
1945 Paul Hirsch, editor of Carrie, Star Wars (Oscar win), Ferris Bueller's Day Off and more...
1951 Zhang Yimou, fine director, awesome goddess worshipper. Think of what he
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- NATHANIEL R
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Shadows of Russia Schedule
3 November 2009 11:31 PM, PST
| Alt Film Guide
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Angela Lansbury, Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate
Below is the complete "Shadows of Russia" schedule on Turner Classic Movies:
Wednesday, Jan. 6
Part One: Twilight of the Tsars
8 p.m. The Scarlet Empress (1934) – starring Marlene Dietrich and John Lodge.
10 p.m. Rasputin and the Empress (1932) – starring John, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore.
Part Two: Red Romance
12:15 a.m. Red Danube (1949) – starring Walter Pidgeon and Ethel Barrymore.
2:30 a.m. Reds (1981) – starring Warren Beatty, Diane [...]
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- Andre Soares
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Shadows of Russia: Communism on TCM
3 November 2009 11:28 PM, PST
| Alt Film Guide
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Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas in Ninotchka (top); Barbra Streisand, Robert Redford in The Way We Were (bottom)
From the Romanovs’ last stand to Warren Beatty’s first solo directorial effort: On every Wednesday in January 2010, Turner Classic Movies will present the 20-film festival "Shadows of Russia," a showcase of Hollywood movies portraying Russia (and/or the Soviet Union) and the sociopolitical reverberations of Communism throughout the 20th century.
Among the scheduled films are classics such as Ninotchka, The Manchurian Candidate, and Reds, in addition to lesser-known fare like Counter-Attack, I Was a Communist for the FBI, and The Strawberry Statement. Get ready for some laughs and a few tears — mostly laughs. And mostly of the unintended kind.
I must red-facedly [...]
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- Andre Soares
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Rachel Maddow's Favorite Movie
15 October 2009 10:00 PM, PDT
| FilmExperience
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MSNBC's superstar, the smart funny and enlightening Rachel Maddow, is obsessed with all things political... so maybe it's no surprise that she loves The Manchurian Candidate (1962). Politics is not just Maddow's job but her passion. You can see that in her work, just like you can tell which critics and bloggers actually love the cinema and not just the Oscars or the box office tallies or the sound of their own voice. (Not that there's anything wrong with loving those things too -- I recommend two of the three! -- but the cinema must come first)
I already love Rachel but tonight she won my heart anew by having good taste in movies. After playing a clip from The Manchurian Candidate...
That was fictional senator Johnny Iselin doing his best Joe McCarthy act in the film The Manchurian Candidate, the original one, my favorite movie of all time.
This week
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- NATHANIEL R
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Iron Man 2's Mickey Rourke is 'Trippy, Sweet and Just Happy to Be On the Movie,' Says Gwyneth Paltrow
29 September 2009 11:00 AM, PDT
| Movieline
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Et posted a video package dedicated to the rebounding Hollywood wonder that is Mickey Rourke, consisting of material shot during their Iron Man 2 set visit. Curiously, it never once shows Mickey speaking, but rather features a shot of him getting repeatedly plowed into a fence by a car (a potent metaphor for his personal journey) as his castmates deliver some variance of the "Mickey Rourke is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life" speech from The Manchurian Candidate. Only the always candid Gwyneth Paltrow strayed from the script.
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DS Icon: Angela Lansbury
3 September 2009 10:00 PM, PDT
| digitalspy
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This week's Icon is one of the oldest troopers in showbiz. Angela Lansbury has been entertaining TV, theatre and movie audiences since the 1940s, most notably in Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Beauty and the Beast, and the 1962 classic The Manchurian Candidate. Quite bizarrely, she has looked the same age - approximately 97 - in every stage of her career. However, among her glittering and extensive life, one particular role has dominated/plagued/shined brightest. The show? Murder, She Wrote. The role? Jessica Fletcher. The sleuth drama is the longest-running TV murder mystery series and it still endures today with slacker students revelling in the predictable (more)
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- By Alex Fletcher
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Greatest Scream Queens
1 September 2009 12:00 PM, PDT
| SoundOnSight
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Debbie Rochon, often described as a scream queen herself, wrote in an article originally published in Gc Magazine that "a true Scream Queen isn't The Perfect Woman. She's sexy, seductive, but most importantly 'attainable' to the average guy. Or so it would seem."
Nastassja Kinski
Films:
To the Devil a Daughter (1976) [1]
Cat People (1982) [2]
The Day the World Ended (2001) [3]
Inland Empire (2006) [4]
Kinski will always be remembered for the iconic photograph shot by Richard Avedon (with a snake coiled around her body) and her role in Paul Schrader's (not so good) remake of Cat People. Needless to say, it was a hit at the box office and Kinski deservingly received a Saturn Award for Best Actress.
Caroline Munro
Films:
The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) [5]
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) [6]
Dracula A.D. 1972 [7]
Maniac (1980) [8]
Faceless (1987) [9]
Demons 6 (1989) [10]
Caroline Munro seduced audiences in her Hammer roles in films like Dracula A.D. 1972, but for gore hounds,
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- Ricky
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Frances Ethel Gumm at 87
10 June 2009 2:30 PM, PDT
| FilmExperience
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Had Judy Garland not died tragically at 47 of an accidental overdose she would be turning 87 years-old today. Okay, so she might have died by now but we would have had much more of her work to enjoy. To give you an idea of how young that is for a world class entertainer, consider people who outlived her.
Had Frank Sinatra died at 47 his career would have ended with The Manchurian Candidate. He'd have never recorded his signature song "My Way" or any of his live records. Had Shirley Maclaine died at 47, she would never have sent up Debbie Reynolds in Postcards from the Edge or made Terms of Endearment which was arguably her greatest screen triumph. Had her co-star Jack Nicholson died at 47, Terms... would have been his last film: no Prizzi's Honor, Witches of Eastwick, Ironweed, The Departed, About Schmidt. Had Paul Newman, only three years Judy's junior,
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- NATHANIEL R
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Back Catalogue #1 - Synapse Films
29 April 2009 1:43 PM, PDT
| Fangoria
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Welcome to the first installment of a new column here at Fangoria.com, Back Catalogue. Sometimes the Catalogue will cover new releases of older films, and sometimes it will feature exactly what the title implies, back catalogue items. These will normally be from smaller specialty labels that have formed the backbone of the horror fans ability to build a truly representative collection of their favorite films. I'm proud to start this column back up after a two year hiatus and promise to work hard to recommend films that you're in danger of forgetting about, have maybe never heard of, or that might be ready to go out of print.
I'm also proud that the first edition of Catalogue is all about Synapse Films. Anybody who goes to conventions and has stopped by the Synapse table has not only seen first hand the amazing array of labor of love releases and Special Editions they produce,
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Blood-Spattered Blog: The Island Of Dr. Moreau (1996)
27 April 2009 8:25 PM, PDT
| Fangoria
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I’m extremely happy that the fine fiends at Fango have given me this tiny corner of the world weird web to rant about whatever slice of cinema shakes my creepy tree. Who else would allow me to throw down truth about director John Frankenheimer (The Manchurian Candidate)’s 1996 adaptation of H.G. Wells influential science fiction/horror shocker The Island Of Doctor Moreau, a movie loathed by most, forgotten by many, unseen by legions and only admired by a few filmy freaks like myself?
No one, I says.
So on that note, the picture I’ve opted to muse on this week is indeed that very same beast-man riddled oddity, one of iconic actor Marlon Brando and legendary director Frankenheimer’s final features . What a way to go…and I’m being only mildly ironic when I say that.
If you’ve read the book or seen any of the
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Musicians and the Acting Bug
13 April 2009 8:51 AM, PDT
| FilmExperience
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The A.V. Club has an interesting piece up on musicians who aced acting roles. Lot of good choices inside including Björk (Dancer in the Dark), Tom Waits (Bram Stoker's Dracula... how odd that we just barely spoke about that) and Frank Sinatra (The Manchurian Candidate) but it's obvious that their listmakers tried to steer away from... the obvious. "How you make a list like that and don't include Cher, I'll never know," he said whilst rolling his tongue and tossing hair back.
I think Dolly Parton was also aces onscreen. Sure, she was playing variations of Dolly every time but what giant movie star (outside of the small chameleon circle) doesn't do that exact same thing?
Why did Sting quit acting? He was doing it pretty regularly for awhile and his performances were fairly well received. Why do you suppose Gwen Stefani never tried again after that bizarre SAG nomination for The Aviator?
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- NATHANIEL R
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Lansbury Slams Manchurian Remake
26 March 2009 6:25 PM, PDT
| WENN
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Angela Lansbury has slammed Denzel Washington's The Manchurian Candidate remake, insisting it was destined to flop.
Lansbury was Oscar-nominated for her role as the domineering mother of a brainwashed soldier in the John Frankenheimer film, and she admits she was shocked when the 1962 movie was remade in 2004, starring Washington and Meryl Streep.
The new version was warmly received by critics - but Lansbury insists it 'failed' because too many film fans knew about the twist at the end.
She says, "I love Denzel. And for that reason I was interested in it. But I don't know how you can make a movie which you know the end result. The cat was out of the bag before it even began. For that reason it did not succeed."
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Can Angela Lansbury tie Tony record with a fifth win for 'Blithe Spirit'?
17 March 2009 2:31 PM, PDT
| Gold Derby
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Angela Lansbury has returned to her first love — the theater — in triumph, earning rave reviews for her appearance as a larger-than-life medium in the revival of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit." Angela Lansbury has already won four Tony Awards for lead actress in a musical — "Mame" (1966), "Dear World" (1969), "Gypsy" (1975) and "Sweeney Todd" (1979). Two years ago, she contended for the first time as lead actress in a play for "Deuce" but was bested by Julie White for "The Little Dog Laughed." Were she to win for this new role in the old chestnut "Blithe Spirit," Lansbury would be tied with Julie Harris who has five Tony Awards, all for lead actress in a play.
The original 1941 run of "Blithe Spirit" predated the Tony Awards by six years. However for the 1987 revival, Geraldine Page contended as lead actress for playing Madame Arcati. She lost to Linda Lavin in Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound.
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- tomoneil
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The Week Ahead on DVD and Games. "The French Connection" series on Blu-ray, Sex Drive, 50 Cent Blood on the Sand, Resistance: Retribution and more!
23 February 2009
| Movie Jungle
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Fittingly enough, since the Oscars® just took place, this week sees the release of the eagerly anticipated "The French Connection" and its sequel "French Connection II."
The first Academy Award-winning crime thriller is helmed by William Friedkin, known for several other critically acclaimed films like "The Exorcist" and "Bug." Friedkin did not direct the sequel, instead, John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate," Reindeer Games") took over the reigns.In "The French Connection" Hackman stars as "Popeye" Doyle, a brash New York City detective who uncovers a heroin-smuggling operation. The car chase under the elevated train tracks is movie legend.
Another film which was nominated for two Academy Awards was 1987's "Ironweed" starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, two veterans who have stood the test of Hollywood. Streep was last in the critically acclaimed "Doubt" alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams and Jack Nicholson kicked the bucket along with Morgan Freeman in "The Bucket List.
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The Week Ahead on DVD and Games. "The French Connection" series on Blu-ray, Sex Drive, 50 Cent Blood on the Sand, Resistance: Retribution and more!
22 February 2009 11:32 PM, PST
| Movie Jungle
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Fittingly enough, since the Oscars® just took place, this week sees the release of the eagerly anticipated "The French Connection" and its sequel "French Connection II."
The first Academy Award-winning crime thriller is helmed by William Friedkin, known for several other critically acclaimed films like "The Exorcist" and "Bug." Friedkin did not direct the sequel, instead, John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate," Reindeer Games") took over the reigns.
In "The French Connection" Hackman stars as "Popeye" Doyle, a brash New York City detective who uncovers a heroin-smuggling operation. The car chase under the elevated train tracks is movie legend.
»
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The Week Ahead on DVD and Games. "The French Connection" series on Blu-ray, Sex Drive, 50 Cent Blood on the Sand, Resistance: Retribution and more!
22 February 2009 11:32 PM, PST
| Movie Jungle
| See recent Movie Jungle news
»
Fittingly enough, since the Oscars® just took place, this week sees the release of the eagerly anticipated "The French Connection" and its sequel "French Connection II."
The first Academy Award-winning crime thriller is helmed by William Friedkin, known for several other critically acclaimed films like "The Exorcist" and "Bug." Friedkin did not direct the sequel, instead, John Frankenheimer ("The Manchurian Candidate," Reindeer Games") took over the reigns.
In "The French Connection" Hackman stars as "Popeye" Doyle, a brash New York City detective who uncovers a heroin-smuggling operation. The car chase under the elevated train tracks is movie legend.
»
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17 articles from 2009
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