• Lorenzo Moscia – In the Name of Gerry Conlon (2022)

    2021-2030DocumentaryItalyLorenzo Moscia

    Two months before his death, the central figure of “The Guildford Four” Gerry Conlon meets Lorenzo Moscia to recount his remarkable life, from falsely imprisoned to world-famous human rights activist.Read More »

  • Ida Lupino – The Trouble with Angels (1966)

    USA1961-1970ComedyIda Lupino

    Quote:
    Cinema has long made the hallowed halls of education one of its most oft utilized settings, whether real (Eastside High School) or fictional (Rydell High School), of this world (Greendale Community College) or existing in another realm (Hogwarts). But where most are set in public schools or universities, it is the boarding school that often makes for a more interesting subset of school-based films for the opportunity to create a more instant feel for community and togetherness, whether in countless Anime fare, dramatic tales set in the past, or more action-oriented movies like Toy Soldiers, one of this reviewer’s favorite guilty pleasures. Director Ida Lupino’s 1966 film The Trouble with Angels, set in an all-girls Catholic boarding school, is a classic family-friendly Comedy that might show its age in 2019 but that remains true to the essential characters and the realities of life in one of cinema’s more endearing and possibility-filled essential locations.Read More »

  • Bob Chinn – Lipps & McCain (1978)

    1971-1980Bob ChinnEroticaUSAWestern

    A rancher hires two ne’er-do-well cowboys to hunt coyotes. When the pair is joined by a runaway bride, they find themselves under pursuit by an assortment of bad guys.Read More »

  • Roberto Rossellini – La macchina ammazzacattivi (1952) (DVD)

    1951-1960ArthouseComedyFilm BlancItalyRoberto Rossellini

    Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader wrote:
    This rarely shown early film by Roberto Rossellini (1948), one of his few comedies, anticipates with remarkable prescience the conceits of Godard and others about photography in the 60s. A professional small-town photographer finds that he has the power to kill his subjects by taking their picture, turning them into statues of themselves. Rossellini left this project before it was finished, and it was edited and released a few years later without his approval–but it still comes across as a remarkably suggestive fable.Read More »

  • Benoît Jacquot – La Fille seule AKA A Single Girl (1995)

    1991-2000Benoît JacquotDramaFrance

    Early one morning Valerie has to tell her unemployed boyfriend Remi that she is pregnant. She has decided to keep the child, but they argue whether they should break up or not. That same morning Valerie starts working in room service at a smart hotel. The film follows the routine of Valerie bringing breakfast to the guests, Valerie constantly trying to phone her mother, and Valerie’s relations with the other staff.Read More »

  • Arunas Zebriunas – Riesutu Duona AKA Walnut Bread (1977)

    1971-1980ArthouseArunas ZebriunasDramaLithuania

    Andrius and Liuka, offsprings of Šatai and Kaminskai families living in a countryside, falls in love with each other, however their love is disrupted by… a cow.

    This is a lyrical tragicomedy about memories of childhood, adolescence, and first love in a small provincial town, shown through complexity of human relations at this periodical film.Read More »

  • Brett Story – The Hottest August (2019)

    2011-2020Brett StoryDocumentaryUSA

    A complex portrait of a city and its inhabitants, THE HOTTEST AUGUST gives us a window into the collective consciousness of the present. The film’s point of departure is one city over one month: New York City, including its outer boroughs, during August 2017. It’s a month heavy with the tension of a new President, growing anxiety over everything from rising rents to marching white nationalists, and unrelenting news of either wildfires or hurricanes on every coast. The film pivots on the question of futurity: what does the future look like from where we are standing? And what if we are not all standing in the same place? THE HOTTEST AUGUST offers a mirror onto a society on the verge of catastrophe, registering the anxieties, distractions, and survival strategies that preoccupy ordinary lives.Read More »

  • Piero Pierotti & Hugo Fregonese – Marco Polo (1961)

    Hugo Fregonese1961-1970AdventureEpicPiero PierottiUSA

    The mightiest adventurer of them all! In this sumptuous sword-and-sandal feast, Rory Calhoun (Apache Territory, The Colossus of Rhodes) stars as Marco Polo, the legendary 13th-century explorer who journeys to China with the aim of expanding world trade. There he meets Princess Amuroy, amorously played by Yôko Tani (The Savage Innocents, Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World), and an old hermit who has just invented gunpowder. With this explosive new “magic,” Marco builds a special cannon and spearheads a rebellion against an evil warlord. Directed by Piero Pierotti (Hercules and the Masked Rider) with additional scenes by Hugo Fregonese (The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse), it’s an epic, action-packed peplum adventure in sweeping CinemaScope and eye-popping Technicolor.Read More »

  • Jonathan Glazer – Sexy Beast (2000)

    1991-2000CrimeDramaJonathan GlazerUnited Kingdom

    Brutal gangster Don Logan recruits “retired” safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.Read More »

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