FEATURED POSTS

10 Questions with Shane Briant

The talented British' born actor Shane Briant made his screen debut in the Hammer horror film Demons of the Mind. Since then he's gone on to appear in over 60 films and television productions including Straight On Till Morning (1972), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1973), The Mackintosh Man (1973), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974), The Naked Civil Servant (1975) and Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981). Currently Briant is focusing his attention on writing fiction and he has recently completed a psychological thriller called Worst Nightmares that will be released May 12th. I've admired his film work for many years so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to ask Shane Briant a few questions about his early movies and current writing projects. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

The Girl On a Motorcycle (1968)

The talented director and cinematographer Jack Cardiff has passed away at the age of 94. As the tributes start to roll out from various news sites and film blogs its become clear to me that most people regard Jack Cardiff as a great cinematographer and have little regard or knowledge of his directing contributions, which is a shame. Cardiff was a brilliant photographer and his groundbreaking contributions to cinematography are well worth celebrating. But his impressive work as a director on films like the wonderful D.H. Lawrence adaptation Sons and Lovers (1960), the entertaining spy thriller The Liquidator (1965), the excellent erotic drama The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968) and the effective horror film The Mutations (1974) is also worthy of applause. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Favorite DVD Releases of 2008

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but overall 2008 was somewhat of a lackluster year for new Region 1 DVD releases of '60s and '70s era films when compared to the previous two years (See: 2006 and 2007). Some of my favorite DVD companies such as BCI Eclipse and most recently New Yorker Films have folded. Boutique DVD companies are releasing fewer products and what is being released is often of questionable quality. With the failing economy and the rise in popularity of Blu-ray discs, it seems like the number of new worthwhile DVD releases might continue to drop dramatically in 2009. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

Resurrecting Yusaku Matsuda

Toru Murakawa's Resurrection of the Golden Wolf (aka Yomigaeru kinrô; 1979) is a wildly uneven Japanese crime film that left me wishing it had been helmed by another director. The film's script was adapted from a popular novel by Haruhiko Ooyabu and directors like Seijun Suzuki have had great success turning Ooyabu's hard-boiled fiction into films, but Toru Murakawa doesn't have Suzuki's eye for detail or his pop art sensibility. Resurrection of the Golden Wolf runs much too long and the dramatic filler weighs down the action, but even with its flaws the movie still keeps your attention thanks to the star performance of Yusaku Matsuda. READ MORE

THIS MONTH'S FEATURED POSTS

We Are Controlling Transmission

This year analog broadcasting is coming to an end. On June 12th 2009 television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch permanently to digital. Digital broadcasting promises to provide viewers with a sharper picture and more diverse programming options, but this unavoidable change is forcing millions of people to buy new television sets or opt for getting a converter box that will often cost them $40 or more. I feel for these people because I didn't have complete cable TV Access or a digital television myself until 2007. READ MORE

Blogs That Make You Think

by Kimberly Lindbergs | June 24, 2007

Categories | News, Rants & Raves

Two fantastic bloggers - Dennis Cozzalio at Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule and Stacie Ponder at Final Girl - were kind enough to give my own blog Cinebeats something called the Thinking Blogger’s Award recently and I’m super grateful for that, but there are rules that go along with this award which I’m having a hard time following. Here they are:

Thinking Blogger’s Award Rules

1. If, and only if your blog is one that is tagged on my list below, you must write a post with links to five other blogs you like that consistently make you think (hence, the Thinking Blogger’s Award).

2. Link to this post so people will know whose good idea all this was. (see above)

3. Proudly display the “Thinking Blogger Award” logo with a link to the post you wrote.

The hard part was trying to come up with my own list of 5 great blogs that deserve the Thinking Blogger’s Award because there are lots of fantastic blogs that I read every week on my “Blogroll” that make me think in one way or another. With that being said, here’s a very small sampling of some great blogs that make me think, but please check out my Blogroll for more great reading!

1. Moon in the Gutter
Jeremy Richey and I seem to have a lot of similar interests so it’s no wonder that we’ve become blogging buddies over the past 6 months. It would be easy to say that I love his Moon in the Gutter blog because he writes about a lot of stuff that interests me, which he does, but he also has a great easy going personality and I’m often impressed by his knowledge of films and music. I like the smart and personal style of his blog and if you enjoy good thoughtful writing then Moon in the Gutter is well worth a look.

2. The Horror Blog
Horror is far and away my favorite film genre, but I don’t write about it enough. Thankfully I’ve got The Horror Blog’s wonderful Weekly Roundtable to participate in which reminds me to spend a little energy every week thinking about horror films and why I love them so much. The Horror Blog is put together by Steven Wintle who has a great sense of humor and it comes across in his writing. The Weekly Horror Roundtable is one of the things I look forward to constantly since it brings together the thoughts & opinions of lots of great bloggers who share their ideas on the same topic.

3. If Charlie Parker was a gunslinger, there’d be a whole lot of dead copycats
If I’m having a bad day at work or the world just doesn’t seem right, I head over to this wonderful blog for some great eye-candy and it almost never fails to put a smile on my face and make me think. The blog is 99% visual, but the images shared are always poignant and interesting. It’s run by the very thoughtful Tom Sputen along with Stephen Cooke and Richard Gibson who all clearly have a great eye for thought provoking imagery.

4. Flickhead
The Flickhead blog is run by Ray Young and he was one of the first bloggers who welcomed me into the blogging world. Ray’s blog and website are chock-full of great writing about film and if you enjoy cinema they’re both stop worthy sites on the information super highway. Ray and I have exchanged films as well as pictures of our toy collections and I appreciate his opinionated style of writing even if we don’t always agree on everything, as well as his smart insights into the films he enjoys.

5. Esotika Erotica Psychotica
I’ve known Mike Kitchell for about 3 or 4 years now and I always enjoy reading his thoughts about films. We met online in various film communities and we share many similar interests, including a mutual love for giallo films. As the years have passed I’ve become increasingly impressed with his inquisitive mind and thoughtful examinations of the films he enjoys which he now shares in Esotika Erotica Psychotica. If you like interesting dark, erotic and esoteric cinema, Mike’s blog is a must read.