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

8 Comments »

  1. Jonathan Lapper says; November 24, 2007 @ 6:46 pm

    Wow, I just watched A Letter to Three Wives last night and Ann Sothern sure did change. And John Savage - boy was he young there! I’ve never seen this but think both are terrific actors. I expect it’s well worth watching.

  2. Peter Nellhaus says; November 24, 2007 @ 8:29 pm

    I’ll be looking forward to seeing this. Now if someone will get Harrington’s experimental shorts on DVD . . . By the way, I tried getting IMDb’s info on Harrington corrected to list his short films and kept on being stymied by their way of documenting the available info. I tried twice and got rejected.

  3. Keith says; November 25, 2007 @ 1:19 pm

    I’ve never seen this film before, but your blog has me interested in seeing it. I do think it has a fascinating plot. It is intriguing to try to understand why people do the evil that they might do. What makes them tick.

  4. Gareth says; November 27, 2007 @ 1:17 pm

    With recommendations this week from Cinebeats and Dave Kehr, how can I NOT add this to my Netflix queue?!

  5. HSB says; November 27, 2007 @ 7:50 pm

    Very excited indeed to see this finally emerge on DVD, ironically several years after its unofficial sequel, THE ATTIC, had its premiere as the second half of a MGM Midnite Movies double feature (with CRAWLSPACE). Possibly Curtis’ most perfect film — my brain battles itself with this one — WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN (1971) rallies hard for top shelf position. The best thing that can be said for it would be the truly touching character played by Ann Southern (sort of a reworking of her even more perverse part in MY MOTHER THE CAR). Very believable and sad. The best thing that can be said about all his films is that no one else could have made them. He was a genuine stylist who never repeated himself. Now if only someone would have the guts to release his last film, USHER (2002). Though very short, it’s a wonderful and deeply personal film. His passing occurred far, far too soon.

  6. Joe D says; November 28, 2007 @ 7:22 pm

    My film restoration pals are restoring Night Tide. I’m going to sneak into a screening at their lab and watch it. I’ve never seen it in a theater just on TV a long time ago so I’m looking forward to seeing it.

  7. cinebeats says; November 29, 2007 @ 1:40 pm

    It’s nice to see so much love for Harrington! I think he’s a terrific filmmaker, but sadly still sort of unknown. I barely read anything about his passing this year, which is a shame.

    I had only previously seen The Killing Kind on video, but the new DVD is terrific and the film looks really good now that it’s been restored and is in widescreen. It’s amazing what a good restoration can accomplish!

    Peter - I don’t know what’s up with IMDB, but I’ve had similar problems when I tried to add tech info and updates for films there. I can only assume that they don’t have the man power to follow up suggestions or something, but I wish they would. I’ve spent hours adding info for Japanese and Italian productions only to have it never show up there.

    Joe - I’m so happy to learn that Night Tide is being restored. I really love that film and its become a favorite over the years. I would love to see it in a theater myself!

  8. Stacie says; December 3, 2007 @ 3:41 pm

    I just got a screener of this and I can’t wait to watch it. I’m glad it comes so highly recommended!


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  • Cinebeats chronicles one woman's love affair with '60s & '70s era cinema. Or as she likes to call it, cinema's Platinum Age! Blog design, updates and all original content is provided by Kimberly Lindbergs. She can be reached by email at:
    kimberly@cinebeats.com