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10 articles from 2009

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Surrealist artwork from The Red Shoes to go on display

20 November 2009 7:31 AM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

BFI Southbank to exhibit paintings and sketches of 'Freudian ballet' created for the film by Hein Heckroth

The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 masterpiece, is one of the most visually spectacular movies in British history, and an abiding inspiration for artists such as Martin Scorsese, who counts it among his favourite films.

Now, ahead of its re-release in a newly restored version, its colours returned to their original Technicolor vividness, visitors to BFI Southbank in London will have the chance to see some of the original artwork for the film, created by surrealist painter Hein Heckroth.

The Red Shoes, the story of a dancer's struggle to achieve greatness against the demands of "normal" life, has entranced balletomanes and cineastes in the 61 years since it was made.

The most ambitious aspect of the film is the extended ballet sequence at the heart of the story, in which The Red Shoes »

- Charlotte Higgins

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Would the Real Truman Capote Please Stand Up?

7 September 2009 4:05 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener in Capote

Photo: Sony Pictures Classics As I said in my What I Watched column on Sunday, I finally got around to watching the 2005 and 2006 Truman Capote films, Capote and Infamous. The first earned five Oscar nominations and one win for Phillip Seymour Hoffman who played the eccentric author to the delight of many. The second was released just over a year later to absolutely no attention whatsoever. This isn't a surprise. Technically Capote is a better film and was deserving of its nomination of Hoffman in the lead role, but to say it is a quality Best Picture candidate, Director or Adapted Screenplay is pushing it, but also comes in large part due to what I perceive to be a poor year in quality film. I mean, Munich was a Best Picture contender and Crash came out on top. Yikes. However, my commentary »

- Brad Brevet

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What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #7

6 September 2009 3:48 AM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

I didn't watch a whole lot this week outside of the films I saw at the theater, thanks in large part due to the start of the U.S. Open. Speaking of which, anyone else watch that match between Maria Sharapova and Melanie Oudin (or who I like to call the American Justine Henin)? And then Isner beats Roddick in five. Good stuff so far, but let's get to the movies since that's what you guys came here for. As always, remember you can keep tabs on my personal Netflix queue right here. Now, here's the recap of my week in movies... Bowling for Columbine (2002) Quick Thoughts: I have a screening of Michael Moore's new film Capitalism: A Love Story (9/23) coming up and on top of that Moore is coming to Seattle for interviews. So, I felt I should probably finally see Bowling for Columbine. I also have to check out Roger and Me, »

- Brad Brevet

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The Ten Steps to Erotic Possession

3 September 2009 4:51 PM, PDT | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »

Photo: Criterion Collection

Last night I watched Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1947 Oscar-winning Black Narcissus telling the story of a group of nuns who set out to establish a school in the desolate Himalayas. Of course, that short description does nothing to describe what actually happens in this film. There are hints along the way, and you realize the setup is perfect once you go back and watch it again (which I did this morning), but the most striking character arc belongs to Sister Ruth played by Kathleen Byron. We are first introduced to Sister Ruth as an empty chair and Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) saying, "But Sister Ruth is ill," and asking, "Do you think our vocation is her vocation?" To which Mother Dorothea (Nancy Roberts), "Yes, she's a problem. I'm afraid she'll be a problem for you, too." With that said, here are ten screen captures of »

- Brad Brevet

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The greatest movies ever made

2 August 2009 10:59 AM, PDT | blogs.suntimes.com/ebert | See recent Roger Ebert's Blog news »

All lists of the "greatest" movies are propaganda. They have no deeper significance. It is useless to debate them. Even more useless to quarrel with their ordering of titles: Why is this film #11 and that one only #31? The most interesting lists are those by one person: What are Scorsese's favorites, or Herzog's? The least interesting are those by large-scale voting, for example by IMDb or movie magazines. The most respected poll, the only one I participate in, is the vote taken every 10 years by Sight & Sound, the British film magazine, which asks a large number of filmmakers, writers, critics, scholars, archivists and film festival directors.

1. The Night of the Hunter, 1955

That one at least has taken on a canonical aspect. The list evolves slowly. Keaton rises, Chaplin falls. It is eventually decided that "Vertigo" is Hitchcock's finest film. Ozu cracks the top ten. Every ten years the net is thrown out again. »

- Roger Ebert

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Tetro—A Question for Francis Ford Coppola

1 July 2009 5:15 PM, PDT | Twitch | See recent Twitch news »

Shortly before the hordes began chanting, “The Daily is dead; long live The Daily”, David Hudson gathered reviews of Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro, first from its Cannes debut, and then later mid-June when it opened stateside. Here in San Francisco, Coppola met with his audience at the film’s first screening at the Sundance Kabuki.

Outlining how The Godfather created a “tsunami of success” that irrevocably changed his life and filmmaking, Coppola has gleaned from the passing of years a restoration of creative spirit leaning into what he admits is his “second career.” Tetro is, in fact, the second film of his second career; Youth Without Youth being the first. Lustrously shot in digital and projected in 35mm, the film is a rapture to watch, even as its rich visuals disguise an anemic narrative that doesn’t quite ring true. One is grateful for what one has seen; but, »

- Michael Guillen

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Jack Cardiff Dies

23 April 2009 5:46 AM, PDT | EmpireOnline | See recent EmpireOnline news »

Legendary cinematographer and filmmaker Jack Cardiff passed away yesterday at the age of 94. An Oscar winner for Black Narcissus, in 1948, Cardiff's career as cinematographer spanned an astonishing eight decades, with his career in films going all the way back to an 1918 acting job.Cardiff will be best remembered for his long collaboration with directors Powell & Pressburger on films like A Matter of Life & Death and The Red Shoes, but he also worked on classics like The African Queen for John Huston, The Barefoot Contessa for Joseph L. Mankiewicz and King Vidor's War and Peace.Cardiff also directed films of his own, the most successful of which was probably Sons and Lovers, starring Trevor Howard and Dean Stockwell. He was working well into this century, and leaves behind a wife and four sons.Asked once which of his many credits he was most proud of, Cardiff replied, "Naturally, I am proud of successful films »

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Jack Cardiff

22 April 2009 5:55 PM, PDT | Alternative Film Guide | See recent Alternative Film Guide news »

Cinematographer and director Jack Cardiff, one of the early masters of color cinematography, has died. He was 94. Cardiff’s work as a cinematographer was quite eclectic, ranging from his partnership with Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger in the British-made Black Narcissus (1945) and The Red Shoes (1948) to prestigious international productions such as John Huston’s The African Queen (1951) and King Vidor’s War and Peace (1956), and to low-brow commercial fare such as Conan the Destroyer (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985). I’ve never watched Conan or Rambo, but I have watched more than 20 of Cardiff’s 60 or so features, and I can testify that whether working in art-house or commercial fare, Cardiff’s cinematography was invariably one of his films’ chief assets. At times, his work was those films’ only asset. Born on Sept. 18, 1914, in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to music hall entertainers, Cardiff began his film career as a cinematographer in the mid-1930s, »

- Andre Soares

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Movie Legend Cardiff Dead At 94

22 April 2009 2:55 PM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »

Marilyn Monroe's favourite moviemaker Jack Cardiff has died, aged 94.

The Oscar-winning cinematographer and director was best known for his work on movies such as The African Queen and Sons & Lovers.

He started his movie career as an actor in 1918 silent film My Son, My Son but made his breakthrough as a cinematographer 20 years later on Wings of The Morning - the first colour movie shot in Britain.

He won an Oscar for his work on Black Narcissus in 1947 and teamed up with Monroe a decade later for The Prince and the Showgirl.

Cardiff also directed the first film in Smell-o-Vision, Scent of Mystery in 1960 and cult movie Girl on A Motorcycle in 1968.

He was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2000 and was presented with an Honorary Oscar in 2001. »

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Filmmaker Jack Cardiff dies, aged 94

22 April 2009 12:39 PM, PDT | digitalspy | See recent digitalspy news »

Famed cinematographer and director Jack Cardiff has died at the age of 94, it has been reported. Cardiff was known for his work on films like The African Queen, Sons And Lovers and A Matter Of Life Or Death. He won an Oscar for 1948's Black Narcissus and received an honorary Oscar in 2001. The English-born filmmaker, whose career began as a runner for 1928 movie The Informer, also shot 1937 film Wings Of The Morning, the first in Britain to be shot in Technicolour, the BBC reports. Marilyn Monroe, who worked with Cardiff on The (more) »

- By Chris Homer

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2009 | 2007 | 2005

10 articles from 2009

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