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“Film records the profound suffering that war brings to mankind.” That is how the Beijing International Film Festival explained a focus it has unveiled on war and peace in a special “Film and Peace” program that it is featuring during its 15th edition starting on Friday.

It will showcase “12 masterpieces” depicting “the tragedy of war” on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II this year to “immerse ourselves in history,” organizers said. “Filmmakers at home and abroad use light and shadow to remember the cruelty and endless pain of war and use memory, emotion and shocking reality to preserve recollection and sound the alarm for today.”

Among the movies screening at the Chinese fest will be the winner of the first-ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946, The Last Chance, a 1945 movie directed by Austrian-Swiss filmmaker Leopold Lindtberg. Also featured are such classics as Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah,...

This article contains references to war crimes.

The 1980s witnessed the debuts of some of the most celebrated and influential war movies of all time. Following in the footsteps of acclaimed productions from the 1970s such as Apocalypse Now, Cross of Iron, and The Deer Hunter, the decade played host to several standout entries, moving viewers with their authentic depictions of war, explorations of the intricate social impact of armed conflict, and evocative narratives.

While the desolating landscape of WWII serves as the backdrop for several of the decade's most acclaimed genre offerings, many of the 1980s war movies focus on the more recent Vietnam War. The heavy human cost of the conflict meant that many films from the 1980s chose to cultivate anti-war rhetoric, highlighting the devastating social ramifications of war while simultaneously paying tribute to the heroics and personal sacrifices of those involved in the fighting.

Good Morning, Vietnam...

Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi freak-out "Barbarella" is one of the zestiest, sexist, strangest, and most amusing pictures the genre has to offer. Set in the 41st century, "Barbarella" follows the merry caprices of the title heroine (Jane Fonda), a freelance adventurer of the cosmos. Barbarella, frequently undressed, is assigned by the President of Earth (Claude Dauphin) to track down a mysterious, missing scientist named Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) who has invented an all-powerful weapon called the positronic ray.

During her quest, Barbarella is attacked by killer dolls, befriends a blind angel (John Philip Law), is forced into a deadly orgasm machine (although she can outlast its mechanical manipulations), and faces off against the Black Queen, the tyrant ruler of Sogo.

The film was based on the erotic comics by Jean-Claude Forest, and possesses all the same sexual energy as the aggressively naughty original, even if it's not quite as sexually explicit.

Decades before Quentin Tarantino was crowned the coolest director on the planet, Sam Peckinpah was one of Hollywood's most controversial, violent, and flamboyant filmmakers. The creator behind such visceral, violent thrillers like The Getaway, war epics like Cross of Iron, and psychological horror stories like Straw Dogs, Peckinpah was a master of his form, but he was exceptionally talented at helming Westerns.

Most of the stories Sam Peckinpah told were either set in the West or influenced by the genre in some way, shape, or form. That's likely because Peckinpah was a Westerner, with his great-grandfather settling in central California in the mid-1800s. Born in 1925, Peckinpah spent much of his early life on his grandfather's ranch, and after a stint in the Marines, where he witnessed torture and violence while stationed in China, he embarked on a film career that would rank amongst the best the Western genre would ever see.

As the dulcet gravel of Ron Perlman's voice has told us time and time again at the beginning of every Fallout game, "war never changes." No matter the setting, the context, or the duration, war is always a maelstrom that usually only serves baseless and selfish political purposes to the detriment of all citizens. If you've grown up experiencing American cinema's depictions of war, then you probably have an idea of how frequently it drifts into extreme jingoism. You'd be hard-pressed to find American directors interested in portraying the enemy's perspective, let alone the perspective of the literal Nazis. But that's what noted renegade Sam Peckinpah did with his World War II movie Cross of Iron, taking a group of German footsoldiers and using them to tell a story of ugly motivations and pathetic execution.

Stars: James Coburn, Maximillian Schell, James Mason, David Warner, Senta Berger | Written by Julius J. Epstein, Walter Kelley, James Hamilton | Directed by Sam Peckinpah

Cross of Iron might not be as well-known or well-reviewed as some of the most popular World War II films. If you Google this subgenre you will soon see the likes of The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, The Thin Red Line, Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan. But whilst Cross of Iron might not be on the list, it’s worthy of every film fan’s attention and the new 4K release is a perfect way to do that.

Set on the Eastern Front in World War II during the Soviet’s Caucasus operations against the German Kuban bridgehead in late 1943. But interestingly, the story focuses on the class conflict in the German army and it is all the more interesting for it. It’s...

If you’re in the market for Cross of Iron on 4K Blu-ray, you won’t need much exposition from me. You know that it is a bleak story of rank, class and grinding warfare during the German retreat of 1943. What you don’t know is whether Studiocanal has managed a quality 4K transfer. Or rather Silver Salt Restoration, the specialist firm Studiocanal hired to scan, nip and tuck Sam Peckinpah’s film from 1977.

The short answer is yes, and it has awakened the physical media evangelist in me. I’m no stranger to this stuff. I own many pounds and stones of DVDs, Blu-rays and 4K Uhd

material. But over the last few years, I have allowed streaming to wash over me with its

convenience and value. This is a shame, because neglecting physical media means neglecting yourself, because the best transfers hold many small moments of pleasure, and...

To celebrate the release of Studiocanal’s Cross Of Iron stunning new 4K restoration coming to Uhd Steelbook, Blu-Ray & DVD and with new bonus material, on 31st July, we have a Blu-Ray to give away!

Studiocanal are thrilled to announce the return of 1970s war-action classic Cross Of Iron by The Wild Bunch director Sam Peckinpah in a stunning new 4K restoration coming to Uhd Steelbook, Blu-Ray & DVD and with new bonus material, on 31st July as part of Studiocanal’s iconic Vintage Classics brand.

Boasting a first-rate cast including acting stalwarts James Coburn (The Magnificent Seven), James Mason (The London Nobody Knows) and David Warner (Perfect Friday), alongside international stars Maximilian Schell (A Bridge Too Far) as the standout Battalion Commander and Senta Berger (The Glory Guys), this important anti-war film, based on the 1956 novel of the same name by Willi Heinrich, is a visually captivating and authentic portrayal of the horrors of war,...

So we finally arrive at the epic baconification of World War II. With enough Tarantino-esque chapter headings that you won’t for a second forget its place in the po-mo grindhouse market, Sisu is a thoroughly depressing effort that will only make you appreciate that mad-man Quentin’s work more. But if you actually found Inglourious Basterds offensive, prepare to have a word with the latest work from Jalmari Helander of Rare Exports and Big Game—something like an unholy cross of John Wick, a Sgt. Rock comic, and The Simpsons’ Rambo parody McBain. Even if Sisu on paper has all the makings of a fun romp, something is deeply amiss.

But to articulate what’s wrong here, it’s maybe how every TIFF features at least one Midnight Madness title that reeks of pandering to the violent genre-film audience. And with it mostly in English, a bit of...

Long before Quentin Tarantino made his stamp on celluloid, Sam Peckinpah was Hollywood’s most controversially violent filmmaker. With visceral actioners like The Getaway, war epics like Cross of Iron, and harrowing thrillers like Straw Dogs, Peckinpah made a lasting impression on moviegoers throughout his decades-long career.

Related: 10 Great Neo-Westerns You Should Watch (According to IMDb)

Peckinpah tipped his hat to many cinematic genres, but the one that he returned to more than any other was the western. With his rough, gritty, blood-soaked vision of the Old West, Peckinpah deconstructed and reinvented the western genre.

Blood, gore and the smell of gunpowder! Sam Peckinpah’s booze-soaked Odyssey sends Warren Oates on a grisly fool’s errand to retrieve a rotting, fly-bitten… oh, just read the title will ya? Resolutely sordid and debased, and soaked in ugly exploitation values, the tale of ‘Machete Bennie’ nevertheless scores as Peckinpah’s last successful movie — if Edgar Allan Poe went crazy locked in a room with rotting corpses, he might have come up with this idea.

Bring Me the Head of Alfredo García

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date , 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young, Helmut Dantine, Emilio Fernández, Kris Kristofferson, Chano Urueta, Jorge Russek, Enrique Lucero, Janine Maldonado, Richard Bright, Sharon Peckinpah, Garner Simmons.

Cinematography: Álex Phillips Jr.

Film Editors: Garth Craven, Dennis E. Dolan, Sergio Ortega, Robbe Roberts

Original Music: Jerry Fielding

Written by Sam Peckinpah,...

Gerard Schurmann, whose 1960s film scores included “The Bedford Incident” and “Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow” but who also composed extensively for the concert hall, died March 24 at his home in the Hollywood Hills. He was 96 and had recently been in declining health.

Schurmann’s death was announced by his music publisher, Novello & Co. Ltd., in London. Said James Rushton, head of Novello’s Wise Music Group: “Gerard will be much missed – a man and musician of the highest caliber, who expressed himself, whether through his music or in conversation, with the firmest conviction. He understood so very well about writing for the orchestra, and for instruments generally, but unusually knew how to employ the orchestra both in the concert hall and also for film. He wrote for both with such facility.”

The composer’s death came just a few months after Chandos released a collection of newly recorded suites from his film work,...

Acclaimed stuntman and action director extraordinaire Jesse V. Johnson joins us to discuss the U.S. based action films and filmmakers that have influenced him the most.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

On The Waterfront (1954)

Fultah Fisher’s Boarding House (1922)

Undisputed (2002)

Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006)

Undisputed III: Redemption (2010)

Boyka: Undisputed (2016)

The Killer Elite (1975)

Convoy (1978)

The Osterman Weekend (1983)

Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia (1974)

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)

Straw Dogs (1971)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Birdcage (1996)

Cross of Iron (1977)

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)

Easy Rider (1969)

Fail Safe (1964)

The Cincinnati Kid (1965)

Ride The High Country (1962)

Major Dundee (1965)

Jinxed! (1982)

Beowulf (2007)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Girl Hunters (1963)

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Point Blank (1967)

Falling Down (1993)

M (1951)

M (1931)

The Black Vampire (1953)

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Scum (1979)

Elephant (1989)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), possibly Joe’s favorite John Ford...

Serbian producer Milos Antic said he has acquired the film rights to legendary director Sam Peckinpah’s unproduced screenplay Castaway (which is a working title), which is based on James Gould Cozzen’s 1934 novella of the same name. The deal was done with the Peckinpah Estate; Antic will be producing alongside Los Angeles-based producers Katy Haber and Benni Korzen.

Antic and Haber both worked with Peckinpah on his only war film Cross of Iron in 1976 in Portoroz, Slovenia (the former-Yugoslavia). On that shoot, Antic said that Peckinpah wanted to direct Castaway, and Antic told him if the film could be shot in Yugoslavia, he would want to help finance the film based on the novella that Peckinpah had acquired rights to in 1960.

Castaway is the story of Mr Lecky, “an every-man who survives an unnamed catastrophe by hiding in a department store that has escaped destruction. While he is surrounded...

Author: Competitions

The perfect companion piece to Carol Reed’s The Third Man, post-war spy thriller The Man Between comes to Blu-Ray for the first time, DVD and VOD on 2 January, boasting brand new extra features. To celebrate, we have 3 copies of the film on Blu-Ray to give some lucky winners courtesy of Studiocanal.

Set against the backdrop of a haunted, newly divided Berlin, Ivo Kern (James Mason: 5 Fingers, Spring & Port Wine, Cross of Iron) – a troubled former lawyer now working the Black Market – gets caught up in a cat and mouse chase with potentially tragic consequences as he attempts to free a young British lady (Claire Bloom: Richard III, Look Back in Anger, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold) who has been kidnapped in a case of mistaken identity. Starring British screen icons James Mason and Claire Bloom Cbe alongside German sweetheart Hildegarde Neff,...

By John M. Whalen

Back in the 1950s, before he became a legend, filmmaker Sam Peckinpah (“The Wild Bunch,” “Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia,” and “The Killer Elite”) wrote scripts for TV westerns, including “Gunsmoke,” “The Rifleman,” and “Tombstone Territory.” His reputation grew and in 1957 he wrote his first screenplay entitled “The Glory Guys” which was based on Hoffman Birney’s novel, “The Dice of God.” The book was a fictional account of Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, with all names changed. The script went unproduced for almost eight years, and in the meantime Sam had moved on, directing features including “The Deadly Companions” (1960), “Ride the High Country” (1962) and “Major Dundee” (1965).

You would think that with that growing resume, Peckinpah would have been able to direct anything he wanted to, but such was far from the case. “Bloody Sam,” as he was called, affectionately by his fans,...

An Encore Edition. Peckinpah's macabre South of the border shoot 'em up is back for a second limited edition, with a new commentary. It's still a picture sure to separate the Peckinpah lovers from the auteur tourists - it's grisly, grim and resolutely exploitative, but also has about it a streak of grimy honesty. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia Blu-ray Twilight Time Encore Edition 1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date September, 2016 / available through Screen Archives Entertainment / 29.95 Starring Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Robert Webber, Gig Young, Helmut Dantine, Emilio Fernández, Kris Kristofferson, Chano Urueta, Jorge Russek, Enrique Lucero, Janine Maldonado, Richard Bright, Sharon Peckinpah, Garner Simmons. Cinematography Álex Phillips Jr. Art Direction Agustín Ituarte Film Editors Garth Craven, Dennis E. Dolan, Sergio Ortega, Robbe Roberts Original Music Jerry Fielding Written by Sam Peckinpah, Gordon T. Dawson, Frank Kowalski Produced by Martin Baum, Helmut Dantine, Gordon T. Dawson Directed by...

Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Metrograph

“Welcome to Metrograph: A-z” brings George A. Romero‘s greatest zombie picture, Day of the Dead, on Friday. Saturday includes Abbas Kiarostami‘s Close-Up, Robert Bresson‘s The Devil, Probably (also playing on Sunday), and Coming Apart; Sunday, see the Maggie Cheung-led Comrades: Almost a Love Story.

“Three Wiseman” offers two Wisemans: High School and Titicut Follies.

October 20th is yet another stellar week of horror and sci-fi home entertainment releases, all leading up to our favorite holiday: Halloween. One of my favorite films of all time, Ernest Dickerson’s Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, is finally making its way to HD via a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory. And as if that’s not enough, Scream is also busy with two more great releases this Tuesday as well—Bordello of Blood and The Larry Fessenden Collection.

Kino Lorber is reviving another cult classic on Tuesday too—The Oblong Box—which is based on the Edgar Allan Poe tale and co-stars two cinematic legends, Vincent Price and Christopher Lee. For those of you Back to the Future fans out there (and really, who isn’t?), Universal is giving the series a few special releases in time for the film’s 30th anniversary and,...

'Affliction' movie: Nick Nolte as the troubled police officer Wade Whitehouse. 'Affliction' movie: Great-looking psychological drama fails to coalesce Set in a snowy New Hampshire town, Affliction could have been an excellent depiction of a dysfunctional family's cycle of violence and how that is accentuated by rapid, destabilizing socioeconomic changes. Unfortunately, writer-director Paul Schrader's 1998 film doesn't quite reach such heights.* Based on a novel by Russell Banks (who also penned the equally snowy The Sweet Hereafter), Schrader's Affliction relies on a realistic wintry atmosphere (courtesy of cinematographer Paul Sarossy) to convey the deadness inside the story's protagonist, the middle-aged small-town sheriff Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte). The angst-ridden Wade is intent on not ending up like his abusive, alcoholic father, Glen (James Coburn), while inexorably sliding down that very path. Making matters more complicated, Wade must come to terms with the fact that his ex-wife, Lillian (Mary Beth Hurt), will never return to him,...

Hong Sang-soo's Right Now, Wrong Then.The lineup for the 2015 festival has been revealed, including new films by Hong Sang-soo, Andrzej Zulawski, Chantal Akerman, Athina Rachel Tsangari, and others, alongside retrospectives and tributes dedicated to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Cimino, Bulle Ogier, and much more.Piazza GRANDERicki and the Flash (Jonathan Demme, USA)La belle saison (Catherine Corsini, France)Le dernier passage (Pascal Magontier, France)Der staat gegen Fritz Bauer (Lars Kraume, Germany)Southpaw (Antoine Fuqua, USA)Trainwreck (Judd Apatow, USA)Jack (Elisabeth Scharang, Austria)Floride (Philippe Le Guay, France)The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, UK/USA)Erlkönig (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland)Guibord s'en va-t-en guerre (Philippe Falardeau, Canada)Bombay Velvet (Anurag Kashyap, India)Pastorale cilentana (Mario Martone, Italy)La vanite (Lionel Baier, Switzerland/France)The Laundryman (Lee Chung, Taiwan)Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA) I pugni ni tasca (Marco Bellocchio, Italy)Heliopolis (Sérgio Machado, Brazil)Amnesia (Barbet Schroeder,...

I interviewed James Coburn in late 1998 for the cover story of the February 1999 issue of Venice Magazine. I had grown up watching Coburn on the late show, but also seeing him on the big screen, first-run. Meeting him was a thrill as he entered the living room of his manager, the late Hilly Elkins', home in Beverly Hills. Coburn was elegant, charming and had the grace of a cat. The only thing that revealed the health problems that had nearly done him in were his gnarled hands, the result of severe arthritis. We spoke about his role in Paul Schrader's newest film, "Affliction," which would earn him a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Later, as I walked Coburn to his Acura Nsx sport coupe, he bid me a warm farewell.

Several months later, I encountered him again at The Independent Spirit Awards, in Santa Monica. I went up...

Editor's Note: We're proud to announce that we are now the North American home for Locarno Film Festival Artistic Director Carlo Chatrian's blog. Chatrian has been writing thoughtful blog entries in Italian on Locarno's website since he took over as Director in late 2012, and now you can find the English translations here on Notebook as they're published. To kick things off, we're posting his piece on Sam Peckinpah, who was recently announced to be the subject of the festival's epic retrospective this year. The Locarno Film Festival will be taking place August 5th to 15th. ***The life of Sam Peckinpah sits like a splendid diamond set between two glorious eras for American cinema, one already on the decline and the other still to come. Retracing his career means looking as much at the great classical tradition that preceded him as at the new directors currently leaving their mark on the imagination.

To celebrate the release of Toy Soldiers, the the classic 90s teen action movie starring Sean Astin, Louis Gossett Jr., Wil Wheaton, Keith Coogan and Andrew Divoff – coming to DVD and Blu-ray 26th January 2015 – we have Three copies to giveaway thanks to our friends at 101 Films.

Regis High School, an exclusive prep school for delinquent teenage boys, becomes the target of a terrorist attack from Columbian drug lord and terrorist Louis Cali, who has travelled to the Us to free his drug kingpin father. With a team of ruthless mercenaries, Cali invades Regis High School in an attempt to capture the son of the federal judge presiding over his father’s trial. As Cali takes the students hostage, the FBI and Us Army remain helpless. Within the school, however, is a group of rebellious and mischievous students, led by Billy Tepper and Joey Trotta, who decide to put their expertise...

Above: Pipe Dreams (1976).

While searching for something to post on Movie Poster of the Day on Christmas Eve, I took a look at the poster for Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story, which I hadn’t paid much attention to before. On closer inspection I recognized it as a pretty perfect pastiche of Norman Rockwell, with its meticulous depiction of a domestic scene in medias res, and down to its details like its circular frame within a frame, its white background, and the parallel black lines mimicking the Saturday Evening Post masthead.

The association with, or subversion of, America’s favorite purveyor of whimsical Americana makes perfect sense in light of the poster’s tagline about the "Original, Traditional, One-Hundred-Percent, Red-Blooded, Two-Fisted, All-American Christmas” and the artist, Robert Tanenbaum, even took his parody a step further by signing his illustration in the style of Rockwell’s trademark stenciled signature.

Once...

We talk to writer-director David Ayer about his war film Fury, getting it made, and more...

Released in 2012, police thriller End Of Watch arguably marked a major turning point in writer-director David Ayer's career. While he'd directed films before, they hadn't received this level of critical acclaim or financial success - and with good reason. Featuring a great pair of performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena as a pair of cops cruising the mean streets of South Central Los Angeles, it was an engrossing, intense film, where death seemed to lurk at every turn.

Fury is something of a departure for Ayer, whose films, whether he wrote them (Training Day, Dark Blue, S.W.A.T) or wrote and directed them (Harsh Times, Street Kings). It leaves the streets of Los Angeles far behind for a bold and intensely visceral look at the final days of World War II,...

Dave Worrall reports from London, where the film is scheduled to open this week.

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There was no laughter in the audience following this morning's press show for David Ayer's WWII drama Fury - just stunned silence, as we all walked out feeling battered and bruised after watching two hours of the most brutal and realistic scenes of war ever captured on film. Set in the last month of the European theatre of war in April 1945, as the Allies make their final push into Nazi Germany, we are introduced to the world of four tough GI's and their new rookie, who go into battle in their tank named 'Fury'. It's dark and grim, and portrays the horrors of war similar to that of the D-Day sequence in Saving Private Ryan - but far worse. As the film unfolds you...

End Of Watch writer-director David Ayer returns with the intense war film, Fury, starring Brad Pitt. Here's Ryan's review...

The opening shot is like something from the apocalypse: a lone figure on horseback, a grey silhouette moving like a ghost among a graveyard of dead soldiers and the burning carcases of tanks. This is writer-director David Ayer's Fury - his own, nightmarish take on the last days of World War II, a time when the Nazis were all the more dangerous in the throes of defeat.

Brad Pitt is the headline star, playing war-weary sergeant Don 'Wardaddy' Collier, but it’s Logan Lerman’s fresh recruit who provides the eyes and ears in Ayer’s story. Lerman plays Ellison, a typing clerk pressed into service as the co-driver of Fury, a Us Sherman tank trundling through the fields of Germany, its crew’s task: to finally break the enemy’s will,...

Actor and director who brought dark good looks and a commanding presence to his roles

Austrian by birth, Swiss by circumstance and international by reputation, Maximilian Schell, who has died aged 83, was a distinguished actor, director, writer and producer. However, he will be best remembered as an actor, especially for his Oscar-winning performance in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) – an early highlight among scores of television and movie appearances. He also directed opera, worked tirelessly in the theatre and made six feature films, including Marlene (1984) - a tantalising portrait of Dietrich, his co-star in Judgment, who is heard being interviewed but not seen, except in movie extracts.

Schell courted controversy and much of his work, including The Pedestrian (1973), dealt with the second world war, its attendant crimes and the notion of collective guilt. In 1990, when he was offered a special award for his contributions to German film, he refused to accept it.

Miscasting in films has always been a problem. A producer hires an actor thinking that he or she is perfect for a movie role only to find the opposite is true. Other times a star is hired for his box office draw but ruins an otherwise good movie because he looks completely out of place.

There have been many humdinger miscastings. You only have to laugh at John Wayne’s Genghis Khan (with Mongol moustache and gun-belt) in The Conqueror (1956), giggle at Marlon Brando’s woeful upper class twang as Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) and cringe at Dick Van Dyke’s misbegotten cockney accent in Mary Poppins (1964). But as hilarious as these miscastings are, producers at the time didn’t think the same way, until after the event. At least they add a bit of camp value to a mediocre or downright awful movie.

In rare cases,...

Hammer and Horror Film Day!

Saturday November the 9th ( 10am – 5pm )

Central Hall Westminster.

Storey’s Gate, Westminster, London SW1H 9Nh

UK’s longest running film fair and convention.

Now in it’s 40th year!

The Convention presents dealers from all over the UK, Europe, Us ,

Canada and South America.

Specialising in rare original film memorabilia and collectables.

Taking place six times a year these are truly unique events for anyone with an interest in films!

With actors and director’s signings, illustrated talks, retrospectives and film screenings taking place through out the day.

Items covering the history of cinema can be found. From the silents to the present.

From rare items of the 1920’s to new releases and the latest heart throb.

Among the many different field of cinema covered at the show is – Classic Hollywood, horror films, sci-fi, the best of British and European cinema as we as cult tv!

To mark the digitally restored version of the 35 year old classic movie Convoy on DVD and Blu-ray, we’ve been given three copies to give away on Blu-ray! “Looks like we got ourselves a convoy!”

A mighty convoy of dust-raising trucks heads for a State line in South-West America, led by legendary trucker Martin Penwald, Aka “Rubber Duck” (Kris Kristofferson), who has gathered a vast army together in protest against police corruption and shady politicking. Inspired by C.W. McCall’s hit song of the same name and brilliantly scripted by Bill L. Norton this iconic American film is a pulsating, action-packed tale about freedom and the war of independence being waged on the American highways.

From maverick American director Sam Peckinpah (Cross Of Iron, Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch) Convoy has been fully restored to celebrate its 35th anniversary release and is now available for the first time uncut and on blu-ray.

Finnish director Renny Harlin, the maker of Die Hard 2 and The Long Kiss Goodnight, has now decided to tackle one of the eeriest mysteries in Russian history. Here he explains why

'Oh, you'll have fun with Renny," says his assistant as I'm ushered into his office in Venice, Los Angeles, three blocks from where Orson Welles filmed the opening sequence of Touch of Evil. "He's been doing his homework on you."

My mind fills with horrifying possibilities, recalling how Don Simpson would have a journalist's credit rating, divorce papers, and even criminal record to hand for an interview. But Finland's most successful director simply appears before me with a grin and says: "Hello, John, I very much enjoyed your – " and he quotes something I wrote a month back. "I laughed all day!" he adds.

Renny Harlin, a lean, ginger-haired man of medium height with a wind-burned, tough-guy sort of face,...

James Coburn and Maximilian Schell star as Wehrmacht officers battling each other in this slow-moving second world war film

Cross of Iron (1977)

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Entertainment grade: C+

History grade: B+

The German invasion of the Soviet Union during the second world war began in 1941. By 1943, troops were in retreat, and the tide of the war had begun to turn against Adolf Hitler.

People

Troops of the Wehrmacht 17th Army have retreated across the Taman peninsula to the Kuban bridgehead. Indestructible platoon leader Sergeant Steiner (James Coburn) is stuck serving under Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), an oily Prussian aristocrat who has transferred to the Eastern front with the explicit intention of winning the distinction of the Iron Cross. Steiner couldn't give a hoot for Iron Crosses, and he actively dislikes oily Prussian aristocrats. These characters are fictional, though some sources suggest Steiner may have been inspired by real-life Feldwebel (Sergeant) Johann Schwerdfeger.

As I mentioned in the preface to the first part of my Wavelengths preview (the one focusing on the short films), there are significant changes afoot in 2012. Until last year, the festival had a section known as Visions, which was the primary home for formally challenging cinema that nevertheless conformed to the basic tenets of arthouse and/or “festival” cinema (actors, scripting, 70+minute running time, and, once upon a time, 35mm presentation). This year, Wavelengths is both its former self, and it also contains the sort of work that Visions most likely would have housed. While in some respects this can seem to result in a kind of split personality for the section, it also means that Wavelengths, which has often been described as a sort of “festival within the festival,” has moved front and center. Films that would’ve occupied single slots in the older avant-Wavelengths model, like the...

Actor Philip Madoc has died, aged 77. The Welsh star passed away on Monday morning in a Hertfordshire hospital following a short illness, his agent confirmed. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales on July 5, 1934, Madoc made his screen debut in the 1961 BBC Sunday-Night Play 'Cross of Iron'. His notable credits throughout the '60s and '70s included guest stints on The Avengers, Z-Cars and UFO. He further appeared in 1969 World War II serial Manhunt (1969), starred in a 1971 adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans and played the U Boat Captain in classic Dad's Army episode 'The Deadly Attachment'. (more)...

Author and Cinema Retro contributing writer Howard Hughes has a new book: When Eagles Dared, a major history of 150 WWII film classics and the historic events that inspired them. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

"When Eagles Dared" tells the stories of the historical events of World War II and the films that have depicted these events on cinema screens, presenting a guide to history through cinema that compares the cinematic myth with the historical reality. Illustrated with rare posters and stills, it gives us a unique view of this war through the lenses of over 50 diverse films that have shaped our perceptions of the conflict, including "Downfall," "Patton," "Tora! Tora! Tora!, ""Anzio," "The Thin Red Line," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Stalingrad," "Battle of the Bulge," "Cross of Iron, " and "A Bridge Too Far." The book portrays the men and women who participated in World War II, from...

German actor and director Vadim Glowna has died at the age of 70.

Glowna passed away on Tuesday after a short illness, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

He tried his hand at odd jobs including a taxi driver and hotel bellboy before beginning his acting career, and he racked up a number of credits as a regular on TV and in film.

Glowna had supporting roles in No Place To Go in 2000 and 2006's Four Minutes, both of which were named Film of the Year at the German Film Awards, and he also appeared in the World War II drama Cross of Iron.

His directorial debut Desperado City was awarded the Golden Camera honour at France's Cannes Film Festival in 1981, while his second effort, Dies rigorose Leben, received an honourable mention at the 1983 Berlin Film Festival in Germany.

Peckinpah! Olson!

Compromised by a dwindling budget and production Euro-chaos, Peckinpah was not completely satisfied with this Ww II story of a German unit at the Russian front in 1943. The climax was literally improvised by James Coburn and Maximillian Schell when the money ran out. But Peckinpah once claimed that “I had a telegram from Orson Welles and he said he thought it was the best anti-war film since All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Click here to watch the trailer.

Are you a fan of us on Facebook? A lot of our gurus are over there regularly sharing tales, because a lot of them are frequent Facebook users. Like Brian Trenchard-Smith, who shares this story:

I met Sam Peckinpah at the party after the London press screening. I gushed like the young fanboy I was, The Wild Bunch being in my personal top 10. He had mixed emotions about Cross Of Iron,...

Peckinpah! Peckinpah! Peckinpah!

On Monday, September 12, join Joe Dante for the trailer to the Ballad of Cable Hogue.

“He found water where it wasn’t”. Hardly seen even in its day, this is yet another troubled Sam Peckinpah project which nonetheless emerged as a lyrical, deeply personal western love story that stands with the very best of his work. Its failure led the director to consider abandoning westerns once and for all. Although she and Peckinpah fought throughout, it features Stella Stevens’ finest performance, which she had hoped would lead to stardom.

On Wednesday, September 14, join Josh Olson for the trailer to Cross of Iron.

Compromised by a dwindling budget and production Euro-chaos, Peckinpah was not completely satisfied with this Ww II story of a German unit at the Russian front in 1943. The climax was literally improvised by James Coburn and Maximillian Schell when the money ran out. But Peckinpah...

This week’s pick is the classic Blake Edwards 1966 comedy What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? which stars legendary comedian Dick Shawn of The Producers (Captain Lionel Cash), James Coburn Cross of Iron (Lt. Christian), Aldo Ray Men in War (Sgt. Rizzo), Sergio Fantoni Von Ryan’s Express (Captain Oppo), Harry Morgan T.V.s M*A*S*H* [...]...

Through his films Sam Peckinpah frequently explored the relationships between men and violence and the relationships between men thrust together, but Cross of Iron stands out as being his only foray into the war film genre, although films such as The Wild Bunch and Major Dundee certainly flirt with similar thematic concerns.

In venturing into the then somewhat overstuffed area of WWII war films Peckinpah unsurprisingly chose to do something a little different, framing the conflict not from the side of the Allied forces but making a film that embeds us in the trenches with the German troops. Shot mostly on location in Yugoslavia Cross of Iron reconstructs the Eastern Front circa 1943 and centres on the German troops fighting there.

Arriving at the front-line early in the film is Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), a stuffy Prussian officer desperate to win the prestigious Iron Cross. At the front he finds a...

127 Hours

DVD & Blu-ray, 20th Century Fox

Movies are great at pitting one element against another, from Cowboys & Aliens to Mega Shark Vs Giant Octopus. But there's no surprise who comes out on top in Danny Boyle's movie about Man v Rock. Rock wins, every time. Based on the story of outdoors man Aron Ralston, who had to sever his right arm to free himself from a boulder that was pinning him down, this is – as the title suggests – an account of the period during which Ralton's hopes of rescue and escape vanish and he's left with only one painful, inevitable option to get out alive. Actor James Franco has been tipped as one to watch for almost a dozen years since his breakthrough role in TV's Freaks And Geeks, and here he gets plenty of screen time to showcase his talent. But it's not quite a one-man (or even one-rock) show.

Father’s day is on the horizon and a whole bunch of cool Blu-ray’s are being released to celebrate that fact, a few films of which are particularly some of my Dad’s favourites.

Sam Peckinpah’s bloody anti-war movie Cross of Iron (out June 3rd), the British Wwi classic The Cruel Sea (June 13th) and the excellent Ice Cold Alex (June 13th), all digitally restored and available on the first time in Blu-ray. Excitedly if you are in London on father’s day weekend, the Odeon Panton St are showing Cross of Iron and Ice Cold in Alex from June 17th!

Owf have three copies of all three films to give away…

6 June: Cross Of Iron – Only On Bluray – Digitally Restored

Heralded as the most anti-war war film ever made, Cross Of Iron is a bloody and thought-provoking depiction of the horrors of war featuring an epic battle...

To celebrate the release of Cross of Iron on 6th June, Optimum Home Entertainment have given us three copies of the movie to give away on Blu-ray.

Synopsis: Heralded as the most anti-war war film ever made, Cross Of Iron is a bloody and thought-provoking depiction of the horrors of war featuring an epic battle of wills between aristocratic Prussian Officer Stransky (Maximilian Schell) and gutsy Sergeant Rolf Steiner (James Coburn). Director Sam Peckinpah has served as an inspiration for everyone from Tarantino to Kathryn Bigelow.

Extras: All New! Passion & Poetry – Sam Peckinpah’s War (46:00): A documentary by Mike Siegel featuring James Coburn, Senta Berger, David Warner, Vadim Glowna, Roger Fritz, Katy Haber & Sam Peckinpah. 5 featurettes with 1976 on set audio interviews: Sam Peckinpah (5:06) / James Coburn (5:30) / James Mason (6:05) / Maximilian Schell (4:35) / David Warner (3:14) / Featurette KRÜGER Kisses Kern (8:27) / Letters From Vadim & Sam Featurette (3:48) / Vadim...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

The Phoenix Film Festival Contest

It’s back again for those of us living in the land of cacti and oppressive heat. Time to break out the lanyards and the program guide to find out which upcoming film needs to be seen. One of the benefits of this festival being here in the valley is that unlike Sundance and Tribeca the lines and weather aren’t an impediment to seeing some great films from some great filmmakers.

From big to small, this festival is a nice cheese plate when comparing it to heavyweight entrees like Cannes or Toronto. And if you’re interested in going gratis to see four films at no cost then please e-mail me at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com...

Here we have an interesting infographic that gives us 10 movie titles that are expressed through confusing mathematical formulas. SpikedMath created the graphic. Math was never my strongest subject, and even though this is movie related I had a hard time figuring out most of them.

Can you figure out all the movie titles?

Scroll down to see the answer key:

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1: The Matrix

2: Signs

3: The Fireball, or Ball of Fire, or Great Balls of Fire

4: Duck Soup, or The Mighty Ducks

5: Cross of Iron, or Iron Man 2

6: A Man Apart, or A Man Alone, or Social Network

7: Sin City

8: Heat

9: GoldenEye

10: Beauty and the Beast, or Angels and Demons...

SpikedMath [1] has created an infographic featuring 10 movie titles, expressed through mathematical formulas. How many can you figure out? Answer key after the jump. [2] Answer key (highlight to reveal the invisotext): 1: The Matrix 2: Signs 3: The Fireball, or Ball of Fire, or Great Balls of Fire 4: Duck Soup, or The Mighty Ducks 5: Cross of Iron, or Iron Man 2 6: A Man Apart, or A Man Alone, or Social Network 7: Sin City 8: Heat 9: GoldenEye 10: Beauty and the Beast, or Angels and Demons via: geekologie [3] [1] http://spikedmath.com/401.html [2] http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/ZZ1E79F21E.jpg [3] http://www.geekologie.com/2011/03/film_formulas_movie_titles_as.php...

So last year I joined Twitter and desperately struggled to figure out a good use for it. Assuming most people following my account might come from the Film Junk podcast, I thought it might be an idea platform to keep track of what films I've been watching and what ratings I give them. My first post was March 9th, 2009 with David Cronenberg's The Brood (3.5/4) and since then I've managed to check out a good number of great films over the last year. (Jacques Tati's Play Time and Wim Wender's Paris, Texas are definitely two stand outs on this list.) Many of these are first time viewings, but a there are also a lot of movies I just felt the urge to revisit. So what do you think? Any favourites? Have a look for yourself after the jump! The Brood, (Cronenberg, 1979) 3.5/4 Operation Crossbow (Anderson, 1965) 3.5/4 Watchmen, (Snyder, 2009) 3/4 Pontypool, (McDonald, 2008) 4/4 Pinocchio,...

Who knew that the Nazis -- one of the most brutal regimes in the history of brutal regimes -- would be responsible for such fun, mind-blowingly awesome entertainment? The second I see a dude in a grey German uniform and an eye patch enter the frame, I’m like ‘Whoa. That Nazi is going to provide me a great amount of entertainment this evening’. So, with Inglorious Bastards having recently premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, I figured I'd put together a list of some awesome WW2 films as a resource for anyone wanting to beef up their WW2 film knowledge before checking out Tarantino's self-proclaimed 'masterpiece'. It's worth noting that I focused on older films -- pre-1980 for the most part -- and only the stories featuring Nazi's. It was tough to cut this down to 15 films, but I'm sure you all will be able to come up with...