News

By David Savage

One of the most idiosyncratic and inventive voices of genre filmmaking to emerge in the 1970s was Jeff Lieberman (born 1947), whose three best known films, Squirm (1976) Blue Sunshine (1978) and Just Before Dawn (1981) have become classics of horror and sci-fi. Cited as an influence on such directors as Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino (the latter lists Squirm as an essential viewing if he’s to take you seriously), Lieberman’s filmmaking captures the low-budget resourcefulness of Roger Corman and combines it with a singular point of view -- one that seems both quirky and at times, deliriously demented.

Here at Cinema Retro, these are exactly the types of directors we enjoy tipping our hat to. So I’m excited to announce that I’ve organized a tribute to Lieberman built around these three films with the generous participation and hosting of Anthology Film Archives in New York City,...

Aug. 11

7:00 p.m.

New Museum

235 Bowery

New York, New York 10002

Hosted by: Light Industry

Before settling into their new home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Light Industry presents this screening of the classic TV special from 1967 This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Massage. The special will be projected in 16mm and introduced by Alex Kitnick, a writer and curator based in New York.

This Is Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Massage was produced for the radical TV series NBC Experiment in Television, which aired innovative programs on Sunday afternoons, typically profiling or spotlighting a particular creative individual.

This particular episode of the show was directed by Ernest Pintoff and tries its best to present McLuhan’s complex ideas of then-modern media to a broad audience. Light Industry describes the special as thus:

An attempt to articulate McLuhan’s ideas through the language of one of his...

Blue Sunshine Montreal’s only psychotronic film centre will be celebrating it’s one year anniversary by presenting the film that inspired their name: 1978’s Blue Sunshine with director Jeff Lieberman in attendance! The event will take place on Saturday, June 25th at Blue Sunshine, 3660 St-Laurent, 3rd Floor. Doors will open at 7:45pm and the film will screen at 8:30pm. Tickets are $15 but they also have a combo pack available for $25 that include both the screening and Jeff’s Miskatonic class on “Radioactive Movies” the next day!

Be sure to visit the official homepage for Blue Sunshine. Here is the trailer for the film and below it is more info from the press release:

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The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies presents

Radioactive Movies!

with Instructor Jeff Lieberman

Sunday June 26 – 11am-2pm

Registration: $15

(Tickets will not be mailed to you – bring your receipt and your name will be...

Director: Ernest Pintoff. Review: Adam Wing. He’s blond, muscular, tall and handsome, the perfect recipe for the world’s greatest kung-fu hero. Joe Lewis might not be a name commonly associated with film, but his sporting career speaks volumes. He was the greatest heavyweight point-fighter and kick-boxer of the 60s and 70s, and it was he who coined the phrase, “American Kickboxing". Not only that, Joe Lewis fought in the first kickboxing heavyweight title fight in 1970, had one of the greatest point-fighting careers in history, and perhaps most significantly, was one of only 5 men to defeat the legendary Chuck Norris. After turning professional in 1970 he was undefeated in his first 12 fights, all by knockout. In his 70s heyday Joe Lewis had it all - except perhaps the ability to act. This was to be his big break in movies, but the unfamiliarity of Jaguar Lives! suggests that things didn...

Director: Ernest Pintoff. Review: Adam Wing. He’s blond, muscular, tall and handsome, the perfect recipe for the world’s greatest kung-fu hero. Joe Lewis might not be a name commonly associated with film, but his sporting career speaks volumes. He was the greatest heavyweight point-fighter and kick-boxer of the 60s and 70s, and it was he who coined the phrase, “American Kickboxing". Not only that, Joe Lewis fought in the first kickboxing heavyweight title fight in 1970, had one of the greatest point-fighting careers in history, and perhaps most significantly, was one of only 5 men to defeat the legendary Chuck Norris. After turning professional in 1970 he was undefeated in his first 12 fights, all by knockout. In his 70s heyday Joe Lewis had it all - except perhaps the ability to act. This was to be his big break in movies, but the unfamiliarity of Jaguar Lives! suggests that things didn...