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A one-of-a-kind piece of film history is becoming available for purchase for the first time in more than six decades, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report: it’s the property at 7917 Woodrow Wilson Drive, on “Celebrity Row” in the Hollywood Hills, which was long the home and workplace of the king and queen of American independent cinema, writer/director/actor John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands.

The 4,305 square-foot old-Hollywood-meets-European-style abode, which includes five bedrooms and four bathrooms, and is situated on three-quarters of an acre of land overlooking the canyon, was built in 1940. On Nov. 13, 1963, it was acquired by the couple, who had been married since 1954, and who had, to that point, worked together on only Cassavetes’ landmark 1958 drama Shadows, in which Rowlands played a small uncredited part, and 1963’s A Child Is Waiting.

At 7917 Woodrow Wilson Drive, they would go on to raise their three children — Nick, Xan and Zoe — and to conceive,...

War films are horror films, aren’t they? Both genres explore inevitable death intertwined with moral quandaries and are full of suspense. Come and See is often hailed as one of the scariest films and Son of Saul almost plays like a found footage in Auschwitz.

There is a thin line between the two, but military horror goes further by blending the literal and figurative. This hybrid subgenre repeatedly uses the zombie as the antagonist of choice, a reason identified by Scholar Kevin Wetmore in Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema: “Zombies cannot be reasoned with, cannot be negotiated with, they seek only to replicate themselves, which also makes them an excellent metaphor for terrorists.”

That said, in recognition of Memorial Day here are 14 military horrors to choose from that aren’t all just about the undead. The POVs range from civilians trapped in military culture, teen cadets, facing barriers as...

With over a century’s worth of cinematic witches, Ruth Gordon’s turn in Rosemary’s Baby as Minnie Castevet broke the mold. To be fair, the reveal that the disarming, matronly Manhattanite serves Satan comes as a late-game twist, but even then, Minnie doesn’t revert to an archetypical witch form. Minnie Castevet remains as effervescent, stylish, and unflappable as she is from the start, even as Rosemary’s Baby ends on its iconic shocking final shot.

That is by design, of course. The very notion that the Devil’s most loyal followers aren’t physical monsters or social outcasts but everyday people who sold their souls for money and status is the audacious foundation for Rosemary Woodhouse’s (Mia Farrow) harrowing plight, after all. While writer/director Roman Polanski, adapting Ira Levin’s bestselling novel, effectively lays the groundwork to ensure this reveal achieves its seismic intended impact, much...

The same year that he laid the groundwork for a horror revolution with Black Christmas, Bob Clark released Deathdream (also known as Dead of Night). The 1974 horror film is understandably overshadowed by his influential proto-slasher, but it was on Deathdream that the filmmaker honed his skills that would fuel his masterpiece of the genre: a brooding atmosphere, a calculated pace, a subtle score by Carl Zittrer that’s inseparable from the organic sound design, and even the use of a rocking chair to achieve unease.

Deathdream found Clark re-teaming with writer Alan Ormsby and several other cast and crew members from his 1972 film, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things. While it suffers from minor pacing issues, Deathdream is significantly more well rounded. Jack McGowan’s cinematography is often flat (albeit an improvement over his work on Dead Things), but the budget – still limited but some five times larger than the...

In this shattering variation on “The Monkey’s Paw,” grief-stricken suburban parents (Academy Award nominees John Marley of The Godfather and Lynn Carlin of Faces) refuse to accept the news that their son Andy (Richard Backus) has been killed in Vietnam. But when Andy returns home soon after, something may be horribly wrong: Andy is alive and well…or is he? Produced and directed by Bob Clark (Black Christmas) and written by Alan Ormsby (Deranged), Deathdream was one of the very first films to confront the domestic ravages of the Vietnam War and remains one of the most chilling horror films of all time.

Deathdream is available on 4K Uhd Blu-ray on May 21.

Enter for your chance to win a 4K Uhd Blu-ray of Deathdream, courtesy of Blue Underground. Two (2) winners will be selected at random.

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Midway through Bob Clark’s Deathdream (originally titled Dead of Night), Andy Brooks (Richard Backus) dons a pair of black leather gloves and sunglasses for an upcoming date. Andy displays a suave and calm demeanor that should be familiar to fans of Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1967 film Le Samouraï, which features Alain Delon as the ne plus ultra of psychotic cool; his haircut even recalls that of Steve McQueen in 1968’s Bullitt. However, Andy’s garb has a tactile purpose, concealing as it does his deteriorating skin, which will turn to dust without a replenishing supply of blood. Because of this, Clark’s genre film goes in the opposite direction of peddling cool, as Deathdream shows how a pair of designer shades can only momentarily shield the irreparable physical and psychological scars of war.

That Deathdream is a vehement anti-war statement can only be ascertained gradually, as Andy’s parents, Charles...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Crimson Peak 4K Uhd from Arrow Video

Crimson Peak will haunt 4K Ultra HD on May 21 via Arrow Video. The 2015 Gothic horror/romance is presented in 4K with Dolby Vision, approved by director Guillermo del Toro, and original DTS:X Master Audio sound.

Del Toro co-wrote the script with frequent collaborator Matthew Robbins. Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver star with Doug Jones and Javier Botet appearing as ghosts.

The limited edition set comes with a double-sided poster, four double-sided postcards, and an 80-page book featuring writings by David Jenkins and Simon Abrams, an interview with del Toro, and conceptual illustrations by Guy Davis and Oscar Chichoni, all housed in...

April 16th will see the release of both The Manitou and Superstition on Blu-ray and we have new details on both titles straight from Scream Factory:

"Horror enthusiasts and classic movie collectors rejoice! On April 16, Scream Factory™ is proud to present the 1978 supernatural cult classic The Manitou Blu-ray and horror classic Superstition Blu-ray. Produced and directed by William Girdler and based on the best-selling novel by Graham Masterton, The Manitou stars Tony Curtis (Spartacus), Michael Ansara (I Dream of Jeannie), Susan Strasberg (Scream of Fear), Stella Stevens (The Silencers), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Jon Cedar (Death Hunt), and Ann Sothern (The Whale of August). Directed by James Roberson (The Giant of Thunder Mountain) and produced by Ed Carlin (Battle Beyond the Stars), Superstition stars James Houghton (The Colbys), Albert Salmi (Caddyshack), Lynn Carlin (Faces), and Larry Pennell (Bubba Ho-Tep).

A must-have for collectors, The Manitou Blu-ray boasts new 4K scan from...

Milos Forman, who died on April 14 at the age of 86, has left behind some of the most sharply observed portraits of human behavior in cinema.

When I think of Forman’s work, my mind doesn’t necessarily go first to his two Oscar-winning juggernauts — “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975) or “Amadeus” (1984) — or the Czech films that garnered him worldwide acclaim in the 1960s, such as “Loves of a Blonde” (1965) or “The Firemen’s Ball” (1967). Rather, I think of the opening scene from his lesser-known comedy, “Taking Off” (1971): a series of static shots of young women, one after the other, performing songs for an off-screen producer.

Most of the women are earnest and serious; some seem awkward or shy, dressed in contemporary hippy-ish clothes; their hair is often long and frizzy. Some of these audition singers include Carly Simon, Kathy Bates (credited as Bobo Bates) and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her Jessica Harper. What is remarkable about these relatively straightforward snippets is that Forman isn’t nudging the audience for what to make of these young people, or their songs. He’s not telling the audience how to react; he’s simply presenting these young people as they are.

Also Read: Milos Forman, 'Amadeus' and 'Cuckoo's Nest' Director, Dies at 86

The first 5-10 minutes of this film paints a picture of these flower children of the Woodstock era that feels authentic, admiring and compassionate. And kind. It’s a quality in Forman’s cinema I can see throughout his career.

Forman sprang forth from the extraordinary group of filmmakers known as the Czech New Wave, most of whom were trained at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (including Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš, Ján Kadár, Jan Němec and Ivan Passer), and, like his cinematic compatriots, Forman’s early films are often political in nature, portraying figures of authority as inept and corrupt. In “The Firemen’s Ball,” the volunteer fire department in a small town decides to organize a ball in honor of their recently retired chairman.

Also Read: Milos Forman Hailed as 'Champion of Artists' Rights' by Directors Guild of America

At the event, the firefighters’ committee decide to host a beauty contest and proceed to procure some of the unsuspecting young women to pose for them. The women appear hesitant, guarded, and a few are even somewhat amused by the ramshackle way they are being put on display by these old men. (Most of the actors were local to the area of Vrchlabí, where it was filmed.) The spunkiest of the young women seems to have an awareness of how ridiculous and sexist this is. She laughs and then runs off halfway through her walk for the judges, triggering a mass exodus by the other contestants, and the scene ends in comedic chaos.

Clearly, the characters who buck the system, like the young woman in “The Firemen’s Ball,” are what hold director’s greatest interest. Forman is fixed on the idea of the outsider as being the true hero of his work: Jack Nicholson’s R.P. McMurphy, Treat Williams’ George Berger, Howard E. Rollins’ Coalhouse Walker Jr., Tom Hulce’s Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Woody Harrelson’s Larry Flynt and Jim Carrey’s Andy Kaufman are all individuals that won’t fit into society’s prescribed mold for them.

Also Read: Milos Forman Remembered by Larry Flynt, Judd Apatow and More: 'Genius of Cinematography'

Forman’s rebels, though clearly stemming from his Czech roots, found fertile ground in America. His two most critically and financially successful films, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (adapted by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman from Ken Kesey’s novel) and “Amadeus” (Peter Shaffer adapting his own stage play), both impeccably produced by Saul Zaentz, together garnered 13 Oscars total, including two for Forman for directing.

At his best, Forman’s greatest work (I would include the woefully underrated musical adaptation of “Hair”) shows both compassion for his characters and wry humor in the predicaments in which these characters find themselves. His work with actors is exemplary, and his filmography is flooded with memorable performances and ensemble work: from Nicholson and Louise Fletcher in “Cuckoo’s Nest” to Rollins, Elizabeth McGovern and James Cagney in “Ragtime” (1981), F. Murray Abraham and Hulce in “Amadeus,” Harrelson and Courtney Love in “The People vs. Larry Flynt” (1996), and back to Hana Brejchová in “Loves of a Blonde” and Lynn Carlin, Buck Henry, Georgia Engel and Audra Lindley in “Taking Off,” to name a few.

Cinematically, I’m just so impressed with the way he and his cinematographers captured these actors’ faces and performances. This is filmmaking that is not trying to impress you with flashy editing and swirling cameras (though the camerawork in the opening “Aquarius” number in “Hair,” accompanied by Twyla Tharp’s wonderful choreography, is a wonderful exception), it’s focused on its characters and story.

Possibly because of his lack of flash and cutting-edge technique, there is a danger that Forman’s work may not be immediately appreciated by younger filmmakers — though in this current era where young people are rising up to stand for their beliefs to their schools, their City Halls, and the world at large, Forman’s filmography is ripe for rediscovery by a new generation of rebels.

Read original story Milos Forman Remembered: A Rebel in His Time, and for the Future At TheWrap...

Two-time Oscar winning Czech director Milos Forman has died at the age of 86, according to Reuters and reports. Forman’s wife Martina informed Czech news agency Ctk that the filmmaker passed after a brief illness in the Us.

Part of the Czech new wave, Forman graduated from the Prague Film Faculty of the Academy of Dramatic Arts, and caught global attention with such titles as Black Peter (1964), The Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen’s Ball(1967). The latter two were Oscar nominees for best foreign film.

In 1968, he fled Czechoslovakia during the Prague spring for the Us. The Fireman’s Ball, about an ill-fated event in a provincial town, was a knock on Eastern European Communism and created a stir in his homeland with the regime. His 1971 comedy, Taking Off, his first American title, won the 1971 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and starred Buck Henry and Lynn Carlin...

Average fans of A Christmas Story likely don’t know that director Bob Clark had once made creepy horror pictures with Alan Ormsby, but this independent shock effort of the early ’70s still casts a spell of dread. Although Vietnam is never mentioned, the war’s shadow strikes deep into the heart of a small-town family. John Marley and Lynn Carlin lead a fine cast.

Deathdream

Blu-ray + DVD

Blue Underground

1974 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 88 min. / Dead of Night, The

Night Andy Came Home, Night Walk, The Veteran, Whispers / Street Date November 28, 2017 /

Starring: John Marley, Lynn Carlin, Richard Backus, Henderson Forsythe,

Anya Ormsby, Jane Daly, Michael Mazes.

Cinematography: Jack McGowan

Film Editor: Ronald Sinclair

Original Music: Carl Zittrer

Written by Alan Ormsby

Produced by Bob Clark, Peter James, John Trent

Directed by Bob Clark

This gem comes back every ten years in an improved transfer. Bob Clark and Alan Ormsby’s Canadian-financed...

We may only have several home entertainment releases for this Tuesday, but as the saying goes, “quality over quantity,” because this bunch of Blu-rays and DVDs are a stellar lot of films. One of my favorite horror films of 2017, Mark Duplass’ Creep 2, makes its way home on November 28th courtesy of The Orchard, and Scream Factory has given Rob Reiner’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery the Collector’s Edition treatment (and deservedly so).

For you cult film fans, both Death Laid an Egg and Deathdream (aka Dead of Night) get the HD treatment this week, and other notable releases this Tuesday include M.F.A., Rememory, Super Dark Times, Woodshock, and Trailer Trauma 4: Television Trauma.

Creep 2 (The Orchard, DVD)

Sara, a video artist primarily focused on creating intimacy with lonely men, thinks she may have found the subject of her dreams after coming across a stranger’s online post.

The late, great Bob Clark will forever be synonymous with the holiday season thanks to his films Black Christmas and A Christmas Story, but before he brought those stories to life on screen, he gave horror fans the gift of Deathdream, aka Dead of Night (read our own Scott Drebit's Drive-In Dust Offs article on the film here). Over 40 years after its initial release, Deathdream is being revitalized in a 2K restoration Blu-ray from Blue Underground, and we have a look at a new video showing off the film's enhanced visuals.

Blue Underground will release their new Blu-ray/DVD of Deathdream on November 28th, and you can get an idea of what to expect in the full list of special features and videos below:

Deathdream Blu-ray: "Something Unspeakable Has Come Home

In this shattering variation on “The Monkey’s Paw,” grief-stricken suburban parents (Academy Award® nominees John Marley...

Special Mention: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

Directed by Dario Argento

Screenplay by Dario Argento

1970, Italy

Genre: Giallo

One of the most self-assured directorial debuts of the 70’s was Dario Argento’s The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. Not only was it a breakthrough film for the master of Giallo, but it was also a box office hit and had critics buzzing, regardless if they liked it or not. Although Argento would go on to perfect his craft in later films, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage went a long way in popularizing the Giallo genre and laid the groundwork for later classics like Deep Red. A difficult film to discuss without spoiling many of its most impressive and famous scenes, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is a fairly straightforward murder mystery, albeit with many twists, turns and one of the best surprise endings of all time. But...

Deathdeam

Directed by Bob Clark

Writen by Alan Ormsby

Starring John Marley, Lynn Carlin, and Richard Backus

USA 1972

On August 30th, 1972, Deathdream was released to American theaters. Not the standard Halloween release month, but close enough to it. This second Tombstone Tuesday pick is unlike any other zombie flick in terms of its storyline and technicalities. This movie features one zombie, in one town, with only one purpose to kill.

Andy Brooks, a Vietnam soldier killed in combat, is willed back to life by his grieving mother. From his coffin to his hometown, Andy manages to hitchhike to his family, but not without murdering a man and draining his blood along the way. How else is he supposed to maintain a human-like quality? But what differentiates this zombie flick in comparison to so many others is that it has an overarching message, or theme, that it’s trying to convey.

(This review pertains to the UK Region 2 DVD release).

By Tim Greaves

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I first encountered Lionel Jeffries’ 1973 melodrama Baxter! during the summer of 1978 on what I believe to be its one and only British television airing by the BBC. Its conspicuous absence on video in the UK – and, until 2014, DVD – meant that, for me, some 36 years elapsed between viewings. A small, and in many respects not particularly memorable film, it nevertheless stayed with me over the intervening years for, I think, two reasons. The first was its unexpectedly dark nature, which completely caught me off guard given the family friendly nature of the director’s previous films, The Railway Children and The Amazing Mr Blunden; best remembered for his myriad of on-screen performances, Baxter! was in fact the third of only five projects which positioned Jeffries on the other side of the camera.

Chicago – It’s rare that I feel comfortable using this kind of hyperbole in a Blu-ray review but here it goes — having watched it again on Criterion Blu-ray, after not seeing it in years, I’m more convinced than ever that John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence” is one of the best films ever made. Maybe it’s because I’m older now and have a family of my own, but my most recent viewing of this masterpiece was heartwrenching in a totally different way. It’s stunning.

And the Criterion remaster of it, accompanied by four other of the most important films in the history of the independent film movement in “Cassavetes: Five Films” is a beauty. Oh, yeah, “Shadows,” “Faces,” “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie,” and “Opening Night” are damn good too. This is one of the best possible gifts you could pick up for the...

The revival of "StinkyLulu's Supporting Actress Smackdown" now in its new home at The Film Experience continues. The year is... [cue: time travelling music] 1968.  Oscar skipped the Globe nominees in this category from For the Love of Ivy, The Lion in Winter and Finian's Rainbow and despite their love of Oliver! And of women in musicals And of prostitutes with hearts of gold they also skipped newcomer Shani Wallis. Instead they went with these five...

Tony Curtis presented the 1968 Best Supporting Actress Oscar

The Nominees

Estelle Parsons, the previous year's winner in this category for Bonnie & Clyde returned for a victory lap (though she skipped the ceremony). She was joined by two showbiz veterans: Ruth Gordon, a three time nominee for screenwriting who was in the middle of a surprising golden years reinvention as a beloved character actress, and Kay Medford, who had previously experienced her greatest successes on stage. Filling out the shortlist...

Blu-ray Release Date: Oct. 22, 2013

Price: Blu-ray $124.95

Studio: Criterion

John Cassavetes—genius, visionary, and the progenitor of American independent film—receives some high-definition respect from Criterion in the John Cassavetes: Five Films collection.

A former theater actor fascinated by the power of improvisation, Cassavetes brought his search for truth in performance to the screen. The five films in this anthology of dramas—all of which the director maintained total control over by financing them himself and making them outside the studio system—are electrifying and compassionate creations, populated by all manner of humanity: beatniks, hippies, businessmen, actors, housewives, strippers, club owners, gangsters, children.

Cassavetes has often been called an actor’s director, but this body of work—even greater than the sum of its extraordinary parts—shows him to be an audience’s director.

Here’s a breakdown of the movies:

Lelia Goldoni and Anthony Ray star in John Cassavetes' 1959 directorial debut Shadows.

By Chris Wright, MoreHorror.com

Bob Clark (Black Christmas (review)) brings us a disturbing yet sad horror film that gives you the creeps its entire duration. Dead of Night, also released as Deathdream, surprised me at how good it was despite the premise that sounded shaky at first. Also, this is the first movie that Tom Savini was in charge of the special affects. After being released by Gorgon Video and various other labels in the early 1980s, Blue Underground released this movie with special features on DVD.

The premise is a young soldier is killed in Vietnam but the parents get the dream they wished for when their son turns up at their front door seemingly fine. My reaction when I found out about this movie was it was going to be a run of the mill zombie flick. To my surprise, this movie has deeper elements such as...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Released in an obvious attempt to capitalize on Norman Jewison's racially-charged 1967 Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night, MGM's 1969 suspense drama tick...tick...tick... attempts to emulate the smoldering tensions in a small southern town that permeated the earlier film. The MGM release is not on the caliber of the Jewison production but it is a consistently engrossing, well-acted drama that calls to mind just how relatively recently the civil rights battle had to be fought in the American South. By 1969, integration may have been the law of the land, but in fact, there were many places where attempting to implement the law would have been a death sentence. The story takes place in small Southern town where the only thing hotter than the broiling summer temperatures is the barely-concealed rage of the local population. Seems that while the apathy of white voters resulted...

Faces Review Pt.1. [Photo: Gena Rowlands as the prostitute Jeannie.] Faces' drama failed to move me not because of either the film's plot, however predictable at times, or conventional set of characters. Faces' chief handicap is director-writer John Cassavetes, who apparently was too enamored of his own anti-Hollywood brilliance to let a mere story and a handful of distraught human beings get in the way of his stock-in-trade cinematic tricks. These include the use of a handheld camera that helps make the barely discernible action even murkier, and an overabundance of closeups. True, the film is called Faces, but unlike Ingmar Bergman, whose closeups (usually) transport us into the inner core of his actors, Cassavetes only presents us with talking heads. And do those heads talk. What they actually talk about is anyone's guess, since much of the dialogue is inaudible, but the sections that are intelligible are best described by one line in the movie: "Blah,...

Faces (1968) Direction and screenplay: John Cassavetes Cast: John Marley, Gena Rowlands, Lynn Carlin, Fred Draper, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery Oscar Movies Gena Rowlands, John Marley, Faces After playing Mia Farrow's husband in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968), John Cassavetes reportedly threw the money he made as an actor into the finishing touches on Faces, a personal project he had begun filming in 1966. Cassavetes spent months (some sources say a couple of years) editing the film into a "manageable" six hours, and eventually into its final 130 minutes. Silent-film maverick Erich von Stroheim would have been proud of him — at least in regard to Faces' (initial) length and to Cassavetes' committed auteurship. Now, would the irascible Stroheim have approved of the frequently inaudible dialogue, sloppy editing, poor lighting, careless camera placement, and faux-naturalistic acting? Probably not. Shot in 16mm — that looks like poorly developed Super 8 — black and white, Faces...

©Paramount Pictures

“My momma always said, .Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get..” That line was immortalized by Tom Hanks in the award-winning movie “Forest Gump” in 1994. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington today selected that film and 24 others to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

Spanning the period 1912-1994, the films named to the registry include Hollywood classics, documentaries, animation, home movies, avant-garde shorts and experimental motion pictures. Representing the rich creative and cultural diversity of the American cinematic experience, the selections range from Walt Disney.s timeless classic “Bambi” and Billy Wilder.s “The Lost Weekend,” a landmark film about the devastating effects of alcoholism, to a real-life drama between a U.S. president and a governor over the desegregation of the University of Alabama. The selections also...

I’m never one to put significant stock in the film-based choices made by any kind of committee — be it an awards group, critics circle, soup kitchen line, etc. — but the National Film Registry is a little different. Not that they’re any different than those aforementioned organization types, but because the government assemblage preserves works deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” No small potatoes.

Their latest list — created for both public awareness and the opportunity to grumble, as I’ll do in a second — has been unveiled, and the selections are none too out-of-left-field. The biggest of these 25 would have to be Forrest Gump, a choice I fully understand but completely disagree with on an opinion and moral scale. The only other true objection I can raise is toward El Mariachi, film school-level junk from a director whose finest works are the direct result of working with those more talented.

Rank the week of July 12th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Arthur

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #5711

Times Ranked: 827

Win Percentage: 52%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Jason Winer

Starring: Russell Brand • Helen Mirren • Greta Gerwig • Jennifer Garner • Luis Guzman

Genres: Comedy • Farce

Rank This Movie

The Lincoln Lawyer

(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #2807

Times Ranked: 1535

Win Percentage: 55%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: Brad Furman

Starring: Matthew McConaughey • Marisa Tomei • Ryan Phillippe • William H. Macy • John Leguizamo

Genres: Drama • Psychological Thriller • Thriller

Rank This Movie

Rango

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG | 2011)

Flickchart Ranking: #595

Times Ranked: 5790

Win Percentage: 38%

Top-20 Rankings: 18

Directed By: Gore Verbinski

Starring: Johnny Depp • Isla Fisher • Abigail Breslin • Ned Beatty • Alfred Molina

Genres: Action • Adventure • Animation • Comedy • Family-Oriented Adventure • Family-Oriented Comedy • Western

Rank This Movie

Insidious

(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2010)

Flickchart Ranking: #3119

Times Ranked: 1785

Win Percentage: 52%

Top-20 Rankings: 6

Directed By: James Wan...

This one is coming up late, due to Criterion jam packing a ton of releases on Friday, right while I was finishing up the original post. I think they wanted to mess with me, which is very funny. But being the premier (and only) site that gives you the best coverage of Hulu Plus movies, I don’t mind taking the time at all. I’m hoping it has nothing to do with the recent shake-up going on that Josh just reported on the other day (here), and with Hulu wanting to be bought because of financial problems stemming from multiple sources, this makes one wonder what’s going to happen to the Criterion Collection and their deal with Hulu. I’m crossing my fingers that whoever buys the service, be it Amazon, Google or Yahoo (who is the frontrunner), it doesn’t ruin the deal in place for Criterion and its films.

It now appears to be more likely than not that Hailee Steinfeld, the 14-year-old actress who makes her big screen debut in the Coen brothers’ critically and commercially successful Western “True Grit,” will score an Oscar nomination — and perhaps even a win — in one category or another for her film-stealing performance. Consequently, some of you may be wondering if any other newcomer has ever earned that kind of recongition over the 82 year history of the Academy Awards. The answer is yes — in fact, it has happened precisely 47 times, 16 in lead and 31 in supporting.

Some of those women were famous before they received their nods (i.e. Jennifer Hudson and Barbra Streisand); most were not (i.e. Mary Badham and Gabby Sidibe). Some never made another movie after they received their nods (i.e. Jocelyne Lagarde); some made a few and then dropped off the face of the earth (i.e.

Netflix has once again added several films available in the Criterion Collection, to their streaming “Watch Instantly” line-up. While their additions over the past few months have been few and far between, they have nevertheless been consistently great choices.

Over the past few days they have been adding the various John Cassavetes films that are available in the “Five Films” box set, save the documentary “A Constant Forge.” You can now watch Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under The Influence, The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night through their web interface, or through their various other devices (Roku boxes, the Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, or select Blu-ray players).

With Redbox ramping up plans to implement a streaming service, Netflix continues to show it’s dedication to expanding it’s library of important films available at a minimal cost to it’s customers.

To see all of the Criterion Collection films available on Netflix Watch Instantly,...

Chicago – Entries number 251 and number 252 in the most important and impressive series of DVDs in the history of the format, The Criterion Collection, come from the same influential writer/director, one of the godfathers of the independent film industry, John Cassavetes. Both are worthwhile additions to any serious film collector’s shelf.

DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0 The first of the pair is the half-century old “Shadows,” Cassavetes’ directorial debut. As the credit so perfectly says “Improvised/Directed by John Cassavetes”. These visionary films were the forerunner of the American independent film movement - creative people getting together with a camera to create art.

Shadows was released on DVD on February 17th, 2009.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Criterion Collection Those creative people in “Shadows” were headed by Lelia Goldoni and Anthony Ray. Goldoni plays a character of the same name, a light-skinned black woman living in New York City with her two brothers.