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MGM's show is a surprising powerhouse musical bio about the personality clash between an ambitious singer and the powerful enabler who wants her in his bed. Doris Day and James Cagney are at their best in an only slightly compromised telling of the real-life showbiz relationship of 'twenties star Ruth Etting and the domineering mobster Martin Snyder. Love Me or Leave Me Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Doris Day, James Cagney, Cameron Mitchell, Robert Keith, Tom Tully, Harry Bellaver, Richard Gaines, Peter Leeds, Claude Stroud, Audrey Wilder, John Harding. Cinematography Arthur E. Arling Art Direction Urie McCleary, Cedric Gibbons Film Editor Ralph Winters Original Music Nicholas Brodszky, Percy Faith, George E. Stoll Written by Daniel Fuchs and Isobel Lennart Produced by Joe Pasternak Directed by Charles Vidor

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

MGM's early CinemaScope musical bio holds up extremely well,...

Palme d’Or-winning Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, best known for films like “Taste of Cherry” (which earned him the Cannes accolade in 1997), “Close-Up” and “Certified Copy,” has died. He was 76.

The news was first reported by the Iranian Students’ New Agency (Isna) on Monday afternoon, who wrote “Abbas Kiarostami, who had travelled to France for treatment, has died.” Other news outlets, including The Guardian, have also begun reporting the news.

Born in 1940 in Tehran, the filmmaker first studied painting at the University of Tehran; later, he worked as a graphic designer and commercial director. Kiarostami credited a job in the film department at Kanun (the Centre for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults) for shaping him into a filmmaker.

He made his first feature, “The Report,” in 1977, just two years before the 1979 revolution that saw so many of his creative peers leave the country. Kiarostami, however, stayed and...

Recently we had the chance to speak about the changing face of branded entertainment with three movers and shakers in the field — Australian footwear company Ugg and filmmakers Martin Snyder and Laurent Briet. It was a fascinating conversation. See their short film Unplug, starring Jon Abrahams, Steve Olson, and Amanda Gorski here, and then let your mind run free with the possibilities in the exchange that follows below....

Missed Connections, the feature film debut of writer, director and producer Martin Snyder, takes on love in the time of technology—more specifically, in the Craigslist era. Set in a New York law office, the romantic comedy opens with I.T. guy Josh (Jon Abrahams) lamenting the fact that his longtime secret office crush, Lucy the lawyer (Mickey Sumner), is not only moving to the London office, but she’s also posted a “missed connections” online ad to find the dapper stranger she ran into (literally) in the firm’s revolving doors....

That chance encounter, or the moment of love at first sight -- these have been the familiar building blocks of romantic comedies for decades, not to mention that New York City is a common backdrop against which these stories can play out. And yet, both audiences and filmmakers remain drawn to these tales, eager to see two people overcome personal, professional and/or social pressures to find a fairytale ending. However, in a genre as well traveled as this, finding a fresh angle isn't easy, but co-writer and director Martin Snyder gives it a whirl with "Missed Connections." While the online/social media twist doesn't absolve the film's many cliches and questionable moral lesson, the committed performances do at least highlight some talented folks worth looking out for down the road. The central couple are straight out of the manual of the stock romantic comedy: Lucy (Mickey Sumner) is a frigid,...

With their tagline of "7 Premieres, 7 Parties" and festival line up filled with emerging directors, New York City's GenArt Film Festival feels like Tribeca's hip younger sibling. One of the seven films will win the festival's jury prize.  This year's festival jury will consist of director Jay Duplass, TV correspondent Ben Lyons, and Indiewire's very own Matt Singer. Each film featured in the festival has a night, and a party, all to themselves, allowing the filmmakers exclusive attention from the GenArt audiences.  The festival takes place from August 8th-14th. Tickets are still available through their website. Missed Connections Director: Martin Snyder (Comedy) In a city of 19 million people, love at first sight happens every instant. But if you fail to act in the moment, how can you find each other again? 'Missed Connections' is a dynamic, new independent comedy about the lengths New Yorkers will go to find love.

Following an introduction by Frank Sinatra, Doris Day salutes James Cagney, recipient of the AFI Life Achievement Award back in 1974. In her tribute, Day tells "Jimmy" that being with him again that evening was a "sentimental journey" adding that "I can’t help but wish we were starting out to do Love Me or Leave Me all over again." In that 1955 Charles Vidor musical-melodrama-(fictionalized) biopic of torch singer Ruth Etting, Day played the long-suffering Etting while Cagney was her knock-them-down, slap-them-around gangster-husband, Martin Snyder. "You don’t play a character. You live the character," Day tells "Jimmy." "You breathe life into your own performance." If that’s true, I’d say that Cagney must have been a scary companion throughout most of his career. In fact, Cagney frequently mistreated his on-screen gal pals — just ask The Public Enemy’s and Lady Killer’s Mae Clarke. For giving Day a...