News

It sounds like Toronto is the place to be this July, as The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that genre filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is set to host a lecture series called From Rabid to Skinamarink: Canadian Movie Madness at TIFF Lightbox from July 9 to 13!

As explained by THR, the curated showcase will see the maestro of monsters take audiences through a series of iconic genre pics like David Cronenberg’s sophomore feature Rabid (1977), Vincenzo Natali’s Cube (1997) and John Fawcett’s supernatural fright pic Ginger Snaps starring Katharine Isabelle (2000) to reveal and explain their horror genre beats. The Mexican director will also explain the mechanics of Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool (2008), and Kyle Edward Ball’s feature directorial debut, Skinamarink (2022) for their own visual and emotional impacts on audiences. Del Toro often works in Toronto and has previously hosted lecture series on Mexican cinema, Alfred Hitchcock films, and film noir.

November 2024, Criterion Channel is set to deliver an exceptional lineup of films that will excite cinephiles and casual viewers alike. The month promises a rich exploration of genres, featuring a strong selection of Coen Brothers classics such as Blood Simple (1984) and The Big Lebowski (1998), along with their more recent works like A Serious Man (2009) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Noir and crime enthusiasts will revel in an array of titles, including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Gilda (1946), and The Big Heat (1953), showcasing the genre’s iconic narratives and stylistic depth. International cinema also shines through with compelling French dramas like Fat Girl (2001) and Dheepan (2015), highlighting diverse storytelling from around the globe.

The lineup doesn’t shy away from classic drama, featuring timeless films like On the Waterfront (1954) and Seven Samurai (1954), which continue to resonate with contemporary audiences. Additionally, viewers can look forward to a variety of documentary and experimental films, including Wild Wheels...

With Janus possessing the much-needed restorations, Catherine Breillat is getting her biggest-ever spotlight in November’s Criterion Channel series spanning 1976’s A Real Young Girl to 2004’s Anatomy of Hell––just one of numerous retrospectives arriving next month. They’re also spotlighting Ida Lupino, directorial efforts of John Turturro (who also gets an “Adventures In Moviegoing”), the Coen brothers, and Jacques Audiard.

In a slightly more macroscopic view, Columbia Noir and a new edition of “Queersighting” ring in Noirvember. Gregg Araki’s Teen Apocalypse trilogy and Miller’s Crossing get Criterion Editions, while restorations of David Bowie-starrer The Linguini Incident, Med Hondo’s West Indies, and Dennis Hopper’s Out of the Blue make streaming debuts; and Kevin Jerome Everson’s Tonsler Park arrives just in time for another grim election day.

See the full list of titles arriving in November below:

36 fillette, Catherine Breillat, 1988

Anatomy of Hell, Catherine Breillat,...

May on the Criterion Channel will be good to the auteurs. In fact they’re giving Richard Linklater better treatment than the distributor of his last film, with a 13-title retrospective mixing usual suspects—the Before trilogy, Boyhood, Slacker—with some truly off the beaten track. There’s a few shorts I haven’t seen but most intriguing is Heads I Win/Tails You Lose, the only available description of which calls it a four-hour (!) piece “edited together by Richard Linklater in 1991 from film countdowns and tail leaders from films submitted to the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1990. It is Linklater’s tribute to the film countdown, used by many projectionists over the years to cue one reel of film after another when switching to another reel on another projector during projection.” Pair that with 2008’s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and your completionism will be on-track.

As horror fans know all too well, sometimes the most terrifying monsters are places: Riverdale (the town with pep that’s also the murder capital of the world), Hill House (whatever walks there walks alone), Twin Peaks, Salem’s Lot — atmospheric horror wreathes these landmarks and towns. There’s not one beast to eradicate, everything is infected.

Such is the case with the upcoming horror podcast Borrasca, which was created by The Haunting of Hill House writer Rebecca Klingel and stars Cole Sprouse, who plays Jughead in the dark, campy Archie Comics TV series Riverdale.

Guilt, gloom, weird nightmares of death and persecution — and romance? The wondrous Gail Russell brings a spark of life into Frank Borzage’s weird expressionist masterpiece produced at the seldom-artistic Republic Studio. The bitter, despairing Dane Clark has just committed what a jury will likely call first degree murder, but the night can offer atonement and forgiveness, if he’ll just listen to Russell’s good advice.

Moonrise

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 921

1948 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 8, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Dane Clark, Gail Russell, Ethel Barrymore, Allyn Joslyn, Rex Ingram, Henry Morgan, Lloyd Bridges, Selena Royle.

Cinematography: John L. Russell

Film Editor: Harry Keller

Original Music: William Lava

From the book by Theodore Strauss

Written and Produced by Charles Haas

Directed by Frank Borzage

Frank Borzage’s 1948 Moonrise is a critic’s delight, especially among aficionados that like to point out the artistic margins of traditional Hollywood filmmaking.

Wow! Fritz Lang's second western is a marvel -- a combo of matinee innocence and that old Germanic edict that character equals fate. It has a master's sense of color and design. Robert Young is an odd fit but Randolph Scott is nothing less than terrific. You'd think Lang was born on the Pecos. Western Union Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1941 / Color /1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date November 8, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Randolph Scott, Robert Young, Virginia Gilmore, Dean Jagger, John Carradine, Chill Wills, Slim Summerville, Barton MacLane, Victor Kilian, George Chandler, Chief John Big Tree, Iron Eyes Cody, Jay Silverheels. Cinematography Edward Cronjager, Allen M. Davey Original Music David Buttolph Written by Robert Carson from the novel by Zane Grey Produced by Harry Joe Brown (associate) Directed by Fritz Lang

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Darryl Zanuck of 20th Fox treated most writers well, was good for John Ford...

They outraged the authorities on release. But the two films, made before and during the second world war, are now considered classics – and will be re-released this month. Our critics consider their impact

Ryan Gilbey on Le Quai des Brumes

It's easy now to call Marcel Carné's Le Quai des Brumes a masterpiece. When the film was released in 1938, such a view was more contentious. In the wake of the collapse of France's Popular Front government, the film was seen as exacerbating the mood of despair creeping into the left. Jean Renoir labelled it "counter-revolutionary". The Motion Picture Herald concluded: "One will be sorry that such art and talents have been used for such a trite and sordid story, which includes not a decent or healthy character." The Vichy government denounced it as "immoral, depressing and detrimental to young people", and declared that if the war was lost, Le Quai des Brumes...

What's a film noir - or a horror movie? Their definitions are stretched as a marketing hook by some new themed releases.

Elia Kazan's "Boomerang!" (1947) is among three films released this week under the Fox Noir umbrella. Strictly speaking, this is not a stylized noir but one of a series of celebrated documentary-style thrillers produced by Louis de Rochemont.

Noir mainstay Dana Andrews ("Laura"), cast as a district attorney investigating the murder of a Connecticut priest, heads a fine cast including Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and...