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The "All in the Family" episode "Archie's Brief Encounter" initially aired as a one-hour special, as it dealt with some pretty heavy subject matter. Notably, it was the episode wherein it looked like Edith Bunker (Jean Stapleton) was going to leave her husband Archie (Carroll O'Connor) once and for all. Archie loves Edith, of course, but he has a selfish streak a mile wide, along with many, many other character flaws that require a lot of patience to withstand (although O'Connor himself was a stalwart union man). After its first airing, "Brief Encounter" was presented in two parts.

In the episode, Archie is feeling neglected by Edith, as she is putting in a lot of hours at Sunshine Home, the retirement home where she works. Then, one evening, Archie receives romantic attention from a waitress named Denise (Janis Paige). When Edith catches Archie flirting with Denise, she is incensed and heartbroken.

David Lean was born on March 25, 1908. The Oscar-winning director became famous for a series of visual striking, technically ambitious epics, but how many of those titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let's take a look back at all 16 of his films, ranked worst to best.

Lean cut his teeth as a film editor, cutting a number of prominent movies including "49th Parallel" (1941) and "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (1942) for his contemporary, Michael Powell. He transitioned into directing, working alongside acclaimed playwright Noel Coward with "In Which We Serve" (1942). The WWII Naval epic was a joint venture for the two, with Coward (who also wrote and starred) handling the acting scenes and Lean tackling the action sequences.

He earned his first Oscar nominations for writing and directing "Brief Encounter" (1945), a big screen version of Coward's play about two strangers (Trevor Howard and Best Actress nominee Celia Johnson) who...

Universal’s “Dog Man” barked its way to the top of the U.K. and Ireland box office this weekend, debuting with a commanding £3.2 million ($4 million), according to Comscore.

The family-friendly animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s best-selling book series proved to be a major draw, delivering one of the biggest opening weekends of the year so far.

Last week’s leader, Disney’s “A Complete Unknown,” slid to second place, adding $1 million in its fourth weekend. The Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan biopic has now reached $12.4 million. Also holding strong is Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which took third place with $869,889 in its eighth weekend. The prequel has now crossed $37.6 million, cementing itself as one of the highest-grossing family films of the season.

Trafalgar Releasing’s “Macbeth: David Tennant And Cush Jumbo,” the filmed stage production of Shakespeare’s tragedy climbed to fourth place with $858,637, bringing its total to $1.9 million.

Quick Links Clint Eastwood Coproduced The Brides of Madison Country With Kathleen Kennedy The Bridges of Madison Country Was Somewhat Against Type for Clint Eastwood The Bridges of Madison Country Earned a PG-13 Rating

1995's The Bridges of Madison County was a romantic drama film starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. The movie begins with two adult children going through the belongings of their mother (Streep) after her death. To their shock and surprise, they discover she had a short-lived love affair with a photographer (Eastwood) passing through town years before. What follows is a retrospective look back on the love story that unfolded between a small-town housewife rediscovering herself and a deep, albeit passing, connection between two people. The movie was based on a 1992 bestselling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller.

But it wasn't just the big talent of Streep and Eastwood that were involved in...

For a while, David Lean made films that could well be considered pretty lean, as far as their runtimes were concerned. He gradually earned his reputation as one of the best British filmmakers of all time, making some of the best and most timeless movies from the 1940s, his greatest effort here probably being Brief Encounter. A couple of his Charles Dickens adaptations are also worth noting, as he did a film adaptation of Great Expectations in 1946, and then one for Oliver Twist in 1948.

Screenis listing the 2024 release dates for films in the UK and Ireland in the calendar below.

For distributors who wish to add/amend a date on the calendar, please get in touch withScreenhere.Screenis also running a calendar for festival and market dates throughout 2025here.

January

Wednesday, January 1

Nosferatu(Universal),2073(Altitude),Vanangaan(DJ Tech),Game Changer(Dreamz),We Live In Time(Studiocanal)

Friday, January 3

Nickel Boys(Curzon),Rocco And His Brothers(BFI),Diabel(Magnetes)

Wednesday, January 8

A Real Pain(Disney)

Friday, January 10

Babygirl(Efd),The Girl With The Needle(Mubi),Maria(Studiocanal),The Damned(Vertical/Miracle),It’s Raining Men...

Courtesy of StudioCanal

by James Cameron-wilson

I think it’s fair to say that if you poll any film critic or historian and asked them what were the five most notable films to have come out of this country last century, they would count Brief Encounter, A Matter of Life and Death, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Lawrence of Arabia and The Third Man. As such then, it is always a welcome opportunity to return to any one of the gilded quintet, particularly if they have been painstakingly restored to their former glory, as well as top-loaded with reams of informative and educational bonus material, of which the extras here are an embarrassment of riches. In short, released to celebrate the film’s 75th anniversary as part of StudioCanal’s Vintage Classics Collection, this 4K Uhd package is a gift to film buffs: the picture quality is so sharp you can...

In the upcoming episode of The Art of Film with Ian Nathan, titled “David Lean in Black and White,” viewers will delve into the fascinating life and career of one of cinema’s most celebrated directors. Airing at 8:00 Pm on Thursday, 17 October 2024, this episode will explore how David Lean’s early films played a crucial role in shaping British cinema and culture.

Ian Nathan will take audiences on a journey through Lean’s formative works, highlighting the unique storytelling and cinematic techniques that defined his style. From classics like Brief Encounter to Great Expectations, Lean’s films are filled with emotional depth and visual splendor, making them timeless pieces of art. This exploration promises to shed light on the themes of Britishness that resonate throughout his body of work.

As viewers learn about Lean’s artistic vision and the impact of his films, they can expect to gain a...

Irish director John Crowley and his “We Live in Time” actor Andrew Garfield hosted the last of this year’s star-studded San Sebastian press conferences for their Official Selection player, which will close the 72nd edition of the festival this evening.

Also starring Florence Pugh, “We Live in Time,” written by acclaimed playwright Nick Payne (“The Crown”), is the time-twisted love story of Almut and Tobias. Through disordered snapshots of their life together, the two experience great joys like parenthood, meeting each other’s families, a marriage proposal, and life-changing tragedies such as divorce and a recurring ovarian cancer diagnosis. The couple learns through their shared memories to cherish each moment of the roundabout path their relationship has traveled.

During Saturday morning’s press conference, Garfield said he was in a contemplative place when Payne’s screenplay crossed his desk. “When I read [the script], I was in deep contemplation of the meaning of life.

This may not be a truth universally acknowledged, but I tend to find that one of the great pleasures in life is getting absolutely bodied by an unremarkable British weepy; in the right hands, a pair of overqualified actors, some very handsome cinematography, and just the right amount of stiff-upper-lip devastation in the face of life’s calamities might be all it takes for a movie to tap into your tear ducts like it’s drilling for oil. In that sense, “We Live in Time” is effectively “Brooklyn” director John Crowley’s “There Will Be Blood.” Which isn’t to say that his latest film dries you out with Daniel Plainview-like relish (this is the kind of love story whose power stems from the stifled catharsis of its sick restraint), only that it seizes on what its slightly pornographic sub-genre has done best since the days of “Brief Encounter”:...

Developers of the UK’s Marlow Film Studios are planning to appeal the rejection of planning permission of the £750m project, which counts Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, James Cameron and Paul Greengrass among its backers, with the team behind the studios “confident of the strength of our case”.

The plans for the studios, spearheaded by Robert Laycock, chief executive of Marlow Film Studios, were rejected in the wake of a campaign from Marlow residents, with local businesses displaying posters criticising the development.

The council rejected the project due to concerns over the impact on the local road network and the...

Greenwich Entertainment has acquired U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to “Mad About the Boy – The Noel Coward Story,” an intimate portrait of one of the 20th century’s greatest writers and wits.

Barnaby Thompson produced, wrote and directed the documentary about Coward, using unprecedented access to Coward’s estate. The film is told in his own words and music, using his diaries, photos and home movies, along with archival interviews with Coward and his contemporaries. Alan Cummings narrates and Rupert Everett voices Coward.

Coward was a popular and acclaimed playwright, actor, director, singer, songwriter and novelist. He wrote 60 plays, 500 songs, five screenplays, 14 films adapted from his plays, nine musicals, 300 poems, 21 short stories, two novels and three autobiographies. He also performed in over 70 plays and 12 movies.

But before he achieved fame, he grew up in poverty and left school when he was only nine years old. He was also covertly...

On Thursday 8 August 2024, Sky Arts broadcasts Classic Movies: The Story Of!

Classic Movies Season 2 Episode 1 Episode Summary

In this episode of “Classic Movies: The Story Of,” the focus is on the iconic film “Brief Encounter,” directed by David Lean. This 1945 masterpiece tells a poignant story of love and longing. It features Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard as two married individuals who meet by chance and find themselves drawn to each other in a way that feels both beautiful and tragic.

The episode will delve into the themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships. It will explore how Lean’s direction and the performances of Johnson and Howard create an emotional depth that resonates with many viewers. The program will also highlight the film’s significant moments and its impact on cinema.

Fans of classic films can look forward to insights into the making of “Brief Encounter,” along...

Few filmmakers have left a mark on cinema as formidable and consequential as Sir David Lean. Often regarded as one of the all-time greats, the English filmmaker is revered for iconic large-scale epics, including The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago, as well as intimate character studies like Brief Encounter and adaptations of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. With a career comprised of 16 feature films over four decades, Lean's legacy has influenced countless fellow filmmakers across generations, including icons Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee, and Steven Spielberg, among others.

Ironically, David Lean began his career helming smaller-scale enterprises, like the 1945 masterpiece Brief Encounter and the 1955 Katharine Hepburn star vehicle Summertime. Lean always carried a gift for working with actors, but he wasn't necessarily synonymous with productions as big as the silver screen itself. That all changed with the 1957 project The Bridge on the River Kwai, an acclaimed title following British prisoners-of-war who are forced to build a massive bridge. This expansive production dazzled moviegoers around the world, secured a Best Picture Oscar win, and solidified Lean as a go-to helmer of epics. From here, he’d go on to helm titles like Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago that reinforced his reputation as a master of grand spectacle.

To celebrate the release of a brand-new 4K restoration of director Carol Reed’s A Kid for Two Farthings, on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital from 26 February, we are giving away Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!

Starring Celia Johnson, Diana Dors, David Kossoff and Jonathan Ashmore in his sole acting role, the film is packed with memorable supporting characters including the affectionate Mrs Abramowitz (Irene Handl), blowsy fashionista Lady Ruby (Brenda de Banzie) crooked jewellery salesman Ice Berg (Sid James) and finicky tailor Madam Rita (Sydney Tafler).

In the vibrant Petticoat Lane community of East London, amidst the hustle and bustle of the ancient market, small shops and open-air vendors, Joe (Jonathan Ashmore) lives with his mother, Joanne (Celia Johnson) above the Kandinsky tailor shop, where Joanne also works.

Joe is innocently and earnestly determined to make the lives of his impoverished, hard-working neighbours better. Hearing Mr. Kandinsky (David Kossoff) tell a...

1960’s Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment has gone down in history as one of the best films Billy Wilder ever made, which is just a humble way of stating it’s one of the greatest films of all time. But none of that would have been possible if not for the unlikely film that inspired it: David Lean’s Brief Encounter. It’s a story so pure that its title was re-appropriated to define an entire genre and offers extraordinary insight into the melodramatic sensibilities of the director who gave us some of the most sweepingly epic, spectacle-filled movies ever made. Viewers of both will remember however that there’s hardly an ounce of humor to be found in Lean’s breakthrough classic, whereas The Apartment is overloaded with laughs, even if it concerns itself with calling out men with mistresses and the pain they put their lovers through.

She only has three solo directorial efforts under her belt, but Greta Gerwig has quickly become one of the most highly respected filmmakers working today. Her 2017 coming-of-age drama “Lady Bird” was an instant teen classic upon release, and her 2019 adaptation of “Little Women” received similar rapturous acclaim, becoming the definitive film version of the classic book.

And in July, after an agonizing three year wait and acting a lead role in partner Noah Baumbach’s “White Noise,” Gerwig came back to theaters as a director with one of the biggest films of the year. “Barbie” is a colorful studio comedy based on the classic dolls from Mattel, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the titular Barbie and her heartthrob Ken. (He’s just Ken!) And it’s smashing box office numbers

Gerwig perhaps isn’t the obvious director to choose for bringing the thematically thorny Barbie universe to cinemas; before “Lady Bird,...

“There is a word in Korean, in-yun. It means providence or fate,” explains Greta Lee’s Nora by a campfire in Past Lives before demurring that it’s “just something Koreans say to seduce someone.” It’s partially in jest to defuse some of the burgeoning sexual tension in the scene, but she captures a real sense that something about the concept got diluted as it moved from proverb to pick-up line. And playwright turned filmmaker Celine Song reclaims that lost magic throughout her tender and painstaking feature-length debut.

Song hails from New York’s off-Broadway scene, and her theatrical eye for detail in everything from character blocking to sound design translates effortlessly to the language of cinema. As it gently reveals the emotional tug of war between Nora’s long-lost childhood love from Korea (Teo Yeo’s Hae Sung) and her husband in New York (John Magaro’s Arthur...

In 2006, Aki Kaurismäki was asked what he felt young filmmakers lacked. His response was almost Cartesian: “Humility,” the director suggested, “Above all, it is necessary to forget oneself.” The Finnish auteur returns with Fallen Leaves, a charming, moving, bittersweet romance packed with all the lovely things we’ve come to associate with him after four decades. The locations and colors still come in admirable shades of mustard and pea soup––as do the characters and their moods. As a film, Fallen Leaves could hardly be simpler––two people living separate, lonesome lives meet and maybe fall in love––but there is beauty in that simplicity and, as ever, Kaurismäki’s characters live far richer inner lives.

Few filmmakers warm the soul with such economy: Fallen Leaves is funny, heartbreaking, and only 82 minutes long. Alma Pöysti stars as Ansa, a supermarket worker who loses her job when she’s caught pocketing an expired sandwich.

The very first winner of the Palme d’Or in 1955 was future Best Picture Oscar winner Marty, which starred Ernest Borgnine and Betsy Blair as two lonely middle-age adults beginning a tentative relationship in search of love. Before it was called the Palme d’Or, the top Cannes prize known then as the Grand Prix, went in 1946 at the festival’s beginning to David Lean’s Brief Encounter, also the story of two adults who meet by chance and get together.

Both of those Cannes Classics have something inherently in common with Aki Kaurismaki’s wonderful, wryly funny, and poignant new film, Fallen Leaves, which premiered today at Cannes, the latest Competition entry for the master Finnish filmmaker who was last in the run for the Palme d’Or with 2011’s equally great Le Havre. Despite several Eumenical prizes at the fest over the years, Kaurismaki only came close to...

Non-Londoners might think of the U.K. capital as a single city, the perceived interchangeability of its regions and locations evident in many a notionally London-set but geographically manic film where characters stroll from Chelsea Bridge to the heart of Soho in a matter of minutes. Residents know that its quadrants are so disparate as to be whole separate ecosystems, with the Thames River that separates north from south London a virtual equator running through the city.

Those who have toured the Big Smoke via the movies — in particular, the idealized, exportable London of Working Title trifles and “Paddington” pictures — are largely familiar with the most leafy, genteel streets of the north and west, with the increasingly bourgeois east lately getting a look-in. But the diverse, dynamic neighborhoods of the south have received less than their due on screen, which is where Raine Allen-Miller’s delightful romantic comedy “Rye Lane” aims to set things right.

From an emotional standpoint, romantic movies can have several different functions. On the happier end of the spectrum, they can produce feelings of joy, hope, and gratification. Then there are romances that are best described as tearjerkers, with endings that devastate more than delight. But there are also films that fall somewhere in between these two extremes, movies that feel both melancholic and joyful at the same time.

When picking a romantic film to watch, it's important to know what mood you're in -- or what mood you want to be in. With this list, I've compiled a group of films that fall somewhere on the spectrum between bittersweet and tragic. A few of these films have decidedly sad endings where no one ends up happy (or even alive), while others depict a romance that changed an individual's life for the better, regardless of its outcome. What's great about romance...

“These three films, they’re all masterful. They’re extraordinary films, and they’re actually quite different.” It’s mid-July in Switzerland and Todd Haynes is talking melodrama: “The three masterworks for me, and to see them at a festival like Locarno, which is very rare, are Written on The Wind, Imitation of Life, and All That Heaven Allows.” Perhaps more than even the cinema of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Todd Haynes’ films have so often intertwined with those of the late Douglas Sirk, a director whose peerless studio work from the 1940s and 1950s have been a rich source of aesthetic and emotional inspiration, most clearly seen in Haynes’ 2002 masterpiece Far From Heaven.

“Imitation of Life is a film of such remarkable resonance,” Haynes explains on a warm summer morning in the Hotel Belvedere. “I think its themes of race and pretending, of passing, and misperceptions of what you are and who you are,...

Across the wide open spaces of Iowa, a stranger rides into view of an isolated farmstead. The stranger is played by Clint Eastwood, but, unlike his Man With No Name or High Plains Drifter, he rides a pickup truck and uses a camera instead of a six-shooter to capture his targets.

While the blurb of Robert James Waller's bestseller "The Bridges of Madison County" makes it sound more like a modern day version of "Brief Encounter" than a western, there are elements of the story's Robert Kincaid -- a wandering, rootless photo journalist -- that made Eastwood first choice for the part.

Amblin Entertainment...

The post Clint Eastwood Borrowed From His Western Heroes While Directing The Bridges Of Madison County appeared first on /Film.

Anyone who has seen Joe Wright’s musical “Cyrano” will no doubt remember a scene late in the film, in which three anonymous soldiers sing a drum-backed ballad called “Wherever I Fall.” The five-minute sequence, about the message each man would like sent home before he dies, beautifully accentuates the classic story’s theme about the power of language in love.

But according to Wright, the scene required an extra bit of directorial cunning to ensure it wouldn’t be cut from the film.

“Due to circumstances with our filming location in Sicily – we were near Mt. Etna, which had just erupted – we had to reduce our number of shooting days and I had to make some strategic cuts in the script,” the director told TheWrap. “And the studio said, ‘Well, you should cut that song, because it doesn’t star the main cast and it doesn’t matter as much to the central plot.

Director Sidney J. Furie discusses his favorite films he’s watched and re-watched during quarantine with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Dr. Blood’s Coffin (1961)

The Ipcress File (1965) – Howard Rodman’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Appaloosa (1966)

The Naked Runner (1967)

Lady Sings The Blues (1972)

The Entity (1982) – Luca Gaudagnino’s trailer commentary

The Boys in Company C (1978)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

The Apartment (1960) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)

Twelve O’Clock High (1949)

A Place In The Sun (1951) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Out Of Africa (1985)

The Last Picture Show (1971) – Mark Pellington’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Annie Hall (1977)

The Bad And The Beautiful (1952)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

The Tender Bar...

Jack Hedley, who featured in films including James Bond’s For Your Eyes Only and Lawrence of Arabia, along with a string of UK TV hits, has died aged 92.

A note in today’s Times said Hedley, who was born Jack Hawkins, had died on December 11 after a “short illness bravely borne.” At Hedley’s request, there will be no funeral.

Hedley was born in London in 1929 and started appearing in films in the 1950s. He starred in the BBC series The World of Tim Frazer in the early 1960s and went on to feature in a number of films that decade, including Lawrence of Arabia, The Scarlet Blade, Witchcraft and The Secret of Blood Island (pictured).

He was to further make a name for himself many years later when he was cast as Sir Timothy Havelock in James Bond’s For Your Eyes Only, for which he also voiced Havelock’s Parrot.

The film will premiere in Directors’ Fortnight on Sunday July 11.

The cancellation of Cannes 2020 gave UK director Clio Barnard the chance to “finesse” her now 2021 selection Ali & Ava, which premieres in Directors Fortnight on Sunday July 11.

“It’s a very difficult secret to keep for an entire year,” laughed Barnard.

The writer-director used the time to make minor adjustments, principally in sound post-production. “It meant we had more time to perfect it,” she explained.

But the UK lockdown made it difficult for the London-based filmmaker to travel back to Bradford in northern England, where the film is set, to do the additional sound recordings.

by Cláudio Alves

Ever since I listened to Robert Altman's commentary track on the Gosford Park DVD, I've bristled at the idea that someone needs to be a certain age to enjoy a film. In that bonus feature, Altman mentions that Gosford Park has nothing to offer to fourteen-year-old boys, and they shouldn't get to watch it. As a fourteen-year-old boy for whom Gosford Park was a favorite, I felt personally attacked. A bit more than a decade later, I've grown less annoyed at such blanket statements about age and movie appreciation. As it turns out, there are films that can gain something when the audience seeing them is more mature. You may be asking yourself, what does this have to do with Brief Encounter or our 1946 celebration? Apologies for my long-windedness.

I'm trying to introduce a personal realization I had. While I might have loved Brief Encounter when I was a teen,...

“See You Then” sounds like a nostalgic, even ominous, title — and yes, Mari Walker’s debut feature is a bit of both. “See You Then” witnesses the get-together of two individuals — Kris (Pooya Mohseni), a tech woman who has recently undergone a gender transition, and Naomi (Lynn Chen), an artist who has unwillingly become a mother over the years. After spending the decade apart, the two ex-lovers catch up over dinner, drinks, and eventually a studio visit, ruminating upon what it means to be a woman.

Prior to the film’s official debut at SXSW’s Narrative Feature spotlight, we had the opportunity to talk to Mari over Zoom. Walker was so incredibly on her toes (perhaps this is because of the endless barrage of interviews?); for each question asked, she answered with stunning clarity and confidence. Though we only shared a brief encounter, we bounced around timely topics, including trans representation,...

By Omar Rasya Joenoes

The first shot of the film is that of a delicate hand stretched against a grey backdrop. It is then joined by another, slightly larger hand, which feels and leaves it. The hand then lowers itself and lands on the shoulder of a man to reveal that we are watching a lovemaking session between a beautiful woman and a younger man. In contrast, the final shot of the film shows the same woman’s face at the end of a train car as the vehicle enters a tunnel, swallowing her image whole until there is nothing left to see but the dark. Between the hotel room and the train ride, we are made to witness adultery, blackmail, nude modeling, film shooting, and possibly even murder attempt.

The woman, whose story is the focal point of this photoplay, is called Mizuki Miyako (portrayed by the gorgeous Mariko Okada...

From the people that brought you Pandemic Parade chapters 1-8, comes yet another thrilling episode featuring Jesse V. Johnson, Casper Kelly, Fred Dekker, Don Coscarelli, Daniel Noah, Elijah Wood and Blaire Bercy.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Wondrous Story of Birth a.k.a. The Birth of Triplets (1950)

Contagion (2011)

The Omega Man (1971)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

The Last Man On Earth (1964)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Innerspace (1987)

The Howling (1981)

The Invisible Man (2020)

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

Where Eagles Dare (1969)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Goldfinger (1964)

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)

Murder On The Orient Express (1974)

Dr. No (1962)

From Russia With Love (1963)

Bellman and True (1987)

Brimstone and Treacle (1982)

Richard III (1995)

Titanic (1997)

Catch 22 (1970)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)

The Graduate (1967)

1941 (1979)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Jaws (1975)

The Fortune (1975)

Carnal Knowledge (1970)

Manhattan...

With this year’s festival called off, a trawl through past winners of the Palme d’Or yields streaming gems from Brief Encounter to Blow-Up, The Leopard to The Square

Bring out your tiniest violins: in a normal year I’d be writing this column from the balmy French Riviera, with a glass of rosé at my side, amid the annual Cannes film festival. That, of course, has all been called off. For the first time since the second world war – not counting the time things shut down halfway through amid the May ’68 movement – the festival has admitted no Cannes do.

A year without Cannes leaves the arthouse release schedule a bit disoriented: traditionally, UK distributors pick over the festival’s highlights for the next year and beyond. Through the miracle of streaming, however, you can curate your own festival of past Palmes d’Or to treasure.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

Alice (Josephine Mackerras)

It makes no sense. The night before saw Alice Ferrand’s (Emilie Piponnier) husband François (Martin Swabey) going out of his way to passionately make-out with her in front of their friends at a dinner party and now he won’t answer her calls. Despite his running out of the house earlier than usual without any explanation, however, there’s nothing to make her think something is wrong until a trip to the drugstore exposes a freeze on their finances. One credit card won’t work. Then another. The Atm won’t accept her sign-in and François still isn’t picking up his phone.

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“A British Right Stuff”

By Raymond Benson

There exists a period in the career of the great David Lean in which several of his pictures are today more or less forgotten, especially in the U.S. After the one-two double punch of Brief Encounter and Great Expectations in the mid-40s, Lean directed several pictures that were less than stellar in terms of popularity and critical acclaim before he hit a spectacular stride with Hobson’s Choice, Summertime, and The Bridge on the River Kwai in the mid-50s.

Nestled neatly in this middle period is The Sound Barrier (titled Breaking the Sound Barrier in the U.S.), released in 1952. Despite doing very decent box office on both sides of the Atlantic, the film isn’t one that comes to mind when considering Lean’s genius.

It's the story of how the sound barrier...

Would David Lean’s epic Russian-revolution romance stir my heart or leave me stone-cold? Well, all the balalaikas set my teeth on edge from the start

See the other classic missed films in this seriesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation

Doctor Zhivago barely figured on my radar at a time when I was more interested in James Bond and the Beatles than romance, and I never caught up with it. A Passage to India, the first David Lean film I saw on a big screen, featured Alec Guinness in blackface, which was enough to put anyone off. I liked Brief Encounter and Lean’s Dickens adaptations, and a late-1980s screening of Lawrence of Arabia in 70mm was, of course, stunning, but I’d never been chomping at the bit to fill in those Lean gaps in my viewing.

Related: Doctor Zhivago: No 20 best romantic film of all time

Continue reading.

Don’t do it Vittorio! The Italian master’s last neorealist project was done ‘in collaboration’ with American producer David O. Selznick, who proceeded to crowbar his way into every directorial decision. The resulting ‘creative differences’ spoiled Signor De Sica’s Italian version, but that wasn’t enough. Selznick put it through a sausage machine for the American release, which is almost half an hour shorter. Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift are excellent in both versions, but De Sica’s is far superior — and studying the differences tells why the first demand of powerful directors is to retain final cut. The presentation offers both full films, plus the short subject Selznick added to bring his version up to minimal feature length.

Terminal Station & Indiscretion of an American Wife

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 89 + 72 min. / Street Date March 31, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift,...

Actors sometimes complain about being typecast, but it’s a fact of life for anyone in entertainment. John Ford is usually labeled a director of Westerns, despite “The Grapes of Wrath” and “Mister Roberts.” David Lean is known for his epics, but he also directed “Brief Encounter” and “Summertime.” Vincente Minnelli? The director of musicals, overlooking “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “Lust for Life” and “Some Came Running.”

Martin Scorsese in the past year has often been described as the director of gangster films, even though that genre represents only five of his 25 narrative films, or roughly 15% of his work, if you add in documentaries.

Scorsese is also typecast as one who makes male-oriented films. This ignores that his breakthrough “Mean Streets,” was bookended by two women-driven films: “Boxcar Bertha” (1972) and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1974). The latter film won Ellen Burstyn the Oscar; Scorsese has also directed nine other...

David Lean would’ve celebrated his 111th birthday on March 25, 2019. The Oscar-winning director became famous for a series of visual striking, technically ambitious epics, but how many of those titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at all 16 of his films, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1908, Lean cut his teeth as a film editor, cutting a number of prominent movies including “49th Parallel” (1941) and “One of Our Aircraft Is Missing” (1942) for his contemporary, Michael Powell. He transitioned into directing, working alongside acclaimed playwright Noel Coward with “In Which We Serve” (1942). The WWII Naval epic was a joint venture for the two, with Coward (who also wrote and starred) handling the acting scenes and Lean tackling the action sequences.

SEEOscar Best Director Gallery: Every Winner In Academy Award History

He earned his first Oscar nominations for writing and directing “Brief Encounter” (1945), a big...

Sixty years on, the big-screen adaptation of the landmark play looks more conservative than revolutionary but Burton’s firepower is undimmed

John Osborne’s theatre of cruelty and misery exploded on to the English stage in 1956. Look Back in Anger was adapted for the movie screen three years later by veteran writer and Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale and directed by Tony Richardson. It now has a cinema rerelease, and maybe what it reminded me of right away was Robert Hamer’s It Always Rains on Sunday. In this film, it always seems to be Sunday, and it’s raining. The sheer choking sadness of the postwar British Sabbath is what comes across here most immediately – its meteorology of gloom. There’s nothing to do but feel listless and angry and read the raucous but somehow insidiously depressing Sunday newspapers. And the nastiness and casual racism of 1950s Britain is exposed...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” is slowly rolling out to press and guild members ahead of its Christmas release. Following the drama’s first screening in Los Angeles on November 24, “Phantom Thread” arrived in New York City on Sunday, November 26, complete with a rare appearance from star Daniel Day-Lewis. The three-time Oscar winner joined Anderson and co-stars Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville to discuss his new movie, which his representative says marks his final film performance before retirement.

Read More:First ‘Phantom Thread’ Screening: Paul Thomas Anderson Had More Fittings Than Shooting Days, Lesley Manville Says

To the surprise of no one, Day-Lewis revealed he extensively researched numerous fashion designers to get into the character of Reynolds Woodcock, a renowned dressmaker who designs gowns for high society women. Original rumors suggested Woodcock was based on designer Charles James, though the actor refuted the notion. “As fascinating as his life was,...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. David Lean's Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952) is playing October 14 - November 13, 2017 on Mubi in the United States.John (J.R.) Ridgefield is a man possessed. The wealthy and influential aircraft industrialist is consumed by his desire to manufacture a plane capable of penetrating the inscrutable sound barrier. This supersonic obsession is a blessing and a curse for the Ridgefield family, providing their ample fortune and triggering largely latent rifts in their ancestral relations. It’s an opposition at the heart and soul of David Lean’s 1952 film The Sound Barrier, a post-war endorsement of British ingenuity and determination, and an emotional, blazing depiction of sacrifice and scientific achievement. The opening of The Sound Barrier (also known as Sound Barrier and Breaking the Sound Barrier), spotlights Philip Peel (John Justin), one of the film’s principal test pilots. In just under two minutes,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Carol (Todd Haynes)

From the first note of Carter Burwell‘s magnificent score and opening shot of Edward Lachman’s ravishing cinematography — introducing a Brief Encounter-esque opening bookend — Todd Haynes transports one to an intoxicating world of first love and its requisite heartbreak. Carol excels at being many things: a romantic drama; a coming-of-age story; an exploration of family dynamics and social constructs of the time; an acting...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Berlin Syndrome (Cate Shortland)

While the recent 10 Cloverfield Lane and Room told stories of captivity with various hooks — science-fiction and the process of healing, respectively — Cate Shortland’s approach in her latest, harrowing drama Berlin Syndrome makes room for more nuance and depth. Locked in a Berlin apartment, there is little hope for our protagonist for nearly the entire runtime. And while some of the story’s turns can feel overtly manipulative,...

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)

The lineup for Cannes 2017 has finally been announced, and it’s a doozy. From the inevitable return of Michael Haneke to the shocking inclusion of television (albeit television from celebrated Cannes alumni David Lynch and Jane Campion), the 70th edition of the world’s most prestigious film festival promises to have something for everyone.

We asked our panel of critics to name the Cannes premiere they’re most excited to see, and their answers were unsurprisingly all over the map.

April Wolfe (@awolfeful), La Weekly

Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here.”

My stomach knots are finally unraveling knowing that Ramsay’s about to unleash another...

In Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women,” actresses reign supreme. Starring Annette Bening as Dorothea — based on Mills’ own forward-thinking mom — and Elle Fanning as the girl next door who enchants teenage Mills surrogate Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), the lightly autobiographical film is packed with big turns from some of our hardest-working leading ladies, though it’s Greta Gerwig who emerges with some of her best work ever.

As Abbie, the punk-loving photographer tenant who lives just down the hall from Jamie in his and Dorothea’s groovy Santa Barbara home, Gerwig gets the chance to show off her trademark charm and effervescence, with a healthy dose of pathos and emotion. As quirky and fun-loving as Abbie is — and she is! she teaches Jamie about music and dancing and being himself! — Gerwig taps into the character’s darker side with apparent ease.

Read More: IndieWire Awards Spotlight: Welcome to Our 2016-...

I’ve been back from my Oregon vacation for a couple of weeks now, and though the getaway was a good and necessary one, I’m still in the process of mentally unpacking from a week and a half of relaxing and thinking mostly only about things I wanted to think about. (I also discovered a blackberry cider brewed in the region, the source of a specific sort of relaxation that I’m still finding myself pining for.) It hasn’t helped that our time off and immediate time back coincided with the bombast and general insanity of the Republic National Convention, followed immediately by the disarray and sense of restored hope that bookended the Democrats’ week-long party. The extremity of emotions engendered by those two events, coupled with a profoundly unsettling worry over the base level of our current political discourse and where it may lead this country, hasn...

Some of Hollywood’s best love stories are the ones that never pan out. From Casablanca to Titanic to Brokeback Mountain, we can’t get enough of lovers who are never meant to be together.

In director David Lean’s 1945 masterpiece Brief Encounter it’s placid housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) and married doctor Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard) who spark up a romance in a dreary train station. Their chemistry is immediate, and we desperately want them to run off together, but their deep-rooted goodness and middle-class British morals hold them back.

Brief Encounter reminds us that love doesn’t always lead to happiness and all we can do is cherish the heartbreak.

Brief Encounter screens as part of Cineplex’s Classic Film Series on June 19th, 22nd and 27th. Go to Cineplex.com/Events for times and locations.

In this episode of CriterionCast Chronicles, Ryan is joined by David Blakeslee, Scott Nye, Aaron West, and Mark Hurne to discuss the Criterion Collection releases for April 2016.

Links The April 2016 Criterion Collection line-up The Newsstand – Episode 52 Only Angels Have Wings Only Angels Have Wings (1939) The Art of Francesco Francavilla Amazon.com: Only Angels Have Wings Blu-ray.com: Only Angels Have Wings Barcelona Barcelona (1994) Pierre Le-Tan Amazon.com: Barcelona Blu-ray.com: Barcelona A Whit Stillman Trilogy A Whit Stillman Trilogy: Metropolitan, Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco Amazon.com: A Whit Stillman Trilogy The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew and Associates The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates () F Ron Miller Design Blu-ray.com: The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew and Associates Amazon.com: The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates Phoenix Phoenix (2014) Nessim Higson Amazon.com: Phoenix Phoenix Blu-ray Brief Encounter Brief Encounter (1945) Brief Encounter on iTunes David Lean Directs Noël Coward Essential Art House,...