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New York icon Martin Scorsese is revealing his go-to films set in the Big Apple.

The auteur curated the screening series “Living, Breathing New York” for the Roxy Cinema, which features screenings of four of his favorite NYC movies out of a full list of Scorsese’s 32 favorite New York movies he’s created and which IndieWire is proud to share below.

“Living, Breathing New York” is curated by Scorsese in celebration of the new release of Olmo Schnabel’s NYC-set thriller, “Pet Shop Days,” which Scorsese executive produced. The film premieres March 15 at the Roxy Cinema in New York, and stars Dario Yazbek Bernal and Jack Irv as two lovers whose whirlwind romance sends them down a rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld. Willem Dafoe (who starred in Olmo Schnabel‘s father Julian Schnabel’s Vincent Van Gogh biopic “At Eternity’s Gate”), Emmanuelle Seigner, Peter Sarsgaard,...

February is a time for lovers. Romance, as well as the hope to find it are abound and what better place to seek it out than at your local repertory cinema. Sure, a dark theater full of strangers may seem like an odd space for finding a potential suitor, but who knows what can happen at the concession stand or under the marquee? One thing’s for sure: There’s nothing quite like the allure of the big screen.

This month’s offerings across New York and Los Angeles feature a whole host of fare designed to fill audience’s hearts, not just in the sense of discovering love, but also reaching to the soul. Starting January 31 and running through March 5, Film at Lincoln Center will be hosting a career retrospective titled “Frederick Wiseman: An American Institution” that is sure to envelop newcomers to the documentarian’s hypnotic work, as well as longtime fans.

Film Noir is a classic film genre that has provided a blueprint for many modern-day crime thrillers and mystery movies. Everything from Se7en to Prisoners and Drive owes much of their aesthetic and cinematic language to Hollywood's highly stylized genre that typically paints its pictures in stunning black-and-white photography and composes a grim picture of a corrupt society while exploring moral conflicts through characters caught up in a current of social upheaval.

Born out of a blend of American crime dramas, French poetic realism, and German Expressionist cinema, film noir began in 1940. It produced some of Hollywood's most enthralling movies until the late 1950s when Neo-Noir began to reinterpret and expand upon the genre's original conventions (and lead to such classics as Blade Runner and Mulholland Drive). For this list, we'll be sticking to the mid-20th-century films that adhered to the original ideals, creating some of the most atmospheric and gritty pictures ever made.

The character of Chief Miles O'Brien first appeared in the pilot episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Encounter at Farpoint". Throughout the show's first season, Chief O'Brien would appear mostly in the Enterprise's transporter room, tasked with beaming the Enterprise crew up and down from dangerous away missions. As the show progressed, O'Brien was allowed to speak up more and more. By the show's fourth season, O'Brien would marry his sweetheart Keiko (Rosalind Chao), become possessed by an alien criminal, and reveal long-lasting Ptsd. All told, O'Brien was in 52 episodes of "Next Generation" before becoming a regular cast member of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," affording him 160 additional episodes.

O'Brien was played by reliable Irish actor Colm Meany, star of John Houston's "The Dead," "Dick Tracy," and "The Commitments" (and its sequels). He was a hard worker, and during his 12-year stint on "Star Trek," appeared in 23 feature films.

GTA 6 is arguably the most anticipated game right now. Rockstar’s GTA series has been dominating the gaming space for a while now, and the same is expected from the next installment. While Rockstar has promised to deliver crème de la crème with GTA 6, one thing they certainly need to do is to include single-player Dlc for the game.

The last Rockstar game to receive a single-player Dlc was L.A. Noire, more than 13 years ago. Even heavy hitters such as RDR2 or GTA 5 did not get any single-player Dlc, which begs the question of whether Rockstar is going to break the trend and go back to the roots of what made the franchise great.

A Single-Player Dlc Will Only Add To The Appeal Of GTA 6 L.A. Noire was the last Rockstar game to receive a single-player Dlc

It’s no surprise that Rockstar has pivoted away from single-play...

The Janus-headed The Facts of Murder looks back to the earlier neorealist docudramas of director, co-writer, and star Pietro Germi, while also presaging the sharply observed satirical outlook of films like Divorce Italian Style and Seduced and Abandoned. In the film, the comedic elements are mostly limited to the broad, almost caricatural handling of bumbling secondary characters. The primary storyline, involving an investigation into two ostensibly related crimes, is handled more like a police procedural along the lines of Jules Dassin’s The Naked City, albeit without that film’s authoritative narration.

The Facts of Murder’s central location is an apartment block. Quickly sketching in a number of characters and their relationships in the aftermath of the opening burglary, the film codes the victim, Commendatore Anzaloni (Ildebrando Santafe), as gay, and it’s suggested that the criminal might’ve been one of his pickups. But the focus of...

Explore where to stream the best films of 2023.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Drylongso (Cauleen Smith)

Writer-director Cauleen Smith made Drylongso when she was in college, 25 years ago, premiering at Sundance in 1998. She has gone on to create dozens of short films, art installations, and more experimental work, focused on similar themes of feminism, racial violence, and Black communities. The low-key hangout movie should have been a stepping stone for Smith, but, as with many other works by Black female filmmaking of the last half-century, it fell out of circulation. – Michael F. (full interview)

Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel

Fingernails (Christos Nikou)

Is love quantifiable? No, but that doesn’t stop Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou from exploring that question over two dull, excruciating hours in Fingernails,...

The first film in Fernando Di Leo’s so-called Milieu trilogy, Caliber 9 explores the criminal underbelly of Milan, a city more typically associated with the modish institutions of high finance and haute couture. The film’s full Italian title, Milan Caliber 9, emphasizes the centrality of location, while also referring to a collection of stories by crime writer Giorgio Scerbanenco, several of which Di Leo loosely adapted for the film. Generically, Caliber 9 is a fascinating mashup of the gritty poliziotteschi genre and stylish neo-noirs in the vein of Jean-Pierre Melville. Its tight-lipped protagonist certainly seems patterned after Alain Delon’s buttoned-down hitman in Le Samouraï, right down to the brown trench coat.

Di Leo’s film opens with a brilliantly executed pre-credits sequence that details a laundered currency handoff gone wrong, as well as the mob’s violent reprisals, along the way providing a handy cross-section of Milan’s criminal demimonde,...

There’s always somebody new in the rat race trenches whose motto is ‘how to make friends and deceive people.’ Howard Duff’s photographer uses his camera to extort money from criminals while polishing his image as a grabber of Pulitzer-worthy news photos. But how long can he maintain his charade with mobsters Brian Donlevy and Lawrence Tierney, and how soon will his kissing partners Peggy Dow and Anne Vernon see through his lies? This efficient noir was the first feature directing job from the prolific Joe Pevney.

Shakedown

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1950 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 80 min. / Street Date March 29, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Howard Duff, Brian Donlevy, Peggy Dow, Lawrence Tierney, Bruce Bennett, Anne Vernon, Peter Virgo, Charles Sherlock, Rock Hudson, Roy Engel, Gregg Martell, Joseph Pevney.

Cinematography: Irving Glassberg

Art Director: Robert Clatworthy, Bernard Herzbrun

Film Editor: Milton Carruth

Music director: Joseph Gershenson

Screenplay by Alfred Lewis Levitt,...

The Good Fight is bringing another Good Wife alum into the mix.

TV Line reports that Alan Cumming will appear in the Paramount+ spinoff as Eli.

The stint will span two episodes, and focuses on Eli helping his daughter, Marissa, is now a full-fledged lawyer.

Fans have been clamoring for Cummings to step over to the spinoff ever since it was announced the spinoff had been ordered.

Eli is a fan favorite, and it will be fun to check back in with him after all these years.

He will also be reunited with many of his former allies, which should make for good TV.

News of the surprising arrival comes following the exciting announcement that Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Andre Braugher had joined the cast in the role of Ri'Chard Lane.

He is described as "a showman lawyer and rainmaker who is forced on Liz as a new name partner."

"A force of nature,...

The Good Fight is adding another award-winning star to its Season 6 cast.

Paramount+ announced this week that André Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) will join the upcoming sixth season of the critically acclaimed drama.

What's more, the series is now set to return in the summer.

Braugher will star as Ri'Chard Lane, a showman lawyer and rainmaker who is forced on Liz as a new name partner.

A force of nature, Ri'Chard is a wild mix of brilliance, geniality, religion and joyful hedonism.

In short, he's a handful.

"Our dream of an actor is always someone who can mix comedy and drama equally, and André Braugher is exactly that," said Robert and Michelle King, series co-creators, showrunners and executive producers.

"His work on 'Men of a Certain Age,' 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 'Homicide' has been amazing and funny. We're ecstatic that he finally has time in his schedule to come play.

André Braugher, perhaps best known for playing Captain Raymond Holt in the popular sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is set to join the upcoming sixth season of Paramount+‘s The Good Fight. As first reported by Deadline, Braugher will star as showman lawyer and rainmaker Ri’Chard Lane in the legal drama. Described as a “wild mix of brilliance, geniality, religion and joyful hedonism,” Ri’Chard is forced on Liz (Audra McDonald) as a new name partner. “Our dream of an actor is always someone who can mix comedy and drama equally, and André Braugher is exactly that,” said The Good Fight co-creators and showrunners Robert and Michelle King (via Deadline). “His work on Men of a Certain Age, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Homicide has been amazing and funny. We’re ecstatic that he finally has time in his schedule to come play.” Braugher recently became available after an eight-season run on Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Fresh off his eight-season run on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Andre Braugher has copped a series-regular gig on Season 6 of The Good Fight.

The Emmy winner joins the Paramount+ legal drama as Ri’Chard Lane, a showman lawyer and rainmaker who is forced on Liz (Audra McDonald) as a new name partner. A force of nature, Ri’Chard is “a wild mix of brilliance, geniality, religion and joyful hedonism. In short, he’s a handful.”

More from TVLineThe Good Fight Intended to Break Up Diane and Kurt — Here's Why Their Divorce Was Ultimately Called OffThe Good Fight's Sarah Steele Reflects on Her Slow,...

Exclusive: The Good Fight is getting another high-profile cast addition. Emmy winner André Braugher, coming off an eight-season run on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, is set as a series regular in the upcoming sixth season of the Paramount+ legal drama. Now in production, The Good Fight is set to return this summer on the streaming service.

Homicide alum Braugher will star as Ri’Chard Lane, a showman lawyer and rainmaker who is forced on Liz as a new name partner. A force of nature, Ri’Chard is a wild mix of brilliance, geniality, religion and joyful hedonism. In short, he’s a handful. (See first-look images of Braugher in character below)

“Our dream of an actor is always someone who can mix comedy and drama equally, and André Braugher is exactly that,” said Robert and Michelle King, series co-creators, showrunners and executive producers. “His work on Men of a Certain Age, Brooklyn Nine-Nine...

If you have to name One movie that’s not likely to ever be screened in a prison, this one’s a good bet. In his sophomore starring outing Burt Lancaster leads a group of rebel convicts on a do-or-die bust-out against Hume Cronyn’s utter Nazi of a warden Captain. Richard Brooks’ script and Jules Dassin’s direction don’t sugarcoat the sadistic goings-on and producer Mark Hellinger pushed the result through the Production Code office. Sure, sure, plenty of noirs are violent … but this one must have been quite a head-spinner in ’47.

Brute Force

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 383

1947 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 98 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 8, 2020 / 39.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo, Ann Blyth, Ella Raines, Anita Colby, Sam Levene, Jeff Corey, John Hoyt, Jack Overman, Roman Bohnen, Sir Lancelot, Howard Duff, Art Smith, Whit Bissell.

Cinematography: William Daniels...

News broke September 12 that HBO was nearing a pilot order for a new “Game of Thrones” prequel series from George R.R. Martin and “Colony” showrunner Ryan Condal. A pilot order would mean HBO would produce the show’s first episode and then determine whether or not to move ahead with a full series. The announcement brings the total number of “Game of Thrones” prequels in development to two, which is both exciting and worrying fans of Martin’s blockbuster fantasy series. Is two “Thrones” prequels too many?

Martin recently took to his blog to assure “Thrones” fans that there is enough material in his “Song of Fire and Ice” universe to create prequels that will be unique and feel fresh from one another. “Huge continents, ten thousand years of history, cities, deserts, oceans, mysteries, triumphs and tragedies,” Martin wrote. “If there were indeed eight million stories in The Naked City in the 50s,...

Where better than New York City to make a structuralist film? Cities are iterative, their street grids diagrams of theme and variation, and New York most of all—with its streets and avenues named for numbers and letters and states and cities and presidents and Revolutionary War generals spanning an archipelago, intersecting at a million little data points at which to measure class, race, culture, history, architecture and infrastructure. And time, too—from this human density emerge daily and seasonal rituals, a set of biorhythms, reliable as the earth’s, against which to mark gradual shifts and momentary fashions. Summer is for lounging on fire escapes, always, and, today, for Mister Softee. Yesterday it was shaved ice. Tomorrow, who knows?

In The Hottest August, Brett Story, the cultural geographer who made The Prison in Twelve Landscapes, attempts something a little like Akerman’s News from Home, schlepping a camera across...

“There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.” This line, which closes film noir classic “The Naked City,” would fit comfortably among the dialogue of Arnaud Desplechin’s latest work, “Oh Mercy!,” making its debut in the Official Competition of the Cannes Film Festival. Best known for his unwieldy family dramas, the film is a genre swerve for Desplechin.

Continue reading ‘Oh Mercy!’: Arnaud Desplechin Tackles The Crime Genre With Léa Seydoux & Sara Forestier [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

Hating the Oscars. Hardly an original pursuit—the act itself has a storied history—though certainly an irresistible one. No less a figure than George C. Scott, Academy Award winner for the title role in Patton (1970), memorably dubbed it “the two-hour meat parade.”At that special time each year, having reliably tuned out that months-long drone of speculation from the movie pundits, again one must ask: can I summon up the wherewithal to engage with the scandals du jour, the snubs, the demographic shifts, the sneering wit of the hosts, or, even worse, to ignore it all completely? Raymond Chandler, as true a cynic as did ever put pen to paper, hated them well and hated them early in his report from the 1948 ceremony:“If you can go past those awful idiot faces on the bleachers outside the theater without a sense of the collapse of the human intelligence; if...

One of the most reliable predictors of the Best Picture winner at the Oscars has been the Best Film Editing category. Only 10 films have taken home the big prize without at least contending for cutting since that category was introduced at the seventh Academy Awards in 1934.

Of this year’s eight Best Picture nominees, “Black Panther,” “Roma” and “A Star is Born” did not make the cut for Best Film Editing at the Oscars. In the hunt for that award are five of their Best Picture rivals: “BlacKkKlansman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book” and “Vice.”

The most recent film to defy this stat was “Birdman” three years ago; it did contend at the film editors guild awards for its seemingly seamless scenes. While “Black Panther” was snubbed by the guild, both “Roma” and “A Star is Born” number among the five nominees for best edited drama at the Ace Eddie Awards alongside “BlacKkKlansman,...

Non-FictionThe programme for the 2018 edition of the Venice Film Festival has been unveiled, and includes new films from Tsai Ming-liang, Frederick Wiseman, Sergei Loznitsa, Olivier Assayas, the Coen Brothers, and many more.COMPETITIONFirst Man (Damien Chazelle)The Mountain (Rick Alverson)Non-Fiction (Olivier Assayas)The Sisters Brothers (Jacques Audiard)The Ballad of Buster ScruggsVox Lux (Brady Corbet)Roma (Alfonso Cuarón)22 July (Paul Greengrass)Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino)Werk ohne autor (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck)The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent)The Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)Peterloo (Mike Leigh)Capri-revolution (Mario Martone)What You Gonna Do When the World's On Fire? (Roberto Minervini)Sunset (László Nemes)Frères ennemis (David Oeloffen)Where Life is Born (Carlos Reygadas)At Eternity's Gate (Julian Schnabel)Acusada (Gonzalo Tobal)Killing (Shinya Tsukamoto)Out Of COMPETITIONFeaturesThe Other Side of the Wind (Orson Welles)They'll Love Me When I'm Dead (Morgan Neville)L'amica geniale (Saverio Costanzo)Il diario di angela - noi...

The Venice Film Festival is celebrating its 75th year in 2018 with a star-studded lineup that includes world premieres from Damien Chazelle, Bradley Cooper, Luca Guadagnino, and Alfonso Cuarón. The festival takes place August 29 to September 8 and marks the official kickoff of the 2018 fall awards season.

As has been previously announced, Damien Chazelle will open the festival with the world premiere of “First Man.” The space race drama stars Chazelle’s “La La Land” Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong and recounts the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The world premiere will be Chazelle’s second Venice opener after “La La Land.” Also confirmed prior to the announcement lineup was Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born,” which marks the actor’s directorial debut.

Check out the full lineup for the 2018 Venice Film Festival below. This year’s competition jury is led by Guillermo del Toro, who won the...

Found: a must-see Film noir in all its brutal glory, restored to a level of quality not seen in years. Anthony Mann and John Alton made their reputations with ninety minutes of chiaroscuro heaven — it’s one of the best-looking noirs ever. With extras produced by Alan K. Rode.

T-Men

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / Special Edition / 92 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.99

Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, June Lockhart, Keefe Brasselle, James Seay, Tito Vuolo, John Newland, Reed Hadley.

Cinematography: John Alton

Film Editor: Fred Allen

Original Music: Paul Sawtell

Written by John C. Higgins, story Virginia Kellogg

Produced by Aubrey Schenck, Edward Small

Directed by Anthony Mann

Wow — I’ve seen T-Men many times, but never like this. It’s always listed as a significant success, a trend-starter, a career-launcher, but only...

Sol Negrin, five-time Emmy-nominated cinematographer, best known for his work on Kojak (1974-77) and St. Elsewhere (1982), died on March 20, Icg confirmed today. He was 88. Born in New York City, after planning to become a naval architect, he decided to pursue his love for photography in the movie industry, starting as a camera assistant from 1948 to 1960. Negrin then became a camera operator on the TV series The Naked City, The Defenders, Car 54, Where Are You? and The P…...

This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards

Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...

It’s unlikely that you want another person who’ll describe the virtues of Out of the Past, Double Indemnity, Touch of Evil, The Maltese Falcon, Laura, The Third Man, The Naked City — which, while great, are the film noir to which we’re most accustomed. And the most rudimentary French-language knowledge will key us in to the fact that those wholly American (or wholly America-seeming) pictures find root in a cinematic tradition we don’t often turn to for dark, twisty stories of intrigue and deceit.

Let’s expand our noir knowledge, then, with a new video essay by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin that, until the end, elides direct name-checking and instead favors palettes that don’t feel so foreign after all. In an article written for BFI, who are hosting a French noir festival this month, the team explain that these works nevertheless stand apart from...

A special edition of this confirmed '70s crowd pleaser?  I'm there. Robert Shaw has big plans to hijack a New York subway car, and subway cop Walter Matthau is determined to stop him. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three 42nd Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1974 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date July 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 1974 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Street Date November 1, 2011 / 19.99 Starring Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Hector Elizondo, Earl Hindman, James Broderick, Dick O'Neill, Lee Wallace, Tom Pedi, Jerry Stiller, Rudy Bond, Kenneth McMillan, Doris Roberts, Julius Harris. Cinematography Owen Roizman Original Music David Shire Written by Peter Stone from the novel by John Godey Produced by Gabriel Katzka, Edgar J. Sherick Directed by Joseph Sargent

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

I reviewed an MGM-Fox Blu-ray of United Artists' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three back in late 2011, and I can't...

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners of Game of Thrones, are so busy producing their show that they haven't thought about a potential prequel or spin-off series, and HBO, content with having one of the most buzzed-about shows on television right now, is fine with sitting back and waiting to see if they'd be interested in doing something like that after this show come to an end. (Which could be sooner than anyone thought.) But eventually, you have to assume that the network will want to at least have some conversations about telling more stories set in this fantasy world, and EW spoke with author George R.R. Martin about an idea for a spin-off.

“There is certainly no lack of material. Every episode of The Naked City – one of the television shows I watched as a kid – ended with a voice-over: ‘There are eight million stories in the naked city.

Last week it was widely reported that a Game of Thrones spinoff is not currently in the works. Though, it's not out of the question. Creator of Westeros and author of the Ice and Fire novels upon which the HBO fantasy series is based, George R.R. Martin has his own idea about how his works can continue on the small screen. EW reached out to Martin, and he revealed that he is quite open to the idea of a second Game of Thrones TV show.

Interest in a Game of Thrones spinoff began to heat up after it was revealed the drama might only have 13 episodes left before the series comes to an end. Both HBO executives and the showrunners are too busy with telling this current tale to even consider moving forward on another show set in this same realm. But it's impossible to think that that there will...

This is one of Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor's best, written and directed by the classy MGM team of director Vincente Minnelli and writers Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett. It inspired a decade's worth of TV family sitcoms and set the benchmark for weddings for generations. Great fun and solid sentiment without mugging or exaggeration. Father of the Bride Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 93 min. / Street Date May 10, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett, Don Taylor, Billie Burke, Moroni Olsen, Melville Cooper, Leo G. Carroll, Rusty Tamblyn, Tom Irish, Frank Cady, Carleton Carpenter. Cinematography John Alton Film Editor Ferris Webster Original Music Adolph Deutsch Written by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett from the novel by Edward Streeter Produced by Pandro S. Berman Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

There's almost no point in reviewing Father of the Bride, as one doesn't need insights,...

The Eighth Annual Robert Classic French Film Festival — co-produced by Cinema St. Louis and the Webster University Film Series — celebrates St. Louis’ Gallic heritage and France’s cinematic legacy. The featured films span the decades from the 1920s through the early 1990s, offering a comprehensive overview of French cinema.

The fest is annually highlighted by significant restorations, and we’re especially pleased to present Jacques Rivette’s long-unavailable epic Out 1: Spectre Additional restoration highlights include Jean-Luc Godard’s A Married Woman and Max Ophüls’ too-little-seen From Mayerling To Sarajevo. Both Ophüls’ film and Louis Malle’s Elevator To The Gallows – with a jazz score by St. Louis-area native Miles Davis — screen from 35mm prints. All films will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (47- E. Lockwood)

Music fans will further delight in the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra’s accompaniment and original score for Carl Th. Dreyer’s...

Close-Up is a column that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. The Law is playing on Mubi in the Us through January 21, 2016.For those who like nice touches, keep your eye on the bird. In Jules Dassin's The Law (1959), it's the first character we meet, where, in a town square under the hot Mediterranean sun, a group of men are watching a pigeon. The men are out of work and squarely at the bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole. The pigeon is an idiot, one man says—why would anything that could fly choose to stay here? Because sometimes people throw it crumbs, a man answers. And if you had any doubts what this all symbolizes, another of the men hastily adds: just like us. This is a film very much about hierarchy, and the forces or illusions that keep everyone in their place. The air is soon...

'Trumbo' movie: Bryan Cranston as screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and Helen Mirren as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper. 'Trumbo' movie review: Highly entertaining 'history lesson' Full disclosure: on the wall in my study hangs a poster – the iconic photograph of blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, with black-horned rim glasses, handlebar mustache, a smoke dangling from the end of a dramatic cigarette holder. He's sitting – stark naked – in a tub surrounded by his particular writing apparatus. He's looking directly into the camera of the photographer, his daughter Mitzi. Dalton Trumbo's son, Christopher Trumbo, gave me the poster after my interview with him for the release of Peter Askin's 2007 documentary also titled Trumbo. That film combines archival footage, including family movies and photographs, with performances of the senior Trumbo's letters to his family during their many years of turmoil before and through the blacklist, including his time in prison. The letters are read by,...

(Region B)  It's just like the film industry, I tell ya!  Director Jules Dassin teams with writer A.I. Bezzerides for one of filmdom's strongest slams at the free market system. Trucker Richard Conte fights back when cheated and robbed by Lee J. Cobb's racketeering produce czar. Thieves' Highway Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 94 min. / Street Date October 20, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £14.99 Starring Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell, Joseph Pevney, Morris Carnovsky Cinematography Norbert Brodine Art Direction Chester Gore, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Nick DeMaggio Original Music Alfred Newman Written by A.I. Bezzerides from his novel Thieves' Market Produced by Robert Bassler Directed by Jules Dassin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Did Jules Dassin initiate his string of studio produced films noirs, each of which has a strong element of social criticism, if not outright condemnation of 'the system?...

Rialto Pictures will beloved French heist film Rififi by director Jules Dassin, for the first time on Dcp, at Los Angeles' Laemmle Royal, for one week beginning Friday, September 4.

Jules Dassin (1911 - 2008) began his filmmaking career in the early 1940s and is known for his hits Brute Force (1947), The Naked City (1948), and Thieves' Highway (1949). His career later took a hit when he was blacklisted for Communist activities during the McCarthy Era. Dassin's move to France helped revive his career and was the setting for the hit film Rififi that set his career in motion once again. After the film's successful French release, Dassin was awarded the directing prize at Cannes which allowed Rififi to be released in the U.S. where it enjoyed a successful art house run. Rififi is renowned for being one of the early 'heist' films and served as an inspiration for later films in the genre.

Night and the City

Written by Jo Eisinger

Directed by Jules Dassin

UK, 1950

Harry Fabian is probably the best at what he does, even if he is never very successful. Richard Widmark’s character in Night and the City, out now on a gorgeous new Criterion Collection Blu-ray, is a low-level con who works wherever he can, however he can, doing whatever he can to make a buck. He enters Jules Dassin’s 1950 film noir classic on the run; he will always be on the run: always hustling, always running. Sincere though his half-baked plans may be, he is perpetually—pathetically—down on his luck. He has the ambition, there’s no doubt about that, and as he shrewdly stumbles past one obstacle after another, it becomes almost humorous in the way he manages to charm his way through life, always just by the skin of his teeth. He cooks...

The Oscars have given out a Film Editing award for 81 of its 87 years. "Birdman" just became the 10th film to win Best Picture without at least reaping a bid in that race, which went to "Whiplash." Indeed, when nominations were announced last month, many pundits viewed the snub of "Birdman" in this category as a very bad omen for the film's chances in Best Picture. Indeed, the last Best Picture without a corresponding nomination for Film Editing was "Ordinary People" back in 1980. The cutting prize that year went to "Raging Bull."  Below,  the eight other years where the Best Picture winner was not even in the running for Best Editing.  -Break- 1934: "It Happened One Night" (Film Editing winner: "Eskimo") 1937: "The Life of Emile Zola" (Film Editing winner: "Lost Horizon") 1948: "Hamlet" (Film Editing winner: "The Naked City") ...'...

I did a little better this past week in the movie department, watching five films including a couple of film noir classics last Sunday evening when I finished Kiss of Death and then watched Jules Dassin's The Naked City. Kiss of Death is decent enough, but The Naked City is pretty great, even though it is driven by a voice over narration, something that typically turns me right off, but the narration here isn't necessarily filling in blanks in the story as much as it is accompanying it. There's a tongue-in-cheek, matter of fact nature to the voice over dialogue that elevates the story. The film could still exist without it and, in my opinion, would probably be better without it, but it also doesn't entirely take away from what you're watching as the story of just another day in New York City unfolds, which is what I most certainly liked most.

To mark the release of Brute Force on 15th September, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray.

Before making the French crime classic Rififi, Jules Dassin was arguably the greatest of film noir directors, responsible for a string of gems including The Naked City, Thieves’ Highway and Night and the City. Brute Force kickstarted that run of pictures and never did a film live up to its name more. Burt Lancaster is Joe Collins, one of a number of convicts squeezed into cell R17 intent on staging a prison break. Not only does he need to return to the side of his cancer-ridden wife (Ann Blyth), he also wants to escape the clutches of sadistic warden Captain Munsey (an unforgettable performance from Hume Cronyn) who enjoys a reign of terror over the inmates.

Beautifully shot by the great William H. Daniels, tautly written by Richard Brooks (Blackboard Jungle,...

Diana reporting from TCM Film Festival's Opening Night Red Carpet. The classic stars came out and Anne Marie and I talked to them.

Oscar winner Shirley Jones with her husband and the Oklahoma! premiere. [Photo: David Buchan/Getty Images]

4 P.M. Hollywood Blvd.

The red carpet is rolled out in front of Grauman’s, but crewmembers are still finagling with the Oklahoma! stop-and-turns as the press begins to descend on the barricades. Within a few moments, we chosen not-so-few (journalists, cameramen, bloggers) swarm to our allocated spaces along the carpet, with The Film Experience smack dab in front of the Grauman’s entrance. Tip sheet in hand and audio recorder on standby, we stand and wait.

5 P.M. The Red Carpet Opens

We are told that Shirley Jones has arrived. In the distance and with some squinting, you can see the Oklahoma! songbird looking bubbly yet elegant in a dark pantsuit with Marty Ingels, her...

(Ed. note - Cc writer Ian Alterman writes about two of his favorite film classics.)

The Naked City

Two years after making The Naked City, director Jules Dassin would find himself on the Hollywood Blacklist, and move to Europe, never to return to the U.S. His first film made in Europe, Rififi (1955), would become his most influential, beloved and, arguably, greatest film. And there are already signs of the naturalist style used in Rififi in The Naked City, though the former is a classic (maybe the classic) heist film, while the latter is a film noir police procedural, complete with narration (which ends the movie with the famous line: “There are eight million stories in the naked city. This is one of them.”)

Centered around the murder of a young model, and the police investigation that ensues, the film’s visual style was famously influenced by the work of the photographer,...

“All composed things are like a dream

A phantom, a drop of dew, or a flash of lightning…”

All composed things are a dream, even those composed to mimic the real, to give the impression of nullified artifice, with contents concealed behind handle-less cabinets, smoothed-over cuts, and vanished work. And if all composed things are but an illusion, then what brings certain composed films to gravely insist, through arguments of form, upon their veracity ? This is the unreal real, a form inspired from amateurishness, from the documentary, from the nouvelle vague, a dogma with its muted colors, shaky camerawork, and pretense of observational neutrality which clamors like a commandment, “I am the real, thy Lord, Thou shalt have no other reals before Me.”

This unreal real originated from a cinematic form of revolt against the polished professional artifices of industrial giants, but its rebellious forms have been assimilated and dissolved,...

‘Rome, Open City’ movie returns: 4K digital restoration of Roberto Rossellini masterpiece at London’s BFI Southbank (photo: Anna Magnani in ‘Rome, Open City’) A restored digital print of Roberto Rossellini’s best-known film, Rome, Open City / Roma, città aperta is currently enjoying an extended run — until April 5, 2014 — at London’s BFI Southbank. Inspired by real-life events and made right after the liberation of Rome, Rome, Open City stars Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero, and Maria Michi. Though not a local box office hit at the time of its release, Rome, Open City, shot with a minuscule budget in the ravaged streets of Rome, became one of the most influential movies ever made. Its raw look, "documentary" feel, and scenes shot on location (though studio sets were used as well) inspired not only other Italian directors of the post-war years, but filmmakers everywhere, including those in Hollywood (e.g.

A lot of what I have to say about Rififi would probably read as hyperbole as it stands as not only an important film given its director's political status, but the way in which it can double as not only an art film, but also a striking piece of cinema that can be enjoyed by any measure of movie lover. It's a film noir captured in shadows and silence as a jewel heist takes place over the course of more than 30 dialogue-free minutes after we've watched four men meticulously plan every detail. The tension mounts with every pound of the hammer, screech of the hand-powered crank cutting into the safe and the crumble of asphalt, gently landing in an open umbrella with nary a sound. Is there more that needs be saidc Criterion's new Blu-ray transfer adds much more detail to every inky black scene, elevating the overall effect of...

Rififi

Written by Auguste le Breton, Jules Dassin and René Weeler

Directed by Jules Dassin

France, 1955

Having recently concluded a prison sentence, Tony ‘le Stéphanois’ (Jean Servais), former thief, is now a poor man, reduced to late night gambling to earn paltry pocket change. His two closest friends and former colleagues, Jo ‘le Suédois’ (Carl Mohner) and Mario Ferrati (Robert Manuel) have something else in mind when they present him the idea of stealing jewels from a high society jeweler shop in downtown Paris. Tony is reluctant at first, having lived enough failures as a crook and desiring to reunite with his former flame Mado (Marie Sabouret). Upon learning however that Pierre Grutter (Marcel Lupovic), eternal rival and nightclub owner, has claimed Mado as his main squeeze, Tony finally gives in to temptation and joins the newly formed quartet of criminal minds, the late addition being safe cracker César, played...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 14, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95

Studio: Criterion

The heist is on in the great 1955 French crime drama Rififi.

The great 1955 French crime drama Rififi is a twisting, turning tale of four ex-cons who hatch one last glorious robbery in Paris.

After making such American noir classics as Brute Force and The Naked City, the blacklisted director Jules Dassin went to the City of Light and embarked on the Rififi, the film noir that many consider his masterpiece.

Starring Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel and Dassin himself, the film’s suspense, brutality, and dark humor made it an international hit, earning Dassin the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It has since proved to be wildly influential on decades of heist thrillers in its wake.

Presented in French with English subtitles, the Criterion Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition of the classic movie includes the following features:

• New 2K digital restoration,...

As the Academy celebrates 85 years of great films at the Oscars on February 24th, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to take movie fans on the ultimate studio tour with the 2013 edition of 31 Days Of Oscar®. Under the theme Oscar by Studio, the network will present a slate of more than 350 movies grouped according to the studios that produced or released them. And as always, every film presented during 31 Days Of Oscar is an Academy Award® nominee or winner, making this annual event one of the most anticipated on any movie lover’s calendar.

As part of the network’s month-long celebration, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has graciously provided the original Academy Awards® radio broadcasts from 1930-1952. Specially chosen clips from the radio archives will be featured throughout TCM’s 31 Days Of Oscar website.

Hollywood was built upon the studio system, which saw nearly ever aspect...

Every week Microsoft adds new games, demos, Dlc and Avatar items to the Xbox Live Marketplace and we put it all together right here so you can stay up to date. This week Puddle and Quarrel hit the Arcade, L.A. Noire Dlc is 50% off and our Avatars get some Threadless gear. Head past the break for the full update.

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Xbox Live Arcade

Puddle - 800 MP

Quarrel - 400 MP

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Game Add-ons

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations Mediterranean Traveler - 800 MP

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Deal of the Week - 50% off L.A. Noire DLCReefer Madness Vice Case - 160 MP

Nicholson Electroplating Arson Case - 160 MP

The Sharpshooter Detective Suit - 40 MP

A Slip Of The Tongue Traffic Case - 160 MP

The Broderick Detective Suit - 40 MP

The Naked City Vice Case - 160 MP

The Badge Pursuit Challenge & Button Man Suit - 80 MP

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Games on Demand

Duke Nukem Forever

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Demos

Ufc 3

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Avatar Items

Threadless

Assassin’s...

Rockstar Games today announced that L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition is now available on Windows PC, Steam, and OnLive in North America. In addition to the original full game, consumers that purchase L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition will receive a multi-use code to access all downloadable add-ons and cases. This includes all previously released Dlc from the console versions, including the "Nicholson Electroplating" Arson case, "Reefer Madness" Vice case, "The Consul's Car" Traffic case, "The Naked City" Vice case and "A Slip of the Tongue" Traffic case. The PC version of L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition was developed by Rockstar Leeds and features increased resolution and graphical detail along with keyboard remapping and gamepad functionality. L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition...

Rockstar Games today announced that L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition is coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 15, 2011 in North America and November 18, 2011 internationally. Similar to its PC counterpart, L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition on consoles will feature all of the previously released downloadable content for L.A. Noire, including the "Nicholson Electroplating" Arson case, "Reefer Madness" Vice case, "The Consul.s Car" Traffic case, "The Naked City" Vice case, "A Slip of the Tongue" Traffic case, The Badge Pursuit Challenge, and all weapons and outfits released to date. Synopsis: Developed by Team Bondi in conjunction with Rockstar Games, L.A. Noire is a crime thriller set in post-World War II Los Angeles. As...