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January 2025 could mark a bleak month for very specific reasons, but in that month one can watch a nicely curated collection of David Bowie’s best performances. Nearly a decade since he passed, the iconic actor (who had some other trades) is celebrated with The Man Who Fell to Earth, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, The Linguini Incident, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, and Basquiat. (Note: watch The Missing Pieces under Fire Walk with Me‘s Criterion edition for about three times as much Phillip Jeffries.) It’s a retrospective-heavy month: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Crowe, Ethan Hawke, Paulin Soumanou Vieyra, Paolo Sorrentino, and Sean Baker are given spotlights; the first and last bring with them To Die For and Take Out‘s Criterion Editions, joining Still Walking, Hunger, and A Face in the Crowd.

“Surveillance Cinema” brings Thx 1138, Body Double, Minority Report, and others, while “Love in Disguise” offers films by Lubitsch,...

Chicago – He moved deftly from British matinee idol to formidable movie star to reliable character actor, and was nominated four times for an Academy Award (no wins). Albert Finney had a nearly 50 year stage and screen career that encompassed virtually all types and genres of acting. He died in London on February 7th, 2019. He was 82.

He was born Albert Finney Jr., and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating at age 20 in 1956. He became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company shortly thereafter, and appeared on the stage throughout the late 1950s, and throughout his career. His debut film role was “The Entertainer” in 1960. He was the title character in the Oscar Best Picture “Tom Jones” (1963), and other films in that decade included “Night Must Fall” (1964), “Two for the Road” (1967) and “Charlie Bubbles”.

An Early Career Albert Finney

Photo credit: File Photo

His most fruitful film era was arguably the 1980s and ‘90s,...

By Todd Garbarini

Freddie Francis had a long and prosperous career in the cinema, learning many areas of filmmaking by cutting his teeth as a stills photographer, clapper boy, camera loader and focus puller; he also worked on training films while in the army. Garnering enough experience led him to become a camera operator on films as diverse as The Tales of Hoffman (a favorite of George Romero’s and Martin Scorsese’s), Twice Upon a Time, and Beat the Devil. He also worked as a cinematographer on The Innocents, Night Must Fall, The Elephant Man, and Dune, while scoring two Oscars for shooting Sons and Lovers and Glory. In the midst of this, he managed to find time to direct more than his share of thrillers in the 1960’s and 1970’s, chief among them The Brain, Paranoiac, Nightmare, The Evil of Frankenstein, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, The Skull,...

Czech-born The French Lieutenant's Woman director Karel Reisz has died in London at the age of 76. The acclaimed film-maker died on Monday, but the cause of his death has not yet been revealed. Reisz played a key role in championing the populist Free Cinema movement, along with Tony Richardson and Lindsay Anderson, starting with his 1960 debut working-class drama Saturday Night And Sunday Morning, which introduced audiences to Albert Finney. That was followed by a remake of thriller Night Must Fall, the dark comedy Morgan, which showcased David Warner and gave Vanessa Redgrave her first starring role, and the biopic Isadora, also with Redgrave. His first US film was 1974's The Gambler, starring James Caan, followed by others including The French Lieutenant's Woman, which brought Meryl Streep her first Best Actress Oscar nomination in 1981. Screenwriter James Toback says, "His films always had a look of both propriety and elegance. But it was as a superb director of actors - and a creator of stars - on which Karel's esteem rested." For the past decade, Reisz concentrated on directing plays in London, Dublin and Paris. He is survived by his wife, actress Betsy Blair, and three sons, Toby, Matthew and Barney.