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Following much-deserved renewed attention for Michael Roemer’s career thanks to the recent restorations of Nothing But a Man, The Plot Against Harry, and Vengeance Is Mine, the 97-year-old director has more reason to celebrate. Dying and Pilgrim, Farewell, a pair of rediscovered, largely unseen films by the director, will be opening at NYC’s Film Forum beginning this Friday, January 24 with Roemer in-person on Saturday, January 25.

Roemer’s documentary Dying will run in a new 4K restoration, scanned from the original camera negative by Colorlab, while his drama Pilgrim, Farewell will screen in a new 35mm print. Asked by Boston television network Wgbh if he would be interested in making a film about the rites and customs of death, Roemer agreed, but he was only interested in exploring the topic from the point of view of those in the process of dying. Three and a half months of interviews with forty people,...

I consider myself something like a student, autodidact or otherwise, of cinema and––even still, must confess––had not ever grasped the concept of Argentine noir. Credit to Criterion Channel, who’ll expand my horizons with February’s program (concisely titled “Argentine Noir”) that includes one known title––Pierre Chenal’s Native Son, an Argentine film from a French director adapting an American novel about the African-American experience in Chicago––and five I look forward to discovering. Retrospective-wise, their wide-reaching Claudette Colbert program could double as a lesson in Old Hollywood, between Capra, Stahl, DeMille, Lubitsch, Sirk, and Sturges. February, of course, brings Black History Month and Valentine’s Day: the former engenders a series featuring films such as Nothing but a Man, Portrait of Jason, and Losing Ground; the latter brings “New York Love Stories,” from Carol to Crossing Delancey to, curiously, Annie Hall, which likely would not have...

“I’ve been here before, but I’m really happy to be back,” said French actress Isabelle Huppert as she basked in the glow of all the neatly stacked cinema surrounding her.

A frequent visitor to the Criterion Closet, Huppert wasted no time in making her selections, starting with Barbara Loden’s “Wanda,” which tells the story of a female Rust Belt wanderer turned bank robber trying to survive the aimlessness put upon her by the world she inhabits.

“Here is ‘Wanda.’ A good friend of mine,” Huppert said, kissing the character on the cover. “I like this woman. She’s great. Barbara Loden.I like the way she comes to the court with bigoudis.”

For those non-Francophiles, translation: curlers. Huppert followed this choice with a set of films from Italian neo-realist Roberto Rossellini that includes “Stromboli,” “Europe ’51,” and “Journey to Italy.” In reflecting on Rossellini’s relationship to wife and collaborator Ingrid Bergman,...

If Criterion24/7 hasn’t completely colonized your attention every time you open the Channel––this is to say: if you’re stronger than me––their May lineup may be of interest. First and foremost I’m happy to see a Michael Roemer triple-feature: his superlative Nothing But a Man, arriving in a Criterion Edition, and the recently rediscovered The Plot Against Harry and Vengeance is Mine, three distinct features that suggest a long-lost voice of American movies. Meanwhile, Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Antiwar Trilogy four by Sara Driver, and a wide collection from Ayoka Chenzira fill out the auteurist sets.

Series-wise, a highlight of 1999 goes beyond the well-established canon with films like Trick and Bye Bye Africa, while of course including Sofia Coppola, Michael Mann, Scorsese, and Claire Denis. Films starring Shirley Maclaine, a study of 1960s paranoia, and Columbia’s “golden era” (read: 1950-1961) are curated; meanwhile, The Breaking Ice,...

Although he only made two fiction features, filmmaker Michael Roemer benefited greatly from an early rediscovery in the 1990s, thanks to the fortuitous unearthing of a film he made in 1969, The Plot Against Harry, a wry, dry comedy starring Martin Priest. His other film, 1964’s Nothing But a Man, is often compared by critics to the slicker, middle-America-friendly films that Sidney Poitier was making during the same era. Almost without exception, film about the minority experience in ’60s America were smoothed-over paeans to “the triumph of the human spirit,” starring or co-starring whites whose presence is required as witnesses, arbiters, and the final, thankful beneficiaries of growth and change. Bland but well-meaning, films like Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? and A Patch of Blue, seeking to instruct the white moviegoer by giving them a diagrammatic path to sociopolitical enlightenment, had a funny habit of discounting, even nullifying, the Black experience.

Robert M. Young, the adventurous director who called the shots for Edward James Olmos in The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Farrah Fawcett in Extremities and Tom Hulce and Ray Liotta in Dominick and Eugene, died Feb. 6, his son Andrew announced. He was 99.

After getting his start in educational and documentary films, Young also directed the 1969 Peabody-winning CBS telefilm J.T., written by Jane Wagner. Revolving around a Harlem youngster (Kevin Hooks) and an alley cat, it bowed on a Saturday afternoon and was repeated in primetime as the network preempted its most popular show, Gunsmoke.

Young also served as cinematographer, producer and co-writer with director Michael Roemer on the critically acclaimed drama Nothing But a Man (1964), featuring Ivan Dixon and jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln as a struggling young Black couple in Alabama.

Young made his feature directorial debut with Short Eyes (1977), which starred Bruce Davison, José Pérez and several real-life prisoners...

Robert M. Young, whose 70-year career included independent and studio documentaries, narrative features, and episodes of Battlestar: Galactica, died Tuesday in Los Angeles at 99. His death was confirmed in a Facebook post by his son.

Two of his films have recently been added to the Library of Congress Film Registry. They include ¡Alambrista! (1977), a film about the life of an undocumented Mexican immigrant, which won the Camera d’Or for best first film at Cannes, and The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, (1982), one of Young’s eight films with actor Edward James Olmos. Based on a true story that inspired a corrido, it tells of a man on the run after a confrontation with police.

Both films are also part of the Criterion Collection.

Those films represented a recurring theme of Young’s career, one which showed his interest in bringing social issues to wider attention.

“We lose important people all the time,...

Robert M. Young, one of the pioneers of American independent cinema whose work began nearly 70 years ago, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. The news was announced via a Facebook post from his son Andy.

In a career that lasted from 1956 to 2011 he directed documentaries, narrative features, both independent and studio releases, and even episodes of “Battlestar: Gallactica.” Two of his films have recently been added to the Library of Congress Film Registry. “¡Alambrista!” (1977), as timely today as when it was made, about the life of undocumented Mexican immigrant won the Camera d’or for best first film at Cannes. “The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez” (1982), one of Young’s eight films with actor Edward James Olmos, produced by American Playhouse but released theatrically, has also been included. Both films are also part of the Criterion Collection.

Though perhaps not as well known as some pre-Sundance independent American directors like John Cassavetes,...

Nothing But a Man.If one were to map the career of Michael Roemer, they would find it closely hews to the history of postwar American independent cinema: in the 1940s and ’50s he worked in newsreels, educational film, and, roused by cinéma vérité and the Italian neorealists, observational documentary. Yet the production methods and narrative strategies of his fictional films, which he made from the early ’60s to the ’80s, diverge remarkably from the work of his contemporaries.In October, I spoke to Roemer, who is 95, over the phone from his home in Vermont. Our conversation revealed the depths of his independence. It was not a style, not simply a contrarianism, but a sensibility, a fidelity to a certain worldview. This comes across in his thoughts on his most well-known film, Nothing But a Man (1964), which is seldom invoked without descriptors like “groundbreaking.” Indeed, it was a rarity for...

In February 2024, The Criterion Collection will release The Heroic Trio and Executioners in 4K and Blu-ray. Yes, they will also release films by Michael Roemer's Nothing But a Man, Raoul Walsh's The Roaring Twenties, Eric Rohmer's Tales of the Four Seasons, and Robert Altman's McCabe and Mrs. Miller in 4K (?!). You can read more about at the official Criterion site. But my personal takeaway is The Heroic Trio and Executioners in 4K and Blu-ray will be released. I'll just quote from Criterion's official verbiage: "The star power of cinema icons Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh fuels these gloriously unrestrained action joyrides from auteur Johnnie To and action choreographer Ching Siu-tung. "The Heroic Trio and its sequel, Executioners, follow a new kind...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Cameroonian filmmaker Rosine Mbakam uses familiar spaces as microcosms of society. After capturing her subjects in one setting, such as a mall in Chez Jolie Coiffure (2018) and the protagonist’s home in Delphine’s Prayers (2021), her narrative-feature debut Mambar Pierrette foregrounds the eponymous tailor and love for her complex family while attempting to make ends meet in Douala. She asserts a determined work ethic in her sewing, attracting a breadth of customers just large enough for Pierrette and co. to get by.

Unlike Mbakam’s past works, Mambar Pierrette puts Mambar across multiple settings: a store; her mother; and her divorced, abusive spouse’s residence. These voyages are laborious and aimed at improving her children’s lives. Her independent fashion work is what makes her kids fulfill their dreams. As her children and their friends play and mingle outside, Pierrette fatigues herself from her job and works in a living...

As the director nears his 11th decade, two of his films, Nothing But a Man and The Plot Against Harry are being restored; both are marvels of independent cinema

Michael Roemer, 95, is one of film’s finest chroniclers of postwar American aspiration. His debut, Nothing But a Man, won two prizes at the Venice film festival over half a century ago, using Euro-neorealism to tell the story of a working-class Black couple in Alabama. The result is a moving and unflinching depiction of the daily realities of racism, and one of the most brilliant truly independent films of all time.

Nothing But a Man, like the rest of Roemer’s filmography, refused to heed the production and aesthetic conventions of its day. “If I could have made popular films, I would have,” he says. “But I believe in something. If I betray it then I destroy myself.”...

Brooke Adams in Invasion of the Body Snatchers.Movie-lovers!Welcome back to The Deuce Notebook, a collaboration between Mubi's Notebook and The Deuce Film Series, our monthly event at Nitehawk Williamsburg that excavates the facts and fantasies of cinema's most infamous block in the world: 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. For each screening, my co-hosts and I pick a title that we think embodies the era of 24-hour movie grinding, and present the venue at which it premiered…This month, we welcome our friend and guest writer Madelyn Sutton, whose delicious piece on naughty nuns was featured last September. Madelyn recently spoke with the enigmatic and inimitable actress Brooke Adams—who, in 1978 alone, appeared (at the same time) at both mainstream cinemas and uptown arthouses in Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Malick’s Days of Heaven. This year’s re-release of Michael Roemer’s...

This past spring, Michael Roemer’s 1984 family melodrama Vengeance Is Mine enjoyed a moment in the spotlight thanks to a revival run at Film Forum. But that was only the latest renaissance for the 94-year-old Roemer, who made a number of movies with a delayed reception of one kind or another. Nothing But a Man (1964), a Southern-set story centered on a black railroad worker and his family relationships, received a very limited initial release, and The Plot Against Harry (1969), a deadpan New York comedy about a small-time Jewish gangster, went from seeming a lost cause to playing in […]

The post “I Never Made a Living Making Movies”: Michael Roemer on Nothing But a Man and The Plot Against Harry first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

A few years after her incredible 1978, featuring Days of Heaven and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Brooke Adams starred in Michael Roemer’s Vengeance Is Mine (which premiered under the title of Haunted as part of the PBS anthology series American Playhouse). The 1984 feature, which has long gone unseen since its debut, is now returning in a new 35mm print at Film Forum beginning on May 27 and we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer. First, see the official synopsis.

Returning to her East Coast childhood home to heal old familial wounds, Jo (Adams), finds her adoptive mother withdrawn and distant, and a half-sister who has successfully escaped the cold clutches of their family. Impulsively, Jo enters into the troubled life of the neighbors, befriending a couple whose marriage is collapsing under the weight of alcoholism and mental illness.

A melodrama without the traditional indicators, Vengeance Is Mine (originally titled...

Warner Bros. sports drama King Richard took the top Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) honor Saturday to cap the American Cinema Editors’ 72nd annual Ace Eddie Awards.

Pamela Martin edited the pic, which sees Will Smith portraying the father to tennis sensations Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton), who had a plan that would take the young tennis players from the streets of Compton to the global stage. The win puts Martin and the film in frontrunner status in the Best Film Editing Oscar race, where it is competing against fellow nominees Don’t Look Up, Dune, The Power of the Dog and Tick, Tick…Boom!. Twenty-two of the past 30 Ace winners for best edited dramatic film and 11 of the past 16 have gone on to score the Oscar, but Ford v. Ferrari won the Academy Award last year after Paradise took the Eddie.

King Richard is up for six Oscars this year,...

Ramin Bahrani, Oscar-nominated writer/director of The White Tiger, discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The White Tiger (2021)

Man Push Cart (2005)

Chop Shop (2007)

99 Homes (2015)

The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)

The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)

The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

La Terra Trema (1948)

Umberto D (1952)

Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)

Nomadland (2020)

The Runner (1984)

Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)

A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)

The House Is Black (1963)

The Conversation (1974)

Mean Streets (1973)

Nashville (1975)

Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)

The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)

Vagabond (1985)

Luzzu (2021)

Bait (2019)

Sweet Sixteen (2002)

Abigail’s Party (1977)

Meantime (1983)

Fish Tank (2009)

Do The Right Thing (1989)

Malcolm X (1992)

Nothing But A Man (1964)

Goodbye Solo (2008)

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)

Dekalog (1989)

The Double Life Of Veronique...

Content Warning: This article contains discussions of violence and sexual violence.

On March 15, 2021, the world and entertainment industry were saddened to hear the news that Yaphet Kotto had passed away. The gifted actor and TV star made his on-screen debut back in the 1964 film, Nothing But A Man, before tallying a total of 95 acting credits over his decorated 50-year career in showbiz.

Related: Alien: 5 Mind-Blowing Moments (& 5 Fans Want To Forget)

After appearing in classic films, such as Alien in the 1970s and Midnight Run in the 1980s, Kotto took center stage as the protagonist of NBC's hit police drama Homicide: Life on the Street. He went on to appear in all 122 episodes from 1993 to 1999. Yaphet Kotto's immense talent in front of the camera will be missed.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Yaphet Kotto, the distinctive and distinguished actor, has passed away at age 81. Kotto was born in Harlem and began to study acting at age 16. He made his big screen debut in 1964 in the acclaimed race-themed drama "Nothing But a Man" opposite Ivan Dixon, a fellow African-American whose star would rise on the basis of the film. Kotto also appeared in "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968) and was a regular presence in guest star roles on top TV series such as "Gunsmoke", "Daniel Boone", "Night Gallery", "The Big Valley", "Hawaii Five-0", "Mannix" and "The High Chapparal". He was nominated for an Emmy award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 1976 TV production of "Raid on Entebbe". Kotto simultaneously kept landing good parts in major movies such as "5 Card Stud", "The Liberation of L.B. Jones" and "Across 110th Street". In 1973, he appeared in what is perhaps his most memorable role,...

Yapeht Kotto, the prolific character actor who starred in Alien, the James Bond film Live and Let Die, and the long-running TV series Homicide: Life on the Street, died Monday night at the age of 81.

Kotto’s wife, Thessa Sinahon, announced his death in a Facebook post, though a cause of death was not immediately available.

“You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also,” Sinahon wrote on Facebook. “A good man, a good father,...

Yaphet Kotto, an actor known for his performances in “Alien,” the James Bond film “Live and Let Die” and the television series “Homicide: Life on the Street,” has died, his agent Ryan Goldhar confirmed to Variety. He was 81.

Kotto’s wife, Tessie Sinahon, first posted about Kotto’s death on Facebook Monday night.

“I’m saddened and still in shocked of the passing of my husband Yaphet of 24 years. He died last night around 10:30pm Philippine time,” sge wrote. “…You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people also. A good man, a good father, a good husband and a decent human being, very rare to find. One of the best actor in Hollywood a Legend. Rest in Peace Honey, I’m gonna miss you everyday, my bestfriend, my rock.”

In 1973’s “Live and Let Die,...

Opening four years ago in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Metrograph has been a bastion for cinephiles. Since the pandemic hit in mid-March, causing all movie theaters in the city and beyond to shut down and rethink their plans, this specific theater had been relatively quiet in what lies on the road ahead. Well, it turns out they were planning something quite exciting.

Metrograph has now launched Metrograph Digital, premiering this Friday, July 24. Available nationwide, it’s a membership-based program for $5 a month or $50 annually, with previous NYC-based members already included at no cost. The first initiative is Metrograph Live Screenings, “a celebration of communal movie watching” which features a specific time where films will screen digitally, and also include intros, pre-show material, and Q&As. These presentations will be available on a live stream player, watchable on any computer and mobile device, and connectable to TVs. If you miss the initial broadcast,...

As a “normal” moviegoing world continues remains uncertain, quick-thinking adaptation has become the name of the name. New York City’s Metrograph, both a beloved boutique theater and growing distribution label, is leaning into that ethos with the July 24 launch of its Metrograph Digital, a platform that seeks to combine the joy of in-person moviegoing with the safety of at-home viewing.

The first Metrograph Digital initiative set to roll out is Metrograph Live Screenings, which will unspool this week with “a rotating selection of new releases and repertory titles, opening at set showtimes, with introductions, pre-show material, and Q&As specific to every show.” The program will include works by Claire Denis, Éric Rohmer, St. Clair Bourne, Ulrike Ottinger, Alain Resnais, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Satoshi Kon, Laurie Anderson, and Manfred Kirchheimer. Starting July 31, photographer and activist Nan Goldin will become the first guest programmer with a new series crafted to accompany her latest film,...

"Can't live without trouble, can you?"

As unspeakable images of racist violence circulate worldwide, white friends and acquaintances have reached out to ask what they can do. Beyond protesting, donating and voting, I recommend visiting a timeless and timely film released 56 years ago.

"Can't live without trouble, can you?" asks Duff, the hero of Nothing But a Man, early on in writer-director-producer Michael Roemer's 95-minute marvel, co-written by and produced with Robert M. Young, who also served as cinematographer.

Maintaining your dignity and a dollar can be a Herculean task in any day and age....

"Can't live without trouble, can you?"

As unspeakable images of racist violence circulate worldwide, white friends and acquaintances have reached out to ask what they can do. Beyond protesting, donating and voting, I recommend visiting a timeless and timely film released 56 years ago.

"Can't live without trouble, can you?" asks Duff, the hero of Nothing But a Man, early on in writer-director-producer Michael Roemer's 95-minute marvel, co-written by and produced with Robert M. Young, who also served as cinematographer.

Maintaining your dignity and a dollar can be a Herculean task in any day and age....

Normally, IndieWire’s Stream of the Day feature focuses on movies that you can watch at home. Today, we’re using this space to call out a few that should be available, but aren’t. At one time or another, we have all probably experienced this frustrating conundrum: You want to watch a movie or TV show that sneaks its way into your consciousness, or was recommended by a trusted source, and, like most people, you first try the streaming services — especially in the current environment — but none of them carry it, not even as a rental or purchase on Amazon or iTunes. That’s especially true for films from black filmmakers.

For example, none of the films from key L.A. Rebellion filmmaker, Haile Gerima are available to stream on any platform, nor is Ivan Dixon’s classic “The Spook Who Sat By the Door” (1973), or Jessie Maple’s 1981 film “Will,...

In 1983, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with Media Study/Buffalo, created a touring retrospective of avant-garde films, primarily feature-length ones and a few shorts, which they called “The American New Wave 1958-1967.” To accompany the tour, a hefty catalog was produced that included notes on the films, essays by film historians and critics, writings by major underground film figures and more.

The retrospective was created at a time when financially viable independent filmmaking was on the rise, such as films made by John Sayles, Wayne Wang and Susan Seidelman. According to the co-curators of the retrospective, Melinda Ward and Bruce Jenkins, the objective of the tour was to:

provide a more adequate picture than conventional history affords us of a rare period of American cinematic invention and thereby prepare a coherent critical and historical context for the reception of the new work by the current generation of independent filmmakers.

Moonlight A24 Reviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya Grade: B+ Director: Barry Jenkins Written by: Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney Cast: Naomie Harris, André Holland, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, Trevante Rhodes, Alex R. Hibbert, Jaden Piner Screened at: Dolby88, NYC, 9/21/16 Opens: October 21, 2016 Consider this in the top tier of films about the African-American experience, ranking along with “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Nothing But a Man” and “Killer of Sheep.” “Moonlight” does not concern itself with integration controversies but sports a 100% African-American cast. This entry comes with the reliable direction of Barry Jenkins, whose 2008 film “Medicine for Melancholy” deals with twenty-four hours in the [ Read More ]

The post Moonlight Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

It was films like “Nothing But A Man,” “Love Jones” and “Love & Basketball” that made me fall in love with cinema. As a millennial, in the ‘90s there was “Love Jones”, a narrative of passion set against Chicago’s urban backdrop. Hopeless romantics and cynics alike watched as Nina Mosely and Darius Lovehall, desperately tried to figure out that thing called love. In the past decade (except for Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s “Beyond the Lights”) Black romance in film has fallen by the wayside in favor of buddy comedies or ensemble features. First time feature director Tahir Jetter’s “How to Tell You’re A Douchebag” has the potential to help reinvigorate the genre for the...

In Michael Roemer's superb and little-seen 1964 drama Nothing But a Man — playing October 8 and 9 as part of Film Forum's seven-movie Roemer tribute — Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln play a young couple striving to make a life for themselves in small-town Alabama. Lincoln's Josie, serene and self-possessed, is a preacher's daughter and a college-educated schoolteacher who refuses to let white people define her identity. Dixon's Duff Anderson, a former railroad worker whose independence and intelligence threaten the white male authority figures in the town where he's chosen to settle, doesn't have the same emotional fortitude. His circumstances are different, for reasons Josie understands: "It's not as hard on a girl," she tells him, trying to soothe him after he's lost...

Chicago – One of the notable films to kick off the autumn film season is writer/director Ira Sach’s “Love is Strange.” The story of two men in a longtime gay relationship, who finally can marry – but whose lives go off track unexpectedly – features brilliant performances from veterans John LIthgow and Alfred Molina.

Ira Sachs is a veteran writer and director himself, on his sixth feature film. He first got noticed with “Forty Shades of Blue” in 2005 and “Married Life” two years later. The latter film featured Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Pierce Brosnan. After some great reviews for his fifth film “Keep the Lights On” (2012), he is back with “Love is Strange,” a personal and subtle character driven story.

Ira Sachs (center) with Leading Men Alfred Molina and John Lithgow of ‘Love is Strange’

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Classics

HollywoodChicago.com sat down to interview Ira Sachs, as his...

After reading Tambay’s piece earlier today about Ava DuVernay’s "Middle of Nowhere" and its thematic connection to "Nothing But a Man" (Here), I was immediately reminded of a piece I wrote exactly a year ago, last August, about Sidney Poitier’s now rather sadly forgotten and overlooked 1972 romantic drama "A Warm December," and the connection I made with that film and "Nothing But a Man" too. So what better time to revisit the piece. But the whole idea for the article in the first place, came from a conversation I had with two friends. We were talking about a black rom-coms they had recently watched. My male friend shrugged off and...

I really shouldn't have to say anything here about this film, given how much we've written about since this site was born... I certainly hope most are familiar with it, even if you haven't seen it. Nothing But A Man - a must-see classic of not just what we call "black cinema" but cinema overall; A rare, rare gem of its time, and I'd say still very much is a rarity today, almost 50 years after it was initially released. That should not only tell you how good it is, but also how far "black cinema" has come since then - especially with regards to films that depict mature relationships between black people, as well as the daily peaks and valleys of simply living, unadorned, and what it...

We asked a few LatinoBuzz amigos to get their Robinson Crusoe on and pick a film, an album, a book and a companion from the movies to join them in their shenanigans were they to be stuck on a deserted island (and before anyone nitpicks, filmmakers are resourceful, so of course they built solar powered entertainment centers made from bamboos, coconuts and grass to watch movies and listen to baby making slow jams). We figured we'd start with the narrative filmmakers since they probably sit around thinking about this kinda stuff anyway.

Film: Choosing desert island items may mean sacrificing taste and/or reason, thinking about those items that you wouldn’t forgive yourself for not bringing them as your company, it´s like choosing the woman of your life. Here it goes: Hiroshima Mon Amour; there might be others I fancy as much as or more than (La Dolce Vita, Vertigo, M , some Lubitsch or Preminger), but I can think of no other as unique. I wouldn’t be able to choose any other without feeling Hiroshima’s absence - the best love film, the best movie about war, the best motion picture regarding the memory and its consequences. I can spend my whole life learning about film and the world because of Hiroshima...'.

Album: “Los Preludios de Debussy” by Claudio Arrau. These were so important to my life (I'm referring to my childhood of course) and I think no one does it better than Arrau. Same thing: it is endless. I think I could never tire of this and I could still wake up each and every morning amazed by it.

Book: “Sentimental Education”, by Flaubert. Similar to “Hiroshima”, a book that changed my outlook on literature and the world and I am certain it will keep transforming it forever.

Companion: Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer in 'The fabulous Baker Boys'). Since I saw the film (which I liked very much!) in the provincial movie theater of my childhood, I felt as Jack Baker´s relative and I loved Susie. If we had a piano, it would all be all be perfect. - Santiago Palavecino (Algunas chicas/Some Girls)

Film: This is a tricky question. I've always said that on a deserted island you should bring some porn. You could use that more than regular movies. But since I've got to pick a film I guess it'd be Jaws. Why? Because it's one of my favorites (I could also go with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). But being on a deserted island, Jaws will remind me all the time what'll happen to me for sure if I try to get away!

Album: “ Appetite for Destruction” (Guns N' Roses). Hey, I was 13 when this came out. I listen to it every day while I work, anyways. My favorite, by far.

A Book: I'm going to cheat on this one: 'The Complete Works' by Jorge Luis Borges. The best writer, and enough labyrinths to get lost on endless nights.

Companion: Sherlock Holmes. He's always been my favorite, and also, since my guess is he'll be pretty useless in a deserted island, every time we fail to get out because of him I can get to tell him "Is that the best you can do, Sherlock? - Alejandro Brugués (Juan of the Dead)

Film: Los Olvidados- this is punk rock and Pachuco. Mexico City style before the bombed out bunkers of Sid & Nancy. Bunuel is a hero and I wanna buy Jaibo a beer and milk for the old poetic man!

Album: The Blade Runner album. I can play it over and over, get cranked up or mellow with Blade Runner Blues and the constant rain.

Book: '20 years of Joda' - poems of Jose Montoya, my pop. Epic stuff! 'Ran with Miguel Pinero in the Lower Eastside!”

Companion: Michael Corleone cause he's Mack in my book! Jaibo gets an honorable mention. - Richard Montoya (Water & Power )

Film: I´d choose Misery because a year can go by and I can watch it again eagerly. It's simple and the director (Rob Reiner) and Stephen King are both masters of suspense.

Album: I know this may be considered cheating but it would have to be 'The Best of David Bowie'. That way I have 2 CD's with nearly 40 songs!

Companion: There's many great people who I would to live with but on a deserted Island? It would have to be Mary Poppins for obvious reasons.

Book: And finally the book would be 'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy because it's one I haven't read yet. Analeine Cal y Mayor - (The Boy Who Smells Like Fish)

Film: I would say White Chicks. I’m going to need some humor! White Chicks is the movie that I put on when I need a good laugh. It does it for me every time. I grew up with characters like that; and admittedly, I can regress back to a few of them myself when no one is looking.

Album: ' Songs From the Capeman' - Paul Simon. I can’t get enough of that album. It instantly takes me to that world and electrifies that side of me that’s determined to make a change for Latinos. I want to keep that feeling with me alive eternally…wherever I’m at.”

Book: There are many but 'Anatomy of the Spirit' by Caroline Myss has been my compass. It taught me how to take control of my destiny by listening to my intuition and body. I stand by her quote: “Your biography becomes your biology.

Companion: The first person that came to mind when I read the question was silly Clarence from “It’s a Wonderful Life”. I guess I’m going to need an angel with me, and he’s perfect. He has a pure childlike spirit that would help me find gratitude in the most unlikely moments… even on a deserted island! That right there is the meaning of life. - Carmen Marron (Endgame)

Film: There are so many brilliant, groundbreaking favorite films that have influenced me (The 400 Blows; Jules and Jim ; Law of Desire; et al) but I wouldn't bring any of them. If I'm stuck on a deserted island, I'm bringing Neil Simon's Murder by Death so I can laugh my ass off. Not a great film at all, it's true, but it's a classic comedy.

Album: Oh, this is easy: Madonna's "Ray of Light." I am no Madonna fanatic, but "deserted island, " means beach + summer weather + Fire Island-like atmosphere. So somewhere nearby there's got to be gay guys partying and I will use Madonna to lure them to me so I can be rescued.

One Book: Varga Llosa's "Feast of the Goat" ("La Fiesta del Chivo") -- it's action-packed historical fiction. It will keep me occupied. One of my favorite novels.

Companion: Huckleberry Finn. He will be a great companion: not only will he tell great stories, but undoubtedly, the ever-resourceful Huck Finn will figure out how to build a raft and get us out off that island! - Terracino (Elliot Loves )

Film: Whenever anyone asks me this I always think of what use these items would serve practically on a deserted island, so I answered this in that respect. Tokyo Story - Yasujiro Ozu. This would be a great film to take on a deserted island because it's really about the unavoidable suffering of the cycle of life, which I'm sure you'd relate to if you were stuck on an island. I really could watch this film a million times over and notice something new every time. Watching most Ozu films is not unlike participating in a Zen meditation practice. It's patience and slowness and trying to empty your mind of thought until your left with the basics of existence. Kind of like sitting on a deserted island alone. I can watch the scene where Kyoto says “Life is disappointing, isn't it?” and Noriko smiles and says “Yes it is.” I can watch that endlessly and cry every time. It's so true.

Album: ' Tusk' - Fleetwood Mac. I could also deal with 'Rumours' but I picked 'Tusk' because it's longer and denser; probably better for an island. 'Sara' is maybe my favorite song in the world and so it would be nice to have that with me. I think channeling the powerful witchy energy of Stevie Nicks would be a real asset on an island. This album has so much strange material on - you wouldn't get bored too easily with it. It's also got a range of emotions so if you get too depressed on the island you can just put on 'Never Forget' and feel better. And 'Sisters of the Moon' would be good around a fire at night. Even though you're stuck on an island, it's good to create an ambiance to remind you that life is worth living.

Book: ' In Search of Lost Time' - Marcel Proust. I've only read 'Swann's Way' which is first part of this. My analyst recommend it to me when I was totally heartbroken after someone broke up with me. It really did the trick. This would be a good long epic read that has enough complex ideas in it to keep you occupied for a life time. Probably a good book (or set of books) to get back to nature with.

Companion: I'll say Terry Malloy from “On the Waterfront”. He'd be strong and good to have around to cut down trees and hunt and stuff. He's also easy on the eyes and someone that could do with a little lonely contemplation away from the loading docks. That doesn't sound half bad...stuck on like a tropical island with a young, cute Marlon Brando, watching Ozu, reading Proust and listening to Fleetwood Mac all day. Sign me up! - Joshua Sanchez (Four)

Film: My film would have to be Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados. I have been a movie watcher since I was a child. Raised on mainstream American films and Wuxia flicks, it wasn't until I was a late teen that I took my first film class and was introduced to the work of Buñuel. Los Olvidados literally changed my perception of the world, both socially and visually. It was also the gateway for me to progress from movie watcher to film student.

Album: Music is my religion and I belong to the church of Robert Nesta Marley. I would prefer the whole anthology, but if I had to choose one album it would be “Exodus”. When on an island listen to island music.

Book: Right around the time I discovered the work of Buñuel, I was gifted Jose Montoya's 'In Formation: 20 years of Joda'. The book is a treasure of epic poems, sketches, and corridos. All testaments to the beauty and strength of Chicana/o culture. 20 years later I pay homage to both of these Maestros in my debut feature film, “Cry Now”. The film's protagonist is nicknamed 'Ojitos' during the course of the narrative, a reference to one of the characters in Los Olvidados. The late great Lupe Ontiveros playing the role of a sage loosely recites Montoya's mantra 'La Locura Cura' (In madness you find truth) while she councils our protagonist.

Companion: To bring it all full circle my fictitious character would have to be a Wuxia hero. As a child I was awe inspired by these bigger than life martial artists. As an adult, Ang Lee's “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” did the same. I know all would be as it should if Yu Shu Lien was on that island with me. - Alberto Barboza (Cry Now )

Film: Nothing But a Man (1964) It's a film that does an incredible job balancing a character-driven story within a politically charged context. It's a film I'm finding myself inspired by as I continue to write Los Valientes.

Album: I'm not a fan of albums, but if I had to choose one I guess I would have to go with any of Prince's albums. His music always puts me in a trance.

Book: My dream journal so I can look back look for signs of what is to become of my future.

Companion: Who better than TV's MacGyver. I'd put his ass to work on getting me off the island! -Aurora Guerrero (Mosquita y Mari)

Film: Hell in the Pacific so that I can be reminded that even in paradise there is a duality.

Album: “La Scala: Concert” by Ludovico Einaudi – I've listened to it a thousand times and each time I feel or discover something new.

Book: “ Voces Reunidas” by Antonio Porchia. Each time I read one of his poems I learn something new and I'm deeply moved.

Companion: Barbarella, so I could never be lonely and I could enjoy this planet-island – Diego Quemada-Díez (La jaula de oro/The Golden Dream)

Written by Juan Caceres . LatinoBuzz is a weekly feature on SydneysBuzz that highlights Latino indie talent and upcoming trends in Latino film with the specific objective of presenting a broad range of Latino voices. Follow [At]LatinoBuzz on Twitter and Facebook...

I'm mystified as to why Alfonso Cuarón won the best director prize, but at least Gravity, and fellow winners 12 Years a Slave and Dallas Buyers Club, should stand the test of time

• How the night unfolded

• Gravity pulls all night

• Full list of winners

• 10 things we learned

This year's Academy Awards was a very good year, pretty well a vintage year in fact, with excellent films of very different genres being recognised. For a critic it is gratifying to see them rewarded, though baffling in other ways to watch the spectacle of so many others being ignored. Well, that is what happens in this quasi-Superbowl. As ever, the Oscars revealed themselves to be purely enjoyable only for the observers, the journalists and the big winners with the majority of the actual participants undergoing what I suspect is a terrible ordeal and the majority going away under a cloud of disappointment.

Thieves Like Us

Written by Edward Anderson, Calder Willingham, Joan Tewkesbury and Robert Altman

Directed by Robert Altman

USA, 1974

Robert Altman’s foray into film in the 70s left him with a body of work densely packed with revered quality, which enshrined him as one of the great American directors. M*A*S*H, Nashville, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, The Long Goodbye, and 3 Women would have been enough to designate him a worthy auteur, one who spoke a certain mystical anti-Hollywood language with beams of nostalgia resonating from current cinephiles who wonder, “How did they get away with that?”. It wasn’t by fitting in with contemporaries such as Scorsese and Hellman or emulating the previous nouvelle vague that made Altman a mainstay in cinematic history — much of that is due to his unabashed critique of genre understanding, his unique editing, and, perhaps unexpectedly, his understanding of his subjects in a...

Back in Dec. 2012, The Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago presented a limited engagement of a newly-restored Library of Congress print of Michael Roemer's seminal 1964 film, Nothing But a Man. Unfortunately, several people missed that screening and lamented that there was only this one chance to see it, and it had slipped them by. Well for those people, and for those who simply want to see it again, you're in luck. The film will be returning to the Siskel Film Center next month on Friday Feb. 14th and Tuesday Feb. 18th starting on both dates at 6Pm. The screenings are part of the Film Center's upcoming series The American New Wave - starting in...

It won’t take a historian to convince you how turbulent the political atmosphere was in the 1960s — simply look at the American cinema for proof. There had been an influx of the film with the residue of McCarthyism (The Manchurian Candidate), spy thrillers with the looming threat of the Russians (From Russia with Love), and the deep-seated fear of nuclear apocalypse (Dr. Strangelove). These were films about professionals and about the jobs the men in high positions carried out with our voices and votes at a passive distance. The United States’ personal struggle, one dealt with on a day-to-day basis by the average citizen, was the civil rights movement, a stark attempt of reconciliation of the nation’s troubled past by affirming a real equality for black citizens — a cultural as well as legal battle. Cinema’s visual representation for African Americans at this point was throwing Sidney Poitier into a Hollywood production,...

London Film Festival | Drive In Film Club | Black History Month

London Film Festival

You know all those films you've been reading rave reviews about from festivals like Cannes and Venice, depressed in the knowledge you'll have to wait months to see them? Well, this is your chance. Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, Palme d'Or winner Blue Is The Warmest Colour, the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davies and Jonathan Glazer's Under The Skin are some of the most talked-about titles coming London's way. To guide you through it, films are organised into themes, most of them imperative verbs – Love, Dare, Laugh, Thrill, Debate – though there's still a section of red-carpet galas. These include a double dose of Tom Hanks, in Paul Greengrass's Somali pirate thriller Captain Phillips (Odeon Leicester Square, WC2, Wed; Cineworld Haymarket, SW1, Thu), and Saving Mr Banks, in which he plays Walt Disney, schmoozing Emma Thompson over Mary Poppins.

A compelling new film documenting Muhammad Ali's battle against the Vietnam war draft shows the fighter's ongoing relevance, in and out of the ring

"Nobody sings Dylan like Dylan" was how the record company's slogan put it back in the 1960s. Equally, nobody plays Ali like Ali, then or now. So it was sensible of the director Stephen Frears and the screenwriter Shawn Slovo to mix original newsreel footage with newly shot material when putting together their film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, which they presented to an audience at the British Film Institute on Tuesday night.

Its Us premiere took place 24 hours later in Louisville, Kentucky, Ali's home town, kicking off Three Days of Greatness, a gala at which humanitarian awards were presented in the boxer's name to recipients including Jimmy Carter and Christina Aguilera. No one who saw it on either side of the Atlantic this week could doubt that if any sceptic,...

Jake Gyllenhaal cop drama was the only film to deliver a gross in excess of £1m, though Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine sneaked a nifty total to become his biggest ever opener

• Read Mark Kermode's review of Prisoners

• Read the archive of Charles Gant's UK box office reports

The winner

Late September, rarely a robust time for UK cinemagoing, continues the seasonally becalmed pattern. Overall, the 27-29 September session represented the third worst weekend for box office in the past year. Given that the previous frame delivered the second worst, it's clear just how sluggish the market is right now.

The only film delivering a weekend gross in excess of £1m was Prisoners, starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. Aside from the previous weekend, when Rush held on to the top spot with £1.34m, Prisoners' £1.37m tally is the lowest for a No 1 film since Dredd landed...

Today's film news, crushed mercilessly down to the size of one article

On the site today

Here's what's in the news ...

- Mamma Mia! (sorry): Joseph Gordon-Levitt faces criticism over his 'racist' portrayal of Italian-Americans in Don Jon.

- Saoirse Ronan has said she has auditioned for Star Wars VII, "but so has everyone else".

- Orc to be good: Duncan Jones' World of Warcraft movie will be released in 2015.

- Director Mark Basseley Youssef, the man behind the Youtube video that was blamed of inciting the Benghazi attack, has a new film on the way.

- Angelina Jolie will shoot Unbroken down under.

- Here no gore: Eli Roth's Las Vegas haunted house has shut its (creaky) doors.

And elsewhere on the site ...

- Nell Frizzell will tell us why she loves how Rambo took down a helicopter with a rock.

- Ben Child takes a...

He fled the Nazis for a British boarding school – then made a shocking drama about segregation in the deep south. Michael Roemer talks fate, family and sadistic governesses

The first time Michael Roemer set foot in the American south, something pinged in his brain. He had never been there before; he grew up in Germany and Britain, but that day in segregated Alabama in the early 1960s, "I recognised everything. It was immediate. I said, 'Oh, I know this. I know what this feels like.'"

In the last 10 days, I have seen three films by Roemer: two documentaries and Nothing But a Man, his first feature, shot in 1963. The documentaries – Dying, a short piece following three people in the last few months of their lives; and Cortile Cascino, a study of a slum in Palermo, Sicily – are 40 years old and hard to get hold of. Nothing But a Man...

Blue Jasmine | Prisoners | Greedy Lying Bastards | Mister John | Hannah Arendt | Runner Runner | It's A Lot | Girl Most Likely | Smash & Grab: The Story Of The Pink Panther | Austenland

Blue Jasmine (12A)

(Woody Allen, 2013, Us) Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard. 98 mins

In the downward trajectory of late-era Allen comes a startling spike to remind us how great he still can be, especially when it comes to women's roles. This show belongs to Blanchett, playing a Manhattan one-percenter brought down to earth. Propped up by alcohol, drugs and her sister, she's an accident that's already happening, and a magnificent, tragicomic creation.

Prisoners (15)

(Denis Villeneuve, 2013, Us) Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano. 153 mins

A kidnapping case refuses to crack in this weighty, slippery whodunit.

Greedy Lying Bastards (12A)

(Craig Scott Rosebraugh, 2012, Us) 90 mins

Climate-change deniers get a dose of their own medicine, as this impassioned doc lays out a history of hypocrisy.

Mister John (15)

(Christine Molloy,...

Your daily bulletin bringing you all the latest film news on 27 September

It's Friday!

And that means it's movie day! What should you see over the weekend at the cinema? We've reviews of all the new releases to help you decide just that.

• Our top tips this week are Blue Jasmine, Woody's new 'un, which Peter Bradshaw awards five stars. Also hitting the jackpot are a couple of re-releases: The Wicker Man and for Michael Roemer's lost classic Nothing But a Man. (You can watch Xan Brooks banging the drum for the film here, by the way.)

• A couple of documentaries each earn four stars: Smash & Grab, about a big bling heist and Greedy Lying Bastards, about climate change deniers.

• Three are dished out for Prisoners, which has Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal hunting down some kiddie snatchers, for Mister John, a new British thriller, for Hannah Arendt, about...

This subtle, delicately judged, pioneering 1964 drama about African American life is a joy

This rerelease of the 1964 film Nothing But a Man, the pioneering drama about African-American life, is an enormous pleasure. The performances are so fresh and natural – yet so subtle and delicately judged. The direction is superb in its control and the cinematography creates a gripping docu-realist vision. Why has this passionate and involving love story been relatively overlooked? Could there have been a politically correct reluctance to endorse a film about black people made by a white man? Michael Roemer is a German-born immigrant whose Jewish background and experience of Nazi persecution gave him what he felt was a heightened sensitivity to America's racial injustice. Well, it is a joy to see this film now. Duff (Ivan Dixon) is an Alabama railroad worker who falls in love with a schoolteacher, Josie (Abbey Lincoln). The couple encounter racism...

As I watched the below BFI-cut trailer for Nothing But A Man, I realized that I don't believe I've ever seen an official trailer for the film. We've certainly written about it a few times on this blog over the last 4 years, and with each post, I've only been able to find clips from the film - clips usually on YouTube, that often disappear soon after I post them, likely due to rights issues. But I believe that this is the first trailer for Nothing But A Man that these eyes have seen.  And you should've seen the smile on my face as I watched it. It's a must-see classic; A rare, rare gem of its time, and I'd say still very much is a rarity today, almost 50 years after it was...

So this is how the conversation started…A few weeks ago I asked two friends about a black rom-com they recently watched. My male friend shrugged off and called it a “chick flick.” Of course when the female friend heard that, she rolled her eyes and said “Why do you guys always say that? So name me a black romantic film that guys love.” My male friend immediately said "Nothing but a Man".Now that may seem a really unlikely choice for a black romantic film, but I understand what my friend was getting at, and I’ll get to that in the minute.So then my female friend turned to me for my response, and I thought for a few seconds, and said “A Warm December,” to which she replied...

Looking back at 2012 on what films moved and impressed us, it is clear that watching old films is a crucial part of making new films meaningful. Thus, the annual tradition of our end of year poll, which calls upon our writers to pick both a new and an old film: they were challenged to choose a new film they saw in 2012—in theaters or at a festival—and creatively pair it with an old film they also saw in 2012 to create a unique double feature.

All the contributors were asked to write a paragraph explaining their 2012 fantasy double feature. What's more, each writer was given the option to list more pairings, with or without explanation, as further imaginative film programming we'd be lucky to catch in that perfect world we know doesn't exist but can keep dreaming of every time we go to the movies.

How would you program some...

The National Film Registry has added 25 more films that will be preserved in the Library of Congress. To be included in the registry the film needs to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” They have to be at least ten years old and are chosen from a list of films nominated by the public.

There's some great films that have been added this year. We've got the original 3:10 to Yuma, The Matrix, A Christmas Story, A League of Their Own, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Dirty Harry, Uncle Tom's Cabin, and several more.

Check out the full list of films that were added this year below, and you can head over to the Registry website to nominate films that you think should be added in 2013!

3:10 to Yuma (1957)

Considered to be one of the best westerns of the 1950s, “3:10 to Yuma” has gained in stature since its original release as...