News

"It isn't just about jazz, it is jazz." Ready for a journey back in time? Kino Lorber has debuted an official US trailer for the acclaimed musical documentary film titled Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, made by Belgian filmmaker Johan Grimonprez. It's finally set for a US release in limited theaters starting this November. The film is an entrancing look back at a major moment in global politics during the 1960s, intertwining music history & pop culture with these events. Jazz & decolonization are entwined in this historical rollercoaster that led musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach to crash the Un Security Council in protest against the murder of Patrice Lumumba (Wiki). After Lumumba was killed in 1961, the US State Department swings into action by sending jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to Congo to deflect attention from the CIA-backed coup in the country. This features excerpts from My Country, Africa by Andrée Blouin...

Put it this way: if you haven’t picked up Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 remake yet, you’ll have no excuse now. Capcom has announced Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition for PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series, coming February 9. No word on if the Gold Edition will reach the Apple version of RE4.

As you might expect, the Gold Edition of Resident Evil 4 contains the base game, the “Separate Ways” Dlc and The Mercenaries mode Dlc. If you already have RE4 and both Dlc packs, you’re not missing much. But again, if you still haven’t grabbed the game that’s sold over 6 million units since its launch last year, and want to get its Dlc all in one package, here you go.

The arrival of the Gold Edition signals that Capcom might be done with postlaunch content for the remake, but you never know. Regardless,...

Capcom is still keeping mum regarding the rumoured “Separate Ways” Dlc for the remake of Resident Evil 4, but they certainly won’t be for long. After the game’s impressive sales feat back in March, Capcom has announced that the Resident Evil 4 remake has topped five million units sold worldwide across PC and consoles.

Even more impressive is the fact that RE4 hit the 5 million milestone faster than Resident Evil Village by a couple of months. Resident Evil 4 also hit 3 million in sales two whole days before Village hit the same total when it launched.

Want more numbers? As of March 31, 2023, the Resident Evil franchise has now exceeded 142 million units sold worldwide since the first game debuted in 1996.

Capcom chalks up the success of Resident Evil 4 to the game’s rave reviews (including our own), as well as the free additional content, such as “The Mercenaries...

Jim Brown was everything. He was the greatest football player of all time, a trailblazing Black movie star, a vital voice during the Civil Rights Movement, and a man around whom controversy persistently swirled because he did not give a single, solitary f**k ... to a fault.

Brown was a model of American manhood. He played nine seasons of football as the Cleveland Browns running back, and he made the Pro Bowl in every one. Brown averaged 5.2 yards per carry for his career (third-best of all-time) and did so by scrapping for every inch inbounds. He blasted into defenders with rib-cracking velocity. He took his lumps (which were bruisingly visible in his later years), but when you tackled Brown you got the worst of it. The man didn't believe in running to the sideline. He ran through you.

Brown was also a model of defiance at a time when Black...

Some sad news has come in to end the week, as it has been announced that legendary NFL player-turned-actor Jim Brown has passed at the age of 87. His passing was announced by his wife on Instagram, with no cause of death being provided.

Born on February 17, 1936, in St. Simons Islang, Georgia, Brown is considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time. He was drafted out of Syracuse University by the Cleveland Browns in 1957, and spent all nine years of his NFL career with the team. Deadline notes that “his bruising running style redefined the running back position”. He was the first NFL player to make over 100 career rushing touchdowns and set single season and career rushing records. He was a three time Mvp, Rookie of the Year, eight time All-Pro, and eight time rushing leader. With him on the team, the Browns won the NFL championship...

Jim Brown, among the NFL’s greatest players at any position who went on to star in Hollywood Films like “The Dirty Dozen” and “Any Given Sunday,” has died, his wife Monique Brown said Friday on Instagram. He was 87.

Brown’s singular dominance in the NFL of the late 1950s and 1960s was unmatched. Brown made the Pro Bowl in every season from 1957-1965, was a three-time Mvp, and won a championship with the Cleveland Browns in 1964. Of his nine seasons, he led the league in rushing yards for eight, and held most of the league’s major rushing records upon his retirement.

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Brown was born in St. Simons Island, Georgia, the son of a pro boxer and a homemaker. He excelled at every sport he tried, from football and baseball to lacrosse and track. His average of 38 points per game,...

Jim Brown, the NFL titan who appeared in “The Dirty Dozen,” many Blaxploitation films plus Oliver Stone’s “Any Given Sunday,” “The Running Man,” Tim Burton’s “Mars Attacks” and Spike Lee’s “He Got Game,” to name a few, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 87.

His wife Monique posted the news of his death on Instagram, saying, “He passed peacefully last night at our L.A. home.”

In nine extraordinary seasons as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, Brown set an array of NFL records. In 2002, The Sporting News named him the greatest professional football player ever. That phenomenal athleticism and a charismatic personality made him bankable as the first African American action star.

“On behalf of the entire NFL family, we extend our condolences to Monique and their family,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “Jim Brown was a gifted athlete — one of the most dominant players to...

Jim Brown, the incomparable Cleveland Browns fullback who quit the NFL at the peak of his prowess to become a Hollywood action hero in such films as The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra and 100 Rifles, has died. He was 87.

A staunch advocate for civil rights, Brown died in his Los Angeles home Thursday night with wife Monique by his side, his family’s spokesperson told the Associated Press.

In a statement, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell praised Brown’s skills on the field, in addition to calling him a “cultural figure who helped promote change.” The message continued, “During his nine-year NFL career, which coincided with the civil rights movement here at home, he became a forerunner and role model for athletes being involved in social initiatives outside their sport. He inspired fellow athletes to make a difference, especially in the communities in which they lived.”

A synthesis of speed,...

Going off of Steam numbers alone, it’s safe to say that Capcom has another sales hit on their hands with the Resident Evil 4 remake. How big you ask? Try over 3 million units in sales worldwide in the span of two days.

Capcom confirmed that in addition to the consistent high review scores on from various publications (including our own), and the praise and attention following the release of the Chainsaw Demo, the Resident Evil 4 remake has surpassed 3 million units in sales in just the first two days after its release.

To put this into perspective, Resident Evil Village eclipsed 3 million in sales across PC and consoles four days after its release back in 2021. Capcom’s previous dip into the remake pool with Resident Evil 3 only managed 2.7 million in sales in its first three months.

It stands to reason that sales will continue leading up to “The Mercenaries...

With the announcement that the Resident Evil 4 remake will be receiving “The Mercenaries” mode in a few weeks, the question of whether we’d be seeing “Separate Ways” or “Assignment: Ada” at some point is on fans’ minds. Well thanks to dataminers, there’s a good indication that we’d be seeing at least one of them.

Per the Resident Evil Central Twitter account, a dataminer named Gosetsu has discovered a folder within Resident Evil 4‘s game files named “The Another Order”, which is the Japanese name for “Separate Ways”. That’s in addition to files for the Chainsaw demo and “The Mercenaries” mode.

Now obviously, Capcom hasn’t mentioned anything yet regarding “Separate Ways”, but this is a pretty good indication that Capcom will be bringing the minigame to the remake in the future. Hopefully “Assignment: Ada” gets consideration along with it.

And really, why wouldn’t they?...

On the very same day that the Resident Evil 4 remake was released, publisher Capcom pleasantly surprised fans by including at the end of their launch trailer a simple, yet exciting, announcement that The Mercenaries Dlc for the game will also be coming soon. This remake of the classic survival horror video game took the original 2005 version and updated it with advanced graphics and revamped much of the story to give it an even darker tone. Added side quests and changes to the more controversial pieces of the story of the original all come together to make this RE4 remake have many surprises, even for veterans of the series.

The original Resident Evil 4 included a minigame that could be unlocked called The Mercenaries, as well as other bonus games, Separate Ways and Assignment Ada. The RE4 remake's launch trailer, which debuted on the same day as the game's release,...

3D Realms, New Blood Interactive and Feardemic unveiled a treasure trove of goodies during the Realms Deep showcase. Not only did DreadXP’s Spookware get a second episode, but the masters of remasters at Nightdive have unveiled the Ludicrous Edition of the 3D Fps classic Rise of The Triad!

Kicking things off is Episode 2 of Spookware (Jay and Neil had fun with the first entry), which is available now on Steam, and expands on the story of the three skelebros and their latest adventure: being arrested for tax evasion. Picking up in Chapter 4, the skelebros are tossed into a maximum security prison for their crimes. Up to three players will explore the prison and play through themed microgames, all in an effort to devise and execute a daring escape. Chapter 5 sees the trio on a train, showcasing something devilishly unique: full 3-D movement, allowing the player to traverse obstacles in...

Craig Railsback’s “Down and Out in Vampire Hills” Stars Dawna Lee Heising and Ken May

Comedy/Horror Short Is Written by Dr. Heather Joseph-Witham and the Original Score is by Dr. Renah Wolzinger and Keith Wolzinger

“Down and Out in Vampire Hills” is a horror comedy short film, written by Dr. Heather Joseph-Witham (Vampires in the Big Easy), and directed and edited by Craig Railsback. The original soundtrack is composed by Dr. Renah Wolzinger of Renzone Music Studios and Keith Wolzinger. Renah is a Voting Member of the Grammy Recording Academy and composed and recorded an original theme song for the film called “Dancing in the Moonlight.” The soundtrack for “Down and Out in Vampire Hills” is now being streamed on more than 200 channels, including those listed at this link: https://hearnow.com/settings/fralb02879289#nt_base_menu

The film is produced by Dawna Lee Heising, Heather Joseph-Witham, Renah Wolzinger,...

By Lee Pfeiffer

Actress Yvette Mimieux passed away on Tuesday from natural causes. She was 80 years old. Mimieux rose to fame starring opposite Rod Taylor in George Pal's 1960 screen adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine". Prominent roles in major films soon followed and she won acclaim for her abilities primarily in dramas, although the1960 film "Where the Boys Are" combined comedy with tragedy and Mimieux's star rose further when the movie became a boxoffice hit with teenagers. In 1962, she teamed again with George Pal for his Cinerama classic "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm".  Other major films in which she starred included "The Light in the Piazza", "Toys in the Attic", "Diamond Head", "The Reward" and the Disney hit "Monkeys Go Home!". In 1968, she reunited with Rod Taylor for "Dark of the Sun" (aka "The Mercenaries"), a brutal but well-made adventure film centering on social unrest and revolution in the Congo.

Actress Yvette Mimieux, who starred in movies including “Where the Boys Are,” “The Time Machine,” “Light in the Piazza,” “Toys in the Attic,” “Dark of the Sun” and “The Picasso Summer,” died Tuesday. She was 80.

The beautiful blonde Mimieux made most of her films in the 1960s, but she was also among the stars of Disney’s 1979 sci-fi film “The Black Hole.”

Among the films Mimieux made in 1960 were MGM’s glossy teen movie “Where the Boys Are,” in which four coeds including Mimieux’s Melanie head to Fort Lauderdale for spring break in search of fun and the “right” boy, and George Pal’s adaptation of H.G. Wells’ “The Time Machine,” starring Rod Taylor and with Mimieux third billed as Weena, Taylor’s romantic interest, who lives among the Eloi, a peaceful race living in the year 802,701.

In 1962 she appeared in four films, including the big-budget critical and...

Harry Belafonte in The World, The Flesh And The Devil is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Order it Here

“Millions Flee from Cities! End of the World!” From a Manhattan skyscraper, Ralph Burton (Harry Belafonte) surveys the emptiness announced by that chilling newspaper headline. Nuclear doomsday has come. Ralph is sure he is the last person alive. Then, a woman (Inger Stevens) appears and the two form a cautious friendship that’s threatened when a third survivor (Mel Ferrer) arrives. Unlike other postapocalyptic thrillers, from The Time Machine to I Am Legend, there are no external monsters to battle here. Instead, the monsters – fear, intolerance, jealousy – lurk inside the all-too human beings. And heightening the intensity of writer/director Ranald MacDougall’s suspenseful and unsettling movie are stunning vistas of unpopulated New York: vast, empty and soulless.

Nuclear doomsday has come. Ralph (Harry Belafonte) is sure he is the last person alive.

Michael Anderson directs a classy slice of ’60s spy-dom. In West Berlin, George Segal’s Quiller struggles through a near- existential battle with Neo-Nazi swine more soulless than his own cold-fish handlers. Harold Pinter supplies the circular dialogue, Alec Guinness the charming insincerity and Max von Sydow a devilish menace. Quiller is mesmerized by the seductive ambiguity of lovely Senta Berger. Does she love Quiller? Or is love dead in this brave world of deceit and subterfuge?

The Quiller Memorandum

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 105 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger, George Sanders, Robert Helpmann, Robert Flemyng, Peter Carsten.

Cinematography: Erwin Hillier

Film Editor: Frederick Wilson

Original Music: John Barry

Written by Harold Pinter from the novel by Adam Hall

Produced by Ivan Foxwell

Directed by Michael Anderson

The ’60s spy movie craze was a copycat game.

It’s tendon-biting combat, with guns, trains, planes, chainsaws, and an indestructible all-terrain vehicle (that still couldn’t stand the potholes in the street of Los Angeles)! Rod Taylor, Jim Brown and Yvette Mimieux blast their way through one of the roughest of the ’60s action spectacles, as mercenaries on a mission of mercy that’s really a venal grab to ‘rescue’ a fortune in diamonds. Director Jack Cardiff pushed the limits of acceptability on this one — legends persist about longer, more egregiously violent cuts.

Dark of the Sun

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 100 min. / The Mercenaries / Street Date December 18, 2011 / available through the Warner Archive Collection / 19.95

Starring: Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Peter Carsten, Jim Brown, Kenneth More, André Morell, Olivier Despax, Guy Deghy, Bloke Modisane, Calvin Lockhart.

Cinematography: Edward Scaife.

Film Editor: Ernest Walter

Original Music: Jacques Loussier

Written by Quentin Werty (Ranald MacDougall), Adrian Spies from the...

Exciting news for fans of action! Rod Taylor and Jim Brown in Dark Of The Sun (1968) is available on Blu-ray December 18th from Warner Archives. Ordering information can be found Here

Rod Taylor stars in this action classic, playing the leader of a band of mercenaries attempting to smuggle diamonds and refugees out of Congo via steam train at the height of the ’60s Congo Crisis. Directed by master cinematographer Jack Cardiff, Dark of the Sun shocked contemporary audiences with its stark and unflinching scenes of violent brutality. Jim Brown and Yvette Mimieux join Taylor for the hi-octane, high tension action. Overlooked in its initial run, Dark of the Sun is a justly revered classic of the genre, now seen as a seminal entry in the genre. And now it’s more explosive than ever on this stunning, new HD presentation. And did we mention there is a chainsaw fight scene?...

Elite commandos Rod Taylor and Jim Brown, mercenaries on a Congo strike mission, tangle with murderous rebels while seeking a fortune in hidden diamonds in Jack Cardiff’s ultra-violent action classic. A Tarantino favorite. For years this has been hard to see in its original form but is now available in a new widescreen transfer with every bullet hit and body blow intact. Released overseas as The Mercenaries.

Commemorating Rod Taylor, we turn to Dark of the Sun, routinely dismissed as a nasty slice of thick-ear but admired by Scorsese for its unflinching brutality and lean, efficient technique: possibly the best film directed by great cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who otherwise could be said to have squandered years on dreck like Girl on a Motorcycle (lovely to look at, inane and obnoxious) and The Mutations (ugly to look at, inaner and obnoxiouser). It's always a bit of a crime when a great specialist becomes an undistinguished all-rounder, and Cardiff's belated return to cinematography was, on the whole, a happy day. His admired first film in the director's chair, Sons and Lovers, looks magnificent, but screenwriter Gavin Lambert felt Cardiff didn't really understand the material.

Well, in a sense the strength of Dark of the Sun, superficially an action/adventure yarn set in the Congo during revolution, is its simplicity:...

Sydney-born Australian actor Rod Taylor, best known as the star of George Pal's original film adaptation of "The Time Machine" and Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," died Wednesday of a heart attack in Los Angeles. He was 84.

Taylor made his feature debut in 'Time,' the 1960 screen version of H.G. Wells' classic. He followed that up voicing the lead dog in Disney's "101 Dalmatians" and delivered a strong performance in "The Birds".

Yet his career never really soared as high after those early successes, even though he kept working in various films such as "Sunday in New York ," "36 Hours," "Young Cassidy," "The Liquidator," "The Glass Bottom Boat," "Hotel," "Dark of the Sun," "Nobody Runs Forever," "Darker Than Amber," "The Train Robbers," "Bearcats!," "The Oregon Trail," "Masquerade," "Outlaws," "Falcon Crest," and "Welcome to Woop Woop".

His last role was that of Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds".

Source:...

Taylor in the 1960 screen version of The Time Machine.

By Lee Pfeiffer

If the year 2014 proved to be an exceptionally cruel one in terms of the number of legendary celebrities who passed away, the new year is off to an equally depressing start with the news that Rod Taylor has passed away at age 84. Taylor, who was two days away from his 85th birthday, died suddenly from a heart attack following a dinner party at his home. He was surrounded by friends and family when the end came.  Taylor was a solid leading man who came to prominence in the late 1950s. Although Australian by birth, the ruggedly handsome Taylor could effectively play Brits, Irishmen and Americans with convincing ease. He first gained attention with supporting roles in high profile, big Hollywood studio productions in the late 1950s such as "Raintree County" and "Separate Tables". His breakthrough role came in...

People.com is reporting that actor Rod Taylor died Wednesday at the age of 84 of natural causes.

His daughter Felicia Taylor, a former CNN correspondent, confirmed the news Thursday.

“My dad loved his work. Being an actor was his passion – calling it an honorable art and something he couldn’t live without,” she said in a statement.

“He once said, ‘I am a poor student sitting at the feet of giants, yearning for their wisdom and begging for lessons that might one day make me a complete artist,” she continued, “ ‘so that if all goes well, I may one day sit beside them.”

Born on Jan 11, 1930 in Sydney, Australia, Rod Taylor is best remembered for his starring roles in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963) and George Pal’s The Time Machine (1960). He also provided the voice of Pongo in Disney’s 101 Dalmatians (1961). Taylor also starred in TV’s “The Twilight Zone...

Motel Hell is available now on Blu-ray. That information alone should be enough to send horror fans shrieking into the streets to party until the wee hours of the morning. And we here all want to get into the festivities as well.

To celebrate the release of Motel Hell on Blu-ray, we've compiled our Top 9 Chilling Chainsaw Kills. Of course this is in reference to the iconic chainsaw scene in the climax of the film. There was something simply unforgettable about Rory Calhoun wielding a ridiculously long chainsaw while wearing a pig head like a Halloween mask. Classic!

But before we get to our top horrific movie chainsaw kills, we have some honorable mentions to share with you. We've got to go way back to find some of the earliest on-screen chainsaw kills. We came up with Dark of the Sun (1968) and The Wizard of Gore (1970) for two of the first buzzsaw butcherings.

By Lee Pfeiffer

A long-neglected gem, the 1959 apocalyptic thriller The World, the Flesh and the Devil has finally been released on Blu-ray through the Warner Archive. The movie, which was once routinely shown on TV, has all but vanished from sight in recent years. One of the first serious attempts to examine the implications of Armageddon in the nuclear age, the film was largely over-shadowed by Stanley Kramer's similarly-themed, all-star production of On the Beach. Harry Belafonte stars as Ralph Burton, a construction worker who is investigating a long-dormant underground tunnel when catastrophe strikes. He is trapped by a cave-in and when he manages to emerge from the death trap situation, he discovers the entire population of his town has fled in mass hysteria due to the outbreak of a world war. His research shows that biological weapons were used to kill seemingly everyone on earth. For the sake of dramatic license,...

The Warner Archive Collection is a manufacture-on-demand (Mod) DVD series that specializes in putting previously unreleased films on DVD for the first time. Recently they dug deep into their vast history of classic horror and selected some winners to resurrect.

The Warner Archive Collection can make a wide array of films available because they don't actually create the DVD until it is ordered by a customer. This way, they are not taking a chance of getting stuck with a large amount of inventory if a selected title doesn't sell. You'll certainly recognize some of the horror films the Warner Archive Collection has added to its library, but there are a couple of really obscure ones in there as well. Take a look at the list of what's been made available and plan your shopping list now.

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)

Although the recent remake featuring the suddenly single...

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Dear Lee, Dave and the Cinema Retro crew,

I have been going through the latest issue of Cinema Retro (Season 8 / Issue 22) and I'm overwhelmed. Before seeing it, I would have said it couldn't be done, but you've done it. This is really the best issue of Cinema Retro yet! All of the coverage on Cinerama is wonderful! Dark of the Sun is a knockout. You all just keep getting better and better. Keep up the great work. You now have another milestone issue to improve upon. Thank you!

Bill Shaffer

Tecumseh, Kansas

Retro responds: Bill, thanks so much. We take pride in the fact that we're probably the only film magazine in the world to devote so much time and attention to an otherwise neglected gem like Dark of the Sun. It's proven to be one of our most popular articles ever, an...

The terrific response to Howard Hughes' and Dave Worrall's article on the 1968 adventure film Dark of the Sun in the latest issue of Cinema Retro leads us to this movie alert. Tomorrow, January 26, Turner Classic Movies (North America) is showing three Rod Taylor films back-to-back beginning with Young Cassidy at 11:30 Pm (Est), continuing with The Liquidator at 1:30 Am Friday and concluding with Dark of the Sun at 3:30 Am. Happy viewing!

Cinema Retro enters its eighth great year with issue #22, now shipping worldwide. All subscribers will be receiving their copies shortly.

If you have not renewed your subscription, please do so today! We cannot hold copies in reserve for you, so don't miss out on a single great issue during 2012. Click here to subscribe instantly through our Ebay affiliate store or click here for other methods of subscribing.

Highlights of issue #22 include special features that celebrate the 60th anniversary of Cinerama:

Sir Christopher Frayling provides a major 10 page article on the making of MGM's Cinerama blockbuster How the West Was Won, featuring deleted scenes and a wealth of rarely seen photographs. Howard Hughes pays tribute to Jack Cardiff's 1968 gut-busting adventure Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) starring Rod Taylor Dave Worrall blows the lid off the 1969 Cinerama epic Krakatoa, East of Java and takes us behind the scenes for...

As we enter our 8th year of publishing, we'd like to thank each of our loyal readers for helping us keep the dream alive. It's not easy maintaining a magazine in the age of the internet, but we continue to thrive thanks to our many readers throughout the world. A very special thanks to those of you who subscribe to Cinema Retro. Frankly, there is no greater way of helping us out (unless you have a few million bucks laying around that you'd like to donate). Every subscription goes a long way to ensuring that we'll be able to maintain the high standards you've come to expect- with a minimum amount of advertising. We've also been able to maintain our pricing without a single increase in eight years, despite soaring costs for printing and mailing. Every issue will continue to be a limited edition collector's item. In fact with the...

Given the unrest across Africa today, it’s easy to forget that there was similar troubles as country after country gained their independence from colonization in the 1950s and 1960s. The Congo crisis, in particular, lasted from 1960-66 as it struggled to establish itself after Belgian rule. Over 100,000 people died during the ordeal and it inspired a 1965 novel, The Dark of the Sun, by Wilbur Smith.

The novel, rather than the actual events, led to the 1968 MGM film adaptation which is finally available on DVD from Warner Archive. The film has been a favorite of directors including Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino who lifted some of the score, and its lead Rod Taylor, for use in last year’s Inglorious Basterds.

Taylor plays mercenary Bruce Curry who is hired by the iron-fisted president Ubi (Calvin Lockhart) to retrieve $50 million in diamonds from the northern country. Accompanied by his Congolese friend...

 

Great news for action movie fans: Dark of the Sun (aka The Mercenaries) has been released by Warner Archive as part of their burn-to-order DVD collection. The film, made in 1968, was directed by Jack Cardiff and is a superb, tough-as-nails adventure about mercenaries in the Congo. The movie stars Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieaux, Jim Brown and Kenneth More. It's as good as action movies get and has been one of the titles that Cinema Retro readers have desired most. The only downside: Warner Archives ships only to customers in the USA.

To order click here...

We at Mubi think that celebrating the films of 2010 should be a celebration of film viewing in 2010. Since all film and video is "old" one way or another, we present Out of a Past, a small (re-) collection of some of our favorite of 2010's retrospective viewings.

***

This is a list of older movies I saw for the first time in 2010—not necessarily the best, but the ones that gave me the greatest sense of discovery. It’s a sad commentary on contemporary film culture that only five of the twelve films I mention are available on Netflix.

Routine Pleasures (Jean-Pierre Gorin, USA, 1986)

An essay film from the Godard’s former collaborator during his leftist Dziga Vertov Group days. The movie begins as a documentary about a group of model train enthusiasts in San Diego who have constructed an elaborate imaginary world with enormous and minutely detailed landscapes and a...

If you're planning to attend the 9:30 showing of Dark of the Sun at Anthology Film Archives in New York City on Thursday, August 19, then why not come to the 7:00 Pm showing of John Frankenheimer's 1974 thriller 99 and 44/100% Dead? The film stars Richard Harris and was a bomb upon its initial release. That's half the fun of attending director/producer William Lustig's film festival, which showcases such bizarre choices. Meet up with Bill Lustig and Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer, who will be doing the intro to the film. ...

Note: As we previously advised, customs problems prevented the screening of Dark of the Sun from taking place on August 15. The print has been imported from the UK and has now arrived safe-and-sound. The rescheduled screening will be on Thursday, August 19 at 9:30 Pm. There has also been an additional screening added on Saturday, August 21 at 4:00 Pm.  

We recently alerted readers about "William Lustig Presents", the film festival taking place at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. The festival presents a wide range of cult movies rarely seen anymore on the big screen. This Thursday, Cinema Retro Editor-in-Chief Lee Pfeiffer will join Bill Lustig to introduce a rare screening of MGM's 1968 adventure film Dark of the Sun (released in the UK as The Mercenaries) starring Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Jim Brown, and Kenneth More. Directed by Jack Cardiff, the slam-bang film centers on mercenaries in the Congo during...

 

Here's a late-breaking bit of news that is sure to frustrate fans who were planning to attend the Dark of the Sun screening tonight at the Anthology Film Archives in New York. We just heard from producer/director William Lustig, who is sponsoring the retro film festival, that the print of the film will not be delivered in time due to customs delays. Lustig had imported a print from England but something went awry at customs. The theater still intends to show the film next Thursday, as scheduled, and will try to screen on a second day, as well. Looks like the fickle finger of fate really has an in for this under-rated movie! Stay tuned for updates.

Film producer and Blue Underground DVD company founder William Lustig is back in New York City for his annual sponsorship of a cult movie festival that opens Thursday at the Anthology Film Archives. It's a treasure trove of flicks you never get to see on the big screen anymore because most were dismissed by critics in their day. Among the gems: White Line Fever, 99 44/100 Dead, The Town That Dreaded Sundown, Machine Gun McCain, Dark of the Sun and The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover. The festival is so popular that today's Wall Street Journal ran a major article about it. Click here for the film calendar.

As far as wanted films of the 1960s & 1970s go, which aren't out on legit R1 DVD in the U.S., first and foremost there's:   Sands Of The Kalahari (1965) --to the best my knowledge, this crackerjack adventure film encore from the director & star of Zulu has never been given a legit release on any home video format, anywhere in the world!   --following closely on its heels, we also desperately need:   Alakazam The Great (1961-Japanese, animated) Blood And Roses (1961-French) House Of Mystery (1961-British) Shadow Of The Cat (1961-British) Thief Of Bagdad, The (1961-Italian) Burn, Witch, Burn (1962-British, a.k.a. Night Of The Eagle) Confessions Of An Opium Eater (1962, a.k.a. Souls For Sale) Hand Of Death (1962) Boy Ten Feet Tall, A (1963-British, a.k.a. Sammy Going South) Day Mars Invaded Earth, The (1963) Day Of The Triffids, The (1963-British) Johnny Cool (1963) List Of Adrian Messenger, The (1963) Little Prince & The Eight-headed Dragon,...