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It’s been close to eight decades since two atomic bombs annihilated the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the only times nuclear weapons have been used in warfare. And in these seventy years, we have learned a lot about the irreparable human costs of nuclear holocaust and the long-lasting hazards of radiation exposure. Yet, the chance of a warring nation deflecting the use of such a weapon in extreme measures couldn’t be deemed impossible. The dark clouds of Cold War may have long perished, but power-hungry governments all over the world tend to toy with their nuclear weaponry. With Ican (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) winning the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, the need to recognize the catastrophic consequences of these deadly weapons has only drawn more attention.

For decades, Cinema has done its duty in questioning the blood-lust-driven establishment on its nuclear activities despite its claims to the contrary.

Nailing the final entry of a classic cinematic trilogy is always the most difficult to get right. Tasked with sticking the landing and tying the narrative strands across three movies together requires a precise amount of pre-planning that must be executed in ways that both trump its predecessors and satisfy fans at once with a compelling conclusion. Every once in a while, we get perfect trilogy-enders like The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, The Return of the King, or The Last Crusade. But more often than not, we get limp and lackluster results like The Godfather Part III, Jaws 3D, Terminator: Rise of the Machines, Alien 3, Back to the Future 3, Men in Black III, and countless other movies that fail to live up to the first two instalments. That begs the question, where does Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome register on the scale of all-time good or bad final chapters in movie trilogies?...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to screenwriter Matthew Derby about the writing of Winona Ryder starrer Gone In The Night (directed by Eli Horowitz) and “3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life”

Elephant Man (1980) The Atomic CAFÉ (1982) Enemy Mine (1985)

“3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life” is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the alarm goes off for five minutes we move on to the next film.

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"You must be ready every day, all the time." Kino Lorber has released a new trailer for a re-release of a cult classic paranoia film titled The Atomic Cafe, which was first released in theaters in the Us in 1982. The wacky, entertaining, frightening documentary film is a collage of footage and newsreels collected from the 1940s and 1950s of United States government issued propaganda films designed to reassure Americans that the atomic bomb was not a threat to their safety. It features all those classic, freaky clips of atomic bomb explosions, juxtaposed with the safety videos of how to survive, juxtaposed with all the propaganda videos explaining that all is well and we have the bomb and there's nothing to worry about. "Returning to theaters in a sparkling 4K digital restoration created by IndieCollect, The Atomic Cafe is an absurdist blast from the past that would be downright laughable if...

There is no denying the state of the world is nearly boiling over with insecurity and anxiety thanks to the instability of America’s leadership. Coupled with that existential distress is the absolute naive idea that the current hellscape is just a lapse; it’ll all pass as soon as we lift our heads from cover. Sound familiar? With the heightened intensity of political affairs, an astonishing documentary from 1982, “The Atomic Cafe,” is being rereleased for audiences to see in new restoration.

Continue reading Exclusive: 1982 Cult Documentary ‘The Atomic Cafe’ New 4K Re-Release Trailer at The Playlist.

The Traverse City Film Festival is celebrating its 14th year in 2018 by bringing together some of the year’s best indies and documentaries, plus classics from Jonathan Demme, Hal Ashby, and more. The Michigan-set festival, backed by Michael Moore, is being run in 2018 by directors Susan Fisher and Meg Weichman, who have worked on the festival for nearly a decade and have been at the helm since December.

Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.

The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.

Opening Night: “Rbg”

Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”

Closing Night: “Burden”

Open Space

“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme

“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan

“Coco,” Lee Unkrich

“Black Panther,...

Exclusive: Kino Lorber has acquired North American rights to the 4k restoration of the 1982 documentary The Atomic Cafe. The restoration will premiere at SXSW in Austin, TX on March 10 with a nationwide release this summer and a home entertainment debut in the fall. The doc is composed entirely of civil defense and propaganda films created by the U.S. military and other agencies, and when it hit theaters 36 years ago, it hysterically debunked myths about nuclear weapons…...

It’s 1930s America as seen in the movies, through music, and the evasions of newsreels. Franklin Delano Roosevelt preaches prosperity while James Cagney slugs out the decade as a smart-tongued everyman — in a dozen different roles. Director Philippe Mora investigates what was then a new kind of revisionist info-tainment formula: applying old film footage to new purposes.

Brother Can You Spare a Dime

DVD

The Sprocket Vault

1975 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 106 min. / Street Date ?, 2017 / available through The Sprocket Vault / 14.99 (also available in Blu-ray)

Film Editor: Jeremy Thomas

Research by Michael Barlow, Jennifer E. Ryan, Susan Winslow

Produced by Sanford Lieberson, David Puttnam

Directed by Philippe Mora

Years before he was briefly sidetracked into sequels for The Howling, Philippe Mora was an accomplished artist and documentary filmmaker. Backed by producers Sanford Lieberson and David Puttnam, his 1974 documentary Swastika pulled a controversial switch on the usual historical fare about...

“Thru the Time Barrier, 552 years Ahead… Roaring To the Far Reaches of Titanic Terror, Crash-Landing Into the Nightmare Future!” … and as Daffy Duck says, “And it’s good, too!” Allied Artists sends CinemaScope and Technicolor on a far-out timewarp to a place where the men are silly and the women are… very female. Hugh Marlowe stars but the picture belongs to hunky Rod Taylor and leggy Nancy Gates.

World Without End

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1956 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date March 28, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Hugh Marlowe, Nancy Gates, Nelson Leigh, Rod Taylor, Shawn Smith, Lisa Montell, Christopher Dark, Booth Colman, Everett Glass.

Cinematography: Ellsworth Fredericks

Makeup: Emile Lavigne

Art Direction: Dave Milton

Film Editor: Eda Warren

Original Music: Leith Stevens

Produced by Richard V. Heermance

Written and Directed by Edward Bernds

“CinemaScope’s first science-fiction thriller.”

First, huh? What about MGM’s CinemaScope attraction Forbidden Planet, which...

25 movies have been added to the National Film Registry, bringing the total number of cinematic works officially recognized by the Library of Congress to 700. Among the new additions are “The Birds,” “The Lion King,” “Point Blank” and “Rushmore” — the first of Wes Anderson’s films to be included.

In order to be so honored, a film must be at least 10 years old and deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the National Film Preservation Board. Full list below.

Read More: ‘Ghostbusters,’ ‘L.A. Confidential,’ ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ ‘Top Gun’ & More Enter The National Film Registry

“The Atomic Cafe” (1982)

“Ball of Fire” (1941)

“The Beau Brummels” (1928)

“The Birds” (1963)

“Blackboard Jungle” (1955)

“The Breakfast Club” (1985)

“The Decline of Western Civilization” (1981)

“East of Eden” (1955)

“Funny Girl” (1968)

“Life of an American Fireman” (1903)

“The Lion King” (1994)

“Lost Horizon” (1937)

“Musketeers of Pig Alley” (1912)

Read More: ‘Symbiopsychotaxiplasm,’ ‘Portrait of Jason,’ ‘Imitation of Life’ Among New Additions to National Film Registry...

Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama that became 'the official story' for the making of the bomb. The huge cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, and Joseph Calleia. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. The Beginning or the End DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia, Godfrey Tearle, Victor Francen,...

“When not close enough to be killed, the atomic bomb is one of the most beautiful sights in the world.” That quote, from a 1950s military instructional video, sums up not only the American attitude towards nuclear warfare during the Cold War but also our current fascination with mass destruction in blockbuster filmmaking. Audiences are in love with collapsing buildings, with clouds of debris flooding city blocks, with fire and shredded metal blotting out the sky. From the safety of the cinema seat or the couch, it’s all so exciting, rather than the pinnacle of horror. But when the original Godzilla came out in 1954, its scenes of mass destruction were anything but entertaining. The titular monster’s rampage across Japan was played completely seriously and for all the terror it could muster. It tapped a deep vein of contemporary anxieties in a culture that had been hit with two nuclear weapons and then had to watch...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has revealed its 276-member-strong class of 2013.

The list, published by The Hollywood Reporter, includes actors, cinematographers, designers, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, "members-at-large," musicians, producers, PR folks, short filmmakers and animators, sound technicians, visual effects artists, and writers.

Jason Bateman, Rosario Dawson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Milla Jovovich, Lucy Liu, Jennifer Lopez, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Jason Schwartzman, and Michael Peña are among the roster of actors, while "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids" helmer Paul Feig made the directors' cut.

"We did not change our criteria at all," says Academy president Hawk Koch of this year's larger-than-usual class. "Yes, this year there is a tremendous amount of women, a tremendous amount of people of color, people from all walks of life. This year, we asked the branches to look at everybody who wasn't in the Academy but who deserved to be.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the 276 members of the entertainment industry invited to join organization. The list includes actors, directors, documentarians, executives, film editors, producers and more. Of those listed below, those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2013. "These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today," said Academy President Hawk Koch in a press release. "Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy." Koch also told Variety, "In the past eight or nine years, each branch could only bring in X amount of members. There were people each branch would have liked to get in but couldn't. We asked them to be more inclusive of the best of the best, and each branch was excited, because they got...

The Academy just added 276 Oscar voters.

That’s 100 more than last year, and part of an easing of a longstanding cap on the number of new members allowed to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences each year.

AMPAS usually adds between 130 and 180 new members, replacing those who have quit or passed away. The membership now stands around 6,000.

Jason Bateman, Jennifer Lopez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emmanuelle Riva, and Chris Tucker are among the actors who have been invited to join, the organization announced today.

Other interesting additions: the musician Prince, Girls and Tiny Furniture writer/director/actress Lena Dunham,...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2013.

“These individuals are among the best filmmakers working in the industry today,” said Academy President Hawk Koch. “Their talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am proud to welcome each of them to the Academy.”

The 2013 invitees are:

Actors

Jason Bateman – “Up in the Air,” “Juno”

Miriam Colon – “City of Hope,” “Scarface”

Rosario Dawson – “Rent,” “Frank Miller’s Sin City”

Kimberly Elise – “For Colored Girls,” “Beloved”

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises”

Charles Grodin – “Midnight Run,” “The Heartbreak Kid”

Rebecca Hall – “Iron Man 3,” “The Town”

Lance Henriksen – “Aliens,” “The Terminator”

Jack Huston – “Not Fade Away,” “Factory Girl”

Milla Jovovich – “Resident Evil,...

A closing montage in the essential 1982 found footage essay "The Atomic Cafe" shows a series of 1960s-era individuals engaging in duck-and-cover antics in anticipation of a nuclear blast. Given the retro black-and-white feel, the visual equation amounts to a meditation on the past, with no indication of the same paranoia being present in modern times. Lucy Walker's sober investigative documentary "Countdown to Zero" rectifies that assumption as an up-to-the-minute survey ...