Adam Wingard's "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" features an epic team-up between the legendary beasts, Godzilla and Kong, underlining the necessity to push aside a millennia-spanning feud to tackle an even greater threat. Firmly rooted in the perspective of the monsters, where most of the storytelling stems from nonverbal, evocative visuals (which are also cool as heck), "Godzilla x Kong" understands the appeal of the monster movie genre -- it's pure spectacle that often tugs at the heartstrings. While it cannot get much simpler than that, the film does a commendable job of pitting two giants against a villain scorned, whose motivations culminate in destroying the world without a second thought about the cost of such an act.
The monster movie franchise is as gargantuan as the beasts that are featured in it, spanning back to 1933's "King Kong," which kickstarted a cultural phenomenon that still feels fresh and fun to this day.
The monster movie franchise is as gargantuan as the beasts that are featured in it, spanning back to 1933's "King Kong," which kickstarted a cultural phenomenon that still feels fresh and fun to this day.
- 3/31/2024
- by Debopriyaa Dutta
- Slash Film
In 2022, director John Carpenter curated a special four-film marathon for Shout! Factory TV, one of the best streaming services out there. As recorded by Den of Geek, the lineup included Carpenter's four favorite films in the Godzilla mythos: "Gojira" (1954), "Rodan" (1956), "Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster" (1964), and, naturally, "War of the Gargantuas" (1966). One should be warned, however, that watching all four of those films in a row will instigate severe brain growth and usher in a phase of enlightenment previously unexperienced by most mortals.
Carpenter has long been a fan of Godzilla movies, having grown up in the 1950s when many of Toho's celebrated kaiju movies were opening in the United States. Carpenter's exposure to Godzilla at an early age not only contributed to his love of cinema but encouraged him to make movies of his own. As Carpenter's own fans might know, he got his start in filmmaking as a kid,...
Carpenter has long been a fan of Godzilla movies, having grown up in the 1950s when many of Toho's celebrated kaiju movies were opening in the United States. Carpenter's exposure to Godzilla at an early age not only contributed to his love of cinema but encouraged him to make movies of his own. As Carpenter's own fans might know, he got his start in filmmaking as a kid,...
- 2/3/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Ben Wheatley is one of the most unpredictable filmmakers working today. He impressed with his feature debut, the darkly funny "Down Terrace," but took a huge leap when he decided to blend two quintessential British genres, crime flicks and folk horror, with the terrifyingly brilliant "Kill List." Wheatley could've hightailed it for Hollywood on the strength of the latter, but he had different priorities. He bounced from the psychedelic horror of "A Field in England" to an effective adaptation of J.G. Ballard's dystopian "High-Rise" to the pitch-black shoot-em-up "Free Fire." He subsequently took a crack at Daphne du Maurier's "Rebecca," and while he couldn't quite place his distinctive stamp on the material (which Alfred Hitchcock aced with David O. Selznick hanging over his shoulder in his 1940 Best Picture winner), you had to admire his ambition.
Wheatley is an undoubtedly gifted filmmaker, but, film to film, I can't...
Wheatley is an undoubtedly gifted filmmaker, but, film to film, I can't...
- 8/4/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
By Sean Barry
Tokusatsu entertainment has continued to flourish in Japan since its rise in popularity in the 1950s and onward. Beyond movies and television, the roots of Japanese special effects production can be traced back to Japanese theatre, which has existed for centuries. For example, Kabuki has used trickery of the eye, such as in action setpieces, and the form of puppet theatre known as Bunraku tells its stories entirely through visual effects. The latter form of stage storytelling combined with well-established tokusatsu techniques would birth one of the most stylish and beautifully crafted short films in recent years: “Howl from Beyond the Fog.”
on Amazon
A source of inspiration for the ambitious project is Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Fog Horn.” The classic literature piece follows two men who have an encounter with a sea monster that is drawn to the foghorn of a lighthouse on an isolated island.
Tokusatsu entertainment has continued to flourish in Japan since its rise in popularity in the 1950s and onward. Beyond movies and television, the roots of Japanese special effects production can be traced back to Japanese theatre, which has existed for centuries. For example, Kabuki has used trickery of the eye, such as in action setpieces, and the form of puppet theatre known as Bunraku tells its stories entirely through visual effects. The latter form of stage storytelling combined with well-established tokusatsu techniques would birth one of the most stylish and beautifully crafted short films in recent years: “Howl from Beyond the Fog.”
on Amazon
A source of inspiration for the ambitious project is Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Fog Horn.” The classic literature piece follows two men who have an encounter with a sea monster that is drawn to the foghorn of a lighthouse on an isolated island.
- 6/13/2022
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
By Todd Garbarini
Long before a carcharodon carcharias wreaked havoc on Amity Island in New York over the July Fourth weekend in the 1970s, atomic blast activity in the 1940s disrupted Mother Nature’s natural chain of events and Hollywood was all too willing to jump on to the atomic admonition bandwagon, churning out fantastic tales of miniscule creatures ballooning to hundreds of times their original size and going medieval on their human counterparts. Gordon Douglas’s Them! (1954) is my favorite film from this era and I find the overall tone of the film to be creepy even today. I was eleven when I first saw it and the sight of oversized, monstrous ants (resulting from nearby military atomic bomb tests) terrorizing La from deep within the Los Angeles Riverbed was truly unnerving. James Whitmore impressed me in his role as the police officer who was determined to save two...
Long before a carcharodon carcharias wreaked havoc on Amity Island in New York over the July Fourth weekend in the 1970s, atomic blast activity in the 1940s disrupted Mother Nature’s natural chain of events and Hollywood was all too willing to jump on to the atomic admonition bandwagon, churning out fantastic tales of miniscule creatures ballooning to hundreds of times their original size and going medieval on their human counterparts. Gordon Douglas’s Them! (1954) is my favorite film from this era and I find the overall tone of the film to be creepy even today. I was eleven when I first saw it and the sight of oversized, monstrous ants (resulting from nearby military atomic bomb tests) terrorizing La from deep within the Los Angeles Riverbed was truly unnerving. James Whitmore impressed me in his role as the police officer who was determined to save two...
- 12/7/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
“Brace Yourself For A Shock!…200 Feet of Living Burning Horror!” Eugène Lourié’s second feature about an irate sea monster wrecking a city features sober eco-preaching, good performances by Gene Evans and André Morell, and several minutes of exciting stop-motion animation nirvana. One just needs to overlook a few lunkhead effects scenes and concentrate on the key Willis O’Brien / Pete Peterson material. It’s a Shock all right — do you prefer to be stepped on like a bug, or fried by a zillion volts of ‘projected radiation?’
The Giant Behemoth
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1959 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date January 22, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Evans, André Morell, John Turner, Leigh Madison, Jack MacGowran, Maurice Kaufmann, Derren Nesbitt.
Cinematography: Ken Hodges
Production Design: Eugène Lourié
Special Visual Effects: Willis H. O’Brien, Pete Peterson, Phil Kellison, Jack Rabin, Irving Block, Louis DeWitt.
Original Music: Edwin Astley...
The Giant Behemoth
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1959 / B&W / 1:78 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date January 22, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Gene Evans, André Morell, John Turner, Leigh Madison, Jack MacGowran, Maurice Kaufmann, Derren Nesbitt.
Cinematography: Ken Hodges
Production Design: Eugène Lourié
Special Visual Effects: Willis H. O’Brien, Pete Peterson, Phil Kellison, Jack Rabin, Irving Block, Louis DeWitt.
Original Music: Edwin Astley...
- 1/26/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘Things Blowing Up Good’ has been surefire entertainment since the beginning of cinema, but this ill-fated Cinerama extravaganza about the biggest explosion in recorded human history limps along despite some pretty darned impressive volcanic effects. It’s quite an entertaining spectacle, with various good performers in three soap opera plots, either overacting or loitering about with nothing to do. And don’t forget the from-left-field musical striptease.
Krakatoa East of Java
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, John Leyton, J.D. Cannon, Jacqueline (Jacqui) Chan, Victoria Young, Marc Lawrence, Geoffrey Holder, Niall MacGinnis, Sumi Haru.
Cinematography: Manuel Berenguer
Film Editors: Walter Hannemann, Warren Low, Maurice Rootes
Production Design: Eugèné Lourié
Costumes: Laure Lourié
Special Effects: Eugèné Lourié, Alex Weldon, Francisco Prósper
Original Music: Frank De Vol
Written by Clifford Newton Gould,...
Krakatoa East of Java
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, John Leyton, J.D. Cannon, Jacqueline (Jacqui) Chan, Victoria Young, Marc Lawrence, Geoffrey Holder, Niall MacGinnis, Sumi Haru.
Cinematography: Manuel Berenguer
Film Editors: Walter Hannemann, Warren Low, Maurice Rootes
Production Design: Eugèné Lourié
Costumes: Laure Lourié
Special Effects: Eugèné Lourié, Alex Weldon, Francisco Prósper
Original Music: Frank De Vol
Written by Clifford Newton Gould,...
- 9/2/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Looking to discover a top-quality film that honors lasting values? Jean Renoir gives Zachary Scott and Betty Field as Texas sharecroppers trying to survive a rough first year. It's beautifully written by Hugo Butler, with given realistic, earthy touches not found in Hollywood pix. And the transfer is a new UCLA restoration. With two impressive short subjects in equal good quality. The Southerner Blu-ray Kino Classics 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date February 9, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Carol Naish, Norman Lloyd, Zachary Scott, Percy Kilbride, Charles Kemper, Blanche Yurka, Estelle Taylor, Paul Harvey, Noreen Nash, Nestor Paiva, Almira Sessions. Cinematography Lucien Andriot Film Editor Gregg C. Tallas Production Designer Eugène Lourié Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Original Music Werner Janssen Written by Hugo Butler, Jean Renoir from a novel by George Sessions Perry Produced by Robert Hakim, David L. Loew Directed by Jean Renoir...
- 1/26/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In honor of Halloween, I once again have a special essay-article up, and this time I can name the contributor. Randall William Cook rates special celebrity status around DVD Savant despite being a friend from way, way back. I hope he's writing a book about his career, because his Hollywood experiences range far afield, from UCLA film school, to acting and directing film and TV, to doing special make-ups, animation direction, front-rank stop motion direction, and second unit direction on big features. Heavily into digital work since the 1990s, Randy supervised character animation and sequence direction for the three Lord of the Rings movies, netting him an amazing three Oscars, three years straight. And he's still the same guy from college -- a new Harryhausen or Welles disc comes out, and he wants to know all about it. Oh, and Cook is a fine writer as well -- as I think this thoughtful piece shows.
- 10/23/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
I'll trade you two RKOs for two Warners', an even swap! This quartet of movie-magic wonderments offer a full course on old-school film effects wizardry at its best. Willis O'Brien passes the baton to disciple Ray Harryhausen, who dazzles us with his own effects magic for the first '50s giant monster epic. And the best monster thriller of the decade is offered at its original widescreen aspect ratio. It's all special enough to merit a mid-week review. Special Effects Collection Blu-ray The Son of Kong, Mighty Joe Young, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Them! Warner Home Video 1933-1954 / B&W / 1:37 Academy - 1:85 widescreen / 335 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / 54.96 or 19.98 separately Starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack,, Frank Reicher, Victor Wong; Robert Armstrong, Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Frank McHugh; Paul Christian, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef; James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, James Arness, Onslow Stevens,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
**Massive spoilers for every Godzilla movie, with the exception of the 2014 reboot, and Mothra follow**
August 6th and 9th, 1945 forever changed the course of history. When the first nuclear bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, World War II ended, but a new fear was born that dominated the thoughts of all men, women, and children for decades to come. The Cold War, atomic bomb testing, a cartoon turtle telling children to “duck and cover”, and this new technology that had the actual potential to literally end the world changed the perception of what was scary. Art reflects life, so cinema began to capitalize on these fears. Gone were the days of creepy castles, cobwebs, bats, vampires, werewolves, and the other iconic images that ruled genre cinema in film’s earliest decades. Science fiction was larger than ever and giant ants, giant octopi, terror from beyond the stars, and...
August 6th and 9th, 1945 forever changed the course of history. When the first nuclear bombs were dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, World War II ended, but a new fear was born that dominated the thoughts of all men, women, and children for decades to come. The Cold War, atomic bomb testing, a cartoon turtle telling children to “duck and cover”, and this new technology that had the actual potential to literally end the world changed the perception of what was scary. Art reflects life, so cinema began to capitalize on these fears. Gone were the days of creepy castles, cobwebs, bats, vampires, werewolves, and the other iconic images that ruled genre cinema in film’s earliest decades. Science fiction was larger than ever and giant ants, giant octopi, terror from beyond the stars, and...
- 11/4/2014
- by Max Molinaro
- SoundOnSight
Next week at Tfh features a trio of trippy films gathered together under the banner "Just Say No". They include Requiem for a Dream, The Trip, and the subject of today's Saturday Matinee, Confessions of an Opium Eater.
Producer Albert Zugsmith was a consummate exploitationist, launching his career in 1952 with the berserk red-scare screed, Invasion USA starring Gerald Mohr and Dan O’Herlihy. He would spend the next twenty years rattling off a memorably lurid series of titles stoked by the hottest of hot-button topics, including teenage sex (High School Confidential), collegiate sex (Sex Kittens go to College) and interracial sex (Night of the Quarter Moon). There’s a pattern here if you look real close.
An amiable self-made millionaire who seemed to thrive on the low-down pleasures found on the other side of the tracks, Zugsmith’s first directorial efforts (College Confidential, The Private Lives of Adam and Eve...
Producer Albert Zugsmith was a consummate exploitationist, launching his career in 1952 with the berserk red-scare screed, Invasion USA starring Gerald Mohr and Dan O’Herlihy. He would spend the next twenty years rattling off a memorably lurid series of titles stoked by the hottest of hot-button topics, including teenage sex (High School Confidential), collegiate sex (Sex Kittens go to College) and interracial sex (Night of the Quarter Moon). There’s a pattern here if you look real close.
An amiable self-made millionaire who seemed to thrive on the low-down pleasures found on the other side of the tracks, Zugsmith’s first directorial efforts (College Confidential, The Private Lives of Adam and Eve...
- 8/15/2014
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Unstoppable Monsters! week continues at Trailers from Hell with John Landis introducing "Gorgo," production designer-turned-director Eugene Lourie's final entry in his dinosaur trilogy. The third time’s the charm for Gorgo, which benefitted from a massive MGM ad campaign that made it a must-see for the moppet trade in 1960. Unlike Beast From 20,000 Fathoms and Giant Behemoth, this is a man-in-suit Godzilla style epic with elaborate production values apart from the inept sodium-vapor superimpositions. Monarch Books issued an inexplicably sexed-up paperback novelization that introduced many unsuspecting kids to the mysteries of womankind–ironic in that there’s no love interest whatsoever in the movie!
- 9/26/2013
- by Trailers From Hell
- Thompson on Hollywood
Marlene Dietrich Grandson J. Michael Riva, Robert Clatworthy, and Harper Goff: Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame 2014 Production Designers Robert Clatworthy, Harper Goff, and J. Michael Riva will be posthumously inducted into the Art Directors Guild Hall of Fame at the 18th Art Directors Guild Awards ceremony, to be held on February 8, 2014, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (Photo: Production designer J. Michael Riva.) J. Michael Riva J. Michael Riva (1948-2012), grandson of Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel, Shanghai Express, A Foreign Affair), was production designer for Stuart Rosenberg / Robert Redford’s 1980 socially conscious drama Brubaker. Later on, Redford hired Riva as the art director for Ordinary People, also released in 1980. Riva’s other production design credits include the Lethal Weapon movies starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover; A Few Good Men (1992), with Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore; The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), with Will Smith; Spider-Man 3 (2007), with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst,...
- 9/12/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Pacific Rim Trailer: Jaegers fight Kaiju to save humankind from extinction — but should they bother? Michael Bay’s Transformers 5 (or 6 or 7, sorry, lost count) has a new trailer — er … scratch that. Let me start again: Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim has a new trailer. Before you check it out, remember that every similarity between del Toro’s Pacific Rim and Bay’s Transformers movies (and Matt Reeves’ Cloverfield and Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and Peter Berg’s Battleship and Gareth Edwards’ upcoming Godzilla remake and TV’s The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and …) is mere coincidence. After all, the Pacific Rim screenplay (credited to del Toro and Travis Beacham) is based on an "original story" — aka film treatment — penned by Beacham. Now, check out the Pacific Rim trailer below. (Photo: Pacific Rim movie star Kaiju.) Pacific Rim Trailer insights So, what does the new Pacific Rim...
- 5/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Seeing as how we may very well be just a few short months away from a new boom in giant monster cinema, it should come as no surprise to see more and more classic kaiju flicks like Gorgo getting the hi-def treatment.
Britain’s answer to Godzilla, Gorgo first stomped her way onto the big screen back in 1971. The final directorial effort from Eugene Lourie (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Colossus of New York, and The Giant Behemoth) starred Bill Travers, William Sylvester, and Vincent Winter and featured top-notch special effects by two-time Oscar winner Tom Howard.
Though the MGM production would prove a one-off, the ear-wiggling reptilian titan managed to spawn a 23-issue comic book by Charleton Comics and remains one of the most respected giant monster movie offerings from the golden age of creature features.
A volcanic eruption in the North Atlantic brings to the surface a 65-foot prehistoric monster.
Britain’s answer to Godzilla, Gorgo first stomped her way onto the big screen back in 1971. The final directorial effort from Eugene Lourie (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Colossus of New York, and The Giant Behemoth) starred Bill Travers, William Sylvester, and Vincent Winter and featured top-notch special effects by two-time Oscar winner Tom Howard.
Though the MGM production would prove a one-off, the ear-wiggling reptilian titan managed to spawn a 23-issue comic book by Charleton Comics and remains one of the most respected giant monster movie offerings from the golden age of creature features.
A volcanic eruption in the North Atlantic brings to the surface a 65-foot prehistoric monster.
- 1/18/2013
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Olive Films is quickly making a name for itself releasing classic and overlooked gems to DVD and, in particular, Blu-ray.
That trend will continue this summer when they bring us an all-time classic to Blu-ray and a cult favorite that has never before appeared on digital.
July 17th will see the Blu-ray debut of one the greatest science fiction horror films of all time (not to mention one of the most often remade movie ever). I speak of Kevin McCarthy running through the streets to warn us of the pod people in Don Siegel’s 1956 masterpiece Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
One of the greatest and most influential Sci-Fi films of all time stars Kevin McCarthy as a doctor in a small California town whose patients are becoming hysterical and accuse their loved ones as emotionless imposters. Plant-like extra-terrestrials have invaded Earth, replicating the villagers in giant seed “pods” and...
That trend will continue this summer when they bring us an all-time classic to Blu-ray and a cult favorite that has never before appeared on digital.
July 17th will see the Blu-ray debut of one the greatest science fiction horror films of all time (not to mention one of the most often remade movie ever). I speak of Kevin McCarthy running through the streets to warn us of the pod people in Don Siegel’s 1956 masterpiece Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
One of the greatest and most influential Sci-Fi films of all time stars Kevin McCarthy as a doctor in a small California town whose patients are becoming hysterical and accuse their loved ones as emotionless imposters. Plant-like extra-terrestrials have invaded Earth, replicating the villagers in giant seed “pods” and...
- 5/11/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
When, in 1934, Jean Vigo died of tuberculosis, he was only 29, "a neglected figure at the margins of the industry who had seen one of his films (Zéro de Conduite) banned by the French authorities and another (L'Atalante) recut and retitled by its producer." Dennis Lim in the Los Angeles Times: "Vigo lends himself to romanticization, and not just because of his tragic early death and the aura of unfulfilled promise. He led a brief but colorful life as a fellow traveler of the French surrealists and the son of a well-known anarchist who was apparently murdered in prison. Vigo's first film, the silent, 23-minute À Propos de Nice (On the Subject of Nice), part of the 'city symphony' genre that flourished in the 1920s, confirmed that the young Jean was very much his father's son…. All of Vigo's films were shot by Boris Kaufman, brother of the Soviet film pioneer...
- 8/31/2011
- MUBI
The monster chomps and Joe Dante chats up Gorgo.
Ok. So it’s not an exclusive interview with The King of All Monsters, but it is the featured beast of John Landis’s sole commentary on our latest DVD. It’s Gorgo and he is gorgeous. Just look at him and then read Joe Dante’s thoughts. Just look!
Click to make Gorgo-sized.
Looks like dinnertime for Gorgo. He especially likes those diving bells because of their tangy metallic taste.
How acclaimed production designer Eugene Lourie ended up directing one movie three times (The Giant Behemoth waddled out in between this one and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) is anyone’s guess, but he certainly had an affinity for them.
He wasn’t a fan of the “suitmation” technique, preferring stop-motion, but he did enjoy shooting the panic-in-the-streets sequences. Nonetheless he quit directing after Gorgo, claiming the repetition was just too much.
Ok. So it’s not an exclusive interview with The King of All Monsters, but it is the featured beast of John Landis’s sole commentary on our latest DVD. It’s Gorgo and he is gorgeous. Just look at him and then read Joe Dante’s thoughts. Just look!
Click to make Gorgo-sized.
Looks like dinnertime for Gorgo. He especially likes those diving bells because of their tangy metallic taste.
How acclaimed production designer Eugene Lourie ended up directing one movie three times (The Giant Behemoth waddled out in between this one and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms) is anyone’s guess, but he certainly had an affinity for them.
He wasn’t a fan of the “suitmation” technique, preferring stop-motion, but he did enjoy shooting the panic-in-the-streets sequences. Nonetheless he quit directing after Gorgo, claiming the repetition was just too much.
- 8/16/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
Dante gives us the details of TCM’s June 23rd back-to-back-to-back double-features.
Another week in June means that TCM — possibly the best channel on any cable box anywhere — is back with another Thursday night chock full of monstrous mayhem. This week they’re turning their attention to something near and dear to our very hearts: underwater fiends.
Here’s Joe (and company) with the rundown:
June 23
It Came From Beneath The Sea - The top half of what Bill Warren has called the greatest double bill of the 50s (withCreature with the Atom Brain), this Harryhausen classic benefits from its newsreelish location shooting. Ernest Dickerson appreciates it here.
The Monster That Challenged The World – A surprisingly well produced cheapie with a cool, if immobile, monster by Augie Lohman that takes place on the Salton Sea. It’s a far cry from The Magnificent Ambersons, but a bulky Tim Holt makes...
Another week in June means that TCM — possibly the best channel on any cable box anywhere — is back with another Thursday night chock full of monstrous mayhem. This week they’re turning their attention to something near and dear to our very hearts: underwater fiends.
Here’s Joe (and company) with the rundown:
June 23
It Came From Beneath The Sea - The top half of what Bill Warren has called the greatest double bill of the 50s (withCreature with the Atom Brain), this Harryhausen classic benefits from its newsreelish location shooting. Ernest Dickerson appreciates it here.
The Monster That Challenged The World – A surprisingly well produced cheapie with a cool, if immobile, monster by Augie Lohman that takes place on the Salton Sea. It’s a far cry from The Magnificent Ambersons, but a bulky Tim Holt makes...
- 6/20/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
Don’t be fooled by the “physical media is dying” crowd; there are still titles worth owning!
Here are three:
Yesterday saw the release of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West in a stunning Blu-Ray transfer. This is a movie that deserves to be seen in all its glory and the record shows that this Blu-Ray is your best shot at that outside a local revival screening or your local repertory cinema. (Support these, by the way. They are important.) Joe Dante recommended this personally.
And our very own John Landis — if any one can actually claim John Landis as one’s own (hint: no one can) — actually worked on this movie and recorded a commentary for it a couple years back:
Sergio Leone’s 1968 masterpiece gives the lie to the term “spaghetti western”. In a hastily shortened version it was a box-office disappointment in the U.
Here are three:
Yesterday saw the release of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West in a stunning Blu-Ray transfer. This is a movie that deserves to be seen in all its glory and the record shows that this Blu-Ray is your best shot at that outside a local revival screening or your local repertory cinema. (Support these, by the way. They are important.) Joe Dante recommended this personally.
And our very own John Landis — if any one can actually claim John Landis as one’s own (hint: no one can) — actually worked on this movie and recorded a commentary for it a couple years back:
Sergio Leone’s 1968 masterpiece gives the lie to the term “spaghetti western”. In a hastily shortened version it was a box-office disappointment in the U.
- 6/1/2011
- by Danny
- Trailers from Hell
The Colossus of New York, the 1958 sci-fi thriller classic that can rightfully takes its place in the pantheon of such great killer robot movies as The Terminator, RoboCop and Demon Seed, finally comes to DVD on Aug. 16 courtesy of Olive Films. It’ll carry a list price of $24.95.
Tall, dark, handsome...and mechanical!: The Colossus of New York finally comes to DVD.
Written by Thelma Schnee from Willis Goldbeck’s story, the intriguing film turns on the accidental death of a brilliant scientist (Ross Martin), a tragedy that prompts his lunatic father (Otto Kruger) and brother (John Baragrey) to transplant the dead man’s brain onto the body of a giant robot. The operation is successful, but the Colossus Robot mourns for his wife and child and doesn’t want to be the guinea pig in his father’s psychotic project and starts displaying homicidal behaviors.
Incidentally, the movie’s director,...
Tall, dark, handsome...and mechanical!: The Colossus of New York finally comes to DVD.
Written by Thelma Schnee from Willis Goldbeck’s story, the intriguing film turns on the accidental death of a brilliant scientist (Ross Martin), a tragedy that prompts his lunatic father (Otto Kruger) and brother (John Baragrey) to transplant the dead man’s brain onto the body of a giant robot. The operation is successful, but the Colossus Robot mourns for his wife and child and doesn’t want to be the guinea pig in his father’s psychotic project and starts displaying homicidal behaviors.
Incidentally, the movie’s director,...
- 5/11/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
HollywoodNews.com: The Art Directors Guild (Adg) tonight announced winners of its 15th Annual Excellence in 2010 Production Design Awards in nine categories of film, television, commercials and music videos during black-tie ceremonies at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. The awards took place before an audience of more than 650 persons, including guild members, industry executives, studio heads and press. Adg Chairman Thomas A. Walsh presided over the awards ceremony with Paula Poundstone serving as host for the second consecutive year. Honorary awards were presented to Production Designer Patricia Norris for Lifetime Achievement and to Syd Dutton and Bill Taylor for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery.
Presenters for this year’s awards included Tom Hooper (Director, The King’s Speech), Kristin Bauer (True Blood), Maria Canals-Barrera (Wizards of Waverly Place and Larry Crowne), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Willie Garson (White Collar), Mariette Hartley, David Lynch (Director,...
Presenters for this year’s awards included Tom Hooper (Director, The King’s Speech), Kristin Bauer (True Blood), Maria Canals-Barrera (Wizards of Waverly Place and Larry Crowne), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Willie Garson (White Collar), Mariette Hartley, David Lynch (Director,...
- 2/6/2011
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
Beverly Hills, February 5 —The Art Directors Guild (Adg) tonight announced winners of its 15th Annual Excellence in 2010 Production Design Awards in nine categories of film, television, commercials and music videos during black-tie ceremonies at the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. The awards took place before an audience of more than 650 persons, including guild members, industry executives, studio heads and press. Adg Chairman Thomas A. Walsh presided over the awards ceremony with Paula Poundstone serving as host for the second consecutive year. Honorary awards were presented to Production Designer Patricia Norris for Lifetime Achievement and to Syd Dutton and Bill Taylor for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery. Presenters for this year’s awards included Kristin Bauer (True Blood), Maria Canals-Barrera (Wizards of Waverly Place and Larry Crowne), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Willie Garson (White Collar), Mariette Hartley, David Lynch (Director, Twin Peaks), Kevin McKidd (Grey’s...
- 2/6/2011
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
HollywoodNews.com: Emmy Award® winner Bill Taylor, Asc and Emmy Award® winner Syd Dutton have been selected to receive the Art Directors Guild’s coveted honorary Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award, it was announced today by Thomas A. Walsh, Adg President, and Awards co-producers Dawn Snyder and Tom Wilkins. Taylor and Dutton are co-founders of Illusion Arts, where they earned credits on nearly 200 films. As Illusion Arts wound up its 26 year run, the company completed dozens of shots for Michael Mann’s Public Enemies (2009) for supervisor Robert Stadd and some key environments for G.I. Joe. One of their first major assignments was to create special effects for the new version of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Both Taylor and Dutton were visual effects artists on numerous notable films together, including U-571 (2000), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Bruce Almighty (2003), and Casanova (2005). More recently Taylor and Dutton co-supervised Milk...
Both Taylor and Dutton were visual effects artists on numerous notable films together, including U-571 (2000), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Bruce Almighty (2003), and Casanova (2005). More recently Taylor and Dutton co-supervised Milk...
- 1/25/2011
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
hollywoodnews.com: The Art Directors Guild (Adg) today announced nominations in nine categories of Production Design for theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials and music videos competing in the Adg’s 15th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards for 2010. The nominations were announced by Adg Council President Tom Walsh and Awards co-producers Dawn Snyder and Tom Wilkins. Deadline for final voting, which is done online, is February 3. The black-tie ceremony announcing winners will take place Saturday, February 5, 2010 from the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills with Paula Poundstone serving as host for the second consecutive year.
Theme of this year’s awards ceremony is “Designs on Film” as a tribute to Cathy Whitlock’s new HarperCollins book that traces 100 years of Hollywood Art Direction. Walsh will introduce the event,
A Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Academy Award® winning Production Designer Patricia Norris with director David Lynch set to present to her.
Theme of this year’s awards ceremony is “Designs on Film” as a tribute to Cathy Whitlock’s new HarperCollins book that traces 100 years of Hollywood Art Direction. Walsh will introduce the event,
A Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Academy Award® winning Production Designer Patricia Norris with director David Lynch set to present to her.
- 1/5/2011
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
Los Angeles, January 5 -- The Art Directors Guild (Adg) today announced nominations in nine categories of Production Design for theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials and music videos competing in the Adg’s 15th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards for 2010. The nominations were announced by Adg Council President Tom Walsh and Awards co-producers Dawn Snyder and Tom Wilkins. Deadline for final voting, which is done online, is February 3. The black-tie ceremony announcing winners will take place Saturday, February 5, 2010 from the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills with Paula Poundstone serving as host for the second consecutive year. Theme of this year's awards ceremony is "Designs on Film" as a tribute to Cathy Whitlock's new HarperCollins book that traces 100 years of Hollywood Art Direction. Walsh will introduce the event. A Lifetime Achievement Award will go to Academy Award winning Production Designer Patricia Norris with director David Lynch set to present to her.
- 1/5/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
HollywoodNews.com: Academy Award-winning Production Designer and Costume Designer Patricia Norris will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Art Directors Guild’s 15th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on February 5, 2011, it was announced today by Thomas A. Walsh, Adg Council President, and Awards co-producers Dawn Snyder and Tom Wilkins. The award will be presented at a black-tie industry gathering at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Norris began her career in the film industry as a stock girl in the wardrobe department at MGM Studios and worked her way up to become one of the industry’s most respected craft persons. In announcing this honor, Adg President Walsh said, “Patricia is one of only a very few American designers who have been able to successfully combine the dual practices of production and costume design for film and television.” She holds dual production and costume design credits for works...
Norris began her career in the film industry as a stock girl in the wardrobe department at MGM Studios and worked her way up to become one of the industry’s most respected craft persons. In announcing this honor, Adg President Walsh said, “Patricia is one of only a very few American designers who have been able to successfully combine the dual practices of production and costume design for film and television.” She holds dual production and costume design credits for works...
- 11/22/2010
- by Linny Lum
- Hollywoodnews.com
Adrienne Corri (Mrs. Alexander in A Clockwork Orange) in Jean Renoir’s The River The Art Directors Guild (Adg) Film Society and the American Cinematheque (AC) will honor Production Designer Eugène Lourié with a double feature: Andrew Marton’s Crack in the World (1965), starring Dana Andrews and Janette Scott, and Jean Renoir’s classic The River (1951), with Nora Swinburne and Esmond Knight. The screenings will be held on Sunday, June 27, at 5:30 pm. at the Egyptian Theatre. A panel discussion will be held between screenings with panelists Bernard Glasser, producer of Crack in the World as well as Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red [...]...
- 6/11/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Twiggy in Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend (top); Joaquin Phoenix in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator (middle); Andrew Marton’s Crack in the World, starring Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore, and Alexander Knox (bottom) Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning Gladiator, Jean Renoir’s The River, Ken Russell’s The Boy Friend, and Andrew Marton’s little-seen Crack in the World are some of the movies to be screened at the fourth Art Directors Guild (Adg) Film Society and the American Cinematheque series highlighting the works of renowned production designers. Those are Arthur Max (Gladiator), Eugène Lourié (Crack in the World, The River), Rudolph Sternad (The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T), Nitin Chandrakant Desai (Devdas), Eiko Ishioka (Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters), and Tony Walton (The [...]...
- 4/26/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Check out Katt Shea (Poison Ivy) for the trailer to the grindhouse film Shock Corridor at TrailersfromHell.com.
1963 America is a madhouse. Sam Fuller's lurid tabloid classic plays like a brilliantly subversive combination of Krafft-Ebing and The National Enquirer. Ingeniously designed on a shoestring by Eugene Lourie and starkly shot by the great Stanley Cortez. One of the best B pictures ever and a key film of its decade.
1963 America is a madhouse. Sam Fuller's lurid tabloid classic plays like a brilliantly subversive combination of Krafft-Ebing and The National Enquirer. Ingeniously designed on a shoestring by Eugene Lourie and starkly shot by the great Stanley Cortez. One of the best B pictures ever and a key film of its decade.
- 4/1/2010
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
1963 America is a madhouse. Sam Fuller's lurid tabloid classic plays like a brilliantly subversive combination of Krafft-Ebing and The National Enquirer. Ingeniously designed on a shoestring by Eugene Lourie and starkly shot by the great Stanley Cortez. One of the best B pictures ever, whose profundity lies in its answer to the existential question, "Who killed Sloan in the kitchen?"...
- 3/30/2010
- Trailers from Hell
Fango scribe M.J. Simpson gave us an exclusive first look at Waiting For Gorgo, a short film which recently wrapped production at Elstree Studios in the UK. Directed by Benjamin Craig from Simpson’s script, it pays homage to Eugene Lourie’s 1961 monster classic, in which a resurrected dinosaur attacks London in search of its abducted offspring.
“It’s not a direct sequel to Gorgo,” Simpson tells us, “but some people might call it a semisequel, because it’s set 40 or so years after the events of that picture supposedly happened. We’re using the conventions of a monster movie to satirize the bureaucracy of the British Civil Service.” Waiting For Gorgo stars veteran actors Geoffrey (Tales From The Crypt) Davies (pictured below left) and Nicholas Amer as the last remaining staff of the D.M.O.A., a forgotten department deep in the corridors of the UK’s Ministry of Defence,...
“It’s not a direct sequel to Gorgo,” Simpson tells us, “but some people might call it a semisequel, because it’s set 40 or so years after the events of that picture supposedly happened. We’re using the conventions of a monster movie to satirize the bureaucracy of the British Civil Service.” Waiting For Gorgo stars veteran actors Geoffrey (Tales From The Crypt) Davies (pictured below left) and Nicholas Amer as the last remaining staff of the D.M.O.A., a forgotten department deep in the corridors of the UK’s Ministry of Defence,...
- 10/16/2008
- Fangoria
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