Beginning in the late 1980s, the newly-launched TNT network, owned by Ted Turner, began to produce their own original programming. Early examples included several documentaries of actors and directors, frequently using clips from the thousands of films Turner owned after his enormous, $1.5 billion purchase of numerous archives and film libraries in 1986. TNT, in…
After his famous stint on Saturday Night Live and critically-acclaimed stand-up act, Steve Martin made his way into films in the late 1970s. Securing a solid (if completely bonkers) hit with The Jerk (1979), Hollywood seemed to feel Martin could only fill a very particular niche: the retro movie. Maybe it started with Sgt. Pepper’s…
Bright Days Ahead (Les beaux jours) (2013) ★★★☆☆ Dir: Marion Vernoux Tribeca Film (Official Site) 92 minutes U.S. Release April 24, 2014 Caroline (Fanny Ardant) is a newly-retired dentist, restless and on edge. Her daughters, equal parts obligated and exasperated, give her a trial membership to a seniors’ club called Bright Days Ahead.…
Image courtesy Lolita’s Classics. – It’s often assumed that Norma Shearer’s good-girl image ended with the 1930 pre-Code flick The Divorcee, but that film, in truth, was the fourth in a row featuring the new, mature, slightly naughty Shearer. Beginning with The Trial of Mary Dugan and followed up immediately with The Last of Mrs.…
Stage Fright ★★☆☆☆ Dir: Jerome Sable Magnet Releasing (Official Site) 88 minutes In theaters May 9, 2014 and on DVD July 7, 2014 – It’s too late to deny that the indie horror genre has been weighed down under what can only be described as a full-blown glut of Brian De Palma imitators. A few…
As High as the Sky ★★★★☆ Dir: Nikki Braendlin Cinema Libre 90 minutes Released on DVD May 6, 2014 and On Demand June 6, 2014 – Margaret (Caroline Fogarty) is a tightly-wrapped party planner who shuffles around her home in cleaning slippers, adjusting every perfectly-appointed pillow and tchotchke to within an inch of its…
A lot of people for a lot of years tried to make Johnny Mack Brown happen. The handsome All-American halfback-turned-actor cut his teeth on a few silent films before being cast as the ostensible male lead in Our Dancing Daughters (1928), with Joan Crawford, Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page originating a trio of what would…
Proxy ★★★☆☆ Dir: Zach Parker IFC Midnight 120 minutes Released in select theaters April 18, 2014 – Esther (Alexia Rasmussen), a heavily pregnant woman on her way home from a routine ultrasound, is jumped by an assailant, knocked unconscious, her abdomen repeatedly smashed with a brick. It’s an attack more on her unborn child than…
Spunky, beautiful heiress Kay Bentley (Joan Crawford) decides to go ashore when her father’s yacht docks in the Greek Islands. While there, she meets handsome Irish archaeologist Terry O’Neill (Brian Aherne) on an important dig, and after the standard debutante flirtation-via-irritation method doesn’t work, she decides to try again the next day. Discovering he has…
Tasting Menu ★★★☆☆ Dir: Roger Gual Magnolia Pictures 85 minutes Released in select theaters April 18, 2014 Chakuta, the world-famous restaurant located on the beaches of Spain, is closing its doors after 15 years. Owner and celebrity chef Mar Vidal (Vicenta N’Dongo) has invited 30 guests for the final dinner, and though one…