Bobby Kotick, the longtime CEO of Activision Blizzard, is stepping down Dec. 29 following the company’s drawn-out $69 billion sale to Microsoft that closed in October. The exec — who oversaw some of the industry’s most popular games from Pitfall to Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Candy Crush Saga and Farm Heroes Saga — had said previously he would stay on through the end of 2023.
“I’d like to thank Bobby—for his invaluable contributions to this industry, his partnership in closing the Activision Blizzard acquisition and his collaboration following the close—and I wish him and his family the very best in his next chapter,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in a memo Wednesday where he confirmed Kotick’s exit date, according to press reports.
“I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture.
“I’d like to thank Bobby—for his invaluable contributions to this industry, his partnership in closing the Activision Blizzard acquisition and his collaboration following the close—and I wish him and his family the very best in his next chapter,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer wrote in a memo Wednesday where he confirmed Kotick’s exit date, according to press reports.
“I’ve long admired the work of Activision, Blizzard, and King, and the impact they’ve had on gaming, entertainment, and pop culture.
- 12/20/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
As of today, October 13, 2023, Microsoft has officially completed its nearly $70 billion acquisition of publisher Activision Blizzard. Though the two sides reportedly agreed to an acquisition way back in January 2022, the deal has been modified, scrutinized, and debated by a number of regulatory bodies (not to mention other gamers) since then. Following an exhaustive process that required the Microsoft team to make quite a few concessions, the deal is finally complete.
There is so much to say about this deal, and we hope to be able to share much of that information with you in the coming days and weeks. However, you’re not alone if the first question that popped into your mind is “What games and franchises do Microsoft and Xbox now control as part of the Activision Blizzard deal?
The full answer to that question is long and complicated. As noted above, there are a number of provisions...
There is so much to say about this deal, and we hope to be able to share much of that information with you in the coming days and weeks. However, you’re not alone if the first question that popped into your mind is “What games and franchises do Microsoft and Xbox now control as part of the Activision Blizzard deal?
The full answer to that question is long and complicated. As noted above, there are a number of provisions...
- 10/13/2023
- by Matthew Byrd
- Den of Geek
The Creepshow 2 episode of The Black Sheep was Written and Narrated by Andrew Hatfield, Edited by Brandon Nally, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Its hard for a sequel to be better than the original – no, hey! Don’t close the article and please hold all hate in the comments until the end. I’m not saying Creepshow 2 (watch it Here) is better than the first movie, that’s just silly. Ok, so it’s hard for sequels to eclipse their previous iteration. Godfather II is always the answer to that but there are other things that you can prefer. Some people prefer the breakneck action of Aliens to the slasher in space of Alien. Others may enjoy Friday the 13th Part 2 with its higher violence (although it does have the same body count) and introduction to Jason to part 1’s mommy revenge story.
Its hard for a sequel to be better than the original – no, hey! Don’t close the article and please hold all hate in the comments until the end. I’m not saying Creepshow 2 (watch it Here) is better than the first movie, that’s just silly. Ok, so it’s hard for sequels to eclipse their previous iteration. Godfather II is always the answer to that but there are other things that you can prefer. Some people prefer the breakneck action of Aliens to the slasher in space of Alien. Others may enjoy Friday the 13th Part 2 with its higher violence (although it does have the same body count) and introduction to Jason to part 1’s mommy revenge story.
- 8/30/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Jack Black is a man of many skills; he is a comedian, a member of the band Tenacious D, a rock star, and a movie star, and more. However, there is a great deal that his fans do not know about him outside of his professional accomplishments. Here are ten things that you didn’t know about Jack Black. 10. Jack Black’s Early Taste Of Stardom A casting call for the commercial Pitfall on the Atari 2600 gave Jack Black, then 13 years old, his first
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jack Black...
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jack Black...
- 9/8/2022
- by David Coulson
- TVovermind.com
Even non-gamers are aware of the massive cultural impact that 1996’s Tomb Raider had on media. Not only did Eidos Interactive’s iconic release revolutionize adventure narratives in gaming, updating the simple thrills of titles like Pitfall into a truly immersive interactive experience, but it also gifted us with one of pop culture’s most recognizable characters through Lara Croft, a badass gaming mascot who is still holding her own against gun-toting super-soldiers and Italian plumbers in the year of our lord 2022.
Though the series has come a long way since the 90s, breaking boundaries with over a dozen mainline sequels, reboots and even a handful of cinematic adaptations (none of which were masterpieces but are still entertaining for a myriad of different reasons), there’s one aspect of the original game that rarely gets the attention it deserves despite being a crucial part of Tomb Raider’s overwhelming success.
Though the series has come a long way since the 90s, breaking boundaries with over a dozen mainline sequels, reboots and even a handful of cinematic adaptations (none of which were masterpieces but are still entertaining for a myriad of different reasons), there’s one aspect of the original game that rarely gets the attention it deserves despite being a crucial part of Tomb Raider’s overwhelming success.
- 8/9/2022
- by Luiz H. C.
- bloody-disgusting.com
It’s smooth noir sailing with this polished noir from Universal-International and its choice cast of pros — Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines and William Bendix, plus Vincent Price doing an excellent turn as a Machiavellian businessman, a ‘frame’ expert with a side specialty in double-dealing. Director Michael Gordon earns an early credit at Universal-International with a nice look: almost all exteriors are richly photographed nighttime scenes. Ella Raines is particularly good — despite the cover illustration, she’s not a femme fatale, just a cautious independent woman.
The Web
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix, Vincent Price, Maria Palmer, John Abbott, Fritz Leiber, Howland Chamberlain, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Production Designer Art Directors: Bernard Herzbrun, James Sullivan
Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser...
The Web
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 87 min. / Street Date July 13, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Edmond O’Brien, Ella Raines, William Bendix, Vincent Price, Maria Palmer, John Abbott, Fritz Leiber, Howland Chamberlain, Tito Vuolo.
Cinematography: Irving Glassberg
Production Designer Art Directors: Bernard Herzbrun, James Sullivan
Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth
Original Music: Hans J. Salter
Written by William Bowers, Bertram Millhauser...
- 7/6/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
All products and services featured by IndieWire are independently selected by IndieWire editors. However, IndieWire may receive a commission on orders placed through its retail links, and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
It’s amazing how quickly arcade games can transport you back to simpler times. If you’re looking to recapture that nostalgia, we curated a list of some of the best retro arcade machines to buy online, and a few old-school consoles.
Apart from being a conversation piece, gaming machines make great gifts for a range of age groups (Father’s Day included). And they come in different sizes, so you won’t have to worry about taking up too much space. The arcade machines on our roundup come preloaded with “Street Fighter,” “Pac-Man,” “Tetris,” “NBA Jam,” “Tron,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and many other nostalgic video games.
Plus, you can get most of them on Amazon Prime,...
It’s amazing how quickly arcade games can transport you back to simpler times. If you’re looking to recapture that nostalgia, we curated a list of some of the best retro arcade machines to buy online, and a few old-school consoles.
Apart from being a conversation piece, gaming machines make great gifts for a range of age groups (Father’s Day included). And they come in different sizes, so you won’t have to worry about taking up too much space. The arcade machines on our roundup come preloaded with “Street Fighter,” “Pac-Man,” “Tetris,” “NBA Jam,” “Tron,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” and many other nostalgic video games.
Plus, you can get most of them on Amazon Prime,...
- 6/14/2021
- by Latifah Muhammad
- Indiewire
Steven Spielberg’s deliriously entertaining throwback remains a pure pleasure, a film drawn from forgotten serials and comics and brought brilliantly to life
It took almost no time – certainly not the 40 years since it was released – for Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark to become the new standard of adventure films, surpassing the crude matinee serials that inspired it and shrewdly building on previous models like The Adventures of Robin Hood and John Huston/Humphrey Bogart team-ups The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen. Its influence on the culture was immediate and widespread, most directly on knock-offs both skilled (Romancing the Stone) and not-so-skilled (Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold), and across every commercial medium that could capitalize on it. (The Atari 2600 game Pitfall! was a personal favorite.)
Related: The Howling at 40: a horror movie that gave us something to chew on
Continue reading.
It took almost no time – certainly not the 40 years since it was released – for Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark to become the new standard of adventure films, surpassing the crude matinee serials that inspired it and shrewdly building on previous models like The Adventures of Robin Hood and John Huston/Humphrey Bogart team-ups The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen. Its influence on the culture was immediate and widespread, most directly on knock-offs both skilled (Romancing the Stone) and not-so-skilled (Allan Quartermain and the Lost City of Gold), and across every commercial medium that could capitalize on it. (The Atari 2600 game Pitfall! was a personal favorite.)
Related: The Howling at 40: a horror movie that gave us something to chew on
Continue reading.
- 6/12/2021
- by Scott Tobias
- The Guardian - Film News
Pokemon Go developer Niantic has created a program to fund projects from Black game developers.
Teams selected for the Black Developers Initiative (Bdi) will be provided with five months of funding, along with development and mentorship support as they build projects for the Niantic platform.
“Increasing content that represents a more diverse view of the world is critical and central to Niantic’s mission to inspire people to explore the world together,” Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a blog post.
The initiative has already signed W!cked Games Studio, a female-led company that makes interactive story-based games such Pitfall and the upcoming World Reborn.
At ...
Teams selected for the Black Developers Initiative (Bdi) will be provided with five months of funding, along with development and mentorship support as they build projects for the Niantic platform.
“Increasing content that represents a more diverse view of the world is critical and central to Niantic’s mission to inspire people to explore the world together,” Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a blog post.
The initiative has already signed W!cked Games Studio, a female-led company that makes interactive story-based games such Pitfall and the upcoming World Reborn.
At ...
- 2/11/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Pokemon Go developer Niantic has created a program to fund projects from Black game developers.
Teams selected for the Black Developers Initiative (Bdi) will be provided with five months of funding, along with development and mentorship support as they build projects for the Niantic platform.
“Increasing content that represents a more diverse view of the world is critical and central to Niantic’s mission to inspire people to explore the world together,” Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a blog post.
The initiative has already signed W!cked Games Studio, a female-led company that makes interactive story-based games such Pitfall and the upcoming World Reborn.
At ...
Teams selected for the Black Developers Initiative (Bdi) will be provided with five months of funding, along with development and mentorship support as they build projects for the Niantic platform.
“Increasing content that represents a more diverse view of the world is critical and central to Niantic’s mission to inspire people to explore the world together,” Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a blog post.
The initiative has already signed W!cked Games Studio, a female-led company that makes interactive story-based games such Pitfall and the upcoming World Reborn.
At ...
- 2/11/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Alex Trebek, the long-running host of the iconic trivia gameshow “Jeopardy” has died, the show announced Sunday afternoon. He was 80.
Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex. pic.twitter.com/Yk2a90CHIM
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 8, 2020
Trebek had been courageously documenting his life with cancer after being diagnosed in March 2019. He attended the TCM Classic Movies Film Festival in April of that year, giving a heartfelt and emotional introduction to the feature “Wuthering Heights.” He celebrated one year of fighting cancer — prognosis for survival after 12 months is usually 18% — in March 2020. Because of the global health pandemic, and to protect Trebek, the game show filmed without audiences before production was suspended indefinitely.
Alex Trebek was born George Alexander Trebek in Ontario, Canada on July 22, 1940. He started working at the young age of 13 as a...
Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex. pic.twitter.com/Yk2a90CHIM
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) November 8, 2020
Trebek had been courageously documenting his life with cancer after being diagnosed in March 2019. He attended the TCM Classic Movies Film Festival in April of that year, giving a heartfelt and emotional introduction to the feature “Wuthering Heights.” He celebrated one year of fighting cancer — prognosis for survival after 12 months is usually 18% — in March 2020. Because of the global health pandemic, and to protect Trebek, the game show filmed without audiences before production was suspended indefinitely.
Alex Trebek was born George Alexander Trebek in Ontario, Canada on July 22, 1940. He started working at the young age of 13 as a...
- 11/8/2020
- by Kristen Lopez
- Indiewire
By Nicholas Poly
After three massively successful collaborations in every single artistic (and not only) aspect, the collaboration led by Hiroshi Teshigahara, Kobo Abe & Toru Takemitsu came to what’s meant to be its final installment. This happens while the still hot and vividly ‘redish’ summer of 1968 takes place and through the release of the not so renowned title that ‘The Man without a Map’ is. Their overall collaboration has already bloomed within a precise time frame of almost 6 years (which translates as an exact 2 year gap between every film). Abe’s novels for ‘Woman in The Dunes’, ‘The Face of Another’ and ‘The Man without A Map’ along with ‘Pitfall’s screenplay were usually published almost a year before the shooting, followed by his theatrical adaptation. As a result, Teshigahara and cinematographer Akira Uehara, along with the visionary avant–garde composer Toru Takemitsu, the crucial link between the first...
After three massively successful collaborations in every single artistic (and not only) aspect, the collaboration led by Hiroshi Teshigahara, Kobo Abe & Toru Takemitsu came to what’s meant to be its final installment. This happens while the still hot and vividly ‘redish’ summer of 1968 takes place and through the release of the not so renowned title that ‘The Man without a Map’ is. Their overall collaboration has already bloomed within a precise time frame of almost 6 years (which translates as an exact 2 year gap between every film). Abe’s novels for ‘Woman in The Dunes’, ‘The Face of Another’ and ‘The Man without A Map’ along with ‘Pitfall’s screenplay were usually published almost a year before the shooting, followed by his theatrical adaptation. As a result, Teshigahara and cinematographer Akira Uehara, along with the visionary avant–garde composer Toru Takemitsu, the crucial link between the first...
- 4/19/2020
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
How does Hollywood sell a gritty, realistic western? With a sexy shot of star Tina Louise! Viewers will be surprised: this fine western is a showcase for the elemental ruthlessness we associate with director André de Toth — its convincing snowbound setting is so intense, we can almost feel the cold. Slick writer Philip Yordan sets up an impossible conflict as a blizzard moves in on a tiny town… Robert Ryan must sort out his feelings for the town beauty Tina Louise, as he negotiates with the he-boss of the killer crooks, Burl Ives. It looks as if Ryan has no choice but to volunteer for a suicide journey — but nature has the last word.
Day of the Outlaw
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert,...
Day of the Outlaw
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert,...
- 8/20/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of Max Ophüls’ best American movies is this razor-sharp ‘domestic film noir’ with excellent acting and a premise that was probably too sordid-real for 1949: cheap crooks blackmail an ordinary housewife trying to protect her family. Joan Bennett confronts the crisis head-on, facing down James Mason’s unusually sympathetic ‘collector.’
The Reckless Moment
Region free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1949 / B&W / 1:37 full frame Academy / 82 min. / / Street Date April 22, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £17.00
Starring: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair, Roy Roberts, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Film Editor: Gene Havlick
Original Music: Hans Salter
Written by Henry Garson, Robert Soderberg; Mel Dinelli, Robert E. Kent, from a story by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Max Ophüls
Nobody forgets Joan Bennett’s film noir appearances — she has a dark, moody quality that even Dario Argento appreciated. In The Woman in the Window...
The Reckless Moment
Region free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1949 / B&W / 1:37 full frame Academy / 82 min. / / Street Date April 22, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £17.00
Starring: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair, Roy Roberts, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Film Editor: Gene Havlick
Original Music: Hans Salter
Written by Henry Garson, Robert Soderberg; Mel Dinelli, Robert E. Kent, from a story by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Max Ophüls
Nobody forgets Joan Bennett’s film noir appearances — she has a dark, moody quality that even Dario Argento appreciated. In The Woman in the Window...
- 4/13/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
BAMcinématek is hosting a 10-film series exploring Japanese art and folklore post World War II called Ghosts and Monsters: Postwar Japanese Horror starting this Friday, October 26th through November 1st. Also in today's Highlights: Dermot Mulroney joins the cast of Trick and an interview with Ted Welch and Chris Blake from All Light Will End.
Ghosts and Monsters: Postwar Japanese Horror Screening Details: "From Friday, October 26 through Thursday, November 1, BAMcinématek presents Ghosts and Monsters: Postwar Japanese Horror, a series of 10 films showcasing two strands of Japanese horror films that developed after World War II: kaiju monster movies and beautifully stylized ghost stories from Japanese folklore.
The series includes three classic kaiju films by director Ishirô Honda, beginning with the granddaddy of all nuclear warfare anxiety films, the original Godzilla (1954—Oct 26). The kaiju creature features continue with Mothra (1961—Oct 27), a psychedelic tale of a gigantic prehistoric and long dormant moth larvae...
Ghosts and Monsters: Postwar Japanese Horror Screening Details: "From Friday, October 26 through Thursday, November 1, BAMcinématek presents Ghosts and Monsters: Postwar Japanese Horror, a series of 10 films showcasing two strands of Japanese horror films that developed after World War II: kaiju monster movies and beautifully stylized ghost stories from Japanese folklore.
The series includes three classic kaiju films by director Ishirô Honda, beginning with the granddaddy of all nuclear warfare anxiety films, the original Godzilla (1954—Oct 26). The kaiju creature features continue with Mothra (1961—Oct 27), a psychedelic tale of a gigantic prehistoric and long dormant moth larvae...
- 10/23/2018
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The first time movie audiences saw Jack Black, who receives his Walk of Fame star on Sept. 18, he made an impression before he even opened his mouth. Black was 23 and making his film debut in the 1992 political satire “Bob Roberts,” playing a nervous fanboy of Tim Robbins’ right-wing presidential candidate. While his wealthy mom does most of the talking, Black silently commands our focus, staring, swaying, smiling too big, laughing too fast, and glowering at anyone competing for his idol’s attention. He’s unpredictable, electric, and the type of funny that feels like a dare. It’s every character Black would go on to play in one scene: a clown on the knife-edge of danger. Finally, Black gets an opening to speak: “We got a band!” Even that was prophetic.
Black was brand new to the movies, but he’d already known Tim Robbins for a decade. He was raised in Hermosa Beach,...
Black was brand new to the movies, but he’d already known Tim Robbins for a decade. He was raised in Hermosa Beach,...
- 9/18/2018
- by Amy Nicholson
- Variety Film + TV
Foreplays is a column that explores under-known short films by renowned directors. Vera Chytilová's Ceiling (1962) is free to watch below.Cinema wasn’t Vera Chytilová’s first vocation. Before enrolling at Famu (The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague), she had studied architecture and philosophy, and did various jobs. For a time, she worked as a fashion model—an experience that, undoubtedly, provided inspiration for Strop ("Ceiling"), her graduation short film of 1962, directed when she was already in her thirties. Watching Ceiling, one is immediately reminded of certain scenes from Hollywood’s classical period that feature female characters, often from modest origins, working as models. I’m thinking of particular moments in Caught, Pitfall, or Mannequin that hint at how, below the fashion milieu’s image of glamor and sophistication, lies an environment of harassment, entrapment, and exploitation that has to be endured by the models.
- 4/13/2018
- MUBI
In a war film, what’s the difference between nasty exploitation and just plain honest reportage? André De Toth made tough-minded action films with the best of them, and this nail-biting commando mission with Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport is simply superb, one of those great action pictures that’s not widely screened. To its credit it’s not ‘feel good’ enough to be suitable for Memorial Day TV marathons.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
- 10/24/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Witness the ‘fifties transformation of the femme fatale, from scheming murderess to self-deluding social climber. Barbara Stanwyck redefines herself once again in Gerd Oswald’s best-directed picture, a searing portrayal of needs and anxieties in the nervous decade. With fine support from Raymond Burr, Virginia Grey and Royal Dano.
Crime of Passion
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 /
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Leslie Thomas
Original Music: Paul Dunlap
Original Story and Screenplay by Jo Eisinger
Produced by Herman Cohen, Robert Goldstein
Directed by Gerd Oswald
A key title in the development of the Film Noir, 1957’s Crime of Passion shows how much the style had departed from the dark romanticism and expressive visuals of the previous decade. The best mid-’50s noirs strike a marvelously cynical and existentially bleak attitude regarding crime and society.
Crime of Passion
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 /
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Leslie Thomas
Original Music: Paul Dunlap
Original Story and Screenplay by Jo Eisinger
Produced by Herman Cohen, Robert Goldstein
Directed by Gerd Oswald
A key title in the development of the Film Noir, 1957’s Crime of Passion shows how much the style had departed from the dark romanticism and expressive visuals of the previous decade. The best mid-’50s noirs strike a marvelously cynical and existentially bleak attitude regarding crime and society.
- 9/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Kirk Douglas grits his teeth and goes full macho, wrasslin’ with that beautiful Sioux up in the high country — the Sioux miss in question being the Italian model Elsa Martinelli in her screen debut. Kirk can’t decide if he wants to stay with Elsa, or lead what must be the most shameful bunch of pioneer bigots ever to cross the plains. Walter Matthau and Diana Douglas are standouts in this vigorous action western directed by André de Toth.
The Indian Fighter
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr., Eduard Franz, Alan Hale Jr., Elisha Cook Jr., Ray Teal, Frank Cady, Michael Winkelman, William Phipps.
Cinematography: Wilfrid M. Cline
Art Direction: Wiard Ihnen
Film Editor: Richard Cahoon
Original Music: Irving Gordon, Franz Waxman
Written by Robert L. Richards,...
The Indian Fighter
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau, Diana Douglas, Walter Abel, Lon Chaney Jr., Eduard Franz, Alan Hale Jr., Elisha Cook Jr., Ray Teal, Frank Cady, Michael Winkelman, William Phipps.
Cinematography: Wilfrid M. Cline
Art Direction: Wiard Ihnen
Film Editor: Richard Cahoon
Original Music: Irving Gordon, Franz Waxman
Written by Robert L. Richards,...
- 5/5/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
What in the world -- an A + top-rank film noir gem hiding under the radar, and rescued (most literally) by the Film Noir Foundation. Ann Sheridan and Dennis O'Keefe trade dialogue as good as any in a film from 1950 -- it's a thriller with a cynical worldview yet a sentimental personal outlook. Woman on the Run Blu-ray + DVD Flicker Alley / FIlm Noir Foundation 1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 79 min. / Street Date May 17, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith, John Qualen, Frank Jenks, Ross Elliott, Jane Liddell, Joan Fulton, J. Farrell MacDonald, Steven Geray, Victor Sen Yung, Reiko Sato. Cinematography Hal Mohr Art Direction Boris Leven Film Editor Otto Ludwig Original Music Arthur Lange, Emil Newman Written by Alan Campbell, Norman Foster, Sylvia Tate Produced by Howard Welsch, Ann Sheridan Directed by Norman Foster
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Amazing! Just when one thinks one won't see another top-rank film noir, the...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Amazing! Just when one thinks one won't see another top-rank film noir, the...
- 5/24/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Noir if I can help it! Sultry Lizabeth Scott out-'fatals' every femme we know in this wickedly ruthless tale of unadulterated female venality. Rough creep Dan Duryea meets his match, as do other unfortunate males that get between Liz and a plump bag of blackmail loot. The Film Noir Foundation's restoration is a valiant rescue job, for a worthy 'annihilating melodrama.' Too Late for Tears Blu-ray + DVD Flicker Alley / FIlm Noir Foundation 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date May 17, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller, Barry Kelley Cinematography William Mellor Art Direction James Sullivan Film Editor Harry Keller Original Music Dale Butts Written by Roy Huggins from his story Produced by Hunt Stromberg Directed by Byron Haskin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Who's doing good work for film preservation? The Film Noir Foundation has racked up some impressive rescues and restorations in the last fifteen years or so,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Who's doing good work for film preservation? The Film Noir Foundation has racked up some impressive rescues and restorations in the last fifteen years or so,...
- 5/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
An exercise in dizzy disorientation, this Cornell Woolrich crazy-house noir pulls the rug out from under us at least three times. You want delirium, you got it -- the secret words for today are "Obsessive" and "Perverse." Innocent Robert Cummings is no match for sicko psychos Peter Lorre and Steve Cochran. The Chase Blu-ray Kino Classics 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran, Peter Lorre, Lloyd Corrigan, Jack Holt, Don Wilson, Alexis Minotis, Nina Koschetz, Yolanda Lacca, James Westerfield, Shirley O'Hara. Cinematography Frank F. Planer Film Editor Edward Mann Original Music Michel Michelet Written by Philip Yordan from the book The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woolrich Produced by Seymour Nebenzal Directed by Arthur D. Ripley
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
As Guy Maddin says on his (recommended) commentary, the public domain copies of this show were...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
As Guy Maddin says on his (recommended) commentary, the public domain copies of this show were...
- 5/7/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Two obscure Robert Wise titles reach Blu-ray release this month, both direct follow-ups to some of the auteur’s more iconic works. First up is 1962’s Two for the Seesaw, a romantic drama headlined by Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine following the famed 1961 title West Side Story. But the decade prior would fine Wise unveiling one of his most stilted efforts, The Captive City (1952), a sort-of noir procedural which followed his sci-fi social commentary The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Providing John Forsythe with his first starring role (a performer who would find his most famous roles decades later on television, as Blake Carrington in “Dynasty,” and of course, the famous voice in “Charlie’s Angels”), it has to be one of the most unenthusiastic renderings of organized crime ever committed to celluloid. A scrappy journalist defies the mob ruled police force and a slick Mafia boss in a tired...
- 1/5/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
or, Savant picks The Most Impressive Discs of 2015
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
This is the actual view from Savant Central, looking due North.
What a year! I was able to take one very nice trip back East too see Washington D.C. for the first time, or at least as much as two days' walking in the hot sun and then cool rain would allow. Back home in Los Angeles, we've had a year of extreme drought -- my lawn is looking patriotically ratty -- and we're expecting something called El Niño, that's supposed to be just shy of Old-Testament build-me-an-ark intensity. We withstood heat waves like those in Day the Earth Caught Fire, and now we'll get the storms part. This has been a wild year for DVD Savant, which is still a little unsettled. DVDtalk has been very patient and generous, and so have Stuart Galbraith & Joe Dante; so far everything...
- 12/15/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Who Wouldn’T Fall For Lizabeth Scott?”
By Raymond Benson
The year 1948 was the pinnacle for film noir in America, although this style of crime picture would continue for at least another decade. Yes, it’s a style, not a genre. For the most part it was also an unconscious style, for the filmmakers who brought us film noir had no idea they were making “film noir”—it wasn’t until the late 1950s that a bunch of French critics coined the term after looking back at this strange, cynical, dark breed of crime stories.
Pitfall is a corker, and while it’s certainly a movie about a crime and contains many of the film noir trademarks such as a femme fatale, a jaded protagonist, brutal violence (for the time), high contrast photography of light and shadow, an urban setting, and unstable alliances, it’s really a movie about the hazards of adultery.
By Raymond Benson
The year 1948 was the pinnacle for film noir in America, although this style of crime picture would continue for at least another decade. Yes, it’s a style, not a genre. For the most part it was also an unconscious style, for the filmmakers who brought us film noir had no idea they were making “film noir”—it wasn’t until the late 1950s that a bunch of French critics coined the term after looking back at this strange, cynical, dark breed of crime stories.
Pitfall is a corker, and while it’s certainly a movie about a crime and contains many of the film noir trademarks such as a femme fatale, a jaded protagonist, brutal violence (for the time), high contrast photography of light and shadow, an urban setting, and unstable alliances, it’s really a movie about the hazards of adultery.
- 12/4/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
This is a Great film noir. A straying husband's 'innocent' dalliance wrecks lives and puts his marriage in jeopardy. Been there, done that? Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott are menaced by Raymond Burr, while wife Jane Wyatt is kept in the dark. Andre de Toth's direction puts everyone through the wringer, with a very adult look at the realities of the American marriage contract, circa 1948. Pitfall Blu-ray Kino Lorber Studio Classics 1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date November 17, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, John Litel, Byron Barr, Jimmy Hunt. Cinematography Harry Wild Art Direction Arthur Lonergan Film Editor Walter Thompson Written by Karl Kamb from the novel by Jay Dratler Produced by Samuel Bischoff Directed by André De Toth
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Is 'domestic noir' even a category? I think so. Some of the creepiest late- '40s noir pictures take intrigue,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Is 'domestic noir' even a category? I think so. Some of the creepiest late- '40s noir pictures take intrigue,...
- 11/17/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Whether you’re all for 3D, or have reserved a special place in hell for those awkward glasses, it would seem that it is here to stay. Long before it turned into the latest service fee added onto the bill of your movie going experience, 3D was a fun (and new) twist for film lovers. And with House of Wax (1953), Warner Bros. created not only the first color major studio 3D film, but one of the finest horror films of the 50’s, period.
Released in April of ’53, House of Wax was a pricey venture (1 million Us to produce), but one that Warner Bros. was willing to bank on after the smash 3D success of Bwana Devil (1952), an independent production. By this point, the major studios were desperate to get people back to the movies, as that new and nasty little box called television halved theatre attendance. What they achieved with...
Released in April of ’53, House of Wax was a pricey venture (1 million Us to produce), but one that Warner Bros. was willing to bank on after the smash 3D success of Bwana Devil (1952), an independent production. By this point, the major studios were desperate to get people back to the movies, as that new and nasty little box called television halved theatre attendance. What they achieved with...
- 8/29/2015
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Michael Caine young. Michael Caine movies: From Irwin Allen bombs to Woody Allen classic It's hard to believe that Michael Caine has been around making movies for nearly six decades. No wonder he's had time to appear – in roles big and small and tiny – in more than 120 films, ranging from unwatchable stuff like the Sylvester Stallone soccer flick Victory and Michael Ritchie's adventure flick The Island to Brian G. Hutton's X, Y and Zee, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Sleuth (a duel of wits and acting styles with Laurence Olivier), and Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men. (See TCM's Michael Caine movie schedule further below.) Throughout his long, long career, Caine has played heroes and villains and everything in between. Sometimes, in his worst vehicles, he has floundered along with everybody else. At other times, he was the best element in otherwise disappointing fare, e.g., Philip Kaufman's Quills.
- 8/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Lizabeth Scott, the sultry blonde who epitomized cinematic "bad girls" in film noir productions, has passed away at age 92. Scott specialized in playing hard-bitten, self-confident femme fatales usually from the wrong side of the tracks. Her leading men included Robert Mithchum, Burt Lancaster, Michael Caine, Charlton Heston, Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Kirk Douglas. Her film credits include "Loving You", "Dark City", "I Walk Alone", "Too Late for Tears", "Pitfall" and "Scared Stiff". Her last screen appearance was in director Mike Hodges' acclaimed 1972 cult movie "Pulp", which was a send-up of the film noir genre. Scott's career began to fade in the late 1950s though she did make occasional appearances in TV series in the following years. In more recent years, she occasionally appeared at film festivals to discuss her work and career. Click here for more. ...
- 2/7/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Lizabeth Scott dead at 92: Film noir star of the '40s and '50s Lizabeth Scott, a Paramount star in the 1940s usually cast as film noir heroines, died of congestive heart failure on Jan. 31, 2015, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Scott, born (as Emma Matzo) on Sept. 29, 1922, was 92. (See also: Lizabeth Scott photo at recent The Strange Love of Martha Ivers screening.) Among the two dozen film featuring Lizabeth Scott – whose hair-style and husky line delivery were clearly inspired by Paramount's own Veronica Lake (along with Warner Bros.' Lauren Bacall) – were the following: John Farrow's You Came Along (1945), with Robert Cummings. Lewis Milestone's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), with Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas. Desert Fury (1947), with Burt Lancaster. Dead Reckoning (1947), with Humphrey Bogart. Pitfall (1948), with Dick Powell. Dark City (1950), with Charlton Heston. The Racket (1951), with Robert Ryan and Robert Mitchum.
- 2/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Chris Cummins Oct 29, 2019
Horror games have been around since the early 1970s. Let's take a look back at the birth of one of gaming's most popular genres...
More than 40 years since the first horror game hit arcades, the genre is still going strong. Why? For the same reasons that people still watch horror movies today – they are fun, and, on a deeper level, they tap into our shared fears about death and the unknown. Scary titles have been around since the birth of the video game industry.
We thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most notable retro horror titles. Some of these will be as familiar to you as the hoodie you wrap around yourself to keep away the chill on brisk autumn nights. Others will be mere curiosities, forgotten relics of an arguably simpler time. Yet despite their individual merits or flaws,...
Horror games have been around since the early 1970s. Let's take a look back at the birth of one of gaming's most popular genres...
More than 40 years since the first horror game hit arcades, the genre is still going strong. Why? For the same reasons that people still watch horror movies today – they are fun, and, on a deeper level, they tap into our shared fears about death and the unknown. Scary titles have been around since the birth of the video game industry.
We thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most notable retro horror titles. Some of these will be as familiar to you as the hoodie you wrap around yourself to keep away the chill on brisk autumn nights. Others will be mere curiosities, forgotten relics of an arguably simpler time. Yet despite their individual merits or flaws,...
- 10/28/2014
- Den of Geek
Joseph H. Lewis' The Big Combo (1955) and André De Toth's Pitfall (1948, right, with Dick Powell) will be screened as a film noir double bill at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at downtown Los Angeles' historic Million Dollar Theater. I haven't watched either movie, but the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan's warns: The Big Combo's "big, dark shadows … will eat you alive." Sounds like a must-see. Cornel Wilde stars as a cop in pursuit of crime boss Richard Conte; all the while, both cop and criminal vie for the attention of curvaceous blonde Jean Wallace, Wilde's then real-life wife. (The couple were married 1951-1981.) Also in the Big Combo cast: Robert Middleton, Brian Donlevy, Lee Van Cleef, Helen Walker, and Earl Holliman. Screenplay by Philip Yordan (House of Strangers, Detective Story, Johnny Guitar). In Pitfall, former Warner Bros. crooner Dick Powell plays an insurance salesman who falls for sultry Lizabeth Scott,...
- 2/5/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Lizabeth Scott (You Came Along, Dead Reckoning, Easy Living) in front of a giant poster of Lewis Milestone‘s 1946 film noir/psychological melodrama The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, in which Scott, then a Paramount contract player, starred opposite Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas. The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, introduced by screenwriter Robin Swicord (Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha), was presented as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ "Oscar Noir" series at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Monday, June 28, 2010. Among Scott’s most important vehicles are You Came Along (1945), with Robert Cummings; Desert Fury (1947), with Burt Lancaster; Pitfall (1948), with Dick Powell; and The Racket (1951), with Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan. Off-screen, Scott created a sensation of sorts in 1955 when she sued gossip rag Confidential for claiming that the never-married actress spent her free time in the [...]...
- 6/29/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Above: Léa Tissier in Young Girls in Black.
Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois, France)
With Beauvois’ inspired, sober film, one of the growers of the festival, reaching its steady hand around the film flack since its screening and maintaining its grip, gaining respect in the Cannes-wane, it would be too easy to choose the kind-hearted presence of Michael Lonsdale, who brings a smile whenever he’s on screen. But for such a grounded film, my favorite moment was one in the sky, when the monastery in Algiers, under siege from local insurgents, gets a helicopter flyover by the national military. The monks gather in their chapel to pray for strength, and Beauvois cuts between the military’s god’s eye view of the monastery and the men under cover on the ground, holding out and together against this strange force from above.
Young Girls in Black (Jean Paul Civeyrac,...
Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois, France)
With Beauvois’ inspired, sober film, one of the growers of the festival, reaching its steady hand around the film flack since its screening and maintaining its grip, gaining respect in the Cannes-wane, it would be too easy to choose the kind-hearted presence of Michael Lonsdale, who brings a smile whenever he’s on screen. But for such a grounded film, my favorite moment was one in the sky, when the monastery in Algiers, under siege from local insurgents, gets a helicopter flyover by the national military. The monks gather in their chapel to pray for strength, and Beauvois cuts between the military’s god’s eye view of the monastery and the men under cover on the ground, holding out and together against this strange force from above.
Young Girls in Black (Jean Paul Civeyrac,...
- 5/21/2010
- MUBI
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.