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BABES IN TOYLAND (1934)
November 26, 2020
MARCH OF THE WOODEN SOLDIERS
AKA BABES IN TOYLAND
Directed by Gus Meins, Charley Rogers
Starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy
1934 - Fantasy - USA - 73 mins - NR
Rated 100% FRESH on RottenTomatoes!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING... our first free Holiday movie for the season!
Stannie Dum (Stan Laurel) and Ollie Dee (Oliver Hardy) rent rooms in Mother Peep's shoe in Toyland. When Mother Peep can't make her mortgage payment to evil Silas Barnaby (Harry Kleinbach), he attempts to blackmail her into having Little Bo-Peep (Charlotte Henry) marry him, despite the girl's attachment to Tom-Tom Piper. Stannie and Ollie offer their assistance to Mother Peep, Bo-Peep and Piper, and later enlist an army of wooden soldiers to battle Barnaby's cave-dwelling bogeymen.
NO WAY OUT (1950)
November 19, 2020
NO WAY OUT
Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Starring Sidney Poitier, Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell
1950 - Drama - USA - 106 mins - NR
Robbers Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark) and his brother are shot and taken to the local hospital. There, the two are treated by Dr. Brooks (Sidney Poitier), the hospital's only black doctor. The brothers assault Brooks with racist slurs. And, when his brother ends up dying on the operating table, Ray accuses the doctor of murdering him. Blind with rage, Ray works to turn the white community of the city against Brooks, who finds an unlikely ally in the dead man's widow, Edie (Linda Darnell).
(From Rotten Tomatoes) Note: A powerful & disturbing film about racial discrimination.
Receives a 90% FRESH rating on RottenTomatoes.
STALAG 17 (1953)
November 11, 2020
★★IN HONOR OF VETERANS DAY★★
STALAG 17 (1953) 120 mins.
A classic. Billy Wilder (Some Like It Hot ) directed this award-winning take on the complicated life inside a German POW camp during WWII. Stars William Holden (won the Oscar® for best actor), Otto Preminger, Peter Graves, and a who's who of Hollywood's best character actors. Based on the Broadway stage play.
WHEN TRUMPETS FADE (1998)
November 11, 2020
★★IN HONOR OF VETERANS DAY★★
WHEN TRUMPETS FADE (1998) 92 mins.
Private David Manning (Ron Eldard) is a soldier in the 28th Infantry Division, and as a result of the horrendous fighting in World War II's Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, he is the sole survivor of his platoon. Based on a true story of heroism, passion, and perseverance. Also stars Frank Whaley, Martin Donovan, and Bobby Cannavale.
MIRAGE (1965)
November 05, 2020
MIRAGE
1965 - Thriller - USA - 109 mins - NR
Starring Gregory Peck, Diane Bakker, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy
After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) finds he can't remember the past two years of his life. Discovering that a rich humanitarian died after falling from the same building and that there are shady gunmen out to get him, Stillwell must piece together the missing memories of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye (Walter Matthau) and a reluctant old flame (Diane Baker), Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.
Copy Of -MIRAGE (1965)
November 05, 2020
MIRAGE
1965 - Thriller - USA - 109 mins - NR
Starring Gregory Peck, Diane Bakker, Walter Matthau, George Kennedy
After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell (Gregory Peck) finds he can't remember the past two years of his life. Discovering that a rich humanitarian died after falling from the same building and that there are shady gunmen out to get him, Stillwell must piece together the missing memories of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye (Walter Matthau) and a reluctant old flame (Diane Baker), Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.
SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK (1991)
October 22, 2020
SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK
Directed by Tim McLoughlin
Starring Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, William Sanderson
Horror - USA - 97 mins - Rated R
Sometimes They Come Back is a 1991 horror film based on the short story of the same title by Stephen King. High school teacher Jim Norman (Tim Matheson) reluctantly returns to his hometown with his wife (Brooke Adams) to pursue a job. Jim is haunted by the childhood memory of his brother being murdered by a group of teenagers. Now, the teenagers have returned to town as they appeared before they died.
"...follows the King formula, entertaining with thrills, murders, facing-up-to-fear philosophizing and snappy lines.." -Chicago Tribune
SCARECROWS (1988)
October 22, 2020
SCARECROWS
Directed by William Wesley
Starring Ted Vernon, Kristina Sanborn, B.J. Turner
1988 - Horror/Action - USA - Rated R
Criminals hijack a plane and force the pilot and his daughter to fly them to Mexico. However, an unexpected landing finds them in a cemetery inhabited by killer scarecrows. Nominated for the International Fantasy Film Award. Remastered for HD.
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)
October 15, 2020
THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES
Directed by Robert Fuest
Starring Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Terry-Thomas, Susan Travers
1971 - Comedy/Horror - Great Britain - 93mins - NR
In a desperate attempt to reach his ill wife, organist Anton Phibes (Vincent Price) is horrifically disfigured in a car accident and presumed dead. When he learns that his wife died during an operation, Phibes blames her surgeons and plots an elaborate revenge to punish them for their incompetence. With the help of a mute assistant (Virginia North), Phibes creates a mask resembling his own face and murders the surgeons one by one using bizarre methods inspired by the biblical plagues.
(Rotten Tomatoes)
Receives an 85% FRESH rating on RottenTomatoes.
Carnival of Souls (1962)
October 08, 2020
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
1962- Horror - USA - 77mins - NR
Director: Herk Harvey
Writer: John Clifford (written)
Stars: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger
Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) ends up the sole survivor of a fatal car accident through mysterious circumstances. Trying to put the incident behind her, she moves to Utah and takes a job as a church organist. But her fresh start is interrupted by visions of a fiendish man (Herk Harvey). As the visions begin to occur more frequently, Mary finds herself drawn to the deserted carnival on the outskirts of town. The strangely alluring carnival may hold the secret to her tragic past. (Rotten Tomatoes)
Receives an 86% FRESH rating on RottenTomatoes.
PUNK: attitude (2005)
October 01, 2020
PUNK: attitude
2005 - Documentary - USA - 89 mins
Note: Contains mature language. Viewer discretion advised.
Directed by Don Lettes
Filmmaker Don Letts examines the history of punk rock and its impact on the music industry. The film covers the evolution of punk from MC5 and the Velvet Underground through to the Ramones, the Sex Pistols,The Dolls, The Clash and many more. Includes interviews with Henry Rollins, David Johansen, Jim Jarmusch, Mick Jones, Chrissie Hynde, and Captain Sensible.
ROCK-A-BYE BABY (1958)
September 17, 2020
ROCK-A-BYE BABY
1958 - Comedy - USA - 103 mins - NR
Directed by Frank Tashlin
Starring: Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens, Hans Conreid
Clayton Poole (Jerry Lewis) is a TV repairman who still has feelings for his old high school girlfriend, Carla Naples (Marilyn Maxwell). Trouble is, Carla is now a glamorous movie star and the wife of a Mexican bullfighter. When her husband is tragically killed and she needs to keep the baby a secret, the star turns to Clayton for help. He is thrilled at the prospect of acting as a babysitter. But Carla neglects to tell him she actually had triplets.
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (1969)
September 03, 2020
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE
1969 - Drama/Comedy/Romance - Great Britain - 116mins
Directed by Ronald Neame
Starring: Maggie Smith, Gordon Jackson, Pamela Franklin, Robert Stephens
It is the thirties and Jean Brodie, a teacher in her prime, takes in her new class at the Marcia Blaine School for Girls in Edinburgh, Scotland. She gathers her girls around, clearly picks her favorites and lets them know that they are the "crème de la crème." While she is ostensibly their teacher, tasked with teaching them history and literature, she instead teaches them of life, or so she thinks.
Maggie Smith won the 1970 Oscar® for Best Actress.
"Maggie Smith's tour-de-force performance as a school-teacher slipping into spinsterhood is one of several notable achievements in this sentimental and macabre personal tragedy." -Variety
THIS SPORTING LIFE (1963)
August 20, 2020
THIS SPORTING LIFE
1963 - 134 mins - Drama- UK
Directed by Lindsey Anderson
Starring Richard Harris, Alan Badel, Rachel Roberts, Colin Blakley
Adapted by David Storey from his own novel, this drama stars Richard Harris as an athletic coal miner who aspires to the greener pastures of professional rugby. Soon establishing himself as one of the most brutal and arrogant players in the business, Harris begins amassing a fortune.
Best Picture 1963 Intl Film Critics
Best Actor 1963 Cannes Film Festival
JACK AND SARAH (1995)
August 13, 2020
JACK AND SARAH
1995 - 110 mins - Comedy/Drama- UK
Directed by Tim Sullivan
Starring Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, Judi Dench, Ian McKellan
In this quirky British comedy, nervous yuppie widower Jack finds himself saddled with the responsibility of raising his infant daughter. To keep his mother-in-law at bay, Jack hires a clumsy but vivacious American waitress as a baby-sitter. Mayhem ensues as she adjusts to the job, and Jack adjusts to fatherhood.
CUL-DE-SAC (1966)
August 06, 2020
CUL-DE-SAC
1966 - 111 mins - Comedy/Drama/Mystery - UK
Directed by Roman Polanski
Starring Lionel Stander, Jack MacGowran, Donald Pleasance, Jacqueline Bisset
Roman Polanski and Gerard Brach wrote this memorable black comedy about an uptight recluse and his nymphomaniacal young wife, whose stormy existence in an isolated British castle is turned upside down when two wounded gangsters break into their home and take over their lives.
"BEST FILM" 1966 Berlin International Movie Fest
"CRITICS AWARD" 1966 Venice Film Festival
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (1971)
July 30, 2020
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
1971 - 87 mins - Comedy/Drama - UK
Starring Geroge C. Scott, Joanne Woodward, Jack Gilford
This whimsical comedy-drama centers on a retired judge, who comes to believe that he is Sherlock Holmes. When he is sent to a psychiatrist, he manages to charm the doctor, a woman by the name of Dr. Watson, who soon finds herself playing along with his fantasies.
THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN (1969)
July 23, 2020
THE MAGIC CHRISTIAN
1969 - 101 mins - Comedy - UK
This zany British comedy finds a homeless hobo (Ringo Starr) being adopted by the world's richest man, Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers). Setting sail on the luxury liner The Magic Christian, Sir Grand tests the limit of human avarice. With money to motivate the greedy, Laurence Harvey combines his Hamlet soliloquy with a striptease. A vile cesspool of excrement is seeded with cash and the money-hungry dive right in. Wilfred Hyde-White is the drunken captain, Yul Brynner is uncredited in his performance as a chanteuse transvestite, and John Cleese is the director of Sotheby's auction house. Roman Polanski, Richard Attenborough, and Raquel Welch also appear in this offbeat comedy. Paul McCartney wrote and produced "Come and Get It," the first international hit from the power-pop group Badfinger. John "Speedy" Keene wrote "Something In The Air" and performed the track with his group Thunderclap Newman. Sellers, Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Terry Southern co-authored the screenplay taken from Southern's novel. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL (1976)
June 20, 2020
SHOUT AT THE DEVIL
1976 - 147 mins - Action adventure Drama - UK
Based on the novel by Wilbur Smith, this film follow the scheme of a proper English gentleman, Sebastian (Roger Moore), and a wild Irish-American, Flynn (Lee Marvin), as they set out to destroy a German battleship docked in East Africa before the outbreak of World War I.
THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR (1967)
June 19, 2020
THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR (1967)
81 minutes - United Kingdom
A British horror cult classic...
Set during the Victorian era, the film stars Peter Cushing as a Holmes-like detective on the trail of a serial killer. The mystery angle is minimal since we know virtually from the beginning that the killer is a gigantic....moth! It seems that Wanda Ventham, daughter of addled scientist Robert Flemyng, has spent too much time in her dad's lab, and can turn herself into a malevolent moth at will. Flemyng tries to mollify Ventham by creating a playmate for her-and the result is two murderous moths. Blood Beast Terror was also released as The Vampire-Beast Craves Blood.
ARIA (1988)
June 13, 2020
ARIA
Directed By:
Nicolas Roeg, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Ken Russell, Bruce Beresford, Julien Temple, Bill Bryden, Derek Jarman, Franc Roddam, Charles Sturridge
Starring:
John Hurt , Theresa Russell, Jack Kyle, Buck Henry, Bridget Fonda, Beverly D'Angelo, Marion Peterson
as Les Jeunes Filles
90 minutes - Multi country - Rated R
An international collection of well-known directors contributed to this compilation film, each fashioning a short film inspired by an aria from a famous opera. The approaches vary broadly, from the playful abstraction of Jean-Luc Godard's segment, which illustrates Armide with exercising body-builders, to the more literal approach of Franc Roddam, who transports Tristan und Isolde's story to modern-day Las Vegas. A particular stand-out is Julian Temple's take on Rigoletto, which recasts Verdi as the accompaniment to a contemporary Southern California sex farce.
LA STRADA (1954)
June 06, 2020
Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini drew on his own circus background for this classic film. Set in a seedy travelling carnival, this symbolism-laden drama revolves around brutish strongman Zampano, his simple and servile girlfriend Gelsomina, and clown/aerialist Matto.
Genre: Art House & International, Classics, Drama
Directed By: Federico Fellini
Written By: Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano
Runtime: 115 minutes - English subtitles via YouTube player
"Signor Fellini has used his small cast, and, equally important, his camera, with the unmistakable touch of an artist. His vignettes fill his movie with beauty, sadness, humor and understanding." -NY Times
THE FIREMAN'S BALL (1967)
June 05, 2020
Director: Milos Forman
Actors: Jan Vostrcil, Josef Šebánek, Josef Valnoha
The fire department in a small town is having a big party when the ex-boss of the department celebrates his 86th birthday. The whole town is invited but things don't go as planned. Someone is stealing the prizes to the lottery and the candidates for the Miss Fire-Department beauty contest are neither willing nor particularly beautiful. 73 mins Czech with English subtitles.
"A delicious parody-fable of Slavic bureaucracy." -Time Magazine
ABSOLUTON (1978)
May 24, 2020
Two Catholic boarding school students (Dominic Guard and Dai Bradley) embark upon a carefully calculated campaign to drive their hated headmaster (Richard Burton) insane. The boys launch their scheme by cooking up the most bizarre and depraved of imaginary sins, then recite these infractions in the Confessional. This sadistic little game gets wildly out of hand, resulting in murder. It's a toss-up as to who is the most repulsive character; the headmaster or his two charges. One of a long line of 1970s stinkers barely redeemed by the presence of Richard Burton, Absolution was not released until 1988, long after Burton's death. 98 mins.
COLLEGE SWING (1938)
May 17, 2020
It's hard to go wrong with such stars as Bob Hope, Burns & Allen, Martha Raye and Edward Everett Horton, and College Swing doesn't-go wrong, that is. The film begins in 1738, when a pact is drawn up between the Alden family and a highly respected Colonial college: If any female member of the family can pass her college exams within a 200-year period, ownership of the institution will be turned over to her. Comes 1938, and the last of the Alden girls, giddy Gracie Alden (Gracie Allen, of course) hires glib-tongued tutor Bud Brady (Bob Hope) to help her pass her exams. She also tries to win over no-nonsense professor Hubert Dash (Edward Everett Horton), who has no intention of handing his college over to a blithering idiot like Gracie. Once she has inherited the place, however, Gracie turns it into a jumpin'-jivin' joint, complete with jitterbugging students, swing bands and remote radio broadcasts. Though George Burns' role is nearly nonexistent, he does get to indulge in his patented cross-talk with Allen. Others contributing to the fun are Ben Blue, Jerry Colonna, Betty Grable, and Grable's then-husband Jackie Coogan. Highlights include Allen's spirited Irish jig and her endearing song duet with Edward Everett Horton. College Swing is the sort of high-powered, all-star entertainment that is virtually impossible to reproduce today. 83 mins.
THE TAMARIND SEED (1974)
May 16, 2020
Blake Edwards's stylish direction bolsters this Cold War romance starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. Andrews plays Judith Farrow, a British civil service functionary who meets dashing Russian agent Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif) under the romantic skies of the Caribbean. The Caribbean breezes work their magic and soon Judith is head-over-heels in love with Feodor. Feodor then tries to enlist Judith to become an agent for the Soviet Union. But after Judith is warned by the British government to stay away from him, Feodor decides that he'd rather have her than the Soviet Union. However, a kink is thrown into their love affair when an undercover Russian secret agent, posing as a British agent, decides to eradicate the two lovers.en, including 17-year-old Billy Macfarlane who's enlisted in order to be with his older brother, Eddie. But Eddie's sent home after being wounded, leaving his innocent brother behind to face the slow, inevitable countdown to the bloodiest massacre in British military history. 130 mins
THE TRENCH (1999)
May 15, 2020
Starring Daniel Craig (James Bond) & Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders)
This dramatization of the 48 hours leading up to the Battle of the Somme in 1916 underscores the bitter loss of innocence of a group of idealistic young men, including 17-year-old Billy Macfarlane who's enlisted in order to be with his older brother, Eddie. But Eddie's sent home after being wounded, leaving his innocent brother behind to face the slow, inevitable countdown to the bloodiest massacre in British military history. 98mins
POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961)
May 02, 2020
A Frank Capra classic.
In this film, Apple Annie is a besotted, rag-clad street vendor. Annie's daughter Louise is under the impression that Annie is a high-society dowager. When Louise proposes a visit, Annie enlists the help of her gangster friend to pass as a woman of means.
136 mins. NR
THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT (1953)
May 01, 2020
A classic western. Director John Ford, notoriously difficult to please, regarded The Sun Shines Bright as his favorite film. Laurence Stalllings' screenplay is based on several short stories by Kentucky humorist Irvin S. Cobb, some of which had previously been cinematized in Ford's 1934 Will Rogers vehicle Judge Priest. 92 mins.
Alfred Hitchcock Festival Weekend THE LODGER (1928)
April 25, 2020
While the silent The Lodger was not director Alfred Hitchcock's first film, it was the first to truly deserve the designation "A Hitchcock Picture". British matinee idol Ivor Novello plays Jonathan Drew, a quiet, secretive young man who rents a room in a London boarding house. Drew's arrival coincides with the reign of Terror orchestrated by Jack the Ripper. As the film progresses, circumstantial evidence begins to mount, pointing to Drew as the selfsame Ripper. In addition to Novello's 1932 remake, The Lodger was remade in 1944 with Laird Cregar, then again in 1953 as Man in the Attic, with Jack Palance as Jonathan Drew. (~ Hal Erickson, Rovi)
"Hitchcock's most underrated movie." -The London Times
"Hitchcock at his most 'innovative." -Chicago Reader
91 mins. Not rated.
Alfred Hitchcock Festival Weekend FAMILY PLOT (1976)
April 24, 2020
Alfred Hitchcock's final film was adapted from Victor Canning's novel The Rainbird Pattern by Ernest Lehman, who previously wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's North by Northwest. Barbara Harris plays Blanche, a phony psychic, hired by wealthy Julia Rainbird (Cathleen Nesbitt) to trace the whereabouts of her nephew, who'd been given up for adoption years earlier and who is now heir to a fortune. Blanche's cohort is "investigator" Lumley (Bruce Dern), who is fully prepared to milk the last dollar out of Julia before locating the long-lost nephew. Meanwhile, we are introduced to elegant kidnappers Adamson and Fran (William Devane and Karen Black). The fates of the two couples are inextricably intertwined by the search for the missing heir. 121 mins. Rated PG.
SHERLOCK JR. (1924)
April 23, 2020
If you don't know Buster Keaton's work... you should.
Here is a silent gem from 1924 (with score), starring & directed by Keaton. Keaton was 29 years old when the film was made.
A film projectionist longs to be a detective and puts his meager skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch. 45 mins.
★★★★★ "Magical" -Empire Magazine
"...groundbreaking and profound. And it's a laugh riot, too." -Chicago Reader
FELLINI'S AMARCORD (1973)
April 19, 2020
Federico Fellini's warmly nostalgic memory piece examines daily life in the Italian village of Rimini during the reign of Mussolini, and won the 1974 Academy Award as Best Foreign Film. The film's greatest asset is its ability to be sweet without being cloying, due in great part to Danilo Donati's surrealistic art direction and to the frequently bawdy injections of sex and politics by screenwriters Fellini and Tonino Guerra. Fellini clearly has deep affection for the people of this seaside village, warts and all, and communicates it through episodic visual anecdotes which are seen as if through the mists of a favorite dream, playfully scored by Nino Rota and lovingly photographed by Giuseppe Rotunno. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
125 mins. Rated R. In Italian with English subtitles.