Richard Leacock, 1921-2011
The noted filmmaker Richard Leacock, best known as one of the pioneers of the “cinema verite”-style of documentary filmmaking–a more direct, realistic approach to the form–died on March 23. He was 89-years-old.
Though he directed some 20-plus feature films and shorts (including 1984’s Lulu in Berlin, a documentary on actress Louise Brooks, and the popular 1963 short Happy Mother’s Day about a woman who gives birth to quintuplets), Leacock is best known to DiscDish as the cinematographer of some of finest documentaries of the 1960s and 1970s, many of which he collaborated on with such well-known colleagues as D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room) and Albert & David Maysles (Grey Gardens).
Here’s a group of fine documentaries wherein the late Mr. Leacock was behind the camera as the director of photography, snagging each and every shot that served the real-life story each movie was telling.
Primary,...
The noted filmmaker Richard Leacock, best known as one of the pioneers of the “cinema verite”-style of documentary filmmaking–a more direct, realistic approach to the form–died on March 23. He was 89-years-old.
Though he directed some 20-plus feature films and shorts (including 1984’s Lulu in Berlin, a documentary on actress Louise Brooks, and the popular 1963 short Happy Mother’s Day about a woman who gives birth to quintuplets), Leacock is best known to DiscDish as the cinematographer of some of finest documentaries of the 1960s and 1970s, many of which he collaborated on with such well-known colleagues as D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room) and Albert & David Maysles (Grey Gardens).
Here’s a group of fine documentaries wherein the late Mr. Leacock was behind the camera as the director of photography, snagging each and every shot that served the real-life story each movie was telling.
Primary,...
- 3/26/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
The Letter (1940) Direction: William Wyler Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard, Frieda Inescort, Sen Yung Screenplay: Howard Koch; from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, itself based on a Maugham story found in the 1924 collection The Casuarina Tree Oscar Movies Highly Recommended Bette Davis, The Letter Directed by William Wyler and adapted by Howard Koch from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, The Letter is one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood studios. Wyler's unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis' complex portrayal of a passionate woman who also happens to be a calculating murderess; and Tony Gaudio's atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit. The Letter begins in the dark of night, as a series of gunshots are heard in a Malayan rubber plantation. Leslie...
- 2/2/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It is a very light week for horror DVDs with a few re-releases on Blu-ray of newer classics, starting with the "New Flesh" that is Videodrome as well as Guillermo del Toro's Cronos.
Other releases this week that are worthy of any mention include a blood-soaked whale-watching trip, an entomologist who started a human collection instead, and a television mini-series about exorcism.
Videodrome (Criterion Collection) (1983)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson
When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called Videodrome. As he unearths the origins of the program, he embarks on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Renn's ordinary life dissolves around him, and he finds himself at the center of...
Other releases this week that are worthy of any mention include a blood-soaked whale-watching trip, an entomologist who started a human collection instead, and a television mini-series about exorcism.
Videodrome (Criterion Collection) (1983)
Directed by David Cronenberg
Starring James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson
When Max Renn goes looking for edgy new shows for his sleazy cable TV station, he stumbles across the pirate broadcast of a hyperviolent torture show called Videodrome. As he unearths the origins of the program, he embarks on a hallucinatory journey into a shadow world of right-wing conspiracies, sadomasochistic sex games, and bodily transformation. Renn's ordinary life dissolves around him, and he finds himself at the center of...
- 12/6/2010
- by kwlow
- DreadCentral.com
When studios put out themed DVD collections for whatever occasion, the final result rarely does the subject in question justice. When they seek to honor independent flicks they typically just go for the most popular ones and not the best. For foreign films they’ll select the few that actually made ripples and not the underdog that had to fight for every theater screen. However, when MGM compiled its Cinema Pride Collection in honor of June being Gay Pride month they hit the nail on the head – and they hit it dead on. The collection not only features some of the favorites within the gay community but it features a few highly acclaimed heavy hitters as well. This may just be one of the best box sets a studio has ever released that isn’t based on one actor or director’s filmography. It has variety and it has quality in spades.
- 6/13/2010
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
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