The latest trailer for A Complete Unknown pays tribute to the famous music video that opened the Bob Dylan documentary, Don’t Look Back.
Starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan and directed by the usually reliable craftsman, James Mangold, A Complete Unknown is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day and is expected to be pushed for Oscar recognition. As both a fan of Bob Dylan and a hater of the type of folk musician that Dylan upset by going electric, I’ll be curious to see the film, myself.
Filmed in 1957 for a television program called Westinghouse Studio One, The Night America Trembled is a dramatization of the night that Orson Welles terrified America with his radio adaptation of War of The Worlds.
For legal reasons, Orson Welles is not portrayed nor is his name mentioned. Instead, the focus is mostly on the people listening to the broadcast and getting the wrong idea. That may sound like a comedy but The Night America Trembled takes itself fairly seriously. Even pompous old Edward R. Murrow shows up to narrate the film, in between taking drags off a cigarette.
Clocking in at a brisk 60 minutes, The Night America Trembled is an interesting recreation of that October 30th. Among the people panicking: a group of people in a bar who, before hearing the broadcast, were debating whether or not Hitler was as crazy as people said he was, a babysitter who goes absolutely crazy with fear, and a group of poker-playing college students. If, like me, you’re a frequent viewer of TCM, you may recognize some of the faces in the large cast: Ed Asner, James Coburn, John Astin, Warren Oates, and Warren Beatty all make early appearances.
It’s an interesting little historical document and you can watch it below!
This short, animated film is from 1953 and it features James Mason reading a story from America’s first master of suspense, Edgar Allan Poe!
Here, for your listening and visual enjoyment, is The Tell Tale Heart! Along with featuring the voice of James Mason, the film was directed by Ted Parmlee. It was the first animated film to ever be given an X rating by the British Film Board of Censors.
No, Netflix did not remake the Alfred Hitchcock classic. Instead, this is an animated film about a headstrong girl who accidentally turns her parents into monsters and has to figure out how to turn them back. It’s a good thing that this film is from the director of Shrek, who should know a thing about turning monsters into humans and vice versa.
The much-missed Gary Loggins loved Halloween and he loved the old, frequently subversive cartoons from the 1930s. He was a particular fan of the Fleischer Brothers so it only seems right that today, on Halloween, we should share one of those cartoons. Here is 1930’s Swing You Sinners.
In this bizarre cartoon, a dog named Bimbo attempts to steal a chicken. After the police chase him into a cemetery, Bimbo is confronted by ghosts, demons, and apparently death. Shockingly, there is no escape offered in this film. Abandon all hope!
I guess chicken theft was a really huge problem in 1930.
This trailer has been out for a few days but, with all the activity surrounding Horrorthon and Halloween, I’m only getting a chance to watch and share it.
September 5th is a film based on the true story of the murder of 9 Israeli athletes by terrorists at the 1972 Munich Olympics. It’s a tragic story, one that already served as the basis for Steven Spielberg’s Munich. September 5th appears to focus on the coverage of the hostage situation and the ethical question of whether or not terrorist scum should be given free air time. It’s not a question for which I have an easy answer. Obviously, covering terrorism can inspire other terrorists. At the same time, people do need to know what’s going on. The trailer also mentions (and I hope the film will explore) the fact that the games continued, even with athletes being held hostage and subsequently being murdered by their captors.
The trailer impressed me. I’m hoping that the film lives up to the trailer. This is an important story and one that feels very relevant today.
Thanks to the one and only John Carpenter, the version of this sweet little song that The Chordettes recorded in the 1950s will be forever associated with the Night He Came Home. Sadly, none of the Chordettes are with us anymore and I haven’t been able to find any interviews about how they felt about their song of teenage love being used in Halloween.
I’d like to think they would have appreciated it. Michael Myers may not have had hair like Liberace but he did have a mask that looked a lot like William Shatner.
Tonight’s horror scene that I love is from the 1982 film, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, a film that has finally started to be recognized for being the horror classic that it is.
In this scene, Conal Cochran (Dan O’Herlihy) explains not only the origins of Halloween but he also discusses how he’s going to make Halloween great again. This scene is probably the best in the film and it’s almost entirely due to O’Herlihy’s wonderfully menacing performance as Conal Cochran.
Vincent Price was born, at the start of the 20th Century, in St. Louis, Missouri. When he first began his film career in the 1930s, he was promoted as a leading man and he was even tested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone With TheWind. (Imagine that!) However, Price would find his greatest fame as a horror icon.
Among the fans of Price’s horror films was a young animator named Tim Burton. In 1982, Price and Burton would work together for the first time, with Price providing the narration for a short, stop motion film that Burton had written and directed. Called Vincent, the film was about a seven year-old boy named Vincent who wanted to be — can you guess? — Vincent Price! The six-minute film follows Vincent as he gets involved in all sorts of macabre activities. Of course, as Vincent’s mom points out, Vincent isn’t actually a monster or mad scientist. He’s just a creative child with an overactive imagination. (To say the short feels autobiographical on Burton’s part would be an understatement.) The animation is outstanding and full of wit but it really is Vincent Price’s wonderful narration that makes this short film a classic.
Both Price and Burton would later call making this film one of the most creatively rewarding collaborations of their respective careers.
When I first saw that this trailer was for a film called Lake George, I automatically thought of Lake Placid and assumed that this was another film about a giant crocodile.
Well, it’s not. Apparently, it’s a film in which Jeremy Renner Shea Whigham plays a criminal who is forced to do one last job. However, when he falls in love with the woman he was supposed to kill, they go on a road trip instead.
Through the Shattered Lens