For my fourth installment of Spy Games I decided to highlight the funny Italian spy spoof MATCHLESS (1967) directed by Alberto Lattuada. Criterion’s released a couple of Lattuada’s films including MAFIOSO (1962) and VARIETY LIGHTS (1950), which he co-directed with Fredrico Fellini. But I hadn’t seen any of Lattuada’s other films until I came across his two silly & stylish spy spoofs currently streaming on Netflix… Continue reading »
Actress Catherine Spaak in 1966 I rarely write about modern films or new television shows but if you happen to follow me on Twitter or Facebook you’ve probably noticed that I occasionally mention movies and TV shows that don’t warrant a full post on Cinebeats. My latest obsession is the BBC import currently playing on … Continue reading »
Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending an event titled “An Evening with Terence Stamp” that took place during the 2011 San Francisco International Film Festival at the Castro Theatre. Regular Cinebeats’ readers are probably well aware that Stamp is one of my favorite actors so I was overjoyed to get the opportunity to … Continue reading »
Marisa Mell in Perversion Story (1969) The kind folks at Severin recently invited me to participate in a series of month-long guest blog posts at the Severin Blog where we’re asked to share clips from one of our favorite Severin DVD releases. I decided to write a little bit about Luci Fulci’s excellent Italian thriller … Continue reading »
Pierre Clémenti in Listen, Let’s Make Love (1967) Regular Cinebeats’ readers are undoubtedly familiar with my fascination with the French actor and filmmaker Pierre Clémenti. I’ve written about him enough that he’s earned his own blog category so you can imagine my surprise when I came across one of the little seen films that he … Continue reading »
Xmas card illustrated by SHAG that I sent to friends & family in 2002 One of my favorite monsters is the elusive and mysterious Yeti or Abominable Snowman and during the winter months I always start thinking about my favorite Yeti movies. I decided to compile a brief list of viewing suggestions for Movie Morlock … Continue reading »
Rosanna Schiaffino and Sarah Ferrati in The Witch (1966) There are few witches as beautiful and beguiling as Rosanna Schiaffino or as sinister and threatening as Sarah Ferrati in Damiano Damiani’s The Witch (or more correctly, The Witch in Love) aka La strega in amore (1966). In this leisurely paced Italian horror film based on … Continue reading »
Woody Strode in The Italian Connection (1972) Apologies for the lack of direct updates lately but I’m still getting moved into my new home and my free time is limited at the moment. In the meantime you can still find me posting at the Movie Morlocks every week and you can also occasionally find me … Continue reading »
Clint Eastwood during the ’67 promotional tour in London for A Fistful of Dollars Over the last few years I’ve come across various photos taken during the promotional tour that Clint Eastwood did in London for the release of A Fistful of Dollars (Sergio Leone; 1967) and recently Cinema Retro uncovered an interview that Eastwood … Continue reading »
Over at The Destructible Man blog an impromptu blogathon has started simply called Destructible Blog-a-thon.1. The gory details: We want everybody to bundle up, dig deep into the recesses of their consciousness, fiddle about a bit and then go over to your laptops by the fireplace and post about the cinematic ANIMAL dummy death that … Continue reading »
Top: Carroll Baker has just seen the final cut of The Devil with Seven Faces (1971) Bottom: Even a cheap gorilla mask couldn’t make the movie any better. Normally I neglect to write anything about movies I dislike. I never have enough time to write about all the films I like so why waste my … Continue reading »
Over at Ferdy on Film the Invitation to the Dance Movie Blogathon is in full swing and lots of people are sharing their thoughts about their favorite dance moments captured on film and debating the merits of individual dancers. I’m currently writing a longer piece about one of my favorite dance movies that I hope … Continue reading »
Above: Pupi Avati At this time of the year it seems like every film critic suddenly becomes an expert on horror films and starts publishing their quickly put together “Top 10 Scary Movie Moments” or “Best Films to Watch on Halloween.” These lists are often compiled by people who’ve seen a limited amount of films … Continue reading »
Over at Cinedelica we’re starting a new feature today called “10 Questions” and my first interviewee is film critic and author Tim Lucas. I’ve been reading Tim’s film criticism since first coming across it in magazines like Fangoria and Gorezone in the ’80s when I was a teenager. There are few critics that have inspired … Continue reading »
You ask what you should watch. I ask how I should live. It’s the same thing. – Corrado Zeller (Richard Harris) in Antonioni’s The Red Desert (1964) Cinephiles have suffered some great losses in recent days with the death of Ingmar Bergman, actor Michel Serrault and now Michelangelo Antonioni. I was really touched by all … Continue reading »
