TV

“Narrated by actress Charlize Theron, Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies (2001) is a documentary about the Hollywood legend whose acting career was overshadowed by her much-criticized love affair with newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The film features the final on-camera interview with Davies’ biographer Fred Guiles as well as interviews with film historians Kevin Brownlow, Jeanine Basinger, and Cari Beauchamp; former film critic Charles Champlin; and actress Virginia Madsen, who researched Davies for her portrayal of the star in the made-for-TV movie The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985). First-hand accounts of events in Davies’s life will be shared by Carl Roup, a studio newspaper boy who was chosen by Davies to appear as an extra in The Red Mill (1927); Davies’s friends, including actress Constance Moore and King Vidor’s daughter, Belinda Vidor Holiday; and Life magazine correspondent Stanley Flink, who taped interviews with Davies in 1951, excerpts which are heard in the documentary.Read More »

Synopsis (possible spoilers):

‘Rose, an older woman living in Paris was born in Poland as a daughter of an aristocratic family. Her family house is now an impoverished home for the old people. Rose visited her property many times since the Berlin Wall collapsed and this time she arranged a meeting with an old palace employee, who earned big money having run a greenhouse business. Nevertheless, it remains a secret where the money to start this business came from. Not having a chance to speak to the employee, Rose meets his granddaughter – Jola – and enjoying her company, invites her to visit Paris. As Jola arrives in Paris, she gets acquainted with a young Arabian with whom she falls in love. Rose is very much by her side. Soon Rose leaves for Poland once again. This time her purpose is to find a chest full of treasures buried by herself deep in the forest soon before the war was over, when she was afraid of property confiscation soon to come. Apparently it turns out, the chest is empty and Jola’s grandfathers seem to be the most suspected men. But are these accusations justifiable?’
– IMDbRead More »

Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Twice during the mid-1970s, Andy Griffith unsuccessfully attempted to launch a TV detective series titled Abel Marsh. The first pilot film was The Girl in the Empty Grave; the second was The Deadly Game. Griffith once again stars as resort-town sheriff Abel Marsh, this time wrestling with a sinister conspiracy involving a dangerous chemical spill. Lane Slate produced, directed and wrote the film, while Griffith’s longtime manager Richard O. Linke functioned as executive producer. Deadly Game was first telecast December 3, 1977.Read More »

Making its debut with Romeo and Juliet on 3 December 1978, and concluding nearly seven years later with Titus Andronicus on 27 April 1985, the BBC Television Shakespeare project was the single most ambitious attempt at bringing the Bard of Avon to the small screen, both at the time and to date.Read More »

Quote:
Zwei ungewöhnliche Frauen der Pariser Kulturszene lassen sich vom kanadischen Filmemacher Bruce LaBruce durch die nächtliche französische Metropole begleiten. Wenn es in Frankreich um aufsehenerregende Frauen in Literatur und Film geht, dann fallen schnell die Namen Béatrice Dalle – exzentrische Schauspielerin und Femme fatale des französischen Kinos (“Betty Blue – 37,2 Grad am Morgen”, “Trouble Every Day”) und Virginie Despentes – Star der feministischen Literatur in Frankreich und Regisseurin der Verfilmungen ihrer eigenen Bücher (“Baise-moi/Fick mich!” und “Bye Bye Blondie”). Die beiden Ausnahmekünstlerinnen streifen durch das winterliche Paris und führen sich gegenseitig an die Orte ihrer Inspiration. Nach einem Besuch in dem ehrwürdigen Gotteshaus Eglise Sainte Rita, das sich den “verlorenen Seelen” verschrieben hat, steht eine Musik-Performance mit bizarren Tiermasken in der Galerie Paul Toupet auf dem Programm. Bei der Visite eines DVD-Geschäfts mit echten Raritäten fachsimpeln die beiden Frauen über die besten Filme aller Zeiten und lästern über einige Kollegen.

An outstanding three-part BBC4 series that looks at how the Art Nouveau movement flourished in the burgeoning cities of Europe at the end of the 19th century. Aired March-April 2012.

Episode 1: Paris
BBC cultural correspondent Stephen Smith explores the delicious objects of Parisian Art Nouveau. He delves into the city’s Bohemian past to learn how some of the 19th century’s most glamorous and controversial figures inspired this extraordinary movement. Revealing the story behind Alphonse Mucha’s sensual posters of actress Sarah Bernhardt, looking at the exquisite jewellery designer Renee Lalique and visiting iconic art nouveau locations such the famous Maxim’s restaurant, the programme builds a picture of fin-de-siecle Paris.Read More »

The Image Makers (Swedish original title: Bildmakarna) is a 2000 Swedish TV drama directed by Ingmar Bergman and written by Per Olov Enquist.The play was originally written for and staged by the Royal Dramatic Theatre (featuring the same cast), where it premiered on Feb 13, 1998 (directed by Bergman). Following the success of the stage production, it was adapted for Swedish television (SVT) in 2000 with Bergman as a director.The Image Makers portrays an odd meeting of four great Swedish artists: author Selma Lagerlöf, actress Tora Teje, film director Victor Sjöström and film photographer Julius Jaenzon. The drama is set in the year 1920 at Swedish Filmstudios where the great silent film director Victor Sjöström is shooting the silent film The Phantom Carriage, an adaptation of Lagerlöf’s popular novel Körkarlen. He has now invited the book’s grand authoress to take a first look at some early scenes…Read More »

The lives of several people spanning from 1936 to 1993 are chronicled during their overnight stay at a New York City hotel room. The hotel room undergoes minor changes through the century, but the employees of the hotel remain unchanged, never aging.Read More »

Promotional omnibus film, made for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, featuring portraits of 12 Italian cities.
For all those who will not be going to Italy for a vacation this year… here is the next best thing. A who’s who of Italian directors anno 1990 turn their cameras on a specific Italian city. Most of these (very) short films do not have dialogue of any kind, and rely instead solely on the beauty of the images and music to depict the various cities.

Directed by
Michelangelo Antonioni (segment “Roma”)
Bernardo Bertolucci (segment “Bologna”)
Giuseppe Bertolucci (segment “Bologna”)
Mauro Bolognini (segment “Palermo”)
Alberto Lattuada (segment “Genova”)
Carlo Lizzani (segment “Cagliari”)
Mario Monicelli (segment “Verona”)
Ermanno Olmi (segment “Milano”)
Gillo Pontecorvo (segment “Udine”)
Francesco Rosi (segment “Napoli”)
Mario Soldati (segment “Torino”)
Lina Wertmüller (segment “Bari”)
Franco Zeffirelli (segment “Firenze”)Read More »