Thompson on Hollywood

Netflix Beware: Warner Archive Launches Instant Streaming Service -- Vintage, Obscure and B-Movies Galore

News

Film nerds rejoice! Innovative classic service Warner Archive, the Warner Bros. studio's top-notch repertory wing dedicated to restoring archival gems--via consumer demand-- and making little-seen titles available on DVD, has some exciting news: Warner Archive Instant. Like Netflix, the new service will let you stream films for a monthly fee (in this case, $10) but instead the flicks available are vintage, B-movie, obscure -- all the lost-and-refound greatness you've come to expect from Warner Archive.

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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April 3, 2013 1:45 PM
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Why 'Casablanca' Sequels Never Work

Features

Sequels are big business. “Spiderman 24” and “Star Trek 48” will probably grace the box office sometime in the 22nd century since Hollywood is expert at squeezing every dollar from film and digital stones. Luckily, some movies resist every attempt to find a future for their main characters. “Casablanca” is one of them.

By Aljean Harmetz
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April 3, 2013 12:52 PM
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Peter Bogdanovich's Ernst Lubitsch Files UPDATE: Part 1 and Newly Added Part 2 [CLIPS]

Features

The great Polish-German director Ernst Lubitsch was not an absolute favorite of mine while I was keeping my card file of every movie I saw, 1952-1970, so my ratings and comments would be a great deal higher and more effusive today, because over the years he has evolved into one of my all-time top picture artists. (Watch a selection of Lubitsch clips below.)

By Peter Bogdanovich
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March 29, 2013 1:47 PM
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'My Life with Cleopatra' Memoir Reissued for Notorious Elizabeth Taylor Film's 50th Anniversary

Features

Its questionable status has long been eclipsed by other unnatural disasters, like “Mars Needs Moms,” “Cutthroat Island” and that darling of revisionists, “Heaven’s Gate.” But for a long time it was “Cleopatra” that ranked in the public consciousness as Hollywood’s greatest, and certainly best publicized, disaster. (Think “Howard the Duck” in a toga, an asp at his throat.)

By John Anderson
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March 28, 2013 2:03 PM
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Martin Scorsese's 'King of Comedy' to Close 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

Festivals

Rupert Pupkin. The name slides off the tongue like luggage off an airport carousel. And as portrayed by Robert De Niro -- post Jake LaMotta, pre Noodles Aaronsen -- he is one of the more memorable pieces of cultural/emotional baggage produced by the American screen. A hero of dubious sanity. Dubious worth. More cringe-worthy than an episode of “Two Broke Girls.” He is “The King of Comedy.” And he will be closing the Tribeca Film Festival on April 27.

By John Anderson
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March 28, 2013 2:00 PM
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Sweet Smell of Success: UCLA Film & Television Archive Rolls Out Fab 25-Film Burt Lancaster Retrospective

News

Classic screen actor Burt Lancaster (1913-1994) would have turned 100 this year, and to celebrate his centennial the UCLA Film & Television Archive is rolling out a fabulous 25-film retrospective of his work, running April 5 through June 30. The series kicks off with Alexander Mackendrick's acid-tongued portrait of corrupt ambition "Sweet Smell of Success," starring Lancaster and Tony Curtis as an unscrupulous gossip columnist-and-press agent team. A must-see.

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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March 27, 2013 2:55 PM
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Now and Then: Hitchcock's Bad-Ass '40s Brunettes Were the Lead-Up to Those '50s Icy Blondes

Reviews

My favorite words in the movies come from the dusky, sultry opening minutes of "Rear Window" (1954), as Grace Kelly's New York socialite glides through L.B. Jefferies' (James Stewart) dim apartment, switching on the lights. "From top to bottom," she announces herself. "Lisa." Flick. "Carol." Flick. "Fremont." Flick.

By Matt Brennan
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March 19, 2013 2:54 PM
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2013 TCM Classic Film Festival Adds More Stars and Screenings: Mel Brooks, Mickey Rooney, SNL's Bill Hader to Present

Festivals

The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival (April 25-28) continues to add more stars and screenings to its slate, including Mel Brooks in conversation following "The Twelve Chairs," Mickey Rooney and Jonathan Winters appearing with epic nutty ensemble comedy "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" and the already announced Max von Sydow tribute has added a new screening of Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor."

By Beth Hanna
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March 14, 2013 12:51 PM
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Warner Bros. to Release 20-Film Comedy Box Set for 90th Anniversary, Includes Cary Grant Classics, Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks

News

Warner Bros. celebrates its 90th anniversary in 2013, and to mark the occasion is releasing five box sets throughout the year, with 20 films each highlighting the best of the studio's output. First up: the Comedy Collection, including such unbeatable classics as Howard Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby," George Cukor's "The Philadelphia Story" and Frank Capra's "Arsenic and Old Lace." Alas, it also includes "The Hangover," but nothing's perfect. Full list of titles below.