TCM Premieres....

[cmovieviewer]

TCM has added a premiere for May - Separate But Equal (1991) is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET on Friday May 17.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102879/

This was originally a TV mini-series, but TCM is presenting it complete with a 3 hour+ runtime.

The list of premieres posted previously has been updated.

[CinemaInternational]

TCM has added a premiere for May - Separate But Equal (1991) is scheduled for 8:00 PM ET on Friday May 17.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102879/

This was originally a TV mini-series, but TCM is presenting it complete with a 3 hour+ runtime.

The list of premieres posted previously has been updated.

It probably helps that it was one of the last leading roles for Sidney Poitier and was Burt Lancaster's final performance.

[cmovieviewer]

For those who have not looked at the schedule yet, the theme that evening is "Created by George Stevens Jr." - TCM has paired it with the premiere of another mini-series presented as a feature The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988). Stevens produced and wrote both series.

But I don't want to get too far ahead on presenting the details of the premieres...

[ziggy6708a]

SAT., 5-11 @10:30pm (ET)

"Synecdoche, New York (/sɪˈnɛkdəki/ sin-EK-də-kee)[3] is a 2008 American postmodern[4] psychological drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman in his directorial debut.
It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as an ailing theater director who works on an increasingly elaborate stage production and whose extreme commitment to realism begins to blur the boundaries between fiction and reality. The film's title is a play on Schenectady, New York, where much of the film is set, and the concept of synecdoche, wherein a part of something represents the whole or vice versa. ....

The story and themes of Synecdoche, New York polarized critics: some called it pretentious or self-indulgent, but others declared it a masterpiece, with Roger Ebert ranking it as the decade's best.[7] The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and has since appeared in multiple polls of the greatest films of the 21st century...."

see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synecdoche,_New_York

[ziggy6708a]

TUES., 5-14


11:30
pm (ET)

"Breathless" (1983)
1h 40m | Action

American neo-noir romantic thriller film[2] directed by Jim McBride, written by McBride and L. M. Kit Carson, and starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky.
It is a remake of the 1960 French film of the same name directed by Jean-Luc Godard and written by Godard and François Truffaut. The original film is about an American woman and a French criminal in Paris, while the remake is vice versa in Los Angeles.

Director
Jim Mcbride

Cast:
Richard Gere as Jesse Lujack
Valérie Kaprisky as Monica Poiccard

"....On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 63% based on reviews from 16 critics.[8] On Metacritic it has a score of 52% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]
Roger Ebert's contemporary review was a mixed 2.5 stars out of 4. He felt the film's mix of art-house and noir styles would not appeal to "average audiences" and believed Kaprisky was miscast and often seemed "lost", but praised Gere's performance: "I thought Gere was deliberately repugnant, but in an interesting way".....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathless_(1983_film)

[CinemaInternational]

TUES., 5-14


11:30
pm (ET)

"Breathless" (1983)
1h 40m | Action

American neo-noir romantic thriller film[2] directed by Jim McBride, written by McBride and L. M. Kit Carson, and starring Richard Gere and Valérie Kaprisky.
It is a remake of the 1960 French film of the same name directed by Jean-Luc Godard and written by Godard and François Truffaut. The original film is about an American woman and a French criminal in Paris, while the remake is vice versa in Los Angeles.

Director
Jim Mcbride

Cast:
Richard Gere as Jesse Lujack
Valérie Kaprisky as Monica Poiccard

"....On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 63% based on reviews from 16 critics.[8] On Metacritic it has a score of 52% based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]
Roger Ebert's contemporary review was a mixed 2.5 stars out of 4. He felt the film's mix of art-house and noir styles would not appeal to "average audiences" and believed Kaprisky was miscast and often seemed "lost", but praised Gere's performance: "I thought Gere was deliberately repugnant, but in an interesting way".....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathless_(1983_film)

Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked at it on Amazon Prime for free two weeks ago. It is a very carnal remake with much nudity from all sorts of angles of Gere and Kaprisky that leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. The film is on the languid side, but it is filled with this weird, entrancing sort of early 80s LA attitude that is most intriguing. And Gere is acting much more gonzo than usual.

[Hibi]

I hope I remember to record this. I haven't seen it since it appeared in theaters and don't remember much about it.

[skimpole]

I'm watching it on DVR as I type this. I'm about halfway through it. It's such an odd movie, having many of the beats of the original, but trying not to be a simple copy of it. The substitutions are odd, but don't have the energy of the original. I can certainly understand why McBride replaced the conversation Belmondo and Seaberg had with gratuitous nudity. Kaprisky is no Seaberg, though she does appear to have an acting career in France and she was the star of the movie Andrzej Zulawski made after Possession. It's as if McBride knew he had an impossible task, and was hoping the movie would be seen by those who hadn't seen the original.

[ziggy6708a]

FRI., 5-17

(time ET)

8:00
pm

"Separate but Equal" (1991)
3h 10m | Historical | TV-PG

A two-part miniseries. Dramatizes the events leading up to the 1954 Supreme Court decision on school desegregation, "Brown vs. Board of Education."

Director
George Stevens Jr.

"... The film stars Sidney Poitier as lead NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, Richard Kiley as Chief Justice Earl Warren, Burt Lancaster (in his final television role) as lawyer John W. Davis (loser of Briggs v. Elliott and the Democratic candidate in the 1924 US presidential election), Cleavon Little as lawyer and judge Robert L. Carter, and Lynne Thigpen as Ruth Alice Stovall.[1]

In 1991, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences rewarded the film with the Outstanding Miniseries award.[2] The film received 8 nominations for Emmy Awards in 1991 and won 2,[3] and received 3 nominations for Golden Globe Awards in 1992.

.....John Leonard called the film "splendid" and "a triumph" in New York Magazine.[5] While generally praising the film, Richard Zoglin in Time Magazine called the portrayal of Warren's visit to Gettysburg "simplistic."[6] A contemporary review in the Orlando Sentinel called the film "one of television's finest hours,".....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_but_Equal_(film)


11:30
pm

"The Murder of Mary Phagan" (1988)
4h 11m | Drama

" American two-part television miniseries starring Jack Lemmon (as Gov. John Slaton) about the murder of a 13-year-old factory worker and the subsequent trial of her accused murderer Leo Frank.
The supporting cast features Richard Jordan, Robert Prosky, Peter Gallagher, Kathryn Walker, Rebecca Miller, Paul Dooley, Charles Dutton, Kevin Spacey, Cynthia Nixon, Dylan Baker and William H. Macy.
....The film won three Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries[9] and a Peabody Award.

Director
William Hale

"An earlier movie version of the case, with the names changed, was directed by Mervyn LeRoy in 1937 and titled They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains and Lana Turner.
In 1997, David Mamet published a book about Leo Frank titled The Old Religion. The following year a Broadway musical titled Parade, written by the playwright Alfred Uhry, with music composed by Jason Robert Brown was produced.
In 2004 the journalist Steve Oney published his history of the Mary Phagan case, titled And the Dead Shall Rise. The trial and Frank's lynching have also been explored in works of academic history. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murder_of_Mary_Phagan

[ziggy6708a]

late SAT., 5-18
Noir Alley


12:00
am & SUN., 5-19 @10am (ET)

"Take Aim at the Police Van" (1960)
Action/ 79 min.

A prison truck is assaulted and the two convicts inside are murdered. The prison guard on duty gets suspended for negligence and takes it upon himself to track down the killers.

Director
Seijun Suzuki
Cast
Michitaro Mizushima, Mari Shiraki, Misako Watana...

"...Twisty detective flick from the director of Branded to Kill. After the police van of which he was in charge is ambushed by a sniper, prison guard Michitaro Mizushima (the star of the earlier Suzuki film Underworld Beauty) is suspended from his job. Upset over his failure to protect those under his charge, Mizushima conducts his own investigation.
This is an extremely convoluted mystery - a fact to which the film cops. Suzuki's master direction keeps it moving. The opening and closing sequences in particular are brilliant. I just wish I knew what the Hell was going on! I was very tired while watching it, ..."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054325/re ... _=tt_ov_rt

[scsu1975]

FRI., 5-17

11:30
pm

"The Murder of Mary Phagan" (1988)
4h 11m | Drama
Director
William Hale

"An earlier movie version of the case, with the names changed, was directed by Mervyn LeRoy in 1937 and titled They Won't Forget, starring Claude Rains and Lana Turner.

Lost to history is the 1915 five-reel film The Frank Case, which only had a few exhibitions. The film was released while the case was on appeal. The National Board of Censors ruled that since the case was being appealed to the Supreme Court, exhibition of the film would constitute contempt of court. Interestingly, the film depicts Frank being found not guilty and acquitted - a far cry from the horrific conclusion to this tragedy.

[Bronxgirl48]

THE MURDER OF MARY PHAGAN is excellent. I saw it when it first aired in 1988. Highly recommend.