Fashion In Film Festival returns for a second year

Returning for a second year is the Fashion In Film Festival, mixing talks, exhibitions, newly-commissioned film works, but best of all, some rarely-seen cinema classics that show how fashion of the day was just as important as a good plot and scenery.

Some superb films on show this year too, with highlights (for me) including the visually stunning (see image above) 10th Victim (La Decima Vittima) from 1965 and Get Carter (1970) at the ICA, Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace (1964) at the Horse Hospital, as well as a double bill of delinquency curated by fashion designer and former mod Roger K. Burton (The Violent Years from 1956 and The Boys from '62), Dario Argento's The Bird With Crystal Plumage (1970) at the BFI plus Plein Soleil (1960) and Fata Morgana (1965) Ciné lumiére.

Much more besides, including some rare silent flicks and classic US film noir. Check out the full programme at the website - the event runs from 10th - 31st May 2008.

Fashion In Film Festival website

DVD Review: Der Letzte Mann (1924)

F.W. Murnau's Der Letzte Mann ("The Last Man", also known as The Last Laugh) represented a major technical breakthrough for silent cinema.  Inspired by Nikolai Gogol's story "The Coat", it concerns an elderly hotel doorman (silent cinema giant: Emil Jannings) who, because of his age, is cruelly demoted to bathroom attendant.  Reduced to towelling hands and polishing sinks, he tries to conceal the truth from friends and family, but to his shame is discovered.  Neighbours believe he's lied all along about his prestigious job and taunt him mercilessly, while his niece (Maly Delschaft), her new husband (Max Hiller) and his aunt (Emilie Kurz) reject him out of embarrassment. 

Grief-stricken, the old man retreats to the hotel bathroom, where a kindly night watchman (Georg John) covers him with his coat while he sleeps.  A title card concedes the story should end here since "in real life the old man has little left but death".  However "the author took pity on him and provided an improbable epilogue."  At the end, the old man inherits a fortune and dines happily at the hotel where he once worked. 

Coming soon: Alfred Hitchcock: The British Years

You might be an expert on Alfred Hitchcock's later work, but are you familiar with the great man's earlier output? If not, you can soon get hold of it all in one convenient package - Alfred Hitchcock: The British Years.

Commercial successes at the time of release, Hitchcock's British output of the 1920s and 30s has been largely forgotten by all but hardened fans. But now the pick of that work is back, specifically The Pleasure Garden The Lodger, Downhill, The Man who Knew Too Much; The Thirty-Nine Steps; Secret Agent, Sabotage, Young & Innocent, The Lady Vanishes and Jamaica Inn.

Special features include digitally restored versions of The Lodger, Sabotage, Young and Innocent and Jamaica Inn, Cinema: Alfred Hitchcock (Mike Scott interviewing Hitchcock about his life and career, Aquarius (featuring Hitchcock on the set of Frenzy), analysis of the movies, location reports, trailers and booklets.

The box is available from 25th February 2008, with a recommended retail price of £59.99.

DVD Review: The Phantom Carriage (1921)

The silent film that motivated Ingmar Bergman to work in cinema has been given new life in Tartan’s re-release, which matches an artfully tinted, restored print to a new ambient soundtrack by Stephen O’Malley of SunnO))) and Peter Rehberg.

Victor Sjöström’s evocative morality tale, based on the novel by Selma Lagerlöf, exhibits a narrative and emotional sophistication astonishing for its time, as well as groundbreaking special effects. While the density of plotting sometimes works against the piece’s pedagogical aspirations, and the uniformly ominous score risks constraining the tonal variety of the story, the whole is nevertheless an intriguing and genuinely unnerving proposition.

On New Year’s Eve, dissipated, consumptive drunkard David Holm (played by Sjöström himself) is passing the time with his gravedigger colleagues. They discuss an old legend wherein the soul of whoever dies on the stroke of midnight is compelled to be the Grim Reaper for the next year.

Cult Clip: Frau Im Mond (1929)

Hopefully you read our review of the newly-restored version of Fritz Lang's Frau Im Mond. But just to give you a visual idea of the movie, check out the short clip of part of the rocket's launch below. Note that this clip isn't the restored version - if you want that, you might need to go out and buy Eureka's latest release.

DVD Review: Frau Im Mond (aka Woman in the Moon) (1929)

Following on from its release of the newly-restored Nosferatu, Eureka has released another silent classic from Weimar-era Germany for its Masters of Cinema series - Fritz Lang's Frau Im Mond. Also known under the English title of Woman in the Moon, Frau Im Mond was Lang's final silent movie, a mix of spy flick, romantic tale and science fiction, as well as being a very stylish and very prophetic movie.

Lang's research for the movie was incredibly detailed, using cutting-edge scientific theory on rocket science to give the space travel plot credibility. In fact, the theory on display in the movie was so realistic that the movie was banned in Nazi Germany, with the authorities fearing it would compromise national security. Which probably makes this the first credible science fiction movie.

DVD Review: Nosferatu (1922)

Nosferatu - one of the most famous horror movies of all time and featuring one (if not more) of the most iconic scenes in film history. But how many people have actually sat through the entire movie? Less than you might think, not least because a definitive version of F.W. Murnau's silent classic hasn't been available to buy. Until now that is.

The two-disc release of Nosferatu by Eureka, as part of its Masters of Cinema series, is pretty much as definitive as any release can be, featuring a fully-restored version of the movie, the original score by Hans Erdmann, a full-length commentary, a detailed documentary on both the movie and Murnau and an equally-exhaustive 80-page book. More on these additions later.

The film itself loosely follows Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, carefully avoiding any direct references, but with enough similarity for Bram Stoker's widow to successfully sue the Prana company and insist all copies were destroyed. Thankfully for us, numerous copies of the movie had already been distributed - with this restored release based on a French archive print from 1922, with other prints used to fill in the gaps. Missing storyboards have also been recreated using the same font as the original movie. Which means for the first time in over 80 years, we can sit back and watch what the director intended.

Christies Vintage Film Poster auction

Another Vintage Film Poster auction at Christies, with the usual mix of weird and wonderful movie artwork.

As you would expect, prices vary from the £100 mark right through to four figures, with much in-between, especially Bond and Breakfast At Tiffanys, so if you have any wants in that area, check out the listings. But I thought I'd highlight something a little less obvious - Peeping Tom - the controversial serial killer movie that more or less destroyed the career of director Michael Powell, but is now viewed as a 60s classic.

Posters, I imagine, are scarce. So at £400 - £600, this could be a shrewd investment, if expensive, investment.

See the full listings at the Christies website

Cult Clip: Nosferatu (1922)

No introduction needed here, Nosferatu is still the most menacing interpretation of the Dracula story ever to hit the big screen, despite being well over 80 years old.

The definitive version of Murnau's expressionist classic is being made available by Eureka as part of its Masters Of Horror series, fully restored and for the first time, with its original score. Expect a review from us soon - but in the meantime, check out the new trailer.

Testcard TV - more free movies and TV shows online

We very much enjoyed Joox during its short existence, but it had one flaw - it hosted a large amount of  film and TV without the owners' permission. That isn't the problem with Testcard TV.

The service is an aggregator or indexer of content hosted on 3rd party platforms such as Google Video, YouTube or on mainstream broadcaster websites from around the world. Nothing is hosted by Testcard TV - so presumably that sidesteps a particularly deep legal hole.

After undergoing a month of testing, the service is now available to all - which means you can access free online tv, movies, shows, cartoons, music videos and more, on either a PC or Mac - just as long as you have the divX player installed. You can even sign up to save your favourites or send to friends.

Looks like that day at work just got a little bit brighter.

Find out more at the Testcard TV website

Book review: London Film Location Guide

As a film nerd buff, I don't just like some films, I get obsessed with them. And on the evidence of the London Film Location Guide, author Simon R.H. James is very much from the same mould.

This is detail over and above the call of duty. 276 pages and something like 750 films about London featured, dating from the 1920s through to the present day - an exercise that's taken the author the best part of 10 years to complete. And if that sounds a little too much to deal with, you'll be pleased to know that there's a film index, postcode index and even a street index to help you through the mass of movies featured.

BBC2 launches The Summer Of British Film

  Good news if you're in the UK - BBC2 is doing what it should always do - promoting the best of British movies, this time under the title of The Summer Of British Film.

Part of the season is a seven-part documentary series called British Film Forever, with contributions from the great and the good of British flicks. The rest is about screening the pick - around 70 in total, including films as diverse as Billy Elliot, Gregory's Girl, From Russia With Love, The 39 Steps, This Sporting Life, Whistle Down The Wind and Witchfinder General.

And as part of the season, the UK Film Council is releasing of seven of Britain's greatest films at cinemas across the UK on Tuesday's from 31 July to 11 September. Those are Goldfinger, Brief Encounter, Billy Liar, Laurence Olivier's Henry V, The Wicker Man, The Dam Busters and Withnail And I.

For more information on the season, check out the website.

Coming to DVD: Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages (1922)

Described as the first-ever cult movie, Tartan are reissuing Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages in its original form as well as the later re-working with William Burroughs.

Directed by Benjamin Christensen, it's a story of witchcraft and superstition, based on the infamous medieval book, Malleus Maleficarum - regarded as the 'bible' of the Inquisition's witch hunts. However, dramatising satanic rituals in 1922 wasn't widely accepted - in fact, it was greeted with outrage and protests, which sent the director into hiding.

Vintage Italian film poster gallery

As you probably noticed, we do love a good vintage film poster here at Cinedelica. So when we heard that there's a gallery of vintage Italian film posters and publicity, we headed straight for it.

Over 300 items already in this Flickr gallery - and well worth a browse.

See all the posters in the gallery

Via Bedazzled

Tune into Cinedelica TV

Ok, we haven't started our own TV channel as such (although if you have the money, we're more than keen), but we have started a Cinedelica TV channel on YouTube, which will be home to our favourite clips, trailers and snippets from the movies and TV shows we rave about.

There's some clips up there already, so feel free to check them out. And make sure you bookmark or subscribe - as we'll be adding new ones on a regular basis.

After all...a moving picture paints a 1000 words...

Visit the Cinedelica TV YouTube channel

Cinema Art: Polish movie posters

I really rate Polish cinema posters. Not content with using the associated artwork from European or US releases, the Polish posters were interpretations from some of the country's leading artists of the day.

They're still undervalued, but prices for some of the the more hip films are on the rise - but still nowhere near the prices of the more traditional artwork. The one featured here is from Jacques Tati's Playtime (not to self - more Jacques Tati needed on this site) - a superb collage of symbols and numbers representing the man himself.

It was the work of Jerzy Flisak and is one of the more expensive examples, selling for around £350.  But you can pick up other posters, especially for more obscure movies, for well under £100.

See more Polish movie posters

British Film Posters: An Illustrated History

British Film Posters: An Illustrated History is an impressive new book by Sim Branaghan and edited by Steve Chibnall that examines the emergence and decline of illustrated movie posters in Britain. The book is published by the BFI and was released in Britain late last year, but it’s only recently found it’s way into American bookshops.

British Film Posters: An Illustrated History is the first complete history of the subject ever published and it covers every aspect of British movie poster design as well as printing and display. It also includes detailed biographies of all the major artists involved and should appeal to film enthusiasts, as well as anyone who appreciates eye-catching graphic design.

The book is available in hardback as well as paperback and contains 288 pages. Chapters include A Commercial History of British Film Posters, Ealing Studios - Art vs Commerce, Nasty! - Outrageous Artwork and Censorship Scandals, Collecting - From a Hobby to a Business, and more.

Bond's dinner jacket and Obi-Wan Kenobi's cloak - the film and TV costume auction

If you fancy kitting yourself out in authentic gear from the bigt and small screen, you need to get yourself to Bonhams in March for the Angels Star Collection - the UK's largest auction of film and TV costumes.

More than 400 outfits are up for grabs, including Obi-Wan's cloak (£50,000-£60,000), Sean Connery's dinner jacket from the Bond movie Thunderball (£30,000-£40,000 and pictured), plus other Bond lots, a huge selection of Doctor Who gear and film costumes from blockbusters including Braveheart, Titanic, Indiana Jones and Superman.

Angels is the world's longest-established supplier of costume to film, theatre and TV (since 1840) and this is said to be the most important archive of costume ever to be sold at auction. Although prices for the classics are high, dig deeper and some retro gems are up for grabs, including various Doctor Who sonic screwdrivers and the dapper costumes of Jon Pertwee in the role and a Prisoner blazer for around £500.

In fact, it's impossible to list everything - browse the listings at the Bonhams site and if something catches your eye, you can bid on 6th March 2007.

Browse all the lots at the Bonhams website

Hitchcock: The Early Years 9-DVD boxset

Essential for all Alfred Hitchcock fans is a new 9-DVD boxset set for release on February 26th - Hitchcock: The Early Years.

As the title suggests, the box brings together some of Hitchcock’s early gems for the first time. The Ring, Champagne, The Farmer’s Wife & The Manxman have been fully re-mastered and feature new/exclusive Soundtracks. Other key extras include an alternative ending to Murder!, scenes from the original, silent version of Blackmail, and a documentary on Hitchcock’s early work, featuring Claude Chabrol and Bernard Eisenschitz.

The full box listing is as follows:
Champagne (first time on DVD), Blackmail, Murder!, The Ring, The Skin Game, The Manxman, Number Seventeen
(all released for the first time on R2 DVD), The Farmer’s Wife, Rich & Strange.

For a breakdown of each movie, read on after the turn.

Cult Clip: Ella Cinders (1926)

Colleen Moore was probably the most hip film star or the 1920s, with an iconic look that's been copied by numerous generations to follow, in particular during the 1960s.

However, before you rush out and by up her 1920s output, there's one problem - most are missing, presumed long destroyed. There are some clips still available - and here's one of them. Not featuring the trademark "bob" hairstyle sadly, but it does feature some great 1920s special effects. Enjoy...

Metropolis at The Barbican

Arguably the most famous silent movie of all time, Metropolis gets an outing at London's Barbican Hall in October with a twist - a live orchestra will be playing the original score.

Fritz Lang's 1926 futuristic masterpiece was also the first ever sci-fi blockbuster - set in 2000 in the mechanised city of Metropolis, the rich enjoy life on the ground, while the oppressed workers toil below-deck to keep the upper classes in their life of luxury. This one-off presentation features the original score, performed live by the renowned German Film Orchestra Babelsberg.

You can catch it on 2nd October as part of the Barbican's Silent Film series, with tickets starting at £8.50. You never know, it might wash away memories of that truly awful Queen-initiated 80s score.

Find out more from the Barbican website