MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL – Review

So, whatcha’ gonna’ be for Halloween? You can bet that the Hollywood Studios and the multiplex know that big holiday is charging at us like that headless horseman. The answer to that question, for many young women (and lots of older adults…of both sexes), is “Princess”. Or more specifically “Disney princess”. And what’s essential to that character? Well, other than a prince. A villain, be it a wicked stepmom or sister, evil queen, or witch. About five years ago the “mouse house” had the bright idea (maybe inspired by the big, still-running and touring, Broadway stage smash “Wicked”) to re-imagine, and maybe reform, the villainess from one of their beloved animated classics, but this time with live actors (with a few make-up and CG tweaks). This may have inspired a recent trend in the superhero genre in which the “bad guys” of Spider-Man and Batman were turned into the heroes of their own self-titled features (VENOM definitely, but JOKER is more of an “anti-hero”). Anyway, Disney has finally made a sequel to that unorthodox (then) box office hit, giving it a subtitle that’s closer to her previous “rep”. Lookout, it’s MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL.

The beginning of this follow-up more resembles a story by that comic strip icon Snoopy as it’s “a dark and stormy night”. A trio of men is creeping about the enchanted moors. As two are quickly dispatched by shadowy forces, the third scoops up a mushroom-topped imp along with a glowing flower. Both are paid for by a mysterious figure peering out of an opening near the bottom level of a looming nearby castle. The next bright, sunny morning Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) cavorts with the magical denizens of the Moors including some towering talking trees, a mumbling porcupine lad, assorted plant-like pixies, and a trio of talkative fairies (more like “aunties”), Thistlewit (Juno Temple), Flittle (Lesley Manville), and Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton). Their playful banter is interrupted by Aurora’s suitor, the smitten Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson). He promptly proposes to her moments before the arrival of his love’s guardian, the supreme sorceress Maleficent (Angelina Jolie). Much to her chagrin, she agrees to meet with Phillip’s parents. After some prepping on human manners and decorum from her crow/pal/familiar Diaval (Sam Riley), Mal and the two kids travel to the kingdom of Ulster for a meet and greet meal with King John (Robert Lindsay) and his Queen, Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer). Things don’t go “well”, and Mal takes wing and crashes through a window. As she glides back to the Moors, one of the royals’ (seems they were “prepared”) aides wounds her with an iron-tipped arrow. This sends the injured witch on a journey to find her roots prior to an all-out war on the Moors’ denizens by dark forces within the Ulster castle. But will Aurora side with her fellow human or will she come to the aide of her adopted forest family?

Jolie slips on the horns as though they were a comfy old pair of jeans (or…slippers). She still gives the witch a sexy diva quality, rolling her eyes and caressing every bit of dialogue for comic effect. that’s not to say she exudes no real menace. With the new look via makeup and costuming I wondered which was sharper, those horns, her molars, her collarbones (impressive), or her acid-tinged line delivery. Luckily she’s got a formidable adversary in Pfeiffer, all dead-eyed stares and raised brows as the plotting queen (insert mother-in-law from “you know where” jokes here). She bounces between passive-aggressive matriarch to campy screeching royal harpy, all while looking stunning in a series of jeweled gowns. The inspired match-up harkens back to Shirley MacLaine versus Anne Bancroft in THE TURNING POINT or maybe further back to Joan vs. Bette in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE. Fanning rarely gets to join in on the farce fun this time out as she carries much of the emotional drama as the conflicted princess, though she throws herself into the final act’s big battle sequences. Dickinson’s Phillip spends most of his time longingly gazing at her until he gets “woke’ to the “sitch”, while Lindsay as his papa, the King is an ineffectual pawn. Riley provides just a bit of comic relief as the man-crow, as does Temple, Manville, and Staunton as the flitting fairies whose oversized human heads on tiny bodies have an oft-putting quality like Funco Pop hummingbird girls. As for the actors playing new (to the series) roles, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Conall makes soulful eye contact with Mal as he mainly provides her with ancestry info in a missed opportunity for an engaging romantic subplot. This as Ed Skrein bares his fangs and six-pack abs as the “ready to rumble” Borra.

Despite the opportunity for a frenetic funny “throw down” between the two screen glamour goddesses, director Joachim Ronning struggles to keep the pace consistent and make the action sequences coherent. It doesn’t help that the three writer credited script changes tone from sprightly sparkly fairy tale to origin story (an island with denizens resembling the children of the Na’vi from Pandora in AVATAR and the Hawk People of FLASH GORDON minus the great Queen score), and a seemingly never-ending war between then modern weapons and magic. There are noble sacrifices aplenty (with actors perhaps happy to sit out a third outing), but most viewers will spot a trite character resurrection long before the glowing spell begins. By this time even the most devoted Disney kids and their folks will be worn down. Visually the costumes are eye-popping, but the opening Moors in the morning backgrounds are a candy-coated CGI overload, packed with lots of future toy “merch” (some critters seem to pop up only to justify a new “product”). Though she’s still one of the greatest Disney villains, her second live-action (mainly) flick, MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL, fizzles and fumbles rather than flies. Hang them horns up already.

2 Out of 4

WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? – Review

Left to Right: Roy Cohn, Donald Trump.
Photo by Sonia Moskowitz. Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics

“Have you no sense of decency, sir?” was the question asked of Sen. Joe McCarthy at the Army-McCarthy hearings but right beside him was Roy Cohn. If the question instead had been asked of McCarthy’s young associate, the honest answer would have been no. A famously vicious lawyer and Donald Trump’s mentor. Roy Cohn is the subject of director Matt Tyrnauer’s fascinating documentary WHERE’S MY ROY COHN?

That question directed at Sen. McCarthy was asked by Sen. Joseph Welch, and brought an end to McCarthy’s reign of terror in the 1950s. The documentary takes a close look at the man sitting beside McCarthy, a ruthless lawyer and power broker who many have described as the embodiment of evil. With young attorney Roy Cohn whispering in his ear, Sen. Joe McCarthy conducted Senate investigations during the “Red Scare” on a witch hunt for hidden communists, and then another directed at weeding out homosexuals working in government during the 1950s, arguing that their homosexuality made them targets for blackmail and therefore security risks.

The hearings launched Roy Cohn into the public spotlight, although he had already played an important historical role by unethically pushing the judge for the death penalty for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg during their espionage trial, despite scant evidence against Ethel. Today, many younger people might better know Roy Cohn as a character in Tony Kushner’s play “Angels In America,” if they have heard of him at all. But his influential role in Donald Trump’s career elevates Cohn’s historical significance and, in fact, the documentary’s title comes from a quote attributed to Trump in 2018.

There is a kind of chilling fascination in taking a close look at a man many considered the embodiment of evil, but the fact that Roy Cohn, a brilliant but vicious lawyer and political power broker know for his always-attack style, was also Donald Trump’s mentor makes the documentary WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? timely as well as morbidly engrossing.

Why would one want to see a documentary about such a distasteful figure? Tyrnauer makes a compelling case for the enduring impact Roy Cohn and his “take no prisoners” style have had on the country, and it indirectly offers insights on our current political landscape. The documentary is engrossing, although there is a kind of sick fascination aspect to delving into Cohn’s monstrous, immoral world.

Tyrnauer crafts a fascinating, frightening biographical documentary that takes us into the heart of darkness of Roy Cohn, beginning with his childhood. The only child of a woman from a wealthy family and an unhappy marriage, Cohn’s mother both doted on her son and was dissatisfied with him. With a brilliant mind, an astounding memory, and boundless ambition, Roy Cohn developed an aggressive legal style where he attacked first, never apologized, and lied freely without remorse.

Cohn first shot to public prominence as Sen. Joe McCarthy’s right-hand man at the infamous 1950s “Red Scare” witch hunt, but he had already illegally influenced the judge in the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Described in this documentary as a classic “self-hating Jew,” Cohn was also a closeted gay man, who died of AIDS in the 1980s, yet assisted McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, another closeted gay man, in their witch hunt for homosexuals in government, arguing they were a security risk because of the potential they could be blackmailed in that homophobic era.

The film is packed with archival footage of Cohn at work, stills of him partying at nightclubs and on yachts, and interviews commenting on his life. Among those featured in the documentary are political strategist Roger Stone and gossip columnist Liz Smith. Cohn was close to Barbara Walters and Ron and Nancy Reagan, among others of the rich and powerful.

Roy Cohn is undeniably a remarkable if horrifying historical figure, whose life of excess embodies an era and whose junkyard-dog legal and public style continues to influence our world today. After Sen. McCarthy’s fall from influence, Cohn shifted from politicians to defending the heads of crime families in court, famously getting one gangster off with a light sentence even though he murdered his victim in front of witnesses.

One interviewee in the documentary describes Cohn as being where the political powerful meets the criminal underworld. Known for his loyalty to his friends and clients as well as his vicious legal style, Cohn cultivated friendships with Ronald and Nancy Reagan and other power elites of the ’70s and ’80s. Cohn hobnobbed with the rich and famous at exclusive hot spots like Studio 54, leading a lavish and high-profile life.

As the documentary explores the personal and political sides of Roy Cohn, it makes a strong case for how he shaped our current political landscape. On one hand, the documentary has the “can’t look away” draw of a train wreck but it also provides valuable insights on how his attack-style of public behavior continues influence the world we live in.

WHERE’S MY ROY COHN? is essential viewing for everyone in this country, for this insights it provides on Trump’s playbook, if for no other reason. It opens Friday, Oct. 18, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars

DOLEMITE IS MY NAME – Review

Here’s the latest flick in the multiplex’s recent love affair with show biz of the last century. Well, really the last third of it. Sure there are lots of flicks set in the present day, but maybe filmmakers are more than a tad nostalgic for what they believe was a simpler time. At least the execs want to go back to those pre-internet days when they didn’t have to sweat about the newest releases “beaming’ into homes just as they hit the theatres. And that gives this new flick an ironic twist since it comes from the online streaming giant Netflix. Plus it fits right into the slot between two big movies of the past four months. Tarantino’s Tinseltown fantasy ONCE UPON A TIME …IN HOLLYWOOD was set in 1969, and the recent hit JOKER takes place in 1981(established toward its big finale). So here comes the swingin’ 70s with this rollicking “biopic” about a celebrated entertainer (though ONCE mixes real TV and movie stars with the fictional leads) who delighted in declaring DOLEMITE IS MY NAME.

Well, not his actual name, rather a beloved media alias. The “real deal” dude was Rudy Ray Moore (Eddie Murphy), who’s banging his head against the brick wall of stardom. He can’t even get the DJ (Snoop Dogg) at the LA record store where he Rudy works the register to play his homemade ’45 dance and soul record singles. With middle age approaching, Rudy may have to give up on his dream. But inspiration can come from the unlikeliest of sources. A boozy “street prophet” barges into the store and bellows a lengthy poem (really a “rap”) about a fearless ladies man called “Dolemite”. Later that night Rudy tracks him down and records the poet and his pals’ lurid limericks. A few nights later he rolls into the local nightclub, wearing a colorful suit with a frizzy wig, and regales the audience with stories about his new persona, Dolemite. Hearing of the success of “party albums” by Redd Foxx, Rudy decides to record his “set” with the help of musician Ben (Craig Robinson), “producer” Jimmy (Mike Epps) and “manager” Theodore (Tituss Burgess). The discs (inside a blank cardboard sleeve) fly out of the record shop and attract the attention of a “legit’ distributor. Soon Rudy is on tour, headlining in an Atlanta nightspot. There he sees a tough, zoftig single mother and convinces her to become his protege and opening act, dubbing her Lady Reed (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). Rudy’s next inspiration comes when he treats Ben and Jimmy to a night at the cinema. He convinces them that Dolemite should be in the movies. But he can’t quite convince Hollywood’s distributors (like American International Pictures), though he has an easier time getting the funds from his record company. With a script from aspiring “urban playwright” Jerry Jones (Keegan-Michael Key) and a deal with struggling actor/director D’Urville Martin (Wesley Snipes), Rudy begins setting up a studio in a long-dormant, nearly condemned downtown hotel (he lives on an upper floor). But with the odds stacked against him, can he put together a real Dolemite movie that will play in real theatres? More importantly, will folks plunk down their “bread’ to watch it?

The main reason is to see this is an invigorated, energized Mr. Murphy doing his best screen work since, hmm more than a dozen years (talking about his Oscar-nominated turn in 2006’s DREAMGIRLS). After too many forgettable family flicks and tepid cop/spy “action-ers”, he’s got the role that reminds us of his magical movie charisma. His take on Rudy Ray is most endearing as a street hustler grabbing for that “brass ring” before he’s flung from the carousel and out of the show biz carnival. On stage, Murphy fills up the room with the swagging Dolemite alias, but we get to see his vulnerability (actually having “body anxiety issues” the night before shooting the big bedroom sequence), his generosity (reaching out to share his “star” with Lady Redd), and his frustrations (trying to squeeze money and interest from uncaring film studios). Best of all is the “never give up ” attitude as all his plans appear to be plummeting into a “crash-dive”. Yeah, this is why Murphy was the box office “king” for so many years. And despite the decades, we can still see a glint of the mischievious “kid” joyfully shocking his elders with that “naughty talk”.

Happily, his co-stars jump right into the free-wheeling fun of the by-gone movie era. This is certainly the case with Murphy’s..er Rudy’s support squad, the terrific trio of Robinson, Epps, and Burgess. A touch of pathos is provided by Randolph who bursts out of her dour hardened shell thanks to the “pixie dust” of funky fairy godfather Rudy. Her somber gratitude toward her mentor is one of the film’s emotional moments. The current comic scene-stealer Key is “on point” as the “serious” writer who has to be convinced (or conned) into lending his “craft’ to a down and dirty “pimp” superhero. His reaction to Murphy’s display of kung-fu skills is pure panicked perfection. But some of the biggest supporting laughs come from a truly surprising source in another career “jump-start” from Snipes. At first, his D’Urville can’t hide his condescending sneer towards the vulgar hooligans with a camera. Then he’s reminded of his “stalled’ screen work (he winces when reminded of his role as “elevator operator” in ROSEMARY’S BABY), and deigns to be before in front of and behind said camera. Though his character may act as though he’s “slumming”, Snipes really seems to enjoy poking a hole in his character’s pomposity. There are some clever cameos from the aforementioned Snoop and Chris Rock, and a wonderful scene with a favorite TV lawyer playing a studio exec that may have a place for this low budget “epic'”. And Kodi Smit-McPhee (out of the cobalt blue makeup of Nightcrawler in the last few X-Men flicks) is charming as a “green” college film student who gets to enjoy the “guerilla” style of the street shooting.

And here’s the NSFW trailer to the 1975 classic

Craig (HUSTLE & FLOW) Brewer expertly directs this superb cast and keeps the pace snappy and brisk, knowing just when to slow things down for dramatic impact and when to tighten the comedy. Of course he’s got a terrific roadmap in the script from the team of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. In a ways this is a companion piece to their now 25 year old (!) gem ED WOOD with Moore as the underdog up-start whose enthusiasm makes up for his lack in resources (money and cinematic technique). Their best penned moments are that of inspired invention, best exemplified in the sequence in which Rudy treats his team to a night at the movies. While the audience (mostly “suburban”) laughs and titters at Billy Wilder’s take on THE FRONT PAGE, Moore’s quartet looks on in stunned silence, baffled as though they had been dropped into a foreign land or a distant planet. Under the marquee light, Rudy declares that they will be in the movies. The art department recreates the period with expert precision from the gaudy fashions to the long luxury cars. This version of LA isn’t quite as fancy as Tarantino’s, but it’s not the urban Hellscape of Phillips’ JOKER (Nary a cloud in the sky). Yes, the production is aces, but the real reason to see this is the return of Murphy, at the top of his “game” once more. DOLEMITE IS MY NAME is an entertainment dynamo.

3.5 Out 0f 4

DOLEMITE IS MY NAME opens everywhere and screens exclusively in St. Louis at the 24:1 Cinema and the Chase Park Plaza Cinemas, plus it is now streaming on Netflix.

THE DEAD CENTER Available on Blu-ray October 22nd From Arrow Video

THE DEAD CENTER (2018) will be available on Blu-ray October 22nd From Arrow Video

WHEN JOHN DOE ROSE FROM THE DEAD, HE BROUGHT SOMETHING BACK.

When a very dead suicide victim (Jeremy Childs, Preacher, Nashville) disappears from the morgue, it sets in motion a chain of events that has the power to immolate everything, and everyone, it touches.

Troubled psychiatrist Daniel Forrester (Shane Carruth, Primer, Upstream Color) is drawn to help a mysterious patient who is brought to the emergency psych ward in a catatonic state with no memory of how he reached the hospital. As if to exorcise his own demons, the doctor feverishly tries to break through to his mysterious patient. But as a spate of mysterious deaths shake the ward to its core, Forrester comes to suspect that there is more to his new ward than meets the eye. As he comes to realize what he s unleashed, a desperate race against the forces of evil threatens to swallow him whole.

The Dead Center is a smart supernatural thriller that explores the demons that live inside all of us from writer-director Billy Senese, recently hailed as a masterful new voice in terror .

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
  • 5.1 DTS-HD master audio and lossless stereo audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
  • Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth and co-star Jeremy Childs
  • Commentary with writer-director Billy Senese, producers Denis Deck and Jonathan Rogers, and cinematographer Andy Duensing
  • A Walk Through The Dead Center, an in-depth making-of documentary featuring new interviews with writer-director Billy Senese, producer-actor Shane Carruth, cinematographer Andy Duensing, and many others revisiting the locations and discussing the production
  • Nine deleted scenes, including an alternate ending
  • On-set interviews with actors Shane Carruth and Poorna Jagannathan
  • Head-Casting with Jeremy Childs, a brief look at the creation of the make-up effects seen in the climax of the film
  • Intruder, a short film from 2011 directed by Billy Senese and starring Jeremy Childs
  • The Suicide Tapes, the original short film from 2010 directed by Senese and starring Childs that later inspired The Dead Center
  • Midnight Radio Theater, six chilling radio plays ( Insomnia , The Long Weekend , Disposable Life , The Suicide Tapes , The Woman In The Basement , Blood Oath , Flu ) written, produced and directed by Billy Senese
  • Theatrical trailer and teasers
  • Image gallery
  • Reversible sleeve featuring new and original artwork
  • FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jamie Graham

‘CLASSICS IN THE LOOP’ – Monday Film Series at The Tivoli Continues October 21st with WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?

“I didn’t bring your breakfast, because you didn’t eat your din-din!”

‘Classics on the Loop’ continues at The Tivoli next week with WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? Screenings happen on Monday October 21st at 4 pm and 7 pm . Admission is just $7.The Tivoli is located at 6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63130. A Facebook invite can be found HERE

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The 1962 shocker WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? blended PSYCHO with SUNSET BOULEVARD to compelling effect. One of the great movies about the movies, (and the best movies about the movies bite the hand that feeds them), and the best of director Robert Aldrich’s ‘women’s pictures’. It’s about a couple of self-loathing sisters hauled up together in a decaying Hollywood mansion, a too-close-to-home study of the real life rivalry between stars Bette Davis and Joan Crawford or even as a veiled study of homosexual self-depreciation with the sisters as aging drag queens. But these are the very things that make the picture great. It is precisely because it can be read in this way that makes WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? such a perversely enjoyable, subversive piece of work.

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As the sisters, Davis and Crawford pull all the stops out and then some. What makes Crawford’s performance great is that she is never sympathetic even when Davis is feeding her dead rat or quite literally kicking her when she’s down, while Davis is simply astonishing. With her face painted like a hideous Kabuki mask and dressed up like a doll that’s filled with maggots it’s an unashamedly naked piece of acting, as revealing as her work in ALL ABOUT EVE and almost as good. After the success of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, every actress of a certain age got to star in their own ‘Hag Horror’ film including HUSH HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE(Davis with Olivia DeHavilland), WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN (Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds), WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE (Geraldine Page), DIE DIE MY DARLING (Tallulah Bankhead), THE NANNY (Bette Davis again), and more, some better than others, but this bitch-fest is the real McCoy.

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Donald Sutherland in APPRENTICE TO MURDER Available on Blu-ray November 5th From Arrow Video

Donald Sutherland in APPRENTICE TO MURDER will be available on Blu-ray November 5th From Arrow Video

WAS IT MAGIC, MURDER, OR MADNESS?

In early twentieth-century Pennsylvania Dutch Country, young Billy Kelly (Chad Lowe, Highway to Hell) falls in with a charismatic powwower or folk magic healer, Dr. John Reese (Donald Sutherland, Don t Look Now), shunned by the rest of the community for his non-conformist beliefs. Together, they investigate the mysterious sickness that is blighting the area, which Reese believes to be the work of a sinister local hermit. But as the plague spreads and the wide-eyed Billy falls ever deeper under Reese s spell, are they doing God s work or the Devil s bidding?

Also starring Mia Sara (Legend) and featuring a powerhouse performance by Donald Sutherland – reunited here with Don t Look Now screenwriter Allan Scott – Apprentice to Murder is a chilling and unforgettable tale of the macabre that blurs the lines between conventional notions of good and evil .

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original 35mm interpositive
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original lossless mono soundtrack
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New audio commentary by author and critic Bryan Reesman
  • New video interview on religious horror cinema with Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine
  • New video interview with cinematographer Kelvin Pike
  • New video interview with makeup supervisor Robin Grantham
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Paul Corupe

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI with Live Music by The Invincible Czars October 25th at Webster University

“You fools, this man is plotting our doom! We die at dawn! He is Caligari!”

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI will screen at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood) Thursday October 25th  at 7:30pm. Austin, Texas’ most adventurous band, The Invincible Czars, will provide live music.The band encourages fans and attendees to dress for the Halloween season at these shows. Tickets are $12. A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

Considered by some to be the first horror film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI is thought by many film buffs to be the most influential of all silent films. With the Grandfather of all Twist-Endings, the film is the most brilliant example of that dark and twisted film movement known as German Expressionism, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI is a plunge into the mind of insanity that severs all ties with the rational world. Director Robert Wiene and a team of designers crafted a nightmare realm in which light, shadow and substance are abstracted, a world a demented doctor (Werner Kruass) and a carnival sleepwalker (Conrad Veidt) perpetrate a series of ghastly murders in a small community.

Trivia: Tim Burton’s 1990 film EDWARD SCISSORHANDS used the aesthetics of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI in creating the look for the main character of Edward Scissorhands

Cinema St. Louis Announces Lineup for its 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival – Nov. 7th – 17th

The 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) — held Nov. 7-17 — provides St. Louis filmgoers with the opportunity to view the finest in world cinema: international films, documentaries, American indies, and shorts that can only be seen on the big screen at the festival. SLIFF will screen 389 films: 81 narrative features, 63 documentary features, 227 shorts, and 18 film programs exclusive to the Cinema for Students program. The fest also will feature 12 special-event programs, including our closing-night awards presentation. This year’s festival has 63 countries represented.

SLIFF will present our usual array of fest buzz films and Oscar contenders, including “The Apollo,” “Atlantics,” “The Chambermaid,” “Clemency,” “Cunningham,” “A Faithful Man,” “Frankie,” “A Hidden Life,” “Just Mercy,” “The Kill Team,” “Little Joe,” “Marriage Story,” “Nomad,” “Olympic Dreams,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “Premature,” “The Report,” “The Rest,” “Seahorse,” “The Song of Names,” “Sorry We Missed You,” “Synonyms,” “A Tramway in Jerusalem,” “The Traitor,” “The Truth,” “The Two Popes,” “Waves,” “The Whistlers,” “The Wild Goose Lake,” and “Zombi Child.”

The festival will honor a trio of significant film figures with our annual awards:

  • Josh Aronson and Brad Schiff with Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Awards
  • Lisa Cortés with a Women in Film Award.

The festival will kick off  on Thursday, Nov. 7, with the local premiere of the much-lauded “Marriage Story,” starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, and directed by Noah Baumbach. A 6:30 PM reception precedes the film and features complimentary wine and Urban Chestnut beers.

As part of the fest’s ongoing response to the Ferguson uprising, SLIFF again will feature a major stream of programming entitled Race in America: The Black Experience and offer a fourth edition of Mean Streets: Viewing the Divided City Through the Lens of Film and Television, which addresses the persistent issue of segregation.

The fest schedule, ticket and venue information, and a complete list of films (with descriptions) are available at the Cinema St. Louis website (cinemastlouis.org).

For more information, the public should visit cinemastlouis.org or call 314-289-4150.

Program Overview

SLIFF’s stellar lineup features a constellation of cinema’s brightest lights (see the SLIFF section of the CSL website for full info):

  • Major awards to significant filmmakers:
  • Women in Film Award: producer and director Lisa Cortés
  • Charles Guggenheim Cinema St. Louis Awards: director Josh Aronson and animator Brad Schiff
  • Free events: SLIFF continues its tradition of offering a large selection of free events to maximize its outreach into the community and to make the festival affordable to all. This year, we offer 64 free events, which are detailed on our website. In addition, for the 16th year, we present the Georgia Frontiere Cinema for Students Program, which provides free screenings (often with filmmakers in attendance) to St. Louis-area schools. Films are offered both at our venues and for in-school presentation. Busing reimbursement is also available.
  • Show-Me Cinema Showcase (films with St. Louis and Missouri roots or connections), including a special program focused on the much-praised short “St. Louis Superman.”
  • Mean Streets: Viewing the Divided City Through the Lens of Film and Television: SLIFF offers a fourth edition of this program, which addresses one of the most persistent and vexing issues in urban studies: segregation.
  • Race in America: 19 programs that address the black experience from multiple perspectives.
  • Human Rights Showcase: A selection of 14 documentary programs focused on human-rights issues in the U.S. and the world.
  • SLIFF/Kids Family Films, including four free programs.
  • Festival award-winners and critically lauded international films.
  • Well-regarded American indies.
  • Nearly 230 shorts from around the globe, including free family and documentary-shorts programs and two selections of the best films from the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase.
  • Major documentaries, including 10 documentary-shorts programs.
  • A strong selection of animation, including two dedicated animated-shorts programs.
  • Revivals and restorations.
  • The New Filmmakers Forum (NFF), a juried competition for first-time American-independent filmmakers, with all films accompanied by their directors.

Venues

  • Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, 3750 Washington Blvd.
  • Cortex District’s Innovation Hall, 4220 Duncan Ave, No. 101
  • Missouri History Museum’s Lee Auditorium, Forest Park, 5700 Lindell Blvd.
  • Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Plaza Frontenac, Lindbergh Boulevard and Clayton Road
  • St. Louis Public Library’s Central Library, 1301 Olive St.
  • Stage at KDHX, 3524 Washington Blvd.
  • Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd.
  • Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium,, Forsyth Boulevard and Chaplin Drive
  • Webster University’s Sverdrup Complex’s Room 123, 6300 Big Bend Blvd.
  • Webster University’s Webster Hall’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, 470 East Lockwood Ave.

Ticket Info

Ticket Prices

Individual tickets are $14 each or $10 for Cinema St. Louis members and students with current and valid ID, except for the following special events (discounts do not apply and passes are not accepted):

  • Opening-Night Reception with Marriage Story $25
  • The Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra with Sherlock Jr. $20

In addition to paid shows, SLIFF offers 64 free programs.

Advance-Ticket Sales

Online and phone sales are limited to full-price tickets only; Cinema St. Louis member and student discounts can only be obtained in person because ID is required. 

  • KDHX: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale online through Brown Paper Tickets. In the “Search Events” box, enter either the name of the film or SLIFF. There is a service charge of approximately $1.69 per ticket. Print your receipt and present it at the box office to obtain tickets.
  • Plaza Frontenac: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale at the Plaza Frontenac box office. Box-office hours are 11 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. No phone sales. For tickets online, visit Landmark Theatres website. There is a $1.75-per-ticket service charge. Pick up your tickets in advance using your confirmation number or credit card, or show the e-mail confirmation with scannable barcode to the usher.
  • Tivoli: Advance tickets for programs at this venue are for sale at the Tivoli box office. Box-office hours are 4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and noon-10 p.m. Friday-Sunday. No phone sales. For tickets online, visit Landmark Theatres website. There is a $1.75-per-ticket service charge. Pick up your tickets in advance using your confirmation number or credit card, or show the e-mail confirmation with scannable barcode to the usher. 
  • Webster U./Moore: Advance tickets at this venue are for sale online through Brown Paper Tickets. In the “Search Events” box, enter either the name of the film or SLIFF. There is a service charge of approximately $1.69 per ticket. Print your receipt and present it at the box office.

Day-of-Show Ticket Sales

  • KDHX, Plaza Frontenac, Tivoli, and Webster U. will open a half-hour before the first show.
  • The free events offered at Contemporary Art Museum, Cortex’s Innovation Hall, KDHX, Missouri History Museum, St. Louis Public Library, Washington U., and Webster U. require no ticket. Admission is first come, first served on day of show.
  • The free events offered at the Tivoli require a complimentary ticket that should be obtained at the box office on the day of show; advance tickets to free shows at the Tivoli can be obtained online, but a $1.76 service charge applies.

Festival Punch-Passes

  • Festival Punch-Passes are available at two levels: 6-ticket pass for $75 or 10-ticket pass for $120. Festival Punch-Passes are not valid for the Opening-Night Reception with “Marriage Story” on Nov. 7 and the screening of “Sherlock Jr.” with the performance by the Rats & People Motion Picture Orchestra on Nov. 15.
  • Festival Punch-Pass-holders are required to obtain a ticket for each film attended, either in advance or day of show; a hole will be punched in the pass for each ticket purchased.
  • Festival Punch-Passes can be used to purchase multiple tickets for the same show and to obtain tickets for screenings at all venues.

FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC Available on Blu-ray November 12th From Arrow Video

FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC will be available on Blu-ray November 12th From Arrow Video

When her husband dies in a tragic accident, widow Corrine Dollanganger (Victoria Tennant, The Holcroft Covenant) takes her four children to the ancestral family home she fled before they were born. Locked away in the attic by their tyrannical grandmother (Academy Award® winner Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo s Nest), it falls to older brother and sister Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams, The Goonies) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to care for their younger siblings. But with their mother growing increasingly distant and erratic and a mysterious sickness taking hold, will any of the Dollanganger children survive to escape the clutches of the house s cruel matriarch?

Originally published in 1979, VC Andrews novel Flowers in the Attic was a smash hit, spawning four sequels and going on to sell over 40 million copies worldwide. With undercurrents of incest and child abuse and a haunting score by Christopher Young (Hellraiser), Flowers in the Attic is a dark and chilling Gothic suspense thriller in the classic tradition.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original lossless 2.0 stereo audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine
  • Home Sweet Home: Filming Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with cinematographer Frank Byers
  • Fear & Wonder: Designing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with production designer John Muto
  • The Devil s Spawn: Playing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with actor Jeb Stuart Adams
  • Shattered Innocence: Composing Flowers in the Attic, a new interview with composer Christopher Young
  • Production gallery of behind-the-scenes images, illustrations and storyboards
  • The original, studio-vetoed ending
  • The revised ending with commentary by replacement director Tony Kayden
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love

ULTRAMAN – THE COMPLETE SERIES – Available on Blu-ray From Mill Creek

ULTRAMAN, a giant alien from the Land of Light in Nebula M78, enters Earth’s atmosphere in pursuit of an escaped space monster. In the skies above Japan he accidentally crashes into a Jet VTOL piloted by Hayata, a member of the Science Special Search Party (SSSP), an international research and defense agency that protects the world from monsters and aliens of all shapes and sizes. To save Hayata, Ultraman merges his life force with the dying human and vows to stay and fight for peace on Earth. Now, whenever the Patrol faces a threat too great for them to handle, Hayata transforms into Ultraman to save the day!

ULTRAMAN was Tsuburaya Productions’ first color series, a sci-fi action adventure drama that dominated the ratings during its initial 1966-67 broadcast run in Japan. The show was quickly licensed for release in America, airing in syndication for nearly two decades. Colorful, fast-paced, and packed with memorable heroes, creatures and incredible special effects, ULTRAMAN was the foundation for a phenomena that continues to this day.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

  • Complete, original Japanese broadcast edits – fully remastered and restored in HD
  • Lossless DTS-HD Master Audio
  • 28-page collectible booklet
  • Digital Redeption on movieSPREE!