Tag: sophia loren

Sophia Loren and George Peppard in OPERATION CROSSBOW Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives

Sophia Loren and George Peppard in OPERATION CROSSBOW is currently available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives. Order it HERE

A fearsome rumor reaches Britain’s World War II command. The Nazis are developing rocket technology that could rain death on London and then New York. Quickly, England develops a plan to send saboteurs into the sites manufacturing the rockets. Just moments after the carefully chosen commandos parachute into the drop zone, their pilot receives an urgent message: The mission may be compromised. Abort. Operation Crossbow is the partly fact-based tale of how that team succeeded against daunting odds. Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters, Logan’s Run) directs, guiding a huge cast in a film that builds to a spectacular finale, yet never neglects war’s unsparing personal costs. As a record of a wartime espionage incursion and as an intrigue-filled thriller, Operation Crossbow is on both counts Operation Accomplished.

This seamless blending of historical fact and action/adventure fiction from director Michael Anderson (The Dam Busters, Logan’s Run) was an instant war-time espionage classic when released. What begins as a war-time procedural as British Intelligence races to understand just what the Nazi’s are constructing turns into a desperate one-way spy mission as the V1 rockets starts raining drone of death terror on blitzkrieg battered Britain – and the far more deadly missile V2 is waiting in the wings. George Peppard stars as Lieutenant John Curtis, the Allied espionage agent who infiltrates the secret Nazi weapons facility, and Sophia Loren stars as the wife of the scientist whose identity Curtis has assumed, along with a huge cast (Trevor Howard, John Mills, Tom Courtenay, Paul Heinried, Lilli Palmer, Anthony Quayle among others)  that carefully presents this tale from both the Allied and the Axis perspective.  Operation Crossbow flies onto your widescreen high definition screen ready for this challenge thanks to this clearly explosive 1080p HD presentation. Special Features: Vintage Featurette “A Look Back at Crossbow”; Theatrical Trailer (HD). 16×9 Letterbox


Blu Monday: Audrey & Sophia

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Continue reading Blu Monday: Audrey & Sophia

Academy to Host Tribute to Sophia Loren

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will celebrate the life and career of Sophia Loren with a gala evening of film clips and personal remarks from her friends and colleagues, concluding with an onstage conversation with the Oscar®-winning actress on Wednesday, May 4, 2011, at 8 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

In 1961 Loren earned the first Academy Award® presented to a lead performer in a non-English speaking role, for “Two Women,” directed by Vittorio De Sica. Prior to her win, Loren had already made an indelible impression on film audiences both in her native Italy and throughout the world.

De Sica directed Loren to another Oscar nomination in “Marriage Italian Style” (1964) opposite her most frequent co-star, Marcello Mastroianni. The two starred in “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (1964), the winner of that year’s Foreign Language Film Academy Award for Italy, and “A Special Day” (1977), which was also nominated in that category.

Adept at dramatic, comedic and romantic roles, Loren traveled effortlessly between Hollywood and international productions, delivering memorable performances opposite many great leading men, including Cary Grant (“Houseboat,” 1958), Clark Gable (“It Started in Naples,” 1960), Charlton Heston (“El Cid,” 1961), Gregory Peck (“Arabesque,” 1966), Marlon Brando (“A Countess from Hong Kong,” 1967, directed by Charles Chaplin), Peter O’Toole (“Man of La Mancha,” 1972), and Richard Burton (“The Voyage,” 1974).  Her long marriage to producer Carlo Ponti yielded many roles for the actress, as well as two sons.

Loren’s career and peerless beauty remain impressive today, with memorable turns in such films as Lina Wertmuller’s ”Saturday, Sunday and Monday” (1990), Robert Altman’s “Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter)” (1994), again with Mastroianni, and Rob Marshall’s musical “Nine” (2009).

In 1990 the Academy presented an Honorary Award (an Oscar statuette) to Loren in acknowledgment of her status as “one of the genuine treasures of world cinema who, in a career rich with memorable performances, has added permanent luster to our art form.”

Tickets to “An Academy Tribute to Sophia Loren” will be available for purchase beginning Friday, April 1st. There is a two ticket limit for this event. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased by mail, at the Academy box office (8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or online at www.oscars.org. Doors open at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at the 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

FOLLOW THE ACADEMY:

www.oscars.org
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www.youtube.com/Oscars
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Photos: Courtesy of AMPAS

New NINE Poster Tells Us What To Do

nine poster

Judging by this new poster for NINE, brought to us today by the fine folks over at Cinematical, it isn’t hard to understand that paparazzi is an Italian word.  This poster brings style, glitz,  glamor, and even Daniel Day-Lewis wearing shades to fend off the flashes.  Doesn’t hurt either that he’s surrounded by four, gorgeous women, a few of whom may walk away with a couple of awards for this film.

Of course, I do wish they would have left off the “THIS HOLIDAY” bit off of the tagline.  Simply “BE ITALIAN” is cool enough, and it doesn’t need to direct our attention towards the release date.

Other than that minor  quibble, this thing is pretty smooth.  Hopefully the film is half as smooth.  With all these names attached to it, how can it not be?

NINE hits theaters on December 25th.