FILMSTRUCK STREAMING VIDEO SERIES

Back in the fall of 2016 I was working for Forbes. I was writing, directing, and producing a video series entitled NETFLIX NOW! where I highlighted film picks for what to watch on Netflix when I received a press release about this new streaming service that combined the film libraries of Turner Classic Movies with films from the Criterion Collection, Kino Lorber, Film Movement, First Run Features, Global Lens, Flicker Alley, Icarus Films, Janus Films, MGM, Milestone, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Shout! Factory, and Warner Brothers. I immediately dropped what I was doing and launched "Filmstruck Streaming" to coincide with the inauguration of this amazing streaming service. 

Sadly, two years later FilmStruck would be squashed like a bug by Warner Media. The loss of FilmStruck marked an end to Cinema that coincided with Hollywood's despicable tendency toward children's cinema under the guise of a superhero genre lacking any sense of poetry or soul. 

So, here are all 11 episodes of FilmStruck Streaming to give you a sense of how great we once were as a culture of cinephiles and movie lovers. Bon appétit.

FILMSTRUCK TAKES A RUNNING START

LOS ANGELES TO FRANCE

UNDER PRESSURE

FEAR THE DECLINE OF VIRGIN EATING

CHRISTMAS STAYCATION

UNDERMINING THE NAZIS

FEMINIST THEORIES

PRESS THE PANIC BUTTON

L.A.F.S. DIRECTOR DEBUTS

ON THE FRINGE

LIVING BY THE SWORD

Wishing every one a very Bossa Christmas! Here's Roberto Menescal's "Little Boat."

Little Boat from Cole Smithey on Vimeo.

Kino Lorber 2020 Home Video Highlights and Gift Guide

Kino Lorber 2020 Home Video Highlights and Gift Guide

Before the end of 2020, Kino Lorber will make available to the US public another incredible selection of home video releases including independent, classic, foreign, and documentary films - and we would like you to consider including these films on your end-of-the-year gift guide or list. This list represents just a selection from the more than 4,000 titles available in our library at kinolorber.com.

Sophia Loren Award Collection   With her critically-acclaimed role in this year's hit film "The Life Ahead", we're spotlighting the Sophia Loren Award Collection, a tribute to the Academy Award-winning iconic star of Golden Age Hollywood and Italian cinema.   The 4-DVD set includes three award winning films directed by Vittorio De Sica starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Contains YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW (1963), MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE (1964), SUNFLOWER (1970). Also included is a bonus DVD, VITTORIO D, a documentary on the life and legacy of the great director (and frequent Loren collaborator) that offers fascinating interviews with Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Mike Leigh, and others.   Also available as a special 5 disc Blu-Ray set: 4 award winning films starring Sophia Loren, including BOCCACCIO '70, plus the documentary VITTORIO D.   5-Blu-ray Set: $99.95 4-DVD Set: $49.95 Now Available

Capital in the 21st Century   Based on the international bestseller by rock-star economist Thomas Piketty (which sold over three million copies worldwide and landed Piketty on Time's list of most influential people), this captivating documentary is an eye-opening journey through wealth and power, a film that breaks the popular assumption that the accumulation of capital runs hand in hand with social progress, and shines a new light on today’s growing inequalities.   Director: Justin Pemberton Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Bacurau     A few years from now... Bacurau, a small village in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants (among them Sônia Braga) notice that their village has literally vanished from online maps and a UFO-shaped drone is seen flying overhead. There are forces that want to expel them from their homes, and soon, in a genre-bending twist, a band of armed mercenaries led by Udo Kier arrive in town picking off the inhabitants one by one.   Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Beanpole     In post-WWII Leningrad, two women, Iya and Masha (astonishing newcomers Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina), intensely bonded after fighting side by side as anti-aircraft gunners, attempt to readjust to a haunted world. The 28-year-old Russian director Kantemir Balagov won Un Certain Regard’s Best Director prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for this richly burnished, occasionally harrowing rendering of the persistent scars of war.   Director: Kantemir Balagov Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Proud     In 1981, it was still illegal to be gay in France. Today, same-sex marriage is recognized and has paved the way for legalizing the adoption of children by LGBTQ families. Proud tells the story of Charles, Victor and Diego, three generations of the same family who represent the seismic social changes that took place in just three decades.   From the award-winning director of Fatima (the 2016 Cesar winner for Best Film), this three-part episodic cinema event is a chronology of tolerance and a portrait of one family through changing times.   Director: Philippe Faucon DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Helmut Newton: The Bad and the Beautiful   One of the great masters of photography, Helmut Newton made a name for himself exploring the female form, and his cult status continues long after his tragic death in a Los Angeles car crash in 2004. Newton worked around the globe, from Singapore to Australia to Paris to Los Angeles, but Weimar Germany was the visual hallmark of his work. Newton's unique and striking way of depicting women has always posed the question: did he empower his subjects or treat them as sexual objects?   Director: Gero von Boehm DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth   In this beloved 1988 PBS series, mythologist and storyteller Joseph Campbell joins Bill Moyers to explore what enduring myths can tell us about our lives. In each of six episodes –“The Hero’s Adventure,” “The Message of the Myth,” “The First Storytellers,” “Sacrifice and Bliss,” “Love and the Goddess,” and “Masks of Eternity” — Moyers and Campbell focus on a character or theme found in cultural and religious mythologies. Campbell argues that these timeless archetypes continue to have a powerful influence on the choices we make and the ways we live.   DVD SRP: $59.95 Street Date: Now Available

The Jewish Soul   Too often segregated within an academic and cultural niche, Yiddish cinema is in fact a varied and vibrant genre ripe for reappraisal. Whether shot in the fields of Poland or makeshift studios in Manhattan, Yidishe Kino endure not only as precious documents of a vanishing culture, but a fascinating genre unto itself, with its unique blend of schmaltz and shtick, a dash of operetta, often overlaid with brooding atmosphere. Restored by Lobster Films, Paris, presented by Kino Lorber, this series showcases careful new translations by Yiddish cultural historian Allen Lewis Rickman, which preserve the clever wordplay and conveys the fluidity of the multi-lingual dialogue.   Blu-ray: $59.95 Street Date: November 24, 2020

Maya Deren Collection   Maya Deren is one of the most important American experimental filmmakers of all time and Kino Classics and Re:Voir are proud to present new 2K restorations of her essential work. Along with being a filmmaker, Deren was a choreographer, dancer, film theorist, poet, lecturer and photographer, and she brings all of these disciplines together in her dreamlike and ecstatic films. Stan Brakhage called Maya Deren “the mother of us all.” The history of avant-garde film is unthinkable without her.   Director: Maya Deren Blu-ray SRP: $34.95 Street Date: Now Available

Fellini's Casanova   The incomparable Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita) directs this visually stunning portrait of Casanova, the infamous Italian womanizer, adventurer, author and libertine. In a remarkable performance, Donald Sutherland (MASH) portrays the great seducer not as an amorous anomaly, but an everyday man living in extraordinary times. Featuring dazzling European settings (although it was filmed entirely in Rome), an unforgettable musical score by Nino Rota (The Godfather), and Academy Award®-winning costumes, Fellini's Casanova is a cinematic experience to fall in love with.   Director: Federico Fellini Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: December 8, 2020

Victor and Victoria   Produced in the final days of the Weimar Republic, Victor and Victoria received limited exposure in the United States, and is today best known by Blake Edwards’s 1982 remake and the 1995 Broadway production. Viewers will be delighted to discover that the original is every bit as charming and outrageous, reminiscent of the sly sex comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder.   Director: Reinhold Schünzel Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Madchen in Uniform   As a new student at an all-girls boarding school, Manuela falls in love with the compassionate teacher Fräulein von Bernburg, and her feelings are requited. Experiencing her first love, lonely Manuela also discovers the complexities that come with an illicit romance. This artfully composed landmark of lesbian cinema – and an important anti-fascist film – was the first of just three films directed by Leontine Sagan.   Director: Leontine Sagan and Carl Froelich Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

My 20th Century   Awarded the Camera d’Or for best first feature at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, Hungarian trailblazer Ildikó Enyedi’s My 20th Century is a luminous, unconventional fairy tale. Two twins, Lili the anarchist and Dóra, a luxurious woman of loose morals (both played by the young Polish actress Dorotha Segda), are separated as young girls. Their lives proceed on opposing tracks until their paths reconnect on the Orient Express with Mr. Z. (Tarkovsky mainstay Oleg Yankovsky) who loves them jointly.   Director: Ildikó Enyedi Blu-ray: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

Mephisto   New 4K Restoration The 1981 Academy Award-winning (Best Foreign Language Film) Mephisto concerns a passionate, but struggling actor (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who remains in Germany during the Nazi regime and reaps the rewards of this Faustian pact by finally achieving the stardom he has long craved.   Director: Istvan Szabo Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

Variety   NEW 2K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE OVERSEEN BY DIRECTOR BETTE GORDON.   Bette Gordon's Variety is a landmark independent film that challenges common notions about feminism and pornography,   Few films deal honestly with a female's sexual point-of-view, and particularly with the way in which she develops her own fantasy world. Controversial and highly personal, Variety does just that, and in so doing announces itself as the major film of a director who embodies the essence of independent cinema.   Director: Bette Gordon Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Diva   Director Jean-Jacques Beineix (Betty Blue) launched the Cinéma du look movement with this stylish cult thriller that remains as innovative today as when it premiered in 1981. Featuring a celebrated chase through the Paris Metro and an early appearance by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie) favorite Dominique Pinon, Diva earned César Awards for Beineix, Vladimir Cosma’s (Le Bal) sumptuous music and Philippe Rousselot’s (Henry & June) eye-popping cinematography.   Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

John Ford's Straight Shooting   NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES!   Straight Shooting (1917) is a landmark in the history of the Western. It is the first feature directed by the legendary John Ford, who revived the career of Harry Carey, one of his greatest stars, to a rough-and-tumble performance as a hired gun of cattle rustlers. It is a thrilling adventure that proves John Ford was born to film the American West.   Director: John Ford Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

John Ford's Hell Bent   NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES!   Hell Bent (1918) is a rousing Western from the series of Cheyenne Harry adventures that director John Ford (still credited as Jack Ford early in his career) made with star Harry Carey (Straight Shooting). Cheyenne Harry was an outlaw with a heart of gold, played with stoic warmth by Carey, whose performances were a pivotal influence on John Wayne.   Director: John Ford Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $19.95 Street Date: Now Available

Reginald Denny Collection   NEW 4K RESTORATIONS FROM UNIVERSAL PICTURES!   The Reginald Denny Collection gathers three silent features from the career of the debonair British star: The Reckless Age, Skinner’s Dress Suit, and What Happened to Jones? The former amateur boxing champion made his name in a series of two-reelers about the fighting life, The Leather Pushers (1922), but soon made his way up to leading man.   Director: Harry Pollard and William A. Seiter Blu-ray SRP: $49.95 DVD SRP: $39.95 Street Date: Now Available

Mad Max 4K UHD and Blu-ray Editions   Includes both 4K and Blu-ray   From George Miller, the acclaimed director of The Road Warrior, The Witches of Eastwick, Lorenzo’s Oil and Mad Max: Fury Road, comes this post-apocalyptic masterpiece starring screen legend Mel Gibson (Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, Payback). In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max’s best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for—revenge!   Includes NEW interview with George Miller   Director: George Miller 4K UHD SRP: $39.95 Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: November 24, 2020

Buck Rogers: The Complete Collection   Blast off to the 25th century with Buck Rogers, one of the most popular sci-fi heroes of all time! When 20th-century astronaut William “Buck” Rogers (Gil Gerard) is awakened—500 years after a deep-space disaster—to an Earth in recovery from nuclear war, he must join Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) to lead the crew of the starship Searcher against a galaxy of evil from the past, present and faraway future. Co-starring Felix Silla, Tim O’Connor and the legendary voice of Mel Blanc as Twiki. This 9-disc set includes, the pilot episode, the theatrical feature and all 32 action-packed Season One and Season 2 episodes of the epic series   Director: Jack Arnold and Daniel Haller Blu-ray SRP: $99.95 Street Date: November 24, 2020

The Lost Weekend (1945 Best Picture Oscar Winner)   Brand New 4K Master!   An uncompromising look at the devastating effects of alcoholism, The Lost Weekend was almost never released because of the poor reaction by preview audiences unaccustomed to such stark realism from Hollywood. It has since gone on to be regarded as one of the all-time great dramas in movie history, featuring Milland’s haunting portrayal of a would-be writer’s dissatisfaction with life that leads to a self-destructive three-day binge. Filled with riveting imagery, this masterpiece, co-starring Jane Wyman, won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director (Wilder), Best Actor (Milland) and Best Screenplay (Charles Brackett and Wilder).   Director: Billy Wilder Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: November 24, 2020

High Plains Drifter   THEY’D NEVER FORGET THE DAY HE DRIFTED INTO TOWN!   From Clint Eastwood, the acclaimed director/star of The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino and The Mule, comes this western masterpiece and homage to his “The Man with No Name” legend. Eastwood portrays a mysterious stranger who emerges out of the heat waves of the desert and rides into the guilt-ridden town of Lago. After committing three murders in the first 20 minutes, The Stranger is hired by the town’s citizens to protect them from the three vengeful gunmen about to be released from jail   Director: Clint Eastwood Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

Play Misty For Me   Brand New 2K Master!    In his directorial debut, Clint Eastwood stars as Dave Garver, a popular radio disc jockey who repeatedly receives on-air phone requests from a sexy female fan to “play Misty for me.” When the woman, Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter, The Group), orchestrates a rendezvous with Dave at his favorite nightspot, the two begin a torrid affair. But when Dave decides to end the relationship, Evelyn’s obsession turns to violence. Soon everything and everyone in Dave’s life becomes a target for Evelyn’s increasingly deadly campaign of terror. Play Misty for Me continues to be considered one of the great modern-day thrillers.   Director: Clint Eastwood Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

The Ipcress File   The Ipcress File is the first film in the series of Harry Palmer mysteries, based on the bestsellers by Len Deighton (Funeral in Berlin), that made Michael Caine (Gambit, The Black Windmill) a star. It is the height of the cold war, and ex-thief Harry Palmer (Caine), now reluctantly working as a secret agent, has been called in to investigate a strange occurrence among a number of leading scientists. It seems the scientists have been kidnapped, but reappear only days after the kidnapping, brainwashed and useless. During the course of the investigation, a tape is uncovered with the word “Ipcress” on it.   Director: Sidney J. Furie Blu-ray SRP: $29.95 DVD SRP: $29.95 Street Date: Now Available

Compassion in Exile

WEEKLY SOLO BOSSA NOVA BRUNCH AT BIRDSALL HOUSE IN PEEKSKILL

Reservations are recommended. Welcome all! See you at the BIRDSALL HOUSE! Now every Sunday!