CRITICALMASSCAST

Actress Catherine Deneuve on the set of "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg"

With the summer season well underway here in Toronto, Canada and all the blockbusters trickling their way into the local cineplex in a steady stream week to week, we here at CMC are wondering what else might be out there to quench a film lovers thirst during the dog days of summer.  Ryan McNeil, of The Matinee Web blog and podcast joins CMC host Greg Ashman in an exercise of podcast verite to answer this vital question.

Luckily, TIFF ‘s summer 2012 programme is offering an exciting selection of new releases (Camera d’Or winner, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, plus a 4K digital restorration of the original summer blockbuster, 1975′s “Jaws”), the Summer in France lineup (including “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg”, Jean-Luc Godard’s “Weekend”, including standards and rare gems from master directors the likes of Truffaut, Renoir, Pialat, and Ophuls, to name a few).  Greg talks up his excitement for the Merchant Ivory retrospective which kicks off June 19th, while both hosts gush about the coming retrospectives: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Blonde in Fifties Hollywood Cinema as well as Schwartzenegger/Stallone: The Rise of Beefcake Cinema which will bring action classics like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and First Blood back to the big screen in all their blood splattery 1980′s glory.

If you live in/near Toronto or plan on visiting the city during the summer, be sure to check out Ryan’s excellent run down of Free Movie Screenings happening around the the city.  TIFF IN THE PARK will be offering up such screwball comedy classics from Raising Arizona to 1934′s “It Happened One Night”.  It is going to be a great time!!  Thanks again to Ryan for co-hosting this episode, and be sure to check out his site and podcast which both can be found at www.thematinee.ca

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Intro Music- “Two Girls From Little Rock “-  from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Closing Clip- Theatrical Trailer- “The Bride Wore Black” (1967)

Total Run Time: 51:51

File Size: 47.2MB

This second episode of CriticalMassCast’s film series edition features the work of director Douglas Sirk, a man who used the technicolor process to great effect to craft classic melodramas during the 1950′s.  Mark Perez of the The Devil and Miss Mindy podcast joins CMC resident Greg Ashman to discuss three of his seminal films: “Magnificent Obesession “(1954) starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson, “Written on the Wind” (1956) and the Lana Turner starring vehicle and tearjerker  “Imitation of Life” from 1959.  We wrap up with a discussion of Todd Haynes homage to Sirk “Far From Heaven” (2002) and hand out some awards, the Three Ring Sirks…. enjoy!!

As always, we here at CMC appreciate your feedback.  Please follow us on Twitter, Facebook and as usual we love to get your e-mails at criticalmasscast@gmail.com.

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Total Running Time: 2:11:29

File Size: 124 MB