99¢: Boogie Nights, First Reformed, Heathers, A History of Violence

Heads up on these great deals for four truly awesome movies on iTunes. iTunes deals expire quickly so if you've always wanted to see or revisit any of these they're only 99¢ this week.

• First Reformed - The nomination leader at the Gotham Awards and we still think Ethan Hawke could nab a Best Actor Oscar nomination for it. 
• Boogie Nights - The film that made Paul Thomas Anderson famous, and delivered Julianne Moore 'the foxiest bitch in the whole world' her first Oscar nomination (which she should've won). 
• A History of Violence - David Cronenberg's masterful adaptation of a graphic novel nabbed two Oscar nominations for its screenplay and for William Hurt's late film curtain chewing but it started the season with lots more Oscar buzz. It should have been up for everything, especially the big four: Picture, Director, Actor, Actress. It did really well at our own Film Bitch Awards that year winning several medals including the gold for the frankly scorching sex scene between Viggo and Maria Bello in her all time best screen performance. 
• Heathers - 'Fuck me gently with a chainsaw...' it's the high school black comedy wherein Winona Ryder's  'teen-angst bullshit has a body count'.

Give Me Roma Or Give Me Death

by Jason Adams

It's tempting to immediately call this "great news" and it is a positive... but it's also a bit like spinning sunshine out of an abusive relationship too -- Netflix is apparently set to announce they're going to be screening Alfonso Cuarón's Roma in "select cities" for two full weeks before the movie drops onto their streaming platform on December 14th. That means November 30th or so. 

Deadline says it should be around 12 U.S. cities total, and that Cuarón insists all the theaters it plays are Dolby Atmos eqipped, which is a thing you'll understand once you see the film and take in its astonishingly rich soundtrack. (Although given the fact that most people are going to be watching this on their iPads while they're cooking, maybe he should just encourage as many theaters as possible?) 

You can read Nathaniel's review of the film from TIFF right here - I didn't get the chance to review it out of NYFF myself but if you'd like my opinion it's the best movie I've seen this year, and if you can at all make it to one of these theaters, do. It's a total sense experience - the images, the sound, they really do envelope you and transport you to another world like only cinema at its finest can. Netflix owes us all a theatrical run, and I'm glad they seem to be figuring that out. Baby steps...

It's Devil's Night

Be safe out there with your pre-Halloween partying.

Showbiz History: The Sheik, Never Cry Wolf, Wicked

9 random things that happened on this day (October 30th) in showbiz history

Rudolph Valentino cheekily decides you can't watch him undress in behind the scenes footage about his Sheik movies (he made two of them)1821 Novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky born in Moscow. His work, particularly the Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment, has been adapted to film and television many time.

1921 The Sheik starring Rudolph Valentino premieres, inventing the male movie star sex symbol. The world swoons. Women faint.

1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast of HG Wells "The War of the Worlds" causes mass panic when people are convinced it's real...

Click to read more ...

What's on your cinematic mind?

Do tell in the comments. You've been quiet today. I just got back from a screening which... well, there's an embargo damnit. But it was surprisingly satisfying good fun.