Links: Paul Sorvino's passing, BAFTA rule tweaks, and Nope's famous film strip

• NYT Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, The Rocketeer, Nixon), beloved character actor and father of Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, has died at 83
• Guardian Sad news: Shonka Dukureh, who sang "Hound Dog" in her feature debut in Elvis as Big Mama Thornton has died at just 44

Much Happier links after the jump involving "Horse in Motion" from Nope, 'All the Way' Mae from A League of Their Own, Jessica Chastain's new film, and more...

Click to read more ...

The long reach of 'Nosferatu,' now 100 years old

by Brent Calderwood

A century after its March 4th, 1922, premiere in Berlin, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu remains a truly chilling classic. It’s widely acknowledged that Nosferatu and other German Expressionist masterpieces were influential not only to the development of Hollywood horror, but also to film noir and other genres. Nothing demonstrates the shadowy reach of Expressionism quite so strikingly, though, as its prevalence in the first wave of Walt Disney’s full-length features, which quoted heavily from Murnau and his contemporaries...

Click to read more ...

Why everyone should know and cherish Lois Weber

by Cláudio Alves

In such works as his Story of Film and Women Make Film, Mark Cousins has put forward the idea that film history is sexist by omission. That's undeniable when one considers the case of the many women film pioneers who saw their achievements overshadowed by and even misattributed to their male colleagues. Lois Weber, who's currently being celebrated on the Criterion Channel, is one of those filmmakers whose legacy has been usurped, forgotten, despite both its quality and importance. The fact most of her 140 films are lost doesn't help matters. However, the few that have survived speak of an accomplished visual storyteller, political artist, and fearless provocateur. I think every cinephile should know about Lois Weber, and here's why… 

Click to read more ...

Showbiz History: Jupiter Ascending, Coraline, and silent sex symbol Ramon Novarro

6 random things that happened on this day, February 6th, in showbiz history

1942 The comic western Valley of the Sun hits theaters. Hollywood was struggling to figure out what to do with Lucille Ball that decade. This was one of those 'well, how about this genre?' attempts...

Click to read more ...

100th Anniversary: "Leaves from Satan's Book"

by Cláudio Alves

Carl Theodor Dreyer is one of my favorite filmmakers. I'll never forget the first time I watched The Passion of Joan of Arc on the big screen and was transported, how experiencing Vampyr felt like witnessing a projected nightmare, the ecstasy of Ordet's ending or Gertrud's stern ruminations on love. It's to my great shame that I'm not familiar with the Danish director's early works, having mostly ignored them until now. The centennial of Dreyer's second feature, Leaves from Satan's Book, makes this a great time to start correcting these cinephilic lacunas…

Click to read more ...