Seasons: Robert Bellissimo

In this episode, which is part of my series, Film Noir Movie Reviews, I review The Asphalt Jungle (1950), which was directed by John Huston. The screenplay was written by John Huston & Ben Maddow. It was based on the novel by W.R. Burnett. The movie starred Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Marilyn Monroe, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, Marc Lawrence & Anthony Caruso.

In this episode, which is a part of our series, Alfred Hitchcock Movies You Need To Know, we review “Vertigo”, which was Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starred Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. Martin Scorsese has said, if you’ve seen “Vertigo” once, you haven’t seen it. It requires repeat viewings to dive into the psychological complexities of the main characters. The film asks a lot of questions about love, obsession, mental health and the male gaze.

In this episode, which is part of my series, Film Noir Movie Reviews, I review Sorry Wrong Number (1948), which was directed by Anatole Litvak, written by Lucille Fletcher and starred Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster.

In this episode, which is a part of my series, Classic TV History, we discuss the 1963 TV Show, “East Side/West Side”, which was brilliant but ultimately canceled by CBS. This TV show starred George C. Scott, Elizabeth Wilson, Cicely Tyson and Linden Chiles. This show followed New York City social workers and explored real-life social and political issues, such as homelessness, drug addiction, racism, and mental health, among other difficult and controversial subject matter. Many Actors who would go on to have big film careers appear in this show, such as Martin Sheen, Gene Hackman, James Earl Jones and Alan Arkin. My guest is Stephen Bowie who is a film and television historian. He wrote an in-depth article on the making of this show and why it was canceled.

In this episode, which is a part of my series, Italian Classic Movies That You Need To Know, we review Nights Of Cabiria (1957), which was directed by Federico Fellini and starred Giulietta Masina. My guest was James, host of “20th And 21st Movies”

In this episode, which is a part of my series, Italian Classic Movies That You Need To Know, we review The Canterbury Tales (1972), which was directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. He also wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from THE CANTERBURY TALES book of short stories by Geoffrey Chaucer.

In this episode, which is a part of my series, Movie Reviews, we review A New Leaf, which was directed by Elaine May. May also wrote the screenplay based on the short story, “The Green Heart” by Jack Ritchie! My guest is Adam Schartoff who has a fantastic podcast called Filmwax Radio.

In this episode, which is a part of my series, Italian Classic Movies That You Need To Know, we review Red Desert (Il Deserto Rosso), which was released in 1964. It was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starred Monica Vitti and Richard Harris. This film is often described as the emotional breakdown of a woman because of the environment she lives in. However, we see it more as an exploration of mental health struggles, based on Monica Vitti’s character’s car accident and other factors. My guest is Actress/Writer Kathy Rupcic.

In this episode, we review Born To Win (1971), which was directed by Ivan Passer and starred George Segal, Karen Black, Robert De Niro, Hector Elizondo, Jay Fletcher & Paula Prentiss. This film was part of the public domain for years and the only way you could see it was on TV or on bad prints of it on DVD and VHS. Recently a new restored Blu-Ray was released of the film by Fun City Editions, which are a boutique label that restores and releases Blu-Rays and vinyl records. My guest for this episode was Jonathan Hertzberg who created Fun City Editions. We discuss his background working in theatrical distribution at Kino Lorber, why people become physical media collectors, film restorations, why he wanted to start his own label and of course Born To Win.

In this episode, which is a part of our series, Criterion Channel Recommendations, we discuss “Sisters”, which was Directed and Co-Written by Brian De Palma and “The Lady Vanishes”, which was Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. These two movies work as a great double feature since they are both Mystery/Thrillers, share similar themes and Brian De Palma began his homage films to Alfred Hitchcock with “Sisters”, where he started to continue the film language of Hitchcock within the suspense, mystery, thriller and horror genres.