David Gordon Green to Remake Dario Argento’s Suspiria

/Film: "news arrives today that indie director David Gordon Green (George Washington, Pineapple Express) is set on remaking Dario Argento’s Italo-horror classic Suspiria. Greene has been loosely attached for a few months but he recently chatted up a couple outlets about his (re-en)vision, referring to his new take as “classy shiiat“…"

Review: 'Mother of Tears' a bloody but intriguing mess

San Jose Mercury News: "There's some evidence that Argento may be consciously joking around with at least some of this nonsense, and nobody eroticizes gore quite as artistically as he can. But it's also hard to find lines and performances like 'Mother of Tears' outside of anything that doesn't come with a XXX rating."

Mother of Tears review at Playbackstl.com

PLAYBACKstl.com:: "Mother of Tears is funnier than the past six Will Ferrell movies combined. Whether this exuberant hilarity is intentional or not doesn't end up mattering, and whether it truly closes the long open-ended Three Mothers trilogy becomes oh-so-irrelevant. Check out Argento's Masters of Horror episode 'Jenifer' about a deformed, retarded cannibal girl alongside this and try to tell me you don't love this new Argento."

Chicago Sun Times reviews Mother of Tears

Life is a witch for Argento once more :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Movies: "Argento's spin on feminine evil is juvenile, but Asia Argento kicks witch ass."

The Last Mistress is anything but sugar-coated images.

Canada.com: "With Asia Argento (daughter of the horror maestro Dario Argento) starring as the prototypical vamp, the viewer doesn't even have to process the intellectual signposts. Every emotional ripple and social comment is rendered on the screen through top-notch performance and cunning art direction that conveys a genuine sense of luxe, but also all the dirt, odour and oily soot of the era."

Seattle Times reviews Mother of Tears

Seattle Times Newspaper: "In his own way, Argento has become like John Waters, a seriously messed-up, transgressive artist who's now a revered Old Master of Filth. He's not at the peak of his powers, but at least you can be certain he's not going to turn any of his work into Broadway musicals — which really would be horrifying."

Ed: They are wrong about the musicals though. See below.

Interview with Asia Argento in the Wall Street Journal

WSJ.com:"One of your other new films is 'Mother of Tears,' directed by your father. What kind of relationship do you have on set?

Very professional. That's the fourth one we've made together. We talk about movies and work. It's a very superficial relationship, but in a way maybe it's better. Even though I understand his movies, they are very stream of consciousness, never going deep into why he does what he does."

The Color of Blood: A Study in Scarlet

The Color of Blood: "...Before the late '70s, blood was generally (and, remember, these are generalizations -- there are certainly exceptions) bright red and opaque, like nail polish or latex paint. It was often compared to ketchup, which in many cases it was. Since then, our taste for blood runs darker, anywhere from ruby red to almost black. It's a bit more transparent than it used to be, and appears somewhat shinier and stickier...."

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) - impending Blu-ray release

Cinedelica: First must-buy Blu-ray release: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970): "Not much I can add to our previous review of the DVD, except to say that Dario Argento's stylish debut gialli/giallo should look stunning in high-definition. It's released (initially) in the US by Blue Underground, promising full 1080p HD resolution, top-notch sound and a disc that's 'loaded with extras'."

Mother of Tears DVD Art

Mother of Tears DVD Art at horroryearbook.com: "Dario Argentos’ Mother of Tears is hitting DVD September 23rd. No word on any special features yet, but here is the cover art."

Four Flies on Grey Velvet Tribute Week: The Wrap Up

Harry Moseby Confidential: <em>Four Flies on Grey Velvet</em> Tribute Week: The Wrap Up: "As for the film itself, I rank it below Bird With Crystal Plumage and above Cat O Nine Tails as far as Argento's Animal Trilogy goes with special note going to the final few scenes that I think are among the best Argento has ever delivered. To close out the tribute week, here are ten iconic images from this flawed but undeniably important and haunting film from one of cinema's greatest masters...."

One of several posts on "Four Flies..."

Argento's doomed collaboration with Ennio Morricone: Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Moon In The Gutter: Dust off Those Grooves (Chapter 21) Ennio Morricone's <em>Four Flies on Grey Velvet</em>: "Despite it being a work that ended one of the most important collaborations between a director and composer in the early seventies, the music Ennio Morricone wrote for Dario Argento's Four Flies On Grey Velvet remains more than worthy of a reappraisal.
After scoring both The Bird With The Crystal Plumage and Cat O Nine Tails for Argento, Morricone was the obvious choice for Four Flies On Grey Velvet. The fact that the film featured the character of a young rock musician as its lead and that Argento himself was was falling more and more under the spell of harder and more progressive modern rock sounds perhaps made the collaboration doomed from the beginning on their third film together though...."

...part of "Four Flies on Grey Velvet" Tribute Week....

Italian Grindhouse Film Festival in Hollywood

THE HORRORS OF IT ALL: Italian Grindhouse: "If you live in or around Los Angeles and love violent Italian films then this is your month to celebrate! Starting this Friday, July 11th and running through the 24th, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood is premiering an exclusive celluloid assault of classic grindhouse hits and rarities from the likes of Dario Argento, Tinto Brass, Umberto Lenzi, Sergio Corbucci, and more… this fest covers the full spectrum of genre thrillers with gothic horror, giallo, crime, and spaghetti westerns."

Two new Argento books

giallo fever: Two new Argento books: From the giallo fever blog: "Two new books on Argento in French, although one, the Jean-Baptiste Thoret one, looks to be an updated edition of a 2002 volume."

More comments on The Last Mistress

FineArtsLA.com Gender Blender: "The film stars prettyboy newcomer and Angelina Jolie lookalike (emphasis on jolie) Fu’ad Ait Aattou, who had never acted before and who therefore gives off the requisite air of dandy detachment.

Asia Argento, daughter of Italian horror film legend Dario Argento, is the film’s leading lady and a classic belle-laide.

Fans of Barbey’s fiction will enjoy a long sequence in the heart of the film that makes use of his favorite literary device, the recit parle, or spoken narrative. Breillat’s adaptation also preserves the themes of mystery, revenge, passion and death that permeate all the work of Barbey, who was born in the sign of Scorpio and shares the sign’s preoccupations to the highest degree..."