New to Blu-ray and DVD “Fear and Desire” and “Magic Mike” (release date, October 23, 2012)

Director Stanley Kubrick, age 24, shooting “Fear and Desire.”

“Fear and Desire” (1953) directed, produced and edited by a then barely known talent, a 24 year-old filmmaker named Stanley Kubrick, comes to Blu-ray and DVD this week.  Kubrick, of course, would go on to direct such films as “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968), “A Clockwork Orange” (1971), “Barry Lyndon” (1975), “The Shining” (1980), and others.

Kubrick, then an unproven commodity, did not have a large budget for “Fear and Desire.”  He smartly chose a story that would conform well to his low budget aesthetic. The story of “Fear and Desire” involves a group of American soldiers, one of whom is played by a very young Paul Mazursky (director and actor), trapped behind enemy lines during World War II.  All that was needed were some actors in uniform out in the woods and minimal indoor sets. 

“New Directors New Films” at Film Society of Lincoln Center and MOMA

A 24-year-old Stanley Kubrick shooting "Fear and Desire."

From March 21 – April 1 the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art will present the 41^st annual “New Directors/New Films” series.  The festival is dedicated to showcasing emerging filmmaking talent on an international scale.  This year’s festival will screen 29 feature length films (24 narratives, five documentaries), as well as 12 short films, representing a total of 28 countries.

“On Cinema: Alexander Payne” at New York Film Festival

Director Alexander Payne

On October 15 the New York Film Festival presented “On Cinema: Alexander Payne,” in which the director (“Election,” “About Schmidt,” “Sideways” and the soon to be released “The Descendants”) talked about influential films in his life.  The event was sponsored by HBO, moderated by NYFF Selection Committee Chairman Richard Pena and took place in the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater.

Payne proved to be an affable, frank and intelligent subject who frequently turned Pena’s questions around, playfully shooting them back at his interviewer.  Interspersed throughout the talk, Payne showed clips from four influential films: Anthony Mann’s “The Naked Spur,” Michelangelo Antonioni’s “La Notte,” Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” and Akira Kurosawa’s “Red Beard.”  Payne also brought a 16m print of an early film by director Carroll Ballard, “The Perils of Priscilla,” a lively, imaginative short which showed the world from the point of view of an abandoned house cat.  Payne said it was one of the best movies ever made.