It's All True: Based On an Unfinished Film by Orson Welles

"...Inter-American Affairs and a major stockholder in Welles's studio, RKO. It was to be an anthology film that would..."

Feb. 11, 1994 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

King Kong

Jackson's remake is a corker of an action/monster movie: part RKO serial; part square-jawed, manly romp; and part classic journey into the unknown that recalls and references Heart of Darkness.

"...too, it’s a corker of an action/monster movie: part RKO serial (natch); part square-jawed, testosterone infused manly romp; and..."

Dec. 16, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Titan A.E.

"...strangely adds to the film's Saturday-morning panache. It's an RKO Radio Picture for the 21st century. The story is..."

June 16, 2000 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Scanlines

The Magnificent Ambersons

"...picture. But the story behind the story is how RKO studios ultimately took this film away from Welles. The..."

March 13, 1998 Screens Feature

The Boy Wonder at 100

Alamo Drafthouse screens Orson Welles centennial retrospective

"...right to edit the director's cut at home studio RKO and, after toying with going into politics (his FBI..."

April 3, 2015 Screens Feature by Kimberley Jones

Mank

Corruption, lies, and credits on the set of Citizen Kane

"...The Battle Over Citizen Kane and dramas such as RKO 281: that Mank (Oldman, sozzled and jaundiced) and Welles..."

Nov. 20, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is back again!

"...whip-smart and realistically tough (yet vulnerable) protagonist. That old RKO Radio Pictures logo with the transmission tower beaming out..."

March 23, 2018 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Fusillade No. 1 in Disney's presumed seven-film adaptation of C.S. Lewis' beloved children's tales is marred by dodgy CGI work and windy pacing.

"...musculature look as phony as the traveling mattes of RKO yore, and many members of the White Witch's ogre-inclusive..."

Dec. 9, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Secondhand Lions

In this unique family film that's also an ode to heroic movies gone by, a boy is sent for the summer to live with his two eccentric uncles in Texas.

"...type of earnest action dramas that Republic Pictures and RKO (not to mention Douglas Fairbanks) used to make, long,..."

Sept. 19, 2003 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Magnificent Ambersons

There are hints of a meaty complexity to Welles' The Magnificent Ambersons beyond its doomed-love motif, but the 88-minutes-long film, while striking, is too brief to really explore all that it hints at.

"...However, after a disastrous preview of the original cut, RKO Studio wrenched control of the film away from Welles,..."

Jan. 18, 2002 Screens Review by Kimberley Jones

I Walked With a Zombie

"...of the triumphs of the Val Lewton unit at RKO. Zombie (along with such films as Cat People and..."

Feb. 17, 2000 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Record Store Day, Formula 1, Dyke March, and More Event Recommendations

Your weekend is spoken for

"...could get was churning out B-movie schedule fillers for RKO Studios, where he got stuck with a tiny budget..."

Oct. 18, 2024 Arts Feature by James Scott

Driussi Winner Powers Austin FC Past San Jose Earthquakes in Seven-Goal Thriller

RECAP: ATX defeats San Jose 4-3

"...101st-minute Sebastián Driussi game winner that hit like an RKO from out of nowhere...."

April 7, 2024 Sports Post by Eric Goodman

Josh Frank Writes Himself Into the History of the Marx Bros.

There ain't no sanity clause

"...five-film run at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (with a one-movie diversion to RKO). It also marked a change in their style of..."

April 5, 2019 Screens Feature by Richard Whittaker

Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon

Lennon on Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon

"...40-year-old reformed chauvinist-turned-house dad gave his final interview to RKO Radio's Dave Sholin to promote Double Fantasy, his first..."

Dec. 9, 2016 Music Review by Greg Beets

DVDanger: The Hallow

There’s something evil in the woods

"...of a victim of the studio system, one of RKO’s last contract players whose career never recovered from its..."

April 9, 2016 Screens Post by Richard Whittaker

LoneStarCon 3: Friday

Who knew the 'War of the Worlds' had its last stand in San Antonio?

"...the 25-year-old Orson was presumably just marking time until RKO released Citizen Kane. The chat is amiable, even fond,..."

Aug. 31, 2013 Books Post by Robert Faires

Wrestling in the Dark

WWE performs a house show at the Drum

"...just waiting for Orton to perform his finisher, the RKO, was suspenseful enough. The fans didn’t need a title..."

May 16, 2011 Sports Post by Will Eidam

Mummy's the Word

Mexic-Arte Museum screens a landmark of Mexican fantastic cinema

"...two alive/one dead, director Rafael Portillo instead mines the Monogram/RKO matinee serial vein and comes up with a subplot..."

Aug. 15, 2008 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

Day Trips

Frank Buck's Zoo in Gainesville may not be as well known as its larger-than-life namesake, but it is impressive nonetheless

"...on the required reading list in Texas public schools. RKO Studios turned it into a blockbuster movie...."

May 2, 2008 Column by Gerald E. McLeod

Re-Re-Re-Re-Reopening Night

The Ritz: Talkie theatre, cowboy hangout, playhouse, comedy and punk club, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

"...ruin of the Black Cat Lounge looking deader than RKO Radio Pictures...."

Nov. 2, 2007 Screens Feature by Marc Savlov

Surviving the Blacklist: Joseph Losey in Europe

Sept. 5-Oct. 10

"...had been a director of boilerplate Hollywood pictures for RKO studios, where he was famous more for his a-film-in-three-weeks..."

Sept. 1, 2006 Screens Feature by Josh Rosenblatt

Warner Bros. Pictures Tough Guys Collection

The end of an era on six discs

"...In the 1930s, Universal owned the horror franchise, and RKO had Fred Astaire. But Warner Bros. had cock o'..."

July 21, 2006 Screens Review by Steve Uhler

Kentucky Mountain Music

Reissue

"...a daily network radio show, and performed in the RKO vaudeville circuit. By then, country music was firmly established..."

April 4, 2003 Music Review by Harvey Pekar

Requiem for Tesla

Local mavericks Rude Mechanicals have plundered biographies and scientific history to give us the whole story of maverick inventor Nikola Tesla, and their production Requiem for Tesla, with its unnervingly choreographed lights, arresting video, beautiful period costumes, original score on theremin, strange dance numbers, and working Tesla coil, literally crackles with current.

"...a soundscape by Buzz Moran worthy of the best RKO Radio Pictures, and an original score by Graham Reynolds..."

March 2, 2001 Arts Review by Wayne Alan Brenner

Short Cuts

Upcoming events and workshops of interest to the Austin film community.

"...and bears noting: it's 1943's Val Lewton-produced, Jacques Tourneur-directed RKO masterpiece I Walked with a Zombie, which cleverly updates..."

Feb. 18, 2000 Screens Column by Marc Savlov

Top Hat

"..."The Carioca" -- a terrific musical sequence -- attracted RKO studio executives. The next year, the pair appeared in..."

Nov. 12, 1999 Screens Review by Louis Black

Scanlines

Armored Car Robbery

"...a mug like Benny. The naked and the dead." RKO house cinematographer Guy Roe did a great job with..."

Aug. 13, 1999 Screens Feature

A Pinch of History, A Dash of Memoir

Windows on the World Complete Wine Course

"...snippets of phonetic Brooklynese -- gangster talk straight from RKO central casting. At points, the tonal contrast can be..."

June 11, 1999 Food Feature

Scanlines

"...passing moral judgment on any of the characters. In-house RKO photographer George Diskant invests the film with an almost..."

April 24, 1998 Screens Feature

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