TheArchive: Reviewing the Rare, Retro, and Restored

Poppy Montgomery in 2001’s ‘Blonde’ This week might as well be dubbed Marilyn Monroe week with the wall to wall coverage of Netflix’s release of Blonde. But the reviews continue to praise our version of the Oates classic as a mighty if not superior production. TheArchive  doesn’t like to keep score, or does it? As we’ve discovered, the onscreen Marilyns have also been ranked by Vulture: guess where our version of  Blonde ’s  blonde ranks? While Ana de Armas’ recent portrayal clocks in at #9 of 22, Poppy Montgomery who stars in the first Oates adaptation of  Blonde  from 2001 comes in at #5.   It appears that gentlemen (and ladies) prefer  Blonde .  Starring Poppy Montgomery. On  TheArchive . In an Indiewire opinion piece from this week, “The 2001  Blonde   Miniseries understands Marilyn Monroe Better Than Andrew Dominik,” the author goes on to explain that TheArchive’s “Blonde contains the same beats as Dominik’s film, and yet...

As we observe National Hispanic Heritage month through October 15th, TheArchive curated a list of classic 50s and 60s Mexican cinema to watch throughout the coming weeks. Hispanic Heritage month (which started as a week) began in 1968 years after these films released. It kicks off every September 15th, which marks the the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Mexico celebrates on September 16th. To that end, let's celebrate this important time by spotlighting some brilliant films from some of Mexico's great filmmakers. We start with the legendary Oscar nominated Luis Buñuel. In the classic film  Una Mujer Sin Amor  (1952) from famed director Luis Buñuel, when a woman sacrifices her own happiness for her family, she creates a rift that will only come to pass years later. It is based on Guy de Maupassant's story "Pierre et Jean."  The film is an indictment on bourgeois  values and Buñuel himself, later in ...

The 74th Emmy Awards are finally here and Kenan Thompson is hosting live from the Microsoft Theater. A number of notable Emmy contests will be sure to delight and surprise while no one will be all that surprised, perhaps delighted, if HBO's Succession and Netfix's  Squid Game take home the most awards, While the current Emmy race is always exciting, each year at  TheArchive  we like to go back in time and feature a few of our favorite Emmy nominees and winners from our own library. As Marilyn Monroe is on everyone's mind with the forthcoming Ana De Armas Netflix movie, our Marilyn and Me from 1991 was a Primetime Emmy nominee for, no surprise,  Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special. Paul Wendkos' Cross of Fire was 1990's Primetime Emmy winner for  Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special. But our most nominated series of all time is Peter Gunn with a total of eight nominations including Best Drama, ...

New York's Fashion Week has officially kicked off with the world's top designers, models, celebrities and performers converging on New York City. Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Siriano, Telfar, Rebecca Minkoff and more are setting the tone for style trends to come. From Gigi and Bella Hadid to Beverly Johnson; Anna Wintour to Lil' Kim; Kid Cudi to Lil Nas X the stars are out in full effect. At  TheArchive   we too are pret-a-porter and have our own fashion week of content for all of you who want to go retro and see some classic looks. We start with one of our favorite docs in the library,  A Coat of Many Countries , which follows the amazing journey of a single men's suit as it passes through a global assembly line, before landing in a New York department store. Join Patrick Bergen and Elizabeth Berkley en route to a photoshoot. Fashion model Vicky veers off the road and flips her car in the heart of the African bush. She struggles to survive in the wilderness, with only ...

This weekend Disney+ releases Pinocchio in what may be their worst reviewed film in years - at least for their animation to live action remakes. While this weeks' reviews of Robert Zemeckis' Pinocchio definitely set Guillermo Del Toro up for rousing success later this year with his highly stylized, no doubt brilliant "story of a wooden boy you've never heard before," we too have one you've never seen. In fact like this fall's dueling Pinocchios, we also have two. And that's the truth. Let's start with Welcome Back Pinocchio which is a charming Italian produced spectacl e boasting all the classic tropes yet it brings its own sense of wonder and departure from the original 1940 Disney classic. As the story goes, Pinocchio is now a young lad staying out of trouble for fear of being turned back into a piece of wood. But when he gets off track and manipulated into stealing, Pinocchio must learn the hard lessons that enable him to become a human once m...

  As today marks the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana's death  we decided to revisit a movie from   TheArchive , a timely piece of nostalgia,   Princess in Love .  It aired only one year before Princess Di’s untimely death. Recounting the true-life story of the rollercoaster love affair between Captain James Hewitt and Lady Diana Spencer,  Princess in Love  suggests that this relationship “destroyed a royal marriage and stunned the British monarchy.” Today we know that the Royals, still an obsessive figment of media attention and global fandom, and no less a tough lot, remain an insulated family but one no longer immune to the demands for parity from an evolving culture relentlessly pursuing an equitable set of mores.  A subdued and gentle Lady Di is played by Julie Cox in a role - while quite outmatched by the indomitable doppelgänger that is Elizabeth Debicki in Netflix’s The Crown - that still exemplifies Diana’s real life sublimation and pul...

Feels like we were just gearing up for summer at  TheArchive  and now we're already headed back to school! But we always have something for the procrastinators...so feed the dog your homework, ditch your responsibilities, and cut class with these throwback high school classics. In  High School USA , a veritable  who’s-who of TV stars join Michael J. Fox and Crispin Glover (pre-Back to the Future) including Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, Tony Dow, Ken Osmond, Bob Denver, and Dawn Wells. An uncredited Brad Pitt plays a bumbling library nerd, and Nancy Mckeon plays off Anthony Edwards before his star turns in Revenge of the Nerds, Gotcha!, Top Gun, ER, and Billions.    In faith based Angel in Training , Desi has problems just like any other teenager but the biggest difference? She gets help from an apprentice angel who's still earning her wings.  Keeping with the faith theme, The St. Tammany Miracle , starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Soleil Moon Frye, fea...