A shining 4K encoding underscores the heat in Lawrence Kasdan’s ode to cold-blooded murder, committed in the name of sex and greed … and just maybe, love. William Hurt and Kathleen Turner became overnight stars in some of the hottest scenes ever to hit mainstream theaters; Richard Kline’s steamy images and John Barry’s seductive music…
It’s a new branded line for Kino Lorber — English thrillers from the 1940s and ’50s, remastered and looking good. Jean Simmons is tormented by a greedy lover & husband in ‘Cage of Gold,’ and a fanciful Edgar Wallace mystery sees Scotland Yard trying to prevent a murder by a diabolical criminal called ‘The Ringer.’…
Cornel Wilde’s first film for his own production company is a stone classic and a genuine cult item, an organized crime tale that blends sex and sadism as did few films of its day. Richard Conte’s perverse seduction of Jean Wallace is hot stuff, and the creative direction of Joseph H. Lewis and extreme lighting…
Rescued from post-Code censorship, Sinclair Lewis’s critique of medical ethics makes an interesting subject for director John Ford. Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes star; Myrna Loy had a major role until the censors obliterated most of it. But now she’s back: taken from Ronald Colman’s personal print, this 2024 restoration recovers (finally) the original theatrical…
I’ve written about my admiration for writer/director Damian McCarthy’s two previous films, Caveat and Oddity, in this column before. From the very beginning, his work had a personal style that separated it from the general horror film pack, combining a dark visual palette with a love for haunted-looking objects, all set in a modern Ireland…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we have a trio of films directed by the late, great Frank Capra. There is also a trio of wines for pairing. Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is a 1936 romantic…
Criterion takes on the anti-nuke horror film that hits closest to home. Lynne Littman’s harrowing film stays small-scale and Big Emotion, charting the slow extermination of an innocent family. A little California town loses contact with the rest of the world, and hope fades as the awful reality sinks in. Jane Alexander, Lukas Haas and William…
Former blacklistees Walter Bernstein and Martin Ritt turned their career experiences into a powerful picture; the bankability of star Woody Allen is surely what got it produced. Allen plays not his usual New York schlemiel but a clueless everyman who ‘fronts’ for a writer friend denied work by the blacklist. He ends up fronting for…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we go to the dark side for a platter of film noir. Some wine pairings will help wash down the bitter little pills. In my younger days, oh so long ago,…
