Not funny enough, or too hip for the house? I found the Coen Bros.’ send-up of old-fashioned movie madness good fun, with some great new actors. If you like droll comedy combined with spot-on recreations of old movie genres, this show can’t lose. And there has to be somebody out there who wants to see…
Bogie’s back and Bacall’s got him! Or, at least she’s got his voice, and a bundle of bandages. A David Goodis hardboiled crime tale becomes an absurd pile of coincidences and accidental relationships, all wrapped up (literally) in a giant plastic-surgery gimmick. Bogart and his new bride Bacall are charming, but there’s a show -stealer…
3-D IMAX goes back to outer space for a repeat of some space shuttle material and an extended CGI look at how a Martian landing might be accomplished. It’s a grab bag of film sources, and only partly in original 3-D material. Shout! presents it in both 4K Ultra-HD and Blu-ray 3-D, but so far…
See! A cast of thousands! Spectacle beyond belief! This week’s quiz is all about the movies that think big.
This four-feature set is the weirdest cinematic treasure box of the year, a sort of anti-matter film school. Three of the films are derived from a single Yugoslavian picture rejected by Roger Corman. His acolytes Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman proceeded to add serial killings, supernatural hauntings, a goofy vampire, and an ending that could…
What in the world — an A + top-rank film noir gem hiding under the radar, and rescued (most literally) by the Film Noir Foundation. Ann Sheridan and Dennis O’Keefe trade dialogue as good as any in a film from 1950 — it’s a thriller with a cynical worldview yet a sentimental personal outlook. Woman…
Clark Gable is still sufficiently frisky in this late career western to attract four well-chosen frontier women — who in this case happen to be a quartet of robbers’ wives, sitting on a rumored mountain of ill-gotten gains. Raoul Walsh abets the comedy-drama, as Gable’s fox-in-a-henhouse tries to determine which hen can lead him to…
Nearing the halfway mark of the movie year and teetering, as we all are, on the edge of another summer movie abyss which holds only the thinnest promise of providing strong reason to tread amongst the mall-igentsia in search of air-conditioned escape, I find myself feeling far less regret than usual over the movies I’ve…
Noir if I can help it! Sultry Lizabeth Scott out-‘fatals’ every femme we know in this wickedly ruthless tale of unadulterated female venality. Rough creep Dan Duryea meets his match, as do other unfortunate males that get between Liz and a plump bag of blackmail loot. The Film Noir Foundation’s restoration is a valiant rescue…
Luis Buñuel’s most direct film about revolutionary politics brandishes few if any surreal touches in its clash between French star Gérard Philipe and the Mexican legend María Félix. Borrowing the climax of the opera Tosca, it’s an intelligent study of how not to effect change in a corrupt political regime. La fièvre monte à El…
All hail Buster Keaton! The Great Stone Face’s pre-feature output is a comedic treasure trove that allows us to watch a performing genius perfect his filmic persona. Lobster’s all-new restorations debut some alternate scenes and fix a number of broken jump cuts. It’s the whole shebang — the earlier Fatty Arbuckle shorts and Buster’s later…
Nicolas Roeg’s bizarre blend of high drama, searing sex and over-the-top brutality waited a year, only to be given a tiny American release. It then dropped out of sight. We’re now in a better position to appreciate the show’s great actors – especially Theresa Russell, the boldest and bravest actress of the 1980s. Eureka Blu-ray…
This is not your garden-variety horror picture — its scares stem from primal guilt and fear of supernatural demons and devils that we can’t entirely dismiss because people still believe in them enough to do terrible things. Robert Eggers’ first film is the best-reviewed horror picture of its year, and quite an achievement. The VVitch:…
A major talent of the New German Cinema finds his footing out on the open highway, in a trio of intensely creative pictures that capture the pace and feel of living off the beaten path. All three star Rüdiger Vogler, an actor who could be director Wim Wenders’ alter ego. Wim Wenders’ The Road Trilogy…
Remember Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Killer with a Heart?’ You too will be frustrated by this well-produced story of a slum kid who commits an unpardonable crime… except that a do-gooder priest wants to pardon him. Dana Andrews and Farley Granger star but the good work is in the smaller roles of this urban tragedy. Edge…
Cad, bounder, dastard… look those words up in an old casting directory and you’ll probably find a picture of George Sanders. Albert Lewin’s best movie is a class-act period piece with terrific acting from Sanders, Angela Lansbury, Ann Dvorak, John Carradine, Warren William and many more, and a powerful ’40s picture that most people haven’t…
Bernard Herrmann music + weird landscapes = Nirvana. This big-star western tale has an unbreakable story but terrible dialogue and weak characters. Yet for fans of adventure filmmaking it’s a legend thanks to a thunderous Bernard Herrmann music score that transforms dozens of uncanny, real Mexican locations into something other-worldly. Garden of Evil Blu-ray…
Aside from the obvious appeal of this smörgásbord of dirty movie delights, cult director Frank Henenlotter hosts a good history of soft-core film smut in all its forms. Includes excellent clips and input from one of the ‘greats’ in this field, David F. Friedman. Remember, it’s for educational purposes only. That’s Sexploitation! Blu-ray Severin Films…
Everybody needs a buddy, friend and pal when the going gets rough… here are a few of Hollywood’s favorite sidekicks.
Don’t let your boss see this movie, it’ll give them ideas. Writer-director Kaneto Shindo reduces the human drama to its basics, as an isolated family endures a backbreaking existence of dawn ’til dusk toil to eke out a living. It’s a beautiful but humbling ode to adaptability and human resolve. And the show has no…
Here’s something special, a Godard movie about people as much as concepts, and the dialogue doesn’t sound as if it belongs in cartoon bubbles. Jean-Luc Godard turns his intellect to the subject of relationships and reveals a lot about himself. It’s a beautiful show too — with the incredible Macha Méril visually cut up for…
Banished by Josef Goebbels and threatened by the Reich, the creative core of the German film industry found itself in sunny Los Angeles, many not speaking English but determined to carry on as writers, directors and actors. More than simply surviving, they made a profound impact on Hollywood moviemaking. Cinema’s Exiles: From Hitler to Hollywood…
Well, another year spent in the company of classic cinema curated by the TCM Classic Film Festival has come and gone, leaving me with several great experiences watching favorite films and ones I’d never before seen, some already cherished memories, and the usual weary bag of bones for a body in the aftermath. (I usually…
This one will get to you. Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven takes on a difficult subject — the terrible treatment of young girls by relatives enforcing conservative moral prerogatives. Sidestepping issues of religion, she makes a powerful case for the rights of women, with the help of five marvelous young actresses; her show is funny, scary…
An exercise in dizzy disorientation, this Cornell Woolrich crazy-house noir pulls the rug out from under the audience at least three times. You want delirium, you got it — the secret words for today are “Obsessive” and “Perverse.” Innocent Robert Cummings is no match for sicko psychos Peter Lorre and Steve Cochran. The Chase Blu-ray…