How did this sneak by? It’s a combo escapist spy story, engrossing soap opera, and historically accurate Cold War flashback to the time of Duran Duran and Blondie, produced in Germany with a great cast of young and/or unfamiliar actors. Sure, the expected unlikelihoods are there, but so is an essential authenticity. Great fun! Deutschland…
Shaggy maniac Neville Brand was born on the bayou. He lives by his high morals and so just can’t resist feeding random visitors to his gargantuan crocodile. If they resist that idea, he uses a giant scythe for a persuader. Tobe Hooper’s sopho-gore feature boasts several name stars, plus, in this new edition, a brightly colored, picture-perfect…
Bruce Beresford says that by 1980 most Australians had forgotten that their countrymen had fought in the Boer War, and this scathing condemnation of England’s scapegoating of commonwealth volunteers had a big impact. Stars Edward Woodward, Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown front a protest from the past, in one of the most respected Aussie Renaissance…
It was a winner right out of the starting gate, an instant classic that’s still a pleasure for the eyes and ears. Carroll Ballard and Caleb Deschanel’s marvel of a storybook movie has yet to be surpassed, with a boy-horse story that seems to be taking place in The Garden of Eden. The Black…
Steve McQueen spent most of the 1960s avoiding lightweight movie roles — only to do well with his winning comedy-drama performance in William Faulkner’s most cheerful tale of old Mississippi. Get set for music by John Williams and an exciting climactic horse race. In storytelling terms this show would seem to have given Steven Spielberg a…
This week we’re taking a look at the movies that began life in the comic books. It’s a big subject so we’re featuring Part One today and Part Two on Thursday. Enjoy! Be sure to click “submit” to get your score!
For anyone who cringes at the words “found footage,” especially when applied to the recent glut of variable-quality horror movies like REC, V-H-S, Diary of the Dead, Cloverfield and the Paranormal Activity franchise, the idea of a scare picture taking place on, and entirely restricted to, the busily fragmented screen of a MacBook might just…
Let’s hear it for the great westerns — not the Ford and Hawks classics, but the fascinating marginal gems that see The West in a different way. Do you like Sam Peckinpah? Robert Parrish’s evocation of Texas and Mexico in the 1880s will be pleasantly familiar — a testing ground for personal codes and shifting…
Who needs epics about Ancient Rome, Egypt, or Greek mythology when we have a thousand years of exotic Central and South American civilizations to exploit? Well, it’s only been done a handful of times. This cinematic concatenation of nifty architecture, fruity multicolored headgear and athletic oiled warriors is, well, nifty, fruity and athletic! Kings of the Sun…
Animal movies aren’t just for kids anymore, but nobody made one better than this French production, which stars a pair of talented Ursine thespians doing their thing amid more beautiful mountain scenery than seems decent. It’s guaranteed perfect ‘watch something with the kid’ material, and more than intelligent enough for consenting adult fans of the great…
Forget English soap operas about upstairs and downstairs upheavals, Yoji Yamada’s chronicle of a life in the little Tokyo house with the little red roof is an emotional grabber. It’s the war years of patriotic acquiescence and home-front selfishness — and a secret, forbidden romance. The Little House (Chiisai ouchi) Twilight Time Savant Blu-ray Review Limited Edition…
There’s one ironclad rule for mad scientist movies: if you show a monstrous caged ape-creature in the first act, that ape-creature must absolutely break loose and wreak havoc before the end of Act III. It makes no difference if the film is being made on Gower Gulch, or at Germany’s prestigious UfA Studios. Just ask George Zucco or…
The Movie Challenge takes a literary turn this week so brush up your Shakespeare. Spoiler alert: Shakespeare does not appear in this quiz. Enjoy! Be sure to submit your score and let us know how you did in the comments!
The three-year run of Hannibal, one of the most visually and narratively innovative series ever to air on television, broadcast or cable, came to a breathtaking conclusion Saturday night. I have already confessed to a bit of selfish melancholy that there will be no more surprises, no more opportunities to get lost in the show’s…
Welcome to Part 2 of our animated TFH Movie Challenge. This time we’re tackling the films of today’s new golden age of animation. Enjoy! Be sure to click for your score, it helps us tally the numbers for our upcoming leaderboard!
Viewers expecting to see a lighthearted ‘Cisco Kid’ swashbuckler got a surprise with William Wellman’s movie: it’s a tragedy about a genuine historical California bandit who may have been an outlaw terrorist, avenging murderous discrimination against Mexican-Americans in the Gold Rush days. Hangings, rape and massacres — not your average popcorn matinee fare for 1936….
How does one make a movie about a hot-button political topic that’s divided the nation for sixty years? And if the facts of the case aren’t fully known, how can one be sure that some news revelation won’t reach back and make your well-meaning film play like a stack of lies? E. L. Doctorow and Sidney Lumet…
As far as Hollywood was concerned, hardboiled pulp author Raymond Chandler was big news in 1944 and 1945, working with Billy Wilder on the Production Code breakthrough hit Double Indemnity, and getting two of his popular Philip Marlowe books transposed to the screen — and not completely shorn of their racy content. Savant Blu-ray Review The Warner Archive Collection Warner…
We’ve all wished we could change our appearance to attract some desired object of our affections. Demented Malcolm Brand takes the notion seriously. Since his face doesn’t charm lovely Virginia, he’ll make himself a new one — stealing facial features from Virginia’s favorite friends. With a straight razor. I, Madman Savant Blu-ray Review Scream (Shout!) Factory 1989 / Color…
In the 1980s, bored film critics sometimes claimed to see homoerotic themes in any ‘buddy picture’ about guys being friends with guys. Only one bold comedy dared to confront this notion directly — in this show, Dennis Quaid spends a full two hours inside Martin Short, yet the finished picture is still perfectly suitable for all audiences and age…
It’s 1940, and the Nazi invasion of France is fully under way. A mother, father, a five-year-old girl and her tiny dog are among a throng of refugees fleeing Paris and jamming roads across the French countryside while German planes drop bombs and strafe their path with a relentless rain of machine gun fire. Soon…
This week we’re spending some time with our favorite bloodsuckers! Enjoy!
In the history of soggy underwater adventures, none have been been soggier than this A.I.P. Panavision curiosity from England. Four out of five insomniacs agree: it has the most awkwardly mis-matched cast of players in fantasy film history… starting with a chicken. KL Studio Classics Savant Blu-ray Review 1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen 1:37 flat…
We want to take a moment and welcome the DVD Savant himself, Glenn Erickson, to our guest blog. Glenn’s critical and technical insights make him unique in the vast sea of movie reviewers and we couldn’t be happier that he’s sharing the wealth here at TFH. Enjoy! Mad Max: Fury Road 3-D Blu-ray, 2-D Blu-ray, DVD, Digital…
Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule. Ever since I came up with the quizzical, whimsical (quizzimsical?) name for my blog way back in 2004, I’ve been asked how I settled on such an odd one. The answer is fairly simple: as originally envisioned, I supposed that I would split blog time between writing about…
This week we’re presenting a quizzical look at the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max! Enjoy! We’re working on a leaderboard for the quiz so be sure to click the “submit” button, it will help us tally the numbers. Thanks!