All sing the praises of Frank Borzage, a gentle director fully committed to the idea of romance in an imperfect world. Sally Eilers and James Dunn make a go of marriage, despite their personal flaws and difficulties with communication. It’s hard to believe that films of this vintage portray behaviors as sensitive as this. Bad…
Psycho launched a thousand twisted sickos and pathological relationships in films, but none can best Noel Black’s fascinating, funny romance between a newly-released arsonist and a fetching high schooler, hungry for freedom and lacking a moral compass. The pairing of Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld is inspired. Pretty Poison Blu-ray Twilight Time 1968 / Color…
Much has been said and written about the receiving and processing of music as a spiritual experience, either in the religious sense, as a way of attempting a connection with God, or in terms of feeling the lift to one’s emotions, the rush of excitement that a great piece of music well-played can offer to…
Joan Crawford controls every aspect of this glamorous, Oscar nominated noir about a murderous marriage double-cross. Good acting enlivens a by-the-book, gimmick-laden plot, with every moment designed to flatter the star. Sudden Fear Blu-ray The Cohen Film Collection 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 110 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 /…
Robert Siodmak’s superb noir classic pits two graduates of Little Italy against one other: a crook who can deceive relatives and seduce strangers into helping him, and the cop who wants to put him out of business. Starring the great Richard Conte, with Victor Mature in what might be his best role. Cry of the…
Does anybody still care about great movies for small children? If so, here’s a good one. A big, furry green dragon named Elliot is the kind of playmate every lonely kid wants. It’s a non-musical rethinking of the old 1977 movie, made with taste, discretion, and plenty of heart. Pete’s Dragon Blu-ray + DVD +…
John Huston’s primal heist film is an almost perfect movie, with a score of unforgettable characterizations. A solid crime noir, it concerns itself with the human ironies in the ‘left handed form of human endeavor.’ The Asphalt Jungle Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 847 1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / available…
Fox’s first official monster movie is a terrific-looking but mostly flat mystery that tries its utmost not to be a horror film at all. It’s a head scratcher that will interest fans of the expressive John Brahm, and help completists scratch another werewolf film off their gotta-see lists. The Undying Monster Blu-ray KL Studio Classics…
Remember the warning to avoid ‘crossing the streams’ in Ghostbusters? Director Geoff Murphy enjoyed a world-wide release for this eerie sci-fi fantasy about a scientist who becomes unstuck in time-space, alone in an empty world. The Quiet Earth Blu-ray Film Movement 1985 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / Street Date December 6,…
I have a back file of reader notes asking for a Blu-ray for John Huston’s Moby Dick, and more pointedly, wondering what will be done with its strange color scheme. I wasn’t expecting miracles, but this new Twilight Time disc should make the purists happy — it has approximated the film’s original, heavily muted…
Can an old-fashioned monster movie still work in the 1980s? The dedicated cast for this overachieving chiller takes its story of ‘Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers’ in directions most punk-era horrors do not. C.H.U.D. Blu-ray Arrow Video (U.S.) 1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 96 + 88 min. / Street Date November 22, 2016 /…
True-Crime Terror! Richard Fleischer and Edward Anhalt’s riveting serial killer makes extensive use of split- and multi-screen imagery. One of the most infamous murder sprees on record fudges some facts but still impresses as a novel approach. The Boston Strangler Blu-ray Twilight Time 1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 116 min. / Street Date…
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger officially become ‘The Archers’ for this sterling morale-propaganda picture lauding the help of the valiant Dutch resistance. It’s a joyful show of spirit, terrific casting (with a couple of surprises) and first-class English filmmaking. One of Our Aircraft is Missing Blu-ray Olive Films 1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy…
The USSR’s Cinerama knockoff proved a ‘good business’ between the rival superpowers, when some producers imported and re-edited six Soviet Kinopanorama travelogues to make an action- & culture-packed 3-panel Cinerama attraction. In some ways it’s one of the best. Cinerama’s Russian Adventure Blu-ray + DVD Flicker Alley 1966 / Color / Smilebox widescreen / 127…
If anybody’s dreams are interesting, Akira Kurosawa’s should be, and this late career fantasy is a consistently rewarding string of morality tales and visual essays that pop off the screen. Some of the imagery has input from the famed Ishiro Honda. Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 842 1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen…
Thanksgiving. After the past year of tumult, anger and divisiveness we’ve experienced in this country and around the world, to say nothing of the past couple of weeks, the concepts of thankfulness and appreciation may seem somewhat more distant and difficult to access than they might otherwise normally be. At any rate, Thanksgiving Day itself…
A World War, a solemn vow, and a promise betrayed lead to a ‘night of the living war dead’ — all cooked up by the director of Napoleon, Abel Gance. The early, famed pacifist fantasy is back in near-perfect condition and restored to its full length (for one version, anyway). It’s a reworking, not a…
Milestone wraps up its ‘Project Shirley,’ an in-depth study of the independent director of The Connection and Portrait of Jason. Practically all of Shirley Clarke’s small and experimental films are here from the early 1950s forward, plus a wealth of biographical film. The Magic Box: The films of Shirley Clarke, 1929-1987 Blu-ray The Milestone Cinematheque…
David Cronenberg puts Canada on the horror map with yet another early career ick-fest, about a vampiric woman armed with a new mutant organ. Marilyn Chambers is the dangerous female who spreads a plague of bloody murder. Fun for the whole family. Rabid Blu-ray Scream Factory 1977 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 91 min….
Sheltered in my Los Angeles bubble, I can’t believe that this crime movie had an accurate measure of the true pulse of the country. Texan outlaws rob banks to fight what appears to be a rigged system; the Texas Ranger who tracks them realizes that much of the population feels the same exact way. Jeff…
Cannon Films knocks one out of the park: Jon Voight and Eric Roberts escape from prison only to end up on a huge, speeding, out of control juggernaut of a freight train plowing through the Alaskan wilderness. It’s both an action bruise-fest and an existential statement, and it’s still a wild thrill ride. Runaway Train…
Elia Kazan’s third picture is a hard-hitting noir, a true story that honors the efforts of a noble States’ Attorney when confronted with a murder case that was a little too open-and-shut. But a close read of the movie uncovers a miasma of social criticism, hiding behind the self-congratulating official narration. A great show. Boomerang! Blu-ray KL…
Marlon Brando put his all into this impassioned, expertly acted and crafted VistaVision western spectacle. Has it been overlooked because of the scarcity of quality presentations? Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Pina Pellicer, Ben Johnson and Slim Pickens are unforgettable, as are the Big Sur locations. One-Eyed Jacks Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 844 1961 /…
Nicholas Meyer’s first directing effort is a classy science fiction thriller best remembered for a charming romantic angle, and for introducing many of us to the marvelous Mary Steenburgen. Clever storytelling pits Malcolm McDowell against fellow time tripper David Warner, in a fourth-dimensional pursuit of none other than Jack the Ripper. Time After Time Blu-ray…
In Japan Leonard Schrader’s docu about real-life American horrors was called Violent America. The decidedly unflattering picture couldn’t find a U.S. distributor when new but accrued a reputation as the ultimate compilation of violent historical images. It’s now filed with cannibal and zombie pictures in exploitation movie catalogs, yet it has more in common with…
When MGM was almost a ghost town, the Arthur Freed unit hit one last ‘special’ factory musical out of the park with this strangely melancholy ode to faded ambitions. Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd put in great, memorable work, while the glorious Dolores Gray is practically a living Tex Avery cartoon….