Bertrand Blier’s edgy romp about a pair of ne’er-do-well petty-crooks will go too far for many viewers — they’re antisocially chauvinistic in some really outrageous ways. Are they jolly adventurers or just terminally obnoxious? The twisted social comedy really needs its talented cast: Gérard Depardieu, Patrick Dewaere, Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Brigitte Fossey, and a very…
Elvis Presley’s handlers found the formula that would keep his stardom solvent through the 1960s in this well-confected, calculatedly vacant star vehicle that EVERYBODY liked and enjoyed in 1961. The coolest celeb in America ended up in some of the squarest, least-hip films of the era. Why do we like it so? Cutting through the…
Pixar’s save-the-world eco-epic actually begins with the world destroyed, before a pair of cute robots help put it back together again. Andrew Stanton’s animated comedy finds hope and cheer in a post-apocalyptic scenario, a tall order for any speculative science fiction tale. Meet WALL•E, the nuts ‘n’ bolts super-janitor, and EVE, the sleek next-generation seeker…
Rarovideo is back, with an excellent Italo war drama that finds humanist values in an appalling situation: a young Italian lieutenant is tasked with distributing 12 Athenian prostitutes to garrisons on the road back to Italy, to ‘service’ the troops. It’s a mixed group — a couple of the women have signed up to avoid…
Arsenic and Old Lace Blu-ray Criterion 1941 / 1.33: 1 / 118 Min. Starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane Written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein Directed by Frank Capra Almost supernaturally handsome, Mortimer Brewster is quite the catch; a celebrated man about town and theater critic who saves his most acerbic reviews for matrimony,…
Yet another 3-D Blu-ray treat — the 3-D Film Archive restores a rare English production, an international crime tale in 3-D. Dennis O’Keefe’s T-Man helps Scotland Yard track down a gang of smugglers that kidnaps and murders to force an Atom scientist to perfect his manufacturing formula for synthetic diamonds. You know, just like the…
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer hit the big screen early in the 3-D craze, in a much tamed-down adaptation. The camera legend John Alton handled the lighting and likely called the shots on the camera setups as well. As a detective noir it’s definitely flat-footed, with a bum script, weak direction and a miscast Biff Elliot…
Dore Schary’s post-MGM personal production is a class act in every respect — Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan and Myrna Loy are well cast in a story of intimate emotional cruelty. It’s from a play derived from Nathanael West’s soul-crushing novella, and despite the talent involved, it can’t shake the feeling of an overheated TV drama….
Another classic-era Eurohorror title has surfaced on Blu-ray. Straight from the exploitation trenches of postwar Germany, this elusive opus jangles plenty of nerves with its tale of mad surgery and crazy transplants. Partly a girlie show — most every scene involves some form of disrobing — it’s nevertheless an intriguing horror cocktail with top production…
Gothic Fantastico-Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Arrow Video Starring Barbara Nelli, Helga Liné, Franco Nero, Erica Blanc Written by Giovanni Grimaldi, Bruno Corbucci Directed by Massimo Pupillo, Alberto De Martino, Mino Guerrini, Damiano Damiani The success of 1957’s I Vampiri, a grimly beautiful fantasy directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava, provoked an unexpected…
With human justice absent in the awful political bloodshed in Central America, Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamente finds payback in cinematic fantasy. A crooked government exonerates a genocidal general, but his estate is besieged around the clock by Mayan-Ixil Indio protesters. Into the house comes a new maid — a tiny young woman who may nevertheless…
The Bat Blu-ray The Film Detective 1959 / 1.85: 1 / 80 Min. Starring Agnes Moorehead, Vincent Price Written by Crane Wilbur Directed by Crane Wilbur Crane Wilbur’s The Bat is a murder mystery starring Agnes Moorehead and Vincent Price—but the real mystery is how Hollywood managed to pair these diabolically funny entertainers in only…
A truly fascinating rarity from the U.S.S.R., Karen Shahknazarov’s wickedly droll satire proves that the country Reagan called an ‘Evil Empire’ was radically changing in the late 1980s. Half Kafka paranoia and partly a Valentine to American freedoms, it takes the psychological temperature of a society that just plain no longer functions. Leonid Filatov’s unflappable…
Ivan Passer’s superb coda to the ’60s counterculture generation now enjoys a formidable reputation; this new Fun City Editions release packs it with terrific extras. It may have the best performances by top stars John Heard, Jeff Bridges and Lisa Eichhorn. Disaffected 30-somethings in Santa Barbara investigate a murder and then try to blackmail a…
Still by far the best adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, Paramount’s glossy pre-Code is also one of the most prestigious horror shows on record. Fredric March won an acting Oscar and it’s one of Miriam Hopkins’ best performances. The film is sexually daring and technically astute — with the help of cameraman Karl…
Anticipating new interest in one of the most influential horror films of all time, Criterion gives George Romero’s zombie classic the boost to 4K. Pittsburghs’ most famous movie production returns American horror to its down-home roots, with excellent docu-drama direction and enthusiastic performances. It’s like a Disney film: every seven years a new generation will…
Severin’s October offerings include this investigation of Euro-weirdness curated with academic purpose and clarity by Kier-La Janisse, evoking the name of her book from 2012. The thesis is the representation of women in filmic horror — except that in these strange experiences, hysteria transforms into a liberating form of empowerment: Identikit, I Like Bats, Footsteps…
This Civil War thriller has so much that’s truthful to say about War, Patriotism and combatant-vs.-civilian terror that we can hardly believe it was released in 1954. It’s based on a true event from 1864, a daring undercover mission that hit the Union far away from the conventional fighting. Van Heflin is the vengeance-seeking advance…
Yes, it’s Hammer’s grimy rags ‘n’ rock prehistoric saga, the notorious third caveman vs. dinosaurs spectacle that has no dinosaurs, leaving the ‘creatures’ of the title as a no-show. Director Don Chaffey does his best with a screenplay that Michael Carreras must have sketched on the back of a cocktail napkin. If you like rugged…
Blow Out 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD Criterion 1981 / 2.39 : 1 / 108 Min. Starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen Written by Brian De Palma Directed by Brian De Palma In 1978’s The Films in My Life, Francois Truffaut wrote that all movies should express “the joy of making cinema.” The…
Richard Fleischer’s Biblical epic is a class act all the way, and one of producer Dino De Laurentiis’s greatest accomplishments. Anthony Quinn’s guilty, perplexed bandit survives and subsists but never understands the importance of the man crucified in his place; the view of early Christianity is respectful and free of pious clichés. It’s an excellent…
Martin McDonagh’s cult hit man feature comes to 4K looking extremely good: fans of low-key black humor and droll sentimentality, kinda-like-the-Coens, kinda-like-Tarantino, love this picture. Cute characterizations from Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson & Ralph Fiennes bring light to a ‘killers with a heart’ story. It keeps us watching to see what happens next, that’s for…
Saucy pre-Code entertainment frequently served up risqué dialogue, with edgy content like promiscuity and drug use. Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 murder mystery goes straight for a supposed family-industry no-no: Broadway-revue near-nudity featuring Earl Carroll’s ‘Most Beautiful Girls In The World.’ Victor McLaglen is an inept detective and Jack Oakie a wise-cracking impresario. Gertrude Michael and Kitty Carlisle…
Behold — it’s Indiana Jones in embryonic form. Paramount’s South American adventure exploits Peruvian scenery and the ’50s exotica phenomenon that was the unique songstress Yma Sumac. The production receives hearty input from Charlton Heston, Nicole Maurey and Thomas Mitchell, but it’s mostly a relic today. Not because the Raiders films have stolen its thunder…
Many gangland parodies fall flat, but not Jonathan Demme’s marvelous combo of high spirits and murder. Mafia spouse Angela de Marco’s story is goofy comedy with an edge of economic reality: how does one newly-impoverished New Yawk dame make a living for her orphaned son, while avoiding the adulterous attentions of the Big Boss who…
It’s one of the year’s most awaited discs: the recent restored and remastered The War of the Worlds ’53 in a glorious 4K Ultra HD edition. A second Blu-ray disc of When Worlds Collide ’51 is too good to be called a bonus extra: this edition looks better than anything seen since original Technicolor prints….