Fascinating, contradictory amalgam of H.G. Wells’ Utopian liberal-fascist politics and William Cameron Menzies’ brilliant production design. One of a kind epic accurately predicts World War II and offers up some amazingly cool retro-futuristic imagery. The first reel, especially, is killer.
This was the final commentary recorded for us by George Hickenlooper. Carol Reed’s endlessly watchable post-war thriller, the fourth pairing of Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, is generally considered one of the greats. Tensions between producers Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick resulted in two separate cuts of the film. Robert Krasker won an Oscar…
Boisterous, rollicking, side-splitting– adjectives that are usually promo hype– but applied to Richard Lester’s comic masterpiece they’re totally accurate. By far the wittiest, cleverest and most atmospheric retelling of Dumas’ classic, with a cast to die for.
The vanished grindhouse era of gory, misogynist Ed-Gein-inspired Psycho knockoffs lives again, at least for the three minutes it takes Eli Roth to guide us through this frustratingly misguided trailer.
The Stooges’ next to last feature after their early 60s resurgence is a low-budget Jules Verne knockoff. The Boys, though elderly, are as antisocial as ever.
Well on his way to leading man movie stardom, TV favorite James Garner steps into the shoes of Rock Hudson and Cary Grant as Doris Day’s latest partner in her increasingly popular series of glossy, sophisticated comedy vehicles. Dick Van Dyke Show creator Carl Reiner provided the witty script and one of the cleverest trailers…
Robert Mitchum stars (and sings!) as an Appalachian moonshiner out to bamboozle the Feds. Little noted at the time, this has proven to be a hotrod classic over time. Filmed on location in Asheville North Carolina. This trailer is a textless one created for overseas use.
Clint Eastwood teams up with Jeff Bridges for something more than a male version of Thelma and Louise from director Michael Cimino before he became controversial. A buddy picture that transcends all sexual readings, this is an overlooked gem. Some great character bits by Bill McKinney and Dub Taylor, and the great George Kennedy is…
J. Lee Thompson directed this 1959 thriller about the unlikely friendship between a young tomboy played by Hayley Mills and a sailor who’s wanted for murder played by Horst Buchholz. This was Hayley’s first film and her father John (also her co-star) said “She looked as if she’d been born in front of a camera.”…
Terry Gilliam’s first film as solo director was 1977’s Jabberwocky but Time Bandits, a mix of absurdist fairy tales and Ashcan realism, established his style for years to come. He’s helped considerably by a remarkably high-profile cast including Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson and, memorably, John Cleese as a petulant, self-absorbed Robin Hood. Michael Palin co-stars…
George Pal’s greatest work finds the humanity in H.G. Wells’ classic, ably served by Oscar-winning fx, Russ Garcia’s memorable score and Rod Taylor and Alan Young’s warm performances and an unforgettable turn by Yvette Mimieux as Weena, the bravest of the Eloi. A touchstone for a generation. Paul Frees seems quite enthusiastic about it!
A movie that really does have something for everyone. Nicholas Meyer’s wonderfully inventive sci-fi pastiche about a time-traveling H.G. Wells and his search for Jack the Ripper in present-day San Francisco is a buoyant fantasy, nerve-wracking suspense film and one of the best romances of its decade. Malcolm McDowell, as far removed from Alex the…
In his only TFH commentary, the late Ib Melchior shares some backstage info on the making of this lesser-known but diverting sci fi fantasy that sports one of the most cleverly edited climaxes in the genre. That’s Forry Ackerman, editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland, as one of the technicians transforming a circle into a square….
“You’ll know you’ve been kissed by her ebony fist when the blood from your face stains her diamond necklace!” This kind of doggerel was common in selling ’70s black action movies (that line is from the radio spot). Jeannie Bell, Richard Burton’s foxy then-girlfriend, stars in this Filipino epic for which the entirely fictitious Ebony…
Jack Benny’s greatest movie role, and no wonder–it was written especially for him by Ernst Lubitsch! Carole Lombard’s swan song earned her some of her finest reviews posthumously, but the film itself, daringly dark for the time, was generally regarded as an insensitive and even troubling satire of wartime issues. The title refers not only…
Nicole Kidman’s superb performance as a self-absorbed but beautiful monster is only enhanced by a terrific supporting cast including Matt Dillon, Joaquin Phoenix and Illeana Douglas. Buck Henry wrote the whip-smart script for Gus Van Sant’s black comedy about a fame-obsessed schoolteacher who turns to murder to make her mark.
A sweet, poignant little movie that hasn’t been on anybody’s radar since it sank from view in 1972. Notable for its frank treatment of teen sexuality and abortion, this is the kind of studio movie they stopped making a few years later. Pamela Sue Martin’s film debut and a US entry in the Cannes Film…
Hawks and Hemingway, Bogie and Bacall, most films would sink under this embarrassment of riches but the brilliant Howard Hawks not only juggles these heavy hitters, he ups the ante with a supporting cast that defines “colorful”—Hoagy Carmichael, Walter Brennan flesh out this tale of a freelance fisherman in wartime Martinique and the Yankee stunner…
A William Friedkin fan favorite reaches 4K — the reputation of this thriller has risen over the years, along with the career of its cultured villain, Willem Dafoe. On the trail of a murderous counterfeiter, William Petersen’s elite Secret Service agent goes rogue, running wild and putting lives at risk. His callous use of informants…
Sidney Poitier is indelible in one of his signature roles. A very popular model of the selfless-teacher-inspires-disaffected-high schoolers genre that has flourished ever since. Writer-director James Clavell avoids sentimentality to a surprising (but not entirely absent) degree and the film remains an audience favorite 40 years later.
The culture clash rocking a black family in South Central L.A. sparks director Charles Burnett’s 1990 film which was selected in 2017 for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The powerful cast includes Vonetta McGee, Paul Butler as the beleaguered paterfamilias and Danny Glover as the family friend whose southern ways roil the not-so-tightknit…
Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel zoomed to the best seller lists after the success of this well-received multi-Oscar winner (best picture, director, screenplay and music score), attractively shot on location utilizing the residents of Cerne Abbas, a small village in Dorchester. Albert Finney and Joyce Redman’s elaborately erotic chow-down scene is right up there with Marco…
Roger Corman bids farewell to his Edgar Allan Poe series with a beautifully mounted departure from the heavy stylization of previous entries, played more like a gothic romance. Vincent Price would go on to topline an eccentric collection of further Poe “adaptations”, some of them in name only. Elizabeth Shepherd is a strong proto-Jane Austen…
Ken Russell’s overpowering fantasia is a psychedelic reimagining of The Who’s 1969 rock opera, moving the period from post WWI to post WW2, with new songs added and many liberties taken with both book and music. It made quite a splash in 1975, not only due to Russell’s brilliant pop imagery but the one-time-only debut…
Critics, ticket buyers, and even Hitchcock himself had mixed feelings about 1969’s Topaz, a Cold War thriller adapted from Leon Uris’s bestseller. Though the film relied on European stars like Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Krimi queen Karin Dor, the Hitchcock touch won over American audiences. The press got on board too: Sir Alfred took…
One of a kind co-production between 20th Century Fox and Japan’s Toei Studios depicts the fateful (mostly wrong) decisions leading up to the world-shaking events of December 7, 1941, depicted with semi-documentary accuracy. The fiery spectacle is real, not computer-generated, and some of the stunts herein have never been topped. No love interest, a non-star…