Viy Blu ray Severin Films 1967/ 1:37:1 / 78 min. Starring Leonid Kuravlyov,Natalya Varley Directed by Konstantin Ershov, Georgiy Kropachyov Anything can happen in a horror movie and that was one of the reasons despots from Stalin to Khrushchev banned the genre from their homeland for the better part of a century. Education and propaganda,…
Cobra Woman Blu ray Kino Lorber 1944/ 1:33 / 71 min. Starring Maria Montez, Jon Hall, Sabu Directed by Robert Siodmak In the early 40’s Universal Pictures was still best known for its shadowy black and white horror shows. That all changed in 1944 when the studio produced the kind of candy-colored dreamland not seen…
The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Blu ray Disney Movie Club 1964/ 1:66 / 151 min. Starring Patrick McGoohan, George Cole, Michael Hordern Directed by James Neilson One part Walt Disney, one part Patrick McGoohan – a bittersweet recipe if ever there was one. The notoriously brusque Irishman was immune to the crowd-pleasing sentimentality that shaped…
In the fall of ‘64, while Hollywood was gently satirizing the battle of the sexes with Send Me No Flowers and What a Way to Go!, Europe was at work in the trenches, peppering art houses with piercing dramas like François Truffaut‘s The Soft Skin and André Cayatte’s dual release, Anatomy of a Marriage: My Nights…
Abbott & Costello – The Complete Universal Pictures Collection Blu ray Shout! Factory 1940-1955/1:33-1:85 Starring Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff Directed by Arthur Lubin, Erle C. Kenton, Charles Barton Two footloose Jersey boys with no particular place to go, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello finally found themselves – literally and figuratively –…
The Magic Sword Blu ray Kino Lorber 1962/ 1:85 / 80 min. Starring Gary Lockwood, Basil Rathbone, Estelle Winwood Directed by Bert I. Gordon Fresh off producing and directing Tormented, a mildly lurid psychological shocker released in 1960, Bert I. Gordon pointed his next film in the direction of the Saturday matinee crowd, a select…
Konga Blu ray Kino Lorber 1961/ 1:85 / 90 min. Starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns Directed by John Lemont Like any actor worth their salt, Michael Gough contained multitudes. And so did his fans – from the West End to 42nd Street they gathered as one to sing his praises. Born in Kuala Lumpur and educated…
Spirited Away Blu ray GKIDS/Shout! Factory 2001/ 1:85 / 125 min. Starring Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino Directed by Hayao Miyazaki The story of a lonely child lost in a beautiful and bizarre dreamscape, Spirited Away naturally begs comparison to Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. But in contrast to those frenetic classics, Hayao…
Have the classic films of Hammer been subjected to more reissues than The Beatles? Not by a long shot but it can feel that way to dedicated Hammer-heads. The relentless tide of upgrades and re-packagings both foreign and domestic, each with their own pleasures and pitfalls, could inspire loyal fans to lobby for their own…
The Queen of Spades Blu ray Kino Lorber 1949/ 1.33:1 / 95 min. Starring Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans Directed by Thorold Dickinson One of the pleasures of discovering 1949’s The Queen of Spades is also discovering its director, Thorold Dickinson. Born and educated in Bristol, he abandoned Oxford for London to concentrate on the fine…
The Jetsons: The Complete Original Series Blu ray Warner Archive 1962/ 1.33:1 / 629 min. Starring George O’Hanlon, Penny Singleton Directed by William Hanna, Joseph Barbera In 1962 Kennedy’s New Frontier was in full effect – the country was still celebrating John Glenn’s heroics and Disney’s Tomorrowland had proved so popular it tacked on a monorail….
Häxan Blu ray Criterion 1922/ 1.33:1 / 105 min. Starring Benjamin Christensen Directed by Benjamin Christensen Fine art joins forces with the dark arts in Häxan, an impeccably crafted docu-drama with the lurid kick of an exploitation film. The influence of Benjamin Christensen’s silent horror show can be found far and wide, from movies as…
My Favorite Year Blu ray Warner Archive 1982/ 1.85:1 / 92 min. Starring Peter O’Toole, Mark Linn-Baker, Joe Bologna Directed by Richard Benjamin Nat King Cole’s shimmering version of Stardust, Rockefeller Plaza surrounded by wide-brimmed hats and two-toned Buicks – the first three minutes of My Favorite Year invoke the past with such ease that Proust…
Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s – Volume 3 Blu ray Warner Archive 1948-49/ 1.33:1 / 121 min. Starring Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Jackson Beck Directed by Izzy Sparber E. C. Segar’s Popeye made his newspaper debut in 1929 and his first animated appearance in 1933 with Max Fleischer’s Popeye the Sailor. By the time he reached…
Local Hero Blu ray Criterion 1983/ 1.85:1 / 111 min. Starring Peter Riegert, Burt Lancaster, Peter Capaldi, Denis Lawson Cinematography by Chris Menges Written and directed by Bill Forsyth Beginning with the aptly named That Sinking Feeling in 1979, the Scottish filmmaker Bill Forsyth has produced comedies whose bittersweet humor barely concealed the hurt. “Grin and bear it”…