Articles by Charlie Largent

Piranha

Piranha Blu ray Shout! Factory 1978/ 1.85:1 / 92 min. Starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy Cinematography by Jamie Anderson Directed by Joe Dante In 1968 Joe Dante and Jon Davison teamed up to make The Movie Orgy, a counter-culture take on 1941’s comic blitzkrieg, Hellzapoppin’. Running two hours longer than Ben-Hur, the Dante/Davison…

Klute

Klute Blu ray Criterion 1971/ 2.39:1/ 114 min. Starring Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland Cinematography by Gordon Willis Directed by Alan J. Pakula Jane Fonda plays Bree Daniels, the hooker with a heart of glass in 1971’s Klute. The lanky vamp in the shag cut and form-fitting mini-skirt is desired by many but they’ll have to…

Dead of Night

Dead of Night Blu ray Kino Lorber 1945 / 1.33 : 1 / 102 Min. Starring Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Googie Withers Cinematography by Douglas Slocombe Directed by Basil Dearden, Alberto Cavalcant, Charles Chrichton, Robert Hamer Anthology films have been a reliable Hollywood staple since D.W. Griffith’s time-traveling Intolerance and Paramount’s depression-era dramedy If I…

Universal Horror Collection: Vol. 1

Universal Horror Collection: Vol. 1 Blu ray Shout! Factory 1934, ’35, ’36, ’40 / 1.33 : 1 / 66 / 61 / 79 / 70 min. Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi Cinematography by John J. Mescall, Charles Stumar, George Robinson, Elwood Bredell Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, Lew Landers, Lambert Hillyer, Arthur Lubin Like the…

Swing Time

Swing Time Blu ray Criterion 1936 / 1.33 : 1 / 103 Min. Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers Cinematography by David Abel Directed by George Stevens The image of a tuxedo clad Fred Astaire hopping an empty boxcar sums up the double-edged appeal of Swing Time, a transcendent musical-comedy in which Fred and Ginger meet…

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini Blu ray Olive Films 1965 / 2.35 : 1 / 93 Min. Starring Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Mickey Rooney Cinematography by Floyd Crosby Directed by William Asher Sam Arkoff and James Nicholson, the men behind such teen-friendly drive-in fare as Reform School Girl and High School Hellcats, caught a…

Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet Blu ray Criterion 1986 / 2.35 : 1 / 120 Min. Starring Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern Cinematography by Frederick Elmes Directed by David Lynch Voyeurs come in all shapes and sizes, from wallflowers like Russ Meyer’s Immoral Mr. Teas to the handsome but lethal pin-up artist of Michael Powell’s…

Shaft’s Big Score! / Shaft in Africa

Shaft’s Big Score! / Shaft in Africa Blu ray Warner Archive 1972, 1973 / 2.35 : 1 / 104, 112 Min. Starring Richard Roundtree, Vonetta McGee, Frank Finley Directed by Gordon Parks, John Guillermin Released in 1971 during a notoriously divisive presidential campaign, Shaft was both a middle finger to the powers that be and…

Fantômas – Three Film Collection

Fantômas – Three Film Collection Blu ray Kino Lorber 1964, 1965, 1967 / 2.35 : 1 / 322 Min. Starring Jean Marais, Louis de Funès, Mylène Demongeot Directed by André Hunebelle Eighteen years after playing the duel roles of an aristocratic monster and his swashbuckling adversary in Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, Jean Marais got…

Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke Blu ray Shout! Factory 1997 / 1.85 : 1 / 133 Min. Starring Yōji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki Hayao Miyazaki spent much of his early career as an artist and animator on children’s fare like Gulliver’s Travels Beyond the Moon and Puss in Boots, each as energetic as a school recess…

The House of the Seven Gables

The House of the Seven Gables Blu ray Kino Lorber 1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min. Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders Written by Lester Cole Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner Directed by Joe May In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink…

The Nightcomers

The Nightcomers Blu ray Kino Lorber 1971 / 1:85:1 / 96 Min. Starring Marlon Brando, Stephanie Beacham Written by Michael Hastings Cinematography by Robert Paynter Directed by Michael Winner Between 1944 and 1992 Jack Clayton directed just nine movies but they included some of the most elegant yet clear-eyed films to come out of post-war…

The Strange Door

The Strange Door Blu Ray Kino Lorber 1951 / 1:33:1 / 81 Min. Starring Charles Laughton, Boris Karloff, Sally Forrest Written by Jerry Sackheim Cinematography by Irving Glassberg Directed by Joseph Pevney Charles Laughton is a vengeful aristocrat with a secret in the cellar and Boris Karloff is the family servant who holds the key…