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”…
Cluny Brown Blu ray Criterion 1946/ 1.33:1 / 100 min. Starring Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones Cinematography by Joseph LaShelle Directed by Ernst Lubitsch The last film completed by Ernst Lubitsch before his sudden death in 1947, Cluny Brown is the life-embracing work of a determined romantic – unintimidated by poor health let alone the World…
Fists in the Pocket Blu ray Criterion 1965/ 1.85:1 / 108 min. Starring Lou Castel, Paola Pitagora Cinematography by Alberto Marrama Directed by Marco Bellochio The split-personality of world cinema was never more evident than in 1965 when Fists in the Pockets and Repulsion debuted alongside The Sound of Music and That Darn Cat. All four films dealt…
Man Without a Star Blu ray Kino Lorber 1955/ 2.00:1 / 89 min. Starring Kirk Douglas, William Campbell, Jeanne Crain, Claire Trevor Cinematography by Russell Metty Directed by King Vidor King Vidor, the director behind the bucolic Kansas sequences in The Wizard of Oz and the histrionics of Duel in the Sun, has it both…
Jonny Quest: The Complete Original Series Blu ray Warner Archive 1964/ 1.33:1 / Each Episode 25 min. Starring Tim Matheson, Don Messick Music by Hoyt Curtin Directed by William Hanna, Joe Barbera Though the heartland was nearing a showdown between the Masters of War and the Age of Aquarius, things were relatively status quo in…
Billy the Kid VS. Dracula Blu ray Kino Lorber 1966/ 1.85:1 / 73 min. Starring John Carradine, Chuck Courtney, Virginia Christine Cinematography by Lothrop B. Worth Directed by William Beaudine William Beaudine, the human assembly line behind a warehouse full of movies that included Voodoo Man and Bowery Buckeroos, hauls John Carradine onto an over-lit and…
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 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 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…