CineSavant
The President’s Analyst
Here's a GREAT picture whose time has come -- Theodore J. Flicker's spy spoof is one of the smartest, funniest political satires…
Articles by Glenn Erickson
CineSavant
Explorers
One of Joe Dante's finest pictures speaks heart-to-heart to gee-whiz space fans -- transporting us from our backyard to the far reaches…
CineSavant
Scarface (1932)
Still the fiercest and most cinematic of the first wave of gangster classics, Howards Hughes and Hawks's pre-Code rule-breaker was the one…
CineSavant
To New Shores & La Habanera
Douglas Sirk proves his mettle as a consummate romantic storyteller in these part-musical melodramas from the peak of his career in Germany.…
CineSavant
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
"Learn it. Know it. Live it!" The best-remembered teen comedy of the '80s is also an insightful and unabashed look at real…
CineSavant
Hellfighters
"Two smoldering women made all the danger worthwhile!"... heck, we didn't even see 'em catch fire. John Wayne is charismatic and Andrew…
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Blood of the Vampire
The man with eyebrows that can kill! Not really, but that's the impression given by the poster illustration. The Baker/Berman producing team…
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Giants and Toys
Brilliant filmmaking from Japan: Yasuzô Masumura's film all but screams in protest, that unfettered consumer capitalism is cannibalism, plain and simple. In…
CineSavant
The Woman One Longs For
It's Marlene Dietrich, before Josef von Sternberg and The Blue Angel -- and much of her mystique is already present. This sophisticated…
CineSavant
History is Made at Night
'Unabashed, unfettered romanticism' runs wild in Frank Borzage's golden-age masterpiece of a runaway wife and the crazy Frenchman who pursues her. Long…
CineSavant
The Whistle at Eaton Falls
It's another CineSavant Revival Screening Review of a show not presently available on disc: not an old favorite, but something we admittedly…
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Escape from Fort Bravo
John Sturges' first color western is a tightly organized and unpretentious winner about a stern Union prison warden and a Confederate prisoner…
CineSavant
The Blue Lamp
It's the granddaddy of British cop dramas of the modern era. The most popular English picture of 1950 introduced PC George Dixon,…
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Nightmare Alley
One of the most glamorous / unsavory films noir ever, this creepy tale of a master con-man undone by warped ambition was…
CineSavant
Donnie Darko 4K
The 4K Ultra HD crowd has a treat in store, for Donnie Boy is back for theatrical quality home screenings. Richard Kelly's…
CineSavant
Smile
Near the pinnacle of director-driven '70s cinema is this marvelous comedy about a 'American Miss' contest, and the swirl of personalities that…
CineSavant
They Won’t Believe Me
Vintage high-end Film Noir from the classic year 1947! Low Mileage too -- this long cut hasn't been seen since the…
CineSavant
Columbia Noir #3
Witness six noir heroes, doing what noir heroes do: one crooked gambler, one psycho, another psycho with access to a gun, a…
CineSavant
The Night of the Following Day
Hubert Cornfield's smoothly directed, moody kidnapping story is mysterious, engaging and well acted, but opts for an anti-thriller vibe with a curiously…
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Broadway Melody of 1940
For his first re-teaming sans Ginger, Fred Astaire hot-foots it to MGM and the waiting tap & sweep partner Eleanor Powell, already…
CineSavant
Switchblade Sisters
The always-dynamic director Jack Hill goes teen-gang wild with this absolutely crazy take on JD pictures, pitched three octaves higher than normal…
CineSavant
Quick Change
On the short list of post- classic-era comedies I can see over and over again is this beautifully executed Bill Murray crime…
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Fukushima 50
This Japanese docudrama is an excellent primer on the scary near- meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. After…
CineSavant
The Hot Spot
A sizzling neo-noir that should have boosted Dennis Hopper into feature bankability goes a tad slack -- my guess is that Hopper's…
CineSavant
Defending Your Life
Albert Brooks' most entertaining picture is still about modern anxieties, but this time seen through a satirical 'film blanc' filter. Neurotic ad…
CineSavant
Annie Get Your Gun
MGM's old-fashioned Irving Berlin musical has superior songs and powerful performances, especially that of Betty Hutton. She gets plenty loud and rambunctious,…