Film directors trying to express themselves in East Germany had a tough row to hoe, yet quite a few of them dared to stray beyond the confines of social realism. The DEFA Film Library has two new releases from 1966 that were banned and shelved before they could be finished — and weren’t seen until…
It’s a genuine forgotten gem: American student Jean Seberg’s five-year adventure in Paris is mostly a period of romantic frustration. Irwin Shaw and Robert Parrish’s look at the problems of an independent woman is remarkably insightful; the chronically miscast and underused Ms. Seberg is luminous. In the French Style Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1963…
Franceso Rosi’s warm, thoughtful tale sees a family gathering observe grievous modern problems — after so much violence in Italian politics people are still looking for humanistic solutions. Philippe Noiret heads a great cast (with Charles Vanel) in this mellow reflection on ‘the things of life.’ Three Brothers Region B Blu-ray + PAL DVD Arrow…
Is satire obsolete? Our appalling present political reality has surpassed some of the wildest jokes in director Joe Dante’s ‘exaggerated, outrageous’ 1997 cable movie. An immigration squabble snowballs until a renegade state governor closes his border and threatens to secede from the Union. It’s a ‘political idiocy’ version of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad…
This is one of Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor’s best, written and directed by the classy MGM team of director Vincente Minnelli and writers Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett. It inspired a decade’s worth of TV family sitcoms and set the benchmark for weddings for generations. Great fun and solid sentiment without mugging or exaggeration….
“Sorry, I just slashed my wrists.” “Well, tape ’em!” This is the aftermath of the ’60s protest movement. Ivan Passer’s riveting murder mystery of flakes and losers in sun-drenched, guilty Santa Barbara expresses the rage of radicals faced with the growing class divide, and the arrogance of the wealthy. Cutter’s Way Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited…
Guns! Guns! Guns! John Milius’ rootin’ tootin’ bio of the most famous of the ’30s bandits has plenty of good things to its credit, especially its terrific, funny cast, topped by the unlikely star Warren Oates. The battles between Dillinger’s team of all-star bank robbers and Ben Johnson’s G-Man aren’t neglected, as Milius savors every…
This noir hits with the force of a blast furnace — Cy Endfield’s wrenching tale of social neglect and injustice will tie your stomach in knots. Sound like fun? An unemployed man turns to crime and reaps a whirlwind of disproportionate retribution. It’s surely the most powerful of all filmic accusations thrown at the American…
Take a look at the roots of American campaign image consciousness, and the then-new techniques of cinéma vérité to bring a new ‘reality’ for film documentaries. Four groundbreaking films cover the Kennedy-Humphrey presidential primary, and put us in the Oval Office for a showdown against Alabama governor George Wallace. The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew…
Director Robert Montgomery’s last feature is a war movie like no other, a study in leadership and command with no combat scenes. James Cagney uses none of his standard personality mannerisms; the result is something very affecting. And that music! You’ll think the whole show is the memory of a soul in heaven. The Gallant…
This horror almost-classic has Christopher Lee and great atmosphere. Keep a sharp lookout for All Them Witches: they’re not easy to spot… especially if you’re as unobservant as Venetia Stevenson’s sexy grad student. Were she studying sharks, this girl would wrap herself in fresh meat and jump into the middle of a mess of ’em….
“This land is mine, God made this land for me.” Those are just song lyrics, while Otto Preminger’s politically daring 70mm mega-production is a lot more subtle in its presentation of the ‘Palestinian problem’ that led to the formation of the State of Israel. It’s a bit ponderous, but Dalton Trumbo’s screenplay avoids the pitfalls…
Alfred Hitchcock assembles all the right elements for this respected mystery thriller. Joan Fontaine is concerned that her new hubby Cary Grant plans to murder her. But Hitch wasn’t able to use the twist ending that attracted him to the story in the first place! Suspicion Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1941 / B&W / 1:37…
Hollywood tackles the big issues! This adapted play about an unwanted teen pregnancy is actually quite good, thanks to fine performances by Carol Lynley and Brandon De Wilde, who convince as cherubic high schoolers ‘too young to know the score.’ And hey, the teen trauma is set to an intense music score by Bernard Herrmann….
Hey, we’re having a NUCLEAR family crisis, so load up your shotgun, grab the grenades and head for the hills, stealing what you need as you go. Ray Milland’s tense tale of doomsday survival shook up a lot of folks with its endorsement of ruthless violence. Fortunately the worst never happened, allowing us to ask,…
Forget Caltiki and forget The Blob: ‘The Stuff’ doesn’t eat you, you eat it! Larry Cohen takes a page from Professor Quatermass for this satirical slap at blind consumerism and unregulated commerce, in a thriller packed with ooky glob-monsters and people hollowed out like Halloween pumpkins. It’s the smart side of ’80s sci-fi: Cohen knows…
Tired of stupid sword ‘n’ sandal costume pictures? Robert Rossen‘s all-star bio-epic of the charter founder of the Masons is a superior analysis of political ambition and the ruthless application of power. Yeah, he’s wearing a blond wig, but Richard Burton captures the force of Alexander without camping up Asia Minor. Alexander the Great Blu-ray…
What horrors will we find on the planet Yoo-rah-nuss? A cyclopean dinosaur? Nasty spider monsters? A megalomaniac cerebellum that can turn our X-rated sex fantasies into flesh and blood people? Let’s go! Sid Pink’s flashy and slightly idiotic adventure stars space cadet John Agar as an average guy willing to have sex with a phantom…
Auteur Harold ‘P.’ Warren puts the Pee back in showmanship! After seeing this frightless Texan fright show you’ll want to nominate Ed Wood for a posthumous Oscar. It’s popular beyond all comprehension. The intrepid disc producers provide great extras, but can’t quite make us understand WHY it is the Landmark Lemon of all time. “Manos”…
Fans of this show know it as the It’s a Wonderful Life of war movies, an intensely moving tale that restores feeling and tenderness to people crippled by loss and despair. The stellar pairing of top star Gregory Peck and Burmese unknown Win Min Than is unique in movies and not to be missed. The…
The story of a brave, innocent immigrant gets a glorious re-telling. Never fear, for this emotional but unsentimental tale of an Irish lass making big decisions features a breakout performance by Saoirse Ronan, an actress who melts hearts with one flash of her blue eyes… Brooklyn Blu-ray 20th Century Fox 2015 / Color / 1:85…
That scarlet woman Ingrid is back from exile, and hypocritical Hollywood is not complaining — Anatole Litvak and Arthur Laurents make an intriguing romantic-psychological mystery of a bogus Romanoff Duchess who surfaces in 1928 Paris to claim the crown fortune. Good roles for Yul Brynner and Helen Hayes as well. It’s a strange intersection of…
All hail Frank Tashlin! America’s subversive secret weapon of the 1950s made incredible adult live-action cartoon movies that satirized all the sex and vulgarity denied by the mainstream. In Technicolor! Political incorrectness meets lollypop-sweet sentimentality in a farce that transcends good taste. Susan Slept Here Blu-ray Warner Archive Collection 1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen…
Looking for a visionary and poetic film with something relevant to say about the ongoing personal tech revolution? Brilliant vintage film clips, many from experimental films, show how our desire for ‘connectivity’ reached critical mass. With brilliant editing, evocative music and a stirring narration read by Tilda Swinton. And it even has a sense of…
Did Quentin Tarantino stumble this time out? His tale of western killers sharing a snowbound cabin builds almost zero suspense, and the verbal excess and violent grossness lack Tarantino’s usual clever, wickedly funny edge. And 70mm cooped up in a dim interior? It’s A Long Day’s Journey into Lincoln Logs. Totally dig Jennifer Jason Leigh…
Superb filmmaking! Edward Yang’s chronicle of the children of Chinese exiles in Taiwan follows one teen’s strange story of accidental delinquency, muted romance and pervasive violence in a closed society fed on American Rock ‘n’ Roll and Cold War militarism. Almost exactly as long as Gone With the Wind, Yang’s intimate epic is one of…