Two guys, some guns, a suitcase full of cash and the open road: what could go wrong? Val Kilmer and Michael Madsen meet their match in Joanne Whalley Kilmer, a neo-noir bad news dame if there ever was one. The murderous melodrama stretches the length of Nevada; director John Dahl adds the cops and the…
Dutch doctor Rebecca Gomberts built a reproductive clinic on a ship, sailed it to countries where abortion is outlawed — Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain… and got responses from thousands of women in need. It’s an advocacy docu about an activist experiment that’s moving around the world, promoting positive change. Vessel DVD Kino Lorber 2014 /…
It’s the classic paranoid conspiracy that won’t go away… and that seems more possible with every passing year. Laurence Harvey is a remote-controlled assassin, and Frank Sinatra seems to be under a little hypnotic influence himself… or are we just imagining it? John Frankenheimer and George Axelrod concoct a masterpiece from the novel by Richard…
Kathleen Collins’ name made a big cultural rebound with a single review in The New Yorker — of an independent movie she wrote and directed in 1982. It’s a confluence of important black theater and filmmaking talent — Collins, Bill Gunn, Duane Jones, Billie Allen and, in the background, William Greaves and the history of…
Guns! Bombs! Assassinations! Blackmail! Fritz Lang invents the escapist super-spy thriller! To seize a set of political documents the evil Haghi dispatches the seductive agents Kitty and Sonya to neutralize a Japanese security man and our own top spy No. 236. (that’s 007 x 33,714.2857!) It’s a top-rank silent winner from the maker of Metropolis….
On the centennial of the Easter Uprising and just a few days past St. Patrick’s Day, WHV present’s Neil Jordan’s biopic epic of Ireland’s most beloved patriotic hero — a militant who stood up to the English occupiers. It’s the role that should have cemented Liam Neeson’s stardom. Michael Collins Blu-ray The Warner Archive Collection…
Director Jacques Rivette just passed away back in January. There’s more interest lately in his 12-hour opus Out 1, but if you’ll settle for just 2.5 hours, this unique early New Wave feature will take you inside Rivette’s world of artists, students, and refugees from political persecution, all in conflict in a sunny Paris of…
It’s the final Hollywood film by the legendary Ziegfeld star Marilyn Miller, and it’s also a terrific talkie feature debut for W.C. Fields — with one of his dazzling juggling bits. But the real star is director William Dieterle, whose moving camera and creative edits rescue the talkie musical from dreary operetta staging. Her Majesty,…
She’s beautiful, desired and enjoys a social mobility in the improving Italian economy… but she’s also a pawn of cruel materialist values. Stefania Sandrelli personifies a liberated spirit who lives for the moment, but who can’t form the relationships we call ‘living.’ Antonio Pietrangeli and Ettore Scola slip an insightful drama into the young Sandrelli’s…
“It’s like… I can feel the colors, man. The colors are running down my fingers, into my bones!” One had to be there, trying to talk to someone on drugs, to know what it was like. Roger Corman took his own experimental trip and decided to make a movie about it. For social relevance, the…
Get yer terrific long-suppressed film history right here, folks — this is what it takes to get your movie banned in East Germany in 1965: Günter Stahnke makes a drama revealing forbidden capitalist-style competitiveness and dastardly backstabbing in a state-run industry. Think any of those Party censors would object? Spring Takes Time DVD DEFA Film…
Lock your doors! Hulking menace Victor Buono gets the full-on psycho treatment, based (very) roughly on early reports of The Boston Strangler. The ‘baby doll’ killer also prefigures the fiendish Richard Speck. Burt Topper’s film is routine but ex- Baby Jane star Victor Buono’s performance is decidedly not. The Strangler DVD-R The Warner Archive Collection…
An Encore Edition brings back Fritz Lang’s searing police corruption tale, with the great performances of Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame and Lee Marvin aided by several pots of fresh, hot coffee. As is usual, Fritz Lang leads the way in modernizing a genre — this one is a keeper. The Big Heat Blu-ray Encore Edition…
This forgotten Alistair MacLean action thriller packs a rare starring role for the young Anthony Hopkins — he’s really good as secret agent Philip Calvert, battling gold thieves in the Scottish Isles. He’s got a James Bond attitude in a more down-to-Earth adventure. When Eight Bells Toll Blu-ray KL Studio Classics 1971 / Color /…
Look out! Here come two A.I.P. horror pix from the soggy end of the Poe cycle: the first features Jason Robards, an impressive cast and a disorganized storyline. The second is an almost-good Lovecraft horror with interesting performances from Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee. Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Dunwich Horror…
This proto- juvenile delinquent epic launched celebrated WW2 warrior Audie Murphy on the road to Hollywood fame, fortune and more troubled times. Audie commits every crime short of shooting dogs and nuns, but those wacky liberal social workers still give him the benefit of the doubt. Director Kurt Neumann backs our hero with expert acting support from Lloyd…
The formidable Penelope Spheeris penetrates L.A.’s punk and glam rock scenes, connecting with surly malcontents that would greet a normal docu with flipped fingers and snarled four-letter words. The result is much more than a collection of rare music performances. Things are as loud, as profane and as twisted as ever. The Decline of Western Civilization…
Savant goes back five years to praise Steven Soderbergh’s superb pandemic thriller, the one that warns us to never, ever shake hands with a gourmet chef. Don’t worry, only between 25 and 40 million people die… in the first year. Now go wash your hands. Contagion Blu-ray Warner Home Video 2011 / Color / 1:85…
Blinded by science! And no, it’s not a sequel to Donovan’s Reef. Lew Ayres yanks the living brain out of a dying millionaire, plugs it into his mad lab gizmo, and is soon obeying the know-it-all noggin’s telepathic commands to scheme and murder. Gene Evans and Nancy Reagan assist in Curt Siodmak’s creative, compelling tale…
The sequel to the epic Julie Andrews road show picture wasn’t a hit, but it tells a good story of its own. Charlton Heston is okay but the central character is a Chinese immigrant played by Tina Chen. Against all odds, the peasant matriarch survives plagues and leprosy to found a family dynasty for the…
Let’s give a cheer for the lowly sword ‘n’ sandal epic. This persecution and torture spectacle also takes in the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. The impressively mounted Italian-Spanish production stars Rhonda Fleming, Fernando Rey, Wandisa Guida, and as the slimy villain, none other than Serge Gainsbourg. Revolt of the Slaves MGM Limited Edition Collection 1960…
Shout Factory opens the crypt once more, for the last remaining UA and AIP fright movies starring our favorite gentleman of horror. The label lays on the extras, with Steve Haberman commentaries and episodes of Science Fiction Theater. Now where are the Vincent Price cooking shows? The Vincent Price Collection III Master of the World,…
Delmer Daves’ easygoing cattle drive western can’t make an action hero out of Jack Lemmon, but with fine work from co-star Glenn Ford it presents a thoughtful anti-myth: no glorious rescues or noble gunfights, and the demure maiden doesn’t wait for the handsome cowboy hero. With Brian Donlevy (excellent) and Anna Kashf. Cowboy Blu-ray Twilight…
What can you say to such success? Mike Nichols and Buck Henry’s sex satire defined ‘the generation gap’ for the sixties. Dustin Hoffman sprang forward from obscurity and Katharine Ross was the object of California desire. Anne Bancroft’s Mrs. Robinson freed the image of the ‘complicated woman’ from the clutches of the Production Code Stone…
Bogie and Bacall are back, but with Edward G. Robinson’s oily gangster breathing down their necks — “Nyah!” Excellent direction (John Huston) and great performances (Claire Trevor) have made this one an eternal classic. We want subtitles for whatever Eddie whispered in Betty’s ear… A most-requested, or demanded, HD release from Warners. Key Largo Blu-ray…
After 63 years somebody has taken a crack at Arthur C. Clarke’s monumental sci-fi novel. This interpretation throws the emphasis way out of whack but succeeds too frequently to ignore. Charles Dance is the alarming Overlord Karellen, who comes from the stars to escort humanity through its next stage of development… and to announce the…