Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we have three films about growing up, and a wine pairing for each. From 2000 comes Our Song, written and directed by Jim McKay. He’s not the Wide World of Sports…
Devil Doll/Curse of the Voodoo 1.66:1 – 1964/65 – 81/77 Min. Vinegar Syndrome – Blu-ray Starring Bryant Haliday, Yvonne Romain, Dennis Price Written by George Barclay Lance Z. Hargreaves, Brian Clemens Directed by Lindsay Shonteff Born in New York in 1928, Bryant Haliday’s better-than-average education included a stay at a Benedictine monastery and a stint…
The COVID pandemic has given new relevance to an entire category of Science Fiction thrillers, and Robert Wise’s original tale of a ‘germ invasion’ from outer space is especially vivid. Michael Crichton’s novel tasks scientists Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson and Kate Reid with cracking the secret of an alien life form — only…
Richard Lester’s superb epic succeeds in every way — with a glorious production, dazzling swordplay, witty comedy, and fidelity to the spirit of the Dumas novel. It’s a showcase for a wonderful cast, and is probably the best movie of both Oliver Reed and Raquel Welch. Criterion’s massive box includes a feature-length, 4-part making-of tale…
Jean Rollin takes a break from nude vampires à la française for a direct-from-the-crypt meditation on morbid romanticism. Inspired by a 19th century poet, he locks two impressionable young lovers in a cemetery, where an emotional response to the maze of crypts and tombstonestakes over. Françoise Pascal has a starring role as la femme seduced…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we have wine pairings for three movies featuring rock. And roll. Elvis: That’s the Way It Is tells the musical story of Elvis Presley’s 1970 concert in Las Vegas. Besides the…
We just got finished praising a picture by the ace filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, but have little choice but to be honest with this 2006 homage to postwar intrigue movies set in divided European cities. It stars George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire, and we’re sad to report that it’s a real catastrophe. Expect brief,…
Volume 25 in Kino’s long-running noir series could be called ‘The John H. Auer Collection’ — its trio of thrillers include the almost-a-classic City that Never Sleeps, the odd Hawaii-set noir Hell’s Half Acre and the newly rediscovered ‘annihilating romance’ The Flame. The trio has no lack of interesting noir personalities: Marie Windsor, Gig Young,…
Once upon a time the reigning WW2 battle action movie was this rough & tumble Republic offering, that cemented John Wayne’s glowing image as THE movie star who won the war. The production scored plenty of defense department cooperation to become an efficient recruitment tool — its leathernecks are no-nonsense killers but also complete gentlemen…
This Steve Soderbergh true-life ‘comedy’ drove us nuts: the audience I saw it with wanted to leap up and kill Matt Damon’s insultingly fraudulent corporate Veepee. The ‘nice guy jerk’ poses as a whistleblower while betraying everyone who crosses his path. Yet he squeaks by with an ‘oh I’m so innocent’ act. It’s more a…
Ten years ago in 2015, a video game called Until Dawn was released to general acclaim, which attempted to place the player inside a horror film to try and attempt to survive a deadly night. The goal of the game was to try to save yourself and your friends by making split-second decisions that would…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we select wine pairings for three movies that star James Coburn. 1967’s In Like Flint is the sequel to the previous year’s Our Man Flint. Both are spy movies, played for…
Ugetsu 1953 – 96 Min. Criterion – 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray 1:37 Academy Starring Machiko Kyō, Mitsuko Mito, Masayuki Mori Written by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi In 1941 Orson Welles was busy giving the film industry a hot foot with Citizen Kane, a distinctly American movie whose innovations reflected…
Another fine Sci-fi overachiever bounces back in a new encoding, much improved. Andrew Marton’s daring adventure / disaster / eco-apocalypse sees scientists attempting to exploit the heat at the Earth’s core — and almost splitting the planet in two. It’s high jeopardy for Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore and Alexander Knox; Eugène Lourié’s designs…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we concentrate on the neighsayers with wine pairings for three thoroughbred films. Giddyup! The Black Stallion is a 1979 adventure about a boy who is shipwrecked on a desert isle with…
Anora 2024 – 139 Min. Criterion – 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray 2.39:1 Widescreen Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Karren Karagulian Written by Sean Baker Directed by Sean Baker A low budget/high octane comedy about a working girl named Anora, Sean Baker’s film was a surprise favorite at the 2025 Oscars. Costing around six million…
Claudia Cardinale’s first major starring role was a big success in Europe, even if our New York critics seemed primed for more ‘intellectual’ film art. She’s a sensation as Aida, a showgirl ditched by a dishonest lover … whose more gentlemanly but acutely underage brother comes to her rescue. It’s a hard lesson in survival…
What does one call a film this original? It’s a poetic documentary-investigation of Los Angeles culture circa 1958; it’s also a powerful proto-feminist essay. Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers & Joseph Strick collaborated on this rare attraction. Barbara Baxley stars as a disaffected divorceé who sees the city as layers of Hell. She and Gary Merrill…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. This week, we dig way down in the digital streaming stack once again, for three films that may have gotten past you unnoticed. There will be wine pairings, too. People who know me…
Fred Zinnemann’s superb thriller has suspense, fine characterizations and a potent anti-fascist theme. Gregory Peck is excellent as an embittered lost-cause warrior who takes on one last mission into Franco territory to kill an old enemy, Anthony Quinn. Emeric Pressburger’s very modern story benefits from Zinnemann’s precise direction and impressive production design by Alexandre Trauner;…
What can you expect when the hero of a story is a Special Collections librarian? Audrey Niffenegger’s scrambled-time romantic fantasy shouldn’t work, but it squeaks by — fashioning a ‘life metaphor’ that doesn’t get tangled up in its own sci-fi plot complexities. The picture-perfect cast, especially Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, sell the illusion 100%….
A wronged beauty commits suicide, and Dennis O’Keefe’s hero solicits a killing-for-hire to avenge her. Director Burt Balaban’s murder tale has a twisty surprise or two but not much else going for it. Star O’Keefe looks unhappy and Ann Sears is just a beautiful observer, which gives Anton Diffring’s sneering, slimy villain the opportunity to…
I’m All Right Jack Kino Lorber – Blu ray 1959 – 105 Min. Starring Ian Carmichael, Peter Sellers, Terry-Thomas Cinematography by Mutz Greenbaum (Aka Max Greene) Written by John Boulting, Frank Harvey, Alan Hackney Directed by John Boulting, Roy Boulting On Thursday, May 8, 1945, Winston Churchill appears before an adoring crowd to announce the…
Locked is an English language remake of the 2019 Argentinean film 4×4, and although it came and went on local screens without making much noise, it’s worthy of a watch for several reasons. Eddie (Bill Skarsgård) has fallen on hard times and doesn’t have enough money to repair his car to pick up his daughter…
Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies, and many more, at Trailers From Hell. This week, we celebrate April First with a trio of foolish flicks and wine pairings to match. I’ll Never Forget What’s’isname is a 1967 British comedy. You know it’s British because the letter…