Warners’ prestigious adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s Pulitzer-winning novella gives Spencer Tracy an actor’s showcase. His Cuban fisherman Santiago engages in an existential ordeal, a one-man battle with a giant marlin. Credited director John Sturges made sense out of a confused production, retaining much footage shot by uncredited Fred Zinnemann. The result is a little messy,…
Orion’s smart, sharp action thriller compresses ‘Manchurian Candidate’ and ‘Day of the Jackal’ into a 24-hour race to prevent a political assassination. Director Andrew Davis gets a chance to lead big stars through a convincing paranoid nightmare: Gene Hackman is still action-ready at 59, while Tommy Lee Jones impresses as a formidable bruiser; Joanna Cassidy…
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 find wine pairings for three musical movies which may cause us to need a drink – Weird Musicals. When we say weird, we mean weird. Cannibal! The Musical could hardly…
From Hollywood to Heaven: The Lost and Saved Films of the Ormond Family Blu-ray – Region Free Powerhouse Indicator 1959-1974 / 1.33:1, 1.37:1, 1.66:1 Starring Viki Caron, Ferlin Huskey, Sleepy LaBeef, Ron Ormond Written by Ron Ormond Directed by Ron Ormond In 2003, the Chicago Review Press published Jimmy McDonough’s great biography of one of…
Pop feminism proved a potent box office draw with this stylish, star-studded outlaw road trip from Ridley Scott; a big convertible has never looked better on the beautiful highways of the West. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are escapees from male oppression that find themselves a latter-day Bonnie & ‘Claudine.’ The resolution of their dilemma…
“All Hu-mans there is no escape!” Ro-man is now on the loose in Blu-ray 3-D, anaglyphic 3-D and plain old 2-D if so desired. A years-long effort culminates in an extras-rich disc release of one of the most entertaining ‘bad movies’ ever, a tale of intergalactic warfare and sacrificial heroism … all played in Bronson…
The Catman of Paris Blu-ray – Region Free Viavision (Imprint) 1946 / 1.37:1 Starring Carl Esmond, Douglass Dumbrille, Lenore Aubert Written by Sherman Lowe Directed by Lesley Selander Charles Regnier should have the world on a string—he’s a bestselling author with Paris as his playground and the town’s most desirable women at his feet. But…
“Hello Old Sport!” A show once seemingly missing forever has surfaced on a Blu-ray from Australia. The elusive Alan Ladd version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece is watered-down high art strained through a film noir filter. Ladd embodies the spirit and attitude of Jay Gatsby despite the imposition of ‘clarifying’ explanations and laughable moral…
William Wellman’s weirdly morbid thriller from the pre-Code years has been newly remastered, after the discovery of a quality print. The legendary Dorothy Mackaill’s luck goes from bad to worse as she finds herself trapped in a Caribbean hell-hole, to be victimized by lecherous outcasts and corrupt officials. The sordid story takes prostitution, perversion and…
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 deep, for the sleazy side of Hollywood. We also ignore those asking “There’s another side?” and pair appropriate wines with these inappropriate films. Hollywood 90028 comes from 1973 to…
Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941–1943 Blu-ray Warner Bros. Discovery 1941-1943 / 1.37:1 Starring Bud Collyer, Joan Alexander Written by Seymour Kneitel, Isadore Sparber Directed by Dave Fleischer, Seymour Kneitel, Isadore Sparber More than a few comic book enthusiasts got their first glimpse of Max Fleischer’s Superman thanks to the Fantastic Animation Festival, a compilation of animated…
We like to defend pre-Code movies at CineSavant, but this one is almost pure Smut — or at least what passed for smut in 1934. It concerns a sleazy Health magazine with a sleazy ‘perfect body’ contest promotion . . . and Paramount’s publicity people used a similar contest to promote the movie. Robert Armstrong…
Mexico Macabre Blu-ray Indicator Series 1958-1963 / 1.37:1, 1:85:1 Starring Abel Salazar, Rosita Arena, Rita Macedo, Rafael Bertrand Written by Ramón Obón, Alfredo Ruanova Directed by Fernando Méndez, Chano Urueta, Rafael Baledón Mexico Macabre shines a light on four unconventional shockers produced in Mexico City between 1958 and 1963. Each film is distinguished by its energetic…
Joseph Losey’s first feature is an anomaly — a million-dollar Technicolor semi-fantasy about tolerance, anti-conformism and pacifist activism, made just as Hollywood was commencing a purge of liberal writers and directors. Young Dean Stockwell is excellent as the serious, puzzled boy whose hair turns bright green overnight, making him socially suspect. The odd ‘Franz Kafka-lite’…
Although April included a fairly diverse array of interesting original titles, May’s list of the most-sought after films on what should be every movie lover’s top streaming resource, JustWatch, is filthy with Intellectual Property franchise fare. The top 10 most-searched flicks on JustWatch includes just two holdovers from April: reigning Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere…
A stunning movie that conveys the pure spirit of a vintage fairy tale, Aleksandr Ptushko’s story of royal intrigue is charming to the Nth degree, with pure-hearted characters and as many ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ moments as a classic Disney picture. It’s suffused in magic, not the show-off kind, but the deep-spirit visual wonder found in…
Gangsters, murder, sex and intrigue on the French Riviera! René Clément’s overheated thriller touches all the bases, dropping Alain Delon’s fugitive playboy into a chateau henhouse with the seductive Lola Albright and Jane Fonda. It’s a twisted tale directed in high style, with Delon caught in a very Tight Spot but thinking he can outsmart…
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 pair wines from France with movies from France, et pourquoi pas? Last Year at Marienbad was from the heyday of French New Wave, 1961. Director Alain Resnais created a film…
Ethereal creatures walk among us! Wim Wenders’ contemplative utopia proposes other-dimensional Angels that comfort and watch over the insecure and fearful. Angel First Class Bruno Ganz envies living humans and falls in love with the aerial ballerina Solveig Dommartin. To experience life and love firsthand he opts to cast off his exalted status and become…
With a fine script, decent co-stars and sensitive direction, this fancy-dress production of the sad story of The Lady of the Camélias can boast Greta Garbo’s most accomplished romantic performance. The relative inexperience of young co-star Robert Taylor is actually a plus — it makes sense for Marguerite Gautier to be carried off in rapture…
It hasn’t much of a reputation, but James Frawley’s kooky Disaster Movie spoof may fill the need for silly comedy — it has a crazy premise, a truly ridiculous ‘star’ in its enormous atom-powered bus, and a jolly all-star crew of comedic performers: Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Rene Auberjonois, Ned Beatty, José Ferrer,…
“I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Nothing else matters. Not the mortgage, not the store, not my team and all their bullshit. For those ten seconds or less, I’m free.” -Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), The Fast And The Furious (2001) With the arrival of Fast X to theaters earlier this month,…
Peter Bogdanovich’s intriguing suspense thriller is a near ‘perfect mousetrap’ of a movie that neatly sidesteps accusations of topical exploitation. Polly Platt and Samuel Fuller helped Bogdanovich concoct a low budget winner from Roger Corman’s restrictive requirements: utilize a couple of days of owed time from actor Boris Karloff and fold in stock footage from…
I Was a Teenage Werewolf 1957 / 76 Mins. / 1.33:1 Starring Michael Landon, Whit Bissell, Yvonne Lime Written by Aben Kendal, Herman Cohen Directed by Gene Fowler Jr. CineSavant Revival Screening Review In 1953 a surge in juvenile crime unleashed a wave of panicked PTA meetings, chest-beating editorials, and finally, in April of 1954,…
Fritz Lang’s wavering American career hit a high note in this adaptation of a Clifford Odets play with a four-star cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan and Marilyn Monroe, all billed above the title. It’s a tawdry love triangle in a fishing town, where infidelity brings violence to the surface. Monroe’s character — “Twenty,…