CineSavant

The Magic Box: The Films of Shirley Clarke V. 4 Milestone wraps up its 'Project Shirley,' an in-depth study of the independent director of The Connection and Portrait of Jason. Practically all of Shirley Clarke's small and experimental films are here from the early 1950s forward, plus a wealth of biographical film.

Blu-ray Rabid David Cronenberg puts Canada on the horror map with yet another early career ick-fest, about a vampiric woman armed with a new mutant organ. Marilyn Chambers is the dangerous female who spreads a plague of bloody murder. Fun for the whole family.

Blu-ray + DVD Hell or High Water Sheltered in my Los Angeles bubble, I can't believe that this crime movie had an accurate measure of the true pulse of the country. Texan outlaws rob banks to fight what appears to be a rigged system; the Texas Ranger who tracks them realizes that much of the population feels the same exact way. Jeff...

Blu-ray Runaway Train Cannon Films knocks one out of the park: Jon Voight and Eric Roberts escape from prison only to end up on a huge, speeding, out of control juggernaut of a freight train plowing through the Alaskan wilderness. It's both an action bruise-fest and an existential statement, and it's still a wild thrill ride.

Blu-ray Boomerang! Elia Kazan's third picture is a hard-hitting noir, a true story that honors the efforts of a noble States' Attorney when confronted with a murder case that was a little too open-and-shut. But a close read of the movie uncovers a miasma of social criticism, hiding behind the self-congratulating official narration. A great show.

Blu-ray One-Eyed Jacks Marlon Brando put his all into this impassioned, expertly acted and crafted VistaVision western spectacle. Has it been overlooked because of the scarcity of quality presentations? Karl Malden, Katy Jurado, Pina Pellicer, Ben Johnson and Slim Pickens are unforgettable, as are the Big Sur locations.

Blu-ray Time After Time

Blu-ray The Killing of America

It’s Always Fair Weather When MGM was almost a ghost town, the Arthur Freed unit hit one last ‘special’ factory musical out of the park with this strangely melancholy ode to faded ambitions. Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Dan Dailey and Michael Kidd put in great, memorable work, while the glorious Dolores Gray is practically a living Tex Avery cartoon....

Blu-ray Lone Wolf and Cub

Blu-ray Daisy Kenyon What? A movie where adults behave like adults? Otto Preminger showcases a quiet maturity in this story of an independent woman caught between two men, adulterous lover Dana Andrews and conflicted suitor Henry Fonda. The script is witty and the people believable -- this is one of Joan Crawford's best performances.

Blu-ray + DVD Private Property Is this once-lost film the apex of obscure independent Hollywood filmmaking?  Made way outside the limits of the Production Code, it's even better than I hoped it would be. Leslie Stevens' 'backyard movie' is the work of a directorial wunderkind with an inspired crew. Totally original, with three unforgettable performances.

Blu-ray The T.A.M.I. Show + The Big T.N.T. Show For nostalgic excitement there's no better '60s pop compendium than this! An impossibly eclectic mix of talent at the Santa Monica Civic, in a brilliantly produced live show recorded in the wonder of Electronovision! The lineup is incredible: The Rolling Stones, James Brown and Lesley Gore on the same stage?

DVD-R Strike Me Pink Neurotic coward Eddie Cantor decides to defend an amusement park against gangsters, and nothing but fun ensues! Ethel Merman has a small role here, but we're more than entertained by Parkyakarkus, Brian Donlevy, William Frawley, Jack LaRue. Plus Sally Eilers, the Goldwyn Girls and a terrific forgotten talent, billed in this movie as Rita Rio.

Blu-ray The Sea of Trees Where's M. Night Shyamalan when we need him? Gus Van Sant's spiritual journey through a death forest is pretty to look at, nicely acted... and Trite with a capital T. Matthew McConaughey and Naomi Watts are prominent on the marquee, but co-star Ken Watanabe gets shunted aside.

Blu-ray Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland and Agnes Moorehead play it nasty, chop-chopping their way through a Grand Dame Guignol epic of 'sixties Hag Horror. Ace director Robert Aldrich's big success handed the deserving Davis a big role, and it looks better than ever on this razor-sharp remastered edition. With good original film promos as well...

Blu-ray Western Union Wow! Fritz Lang's second western is a marvel -- a combo of matinee innocence and that old Germanic edict that character equals fate. It has a master's sense of color and design. Robert Young is an odd fit but Randolph Scott is nothing less than terrific. You'd think Lang was born on the Pecos.

Collector's Edition Blu-ray John Carpenter’s The Thing Look out: John Carpenter's chilly tale of shape-shifting chaos at the South Pole creeps back with a new transfer and two fully stocked discs of extras old and new, including the bowdlerized Network cut, just for laughs. The picture still works like gangbusters -- the best monsters are still the gooey, rubbery pre-CGI kind.

Blu-ray The Chase Horton Foote, Lillian Hellman and Arthur Penn's All-Star vision of an Ugly America found few friends in 1965; now its overstated scenes of social injustice and violence are daily events. Marlon Brando leads a terrific cast -- Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall! -- to endure the worst Saturday ever to hit one...

Blu-ray I Wake Up Screaming Yes, it is a perfect title for a horror picture, but it belongs to an early film noir -- or as we discover, a murder thriller that previews the classic '40s noir visual look. Victor Mature is the man on the spot for a killing, Betty Grable and Carole Landis are a pair of sisters...

Blu-ray Little Fauss and Big Halsy Redford's back and Pollard's got him! Or is it Lauren Hutton? Sidney J. Furie fully earns his shaky reputation with this motorcycle buddy picture. Most of the energy seems to have gone into the deal, not the movie. Great cinematography, but it's for fans that want to look at a shirtless Sundance Kid. I know...

Blu-ray The Executioner (El Verdugo) Now for something truly remarkable from the neglected Spanish cinema. Luis García Berlanga's wicked satire is a humanistic black comedy, free of cynicism. The borderline Kafkaesque situation of an everyman forced into a profession that horrifies him is funny and warm hearted - but with a ruthless logic that points to universal issues beyond Franco...

Blu-ray The Return of Dracula Expatriate Francis Lederer is a cultured menace in UA's revisit of the Dracula myth, made just before Hammer Films staked its claim on the horror genre. Avid Hitchcock fans may find the storyline very familiar, when European cousin Bellac strikes up a 'special' relationship with his American cousin Rachel.

Blu-ray Eye of the Needle The chase is on: a mix of icy ruthlessness and warm romanticism enliven Ken Follett's novel of pre-invasion esponage intrigue. Kate Nelligan heats up the screen with Donald Sutherland, the 'seventies most unlikely sex star. Plus a lush and wondrous music score by Miklos Rozsa.

Blu-ray The Hills Have Eyes Arrow Video digs its sharp talons into Wes Craven's dirt 'n' Bowie Knife slaughter-fest horror picture, yet another strange travel advisory not to go anywhere, 'cause strangers might be cannibals. But hey, the movie works, and like much of Craven's filmography, it sticks its neck way out into dangerous territory.

Blu-ray McCabe & Mrs. Miller Robert Altman, Warren Beatty and Julie Christie join together for one of the great westerns, a poetic account of the founding of a town and the way big business preys on foolish little guys. Raw and cluttered, the show gives the genre a new look, with a dreamy mix of snowflakes, opium and the music...