Phil Karlson’s The Scarface Mob was originally made as a two-part pilot for the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse anthology series before the 80-minute episodes were re-cut for theatrical release. Given the sterility of so much dramatic television in the 1950s, it’s hard to imagine Karlson—best known for hard-hitting noirs like Kansas City Confidential and The Phenix City Story—seeing the format as suitable for his style. But Desi Arnaz, a huge admirer of the latter film, promised Karlson no studio interference. And while The Scarface Mob’s story presents a clear battle between good and evil in the form of Eliot Ness (Robert Stack) and Al Capone’s (Neville Brand) Chicago bootlegging empire, Karlson’s gritty brutality finds its way on-screen as the film conflates the maniacal ruthlessness of both men’s actions.
Stack’s performance went a long way in cementing Ness’s legacy in the public imagination.
Stack’s performance went a long way in cementing Ness’s legacy in the public imagination.
- 4/12/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
It’s the most wonderful time of year, it is a great time to be a subscriber to Peacock as not only is the NBCUniversal streaming service able to bring audiences a ton of titles perfect to watch during the holiday season, but it also is the streaming home to some of the NFL action as the league marches toward the playoffs. When you throw in all of the Hallmark Channel original movies as part of their Countdown to Christmas spectacular, as well as all of the original and exclusive Peacock series, and the next-day streaming of shows from across the NBCU family of networks, it is a good time to sign up for either a Peacock Premium ($5.99) or Peacock Premium Plus ($11.99) plan.
So, we here at The Streamable have put together a list of the five most exciting things coming to Peacock in December, and down below, you can...
So, we here at The Streamable have put together a list of the five most exciting things coming to Peacock in December, and down below, you can...
- 11/30/2023
- by Matt Tamanini
- The Streamable
The key to the success of Rod Serling's original run of "The Twilight Zone" (and its enduring popularity) was ingenuity in all aspects of production. Obviously, the writing was almost always top-notch, with episodes boasting wildly clever premises from genre masters like Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and George Clayton Johnson. Though the budgets were modest, directors employed all manner of trickery and inventive makeup effects to dazzle and/or terrify viewers. Meanwhile, the strange tales conjured by Serling's stable of scribes required fully committed performances from actors both established and new to the scene. They had to roll with the weirdness.
On certain occasions, however, Serling and his collaborators couldn't resort to special effects to transport their audience. Sometimes, they had to shell out some dough and wow 'em with the real thing. And sometimes this forced the director to scramble a good deal more than usual. Such was...
On certain occasions, however, Serling and his collaborators couldn't resort to special effects to transport their audience. Sometimes, they had to shell out some dough and wow 'em with the real thing. And sometimes this forced the director to scramble a good deal more than usual. Such was...
- 11/19/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
It was five decades ago long distance swimmer Diana Nyad became part of the cultural landscape with her feats including a recording-setting circling of Manhattan and a 102-mile swim from the Bahamas to Florida she accomplished that in 27 hours. In 1978, Nyad made her first attempt to swim from Cuba to Florida but ended the quest after 40 hours. After segueing to a successful career as a sports journalist on ABC’s “Wild World of Sports” for over two decades, she decided at 60 to try again. She made three attempts felled by asthma, muscle fatigue, jellyfish and a tropical storm.
Nyad’s attempts at the swim were the subject of the 2013 documentary “The Other Shore.” When I talked to her for the L.A. Times a decade ago the then 64-year-old was preparing for her final attempt. “When I first started this in my 20s and when I started again when I turned...
Nyad’s attempts at the swim were the subject of the 2013 documentary “The Other Shore.” When I talked to her for the L.A. Times a decade ago the then 64-year-old was preparing for her final attempt. “When I first started this in my 20s and when I started again when I turned...
- 11/11/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
As an anthology television series, with new stories and new characters every single week, "The Twilight Zone" never had someone you could call a "main character." Audiences tuned in every week to see Jessica Fletcher catch killers on "Murder, She Wrote," and for Larry David to be a massive a-hole on "Curb Your Enthusiasm," but there was no single star in "The Twilight Zone."
There was, however, one person who appeared throughout the whole series, in pretty much every episode, if only briefly. His name was Rod Serling. He was already one of the most celebrated TV writers in the world when he created "The Twilight Zone," thanks to hard-hitting dramas like "Patterns" and "The Comedian," and his name was probably not unknown to many fans of televised programs when the series premiered. Over the course of "The Twilight Zone," he would introduce new episodes, tease upcoming stories, and generally...
There was, however, one person who appeared throughout the whole series, in pretty much every episode, if only briefly. His name was Rod Serling. He was already one of the most celebrated TV writers in the world when he created "The Twilight Zone," thanks to hard-hitting dramas like "Patterns" and "The Comedian," and his name was probably not unknown to many fans of televised programs when the series premiered. Over the course of "The Twilight Zone," he would introduce new episodes, tease upcoming stories, and generally...
- 10/6/2023
- by William Bibbiani
- Slash Film
Apple TV+’s hit limited series “Hijack” starring Idris Elba is a nail-biting thrill ride set in real-time. Over the years, there have been many types of hijack films. Besides planes, there have been suspenseful takeovers of ships, trains, subways and even trucks.
“The Taking of the Pelham One Two Three,” from 1974 — avoid the two remakes — is a superb thriller about four men who take over a New York subway car and hold the passengers, conductor and an undercover policeman hostage unless they get $1 million (remember that was a lot of money 49 years ago). If their demands aren’t met, they will start killing hostages. Directed by Joseph Sargent and adapted by Peter Stone from the best-selling novel by John Godey, “Taking” boasts a stellar cast at the top of their game including Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Hector Elizondo and Martin Balsam. David Shire penned the influential score.
A year...
“The Taking of the Pelham One Two Three,” from 1974 — avoid the two remakes — is a superb thriller about four men who take over a New York subway car and hold the passengers, conductor and an undercover policeman hostage unless they get $1 million (remember that was a lot of money 49 years ago). If their demands aren’t met, they will start killing hostages. Directed by Joseph Sargent and adapted by Peter Stone from the best-selling novel by John Godey, “Taking” boasts a stellar cast at the top of their game including Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Hector Elizondo and Martin Balsam. David Shire penned the influential score.
A year...
- 8/8/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
This mid-60s detective story has the right ingredients — a good mystery and interesting characters. David Jannsen gets to play a ‘Bosch’- style lone wolf investigator given a public thrashing for a ‘mistake’ that he knows was no mistake at all. Can a ‘bad cop’ redeem himself? The parade of mid-level guest stars — Stefanie Powers, Joan Collins, Lillian Gish, Steve Allen — may resemble a TV movie, but the tense show has a good feel for Los Angeles and the new swingin’ singles lifestyle. It might be Buzz Kulik’s best job of direction, and it has a great music score by Jerry Goldsmith.
Warning Shot
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #177
1967 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October 26, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 39.95
Starring: David Janssen, Ed Begley, Stefanie Powers, George Grizzard, Keenan Wynn, Joan Collins, Lillian Gish, Eleanor Parker, Sam Wanamaker, George Sanders, Steve Allen, Carroll O’Connor, Walter Pidgeon.
Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc...
Warning Shot
Region Free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] #177
1967 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date October 26, 2022 / Available from [Imprint] / au 39.95
Starring: David Janssen, Ed Begley, Stefanie Powers, George Grizzard, Keenan Wynn, Joan Collins, Lillian Gish, Eleanor Parker, Sam Wanamaker, George Sanders, Steve Allen, Carroll O’Connor, Walter Pidgeon.
Cinematography: Joseph F. Biroc...
- 11/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Paul Coker Jr., whose character and production designs for the classic Rankin/Bass stop-motion and animated holiday specials and his many years as one of Mad magazine’s “Usual Gang Of Idiots” endeared him to generations of fans, died following a brief illness at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 23. He was 93.
His death was confirmed to Deadline by his stepdaughter Lee Smithson Burd. “Paul was lucid and had his remarkable sense of humor until the end,” Smithson Burd said.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Coker’s contributions to the production and character design of the Rankin/Bass specials helped create some of the most indelible holiday images of the last half-century. As either a character designer or production designer, Coker lent his talents to such Christmas and Easter specials as Cricket on the Hearth (1967), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail...
His death was confirmed to Deadline by his stepdaughter Lee Smithson Burd. “Paul was lucid and had his remarkable sense of humor until the end,” Smithson Burd said.
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Coker’s contributions to the production and character design of the Rankin/Bass specials helped create some of the most indelible holiday images of the last half-century. As either a character designer or production designer, Coker lent his talents to such Christmas and Easter specials as Cricket on the Hearth (1967), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail...
- 7/29/2022
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Shot mostly in sequence with entirely on-set sound recording, this free-form metaphor for American society circa 1975 is one of Robert Altman’s most acclaimed and yet controversial projects. Susan Anspach was originally cast in the Ronee Blakeley role and Robert Duvall turned down the country star role that Henry Gibson played–the jury is out on whether Duvall could have written his own songs as Gibson did. Keenan Wynn was the only cast member who adhered to the script as written.
The post Nashville appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Nashville appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 7/6/2022
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Director Vincente Minnelli and his leading lady Judy Garland created magic with their first collaboration, MGM’s enchanting 1944 Technicolor musical “Meet Me in St. Louis.” Though she was playing a teenager in the box office hit classic, there was a real maturity and assuredness to her performance under Minnelli’s loving guidance. And she never looked so beautiful on screen. No wonder the two became a couple during the production.
And she’s even better in their second project, “The Clock,” which was released five months after “Meet Me in St. Louis” and marked her first non-singing role. Over the years “The Clock” had fallen through the cracks when critics and audiences talked about Garland’s film roles. But thanks to TCM, DVD and Blu-ray-Warner Archive is releasing the Blu-Ray as part of its Garland centennial celebration. “The Clock” has developed a legion of devoted fans and historians who consider...
And she’s even better in their second project, “The Clock,” which was released five months after “Meet Me in St. Louis” and marked her first non-singing role. Over the years “The Clock” had fallen through the cracks when critics and audiences talked about Garland’s film roles. But thanks to TCM, DVD and Blu-ray-Warner Archive is releasing the Blu-Ray as part of its Garland centennial celebration. “The Clock” has developed a legion of devoted fans and historians who consider...
- 6/8/2022
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Vincente Minnelli took a break from musicals to feature Judy Garland in the first movie to show her dramatic acting range, a charming and thoughtful wartime tale in New York: a whirlwind romance goes from nothing to marriage in 48 hours. She’s a working woman and he’s a soldier shipping out for combat; the miracle is that the whole thing is believable, and resolutely unglamorized. The illusion of ‘ordinary life’ in NYC is remarkable for 1945; star Robert Walker leaves behind the gangling bumpkin character he’d been playing. The Warner Archive’s Blu-ray is a welcome addition to the Minnelli disc library.
The Clock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Art Director: William Ferrari
Film Editor: George White...
The Clock
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / Available at Amazon.com / General site Wac-Amazon / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Robert Walker, James Gleason, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, Lucile Gleason, Ruth Brady.
Cinematography: George Folsey
Art Director: William Ferrari
Film Editor: George White...
- 6/4/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ronin Flix, in association with Scorpion Releasing, will issue a standard retail edition of Michael Winner's action thriller The Mechanic (1972), starring Charles Bronson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Keenan Wynn, Jill Ireland, and Frank DeKova.
The release will be available for purchase on May 10.
Synopsis: Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks him...
The release will be available for purchase on May 10.
Synopsis: Arthur Bishop (Charles Bronson) is a veteran hit man who, owing to his penchant for making his targets' deaths seem like accidents, thinks him...
- 1/17/2022
- QuietEarth.us
Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
Review – Naked City: The Complete Series
Rlj Entertainment / 6,063 minutes
By Harvey F. Chartrand
Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.
Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.
The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det.
- 11/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The television landscape was changing when the 23rd Emmy Awards took place at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on May 9, 1971, with Johnny Carson as host. History was made in more than one way that night.
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”
George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...
- 8/27/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Years in the making! The glory of MGM on parade! Enough studio resources to film twenty pictures were expended on this paean to showman Florenz Ziegfeld. It’s really Metro Goldwyn Mayer’s Technicolor valentine to itself, showing off the studio’s enormous stable of musical talent, along with various of its comic performers. Arthur Freed and Louis B. Mayer’s notion of ‘something for everyone’ results in weird stack of grandiose musical numbers and mostly weak comedy. The biggest draw is the incredible color cinematography that peeks through in three or four jaw-droppingly elaborate musical spectacles. The picture is a workout to find the artistic limits of the Technicolor system.
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
Ziegfeld Follies
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 117 110 min. / Street Date June 15, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: (alphabetically): Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, Lucille Bremer, Fanny Brice, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Lena Horne, Gene Kelly, Victor Moore, Red Skelton, Esther Williams. Also...
- 7/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
MGM’s old-fashioned Irving Berlin musical has superior songs and powerful performances, especially that of Betty Hutton. She gets plenty loud and rambunctious, but it fits the ‘big’ Annie Oakley character. And the talented, under-appreciated Howard Keel really fires up the screen with her in songs like ‘Anything You Can Do.’ The Wac disc contains plenty of George Feltenstein- rescued unused audio material, plus footage … depressing footage … of Judy Garland’s attempt in the leading role. Yep, the show may be PC minefield begging for a Cancel Culture intervention, but if it goes we’ll have to put most of Hollywood film history in a landfill.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
Annie Get Your Gun
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1950 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 107 min. / Available at Amazon.com / Street Date April 10, 2021 / 21.99
Starring: Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern, J. Carrol Naish, Edward Arnold, Keenan Wynn, Benay Venuta, Clinton Sundberg, Mae Clarke, John Mylong, Chief Yowlachie, Evelyn Beresford.
- 4/20/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
- 12/21/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...
- 12/21/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
“Books are more important than pajamas.”
Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in Without Love (1945) is currently available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Ordering info can be found Here
Every rental is rented, every sublet is let in crowded Washington, D.C. So Jamie Rowan does her part for the wartime lodging crunch by sharing her home with military inventor Pat Jamieson. There are a few conditions, natch. First, for appearances, they must get married. Second, there’s plenty of room for each other…but no room for love. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn team for the third time in Without Love, played for laughs and, above all, with love. Donald Ogden Stewart adapts Philip Barry’s play. And Keenan Wynn’s bibulous bon vivant, Lucille Ball’s wisecracking girl Friday and Gloria Grahame’s flower girl add to the movie’s urbane wit and warmth.
The post Spencer Tracy and...
Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in Without Love (1945) is currently available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Ordering info can be found Here
Every rental is rented, every sublet is let in crowded Washington, D.C. So Jamie Rowan does her part for the wartime lodging crunch by sharing her home with military inventor Pat Jamieson. There are a few conditions, natch. First, for appearances, they must get married. Second, there’s plenty of room for each other…but no room for love. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn team for the third time in Without Love, played for laughs and, above all, with love. Donald Ogden Stewart adapts Philip Barry’s play. And Keenan Wynn’s bibulous bon vivant, Lucille Ball’s wisecracking girl Friday and Gloria Grahame’s flower girl add to the movie’s urbane wit and warmth.
The post Spencer Tracy and...
- 8/4/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Good Old Tony Curtis! We could always depend on Tony for a sly, ingratiating smile, charm that ranged from candid-sweet to barracuda insincerity, and a desire to please that never quit. Some of his best work came while schmoozing and nice-nice clawing his way to the top, where he epitomized the glamorous movie star with universal appeal. Kino gathers three of Curtis’s better mid-career starring vehicles, directed by three top talents — Blake Edwards, Robert Mulligan and Norman Jewison.
Tony Curtis Collection
The Perfect Furlough, The Great Impostor, 40 Pounds of Trouble
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
312 minutes
Street Date August 4, 2020
available through Kino Lorber
49.95
Starring: Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis appears to have become a Golden Boy at late-’40s Universal-International by playing the role of ambitious actor to the hilt. Everybody caught him dancing a mean rumba with Yvonne de Carlo in Criss Cross; it’s fun to seem him perform a ‘look,...
Tony Curtis Collection
The Perfect Furlough, The Great Impostor, 40 Pounds of Trouble
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
312 minutes
Street Date August 4, 2020
available through Kino Lorber
49.95
Starring: Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis appears to have become a Golden Boy at late-’40s Universal-International by playing the role of ambitious actor to the hilt. Everybody caught him dancing a mean rumba with Yvonne de Carlo in Criss Cross; it’s fun to seem him perform a ‘look,...
- 8/1/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A group of young, scrappy and brilliant writers penned some of the most accomplished dramas presented live during the Golden Age of TV in the 1950s. Writers such as Paddy Chayefsky, J.P. Miller (“The Days of Wine and Roses”), Reginald Rose (“Twelve Angry Men”), Tad Mosel (“The Haven”), James Costigan (“Little Moon of Alban”) and Horton Foote.
But the most influential and best-known of these writers was Rod Serling, who became a superstar as not only creator and writer but host of the landmark 1959-1964 CBS sci-fi/fantasy anthology series “The Twilight Zone,” for which he won two Emmys for his writing. “The Twilight Zone” and even his less successful 1970-73 NBC anthology series “Night Gallery” has overshadowed his earlier work for which he won three Emmys for his writing.
Among his earliest work was the 1953 “Kraft Television Theatre” presentation “A Long Time Till Dawn,” which gave a 22-year-old James Dean...
But the most influential and best-known of these writers was Rod Serling, who became a superstar as not only creator and writer but host of the landmark 1959-1964 CBS sci-fi/fantasy anthology series “The Twilight Zone,” for which he won two Emmys for his writing. “The Twilight Zone” and even his less successful 1970-73 NBC anthology series “Night Gallery” has overshadowed his earlier work for which he won three Emmys for his writing.
Among his earliest work was the 1953 “Kraft Television Theatre” presentation “A Long Time Till Dawn,” which gave a 22-year-old James Dean...
- 6/4/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Man versus Beast in horror is really about man versus himself; Martin Brody in Jaws is terrified of the water, and must overcome that fear to take down the deadly predator. Man versus Beast was also a big sub-genre in horror during the ‘70s, often times branching out with an ecological message or two. And then there’s Orca (1977), an ostensible Jaws cash-in that sacrifices suspense for weirdness, with a goofy earnestness that’s impossible not to like.
It also came with its own subtitle, The Killer Whale, lest you were unclear about Dino De Laurentis (King Kong ‘76)’s intentions; make no mistake, this film was sold as a terrifying thriller in every trailer and print ad. Released near the end of July by Paramount Pictures, Orca didn’t net Jaws’ grosses or respect, with many critics dismissing it as overwrought and ridiculous. Well, of course it is. It’s...
It also came with its own subtitle, The Killer Whale, lest you were unclear about Dino De Laurentis (King Kong ‘76)’s intentions; make no mistake, this film was sold as a terrifying thriller in every trailer and print ad. Released near the end of July by Paramount Pictures, Orca didn’t net Jaws’ grosses or respect, with many critics dismissing it as overwrought and ridiculous. Well, of course it is. It’s...
- 10/26/2019
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Piranha
Blu ray
Shout! Factory
1978/ 1.85:1 / 92 min.
Starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy
Cinematography by Jamie Anderson
Directed by Joe Dante
In 1968 Joe Dante and Jon Davison teamed up to make The Movie Orgy, a counter-culture take on 1941’s comic blitzkrieg, Hellzapoppin’. Running two hours longer than Ben-Hur, the Dante/Davison opus was an epic mash up of monster movies, kids’ shows, A-Bomb tests and toothpaste commercials – the cinematic equivalent of a Will Elder cartoon.
If it had an agenda, it was pure fun – a seven-hour blow out aimed at altered college kids weened on Mad Magazine and Famous Monsters. These days Bigfoot makes more appearances than The Movie Orgy but when one of those infrequent screenings materializes audiences are galvanized by the onslaught – and surprised by what was hiding in plain sight all the time – the supposedly buttoned-down Eisenhower era was not just deeply subversive but more than a little weird.
Blu ray
Shout! Factory
1978/ 1.85:1 / 92 min.
Starring Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy
Cinematography by Jamie Anderson
Directed by Joe Dante
In 1968 Joe Dante and Jon Davison teamed up to make The Movie Orgy, a counter-culture take on 1941’s comic blitzkrieg, Hellzapoppin’. Running two hours longer than Ben-Hur, the Dante/Davison opus was an epic mash up of monster movies, kids’ shows, A-Bomb tests and toothpaste commercials – the cinematic equivalent of a Will Elder cartoon.
If it had an agenda, it was pure fun – a seven-hour blow out aimed at altered college kids weened on Mad Magazine and Famous Monsters. These days Bigfoot makes more appearances than The Movie Orgy but when one of those infrequent screenings materializes audiences are galvanized by the onslaught – and surprised by what was hiding in plain sight all the time – the supposedly buttoned-down Eisenhower era was not just deeply subversive but more than a little weird.
- 7/30/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
When Jordan Peele describes the once-in-a-lifetime chance to revive The Twilight Zone brand by following in the footsteps of producer-host-writer Rod Serling, he makes it sound like a dream come true. That’s not to say it was always a good dream – sometimes it felt like it was chasing him instead of vice versa.
Talking at the Paleyfest panel spotlighting the upcoming launch of a new iteration of The Twilight Zone, Peele added that the prospect of taking on Serling’s accomplishments on- and off-screen feels like an out-of-body experience at times. “It feels like,” he said, “I’m living in an episode of The Twilight Zone.” If so, hopefully, it’s not an end-of-the-world episode (like the optometry crisis tale of “Time Enough At Last“) or a scary kid episode (like the cornfield horrors of “It’s a Good Life”.)
Few shows plant a flag in the public imagination...
Talking at the Paleyfest panel spotlighting the upcoming launch of a new iteration of The Twilight Zone, Peele added that the prospect of taking on Serling’s accomplishments on- and off-screen feels like an out-of-body experience at times. “It feels like,” he said, “I’m living in an episode of The Twilight Zone.” If so, hopefully, it’s not an end-of-the-world episode (like the optometry crisis tale of “Time Enough At Last“) or a scary kid episode (like the cornfield horrors of “It’s a Good Life”.)
Few shows plant a flag in the public imagination...
- 3/25/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Seth Rogen is stepping into The Twilight Zone. The star of Knocked Up and Neighbors will star in an upcoming episode of the CBS All Access revival of the classic sci-fi/fantasy franchise that became famous for its twist endings, eerie characters and unsettling theme song.
The Twilight Zone premieres on the subscription streaming site with two episodes on April 1, and more will follow beginning April 11, when weekly releases arrive every Thursday. No word yet on Rogen’s character nor any hints about the episode that he appears in. The April Fool’s Day launch of the series might suggest that one of the first episodes veers into humor; the original series had several light-hearted or comedic installments, among them the 1960 episode called “A World of His Own,” starring Keenan Wynn, and the 1963 episode “Cavender is Coming,” which featured a young Carol Burnett as well as a laugh track.
Rogen...
The Twilight Zone premieres on the subscription streaming site with two episodes on April 1, and more will follow beginning April 11, when weekly releases arrive every Thursday. No word yet on Rogen’s character nor any hints about the episode that he appears in. The April Fool’s Day launch of the series might suggest that one of the first episodes veers into humor; the original series had several light-hearted or comedic installments, among them the 1960 episode called “A World of His Own,” starring Keenan Wynn, and the 1963 episode “Cavender is Coming,” which featured a young Carol Burnett as well as a laugh track.
Rogen...
- 3/1/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Perhaps the best way to approach “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” the sequel to the 2015 Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure that introduced the shrinking superhero, is as a Disney movie rather than a Marvel one. And when I say “Disney movie,” I mean a very specific kind: the goofy Dexter Riley comedies.
From 1969 to 1975, Kurt Russell played affable college student Dexter, who kept running afoul of science experiments that rendered him strong, super-smart or even invisible. Substitute Paul Rudd’s amiable ex-con Scott Lang for Dexter — with Michael Douglas subbing for scientist William Schallert, and Walton Goggins taking the Keenan Wynn/Cesar Romero role of the nefarious mobster — and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is basically “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” for the 21st century.
Mind you, I mean this as a compliment; after a rough start in the previous entry, director Peyton Reed (“Down With Love”) seems much more comfortable balancing wacky antics,...
From 1969 to 1975, Kurt Russell played affable college student Dexter, who kept running afoul of science experiments that rendered him strong, super-smart or even invisible. Substitute Paul Rudd’s amiable ex-con Scott Lang for Dexter — with Michael Douglas subbing for scientist William Schallert, and Walton Goggins taking the Keenan Wynn/Cesar Romero role of the nefarious mobster — and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is basically “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” for the 21st century.
Mind you, I mean this as a compliment; after a rough start in the previous entry, director Peyton Reed (“Down With Love”) seems much more comfortable balancing wacky antics,...
- 6/27/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Happy (almost) Halloween readers! With October 31st falling on the weekly home entertainment release day, that means we have extra reasons to get excited this Tuesday. Scream Factory has put together two absolutely incredible collector’s edition Blu-rays for George A. Romero’s underrated modern classic Land of the Dead as well as Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, which fans are going to want to add to their own personal collections.
For those of you who may have missed it in theaters, The Dark Tower comes home on Halloween, and Lionsgate has given the cult classic Slaughter High the Vestron Video treatment for their brand new Blu. Blue Underground is also keeping busy this week with a pair of Collector’s Edition sets, too—The Lift and Down—and the complete series of Orphan Black makes its home release bow on Halloween, too.
Other notable Halloween...
For those of you who may have missed it in theaters, The Dark Tower comes home on Halloween, and Lionsgate has given the cult classic Slaughter High the Vestron Video treatment for their brand new Blu. Blue Underground is also keeping busy this week with a pair of Collector’s Edition sets, too—The Lift and Down—and the complete series of Orphan Black makes its home release bow on Halloween, too.
Other notable Halloween...
- 10/31/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Homage in film can be a tricky proposition. Hew too close to the original, and you’re just making copies with no new toner; veer too far away and folks will wonder why you bothered. Joe Dante’s Piranha (1978) is that perfect beast then - a Jaws “rip-off” that bows to its source while winking at the audience, and yet still manages to be a wholly separate, wildly entertaining ride.
Released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in North America in early August (capitalizing on Jaws’ still undulating waves), Piranha was that rare New World phenomenon: It made some good coin ($16 million worldwide against a $600,000 budget) And was well received by critics. Steven Spielberg himself was so won over by Dante’s take and talent that it led to collaborations on Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, and other projects. Piranha proves that you can hug someone, slap a “Kick Me” sign on their back,...
Released by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in North America in early August (capitalizing on Jaws’ still undulating waves), Piranha was that rare New World phenomenon: It made some good coin ($16 million worldwide against a $600,000 budget) And was well received by critics. Steven Spielberg himself was so won over by Dante’s take and talent that it led to collaborations on Twilight Zone: The Movie, Gremlins, and other projects. Piranha proves that you can hug someone, slap a “Kick Me” sign on their back,...
- 6/24/2017
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
“Before I said I was going to do Finian’s Rainbow I should have read the book.”Finian’s Rainbow (1968)
Commentator: Francis Ford Coppola (director)
1. Regarding the film’s opening frame featuring the word “overture” onscreen, he says it’s because this was what was referred to as a roadshow production. “They were like a night at the theater. You were given a program, it was an event, and as you came to your seat there was an overture playing.” It’s a long absent format, but Quentin Tarantino recently revived it for some screenings of The Hateful Eight.
2. He says a benefit of 70mm productions was that “the soundtrack would be in six-track magnetic stereophonic sound and was very high quality.”
3. The Warner Bros/Seven Arts logo reminds him of his time spent at the latter company working as a staff writer when they bought WB. “It was quite a coincidence related to my directing this...
Commentator: Francis Ford Coppola (director)
1. Regarding the film’s opening frame featuring the word “overture” onscreen, he says it’s because this was what was referred to as a roadshow production. “They were like a night at the theater. You were given a program, it was an event, and as you came to your seat there was an overture playing.” It’s a long absent format, but Quentin Tarantino recently revived it for some screenings of The Hateful Eight.
2. He says a benefit of 70mm productions was that “the soundtrack would be in six-track magnetic stereophonic sound and was very high quality.”
3. The Warner Bros/Seven Arts logo reminds him of his time spent at the latter company working as a staff writer when they bought WB. “It was quite a coincidence related to my directing this...
- 3/15/2017
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
As a musical it’s excellent — fine tunes and lyrics, great singing and dancing by the ever-youthful Fred Astaire, the glorious songbird Petula Clark, and the impishly weird Tommy Steele cast appropriately as a grimacing Leprechaun. The update of what was a politically acute Broadway hit in 1947 is awkward but the show is a melodious pleasure — great color, fine voices and peppy direction by Francis Ford Coppola on his first big studio feature.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
Finian’s Rainbow
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 145 141 min. / Street Date March 7, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman Jr., Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas.
Cinematography: Philip Lathrop
Film Editor: Melvin Shapiro
Original Music: Ray Heindorf
Written by E.Y. Harburg, Fred Saidy
Produced by Joseph Landon
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Finian’s Rainbow is a unique musical with a strange history.
- 3/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Internecine Project
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Classics
1974 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date January 3, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Coburn, Lee Grant, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Michael Jayston, Christiane Krüger, Keenan Wynn, Julian Glover.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Film Editor: John Shirley
Original Music: Roy Budd
Written by: Barry Levinson, Jonathan Lynn from a book by Mort W. Elkind
Produced by: Barry Levinson
Directed by Ken Hughes
Don’t let the ugly Italian poster art on the disc box throw you — The Internecine Project is a clever plot-driven murder tale in an espionage vein that gathers a string of B+ stars from the early 1970s for ninety minutes of suspense. It’s not the kind of suspense that makes you wonder what’s going to happen next, but the kind that points to a finish that we know will employ a big surprise, a killer-diller last-minute twist. Or three.
The...
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Classics
1974 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date January 3, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Coburn, Lee Grant, Harry Andrews, Ian Hendry, Michael Jayston, Christiane Krüger, Keenan Wynn, Julian Glover.
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Film Editor: John Shirley
Original Music: Roy Budd
Written by: Barry Levinson, Jonathan Lynn from a book by Mort W. Elkind
Produced by: Barry Levinson
Directed by Ken Hughes
Don’t let the ugly Italian poster art on the disc box throw you — The Internecine Project is a clever plot-driven murder tale in an espionage vein that gathers a string of B+ stars from the early 1970s for ninety minutes of suspense. It’s not the kind of suspense that makes you wonder what’s going to happen next, but the kind that points to a finish that we know will employ a big surprise, a killer-diller last-minute twist. Or three.
The...
- 1/6/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
From the first time I saw it until this moment, two days before what might just be the most important, potentially resonant (for good and ill) American presidential election since the days of the Civil War, no other movie has expanded in my view more meaningfully, more ambiguously, with more fascination than has Robert Altman’s Nashville. We often hear of movies which “transcend” their genres, or their initial ambitions or intentions, and often built into that alleged transcendence is a condescension to said genre, or those ambitions or intentions, as if the roots were somehow corrupt or unworthy, in need of reconstruction. If the form of Nashville transcends anything, it’s the shape and scope of the multi-character drama as we’d come to know it in 1975, which was dominated at the time by disaster movies and their jam-packed casts filled with old Hollywood veterans and Oscar winners. But...
- 11/7/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman
Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock,...
Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock,...
- 8/30/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Criterion's special edition of Stanley Kubrick's doomsday comedy is more powerful than ever in a 4K remaster; and it even comes with a top-secret mission profile package and a partial-contents survival kit. A Kubrick fan can have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff. Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 821 1964 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 28, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed Cinematography Gilbert Taylor Production Designer Ken Adam Art Direction Peter Murton Film Editor Anthony Harvey Original Music Laurie Johnson Written by Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter George from his book Red Alert Produced by Stanley Kubrick, Leon Minoff Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I heard that Criterion was putting out a Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb I thought that there already was a disc out there from The Collection. Nope, Sony released a Blu-ray in 2009, and back around 2000, a DVD. I was thinking of a deluxe laserdisc from Criterion sometime in the early 1990s. I remember being impressed by its extras, which included documentary materials about the Bomb in the Cold War years. Potential new fans of Kubrick's wickedly funny movie are being born every year, which leaves those of us for whom Strangelove was an important part of growing up having to remind ourselves just how good it still is. I remember recording the soundtrack off TV in high school and memorizing all of the dialogue; this has to be the most quotable movie of its decade. I also can remember my father's reaction when we watched it together on network TV, ABC, I think. An Air Force lifer who wouldn't discuss politics (or much of anything), the Old Sarge had little use for 'defeatist' movies like On the Beach. But he thought the premise of Seven Days in May wasn't really farfetched, having worked with Hap Arnold and Curtis LeMay. He shook his head after seeing Dr. Strangelove but I could tell that he found it very funny. It's too bad the two of us couldn't have gotten our senses of humor more in sync -- as soon as I wore my hair long, I think he stopped trusting me. I believe that Dr. Strangelove is one of few movies that 'made a difference' in that it redirected American public opinion about a major life issue. From that point forward only the ignorant and Shoot First fanatics talked about nuclear war as win-able, at least not until the neo-con Millennium. 1963 audiences had little use for suspect 'pacifist' movies that ended in masochistic doom, like On the Beach. The nuclear crisis was such a hot topic that that the low-key English science fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a surprise hit. Strangelove is more realistic than the straight atom nightmare movies. We're told that when Ronald Reagan was briefed at the start of his first term in office, he asked where the White House elevator to the War Room was. He figured it was there because he saw it in the movie. The decision to opt for broad comedy was Kubrick's inspired stroke. Dr. Strangelove may be the first hit film that was a bona-fide black comedy; I don't recall anybody even using the expression before it came out. It's not a crazy comedy where anything funny is okay. The backbone of the story remains 100% serious, while the jokes relentlessly demolish the death-cult logic of our Nuclear Deterrent. Kubrick and Terry Southern populate Peter George's credible cold-sweat crisis with insane caricatures given ridiculous names. The scary part is that, no matter how stupid they behave, none are really that exaggerated. Peter Sellers serves triple duty in a trio of characterizations, effectively outdoing previous champion film chameleon Alec Guinness. George C. Scott steals the show as an infantile Air Force General who acts like a Looney Tunes cartoon character. And the rest of the inspired cast nails their highly original quasi-comic characters. Every joke is a gallows joke; we're never allowed to forget that we all have an atomic noose around our necks. I almost envy the dead viewers still unfamiliar with Dr. Strangelove, as seeing it for the first time was a mind-opening experience. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, orders a flight of B-52s to attack Russia. He then seals off Burpelson to prevent a recall of the planes. Exchange officer Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) tries to talk him into divulging the recall code. Holding court in the War Room, President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) is horrified to discover that such a Snafu is even possible. He orders General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) to take Burpelson Air Base by force and recall the planes, and gets on the hotline with the Soviet Premier. Up in the lead B-52, Major 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) receives Ripper's orders, coded 'Wing Attack Plan R.' He urges his crew to avoid Russian defenses and reach their primary target, while Turgidson tries to talk Muffley into launching an all-out attack. Advising in the War Room is ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, a grinning theoretician already fantasizing about the sexual recreation for the ruling elite in the VIP bomb shelters, where America's chosen high officials will be living for the next 93 years. Dr. Strangelove divides its time between three main locations, each with its own deadly serious function and each overlaid with a different comedic tone. In his locked executive office in the Alaskan Air Force Base, the sexually obsessed American General Ripper faces off with a veddy proper English officer in a farcical one-act. Beady-eyed and intense in his anti-Communist convictions, Sterling Hayden contrasts beautifully with Seller's genial Group Captain, who can't fathom the depth of his commanding officer's madness. The action in the B-52 is a throwback to those gung-ho WW2 action films in which a racially and ethnically diverse attack team uses brains and guts to barrel through their suicide mission. Even though their pilot is a cowboy clown (Slim Pickens doing his only characterization, Slim Pickens) they're an admirable bunch, seemingly the only humans capable of doing anything without red tape or Coca-Cola machines getting in their way. The horror is that our heroes' mission is totally against every moral precept ever imagined. The docu feeling in the B-52 is further amplified by the gritty newsreel-like footage of the taking of Burpelson Afb, with American troops fighting American troops. In 1964 these were traumatic, subversive scenes. U.S. troops on film are supposed to fight for freedom and righteousness, not kill each other. Kubrick has the audacity to place in the middle of it all a big sign that reads, 'Peace is our Profession.' The grainy authenticity of these scenes would come back to haunt us when similar footage started being seen nightly on television, fresh from Vietnam. The center of activities is the War Room, a Camelot-like round table of Death located in the basement of the White House. The rational President Merkin Muffley trips over an ideological roadblock in the form of Buck Turgidson, a gum-chewing military nutcase itching to go to war and overjoyed that Jack Ripper has 'exceeded his authority.' The President is hardly in charge of foreign policy, and none of fifty advisors come to his aid with any original thinking. An amateur among experts, Muffley must be shepherded through protocol by an assistant. Here's where Southern and Kubrick make their biggest points, basically asserting that a showdown with the Russkies is inevitable because the American stance is a military one -- Sac just wants the peacenik in the Oval Office to get out of their way. The comedy is all over the place, and it's a miracle that it works. The stand-up humor on the hot line to Moscow is very much like a Bob Newhart routine. At Burpelson, it's the Goon Show all over again. Sellers' Mandrake cannot sway General Ripper, and the moronic Major Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) suspects the Raf officer of being a 'deviated prevert.' Up in the bomber, Mad Magazine craziness is grafted onto combat realism. Previous looks at the Air Force's flying deterrent were enlistment booster films like Strategic Air Command. Kubrick drove his English craftsmen to fake the entire bomber interior right down to the switches and gauges. The aerial combat is more realistic than that in escapist films, even with inadequate models used for exteriors of the jet bomber in flight. Dr. Strangelove maintains a nervous tension between absurd comedy and morbid unease. Kubrick's main career themes -- sexual madness, treacherous technology and the folly of human planning -- come into strong relief. We're motivated to root for the fliers that are going to destroy the world. Then we fret over the President's pitiful lack of control. Dour, glowering Russian Ambassador De Sadesky (Peter Bull) informs the War Room about his country's solution to the costly Arms Race, the dreaded Doomsday Machine. Security advisor Dr. Strangelove enters the film in the last act to serve as sort of an angel of Death. Based loosely on Rand-corporation experts that calculated eventualities in nuclear war scenarios, Sellers' vision of Strangelove is a throwback to German Expressionism. A Mabuse in a wheelchair, he's black-gloved like the brilliant but mad Rotwang of Metropolis. Strangelove enters like the specter of Death itself; his grin looks like a skull. Contemplating 'megadeaths' gives him sexual pleasure. The detonation of the first bomb seems to liberate Strangelove, and he finds he can walk again. The character is straight from the Siegfried Kracauer playbook. The evil of nuclear war has restored the representative of apocalyptic Nazi vengeance to full power. Twenty years after his death, we all get to join Hitler in his suicide bunker. First-time viewers are usually floored by the audacious Dr. Strangelove. Only the truly uninformed will not recognize baritone James Earl Jones as one of Major Kong's flight crew. Those going back for a repeated peek will derive added enjoyment from Kubrick's deft juggling of his several visual styles and his avoidance of anything that might deflate tension: we hear about the recall code being issued but are spared any view of the responsible military personnel that must have sent it. Some of the best fun is finding details in designer Ken Adam's impressive War Room, such as the pies already laid out in preparation for the aborted pie-fight finale. Even better is watching the War room extras as they strain to maintain straight faces no matter how funny Sellers and Scott get; that contrast is what makes the comedy so brilliant. Watch Peter Bull carefully. In one extended take he starts to smile at Sellers, more than once. He catches himself and then is clearly on the verge of cracking up, forcing Kubrick to cut away. The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is the expected sterling transfer of this Kubrick classic, a 4K digital transfer. I put it up against Sony's old Blu-ray and the difference is not so great as to recommend that a trade-up is necessary. However, it looks extremely good. The Kubrick faithful out there will be thinking, 'I must not allow a disc shelf gap.' The HD picture makes quite a bit of difference in understanding Kubrick's photographic strategy. Not only do the hand-held Burpelson combat sequences approximate the look of documentary footage, a more contrasty and grainy film stock has been used. Switching "film looks" later became a fad for directors looking to be viewed as artists. The idea perhaps reached its zenith in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Back in 1964 the effect of imitating a news film look was quite stunning -- audiences reacted to the combat scenes as if they were real. I'm glad that we're finally beyond the frustrating early DVD years, when someone (at Warner Home Video?) claimed that Stanley Kubrick insisted that his films be shown at the old 1:33 aspect ratio for TV and disc. Even if they wangled a note from Kubrick to that effect, I still believe that the aspect ratio games were played because Kubrick was too busy to oversee new masters of his films, and Whv wanted to market them in a hurry at a minimum of cost. That's all old news now, but there was also the interesting aspect ratio question concerning Strangelove. At least one disc iteration -- Criterion's laserdisc, I'm fairly sure -- was released in a completely un-original dual-ratio scan. Kubrick apparently said that he preferred to see the War Room scenes at a full-frame 1:37, and so this one transfer of the film popped back and forth between ratios. I've never heard of anything like this before or after. Criterion's British 1:66 framing for this disc is correct, even though the film was probably screened at 1:85 for many of its American play dates. Criterion's new extras begin with interview featurettes with well-chosen spokespeople, like scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill. Kubrick archivist Richard Daniels' piece is quite good, as is an examination of the film's visuals by two of the original camera crew. The son of author Peter George gives an excellent account of his father's life and the adaptation of his novel Red Alert. George reportedly liked the notion of turning his story into a black comedy, especially when his original narrative was changed very little. The stroke of genius was deciding that the entire subject could best be approached as a sick joke. Other extras are repeated from Sony's DVD disc of 2004. A making-of docu interviews several surviving technicians and actors, and a primer on the Cold War atom standoff goes deep into detail. The featurettes have input from Robert McNamara, Spike Lee and Bob Woodward. Critics Roger Ebert and Alexander Walker are also represented. Docu pieces on Peter Sellers and Kubrick appear to suffer from legal restraints disallowing the use of clips from non-Columbia sources. The Peter Sellers show features several choice film clips from the 'fifties, including Sellers' almost perfect take on a William Conrad-like hired killer. We're shown some stills from the legendary The Goon Show, which is not mentioned by name. A Stanley Kubrick career piece that uses UA, MGM and Universal trailers covers a lot of territory a bit too quickly. It does have some nice interview input from Kubrick's partner James B. Harris. Harris has since given terrific interviews on Criterion discs for Kubrick's The Killing and Paths of Glory. Criterion's Curtis Tsui produced those discs as well as this one. An entertaining extra is a pair of vintage 'split screen' fake interviews with Sellers and Scott intended for publicity use. Each actor projects his chosen PR image. They're charming, especially when Sellers takes us on a lightning tour of regional English accents. I wonder if those distinctions have faded, 52 years later? As a pleasant surprise, Curtis Tsui has overseen the creation of a collectable, highly amusing substitute for a standard disc insert booklet. Inside an authentic-looking 'Wing Attack Plan R' envelope, David Bromwich's insert essay is printed in the form of classified orders on two sheets of loose-leaf paper. Terry Southern's hilariously profane 1994 essay on the movie comes in the form of a Playboy parody, illustrated with photos of Tracy Reed as 'Miss Foreign Affairs.' Finally, the disc credits and details are printed in a genuine miniature Russian Phrase Book and Holy Bible, a little bigger than one-inch square. It indeed offers some phrases that I'll have to try on my multi-lingual daughter, like "Where is the toilet?" But the cover Lies, as there's no Bible in there that I could find. Also, no nine packs of chewing gum and no issue of prophylactics. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Dr. Strangelove Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent uncompressed monaural + alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-hd Master Audio Supplements: (from Criterion stats): New interviews with Stanley Kubrick scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill; archivist Richard Daniels; cinematographer and camera innovator Joe Dunton; camera operator Kelvin Pike; and David George, son of Peter George, on whose novel Red Alert the film is based. Excerpts from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, conducted by physicist and author Jeremy Bernstein; Four short documentaries about the making of the film, the sociopolitical climate of the period, the work of actor Peter Sellers, and the artistry of Kubrick. Promotional interviews from 1963 with Sellers and actor George C. Scott; excerpt from a 1980 interview with Sellers from NBC's Today show; Trailers; insert essay by scholar David Bromwich and a 1994 article by screenwriter Terry Southern on the making of the film. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5136love)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When I heard that Criterion was putting out a Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb I thought that there already was a disc out there from The Collection. Nope, Sony released a Blu-ray in 2009, and back around 2000, a DVD. I was thinking of a deluxe laserdisc from Criterion sometime in the early 1990s. I remember being impressed by its extras, which included documentary materials about the Bomb in the Cold War years. Potential new fans of Kubrick's wickedly funny movie are being born every year, which leaves those of us for whom Strangelove was an important part of growing up having to remind ourselves just how good it still is. I remember recording the soundtrack off TV in high school and memorizing all of the dialogue; this has to be the most quotable movie of its decade. I also can remember my father's reaction when we watched it together on network TV, ABC, I think. An Air Force lifer who wouldn't discuss politics (or much of anything), the Old Sarge had little use for 'defeatist' movies like On the Beach. But he thought the premise of Seven Days in May wasn't really farfetched, having worked with Hap Arnold and Curtis LeMay. He shook his head after seeing Dr. Strangelove but I could tell that he found it very funny. It's too bad the two of us couldn't have gotten our senses of humor more in sync -- as soon as I wore my hair long, I think he stopped trusting me. I believe that Dr. Strangelove is one of few movies that 'made a difference' in that it redirected American public opinion about a major life issue. From that point forward only the ignorant and Shoot First fanatics talked about nuclear war as win-able, at least not until the neo-con Millennium. 1963 audiences had little use for suspect 'pacifist' movies that ended in masochistic doom, like On the Beach. The nuclear crisis was such a hot topic that that the low-key English science fiction film The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a surprise hit. Strangelove is more realistic than the straight atom nightmare movies. We're told that when Ronald Reagan was briefed at the start of his first term in office, he asked where the White House elevator to the War Room was. He figured it was there because he saw it in the movie. The decision to opt for broad comedy was Kubrick's inspired stroke. Dr. Strangelove may be the first hit film that was a bona-fide black comedy; I don't recall anybody even using the expression before it came out. It's not a crazy comedy where anything funny is okay. The backbone of the story remains 100% serious, while the jokes relentlessly demolish the death-cult logic of our Nuclear Deterrent. Kubrick and Terry Southern populate Peter George's credible cold-sweat crisis with insane caricatures given ridiculous names. The scary part is that, no matter how stupid they behave, none are really that exaggerated. Peter Sellers serves triple duty in a trio of characterizations, effectively outdoing previous champion film chameleon Alec Guinness. George C. Scott steals the show as an infantile Air Force General who acts like a Looney Tunes cartoon character. And the rest of the inspired cast nails their highly original quasi-comic characters. Every joke is a gallows joke; we're never allowed to forget that we all have an atomic noose around our necks. I almost envy the dead viewers still unfamiliar with Dr. Strangelove, as seeing it for the first time was a mind-opening experience. Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden), the commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, orders a flight of B-52s to attack Russia. He then seals off Burpelson to prevent a recall of the planes. Exchange officer Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) tries to talk him into divulging the recall code. Holding court in the War Room, President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) is horrified to discover that such a Snafu is even possible. He orders General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) to take Burpelson Air Base by force and recall the planes, and gets on the hotline with the Soviet Premier. Up in the lead B-52, Major 'King' Kong (Slim Pickens) receives Ripper's orders, coded 'Wing Attack Plan R.' He urges his crew to avoid Russian defenses and reach their primary target, while Turgidson tries to talk Muffley into launching an all-out attack. Advising in the War Room is ex-Nazi scientist Dr. Strangelove, a grinning theoretician already fantasizing about the sexual recreation for the ruling elite in the VIP bomb shelters, where America's chosen high officials will be living for the next 93 years. Dr. Strangelove divides its time between three main locations, each with its own deadly serious function and each overlaid with a different comedic tone. In his locked executive office in the Alaskan Air Force Base, the sexually obsessed American General Ripper faces off with a veddy proper English officer in a farcical one-act. Beady-eyed and intense in his anti-Communist convictions, Sterling Hayden contrasts beautifully with Seller's genial Group Captain, who can't fathom the depth of his commanding officer's madness. The action in the B-52 is a throwback to those gung-ho WW2 action films in which a racially and ethnically diverse attack team uses brains and guts to barrel through their suicide mission. Even though their pilot is a cowboy clown (Slim Pickens doing his only characterization, Slim Pickens) they're an admirable bunch, seemingly the only humans capable of doing anything without red tape or Coca-Cola machines getting in their way. The horror is that our heroes' mission is totally against every moral precept ever imagined. The docu feeling in the B-52 is further amplified by the gritty newsreel-like footage of the taking of Burpelson Afb, with American troops fighting American troops. In 1964 these were traumatic, subversive scenes. U.S. troops on film are supposed to fight for freedom and righteousness, not kill each other. Kubrick has the audacity to place in the middle of it all a big sign that reads, 'Peace is our Profession.' The grainy authenticity of these scenes would come back to haunt us when similar footage started being seen nightly on television, fresh from Vietnam. The center of activities is the War Room, a Camelot-like round table of Death located in the basement of the White House. The rational President Merkin Muffley trips over an ideological roadblock in the form of Buck Turgidson, a gum-chewing military nutcase itching to go to war and overjoyed that Jack Ripper has 'exceeded his authority.' The President is hardly in charge of foreign policy, and none of fifty advisors come to his aid with any original thinking. An amateur among experts, Muffley must be shepherded through protocol by an assistant. Here's where Southern and Kubrick make their biggest points, basically asserting that a showdown with the Russkies is inevitable because the American stance is a military one -- Sac just wants the peacenik in the Oval Office to get out of their way. The comedy is all over the place, and it's a miracle that it works. The stand-up humor on the hot line to Moscow is very much like a Bob Newhart routine. At Burpelson, it's the Goon Show all over again. Sellers' Mandrake cannot sway General Ripper, and the moronic Major Bat Guano (Keenan Wynn) suspects the Raf officer of being a 'deviated prevert.' Up in the bomber, Mad Magazine craziness is grafted onto combat realism. Previous looks at the Air Force's flying deterrent were enlistment booster films like Strategic Air Command. Kubrick drove his English craftsmen to fake the entire bomber interior right down to the switches and gauges. The aerial combat is more realistic than that in escapist films, even with inadequate models used for exteriors of the jet bomber in flight. Dr. Strangelove maintains a nervous tension between absurd comedy and morbid unease. Kubrick's main career themes -- sexual madness, treacherous technology and the folly of human planning -- come into strong relief. We're motivated to root for the fliers that are going to destroy the world. Then we fret over the President's pitiful lack of control. Dour, glowering Russian Ambassador De Sadesky (Peter Bull) informs the War Room about his country's solution to the costly Arms Race, the dreaded Doomsday Machine. Security advisor Dr. Strangelove enters the film in the last act to serve as sort of an angel of Death. Based loosely on Rand-corporation experts that calculated eventualities in nuclear war scenarios, Sellers' vision of Strangelove is a throwback to German Expressionism. A Mabuse in a wheelchair, he's black-gloved like the brilliant but mad Rotwang of Metropolis. Strangelove enters like the specter of Death itself; his grin looks like a skull. Contemplating 'megadeaths' gives him sexual pleasure. The detonation of the first bomb seems to liberate Strangelove, and he finds he can walk again. The character is straight from the Siegfried Kracauer playbook. The evil of nuclear war has restored the representative of apocalyptic Nazi vengeance to full power. Twenty years after his death, we all get to join Hitler in his suicide bunker. First-time viewers are usually floored by the audacious Dr. Strangelove. Only the truly uninformed will not recognize baritone James Earl Jones as one of Major Kong's flight crew. Those going back for a repeated peek will derive added enjoyment from Kubrick's deft juggling of his several visual styles and his avoidance of anything that might deflate tension: we hear about the recall code being issued but are spared any view of the responsible military personnel that must have sent it. Some of the best fun is finding details in designer Ken Adam's impressive War Room, such as the pies already laid out in preparation for the aborted pie-fight finale. Even better is watching the War room extras as they strain to maintain straight faces no matter how funny Sellers and Scott get; that contrast is what makes the comedy so brilliant. Watch Peter Bull carefully. In one extended take he starts to smile at Sellers, more than once. He catches himself and then is clearly on the verge of cracking up, forcing Kubrick to cut away. The Criterion Collection's Blu-ray of Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is the expected sterling transfer of this Kubrick classic, a 4K digital transfer. I put it up against Sony's old Blu-ray and the difference is not so great as to recommend that a trade-up is necessary. However, it looks extremely good. The Kubrick faithful out there will be thinking, 'I must not allow a disc shelf gap.' The HD picture makes quite a bit of difference in understanding Kubrick's photographic strategy. Not only do the hand-held Burpelson combat sequences approximate the look of documentary footage, a more contrasty and grainy film stock has been used. Switching "film looks" later became a fad for directors looking to be viewed as artists. The idea perhaps reached its zenith in Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers. Back in 1964 the effect of imitating a news film look was quite stunning -- audiences reacted to the combat scenes as if they were real. I'm glad that we're finally beyond the frustrating early DVD years, when someone (at Warner Home Video?) claimed that Stanley Kubrick insisted that his films be shown at the old 1:33 aspect ratio for TV and disc. Even if they wangled a note from Kubrick to that effect, I still believe that the aspect ratio games were played because Kubrick was too busy to oversee new masters of his films, and Whv wanted to market them in a hurry at a minimum of cost. That's all old news now, but there was also the interesting aspect ratio question concerning Strangelove. At least one disc iteration -- Criterion's laserdisc, I'm fairly sure -- was released in a completely un-original dual-ratio scan. Kubrick apparently said that he preferred to see the War Room scenes at a full-frame 1:37, and so this one transfer of the film popped back and forth between ratios. I've never heard of anything like this before or after. Criterion's British 1:66 framing for this disc is correct, even though the film was probably screened at 1:85 for many of its American play dates. Criterion's new extras begin with interview featurettes with well-chosen spokespeople, like scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill. Kubrick archivist Richard Daniels' piece is quite good, as is an examination of the film's visuals by two of the original camera crew. The son of author Peter George gives an excellent account of his father's life and the adaptation of his novel Red Alert. George reportedly liked the notion of turning his story into a black comedy, especially when his original narrative was changed very little. The stroke of genius was deciding that the entire subject could best be approached as a sick joke. Other extras are repeated from Sony's DVD disc of 2004. A making-of docu interviews several surviving technicians and actors, and a primer on the Cold War atom standoff goes deep into detail. The featurettes have input from Robert McNamara, Spike Lee and Bob Woodward. Critics Roger Ebert and Alexander Walker are also represented. Docu pieces on Peter Sellers and Kubrick appear to suffer from legal restraints disallowing the use of clips from non-Columbia sources. The Peter Sellers show features several choice film clips from the 'fifties, including Sellers' almost perfect take on a William Conrad-like hired killer. We're shown some stills from the legendary The Goon Show, which is not mentioned by name. A Stanley Kubrick career piece that uses UA, MGM and Universal trailers covers a lot of territory a bit too quickly. It does have some nice interview input from Kubrick's partner James B. Harris. Harris has since given terrific interviews on Criterion discs for Kubrick's The Killing and Paths of Glory. Criterion's Curtis Tsui produced those discs as well as this one. An entertaining extra is a pair of vintage 'split screen' fake interviews with Sellers and Scott intended for publicity use. Each actor projects his chosen PR image. They're charming, especially when Sellers takes us on a lightning tour of regional English accents. I wonder if those distinctions have faded, 52 years later? As a pleasant surprise, Curtis Tsui has overseen the creation of a collectable, highly amusing substitute for a standard disc insert booklet. Inside an authentic-looking 'Wing Attack Plan R' envelope, David Bromwich's insert essay is printed in the form of classified orders on two sheets of loose-leaf paper. Terry Southern's hilariously profane 1994 essay on the movie comes in the form of a Playboy parody, illustrated with photos of Tracy Reed as 'Miss Foreign Affairs.' Finally, the disc credits and details are printed in a genuine miniature Russian Phrase Book and Holy Bible, a little bigger than one-inch square. It indeed offers some phrases that I'll have to try on my multi-lingual daughter, like "Where is the toilet?" But the cover Lies, as there's no Bible in there that I could find. Also, no nine packs of chewing gum and no issue of prophylactics. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Dr. Strangelove Blu-ray rates: Movie: Excellent Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent uncompressed monaural + alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-hd Master Audio Supplements: (from Criterion stats): New interviews with Stanley Kubrick scholars Mick Broderick and Rodney Hill; archivist Richard Daniels; cinematographer and camera innovator Joe Dunton; camera operator Kelvin Pike; and David George, son of Peter George, on whose novel Red Alert the film is based. Excerpts from a 1966 audio interview with Kubrick, conducted by physicist and author Jeremy Bernstein; Four short documentaries about the making of the film, the sociopolitical climate of the period, the work of actor Peter Sellers, and the artistry of Kubrick. Promotional interviews from 1963 with Sellers and actor George C. Scott; excerpt from a 1980 interview with Sellers from NBC's Today show; Trailers; insert essay by scholar David Bromwich and a 1994 article by screenwriter Terry Southern on the making of the film. Deaf and Hearing-impaired Friendly? Yes; Subtitles: English Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5136love)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/11/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'Tis the season to annoy everyone by using "'tis the season" way too many times when talking about holiday stuff. Halloween hasn't even happened yet, but the Christmas decorations are already taking over drug stores so ABC is just going ahead and announcing its 2015 holiday lineup. It's something to look forward to after the candy is gone, anyway, and since the "Toy Story 20th Anniversary Special" and "It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown" are involved, you should definitely mark your calendars.
Here's a chronological list of holiday programming highlights, via ABC:
Friday, November 27
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" - In the perennial favorite created in 1970 by Rankin-Bass Productions ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman"), Fred Astaire narrates this timeless tale of Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney), a young boy with an immense desire to do good things for others. The vocal cast features Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle, Keenan Wynn as Winter,...
Here's a chronological list of holiday programming highlights, via ABC:
Friday, November 27
"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" - In the perennial favorite created in 1970 by Rankin-Bass Productions ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Frosty the Snowman"), Fred Astaire narrates this timeless tale of Kris Kringle (Mickey Rooney), a young boy with an immense desire to do good things for others. The vocal cast features Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle, Keenan Wynn as Winter,...
- 10/21/2015
- by Gina Carbone
- Moviefone
“Y’all take it easy now. This isn’t Dallas, it’s Nashville! They can’t do this to us here in Nashville! Let’s show them what we’re made of. Come on everybody, sing! Somebody, sing!”
Nashville screens one time only Thursday, September 24th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) at 7pm
In a decade of great films, Nashville is one of the greatest. I saw Nashville during its initial theatrical release and have seen it several times since but it has not played on the big screen (at least in St. Louis) in a long time. In 1974 director Robert Altman was directing films for United Artists and wanted them to produce his film Thieves Like Us. They agreed if he would agree to direct a story about country music that they had a script for. He rejected the script and said he would offer them...
Nashville screens one time only Thursday, September 24th at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis) at 7pm
In a decade of great films, Nashville is one of the greatest. I saw Nashville during its initial theatrical release and have seen it several times since but it has not played on the big screen (at least in St. Louis) in a long time. In 1974 director Robert Altman was directing films for United Artists and wanted them to produce his film Thieves Like Us. They agreed if he would agree to direct a story about country music that they had a script for. He rejected the script and said he would offer them...
- 9/22/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Initial performers have been announced for the next installment of theBroadway Singsconcert series at the Highline Ballroom.Broadway Sings Sara Bareilleswill featureFinding NeverlandstarLaura Michelle Kelly,Alysha UmphressfromOn the Town, Beautiful'sJessica Keenan Wynn, andDrew Gehling, currently starring in Bareilles' Broadway-Bound musicalWaitressat American Repertory Theatre. A cast of 15 Broadway stars will sing completely new arrangements of the singer-songwriter's greatest hits, accompanied by a string orchestra playing original orchestrations. Previous shows in the series included Adele, Michael Jackson, Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, Justin Timberlake, and Pnk.
- 9/17/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Gary Cooper movies on TCM: Cooper at his best and at his weakest Gary Cooper is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 30, '15. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any Cooper movie premiere – despite the fact that most of his Paramount movies of the '20s and '30s remain unavailable. This evening's features are Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Sergeant York (1941), and Love in the Afternoon (1957). Mr. Deeds Goes to Town solidified Gary Cooper's stardom and helped to make Jean Arthur Columbia's top female star. The film is a tad overlong and, like every Frank Capra movie, it's also highly sentimental. What saves it from the Hell of Good Intentions is the acting of the two leads – Cooper and Arthur are both excellent – and of several supporting players. Directed by Howard Hawks, the jingoistic, pro-war Sergeant York was a huge box office hit, eventually earning Academy Award nominations in several categories,...
- 8/30/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
From thrillers to sci-fi to horror, here's our pick of 20 films from 1986 that surely deserve a bit more love...
A fascinating year for film, 1986. It was a time when a glossy, expensive movie about handsome men in planes could dominate the box-office, sure (that would be Top Gun). But it was also a year when Oliver Stone went off with just $6m and came back with Platoon, one of the biggest hits of the year both financially and in terms of accolades. It was also a period when the British movie industry was briefly back on its feet, resulting in a new golden age of great films - one or two of them are even on this list.
As ever, there were certain films that, despite their entertainment value or genuine brilliance in terms of movie making, somehow managed to slip through the net. So to redress the balance a little,...
A fascinating year for film, 1986. It was a time when a glossy, expensive movie about handsome men in planes could dominate the box-office, sure (that would be Top Gun). But it was also a year when Oliver Stone went off with just $6m and came back with Platoon, one of the biggest hits of the year both financially and in terms of accolades. It was also a period when the British movie industry was briefly back on its feet, resulting in a new golden age of great films - one or two of them are even on this list.
As ever, there were certain films that, despite their entertainment value or genuine brilliance in terms of movie making, somehow managed to slip through the net. So to redress the balance a little,...
- 8/26/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Adolphe Menjou movies today (This article is currently being revised.) Despite countless stories to the contrary, numerous silent film performers managed to survive the coming of sound. Adolphe Menjou, however, is a special case in that he not only remained a leading man in the early sound era, but smoothly made the transition to top supporting player in mid-decade, a position he would continue to hold for the quarter of a century. Menjou is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Day today, Aug. 3, as part of TCM's "Summer Under the Stars" 2015 series. Right now, TCM is showing William A. Wellman's A Star Is Born, the "original" version of the story about a small-town girl (Janet Gaynor) who becomes a Hollywood star, while her husband (Fredric March) boozes his way into oblivion. In typical Hollywood originality (not that things are any different elsewhere), this 1937 version of the story – produced by...
- 8/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Alex Simon
Stress kills, goes the old saying, and can cause a host of maladies before it does. Hypertension, heart disease and even Bruxism, otherwise known as grinding of the teeth, can be its unfortunate products. In that spirit, here are ten examples of stress in on-screen, and its most masterful portraits.
1. Jack Lemmon—Save the Tiger (1973)
Jack Lemmon took home a Best Actor Academy Award for his incendiary turn as Harry Stoner, a once-prosperous businessman who finds his carefully-tailored life crashing down around him. His garment business in downtown La is going bust, his marriage is dead in the water, and the crazy hippies who hitchhike on the Sunset Strip just don’t match his Ww II era sensibilities. When Harry decides to have his business “torched” for the insurance money, he goes on a self-destructive odyssey through early ‘70s La. His word association game with a cute...
Stress kills, goes the old saying, and can cause a host of maladies before it does. Hypertension, heart disease and even Bruxism, otherwise known as grinding of the teeth, can be its unfortunate products. In that spirit, here are ten examples of stress in on-screen, and its most masterful portraits.
1. Jack Lemmon—Save the Tiger (1973)
Jack Lemmon took home a Best Actor Academy Award for his incendiary turn as Harry Stoner, a once-prosperous businessman who finds his carefully-tailored life crashing down around him. His garment business in downtown La is going bust, his marriage is dead in the water, and the crazy hippies who hitchhike on the Sunset Strip just don’t match his Ww II era sensibilities. When Harry decides to have his business “torched” for the insurance money, he goes on a self-destructive odyssey through early ‘70s La. His word association game with a cute...
- 5/19/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
“Corbis! God Damn You!!!” Sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. The above quote is from none other than the mighty William Shatner, and I’m emphasizing it to let everyone know what amazing and fantastical delights await those who enter…The Devil’s Rain. Released in 1975, to little fanfare, The Devil’s Rain sits smack dab in the middle of a decade long wave of satanic cinema. From Rosemary’s Baby (1968) to Damien Omen II (1978), the market was flooded with horror films dedicated to the Behooved One. It’s a shame that audiences and critics alike didn’t want to play in this rain, as this is a devilish delight.
Mark Preston (Shatner) and his family have been hiding Satan’s Guest Book from Jonathan Corbis (a creepily effective Ernest Borgnine) , Satan’s earthly salesman, for centuries. Without the book, all of Corbis’ converts cannot...
Mark Preston (Shatner) and his family have been hiding Satan’s Guest Book from Jonathan Corbis (a creepily effective Ernest Borgnine) , Satan’s earthly salesman, for centuries. Without the book, all of Corbis’ converts cannot...
- 5/2/2015
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen Brad Pitt 'Glory Days' costar Nicholas Kallsen dead at 48 Nicholas Kallsen, who was featured opposite Brad Pitt in the short-lived television series Glory Days, has died at age 48 in Thailand according to online reports. Their source is one of Rupert Murdoch's rags, citing a Facebook posting by one of the actor's friends. The cause of death was purportedly – no specific source was provided – a drug overdose.* Aired on Fox in July 1990, Glory Days told the story of four high-school friends whose paths take different directions after graduation. Besides Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt, the show also featured Spike Alexander and Evan Mirand. Glory Days lasted a mere six episodes – two of which directed by former Happy Days actor Anson Williams – before its cancellation. Roommates Nicholas Kallsen and Brad Pitt vying for same 'Thelma & Louise' role? The Murdoch tabloid also...
- 5/1/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A Hole in the Head
Written by Arnold Schulman
Directed by Frank Capra
USA, 1959
As the opening credits soar across the sky, shown as flapping aerial announcements pulled along by the Goodyear blimp, the talent behind A Hole in the Head is clear. The major players in this Frank Capra film include Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, and Keenan Wynn. Behind the scenes, shown in a more typical credit scrawl, there is renowned cinematographer William H. Daniels and the equally legendary costumer designer Edith Head. To say A Hole in the Head has much in its favor is quite the understatement. Yet while it may not live up to the expectations one associates with such individuals, the picture is nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, even if it feels something like an effortless throwaway from these key contributors.
Written by Arnold Schulman, based on his own play,...
Written by Arnold Schulman
Directed by Frank Capra
USA, 1959
As the opening credits soar across the sky, shown as flapping aerial announcements pulled along by the Goodyear blimp, the talent behind A Hole in the Head is clear. The major players in this Frank Capra film include Frank Sinatra, Edward G. Robinson, Eleanor Parker, Carolyn Jones, Thelma Ritter, and Keenan Wynn. Behind the scenes, shown in a more typical credit scrawl, there is renowned cinematographer William H. Daniels and the equally legendary costumer designer Edith Head. To say A Hole in the Head has much in its favor is quite the understatement. Yet while it may not live up to the expectations one associates with such individuals, the picture is nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable, even if it feels something like an effortless throwaway from these key contributors.
Written by Arnold Schulman, based on his own play,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
“Who calls me from out of the Pit?!”
Holy Melting Travoltas! A pair of schlock classics from the early ‘70s both involving horned demons in the desert plotting world domination?!? It must be Krampus Movie Night!
The Krampus Research Association of St. Louis will be throwing their first movie night Monday October 13th at The Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois, St. Louis 63116) with a double feature of Gargoyles and The Devil’S Rain. This is a Fundraiser for Saint Louis Krampusnacht 2014. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $5 for admission.
Gargoyles is one of the seminal TV horror films of my youth. I saw this gem the first time it aired as a Tuesday Movie-of-the-Week in 1972 when I was 9 years old and it’s all the kids talked about at school for a solid week. For 1972, this was one helluva TV movie. The effects, though...
Holy Melting Travoltas! A pair of schlock classics from the early ‘70s both involving horned demons in the desert plotting world domination?!? It must be Krampus Movie Night!
The Krampus Research Association of St. Louis will be throwing their first movie night Monday October 13th at The Heavy Anchor (5226 Gravois, St. Louis 63116) with a double feature of Gargoyles and The Devil’S Rain. This is a Fundraiser for Saint Louis Krampusnacht 2014. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Show starts at 8 p.m. Suggested donation of $5 for admission.
Gargoyles is one of the seminal TV horror films of my youth. I saw this gem the first time it aired as a Tuesday Movie-of-the-Week in 1972 when I was 9 years old and it’s all the kids talked about at school for a solid week. For 1972, this was one helluva TV movie. The effects, though...
- 10/10/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...
- 7/25/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Well, friends, it’s about that time again: time for the sexism talk. Not the sex talk, mind you. That’s…well, we’re not going to have that talk with you ever. You’re on your own. But the sexism talk, specifically sexism in Disney movies, is something we’re a bit more prepared to tackle. And we do so in the new episode of Mousterpiece Cinema, focusing on the 1961 comedy The Absent-Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurray, Keenan Wynn, and a whole lot of flubber. Between Gabe and Josh, one of your co-hosts enjoyed the film and laughed at its many slapstick sequences; the other one was turned off by the main character’s treatment of his fiancee. Can you guess who’s who? No? Well, then, get to downloading the new episode! Don’t bounce off the walls, just listen to the new podcast. Get it? Bounce? Because flubber…...
- 2/22/2014
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
Friday, January 17
Dazed and Confused - 10.40pm, Film4
This 1970s-set comedy-drama provided early starring roles for Hollywood stars including Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, who are just part of the extensive cast of young talent here. The end of the summer term at high school is an excuse to party and terrorise younger students for the teenagers in this honest and insightful film.
Saturday, January 18
Despicable Me - 5.10pm, ITV
The animated comedy that introduced 'minions' to the world sees top villain Gru (Steve Carell) fearing that he's about to lose his position as the biggest bad guy to newcomer Vector (Jason Segel). So he concocts a plan to steal the moon, recruiting three orphan sisters to help his cause. But his bond with the girls threatens to derail his terrible plans...
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 7.05pm, 5*
Steven Spielberg's classic sci-fi drama sees Richard Dreyfuss's...
Dazed and Confused - 10.40pm, Film4
This 1970s-set comedy-drama provided early starring roles for Hollywood stars including Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck, who are just part of the extensive cast of young talent here. The end of the summer term at high school is an excuse to party and terrorise younger students for the teenagers in this honest and insightful film.
Saturday, January 18
Despicable Me - 5.10pm, ITV
The animated comedy that introduced 'minions' to the world sees top villain Gru (Steve Carell) fearing that he's about to lose his position as the biggest bad guy to newcomer Vector (Jason Segel). So he concocts a plan to steal the moon, recruiting three orphan sisters to help his cause. But his bond with the girls threatens to derail his terrible plans...
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - 7.05pm, 5*
Steven Spielberg's classic sci-fi drama sees Richard Dreyfuss's...
- 1/17/2014
- Digital Spy
Stars: Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith, Gianni Russo, Ron Masak, Dennis Burkley, Barry Cutler, Mike Bobenko, Eddie Deezen, Keenan Wynn, Roddy McDowall, Rick Walters | Written by Franne Schacht, Frank Ray Perilli | Directed by Michael Rae
The latest release from 88 Films’ Grindhouse Collection label, Laserblast is a very early Charles Band production that, for fans of 80s Dtv productions, is probably one of the most notoriously “bad” movies to come from the Full Moon head honcho. Notorious in so much that the cover art for the VHS release (also present on this DVD) should be in the bad movie hall of fame… And so should some of the acting!
For those interested in a plot, Laserblast tells the story of Billy Duncan, a put-upon teenage loner who, after being bullied by two local teens and given a speeding ticket by two police deputies, wanders into the desert and discovers a laser...
The latest release from 88 Films’ Grindhouse Collection label, Laserblast is a very early Charles Band production that, for fans of 80s Dtv productions, is probably one of the most notoriously “bad” movies to come from the Full Moon head honcho. Notorious in so much that the cover art for the VHS release (also present on this DVD) should be in the bad movie hall of fame… And so should some of the acting!
For those interested in a plot, Laserblast tells the story of Billy Duncan, a put-upon teenage loner who, after being bullied by two local teens and given a speeding ticket by two police deputies, wanders into the desert and discovers a laser...
- 12/29/2013
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
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