DVD Talk
Reviews & Columns
Reviews
DVD
TV on DVD
Blu-ray
International DVDs
Theatrical
Reviews by Studio
Video Games

Features
Collector Series DVDs
Easter Egg Database
Interviews
DVD Talk Radio
Feature Articles

Columns
Anime Talk
DVD Savant
HD Talk
Horror DVDs
Silent DVD

discussion forum
DVD Talk Forum

Resources
DVD Price Search
Customer Service #'s
RCE Info
Links

Columns




November 30, 2007

Savant's new reviews today are

The Killing Kind
Dark Sky
and

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Blackhawk / Image

Greetings! Friendly reader Ted Haycraft sent me this link to a Martin Scorsese short subject, which I assume is a European-style theatrical ad for champagne in the form of an elaborate gag: Freixenet. Is it a restored Hitchcock film fragment that Hitchcock never filmed, or is Scorsese channeling Brian De Palma?

Plug for the Day, a DVD set Savant likes: New Yorker / Project X has a new box out for Christmas of their great Peter Watkins restorations, that Savant has already reviewed individually (links provided): Punishment Park, The War Game, Culloden, The Gladiators and the longer version of Edvard Munch.

Criterion's giant Two-Lane Blacktop disc set is here, and I can't wait to get into it. But I've missed out (I think) on screeners for Help!, John Ford at Fox, Close Encounters 30th Anniversary, Waitress and Walking Tall. I only reviewed The Day of the Triffids by borrowing a friend's copy. I still have reviews on the way for The Lady Vanishes, The Freethinker, Battle of Okinawa, Sawdust and Tinsel and Shinobi no mono but December is looking very lean. Maybe I'll offer some free-verse poetry? Or limericks. Actually, I'll more likely than not double back and do some reviews of discs I wasn't sent and eventually picked up way after street date. Thanks for reading, and for the corrections ... Harold Hecht, not Ben Hecht, partnered with Burt Lancaster! Cheers, Glenn Erickson



November 26, 2007

Savant's new reviews today are

A Big Hand for the Little Lady
Warners
and
Executive Suite
Warners

Greetings! Savant seems to have survived another Thanksgiving, and have been enjoying emails from readers and friends. Saturday November 24. Besides reorganizing the Savant Wish List for the new Year and doing my top disc list article, I think I'll update the Savant 'personal' column, as I haven't done so since 2002 or so. The online review picture is changing, and Savant's place in it may need to shift as well ... I'm not sure. Writing for the web is still a major pleasure so I doubt there will be any serious changes.

What have I seen so far, of the new films? WAITRESS is amusing and has some very likeable characters, which seems a lot to ask for these days. MARGOT AT THE WEDDING is okay, but the relentlessly miserable characters are depressing, and the story seems rigged to make them that way. AMERICAN GANGSTER had my full attention throughout and I thought it was very well made, but a week later I barely remember it. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was sort of aggravating while I was watching it ... too many recycled Coen Bros. attitudes. I'm no longer interested in movies about implacable, unstoppable hit men; they're just one rung higher than diabolical serial killers on the 'overdone' list. But I have to admit that NO COUNTRY has stuck with me, and I've been thinking about it more in the week since I've seen it. That's it for useless thumbnail opinionizing! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



November 24, 2007

Savant's new reviews today are

Up the Down Staircase
Warners
and
The Day of the Triffids
1981; Warners / BBC

Hello again! ... the reviews are 'on time' rather than early this week because of a slight vacation detour ... this is the view from my Thanksgiving hotel room on the Colorado River in Arizona.

And I reviewed The Day of the Triffids like I wanted to, so it worked out after all. Thanks for the notes from from Justin Frank, Tom Dunnam, Jim Werner, Mike LeMaire, Jim Kroeper, Kyu Hyun Kim, Marshall Crawford, Thomas Kuzmarskis, Gareth Moses, Lee Kaplan, Jordan Benedict, and Zenn. The nudging helped -- Take care, Glenn Erickson



November 18, 2007

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

I Am Cuba, The Ultimate Edition
Milestone / New Yorker
and

With a Song in My Heart
Fox

I'm a little short for fun stories this go 'round, but it is worth mentioning that Criterion is promising us not only The Naked Prey but probably The Thief of Bagdad fairly early next year; add those titles to El Cid on January 29 and 2008 will be off to a pretty good start.

I may have access to the new BBC disc of the TV miniseries Day of the Triffids (1981 or thereabouts) ... would anyone want to see it reviewed? No screeners for Help!, O Lucky Man or Close Encounters of the Third Kind 30th Anniversary have turned up so far. If anybody watching the Spielberg film has questions, especially about the special effects, feel free to ask; CE3K is my one big-movie credit that spells my name correctly!

I took this photo of Spielberg and Doug Trumbull early in 1977.

Thanks for reading -- Glenn Erickson



November 16, 2007

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Burt Lancaster The Signature Collection:
The Flame and the Arrow, Jim Thorpe - All American,
South Sea Woman, His Majesty O'Keefe, Executive Action
Warners
and
Lisbon Story
Lionsgate

Reader Eric Wilson sent these interesting links: "Since you've done more than a bit of writing on Edgar G. Ulmer and Detour, I thought you might like something I found recently: the text of the original novel is now a free download at munseys.com. The most interesting surprise (for me, at least) is that Goldsmith's book alternates Al's story with sections about an incident from his girl Sue's life as a Hollywood wannabe. There's no real competition as to which story a reader is better, but it's interesting to see the type of person she really is.

Munseys.com is a rebranded version of the lamented blackmask.com, which got sued out of existence over unauthorized Shadow reprints (and an ill-advised legal defense of same), but still has freebie gems like Armitage Trail's Scarface and Thea Von Harbou's novelization of Metropolis. And no, I'm just a reader of their work, not an employee!" -- Eric Wilson

Also, Nicholas McCarthy reports on the Academy's digital 3D screening of Hondo last week: "Just thought you'd like to know about that HONDO screening. Sitting all around me were all the exact same guys that went to all the 3-D fests at the Egyptian. We wore those battery powered glasses that I've worn for Imax 3-D presentations. The digital projection was quite good, even when apparently the version we saw was still a work in progress. The only issue I had was visible compression during the night scenes (and every fade out). But otherwise I thought it was terrific, close to the quality of a genuine dual projector 3-D presentation.

Leonard Maltin provided a nice overview about the film's history (how big a hit it was in '53) and how it screened at Cannes this year to acclaim. The Duke's daughter in law Gretchen Wayne is spearheading the restoration, carrying on the work of her late husband Michael. She spoke and said she'd like to find theatrical distribution for it sometime soon.

I thought it was a very entertaining, quite violent western, with another amazing performance by John Wayne. Keep up the good work." -- Nick

Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson.



November 12, 2007

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Barbara Stanwyck The Signature Collection
Annie Oakley, My Reputation, East Side West Side,
To Please a Lady, Jeopardy, Executive Suite
Warners

Drunken Angel
Criterion

It's a Wonderful Life
Paramount
and
Plagues and Pleasures on the Salton Sea
New Video / Docurama

Friend and fellow Turner Classics Movies reviewer Jeremy Arnold tells me that the Fox Movie Channel is showing The Raid (1954) on Nov. 16 at 9:30am Pacific. This is a very underrated little movie with a most interesting story -- the true story of the northernmost battle of the Civil War, The St. Albans raid. In a column not long after 9/11, Savant described it as 'food for thought': The Confederate raiders are considered terrorists by the Vermont Yankees, who have used phony patriotism to whip up a storm of hate against all things Southern. Even the preacher has decided that God wants the Evil Confederacy punished. Plus, it's a good movie, with Van Heflin, Richard Boone and Anne Bancroft.

Also interesting to note in the 'TV logs' ... in December TCM's "Underground" series will be showing a big-reputation Sci-Fi picture that Savant's never seen: Roger Corman's Attack of the Crab Monsters. No good copies of this title seem to be in circulation, so I'm hopeful that the Turner print will be a good one -- wouldn't it be nice if the show were to become one of next year's Cult Classic titles?

Savant contributor Gary Teetzel saw Max von Sydow at an American Cinematheque screening at the Aero theater a few days ago, and gave me permission to run this photo he took. Gary explains: "When asked the inevitable question "What was it like to work with Ingmar Bergman?" Von Sydow gave a long, thoughtful response summarizing the experience. Asked for his favorite movie or role, he said that if forced to pick he would choose Pelle the Conquerer. He couldn't choose one Bergman film because he regarded them all as parts of one piece of work. Other topics included The Greatest Story Ever Told and Never Say Never Again.

He mentioned that he had been offered Dr. No and turned it down, so he was amused to finally play a Bond villain years later. Von Sydow suggested padding his costume to make himself look heavier and was distressed when the cat he had to hold kept ruining take after take of a big speech he gave to his SPECTRE underlings. When he saw the finished movie he noticed that most of the scene had been cut and you couldn't notice the padding because he was always sitting! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



November 09, 2007

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Chinatown
Special Collector's Edition
Paramount

Killer of Sheep
The Charles Burnett Collection
Paramount

and
Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement
Disinformation

Hello ... the weather in Los Angeles is supposed to be warm and summer-like year 'round, but the heavens have decreed otherwise this week and we're on the cool and grim side. The rest of the world lives with 'real' weather, whereas a rain cloud in Tinseltown is an excuse for depression!

I've got at least one interesting link for you: Nicholas McCarthy told me of this 3-D screening of John Farrow's Hondo next Tuesday, the 13th of November at the Academy Theater. The 3-D Digital projection of the John Wayne film will be accompanied by lectures and demos on the nature of stereoptics. The notice doesn't mention whether glasses will be needed. I'm curious, but don't think I'll be able to attend - personally, I think it would be great to digitally rejuvenate all of the 1950s 3D movies. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



November 05, 2007

Savant's new reviews today are

Days of Heaven
Criterion
Battleship Potemkin
Kino
and
Pixar Short Films Collection - Volume 1
Disney

Not a lot to report this week ... the usual parade of discs. Fall Academy screenings are starting so I'll be eager to see some of the new pictures. Stay warm ... thanks for reading! Glenn



November 02, 2007

Savant's new reviews today are

Erik the Conqueror
Anchor Bay

Maurice Jarre: A Tribute to David Lean
Milan Records
and
No End in Sight
Magnolia

Greetings! Last week's 2001: A Space Odyssey Two-Disc Special Edition review is currently #1 over at the DVDTalk database of reviews ... I can't remember the last time that happened!

Here are a couple more notes about things that caught my eye:

John McElwee over at The Greenbriar Picture Show posted a great article last Tuesday (October 30th) on the notorious Leo McCarey film My Son John. Last shown on television in 1970 and clean out of sight ever since, My Son John is about an honest, God-fearing American couple (Helen Hayes, Dean Jagger) that discovers that their handsome, busy son is (gasp) a Communist! Robert Walker plays the Red viper in a tale that strives to make bigotry and hysteria into pillars of good citizenship. McElwee goes over the history of how the movie was finished after the sudden death of its young star, using outtakes from Strangers on a Train. In the Evil John's death scene, it's really "Bruno Anthony" suffering through a superimposed broken car window ... and we can see the muzzle of a wooden carousel horse, right there in the wrecked car with him!

Reader Edward Sullivan tipped me off to a very nice site on the subject of Hollywood studios, from the 'where was it' real estate angle. The Studio Owned Lots, Backlots and Ranches has detailed rundowns on dozens of studios I never heard of, and many of which no longer exist, complete with addresses and old photos.

Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson


Don't forget to write Savant at [email protected].

Advertise With Us

Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum |
Copyright © DVDTalk.com All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information