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




August 28, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Brand Upon the Brain!
Criterion

The Nightmare Before Christmas
Blu-ray
Disney

and
Pete Kelly's Blues
Warners

Here's something fun: Tom Sutpen of the fascinating website If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats has a great selection of 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention pictures up, on the entry dated August 25). Then, if you scroll back up to August 26, (easier than it sounds), you'll find a link (the non-highlighted word "post") to a terrific speech given by critic Pauline Kael in 1968, on Tom Sutpen's equally incisive blog called Illusion Travels by Streetcar. Kael fires off a mounting crescendo of broadsides on the subjects of The Underground Cinema, Arthur Penn and what Sutpen pegs as "the institutional imperatives of mass-market film criticism." Kael's tough and opinionated (she's pretty unkind to some actors) but certainly knows her own mind. She's convinced that the Western is finished as a viable film genre -- in 1968!

Over at Film.com this week I attempt a breakdown of what I like and dislike about DVD menuing practices, entitled When DVD Menus Attack. I'm forming a vigilante committee and handing out torches to track down the guy who invented the anti-piracy ads that mar our discs and theater screenings! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson.



August 25, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Chicago 10
Paramount

Transformers
Blu-ray
DreamWorks

and
Remakes of Remakes of Remakes
A Savant Article

Howdy ... the picture's from 1978, dreaming of writing reviews, I guess. it's back to work for many teachers and professors, leaving Savant to concentrate on writing projects! Here in Los Angeles, the Academy is screening The War of the Worlds Wednesday night in what might be a very special print, on a night dedicated to celebrating producer George Pal. Our own Joe Dante will be hosting a discussion afterwards.

Otherwise it's just bearing down on new reviews. I may be doubling back some on my reviews, as many of the new discs being offered are of TV series outside Savant's purview. I feel the need to cover some worthy titles I missed over the summer. But interesting Blu-rays keep coming in as well. Take care, and see you on Friday! Glenn Erickson



August 22, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Criterion

The Perfect Storm
Blu-ray
Warners

and
Neck Deep in Discs
Or, the Practical Pitfalls of DVD Collecting
Savant Article

Howdy. Saw a screening last Monday night of David Gregory's new horror film Plague Town at the A.F.I. campus up on Western Avenue. I was very favorably impressed -- it's as violent as the new breed of horror but also develops some genuine chills based on other sources of unease and dread. David filmed the Dark Sky release in Connecticut over a year ago, insisting on Super-16 film instead of digital video. Plague Town is a highly effective variation on the basic story of a troubled family lost in an unfamiliar rural setting -- in this case somewhere in Ireland -- and enduring a bloody onslaught.

David Gregory probably has more famiiarity with classic 70s horror than anybody, having produced and directed docus on everything from Tobe Hooper classics to gorefests by Lucio Fulci and Pupi Avati -- he's in touch with more European horror personnel than anyone. That sensibility comes through strongly in Plague Town, which frankly betters many well-known 70s pictures in this particular genre backwater. Comparing the intense & richly photographed visuals to Bava doesn't say enough, for after Gregory has sprung some particularly nasty gore surprises (engineered with superior, imaginative makeup effects), he trots out a sequence in a rustic cabin that relies on strange behavior and expressive design sense. Something enters from the dark back room ... slowly ... and we're not sure we want to see what it is. That kind of original morbid thrill is remarkable in a genre that has been substituting effects for imagination far too long.

Plague Town stays true to its nihilistic 70s roots but also to its own interior logic. Gregory's pacing is excellent and his direction knows which buttons to push to extract the maximum in squeamish delirium. I'll be looking for the show on disc sometime soon and hope it will be available in Blu-ray.

Now to go back and advise David that his next movie should be an adorable children's story, to inspire hope and goodwill in gentle hearts everywhere!


On another front, I'd like to loudly publicize two one-of-a-kind screenings at the Arclight's Sunset Blvd. Cinerama Dome early in September. A 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and a rare screening of the true-Cinerama How The West Was Won are each being given one-time-only presentations with special guests and Blu-rays to be given out to the first hundred ticketed viewers in line.

According to Dave, the shows are not sold out. In fact, they're trying to arrange for extra screenings. These promise to be fun and unique trips to the movies for many viewers. Incidentally, the Arclight's 2001 page lists a 160-min running time, which surely is a mistake.

All of this only inflames my curiosity to see the upcoming How The West Was Won Blu-ray due out in less than a week. The image above comes courtesy Cinerama authority Dave Strohmaier; it's a shot from the 1957 Cinerama production Search For Paradise in the new "Smilebox" format that approximates the effect of 3-panel Cinerama. Note the vertical areas where the panels blend -- we're told that this new transfer format makes the panel junctions nearly invisible. Dave will appear on the HTWWW disc in a commentary with John Sittig, Rudy Behlmer, Loren James and Jon Burlngame. He's hoping that the response for the special screenings will lead to more authentic 3-panel screenings of other shows originally filmed in Cinerama.

Finally, Film.com has just put up a new Savant review up for a Blu-ray "Propaganda Film From the Future" -- Starship Troopers. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



August 18, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

World Without End
&
Satellite in the Sky

Warner DVD

Perils of the New Land:
Films of the Immigrant Experience 1910 -1914

Flicker Alley / Blackhawk

and
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder
Blu-ray
Sony

This week's reviews bring us World Without End, one of the top-wanted titles in the 2008 Savant Wish List even if it's a Best Buy exclusive title. This month also saw the debut of Ed Neumeier's Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, which is an interesting follow-up to the Paul Verhoeven original, even if the budget is too small for the scale of the film's special effects.

Criterion has announced their first Blu-ray offerings up for pre-order ... a triple-dip on The Third Man is very tempting.

Fun emails continue to arrive regarding the What Ever Happened to Great Fight Scenes? article, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to plug it one more time.

Muir Hewitt has tipped me off to a new UK disc of Dracula (Horror of Dracula) coming soon, and Edward Sullivan has detected a disc of the Janet Munro / Leo McKern oddity A Jolly Bad Fellow, also on the way. Dean Blake thinks that the Fox Noir Boomerang! may be replaced with Inferno, a good little picture with Robert Ryan, and has also let me know about a 61-title Giant Musicals Box on the way from Fox in November. It's only $499.00, and I guess is meant for those musical fans that haven't already got many of the titles on the list. Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson



August 14, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

The Small Back Room
Criterion

Nixon
(Election Year Edition Extended Director's Cut)

Blu-ray
Hollywood Pictures

and
Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon
Blu-ray
Questar

Through reader Stefan Anderson, Jim Wynorski and Bill Connolly report that the new MGM Navajo Joe disc misaligns the opening Ennio Morricone soundtrack cue (the first instance of that eardrum-piercing Indian scream). The cue happens early, knocking out more than one 'reveal sync' moment.

I'm getting a lot of fun feedback on the What Ever Happened to Great Fight Scenes? article, most of it positive. David Rutsala pointed out a flaw in my argument, however. I claim that "Video game cutting creates fights that happen in a dramatic vacuum.", and David replied with a polite, "Video games don't traditionally have 'cuts'." Got me.

I've also gotten a couple negative responses to my mere mention of a review I haven't even written yet, Criterion's Salò. I promise I'll flag the review itself as completely optional reading. I personally think that Criterion is taking a brave step releasing Pasolini's film at this time -- the political climate regarding censorship is much more hostile than it was ten years ago.

Gary Teetzel reports that soundtrack collectors are being thrown an expensive challenge over at Screen Archives Entertainment, where a 12-CD set of rare United Artists Soundtracks are being offered for the price of $129.00 . He also says that there's a small error in the new Blu-ray of Starship Troopers, a bit of repeated/scrambled footage that only lasts a few seconds. Hm! Savant didn't catch this and will have to watch it again before issuing his review! Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson



August 13, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

What Ever Happened to Great Fight Scenes?
A Savant Article

and
The Ballad of Narayama
AnimEigo

Back late, but running -- Savant's experiencing road fatigue but the reviews will flow. Just got in Orson Welles' Don Quixote from Image, the Blu-ray Starship Troopers trilogy and Criterion's Salò. Don't really know yet what tack to take with that last title, an important movie yet an appalling experience I recommend to nobody except serious students of Pier Paolo Pasolini.

The new Issue of Westerns All'Italia is out ... Tom Betts' long running, well-respected Spaghetti Western fanzine just became available online a few issues ago. In this issue Phil Hardcastle reports on a recent screening of the Dollars Trilogy in Almeria, Spain, where it was filmed. For those keen on vintage Spaghetti oaters, there's the Spaghetti Western Database and its Spaghetti Western forum. Savant found most of the experts who helped him on his research for the Sergio Leone DVD restorations here. Thanks again, Glenn Erickson



August 06, 2008

Savant's new reviews are

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song
Weinstein

Top Gun
Blu-ray
Paramount

and
The Lawrence Jordan Album
Facets Video

Hello again. The buzz this week is about Psycho. Several web boards have mentioned the existence of an uncut copy shown on German television -- Tim Lucas tipped off the rest of us at his Video Watchblog a few days back. Back in 1998 Savant reported on the curious inclusion of cut frame grabs in the Truffaut/Hitchcock book, but my conclusions there appear to have been wrong. Hitch didn't give Truffaut the peek-a-boo frames as a prank.

The core evidence is at a German site called Schnittberichte that specializes in cataloguing cut scenes. On their page can be seen images from two of the three scenes in contention. It appears that the extra five seconds of shots showing Norman Bates watching Marion Crane disrobe were officially part of the movie, and not just an outtake as shown in making-of extras on the Psycho special edition -- in fact, the shots are said to have been intact in the English release. But this German telecast showed close-ups of blood on Norman's hands after the shower murder as well. Not shown on the site but alleged to be part of an "uncut" print are an extra knife stab or two in the famous demise of Arbogast, extending the fade-out the bottom of the stairs.

So fans naturally are demanding that the "uncut" version be restored, which brings up a tricky issue. First, Universal may not have intact printing elements for all the new footage on this pre-censorship version. But also, Alfred Hitchcock had twenty years in which to replace the scenes, had he wanted to; and he certainly had the ability to do so at any time, considering his power as a major Universal shareholder. When Psycho was reissued in 1970 or so the ads touted that it was complete, but the prints were the same standard U.S. cut. So it's difficult to make a case for anything but the standard shorter version as Hitchcock's preferred cut. Then again, the disrobing scene was included in an official release version (in the U.K.) so a strong argument can also be made for its restoration.

Other news: Dean Blake tells me that Lionsgate is bringing the 1954 Italian Ulysses, starring Kirk Douglas, to DVD on October 24. Mike Schlesinger has been active on web boards, confirming a (still officially unannounced) Budd Boetticher / Randolph Scott / Harry Joe Brown Ranown western boxed set for sometime in the fall.

Lastly, you can read Savant's take on Sci-Fi remakes in an article just up at film.com.


This Saturday column update is (cough) three days early because I'll be busy with a special job for the rest of the week -- I'll try update the column but the next Savant entry may not be until the 13th or so -- I'm sneaking in a short vacation as well. The absence also cues me to alert all to the numerological significance of this Friday (the day before this official posting): Friday will be the eighth day of the eighth month of the eighth year of the 21st century. Have the planets all lined up yet? Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



August 04, 2008

Savant's new reviews today are

The Counterfeiters
Blu-ray
Sony

The Lizzie Borden Mystery Solved! ... on Video
Guest article by Bob Gutowski

and
The Future of Emily
Facets

Greetings! This photo and note are from correspondent Gary Teetzel, on the subject of an old friend of the fantastic film and his appearance at last week's Comic-Con in San Diego:

"Although San Diego Comic-Con has become famous in recent years for the efforts the major studios put into trying to generate buzz for their upcoming Sci-Fi and superhero blockbusters, the organizers still take the time to honor influential pop culture accomplishments of the past. This year Comic-Con honored the 50th anniversary of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the legendary magazine that served as a national locus of monster movie fandom in the years before the Internet.

On Saturday, July 26, a panel discussion on the history of the magazine was held, reuniting 82-year old publisher James Warren with 92-year editor Forrest J. "Forry" Ackerman for their first public appearance together in many years. The panel was moderated by Verne Langdon, a Hollywood makeup artist who also helped create masks sold through the FM's "Captain Company."

Warren, appearing at least a dozen years younger than his actual age, teased Ackerman about being "the most boring man alive" for his tendency to re-tell favorite anecdotes, but went on to shower him with effusive praise. He recalled the magazine's launch, his battles with disapproving parents and the Famous Monsters conventions, the first of which gave American horror fans a rare chance to meet legendary British star Peter Cushing. Ackerman related stories from a nationwide tour he took to meet as many FM fans as possible, and managed to slip in some of the notorious puns that he used to sprinkle generously throughout the pages of the magazine. Although somewhat frail and hard of hearing due to illness and his advanced age, he was clearly energized by the warm adulation of the many fans that packed the room."

Also, I'd like to call out Bob Gutowski's little article on the Lizzie Borden TV movie. Bob's been writing Savant for at least nine years and I should have asked him to turn one of his letters into an article long before. His brief but exemplary story proves that some minds indeed think alike -- whenever I catch an odd occurence in a film, I start concocting editorial theories of how it got that way! -- thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



August 01, 2008

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Vampyr
Criterion

Dark City
Director's Cut
Blu-ray
New Line

and
The Hunt for Red October
Blu-ray
Paramount

Savant predicts a lot of Blu-ray players being purchased between now and November, when Fox brings out its Planet Of The Apes: 40 Year Evolution Blu-ray Collection. The deluxe package includes all five original Apes films and an exhaustive extras list, with a special uncensored long version of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.

Speaking of futuristic monkees, another pal, Wayne Schmidt, has been keeping a costume from Planet of the Apes in a closet for almost thirty years. He finally put it up for sale on Ebay where it raked in a sizeable quantity of cash. Wayne tells me the price jumped a thousand dollars in the last two hours of the auction. Take a look here.

Savant has unwisely chosen to dramatize his personal disc storage problems in a Film.com article called Neck Deep In Discs. Maybe you have some of the same problems dealing with your DVD collection? From what I hear, we can't take 'em with us when we go.

Friend and filmmaker David Gregory is getting good reviews from Fangoria and Films in Review for Plague Town, his feature horror film debut. I'm going to make an effort to see it soon.

Thanks to Dean Blake for help in keeping me current on new release info ... and 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