Savant's new reviews today are

Touch of Evil
50th Anniversary Edition
Universal

Icons of Horror Collection: Hammer Films
The Two Faces Of Dr. Jekyll, Scream of Fear,
The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb, The Gorgon
Sony

Goliath and the Barbarians &
Goliath and the Vampires
by Lee Broughton
Wild East

and
Ennio Morricone Peace Notes Live in Venice
Industrial Entertainment

Greetings! Happy to see you once again ... Add the new Indiana Jones and Ray Harryhausen Blu-rays to upcoming Savant coverage. That, and a new review from Lee Broughton (above) makes me feel that DVD Savant is hitting on all 2.5 cylinders once more.

This kaleidoscopic image is for a Savant review you won't be seeing: Fox has reissued Busby Berkeley's The Gang's All Here in a beautifully restored transfer to replace the faded copy included in the Alice Faye box. But to read about the improved color, I suggest you reference Stuart Galbraith's DVDTalk Review, included in the newer package of Carmen Miranda titles.

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

How The West Was Won
Blu-ray
Warners

Inside the Cinerama Dome
Savant Article

and
Watership Down (Deluxe Edition)
Warners

Hello! Savant received a stack of notes asking the source of the image of the man in the top hat jumping out of the window. Any fan of musicals should recognize it as being from Damn Yankees (1958). The song is "Those Were the Good Old Days", and the picture is of the Devil (Ray Walston) waxing nostalgic over the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Pal Stuart Galbraith IV is interviewed about this new book The Toho Studios Story and other aspects of being a Kyoto, Japan -based film author and film critic. It's at the Ryuganji website.

And finally, Savant's review of the Classic Media Rodan / War of the Gargantuas review went up yesterday at Film.com . My breakdown of Sony's Icons of Horror: Hammer disc set is ready and will be up presently as well. Other discs I've received and will be covering are Ennio Morricone: The Peace Concert, Strange Behavior Special Edition, The Picture of Dorian Gray and L.A. Confidential (Blu-ray). Thanks again! Glenn

Savant's new reviews today are

Iron Man
Blu-ray
Paramount

Cool Hand Luke
Blu-ray
Warners

and
Virginia City
Warners

Hello ... Savant is short on blurbs and news today, but I'm happy with the progress of my reviews. I'm not caught up, but I'm close again.

This week's financial / political events are very scary, and I don't feel qualified to do much more than express my concern. Is the Free Market another name for a Pyramid Scheme, with Uncle Sam the sucker? Why do I have daydreams of foreign lenders arriving in my city to change the street signs, to Chinese, maybe? Let's hope that the crisis will have a sane and fair outcome.

As one commentator said, what happened to the old-fashioned honorable Wall Street profiteers, who had the decency to jump out of windows? (illustrated, right)

Coming soon: Interview with the Vampire and Risky Business in Blu-ray. And the Blu-ray Harryhausens, just a day or two after street date. Thanks, Glenn Erickson

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

The Garment Jungle
Sony

Noise
Anchor Bay

Moontide
Fox

and
The Stalking Moon
Warner

First up is news from Fox Home Video: their upcoming special edition of the 1951 The Day The Earth Stood Still (December 2) will be released in Blu-ray as well as straight DVD. I humbly direct your attention to the Savant column of September 1, in which I reacted to the previous DVD-only announcement by saying,

"I don't know how everyone else feels, but my selfish & wholly subjective attitude is that major DVD companies shouldn't revisit titles already well-represented, without bumping the format to Blu-ray."

Being that this is an election year, I have decided to take 100% personal credit for this great decision on the part of Fox. Please disregard the fact that I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Various notices: Pal Bill Shaffer would like me to mention the Buster Keaton 16th Annual Celebration, September 26 & 27 at the Bowlus Center in Iola, Kansas. That's next weekend. This year it's a split tribute between Keaton and Will Rogers. Info is available online at The Keaton Celebration Page.

Dick Dinman's DVD Classics Corner has two new web radio shows up featuring interviews about the DVD and Blu-ray future with Warner Home Video's George Feltenstein. The subject matter should be self-explanatory: "Cinerama Feltenstein" and "3-D Feltenstein".

Our sympathies are with Tim Lucas over at his Video Watchblog site. Storms in Cincinnatti have apparently knocked out Tim's power for several days, making it impossible for him to blog, research videos or make much progress on his writing. My computer "took a leave of absence" for a spell but I didn't have to weather a storm as well. We hope the Watchdog is back up and running soon!

Finally, I have a Godfather Trilogy Blu-ray piece newly up at Film.com, entitled A Blu-ray We Can't Refuse. I spent a big chunk of yesterday with the disc set and was very impressed with it. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Blu-ray
Dark Sky

La ronde
Criterion

"$" (Dollars)
Sony

and
The Anderson Tapes
Sony

Greetings! I think I'm back in action. Besides saying it's good to have the computerized annex of my brain functioning once more, I'll forgo more personal blab and just pick up where I left off.

The news here is seven days old now:

Over on the Filmblanc Site, Bill Shephard has posted the original 1978 Peter Valenti article where the term "Film Blanc" was coined.

And over at Cineaste magazine, writer Robert Cashill's contribution to an article about Film Criticism in the Age of the Internet has kind words for DVD Savant.

Wait, that's not all. Congratulations to longtime Savant correspondent Bill Shaffer, who has news about a silent movie re-premiere coming up at next February's Kansas Silent Film Festival:

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to inform you all that in February of 2009, the Kansas Silent Film Festival WILL be the site for the USA Premiere of BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT, the 1926 'lost' John Gilbert feature! Rediscovered in France a few years ago, this unique film is headed for a DVD release in the Spring. We will have a DVD version to show in February and the Mont Alto Orchestra will be there with us to perform their music score for it.

I have received confirmation from David Shepard and Jeff Masino (the U.S. producers) as well as the consent of Serge Bromberg at Lobster Films in France (who are doing the restoration) that we can show this film at KSFF 2009. It will replace DESTINY as the Saturday night feature. I look forward to this being a major event for all of us. I would recommend you start spreading the news now. Many thanks. Bill Shaffer, Topeka, Kansas.

Finally, this may be not be news to you, but correspondent Gary Teetzel forwarded this website to Savant. Using the latest scientific data, it gives you an instant update on whether or not the new CERN supercollider has destroyed the universe:

CERNWATCH website.

Not only that, they've installed an exciting new live webcam at the new CERN supercollider, with great images -- you have to watch for at least ten seconds:

CERNWATCH website.

As they say, "Look out, Atreyu! It's The Nothing!" Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Dollars ($)
Sony

and
Touch of Evil
50th Anniversary Edition
Universal

Hello again. Savant is not yet running at full speed but I do have two new reviews up. The links above will take you to DVDtalk and Film.com respectively. I still cannot access my other reviews ready to upload, until a certain computer comes back with a new power supply.

On the other hand, the news around these parts is good for review copies. Thanks to reviewer Greg Walton, I did make contact with the publicity person for Classic Media and will soon be writing up their Rodan / War of the Gargantuas. Greg's take on the double bill can be read about halfway down this page on the Movieline site.

Although an exact list of my reviews written and ready to go is a little vague right now, in the last few days I have received screeners for Iron Man, The Godfather Box, Interview with the Vampire (all Blu-ray) and am expecting Icons of Horror: Hammer tomorrow. Those reviews should be coming soon, even if I must link to even more outside sites for you to read them.

Uh, might I suggest that you visit the incredible Savant Archive of reviews and Articles (many refreshingly obsolete!) accessible through the links at the top of this page? 2700 entries, no waiting!

Thanks for your patience, Glenn Erickson

Hello ... normally around this time I'd have three new reviews ready to upload, but a computer crash has put them out of reach for a couple of days. They're written, honest: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Blu-ray (Dark Sky), La Ronde (Criterion) and The Anderson Tapes (Sony). All I can say at this juncture is that they may not be up until next Tuesday with the next three reviews. Sorry. Me perdonas, por favor.

Second troubling issue: my Classic Media connection has fizzled. Classic Media has been great about allowing me to review all of their Toho Godzilla and Sci-Fi films, but their new Rodan and War of the Gargantuas disc has slipped away. I've been promoting it off and on for months, reflecting my own sense of anticipation: I can remember the ad campaign for Rodan from when I was FIVE. One of the content producers who worked on the disc has tried to help but to no avail. So if there's a Classic Media rep out there wondering why Savant hasn't reviewed this pair, please contact me.

And heck, why not broadcast all the bad news at once? I also may be forced to buy another Blu-ray machine shortly. If so, it will be my second in four months. My first-generation player refuses to spin a new (and very desirable) disc, even after downloading the latest firmware. I'm still investigating, and will report in on the situation. The last time this happened, it was a happy false alarm.

Over at Film.com, I do have a review and an article up on How the West Was Won. The addresses are

http://www.film.com/dvds/story/dvd-west-won-epic-sized/22903290

and

http://www.film.com/dvds/story/cinerama-diary-inside-hollywoods-historic/22903460

Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Errol Flynn:
The Warner Bros. Western Collection
Virginia City, San Antonio,
Montana, Rocky Mountain
Warners

Twenty-Four Eyes
Criterion

and
When DVD Menus Attack
A Savant Article

Here's some news to frustrated Sci-Fi fans unhappy with Best Buy exclusives -- the three Warners double bills that came out at Best Buy only late in July will be available through normal retail channels on October 7. So Savant might get an opportunity to review them all, after all! They are World Without End / Satellite in the Sky, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth / Moon Zero Two and The Ultimate Warrior / Battle Beneath the Earth.

A newly-discovered great site is Shadowplay from David Cairns -- I've been happily neglecting other duties this past weekend, reading its back pages. Cairns' blog is ripe with good film observations, interesting images and some of the funniest criticism in filmland, from him and from his many comment contributors. I found out about Shadowplay when Cairns wrote me with an offer of a free disc of a rare Julien Duvuvier movie, La fin du jour. The offer is open to everyone -- ! -- so take a look. And I'm an easy mark for Shadowplay's droll sense of humor.

Savant's new reviews today are

Television Under the Swastika
First Run Features

Orson Welles' Don Quixote
Image / Eurocine

and
All My Good Countrymen
Facets Video

Hello again. Since this is the year for Anthony Mann DVD releases, correspondent Dean Blake reminds me that Turner Classic Movies is showing Mann's The Tall Target on September 22. It's sort of The Narrow Margin with stovepipe hats, a claustrophobic thriller about an assassination plot on a train carrying the newly elected Abraham Lincoln.

And I'm receiving enthusiastic mail about Sony's November 4 release of the Budd Boetticher / Randolph Scott Collection; western fans can't wait to their paws on it.

If things work out, I'll be at the Cinerama Domefor Sunday's presentation of How the West Was Won in its original 3-screen format; the plan it to interview Cinerama expert Dave Strohmaier, right from the Dome's enormous three-projector booth. I'll take some pictures if allowed.

An odd exchange of political gossip this week, via email:

Name withheld: "I heard Fred Thompson at the RNC last night proudly declare that Sarah Palin was the only candidate who could field dress a moose. Is this an official part of the Vice President's duties? I know about the whole presiding over the Senate and breaking tie votes stuff, but don't recall reading in history class about the moose thing. Did Spiro Agnew ever field dress a moose? Do Vice Presidents deal only with moose, or all North American ruminants? Why isn't the media asking the tough questions about this topic?"

Savant: "I think that Jay Ward's Bullwinkle the Moose should now make an appearance in Democratic issue spots, protesting this outrage on grounds that Vice-Presidential nominee Palin represents a personal threat to his civil rights, not to mention his flea-bitten hide.

Of course, that plan carries a risk. Democrats will need to soft-pedal the fact that Bullwinkle and Rocket J. Squirrel have been living together in an unorthodox cross-species relationship for the last 49 years.

Name withheld: "On the other hand, Bullwinkle and Rocket J. Squirrel have a strong record of anti-Communist counter-espionage, having repeatedly defended America from the actions of intelligence agents from Pottsylvania."

Name withheld #2: "Spiro Agnew did not field dress a moose, and therefore resigned his office. John C. Calhoun did field dress a moose, but did it badly. He resigned. Certain VP duties are sacrosanct."

Once again, DVD Savant is first on the web, with cogent, practical political opinions. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Greetings! Savant's new reviews today are

Starship Troopers
Blu-ray
Sony

The Adventures of Robin Hood
Blu-ray
Warners
and

Boomerang!
Fox

Hello again .... I've been eagerly awaiting Classic Media's release of the Toho Kaiju double bill Rodan and War of the Gargantuas, and see that they're due in just a few days from now, on September 9. I've also been wanting to see the docu Bringing Godzilla Down to Size included in the set. It's said to be the most elaborate and detailed account to date on the making of the Toho fantasies. The website SciFi Japan is currently running a Sneak Peek of images from the Classic Media set. The grabs include that glorious title card from Rodan that one can't look at without hearing the giant pterodactyl's distinctive cry.

Gary Teetzel reports that Warners already has a second Best Buy exclusive tie-in going for October 7. The double bill titles in play are The Brides of Fu Manchu & Chamber of Horrors, and The Shuttered Room & It!. The Brides of Fu Manchu is actually the second Don Sharp/ Christopher Lee Fu Manchu movie in Warners' care; they'll want to follow up with the original The Face of Fu Manchu sometime soon. Chamber of Horrors is a gothic horror that began as a TV show (I think) and is dressed up with William Castle-style interruptions ("The Horror Horn!"). The Shuttered Room stars Gig Young and Carol Lynley in a story by August Derleth; it carries a fairly positive reputation. It! is a fairly foolish version of The Golem probably chosen by Warners' execs because it stars Roddy McDowall. In this picture we learn that motor scooters are very useful for outrunning the effects of a nuclear explosion.

Gary also tells us that we should be expecting an announcement of a DVD Special Edition of the original The Day the Earth Stood Still to accompany the Keanu Reeves remake. Fox is said to have new content from author Bill Warren and special effects specialist Robert Skotak. I don't know how everyone else feels, but my selfish & wholly subjective attitude is that major DVD companies shouldn't revisit titles already well-represented, without bumping the format to Blu-ray.

I found this graphic of a pre-release Starship Troopers poster. As the film came out in October-November of 1997, we can see that special effects pushed the release date back a few months! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson