January 20, 2007
Saturday January 20, 2007

Hello! Savant's new reviews today are

Monsters and Madmen:
The Haunted Strangler, Corridors of Blood,
First Man Into Space, The Atomic Submarine
 Criterion

Yes, you read correctly, four fabulous reviews today ... all at one easy URL!

What's in the News? ABKCO has announced that they're releasing Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo and The Holy Mountain on the first of May. Both of these 'smoke 'em if you got 'em' head-trip classics were arthouse hits, and El Topo was a brief grindhouse favorite for its nasty & violent spaced-out visuals ... CRITERION has announced rare treats in Jules Dassin's Brute Force (essential grit noir) and Stuart Cooper's Overlord. It's an extremely affecting drama about the buildup to D-Day using rather incredible real footage of troops preparing & crossing the channel, with great music and almost no (maybe none at all) dialogue.

Speaking of the Savant DVD Wish List, faithful correspondent Stefan Andersson reports that the following have been 'announced' at the Home Theater Forum: Fixed Bayonets, Royal Flash, Spys, Bedazzled (1967?) and The Silent Partner. I guess that when I get time to amend the Wish List (many additions waiting to be added), I'll have to create a "coming but not yet scheduled" list category. But it's nice to know that a few apples are already looking loose on the tree.

Finally, the indomitable Bill Shaffer asked me to announce the 2007 Kansas Silent Film Festival, which he helps organize every year. The place is the White Concert Hall in Topeka, Kansas -- Friday and Saturday February 23 and 24. It's a mini-festival of exciting shorts and features both familiar and rare: shorts by Griffith, Chaplin, Charley Chase, Buster Keaton, Laurel & Hardy; and the features The Strong Man (Harry Langdon), Rosita (Mary Pickford), Cyrano De Bergerac (1925), Tol'able David (Richard Barthelmess) and Chicago (Phyllis Haver). There will also be live music, including the Mont Alto Orchestra, at all presentations. The website is here. Thanks! Glenn Erickson

Posted by DVD Savant at January 20, 2007 06:24 AM