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A Happy New Year to all from the Savant homestead, where New Year's is probably the quietest night on the calendar ... but pleasant just the same. Whatever you have planned, I hope you enjoy it! I'm not all that up on time changes, but maybe they're already celebrating in Europe?

I have two more reviews tonight, just to make the week look a little more normal. One of them is the Warners Jekyll and Hyde double bill, which I've already received notes on asking me to clarify how it shapes up as a restoration. My uninformed answer is that I think it's a bit more complete than the VHS from 14 years ago, the one that restored scenes but then clipped a few pieces included in the old standard version. I remember some odd splices that don't seem to be there any more, but I simply can't be sure.

For those who've been having too much fun to be concerned with such things, don't forget this year's Savant 2003 Favored Discs. It's your typical Savant slice of mostly great older pictures and head-scratching rarities. I'm grateful for all the support, corrections and general interest, and happy to have met so many interesting people! Happy New Year! Glenn Erickson

Aha, let me see, the last time I wrote, I promised reviews almost immediately, and here it is almost 5 days later. Christmas turned out more involving than I thought. I have three reviews tonight, and one of them is a real treat:

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I'm hoping I don't get pranged for reviewing The Wind and the Lion too early; it comes out in nine days. I'll be following with the Jekyll and Hyde double bill ... this year is shaping up as the Warner's library bonanza. There are also more Cary Grant movies on the way, along with some great HVe and Criterion titles.

I hope your holidays are either a nice vacation or the kind I'm having with kids home and the house filled with happiness ... back in a couple of days. Glenn Erickson

Hi ... no reviews probably until tomorrow night, (I hope) but I wanted to get my Savant 2003 Favored Discs page up before the big day. It was fun putting it together ... maybe you'll have fun wondering how Savant made such crazy choices, I don't know. But take care and have a great holiday. Glenn Erickson

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Not much to say except that I'm glad I got another batch of Reviews out of the baking oven before the holiday. Another inquisitive studio watcher reported to me that he was told by Columbia TriStar exec, that Michael Powell's A Matter of Life and Death (Stairway to Heaven) will be coming to DVD in the Spring of '04. Columbia has had a sparkling film restoration done for years so the disc should be a marvel. And since it's flat, they can't screw up the aspect ratio ... good news all around.

I should have my 'best of' list up in the next day or two as well --- enjoy and cheers! Glenn Erickson

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Christmas has come early with a boatload of January titles, 14 on the 6th alone that Savant wants to review ... and some of them are newer than 1975!

Gary Teetzel wrote me to say that other sites have announced that Fox is going to bring out Ray Harryhausen's One Million Years B.C. on March 9. For collectors, that means that Ray's entire filmography will be on DVD save for MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and his fairy tales. I'll be sure to review Million; I can remember talking my neighbor Joe Ott into driving me to see it (he was three years older and had a license). I remember Forrest Ackerman's announcement in Famous Monsters, that it was on the way.

That movie I'm so hot to review is almost 38 years old. I realize that the hit tallies around Savant might soar if I covered new films, which I'm perfectly capable of doing. But that would be work, when what I enjoy writing about more are the movies I love. What can I say about a picture like LOVE, ACTUALLY? I thought it was terrible but the audience I saw it with had a fine time. And what do I have to say about LORD OF THE RINGS that hasn't been said 50 times before? RETURN OF THE KING doesn't need any more cheerleaders. UNA BREVE VACANZA needs cheerleaders. THE HILLS HAVE EYES needs cheerleaders who can see beyond the gore.

The emails I get tell me that I succeed in one way, and that's in communicating my enthusiasm for movies I like. If I have a useful opinion beyond that, well, maybe it's a public service. When a movie's really good, the transfer becomes less critical. When it's really bad, I have to start thinking why people would like it, especially if it was popular when new. What's the point in slamming a movie? No matter what it is, there's somebody out there who'll love it. Why should I stand in the way?

DVD Talk is building a stable of movie critics, among them some really good writers. I'm really proud to be among them now. When they compare notes, it's often about their less-than-hospitable experiences elsewhere. We all appreciate Geoffrey Kleinman, a fearless leader who tries to be fair and is always there to help. So I have to consider myself fortunate to be here too. Happy Holidays ... more reviews over the weekend. Glenn Erickson

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Well, wonderful news from Bagdad. Enough said.

Three out of four DVDs reviewed tonight really impressed me, so I put extra effort into the coverage and held up the column for a day. I wouldn't have reviewed MY DARLING CLEMENTINE so far in advance of street date, but a reader asked me to so he could preorder it if the judgment was good. That's a little scary, but I've only received a couple of Emails over the last 4 years telling me my recommendation was bad, and I feel pretty confident about this one.

The fever seems to be revving up out there for RETURN OF THE KING. If you liked the first two, it will be a positive experience, I think - I'm no Tolkien expert but it was emotionally satisfying for me. For those of you who feel like you can't continue to breathe until you see it, relax and enjoy the experience. In five days or so it'll be behind you - you'll never be waiting for 'the big show' in quite the same way. When my kids return from school I think they're going to be reviewing the first two in detail in preparation for the trek to the multiplex. I don't think greeting them with, "Hey kids, I've got CHRIST IN CONCRETE!" is going to work out.

A lot of the discs I balked at reviewing have turned out to be winners, so I should be catching up soon - promises, promises. The January discs are starting to come in, but I'm dutifully watching the November ones I skipped. Thanks, Glenn Erickson

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A late night (finishing some other work, sorry) so nothing special in the way of notes tonight. I'm expecting two Jacques Demy movies in a couple of days, so I'll have LOLA up toute suite, there .... and also should have a run at MY DARLING CLEMENTINE for those who want to know whether to preorder. Thanks, Glenn Erickson

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Hello again. I know my kids are probably already mad at me for seeing it first, but I attended a screening of RETURN OF THE KING Saturday afternoon. (no spoilers, just impressions...) I enjoyed it better than the first two, mainly for the emotional payoff. There are a lot of details I'll want to ask about (no Tolkien expert I) but it was very satisfying - and the print was a couple of generations better looking than what I saw of the first two instalments in ordinary theaters.

It was long, longer than many old roadshow pics that have intermissions - if I were a theater owner, I'd interrupt it for a bathroom break no matter what the distributor told me to do. I was a bit worn out and overwhelmed by about the 2/3 mark, and then realized that we had a lot of territory to cover before the finale. When the three extended DVD versions are set end to end, I'll bet the whole thing will near 14 hours in length - and there's no guarantee there won't be an 'extended' extended version down the road. This grand way of approaching a revered book paid off in the mighty Fritz Lang - Niebelungen manner - I think it will dwarf (no pun intended) the other 'franchise' movies of the year.

The word on the street is that the Kiwi filmmaker will next take on a grandiose remake of King Kong. If one has to make such a movie right now, it couldn't be in better hands. Glenn Erickson

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Savant has reason to crow today; my producer's documentary for WEST SIDE STORY won the prize for best DVD doc in Tuesday's 2003 DVD Exclusive Awards as reported in Daily Variety. The show was voted over the much more expensive (and studio-touted) docus for ALIEN, THE INDIANA JONES TRILOGY, LORD OF THE RINGS and FINDING NEMO. You know how it is, one never respects these smaller awards organizations until someone you know wins something!

I finally saw the finished disc of TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA and still think our doc for that one is one of our best ... due in part to the miles of unseen behind the scenes footage MGM was able to access. I won't be reviewing that disc, but as long as I'm tooting my own horn, I figured I'd get it all over at once. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

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Savant's back with four more. With the MPAA ban on DVD screeners this year, I was surprised to receive a package of three last week. Lion's Gate is apparently not an MPAA signator and not bound by their rules, so they have the playing field to themselves, or at least they did over the weekend with this reviewer. The Cooler was the one I most wanted to see - the idea of William H. Macy playing a loser employed to intercept unwanted player winning streaks at the gambling tables is inspired. It was cute but became a disappointment when it turned out to be a fumbled fantasy - we're expected to believe that Macy's loser aura wipes out lucky players just by magic - like he's Tex Avery's Bad Luck Blackie. Then, when he falls in love and his every move is accompanied by good luck, the story just becomes too predictable ... and kind of trite. By the end we're supposed to relate to a guy who's supposed to win just because he's got a good attitude, and it doesn't wash. But maybe you'd still like it - it's certainly funny and extremely well-made.

The Girl with a Pearl Earring was amazing to see - the screener DVD looked great - and a good story too, set in Holland of the 1600s where Vermeer was struggling to paint great works under the tyranny of his patrons and his domineering wife (and mother-in-law). Scarlett Johansson is exceptionally good as the harried and abused maid in the household, who becomes his secret helper and inspiration. Nothing in the movie is dumbed down and the photography (this will undoubtedly win that award) makes one feel a participant in the creation of a masterpiece.

The least interesting movie idea, Shattered Glass, turned out to be the best drama. A writer at The New Republic is a petty sociopath reaping the rewards of literary genius by fabricating feature stories out of thin air and selling them with his winning personality. When the ink hits the fan (an online magazine wants to do a followup and finds out one of his articles is is bogus) the personalities, politics and the ramifications of a journalist committing this kind of anathema become very heated. Especially interesting is the office politics which have the offender's peers defending him against the 'spiteful' editor, who knows full well how the breach of ethics can spell disaster for all of them. The manipulative emotional dynamics are fascinating, as the offender makes every kind of sideways appeal he can think of to deflect the consequences of his crimes. We've all met people like this, and sometimes have nightmares that we are like him ... the movie was absorbing, and very well acted by Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard.

I'll have more previews and the like to talk about later ... I've RSVP'd to a screening of the third Lord of the Rings film for next Saturday, and if I actually get in, I'll report what I saw sans spoilers. Thanks for all the suggestions for what I should review first, Glenn Erickson