Savant's new reviews today are

A Savant review of a new Steven Spielberg film - that doesn't happen every day. Savant's eyes narrow grimly at memories of The Terminal and he rather liked Catch Me if You Can, but Spielberg's new Sci Fi epic is irresistible. Speaking of low sales resistance, 2005 is ending with some spicy desirables that extend into February of the new year. December brings us a special ed. of Airplane!, Atragon, Seven Men from Now, and Track of the Cat. January brings Earth vs. the Spider/War of the Colossal Beast, Sam Peckinpah's Legendary Westerns Collection (Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch, The Ballad of Cable Hogue and Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid), The Bad Sleep Well, Stormy Weather, Pinky, Green Pastures, Cabin in the Sky, Modern Romance, The Virgin Spring, The Children are Watching Us, Dune (extended edition), Cimarron (2 versions?), The Good Earth, Johnny Belinda, Kitty Foyle and Lust for Life. And February starts out with the long-awaited Ryan's Daughter. Savant's going to be plenty busy, and there's not a title in the bunch newer than 30 years old!

By the way, a special thanks for the help I've been getting from readers sending me urgent fixes for sometimes embarrassing errors. Some are due to Savant deadline haste, and others are just, uh, conduct unbecoming a Savant. I throws meself on the mercy of the court, yer honor. In any case, it's good knowing there are people out there keeping me from making an asterisk of myself. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Pushing a few out the door here, although all are worthy titles. Just got in the new War of the Worlds a few days past street date and will try to make the review worth reading for people who already watched it for Thanksgiving. More interesting titles to come, as the big Fall genre onslaught of '05 starts to wind down. Thanks! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Well, it's King Kong day here at Savant, with a new disc of an old favorite that will soon be a Thanksgiving conversation-starter, once people start showing the Peter Jackson take on the Spider Pit sequence during holiday sports breaks. It's really special.

Savant will have the other two Cooper/Schoedsack giant ape pictures reviewed quickly enough, even though they come packaged together in a three-disc set. Just received Criterion's new discs of Shoot the Piano Player and Forbidden Games and am looking forward to rediscovering them. Have a nice Thanksgiving! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Happy Saturday ! The Kong trilogy showed up, so I'm trying to get that review ready for Tuesday. Received lots of mail about the Adventures of Superman The Complete First Season disc set -- it appears to be a solid favorite. I wonder how long it will be before Adam West and Burt Ward surface in Batman. Or is it a case of Fox not wanting to 'cross-promote' the current Warners franchise? Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Two days off ... and Savant got the time to polish some reviews - three very fun pictures. Gary Teetzel told me about a couple of fun release announcements today -- after wondering for years when the unseen early AIP libraries would come out, we get news that four titles from the Sam Arkoff side of the stable will appear on January 10 as double bills from Lion's Gate video. Earth vs. the Spider and War of the Colossal Beast form one pair, and the decidedly less stellar How to Make a Monster and Blood of Dracula the other. Both discs will be priced similarly to the MGM Midnite Movies line - 14.98.

The Adventures of Superman The Complete First Season disc was a happy surprise. It came rather late, but Savant was excited to review it just the same. I'll have room to get a couple more Fox musicals out of the way, along with the Criterion Tales of Hoffman before getting into the hotly-awaited King Kong discs. Oh, and Billion Dollar Brain may be on its way as well ... which will complete the classic Harry Palmer trilogy. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

A heck of a week, I tells ya ... this is my 13th day cutting without a break, and it'll be another week before it settles down. But the Rogers and Hammersteins are next up, along with the Superman TV shows and Criterion's Tales of Hoffman - which Savant has never seen ...! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

I technically reviewed four discs this evening but it's really only three reviews, so must admit failure! An eye infection had something to do with it, so I have an excuse handy. Let me rush this out ... I have to go listen to the commentary on Robert Bresson's Pickpocket if I'm to stand a chance at figuring that one out! Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Hello from sunny, warm California, where Savant has a day off from editing to slam into a pile of attractive discs. My new years' resolution from 1999 was to stop writing phone book reviews and to find a more economical style instead of blathering out everything about a title that's noteworthy. "That Savant, he's so thorough." Well, it works for me and I'll just endeavor to spell better and put out fewer sentences with pretzel-ized syntax. You now, Pretzel-ized. That's a perfectly crumulent word.

Gettng ready for KONG mania means hitting up all the related Merian Cooper-Ernest B. Schoedsack cinematic highlights, which are next on my list. Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson.