Savant's new reviews today are

The Virgin Spring  Criterion
They Shoot Movies, Don't They?  Goldhil and
Asylum  Paramount

An early announcement: Dark Sky, the company that brought us The Flesh Eaters last October, has announced an interesting pair of releases for May 30: Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster is an enjoyably energetic Z-mnus monster flick. Double-billed are War Between the Planets, a diminishing-returns entry in the Gamma 1 space series by Antonio Margheriti, and a picture Savant's been hoping for, the weird and delirious robotic talk-fest Creation of the Humanoids, which may be some kind of inverted masterpiece. May 30 is a long way off but you can bet Savant will be thinking about it. Thanks, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Atragon  Media Blasters/Tokyo Shock
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage Blue Underground
The Sabata Trilogy  Sony/MGM and
A Christmas Carol  Warners

Happy Friday ... back late from a trip with some curious reviews - mostly of discs issued late last year. The big studios are a bit tardy getting January and February screeners out - I'm still hoping for THE MATT HELM LOUNGE BOX (Columbia) , THE SAM ARKOFF HORROR DOUBLE BILLS (Lion's Gate) and a few others. Thanks for being patient! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

The Green Pastures  Warners
La bataille du rail (The Battle of the Rails)  Facets Video and
Cavalcade of Comedy: The Paramount Comedy Series 1929-1933  Kino

Savant may or may not be posting this Tuesday ... some business is taking him offline for a few days. Next Saturday I'll have Atragon for sure. The big studios have been a mite slow ... so I may have a small mini-flurry of independent disc reviews coming. Thanks for hanging in! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Cabin in the Sky  Warners
Stormy Weather  Fox
An Unmarried Woman  Fox and
Boys Town  Warners

Savant is still enjoying this month's 'black heritage' (is there a better term?) releases - the musical crossover films above are pretty much in the must-see category.

If the Boys Town review seems a little late, wait until you get to see the review for A Christmas Carol - which may make it to upload status just before February rolls around. Both titles were originally written up for the Turner Classic Movies website and review copies arrived only around New Years.

Speaking of TCM online, Savant correspondent Gary Teetzel (a formative influence on this site from the beginning) is turning out some great reviews over there as well. Here are his takes on Son of Kong and King Kong vs. Godzilla / King Kong Escapes.

Also, Savant pal and author Stuart Galbraith IV has been stingy with updates on his Stuart's Cine Blogarama website but his new one is worth the wait. Two nearby theaters in Kyoto are closing down and offering a series of old titles that did memorable business - the list is eclectic to say the least.

A couple more website notes. Reader John McElwee lured me to his John McElwee Greenbriar Picture Shows blogsite with a mention of an article about Major Dundee, a ploy that works every time. It turned out to be a really good appreciation site based on the history of a southern movie palace, and it's beautifully illustrated as well. This week there's a nice article on Janet Leigh, with some great photos. Highly recommended.

This reviewer keeps getting blessed with mentions on Tim Lucas' impressive Video Watchblog site, an honor I'm happy to return with this plug - I read the Watchblog just about every evening and am never disappointed ... Lucas' offerings are evolving into a ritual, the comforting fireside chat from Uncle Timmy. Of course, too-frequent exposure may result in unaccountable urges to watch more Jesus Franco (just kidding).

Even more interesting is discovering through the Watchblog that the DVD Savant site has been entered into a nomination list (with about 50 equally deserving URLS) for "Best Website" in the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, a competition honoring the best in 'monster-oriented' journalism and DVD work. Since Savant only gets to delve into the beloved realm of fantastic film when a good DVD becomes available, this is most flattering - the company in Rondo-land includes respected names like Tom Weaver and Bill Warren, just to start with two from the top of my head.   Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Pinky  Fox
Mister Peepers  S'More
American Experience: Eleanor Roosevelt  Paramount/PBS and
The End of August at the Hotel Ozone  Facets

Not much to report tonight, except that I'm proud of this week's spread of reviews. The 'black heritage' films from Fox and Warners are getting more interesting as they go along, mainly because of their excellent commentaries. And they're all really good movies too.

I'm also happy to present my review of Facets' The End of August at the Hotel Ozone, a shall we say "challenging" Science Fiction film. I just saw another Facets release called La Bataille du Rail that I'll be excited to review as well.

Savant's most trusted contributor gave me this item: "USA Today apparently has an article saying Fox is releasing a giant 14-disc Planet of the Apes collection, with the original film, the remake, the TV series and the animated series. Price is $180, and they come packaged in "a giant monkey head." Uhhhhh -- could I just get anamorphic versions of the sequels? I'm not sure I need a big monkey head staring at me." Here's a real image of what the packaging is supposed to look like. I wonder what Dale Winogura would have to say about this! Best wishes! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Next Stop Greenwich Village  Fox
Hallelujah  Warner
Educating Rita  Sony and
Massacre in Rome  No Shame

Hello, and happy Tuesday. Tuesday lands one day later than usual this week, due to a 17-hour work day on Monday; last night I was so tired I might have started spelling better or making fewer typos. Thanks for the several notes letting me know that my inference in the Sam Peckinpah's The Legendary Westerns Collection review that DVD started in 1977 was, uh, wrong.

Lets, see, reviews coming up .. just finished watching the Sabata Trilogy, Mister Peepers, Atragon, End of August at the Hotel Ozone and (from last September) The Bird with the Crystal Plumage ... and have the following in my stack to view: A Christmas Carol (just in time!), Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold, An Unmarried Woman, Stormy Weather, Pinky, Green Pastures, Cabin in the Sky, Asylum (an error but it might not be too bad), Goldstein, The Virgin Spring and The Desert of the Tartars. Am hoping to receive the Arkoff AIP monster flicks, The Matt Helm Lounge box, Dune extended edition, The Good Earth, Johnny Belinda, Kitty Foyle, and Ryan's Daughter. That's if I'm a good boy and get to the earlier discs in a timely fashion.

Thanks for the help and the patience! Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Island in the Sun  Fox
Stripes Extended Cut, Ghostbusters & Groundhog Day 3-Pack  Sony
The Hoodlum  Image and
The Roger Corman Puerto Rico Trilogy  
Last Woman on Earth, Creature from the Haunted Sea, Battle of Blood Island
Retromedia

Hello to America, the world and all the ships at sea. A couple of notices:

After a delay of a few years, the two new Monstrous Movie Music CDs (Mighty Joe Young and other Ray Harryhausen Classics and This Island Earth and other Alien Invasion Classics) will finally be released on Monday. I'm looking forward to listening to This Island Earth and Day of the Triffids.

Also, it looks as if the Lion's Gate Sam Arkoff DVDs are going to be full-screen and not enhanced widescreen - that's what a back-cover scan sent me by Matt Martell says. If they're true full-screen, they'll at least matte off properly on a widescreen set, even if they get fuzzy in the process. What I'm afraid of is that the SuperScope Day the World Ended (coming in a later batch) will be rendered in a bad pan-scanned version. Not helping matters are reports from early receivers of the new discs, that say that they look more or less like the old VHS transfers. Poobah. DVD Talk screeners are not yet in sight, either.

Thanks for all the notes on the review for Sam Peckinpah's The Legendary Westerns Collection. I made some corrections, as I had the Aspect Ratio of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid wrong among a few other less glaring errors. I'm now digging into the Fox and Warners avalanche of Hollywood musicals and dramas starring great black actors. Thanks for reading, and for all the help ... Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are

Sam Peckinpah's The Legendary Westerns Collection  
Ride the High Country, The Wild Bunch,
The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Warner DVD
The Magnificent Seven Collector's Edition 2 Disc Set  MGM/Sony
and
Grimm  Home Vision Entertainment / Image

Savant had a grand New Year's weekend, writing up a lengthy review for the new Peckinpah Boxed Set and watching the Rose Bowl parade get drenched. I didn't know that Sundays were out for the parade; if they'd held it on the 1st they would have had overcast and perhaps a drizzle. The downpour ruined most everything but the smiles on the faces of the participants. I don't envy marching for an hour playing a musical instrument while rain drives into my face!

MGM Sony practically sneaked out a new special edition of The Magnificent Seven, but hardcore western fans may be attracted to it as well - the transfer has been substantially upgraded.

Back to the films! Don't everyone rush back to work too quickly, and best wishes to all those waiting in line at airports .... a new year is upon us! Glenn Erickson