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February 27, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

Watch The Skies 3-Pack
The Flying Saucer, Stranger from Venus & The Cosmic Man  Image
Prix de beauté  Kino Video
Space Amoeba  Media Blasters Tokyo Shock and
Shapes of the Invisible  Facets Video

Rain today in Los Angeles ... but reviews get out on time just the same. Had some fun with reviews for the amusing fantasy and Sci Fi pix above; next time will have the Cross of Iron review up. Thanks for all the letters! Glenn Erickson



February 24, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

Edvard Munch  New Yorker / Project X
Young Mr. Lincoln  Criterion
Desert of the Tartars  NoShame and
Great Day in Harlem  Home Vision / Image

Well, the big news this week is the Warners announcement over at The Home Theater Forum of an accelerated DVD schedule, that sounds like a minimum 5 hot library titles a week for the next two years. George Feltenstein appears to have the green light to continue with his creative packaging and promotion, for most everything in the Warners library that fans want to see.

I do see some readers getting out of hand, counting invisible chickens by not listening carefully to the online answers. "We're looking into" a particular title does not mean it's on a schedule ... it just means they're aware of it, as they are a couple of thousand titles, maybe more. With a couple of exceptions -- Queen of Outer Space, The Giant Behemoth -- there was no direct answer to the idea that Warners would be exploiting more of the Allied Artists titles in their library. When someone asked about a list of six or so horror films - four classic MGM titles and two Allied Artists 50s camp sci fi titles, the answer was, "We have a set planned for most of those." I interpret that as saying that the four MGM titles, once released in an earlier laserdisc box, will come out as a set. The Warners reps aren't trying to trick anybody, but communicating with DVD fans can be a lot like talking to kids ... at some point one has to just answer their zillion questions with, "Now, now, we'll see." The nicest thing about Warners is that with Feltenstein at the keyboard, we can at least trust that he's aware of every title that people shoot at him --- he doesn't fudge his responses.

Surprisingly, nobody asked the simple question that would have made the exchange go simply. That query would be, "Hello you great guys at Warners! You walk on water! Could you just rattle off as many unannounced titles as you can, that are already seriously in the works for release?" Somebody did that a couple of sessions ago and we were given a big chunk of the whole schedule!

Thanks for reading. An interesting milestone this last week ... Savant's youngest son turned 21. That means I'm no longer the father of children, but the father of adults. All that's left now are a cane, thicker glasses and future grandchildren nobody will let me hold because they'll worry the old dotard might drop 'em! --- Your graying Savant, Glenn Erickson



February 20, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

The Good Earth  Warners
Daddy Long Legs  Fox
Dog Eat Dog  Dark Sky and
La ronde   (1964) Kino Video

An announcement of sorts, for those in the Topeka Kansas area. The Kansas Silent Film Festival is having their seventh year of screenings this weekend at Washburn University ... frequent Savant correspondent and research advisor Bill Shaffer is helping to organize it. I understand it's a pretty big deal -- the details are available at The Kansas Silent Film Festival Welcome Page.

I've also been visiting John McElwee's Greenbriar Picture Shows website daily and really enjoying it ... a couple of days ago he interrupted his usual batch of golden-era film stills to show some advertising materials for the old monster movie Them! Couldn't be better, especially with John's knowledgeable commentary.

Thanks for reading, Glenn E.



February 17, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

The Cary Grant Box Set:
The Awful Truth, Holiday, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, The Talk of the Town  Sony
The Last American Hero  Fox and
Traffic  Criterion

Happy Saturday! A fun note from frequent Savant correspondent Gregory Nicoll fits in with the fact that I am still getting enthusiastic emails about Warners' Sam Peckinpah's The Legendary Westerns Collection. It comes with a link to an interesting web article on archival theft from the Las Vegas Sun:

Wild Bunch Letter Underscores Problem

Gregory writes: Hello Glenn: I loved this part of that story: "The letter - concerning Christiansen's promise to chase outlaws as a condition of his release from prison by Wells...." Can you imagine this particular true-life scenario transferred to Peckinpah's characters? -- Gregory Nicoll

Dear Mr. Harrigan,
How are you? I am fine, although I am very tired from getting bullwhipped and from splitting rocks all day while wearing this hot, itchy striped suit. I am willing to make a deal. Let me out of here and give me 30 days to get Pike.
Sincerely,
Deke Thornton
Yuma Prison

Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson



February 13, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

Quick Change  Warners
Django Italo-Western Box
Koch Media Germany (Region 2 PAL), by Lee Broughton and
Lust for Life  Warners

Happy Valentine's Day! A couple of more reviews to peruse ... am presently having a good time looking at the Cary Grant Collection. Fox has announced a pile of great pictures for May 23: Roger Corman's The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Decision Before Dawn (see Klaus Kinski in 1951!), The Culpepper Cattle Company, Delmer Daves' The Last Wagon , Murder Inc., These Thousand Hills and The Seven-Ups. Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson



February 11, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

Dune Extended Edition  Universal
Cimarron  Warners
Goldstein  Facets Video and
Pin Up Girl  Fox

Hello Again! Savant is making a dent in the stack of discs to review ... and enjoying summer-like Hollywood temps while hearing about blizzards closing in back East. Once again no big announcements except to say how much I'm enjoying the present crop of screeners ... Media Blasters got me a check disc of their Space Amoeba so I'll be finding out what that's all about. And you never know, "skipped" screeners for things like the Matt Helm Lounge Box may still trickle in. Geoffrey Kleinman's been doing great at nabbing these things, so Savant certainly can't complain!

Try and stay warm, and if you're warm, enjoy it! Glenn Erickson



February 08, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

Ryan's Daughter  Warner
Johnny Belinda  Warner
Kitty Foyle  Warner and
Goto, Island of Love  Cult Video

Well, just a day late, but four new reviews ready to go! We'll soon be back up to speed. This is a good stack, with two movies being personal favorites. Just got a screener for the Peckinpah war movie Cross of Iron and it doesn't look bad ... it won't be out until April 18 so I'll hold off a bit before posting a review. Savant will have to stay up to speed, as Warners is bringing out a prodigious number of discs and disc sets this year -- there's a desirable boxed set coming up every couple of weeks or so.

But I'm also receiving a number of interesting independent pix and will be looking forward to reviewing them as well. Thanks again! Glenn Erickson



February 07, 2006

Well, heh heh ... no reviews tonight. I recorded another commentary today and am now free to, uh, do some writing. Should have a new selection up tomorrow night.

Thanks for writing in ... as a consolation, at least for fans of old Aurora Monster models, Gary Teetzel sent me this terrific Link: Keith Meyer's Aurora Monster Models.

See you later! Glenn Erickson



February 04, 2006

Savant's new reviews today are

La bête humaine  Criterion
Week-End in Havana  Fox and
Earth vs. The Spider & War of the Colossal Beast  Lion's Gate

Hello ... happy Saturday! Savant is screaming toward a Tuesday deadline and rushing reviews out. I've got an enormous pile of great titles that just came in - many of them already past street date - and promise to devote myself to them after Tuesday! Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson


Don't forget to write Savant at [email protected].

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