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July 25, 2010
![]() Some progress has occurred just yesterday but, 16 days after the problem began, my ability to upload new reviews to DVD Savant still hasn't happened yet. The problem is obviously frustrating but not something I can explain. Besides, you navigate here to read video reviews ... all I can say in the way of apology right now is that there is plenty of reading to be found in the Savant Review Index. I have reviews ready for Black Narcissus, Dark City, Union Station, Five Star Final, Trouble in the Sky, Brewster McCloud, Shogun Assassin 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition, the Errol Flynn Adventures disc set and No Orchids for Miss Blandish... and no way to post them. I've also received an improved European DVD edition of Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! that deserves a new review -- it's completely uncut, something I've waited who knows how long to see. Then again, DVD Savant is becoming kind of a waiting thing ... I can't even post an image to go with the text of this daily column. Gary Teetzel sends a link to a National Public Radio Interview with Roger Corman. Joe Dante has been circulating this interesting Videogum post that claims that the movie Inception ripped off Scrooge McDuck and the Beagle Boys! Thanks for (not?) reading ... Glenn Erickson. Saturday July 31, 2010 MY UPDATE for today is ready to go, but I can't post it myself (an appointment to be shown that process has been delayed for a week) and the work-around fix that I've been using for two weeks isn't functioning either. I have reviews for you for Trouble in the Sky, Five Star Final and the Blu-ray of Black Narcissus ... let's hope we can get DVD Savant functioning again. Glenn Erickson. Tuesday July 27, 2010
![]() 7.27.10 and ![]() 7.27.10 ![]() Greetings! Starting my third week of uploading weirdness but by now the review treadmill is back in operation. Have been getting updates on ComicCon from my friend. He reports a stabbing incident at a panel yesterday that interrupted big presentations for new pictures, and surprise appearances by stars like Robert Downey Jr. and even Harrison Ford. Correspondent Gordon Thomas sends links to Harry Lee Green's blog called Hairy Green Eyeball, which has posted entire vintage Dell & Charlton movie tie-in Comic Books. The first examples offered are The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Gorgo and The Vikings. On September 21 Kino is releasing the "Complete Saga" of the original Louis Feuillade Fantomas serials from 1913 and 1914. I've seen a couple of chapters of this great show, which is preserved quite well -- Inspector Juve pursues but never seems able to capture the master criminal Fantomas on the streets. That's where much of the show is filmed, so the serial is also a rather uncanny time machine back to pre-WW1 Paris! I've also just received another batch of Warner Archive Collection discs, so will be reviewing a number of titles of interest in the next few weeks: Al Capone, Best of the Bad Men, Carny, Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues, The Grasshopper, The McConnell Story, Tiger Shark, Cass Timberlane, Brewster McCloud and Verboten! The early Edward G. Robinson newspaper tale Five Star Final is next, but If anybody would like me to review any particular title sooner than later, let me know. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson
July 22, 2010
Savant's new reviews today are ![]() 7/22/10 and ![]() 7/22/10 Greetings! Well, we're looking at day 12 of the uploading problem, but I'm told it might be solved and done with tomorrow. Sorry to make these Savant Columns so grim. I have news of interesting releases coming in and even some fun links, but the scramble to get reviews up in the roundabout way I'm doing them now takes a lot of time. I also admit that some of this is my own doing -- a self-imposed format change that's only two weeks old -- it's different enough to be confusing, routine-wise. I have a close friend down at Comic-Con; his reports are so amusing that I might ask to post them under an assumed name! But I have to contact him first and he's running a long schedule down there. Thanks ever for reading ... hang in there ... maybe on Sunday I'll be back with a lot more fun stuff. Glenn Erickson
July 17, 2010
Am hoping for an uploading fix by the end of the week --- thanks for checking in. -- Glenn Erickson Sunday July 18, 2010
Savant's new reviews today are ![]() 07/18/10 ![]() 07/18/10 and ![]() 07/18/10 Greetings! ![]() No, my uploading issues aren't resolved yet, but the webmaster in charge of DVD Savant is manually uploading some items for me, which means that this update may be readable! Hopefully a real fix will follow soon. Gary Teetzel alerts us to classic AIP pictures now available to view at AMC Online: Voodoo Woman, Cat Girl and Roger Corman's The Undead. These Arkoff Estate titles haven't been released on disc here in Region 1. And another interesting note ... Sony may still be polling readers as to which Harryhausen movie they'd like to see remastered on Blu-ray next. They're only offering three choices, and I'm promoting votes for Mysterious Island. It should look much better than the other two in High Definition anyway. So pop over to the Columbia Classics Page and vote soon! The Poll is near the top, in the center, where it says "poll". Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson
July 09, 2010
A POSSIBLE SOLUTION? Tuesday, July 13, 2010 LOCKED OUT! Reviews of The Witches of Eastwick and Appointment with Danger are ready to go, and I hope this doesn't turn into a ten-day misery like last year. This time a reliable webmaster is on the case, and the problem will hopefully be solved sooner than later. Thanks for your Patience! Glenn Erickson Saturday, July 10, 2010
Savant's new reviews today are ![]() 07/10/10 and ![]() 07/10/10 ![]() Greetings! A pair of very interesting titles for you today, while I rush to do review justice to some very worthy releases. As you can see, a little Windex goes a long way to cleaning off a gummy DVD -- I can return my friend's copy of Crack in the World in perfect condition. Here are some links to peruse: Correspondents "B" and Jaci Spuhler have both sent in this link to a Slate Article about Lost Silent Films that offers readers a peek, in the hopes that someone out there can identify them -- recognize a great-grandfather starring in any of these ancient shows? It's an informative article as well. Joe Dante sent around this link to a video of the weirdest owl you ever saw. The way this bird changes its appearance, you'd think special effects were involved. Pretty creepy. Finally, over at American Music Preservation.com, Steve Vertleib offers top-ten lists of Film Music Review's picks for the most influential motion picture themes and songs of all time, compiled by Steve along with Roger L. Hall and Steven A. Kennedy. See if you agree (you have to scroll down a bit.) Thanks for reading! Glenn Erickson
July 07, 2010
Savant's new reviews today are DVD This round-up of Classic Period noirs shows the encroachment of alienation and paranoia on the style: Fritz Lang's Human Desire, Richard Quine's Pushover, Phil Karlson's The Brothers Rico, Jacques Tourneur's Nightfall and the quirky City of Fear. Variously starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Kim Novak, Richard Conte, Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft and Vince Edwards. Beautiful B&W transfers. Sony. and ![]() & Summertime Killer DVD Double Bill UK Correspondent Lee Broughton covers a pair of Italian thrillers from the 1970s, starring Franco Nero, Martin Balsam, Karl Malden, Olivia Hussey and Raf Vallone. They're recommended as top-rank Euro crime titles. Directed by Damiano Damiani and Antonio Isasi. From Wild East. ![]() Greetings! Where has DVD Savant been all week? I had the opportunity to spend several days in Mexico City with good friends, and had a great time. As I'm the original stay-at-home person, this bit of travel amounts to a rare vacation excursion. Yes, DVD Savant is back in action once more. Thanks to UK correspondent Lee Broughton I have a pair of reviews for today and will be back again very soon with more. Most of the discs I've been waiting for showed up so we'll be getting into them post-haste: VCI's New York Confidential, Warner Bros.' Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 5, with Cornered, Desperate, The Phenix City Story, Deadline at Dawn, Armored Car Robbery, Crime in the Streets, Dial 1119 and Backfire; a group of Warners Blu-ray Double Bills; and Criterion DVDs of two Rare Ozu features and their much-awaited Blu-rays of Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. After my trauma with a cracked copy of Crack in the World, a sympathetic fellow reviewer sent me his copy to peruse -- and it showed up with a smear of stubborn adhesive across its. If the first copy was "Crack in the Disc", this one may be "Crack in the World: The BP Edition". Actually, more than one correspondent has written to tell me that they see a Gulf Oil Spill parallel in Crack in the World -- my job will be to keep that in mind while resisting slipping into Savant diatribe mode. Too much to do right now so will attempt to clean the disc tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for all the emails -- I'm almost caught up -- and I'll try to be back very quickly with more to read. Glenn Erickson
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