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Savant's new reviews today are:

Gilda
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
  This one's almost too good to be pigeonholed as a film noir: it's a mystery-thriller-romance pitched at a level that seems far too adult for its day. Rita Hayworth takes on her career-defining role as the notorious man-killer with two dangerous men on her string -- George Macready's sinister international crook and Glenn Ford's neurotic gambling cheat. The love between Gilda and the man of her dreams looks like hate, and their 'relationship issues' become a no holds barred war. This is one of the most sophisticated American movies of the '40s -- even the perverse subtext has perverse subtext. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
1/30/16

The Last Detail
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
  Hal Ashby and Robert Towne give Jack Nicholson one of his best films of the 1970s. Shore patrolmen Nicholson and Otis Young are given the task of delivering sad-sack Navy prisoner Randy Quaid to serve a long stretch in prison. On the way, they work out their sympathy for the poor kid by trying to show him a good time. It's a fine road picture with terrific, wholly believable characters and scenes, pitched at the human scale favored by '70s director-driven filmmaking. With fresh appearances by Clifton James, Michael Moriarty, Luana Anders, Carol Kane and even Gilda Radner. On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/30/16

and

The Wrong Man
The Warner Archive Collection
Blu-ray
  Hitchcock's true-life saga of a man wrongly accused takes a doggedly un-glamorous documentary approach, with very mixed results. The Master of Suspense wasn't cut out for this level of naturalism -- the locations are real but the lead actors are familiar movie stars. Hitchcock imposes a mystical religious theme that clashes with the realistic style. He sends a strangely negative message about cooperating with the police, too. Henry Fonda is the 'ordinary victim of fate' and an excellent Vera Miles is haunting as the wife who responds to the guilt and stress by withdrawing from reality. This may be Hitchcock's most troublesome movie -- all the parts work, but does it even begin to come together? On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/30/16

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Hello!

Sort of a rushed day today... and no links that call out to be reported. Stefan Andersson tells me that Kino will be releasing a Blu-ray of Robert Parrish's The Purple Plain, which always looks fine on MGMHD. I'll be curious if it come out in widescreen. Stefan also says that a French disc of Joseph Losey's elusive "M" may be on the way. It's presumably a PAL DVD, and if it has the 4% PAL speed-up I'd rather wait for another release. I'll see that film some day.

Judging by the e-mail response, readers agree with me that the 1970 picture Diary of a Mad Housewife is THE worst date movie of all time. Every male who wrote in about it reported that they regretted taking their girlfriend or wife to that show. One even said that he went with his mother, and she wouldn't talk to him afterwards. Generally described as 'consciousness-raising', Frank and Eleanor Perry's film was for many women big news about the gross injustice in the 'standard issue' relationships of the time. My own girlfriend experienced a revelation, and took a step or two closer to psychological independence (read: needing me less). I never saw her that angry at any other movie, until the next year's A Clockwork Orange. I did much better when I found a mate that didn't hold me personally responsible for the content of the movies we saw.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Hawaii
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
 Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow and Richard Harris bring James Michener's true saga to life -- the opening of paradise is mostly a huge downer, however. Puritan missionaries abolish the local religion, and then steal the land itself. A huge success just the same, producer Walter Mirisch's film testifies to the skill with which he brought together big talent: Fred Zinnemann, Daniel Taradash, Dalton Trumbo and George Roy Hill. This new edition includes the original Road Show version that's 30 minutes longer, but it's an old laserdisc transfer. Also, Elmer Bernstein's music is on an Isolated Score Track. On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/26/16

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
Arrow Film UK
Region B Blu-ray
  Girlie-art filmmaker Russ Meyer and then- tyro critic Roger Ebert fashion the most garish, vulgar and absurd satire of wild Hollywood that they can think of, a camp goulash of trashy ambition, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and gore. Mainly sex: Meyer's vision of joy comes straight from the dizzy imagination of a breast-obsessed glamour photographer. It's something of an exploitation landmark, with an outsider let loose in a Hollywood studio. Starring all your favorites -- Erica Gavin, Dolly Read, Marcia McBroom, Cynthia Meyers, Edy Williams. With a PAL DVD extra feature, Meyer's The Seven Minutes. On Region B Blu-ray from Arrow Films UK.
1/26/16

and

The Southerner
Kino Classics
Blu-ray
  Jean Renoir gives us a year with an impoverished Texas farmer trying to survive as a sharecropper. Zachary Scott is the man who tries to give his family something better with just his own two arms; Betty Field is remarkable as his resilient wife, the kind who won't let a man give up. Beautifully written by Hugo Butler and given realistic, earthy touches not found in Hollywood pix. And the transfer is a new UCLA restoration. With a Renoir-directed wartime short subject about France, and Pare Lorentz' The River, a classic documentary that reportedly helped inspire Renoir's feature. It's a surprisingly affecting, satisfying film. On Blu-ray from Kino Classics.
1/26/16

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Hello!

Gary Teetzel forwards a fun Tech Insider link that's been making the rounds, a scientific debunking by Corey Protin and Rob Ludacer of the conclusion of Return of the Jedi. This is serious subject matter! The Endor Holocaust Theory also answers a question that's been bugging me since 1983 -- why is the idea of an Ewok running on fire so funny?

Warners has confirmed the good news that the much-requested Humphrey Bogart classics Key Largo and The Big Sleep are coming to Blu-ray, on February 23. For The Big Sleep the answer is, 'sort of.' Warners is undeniably the studio most responsive to collector's needs, but their Blu-ray extras are usually standard def. Big Sleep has an second earlier version, a straight telling of the story without the alternate and extra scenes added to build up Lauren Bacall's role... It's a better movie, actually. Along with the full Robert Gitt explanatory documentary, the new disc will include this cut -- but it doesn't look like it will be in HD, which is very disappointing. After seeing the alternate cut, I've never returned to the Bacall showcase version.

Author and commentator Tom Weaver reminds me that, in a list in my review of Curse of the Faceless Man, I didn't mention that UA's all-star monster rally The Black Sleep [ that's Black Sleep, not Big Sleep ] will be coming out on Blu-ray as well, in less than a month. And I might as well mention that Weaver is putting the finishing touches on his book Universal Terrors, which it appears will have in-depth sections about the studio's greats from the 1950s, the short list of horror entries and the more numerous monster-sci fi hybrids from William Alland's unit.

And over at his site The Passionate Moviegoer Joe Baltake looks into a good picture still MIA on disc, with his article "a few notes on frank perry's diary of a mad housewife (1970) and other related issues". I remember this as a movie that didn't give the male sex a chance, as the only alternatives for poor tortured Carrie Snodgress were an immature jerk and an egotistical jerk. I do remember that Diary was the worst date movie I ever experienced, though. No girlfriend ever came out of that show without serious need of a 'major discussion' about relationships... an invariably 'un-win-able' discussion. I still shiver to think about it.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Curse of the Faceless Man
KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray
  An Italian boy from Napoli, got petrified by the scenery. Now his face is white and his arms are long. And he'd rather choke you than sing a song! Hey Ed Cahn! Do another cheapie for us Hey Ed Cahn! No more Calypso nonsense! --- A really stiff guy gives some museum types a tough time while searching for the reincarnation of his Etruscan babe from 79 B.C.. It's a fave monster romp from '58... not the best, but it's the spirit that counts. With an audio commentary by Chris Alexander. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
1/23/16

I Confess
The Warner Archive Collection
Blu-ray
  Alfred sobers up his game to do a murder mystery with a Catholic background. And foreground. Actually, the whole thing's about proper priest deportment, and it's so complex that we wonder if Hitchcock himself had a full grip on it. Montgomery Clift is extremely good atop a top-rank cast that includes Anne Baxter and Karl Malden. Rated less exciting by audiences, this is really one of Hitch's best. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/23/16

The Undesirable
Olive Films
Blu-ray
  They found a Michael Curtiz silent feature, one that survives out of perhaps fifty that didn't. There's no bad news -- its looks fantastic, in literally perfect shape, 102 years later. The folksy story has something for everyone -- death, injustice, sexual harassment, thieves, a newly-released prisoner, a handsome hero, a deserving heroine and a heartbreaking mother and child reunion. Also some hearty celebrating through dance. The Hungarian feature was discovered in New York City: it already has English inter-titles. A very nice new music score, too. On Blu-ray from Olive Films.
1/23/16

and

Ex Machina
Lionsgate
Blu-ray + Digital HD
 Is this the most brilliant screenplay from 2015 or what?  Alex Garland puts together a perfect fable about robots, artificial intelligence and the hubris of a software genius who thinks he's a God. Garland's direction is tops as well, as is the acting of Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Alicia Vikander. When did I realize I was seeing a killer diller Sci-fi winner? He had me at the house. This is the movie with the sexy see-through robot. The question not asked but that every male viewer is thinking is, 'could I have sex with that?' On Blu-ray + Digital HD from Lionsgate.
1/23/16

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Hello!

A quiet week. I've been waiting for rain today. Meanwhile, a family member in Washington D.C. is staying cozy inside, while the snow piles up outside -- sixteen inches of it by noon today, and not stopping yet. Let's hope we're all in an equally comfy spot, or in some other part of the country altogether. Hawaii, anyone?

Well, I finally listened to readers telling me to hie myself hither to view Alex Garland's Ex Machina. I have to say that it would certainly have made my best of list from last year had I not been tardy in reviewing it. Lionsgate didn't come through with this one, but I found a used copy at a record store in about October, and have been staring at it since then. Better late than never. The discussion is good at Savant, even if it's a year overdue... remember the fuss I made about Carter, long after the fuss died down. Hey, now that I'm fully capable, maybe I'll treat myself to that title in 3-D.

Good news for devout followers of Film Noir on disc -- Flicker Alley will be bringing us the Film Noir Foundation / UCLA FIlm and Television Archive's restorations of Too Late for Tears and Woman on the Run. They'll both appear on April 12. I'm looking forward to seeing Woman; I've seen Too Late and found it to be very satisfying, and uncommonly hard-boiled.

And my U.K. contact Dave Carnegie forwards a link to the screwiest film format I never heard of: Pathé 4.75mm Duplex and Monoplex. One-quarter the size of 8mm?  Those guys must have been absolutely insane. If it kept normal 16mm perforations there'd be no room for an image. Now Dave will tell me he's a fan of the process!

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Tuesday January 19, 2016

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Savant's new reviews today are:

Let There Be Light:
John Huston's Wartime Documentaries
Olive Films
Blu-ray
 When John Huston went to war he took his mission seriously... as an artist. He made four wartime docus for the army. San Pietro and the long suppressed Let There Be Light are the classics we studied in film school; Winning Your Wings is typical enlistment booster material and Report from the Aleutians a remarkably good record of how the war was really fought in far-flung locations. With a good introduction by Bret Wood and other important extras. On Blu-ray from Olive Films.
1/19/16

Wind Across the Everglades
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
  The Audubon Society battles plumage poachers in the Everglades, circa 1900. Legendary director Nicholas Ray reportedly had a meltdown on this early ecologically-sensitive epic, filming on location; the finished product has editorial oddities and a severely compromised continuity, but what remains is excellent -- Burl Ives, Christopher Plummer and Chana Eden give top 'Ray' performances. The eccentric supporting cast includes Peter Falk, boxer Two-Ton Tony Galento and none other than the real Gypsy Rose Lee. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/19/16

and

From the Terrace
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
 This is as sexy as Hollywood pix got in 1960. John O'Hara's novel about class snobbery and the drive for success posits Paul Newman as a moody go-getter. In glossy soap opera fashion, his silver spoon-fed bride Joanne Woodward morphs into an unfaithful monster. Some adulterous relationships are excused and not others; the movie does back-flips to make Newman's character outwardly noble. With Ina Balin and Myrna Loy and directed by Mark Robson with all of the finesse he gave to Peyton Place (read: none). On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/19/16

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Hello!

I have some fun items today, from far-flung correspondents who keep Savant (sort of) informed, and certainly help out with morale. Retired studio projectionist Dave Carnegie sends this Vimeo link to Andrew Walker's beautiful short film extolling the beauty of a 70mm projector in operation, 70mm of Hateful. The only thing lacking is a sense of scale from normal 35mm. I projected 70mm, both effects dailies and experimental Showscan, and compared to 35, 16, and Super 8, it's like working with a string of postcards. The polished video can't show just how BIG the film is.

The other links come from the resourceful Stefan Andersson, who has his ear to the telegraph key about discs being released around the world. Even though he's based in Europe, he routinely learns what's happening on discs way before I do, in one case on a disc I was working on. Some of the links are hidden in familiar websites. Here's a typical Andersson email, packed with links:

Hi Glenn!   Some links and news I've found:

From a disc company called Videociak: Good Morning Miss Dove (1955) on regular DVD, 16:9/2.55, in Italy: Buongiorno Miss Dove. Videociak also advertises Riding Shotgun (Andre de Toth) and lots of other stuff including Narciso Serrador's House that Screamed. two editions: Gli orrori del liceo femminile. Videociak has a newsletter service, good for following Italian releases.

A full You-Tube episode of the Nick Adams TV show The Rebel, allegedly an inspiration for Hateful Eight: The Rebel: "Fair Game".

A new shop in Culver City, Los Angeles, on Venice Blvd. carrying import Blu-rays: Criterion forum on Foreign Exchange Blu-ray Imports.

A rundown of various edits of the Rossellini/Bergman films Stromboli and Fear: BFI: The Bergman-Rossellini ending variations. More comments on the subject can be found at the Criterion Forum.

A discussion about differences between Road Show and regular Hateful Eight versions, including dialogue transcript: The Hateful Eight Roadshow Exclusive Scenes.

James Whale's The Road Back, Fritz Lang's Destiny and more restored: Connections: Six newly-restored films from Germany, Japan, Taiwan and the US.

Garner Simmons on Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

A new book on Charles Chaplin's unrealized project, The Freak. -- Best, Stefan

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Figures in a Landscape
KLStudio Classics
Blu-ray
 Where was Leonard Pinth Garnell when we needed him?  Joseph Losey is often wrongly accused of pretension, but in this case he may be guilty. Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell are escapees scrambling across a rocky terrain, pursued by a helicopter that seems satisfied to just harass them. Withholding information from the audience doesn't reduce the stituation to its dramatic essentials; we instead find our attention rewarded with frustration. It all looks very expensive in Panavision and Technicolor. On Blu-ray from KLStudio Classics.
1/16/16

Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
VCI
Blu-ray
  A group of crazy Florida theater students play a group of crazy Florida theater students in Bob Clark's no-budget but spirited attempt to ride in the wake of Night of the Living Dead. The result received a major release and launched a career. An obnoxious theater director's sick pranks include desecrating graves in an attempt to raise the dead; an hour of bad jokes is capped by a satisfying zombie onslaught. The disc is appointed with its own onslaught of extras, including an entertaining, party-atmosphere commentary with three veterans of the night 'Orville' came out to play. On Blu-ray from VCI.
1/16/16

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
  Michael Radford's elaborate Orwell adaptation sticks closely to the original book, even though decades of movies about future dystopias have taken the novelty away from most of its revolutionary ideas. John Hurt is excellent as Winston Smith, and Richard Burton perhaps too muted as his inquisitor. The production is excellent. This new release gives viewers a choice of soundtracks and restores Radford's original muted color scheme. On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/16/16

and

The American Friend
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
  Wim Wenders goes neo-noir in this wonderfully moody character-driven tale of crime between Paris, Hamburg and Munich. Soulful art framer Bruno Ganz is made the patsy in a murder scheme, but Dennis Hopper's sociopath / villain has a change of heart and befriends him. This modern classic really looks good, with influential cinematography by Robby Müller. Movie directors Nicholas Ray and Samuel Fuller have major guest roles. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
1/16/16

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Hello!

I'm up against time constraints today, so I have just a couple of links. The first is only a curiosity. I've seen the French-Italian space threat thriller Planets Against Us two or three times but not recently; the version shown on American TV is borderline incoherent and I don't remember any music in it at all. But here we have a Pianeti contro di Noi soundtrack with forty minutes of themes by Armando Trovajoli. If anyone springs for this I'd be curious to hear a report, on the music and the 12-page booklet... nobody knows much of anything about this picture. The cue names are a bit suspicious -- they alternate between 'space music' and 'night club', making me think there might be a little repetition going on. But hey, it's not something one would expect to see for sale. Where are the film scores of Roman Vlad, especially his terrific music for The Horrible Dr. Hichcock?

Secondly, Gary Teetzel sent along the URL for this clever stop-motion animation short subject by Harry Chaskin, Bygone Behemoth. Old-time monster movie fans will appreciate a cameo appearance toward the end.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

Bitter Rice
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 Forget the proletarian messages, this Italian Neorealist classic is really an exploitation film about brazen, buxom babes in short-shorts, up to their knees in a rice paddy. Hollywood actress Doris Dowling is the nominal star but the new discovery Silvana Mangano became the knockout dream of every Italian male suffering from postwar shortages (cough). Also with upcoming male stars Vittorio Gassman and Raf Vallone. Giuseppe De Santis delivered the perfect combo -- an art film that pulled in every lonely guy nella cittá.. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
1/12/16

Hitler's Children
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
  RKO's morale-building wartime thriller adds an exploitative element of sexual perversion to its story of Nazi crimes against children, thus creating an attraction that became one of the studio's all-time biggest hits. Kent Smith is the American teacher in Berlin who sees Bonita Granville, an American of German descent, seized for indoctrination in a Nazi youth camp. Tim Holt is the Nazi youth who loves her yet expects her to toe the totalitarian line. Otto Kruger provides the perverted smiles, presiding over babies conceived for The Führer, (for good girls) and forced sterilization (for the bad). Despite its once-shocking extremes, Edward Dmytryk and the young stars generate considerable emotional power. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/12/16

and

Everest
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
3-D Blu-ray + DVD+ Digital HD
 At last, an adventure movie that does without action-epic superhero BS. The true story of a disastrous climb to the top of the world's highest mountain goes very, very wrong, and director Baltasar Kormákur doesn't overload us with imposed messages or meaning. It's simply You Are There with a dozen likeable, determined people trying to cope with calamity in a place that, for all the help that can be sent, 'might as well be on the moon.' The great ensemble cast gives us people, not 'characters' -- Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, Keira Knightley, Jake Gyllenhaal, Robin Wright, Martin Henderson, John Hawkes, Naoko Mori, Michael Kelly, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington. The fantastic scenery and visuals are incredible in their realism and the depth effects all but nail us to the screen. On 3-D Blu-ray and DVD + Digital HD from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
1/12/16

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Hello!

A quick how-de-do, two links and a couple of missed titles to tell you about.

Gary Teetzel points us to two links. He took this YouTube video is of Dick Van Dyke at The Hollywood Collector's Show last Saturday, singing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang .... at age NINETY. This sounds exactly like Mr. Van Dyke, as my experience with him convinced me that he strove to give people more than they bargained for. It took some doing to get him to sit for an interview for a DVD of CCBB 13 years ago, but once he agreed he came to the session and barely needed prompting to give us an hour's worth of broadcast-worthy anecdotes and kid-friendly memories. A showman of the old school.

Gary also found a YouTube video of an animated Toho Theaters logo with a certain favorite guest star -- I guess in Japan, Toho runs a chain of theaters. Most amusing.

Last Saturday I made a list of upcoming discs that figured heavy on the S.U.A.M. (Savant Unreasonable Acquisition Meter). A couple more have showed up. VCI has an upcoming disc of Alan Ormsby's Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things that is said to be wholly restored and remastered. I'm interested in seeing it because that kind of movie represents a road not taken in my film student youth (sniff!).

Also, Kino Lorber just announced extras on a pair of MGM - A.I.P. Blu-rays that I've reviewed on DVD but am itching to see in the HD format -- Ray Milland's Panic in Year Zero! and Sid Pink's Danish opus regrettus Journey to the Seventh Planet. The good news are the commentaries announced today. Panic! will be graced with a talk-track by the redoubtable Richard Harland Smith (finally, a title worthy of his mettle). Richard's been in California long enough now to evaluate the atomic classic from a home-team perspective; I hope he can tell me something new about author Jay Simms, who also wrote the flaky fab epic The Creation of the Humanoids.

Journey will have a commentary by Tim Lucas. This interests me in that the goofball space picture has a zero-minus reputation; Raymond Durgnat famously called it a 'turnip' that had the ghost of a good idea (swiped from Ray Bradbury). But if Lucas volunteered I figure he must have an interesting angle or two to exploit. There's of course the Robert Skotak Ib Melchior book for a source. Or did Tim maybe kidnap Kip Doto and hold him prisoner until the researcher came across with the inside dope on the phantom space babe Ann Smyrner?  Inquiring Sci-Fi fans will want to know.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

The Look of Silence
Drafthouse / Cinedigm
Blu-ray
 Joshua Oppenheimer's companion documentary feature takes The Act of Killing one step further, as an Indonesian optometrist dares to interview death squad leaders that half a century before murdered a million people as part of an anti-communist genocide. The eye doctor's own brother was one of the victims. What we hear sheds light on a long-suppressed outrage, smothered by a reign of terror and international indifference. Oppenheimer's beautifully organized docu carries on the important work of Marcel Ophuls and Claude Lanzmann. On Blu-ray + Digital HD from Drafthouse / Cinedigm.
1/09/16

The Complete Lady Snowblood
The Criterion Collection
Blu-ray
 A major inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill movies, this two-feature manga adaptation relates the bloody adventures of a swordswoman dedicated to murderous revenge. Director Toshiyo Fujita's impeccable images make the gorgeous Meiko Kaji into an almost abstract super-heroine, conducting sword battles in beautiful period dress and hairstyles -- that become soaked with sprayed blood. The two movies come with interviews with the writers and a helpfully informative insert essay by Howard Hampton. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
1/09/16

and

Four Men and a Prayer
20th Fox Cinema Archives
DVD
  It's the John Ford film you never heard of, and not because it's bad, but because it's a little confused. Richard Greene, David Niven and an emotional (!) George Sanders are three of the sons dedicated to clearing their father's name, that find out that international arms smugglers are responsible. We get a Fordian barfight in Bombay and a massacre of rebels in a fictional South American country, but the brothers and their spirited companion Loretta Young take the international adventures as a lark, dressed in evening clothes and wandering from one Fox standing set to the next. Ford aficionados will be fascinated. An excellent new remaster, on DVD from 20th Fox Cinema Archives.
1/09/16

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Hello!

Let me just mention some interesting discs upcoming, that you might not be fully aware of...

Twilight Time's bounty this month includes Hawaii, The Last Detail, and a Japanese movie in 3-D called Harlock: Space Pirate; February and March brings TTs of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Anastasia and Exodus. Warner/Warner Archives are coming out with Blus of the comedy A Mighty Wind, Hitchcock's The Wrong Man and the Bogart pictures Key Largo and The Big Sleep (finally) The Big Sleep has both versions but I don't know if the pre-release copy is Standard-def only. Criterion is on the hook for the Rita Hayworth smash Gilda, Inside Llewen Davis, The Emigrants / The New Land, and then the legendary Death by Hanging.

I've just asked for Arrow's upcoming Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Scream Factory's The Serpent and the Rainbow and VCI's Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, and away in March, Olive's The Trip and Kill Me Again. That's also not forgetting Scream's Vincent Price III box with Master of the World.

And finally there's Kino Lorber's several branded lines, which among them will be giving us the Lang silents Spione and Frau im Mond; Fleischer's The Vikings, GOG 3-D and the all-star monster rally The Black Sleep.

I know I'll have a review of Dmytryk's Hitler's Children ready for Tuesday, along with Everest 3-D and maybe the Sylvana Mangano steamer Bitter Rice. Savant marches on ....

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

Savant's new reviews today are:

The Captive City
KL Studio Classics
Blu-ray
 An underrated gem, Robert Wise's taut noir suspenser about the Mafia takeover of a small city resembles an underworld version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. John Forsythe debuts as a newsman slowly realizing that gambling corruption has infiltrated into the business community, city hall, and even his close associates, and everyone expects him to conform with the crooks, or else. Great docudrama style aided by a special deep-focus lens; Wise's direction is aces in every respect. Senator Estes Kefauver makes a personal appearance for his crime-busting committee, which inspired the picture. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
1/05/16

The Beginning or The End
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
 Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama about the massive wartime atomic engineering program dthat ended up being 'the official story' for decades. The cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia and huge list of actors playing atom scientists. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/05/16

Mysterious Island
Twilight Time Encore Edition
Blu-ray
  Four years down the road, Twilight Time's first Blu-ray release gets a Encore Edition reissue with an improved transfer and new extras, including an excellent audio commentary with Steven C. Smith, C. Courtney Joyner and Randall William Cook. Ray Harryhausen's Jules Verne spectacle still sends us, and Bernard Herrmann's powerful music score shakes the rafters. It's auditable on its own Isolated Score Track. Fans that missed the first pass get a second chance -- ! On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/05/16

and

Nightmares
Scream Factory
Blu-ray
  This TV movie graduated to feature status was a big mistake, with four inferior stories coming off worse than average TV work. The script has lots of variety - a video game possessed by the devil, a truck possessed by the devil, and lastly, a rat possessed by the devil! But the roster of actors is attractive -- Cristina Raines, Emilio Estevez, Lance Henricksen, Veronica Cartwright and Richard Masur. And director Joseph Sargent is no slouch, either. The handsome transfer is presented both widescreen and flat, and an audio commentary sees actress Raines and producer Andrew Mirisch interviewed by Shaun K. Chang. On Blu-ray from Scream Factory.
1/05/16

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Hello!

Just three links today, the first two from the always helpful Gary Teetzel.

The first link is a repeat in better quality of something we saw several years ago, a tie-in 2001: A Space Odyssey comic book. Surely a hoot in 1968, it now comes off as weirdly humorous, almost surreal... I doubt that the sponsoring company had any idea what they were getting into. The site is John Sisson's Dreams of Space.

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Then, Shock Till You Drop sneaks out some photos of the latest Toho Godzilla: Godzilla: Resurgence Pix Leaked. I like this zombie-fied Big G, even if he has been issued beady doll-eyes.

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And fans of the master Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman take note -- correspondent John Black risked ordering a new Blu-ray of Vynález zkázy (The Fabulous World of Jules Verne) from Czechoslovakia, and was pleased with what he received. John writes:

"Although the Karel Zeman Museum of Prague has previously released the Czech version of The Fabulous World of Jules Verne on both PAL DVD and a Blu-ray triple feature of Zeman films, their new stand-alone Blu-ray is different from their previous releases in a couple of ways: there is an optional English audio track along with removable English subtitles, and the BD plays just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck. Previous editions didn't do that. It says "All" regions, and also plays on a multi-standard deck that I have.

I paid a total of 33 US dollars and change for a copy of the new Blu-ray and the new PAL DVD documentary about Zeman. So, I'd guess that the Blu-ray alone costs around 20 or 23 dollars.

I ordered directly from the Museum's webpage using my credit card number. I've ordered from them two or three times and the service has always been excellent, with the discs delivered in 1-2 weeks' time from the time I placed my order. To me, this was a great transaction. It's great to have an English-friendly Blu-ray of this great film. Happy New Year, John Black"

Can anyone confirm that the disc is truly all-region?  Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson

2016

Savant's new reviews today are:

Born Free
Twilight Time
Blu-ray
  Do you love movies about cute animals? The original pet-lion-in-Africa romp is actually a balanced nature film about the separation between wild animals and those raised by humans. Acting couple and committed naturists Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers winningly play the Adamsons, game wardens that rescued and raised a lion cub, and then tried to re-introduce her to the wild to save her from a life in a zoo. Very well made with almost a year of filming on location, Carl Foreman's production got a boost from John Barry's terrific film score, which is here on its own discrete track. On Blu-ray from Twilight Time.
1/01/16

Faust
Kino Classics
Blu-ray
 The latest restoration of a Weimar classic is F.W. Murnau's lavishly mounted version of the Goethe tale, starring Emil Jannings as a Mephisto who takes many forms. It's an impressive drama but also has a sense of (Teutonic) humor here and there. We're mostly knocked out by the elaborate fantastic visuals. Every shot is a thing of beauty, and the bigger scenes give us Hollywood splendor minus the kitsch -- visual designs worthy of fine art. In two versions on an added DVD disc. On Blu-ray from Kino Classics.
1/01/16

and

The Girl Most Likely
The Warner Archive Collection
DVD
 RKO's final in-house production is an accomplished musical comedy, an old fashioned remake that looks forward to Doris Day's wink-wink romance comedies. Bright-eyed Jane Powell can't stop accepting marriage proposals, from nerdy Tommy Noonan, dreamboat kisser Cliff Robertson and zillionare Keith Andes. She imagines her future with each man in musical terms, through production numbers staged by Gower Champion. Directed by Mitchell Leisen. On DVD from The Warner Archive Collection.
1/01/16

---

Hello!

It's a peaceful New Year's Day here. The parties are over, the family departed; the house is clean again and the fridge is almost back to its standard state -- no cakes, pies, sweetbreads, or chocolate. With no more instant goodies to sneak, I should dwindle back to my correct weight in a couple of weeks or so. The column's 'top photo' today is a public service plea, a reminder to be kind to our web-footed movie friends -- lovably maladroit heroes like Ro-Man need our love too. Remember always his great words, "I cannot -- yet I must. Oh, where on the graph do Cannot and Must meet?"

Los Angeles is amazing for weather right now. It's rather cold but clear as a bell and sunny, perfect for this morning's Rose Parade up in Pasadena. I keep hoping that one New Year's Day I'll wake up to see those floats hit by a typhoon, you know, the air filled with flying rose petals. But in the words of William Shatner, It Hasn't Happened Yet. We Angelenos, those who were here before 1994, are on a first-name basis with Earthquakes, but other than some scattered fires, landslides and flooding, we don't suffer the yearly chaos faced by much of the rest of the country. So be prepared for a few Savant El Niño updates, should the weatherman's predictions come true.

The cable decided to go out last night, so this year we missed our ten-minute look-see at the Rose Parade. A repair chat this morning with Time-Warner fixed it with no further fuss. I have issues with TW's channel selection and bundling, but their system works well in my area and the service is a nightmare no more. It's great to live just adjacent to an upscale neighborhood, the kind where the utilities are all underground... things like power outages are usually fixed here in record time.

Thanks go out to the disc vendors here and in England and Germany. And also to my forgiving readers, particularly those that write in to save my tail help me correct embarrassing mistakes. I especially thank Stuart Galbraith IV for so graciously welcoming me to a guest position at his World Cinema Paradise last Summer, and Charlie Largent and Joe Dante for making my present guest slot at Trailers from Hell so cozy. And to DVDtalk's John Sinnott for his year 'round help and advice.

Thanks for reading! --- Glenn Erickson