Matt Hough
Stardust Memories Blu-ray Review
There’s the touch of the autobiographical in many of Woody Allen’s films but probably none more so than in Stardust Memories, a philosophical comedy that veers in and out of the surreal but stays rooted in reality long enough to tell an only...
Antoine Fuqua's remake of the great 1960 original by John Sturges, in turn, based upon Kurosawa's 1954 The Seven Samurai, is a fun film.
Unlike its predecessors, it's never a great one.
Nice performances from a superb group of players, beautiful cinematography by Mauro Fiore, and a score...
Is the latest incarnation as bad as the reviews, 41?
I don't believe so.
Some decent, but never great performances, some very nice digital work, especially in the creation of the Roman era, beautifully shot.
What's the problem, then...
41?
The film feels as though it has no soul.
It's a...
Matt Hough
I Want to Live! Blu-ray Review
I Want to Live!, Robert Wise’s riveting docudrama about the life of convicted murderer Barbara Graham, only gets more impressive with age.
[review]
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Reviewing this particular release is a difficult task, as there is far more going on behind the scenes than will ever be evident on screen.
There were a myriad of problems, beginning in pre-production, with the decision to produce 35mm dye transfer prints with a unique appearance, mimicking...
For those in the New York City Area BAM will be showing MGM musicals from the 1950's and 1960's and a few even later. Astaire, Kelly, and Reynolds are the most prominently featured.
Many but not all in 35MM.
http://www.bam.org/film/2016/thats-entertainment-mgm-musicals-part-ii
Nov 18—Dec 8...
matt-hough
Boxcar Bertha Blu-ray Review
In his second feature film Boxcar Bertha, director Martin Scorsese attempts to bring a kind of Bonnie and Clyde vibe to a rather uninteresting true story of depression life.
[review]
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matt-hough
The Train: Encore Edition Blu-ray Review
A riveting and sadly under-appreciated World War II caper adventure made with great intelligence and heart behind the filmmaking, John Frankenheimer’s The Train holds its own with all films based on events coming from that conflict...
matt-hough
Runaway Train Blu-ray Review
Andrei Konchalovsky’s tough-as-nails prison escape picture Runaway Train is a thriller of rare and curiously majestic tone, quite a surprise coming from the Cannon Group which usually packaged cheap exploitation pictures of no great merit.
[review]...
The master provided to Twilight Time for John Frankenheimer's 1964, The Train, is one of the nicest they've delivered in ages.
As a gorgeously shot black & white production, we're treated to a Blu-ray with rich coarse grain, inky blacks and shadow detail (where required) to beat the band.
The...
Barbara Hershey was on a roll by the time she made Boxcar Bertha for Martin Scorsese in 1972. It was her eighth film in five years, and she was only beginning.
Unfortunately, for fans of Ms Hershey, as well as those of the director, one could only own a decent DVD for home viewing purposes...
For years, Andrei Konchalovsky's 1985 Cannon Group "B" programmer, Runaway Train, has received short shrift from the home video world. Except for a Region B Blu release, it's been available only via collectible DVDs.
Thanks to Twilight Time, the film can now be seen in an almost beautiful...
Rowdy Herrington's 1989 Road House, is a film starring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, and Ben Gazzara, as citizens of a small town in the south, with Mr. Swayze, the best and baddest bouncer in the business.
This is one of Shout's initial Select releases, so I'm presuming that the film has a...
Scream Factory has created an incredible product with their Blu-ray Collector's Edition of Brian De Palma's 1976 classic, Carrie.
It apparently all began with a 4k scan of the original camera negative by MGM.
But what does that mean, exactly?
The concept of working from the camera original...
Melville Shavelson's Yours, Mine and Ours is another of those huge extended family films (think Cheaper by the Dozen, Belles on Their Toes et al), and in this case, is an interesting revisitation of the late 1960s. Don't like the '60s, there's the 2002 re-make.
Take Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda...
Frank LaLoggia's Lady in White, is a wonderful ghost story, that captured my imagination upon its release in 1987.
It's decidedly low-budget. It's effects are basic and obvious, but it has a real kick to it, with a superb performance by young Lukas Haas.
Finally, we have a proper Blu-ray...
matt-hough
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins Blu-ray Review
Based on a long series of pulpy adventure novels, Guy Hamilton’s Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins obviously was intended to be the first in a film dynasty that never materialized.
[review]
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matt-hough
Murphy's Law Blu-ray Review
J. Lee Thompson’s Murphy’s Law is a nasty piece of goods, a violent and not-well-thought out revenge story with its protagonist as the victim rather than as the attacker.
[review]
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matt-hough
From Noon Till Three Blu-ray Review
A decidedly offbeat change of pace for star Charles Bronson, Frank D. Gilroy’s From Noon Till Three works in fits and starts, a love story that passes into legend with some unquestionably nasty aftereffects.
[review]
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matt-hough
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia: Encore Edition Blu-ray Review
A labor of love for its director, Sam Peckinpah’s Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is a difficult movie to love for some of the rest of us.
[review]
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matt-hough
The Glory Guys Blu-ray Review
Arnold Laven’s The Glory Guys combines a slice-of-life look at post-Civil War cavalry duty with a fictional preparation for what would turn out to be Custer’s Last Stand.
[review]
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matt-hough
Theatre of Blood Blu-ray Review
With a cunning conceit at its core and a cast of the choicest of character actors, Douglas Hickox’s Theatre of Blood combines the genres of Grand Guignol and black comedy into a timelessly clever concoction.
[review]
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matt-hough
99 River Street Blu-ray Review
Phil Karlson's 99 River Street is a tough, terse little film noir with enough unique touches and a cast of sterling players that elevate it above its meager budget and backlot sensibilities into a forceful and dynamic crime melodrama.
[review]...
Hey Guys...
Any official update from Warners (or Jerry Beck) regarding
Popeye color cartoons (1943 - 1957)
The Censored 11 (most of them were shown during the TCM film festival a few years ago - RESTORED)
A Collection of MGM cartoons or Tex Avery MGM cartoons on DVD
These have been on the...
Those who have read these Few Words for a bit, will know that Philip Kaufman remains one of my favorite filmmakers.
In his 1978 re-make of the Don Siegel original, that came 22 years previous, he takes the original concept and adds to it, with also a bit of reverence and dark humor along the...
Woody Allen's Zelig, which happened to be his 143rd film, is one of those productions that either gets you hooked immediately, or just doesn't work for you.
I was hooked from the moment I realized what was occurring, and appreciative of the film's technical attributes.
To go into the plot in...
Has anyone else had any problems with the made on demand copy of "Billie" from M_G_M ? I have purchased 2 copies from Amazon and both had problems with the video picture. (almost what I would call a "double image"). The first MGM rtelease with the blue cover (picture on the bottom) was fine ...
matt-hough
The Black Stallion Returns Blu-ray Review
The Black Stallion Returns while not a patch on the original film offers a decent amount of picturesque adventure for fans of the original movie and its majestic title character.
[review]
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matt-hough
Zelig Blu-ray Review
Zelig is one of the greatest mock documentaries ever made, a hilarious and touching look through miraculously created sights and sounds at a sad soul who’s transformed by the love of a wonderful woman.
[review]
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